Ardasa wasn't surprised by the servant's comment. She had heard it too many times in this city, most often from Ternoc himself. She didn't want to live in fear like these people did, expecting at any moment for a cold-blooded killer to leap from the shadows and put her to death. Yet, these people knew the city better than she, and it was not her place to tell them how their city is, or even ought to be. "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind," she said, removing the crown with a sigh. Carefully, she replaced it beside its counterpart, and closed the box. "Now, I suppose I'd best be off now."

Ardasa found her carriage outside the palace, flanked by kobold guards. Had they better armor, they would have been almost intimidating. As she approached, one opened the carriage door while the rest knelt. "Uhh . . . arise, warriors. No need for this ceremony," she said. The carriage driver idly tossed a slab of meat to the worgs, as she made herself comfortable inside. Well, this was it. "We'd best be going now. I hear stories about the crime in this city." The driver nodded, and set his whip upon the worgs, bringing the carriage into a jolting start as it made its way towards the city gates.

He thinks for a bit. "What if I made necrotic healing items? I've done it before, and they've worked quite well. It's a fairly simple principle. The object would draw out some of your living aura, store it, and inject it into someone or something else. So if some one gets hurt, like a broken arm for example, you can take the damage of a broken arm from them, and have it be lightly dispersed across your whole body. You'd end up with a bunch of bruises, but they would no longer have said broken bone."

@Shadow Dragon

Ophion sighed. "I'll tolerate that for now, since you aren't going to feed on the innocent. Necrotic healing items are... okay. If you can confine your need for more energy to other undead and don't harvest materials from living sentient creatures, we can work something out. Are you capable of any other forms of magic? Elemental spells? Astral magic, perhaps?"

@bloonewb

"Yes, please be off, my lady" the dracon replied, looking around for anyone trying to kill her. A shot gone awry might very well hit him. He backed off, not wanting to take that risk.

The first third of Ardasa's trip out of Hekaga went without incident, apart from some occasional bumps in the road. At one point, the Hekagan guards in front of her carriage formed up in a line, blocking the road ahead of her, while some others who had been blocking another section of road on her left moved out of the way, letting her pass. This was not the most direct route out of the city, but that was to be expected; the most direct path was also the one which was most susceptible to attack, and this last-second change could thwart a would-be assassin waiting further along the direct route.

Five minutes later, an arrow flew past the carriage, landing in front of one of the kobold guards. The metal arrowhead glowed orange and began to burn a small hole in the pavement, a sign that this wasn't an ordinary assassin at work.

He shakes his head, giving a small, sad chuckle. "Only "evil" magic I'm afraid. Possession, Necromancy, Demonology.....I do have a warped telekinesis, and I can open doors to the Afterlives. When I became a wraith, all my magic warped to fit my new form. Even my elemental magic is twisted." He summons a small fire in his palm, but it's a grayish black, and gives off no heat. "This is now only useful if you want a candle that can't burn your house down. It'll still hurt any living thing I throw it at though." The flame vanishes. He hesitates. "I can make...very dangerous weapons. Weapons that can suck the life out of attackers and heal the wielder. Like my scythe here, but much less complex." He lifts his scythe, and shows him the thousands of tiny glowing ruins all along the blade and staff. "As for my telekinesis, it still looks like necromancy." He lifts his hand at a rock, and a ghostly skeleton hand grabs the rock, lifting it in the air, then dropping it again. "I can actually make about a dozen at a time, but it takes all my concentration."

"Protect Her Mercy!" shouted a guard, leaping back from the arrow's strike. A second one followed the first, landing on his chest. The strange fire ate through the lamellar, as well as his natural scales, in a matter of seconds. He clawed at his chest and screamed, his own claws digging deep and red gouges from the wound.

More arrows quickly followed, feathering another guard. Ardasa threw herself to the floor of the carriage, and the driver cracked his whip upon the great beasts. They had hardly moved before one of the worgs toppled over, having been pierced twice. The driver drew his sword and cut the reins, pushing the other forward. They sped away, as another crashed through the thatched window, spraying straw and wood splinters into the carriage. Ardasa spit some from her mouth in disgust.

Dracons emerged from the shadows of the buildings. Some wore armor, hammered with the insignia of the state and armed with cruel swords. Others were clad in dark cloth, nocking arrows into strings as long as she is tall. Were they Hekaga soldiers? Did they serve the prince? The carriage stumbled along, under the power of only one worg. It rattled through dim alleyways, occasionally hit by an arrow with such force that it caused the entire box to shake, and approached the city walls, as well as its open gate.

@Shadow Dragon

Ophion considered his words carefully. The undead being seemed like a being with evil powers yet good intent.

"Alright. If you practice necromancy in my laboratory, in a safe, controlled environment, I am willing to put up with it. Necromancy is also tolerated far outside of the city's boundaries, I suppose. As long as you do not use it against the innocent, I am willing to put up with it. There is something you can help me with, far from Minbenthac. An adventure, if you want to call it that. Would you be willing to help?"

@bloonewb

Most of the armed dracons hitting the streets were soldiers loyal to the grand prince, but others were not. Their uniforms did nothing to reveal their allegiance. What followed could only be described as a confused cacophony as dracons shouted over each other, demanding that the others in front of them declare loyalty to one side or another, without necessarily making their own allegiance clear at first either.

The dracons in dark cloth were part of a unit of rangers which Ternoc had formed himself as an attempt to counterbalance the elite forces he had inherited from his father. They found themselves at odds with the standard guards as well as each other, and by all accounts, this was a terribly confused assassination attempt, as few of the different factions in any of the forces assembled had any idea of who was loyal to what side. A confused melee followed, one which Ardasa's carriage could use to escape the havoc.

Confused or not, it was still a dangerous situation as arrows continued to fly through the air, many of which had been especially enchanted to burn through their target, explode, or both.

He puts his right fist to his chest in a salute, and bows slightly. "I am in your debt Ophion. You are the first living being I've met here that actually understands me. May I ask, what kind of adventure would this be, and would my magics be useful at all?" He runs a hand down the blade of his scythe as he talks, and the blade seems to whisper in a strange, windy language, the symbols twisting and swirling in on themselves. He suddenly cringes, and then straightens. "I'll need to feed soon, however."

The carriage careened through the streets, in a mess of splinters and thatching. Ardasa quickly whispered a prayer to Scen when the carriage drifted wide and missed the wall by mere hands. The back end of it was on fire, and massive holes had been gouged from it by equally massive arrows. In the background, somewhere far away, the sounds of explosions rang out through the city streets. It was magic, it must be.
_______________________________________
The court stood silent. Rughoi stared at the messenger, with an expression that would strike fear into any kobold. The messenger shifted about on his feet, and continued.

"Yes, Your Might. A carriage was spotted approaching the talon pass, claiming to house the empress."

"And you didn't let her in?" Rughoi growled, his voice barely audible. The messenger gulped.

"We thought it best that it go through you first," he said.

"Ready my worg. Tell the good warriors at the pass that should I find their judgement false, they will all suffer a humiliating demotion." The messenger turned to leave, but Rughoi stopped him. "Wait. No, I'll have it this way. If their judgement is false, I will turn them over to Ardasa, and she will decide what is to be done with the guardsmen that chose not to admit her." The messenger nodded, and ran off to complete the tasks given.

@Shadow Dragon

"What can you feed on?" Ophion asked, knowing that he probably wouldn't like the answer. "I may have something for you in my lab. If not, you may be able to feed on an animal outside of the city limits. Just take care that you don't slay an animal belonging to anyone. As for the adventure, it is in a crypt deep within the desert. A series of tunnels, really. There's a staff belonging to one of the mage kings of old which may be useful for my research. He was known to have been a necromancer in life, so his tomb is probably protected by the remains of his army. You can see why having someone well-versed in the magic of the undead would be an asset to this endeavor, I imagine."

@bloonewb

The turmoil in the street increased as the guards and soldiers descended upon each other. In the chaos, many of Hekaga's inhabitants took the havoc as a sign that they could start looting, and a riot was underway within minutes.

From his palace, Ternoc could see fires already breaking out, along with the distant sounds of a battle. At length, one of his ministers spoke up.

"My lord, shall we-?"

"No. Just let it burn out. We can clean up the mess when they're finished. If it gets out of hand, send for the cavalry."

"Y-yes, my lord."

Ardasa's carriage cleared the city gates and was out of Hekaga, although this by no means guaranteed safety. Still, she was past the worst of it, as fighting continued behind her. The melee lasted well into the night, and only by daybreak did the grand prince finally decide to send in his horses. The usual round of arrests, killings, and purges progressed, with traitors being ferreted out of the ranks, thrown into dungeons, or executed for daring to kill the king's men. Ternoc knew that it was all a temporary measure, cutting out some of the superficial rot while the edifice of state still festered. Still, if there was to be a way to cure the illness, he would have to be the one to do it, and only as king could he command the moral, financial, and military might needed.

"I usually feed on emotion. I typically eat fear, as it is constantly surrounding me. I can just feed from the energies surrounding undead I raise, but it would take four times as many undead to feed me than living, and eight times as many if I took it from plants. I could technically eat souls, as that would nourish me for at least a year, but that would stop them from ever being raised again. I've only ever done that once, before I realized the consequences that would have. He was incredibly evil, and it was right as I became a wraith. It was mostly in self defence, but that man can never be raised in this realm again. I could take it from animals, so your suggestion is a good one. Most people are terrified when they see me feed though. It looks like this." He kneels next to a random bush, and inhales. A tornado of green light and energy funnels from the plant, leaving it black and withered. The light vanishes into his hood, and his aura gets slightly stronger. He stands up, and turns to Ophion. "I can also do this." He hold out his hand, and the other bushes shiver, and green light funnels from all of them, browning some of their leaves. He sends the energy back into the withered plant, and it's leaves shudder, and turn greenish. "It's how I heal things." He look at him, a sad smile on his face. "I would gladly help you with your quest. I might find out more about the staff then you, seeing as I would actually be able to use and study it without being corrupted by it's magic."

"I . . . I'm glad to see you back," Rughoi muttered. He stood between the two great mountain ranges, somewhere in the space between where they ended.

"Well, you could be a little more enthusiastic," Ardasa said, giggling. Rughoi shrugged, hiding his face. Ardasa didn't need for him to give her affection immediately. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her snout to his neck. Slowly, she felt his arms return the embrace. This was right. This is where she should be. She doesn't know about the honesty of the entire kobold court, but she could tell immediately the honesty in him.

"Let's get back to the city," Rughoi said. "I pacified the upstarts, but not for long. They'll come crawling back with more demands before the season is up."

"They're good people, I promise," Ardasa said. "I'm surprised you managed to pacify them at all."

"What, you think I can't do it?" Rughoi asked. She could hear the mock hurt in his voice, and it made her smile.

"You know I didn't say that," Ardasa said. "It was good of you to take care of my matters while I was away . . . you didn't hurt any of them, did you?"

"No, but we will need a new meeting table," Rughoi mumbled, causing her to laugh.

"We'll worry about it in time. For now, the court." The two went to find worgs, saddling them and reining them with easy mastery.

"Perhaps I didn't mention, but there is plenty of time now that the guilds want for nothing," Rughoi started. "I have an idea of what we could use the time fo-"

"I'm tired, just let me sleep tonight," Ardasa giggled. "However . . . " she leapt onto the back of the worg and set her feet swinging at its sides. "Don't forget your offer. I'll be wanting to claim it soon enough." She then kicked her worg in its sides, sending leaping towards the city walls, leaving Rughoi in the sand.

@Shadow Dragon

"Can you feed on animal fear, or does it have to come from a sentient being?" Ophion asked, legitimately intrigued by the wraith. For a moment, he forgot that he was speaking to an undead creature and considered this encounter to be a learning experience. "For now, just- just come with me. I'll open a gateway to my home. We'll get there faster. I admit that I was unsure if we should, and I was giving myself as much time as possible to change my mind, but I think you'll be fine there." He closed his hands and concentrated his magic, then opened them. As his separated his hands, a thin oval portal opened up, revealing a magic store on the other side.

"As I said, my home is attached to a magic lab and a store." The portal expanded and widened to be large enough for an adult dracon to enter. "Just pass on through, please."

@bloonewb

Meanwhile...

Kali got word that Ardasa had returned. It wasn't hard to tell, as crowds rushed to the palace, hoping to get a glimpse of "her mercy", or another such title which she had been given. But Kali wasn't ready to meet her just yet. She ran outside of the city walls, hopping over a row of stones which had been laid down in an incomplete section of Xigyll's walls. Kutur's hut lay not too far outside, away from all the 'distractions' of the city. It was safer inside, a fact that she had tried to impress on him to no avail. Still, she tolerated this eccentricity, and would continue to do so until they had children, as it was safer to keep them inside a city's wall than risk living outside.

She knocked on the side of the hut, as the door wasn't particularly sturdy. Neither of them were particularly inclined to construction, after all. "Kutur! My love, are you there? Ardasa has returned!"

He bows. "Thank you. No one has been this kind to me in decades. And yes, as long as it has emotion, I can feed from it." He smiles. "You have questions about how I work, don't you? I'll answer all your questions, in gratitude for opening your lab to me. Thank you." He "walks" through the portal, and looks around curiously. "So this is where the magic happens, hum?" He examines the room, and turns to Ophion. "What will you need for this quest you mentioned?" He runs his hand down the blade of his scythe, comforted by its familiar texture and weight, his finger tracing the ruins on the scythe. His eyes glow, and he shudders. "Should I keep up this disguise, or can I discard it?" One of the ruins glows and his eyes widen slightly, and he shudders. "Also, would you happen to have a large flat surface nearby? I need one. As soon as possible."

Kutur mumbled some reply to the pounding outside, throwing on his usual robe and putting away his tomes. At this point, not even he knew what he was saying. The runes, they permeated the space of his mind, drowning out rational thought with . . . what it was he could not say. Magic, in short. Magic was madness. He had to get away from it for a short while.

"Morning, Kali. It's . . . morning, right?" he asked, throwing open his door. The outside light blinded him, but he squinted through it. A vaguely Kali-shaped figure stood at the door, close enough that he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
_______________________________
Ardasa adored the crowd. They called prayers to her, shouted her name from the streets, it was almost as grand as the ceremony in Hekaga. A mother rushed up the steps and presented her a newborn child, sucking on his claws.

"Please, Your Mercy, bless this child," she said.

"I'm not a goddess. Find a temple, and have the child properly blessed," Ardasa whispered, but touched the child's forehead anyways. "He's very handsome. No doubt you will have many troubles keeping him yours."

"Your praise is a thousand blessings, Your Mercy," she said, and disappeared into the crowd. It won't be long now before more parents begin to do the same.

@Shadow Dragon

"You can drop the disguise for now. If there's any source of energy you can consume in here, please help yourself, as long as it doesn't kill anyone. I have so many things in here that something should help. As for a flat surface, would the floor do? If not, maybe one of the tables. Just make sure the table is clear before you do... well, whatever it is you intend to do. I'll get what I need to get for the quest, don't worry. Leave that to me" Ophion explained, quickly going over an inventory for his store. "Also, I've got to let my wife know that you're here."

@bloonewb

Kali stood before him, dressed in a new pink loincloth which was a few shades darker than her scales. She had already washed up, something which it seemed that Kutur hadn't done that day. Or possibly even the day before that if the smell coming from the hut was any indication.

"Eh, close enough." It was actually the early afternoon, but Kali didn't want to argue. "We should get going to see her if we're going to see her at all. The crowds are already huge. Everyone wants to know how her trip to Hekaga went. Some are saying that she was attacked, but others are saying the alliance is stronger than ever." He took his hand and pulled him forward, urging Kutur to leave the hut.

The magic hiding his true form fades away, and he sighs in relief. His wraith form is a bit smaller than his elvin disguise, and floating in the air. "The floor will be fine....just...don't freak out." He begins drawing a pentagram on the ground with his finger, and small grey fires ignite at each of the points. "My Parton wants me, and he's not exactly a demon, nor is he a angelic creature. He's...something in between. A pure force of Unlife. He's not malevolent, but he's not exactly a saint either. He's the one who helped me become what I am." He briefly waves to his scythe, and points at the head, where a large embossed pentagram is glowing softly. When he finishes, there's a flicker, and the grey flames dim. A tall, black cloak appears in the pentagram, turning the fires black, and they spread throughout the whole circle. There's a pulse of pure necrotic energy, but it stops dead at the borders of the pentagram. He kneels and bow to the being, and says softly. "Partron." The being nods to him briefly, and reaches out a black finger of bone, touching Soulcors on the helmet, then abruptly vanishes, taking the pentagram with him. He stands, his undead aura now glowing around him like a black sun. "He gives his blessing on the quest." He sounds surprised. He shrugs, then takes the aura, wrapping it around himself and his scythe, evenly dispersing it until it's barely noticeable. "Should I disguise myself for your wife, or does she already know?"

"But . . . buh . . . " Kutur couldn't really form a thought. He was tired, and could only vaguely recall when he began his work. He suspected it was an evening. Kali's sheer clothes didn't help his brain much to get back on track either. "What? Was . . . was Ardasa gone?" He tried searching his memory, but the only things he could dig up were runes upon more runes. Perhaps he should have it written for the record that esoteric magic is harmful to the brain.
_______________________________________
Ardasa was drowning. She practically fought through the crowd towards her own home. She could not reach her hand out without a claw touching the forehead of a baby or small child. There were simply so many kobolds. The city had either become massive in her absence, or she somehow managed to misplace in her head tens of thousands of people in the short time she had been gone.

Eventually, she had made it by a miracle of Arda to the doors of the palace. Guards streamed out, blocking the populace from entering and escorting her within. "That was . . . something," she said, through shaky breaths. Rughoi entered the hall, looking with hints of what very well may have been fear out at the crowd. He has stared down monsters, hordes of enemies, and terrible storms, but it is his own people that scares him most.

"Maybe addressing the public was a mistake," Rughoi said. Ardasa nodded.

"Hoo, there's nothing like being an empress, that I can say," she responded, fanning herself with a claw. "It's more tense out there than it was dodging arrows in the streets of Hekaga!" The last sentence froze Rughoi up. "No no, it's a figure of-" she began, but he was already gone. She put a palm to her own head. Her and her stupid mouth. "I'll just retire to the temple room, alright?" she called after him, knowing nothing she's going to say will reach his ears. "Alright . . . "

@Shadow Dragon

As if one cue, Aurescia entered the room.

"Oh my love! It's time for us to- AHHHH!!!" A rather lightly dressed female dracon dropped the bottle of wine she had been carrying. By the look on her face, she was quite terrified, to say the least. Ophion ran into the room as soon as he heard the bottle shatter.

"Aurie! Don't worry, dear. This is just a-"

"Kill it! Kill it with fire!"

"- don't worry. He's a friend." Most females wouldn't have been reassured so easily, but as the wife of an archmage, Aurescia had been through quite a bit. Worse than this, for sure. His words calmed her down quickly, almost magically so.

"In that case, sorry for freaking out back there. My name is Aurescia. And you are?"

@bloonewb

Kali waited a moment for Kutur to get his mind together. Then another when she realized he needed a bit more time. She grew impatient when another minute passed, and concerned when a second one passed after that. "Oh dear, you really overdid it. Maybe this will help." She approached him and whispered a prayer to one of the gods, then placed her hand on his forehead. A small blue glow emanated from her fingers, then she drew her hand back.

"There we go. I don't think that will fix everything, but it will hold you until you can get some sleep later tonight. Now, are you feeling well enough to walk? We really need to get a move on if we're going to see the royal couple." Once again, she took his hand and led him forward, knowing that she was only guiding him as much as urging him on. Luckily, his steps grew more sure halfway to the palace and she was able to let his hand go without any problems.

As she feared, the crowds were massive and seemed to never let up, even though Ardasa and Rughoi were nowhere to be seen. With some difficulty, she maneuvered her way through the mob, trying her best not to lose Kutur. Eventually, they made it before the front gates of the palace, a large building which was still very much under construction. Recognizing her as one of Ardasa's friends and her lover as an important ally of the throne, they were let in without much fuss.

"Okay, love. I can go find Ardasa. I don't mind you coming with me or looking for Rughoi. Do whatever you want, but I've got to find her mercy. Or her ladiship. Or her worshipfulness. Or whatever the crowds call her these days."

He sweeps into a deep bow. "Soulcors Eclipse, at your service. I apologize for my appearance startling you. I could use my elvin disguise if you like. I mean no ill will to you or your household my lady, and I am now working for your husband. I've agreed help him with a few projects. As a side note, fire wouldn't really hurt me all that badly, unless you got it infused with holy magic. I'll stay in one room if that gives you peace of mind, so you'll always know where I am." He points a hand at the shattered mess, and a spectral skeleton hand picks up the broken pieces of the bottle, putting them in a small pile. He wraps his disguise around him, and sits cross legged on the ground. "If I can be of any assistance, let me know, and I'll help you to the best of my ability. Should I leave, so you can talk to your husband in peace?"

@Shadow Dragon

Aurescia looked at the wraith. "If you've agreed to help him, you'll have to get going from this place very soon. If you want to help, please clean up a bit and don't touch anything Ophion doesn't give you permission to handle. And please, whatever you do, don't let any customers see you while you are staying here. The last thing this shop needs is for our clients to think my husband and I are necromancers."

Ophion returned to the room a moment later, holding a golden staff. From the looks of it, it was quite ancient. Its battered surface and cracked gems gave testament to its age as well as the damage it had clearly taken after so many centuries of use.

"We'll need this staff. It once belonged to the king of the tomb we're visiting and can be used to unlock at least some of the passages there. As you can see, the staff has seen better days, so don't expect it to make our trip too much easier. As it is, using the staff can be dangerous for a living being, if you get my drift. It was designed to be held by a lich, after all." Ophion held it out to Soulcors. "I can explain more about this tomb and its ruler on the way. Don't worry about travel; I can open a portal to get us there just like I brought us here."