Completed [Seasonal Quest] Upon a Star (Open)

[Shai]

Curling nimble digits around the lip of the roof Shai watched the proceedings, formulating a plan, calculating her chances, seeking the space where the spider might join the fray without immediately fatal results. First instinct had told her to free the barbarous axeman that had instigated this encounter; he had appeared to be the most effective of the fighters against the constructs. But he soon received aid from a man Shai had become vaguely familiar with on their journey across the Suvan. Before the spider could locate another opening the singing began, the immemorial language mystifying to the Symenestra but the voice was one she could consider herself acquainted with. Kamalia. Fountains of flame erupting around golems, magic yet again but for once it was on her side. That was assuming that the sides were mortals versus golems. One ought never be certain with magic or it would eventually betray their complacency.

As for the man behind her, well he was precisely that; behind her. Dhalvasha was a piece of the past and so long as Shai had no use for the doctor he should have the good graces to stay history. The widow apparently hadn’t such exemplary manners, jerking backwards at his will Shai’s face put on a ballet of emotions dancing across her visage; annoyance, confusion, astonishment, and rage. He had stabbed her; with his claws he had drawn blood of another Symenestra. Religious ramifications aside Shai was under attack. Slashing out with her free hand in defense as the larger spider shoved his weight on top of her.

Smacking Dhalvasha in the face with the flat metal of her fan the female spider continued her struggle while he spoke. Even had she been completely calm there was no guarantee she would have caught the hypnotism laced within his speech. Given her current state of mind Shai missed the foreign commands almost completely and the majority of the seeds planted themselves firmly into her thoughts.

Helplessness was a concept unable to find purchase in the woman’s psyche, even should she be rendered incapable it wasn’t a state Shai would eve accept. Exhaustion, although, was simple especially cohesively working with the dose of poison she had been administered and the burden of the larger Symenestra weighing her down. Her resistances became infrequent and when they connected at all only feeble force powered them. As her effete form betrayed her struggles Shai’s mind sped up. With the djed laced argument fighting away her anger the lithe woman’s mind turned to silent malevolent calculations woven with insidious intent.

[Antar]

In a flash upon his senses, whspered words echoed in the darkness of an ancient underground lake, punctured by the tines of a natural crown of stalactites as below an upraised dais formed of twisting bedrock rose from the center. A shadowy figure, whom he could not see spoke an intonation, that was vexing in its meaning, describing a wish it wanted as it faced a mirror before a hzase of eldritch glow spanned out from the mirror's center, sweeping across all of Alvadas. Or rather, that's what had been shown to him.

A mysterious lake deep under the bowels of the city, six crystalline figures around a pedestal.

His mind took in minor details at the sight, the colorations of the rock, the size of the cavern system the lake was sitting within. All of it spoke to him, as if he was being given another piece of the jigsaw puzzle to the mystery he was trying to solve. The first thing, was that the lake had been underground. The second thing was that the mirror he held was the mirror in the vision, which meant it was directly involved in the konti's prior warning. Which meant something rather drastic reordering of his priorities for the third consequence:

Anyone attempting to misuse, abuse or take this artifice held under his armor was bound to be in a world of hurt. For now he knew that it had to be protected at all costs until he could figure out how it had played a part in the city's destruction.

Whatver this mirror was, it had great potential to be misused, and was excessively dangerous. The terms of his contract with the Ministry of Illusions had brought been cemented with the idea of his limiting such dangers to the city, especially if the figure in his sight had connected to the illusionist he was here to hunt down and destroy.

His mind pondered how deep a place it might have been. Whether he was seeing the past , or one potential future didn't matter. It was a clue. Though by Tanroa, his mind could not anticpate that it was actually seeing the future, he was no diviner, nor soothsaying fortune teller like that konti woman he had run into in the side streets by the colliseum. Nor was he any member of the konti race being 'Called' by Avalis to do something, at least not by what Kamala had said back in the temple in syliras when he asked about preparting for trials ahead. She had offered a bit of advice, as his mind was still locked within the vision the mirror showed him.

Kamalia's advice was: don't resist the changes which need to come when you are Called to do something went hand in hand with the tenants which were instilled in him for completing a job.
The city had brought him here, but where was this, what was it showing now? Or was the city showing him this now or was it the mirror itself? His cynical nature about the city told him not to be decieved by the appearance, and his thirst for knowledge spoke volumes to him; ushering in an even stronger desire to find the true essence of events which lied beneath.

That was what was the most important.

A bit of pressure on his chest hitting him across the chest stopped him mid thoughts, as his frame of view was instantly turned upside down. as his mind snapped back to reality. Above him , with outstretched hands, an unknown shady man-like seemed to have tackled him as a wash of fire passed overhead.

His bleary thoughts couldn't be sure what the man's intentions were, so his body reacted without hesitation, his gauntletted reaching up to grip Alric's throat, to forcefully begin rolling the man off of him. At this exact moment, Antar couldn't tell if the man was an enemy or a friend, so with a trigger his gauntlet's hidden blade sprang out to lay upon the man's throat as Antar gained the upper hand to rest on top of him. Alric, and Antar were face to frace, and the rogue blinked a little as he hissed out an interrogative question. "Friend, or Foe?" But soon enough the answer was apparent as he looked into Alric's eyes, and smelled his breath. His thoughts jumped towards one conclusion, whether this was whether from the man's attempts to defend himself or not with his hypnotism was of no consequence, though he might make an attempt to calm Antar if he wished. For soon enough, the hidden blade would vanish from sight, as with a grunt the rogue pulled Alric back to his feet and half dragged his 'savior towards cover as a slight means of thanks and a verbal apology for the rough treatment. Noth wouldn't necessarily wait around to make idle chatter though. He'd leave him with a fair warning, " Staying in one place like this is tantamount to suicide keep moving , pillar to pillar to keep things between you and that thing. There's something I got to do."


From the corner of his eye the man with the whip tried to attack the golem again, this time he could see the flashes of the charged whip cause undulating lines of power to become visible, protecting its surface. [color=orange]"Petch, shielding!" Alric might notice the rogue cursing before the golem turned back towards Shale to open its mouth, kindling with fire as it began to aim in the colliseum lord's direction. Instinctively calling a ball of res to his hands, Antar popped out of cover long enough to hurl the arcanic fashioned sphere about ten feet in front of Shale, his mind transmuting it to a single large earthen spike to give the man some cover from the coming flames. He wasn't yet skilled enough to creat a whole forest of spikes, though his master Eryss had shown him a few tricks with single ones of varying sizes. The theory was both to evoke and revoke the attractive element of earth at once, 'revoking' by creating a core set of res that stretched upwards, transmuting directly into stone or sand, while the outer layer of res attracted rubble and material from the temple floor to form the shield of the artificial cover he had just made. He had used such things himself before, to hide under a curved wall of earth and stone to let heated flames wash over him, or to allow him to block a hail of arrows.


"Take Cover!"It was temperamental solution at best, but would at least divert much of the flames from Shale if the man hurried to rush towards the base of the artificial stalagmite. He'd probably still be burned but he'd be alive if he was quick enough. Shale seemed the type to be quick on his feet. His tactical sense screamed at him to conserve numbers and begin taking charge of the small group to give them a chance at staying alive. From the shadows on the far wall, he could see the man he had followed inside, the dhani, though he didn't know it. If Shale survived, he'd hear Antar's words, shouting over the flickering fires, "Get to higher ground or keep circling! But whatever you do: keep moving from cover to cover! I'll try to get the shield down!"

The first tactical rule of thumb which any archer followed was apparent in such a place. 'Take the high ground.'

Scanning the area, his eyes spotted an embankment of rubble edging up towards the ruined pallisade of a second story loft with pews of glass sitting in them, Noth made his decision. Launching himself forward, and at an angle to go past the golem his feet vaulted him up the rubble pile with all the speed he could muster. Vaulting from the top of the rubble to grasp the ledge with his hands, his arms would ache as he pulled himself up over the lip of the broken ledge. He rolled quickly into cover behind a stout pillar, of heavy marble, ordained with scrawled glyphs that he could not fathom as he risked a glance back towards the temple atrium where the mechanical golem was still upon his rampage, attacking those it could see or sense by whatever means possible. Closing his eyes to steady himself, he tore into the pocket of djed he kept for himself as an 'ever growing reserve.' The feeling of lightning boiling in his stomach as it made its pilgrimage to his hands was almost tantamount to having a conversation with an old friend you could never quite trust.

The djed flow began to cause the Res to weep from his palms, letting the transluscent substance boil over the back rim of his guantlets to gather above the second loft's pews, increasing in a steady measure until a large blob , seeming like a soap bubble from afar in the flickering fires could be seen. With his will alone, he sent it arcing over the balcony to splash to the temple floor below. Flowing across the battered stone like a giant amoeba undergoing mitosis the Res split into two masses, the first mass rushing ahead to spread thinly upon one of the few spaces of open floor between himself and the golem. In his mind the focus glyph and certainty of it's potential makeup surged towards the res, Both simultanously transmuting directly to glyphs of hardened stone, and cohesively bonding to the attractive element of earth around it, highlighting the creation in a secondary ring of crusted earth, flash hardened into the image his mind forecast with the focus glyph ready for storage.

Glyphing with earth reimancy, formed of res which bent to the wielders mind was a cheap, quick, and dirty way to glyph. It was very rare for such a glyph to last more then a day or so as a trap, less then an hour usually, even when covered under fine dust. He had learned that on Sunberth's roads during that time they had hunted slavers.

But for now, it would suffice his needs.

The second mass formed the meta - element of lava, it's core Res being transmuted in two external layers the outer element of stone, the inner forged of fire. Reaching high like a sputtering snake of lava, the creation of long hours of practice arced high like a dolphin through the waves, to come crashing down upon the focus.

It flared brightly with power, as the construction encapsulated the torrent of Res. The trap was set, now it was only a matter of dealing with the golem itself.

Breathing thrice to steady himself before stopping his indrawn breath,, in the same manner he prepared for a quick shot with an arrow, Antar drew his bow and let his Auristics come to the forefront of his perceptions. Looking at the golem with his Second sight was almost blinding, for it was a mechanical monstrousity forged of magic yet he looked all the same. He had too, he was putting everything he had into this ploy. He didn't have time to explain to any of the other three within the temple , but if any of them could have seen where the golem was in relation to the trap, surely they would understand. Even Shale, who he had diverted most of the fiery breath from with an earthen spike formed from desperation. His master Eryss, had ground into him since day one, that with such a paltrid ability for shielding he was still developing, that a wall of earth might suit better to ward off the physical damages of heat and fire. He only hoped the whip bearing man might understand his tactics, regarding his last words before climbing up here to one of the temple's broken second level lofts.

But such didn't matter now, all that mattered was his Sight.

His bow, and this arrow he was fashioning now. While his Sight was active, the surging electrical boil traversing from his stomach to his shoulders and down to his gauntleted knuckles weeped more fluidic bits as he prepared to let the others delay the creature long enough for him to make this attack count. In his Sight about the Golem , scintillating lines of power, forming a coarse shield, waivered and stretched. As the protective magical encasing spun about the monstrousity's arms and legs,leaving small gaps as the magical power of the automata surged to reinforce the shielding to allow it to react to threats from above, and below.

He surmised a series of simultaneous attacks from multiple directions would be enough to break it down, so long as they stressed the shield in different ways: both physically and magically as the mad creation bashed its way around the rocks towards a few of the others.

Aiming slightly to the shaft of his arrow, he let his auristics guide his targeting, trying to time and judge distance and events for the arrow's strike to coincide with a weak point of the shield as his mind buckled down and bent its will to the final component of the attack. On both sides of his arrow's line, long thin needle spears of hardened stone were transmuted , three foot in length, and less then a quarter inch in diameter, hardened into points. Each one of the long pins hovering in the air as his mind bade their central cores forward as they matched the power and speed of his other projectile.

He was an archer now, in his prime, fighting a distant target and the moment of release was instinctually decided upon.

The arrow was loosed, the throngs of razor sharp stone of a hundred tinier needles were sent in tandem with the arrows course. At the edge of his zone of control, full transmution to stone occurred making them harder then even his normal arrow. The cascading attack sought as one mass to stress and puncture the largest surface layer of the shield as possible in an attempt to burst the mechanical man's defenses like a bubble. If the coordinated strike of both Res, and the physical penetration of the arrow was successful , the shield would falter as it was torn apart like weak rotten flesh lanced by a hundred and one tiny claws of a elemental demon. If it didn't, then they'd be in more trouble later, unless he could get the automaton to stand above the trap.

Shutting down his Aura Sense the moment his attack was initiated, the rogue was already on the move. The tactical tenant of moving to a safer position had been ingrained in him early to the point it was an instinctive reaction. If there was a choice between staying still in an uncertain clime, he'd always choose to go. Running fully, the rogue made a flying leap from the balcony; aiming his falling body towards one of the larger rubble piles, intent upon rolling down it into deeper protective cover. In mid-leap his peripheral vision noticed the exact moment of his strike crashing against the golem's shields...

The impact was unpleasant, somewhat helped, and hindered by his armor as he rolled to the bottom and almost completely out of sight of the golem. Subconsciously holding his breath as the heat flash passed above him, Antar would take a moment to sputter and cough before 'peeking out of cover again. In counterpoint to his heart beating in his ears from the adrenaline surge, he'd fail to realize his voice screaming, "Lead it to the trap! Lead it to the trap!" towards the three others in the temple.

Only adrenaline, had failed to make him notice he forgot to tell anyone else the trigger word to activate the reimantically stored attack designed to swamp the creature's joints with the corrosive melting elements.

[Miro]

As Miro attempted to make his escape along side Illy, he found himself taken over by a horrid pain. Everything started to fade out as he fought against it in his mind trying to block it out. He let go of Iliana's hand then clenched his entire body. He closed his eyes and dropped to his knees. His hands gripped onto his pants and his jaw clenched together so hard that his teeth felt as if they might shatter.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the pain subsided. He heard Iliana calling out for him and she helped him stand as he worked his way to his feet. He opened bloodshot gray eyes to see the woman they worked so hard to escape in front of them once more. Her words all seemed so boring. She had said it all before and it was becoming tiresome. The pain he felt still left him shaking and reality seemed hollow. Being risked with death and torture moved Miro to a foreign part of his mind. His life seemed to lose its value after being treated like a toy. His false sense of safety and immortality shattered from the sudden pain and loss of reality.In his mind, all that kept Miro from diving into the darkness of psychosis was Iliana's grip on him. Her touch kept him from falling into madness, but only barely.

After the woman finished her long speech Miro rolled his eyes. Again they were in the air and dropping. Iliana gripped onto him hollering our in fear. As he fell he took comfort in the contact with Iliana. He had one thought that continued to play in his mind however. "For somebody claiming to be Ionu, she sure is unoriginal." As the falling continued Miro didn't pray for help or cling to life, but enjoyed the wind through his hair and the company of Iliana. And although their lives were soon to end he didn't wish it to change. The pain slipped away and he closed his eyes, waiting for the moment when Dira would greet him.

Miro did not notice the gradual loss of speed until he felt the impact. His face slapped the ground causing a stinging feeling that sent a rush through his body. The tingling rush made him feel more alive than ever, yet he still expected to be dead. Miro looked up to see he was in a room. Iliana was there, and Zlakalia was too. There was also a winged creature with a raggedy looking woman with him. It was nice to see the tiny pycon finally, and Miro didn't hesitate to pick her up and hold her in his hands. He nestled his chin into the top of her head playfully. "Hey Kali, it's been too long. Can't let you get stepped on now can I?"

Soon his attention turned back to the room again. There were more than just the five people all bunched together. Several people hustled around the room as if they hadn't even a moment to lose. So much order. Were they truly dead? If so, Dira would be the one sitting before them. A rather elegant looking young lady. She carried a heavy sense of manner and even the way she breathed seemed overly proper. It made Miro's shoulders tense up just to look at her. Her appearance was far from static, but it always seemed to carry a sense of regal beauty.

"Department of Illusion? Wait, wait...wait. You have lost me." Miro began talking at the same time as Iliana, jumbling what each of them had said. He looked over at her, and her back to him before she begged for an explanation. Miro only nodded and plopped himself to the floor. He still held Zlakalia tightly in his arms, but for how much longer was unknown. His face was in pain from the fall, his head stung with confusion that began to manifest in the form of a headache, but still none of that was what really bothered him. So much of what happened he wished was just a dream, and did not wish to participate anymore. Whatever was going on, Miro would like to count himself out. He had enough pain and misery for one day. Miro was just happy that the pain he suffered wasn't as bad as reimancy initiation. He let out a slight laugh at a thought. "Sure would be nice to find I have a new power after all of this hassle."

[Ihnar]

Ihnar slowly snapped to his senses, his eyes blurry. Such a funny dream he had been having... golems. Golems after him and Eri. Seriously, this was just ridiculous. Why on earth would golems have any reason to chase Eri and him. The pycon dug in to his memories, dwelling in the dream. Some girl had been there. She had touched Ihnar. The pycon cringed. If he recalled correctly this girl had appeared to appear out of thin air and suddenly violated the pycons safety bubble. After that he recalled nothing had happened. Just darkness. Such a strange thing. It was nearly like he had fallen asleep in his dream.

The pycon rubbed his eyes and let out a silent moan. He should learn to calm himself. His dreams were starting to get so strange. Ihnar felt surprised to notice he was still tired. Hadn't he slept for a long time now? No? ... but the dream had felt so long. Well the first layer of the dream with the golems and the girl and Eri... How long had the dark part lasted?

Ihnars eyes started to finally sort out. He was in.. a room. Where had he fallen asleep? There were people, Eri amongst them. Had he been sleep walking? ... or Eri could have brought him here. The pycon observed the humans faces. All of them seemed to be rather tense. His gaze stopped at one face. The girl from her dream. How was she here? Well.. maybe the city of illusions did live up to it's name. Perhaps this was an illusion made by the city to fool him. Surely the city could pick things up from his mind and make them.. look real.

... the other humans seemed to be talking of some mirror and.. golems were mentioned. Had it been a dream or not? Well. There was only one way to find out.
'A-are you.. illusions? T-this is a-all a dream.. right?' He asked rather silently, but still loud enough to be heard.
'.. or is this.. a m-mind trick!?' Ihnar said, much louder than his last words, cursing the city in his mind. He felt the urge to rush and hide somewhere. All these people made him nervous and anxious.

The pycon tried to form an eye contact with Eri, hoping at least he would be real, and willing to leave this madness behind.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden offered a hand to Ulric, pulling him back to his feet. “Buddy, I can’t hear nothing right now save for the utter chaos that is happening all over the place.” Jaeden said before gripping his sword and turning back towards the golems. “In any event, we’ll have to save ourselves before we can save anyone else. We still have all those huge, walking scraps of metal between us and anything.”

Jaeden’s ears then twitched a little as he heard the familiar Konti melody ringing through the air, piercing through the other noises like the call of a hawk sweeping down on its prey from above. Then came the fire, flowing over a number of golems like a wave of yellow and red lights, the heat radiating intensely even from the distance that separated Jaeden and the flames. Jaeden’s vision was then greeted to the source of those flames, seeing the Konti beauty stepping into the fray. The way she wielded her staff, the movement of every body part as she summoned the flames that currently engulfed her targets. It was as beautiful as it was intimidating every time Jaeden witnessed it. Especially considering the way her voice echoed out her incantations. Jaeden slowly reached up, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment as he frowned. “Oy, I hope she doesn’t go all hellcat on us.” Jaeden muttered under his breath before looking to Red.

Jaeden’s gaze then spotted the woman and child approaching, offering to guard Kammy in her next feat of magical weaving before his gaze moved over to Red. “Be a dear, and stand next to her, beautiful? Keep your senses sharp for anything about to hit from the shadows.” Jaeden asked of Red before looking to the golems that had slipped out of range for Kamalia’s spell.

“You want me right next to her when she’s all magical spaz?” Red said, looking to Jaeden curiously. “You said yourself she’s unpredictable if she uses magic too much.”

“She can handle it.” Jaeden said strait off as he picked up Ulric’s weapon, handing it to him. “Just make sure no one attacks her though, otherwise she might decide to cut loose a little more out of anger and forget about collateral damage.”

“Fine.” Red commented stubbornly. “You owe me a massage and fur brushing for this, on top of the usual.”

“Thank you, Red.” Jaeden said with a smirk as Red moved to Kammy’s side and help the others keep vigil for her.

Jaeden then lifted his longsword, letting it rest along his shoulder as he looked to the golems, their bodies beginning to twitch with signs of movement once again. “Well then, shall we go pull our weight a little?” Jaeden then suggested to Ulric. “Provided that scratch you obtained isn’t going to hinder you too much?”

Jaeden then leaned forward, pushing off with his feet and legs as he rushed towards the nearest golem that had not been caught in Kamalia’s spells. Considering his weapon, and what the golems were made of, Jaeden’s strikes would become more focused, as he leveled his blade and drew back his arm. A quick thrust was given, the tip of the blade aimed at the joints of the golem’s body itself. He aimed for an opening to slip the blade through, much like spaces between the sections of plate armor soldiers sometimes wore, starting with the golem’s knee joint. If his thrust was true, he would then twist the blade with his wrist while wrenching the hilt to the side in an effort to disable the leg entirely, or even separated it from the body if the inner workings that kept it all together weren’t as sturdy as the outer shell that protected it. Other, similar, aimed attacks would be launched at the elbow and shoulder joint, and to the neck as Jaeden attacked with precision in this battle.

[Alric Wilmot]

Alric successfully caried off the white-haired man off to safety, avoiding the torrent of flames that had been unleashed from the bowls of the metal beast. Despite The man being much taller than Alric, he weighed just enough for Alric to carry him. He was not overly muscled, and that, ironically, might have been the determining factor when it came to his livelihood. Alric did not carry him too far, though, and tripped despite the man's manageable weight, dropping him and landing on top. Luckily, they fell down on one of the few places on the floor free from rubble. Alric glanced at the man's face, which seemed strangely glazed over. That only lasted a second, however, as the man began to blink. Seemingly, coming aware of his surroundings. Alric quickly clambered off of him, and attempted to straighten his mask, only before realizing it wasn't there anymore. Alric ignored it, as he had ignored the smell of death on his way over to the temple. There was a time and place to mourn, and this time and place were not it. The man looked up at him with a look of incomprehension. Alric extended a hand, intending to help him get his bearings. However, Alric had forgotten a very vital bit of information, that this man was a fighter. And it showed, especially in his reflexes. Alric's breath left him as the man's hand squeezed around his throat. He clutched at the man's grip with clawing hands, to no avail. The man quickly switched their positions, slamming Alric onto the ground. Alric did not let his gaze stray from the man's, refusing to send out a message of fear. Not too soon after, a hidden blade sprang from the man's gauntlet, and despite himself, Alric gave a gasp of surprise. The man, however, did not end Alric's life. At least, not yet. Instead, he hissed out a question "Friend of Foe?" Alric tried to answer him, but the grip on his throat was too tight. Desperately, Alric sent a wave of Djed into the man, coaxing his inner core with feelings of calmness and security. In the next second, he sent the suggestion that Alric was indeed his friend. Alric wasted a great deal of Djed in the process, as he had never used Hypnotism in such a dire circumstance before. However, he was still skilled enough to send in message after message of different iterations of ' don't kill me'. However, it seemed to work all the same. And for that he thanked Eyris. As she had been able to make the man understand his intent was to help, not harm. The man withdrew his hidden blade, and let Alric up. Alric opened his mouth to thank him, but was cut off by the man's rough handling. He dragged Alric off of his feet and in to cover, which was quite a good thing, as Alric had nearly forgotten about the colossal animated atrocity. Alric was finally able to speak when they got to cover, " I, am a friend. My name is Alric Wilmot, and I'm trying to find out what happened he-" He was cut off by the man's own words, which were far more important than Alric's useless jabbering. "Staying in one place like this is tantamount to suicide keep moving , pillar to pillar to keep things between you and that thing. There's something I got to do." Alric nodded, and decided he'd ask the man questions when the golem was taken care of. He wanted to die as much has the next man, which for the most part meant that he didn't. Movement from the side caused Alric to turn his head, allowing him to see the futile attacks form the master fo the arena. Apparently, he had not perished from the golem's last attack. Alric was immensely grateful for that. The more fighters, the better. At least, for the moment. After all, he surely wouldn't be able to fight against that gargantuan. He heard the man next to him curse, just before the metal monster opened its fowl maw and unleashed another burst of flames. Alric gasped, believing the master doomed. However, he was mistaken. The man next to him bolted from his cover and sent out a ball of res in between Shale and the inferno. It quickly transformed in to earth, giving Shale enough cover to survive the attack. The man whom Alric had saved moment's before shouted survival tips to the Grand Master of the Arena. And honestly, he was doing a fine job of it. Alric then saw another fighter among them, a Dhani. He had never cared for the race before, but at the moment, he couldn't think of a more welcome sight. The Dhani were a viscous powerful people. Surely one of them could harm this fiend? Alric dodged between pillars whenever he was sure the attentions of the golem where on the three who could actually fight back. He watched in amazement as whip and reimancy were used in powerful intervals, striking the animated assailant at regular intervals. However, despite the volley of attacks, it seemed to do little damage. Alric observed the three make narrow escape after narrow escape, until he couldn't take it anymore. He was not going to die here, and to make sure that did not happen, these three would have to live too. He reached out with his mind into both men, and connected with their minds using a powerful influx of Djed. It used up much of his strength, but he did not mind. He sent suggestion after suggestion into them, warning them of incoming attacks. Thanks to Alric's advantage of being behind the fighting, he could see it all much more clearly. Alric stopped moving about then, instead staying behind the farthest pillar from the golem, sending out suggestions and feelings into the three men to the best of his ability. He knew the man called it suicide, but the thing seemed much more attentive to the three in front of it, to deal with a cowering man at the back of the room. All of a sudden, after a daring leap, the white-haired man began to scream out a desperate shout. "Lead it to the trap! Lead it to the Trap!" Unfortunately, Alric was unaware of where said trap was. He had apparently missed that detail in his bid to help the real fighters dodge attacks.

[Ryce]

The crunching of a few brittle dying blades of grass filled the air around Ryce as he landed on the other side of the portal. A nostalgic aroma filled his mind immediately, and continued as he breathed filling him with the mind numbing stench. Shaking his head and sneezing were the only attempts he had to relieve the smell; it wasn't working as the odor still lingered in his whisker hair and remained prevalent in the air. His last option was human form, his smelling sense would be weaker and the form of the human nose would be able to mask and not carry much of the smell comparatively. As he stood, the form of a rather large structure caught his eye, the details of it couldn't be seenFerrets can only see in detail up to a couple of feet. This detail is more advanced than that of a normal human; however outside of that range little or no detail can be made out. by him at such a distance. His attention in the others had shrunk, as his new curiosity of the building grew. The kelvic cleared the small field of grass and as he walked closer to the building, the smell returned, still unappealing, however bearable now that he was a human. Heat also radiated from in front of him, as the sun shined in the sky there was still a faint glow which seemed to circle around the outside of the building. Ryce winced as the ungodly heat rose from the pool of boiling lava, it was unbearable and he jumped back immediately. He was at the beginning of what seemed to be a bridge connecting to the center of the area surrounded by lava, within the structure sat, seemingly floating in the middle as if resting on top of a pool of the lava. The bridge was white, carrying a mystical pearly appearance to it as it sat over the lava enduring its heat. Cautiously the kelvic tested the safety of the bridge by placing his hand above, and then onto it, coolness radiated through his body. It was actually a pleasurable feeling as now he stood both feet on the mysterious material that created the path leading closer to the building. The thoughts of the group came back to mind; he wasn't so far behind him that he shouldn't be able to see them now. Attempting to sniff them out would be hopeless, the air carrying the rotten egg odor in thick waves surrounding him as the lava boiled constantly releasing it. His only option was to continue forward, his interest already peaked in the area it didn't take him long to do so. The arch way he now approached was rustic in appearance, as tanned mismatching colored bricks formed its sides and lead into the now noticeable castle. He entered the first room; it was large with two stair cases on the sides leading to a second floor. Just past the staircases were numerous amounts of furnishing, as the walls were lined with full shelves containing books of various sizes. The most noticeable feature was the large fireplace sitting in the back of the room, it already being brightly lit; the fire only offered warmth and the occasionally pop and cracks from burning wood filling the air with faint smoky smell. Ryce couldn't for sure tell but the room also seemed to have people standing around inside of it. Some were sitting, as others paced around the group seemingly deep in conversation. Ryce finding the smell to be almost non-existent inside, turned back to ferret and began creeping closer to the room in between the staircases in attempt to find out who exactly was in the room.

[Skugga]

OOCI got permission from Fallacy to join you guys down with the department. As the two persons ran from the green clad woman Skugga saw a large cloud of dust rise as if to hide the two from sight, but it seemed to be in vain as the woman simply waved the dust away. Cautious of her own safety Skugga kept her distance while trying to get closer to see, without realising it she too got caught in the illusion, though she remained on the ground as the pair started falling to the ground. Confused over how they had suddenly appeared up in the sky, as they fell to the ground the woman felt a faint wave of panic rush over her, they were going to die, but it past quickly and her cold demeanour returned, she didn't know them and people died everyday, right. But the pair never did crash against the dusty ground, filled with debris of ruined buildings, instead Skugga believed their speed lessened actually. Without any warning the ground seemed to disappear beneath Skugga and with a sickening tug on her innards she too fell through a void of nothing, during her fall she thought she saw a being with large wings with a human but the air whipped her black hair around and shielded her sight. Landing on her back Skugga almost growled at the, in her eyes, embarrassing predicament, rising quickly she brushed her dress of from the dirt and then looked around, with her included they were six that had fallen into a circle as if guided there. There had really been a winged creature in the fall with them with a human girl and a small Pycon who was picked up by the boy who'd been played with by the green clad woman. Taking in her surroundings instead of the people Skugga noticed a beautiful woman dressed in a purple gown, or was it really purple, it seemed to shift colour as she moved. She was quite young, or appeared to be at least with her blonde hair kept up in an elaborate design and she called this the department of illusion. Of her time in Alvadas Skugga had never heard that name even once. "What is this place and what is happening up on the surface?" Skugga asked coldly, her eyes serious and demanding. As she said it she wondered if they had really fallen beneath the ground or if it was an illusion as well.

[Nyahna Sasin]

Oh dear gods what had he gotten into? Sasin moaned softly as fire gathered in the golem's mouth, aiming at the kelvic. He was already reconsidering his decision not to run when the stalagmite appeared. He gasped, recognizing it's sudden appearance as an indication of a reimancer among them. "Ionu preserve us." He moaned. Every time he fought alongside a reimancer, it ended in disaster. One had required him to save her, another nearly killed their teammate, and he'd heard that another had been killed by the knights. Lovely.

He was far enough from the golem to avoid the flames, but he could still feel the searing heat on his face, see the fire diverting around the earthen spike, and hear someone shouting for them to get to high ground or cover. High ground would be useless for him. He had nothing ranged. Cover it was.

He turned to survey their little group. Top hat, he had seen, could use magic, but was probably to exhausted to do anything too strenuous. White hair may or may not.. no, he could use magic as well, he could see a puddle of translucent goo growing around him. There was another oddly dressed man on the far side of the temple. What a great day this was going to be.

He dodged a metal hand crashing down on the ground near him, right on top of a pile of rubble, and an idea struck him. Whistling to catch the golem's attention, Sasin darted over to another pile of stone, this one with a large piece jutting out the top, then changed directions as the golem struck at him, praying the one who designed this golem was the same as the one who had designed all the others, or was at least as bad at killing.

His gamble paid off, as the golem's hand slammed down on the stone and bounced off it. With a bit of luck, that would have damaged it a little. More than he could have just with his daggers, at any rate.

Still, this was ridiculously dangerous. More than twice, he had nearly had his head taken off. Unlike a person, the golem had no bias with using either arm, or both, and it's attacks were unpredictable. The drawbacks of fighting with two others. You never knew who it was going for.

Then something odd happened. He had just managed to fend off another hand when his body reacted without thinking, and dropped to the ground behind a pillar, curling his tail over his head. Not half a second later, a gout of flame shot over his head. He began to find it easier to predict what the golem would do, where it would strike. He wrote it off as experience, even as he recognized how sudden his insightfulness had come. Better not to think about it for now.

He stumbled as white hair yelled at them. "Lead it to the… " He glanced around. "Where?"

[Eridanus]

There was yet another moment of ominous silence as everyone in the room tried to process the proceedings. Eri's mind was racing furiously as the ethaefal tried to comprehend the high-strung events that happened one after the other as revelations after revelations competed to out-do each other. If this Karash was to be believed, this Kasai-Dala Mirror was at the heart of the mystery. He had not heard of this Drysalla woman that the Konti Seer had mentioned, but something in his mind niggled at him for the familiarity of the name. Maybe he had indeed heard of it before, but as of now he could not quite put his finger on it.

Eridanus first bowed quietly in respect to the newest arrival in the room. "Lady Okana," He acknowledged her entrance with a level tone, "Pardon my inexperience, but pray tell the significance of having none of this... chavi that you mentioned."

No matter how hysterical Okana seemed, the ethaefal was quite sure that insanity had not quite taken the konti yet. It would be unwise to ignore her proclamations, for it was much too coincidental for her to take leave of her senses in such a manner just as these happenings occurred throughout the city. He was quite sure everything was somehow connected. He just had to find out the connections to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Nodding to the rest of the room, he would continue after Okana answered his question. "If I may, as more is revealed I cannot help but think that Master Karash's perspective begin to make more sense. If this Drysalla was somehow resurrected again, there is a very high chance that the artifact - the said magical mirror - instrumental to her doom would be involved. Magic is most definitely involved in this."

Now, he addressed the eypharian more directly, for if the mirror was the heart of the problem they would need to know everything about it, and it seemed that the owner of the Divine Legacy knew the most about it. It could be a product of magecrafting, malediction, an artifact bestowed by the gods, or some strange pre-valterrian device. The possibilities were endless. They needed to know what it could do, what it was capable of. Knowing was half the battle.

"Master Karash, kindly elucidate on this Kasai-Dala Mirror. Any ideas as to its origins? Was it an enchanted item? Or one that was crafted from a prior legacy? Or perhaps it had a divine origin or it could be an ancient prototype? What is it capable and not capable of, its full range of abilities? The details of its construction, make, type? Its strengths, weaknesses and limitations?"

The ethaefal paused, having realized he had just bombarded the eypharian with a constant barrage of questions. Tilting his head slightly downwards, he added, "Pardon my enthusiasm. I am a scholar at heart and knowledge would empower us all in this... mystery."

While the room was thinking he glanced quickly at Ihnar. He had almost forgotten about the pycon that was with him due to the excitement of the current events, and he found the clay figure staring at him with pleading eyes with an expression of confusion. He looked like a lost sheep and Eri could not blame him for he felt that way as well, even if he did not show it. Smiling gently he walked over to the desk that he placed Ihnar and placed a fleeting finger on the pycon's back in a show of warm encouragement. He could not exactly pat the small guy on the back without squishing him so he would have to settle with a finger.

"These are good people Ihnar. Just stay close to me, alright?" He said in a low voice to Ihnar. If the pycon had any questions he was free to ask as well, for this alien race might offer a brand new perspective on this puzzle.

Eridanus glanced back at the Headmaster and voiced his opinion, "With all due respect Headmaster, though we cannot with one hundred percent scientific accuracy pinpoint this phenomenon on the Kasai-Dala Mirror, the coincidences are far too harrowing to dismiss it. I would suggest some serious investigation and research into this matter. The Mirror, other phenomena happening in the city, on Drysalla, and anything else that may be related to this issue."

The ethaefal paused for a moment to allow the rest of the room to voice more opinions and arguments on this matter, before clearing his throat again to address the gathering once more.

"How shall we proceed then? Despite the dangers outside, we need to gather more intelligence from the outside. We need more information regarding the possible motives and reasons for these events. Someone needs to get in touch with the government, for I doubt this phenomenon would fail to garner their attention."

He turned his figure to face the Headmaster, and finally ended his speech with a, "I am your sword and right hand Headmaster." He believed in the immense wisdom of the older ethaefal and often viewed the man as a father figure, for it would take another leth-born several centuries older than Eridanus for him to acknowledge one as a proper mentor.