-nvm-

"Well, I should introduce myself. I'm Edric Jaronus, Conjuror of the now defunct Order of The Serpent." He said with an exaggerated bow that he hoped the others understood was comical. He wasn't sure why he cared, he barely knew these people, but he did. He made his way towards the silent newcomer. Well, after the arrival of the armor clad woman she wasn't the [i]newest[i], but he had sensed a strong amount of energy coming off of her. He sat down next to her at the bar. He conjured up two glasses and poured some alcohol from the bottle that Xav had set out, hoping that she didn't notice he was exhausted from all of this conjuring. He was once again unsure why he cared. "I can tell you're a mage, and I have to say I'm curious as to whether or not you know any healing magic? I'd be willing to teach you some conjuring if you'd share a bit of your knowledge."

-rip- (I ripped the wrong post above lol)

Alia picked up her mug of... whatever the drink was, and eyed it curiously, wondering if it was even safe to drink. She put it down, deciding to drink it later, and began listening to the conversation taking place between everyone else. One of them introduced the idea to make something out of the tavern and introduced himself as a "conjurer". Alia was unfamiliar as to exactly what a conjurer was, and the idea involving the tavern seemed out-of-reach to her. Still, some of the others seemed to think that it was a good idea. One got quite into it and summoned a rather large golem. Alia grew wide-eyed at the sight of it, certainly not expecting it, and thought she heard someone exclaim an "EEP!" as well, though from whom she had no clue. Alia didn't recognize the golem on sight, although the bard called the man who had summoned it a "Knight of the Rift". The "Rift" sparked a memory from one of Alia's studies, though she had studied little on the subject.

Alia was thinking how much more lively the place had gotten now, and was about to reach for her mug when the conjurer came up and made two glasses appear from thin air. The act immediately caught Alia's interest, as she had no idea how he managed to do that. "You have a sharp eye, although I suppose my choice of clothing certainly helped you with that. I know a few spells to heal basic wounds, but they're nothing powerful, unfortunately," Alia said. "Um, Edric, was it? Your 'conjuring'..." Alia gave a shy smile as she continued, "I'm not familiar with this type of magic. At least, not by your name. I think my previous master used to call it 'materializing'. Either way, it's very interesting. Oh, and I'm well familiar with what happens when one overuses magic, so you should probably take a rest now."

Edric's face flushed. "Well, uh, yeah I suppose I should. Anyway's talk to me later and I can probably show you how to conjure a temporary dagger or something simple like that." He flashed a quick smile before conjuring a broom. He grunted involuntarily as the spell took more of his physical energy as opposed to his mana. He ignored it, not wanting to show weakness to the scary Northern Woman. He began whistling as he swept, seeming to make no progress against the endless amount of dust on the floor.

Vala Lynstad

In Light Company

---

Vala didn't like thieves. They were cowards by nature, hiding behind their silver-tongued quips and imagined charm. A punch to the face usually wiped that stupid grin from their faces and while the Islander would want nothing more than that, the sudden change of events shifted her more baser instincts.

Boldy as that frivolous knight addressed that bolder creature that awkwardly bent over in the main room of the tavern. Vala eyed it with her arms crossed, appearing unimpressed unlike the others who had gathered here. The halfling was the first to exclaim amazement and spouted titles that meant nothing to the Marstal native. Knight of the Rift? Clearly the bolder creature was the sigil of such an order and while the stone creature looked superficially intimating, the man did not as it appeared to Vala, this man hid behind this creature for exactly as he said 'his heavy lifting'.

An quiet yelp was the next to distract Vala's brooding of thieves as she turned to where she heard the sound. An empty dusty shelf revealed no source of that sound but the sudden sensation of being watched was felt as Vala glared at the shelves with a suspecting gaze. She would have investigated a bit more beyond just a scanning gaze had it not been for another newcomer. Even though it was difficult to tell, the woman looked northern. Not where Vala came, by the gods no, but she was very reminiscent of a mainland northern with a fleece as white as snow despite being very young.

The rest, quite honestly, didn't really matter much to the hardened veteran as each made small talk. Clearly her previous protests to the notion of transforming the inn had went largely unnoticed. She didn't care whether or not they heeded her words as the truth of the matter was, she wasn't the owner of this place anyway. She only raised that point to spite the thief playing bartender. If they wanted to waste their energy trying to repair this heap, then by all means, go ahead...

Vala sharply exhaled from her nostrils and turned to walk out to reclaim her lunch that she had dropped early. Bearing hardly a mind to the sweeping fool, the babbling idiots, and the strumming buffoon, as she slipped back outside and made the short walk to the treeline to reclaim her catch from the day. Two fish, two squirrels, and a sack of various harvested edibles that she had found.

For a moment she thought she'd stay out here and carve her kills in peace but remembering that her stuff was inside still, it would probably be best if she kept an eye on them all.

Returning back indoors she set up right by the hearth of the tavern, without so much as a word to the others, and pulled a dusty chair from the corner. She allowed her hatchet to return to her belt and drew her knife to begin skinning the squirrels, all the while staying alert to the others in the tavern.

Have I wandered into a Mages gathering or something? The thief thought to himself as several of the strangers were busy showing off their magic to eachother. Xavalzo had no problem with magic, but given the condition of the building they were in, he felt it wasn't very wise for them to be casting magic indoors. Who knew if the next spell would cause the building to explode. With that final thought, the thief cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Look, magics all fine and dandy with me, but I've had to wander for about a week through the woods to get here," Xavalzo said, attempting to sound like he had any authority over the matter. "And i'd rather not see my uncle's tavern burn to the ground around me, so lets just halt it with a spells for a bit alright?" He said, sounding rather concerned about the issue. Xavalzo glanced back up towards the ceiling, swearing he had heard someone else's voice. "Hmm.. Vishko!" The thief called out. The metallic hawk flew out from wherever he had been hiding upstairs and swooped down onto the counter in front of his master. "Hey pal, I need you to do something for me.." He leaned in and whispered something to his bird, which replied to him with metallic cawing. With that, the clockwork bird golem flew out the still open door.

He then turned to the others. "Well if you lot are serious about rebuilding this place, I guess we should figure out who is doing what around here then.." The thief said, leaning against the counter again. "I can manage the bar, at least for a while.. but we're going to need some way of getting food and supplies-" He then gave a quick glance towards the conjurer. "Preferably real food. Plus we'll probably need to do some cleaning, and some manual labor.." He added as he glanced around the dusty, dirty, room. "Oh, since it seems we may have to cozy up with one another," The thief stated, glancing over at the Northern Warrior, who was currently busy skinning what would presumably become her meal for the night. "The name's Xav. Just another wanderer from those lifeless deserts in the far south."

Alex turned towards Boldy and spoke in a language that was almost impossible to place as it seemed to share a mixture of lexical rules from a thousand nations. Boldy simply hummed in approval as Alex turned towards the rest of the group.
"Boldy is willing to help you with anything you need." Alex said as he made his way out of the tavern, almost as if he were skipping out on his duties, however in his hand were a few shining crystals that he moved about in his fist until he left.

Alex when a few meters away from the tavern and threw one of the crystals up in the air but then plummeted down with great velocity that the crystal planted itself into the ground.

Again, Alex repeated this process that took half an hour in each of the four corners of the local area. After the final crystal was planted Ale made his way near the entrance of the tavern. He raised his hand and the crystal sites began to glow, and spot up a pillar of light. After the pillars rose a few hundred feet, all the adjacent pillars connected, forming a type of net, but soon the visible signs of such dissipated.

"That should keep unwanted guests out." Alex said to himself.

Once the Knight had left, the room was silent. I looked at my hands and realized the I was shaking. Toom much magic in such a short amount of time. "We might need to figure out the bunking situation. I don't know how many rooms there are, but I doubt there's one for each of us." I dematerialized the glasses as well as the broom. I kept the sword in existence though, I was proud of that thing. "Whoever wants to bunk with me can, I'm heading to bed now." I got halfway up the stairs before I succumbed to the exhaustion and faceplanted with an audible crack.

Alia noticed some discrepancy with Xavalzo's words, mainly with the "wander for about a week through the woods to get here" and "my uncle's tavern" part, but decided not to question it for now. The truth would become clear in time.

As for the conjurer, he had suddenly collapsed. Alia sighed, having expected that to happen. "After I just warned him too," Alia said disappointingly. She got off the stool she was sitting on and went over to him, saying, "I'll take care of him." Alia climbed up the stairs to where Edric was and knelt down, flipping him over. The step his face landed on now had a sizable crack and dent in it, which was probably the cause of the crack sound, and Edric's face itself was now covered in blood. The wound itself, however, was not that bad. Alia put her palm an inch away from Edric's face and muttered a few incomprehensible words. Alia's palm glowed light blue, and the wound on Edric's face healed, although the blood remained.

Alia then grabbed Edric by the underarms and began to drag him up the stairs. It was a tiresome effort, but it was manageable. Alia then managed to get Edric seated on a chair, and took a second to take a breather. She had forgotten what it was like to drag people away. Specifically, her former master after a night of drinking. The deed was done now, so Alia began to explore the second floor, or at least the part that could be explored, having almost immediately found hallway blocked off by a pile of rubble. Alia could have just blasted it with a spell, but she supposed Xavalzo was right about the state of the building and decided not to risk it. Instead, she went over to the balcony looking over the main floor and asked, "There's a pile of rubble blocking a hallway. Could someone do something about that?"

Ouch. That didn't sound good.. Xavalzo thought, cringing slightly from the loud crack that followed Edric's collapse. The younger looking spellcaster left her seat and headed up to help the poor lad. "Thank you missy." Xav said to her with a gracious nod. While she was tending to the conjurer, Xavalzo decided he'd try and look productive by gathering up all the cups and mugs scattered around the main floor, and bringing them back to the bar. He clumped them all into two groupings according to whether they were clean or not. Satisfied with his work, he dusted his hands off and looked up at the second floor balcony, seeing the young spellcaster again.

"There's a pile of rubble blocking a hallway. Could someone do something about that?"

With a sigh, Xavalzo walked around the counter and headed towards the stairs. "I suppose I could help.. I'm curious as well to what could be up there." The thief made his way up the stairs cautiously, the steps creaking with every step he took. Eventually he made it up top and passed by the two magicians and approached the stack of rubble. For a brief moment, he assessed the rubble, forming a strategy to deal with this dilemma. It appeared to be mostly smashed up furniture that had been pushed into the doorway. He began removing small planks of wood from the pile, broken chairs and parts of shelves. Eventually, the pile was light enough to drag out a few larger pieces of rubble, and with a grunt he even managed to pull a rather large chunk of table out from the pile. The rubble was now mostly clear, revealing a straight hallway which had 3 different doors on each side. Presumably they were bedrooms. "There.." The thief managed through his heavy panting. Next time i'm leaving all the manual labor to the Northerner..

He looked up, and his curiosity decided that he felt well enough to explore further. "Well let's see what we have in here.." He said, opening the first door on the left. Creeping into the room, he found it dimly lit through a dusty window. It was indeed a bedroom alright, the bed seemed almost completely preserved too as an added bonus. Beside it, was a small beside drawer, which the thief rushed over to quickly, and hastily slid open. "Is that a shiny glimmer I see," Xavalzo said to himself, quickly scooping up a small handful of gold and dropping it into his coin purse. "And whats this?" The thief then removed a rather bland looking book from the drawer and opened it up. Quickly flipping through the pages, he found nothing of interest. The pagers were all in fact blank, except for the very last. Written in small, fine text was "Give to my dearest.." the ink was covering the last word on the page. "That's.. odd?" The thief added, closing the book once more. He held onto it, figuring that he'd reveal it to the others later, or perhaps find a way to play it into his disguise somehow. He walked back out of the room and approached the balcony overlooking the main floor again. "Looks like we have maybe about six or so bedrooms up here. I already searched one of them, but i'm not sure whats in the others yet." He shouted down to the main floor.

For the first time in many years, Edric dreamed. He was inside that Tavern. The whole group was there, even people he'd have swore he'd never seen. Everyone was, if not smiling or laughing, content at the very least. Zook played a familiar tune on his lute. A man got up and began dancing in quite a silly fashion. He realized that the man was an older version of him. His "dancing" elicited a few hearty laughs and many chuckles. The Tavern was clean and smelled pleasantly of food and drink. Then the scene changed. He didn't know how he knew, but he was aware it was several days later. The Tavern was in ruins, what little still stood was in flames. Very few of the people from the previous scene were here, and he had a horrible feeling they were dead. He wasn't sure why their loss affected him so much, considering that he hadn't even seen half of them.
The only people now standing in the ruins were the red-clad spell caster, Edric's future self, the northern woman, Xav, and Alex. Alex was clutching at a gaping wound in his side and leaning heavily on Boldy. The Caster was hurling fireballs at unseen foes, and the Northerner was clutching her spear. Then the enemy charged, and he recognized them immediately. Inquisitioners. They dressed in Priestly garb but wielded a multitude of weapons. At their front was a man in Gold armor. He was the architect of the Inquisition, Bishop Falor. They charged and taverners didn't stand a chance. My older self charged to meet them, conjuring a multitude of blades which he seemingly controlled telekinetically. Edric knew for a fact he wasn't currently able to do that. They fought for awhile, but it was futile. Older Edric's blades lay on the ground as Falor held him in the air by his throat. He shoved his sword through Edric's abdomen, smiling at his cry of pain. Falor threw him to the ground so that he faced the other taverners. They were struck down one by one until only the wounded conjurer remained. Falor kneeled next to him and spoke.
"You couldn't save the order, what made you think you could save these people." The magician was silent. Falor scoffed and drove his blade downwards towards his head. Edric awoke before the blade touched his flesh. He gasped for air, as though he had been underwater. He looked around, finding himself on the balcony in a chair. His face was covered in blood but there was no wound. He would have to make a point to thank his healer later. But, memories of the dream came to him and he cried. Edric did not cry often, not even when the Order fell, so he certainly didn't know why he was sobbing into his hands now. He spoke softly to himself.
"How could I be so weak?" he wiped his eyes, resolving that he would not would not let his dream come true. He had already failed the Order, he would not fail this new group of friends. He smiled, liking the sound of that. He hadn't had people to call "friend" in quite awhile.

Duncan peered through a spyglass at a rickety building that sat precariously on the side of a cliff. If he hadn't seen several figures walking in this direction earlier before suddenly disappearing from site, he would have guessed the building to be empty. After all, who would ever risk take such a risk as to go in there? Now that he knew there were at least several people inside, it couldn't hurt to add another 200 or so pounds of bad ass assassin and gear. Folding up the Spyglass and attaching it to his belt, Duncan began to make his trek toward the Lonely Tavern.

Approaching the magic net that surrounded the tavern, Duncan stared at it with a raised eyebrow as his chin rested on his hand. Picking up a nearby pebble, he threw it at the barrier to see what would happen and watched as it passed safely through. Still, this was magic which is as unpredictable as it is powerful. Drawing his sword, the assassin poked the barrier only to find no change as well. Sheathing the sword, Duncan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and walked through the net. It seemed he had been worried about nothing. Now, it was time to see what was going on in this desolate location.

The bow on his back almost scraping across the door frame as he walked inside the tavern, Duncan took in the other patrons. The first thing he noticed was the large, crystal golem that some summoner must have conjured up. Obviously, the assassin had completely misjudged the strength of this building's supports. As the boards creaked loudly with every several steps he took though, Duncan began to wonder if his original judgement had been correct. Sitting down at one of the bar stools, he used his peripheral vision to search for any prospective customers while he pretended to count his coins to purchase a drink. Duncan didn't need to count his money to know that if he wanted to rub two nickels together, he'd have to borrow one.

Alia took one last look at Edric before going over to help Xavalzo with the rubble. She got to work pulling away some of the smaller bits and pieces, then occasionally using a spell to levitate a larger piece of rubble away and set it down gently. The spell was simple, but it took quite a bit of energy each time. The job was quickly finished, though, and Alia sat down to regain her strength. Xavalzo had gone off to explore the new area, leaving Alia to watch over Edric.

Speaking of Edric, he had begun to look awfully pale and sweaty. At first, Alia hoped he hadn't gotten sick or anything, although she knew that such a thing happening so quickly was highly unlikely. Then Edric awoke with a fright, panting heavily. Must've been a nightmare, Alia thought as she looked at him in concern. In an attempt to comfort Edric and make the situation a bit less awkward, Alia placed a hand on Edric's shoulder, gently rocking him ever so slightly, and soothingly said, "Hey, It's all right, you're fine. Whatever you saw in that dream of yours isn't real. You're not weak." Alia actually wasn't sure about that last part, but she wasn't one to judge. She wasn't exactly an Arch Mage, after all.

There was so much going on. So much to see. Ember felt like she kind of spaced out for a moment as she watched the big people try to impress one another with their magic. So proud they were of their own flash and pizzaz. The pixie's attention was drawn to the large woman. Why was she so angry? She reminded Ember of a bear she had once met. Such an angry bear he was. Ember had tried to cheer him up and in return she was almost eaten. She made a mental note to try and stay away from the angry woman. Being eaten would totally ruin this day.

Ember suddenly snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a thud. One of the magic users had collapsed. She managed to restrain herself from making another loud and stupid noise. She was rather proud of herself for that. As she watched one of the others attend to the conjurer, Ember sighed wearily. Humans and magic invariably lead to chaos. She did hope he was ok though. He seemed nice enough for a human.

As the unconscious conjurer was hauled off up the stairs, Ember decided to follow after. Maybe she could help. She chose to remain concealed however. She wasn't entirely sure she trusted all of these people yet. She watched the conjurer as he tossed and turned, daring to get within just a few feet of him and his...friend? She regretted getting so close when he suddenly jolted awake. Ember thrust herself backwards in the air, actually pushing herself clear of the balcony. When she realized everything was ok, she rolled her eyes at her own skittishness. That was hardly the scariest thing she had ever seen. She planted herself on the balcony railing and assumed a wide legged stance with her arms crossed over her chest. It seemed like she was trying to look tough. Or at least it would seem that way if anyone could actually see her.

Edric looked at the spell caster.
“Look at me, crying like some sort of child.” He wiped his eyes once more. He was looking directly into the Caster’s eyes. His face flushed and he looked away. “You lie, I am weak. I single handedly tore down the Order. I’m a coward. The Inquisitioners got me and told me they’d let me go if I told them everything I knew.” He unbuttoned the first three buttons on his shirt, revealing the lashing scar on my his chest. “I held out for three hours, then I broke. I told them everything I knew and they let me go. I wandered around for ages until I finally ended up here. I’ve blamed the Inquistion for everything that’s happened, but it was all my fault.” Once he had finished speaking he looked into her eyes once more. He wasn't sure why he told her all this but he felt as though he could, as though he should. For the first time in his life he felt self conscious. Then he laughed out loud. "I don't even know your name."

Ihri lugged her satchel over the log, clearly winded. Black however, had merely stepped over the log, and was silent. As always. Once on the log, Ihri sat down to catch her breath, in her sight, some hundred meters away was a rugged and worn down tavern. A tavern that was almost invisible just twenty minutes of travel back. She had begun to doubt Uncle Bones' directions, right up until she sat down. Still, that tavern would probably need some work. What kind of people would be in such a worn down tavern in the middle of nowhere? Bandits... Criminals... Thieves... Hooligans! She frowned, finding that her will was wavering. They could kidnap her and ransom her, or make her do unthinkable things! She felt a light tap on her shoulder which took her out of her own little world, finding that Black had already stepped down from the log. Right! Black and Green would protect her, they're strong, and Uncle Bones would never send her to get a job at a place with criminals in it. She felt will coming back, leaping up, "Right!" She exclaimed, she stepped forwards with a renewed rigor. With Black following.

After a few steps, Black suddenly stepped. Ihri stopped as well with a 'huh', and a puzzled look on her face. Black would only stop on his own when she should take notice of something. She looked around, first at the bar, then at the ground, then behind her. What could it be? After a moment, then she noticed the something strange about the energy of the atmosphere. Ah! A shield! Or net. Or illusion field. She raised both of her hands and muttered something. A small buzz of static was heard and she sighed, she knew there was something there, a magic she knew but never studied. And she could identify it more easily if it was visible, but her reveal had failed miserably.

There was only one way to find out. She grabbed a small pebble and tossed it through the field. It merely landed on the ground. Meaning it wasn't a disintegration field of some sort, so she grabbed a nearby twig and waved it through the magical net, like knocking. Except with a twig, and through a magic she had little idea of. She hoped that the person who had set it up was listening.

Walking through the woods taking in all the wonders of nature he noticed he was head in the same direction as the dirt path on his right. He looked down, Kitten was plotting along next to him with his tongue flopping out of his mouth. The sight of Kitten made him smile or would have if his face wasn't stuck in one stony expression,but his eyes did glow brighter. Kitten looked up and meeting his eyes let out a weak growl. "Go ahead Kitty, explore he said "I'll sit here and listen to the woods."

While Kitten was off exploring he took a heavy seat leaned against a tree and listened. All he heard was the rustling of wind through trees and the occasional bird's chirping. Hating being idol he began digging a hole in the dirt in front of him, the sick of his fist. Once that was done he filled it with a bit of the water he was carrying with him. He mixed the dirt and water together making a thick mud and began building a miniature mud hut. He made sure to add a door using a few sticks and even a couple windows.

He had constructed a roof and was using a stick to draw in shingles when he heard kitten barking. He got to one knee and asked "what is it Kitten?" When his best friend came in to view. Kitten got with in a few feet barked again and turned taking a few steps and stopping. "You want me to follow you?" Kitten barked again. "Ok Kittenlet's go"

He followed kitten to the edge of the woods where he saw an old building. "What is it? Do you want me to fix it? It would take a lot of time..." Kitten growled. "Ok? Then what?" Just ad he asked he saw what kitten wanted him to see. Standing near the building was a woman, and what he thought were two men. "Are they nice?" He asked Kitten. Kitten just sat down and let out a whine. "That lady is waving a stick" he pointed out. "Let's go say hi" and with that he left the woods taking a few steps forward, Kitten at his heals. He stopped suddenly "Kitten I'm nervous what if they're mean?" Kitten sat next to him resting his snout on the side of his leg.

He was blinded, yet he could still see. Your eyes betray you, they only see the physical and never the energy that binds us. To walk in the ocean of the rift is to see what the real world looks like. However, the light grows dark, the realms between energy and matter are weak, but there, at the end of the tunnel she stands, her arms open and welcoming embrace. – The Goddess.

Her faint smile hides her pain which she tries to keep hidden, her people all but dead, scattered, her once beautiful city now lies a demonic ruin, a cruel sense of irony on their part. The Rift Stones and Shards tainted with dark energy, their peaceful purpose twisted and raped into a breeding ground of evil. This was the darkness.

A part of Alex wanted to go with the Goddess, retreat back into the realm of the Rift; a place where no demon shall be able to enter, but then he would be abandoning the realm of matter, the lives that live within, to become playthings for the demons. This he could not allow, he wanted to restore his people, return to Marble City and rebuild it. But he was too weak, using his power to save the lives of forty-seven children before the demons could destroy them had taken his energy beyond a regenerative state. He needed the shards, relearn the old ways before he could fight once again.

Alex opened his eyes, the Realm of Matter was visible once more, the tavern in front of him, the ruined shack. But this… this was his home now, the people within, were as varied as they come, but all without demonic taint, so they were friends.
Alex stood up, straightening out his clothing and brushing his hand across his hair.
He had to locate the first shard.

Xavalzo gazed down the stairs, and saw someone sitting by the bar. Customer eh? Guess i'll go do my 'job'. The thief thought to himself as he made his way behind the counter. As he arrived at his posts, he looked over the stranger he saw before him. Shady folk. Guess i'm not the only one around here. Xavalzo picked up a rag, and began wiping a few of the mugs infront of him clean. "Well well, a customer at The Lonely Tavern, imagine that. Could I interest you in some unknown drinks or stale bread, or perhaps you're looking for work? Can't give ye anything fancy like giant slaying and bandit pillaging, just work around here. Payment being free food and housing of course.."

It wasn't the best of hooks, but it was the truth at the least. More labor around the Tavern couldn't hurt if they all worked for free. At least, that was his reasoning on the matter. The thief couldn't help but wonder if there may have been anything else hidden away inside the bedrooms they found upstairs, but now that he was currently fulfilling 'his duties' as a bartender, he couldn't check now. "Oh, and don't mind the crystal giant behind ye.." He added. "We're still trying to figure out where to put him."

From within the basement, an unusual sound can be heard coming up from under the floorboards. It sounded almost like the rush of water, mix with with a soft chime. The thief glanced down at his feet, wondering what was making such an noise, but decided best to ignore it. One of the more cheery curious folks around here could investigate it for him.