Elementals: The Black Beast (IC, Sign-ups only)

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Tristan listened to Richard, nodding every once in a while, though to be honest, he didn't understand most of what he said. Whoever Tenaembra was, he sounded like a bad person for wanting to have those demon things attack the people of Erihuwhatever. Besides, what in the name of all things white was a seagull? Was it one of those things that flew above the water? He was fairly certain that he had seen some things flying above the ship he was on back when he first arrived at Gallia. Speaking of which, wasn't that port the same port? It probably was. It began with Eri. Not that he still remembered where it was, anyway. He didn't even remember seeing a castle nearby.

Seeing Richard walk off, Tristan figured that he would be able to find out where the port was, so instead he sought for something else to distract his mind from the fact that they were, currently, in a castle. He turned to Lisoette and spoke.

"You had never seen one of those before?" He asked her.

[Kassaran]

It was during the waning moments of the battle for the inferno that Erosen had found himself almost entirely lost, but something caught his attention, the scent of the boy who'd been ice-like, and having followed the scent, he eventually reached the portal. Now, given that he wasn't the most friendly of people, he still had no right to do what was to happen next. He had emerged from the door only steps away from the now frozen demoness and almost entirely his face changed, the blood of his kills from below still caked to his face, he snarled, a deep guttural noise that resounded deep within his chest and his eyes became dark, no longer fueled by the mirth from having laid waste to so many abominations down below, but rather by the rage he felt from seeing it. Worst of all, no one from the group appeared to be cognisant of her appearance, except for the white-haired man who now had turned to speak with her.

He dropped low to the ground and began to circumvent the group, giving the demoness a wide berth, hoping to figure out how to attack her without provoking a defensive response. Not knowing how the others would react, ha began to think that perhaps they were saving her for later, and deciding that perhaps it best not to play with other's food, he eventually approached the group and paused by an old well towards the center of the castle courtyard to begin grooming himself and cleaning his face. He most certaintly wasn't a totally feral creature and having taken note of other humans using this trange portal to below to retrieve water, he looked around for an old bucket, and finding one covered in a very thick mat of moss, he cleared away the vegetation and hooked the rope to the handle of the bucket and let it down ceremoniously.

It was an odd occasion, and one that he only knew how to emulate, so listening for he sound of the bucket hitting water, he continued to let it drop until the familiar splash happened. Eyes lighting up, he hauled it back up to the surface to drink and wash himself, however he'd now become cognisant of the smell of the ocean on the breeze, and looking over at one of the presumably older men in the group, he determined that he too smelled the scent. Grinning,he turned back tohis current task at hand and brought the bucket up to the surface and let it rest on the side of the well, balancing on the stone wall that kept the well shielded.

[Ameriganastan]

"Come here you fuzzy bastard."

Eric grabbed the tiny rabbit by the ears, picking it up to get a good look at it. His free hand was tapping his whittling knife.

"Eh...not worth the effort. Not big enough to make a decent meal. Hell, I doubt this thing would even make a good snack."

He carelessly dropped it back to the ground, wondering off to who knows where.

[Constaniana]

Lisoette turned from looking at the bunny to shake her head at Tristan.

"No, the animals I've seen where I'm from are scary. They've all got claws and spikes and big ol' mean faces and they smell bad and they have the prongy things poking out of their heads too...and their fuzzy stuff is all scratchy and tangled when it isn't the scaly...thingmies instead," she explained, pausing to clear her throat. She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes and savouring the fresh air, which seemed to clear her head a bit, "But this animal's so cute and fluffy!"

The Daemoness's wide smile was marred when Eric snatched the rabbit from the ground, and she quickly picked it up once the grizzled old veteran released it from his grasp, holding it close to her chest and nuzzling her cheek against its creamy fur, smiling again and mimicking the squeaking noises the bunny was making.

Aldraniri looked at the group spreading out to do things of their own. Not wanting to bother anybody else, he went off into one of the other buildings the castle had, hoping to find a good spot to properly inspect his injuries. The boy didn't have to search for long, and he soon found what was once possibly a bunkhouse for the soldiers in the fort. Wooden bunk beds stood rather well-preserved, and a few even still had worn mattresses on them. Aldry sat down on the nearest bedding he saw, removing his jacket and searching for something that would make for a good bandage.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"Really?"

Tristan seemed interested in Lisoette's depiction of the beasts that roamed what he assumed was the Inferno she had been patrolling before he met her and dragged her along and out of there. If that was indeed the case, then he deemed himself really, really lucky for not running into one of those during the time he was alone in there, or when she was his only company. That would have been troublesome, most likely. The group would probably have been able to take it on, but he alone? Doubtful.

"That sounds nasty." He remarked, looking at her and the bunny, entertained. Why she was doing whatever she was doing was beyond him, but it sure looked amusing enough. "Where I come from, there are mostly just slimy blue balls with funny faces that bounce around, little white things long tails that run really fast, and these weird black and white birds that can't fly and like to slide around. They taught me a thing or two." He spoke, before scratching his head. "There were also these big, scruffy white roar-roars that fed on the other animals and I had to learn to hide from them because otherwise they would eat me." He said. "But the scariest were the blue slimes. I once saw them take on a large roar-roar and make it fall down. And I swear I've heard them whisper things." He explained.

"I guess they weren't as scary as whatever animals you had to put up with, though." He added at the end.

[Agritum]

"Wait...I think I've heard about that. One time I when I was in Tyrnâth there was this funny little story the inhabitants of this old town called Haraldsholm told people to make sure they kept the communal plumbing system left over from the days of Galllian Empire clean. They said if someone clogged one of the pipes up then a mysterious warrior named The Loo-Man would come punish you," said Richard, before Tristan spoke to him. Turning to look at the Ice Elemental, Richard shook his head.

"No, you don't have to worry about staying here too long. I'd enjoy hanging around to explore an abandoned castle that has an Inferno entrance beneath it, but I figure I've been dragging you lot around with me enough," said the Halvefori, "Besides, I've got stuff of my own to take care of now that the trail I had on those Watchtower crazies has gone cold, and it isn't really interesting stuff to get others involved in.

As to your initial question, no, this most certainly isn't Erilhall, unless Inferno portals now come with some wacky time travel nonsense. My guess is that the portal just sent us near Erilhall, perhaps to give Tenaembra's commanders a chance to properly organize their forces before attacking, and it would be difficult to set an Inferno door up in an urban area like Erilhall without being noticed. Anyway, Erilhall is a major port, so we'd hear a lot of seagulls and people such if we were there," Richard paused as the wind changed directions, taking a few deep sniffs of the air, "Salt. The sea. Well, we're fairly close, I'm sure," He paused again, glancing at the several castle towers still standing, though vines had claimed much of their surface. "I reckon one of those towers gives a good viewpoint. I'll be back in a little bit," Richard strolled over to the base of one of the grey spires, passing through the open doorway and began to ascend the staircase he found.

"I hope this place has less monsters than the last castle we were in," Kroie commented to Charlie as they emerged into the courtyard together, noticing Lisoette completely stop moving, locking eyes with a tiny wee rabbit no bigger than the palm of one's hand.

"I hope so, Sir Kroisoto. Even then, it was clearly built over the entrance of the Inferno we just emerged from, and I'd believe that we should keep our eyes alert, unless we want to have an awful surprise the moment we enter that building. Even then, I don't know why someone would build a castle right over an Inferno...maybe to block it? Or maybe as an outpost to eventually make use of it? I'd like to explore it and discover further clues about it, to be honest." Charlie replied, walking towards the castle.

[Constaniana]

"I hope so, Sir Kroisoto. Even then, it was clearly built over the entrance of the Inferno we just emerged from, and I'd believe that we should keep our eyes alert, unless we want to have an awful surprise the moment we enter that building. Even then, I don't know why someone would build a castle right over an Inferno...maybe to block it? Or maybe as an outpost to eventually make use of it? I'd like to explore it and discover further clues about it, to be honest." Charlie replied, walking towards the castle.

"That's a good guess, certainly. And I'm sure we have enough time to explore a bit before we head out...wherever it is we go next," Kroisoto remarked as he followed Charlie, "Didn't that old book we found in the last castle we explored say something about the ancients being able to venture into the void and fight Tenaembra's forces for the last time? Perhaps this ruin was initially built to carry that idea out? Though if I were in charge of building an entrance for an army to march into Hell with the intent to exterminate the Demons I'd certainly make it bigger than the door we came through..."

The couple stepped into an entryway similar to the one in the castle near Balclyde, and there were even suits of armour on display, though there were less of them, and they were much less antiquated, being forged in styles common from the time of the Witch War. If Aldry had been accompanying them he would have eagerly prattled on about the famous Kiesawvish Lance Guard cuirass used by men like Margrave Leiskeviretz, or the Calainite skirmisher armour, or the utterly gorgeous Raionru plate armour crafted from bamboo, sculpted ivory, ceramic and steel, used by the Grand Duchy's knight caste, as well as the domestic antique suits on display, but for now Charlie and Kroie had the chamber to themselves.

"Has it really only been little over a week that we've been together?" The noble remarked, before his cheeks began to redden, "I mean, er, as travelling companions and such, not in...uh...a romantic sense, obviously. Not that there would be anything objectionable about it of course...um..." Kroisoto abandoned trying to clarify himself, deciding to walk down one of the passageways to spot anything interesting. Coming upon a wide sot of oak doors, Kroie pushed them open, showing a expansive library, with bookshelves covering the walls. Quite a few of the tomes had been left on the desks in the room, open to different pages with various notes scribbled in the margins.

[Constaniana]

"No, probably not..." said Lisoette, before her brow scrunched together in thought, "Wait, did you say slimes? I saw them occasionally too...but they were bright pink. They were always smiling and following around the really mean Daemonnes, and I think they were whispering to them too..." Lisoette shuddered, nuzzling the bunny again before setting it down on her lap.

"But I don't want to spend time talking about sad stuff like that now," she stated, trying to sound more cheerful. Lisoette glanced over towards the strange person bathing himself there.

"What's that person there?" She asked Tristan, pointing to Ero-San.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Tristan scratched his head some more. Pink slimes? That sounded odd, though he supposed that the blue slimes had the right color to blend in with their surroundings, and if this was a convenient trait for them then it only made sense that they'd have a more appropiate color. Though then again, maybe pink wasn't the best color one way or the other. It was too bright. Tristan gave a mental shrug at all of this, not knowing enough to make an educated guess and not wanting to know, either. Whatever those slime thingies were they probably didn't need to blend in at all anyway. He would've asked some more about them, but Lisoette sure didn't seem to want to keep talking about them, so the Ice Elemental figured that there was no point in making her tell him. His curiosity wasn't enough to warrant pestering her like that, anyway.

Looking in the direction she was pointing, Tristan noticed the man who had apparently gotten scared of him earlier and then later suddenly appeared in the Inferno doing something weird with Natalie. He was apparently trying to wash himself, but he was doing strange things he had only occasionally seen other things do, though said things were animals and not people.

"I think he's a man, but I'm not sure." Tristan admitted. "He was already there when I found the group."

[Agritum]

"I hope so, Sir Kroisoto. Even then, it was clearly built over the entrance of the Inferno we just emerged from, and I'd believe that we should keep our eyes alert, unless we want to have an awful surprise the moment we enter that building. Even then, I don't know why someone would build a castle right over an Inferno...maybe to block it? Or maybe as an outpost to eventually make use of it? I'd like to explore it and discover further clues about it, to be honest." Charlie replied, walking towards the castle.

"That's a good guess, certainly. And I'm sure we have enough time to explore a bit before we head out...wherever it is we go next," Kroisoto remarked as he followed Charlie, "Didn't that old book we found in the last castle we explored say something about the ancients being able to venture into the void and fight Tenaembra's forces for the last time? Perhaps this ruin was initially built to carry that idea out? Though if I were in charge of building an entrance for an army to march into Hell with the intent to exterminate the Demons I'd certainly make it bigger than the door we came through..."

The couple stepped into an entryway similar to the one in the castle near Balclyde, and there were even suits of armour on display, though there were less of them, and they were much less antiquated, being forged in styles common from the time of the Witch War. If Aldry had been accompanying them he would have eagerly prattled on about the famous Kiesawvish Lance Guard cuirass used by men like Margrave Leiskeviretz, or the Calainite skirmisher armour, or the utterly gorgeous Raionru plate armour crafted from bamboo, sculpted ivory, ceramic and steel, used by the Grand Duchy's knight caste, as well as the domestic antique suits on display, but for now Charlie and Kroie had the chamber to themselves.

"Has it really only been little over a week that we've been together?" The noble remarked, before his cheeks began to redden, "I mean, er, as travelling companions and such, not in...uh...a romantic sense, obviously. Not that there would be anything objectionable about it of course...um..." Kroisoto abandoned trying to clarify himself, deciding to walk down one of the passageways to spot anything interesting. Coming upon a wide sot of oak doors, Kroie pushed them open, showing a expansive library, with bookshelves covering the walls. Quite a few of the tomes had been left on the desks in the room, open to different pages with various notes scribbled in the margins.

Charlie tried to hide her luminous blush, awkwardly so. "Ah, uh, sure, Sir..." she mumbled in an embarassed tone, entering the room along with Kroie.

The moment she realized that it was a big library full of ancient tomes and interesting volumes, Charlie promptly lost all of her awkwardness and ran to the nearest one, enthusiastically. "Splendid! I wonder how much knowledge is stored between these precious pages!"

[Ameriganastan]

"Ah, nature. So nice to get back to it after a bloody encounter with unspeakable monsters."

Eric had meandered off to a random thicket near the castle. Stabbing Belle Lame into the ground, he sat down on a nearby tree stump in a meditative pose.

"One must always meditate after a battle to expel an lingering violent urges."

Oddly enough, he was joined by another voice...or was he?

"I think you just wanted alone time so you could talk to me again."

He looked back at his sword.

"For the record, I don't believe you actually talk to me. I just think I have some mild psychosis that manifests as another voice in my head. I just project it coming from you so I feel less crazy."

"If it's in your head, why do I sound female?"

He had to ponder on that one for a minute.

"I have no idea."

[Constaniana]

Charlie tried to hide her luminous blush, awkwardly so. "Ah, uh, sure, Sir..." she mumbled in an embarassed tone, entering the room along with Kroie.

The moment she realized that it was a big library full of ancient tomes and interesting volumes, Charlie promptly lost all of her awkwardness and ran to the nearest one, enthusiastically. "Splendid! I wonder how much knowledge is stored between these precious pages!"

"Quite a lot, I'd wager. Someone was already in here reading them, although I'd imagine it's been some time since this library was last used," said Kroisoto, running a finger through the accumulation of dust on one of the tables, stopping when he came in contact with an unfurled chart. Kroie picked it up and looked at it, rather interested in what he was seeing. It was an anatomy chart of some sort, but didn't seem to focus on the usual aspects such things were made for. There were two black outlines on the parchment, representing a man and a woman, and lines of coloured ink coursed through the otherwise blank drawings, clumping together in certain spots, like where the heart, hands, feet and other areas were.

"Take a look at this, Charlie," he said, walking over to the Southemen lassie and setting the chart down beside her book, which also seemed to have curious medical knowledge written within it. It was written in modern Galllish, though the wording was very antiquated, discussing Elemental biological differences, such as the blue blood, unique eye colours, and subtly different bone structure and composition. However, the subject of discussion in the book turned to more arcane matters, talking of passageways within the exotic cerulean ichor known as "Mage slots" or "Rune Veins" that assisted the flow of magic that occurred within the body of an Elemental. It was in this section of the page that notes could be seen in the margin, scribbled in a curious pidgin of Galllish and Halvefoi scripts, though they were difficult to understand. All Kroie could make out of them was a poorly spelled "broaden" with an unnecessary accent over the b, and what looked like a garbled "resonance".

"What do you think all this means?" The nobleman asked.

[Constaniana]

Richard walked through the upper levels of the ruined castle, glancing through an open window upon the large forests nearby, having a feeling of recognition about the landscape. He continued walking, pushing open a door of beechwood, looking into a library with a spiral staircase in the centre. The Fire Elemental's brow furrowed as he entered the round room, and he inspected the bookshelves, pulling out a few books and flipping through the pages.

"What do we have here?" He said to himself, glancing through the pages. "A load of hexes based on old wives tiles? I wonder where the spell to make someone's hair fall out with stirring up a pot of frog legs and rusty nails is," the man sarcastically pondered aloud as he continued to turn through the book, discovering the last two dozen pages or so of the book were blank. Richard ran his hands over the pages as he wondered why so many of them hadn't been written on. The first three plain pages were completely ordinary, but as his fingers prodded the fourth page he felt a slight difference in texture, like the indentations of a quill.

"Oh, of course..." Richard mumbled, heating one of his hands with his magic as a flash of inspiration struck him. Placing the hot hand under the fourth blank page confirmed his guess as words written in invisible ink slowly became apparent. "Now, what was so important that it had to he hidden with a hackneyed trick like that?" The Halvefori swiftly received his answer when the title of the entry was revealed.

"...sl...slot...curse?" He murmured, his voice trembling ever so slightly, "Oh no. This is that castle, isn't it?"

Richard set the book down and quickly climbed up the staircase, his mind wandering back sixteen years as he continued his exploration at an increased pace. He soon found himself in a corridor with stained glass windows, and he felt a slight breeze coming from his left. With a weary heart he turned to face the direction of the wind, his mounting suspicions finally confirmed. Richard walked down the new corridor slowly, looking into the open room ahead of him. It was a large, spacious chamber. A lordly throne sat in the rear of it, resplendent with its background of exquisite stained glass showing a great battle. However, one portion had been smashed through, and Richard knew just what had done the deed all those years ago. He didn't need to stay in this room any longer; he remembered exactly how to leave the castle and reach Erilhall, which was most definitely nearby. Richard turned and walked out again, making his way back down to the courtyard where the others were.

[Constaniana]

Tristan scratched his head some more. Pink slimes? That sounded odd, though he supposed that the blue slimes had the right color to blend in with their surroundings, and if this was a convenient trait for them then it only made sense that they'd have a more appropiate color. Though then again, maybe pink wasn't the best color one way or the other. It was too bright. Tristan gave a mental shrug at all of this, not knowing enough to make an educated guess and not wanting to know, either. Whatever those slime thingies were they probably didn't need to blend in at all anyway. He would've asked some more about them, but Lisoette sure didn't seem to want to keep talking about them, so the Ice Elemental figured that there was no point in making her tell him. His curiosity wasn't enough to warrant pestering her like that, anyway.

Looking in the direction she was pointing, Tristan noticed the man who had apparently gotten scared of him earlier and then later suddenly appeared in the Inferno doing something weird with Natalie. He was apparently trying to wash himself, but he was doing strange things he had only occasionally seen other things do, though said things were animals and not people.

"I think he's a man, but I'm not sure." Tristan admitted. "He was already there when I found the group."

"Oh. He seems strange, and scary, in a different way. At least Eric talks," said Lisoette, laying back on the grass and setting the bunny on her chest, still watching it intently. The fuzzy little thing hopped after a few moments, finding the prospect of nibbling grass more appealing than laying on the strange big rabbit with the funny ears.

"Do you think I should go see if the redhead is okay?" she asked Tristan after several moments of silence between the two.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"Oh. He seems strange, and scary, in a different way. At least Eric talks," said Lisoette, laying back on the grass and setting the bunny on her chest, still watching it intently. The fuzzy little thing hopped after a few moments, finding the prospect of nibbling grass more appealing than laying on the strange big rabbit with the funny ears.

"Do you think I should go see if the redhead is okay?" she asked Tristan after several moments of silence between the two.

Tristan merely nodded at Lisoette as she spoke about Ero-San. Indeed, whoever that man was he was a bit scary, what with the number he did on those demons back at the Inferno and everything. He seemed to be tranquil enough when around the group, though, so he hoped that the wild man would keep that up and not try to hurt anyone or anything like that.

Noticing that she had decided to lie on the grass, Tristan himself thought that he might as well get a little bit of rest, after everything he had done at the Inferno, which, much to his disbelief, ammounted to something more than throwing a bunch of ice caltrops and then stabbing something in the leg, depending on one's point of view.

Hearing Lisoette's question, Tristan scratched his head, wondering who she was referring to. Red head? She didn't know who that was. Nobody had a red head in the group, did they? Unless she was referring to their hair, in which case, well, Richard wasn't hurt so- Oh, she meant Aldraniri. After figuring that out, Tristan nodded. "Yeah, probably. I don't think he got someone to treat him before we left the Inferno. He might still be injured." He said, standing up and holding out his hand to help her.

[Constaniana]

"Oh. He seems strange, and scary, in a different way. At least Eric talks," said Lisoette, laying back on the grass and setting the bunny on her chest, still watching it intently. The fuzzy little thing hopped after a few moments, finding the prospect of nibbling grass more appealing than laying on the strange big rabbit with the funny ears.

"Do you think I should go see if the redhead is okay?" she asked Tristan after several moments of silence between the two.

Tristan merely nodded at Lisoette as she spoke about Ero-San. Indeed, whoever that man was he was a bit scary, what with the number he did on those demons back at the Inferno and everything. He seemed to be tranquil enough when around the group, though, so he hoped that the wild man would keep that up and not try to hurt anyone or anything like that.

Noticing that she had decided to lie on the grass, Tristan himself thought that he might as well get a little bit of rest, after everything he had done at the Inferno, which, much to his disbelief, ammounted to something more than throwing a bunch of ice caltrops and then stabbing something in the leg, depending on one's point of view.

Hearing Lisoette's question, Tristan scratched his head, wondering who she was referring to. Red head? She didn't know who that was. Nobody had a red head in the group, did they? Unless she was referring to their hair, in which case, well, Richard wasn't hurt so- Oh, she meant Aldraniri. After figuring that out, Tristan nodded. "Yeah, probably. I don't think he got someone to treat him before we left the Inferno. He might still be injured." He said, standing up and holding out his hand to help her.

Lisoette smiled at Tristan as she gripped his hand and pulled herself up, setting off on her search for Aldry. The two didn't have to look through the castle for long, as they soon found the Galllian Fire Elemental in the hall Kroisoto and Charlie had passed through a short while ago. Aldraniri was eagerly inspecting the suits of armour, oblivious to their arrival. The Daemoness remained silent, unsure of what to say to Aldraniri.

"Ah, nature. So nice to get back to it after a bloody encounter with unspeakable monsters."

Eric had meandered off to a random thicket near the castle. Stabbing Belle Lame into the ground, he sat down on a nearby tree stump in a meditative pose.

"One must always meditate after a battle to expel an lingering violent urges."

Oddly enough, he was joined by another voice...or was he?

"I think you just wanted alone time so you could talk to me again."

He looked back at his sword.

"For the record, I don't believe you actually talk to me. I just think I have some mild psychosis that manifests as another voice in my head. I just project it coming from you so I feel less crazy."

"If it's in your head, why do I sound female?"

He had to ponder on that one for a minute.

"I have no idea."

"Quite a fine sword you have," said a stranger, who was suddenly sitting across from Eric, studying him with an interested expression. Eric wouldn't have any recollection of meeting this man, but he seemed familiar, and had the demeanour of a friendly professor. "I like swords. In spite of all the advances metallurgy and weaponry makes over the millennia the sword keeps its basic concept. Something admirable out that, isn't it?" he asked the retired soldier.

[Ameriganastan]

"Quite a fine sword you have," said a stranger, who was suddenly sitting across from Eric, studying him with an interested expression. Eric wouldn't have any recollection of meeting this man, but he seemed familiar, and had the demeanor of a friendly professor. "I like swords. In spite of all the advances metallurgy and weaponry makes over the millennia the sword keeps its basic concept. Something admirable out that, isn't it?" he asked the retired soldier.

"I suppose. It gets the job done when there's a job that needs doing."

Eric returned a friendly smile. Though in reality, he was assessing the situation.

I could spring up and grab Belle Lame before he makes a move. Though...

He ran this scenario through his head. He sprang up from his sitting position. Only to stumble when his bad knee acted up from the sudden movement. The stranger was on him before he could reach his blade.

That won't work. I've got my whittling knife here.

He drew his knife from his belt and lunged at him. His limited fighting skill with the smaller blade saw him disarmed before he could land a blow.

I could just punch him. That seems my best option. Maybe stun him so I can reach my sword. I'll have to hope he makes a move first.

This battlefield assessment took a matter of seconds in his head.

"My name is Eric Lumen by the way. Pleasure to meet you."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Lisoette smiled at Tristan as she gripped his hand and pulled herself up, setting off on her search for Aldry. The two didn't have to look through the castle for long, as they soon found the Galllian Fire Elemental in the hall Kroisoto and Charlie had passed through a short while ago. Aldraniri was eagerly inspecting the suits of armour, oblivious to their arrival. The Daemoness remained silent, unsure of what to say to Aldraniri.

Once Lisoette stood up and began heading off into the castle to look for Aldraniri, Tristan dusted himself off and followed her closely, walking through the castle, feeling the apprehension grow ever so slightly. He definitely did not like being in or around castles at all. But either way, they thankfully found Aldraniri soon enough, examining some armor suits or something to that effect. Tristan couldn't understand what the 'red-head' found so interesting about those things, but he decided not to question it, instead waiting for Lisoette to ask him if he was alright.

However, no such thing happened, and despite being otherwise rather ignorant, Tristan was quick to figure out why. She had been the one to injure him, after all. She probably felt bad about it still. Thus, he decided to ask Aldraniri himself.

"Hey, Aldry, are you alright?" He asked the other Elemental.

[Constaniana]

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Lumen," the man said, adjusting his glasses and scratching the faint bit of stubble on his chin. He continued studying Eric with interest. "You seem a bit troubled. Have something on your mind? After all, I wouldn't reckon that you'd have a man of your age wandering near a castle like this. Some people say the place is haunted, you know. Out here for something special?" he continued.

Lisoette smiled at Tristan as she gripped his hand and pulled herself up, setting off on her search for Aldry. The two didn't have to look through the castle for long, as they soon found the Galllian Fire Elemental in the hall Kroisoto and Charlie had passed through a short while ago. Aldraniri was eagerly inspecting the suits of armour, oblivious to their arrival. The Daemoness remained silent, unsure of what to say to Aldraniri.

Once Lisoette stood up and began heading off into the castle to look for Aldraniri, Tristan dusted himself off and followed her closely, walking through the castle, feeling the apprehension grow ever so slightly. He definitely did not like being in or around castles at all. But either way, they thankfully found Aldraniri soon enough, examining some armor suits or something to that effect. Tristan couldn't understand what the 'red-head' found so interesting about those things, but he decided not to question it, instead waiting for Lisoette to ask him if he was alright.

However, no such thing happened, and despite being otherwise rather ignorant, Tristan was quick to figure out why. She had been the one to injure him, after all. She probably felt bad about it still. Thus, he decided to ask Aldraniri himself.

"Hey, Aldry, are you alright?" He asked the other Elemental.

Aldraniri jumped a little when Tristan started talking, though he calmed himself when he saw it was only the friendly Ice Elemental instead of a ghost or something of that nature.

"Yeah, I think I'll be alright. I don't think that cut was that bad, really, though I'll need to get a different shirt later on, unless I can scrub this one out well enough," he replied, taking a step back from the lancer cuirass. "Is the Daemoness's head still messed up?"

"The Daemoness has a name, you know," Lisoette pouted, "You heard Veganiz shouting it before you set him on fire, didn't you?" She harrumphed and folded her arms over her chest, "But it's Lisoette, in case you forgot. And...sorry, again, about earlier," the Daemoness added apologetically.

"Eh, I suppose there's not much point staying worked up over it..." the Galllian grumbled.

[Ameriganastan]

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Lumen," the man said, adjusting his glasses and scratching the faint bit of stubble on his chin. He continued studying Eric with interest. "You seem a bit troubled. Have something on your mind? After all, I wouldn't reckon that you'd have a man of your age wandering near a castle like this. Some people say the place is haunted, you know. Out here for something special?" he continued.

"Oh, I'm not here for any particular reason. Just passing through on my random wanderings across the land...alone. I was just taking a small respite here on this stump."

Best not let him know I'm with a group. He might have backup if that's the case.

"And I don't believe in ghosts. Just a bunch of wistful nonsense. Ironic, considering I've seen demons up close."

Let him know I'm not a guy to be messed with.

"So...you, what brings you out here?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Aldraniri jumped a little when Tristan started talking, though he calmed himself when he saw it was only the friendly Ice Elemental instead of a ghost or something of that nature.

"Yeah, I think I'll be alright. I don't think that cut was that bad, really, though I'll need to get a different shirt later on, unless I can scrub this one out well enough," he replied, taking a step back from the lancer cuirass. "Is the Daemoness's head still messed up?"

"The Daemoness has a name, you know," Lisoette pouted, "You heard Veganiz shouting it before you set him on fire, didn't you?" She harrumphed and folded her arms over her chest, "But it's Lisoette, in case you forgot. And...sorry, again, about earlier," the Daemoness added apologetically.

"Eh, I suppose there's not much point staying worked up over it..." the Galllian grumbled.

Tristan merely stood ack and listened as first Aldraniri and then Lisoette spoke. Thankfully, the Fire Elemental seemed to be fine despite all the blood that the slash had drawn, so he simply relaxed. If he was okay, there was no need to worry. His mention of Lisoette's head being messed up puzzled him a little, though, but he didn't say anything, instead listening to her response. While at it, he finally heard her name. Now he could avoid calling her Lis all the time... But, then again, it was shorter and easier to pronounce for the foreign Ice Elemental, so he figured he might as well keep doing it.

Since those two seemed to be in peace by now, Tristan looked around some more. "Hey, if you need to change, maybe you could take one of those armors. You seem to like them a lot." He suggested.

[Constaniana]

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Lumen," the man said, adjusting his glasses and scratching the faint bit of stubble on his chin. He continued studying Eric with interest. "You seem a bit troubled. Have something on your mind? After all, I wouldn't reckon that you'd have a man of your age wandering near a castle like this. Some people say the place is haunted, you know. Out here for something special?" he continued.

"Oh, I'm not here for any particular reason. Just passing through on my random wanderings across the land...alone. I was just taking a small respite here on this stump."

Best not let him know I'm with a group. He might have backup if that's the case.

"And I don't believe in ghosts. Just a bunch of wistful nonsense. Ironic, considering I've seen demons up close."

Let him know I'm not a guy to be messed with.

"So...you, what brings you out here?"

"Wistful nonsense, eh? That's an odd response," said the stranger, chuckling a bit, "Northemen are generally a good deal more suspicious than that. But then, I reckon you've wandered quite a bit to get here, judging by your different accent...hmm...something Southemen...well, never mind. But demons, hm? Quite impressive. Considerably more rare, nowadays, since the end of the last war, and the destruction of Kayarost and his host. Though I doubt Tenaembra is going to let the situation stay like this for much longer.

As for your question, I was just wandering about myself, hoping to find some interesting conversation," The stranger paused, his hand dipping inside one of the pockets of his well-tailored, dark grey suit and retrieving an absolutely exquisite pocket watch made of some curious metal. "Goodness. Is that the time? Well, I'm afraid I'll have to be leaving now; other things to take care of. But I'm confident we'll see more of each other, Mr. Lumen."

He stood up and gave a nod to Eric, beginning to walk away before stopping for a few moments.

"Be sure to keep that sword of yours sharp. You will need it against more than Demons, soon."

With his last cryptic comment finished, the stranger continued walking away with a calm grace, soon passing back into the shrubbery and out of sight.

[Agritum]

Charlie tried to hide her luminous blush, awkwardly so. "Ah, uh, sure, Sir..." she mumbled in an embarassed tone, entering the room along with Kroie.

The moment she realized that it was a big library full of ancient tomes and interesting volumes, Charlie promptly lost all of her awkwardness and ran to the nearest one, enthusiastically. "Splendid! I wonder how much knowledge is stored between these precious pages!"

"Quite a lot, I'd wager. Someone was already in here reading them, although I'd imagine it's been some time since this library was last used," said Kroisoto, running a finger through the accumulation of dust on one of the tables, stopping when he came in contact with an unfurled chart. Kroie picked it up and looked at it, rather interested in what he was seeing. It was an anatomy chart of some sort, but didn't seem to focus on the usual aspects such things were made for. There were two black outlines on the parchment, representing a man and a woman, and lines of coloured ink coursed through the otherwise blank drawings, clumping together in certain spots, like where the heart, hands, feet and other areas were.

"Take a look at this, Charlie," he said, walking over to the Southemen lassie and setting the chart down beside her book, which also seemed to have curious medical knowledge written within it. It was written in modern Galllish, though the wording was very antiquated, discussing Elemental biological differences, such as the blue blood, unique eye colours, and subtly different bone structure and composition. However, the subject of discussion in the book turned to more arcane matters, talking of passageways within the exotic cerulean ichor known as "Mage slots" or "Rune Veins" that assisted the flow of magic that occurred within the body of an Elemental. It was in this section of the page that notes could be seen in the margin, scribbled in a curious pidgin of Galllish and Halvefoi scripts, though they were difficult to understand. All Kroie could make out of them was a poorly spelled "broaden" with an unnecessary accent over the b, and what looked like a garbled "resonance".

"What do you think all this means?" The nobleman asked.

"It's a treatise of anatomy applied to magical theory and physics! Quite interesting, may I say!" Charlie replied, browsing through the book. "I believe we should take it and bring it to the nearest academy or research institution, Sir Kroisoto. That's quite a good study of Elemental physiology, there." she added.

[Constaniana]

Tristan merely stood ack and listened as first Aldraniri and then Lisoette spoke. Thankfully, the Fire Elemental seemed to be fine despite all the blood that the slash had drawn, so he simply relaxed. If he was okay, there was no need to worry. His mention of Lisoette's head being messed up puzzled him a little, though, but he didn't say anything, instead listening to her response. While at it, he finally heard her name. Now he could avoid calling her Lis all the time... But, then again, it was shorter and easier to pronounce for the foreign Ice Elemental, so he figured he might as well keep doing it.

Since those two seemed to be in peace by now, Tristan looked around some more. "Hey, if you need to change, maybe you could take one of those armors. You seem to like them a lot." He suggested.

Aldraniri grinned at Tristan's suggestion, and with a happy cry he went back to inspecting the suits of armour the way a girl his age might look at dresses and shoes in a fancy shop. The blacksmith stripped one of the mannequins of the lance guard cuirass and tunic underneath it was displaying, running off to go change.

"Well that cheered him up a lot," Lisoette commented, confused as to why Aldry was so giddy.

"It's a treatise of anatomy applied to magical theory and physics! Quite interesting, may I say!" Charlie replied, browsing through the book. "I believe we should take it and bring it to the nearest academy or research institution, Sir Kroisoto. That's quite a good study of Elemental physiology, there." she added.

"Indeed. I wasn't aware that magic was as...technical as this," Kroie replied, "As for bringing it to an academy, I suppose we'd have the best chance of finding an institution of learning in Erilhall...speaking of that, we should go check if Richard's figured out where we are yet," He offered to carry the book and chart for Charlie as they left the room, walking back in the main hall.

"Neither of you have seen Richard, have you?" Kroisoto asked Tristan and Lisoette, before remembering the blonde girl probably had no idea who he meant, "You know, tall, lean man, darker skin, long red hair, wears glasses and talks funny?"

"Well, no...but we did see the other person with red hair just now. He took one of the suits of armour and went to go change out of his messy shirt," the blonde replied, before Aldraniri walked back into the room, now wearing a suit of armour that didn't seem to fit him just right.

"Snazzy, isn't it?" Aldry asked with a grin on his face.

"It hardly fits you!" Kroisoto protested, walking over to the redhead and tugging on some of the leather straps, somewhat improving the fit. "Well, I suppose the cuirass itself is simply forged for bigger bodies then yours. I suppose you could heat it up with your magic and compress it in slightly, or perhaps just get it properly refitted the next time we come across an armourer."

It was at that moment that Richard came into the room, tossing a bonnet at Lisoette.

"Here, cover your pointy ears with this. I got my sense of direction, and I know this area from prior experience. Come on, let's get you kids to Erilhall so you can keep going...wherever it is you're headed, and I can get back to my business," the foreign man said, as Lisoette complied with his instruction, managing to put the hat on right. The assembled characters in the castle hall walked out, finding Eric and getting Erosen to warily follow them, unable to locate the mysterious Natalie. After some time had passed they emerged from forest and wilderness onto a cobblestone road, and the Halvefori gestured to their left.

"Just keep going that way, and you should reach Erilhall before nightfall. Good luck out there," he said, looking at Aldraniri in silence for a few moments after that. Where have I seen him before? Is it the hair? The eyes? That scarf? "Oh, another thing. You can keep Eyilstiid for now. You might need it more than I do," Richard offered, before walking back into the woods towards the castle. The party began walking in the direction the older Fire Elemental had pointed.

Forty minutes later…

At last Richard's directions came true. When they had started walking it had only taken several minutes before the forests gave way to outlying farms and villages. The smell of the sea grew stronger in the air, gulls could be seen with increasing frequency, and soon the road began running alongside the Eridern River. Finally, great stone walls and towers came into view, proudly flying teal and coral coloured triangular flags imprinted with a coat of arms made up of a pair of crossed tridents and a sturgeon.

"Ah, the city of Erilhall. Regional hub of trade and fishing centre. Perhaps not as affluent as Auregen, but it's not too bad a place to live," Kroisoto explained, for the benefit of Tristan and Lisoette, and for the subtle chance to praise his own city while the approached the gates. There were some guards on watch, but they seemed more concerned with inspecting the carts going in and out on land and the boats coming in by water, allowing them to enter the city without any trouble. There was the usual hubbub one would associate with a major port, though there seemed a slightly tense element to it now as well.

"There's quite a few Federal troops here. That's odd," Aldraniri murmured, earning a grunt of agreement from Kroisoto.

What's the army up to? the noble thought warily. And what has father been doing in my absence?

---

Aurenian Mountains

A trio climbed up a mountain still clad in winter's snows, making use of what seemed to be stairs carved out of the mountain, although the weather had certainly taken a toll on the stonework. The person in front was a tall, skinny man, wrapped in furs with large rounded glasses, black hair pulled back in a ponytail with some faint stubble on his chin, hands in his pockets and a grin on his face as he hiked onward, not showing any signs of fatigue. Behind him was a man in his fifties, short hair as white as the snow around them and a neatly-trimmed moustache. And bringing up the rear was a young woman less than half the age of the man in front of her, blonde hair loosely tied back into a bun, and two pistols hung from the belt slightly askew on her slender waist. Upon climbing the steps all the way they came upon a short young woman with long platinum blonde hair that curled at the ends, wearing a blue bonnet and curious gauntlets over the sleeves of her fur coat. She was cautiously scanning the area, legs slightly bent and her arms raised with fists clenched, and spun to face the arriving trio as the sounds of their footsteps echoed upon the mountain. The woman's arms fell to her sides and her fists uncurled, as knives sprang from the gauntlets, dropping into her palms as she wrapped her fingers around the handles and raised them up, prepared to toss them when her gaze fell upon Rupert.

"Oh! Professor Talkulmiwa! My apologies," the short woman said, storing the throwing knives back in her gauntlets as quickly as she had drawn them out. The man in front shook his head slightly.

"Bismarke, you're familiar with my assistant Mara, yes? Anyway, we can chat and have proper introductions some other time. What's more important right now are these doors here," said Talkulmiwa, gesturing with a gloved hand towards a massive pair of ancient metal doors carved into the side of the mountain about two dozen paces behind Mara.

"Yes...very impressive find, these doors. I'm no expert on the matter, but I'd say it's a fine doorway you've found," said Bismarke, pausing for a moment. "How much of my money has gone into finding this door?"

"We haven't spent all our time and resources on finding this spot, Bismarke. We were excavating a number of what appear to be ancient houses, workshops and a few civic buildings initially, and that's what the main crew is still going to he doing for the time being, but Mara stumbled upon a map in what we think might have been a schoolhouse of sorts, and it seemed to be a layout of the ancient city we were uncovering. Mara and I decided to investigate it ourselves, and found this," Professor Talkulmiwa explained as he walked up to the massive door. It was certainly at least four times taller than him, possibly even more. "But alas, the door was locked to mortal hands. Though, you know about my...condition," The archaeologist's forearm began glowing with a silver light, and he grasped the handle, slowly turning it with great efforts. Sounds of giant old gears turning could be heard rumbling forth from the door, which began to open inward with the speed of a tired glacier, before Talkulmiwa let go of the door. "But as you can see, it would take ages to open this place up. But, this door responds to more than one type of magic. Mara, if you would..." the professor asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

The shorter young woman nodded, approaching the door and drawing her arms back. Crackling bolts of gleaming power coursed from her shoulders to her fingertips, before flowing into the door upon contact. The lightning magic flowed through the old door like a river feeding irrigation channels, giving the otherwise grey door a luminous golden sheen. The man with the ponytail walked up to the door and repeated what he had done the first time, but now the gears moved swiftly, and the doors soon opened inward, revealing a massive hallway.

"This place certainly isn't lacking in space," Talkulmiwa's employer remarked as they came upon a door like the one outside, although this one bore scarlet paint that had been placed there generations ago by the builders of this ruin, spared from the effects of snow and wind. The two Elemental archaeologists repeated what they had done to open the outer door, revealing a room even larger than the hallway they had come through. The chamber the four people were now standing in was much more rounded, with several more giant doors separated by more human-sized corridors, leading deeper into this mysterious ruin.

"Oh, there's words above these other doors..." Bismarke's blonde companion noted, glancing at each of the doors before jogging over to each of them to read the ancient Galllish script better. "Barrack Lancelot...Barrack Blossom...Barrack Karlstein...Barrack Vigarosa...Barrack Margrave...Barrack Reichbaum...Barrack Ventamorista...Barrack Arnulf...what do these names mean?" The lass inquired.

Talkulmiwa grinned again as he and his assistant opened up the doors of Barrack Lancelot. Bismarke and his associate looked inside, dumbfounded by what they saw.

"Quite a find, isn't it, Bismarke Aurenheim?" The professor asked.

---

Two thrones carved of the blackest onyx sat in a room, flanked by torches burning with a sickly purple flame. Both seats were occupied, by one male and one female. Calling them a man and a woman would have been grossly inaccurate. The male leaned forward in his chair to peer down at a great map spread beneath him, gripping the armrests adorned with the skulls of some foul, unholy, unknowable monstrosity as he watched the pieces on the map move about of their own accord. Black pieces lay knocked over and shattered across the board, as nine differently-coloured pieces moved off the edge of the map, which promptly folded in on itself. The female frowned, rising from her throne and walking down onto the map, furling it back slightly and picking up a black figurine, inspecting it with a downhearted expression.

"What was this one's name? Veganiz, or something like that? Quite a shame; he seemed to have interesting potential," she lamented, looking at it for a few more moments before closing her yellow eyes and pressing the scratched and charred piece to her chest, turning her gaze towards the male, who was still seated, a grimace on his pale face.

"That blasted cheat of a brother. Letting me think I had a chance to knock the boy off the field of play before he began to pose a threat, only to have the child be able to launch a perfectly good fire blast on his first try!" He snapped, stomping down to the map, which rose from the floor as if it was suddenly supported by a table now. Parts of the board continued to rise above the others, giving the appearance of a dilapidated fortress being taken by the forces of nature. The man glared at the nine pieces remaining on the board. "He's wrecking all my good pieces! He's just as bloody lucky as his father, I can tell!" He shouted, picking up a piece shaped like a red dragon and glaring at it malevolently, compressing his black-gloved fingers around the piece as if to choke it.

"Calm yourself, dearest husband. This is no way for a king to act," the female purred as she slunk over behind him, putting her soft hands on his shoulders, massaging them. The King shut his eyes and smiled as he felt his cares being pushed aside by his wife's sensual fingers, which eons of existence had failed to make dull and boring, and her black spaded tail playfully wrapped around his leg.

"I suppose you're right," he conceded, setting the red dragon back down on the board and leering at the other pieces, his grin like that of a panther eyeing his prey. "After all, it would be boring if I didn't have some competition. And it's such interesting foes this round," the King continued, looking at the other pieces in the castle: a blue dragon right beside an owl, a grizzled-looking badger holding a sword, a blood-stained tiger, a bear, a blank white pawn, a black duckling, and a red fox wearing a bandit hat. "The war-weary old soldier, a savage from foreign lands who ignorantly feasts on the blood of Demons, Richard again...two young people without a clue about how the rest of the world works...a bright and eager writer falling in love with a handsome and intriguing young nobleman...little Kroie..." He paused to laugh evilly, "And Master Alsvidster. Oh yes, this will be fun."

"What are we going to do about the runaway child, hm? You know how much trouble the last runaway Daemonness has been causing us for the past few centuries," the Queen asked. Her husband shrugged.

"We can wait to deal with her. No harm in letting Lisoette roam a bit. As for this Veganiz that was upsetting you so much..." He said, taking the ruined piece over to a worktable in the corner of the dark room, setting it down next to a black king piece and a large totem unlike any creature found in mortal planes. His brow furrowed as he looked at the pieces, before he walked away from them to return to his wife's side. "Well, he can be resolved later as well. We can be afford to be patient. Let's simply continue to be spectators for now, shall we, my dear? It is so supremely fun to watch mortals of this sort!"

The male began to chuckle ominously once more, intently studying the board as the pieces began to move once again, leaving the castle and entering a city. The masked fox and bear left the field, but other pieces were moving to take their place with the group. Other groups began forming, some showing the various guilds and schools the city had, or the local priests. Others were soldier figurines stamped in red. And one group, spread amongst the whole field so thoroughly as to be almost indiscernible, was made of up rooks, with a stony, foreboding grey colour.

[Ameriganastan]

Eric fiddled with his beard, looking like he was trying to remember something.

"Erilhall...I dropped by here around...I think 9 months ago now? I ditched it soon after for some reason. Can't recall why. Eh, it'll come back to me I'm sure."

Adjusting his sword, he watched a random woman walk by with a baby.

"...Eh, still not remembering."