Location [Syliras Location] Dra-Kalinor Laboratory

[Dusk]

Credit to hedaard for the image! Located in the most far-removed corner of the fourth tier of Stormhold Citadel, the laboratory of the Magecrafter of Syliras is thought by most to be a dark and sinister place. Its name comes from a terse comment by one of the Knights who was assigned to helping Devandil Nightshade move his belongings into the basement rooms - that the Symenestra was turning the rooms into a bastard offshoot of Kalinor. That was all it took to label the workshop Dra-Kalinor. There are no windows to let in the burning light of the sun, and the chandelier is lit by some strange magic that gives everything a weirdly blue cast. Of course, the white and blue silk dangling from the ceiling doesn't help make it more comfortable for humans. One back wall is lined in bookshelves, with a large desk placed prominently in the center. To one side, a black marble table sits apart from everything, holding only an enormous blue glass bowl with the sign of Viratas engraved upon it in a glowing glyph. Behind that lies a door to another room, heavily bolted, with its own wards of protection on it. The rest of the vast suites are filled with tables of magecrafting equipment and experiments in various stages. Anyone wishing to contact him need simply travel through the Great Bazaar and head towards the back hallway, and then prepare themselves for a rather creepy encounter. NPC : Devandil Nightshade: See Lore page for details.

[Eanos]

Fall 22, 510 AV It hadn't taken long for the news of a new magecrafter in the castle to percolate its way down to Eanos. Even he, who generally was not interested in the gossip which some peddled could not have missed this story. It was general knowledge in the forge that Eanos was tainted by the dangers of the dark magic, or at least that was the gist of certain comments made to him by certain of the other workers there. How much more scandalous then that a Symenestra should have taken up one of the most powerful positions in the Castle. Eanos stopped to listen to the news which was being bandied about as he worked, sorting through the rumours for facts. It seemed unlikely to him that the Knights would have taken on a worker for evil no matter what his race and nor would their weapons turn upon them at the darkest hour. He left the gossip behind him, his work already done since he preferred the gloom and the silence of the night to the noise and brightness of the day shift in the forge. It was nothing to him that the new magecrafter had chosen to bury himself into the depths of the Castle for the underground warrens of the place was far more homely to him than the open spaces above ground. Soon enough he'd reached the doorway that he sought, though he'd needed to ask more than once for directions. He paused for but the briefest of moments to gather his thoughts and knocked. He waited for just a moment and entered, closing the door to establish once more the privacy of the room and looked about for the Symenestra, a race about whom he knew only tales.

[Dusk]

Eanos The Isur would soon find himself in a strange, dark room. Large, much larger than most of the rooms he'd seen in Syliras, though it was hard to tell how high the ceiling was for all the tendrils of silk that hung from it. There was a rustle within the silks, though the low light made it impossible to distinguish exactly what was happening. Several of the strands shuddered and moved, and a few moments later a figure emerged - clinging to one of the walls, too-long limbs giving the impression of a giant spider crawling down to eat him. A spider in glowing, glyph-covered armor. The creature reached the floor and stepped down, then straightened up and wiped its palms down the front of it as any man would, and suddenly the monster disappeared and was replaced by a pale man with curious violet eyes. And, well, huge claws on his bare feet. "My apologies," he murmured. In contrast to the garishness of his appearance, his voice was melodic, beautiful, like a warm wind given words. "I was resting. Why are you here?"

[Eanos]

The nest of silk above his head had been something that Eanos had regarded with caution once it became clear that the occupant of the room was there. He peered upwards more out of caution than out of any desire to actually lay eyes on the thing he knew lived here. When it did appear he remained still and fought to keep an even expression on his face. There were some things which ought not to have survived the divine war, and things like this were high on his mental list. Circumstances had placed him in an awkward position though for he was now seeking the help of the creature. Self interest though had won out before in getting him here, and now that he knew the truth of what he was getting himself into, it continued to bind him. He gave it a nod of respect, aware that he needed to compensate for the fact that this race was not one of his gods own and like as not it did what it could and he could not both view it with disdain and obtain its help. "My name is Eanos, and I apologise for interrupting your rest. I have spent some time in this city working as a smith since my arrival here from my home in Sultros." It seemed something of a wayward approach but he was loath to blurt it out bluntly in the circumstances. "Back home I started on my training in magecraft, but I left before I obtained any proficiency at it." He paused, finding it harder than expected to ask for help from this. "I am seeking to renew my studies in the art of magecraft, so I came here to seek your help with that if it were possible."

[Dusk]

Eanos The man tilted his head to one side, what in a human would have been an unnatural angle but his long neck allowed him a smidge more movement than those of a more strictly humanoid form. "A magesmith then, hmm?" he murmured, taking in the whole of Eanos with bright, curious eyes. They were wide and mostly black, with only the faintest ring of sparkling amythest around the outer edges, for in the darkness of his laboratory his pupils were dilated to consume most of his eyes. "Don't usually see the Pitreus slaving over a hot forge, now, do you? Women's work, I thought it was," he chuckled, referring to the penchant the Terras Clan had for smithing. "No matter though," he said, shrugging a little and shuffling over to his desk. "What exactly is it you want from magecrafting? What's your endgame? And don't give me some song and dance about learning for learning's sake, no one gets into magic without wanting something. The price is too high for dabblers and dilletantes."

[Eanos]

He felt his spine stiffen as the man spoke, his words seemingly measured, either that or suddenly time had slowed, for he knew far more than he should have done, or at least far more than Eanos wanted others to know about his race. He could not avoid answering for he wanted many things from this man, so he chose his words carefully. "You would not be the first to make such an observation," he replied, "it was a course of action which many from both clans thought," he paused, "an unsuitable course of action." He words put a mild slant on the the abuse he had borne the brunt of during his training, and in truth he had fallen behind in his clans training as a result. If he hadn't then he wouldn't need to be here now on bended knee to a lesser race. "As for what I want, you spoke to the point." He found that he was more open here than he had been with anyone in this city, which was strange, "By learning the craft of the smith I compromised my training in the arcane arts. And yes, a magesmith is what I want to be. I care not for learning for learnings sake, I want the ability to craft metal in ways that has not been done since before the Valtirran. I want to learn the secrets which have been lost back in Sultros so that I can help the Pitreus clan to come to the fore."

[Dusk]

Eanos The creature looked up, dark eyes perusing the Isur once more as he seemed to com to some decision. "A good use of your time, I think," he said finally, leaning a hip against the sturdy oak desk. "And likely better that you didn't listen to what everyone thought. The greatest men and women in all of history are those who flouted the rules of what should be done. All you must do is look around you, at these very walls built by men who stood before a world torn asunder and looked beyond the death of peace and civilization and what should have been the undoing of man. All it took was two men saying 'I will not let this be all we are capable of.' You have to admire them," he chuckled, "humans, I mean. If for nothing else, than their sheer, indomitable stubbornness. Well." He straightened up and turned to open a desk drawer, drawing out an intricate bronze lock with a thick key sticking out of it. "There are cabinets in the Inner Sanctum," he said, tossing the lock over to Eanos. "You'll pay for your own supplies, and can store them there. Use it whenever you like to practice, but only there - I'll not have you setting the residential district on fire," he warned. "I'll give you lessons as I can, and whatever you create will be your payment unless I decide otherwise. That will be all," he said with a wave of his hand towards the door.

[Eanos]

He nodded to the judgement of the creature, accepting what it said and trying to make no judgements about it whilst its appearance still influenced his opinions of it. Despite his time away from Sultros, he still found it hard to accept the other races especially when they held positions senior to his own. Still though it seemed to be supportive of his own decisions and for that he bowed his head to it. He caught the key, trying to keep the elation from his features. "Thank you," he replied, "I will try to trouble you the least that I can, and try to remember to practice only in that space." This last might be a bit harder but in truth it would help him he realised once he thought about it. He bowed his head again, this time deeper and took his leave from the room since he had been dismissed.

[Shylar]

37th Day of Winter, 511 AV It had taken Shylar more than a few days to work up the courage to approach this place. She had been wanting to look for a job for a long time but had never worked up the nerve. Nor do she honestly know where to look. There was not many professions that she could see herself in right now. She simply was not able to do much outside of her arts. She knew a bit about trading and negotiating a fair deal but it was not something she necessarily enjoyed. She could always have worked as a barmaid but she could not bring herself to do that. There was a stigma attached to it that made it hard for her to accept it. She wanted to do something for the Knights but she could not fight, at all. But the Magecrafter helped the Knights so the obvious choice for her would be to talk to him. But there were many dark rumours that surrounded this dark area of the hold. She had spent the last few days convincing herself that it was because of his race and the prejudices that came from that. Mikal had told her though, if it was good enough for Loren Dyres that he was good enough for her. That thought was the only thing she held in her head for now as she moved to knock on the door. She waited a moment and listened. Or she was she paralysed with fear? What was the worst that could? Carefully, she pushed open the door and crossed the threshold. Closing it behind her, she turned to take in the sights of the room. But it was very dark and she could barely see as her eyes slowly began to adjust. "Hello?"

[Vassarka Oleander]

Timestamp: Afternoon, 68th day of Autumn, 508 AV
Vassarka is 13 at this time.

Vassarka moved through the hustle and bustle of the Great Bazaar, intimidated yet entranced by the sights, smells and colours that surrounded her. She hadn't got much time to find the place that she was looking for, Mamma would be getting worried soon. Slipping past a stall that was selling bright swathes of all types of cloth, Vassarka eventually reached the door that she was looking for. Passing through it, she found herself in a corridor that was eerily silent and dark from the brightness of the Bazaar. Of course she could see, as her vision seemed to be better than others her age, but even to Vassarka it was dim. She looked ahead of her, and saw the next door that would lead her to him.

She had found out about the person who lived behind that door only a few weeks ago, and almost as soon as she had heard the rumours she was filled with an insatiable sense of curiosity and intrigue. She wanted, no needed to go there, to see if it was true, what they said. She was only young, but she had very little trust in anyone, perhaps someone of her own species could help her. Taking a tentative step forward, Vassarka pushed the door open, and stepped forward into the darkness.