Part Zero - Prologue

The sky outside the window was clear of large puffy white clouds that blocked his view ever so often, and the large orb of light that people called 'Sun' shone brightly from where it hanged in the sky. He briefly wondered if people noticed that lately, the sun was dimmer that it should be, but he waved that silly thought away. People took the sun for granted most of the time, just like they did with the moon. Until the moon disappeared, then they began to show some appreciation for everything else.

Sigel brought himself away from the window and settled on his favorite bench-like chair with his large and fluffy pale yellow cushions surrounding him. He glimpsed his own reflection in the mirror nearby and sighed. Contrary to what the other Gods believe, his glow never once did blind and prevent him from seeing himself. He would very much liked that notion to be true right then though, for what he saw was not pleasing and a sight he was unaccustomed to.

His sky-blue eyes were tired and red from lack of rest, and dark patches were showing below his eyes. His flawless skin was drawn tight and had an almost unnoticeable tint of grey due to fatigue. The eternal golden glow that seemed to emit from his short blond curls and face had dulled slightly, but enough for him to see shadows of his facial features for the very first time.

He imagined it must have been quite a shock to Tonitrus and Favonius when they saw him earlier at the Moon Palace to find that he did not even have enough power to revitalize himself. If one of them decided to attack himm, he could very well be in Luminelle's current state too, and he could just see how great a panic that could raise. In a way, he was thankful that it was on Luminelle's resting night when the incident happened, and there was not much of an immediate panic. However, the impact and consequence of what happened was still great.

The disasters that struck Domiria due to the unbalance of power had harmed the land immensely, and the rest of the Gods had worked hard to return everything back to some semblance of normalcy. Sigel had to work during the night to provide a substituting source of light and Sireaus had aided by increasing the luminance of the stars, while Eithelwen had her arms full controlling the tides. But what they did could do nothing to replace the gentle soothing rays of the moon, and many of Luminelle's worshippers were distraught.

Having to work extra hours had taken its toll on Sigel, as he barely rested. But he had not been affected so much until recently, when he and Sireaus decided to assemble the Moonseekers. Much embarrassed to say, the Sun God was not able to put as much time and effort into finding those suitable people as Sireaus. Apart from telling his Head Priest and Luminelle's Head Priestess about it, Sigel had only visited a few of his priests in their sleep while the Star God had gone lengths for the Moonseekers, even releasing Fenrir from its bounds.

"Sigel."

The blond god turned towards the entrance of the room to find the one he was thinking of standing there with an amused little smile on his lips. Sigel was quick to notice that the Star God's beautiful androgynous face was paler than normal and his liquid silver eyes had a touch of tiredness. Like the Sun God, the soft glow that seemed to come from Sireaus's long silver hair was much softer than it should be.

Sigel blew out his cheeks like a human boy, when he realized why the Star God was at his door, "Eithel sent you here to gloat at me."

"She is busy." Sireaus made his way to the seat opposite of Sigel, the smile still on his face as he sat down. "And a busybody."

"You look only slightly better than me, so you can't gloat." Sigel sulked. "If she wants to pay me back for the time I laughed at her for being weak after causing that avalanche and clearing up after it, she can come here herself."

Sireaus took a good look at the Sun God's face. "You need rest."

"Same for yourself. We could take turns to rest." The Sun God further amused his fellow god by clutching a cushion to his chest and sticking his tongue out the platinum-haired deity, then pouted. "Don't blame yourself for what happened."

"Your worshippers will faint if they see you now."

Sigel's face turned serious. "Don't attempt to distract me. Sireaus, it's not your fault that you can't see the nine of us in your foresight."

"I know." The smile was gone and the Star God's face was unreadable. "I'll rest."

"You need it more than I do. I don't know what you've been doing, but you are overworking yourself."

"I'll rest." Sireaus smiled again, this time gratefully. "By the way, the Moonseekers should reach the meeting place by tomorrow."

"That means I need to rest and not scare them with my black eyes." Sigel looked thoughtful. "Favi told me I looked like a creature called a panda, and I think Toni agreed."

One silver eyebrow was raised. Tonitrus was notorious for being hard to please and disagreeable. The Thunder God seldom agreed to anything, much less, admit to agreeing to something.

"He laughed at me." Sigel sulked when he heard Sireaus choked from the attempt to contain his surprise. "Why did we choose Tyrone anyway?"

"Because it's the easiest to reach from all other places." Sireaus reminded him, his face twitching from his effort to not laugh at Sigel. "You said that yourself. And because your main temple is there."

"Oh. I said that."

"I'll leave. You should rest." Realizing exactly how tired Sigel was, the Star God stood up and went towards the door. He paused before fully exiting. "I'll rest too."

Sigel smiled and watched until Sireaus left for his palace, knowing that the Star God would abide by his words. As he allowed himself to relax, his thoughts lingered on the upcoming meeting sleep claimed him gently.

[OOC: For players of Moonseeker characters, your chars should already be in Ariania, near Tyrone if not already in it, at this point of time. There's a full day in roleplay time for the MS (short of Moonseeker) chars to reach Tyrone so use it appropriately. For non-MS chars, you are free to start anywhere.]

Krug. The time is come.

Krug hacked one last log in half with his great axe and gazed skyward, seeing nothing but hearing the voice of Ignifer in his thoughts. "Huh?"

The Moonseekers are just beginning to look for the shards of the Moon Core. You must go, too. They will be hard to outrun, but you can find the shards.

Krug sat down and scratched his head. He had no idea where the pieces of the Moon Goddess actually were. "Wha?" he stammered.

I will send one of my servants to help you to find the pieces of the Moon Goddess. You must do this for me. You will be rewarded greatly.

The idea of a reward carried overwhelming appeal to Krug. "Fire?"

Yes, as much fire as you want. For every piece you bring to me, I will give you more of the power of fire. With all that fire, you can pay back all the mean dwarves who have been so mean to you while you've lived here in the mountains of Sohrya. Does that sound good to you?

Krug nodded his head vigorously. He didn't like humans, or any mortal being for that matter, but he especially hated dwarves. Whenever Krug tried to kill a deer, the dwarves charged out and attacked him. Any food Krug tried to eat, the dwarves would try to protect. Krug just wanted to burn those squat little bodies, torch those beards to ash. Cleaving them in half just wasn't enough.

Excellent. To the southeast is the port city of Salbia. There is a temple for me there. You will find a priest, learned in my ways, who can help you find pieces of the Moon Core. But don't kill him. He is a faithful servant to me, and I do not want to see him dead. Do you understand, Krug?

Krug scratched his head. As long as he's not a dwarf, Krug thought, and nodded.

Good. Salbia is two days' walk to the southeast. I will send one of my helpers to guide you to the city. Follow the flame. With that, the Fire God broke contact with Krug and, away to the southeast, a floating ball of fire appeared. Remembering Ignifer's words, Krug pursued the flame until he came to the city.

A hooded elf pushed his way into the crowded pavilion, in from the pouring rain that had forced the crowd behind closed doors. There were too many people for the space, and they filled the room with steam that misted off their wet bodies, billowing in the torchlight before disappearing, adding to the sheen of sweat and fear and passion that glittered upon upraised brows. It condensed on collars and hems, pooled damply on backs and chests, and did nothing to cool the heat of the inflamed. Men and mortals would not have recognized him, but would have crept away fearing, thinking that some howling force had possessed their gentle souls. They would have been right.

Despite the humid heat, the newcomer did not lower his hood, but murmured soft apologies until he had flattened himself against the back wall.

Syn moved his eyes from this to that, inspecting each movement; so still he stood he seemed as a carving of stone made to ward off any feasible threat, and yet if one looked into his deep eyes they could see that he wandered the realms of memory and questioned the purposes of life. Silently a foot moved breathlessly across the withered away wooden panels, shaking free the gathered dust of the underestablished tavern. His earthen hair was tied behind his head yet here and there stray strands stuck out from his darkened hood, his body seemed so worn from long ages without air and wind; he breathed heavily an air different from that which was filled with the smell of blood and bitter herbs, and he smiled though his eyes spoke more words than anything he could have said. Syn stood looking first toward the ceiling then towards the precious crystal obsession that hung around his neck, ofcourse representing his lord and saviour, Tonitrus.

"My lord and saviour Tonitrus, I ask you to guide me tonight on whatever trials are bestowed upon me, for I feel the weight of the world coming upon me in a manner of which I cannot speak."

The chill of a menacing wind slapped Syn ruthlessly, born from the strength of the metal bound door, swinging shut. He winced as an involuntary shiver physically shook his body and the few sporadic braids in his long brown locks were caught up upon the hands of the strong breeze.

He slowly breathed in a mighty gust of air and held it a few moments before he released it with the trained perfection of a warrior born through a long bloodline of noble and fierce protectors to the Faith his ancestors practiced and held to in all of life's ever-changing moments.

Yet the prolonged stillness in the room and abrupt taint of foreboding energy made Syn grow uncomfortable as the hairs on his body began to stand upright in warning, therefore he regarded his intuition and was off once again, seeing as his moments alone allowed him to obtained a decient amount of energy.

Syn closed his eyes against the sudden pain that raked his body, an internal wind emptied his heart in a single expelling gust. He did not turn the other cheek, but quickly mounted his horse and charged heedlessly out of the barn in a swirl of emotion, squinting into the showers of rain that drenched his surroundings.

The hooves of Syn's horse thundered, pounding atop the well-traveled forest path as he relentlessly chased the winds, wispy tree branches turning angry at the disturbance and so changing to wicked limbs, whipping at him ruthlessly from above the road. Regardless, Syn rode on, awaiting the trials that were bound to hunt him as he hunted the winds before him.

A young elevn girl ran though the halls of the temple her red hair following behind her. She had her plain white skirt lifted up to help her run she was late for class yet again, Sister Sabalsek would be furious as she always was when Trielani was late. The girl slowed her pace as she came to a closed door. Stopping in front of the door the girl paused to catch her breath and straighten her skirt. She slowly reached from the door and turned the knob. “Sister Sabalsek forgive me for being late…” The girl said stepping in. Sister Sabalsek wasn’t alone as she should have been. The council was there as well all 15 members.

“Acolyte Trielani please come in and sit,” An older man said gesturing to a chair in the middle of the room.

Trielani glanced over to Sister Sabalsek who was an older woman, though even with her many years the everlasting youth of the elves showed she had aged gracefully. Her hair was long and rather than gray a soft silver color her eyes held the look of youth yet also held many years of wisdom. “Sister Sabelsek what is happening? Are we still to have lessons today?” Trielani said.

“No, child please do as Brother Aniam says have a seat we’ve much to talk about.” Sister Sabalsek said.

Trielani raised her hands together her right making a fist and her left flat the met and she bowed her head slightly. “Yes, Sister, Brother.” This was a customary sign of respect within the order. Trielani took the seat looking around her the entire council stood in ring around her glancing at her. None of them had pleasant looks on their faces.

“Acolyte Trielani you are probably wondering what is going on.” Brother Hamais an old human priest with balding gray hair said.

“Yes brother Hamais I am.” Trielani said.

“We are here to discuss your fate Acolyte Trielani.” Sister Kalian said. Sister Kalian was also an elf in her mid life she had been a new priestess when Trielani had been brought to the temple. Trielani had always been fond of Kalian though it seemed that Kalian hadn’t been fond of Trielani. Perhaps it was because things came so easy to Trielani. Kalian was a very pretty woman even for an elf her hair was red and kept short and snug to her face. “There are many here that believe you should not be trained in the priesthood.”

“But why? Why shouldn’t I? I only wish to help to spread the goddess word.” Trielani said rising to her feet.

“Acolyte Trielani remain seated.” Brother Tran said forcefully.

“Forgive me brother.” Trielani said bowing and taking her seat again.

“The power in you is great, many fear that you will be unable to control it and that it will consume you if you are trained to use it.” Sister Sabalsek said.

“Sister Sabalsek you can’t possibly believe that!” Trielani said.

“No, child I do not believe that but I must obeyed by what the council decides.” Sister Sabelsek said.

“And what is that Sister?” Trielani pleaded. “I’ve no where else to go if the temple turns me away.”

“No, Acolyte Trielani you will not be turned out you know very well the order would never turn someone away. You are to remain here but your training is to end.” Sister Kalian said.

“End? That can’t be! I want to be a priestess, I want to help others!” Trielani said jumping to her feet.

“Acolyte Trielani, ehm Trielani head back to your room. We will discuss this later this evening.” Sister Sabalsek said.

“Yes Sister Sabalsek.” Trielani said bowing and leaving the room.

Some time later

Trielani sat in the temple before a statue of Luminielle she was knelling her eyes closed and her hands held up before her as she was about to bow. She was meditating had been for nearly two hours she had hoped that she would be able to hear the goddess’ call that the rumors weren’t true. While she was meditating she had been reminded of when she had almost been denied training. It was useless every day she tried to hear the goddess but every day she failed. Trielani opened her eyes and fell to the ground. “Lady it can’t be you can’t abandoned us. Not when we need you most!”

“Sister Trielani.” A young acolyte said coming up to Trielani. “Forgive me for interrupting you.” She said giving a bow.

“I was finshed anyway what is it Acolyte Beatrix?” Trielani said standing and brushing the dirt off her skirt.

“Sister Sabalsek’s condition worsens she is calling for you.” Acolyte Beatrix said.

Trielani didn’t say anything as she ran past the girl and down the hall until she came to Sister Sabalsek’s room. Inside the sister lay on the bed weakened for her state. She had been like this since the rumors of Luminielle’s fall began. Nothing Trielani or the other priests did seemed to help. “Ah child, you’ve come.” Sister Sabalseck said as she coughed.

“Of course I have.” Trielani said.

“My time here on this world has come to an end.” Sister Sabalseck said.

“No! I will not loss you!” Trielani said.

“Child you have to let go sometime.” Sister Sabalsek said breaking into a coughing fit and passing out.

“No I will not lose you, you are all I have.” Trielani said placing her hands over Sister Sabalsek’s chest over her heart. Trielani quietly began chanting, "Atara en' i' teu, atara en' lye ilya Amin yel arta llie nae lye llie nae fallan enna en' llie hini lav amin nae teshuel he awr vee' amin lav amin nae sina hin en' llie."

A faint glow overcame her hands and Sister Sabalsek slowly rose into the air. Trielani kept chanting the power in the room was so strong it could be seen a soft blue light grew and grew until nothing was visible. The only thing that could be heard was Trielani’s chanting.

Down the hall Sister Kalian and Brother Aniam sat eating their supper. “That did you feel it?” Sister Kalian said looking up from her soup.

“Yes.” Brother Aniam said jumping to his feet. “Come it’s coming from Sister Sabalsek’s room.”

The two of them ran down the hall as they got closer the power got thicker and stronger the two of them had trouble moving to the room. Kalian reached it firsted she couldn’t see a thing but she could hear Trielani chanting, "Atara en' i' teu, atara en' lye ilya Amin yel arta llie nae lye llie nae fallan enna en' llie hini lav amin nae teshuel he awr vee' amin lav amin nae sina hin en' llie."

“No she’s not!” Kalian said. “It can’t be! She’ll never survive.”

“What is she doing?” Brother Aniam asked.

“She is taking Sister Sabalsek’s illness on herself. We have to stop her or it will kill her!” Kalian said jumping into the room Aniam behind her. Kalian fought through the light through the room she grabbed Trielani and pulled her away from Sister Sabalsek. Trielani fell back into Kalian’s arms the light faded and was gone. “Aniam get her feet we need to get her to bed!”

Several hours later

Trielani lay back in her room the sheets pulled over her. She was freezing cold yet was sweating at the same time. She was barely conscious, everything around her was a blur. Everything but a man with Silver hair he stood over her.

“Trielani you are a brave soul but it is not yet your time to die,” The man said.

“Who-who are you?” Trielani said.

“I am the star god, Sireaus.” The man said.

“Why are you here?” Trielani said.

“To give you life meaning Priestess of the fallen goddess.” Sireaus said. “There are those gathering to find pieces of moon core.”

“Moon core?”

“All that remains of your goddess.” Sireaus said.

“What do you need me for?” Trielani asked.

“I can feel it you were a chosen among her followers. You can sense the core. Those that seek the core will need you.” The star god told her. “If you do this task I will grant you whatever wish you want.”

“Can you heal Sister Sabalsek?” Trielani said.

“Yes,”

“What must I do?” Trielani said.

“Travel to Tyrone to the temple of the sun god you will meet the other there.” Sireaus said, and then disappeared. Trielani tried to sit up but fell back.

Kalian came in with a bowl of water and a rag. “Trielani who were you talking too?”

“Sister Sabalsek is she?” Trielani asked.

“She is fine thanks to you. The illness is still with her though not as strong.” Kalian said patting the cool rag on her head.

“I have to go. I have to travel to Tyrone.” Trielani said.

“You are not going anywhere. What plagues Sister Sabalsek now consumes you. You may have saved her but it may cost you your life.” Kalian said.

“I have to go!” Trielani said standing up.

“Trielani you can’t.” Kalian said.

“I have to the gods command it. Get me a horse I must be off.” Trielani said coughing.

Seeing there was no way to stop her Kalian sent for a horse to be readied and within and hour Trielani was riding towards Tyrone. She rode coughing, the sickness in Sister Sabalsek burning inside her.

Trysta took another drink from the bottle of liquor. She had been at this rather loathsome establishment in Tyrone for nearly three days with nothing to do but get drunk and, in the previous night's case, wake up in some strange man's bed.

"Gimme another." slurs Trysta, beckoning to the barkeep.

"You've had enough, miss. Go sleep it off." he replies.

"Mmm. I would, but I'd have to ask someone to help me upstairs and they'd take me to their room and not mine." mumbles Trysta.

"Mind if I lend a hand then? Not like I'd take advantage. Besides, I can't let you wander about the city at this hour. You'd be mugged or worse, killed. My concience won't let me." replies the barkeep.

"Yeah, allright. Just lemme have some fresh air." says Trysta.

The barkeep lends the obviously drunk young woman a shoulder and takes her outside, where she promptly throws up.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I am now." coughs Trysta.

"To your room then. Don't want you wandering about, as I said."

----

Trysta stares blankly at the ceiling for a good twenty minutes, her blurred vision beginning to clear as the alcohol's effects slowly fade into a pounding headache. Removing all but the thin garment beneath her assassin garb, Trysta pulls her body under the rough covers of her bed and slips silently into a drunken sleep.

----

Every night, the same thing. Her mother's happy, carefree smile. Her mother's soft, calming voice. They always came back to haunt her when Trysta slept. It was always the same place. A barren, snow covered field with only a single dead tree in the center. Trysta was always miles away and took slow, very clumsy steps. When she did, it was like running full sprint for a whole mile. Her view of the tree became clearer and clearer. She could see a woman standing beneath it.

"Mama?"

The tree bursts into flames along with her mother and both crumble into ashes within seconds. The firey image of Ignifer walks forth from the dying fire and speaks.

"Let the fires of revenge purge all who stand before your goal."

Then she awakens.

A bar, a very dank and backwater bar, the kind of bar poor drunks, sailors and thugs frequented to get pissed and go to sleep in the gutter outside, if they blew all their money on drinks and couldn’t afford the room. This was the best (by Coran’s standards) Tyrone had to offer in budget accommodation, and Coran was travelling on a budget. This was his kind of establishment though, for the broken men of the world. Coran was a broken man; he had drifted his way from one continent to another, from his bandit territory in Cesopia to the sprawling city of Tyrone, located at the supposed centre of the world.

Coran had lost his friends, his power and the only people he called family a few weeks ago. He had been selfishly overthrown by one of his lieutenants. He was an ex-bandit now, and could have easily been killed by his former comrades if not for the mercy of a small few bandits still loyal to him. He didn’t blame any of his formers though. Not one of them. He blamed his own idiotic kindness to one rather bratty princess at the beginning of his dilemma. A murderous, looting bandit he may have been, but he had a soft spot when it came to (seemingly) defenceless women and religious types (priests and priestesses), despite not being much of a believer.
He had also blamed this princess for leading him to Tyrone, but if he found good fortune in Tyrone he would upgrade ‘blamed’ to ‘thanked’. Princess Neru Eiren Cesoireao, from his native Cesopia, had been the woman he ambushed, kidnapped, saved from being assaulted by his own men in her captivity and followed to Tyrone after the coup in his bandits for denying them the woman.
Why did he do all this? It wasn’t out of love. That was for sure. Coran and Neru were an odd couple at best. Was it because of the quest she had talked about going on for her country, searching for Moon Shards? Perhaps. If they were real he wouldn’t mind going after them. IF they were even real that is. It was an excuse to Coran though, a reason to go. In truth, Coran had no where to turn at all, the bandits wouldn’t take him back and he didn’t feel like going back anyway, so he used Neru’s proposal to travel with her to Tyrone as an excuse to start a new life. It was pretty selfish of Coran, but it didn’t bother him. Bandit or ex-bandit, he would still be the same person he always was, he’d just been thrown off his high horse and had to pick himself up again.

Coran’s attention snapped back to the bar, barely standing in front of him. He would be staying here until he left Tyrone, he assumed, and this is where he had planned to meet Neru, who was elsewhere for the time being.
He entered the bar casually and was overcome by the smell at first. Some heavy drinking went on in this bar. He continued to walk to the bench and took a stool next to a woman. He placed his bags on the stool to his right and ordered a cheap ale. The bartender looked at him cautiously but poured his cheap ale out of one of the many assembled barrels.

“Hey,” said the woman sitting next to him. “What brings you to a dump like this?”

Coran paused, his mind had snapped back into focus from it’s wandering onto different thoughts. He glanced over to the woman, who was dressed quite oddly (by Cesopian standards anyway) and replied, “This is a poor man’s haven, and I’m a poor man.”

“Yeah, but what brings you here? To Tyrone?” the woman asked curiously.

“To Tyrone? Some foolhardy quest,” Coran replied.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Moon searching or something along those lines. Don’t suppose you know what I’m talking about?”

Coran noticed the woman take another sip at her drink. In fact, Coran noticed that the woman smelt strongly of alcohol, but it wasn’t anything he hadn’t smelt before on people. “You mean Moonseeking? I’m moonseeking too, you know. Well, I will be soon. It hasn’t ‘begun’ yet.”

“I see. I’m not really up on my knowledge when it comes to ‘moonseeking’, but there isn’t much else I can do with myself right now.” Coran explained. “The name is Coran, by the way.”

“Call me Trysta.”

Neru really hated her situation, and it was evident in the way her blue eyes had turned stormy, her lips pressed thin and her grip on the Staff of Ishyciel made her knuckles white. Her posture was haughty even though her clothes were that of the commoners beneath her travelling cloak, and her empty hand was hovering protectively near her neck, where she wore the delicate silver necklace given to her by her dead mother.

"In case your ears are stuffed full of the filth on the ground, I'll repeat what I said. Get your worthless selves out of my sight immediately, lest you cannot bear the consequences." She pronounced every word cleanly and clearly, with the sharpness of an axe made by the dwarves.

"Ooh, that hurts." One of the four thugs that ambushed the Water Mage into an alley mockingly clunged his heart and laughed. "Hand over your pretty necklace and that staff, lady, and maybe we could all have some nice harmless fun."

"Let's have fun then." Neru suddenly gave them a beautiful smile that would have sent them swooning and lunging for her, under normal circumstance. But what happened was not normal.

The jewel on her staff flashed as she brought her staff sweeping towards the thugs' legs, catching them by surprise. Quickly she tapped each of her ambusher once before going for another, and no matter how they jumped, she got them all within minutes. Afterall, the alleyway did not have much space for movement.

"What did you do to our body?!"

"Simple, I froze the blood in your legs and hands. Now you can just stand there, and watch me walk away. Serve you right for trying to steal from a High Mage, and good riddance!" Gracing them with a cunning smirk, she dusted herself and very deliberately strolled slowly out of sight.

Once out of the narrow sidestreet, she took a good look at the area of the city that she was currently standing in and tried not to direct colorful curses and swears towards one Cesopian bandit. That one that seemed to jinx her journey from its very start by ambushing and capturing her when she left the capital city of her homeland.

Well, it was her fault that she immoblized the guards that tried to followed her like she did with the thugs, but she had not wanted Shizu and Yue to know what she was planning to do and worry about her. They have other things to worry about, such as the welfare of their people and those greedy ambitious selfish nobles.

Alright, so it was mostly her fault that she was captured by those bandits. She should have known that those outlaws would be looking out for her kind, but she had forgotten it in her haste and did not change into her common clothes immediately. And she should not be distracted when facing some many foes but somehow, she managed to get distracted and captured, and gotten herself recognized as Neru Eiren Cesoireao, the Second Princess of Cesopia.

Luckily for her, Coran, the leader of the bandit group called Bloody Hands, did not allow his men to defile her and even made some small talk with her. Admittedly, she was not the best companion at that point of time, as she bitched almost constantly and demanded to be released. It had amazed her as he did not lost his temper and simply knock her out, and she was grateful.

And felt really bad when the group overthrew him for his kindness to her. In fact, she felt bad enough that she invited him along with her to find the Moon Shards. Even if she did not manage to repay Coran for his kindness during the journey, the wish that the Gods' supposedly promise should do.

But at that current moment, Neru still felt like cursing Coran creatively for once again causing her to have to search through the slums for some unknown bar that was probably filled with uncouth sailors and thugs like the ones she left in the alley. And even if she did not have to spend the night at that kind of place, being able to either stay for a night in the Crystal Water Shrine in Tyrone or afford some better accomodation, she still had to enter that thrice-cursed bar!

With her brewing temper kept somewhat contained for the moment, Neru walked on in search for that particular bar of some importance. And when she came upon the last bar in that area, she prayed to her goddess that Coran was indeed in there. Inhaling deeply before she stepped in, Neru quickly surveyed the room for her companion, planning to bolt for fresh air if Coran was not in the bar.

Maybe Eithelwen did hear Neru's prayer, as she finally spotted the brown-grey head belonging to Coran Safana beside a female brunette. With a sour expression on her flushed face, she finally let go of her breath and satisfied her need for air, polluted or not. Looking a little green, she hurried over to Coran and tapped his shoulder impatiently, hoping that he was not too drunk to not notice her.

Nefuriya whooped in relief as she finally caught sight of the city gates of Tyrone. She floated forward, allowing herself to levitate higher from the ground as she went. She stopped upon crossing the high wall of the gates, giving the busy city a long look.

She watched as people bustled about, so busy they were at minding their own business, that they failed to notice her figure floating only an inch above the gate. Glancing at the sun, she deduced that it was already noon and decided to stop by a bar for a drink and perhaps some tidbits to munch on.

Floating towards a deserted alleyway, she allowed herself to descend to land half an inch above the ground. Just low enough to prevent the passerbys to notice the fact that one, she had no footwear, and two, she was not exactly on the ground.

Setting her legs at a leisure pace, she allowed herself to wander around in the city, her eyes busy taking in all the details in the city.

Alright, the inn is to the east and stores are southwards. she noted as she 'walked' around. She stopped when she noticed a short brunette walking towards her. Somehow, she had a feeling that the girl just did not fit in with the crowd.

Floating forward, she was reaching the brunette when all of a sudden, the girl tripped and fell forward, her arms flailing wildly as she tried to retain her balance. Without thinking, she called forth a light force to support the girl, effectively helping her stand back up.

She was greeted with a bright smile when she reached her, "Hi! You were the one who helped me just now, weren't you?"

Taken aback, she stared at the girl for several moments before replying, "Yes, I am. I am Nefuriya Kuryutie from Zigla. And you are?"

"Eiyora Mawrelein, I am from the Icicle Water Shrine in Sulvekia.."

"I suppose you are a water mage?"

Eiyora nodded, "And you are a windcaster?"

"Yes, I am." Nefuriya affirmed as she looked over the water mage. She spotted chocolate brown hair and clear blue eyes along with a very fair skin tone. Her clothing were almost of similar fashion to that of Nefuriya's. She wore a similar high-collared white shirt though with long sleeves and a long skirt.

"Thank you again! I thought for a second then that I would have dirtied my clothing again when I fell." Eiyora broke to another ear to ear smile, her hands clasped tightly on Nefuriya's as she shook them in gratitude.

"You are welcome." Nefuriya managed to reply before several loud shouting reminded her of their location. "Why don't we talk it over in a nearby bar? This seem hardly the place for us to converse in."

"Sure! I could use a drink as well." Eiyora smiled, lightly tugging on her hand, indicating for her to follow her.

It did not take long for them to reach the bar, an excited Eiyora dragging a confused Nefuriya in through the entrance. Nefuriya did not notice the conditions of the bar at first, her mind still hardworking in its attempt to piece back the way they had come through. It was when her nose had detected a smell of alcohol and sweat mixed together, did she look up from her thoughts, only to notice the backwater conditions of the bar.

She had no time to look around as with another yelp, Eiyora tripped and fell again.

Swishhh...Swishhhh, Maco stood upon and eight foot hole, with a slight laughter he let go of the shovel in his hands and colapsed his but to the floor. Sweat covered his body from up to down, the sun was directly looking straight at him.

"Hey give me a break Sigel I don't worship you." With another laughter he stood up to a cantine from his pocket and started drinking.In a few moments the water was had traveled from a cylinder container to an itching throat. With a slight smirk he looked down, nothing, no cystal no clue. "Well, guessing I'm digging a fourth." Maco sighs and throws away the cantine, he had more.

Maco floated up and reached the floor. "Hey favonius, i think your theory
about a crystal being in the crujen desert might have been, well a little bit wrong." Favonius appeared floating a slight amount of feet above him

"Then I'm guessing we might need a new method of finding those crystals."

"How can we do that, i mean no disrespect, but the moons core was seperated and hidden, no one knows where they are. "

Favonius thought for a second "ever heard of the term moonseeker."

Maco smiled "pretty much my competition, yes."

"Well" she said "maybe you should go to arinia where they are meeting, and from there on follow them, when they finally find what were looking for snatch it from them."

Maco laughed "who knew a goddess would be capable of such trickery."

"Well it won't be me who's doing this, it will be you." "I consider myself a part of you miss and always will, that is why i stated myself as you.

"Nobody likes a kiss up Maco" she stopped "except me maybe, now go, we don't have much time." "Yes my goddess favonius"

Maco walked a little bit west and saw that his horse didn't run away this time.

"Well oranath, its time we go on a little trip" Oranath put his head on the ground, making Maco laugh.

"Don't worry the ships aren't to far to the west, well be there in two hours," and so they rode on.

Two Hours Later

"See oranath that wasn't that long, were in the deserts docks now."

"The ship to Ariania will be leaving shortly, now boarding horses and their masters A course"

Maco dismounted from his horse and led him towards the ship, he then sat down and waited.

He stood outside looking up at the temple, torn by indecision. Did he really want to commit himself to a cause he wasn't sure if he believed in? What had the gods ever done for him? They didn't show up when his parents were murdered in cold blood by a couple of drunken farmhands. They weren't there when he was forced to scratch for food in the tundra, raiding into the south when he needed supplies. They weren't there when he spent all those years in prison. They weren't there when he escaped and had to fight off all pursuit. No. The gods had done nothing for him in his entire life. Was he really ready to commit himself to finding the pieces of the Moon Goddesses body?

Then again, there was the wish to think about. Imagine what he could accomplish if he were to survive this venture and achieve that wish. He wasn't sure what this magic could do, but he assumed that if it was the prize for successful completion, it had to be pretty powerful stuff.

He stood on the frozen tundra, the wind whipping at the tattered sheepskin cloak that was all he had to protect himself against the cold. He was standing on one of the main roads, massive warhammer at the ready in case the merchants decided to put up a fight against him. He hoped that they wouldn’t. He wasn’t in the mood to spill blood.

The cart that was rumbling slowly down the path slowed to a stop, the large arctic bred horses snorting in impatience and annoyance.

“Hand me your goods and I’ll let you continue on unharmed. Choose to resist me, and I can’t guarantee you’ll pass by in one piece,” he said, his voice booming over the howl of the wind. He imagined the image he presented, back facing the wind, corded muscles standing out on his forearms as he hefted the massive hammer that most warriors he’d seen had problems wielding, cloak whipping about in the wind.

The merchant driving the cart began to chuckle, at first just a small laugh, which turned into deep guffaws. He threw his head back and just kept laughing.

“This is no laughing matter sir. I am serious. I will not hesitate to use this hammer of mine if you don’t comply.”

The merchant slowed his laughs down to a slight hysteria from what they were, and made a small gesture with his hands. Two figures that he had not seen sitting on the back of the cart got off and threw off silver-grey colored cloaks.

Wonderful, just wonderful he thought. These caravan guards used magic to enhance their own powers. Weaklings… He snorted in contempt and dug his heels harder into the ground. Then the bodyguards turned and looked at him and he noticed something about them. They had no faces.

“#####!” he cursed under his breath. They just had to be golems. If they drew anything bigger than simple blades he was going to have some problems. Almost as if on cue, they turned back to the carts and hefted out two blades apiece. A normal warrior, himself included would have had to use two hands to hold the blades.

His mind raced, trying to decide what to do. He looked up to the sky and saw the sun shining out through the thin cover of clouds. It looked like a deep orange color instead of the normal color. He marveled for a second how much more vivid everything seemed out here in the tundra. Then he dropped his hammer to the side, turned around and walked the other way. There was no way he was going to survive a fight between himself and those golems. And if the merchant was rich enough to afford golems that well equipped, who knew what other fun little tricks he had up his sleeve.

Well, he could afford to go hungry today he thought as the merchant started up his deep belly laugh again. He grumbled to himself as the laughter was carried away on the wind.

He realized that he was standing at the temple door, his mouth hanging open. He had gotten lost in his thoughts again. It would be dangerous for him to do that again. He had to stop doing it.

It was time to do or die. He reached out one hand and pushed open the door and walked through. “My name is Garyutsh. I am here to talk to the high priest. I wish to become a Moonseeker.”

On the ship all Maco could see was tons amount of water, all he could hear was his horse whinning and Two men fighting at the bridge, he could smell only beer and taste nothing, the feeling was simple, boredom and the floor, where he was sitting.

Inspite of all this he kept his chin up and just waited it out, only five more hours and he'd be in Ariania. He started to take this time in a meditative state, relaxing at the sound of the wind, this went well and got better as he heard the sound he wanted to here.

"We are now docking at Ariania, make sure not to leave any of your package in the ship or we'll simply throw it to the sea.

"Thats really reasuring" Maco muttered and went towards the capatin

"Hey uuum, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"Pay me and i'll consider it"

"How about, ten silver coins for watching my horse"

"Twenty"

"Fifteen"

"Deal," The captain said, Maco then payed and left

At that Maco got of the ship, "wind goddess, please point the way to where they're are meeting with the direction of then wind" The wind rapidly changed from west to east. "That way then, thanks Favonius"
Before he went towards that direction ,one man that was fighting the other at the ship quickly punched Maco in the stomach. Maco was on the ground now. "Your gonna get much more of a beating for worshipping favonius now."

"If you knew i was a wind caster" Maco stood up "Then why the hell would you attack me unarmed when i can simply put you in a world of pain and mysery, wait dont answer that, i seriously just wanna hurry up and kick your ass so bad your children will feel it" Maco smiled and then lifted a barrel of beer and smahed it onto the person withjh his wind. "There, thats better"

Now he was going to the temple that the moonseekers where meeting, just as he got there he lifted himself towards the roof and hid there. Because of his sharp ears and eyes he would see who enteres and exited and and would hear any conversation. "It seems nobody is here yet, hmmmm, what to do then"

"Excuse me, Sir, I believe you dropped this!" The half-elf held in his left hand a pouch with a string attached to it. The string had been sliced in two, and was no longer attached to the man's waist, as it had been before.

"Hrm. Give me back my money, you peasant." The human greedily swiped it from the half-elf's hands, and continued on his way, the half-elf smiling the entire time.

Greedy human. It's always the same with them: money, women, and liquor. Oh well, there must be something about them that the gods fancy. It is not currently my place to make judgement, that day will come soon.

Ray was now standing in the middle of the town of Tyrone. The sun was high, and he was on his way to the temple, he had decided that he was to become a moonseeker, in order to help those in need. His black cloak hood was down, and he had a smile on his face, as he continued to walk towards the temple.

Hrm, that's strange. The sun seems dimmer than usual... Perhaps it is just my mind playing tricks on me, or perhaps Sireaus wishes me to sense this. I will not let it go unnoticed, this is for certain. Sireaus, I will be sure to keep this in mind.

"Move, half-elf!" And with that, Ray Krushint was tossed to the side of the street, a much larger human was running down said street, with something in his hand that clearly did not belong to him. Ray slowly picked himself up, as more men began to run towards the theif. Testing me, Sireaus? Attempting to find if I am indeed ready to become a Moonseeker? What choice do I make at this intersection? Save the stolen item, or continue on down the road to the temple? What would a good person do, I wonder. Perhaps the man needs the money to save a poor wife and child at home. Or perhaps he needs it to fill his own greed. No matter, I will not intervene. He is in your hands now, gods.

Ray now stood in front of the temple, and sat upon it's stone steps. He began to chuckle to himself, as he pulled an arrow from his quiver. He looked at it closely. Despite knowing that it was not of the quality the shopkeep had said it was, Ray found it clear that the shopkeep was in need of the money, due to the condition of his children. He placed the arrow back in the quiver, and looked down the road.

"It seems that this will be an interesting adventure."

(OCC sorry if this is not up to par, been a while since I wrote one of these. I'll also try to keep it shorter in the future.)

The noise was near deafening inside the local tavern of this small fishing village. The catch today had been an extraordinary one, with the nets full to bursting. The village had quickly put together a party to celebrate and give thanks to Eithelwen.

With a mug in each hand Haero, shoved his way through the crowd. Actually, most the of the people gave the half-orc a very wide berth, but there were plenty far too drunk to notice the green skinned person shoving them to the side. With a frown and a grunt, Haero fell into the same wooden chair he had occupied most of the night and slid one of the mugs across the table. Without looking up from his meal Kromean extended a hand and intercepted the drink just as it fell off the table. With a single deft motion perfect by repeated practice, the dwarf brought the mug to his mouth and proceeded to down the entire drink in one action.

“YEAHH!” The dwarf yelled out over the din as he slammed the empty mug on the wooden table next to five others. Waving a half eating turkey leg with his left hand he proceeded to lecture the young paladin on the finer points of ale. “This stuff is not bad! Now, it’s not as bold or as strong as a good stout dwarven drink, but I’m surprised to find this hearty a drink so far from home! If you’ll notice the color indicates the brew was made using…” The dwarf stopped his speech and the pendulum like motion the drum stick as he realized the boy was not listening. “Lad, have you heard a thing I’ve said?”

The half-orc’s gaze lifted from his mug to meet the dwarf’s. “Sorry, I’m merely… contemplating about recent events. The disappearance of the goddess Luminielle, the rumors of the moon shards, and what the priest said earlier…”

With a mouth half full of meat the dwarf managed to spit out the rest of the sentence. “The Moonseekers.” Swallowing, the dwarf stuck a stubby arm into the air and managed to catch the attention of a very frustrated brown haired waitress nearby. “Be a good lass and get me another mug of ale so these here won’t get lonely. Thank you kindly.” Turning his attention back to Haero, “Now what about it is bothering you?”

“The gods are assembling a group, but I have not been bid by Tonitrus to join them.”

A brief chuckle issued from the dwarfs small body. “Pride hurt a little? Thought you were bigger than that!”

A frown graced Haero’s face as he took another sip from his mug. “That is not it. I am merely wondering as to the reason.”

“Are ye wanting to go join up with them?”

With a slow shake of his head Haero continued. “No, if Tonitrus had willed me to be there I would have gone already. But, without a divine directive it is assumed I will continue on my current path.”

“And what is wrong with that lad? Our path has been an exciting one so far has it not?” The dwarf said with a grin as he remembered fights past.

“That is has. And that is what confuses me. You are planning to seek out the shards your self, so why have us remain separate from the other searchers?”

“Bah. Lad the one thing about the gods you have to realize is that they have their own plans and we must make our own as well. Take Mírgalen for example, like the earth beneath our feet, he only moves if there is a reason. Take it as a sign that we are already on the path we are supposed to be.”

A smile lit up the paladin’s often dark face. “Religious advice from you? I suppose weirder things have happened.”

Both friends started laughing at the remark, just as a female voice let out a cry barely heard above the noise in the room. Out of the corner of his eye, Haero saw the brown haired waitress trip over a drunkard’s ill placed limb. Her tray and Kromean’s drink sent flying.

Swinging his left arm down, the paladin, swatted the tray out of the air slamming it to the ground by the table. Haero caught the mug mid-air with his right hand, keeping it from flying into the crowd. Unfortunately, the liquid inside was not saved.

“Awww…” Kromean let out, “that was my drink.” The dwarf slid out of his chair and gave the lady a hand. “Afraid I’m not paying for that one lassie. Care to get me a fresh one?” The dwarf’s deep smile chased away the look of fear on the lady’s face as she stared at Haero, who was still clutching the mug above the table. “Bah, don’t worry about him, worry more about my drink!!” With a sidelong glance at the green skinned paladin, the waitress quickly apologized and promised to bring the dwarf a new drink.

Kromean was just settling back into his seat as a rather large human approach their table. The man’s dripping clothing indicated the final destination of Kromean’s drink. “Yous, filthy oooorc. Is this yous doing?” The man’s slurred speech letting both know how much the man had drank.

Kromean spoke up as Haero stood up to face the man towering over him. “Relax, the boy here didn’t do it. If anything he saved you from getting a mug upside the head!”

“Ohs, really?” The man said as he stared down at the half-orc. “If thisss, runt of an orc, didn’t who did?” The man’s drunken gaze wandered from Haero to the frazzled waitress brining Kromean another drink.

As anger bit in the man’s wasted eyes, Haero spoke up. “Leave the lady alone.” The half-orc’s hands dropped quickly down to the two axes hanging from his belt. “If I’m not mistaken, she is a follower of the Thunder God, which is why she was scared when she saw his mark on my armor. If her clumsiness has angered him, he shall punish her, not you.” The paladin’s fierce gaze staring through the man in front of him, focusing on the fight to come.

The big man made as if he were about to teach the young paladin a lesson, when Kromean spoke up with a mouth full of food. “I wouldn’t do that lad. Remember what the boy did to those three guys last night?” With a chuckle Kromean turned his attention back to his food and let the man think about it. With a growl toward Haero, the man took a few wobbly steps back and slowly disappeared back into the crowd. Laughing, Kromean opened his mouth once again. “Haero, my lad, it’s always nice to see your affect on people!”

Sitting back down, Haero picked up their conversation where they had left off before the interruption. “Just how are you planning on us finding the shards?”

“All business as usual lad?” Kromean said in between bites. Setting down his food, he leaned closer to the half-orc and continued the conversation in quieter tones. “Well, I figure instead of wondering all over the known world looking for the shards, we need to think. Rather than pursue the shards we need to see if anyone else has their hands on a shard already.”

“Ok, how do we do that?”

“I have a cousin Smil in the port town of Hanut, about two days south of here. He runs the largest dwarven import shop I know of. If anyone has found a shard, they probably have no clue as to what it is. My cousin is the man when it comes to rare gems and metals, there is a chance he or someone he knows was asked to identify a rare item like the moon shards. Then we just have to track a person down.”

“What if no one has found a shard yet, or if they knew what it was?”

“Then we have wasted a few days and I have to come up with another idea!” Kromean laughed.

The young woman who was trying to get Coran to turn and address her caught Trysta's attention the second she walked in. First of all, her weapon. Only high mages would have such a carefully crafted weapon and this girl didn't look a day over 18 years old. She was most definantly human as her skin tone and body build suggested. She wasn't bad on the eyes either. Maybe Coran's woman?

"Heeey, Coran, do you know her?" asks Trysta.

"Ahh, Neru, there you are. I've been waiting for yo--"

Before finishing his sentence, the girl unleashes a swift backhand to the handsome rogue's face.

"You jerk! I was attacked out there you know! You could have waited for me at the port but nooo! You had to go ahead yourself!"

"Hey, sorry. I did make the room reservation though, so you can go up and rest if you like." replies Coren.

"Nonsense! You must introduce me!" shouts Trysta.

"Oh? And who is this Coren? Your drinking partner?" asks Neru.

"Oh, I suppose she is. She's also one of those...what did you say it was?"

"Moonseekers." says Trysta.

Neru simply nods and sits next to Coren and sighs.

"Hey barkeep, how about a drink for the other lady, eh?" shouts Trysta.

"But I don't...!"

"C'mon now, don't be shy. It'll be fun!" grins Trysta.

Coran rubbed his red cheek and sighed. He looked at his untouched cheap ale, picked it up and drank it down all at once, promptly slamming it back down on the bar counter, as if announcing it was finished. He could tell Trysta and Neru were looking at him curiously, but he ignored them and ordered another one.
Money, women and liquor; the glories of being human. There wasn’t much money though, and the liquor wasn’t that great, but at least he was currently in the company of women. A pretty stranger who happened to be a moonseeker and a young questing princess, Coran couldn’t complain.

“So you’re both Moonseekers too?” Trysta asked after taking a gulp of her liquor.

“Sort of, I’m just along for the ride,” Coran said. “She’s the ‘proper’ Moonseeker.”

“How did you start tagging along then?”

“It’s a long story…”

“Tell us about yourself, Miss…?” Neru asked curiously.

“Trysta. I’m a…bounty hunter.”

Coran snapped to attention again. Did he hear right? Bounty Hunter? Damn. Coran and Neru both visibly tensed at the words ‘bounty hunter’ and exchanged glances, which Trysta didn’t fail to notice despite her mild intoxication. “Bounty Hunter, you say?” Coran had slowly moved his hand to a concealed dagger. “Still bounty hunting?”

Trysta was aware of the danger. Something about saying she was a bounty hunter had set off alarms in Coran’s head. "Well, I'm being paid a rather large cut of money from some private collectors who want me to find one of those moon shard things. I guess some rich guy thinks it would look neat hanging on his wall."

Coran relaxed and moved his hand from his concealed dagger back to his drink, which in turn made Trysta and Neru relax. The only one who was oblivious to the exchange was the bartender, who gave them all a puzzled look and went about his business.
Coran glanced the woman, who was taking another swig at her hard liquor. Living as a bandit for most of his life, he hadn’t spent much time getting to know women until recently. Neru was cute but very complicated, and didn’t give Coran an easy time. This woman though, for the short time Coran had known her, was curiously different. Coran prided himself on being a good judge of character almost as soon as he encountered someone, but he had been having a hard time figure out Trysta. Coran didn’t worry about it though, assuming he would have more time to get his head together later.

“Well, I’m out for the night,” Trysta suddenly said, getting up. Coran suddenly realized it was dark outside again and he must have been silent for a long time. Trysta stood carefully, and she wobbled a bit from her intoxication, but found her way up the stairs to her room. Coran remained at the bar, going back into his silent thought.

Trielani had rode fast and hard for most of the day and night was starting to set in as she neared the town of Tyrone. While she rode the dust from the horses hooves made her cough even worse than it was. She had finished her water skin a hour ago and was quite thirsty but the town was only minutes away. She rode into the town from a district that appeared to be one of the lesser districts and poorer. Night had taken over and she needed to find lodging. She dismounted her horse and began walking it through busy streets. “Excuse me sir could you tell me where the nearest temple is?” Trielani asked a local guard.

“Afraid the nearest is all the way on the other side of the town a good hour’s walk if the streets were clear but this time a day it will take you several hours.” The guard said.

“Is there anywhere near here that has somewhere I can stay?” Trielani asked.

“There is a saloon down this rode it has a stable and an inn above it.” The guard said giving her directions.

Trielani nodded then headed down the rode to where he had said the tavern was. She went to the stables first and paid 5 copper pieces to have her horse stay the night in the stables. Trielani then went into the tavern and to the bar. She saw a man talking with two woman one of them very distort about behind in a place like this. She waved down the barkeep, “Excuse me can I get a glass of milk?” Trielani said falling into another coughing fit.

“Sorry ma’am we don’t have any milk here.” The barkeep said. “Only liquor and water to chase it.”

“Water will do.” Trielani said.

“This ani’t no soup kitchen lady you order a drink or you get nothing. “ The barkeep said.

Trielani coughed again and then when able to said. “Fine give me an ale I don’t care what kind and a glass of water.”

The barkeep grumbled and wandered off returning with a mug of ale and a glass of water. Trielani ignored the ale and drank the water.

Trielani sat drinking her water as one of the woman she was sitting next to left. They had been talking about moonseekers and bounty hunter but she hadn’t really been listening too much. She sat for most of the night ordering ale and water after another until there was four empty glasses of water and four untouched ales. Mean while she had still been coughing. Trielani didn’t understand her priestess powers should be fighting off the illness by now she couldn’t understand why they were working. It must have something to do with the loss of the goddess. “Forgive me miss are you all right?” The young human sitting next to her asked.

Trielani almost didn’t realize at first that he was talking to her. “Oh yes I’m fine just a little under the weather.”

It would be the first fire Syn had lit since entering the forest for the nights and fortunately he had brought food provisions along, however the real reason he resided within the forest was simply that he wished to not draw attention towards himself. While the risk of being attacked by various beasts had diminished the threat had not totally disappeared.

Soon he'd settle in a beautiful glade surrounded by tall silver birch trees, their white bark dazzling in the late afternoon sun. To one side of the glade were the ruined remains of an ancient stone watchtower. Large pieces of carved stone lay scattered on the ground and would make ideal seats while he readied to eat.
The grass was lush and green and many ferns grew in the shade of the beeches lime green canopy. Wild flowers carpeted the forest floor in stark whites, soft pinks and the occasional shocking red as clusters of poppies poked through the grass. The rider dismounted and removed the necessary supplies then he'd allow his steed to roam and graze nearby. The elf picked out an appropriate place to gather the necessities to strengthen the fire, all the while taking in the fresh, peaceful enviroment.

Syn removed one of his knives from it’s leather scabbard and began to cut into the earth. He worked until he had almost freed a large sod of earth three-quarters way round, then he'd flip it back to rest on the grass. He carefully cleaned his knife and replaced it, a good warrior always took care of his weapons, one of the many lessons learned during his training. He then gathered some small pieces of masonry that had broken off the large stones and made a small make-shift wall in the newly exposed earth. All it needed now was the wood so he removed his bow from his back and set off noiselessly into the woods in the opposite direction from which he came.

He had not travelled far from his rest site when movement in the undergrowth ahead caught his attention and so with the agility he was graced with he leapt effortlessly up into the branches of a near by tree and waited. His keen ears heard the rustling of grass and the pawing of the earth. As he quietly removed an arrow from his quiver two large brown-grey ears made themselves visible. A young hare. Bigger than a rabbit and there would be more than enough meat. It paused and sniffed the air for danger, sensing nothing it went back to it’s foraging.
Syn set the animal in his sights, gave silent thanks to the talented Tonitrus for this blessing and released the shaft. It was a clean kill.

The elf jumped nimbly from his hidden perch and collected his meal . He removed the arrow and looked it over with a critical eye , it was still in good condition, after wiping it in the long grass he returned it to his quiver to be used at another time. It was then that he noticed what had grabbed the hare’s attention. Wild berries were growing in abundance amongst the undergrowth and so he collected two large hand fulls and carefully tipped them into the quiver.

The kindling was good and dry and the sparks soon became dancing amber flames encouraged to life by the elf's steady puffs of air. The flames had well and truly established themselves by the time the hare was ready and it wasn’t long about cooking on the make-shift spit. He ate his meal in a comfortable silence then curiosity got the better of him.

"Tonitrus, you have blessed me with an honourable meal thus night, and for that I am grateful. Regardless, a question still remains.. The Moonseekers, must I follow the path they have set down as well?"


"Most trusted follower, you still remain foolish in a sense of self-discovery. Unfortunately that path that lies ahead is yours, and yours to make. I must not bestow any influence over you in particular other then this, simply because you are a man of much worth and the decisions you make amaze me at times. Follow your heart Elven boy, and what you seek shall come to par."

"I understand, I shall do what is necessary Lord Tonitrus. I thank you for your much appreciated Guidance. I will make you proud."

Syn began to pack up his few supplies. The short meal was over and he had let the fire burn itself out while there remained plenty of hours of daylight left before he would have to rest for the night. All going well he would be at his destination some time after mid-day tomorrow. He called for his steed to return, who soon approached looking sated and rested, he had enjoyed the lush green grass nearby.
Syn would be quick to pat the horse down and informed him that their journey was well on the way and that in due time he would be able to run with the many elven horses stabled outside his home.

As Syn rode behind the distant horizon, He watched the sky’s myriad pallet of colours change and gradually darken. Soon the heavens would be littered with the stars he loved so much and the jewelled light of Arian would once again offer hope and courage to all in need. He remained high upon his horse gazing into the heavens until his nose caught the putrid stench of pipe weed wafting up through the tree’s branches..

Arien sat slumped against the building walls of the busy bazaar street of Tyrone. As usual the streets were filled with passerbys, the shouts of merchants advertising their goods, and money chiming in people’s hands as they counted it. Arien would be joining the chorus of shouting if it weren’t for the thoughts that pressed on her mind. What will I find at that shack of a liquor establishment when I get there? She thought as she recalled her dream of two weeks before. Its not hard to decipher, I saw very clearly the bar, and the time, and the exact seat I was sitting in, and the figures of the people around me. I wouldn’t think it was so important except it keeps bothering me. I just know Sireaus is trying to tell me something. I must be at that bar tonight!

Just then her thoughts were interrupted by a man fiddling with a preserved monkey’s foot. “Excuse me sir, may I help you” Arien said in a friendly tone as she wiped the ebony and purple strands of hair away from her eyes.

“Um… yes” the foreign peasant man replied, ”How much is that stone around your neck?”

“Eh? You want this?” Arien held up the small glowing fragment that was attached to a piece of twine around her neck. “Well then I’d have to charge you….” She thought of a suitable price for the rarity that had found completely by chance before the man interrupted.

“Never mind, it would probably cost more than my life is worth.” The peasant smiled kindly and paid for the monkey’s paw in small coins before disappearing in the sea of people.

Arien bowed to the man as he walked away then sighed heavily. Oh man! This thing is more trouble than I thought. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but the heavens are chaos with the moon in pieces, the sun and stars are so dim of late. She smirked greedily to herself. But this shard of moon is going to grant me a comfortable life when I find a rich enough person to buy it. And to think it was just lying there in the dirt! I am grateful to Sireaus for granting me keen eyesight enabling me to spot this little beauty.

“Ha-ha! What a find!” she said aloud happily as she tucked her precious find into her black tunic and tugged at the collar of her purple vest as an aristocrat would adjust their tuxedo thinking of the fine silks she could buy.

The day waned on and the bazaar died down and Arien packed up her goods in the large cloth pack covered in the dust of travel. She smiled to the sky as she headed down the streets of Tyrone to seek the bar where she hoped fate would change her life forever.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Nefuriya released Eiyora from the wind she had wrapped round the mage to support her.

"I'm sorry!" Eiyora apologised as she managed to stand back on her own two feet. She straightened her clothing, as she turned around, only to find three curious faces staring back at her and gasped as she recognised one. "Neru Eiren Cesoireao? The second princess?"

"Oh sweet Eithelwen, no, you got the wrong person." Neru all but groaned. Her eyes had a strange glint onto them, one that Nefuriya understood.

"But-" Eiyora protested.

"Come along Eiyora, you must have gotten the wrong person. Let's go over and stop disturbing the young lady shall we?" Nefuriya chided as she put both her hands on the brunette's shoulders and gently directed her to a seat several seats away from the princess. She did not miss the surprised look on Neru's face when she had looked down, and managed to notice her bare feet, which were still not touching the dirty ground.

Ordering two ales after Nefuriya had found, much to her chagrin that wine was not available in the bar, she whispered to a mildly confused Eiyora, "Eiyora, it is not wise to uncover Neru Eiren Cesoireao's status right now. Perhaps much later? For I believe she is not here in Tyrone without a reason."

"Without a reason? You mean she is a moonseeker?" Eiyora asked, careful to lower her volume lest others overhear their conversation.

Gulping down the ale, and making a digusted face at its watered down taste, Nefuriya replied, "Perhaps, she is. That just reminds me, are you here as one as well?"

"Yes, I am. You are one too, right? Like you said, you can't be here without a reason."

"Since, you are one of us, I suppose I could trust you. Yes I am a moonseeker, I was sent by her lady, Favonius to represent the Wind to help search for the moon crystals."

"I see. So, shall we stay here and attempt to get plastered till they've left?"

"I believe that would be alright, that is if we could even get drunk from the measly amount of alcohol they have in this concoction."

A bell-like laughter escaped Eiyora's lips, "Well, that's why I said 'attempt'."

[OOC: I am posting now in the steed of Suis-chan as she is sick right now and forbidden to come near the comp. Anway, I believe she will be the one doing the follow up(if any) of our scene.]

Krug stood a mile from the gates of Salbia anxiously awaiting daybreak, so as not to be seen by any sentries. He had traveled for two days, following the will o' wisp sent by Ignifer to the port city. The night was cold, and the will o' wisp provided little heat, but Krug knew enough about creating fire by conventional means that he could start a cooking fire to roast some venison steaks from a young buck he had killed before the journey. Once the meat was cooked, he devoured three of the massive steaks, with blackberries accompanying the venison. He slept easily, dreams of the promised power and tormenting dwarves swimming through his head.

Sunrise and birdsong awakened Krug, and as soon as the gates were opened he walked in, pack lightened in absence of the venison steaks, and headed for the temple of Ignifer. The emblem of flames etched into a round slab in the cobblestone rode signaled that he was close to his destination, and as soon as he walked in, he was greeted by a broad grin.

"Welcome to the temple of Ignifer, the fire god!" the owner of the grin cheerily spoke. "I am Thilit, high priest of the Salbian temple. Of course, I know who you are. You are Krug the orc hybrid, are you not?"

The words "orc hybrid" angered Krug. He reached for the axe slung across his back and the sword at his belt, but was stilled by a warm hand on his arm; that of Ignifer. Injure this human only at great cost, the god warned. Krug lowered his hands and listened to what Thilit had to say, seating himself in his study and preparing for a long talk with the priest.

"There is a band of Moonseekers gathering in Tyrone. They are seeking for shards of the Moon Core, for whatever reason motivates them. Some worshiped the Moon Goddess, others want power, but all want the shards. You would not be welcomed among them, but Ignifer has a special task for us.

"We of the Salbia temple are all devout followers of Ignifer. I am gifted with the power of fire conjuring. There are those among us who can abandon all emotions but anger and channel it to their strength, much like you. We can band together. We can form our own group of Moonseekers. We will grasp as many of the shards as we can, and then we'll challenge the real Moonseekers for the remainder. It is well within our power, for one temple to go out and compete with this rabble. And Ignifer has told us that you wish to find the shards as well."

"That is his wish," Krug replied.

"Very good! We will start out tomorrow, with you added to our ranks. The shards are out there. With your help, we will have them all for Ignifer."

A floating fireball awoke a sleeping elf high on a branch within a tree. The more annoying disturbance was the grunt of the creature that followed it. An orc, was his first guess, but after seeing its human properties, he concludes that it is of half-bred. With an event as unusual as this, it no doubt meant they were going somewhere very magnificent. And with him on a search to find the moon shards, he took ever advantage that he could in getting closer, or possibly closer to one of the valuable items.

So, for two days, the elf followed the creature. There were times when it felt that someone was following it, however, Void was too smart for that. He would simply blend in with the darkness of the area. And if it was as bright as day, he would create an invisibility that the naked eye would not catch, only if the caster did not move at all. And as the sun arises to signify another day has come, the sleeping elf finds the half-orc being greeted at the gate of a temple by a priest. He sees it as the temple of the fire god, Ignifer since a fire symbol was displayed above its gates. And so, as they spoke, Void crept by them. He had to use the highest focus of his power possible to not disturb the aura of the experienced priest of fire. And as they walked in, he followed them, arriving within a small study where they sat and talked.

The priest talks:There is a band of Moonseekers gathering in Tyrone. They are seeking for shards of the Moon Core, for whatever reason motivates them. Some worshiped the Moon Goddess, others want power, but all want the shards. You would not be welcomed among them, but Ignifer has a special task for us."

Void leans closer to listen from his cover of darkness within in a corner.

The priest continues:"We of the Salbia temple are all devout followers of Ignifer. I am gifted with the power of fire conjuring. There are those among us who can abandon all emotions but anger and channel it to their strength, much like you. We can band together. We can form our own group of Moonseekers. We will grasp as many of the shards as we can, and then we'll challenge the real Moonseekers for the remainder. It is well within our power, for one temple to go out and compete with this rabble. And Ignifer has told us that you wish to find the shards as well."

Void now became very interested in this little situation. He would first gain the trust of the fire-worshippers. And when they encounter the Moonseekers, he would swipe all the moon shards from both groups and end up being the victor among all of them.

The opportunity was too sweet to pass up so Void speaks out to them:"Maybe I can be of some assistance."

Void walks out from his cover of darkness, revealing himself to the two.

"Fire alone will not be a threat to the Moonseekers, for they will be composed of a variety of worshippers. I believe a "Morwen" accomplice will be more of a use to your little group. I have nothing to gain but power in your eyes, but it is far from that."


OOC: Let me remind you all that I am VERY pissed at the moment. At first, I typed a very good 700-word intro, glorying over my work of achievement. The downside: I was writing it on a browser, not a on word document like I ususally do, so when I was trying to backspace, I went to the page before, therefore when I went forward back to my page, all of it was gone. So let this be a lesson to us all: NEVER get as lazy as me and not pre-write our posts in a browser window. They are monsters that care not for you words, only for eating them.

I almost decided not to post, but I still had SOME desire left to get a post up, so went ahead and created a short-version of my work.

[One Day Before Meeting of the Moonseekers]

The sun seemed to be heaving as of late, and its light was losing its brilliance. Lakre had been monitoring it as he traveled to Aran. He started this journey to Tyrone for the main purpose of going to Sigel’s temple and to inquire the priests about it. But that, however, was not his only mission as he had ‘loose ends’ to tie up.

It had been twelve years since he had been to Tyrone. In reality, it had been twelve years since he had been to the continent of Arania at all. In fact, his actual purpose for coming was to see the one person who he knew might be left from his past, his mother.

Lakre walked from the alleyway back onto one of the main paths in Tyrone. The scene was blurry in his mind, but with his new embraced visual it brought back some of his fuzzy memories. The small house still stood in the same place. Everything looked exactly the same from his memory. “Father’s men must have actually given some of the dealings to mother,” said Lakre quietly. He breathed out deeply as he walked to the wooden door of the house and knocked on it quietly.

A mature, brunette haired woman came to the door and cracked it open, revealing only a portion of her face. Lakre looked upon the woman and tried to remember his mother’s face.

“Who are you?” asked the woman from behind the door.

Lakre listened the familiarity of her voice as those words came out. He stood their amazed that he was here when her words quickly came again.

“I said, who are you?” demanded the woman again.

“Um…my name is Lakre Rumth,” managed Lakre. The woman looked at him in surprise for a moment.

“Lakre…who are you? If you are my son, then what is the family’s real crest?” said the woman, regaining her composure.

Lakre smiled. His father had told him when he was younger about the hidden crest. On all of their trade dealings they had what was publicly known as their family crest, and it was a raven holding a rabbit in its talons. But, their actual family crest in which they believed in and which his father had designed was a ray of light shining down on a rock. Lakre smiled at the irony of this, considering Lakre follows Sigel.

“The Ray of Hope,” replied Lakre. The woman stared back as tears began to flood her eyes. She opened the door wide now and Lakre could finally see her entire face.

His mother invited him in and they talked for the duration of the day. She learned everything that had happened to him, what happened to her husband, and even to see how Lakre had grown up. He was continuously teased by his mother on how fit he looked. As a child it was all about his studies so he didn’t fill up hid build. He spent the evening there as well and decided tomorrow he would go and talk to the priests.

[Day of the Meeting]

Lakre rose to the smell of his mother cooking in the other room. It was odd to have someone there for him. Ever since Role died he had lived on his own. His dealings with other people had been very small until recently. He sat up out of bed smelling the fresh scent that was wafted in. He rose and walked into the room where he found a fresh bowl sitting on the table, waiting just for him.

As he ate he looked around the familiar scene. It all seemed to be the exact same, like nothing had changed. They had talked about the seamen that had returned. They did in fact give her most of the dealings and split the rest among themselves. Lakre was glad that his father had found such good men, even if they didn’t protect Lakre back then.

The main room was rather small and had very little furniture. It had the main dining table, three chairs, and a metal brace to hold the pot when it was out of the fire. There were a few shelves, which held everything else. He stood up after finishing and his mother handed him his things.

“I’ll be back after I talk with the priests, mother,” said Lakre as he exited and waved.

Lakre walked back to the main path and headed on to the temple. He was amazed that he was able to see his mother after all these years. He had given up on this when he was younger, but when Role died he found a large stash of money and used it to bribe some sailors to ferry him here. Tyrone was a bustling city and when he finally regained his concentration he realized he had walked into the town square and was surrounded by people.

He looked around and could see the top of the central temple, which he assumed was the temple of Sigel. Lakre slowly worked his way through the crowd up to the front of the temple, where he would hopefully find some answers.

OOC: I didn’t feel like going in to great detail on any of their conversations as it would be rather…pointless in case of the Roleplay, as well as making it much longer. Phew..need to get back in the groove of roleplaying...

"That was close... what is she doing here?" Neru muttered under her breath as she grimaced and drank a mouthful of ale, making a face at the taste that flooded into her mouth. "And what are all these strange people doing here? Floating girls, water mages, bounty hunters... next we'll have a Moon Shard walking through the damn door."

Coran paused in his conversation with yet another female and looked at the young princess with concern. "Are you drunk, Neru? You're... babbling."

"Ha! Like I could get drunk on this stuff. I had enough anyway, so I'm going to sleep. I'll wait for you in the Great Solar Shrine tomorrow morning. Good night." Finishing the last of her ale and making another face, Neru got up and made for the exit before Coran could respond.

On her way out of the bar, she bumped into young girl with short hair that made her wonder if she was indeed drunk. Which normal human have purple hair anyway? And only at the tips? Shaking her head profusely, Neru stepped out of the bar muttering about strange people and needing fresh air. She continued doing that until she reached the Crystal Water Shrine and fell asleep on a soft and comfortable bed.

~~~

Mirgalen's underground palace hidden deep under the mountain of Soria had always been dimly lit with little light and covered with much darkness and shadow, and the lack of light was second to Morwen's own palace. But Morwen was in no mood to appreciate the surroundings, as she made her way to Mirgalen's resting room.

Mirgalen, who knew she was coming, was seated on a flat piece of boulder and his dark brown eyes were trained towards the only entrance of the room. Silently, he watched as the Dark Goddess appeared from the darkness and came to sit on another boulder nearby. His eyes travelled quickly from Morwen's floor-touching raven black hair and ebony eyes, down to the curves of her perfect body that was both familiar and not, and finally settled on the floor with an ache in his heart.

"What do you want?" Morwen's voice was flat and emotionless.

Mirgalen glanced up from the ground and answered, "To ask if you have sent your people after the shards. And to tell you some things concerning Luminelle's core."

Morwen's eyes flickered at the mention of the Moon Goddess, and a moment later, she nodded.

"Favonius had her servant looking into the Crujen Desert, but she seemed to have abandoned it for the moment. And several of the shards have been found by some people, but none have been offered to any of the other Gods yet. Things are happening as planned."

Morwen said nothing in reply, but stared at the night sky for a long while. Finally she spoke, her voice soft and no longer without emotions. "Us gods have changed, and Domiria is in chaos. And it's all because of one of us."

Knowing fully well what the goddess of stealth and darkness meant, Mirgalen frowned. "You're not to be blamed, Morwen."

She did not respond, and returned to what she was doing. After staring at her for some time, Mirgalen did the same.

Time crawled by slowly, then finally Morwen whispered, "Even now, you love her, don't you? You still love Lumi, don't you?"

"Yes, no matter what happened, what is happening and what will happen, I love your twin sister. And I'm willing to do anything for her."

Morwen smiled, a smile filled with sorrow, and disappeared in a swirl of shadow, leaving only her last words echoing in the cave. "The Moonseekers have gathered. Be careful of Sireaus and Eithelwen."

~~~

"Is it me or is the Sun brighter than before? It seems really intend to make my head hurt." Neru squinted at the bright morning sky and grumbled as she checked through her little bag of belongings before she left the Crystal Water Shrine.

"Perhaps, Neru, the Sun God is giving the quest his blessings." The head priestess smiled benignly at the princess that she grew very fond of when Neru was still training to be a mage. "Besides, you shouldn't grumble so when you were the one who had too much to drink last night."

"Ehehe..." The blond girl chuckled embarrassedly.

The elder priestess shook her head with a smile and leaned forward to give the mage a kiss on each cheek, "You should be going, young one. You wouldn't want to be late, do you?"

With a bright grin and wave of goodbye, Neru made her way towards the center of Tyrone, towards the Great Solar Shrine.

[OOC: Okay, Tim, I've my post up. Kristin and Niph, I would really appreciate it if there's a logical discovery of Arien's Moon Shard by Trielani, by details or by mention. The Moon Shard can hardly escape any Moon worshippers notice anyway.

Sigel, the Sun God, will appear somewhere around noon when all the fifteen Moonseekers are present, so place the time of your posts on the day of meeting in the morning, not later. And eh... just do the arrivals and character interaction and I'll do the start of the meeting when the time is right, okay?]

"Tyrone...I finally made it."

Seph quickened his pace as he trudged along the dusty path to the city, a firm grip on the illumina lighting his path. It was already a few hours after midnight according to his watch; he would have already set up camp if he didn't see the faint glow coming from the city on the hill. He had been camping out by the roadside for almost a week now, and he was desperate for a nice bed and a decent meal. He only hoped that the precious stones that his mother gave him would be suitable enough for payment for any services that he might need; or at least, be enough to exchange for a decent amount of the country's currency. He knew quite well that the pieces of paper that was Lumengrid's currency wouldn't be of any value on the main continent; they were really only pieces of paper after all. "This is so troublesome,” he muttered to himself as he neared the city gates.

---

"This is so boring,” the young guard said as he yawned and stretched his arms out. Picking up his weapon, he lazily went up to the watchtower to begin his shift, cursing his luck on being one of the people assigned with night duty. All of them thought it strange that they were having night duty now; Tyrone has generally been a peaceful city, and while there were the occasional drunk riots; there's never been any serious incident to warrant such a great increase in security. "Perhaps something to do with the recent earthquake?" he thought to himself as he put on more wood in the furnace that lighted the tower. After making sure that the fire burnt brightly enough, he turned his sights on the main road, on the look out for suspicious beings. He had heard rumors recently that there had been an increase in the number of foreigners visiting Tyrone lately, and while some of them looked friendly enough to be tourists who just wanted to enjoy the hustle and bustle of their fair city, most of the others were more probably bandits in disguise. His musings were suddenly cut short as he noticed a peculiar light moving down the road towards the gate. As the light came closer, the guard realized that it was held by a person in a black cloak, and that the light was coming from a strange cylindrical device that he has never seen before. Arming his bow, he yelled at the figure as it stopped below the watchtower.

"State your business!" the guard yelled down at the stranger as he tightened his grip on his weapon.

The cloaked man waved his 'lamp' and it went out, putting it inside his cloak as he lowered his hood, revealing his face. "I merely wish to enjoy the comforts of an inn tonight...I have some business to attend to in your city," the man said with a smile.

{Day of the gathering at the bar}

Arien walked with a bit of a skip to her step, she had plenty of time before her prediction would take place so she decided to eat a good meat before she headed to the bar.

She then went to the inn she was staying for the past month at near the edge of the town called “The Writhing Wyrm”, sat at a table and waited for the wench to come and bring her the usual plate of poultry and wine. “Oy! Jeremy!” she yelled to the surprisingly young innkeep who was serving ale not to far away.

“Ah! Arien me good friend, make any money today?” replied Jeremy.

“Nah, not today, but don’t worry, I’ll make this weeks payment on time. Any news?”

“Argh, ye ‘ad better.” Jeremy scowled, “Actually I ‘ave ‘eard about a hog stolen from ‘ol Hobbes farm, and about that uh… one gang of bandits getting’ a new leader, but that’s about it”

“What you mean the Bloody Hands?”

“Aye that’s the one”

“Oh ok….nothing else? You sure? Strange meetings? Shady characters?”

“Nope, sorry milady”

“Oh ok, thanks Jeremy” Arien sighed and took a sip of wine that was just brought by a portly servant. I don’t even know if this shard is real. she thought as the stared at the steaming turkey leg. I just hope to Sireaus that I’m right about this vision thing. Arien then ate her meal in silence meditating on a plan b in case something went wrong with her payments to the innkeeper.

When she finished her meal, Arien headed out of the Writhing Wyrm and down the dark streets of Tyrone. She carried a small red satchel on her back which held her belongings in case she had to leave on a moments notice. When she got to the bar and was about to enter, she rubbed shoulders with a human girl with golden and light blue shoulder length hair. She did not get a chance to see her face but Arien simply shrugged off the matter and looked back to her path, which was not what she expected. Suddenly, there was a door frame right in front of her. Arien panicked and tried avert her forehead from slamming right into it but inertia decided that it was too late and the last thing she remembered was laying on the ground looking up at the moths circling around a torch while blood from her forehead slowly dripped into her mouth. The world around her then spun and went blank.

[OOC: So, my char is konked out in front of the bar with the drunkards and beggers. Go nuts ]

[OOC: Hehe... atleast I'm not too far behind. But I also haven't really gotten to read the posts that much. The one problem I have with long post RPs.]

Fenrir stood on the ledge of one of the tall buildings hidden in the shadows. The only thing visible of him really are the red glow of his eyes. He had been in Tyrone for sometime waiting for the rest of the Moonseekers but he had no idea who he would work with nor did he really care. He actually detested this quest, he never voluteered for it, instead he was blackmailed by the god of stars, and to make things worse they left part of the chain around his neck to limit his strength. He is barely able to kill mortals now, if only he had the strength to kill those gods. But for now he would have to be patient, he would have to work with those weak mortal beings to gain his freedom.

Fenrir walks into the light before jumping to a new building. He watches below looking for any sign of another Moonseeker. The god of stars hadn't told him how to idenitify another Moonseeker, infact the god of stars hadn't said much about the quest. He seemed to be hiding something, but what could it be? Fenrir questions if the quest has anything to do with the missing moon or even the sudden shift in powers he's been feeling lately. Something is diffently up maybe something that'll grant him freedom earlier then expected. The wolf beast smiled at the thought of the chains breaking before the god of stars expected. Of course if that happens he would destroy that god before he could warn the others. It was his fault that Fenrir was chained up in the first place. It doesn't matter for now. He only needed to find these mortals he must work with. To think Fenrir, a beast who's strength once frighten the gods must now be aided by lowly mortals, and further more he is charged with a quest by the god that feared him the most.

Fenrir jumps down from the building pounding the ground hard causing a few near by buildings to rattle from the sheer weight of the beast. He treads through the alleys till he comes to the Sun Shrine. This is were he is suppose to meet the Moonseekers but would these preists simply let him walk through. Doubtful, after all even they could sense Fenrir's malice without so much as a glance. Fenrir searches for another way in and locates a high window. It would be such an easy feat to perform, jumping to that window but it would also be risky, he may cast a shadow and those who see it will instantly notice his presense, however he has no other choice. He jumps to the window with ease and looks down, no one had notice him yet and no one would as he jumps down in the shrine landing softly not even making so much as a sound. He then quickly takes to the shadows to hid himself till he is able to approach the other Moonseekers. He just hopes he can suppress his malice enough so the preists of the shrine do not detect his whereabouts.

"Watch where you're going!" a stubby old lady shouted as she balanced the stack of bread she was carrying. Not waiting for a reply, she hastily turned around and stomped off into an alley, leaving a slightly bewildered young man in her wake.

Seph bowed his head and muttered 'sorry' before making his way towards Tyrone's tavern area. Keeping his eyes wide open as to not bump into anybody anymore, he slowed down his pace to observe the city and his inhabitants a much as he can.

"It's really...all the same." he thought to himself as he saw workers digging a hole, peddlers shouting out their wares and of course, the people crowding the place. He didn't expect it to be this crowded though, as he had to constantly squeeze himself between people on the streets. Although it was still a bit early, he found that activity in the bustling town was quite already quite high, and from the info he got from the innkeeper, it should last all day long. After an hour more of walking (and squeezing) Seph finally got out of the crowd, and into a less cramped area of the city. Sighing in relief, he wondered if he was already near the tavern district and the faint smell of booze answered his question. Seph walked around some more, and finally spotted a a bar not too far off. Quickening his pace (and avoiding some of the not-so-sober old guys wandering the streets) , he had reached the door in a few seconds time. Adjusting his cloak first, he went through the doors...and found a young girl sprawled on the ground with her forehead bleeding. A drunk man in his mid years was stooping down on her with his hands moving in a not so gentlemanly fashion; instead of helping the girl up, he was reaching for her chest. Appalled at the act, Seph quickly grabbed the drunks hands and stared him down.

"Get out of here. Now." Seph said in a menacing tone, his narrowed eyes piercing into the drunk man's.

Seeing Seph's eyes and hearing his voice, he suddenly become a lot more sober, freeing himself from Seph's grasp. Backing away, he shot Seph a fearful look and ran out the bar doors. Seeing the man gone, Seph let out a sigh and turned his attention to the young lady on the floor.

"Zzz....more...wine please...zzz" the girl said in between breaths.

Seeing that the girl was just sleeping now, he pulled out a piece of cloth from one of his pockets and began to wipe off the blood from the girl's face.

"Hey...wake up," he started, as he pulled the girl into a corner of the bar and propping her up a chair. "This isn't exactly a place for sleeping," he said as he gently slapped the girl's cheeks.

“Oh yes I’m fine just a little under the weather.”

Coran looked at her oddly. “That’s still a nasty cough.”

“No, no. I’ll be fine.”

"That was close... what is she doing here? And what are all these strange people doing here? Floating girls, water mages, bounty hunters... next we'll have a Moon Shard walking through the damn door.”

"Are you drunk, Neru? You're... babbling."

"Ha! Like I could get drunk on this stuff. I had enough anyway, so I'm going to sleep. I'll wait for you in the Great Solar Shrine tomorrow morning. Good night." Neru ended getting up and staggering out the door. She had mentioned the Great Solar Shrine, and Coran thought it would be easy enough to find.

Now that he thought on it. The bar was getting pretty crowded. Crowds made him uneasy unless he knew the faces, but these people coming in all regarded him strangely, if they regarded him at all.
Coran realised that he had probably drank the most ale out of Trysta, Neru and himself, but felt surprisingly clear headed. He decided that he would turn in anyway, crowds made him anxious. As he stood, picking up his belongings, he noticed someone bleeding on the flood, but passed her by and shuffled out of the tavern.

He stopped, then realised his room was inside the tavern on the second floor (he had booked the room when he was ordering his first cheap ale) and shuffled his way back in, past the bleeding woman who was now being moved by a man to the corner of the bar, and headed his way up stairs and continued to walk past the rooms to find the number room allocated him. Seven, room seven…or was it three? No, no…I’m sure it was five…” he thoughts wandering around the quiet corridor on the second floor. He looked at his room key, it was inscribed with the shape of an upside down slanted L. Definitely seven… and he entered his room, dropping his bags by the bed and collapsing onto the bed. He slept instantly.

He rode eastwards with the first rays of sunshine. The open plains gave way to bushes and tall trees, and the grass beneath them was thin. Soil shone through where the leaves grew thick and kept sunlight from reaching the ground. It was a peaceful place, and they rode slowly. Squirrels rushed up the bark and disappeared among the branches as Syn observed the brilliance within the forest. Syn let his gaze wander east again. Only with elven eyes he could have been spotted in the wilderness, but the winds came from the west, and any creature with a better sense of smell than men would catch his elegant scent. He marched on well until after noon, did not stop to rest or eat, did not linger to watch the black birds which seemed to feast upon something lying among the plants. He only heard their croaking all of the time as if they were mocking him. It was straining his nerves, Syn surely felt uneasy in this strange land.

For too long had he roamed the forests alone, and so the Elf tarried there no further when he saw the smoke and flickering light of a campfire across the clearing he had only just happened upon. The smell of meat roasting over the open fire enticed his cantankerous belly into growling softly. He was in unfamiliar territory; Syn had never traveled alone so far from the comfortable, lush woodland area around his home, for he had never been allowed to do so. Now, however, as he crept along the underbrush to surreptitiously draw closer to whomever had camped in the open, grassy plain, fewer in years than the saplings against which he brushed as he crawled cautiously forward, could not suppress the sudden desire to have remained at home.

His steps were abnormally light, and his movement natural as he pushed past brambles and vines to crawl forward on his hands and knees. The blade that was normally strapped to his waist he had tied tightly to his thigh so that it would not alert the wanderer before him of his approach. Though the traveler gave no indication that he was unfriendly, and despite that fact that the Elf was desperate for company, Syn would take any necessary precautions to ensure that he would make it to the Sun Shrine.

Syn came to an immediate stop when the definitive snap of twig met his ears. "Damn it", he cursed himself, realizing that it was he who had made the noise. His advance upon the traveler camped ahead had been slow, but he was now less than ten yards away from the campfire. Perhaps they have food to share, he hoped, breathing in deeply the succulent smell of cooking meat.

He held his every muscle taut to remain completely still, and silent, while he waited for the hush of the traveler ahead to break. Faint humming began from the campsite. Syn breathed a quieted sigh of relief; the camper had not heard him, or had dismissed his noise as a simple sound of the forest. "Thank the almighty Tonitrus", the relieved elf thought, and then wondered, "Maybe they can show me the way to the river."

Inching forwards, the Elf peered over the tall grass in hopes of catching sight of the traveler, but did not dare look long. Quickly jerking his head back down and his body back into a crouch. Sudden hope filled him. Perhaps it is one of the Moonseeker warriors, he thought to himself, springing to his feet spontaneously to see. Perhaps –

As quickly as he stood, the fire was out, the clearing dark, and Syn sank back from the sudden absence of sound and light around him. Syn’s jaw hung agape and the air rushed from his thin chest. Unthinkingly he fell back to his hands and knees on the grassy earth, hiding his presence belatedly. It is no warrior, he worried, pulling his gangly limbs back to him with an ungraceful, loud commotion of grass and breaking twigs. "This could get ugly."

The hope of food and company and someone to guide him home became utmost fear. His mouth dried from hanging agape for so long. Syn pulled his tongue free from the roof of his mouth where it was seemingly stuck. Licking his lips, the Elf nearly began to run when the firelight suddenly resumed once more, but instead, Syn pushed himself further into the grassy ground, his ears attentive to the slightest noise that signaled the approach of the traveler. Syn prayed, feeling increasingly more foolish at his exuberantly mislaid plans.

For many long, torturous moments, the Elf did not move. The firelight did not die out again but the soft, pleasant humming he had heard before did not restart. Wafting above him were the delicious smells of roasted rabbit and his belly growled again in its ravenous state. "Maybe I have scared him more than he has troubled me" He heard nothing except the crackling of roasted meat. He could nearly taste the gamey flesh that he could now only smell, so when his stomach’s protest increased, Syn turned his nose into the heady smell of dirt under him. "I will wait him out. He will leave in the morning."

But soon the sizzling meat began to scorch, emitting a furious smoke that rekindled the Elf’s desire to approach the stranger. "You are ruining your dinner", he scolded the traveler. "And perhaps mine, if you would share it", he added. Staying close to the ground, the Elf attempted to crawl forward on the ground without creating a sound. The summer’s grass whispered around him, the soft ground seemed to be covered in branches and rocks that clanged together with impossibly loud snaps and creaks, and the hoarse, thunderous sound of his breathing competed only with the steady thud of his wildly beating heart.

The Elf rose to his knees, and then to his feet before his courage gave out to his fearful need to flee. Immediately he expected the firelight to extinguish again but it did not, and Syn took the opportunity to survey the campsite. It was abandoned. No one sat at the fire and there was nothing to indicate that anyone had ever sat there, other than the burning rabbit meat spitted over the campfire. Striding to the fire, Syn grabbed the spit and held it away from the fire. Looking cautiously around him, the Elf tried to penetrate the darkness with his gaze. The trees around him cast shadows so deep that he could not discern further beyond the circle of firelight.

“Hello?” he called softly, uncertain whether he wanted the traveler to respond or not. "I have scared him away", Syn thought, but tried again, this time in the common tongue, Syn held the spitted meat in hand. The temptation of pulling free the traveler’s supper from its thin wooden spit became too much.

“May I share your dinner?” he asked the empty clearing. Tossing the scrap of meat into his mouth and guilty that he had ruined his potential company’s peaceful night and was now eating his meal, Syn added, “Thank you.” Chewing the charred but delicious meal, Syn still remained fully cautious as to his silent whereabouts.

Receiving no answer, the Elf continued speaking as he sated his appetite. Without his hunger to distract him, the Elf's will returned, and so he merely spoke as though the traveler could hear him. “I am lost in the woods, could you direct me to the Sun Shrine?” Syn questioned, sounding demanding and respectful to whomever as he did so. He shook his head, stuffing half the meat into his mouth and chewing quickly. Syn would continue to drive one end of the spit between the rocks that had been built around the fire and would leave the rest of the rabbit for the traveler, should they return. Scooting closer to the comforting fire, Syn untied the sword at his thigh and placed it on the ground beside him where he sat. Drawing his knees to his chest, Syn folded his arms across them and rested his head on them.

"You think I have fallen into your trap?",Syn thought while opening his eyes to stare into the firelight. Knowing completely of what was going on, that he should not stay, Syn was a genius at this sort of thing, and already began using his false weakness as a strength, allowing the trapper to be influenced that Syn was an inexperienced traveler himself. Regardless, he remained in order to retrieve the necessary information from this 'traveler' that lurked in the shadows.

The night air was not cold but the Elf wrapped his arms about himself tightly as he lay on the ground by the fire. His eyes slid shut, his hand automatically searching in the grass for the calming texture of the hilt of his sword. Syn "slept", aware of the creature in the tree watching him.

Behind him came the barely audible thud of something hitting the ground. Syn whirled around with an arrow already placed upon the elegant string of his bow, slowly pulling the string back adding tremendous power to the soon to be released poisonious arrow. "Incredibly isnt it? Just when you think youve got your prey, that very instant you become the prey."

The small, piggish orc withdrew the knife at his belt, holding it as if wondering what to do with it, exposing his row of rotting green and yellow teeth. "I knew you were Orc of some kind, I could smell you a mile away. Unfortunately, I assume you do not speak this language therefore I demand you point me in the direction to the Sun shrine if you treasure your life." Instantly, The orc would point in the westward direction while grinning all the while. It seemed to understand the language but it would constantly curse in rotting words that slurred from its own drool. Despite the Elf's word, the Orc was quick to find an arrow still aimed towards his head and a blade layed upon the floor pointing in his direction. The threat remained so the Orc charged forward, screaming words of cautious without a second thought. With ease, the arrow plunged into the left of its skull, causing blood to erupt in various directions. Relentlessly it charged on with its staggering dagger aimed for Syn's heart. Fortunately, Syn would kick his right foot up and flick his sword in a linear position, deflecting the oncoming attack of the half-dead Orc. The sword would remain in the air for that same second and would be swept away in the same manner, It was evident that the Elf posessed incredible Finesse with his battle tactics, Yet he knew there was much to be learned. Regardless, Syn adjusted his sword to its flat surface and charged at the Orc's wounded area, this resulted in Syn bashing his sword onto the arrow that stuck out of the enemies head, plundging it further until a snap was heard and the Orc was found completely still.

"Well, thanks for your hospitality my good friend. I shall be off to the Sun shrine, may the gods forgive your lack of wisdom."

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The plains and hills were brimming with overflowing life again, and the warm air carried the scent of hay and horses from the great city of Tyrone over the grass. Many riders were underway here and there, travelling the vast spaces of the land. The people of Tyrone were watchful, but the signs of an important event was underway and it could not be stopped.

"So this is this Sun Shrine? I'm finally here."

Nefuriya hummed a little as she stared down at the still bustling crowd several feet below her. She swang her legs a little as she leaned against the window watching the happenings in the city.

Both she and Eiyora had decided to go when Neru had staggered off, muttering to herself as she went. Deciding to stay in the inn on the second level of the tavern, they left the bar counter, dropping money for the drinks on it.

She had been confused at the innkeeper's facial expression when they had asked for a single room with a single bed. That is until she realised what he must have thought.

Not exactly common to have two ladies sharing room and bed. Especially when neither could fit the context ugly. she mused. Turning her attention back to the city, she found a human chasing another away from a fallen girl.

She watched as he wiped the spots of red off her face and lightly slap her face.

She seems more unconscious than drunk. And the blood on her face... Don't tell me... she thought, her body floating out of the window and her gaze shifting to land on the hard wooden door of the tavern, inches from the girl's body. A small patch of red stood out from the dark brown coloured door.

Ouch. was all she thought, her suspicions confirmed.

She floated towards the wall where there was nothing underneath, and allowed heself to drop downwards. Utilizing the wind to cushion her fall, she landed gently on the ground, walking towards the two humans.

"Is she alright?"

[OOC: Sorry for the low standard of this post, I wasn't exactly in the correct mood for writing. Oh, and I'm posting this follow-up since Suis is still sick and still can't touch the comp.]

"Hey...It's time to wake up," Seph said as he gently slapped the girl's cheeks again.

"Just a few...zzzz...more minutes..." the girl said, shifting in his arms. The girl tried to put her arms around his neck, but Seph shifted so that her hands grazed only air. He would have been amused by this, but given their current location, this was not the time and place for a nap. Deciding that other measures of awakening were needed, he looked around to see if there were any pitchers of water nearby; he knew the girl might not appreciate getting wet, but seeing as she was quite the sleeper, he sort of knew she wouldn't mind. He was about to go up and get one from the counter when he noticed another young lady approaching them from the corner of his eye. Of course, he didn't notice her because he was a ladies' man; it was because he saw her floating ...not that much, but he was sure of it. .It wasn't everyday that he saw such a person.

"Is she alright?" the girl asked, her eyes admiring the bump forming on the sleeping girl's head.

"I think so," Seph replied with a small smile. "She just seems to be sleeping now," he added while carefully removing the sleeping girl's arms that found their way around his neck.

Eyeing the girl he had just seen floating a while ago, he saw that her clothes and looks didn't exactly match with the other locals that he had seen today. Turning to the sleeping girl (who was again on the floor- she was really a heavy sleeper) ; he noticed that she too, was wearing a foreign attire. His suspicions were growing...'Could it be that...?', he thought to himself. Thinking that he had nothing to lose if he asked, he looked up at the girl with a serious face.

'Yes? Is there anything wrong?" the girl asked after seeing the man's expression change after looking her over.

'You have also come for the moon shards, correct?" the man replied.

"Fire alone will not be a threat to the Moonseekers, for they will be composed of a variety of worshippers. I believe a "Morwen" accomplice will be more of a use to your little group. I have nothing to gain but power in your eyes, but it is far from that."

Krug and Thilit sprang to their feet, Thilit drawing a dagger from underneath his cloak and Krug arming himself with his ill-concealed, extremely powerful axe and greatsword. "Who are you?" Thilit