(OOC: http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w18/kur...ikun/elly_2.jpg )

Phaen watched with appropriate disinterest as the female rushed off to what would likely be hours of imploring aged books to reveal their wisdom. She soon departed, escorted by the suitably cautious man whose task had been disrupted by her inquiry.

He was growing restless. Sure, he had the opportunity to relax while plotting ensued, but Phaen didn't feel comfortable in the monastery. It was as though there was always someone there to dissect his nature, and he understood that poignant assertion of the general ambience was probably more intuition than misplaced paranoia.

The frayed ends of his damaged leather bothered him, but it would take both a master leatherworker and enchanter to repair the moderate mutilation. Many hours of labor would be required as well. Phaen tugged at it and reasoned that it was primarily an inconsequential, aesthetic issue. His real displeasure was in flaunting the abnormal appearance underneath. Attention wasn't something he aspired or yearned for.

Phaen eventually returned to the now empty infirmary, in order to claim one of the numerous vacant beds for a light nap. The nurse greeted him half-heartedly, providing no resistance to accomodation, but offering no further acknowledgement. His dagger close to his side, he proceeded to enter an alert state of reverie that allowed him to rest and maintain adequate awareness simulataneously.

(OOC: Pixel has something planned out, it seems. No worries.)

(ooc: aww its so sweet that you guys worry about me ^-^, no worries though, I talked it out with Seluna and have come up with a bit of a sidestory for me)

Darah floated underneath the surface, eyes wide open, unseeing and unblinking. Shadows flickered over the surface, laughing, steel blades glinting. Assassins. The word drifted in her head as her lungs burned. Assassins. Vaguely she seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. Assassins. Darah screamed and was rewarded with a mouth full of water. She quickly clawed her way to the surface coughing and gasping.

“She woke up ye idiot!”
“It’s the elf blood.” Came the reply. “Makes ‘em magic resistant.”

Her head bobbing above the water she could make out two figures. A tall lanky man in crimson robes and with a hawk-like nose was obviously a mage. The other was shorter and stockier, dressed in a dirty tunic, a dagger and scimitar in his hands. They both wore the Brega crest on a piece of clothe wrapped around their right arms.

“Well do something!” The stockier man snarled, his face growing a deep shade of red.
“If I do recall you carry blades, do you not?” The mage’s nostrils flared as he spoke.

With a growl of frustration the sellsword turned to the water to face Darah, only the girl was now gone.

“You let her get away!” He turned back to find his companion crumpled on the ground, his skull looked like as if it had been crushed, gray matter oozing out. Above the corpse stood a soaking wet Darah, one of her earrings was missing and she had a flail in hand. The shorter man realized that the morningstar of her weapon seemed to be covered in his comrade’s brains as the deadly sphere accelerated toward his face. Darah remained standing over the pair panting hard and shaking considerably.

“You are as unscrupulous as always.” Came a voice on the opposite side of the river and Darah readied her battle stance as pasha Brega emerged. Rather the new pasha Brega. With his brother’s untimely demise he had been elevated to the position, in a great part thanks to Darah. The girl head her flail at the ready and he laughed.

“Do you intend to kill me as you did my brother?”
“You leave me little choice.”
He laughed again. “Kill me and you will only bring others to avenge me as I avenge my brother.”
“Or I let you leave unscathed only so you strike me when my back is turned? I would rather die fighting.”
The pasha gave another chuckle and Darah found herself irked by it. His confidence was likely a sign that the woods were infested with his soldiers. After all, what Pasha left home unattended? When he finally spoke again a Cheshire-like smile spread over his face.
“Tell me child how many of my men do you think you can take down before one of their blades pierces your heart? Those two at you’re feet were mere novices and they nearly had you.”
“Have you come here to talk or to fight?” The more the man went on the more insecure she felt. ‘Let it begin already!’ She thought impatiently and perhaps recklessly.
“Neither, it would seem. I have a proposal for you. As you well know by now the Pasha’s of Umberlee’s Dune have learned of my brother’s death at you’re head. Honestly you should have known mages are capable of divining of things.” He remarked offhandedly. “Such an offence will not be taken lightly by his allies. I however have the power to grant you pardon if I so decide.”
“What do you want?”
“A simple extermination is all I’m asking.”
“And why me?”
“Well besides the fact that you are trapped like a rat, you have experience with this target. I would have had him dealt with sooner but his allies at the time were; how shall I put it? Well they we’re not to be trifled with.”
“He has since lost favor with these allies?”
“Something like that, ah but let us discuss this in my office.” With a flick of his wrist the truck of an especially thick tree opened to reveal a spacious and lavish room inside. A pocket plane? Ye gods, who was in this man’s employ?
“No need to hurry.” He remarked at her startled expression. “Why its not if you’re life depends on this task or something quite so dramatic as that.”
The Pasha chuckled again as he watched the girl swallow hard at the comment and trudge on ahead.

Kuroryu let loose a bout of amused laughter, earning a glance from the quarter-demon. He did not stop laughing until his younger brother stared at him pointedly, and subsided into a few chuckles. "He sure sounded like you when you were little."

"I didn't ask this many questions..." The human magician protested.

"Oh no, you did. I was home that day, and you went on and on for the whole afternoon. Syia even asked me if there was any spell to remove your voice temporarily because she was so distracted by your ramblings that her potions went all awry."

"Oh shut up."

The elder magic-user merely grinned and turned to Kalani. "To answer your questions... no, unless you're a genius, there's no other way to learn things very quickly. It's the way of life, kid. Rush on prematurely and the chances of things going wrong is higher. Inmri here learned it the hard way. However, there are some very basic and useful spells you can learn to help out.

"As for detecting spell casting, well... there are spells for that but it's more spell specific. The alternative is sharpening your magical senses, and learn to be able to feel the flow of magic around you. It takes time to become very good... but I have a few tips on speeding that up, thankfully."

"Don't worry too much. Nobody is expecting you to suddenly be able to blow people away with just a few days of learning magic." Inmreari smiled at the disappointed young man. "Let's get you a focus stone first then we'll start on our daily lessons, alright?"

Kuroryu pushed himself up and away from the table. "Come on then, lad. Your primary element is fire, hm? I'll teach you something cool on the way."

As the two left, Inmreari turned to Geral who was watching them with Inariea, his emerald green eyes serious. "Don't think I didn't notice, Geral. You conveniently left out what is to happen if we get to the Phreya Fury. Spit it out."

"Kuroryu guessed it, I'm sure you have some idea in mind too." The swordsman's long fingers toyed with his spoon, stirring round and round in the remainder of the food he could not finish. Midnight blue eyes finally lifted to look straight at Inmreari's, a grim smile touching his lips. "What do you think will happen?"

"... This is not what we set out to do, Geral."

He shrugged, seemingly nonchalant if not for the stiffness in his shoulders. "Fate dealt us all a bad hand. But the Tower won't be able to use us further to threaten the people anymore... I'll say it's a good thing."

"... Idiots..." Inmreari covered his eyes with his hands, his voice shaking as he uttered softly. "The two of you are both idiots..."

"I know."

[OOC: Yes, I'll stop here and leave for Chinese New Year. Muahaha. I won't be revealing that particularly part of the plan anytime soon, but if there are events that manage to de-track it... hehehe... we'll come up with something else later. ]

Kalani eagerly followed after the new mage of the group. "What's this cool thing you want to teach me?" he asked. Kit was at his heels now, seeming to have caught his master's infectious eagerness. "And what's a focus stone? I remember my dad saying something about them when I was little, but I don't think I remember anything he said; at least not anything helpful or reasonable."

Kalani was pretty disappointed that he couldn't learn anything very fast, but he guessed it only made sense. It wasn't as if a person as young as he was could master powerful magic in days. This wasn't a story. But he wished it was sometimes. How convenient some things would be...

"Even with weak spells, will I be able to help out?" Kalani asked. He desperately wanted to be someone helpful and not dead weight. He hated more than anything to be the weak link, the one person in the chain who had nothing at all to contribute.

((OOC: Funny thing is, that aside from earth magic, fire is my least favorite element. Heh. I'm not complaining--I'm the one who set it up, after all. I just think it's funny. On a side note, lightning and wind are my favorite elements. ^^ Something about them.))

(OOC: Hmm? What happened? Did everyone disappear?)

[OOC: Sorry for not posting yet. ^^;; I am in the middle of writing my post but I'm stuck on a bit of the magic stuff. Sigh. *Edit* I've posted! ^^]

"This, is a focus stone." Kuroryu dug into an inner pocket of his robes and pulled out a clear tear-shaped crystal hanging from a braided string. Carefully, he dropped it into Kalani's palms. "Actually, this is a Dragon's Breath crystal that is capable of channeling magic of all elements. Inmri explained to you the difference between a magician and sorcerer yet?"

Kalani blinked and frowned in concentration. "Yes, but not in much details. Something like... sorcerers are able to use magic more easily than magicians?"

"Not exactly. We sorcerers usually have more latent power and the instincts for using magic than magicians like him, as well as being more strongly tied to our aligned elements. So as long as we know how magic works, we know when and what to cast at the right times, and we can draw on elemental energies directly. The bad thing is, we are only able to cast spells using the elements we are aligned to.

"Inmri has the power worthy of being sorcerer though it is not uncommon for a magician. But most importantly, like all magicians, he lacks the instincts and elemental ties, so he makes up by studying a lot of spells and details on casting spells. But the good thing is, he is able to cast spells that requires several different elements, even those that aren't of his alignment, which I can't."

Kuroryu paused to catch his breath and let Kalani absorb the flood of information he had just unleashed. He gently retrieved the crystal Kalani, dangling it between them both as he continued. "That brings us back to the focus stones. Usually, sorcerers are the ones who carry them, because as we become more powerful and our ties with the elemental energies grow stronger, it becomes dangerous for us to draw them directly to mix with our magical energy, like Inmri had taught you to do. Do you understand me so far or am I going too fast?"

Kalani took some time thinking before he responded and when he did, it was another string of questions that had Kuroryu chuckling again. One by one he answered the young man's inquiries, until when they reached the shop selling magical items, the sorcerer put his crystal back where he usually kept it, and smiled enigmatically at Kalani before leading him into the shop.

"And to answer your question from earlier, between what Inmri and I may teach you, you'll definitely be able to help out. Now, let's find the focus stones for Lady Nera and you."

[OOC: Okay, let's skip all the way to dinner or even the next day. You guys decided where is best. If there's something off with my explanation between the difference of my sorcerer and magician and the way they use their magic, or if you need me to explain more, just let me know. ^^;]

OOC: sorry about slowness, my workload been pretty intense. I've just noticed I messed up the timeline in my previous post by saying it was evening. They were not walking that long. Hehe, I got disoriented somehow. I'll fix it. Sorry about that Tenshi, I'll make so that they came back around noon. Then this post will be at dinner.
IC:

Nera closed the book in front of her, dust wafted off the old pages. She sneezed. Wearily, she slide her chair back and rose to stretch her arms above her. She had found a couple useful spells, but not as many as she would have hoped. Nera pushed the chair back under the table and gathered the books to put them away. The librarian watched her warily as if to make sure she didn't mishandle the books.

After putting the tomes away, she wandered down the hallway drawn by the scent of food. There was something exhausting about studying. She felt the need to regain her energy before continuing on. Back when she had working under Lord Celin, she had spent most of her free time studying. Elkasna had sent her books from time to time, however Celin had also supplied her with books as well, perhaps a few that Elkasna might not have approved of. The library here seemed fairly extensive, despite the section she had no access to. She still had some hope to find something more.

Nera entered the dining area and looked for familiar faces

OOC: apologies for quality, had a test yesterday, still a bit off.

(OOC: What happened? Noone's posted in a long, long time. There's not really anything I can add that's not extremely forced. I can only have dinner so many times. I just don't want it to die off.)

[OOC: Mm... I'm actually waiting for Ember to post but since she's not, I'll work one up soon. Life's been a bit busy for me so I kinda neglected RP forum a bit. >.< Sorry.]

(OOC: Ember? Where are you, Ember?)

The next morning, Kalani had not lost his enthusiasm to learn more about magic; in fact, he seemed even more bent on learning more. He got up and pulled his pants on as Kit leapt up and put his paws up on the bed, pointing his nose at the new focus stone he'd gotten from Kuroryu. It was an oblong shape, and translucent red in colour. Kalani pet Kit's head tenderly, then picked up the stone with his other hand as Kit followed it with his eyes.

"It's pretty, isn't it, Kit?" he murmured as he lifted it to the morning light sifting through the cheap curtains in his window. It was a very smooth stone, and Kalani thought it was perfect. It fit into the palm of his hand as though it was made for him, which it was, really. Rubbing it gently, he put it in a small bag and pulled the string tight around it. "We have to keep it safe. It might not be valuable to most people, but it's a necessity for me now."

Kalani rubbed his eyes, but he was still smiling. "I guess magic's really in my blood. I'm tired, yes." He could tell by the tilt of the little fox's head that he had been thinking just that. "But it's a good kind of tired, like helping mom out in the fields. It feels right." He laughed at himself and shook his head. "C'mon. We should get some breakfast."

[OOC: Sorry for the long absence. Being re-addicted to DotA and getting a PS3 does that to a person. ^^;;]

"Good morning, Kalani. And you too, Kit." Inariea waved from where she was seated at the table and smiled at the teenager who had just stepped into the dining hall. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yeah I did." Kalani answered as he took the seat beside her. "What's for breakfast?"

"Oh, good morning. You said something about breakfast, aye? Everything here on the table is for us." Sitting on the opposite side of them, Inmreari leaned over the thick tome to grab a loaf of bread from the basket laid out along with other energy giving food suited for the morning meal. "Geral haven't woke up yet so you can still take your time and eat as much as you like."

"Isn't that what you always do?" Kuroryu snorted beside him, and swept off the crumbs on his robes as he got up. "Alright, I should be going. Wouldn't want the spellsword to wait too long."

"Kuroryu." Inmreari called out when the high sorcerer was halfway across the room. "Take care, will you? I have a bad feeling about all this."

"Who doesn't?"

Kuroryu smirked as he left the room.

[OOC: Okay, let's get things moving again. Depending on Geral's state, they will leave either this day or the next.]

(OOC: Hurray, it's going again!)

Instead of the short rest he had initially planned on, Phaen didn't leave the infirmary or wake up from his slumber until the following morning. He knew well that, when travelling, it was necessary to take advantage of any time to sleep because you never knew when the next few days would devoid of the opportunity. He groaned as he awoke, trailing fingers through his errant strands of hair and peering around the room, which was entirely empty. Phaen stood and stretched; ligaments, tendons, and muscle all being comfortably revived.

As started to once again navigate the dour interior of the monastery turned guildhouse, an inviting aroma that smelled of several different, delectable dishes notified him of the likely location of at least some of his party members. It didn't take long to locate, as they were in the same banquet hall that had served for dinner previously. Upon entry, Phaen only found Kalani, Inariea, and Inmreari to be present, and already indulging in the typically extravagant meal. He wasn't sure if that was due to the guild's wealth, or merely because there were guests present and they were being cordial.

No matter the circumstances, Phaen took a seat, staggered two left of the gluttonous Inmreari. It was, after all, just as important to eat good food whenever possible when travelling, as well. As he proceeded to indulge himself, Phaen just listened to the discourse of the other three.

(OOC: Give me a minute to give back into it. :|)

OOC: sorry for a slow response, I can't wait until the house stuff is done, such a hassle.


IC:
Nera had awoken before the others and set out for the library early. The bright light flooding through the meagar windows alerted her to the time. She shut the book with a thud and carefully returned it to the shelves. She left the library setting off for where she expected the rest of their group would be or at least Inmreari would be. Her stomached clenched as the scent of breakfast wafted down the hallway. Nera smiled ruefully. Inmreari isn't the only hungry one. As she continued towards the dining hall, she spotted Kuroryu leaving the area.

"Good morning, Kuroryu. Are you going out to check out the village?"

"Good morning to you too, Miss Nera. Yes, I am leaving. If you are hungry, breakfast has been served, although you may want to hurry or Inmreari might inhale everything." She smiled back at the man.

"I guess I'll hurry then. Be safe," she said as she slipped by him. Kuroryu gave her a wink and continued on his way. Nera entered the dining area to find most the group at their meal, only Geral was missing. She smiled impartially around the table.

"Good morning." She made note that Inmreari was indeed eating heartily. She took a seat between Inmreari Looking over the dishes, she found a couple items that appealed to her. Nera had always been a light eater. As she slathered some fruit spread over a piece of toast, she turned to Inmreari.

"What are our plans?"



OOC: man, my creative flow is just not going. XD Perhaps we should get the character moving on their quest within the next couple posts?

Inmreari quickly swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking. "Depending on Geral's situation, we'll leave for the nest of the Phreya Fury after the midday meal sometime today. If he still needs more rest..."

"I don't need more rest. I'm feeling fine." Geral interrupted the magician as he entered the hall, much like the way he did the previous day. The only difference was that he looked significantly better, even energetic. "We'll set off in the evening."

"Are you really feeling alright?" Inariea frowned as he took a seat beside her.

The swordsman smiled. "What, you think I'll lie just to get us moving earlier?"

"I trust that you won't." Inmreari mock-punched his best friend. "Alright then, we can start our preparation for the trip after this meal. We do need to stock up more things, don't we?"

"Yeah. Food, mostly. Somebody has too much space in his tummy."

"Geral!"

[OOC: That's all of my post. Short, but it moves things on. Let's get things started. ^^]

OOC: apologies for the lateness of this reply, finally things are quieting down over here a bit.


IC: Nera visually inspected Geral for signs of fatigue, but he seemed at least better than he was the previous day. She dropped her eyes to her plate, where she was squishing scrambled eggs with her fork. Realizing it might be disrespectful to the cook, she stopped. She had already eaten as much as she could. Sadly, Nera natural appetite was much less than a normal adult's.

"Yeah. Food, mostly. Somebody has too much space in his tummy."

"Geral!"

A smile twitched at her lips at indignation in Inmreari's voice. Poor Inmreari, getting constantly teased for his gluttony. Since they were leaving that evening, she had a little time to gather some things she might need on the journey. Nera rose and turned to Inmreari.

"Well, then I shall let you handle food supplies," she said with an almost mischievous smile. "Amongst the other supplies. I don't have any experience organizing ventures." Celin's servants had always taken care of such things, Nera had never bothered to find out such things were done. Perhaps she should learn now, though she did have a couple items she wanted to get before leaving the city. "Please let me know if I can be any assistance though. I am going to get a couple things prepared before we leave." Nera walked forward a couple steps to stop by Phaen's chair. She leaned over to speak to him briefly.

"Phaen, I'm going to be heading out, would you mind keeping me company," she inquired politely. The man had been insistent that she not go outside alone. She suspected Geral and Inmreari would be busy enough getting ready and besides the location she was planning to go was likely to embarrass. She did not want drag Kalani or Inariea with her to the seedier parts of the city, though she knew that both of them had probably seen ugly things in their lives. After he replied, she continued to the guildhouse's entrance and waited for Phaen to join her.



With Phaen in tow, Nera had wandered across the town until she found a place to exchange the gold from her earrings for currency. She had hid the black onyx and the coins in her clothing. The next location they went to was an apothecary. Apothecaries in this part of town were often as likely to carry toxins and hallucinogenic drugs as they were to carry medicines. The thing Nera was looking for was not a poison but rather a herb frequently used by women of the night. It prevented pregnancy, would get rid of an unwanted pregnancy, and more importantly to Nera, it would prevent a woman's monthly cycle. Not knowing how long they would be traveling or what they would be facing, she did not want something that would drain her energy.


They found a suitable apothecary on the south side of town. Nera let out a sigh and turned to Phaen with a small rueful smile.

"I'm sorry. I've made you follow me around twice now. I didn't want to bring the younger two to this sort of area and I thought that Geral and Inmreari were more likely to feel embarrassed than you were. Sorry again." She entered the dingy looking apothecary shop, heading up to the counter to make her request. The man at the counter, looked her over once then over at Phaen and went to get the herbs without any questions. He handed her a brown bag of cheap fabric. Nera inspected the dried leaves inside the bag to make sure they were what she was looking for. After paying for the herbs, she left the store with another sigh, hoping that she would never have to go into place like that again. She didn't care what the apothecary thought of her, but the experience made her feel cheapened.

"Well, that's the main thing I wanted to get. If you have somewhere else you want to go, I'll go with you. Oh, I was also meaning to ask if the wards I set the other day worked."




OOC: *pokes brain* blah.
Sorry for dragging your character around Tenshi. Lemme know if there stuff you want me to edit. In my next post I'm probably skipping to the group traveling.

(OOC: I was actually going to post before you, but I'm glad I didn't. I prefer it when you lead in RPs. At least, where I'm involved. Oh, pixelvixen asked me to tell you guys that she'll be back as soon as exams are over (meaning the start of may). I'll try to get her to post before then, since it seems things are picking back up.)

Phaen shadowed her course through the neglect ridden slums in complete silence. He had followed her request not out of worry or as a diligent subordinate, but necessity. She was the only member of the expedition that seemed to value his presence, and that compassion was requisite, both consciously and subconsciously. Logically, she represented the foundation of his inclusion in the party. The realization that it would be her who prevented his expulsion motivated the detainment of utter indifference. Solely, that admitted reliance isn't enough of a precursor to sway Phaen to neglect his characteristic impartiality. No, it's adolescent longing unfulfilled that drives the assassin to unlikely proceedings. Unbeknownst to himself, he has allowed a connection between Nera and his late sister to mature; one that allows an excursus back to when she was all he had - before the wraith.

So, he accompanied her out of necessity, returned threatening stares with his own, and generally acted as a gaurdian would, even though her arcane weaving was more than enough to protect herself. He still felt she was vulnerable to a coordinated attack by a group trained in tactile removal. Once the two reached their destination, and made the purchase, Phaen could see why Nera asked him to follow. Her assessment of the others did rule him as the ideal choice for an escort.

Her inquiry as to the potency of the wards as a remedy to his ailing demention was the only reminder he had of it's existance since she cast them the previous day. Phaen wasn't once assailed by the otherwordly apparition of his deceased companion since the wards were set. He couldn't yet draw whether that was because of the errant will of the spirit, or of magical interference. Even so, he thought it best to reassure her. There was enough to worry about when your course was constantly removed from the pool of serenity and tossed into the general tumult of beseeching archmages to pocket your soul, so that they may later trade it for demonic services. "Yes," came his reply, "I've felt no intrusions since yesterday. I'm truly grateful for your patronage."

Some remote part of him genuinely felt in debted to her charity. "Come, now. If you're done, we should return. This place stinks and we have to leave soon."

(OOC: I don't mind you controlling my character if you need to. *cue return*)

Ooc: sorry about response time, had some tests this week, will have some next week as well.

Nera smiled at his comments, then nodded. "Quite right. Let's go back." They walked through the filthy streets, though the hostile gazes of the people living in the mostly destitute area. She noted that most of the looks directed at Phaen were wary, while the ones aimed at her were considerably less so. She pegged it to the gender difference. She was relieved as they got back onto more respectable streets. It was more crowded as they headed back to the guild house.

"I'll set the same wards on you this evening as well," she said when they had arrived. "I'm going to help Inmreari and Geral with getting the supplies ready. I'll catch you later." She flashed a smile at him and hurried off to find the mentioned pair.


***
Nera tugged at the straps of the bag she carried, checking that they were sturdy. She paused as she took a last glance at the city, then moved quickly to catch up with the rest of the group.

OOC: a quick post. I'm not sure what your plans on transport are, but I thought I'd get us going.

Geral nudged the horse beneath him in the right direction towards the path they were taking, away from the flowers that caught the four-legged creature's attention. Sighing for the sixth time since they left the town, the swordsman could not understand why his mount had to be have such short attention span, in contrast to the other horses they have chosen as a quicker method of transportation.

Getting horses was a logical decision, especially after Inmreari requested financial assistance from the guild. Geral found it extremely amusing to see the surprise in their companions when the old cripple in charge took out a bag full of shiny golden coins that could easily have been used to make the guildhouse look like the home of a noble and casually handed it Inmreari, and then asked if they needed more. They actually had to return quite a bit of it, and still had more than enough to cover two weeks worth of expenses. Yes, including Inmreari's food expenses.

Putting his horse's nature aside, Geral was grateful that they chose to ride instead of walk. Hearing about the possible sighting of the Babel magicians being near the Phreya Fury made him very anxious, coupled with the weird dreams he had in his sleep. He was not very certain, but he was willing to put money down on the bond between them making Fera's feelings accessible to him when he was sleeping. And if his judgement was right, their schedule could only be getting tighter and tighter.

Geral only wished they could make it in time and without any incidents.

Never being trained to ride a steed, Phaen hid his unfamiliarity in an explanation of how he could not properly straddle a horse due to a past injury. While this wasn't true, he didn't want to be portrayed as incompetent, or otherwise inept. So, as a result of his bluff, he travelled roughly one hundred feet, and concealed, ahead of the group as they trotted towards their goal, as a scout should.

He wasn't aware of what to expect from their ultimate meeting, and subsequent confrontation, of the Babel mages. He could imagine they were adversaries that were to be respected in battle, vigorous weavers of the arcane. He could also imagine the inevitable result of challenging those who perform experiments on others and harbor tremendous ability. That sort of bearing eventually allows a person to indulge in the idea that they are omnipotent, and reside over others of their race as superior praetors of existance.

An ultimatum of the Babel's subservience to demands for the release Fera would most likely incite an attack, if they didn't find it the better advancement to initiate their strategy with the eloquent intercourse of battle, rather than what would likely be a moot diplomatic venture. That, Phaen thought, would be a succulent, worthwhile endeavor. He thought back to his last taste of death, when the woman at the inn was so close to the sulfuric grasp of the abyss. Phaen had been subconciously examining their course for any signs of tracking or traps, but his attention was removed at the thought of the luscious, young girl's near demise. While he didn't think the mages would be nearly as attractive as she, he knew he could draw the pleasure of the kill just as readily, once he heard them spew forth a gurgling, incomprehensible plea for mercy, while their lungs flooded with blood.

He sighed, and knew that the compounding anticipation would drive him mad if he continued to conjure up their eventual demise. Additionally, he realized it was distracting him from maintaining an acute accessment of their frontal bondaries. He also noticed that his pace had considerably diminished during his daydreaming and looked over his shoulder to find that his mounted companions had almost caught up. Displeased with himself, he turned forward and rushed ahead, using whatever cover possible and staying low as he plotted a course through the increasingly sparse forest. With any luck, he'd release some of his tension after obviating the infraction of a random bandit on the progression of the party.

Tracking, Darah was coming to learn, was infinitely different in the forest. In the desert one remained a horizons length away to avoid being spotted. They remained silent in the vast expanse, and simply followed the trail in the sand. If a sandstorm or some other disturbance should arise one would simply wait it out then keep on in that general direction till the trail reappeared. This was different. Paths twisted and intertwined through the trees, no straight course ever taken. Then there was the constant chattering of birds and rustling of leaves, the young sylph found herself jumping at every sound. She also discoverd that she was unable to distinguish between the signs that indicated animals and humans, or if the were even signs at all. The forest was such an unfamiliar place, even in daylight, she quickly realized that the place caused a creeping fear in her. Gone was the awe of a new scenery, fresh and vibrant and alive, now that life seemed almost hostile to her, but she plodded on. She regretted now not enlisting the aid of a tracker, but it mattered not. Luckily the group had followed a beaten path, their course constant and clear. Darah envied her targets who rode easily atop there mounts, as she often needed to dismount and follow on foot for a time to avoid detection in open exspanses of road. Only when she felt assured that she would not be discovered, the land suitably scouted and her targets in the distance, did she return for the steed and continue on her path. She did not understand the importance of the target, nor did she care. What did concern her, however, was the safeguarding of her own person. The target would need to be drawn away from the others, then would be her chance to strike. It was all good in theory, but now a plan must be divised, and quickly. It would be best to finish the job at nightfall when the company decided on a campsite. When all were weak and weary, that is where her opening would lie.

[OOC: Ember, Sydra, are you guys still with us here? I'm sorry I haven't been posting, and I shouldn't make any excuse, but I've been having a little bit of a block and is just starting to get out of it, so I'm gong to try and make one for Call of the Fire soon.

Should I post for where they have stopped for the night or just skip until a major event?]

OOC: I'd say skip to a major event., unless pixel has something planned for that break. I maybe slow responding I got two exams this thursday and a presentation, then next week is finals, so I'm pretty cramped. Is Ember still in on this?

OOC: I still live, but it's been a long time... Do we have a summary? ^^;;;

[OOC: I'm not sure how far back do you want the summary to be so I just took it from when they entered Sileta. I hope it makes sense, and oh... I don't keep track of your trio very well, I'm sorry. ^^;

The group arrives at the city Sileta some time in the evening and checks into the inn. The next morning, they split up to do their own things. Geral and Fera stayed in their room because Fera felt unwell.

Nera and Phaen ended up on the streets together, and Nera offers to help ward Phaen against his nightmare. Inmreari and Inariea goes to the Scarlet Dragon Guildhouse and met Kuroryu there. They bumped into Darah on their way back, and then, Geral and Fera's room exploded.

Fera was kidnapped and Geral was knocked out. Phaen attacked Darah, and they fought a little before Darah fainted from poisoning. Both are wounded. Inmri healed Darah while Kuroryu, Phaen and Nera questioned each other, then Inmri promptly fainted from exhausting his magic coupled with magical backlash. They decided to move to the guildhouse to rest.

Those not unconscious or injured split up while the others rest under Inariea's care. Nera went out to find Kalani, Phaen went to a room of worship and was joined by Darah, they conversed and then Darah left. Kuroryu talked with an elven spellsword, Heruishi, and agreed to join forces in hunting Elkasna. Then they were approached by Hamina whose village was attacked by a witch who also stole a magical artifact. They agreed to investigate the village in case it was Elkasna's doing.

Inmri woke up, and everyone gathered (somewhat) for lunch. The group discussed about the explosion, and after Geral woke up, it is finally revealed to Nera and Phaen (and Heruishi) what are the others' objective and why exactly was Fera abducted, and what to do next. Nera set up wards around Phaen, then went to the library. Kuroryu then brought Kalani out with him to find focus stones for Nera and Kalani, and taught Kalani things on the way.

Next morning, Kuroryu left with Heruishi for Hamina's village. The others decided to leave in the afternoon after Geral is rested and they restocked. Nera took a side-trip to the apothecary and Phaen accompanied her. Then they left Sileta by horses, heading for Mount Phreya of the Valha Range. Darah followed the group for her own purposes.

Uhh, that's about as much as I can do, since I'm sleepy like hell. I'll try to post soon, and it'll be a major event since it's the preferred choice.]

"If we cut through the forest in front, we may save two hours and reach before dinner tomorrow, but there are wolves and hmm..." Bent over the map in his hands that he had gotten from old Koeren, Inmreari was too busy calculating the amount of hours they would still have to spend on the road, like he had done for most of the past four days, to notice that something did not feel right.

It was not so much a physical feeling but a magical one. A subtle touch of tempering that felt distinctly wrong, much like how a cat would feel if her fur was rubbed the wrong way.

Perhaps it was not so much the magician's fault, because the other magic-users in the party did not seem to have noticed as well. But the half-feline Inariea felt it though, and bristled.

"Inmri," She rode nearer to the dark-haired man and nudged him out of his work, her cat ears pressed flat against her head and her long tail twitched. "Something is wrong."

"Hm?" Hearing the tone of Inariea's voice, green eyes glanced up at her with concern. "What is?"

"The air... I can't explain it. Something feels wrong. Don't you feel it too?" She rubbed her arms, looking very uncomfortable.

Inmreari frowned lightly as he surveyed their surroundings, then closed his eyes in concentration, taking in deep breaths as he did so. He bit his bottom lip when those green eyes flickered open, a troubled expression on his face. "I can't feel anything..."

It was Inariea's turn to frown. "But I did feel something..."

"I'm not doubting you, Riea. I think there's more to it, since we are nearing Mount Phreya and all."

"You think..."

"Yes, but I may be wrong. Let me try something out first." Inmreari began chanting softly under his breath, his long fingers drawing shimmering symbols on his map. The piece of parchment shone once, and then was covered with a light sheen of bluish light. As Inariea leaned over with curiosity, she noticed that the color was not constant, as some areas were a deeper azure and a vast area was almost white.

"This is...?"

"Magic detector. The darker the shade, the more magic or latent magic power in that area. I was planning to cast a completed version when we reach the town where I can make it clearer, but I can improve on this vague one later." His emerald eyes shining with his enthusiasm for magic, Inmreari explained as he scrutinized the map carefully. "Like here, that's where we are and because I cast magic it's a dark midnight... Oh gods, it's a trap! Geral, Nera! There's a-"

"Inmri!!!" Just as Inariea halted her horse to reach for the magician who crumpled and nearly fell off his horse with a pained expression, she spotted a too suspicious glint from afar and without thinking, she leapt off her horse and tackled Inmreari, pushing the both of them roughly onto the ground.

"Uhh... Ri... Riea? Riea!!"

[OOC: I'm just going to cut it here and make it open-ended, aside that there are powerful magic involved and that the trap (which could be magic-users in hiding or a magical trap) was concealed from magic. You guys can draw any logical conclusions, like for Inmri's sudden situation, it could be another breaking his magical shield or a direct magic attack, whichever makes more sense. And yush, it's a big event. And another note, somebody find a good way to drag in Lihen Celin! :3 Let's get things rollllllling~!]

OOC: sorry for the delay

IC:

"Oh gods, it's a trap! Geral, Nera! There's a-"

Nera turned at the sound of Inmreari's panicked voice. Alarmed, she watched as Inmri crumple in on himself as if his wards had been broken. She kicked her legs free of the stirrups and slid off her horse just as blast of magic seared past where Inmreari had been before Inariea had knocked him down. Nera's golden eyes were widen in worry at the sound of Inmreari's frantically calling his sister name. She gave her horse a slap on the rump, sending the animal into the underbrush. Nera had no skill in healing, Inmreari was the best person for that job.

So she left them be and begun working her own magic. Defensive wards around the other members of their group were cast as quickly as she could. She shared a terse look with Geral and started her own counter attack while simultaneously increasing the power of her own wards. Using a stick she picked up from the ground, she drew a casting circle in the dirt. Her concentration was focused so intensely that she barely noticed as several figures approached the group. They wore the vestments of sorcerers with the exception of one man, who was obviously a nobleman. Nera drew the symbols around the outside of the circle.

"Remember what I said," the noble demanded. The sorcerers seemed to be ignoring him as they begun casting their own spells. Nera visibly twitched at the man's voice, her brow furrowing slightly as she continued drawing. Finished, she infused her magic with the pattern in the dirt, which shone brightly back at her. Nera swayed on her feet. A great feathered snake rose from the earth. The creature was only really noticeable as a thickening in the air to those lacking magic abilities, but the mages could see it clearly. The snake rose into the air, circling Nera. It's tongue flicked at her face, looking into her eyes, which focused on their attackers. It turned its head towards the threat. Lifting into the air, the snake unwound itself from around her. Its eyes were fixated on the sorcerers. The wind swirled madly as the wind aligned summoning, made its first attack, forcing the sorcerers to defend themselves.

Nera's legs crumbled under her, she sank exhausted by the high level spell. She clasped her focus crystal tightly, bruising her hands.

"I'll try to support you as well as I can," she said to the melee fighters of their group. Her eyes slid to Kalani, pondering him a bit. Still untrained, he would have a hard time casting magic on his own. Perhaps, perhaps, she could get him to merge his own power with hers. There was a risk with that, especially with her type of magic. Inmreari might have a better chance since the lad certainly would trust him more than her and Inmreari lacked her fatal magic. Still, pushing a young mind so far... She grimaced. She didn't want Kalani's experiences with magic to be painful, though it might be necessary with if their enemies were truly powerful. Nera bit her lip, how neatly they had been split up from Kuroryu, who would have been added help.

OOC: not one of my better posts. Lemme know if any of you want something changed.

Phaen was more than surprised to hear the shouts of combat erupt behind him. He frowned, how had he missed them? Either the enemy was better at tracking, or they were summoned forward via divination magic. He swiftly covered the distance that he'd left as a buffer between the party and himself, but slowed to a dexterous crawl once the ambushers were spotted. Heels inaudibly touching ground before toes, Phaen emerged from the enshrouding growth behind the sorcerers. He marked the caster furthest to the rear of the five and skulked gradually up to the unsuspecting victim's back. When he'd obtained striking distance, a fierce pounce plunged his dagger into a vital point at the base of the neck of his target.

The other wizards were too enveloped by their recitation to notice their comrade had been removed, and Phaen didn't plan on allowing them the opportunity to discover his presence. As covertly as he'd attacked, he disappeared once again into cover. He'd wait a moment to ensure they remained distracted before executing another backstab.

[OOC: Uh... Inariea is not Inmreari's sister. She's his sister's apprentice/guinea pig. ^^;]

"Heal... come on..." Light spilled from Inmreari's hands to cover the hideous burnt looking wound on the left side of her torso. It seemed as though a small fire missile of high temperature grazed her but it was bad enough to still inflict damage. And by the frantic expression on the magician's face, it was really bad damage.

Inariea shivered, pain apparent on her pale face. "Inmri... I don't feel... too good..."

"Hush... it'll be alright..." Inmreari said as reassuringly as he could to her, but when he met Geral's concerned eyes, his face was bleak. His tone low and panicked, he whispered, "The wound's not healing, no matter what I've tried. I suspect it's magic or poison or both but I don't know which. And it's getting worse. They meant to kill me, but now she's the one who's suffering... If I-"

"Don't blame yourself, Inmri. You didn't know this could happen." Drawing his sword and looking towards where Nera, and Phaen it seemed, had started their counterattack, Geral noted grimly. "Concentrate on finding a way to heal her. We'll take care of those magicians. Kalani, come with me."

"Wait." Inmreari's voice stopped them before they could step forward anymore. "Leave one of them alive. I may need their... information."

"You got it."

[OOC: I somehow can't write long posts much lately. x_X Just a quick small post to move things along. Sydra, Kurai feel free to use Geral as you see fit. It would be more interesting if it's more than just a fight though. ]

(OOC: Any way I could join? ^^;;)

[OOC: Oh gods yes yes you can join! I'm sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but I haven't had more than five minutes on the net lately. Just let us know if you need any help, okay? ^^

Oh yeah, I'll be double-posting to push things on. But first, are you guys still with the RP?]

e.e I don't know. I don't know. Just so many things are going on right now.

[OOC: Yeah, you told me about your situation, so I really won't mind if you drop out of the roleplay. But I'm referring to the others. I can't really continue the roleplay without their response.]

[OOC: Guys I don't want to do this, but this is the second time I'm asking. If you guys are still interested, please reply within the week. Or I'll have to close this roleplay, since it's not going anywhere.]