[Tirñea]

Tirñea silently fumed over this 'sage' and his arrogance. He spoke of spirits too, perhaps real ones, but in a sense Sierpe was a spirit too. Her people both feared and revered the beasts, and most believed they were the souls of the desert; massive, hostile, and all consuming. Tirñea had been the first ever to see one as they truly were, an animal like any other and not a thing of mere legend.

The sage had begun beaming this unnervingly pleasant smile, and Tirñea returned his look with a stare that sought to burn straight through his squinted eyelids. Further he imposed his self importance, insisting that he 'take care of' Sierpe when the wurm was at least 20 feet underground. Then he began to chant, and a twinge of unease ran down her spine.

It took her a moment, but she soon realized that the sensation was not her own, but Sierpe's. Something was bothering him, and as Sage's chanting went on, so did Sierpe's irritation. As the sage sung his climax, it seemed Sierpe's patience had ran out, turning all that coiled up tension into a wash of distress.

<Sage>@Rabidporcupine

As you'd begun to amass your collection of roots, the unseen creature bellow had gone from stationary to slow moving. As the roots dug deeper, so did the creature in an attempt to avoid them, but the roots were soon upon it like a cage, and able to strike upon your command. The moment they begin to close in however, the creature goes from the pace of a crawl, to a panicked escape. The roots worked quickly to constrain it but could find nowhere to hold it by, and the beast urgently squirmed free by breaking through any remaining roots. You'd scared it, but with it on the move now it was unknown precisely where it was.

---

"Stop what you are doing that!" Tirñea snapped, her accent thick under the pressure of her frustration. As if done by her words, the earth trembled, harshly and in a rolling wave which slowly moved towards the surface. Realizing what was happening, Tirñea grabbed hold of her own staff and began swinging at the ground around her. Once in front, twice more behind herself as the three points of a triangle. Then, raising it upright she stamped the ground twice, and focused on the command in an attempt influence Sierpe's own thoughts.

The wurm understood the command, but only barely, and the consequences of this became immediately apparent about 15 feet across the road. Noisily the earth rumbled, and a section of street swelled as Sierpe drew close to the surface. He had listened and didn't break the surface thankfully, but swerving to tunnel directly under the street wasn't much better. Like a wave, the swelled mound of earth traveled about 20 feet, twisting and crashing into a storefront, ruining it's display of what appeared to be wigs, or perhaps mops. People screamed and panicked, rushing away from the scene while Order officials began appearing from seemingly all sides. Then finally did Sierpe go further underground, and as his body finished passing under the street it collapsed behind him creating a large, 'J' shaped gouge of a sink hole. It all had happened far enough away from them that most people hadn't made the connection as to who'd been responsible if anyone, but it had been an unbelievably close call.

"You, need to stop," Tirñea spat towards Sage, taking a step forward and stamping her staff down on the ground. "My creature is my spirit, and he not likes your singing," she begrudgingly explained, gritting her teeth as she did so. Her mood soured, Tirñea turned back to face Veronica in hopes that she wouldn't be somehow upset. She gave a weak smile before turning her eyes away nervously, beginning to walk down the road and away from the growing crowd that the sink hole was now attracting.

"We should go from here. Maybe there is butcher somewhere else," Tirñea said over her shoulder, and as she walked once again began swinging her staff. First, three times around herself, then stamping it 3 times, followed by her continued overly forceful use of the staff as she walked.

Serena gave the faintest hint of a smile.

“I hope to see you soon then,” she said. “Little One.” She gave a single wave of her hand as she turned to leave. The smile faded soon, as it always did, and made her way to the tower. If things were going according to schedule, she could catch up, rest, exchange notes… better than sitting around drinking, anyhow.

Serena had been to the tower several times before, but she never quite got used to it. She had no problems getting the gate guards to let her pass, but once she crossed the threshold, the extravagant courtyard, the beautiful flower beds, the suits of armor on patrol alongside various acolytes, the holy aura that subtly and faintly stabbed into her half-demonic being, the way the sun always seemed to shine slightly more brightly here than anywhere else in the city, even when it should be covered in the tower’s own shadow… they remained familiar, yet not. She approached the front doors and they swung open in front of her.

The woman behind the door was short, just a little over five feet tall, and clearly old, but there was an unmistakably powerful commanding aura about her. Her facial features bore some similarity to Veronica’s, creased into a look of mild frustration, and she had full, pristine silver hair that seemed to be a result of something more mystical than mere aging. She wore the distinctive robes of the Order, but they were more pristine and decorated, with the most prominent feature being a necklace of large blue glass prayer beads, each with a different golden inscription. She was flanked by an entourage of two suits of armor on either side of her, with the two closest to her bearing far more elaborate silver and gold trim, covered in runes that, even while inactive, caused Serena to momentarily wince in pain before she grew accustomed to it, and ornate yet deadly-looking halberds and swords, with an Order acolyte trailing behind her. She gave Serena a look of surprise as she met her gaze.

“It’s been a while, Glint.” Serena said, her facade faltering ever so slightly.

“A- Serena,” Glint said, her frustration soon returning. “You’ll have to wait a bit, apparently some foreign asshole tore up half the damn market.” She huffed and stormed towards the gate outside.

“Would you like any assistance?” Serena offered.

“No,” Glint answered. “I think we can handle this. If I have to start casting, I don’t want you anywhere near it. Just wait in my room, I’ll be back soon.” Serena simply nodded and left her to her business. She would go to Glint’s room, order some breakfast from the servants, maybe some wine, and relax and wait for someone else to fix things for once.

---

Veronica scowled in annoyance as the man began to sing. She considered telling him that he probably didn’t have any of the necessary papers to spellcast in a public area like that, but after his arrogant little speech she decided to just see where this went. If he thought that he could work above the Order, he had another thing coming. She just kind of crossed her arms and stared at him as he sang. She didn’t even flick him in the face while his eyes were closed like she was considering doing a few moments earlier.

And then it happened. She felt a little guilty watching the streets and market get torn up when she could have easily punched the “sage” in the nose while he sang. She knew the couple who owned that shop, after all, not to mention the rest of the damages. Tirnea suggested that they leave, and Veronica thought for a moment. She would really rather see what they do to this guy, but she probably shouldn’t be wasting their time on this, unless he was going to bug them some more. She ultimately decided, and opened her mouth to speak.

“Well-”

“VERONICA!” The sound of her grandmother’s voice sent a shock down her entire body as she reflexively snapped into a rigid posture. She turned to face Glint, taking note of the acolyte and the pair of Wardbearers she had alongside her in addition to her usual security. She wasn’t used to hearing her sound so on edge.

“Gra-er, Grand Inquisitor!” Veronica said with nervous enthusiasm. “What are you up to?”

“Well I just got home from Nethergate and now I’m trying to figure out what in Calieo’s name is going on here,” Glint said. “You’d think I’d never left the damn place. Do you have any idea how this all started?” Veronica thought for a moment. How could she explain this?

“Well,” the knightess started. “Serena has the two of us out on Choir business, and this kid starts asking us to help him find a butcher, but then he starts going on about some beast under the earth, and I tell him to report it to the Order if it’s so much trouble, but then he says he’s a sage and starts chanting this spell, and that’s what caused all the commotion.”

“And you didn’t stop him?” Glint asked with a frown.

“I, uh, didn’t think it would turn out this bad.” Veronica answered. Glint sighed and rubbed her temples. She turned to the sage with a look that suggested that she was running dangerously low on patience.

“Boy,” she said sternly. “I can tell you’re not from around here, so I’m not even going to bother asking you if you have the permits to do half of what you just did. So I’m just going to ask you what in the flames of Forno were you thinking when you did it.”

---

Hidden amongst the crowd and commotion near an alleyway, two figures stood in the shade. One cloaked under a parasol, another under a beaked hood.

“How much of that did you catch?” Ashley asked.

“Most of it.” Magnolia said quietly, almost inaudibly with the din of the crowd, but her companion never failed to hear her.

“Do you think that’s what the Pinuran girl had up her sleeve?”

“Most likely.”

He began to try to wrap his head around the situation before he turned to leave. Wouldn’t want to get spotted, after all.

"Efficiency is not always the way to go though," Denise said slightly miffed. "It's a waste to burn down everything around us. If I wanted to I coul...." she saw Calieo run past her and started swinging her flail. It did look pretty funny with her swinging it around like that. Denise smiled and her eyes changed shape again so that the irises looked like flames. What she saw gave her pause. The energies being condensed where far greater than what she thought. Sure, the caged sphere emitted an unreal amount of potential power but this was getting out of hand.

Denise opened her mouth and was about to speak out against the action when Calieo swung her weapon and the mass of energy was launched. "That is going way off....." she said quietly to herself. Based on the angle and the force behind the swing, there was no way it was going to hit anything nearby them. She shook her head as she saw the projectile launch away, far away. Despite herself Denise could not help herself and a massive grin appeared on her face. This was just too good. What if she could harness that power into her own devices?

She already knew that it was going to be a big lovely boom but even that paled to when the projectile impacted and she started laughing with maniacal glee. If she caught that energy and it was not launched and instead she harnessed it and compressed and then powered it up. It would give rise to a new legacy. Something she could be proud of. Something that really would give credit to her little nickname. But perhaps it would change from thunder to earthquake; or child of destruction perhaps?

Calieo's glance did not go unnoticed and Denise turned towards her with the same crazy smile. The smile of a woman that had found a new project to work on. Like a predator looking at it's prey. She was more determined now than ever before to make Calieo her's for the sheer potential of destruction between the two of them. "Usstan kyorl foluss zhah wun ssinssrigg." The golem said and a rumbling laughter was let out of it's mouth and Denise blushed heavily and smacked the golem.

"Whatever....stupid..." Denise said and looked a bit longingly towards Calieo before she moved her eyes towards the destruction. A sigh escaped her lips. "She is not of this realm. It'll probably remain a fantasy forever." She said and urged her sister to move a bit quicker up the path so that they were in front of the rest. What was the saying? Love at first explosion?

Having watched over her shoulder out of the corner of her eye, Autumn took note that Serena did indeed start heading for the tower in the center of town. Nodding her head, her attention turned forward again. A raven's cloak, a Parasol, black armor, and a golem. Surely these wouldn't be too hard to pick out. It wasn't raining, nor had it for a few days apart from the spells the mages cast over the fields that surrounded the town. She wondered for a moment if the clear weather was also an instrument of this town's blatant over-use of magics.

Shaking her head to clear it, she tried to focus. She had to keep her eyes sharp. She doubted that she'd find her query in the crowds around town if they were on the run. But she scanned them none-the-less just to be sure. Her attention was actually focused on the alleyways, and through the doors and windows of inns and taverns, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the outstanding features the almost-assuredly Foji woman had mentioned.

She was sure to keep in mind as well that her former employer would likely be arriving and to keep an eye out for that wooden boy that kept following the guards around. Though as she thought about this she had just walked into one of the town's market sectors when a commotion shook the streets. Gasping and wondering if her former target had finally made his move while she was distracted, she rushed toward the scene of the calamity.

Finding the road had been torn up in a large arc that slammed into a storefront, Autumn rushed forward and squeezed her way around the crowds to perch herself on top of a crate next to one of the street-stalls selling goods. With the higher vantage point she scanned the crowds and the damage. She wasn't well versed enough to know what kind of spell was used, but it was clearly the work of magic. No mundane force could have churned up so much ground without leaving a mark, much less the object itself being present.

Her eyes scanned furiously. There was no wooden boy... no golem, big or small... no man in black armor... She started to relax and push the thoughts from her mind when she glanced up across the crowd and into the alleyway. Was that a parasol?! Her eyes widened as she locked onto the figure for a moment. Sure enough a man with long blonde hair alongside a woman wearing a beaked hood. They were retreating. was this their doing? Leaping down off of the box, Autumn started to worm her way through the crowds. She had to get to the other side before the figures disappeared or she'd likely lose the trail. Cities were hard places to track people. They didn't leave footprints and there were plenty of distractions.

As Autumn pushed through the crowd, she crossed directly between the approach of a very stern looking woman complete with guard. On her other side appeared to be a man standing in the middle of the road alongside a woman who looked rather surprised. A third figure was retreating. She blinked a few times and tried to quicken her pace and move out of the way. She'd rather not get tangled up in what was going on since she'd caught a sign of her mark. She supposed running through the scene made her look rather suspicious as it was, so she dared not use her abilities here to get out of the way. She tried to look up and peer past the group at the alleyway but there were too many people in the way. Damn her height. Pushing onward, she hoped to skirt through without being stopped. She rushed toward the far side of the crowd so that she might spot the figures in the alley again.

---

@bobert778@lavulman

"Ah..." Sage said dumbly, as his spell resulted in what could only be described as 'localised utter bedlam'. He failed to restrain the Pinurans familiar, merely panicking the poor creature, and now he'd torn up half the market place!

"I have to say, usually the results aren't quite this bad..."

Despite all this, however, he still managed to gain a small amount of satisfaction, as the woman begrudgingly told the truth about her familiar.

"Well, in spite of... all of this... I can at least rest a little bit easier knowing that I brought the truth to the forefront. Perhaps now, your friendship can grow without the burden of hidden truths restraining it."

Honestly, he probably could've stopped talking in his purposefully annoying, arrogant way of speaking by this point, but he was having too much fun with it by now to bother him. That being said, it might be about time to bring some of that sage-like humility into it, considering what he'd done.

That, and he had just caught sight of one of the scariest-looking old ladies he'd ever seem.

He listened to the armoured woman explain the situation, wincing slightly as she mentioned the Pinurans familiar. He'd just wanted to keep it from causing trouble and get her to tell the truth, not get it killed! Hell, it was kind of the main reason he didn't wait to let the order get involved! Then again, maybe this was a blessing in disguise, and could perhaps allow him to at least partially salvage this disastrous first impression with the Pinuran sage candidate and her friend.

"I'm afraid that what the young armoured woman said isn't entirely true." Sage said, turning to the elderly woman with a small, closed-eyed frown. "You see, there was no such creature under the earth here. The part about the butcher is true, but after that it is largely fabricated. The simple truth is that when I entered the city, I sensed a surprisingly high amount of spirit activity for such a built up area. When I tried to reach out to speak with them, they seemed to get slightly... over excited. As you can see, the results were less than optimal. But may I please ask that you do not punish either of these two? I don't know why they would cover for me, someone they just met, but I am very grateful to them."

And then he looked around the area, taking in the damage he'd inadvertently caused.

"Anyway, would you be so kind as to let me attempt to repair the area I damaged? Now that I've noted the change in the spirits power here, I can adjust my power to prevent another accident."

Before he finished however, he turned to Tirnea and Veronica.

"One more thing, I understand we got off on the wrong foot, and I would like to apologise for that. However, I would ask just one last, small favour of you. Would you be willing to feed my familiar Tarfal while I am locked away? He is in the forests just a little ways from town, waiting so as not to scare the villagers. And please, don't just kill him. He's fairly big, and might be wary of you at first, but he will become quite friendly if you mention my name."

[Tirñea]

Walking at a mildly urgent pace, Tirñea hadn't even realized she was not being followed by either Veronica or Sage. Her mind was busy, but her train of thought derailed at the sound of Veronica's name being called over the din of the crowds. Using her next step to twirl into the opposite direction, she realized that she'd been walking away on her own. She hadn't gone far, but due to the large amount of foot traffic she had to raise herself on tiptoe in order to see past a few shoulders and to where Veronica stood. A destination in mind she made the best beeline she could, dodging past a few people and continuing to stamp the ground with her staff.

Soon she could see her companion, and she was speaking with an elaborately dressed elder who was accompanied by an entourage of uniformed officials, and guards. Slowing her pace as she drew nearer, her last few steps brought her just behind but at Veronica's side. The elder was confronting the sage now, and he'd begun re-explaining what Veronica had apparently already explained. He lied, not poorly but if it conflicted somehow with whatever Veronica had said it would be easy to pick out. He lied to pin the blame on himself rather than redirect it which she found odd, and even offered to give himself up but only after a plea that meant to paint himself as a good Samaritan. Tirñea glazed over most of what he spewed, but he caught her attention with the mention of a familiar of his own. Even if he'd been prying, perhaps his search for candidates was actually good intentioned. Regardless though Tirñea felt she didn't know enough about the current situation and it's consequences, and decided to remain silent and observe while being mindful of Veronica should she offer any guidance. In her head she cursed that the three of them hadn't left when she'd intended, but there was little point in fuming over it now.

As Denise and Calieo went onto a burning spree, Chambala just observed them with a cold stare. Her bloodlust had now been removed, having put her emotions under control. Hunting required one to blend with the surroundings and having eyes filled with killing intent wasn't good for that. Thus she was now completely calm looking, her eyes displaying a calm frost rather than heated anger and desire to kill. She then just rolled her eyes and started walking after them again. Of all people to have to keep company with, it had to be with those ones. She regretted not having left the city before they burned hte bridge. If she had, she would have been home by now and enjoying last preparations for the winter. Now she was going to arrive home at the very start of the snow seasons. She went through her memories to see if she had prepared enough firewood. She had so she calmed herself. Food was secured, firewood was secured, she had water a plenty and could always boil snow later too. All was good and she now also had spices and dried fruits among other things in her big bags.

She moved up closer then, to keep up with them not more than 10 steps from Denise, within spear throwing range. She had to be sure she was withing kill distance of the woman. She had decided that Denise had to die if she proved she was dangerous to the rest of them and she was going to follow suit with that decision. Then a smile appeared on her face instead. Yeah keep it all in mind, temper your soul, do not let your emotions run out of your own control. That was what her mind was repeating constantinly.

As she moved, she pulled a big animal fang from one of her pockets and started scratching onto it with her knife. Might as well create another enchanted trinket. She had a feeling one that blocks poison was going to be a good thing to have more of for some reason. A gun feeling more than anything. That and she might be able to sell it one day and since enchanted trinkets took time to make, might as well start preparing for the next season's trade month from now.

[Calieo]

Smoke had begun to rise, grasses turned to ashes, and embers soon took flight as the inferno burnt itself out. Calieo sighed dreamily, for the first time in a long time her mind felt clear. No worries of thieves, ruined plans, or the possibility of failure, only the soothing dance of destruction and rebirth that flame could bring. The light she used burnt bright but was not hungry, and as the last of the fire began to fade to dust, Calieo was brought to her senses again as Denise rode past on her horse. The massive, lumbering creature briefly obstructed Calieo's view of the cliff which was enough to convince her to start moving again. Atop her steed Denise blazed a trail through the ever growing veil of grass, the ground falling even lower as the stalks continued to rise in order to appear even. It was easier to trail behind Denise than walk ahead of her, so the knight fell back though made sure to stay just ahead of Chambala and Rebecca. Nobody had anything to say, and though somewhat uneasy, Calieo was otherwise relieved to bask in the silence.

Another few minutes of walking, and the grass's progression seemed to have slowed, but not before it had finished rising to well above six feet meaning all that could be seen now was the rear end of a horse, and two walls of vivid green trailing behind it to frame the soft blue of the sky. Calieo had returned her weapon to her hip, the handle hanging freely, though the chain of the weapon was grasped idly in her hand. While walking, lazily she swung the little caged flame back and forth, her mind elsewhere as she considered her current situation, and what the future could hold.

---

<Denise>@Zhaliora

The edge of the valley drew closer now, the two parallel cliff faces on either side now slowly bending towards each other and narrowing the vast expanses of grass. At the end of the valley the land sloped up towards a large hill, at least twice the height of either cliff but much easier to climb. The grass seemed to have stopped raising higher, leaving you and Helvyra just above the preposterously tall forest of fronds. All shockingly even, aside from an oddly dense, almost shaggier patch of grass you hadn't noticed until now. It was the same healthy green as the rest of the grass, but it looked bunched together and solid beyond the protruding fronds that rose to match the height of the surrounding greenery. It was an uneven but roundish spot about a meter across, and it hadn't caught your eye until it was only a few feet ahead of you.

Then in the blink of an eye the patch of grass expanded and began to shrink away. As the space it took up increased, it's height decreased, a rounded clearing several meters across suddenly appearing before you. Just as quickly as the strange patch had spread itself, all at once it surged forward, crashing into the front of Helvyra with the force of a full grown Ursin bellua. The top heavy golem stumbled, the massive blob of vegetation having struck her right in the chest and was now rushing over her face and shoulders. Now completely atop Helvyra and no longer hidden in the grass, it was clear to see that this thing was easily as large as the golem's whole torso if not bigger. With shocking speed the mass of green rolled up past Helvyra's shoulders, threatening to crush you as it launched off the top of your golem like a pouncing cat.

---

[Calieo]

It all happened so quickly that Calieo's idle mind barely had time to register the massive shadow that was suddenly upon Chambala, Rebecca, and herself. Something had jumped high into the air, launching itself past Denise and Helvyra to sail just high enough that it hung right overhead. At the apex of it's leap, the once thin and long shape bloated itself into a massive disc, several meters across and falling towards the ground very quickly.

"It's an ambush!" Calieo shrieked, scrambling off to one side and leaping towards what she hoped was safety. As she hit the ground not a moment later their attacker did the same, slapping into the earth with a heavy and smothering thud that sounded like it could crush bones. In her haste the knight had successfully evaded being flattened, but had forgotten to roll and her body absorbed the full force of the impact. Her fall was somewhat cushioned by the grass, and her armour, but still the air was shocked from her lungs and she struggled to get up quickly, head on a swivel to try and assess the condition of everyone else in their party.

It all happened incredibly fast. By the time Clieo yelled the ambush, Chambala herself had already gotten notice of it and was reacting to it herself too. Her mind registered the shadow and it's expansion, there wasn't much to be done. The huntress pounced away once gathering as much momentum as she can. She threw her heavy bag into the tall grass then rolled and skittled across the ground as far as she could. It was not pretty, but it was effective. Dust was thrown around her as she rolled onto all fours, into battle position, looking at hte thing that nearly killed them. Her spear was already in her hand, her eyes dangerously locked into the enemy.

Hair like a waterfall was bordering her fierce face as she recognized the enemy. She swore, she cursed and was amazed they stumbled upon one of those." It's a Knoll Rotter!!!" She shouted as she pounced even further away, preparing her spear at the enemy. Now that she wasn't weighted down by her big heavy bag, her mobility was at it's peak once more. Sadly Knoll Rotter wasn't exactly an easy enemy at the best of days, but it wasn't impossible to take down.

Chambala focused and rocked her memory to recall any weaknessess and weaker points they could use to hunt a beast like that down. As a forest dweller it wasn't her regular hunting ground, but she had encountered more than a few critters on the open plains while comuting from her forest den to the cities too. She was a huntress of the wilds and she was going to be damned before hse lefts herself be killed by a Knoll Rotter! She'd set this whole place ablaze is she had to.

Denise sighed as she looked across the landscape. This was going to be a pain in the arse. The grass was getting too tall. She wondered what they others were thinking and how they were doing in this tall grass. But then she barely cared any longer when she gave it a second thought. Why should she care about them? They were potential food or pawns, or both. Get attached and things turn to shit quickly. She turned around and looked at Calieo and sighed once again. Things were already turning complicated; wasn't it?

She barely turned around in time for Helvyra to growl in alarm as the grass thing launched itself onto her. Denise barely saw it before it was on top of Helvyra. "Shit!" she hissed before rolling backwards off the golem's back only to almost be crushed by it's legs, forcing her to dodge out of the way. Denise quickly turned around and looked towards where this thing launched itself. Her eyes swirled as she searched for it.

"Ol's wun lil' aeros!" the golem rumbled out in it's deep and infernal voice. Denise looked up and saw the thing expand into a disk just before crashing down onto the ground, Calieo barely being able to dodge. Her eyes scanned the surroundings. Fire would probably be the most effective, or her explosives. Explosives were out though since they would probably damage her allies as well. So that left fire, but that also carried it's own risks, a massive grass fire.

"Sister, try to punch it's lights out!" Denise shouted out as flames started dancing around her body. Balls of flames, similar to her little show before started appearing and forming but giving them into more of a cone shape. By the time she was finished Helvyra's fists were gathering a little bit of flame that slowly grew as she sprung into action. With a loud roar it charged towards the grass thing and swung it's fists while Denise launched her flames towards it, hoping to catch the grassy back of the thing. She had not seen it well enough to make a guess as to where else to strike it.

The Grand Inquisitor sighed once more. What a mess…

“You can make up whatever nonsense you please,” Glint said, shaking her head as she brushed a stray hair out of her face. “But if you can fix the roads at least then I won’t throw you in an oubliette. Veronica, can your friend fill out a public magic and familiar form?”

“She doesn’t speak Abbalic very well.” The knightess responded.

“I’ll issue her a temporary pass, then,” Glint responded. One could practically feel the Inquisitor’s aura calming down as she turned her attention away from the sage. “Would you mind swinging around the tower later? It’s been forever since I visited you.” Veronica stood frozen for a moment before nodding. She had never really seen her so agitated before. Then again, she rarely saw her working as Grand Inquisitor. The older woman waved her glowing hand about while making some hushed incantations. Every official and suit simultaneously gave a short nod, whether or not they were watching her cast her spell. They began mobilizing, shooing away whatever was left of the crowd, leaving only the sage and various Order officials.

“Well,” Veronica said as she left the incident behind her. “I guess that’s over with… Except for that bit about the familiar. Should we even bother?” Her words had a subtly pressing tone to them. It sounded like a very obvious trap, after all. And that was something Veronica was beginning to grow rather tired of.

---

By the time Autumn had finished navigating her way through the crowd, the alley was clear, at least from what could be seen from the edge of the street: A flash of purple light shone from a turn further along the cramped path before fading as if a door had been closed in front of it, complete with a sharp slamming sound and some quick, hushed chatter.


When Helvyra quite suddenly stumbled backwards, Rebecca halted and took a step back to avoid being crushed by the golem should it fall over, clutching her launcher defensively. The true danger soon surged into view however, and as it leaped overhead Rebecca was already running back down the trail of flattened grass to protect herself and her prototype. Calieo shrieked, that thing hit the ground with a thunderous slap, and as Chambala shouted Rebecca slowed her sprint to turn back and face their attacker.

Chambala was right, it was a Knoll Rotter, and it looked to be at least half the size of Helvyra now that it's mass had gathered into a roundish blob rather than a pancake of death. Rebecca had heard of such creatures before but had never actually seen one that wasn't a sketch in a textbook. Unimportant to her studies she knew little of the beasts, but she knew they were predators, and ready to protect herself she ensured her weapon's safety was off.

---

A hooded figure impatiently stood in the alleyway, features obscured by a long drab cloak. Ashley and Magnolia were supposed to be here a while ago. Hopefully they didn't get into trouble, looking for a way into that tower…

And there they were, the blonde dragging the youth along at top speed like children on their way to a fair.

“Is everything oka-” the hooded figure started.

“Shhh!” The vampire whispered. “Someone's on to us...” He gestured backwards, to someone who presumably existed around the corner, with a tone that suggested he really wasn't taking this very seriously.

“Hide.” the figure said, quietly yet firmly. Ashley rung his bell and disappeared into a nearby door, an intense purple glow emanating from the door until it closed shut. The hooded figure huffed. That wasn't what he meant.

Finally breaching the far side of the crowd, the young shadow dancer found herself staring at an empty alleyway. She frowned. Had she lost them already? Had he really picked her out of the crowd and noticed she had spotted him? She supposed she shouldn't be surprised. They were fugitives hiding out in a relatively major city. They were likely quite experienced, perhaps even professional. At least in the essence of skill, moreso than demeanor.

Walking forward, Autumn approached the entry to the alleyway as she looked down it. She could see that purple glow from around the corner, followed by what sounded like a door slamming shut just after... was that a bell she heard ringing? Or was that her imagination? Trying to take a breath and calm her thoughts, Autumn turned and looked around behind her. She too did not want to be seen when she proceeded.

Once she was satisfied that all eyes were off of her, she turned back toward the alley and stepped forward. The instant that she crossed the threshold into the shadow of the building, she would appear, if anyone had been watching her, to simply vanish into thin air. In reality what she'd done was to cloak her body in shadows, obfuscating herself from view to the naked eye. Slowly unsheathing her daggers, she started to creep down the alley, careful of her footing so as not to knock into any debris or step in any puddles.

She approached the corner and sidled up against the wall, slowly peering around the corner to check the direction she'd seen the strange purple light from. She was taking a risk, sure. But she had to confirm that she'd seen them- and hopefully where they went before reporting back. Besides, she was relatively confident that no one could see her. Not without some special ability to see what was otherwise hidden from plain view.

[Calieo]

Still struggling to find her breath Calieo brought herself shakily to her feet. She cursed her recklessness and made an attempt to inhale sharply, the air stinging viciously at her chest. She'd dived far enough to land in the grass, and what could be seen was limited by the dense green fronds. Chambala shouted something, though what she said was either misheard or not understood. Something was attacking, that was all Calieo needed to know. With a frustrated grunt she stumbled back into the clearing, attempting to maintain her pride by ignoring the shock she still felt. To stand tall was important, it made you look bigger, and things fear bigger.

Pushing through the last of the grass she could clearly see her companions now; Chambala and Rebecca having retreated back towards the pushed down vegetation of the path, while Denise was nearby standing alongside her horse, barking a command. The thing that was attacking them was, unique. As Helvyra charged towards the creature Calieo studied it's form. It was big, she had seen bigger though, and it appeared to be made from the same substance as the grass surrounding them. Not identical, but similar enough that they must be the same, and so fire would do the trick. It's amorphous form pulsed, dozens of pseudopods pushing outward in an attempt to exaggerate the size of it's ever shifting mass. Finally Calieo noticed that this beast did not seem to have eyes of any sort, an observation that became immediately apparent when it made no attempt to avoid the first blow of Helvyra's flaming strikes.

The being did not scream, or shriek, or even whimper; there was only the sound of stone striking it's fleshy mass, and flames searing the many hairlike protrusions covering it's form. The moment the fist made contact however, the creature pulled itself away at a remarkable speed, it's body retracting as it rippled and rolled. About halfway back down the path now, it began exaggerating it's form again, this time in a more rapid, threatening manor. This did not deter Helvyra, or Denise, and Calieo gave a surprised gasp upon seeing a jet of flame strike the creature. The act gave Calieo her own motivation, and though she was still short of breath the knight began swinging her weapon with the hope to join Denise in launching projectiles.

Denise's fire splashed across the being's body, it pulling away once again from the source of it's pain. That seemed to have frightened it, and in one swift transition it was now rushing the rest of the way down the path of flattened grass, rolling and tumbling over itself as it's many pseudopods kicked up dirt and pebbles. Barreling away from Helvyra and Denise, whether it was aware or not, it was now charging directly towards Chambala and Rebecca.

[Tirñea]

Concerned that she could be in some kind of trouble, Tirñea awkwardly kept her gaze towards the ground while Veronica and the elder spoke with each other. She requested that Veronica see her again later, but it seemed for now she had nothing else to say to either of them. The elder's attention now on the sage, Veronica and Tirñea were escorted away like the majority of the gathered crowds. Many people had begun to disperse, but passersby couldn't help but gawk at the scene at least a little. Now across the street and out of the open, Tirñea looked back at the mess she'd unintentionally caused. 'It could have been worse' she told herself, her mind straying to less than savory thoughts of blood and screams.

Veronica was saying something. Something about a familiar. Her familiar?

"Hmm?" Tirñea replied, realizing she had been staring towards the elder and the sage. "Oh, um, yes. No. Um... sorry," she babbled, trying to recollect her thoughts and asses what Veronica had actually said. "I meaning, no, we do not need to bother. He is not in trouble, yes? I want know why he bother us," the Piñuran girl tried to explain, still curious as to what the sage had been talking about before he so rudely sent Sierpe into a panic. The wurm seemed to be alright now, but was certainly anxious after whatever had been done to him. Tirñea hoped he hadn't somehow been hurt; unlikely given his thick hide, but always a possibility.

Great the crazies of the group did affect the creature, but in their wild fighting and throwing fire at it, they pushed it right at Chambala and Rebecca." Dodge!" She stateda and dashed to the side, pulling a piece of engraved bone the side of a finger. She gripped it tightly." Enflame" She whispered as the piece of bone burst into flames and she tossed it at the creature. It's greatest weakness was fire and she wasn't really set up to combat it properly right now. First of all her fire trinkets weren't really a combative thing, she usually used them to lit up campfires or torches or the like. If the crass was dry she could have set the place ablaze, but it was not.

She then narrowed her eyes and hopped away and to her backpack where she pulled a waterskin from it. She also pulled another piece of bone similar to the first one and lit it too. Holding it in one hand she took a sip of the waterskin in haste and spewed it at the direction of hte knoll rotter, but holding the flaming bone in the path of the spit liquid it catching fire. It was alcohol rather high concentration too, usually she used it for massages and cleaning wounds rather than drinking, but it burned rather well. She was basically breathing fire at this point at the creature, trying to make it move back in the direction of the pyromaniacs of the group. If they could corner it from all sides and stop it from escaping, they wouldn't have to worry about it later.

"You have a big magic weapon, try it!" She shouted at Rebecca between sipping the alcohol and spewing it at the creature. She would have used different means to fight it had she expected to encounter one of this size, but that was not among her expectations of what to do today. Best part was that even if the grass was green, the flaming liquid that fell on it would make it fire up a little bit at least too for a few moments, making sure she'd have a wall of fire on the path of the Knoll Rotter.

@Kamen Evie@bobert778



"Uh, yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am." Sage said simply, feeling a fear he hadn't felt in a long time as he spoke to the terrifying woman. Just feeling her gaze on him was intimidating enough that he hastily reconsidered continuing with the 'arrogant sage' act.

Eager to try and get off the worst part of her bad side, he quickly turned back to face the chaos he had accidentally caused, beginning to sing once more.

"Klu vei, suth'rei vitra, kran sei, maktrana lu'usa. Sei, midyo lithei, sei no cidro, malon lo sidha."

As he sang, the spirits in the land began their work. Beneath the sinkhole, the roots that had formerly been grown to trap Sierpe twisted and grew once more, pushing and rearranging the dirt to fill the gaps in the earth. At the same time, his peculiar dancing and staff movements caused small barriers to form in the air, pressing the mounds of dirt that had been kicked up by the creatures panic back into the holes, which also helped to fill them in. Once the road looked... well, at least similar enough to the way it had before that it probably wouldn't trip and injure any passing horses, he focused his attention on the roots beneath the store, which pierced the ground and shifted to fill the areas that had been destroyed, pushing the storefront back into the shape it had held before.

And then he fell back to the ground.

For a moment, he just sat there, trying to calm his breathing as sweat ran down his face. Unfortunately, despite his training, Sage was still rather new to being... well, a sage. While asking the spirits to help him by forming barriers was fairly easy for him, requesting the manipulation of wood was a far more advanced, and equally more strenuous.

After about a minute, he stood back up, swaying a little as he did so, and turning back to face the elderly woman, still sweating profusely from the efforts of the past half an hour.

"Again, please allow me to apologize for the problems I've caused you." He said, bowing. "If I can help in any other way as a means of compensation, please let me know. I'm... I'm afraid I don't have very much money, but I will gladly use my talents as a sage to help however else I can."

<Autumn>@LittleFae

Peering around the corner you see another alleyway, sparsely populated by a few discarded crates, refuse, and the occasional door lining the backs of buildings. A lone, hooded figure is the only person you can see, standing in the alley across from a wooden doorway, their face turned away and obscured. Their cloak is simplistic, made from a dark material and fairly plain apart from the lighter coloured trim of their sleeves and hood.

The two figures you had been following were gone, and so was the glimmer of purple light you had seen. Alone the hooded figure stood, staring towards the door across from them for a while. For nearly a minute they simply watched, staring at the shop's back as if waiting for someone, or to be let in. Eventually though they lowered their head and turned, walking down the alley and away from you.

<Sage>@Rabidporcupine

The elder's expression was stern and unyielding even as your magic had worked, the only visible reaction she had given you being when you fell to the ground in exhaustion. She still looked unhappy as you stood, but though difficult to tell it's possible her mood had improved now that the street was somewhat repaired. As you finished giving your apologies, she gave a soft huff of annoyance, taking a moment to contemplate her response before speaking.

"You can help, by not doing anything like that again until you're well outside the city. Next time you will be arrested. We can't have people using magic willy nilly, it can be dangerous. There's laws for these things," Glint lectured, a hint of exhaustion underneath her commanding tone. Apparently done with you she made a shooing motion, turning away and leaving to apparently inspect your work, two knights approaching her as soon as she had left you be.

[Tirñea]

"If he isn't arrested I suppose we can speak with him," Veronica mused, her tone suggesting she hoped that the Sage would be taken away for questioning.

Tirñea didn't blame the knight. She herself did not appreciate how bluntly this man had intruded on their day, but he seemed to know what he spoke of. Perhaps he'd have something to say that was worth listening to, or at the very least offer a better apology. He had claimed to be seeking a butcher, maybe if he were to help feed Sierpe then there would be a chance he could be forgiven.

Sierpe had picked up on the idea of food, he always did, and Tirñea felt him shift deep beneath the earth. The beast master put the thought out of her head so she wouldn't tease her friend, and waited with Veronica until the elder finally seemed to be done with him. On his own now, Tirñea looked to Veronica and motioned that the two of them reapproach the sage. Veronica nodded and strode towards the man purposefully, Tirñea following close behind.

"You, arro- ara... annoying man," Tirñea called out as they approached Sage, failing to remember the pronunciation of 'arrogant'. "If you are wanting to talk, we will talk of familiars. But only for to feed them. You buying Sierpe food to say sorry, and he may forgive you," Tirñea challenged, not knowing where a butcher might be but certain that Veronica would.

[Calieo]

The creature was panicking, at least it seemed to be. First running from it's failed attack, and now that Chambala had joined the assault it didn't seem to know what to do. The flaming trinket Chambala had tossed at the thing caused it to flinch, halting it's momentum for long enough that the huntress could channel some other form of magic. To Calieo's surprise, Chambala began to spit flames at the creature, further deterring it's approach causing it to spin and dance wildly while trying to decide on a direction to flee in. Chambala shouted towards Rebecca, who seemed to be fumbling with the strange device she hauled around, and before she could take aim with it the amorphous mass was once again barreling straight towards Denise's horse.

With a heavy slap the stone fist contacted the creature, it practically leaping into the strike. It's form shifted and distorted, rolling over and past the horse's massive arm in an attempt to cling to it. Then in one swift motion it surged off the side of Helvyra, it's flesh burnt and lacerated where it had contacted the horse. Bounding and rolling away, it's escape path was no longer exposed as it fled deep into the tall grass, apparently having escaped. It's flesh had left a translucent, blue gel like substance on Helvyra's arm, the goo sizzling and turning to smoke even as the horse recovered from the recoil of being used like a springboard. The substance smelt foul, and Calieo was quick to notice.

"OH!" she roared in disgust, slowing the swing of her weapon so she could instead focus on trying to cover her nose. As the blue substance boiled against the heat of the flames, it turned into a wispy, heavy hanging smoke that smelt worse than a thousand Muskox in the summer. The scent was almost acidic, burning at the nostrils and making it hard to focus on anything else. As the last of the substance dried out and flaked away, the smell began to dissipate, but still lingered in the air with the wisps of smoke.

"What a VILE thing," Calieo shouted to nobody, channeling her discomfort as a brief tantrum before lowering her hand from her face with a shudder. "We must escape this green before it assaults us again, Helvyra, go," the knight commanded, pointing towards the wall of unflattened grass that stood before the group. Though she tried to hide it, it was obvious the attack had stressed Calieo a fair bit. The encounter was alien to her, and she disliked the fact that such a thing could have surprised her in such a way.

Taking care to keep the shadows wrapped around her figure, Autumn stood at the intersection in the alleyway. In spite of being more or less invisible to the naked eye, she poked as little of her figure around the corner as possible in order to peer down the way she'd seen the light from. She frowned. It was just a lone figure, and not the one she was looking for. In fact, he didn't appear to match the descriptions of any of the four characters she'd been sent to track. Still, all the same, his presence was a bit too convenient.

Autumn stood there watching him as she held her blade close to her chest. She chewed on her lip nervously under her mask and waited. The minute seemed to drag on for eternity. What was this figure doing? Waiting at the back door? Was he a guard? A lookout? Had they slipped inside the door he was peering at? The questions whirled around her like a hurricane as she tried to piece the puzzle together. People don't just vanish. Well, she supposed that was a bit hypocritical of her to say, given that she frequently did... but few had her kind of training.

Making up her mind, she stood watching the figure and the door alike. As he turned to leave, she slipped around the corner and slunk up along the alleyway, hiding behind the crates that lined the dimly lit passage. She took care to hide physically as well as within the shadows themselves, just in case. She crept along until she was standing where the hooded figure had been a few moments ago. She turned to inspect the door he was staring at, slowly moving closer and reaching out to try and push it open as silently as possible. Just enough to peer inside. With any luck she'd be suffused in purple light and exposed, but at least she'd know where they went. She also tried to split her attention and watch which direction the figure headed. If there WASN'T any purple light behind this door, she'd need to tail him or else her trail would've run cold before it even started.