---

The anubis favored wearing gaudy accessories and keeping wandering eyes guessing as to which ones housed magic, but they also enjoyed wearing them in secret, wrapped to the body and hidden from view. At the mention of analysis Ar´oa withdrew a small rod tied to his forearm in a disconcertingly stealthy motion, all without having broken sight of the bracelet set in front of him. It had been placed near the meats on his platter, the visual beauty melding with his appetite to produce a strong feelings of wanting to consume.

There was another who wished to sit with them, a man who had introduced himself as Vilkas earlier. He seemed to be a regular human in appearance, but appearances could be deceiving. "You are welcome to join us." replied Ar´oa. The man had beautiful golden eyes. He turned back to the jewelry.

"Yes, curses." He said to Stephanie, ears perked slightly. He let the small bracelet settle on the palm of his hand with a gentleness that seemed impossible for someone of his size.

"The anubis believe that artifacts, that is, tools for power, house either dead magic or living magic, what the other races refer to as enchantments and curses." He thought that the two would be confused as to what he was plotting, so he began to explain the basics of his craft. "Handling a curse is handling an entity with as much life as you or I, like capturing a wild and unpredictable animal. Enchantments are simpler to scrutinize."

The golden rod was engraved with various symbols representing organs, their carvings twisting and connecting with one another in a representation of the complexity of the soul. He brandished it confidently and linked it to the bracelet with a soft clink of fine metal against fine metal. A soft blue glow cascaded throughout the engravings.

"Studying an enchantment would be closer to... foraging for a fruit within a forest, rather than tracking an animal." He was unsure if the comparison made sense. Their kind knew what forests were, so he reasoned that it did. His pitch black eyes had remained fixated on the pair of objects firmly pressed against one another. The familiar determination of discovering the unknown rushed through his veins and kept him absolutely focused on the task at hand.

"Curses are very dangerous in comparison, but they should not be destroyed however..." he said, in between breaths that steadily grew deeper. "...There is life within curses, one that must be unraveled and coaxed into ascending beyond our world... destroying a curse is simple but... a grave sin." His hands trembled in short bursts, his willpower assuring that the connection held. "That is why... understanding them is necessary. That is why... those like I are necessary." His eyes clamped shut in concentration. He was a curse hunter dealing with an enchantment, and although it was much simpler it was not a task he was accustomed to.

"This process... will be quick. There are no countermeasures... on this artifact..." He said, grim satisfaction lining the edges of his words. His voice was noticeably struggling to keep its usual tone of stability and confidence. "No countermeasures... an anubis... would never..."

With a sharp exhale of air his mind sprang back into normality, signalling the end of his plunge into exploring the bracelet and its hidden quirks. He had only managed grasp the essence of the enchantment for a moment, but that had been enough to understand what it could do. "Interesting." he muttered. He slowed his breathing to a more reasonable level and gazed at Stephanie. "There are several complex effects happening within this. Allow me to... breathe a little."

A moments reflection with a tip of his head. He caught something off, and the pieces came together.

"This one is Mirithal." He repeated in a parroting fashion, correcting her. Again he did it more for himself really.

"This- me- I thank you. Tea. Tania will not mind. She is kind." He let her lead the way following close behind. "It is strange. It is only here I get smiles. Why is soft barks nice here?" He was never called pretty before. Even Stephanie, and Aroa, and Asri, and Vilikas, and Master R. They all seemed, glad Mirithal was here. It was an odd sensation, that he liked. He asked looking down at the child. "Maybe safe place. But halls so dark and bleak. Need color."

A hand suddenly went on her shoulder, it was not hard, not even a little. it was like being seized by a twig as you pass through the forest on a piece of cloth save it was her shoulder and he remained motionless.

"You are Tania. You are tricky. Make things that aren't there. You called me treeman before the first time you met me too. Gave yourself away." Little seeds seemed to flake off his neck and shoulders, a display of glee and excitement. "Catch you Tania. You went easy on Miri- me. Was fun. Very fun. Play again. But hungry. Afterwards, show me tricks, show you tricks." he offered.

---

Stephanie heard Ar’oa say yes to her question. She was amazed at how gently he picked up the bracelet without breaking it. This specific feat was probably the Anubis’ are good at in terms of not destroying magical artifacts. ”That is definitely interesting. This is something that Sarah never taught me. Since the basics of other cultures aren’t readily available. But I guess the Sanctuary has many things on other cultures.” Stephanie said with a smile and a bit of a thoughtful expression on her face. She couldn’t help but enjoy hearing the differences between the two magical engineering type things.

Her facial expression changes slightly with what Ar’oa said that curses are like living creatures and humanoids. The expression in question was fear of wild speculation in her head. It takes time to capture them in a sense. The last part made her a bit more relaxed since he specifically simpler. ”Oh. That’s definitely different.” Stephanie said. She couldn’t help, smile and list of certain things in her head that made more sense to her while others didn’t. However, what caught her attention was what Ar’oa came out with a peculiarly unique golden rod. It interested her a bit since it had nice engravings on it. She could see the soft blue glow cascading throughout the engravings.

Stephanie herself was fascinated by the golden rod, however. She had a confused expression on her face mostly at what Ar’oa had said. ”Sarah told me enchantments are alike a field of beautiful flowers but that didn’t really help my understanding of it. But hearing that seems a bit similar I guess?” Stephanie questioned a bit. It was a strange to hear foraging for fruit within a forest. She has seen a forest before but she had never really forage in a forest though. However, she ate some more of her plate of food while hearing the other parts of what he had said. It was pretty interesting to hear that destroying a curse is a grave sin, in the Anubis’ culture since there are taboos in the world that shouldn’t be crossed. ”That’s interesting… I forgot the taboos Sarah told me that should never be crossed in terms of the human kind...” Stephanie thought to herself.

She couldn’t help but be completely interested in his necessary lessons of what’s going on in terms of his deep dive on the bracelet. In the moment, she could hear him breathing heavier and taking pauses between his words. She got lost in thought while he was speaking and was doing her best in trying not to overly think about certain things. She snapped out of that when she heard him say near the end of it. ”What’s interesting?” Stephanie asked a bit curiously. She did hear him slowing his breathing and saw him move his head towards her. ”Several effects that are complex, within the Bracelet? No problem, I can wait on what you got for me.” Stephanie said with a bit of curiosity with what Ar’oa said. She couldn’t help but wonder what it does even more so now that someone figured it out. The non-ominous glow the bracelet continues, which she eyes it. Her eyes couldn’t help to wait to hear what Ar’oa says about it. It interests her to learn what her father specifically put on this bracelet.

---

Vilkas listened intently as Ao'ra talked about enchantments. It sparked his own curiosity in his own form of magic. He knew he was never going to be a true Dragon Warrior. He didn't like the fighting and teeth and such. He was interested in Magic in it's purest forms. Dromon had added a great fuel to the fire of his quest when he trained the young dragon. Living enchantments... He had heard Vescartes talk about such things but never really understood it. He ate, his plate rather filled with meats.

"My grandfather, Vescartes oft talked about that... To the Dragons there are three types of known Enchantment categories. Activated, Living and Eternal. Activated enchantments are things like weapon enchantments which you can put a bit of power in and it activated. Living are generally armor and accessory enchantments. They draw on the users or stored mana continuously and work until the mana runs out. Third is Eternal. Artifacts generally use this. They draw on the natural power generated around them. They rarely cease to function. They generally require an anomalous font of mana. We have... quite a few since our magics tend to leak when we get older. Dromon caused a few that have been around for as long as any of us can remember. The main enchantment around our home is fueled by several of them. I never got to look at them, I'm still too young to have developed the draconic arcane sight. I can still sense magic in other beings, however." He keeps eating. Up close his eyes seem to flicker like firelight in a hearth, warm and conforting. The iris swirls with gold hues and a spark of fiery red.

---

---

(continued from discord)
@Lyla
Vey turned her attention to Cisna while Asri was speaking and while her eyes were now focused on Cisna, her ears were all Asri's. They had been training for a few hours now and Cisna was surely on the verge of collasping from exertion, yet the seemingly feeble Anserian was pushing through any exhaustion. Vey knew the basics of her pupil's story however there was something else there she wasn't aware of. Behind all of that shyness and awkwardness was a drive that nearly resembled her own. It was the reason why Vey even was here training her in the first place instead of training on her own like usual. The Amali turned her head back to Asri as she finished with what she was saying and moved onto expressing a kind of thanks. They seemed to share a similar philosophy on the subject.

There was likely few who could match Vey's skills with a bow and she could very well be called a master of her craft. However, she knew very well she would never accomplish her goals if she stopped trying to improve and reached what lies beyond mastery. She could tell that Asri held a large amount of wisdom herself but her instincts were telling her something else was at play as well. Vey's hands found their way onto her own hips and she gave a smirk towards Asri, fully aware of the change in her facial features.

"You haven't seen anything yet." She turned her head backwards to Cisna again "Cisna!" She yelled out "Y-yes?" The suddeness of Vey's voice caused her to jump "You can stop. Leave and take a shower, alright?" Vey's voice was less harsh than before "I w-will. Th-thank y-you!" Joy was clearly expressed in her tone "Now get going before I change my mind." Vey responded strictly, causing Cisna to make her way towards the door quickly "Ah! O-okay! Oh, n-n-nice to meet you Asri!"

Cisna waved towards the half-Draeni as she darted out the door, leaving Asri and Vey as the only ones in the room. Outside in the hallway, she fell back against the cool, stone wall and took a deep breath. Training with Vey was particularly rough today. However, she had to get stronger so she could make it out there on her own. Suddenly a sharp, painful throbbing erupted in her head and she dropped to her knees. Her knuckles rushed to the sides of her temples and began rubbing them furiously trying to relieve even a small portion of the pain. Her mouth let out small cries as it only intensified to the point tears began to form in her eyes. As soon as it started, it seemed to end and she was with her chest heaving back and forth as she hunched over. Her arms and legs trembled yet she stood back up. These headaches of hers were constantly getting worse giving more reason for her to get stronger. No matter what, she had to ask him. She had to ask him 'why'. The trembling continued as she made her way back to her room.

"I'm afraid we'll have to hold any sparring for tomorrow. That girl can be surprisingly fierce." She continued after Cisna left.

With a turn on the toe of her boot, she turned around and walked more towards the center of the arena. Outside of this place she hardly met anyone that was truly interesting yet at the Sanctuary they came in waves. Asri, however, was different. Vey's instincts pulled her to the half-Draeni stirring a curiosity that would be difficult to satiate. After a few steps, she spun in place and looked back at Asri with a coy look in her eyes. Asri expressed clear interest in her yet her attention kept drifting towards Cisna, as if her presence somehow was making her uncomfortable.

"So Asri, I usually don't pry into others affairs but do you mind telling me what brought you here?" She asked with a half-playful tone.

Well this was going well. She was going to have so much fun! Silly little treeman - huh? A light tug was felt on her shoulders. Like a twig catching you as you moved through the forest. Tania simply blinked, slightly dumbfounded. What? That gave her away? How absurd! No one had ever said anything like that before - unless they didn't call her out on purpose. But why would they go along with her pranks if they were wholly aware of them?

For a moment, Tania seemed to be having a mild essential crises before simply laughing and grinning up at the tree.

"Yea, sure. I went easy on you." Tania made a mental note to watch her words later. A mental note that would likely, sadly, go forgotten like its predecessors. She was just playing anyways, so she didn't have to get super serious. If she showed all of her tricks immediately, then that'd leave her with nothing. Besides, she didn't want to seriously hurt anyone. Messing with ones perception of reality could easily have some nasty side effects.

"Alright treeman, I promised to show you the garden so come on~" Like a little kid grabbing the hand of a parent or sibling, Tania took Mirithal's hand, gently beginning to pull him towards its direction. "You'll love it, promise~"

"I am Mirithal."

Mirithal allowed himself to be pulled. Keeping up with the tiny girl that led him. He would on occasion look at his surroundings from time to time but otherwise focused on his new friend. Or atleast he hoped she was what soft barks called friends. It seemed like something he could use. "Thank you Tania." He said at the beginning of their trek but it turned out for something so slow and dull witted, he did seem to speak alot. "I have many questions Tania. Most of them about you. How did you get the Sanctary? How long have you been? Are there others like you? This one would like to meet them."

He waited a few moments, then put a finger to his chin in an obvious mockery of what he thought soft barks do when they have to think of something. "Or will I have to play a game per question?" It was a very poor attempt at humor, in essence trying to bond.

The Sanctuary seemed so dark even with the lantern lights until they were out of the hallways of the interior. The exterior proved to much more colorful, and welcoming. It seemed the theme would always set around whatever was a major place. The Libraries had grand archways and places for sitting. The greathall had wider hallways and so many doors leading to other parts of the place. The walk ways that overlooked the valleys seemed almost alive and decorated considering the statuesque automatons that stood watch. Mirithal eyes seemed to glaze, shimmer, a little grape or some fruit popping off of him in excitement.

"Wow," Tania giggled. "Usually you take a lady on a date before getting to know everything about her." The Aetheri continued to pull the Veidish through the corridors of the Sanctuary, her light steps not making a single sound upon the stone floors. How to respond, though? A game per question? Hm, that might get a little old. So she'd do something different. Losing the human guise, Tania returned to her normal small size, fluttering up to the treemans face and giving him a friendly pat on the head.

"Let me answer one of your questions with another question." She said with a smile. "Why does anyone come to the Sanctuary? You're a clever flower, you can figure it out." She giggled, before zipping down the hallway, motioning for him to follow. "Come oon, almost there! I'll answer one question truthfully once a day if you find me!" An extended game of hide and seek it would be then.

Leading him down another corridor and without giving him a moment to reply, Tania would swiftly lead the Viedish to the gardens. Thankfully for the seedling, Tania had already been leading him in that direction so it wasn't a long trek, and coming to the end of one hallway, he had arrived. Mirithal would be hit by a breeze of cold air as he suddenly found himself standing outdoors.

The garden was absolutely massive.

Square in shape, it seemed to be one of the largest areas in the entire sanctuary. The stone floors gradually gave way to soft grasses, plants seemingly trying to grow through the Sanctuaries ancient magics from years of growing. Rare plants not seen anywhere else in the world could be seen growing in various spots, the large flat plot of land completely dominated by greenery, even the walls were not spared form vines and flowers creeping along them.

A large tree dominated the furthest area, casting a large shadow over the grounds. A small pond could be seen not far away, surrounded by foliage.

Tania herself, had taken a seat upon Mirithal's shoulder once more. With a friendly, casual smile she motioned towards the gardens.

"Reminds me of home, heh."

---

"Interesting... interesting." muttered Ar´oa, in part echoing what his conversational partners had said to him and in part sifting through his thoughts. The best way to describe this part of the process... savoring a wine? Yes, he remembered many of the other race´s stories involving wine. That dark and pungent liquid, it unnerved him, the way that it caused the truth of one´s heart to spill. Much like the bracelet that was now on the table once more.

"This artifact is able to absorb poison, though its effectiveness for someone of your race and stature is uknown to me. Additionally..." he said, gently inspecting the bracelet, "It reveals the emotions of both oneself and those around them." Ar´oa tilted his head just slightly. There was more, he just had to recall it.

"And it does so through the eyes."

His heart thumped to the ancient drums of his ancestors and their red and golden dreams. The artifact held such a strange concoction of enchantments and it was hard to tell whether he was exhilarated or uneasy from the exotic little bracelet. He imagined the impact of one wearing it in anubis society, breaking the emotionless customs of his people not just by one way but both.

Throughout their conversation he had come to find that the others had interesting views on magic. It was obvious that they did not follow his people's beliefs, but it had still come across as a surprise to listen to their perspectives. "The way that my people sort magic in artifacts might seem strange to you. The Wasteland has been long considered a land of scarcity, and so we believe that the lost souls of curses must never be destroyed through brute force. They must be undone, so that they might ascend and continue the cycle of life, which is precious to us."

He was unsure of what Stephanie's sister had meant in her comparison. "A field of beautiful flowers? I have never heard of that saying. I wonder what she could have meant by that, although it sounds poetically pleasing to me."

Vilkas made more sense, though it had never ocurred to Ar'oa that other races could organize their enchantments like that. "Using those categories, most anubis enchantments would be activated, interesting. To my knowledge I have never witnessed an eternal enchantment in use. Would it disturb nearby entities?" He asked. Something like that could be dangerous in The Wasteland if so.

For a moment, thoughts of the curse that had haunted his clan for generations crawled through his mind in a brief daze, like dark and strange insects. The Sanctuary would no doubt keep it from harming him, but it would be unthinkable to consider that any sort of victory. Perhaps later he could leave the castle to check on it.

---

Stephanie was continuing eating her food, while she couldn’t help but hear Ar’oa mutter interesting. She had a smile across her face more or less happy that he was going to tell her about the Pride Bracelet. It was pretty much loomed in her mind that she didn’t want to know what evils her father could have prepared her alike her mother. However, when Ar’oa spoke about it absorbing poison shocked her a bit. ”Uhh, what the…? It absorbs poison… Dad did something nice for me...” Stephanie said with a dumbstruck tone in her voice. She breathed in and out for a second because her fears were unfounded at least. However, the additional thing he said made her a bit confused.

She couldn’t really put a finger on it, however, it was a bit confusing. However, when she heard that this effect is through the eyes it was odd. ”The additional effect of the bracelet is odd and strange.” Stephanie said, with a confused tone to her voice. She did remember what the Mirithal had said that they see colors so this bracelet’s secondary effect is alike Mirithal’s sight at all times. It was a river of helpfulness that the bracelet wasn’t so bad as the necklace, which she wore before Asri told her that it allowed everyone to hear her thoughts. ”Thank you for helping me understand my Bracelet. I will wear it with pride knowing it wasn’t as evil as I thought. But it’s nice to know that one of my parents weren’t that much of a bastard… even though he still was one.” Stephanie said, sighed in relief. In terms of everything, she can wear the only thing her father did for her out of his kindness instead of the lack of being a father to her.

Stephanie couldn’t help but feel like there’s more evil tied in with the Unity Necklace. It was created by her mother Rita, which tried to kill her. She sighed in relief she took that evil thing off. However, her thoughts were caused to divert from what was going on in her head to what was going on around her. It was mostly from what she heard from what Ar’oa was talking about. ”Oh that sounds very nice custom to keep going. I gained most of my customs from Sarah since my parents customs were a bit wild and out there for me. Mostly for the fact my mother Rita tried to kill me...” Stephanie said, with a smile mostly at saying Sarah’s name again.

She heard what he said later, which caused her to be a slightly happy in what he said. ”I do as well wonder what my guardian Sarah had about that field of beautiful flowers in terms of enchantments and other things. I didn’t really ask Sarah, whom is the mayor of Gondrevil as well what she meant by that though. But because of what she said, we started talking about the city’s flower, which is my middle name in terms of its name. A purple viola flower is pretty.” Stephanie said, with a bit of a hint of happiness mentioning the flower in question since that flower is pretty this time of year.

She looks towards Vilkas, which spoke up to add information on what the dragons knew. It made her a bit shocked and amazed to hear there is a third type of enchantment category. ”Sarah didn’t know about the Eternal tier of enchantments. Guess, I have both Activated and Living enchantments. Even though I don’t like using the Firebrand nor Icebrand weapons for offense only defensive purposes.” Stephanie said, with a sigh talking about the swords in question. The two weapons in question also are her parent’s nicknames as well. The first weapon is her nickname as well but it’s only because she’s wielding her mother’s weapon. She sighed at the fact, her parents forced a nickname onto her. She continues to eat with a smile on her face at the fact. ”Magical sight sounds nifty to have if you are looking at magic. It’s nice you can sense magic in other people, Vilkas.” Stephanie said, with a smile. She notices Vilkas’ eyes change hues and other things and it was pretty amazing. It caused her to wonder what Dromon’s eyes look like in a humanoid form kinda but wouldn’t want to know up close since he is probably scary to get to know.

Interacting with: @Rune_Alchemist

Her mention of a date only got a few shaking of leaves and branches from his 'hair' as he turned it. A questioning look. He followed as closesly as he could even as she took flight, and he had to increase his stiff rigid pace to keep up. She was faster by margins. She could even fly while talking to him, keeping up her cheek, asking him questions. He responded to her question. "Sanctuary, it's filled with things not on the outside. Filled with yellow and kindness. Not filled, here and there, but not filled." This actually confused him more than he figured. If it was a happy place, why did it seem so... barren... These halls should be filled with the laughter of barkskins. He had seen villages from afar, festivals, yellow bright as the sun. If this was a happy place, where is everyone? Those he met seem happy-ish.

Then he thought deeper. "Sanctuary might be safe place. Safe, but safe from what?" Another question to himself. There were beasts and monsters, and softbarks attacked him but he never felt true fear before, only snippets of purple. Mirithal managed to fight and flee and hide and stomp those that troubled him. Smashing them into the dirt, reducing them to bugs and grass.

She gave him a task. One question a day. "Will need many days." He said, a hint of playfullness in how he responded.

---

He took a moment to stare at the garden. It looked almost point for point like his room. It lacked the magic in replace of actual growth. Flourishing, growing, green, everywhere you look. He walked in among them, his arms outstretched as he touched the twigs, the leaves, unconsciously avoiding stepping on anything that couldnt recover from such damage. The tree then seemed to match his surroundings, flowers and leaves growing as if he was making clothes out of them, verdant emerald green waving from back of him. No part of this growth would disturb Tania, hell the leaves and moss would form as little comforts rather than have her sit on wooden bark. "Only seen four groves like this..."

This place was perfect. Water, sun, the magic of the sanctuary made the soil fecund and ever present with nutrients. His feet dug through the soil, burrowing deep and eating what he could get a hold of. It was delicious, green magics replenishing him right through his roots. He didn't realize just how hungry he was, how hungry he would get walking on the cold stone. In the wilderness, every step was a sup of compost. Here, he just needed to stand in one spot. Maybe full in half an hour, the magic replenishing.

"This... this can be home. Veidish can live here." He seemed to breath now his face uplifted and his arms stretched out. "Beautiful Green here. Might claim this room. Wonder if R will let me. Better than that room."

---

"Well, it depends. That is what Grandmother studies. She is observing the effects it has on creatures around it. And well... It's very strange. Sometimes the creature becomes an elemental others it kills. It's not as interesting to me as when I started manifesting my magic. I got a bit angry and blew up a tower with a windstorm. That was an... Interesting time." He shivered remembering Vescartes' punishment, empowering the entire self repair enchantment on his own until it was fixed. Well over a month of sitting and meditating to generate the mana needed.

"One of my interests is magical artificing, the creation of magical items. I know of a few weapons created by my Grandfather that Dromon took from him. One was Sunder. A watchmaker that could split the earth itself. There was Illirium, a flute that called upon nature and The Mirror of Solus. I don't really remember what that one does. From in commissioned that one specifically. It's a strange thing. It looked like some sort of mirrored shield. Gramps is a powerful artificer. His studies are held in high regard among our kind. Though it was his grandmother who catalogued the Enchantments we know of. Tunic magic is strong in our family."

Vilkas caught the look that crossed the anybody' eyes. There was a hidden darkness. He made a mental note to ask him about his troubles later. Turning to Steph he nodded. "While our magical sight is nice it's a bit of a burden. Not all dragons have it some have something stronger. Demon for example can read a beings aura and tell of they are hostile or not. Patriarch Jericho can see souls as a black dragon. He is probably the strongest conjurer I have ever seen. While I know some races have hard limits on magic our kind do not. We are all magics as viable. He is currently researching the effects of Necromancy and ways to combat the undead more efficiently."

---

---

The blazing sun had set on the newcomers' first day in the Sanctuary causing the inside of the Sanctuary to illuminate with an array of fixed and floating lights. A different group of sentinels relieved their comrades and took over their task of patrolling the grounds. Everyone was free to roam about the castle just as they would do during the night as they was no curfew or rule preventing them from doing so. R himself had no real need for sleep himself so he spent most of the time working on small projects or performing the very rare maintenance on one of the sentinels. There was only one such resident that actually woke up during this time and preferred the peace and quiet that the mostly empty halls provided.

The solar cycle of the Sanctuary was the same inside the room of each resident. Today the sun rose just like any other with a light fog rolling over the land around the Sanctuary. The Anserian named Cisna was just leaving her room, which was a couple doors down from the newly assigned ones given to yesterday's arrivals. Her muscles ached terribly and her nightmares had plagued her sleep once again, but she emerged from her room with a bright smile and a soft demeanor. Everyone else had their own problems so it would be rude of her to trouble them. She didn't want to be viewed as weak when there was so many strong people here. She didn't want their pity. Her arms stretched out wide along with her pearly white wings that had a wingspan twice her height. Cisna chose not to wait for the new people to exit their rooms and headed down towards the mess hall. She was too nervous around new people and always ended up saying something weird if she spoke more than a couple words.

Vey, Arton, and Volfango were still in the rooms while Voltaire left the privacy of his room. Groggily he raked his hand through his mess of dark, blue-gray hair ending with stretching the skin under his eyes. All he could picture right now was a hot cup of coffee from the mess hall and a warm pastry. He was still adjusting to having all these luxuries at his disposal that he expected any day he would wake up and be back in the normal, shitty world. That being said, he began his walk to the mess hall when he stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder down the hall where the newbies would be coming from then continued walking. What a weird bunch of people. He supposed that ordinary people with ordinary lives didn't really meet the requirements to be brought here. As long as they didn't bother him, he didn't have an issue with them. There was some injustices in the world that he was going to correct.

A wide assortment of heavenly aromas slowly made its way upstairs from the mess hall, signifying that there was fresh food ready for consumption. R was planning on leaving his chambers in a few moments to join those going to the mess hall and prepare for the day's duties. Last night he was alerted to a rather troubling omen. The first of his counter-measures against the Lich King had been activated, meaning that after completed its initial mission would be arriving here for further instruction. For now, he wanted to see how his new guests had been adjusting to their lives here. This was safest place to be and he intended to keep it that way.

Mirithal ended up 'sleeping' among the enchanted gardens, he lost his masculine form and instead looked like a regular tree with odd features. He feasted on the green magics of the sanctuary that fed through the garden. It was engorging, filling it with so much essence of life and wood. It was going to be a day of showering apples and lingering scents of flowers. The Veirdish had not fed on such powers for an age. It awoke with an invigoration. It would not need such food for some days, depending upon whether it used its spells.

The trunk unraveled from itself, most of its form still stationary within its room. This time it tried to take a new form. It would need to test several. It needed to know which one would allow it to fit in among the softbarks. It decided to go for something more feminine, building layers on its hips and chest and fill out its chest. It shed the horns for layering scales of leaves and chips for hair. It stepped from the garden plot, a green yellow woman seemingly wearing a simple and conservative dress of fronds.



It looked at the gardens one last time before leaving them. Another day, it had little to do save find Tania, but it would still like to meet others. It remembered that the mess hall might be a place to meet with other residents of the Sanctuary, but she got only a few yards within the Sanctuary proper and stopped at a door before she looked at it with a long drawn out pause.

Was this the door she went through to get to the garden? Should she go to another door? She couldnt find the mess hall yesterday. So there this woman of bark and leaves stood. A walkway on the exterior that led to the gardens and the other points around the keep, trying to figure out how to navigate this strange carved mountain.

---

It was only by taking a few careful steps into the corridors that Ar´oa realized just how noisier life inside of a castle was when compared to the sprawling deserts of his home, with all of its footsteps and furniture. He wasn't at all comfortable with the notion that enclosed spaces were good things, a result of most of his near death experiences having taken place in ruins and labyrinths. The Sanctuary, furnished in a grand manner of artwork and ornamentation, was certainly not a ruin. But a labyrinth? To Ar´oa, that was a confident yes.

His svelte frame strode across the various halls, taking steps that were long and delicate under the billowing of a sapphire robe. Before any serious effort could be expended into using The Sanctuary to develop his strength, he would first want to test its limits. After collecting rations from the mess hall, Ar´oa planned to venture outside to search for the presence of his curse. He came to a stop at the sight of another being. Who else had decided to be near the gardens at this time?

It was the nature elemental from before, now in a completely different physical form that was just as verdant and surreal as the one before it. Ar'oa's feelings of deep astonishment upon gazing at the creature hadn't waned since their last encounter yesterday.

"Good morning." he said. His expressionless face and eyes gave no hints as to the contents of his heart, which beat with passion at the sight of the storybook animal brought to life in front of him. He would definitely have to pry the creature for answers when given the chance. Right now though, he wanted his trip to the outside of The Sanctuary to remain a secret. It would raise too many questions and could possibly be interpreted as ingratitude or suspicion by the others, so while the sight of Mirithal was certainly breathtaking, Ar'oa continued to quietly guard his plans.

The copy of a human face look in the direction of a voice heard, the leaves rustling as the pearls of amber that was her eyes tried to simulate the look of astonishment he once seen when someone would sneak up on another. She even brought her hand to her chest in a fist and opened her mouth slightly. It was good practice while she wore this form. Of course the reasons behind looking like a started farm girl was completely lost on the living tree.

It was the beast that walked. He reminded her of the dogs that hunt through the woods, but of course he was copying the majority of softbarks as she was... or maybe he was a softbark too? It was very hard to tell.

Mirithal faced him with hands folded. She tilted her head forward. It was a bow but it was completely robotic. "Good morning. I am Mirithal." she greeted, her voice more feminine, higher, but quite monotone. She leaned back up, standing motionless, the tips of her leaves seeming to curl. "Ar'oa Aqalb, you are looking green with shades of purple and splashes of red. You are currently determined and cautious. I apologize for frightening you. I am trying different shapes to find ones that will not scare any soft barks. I appear to have failed with this one."

---

The morning sun awoke Vilkas as he slept on the bed. He stumbled over t the large sunning rock as he shifted, stretching out his wings with a yawn. It felt nice, and he was glad he'd still be able to fly after the attack. "Need to get started on that training... I'll ask Master R about it... Wonder if I can get access to the forge... Haven't gotten a chance to build in a while too..." The dragon, once he felt himself sufficiently warmed leapt off the rock into the openness of the sky around him. Flapping great wings he sailed a lazy circle. A strong updraft kept him from going too far down. Touching down on the landing area he shifted and dressed, heading to the mess hall.

He smelled a few new people as he collected a heaping plate. young Dragons burned a lot of energy. He noticed Voltaire and headed over, introducing himself. "Greetings, I'm Vilkas. What brings you to a place like this?" He noticed that once again, he was quite larger than most of the residents here.

---

Stephanie is laying on her bed in her bedroom, thinking about many things. The primary thing that crossed her mind was the fact there was a massive weight lifted off her shoulders. It mainly included the fact she no longer had to deal with her parents, whom were tormented throughout her 16 years of existence. She was grateful to Asri for telling her of the prying gift of her mother, which was the necklace that pried on her inner thoughts. ”Ugh, I really hate my mother’s gift. At least I had a better dream than the usual ones I had been having. I have a feeling the Necklace had a specific enchantment placed on it to cause one to have very graphic and vivid nightmares. But that could wait later. Since I am pretty much happier not knowing what that ’necklace’ does right now.” Stephanie said. She knew it was basically in the morning, since she slept peacefully through the night even though that necklace was still being strange, in showing ominous colors and things.

It was an exhilarating experience to realize the gift, which her father gave her is basically harmless. Even though it has an oddly strange side effect, which Ar’oa told her the day before. ”I should get out of my bedroom and get something to eat for breakfast… since Sarah says its an important part of your morning.” Stephanie said. She had a happier tone of voice, even though she wanted something to wake her up more completely. However, something stopped her a bit midpoint of her decision to get out of her bedroom, was the two weapons, which she brought with her. She couldn’t help but give them the long stare in terms of they are good for defensive purposes. ”Ugh, I should at least take one… if I want to ’train’ with one. Those two weapons are the reason for my torment by my parents...” Stephanie said, with a bit of eye roll.

She slowly walks up to one of her two weapons, which took a long and drawn mental note of the one she likes the least. They are both brutal weapons for brutal people, in how they constantly fight and make her feel like crap, however. If she tried to master one of them, she could be better prepared to face them if it came to it. Therefore, she chose to pick up the one she was forced to pick first, her mother’s namesake even though she disliked using the Firebrand Sword the most. It constantly exploded in her face and her mother would constantly laugh at her for it basically backfiring for her lack of wanting to learn the weapon. ”I wonder if anyone could make me a sword basically, which uses water elemental magic…” Stephanie said. She knew of Vilkas, however, she didn’t know if he would be able to craft her a weapon so soon after meeting. It would be pretty awkward and would probably put pressure on someone she just met. She put the sword she hates the most and its seethe on her waist to wonder about anything. It was pretty obvious she didn’t want to keep both of the weapons on her like how she came here since both were a bit much for her to wield since she isn’t that good at dual wielding weapons

Stephanie finally walked out of her cabin, which is in her bedroom since it was a beautiful rendition of the flower fields next to her hometown. It made her cry happy tears a bit seeing the violas. She was always happy seeing the purple flowers, which is her middle name and to a greater extent her evil mother’s middle name too. She finally made it to the door to the Sanctuary proper, and opened it and walked out of her room with a gentle smile on her face. This place is one thing, it was definitely amazing place. She walked towards the mess hall, which was definitely a thing since she definitely need to eat something after all. It was obvious since she’s only 16 years old. ”Wow… this place is a very nice place to stay if they always have that smell coming from the mess hall.” Stephanie thought to herself, while still walking to the mess hall.

She entered the mess hall and went to the place where she collected her food before and noticed Vilkas chatting to another Resident of the Sanctuary. It was pretty much obvious she wanted to talk to other people since she always wanted to make friends. She slowly walks up with a small smile on her face. ”Hello, my name is Stephanie. Hey Vilkas, how are you doing today?” Stephanie asked, curiously to both of the people she asked that question to. Her first thing was towards the Resident, which she recognizes by the name of Voltaire but decided to introduce herself a bit more formally to him. However, the primary thought in her mind was her parents never really mentioning half-elves at all. It was a bit odd for her to remember since they had horrible things to say about Elves in general, however. She wasn’t much of a person to repeat her parents cruelty in their words, since she wants to be highly friendly to all. It’s mostly because of her outright dislike of fighting for fighting sake alike her parents Rita and Derrick did enjoy so much.

Voltaire stopped mid-step and landed the airborne foot onto the stone floor with a bit of force, rolling his eyes as he heard someone calling out to him from behind. A quiet sigh left as he shuffled slowly around to face whoever it was that decided to play nice with him. It was WAY too early for him to be dealing with people let alone feint being friendly just to get whoever it was off his back. His head rose up to look at Vilkas with an expression one would expect from a grumpy old man "Voltaire." A bit of irritated state seeped into his voice "Like I would tell you that. I have literally just woken up, so forgive me if I am little irritable." The snark in his tone suggested he was anything but sorry for his attitude.

He had just got done speaking when Stephanie joined their little conversation and he couldn't hide the low groan as her pressed the side of his against his forehead "Great, another one." He said under his breath but did little to lower his voice enough not to be heard, although it was a relief that the two knew each other. That meant he could drop mister big and scaly off on her and he could continue his day as planned "Name's Voltaire. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm sure you can entertain each other well enough." A clearly forced smile accompanied a nod as he turned around once more to set out towards the mess hall. "For Arun's sake, people are freaking chatty in the morning." He mumbled to himself as he reached the stairs.

Voltaire was just happy the whatever the hell that tree thing was and the giant dog didn't come to speak to him as well. A majority of the residents here didn't mind sharing details about their past but he couldn't be more eager to forget it and move on. He wasn't here to wallow in self-pity or pretend there wasn't real problems out there that needed to be fixed. The sooner he ate and got his damn coffee the sooner he could start working on how to solve them. After all, people only really cared about themselves so why bother getting to know any of them. Everyone disappoints you eventually.

---

Mirithal´s words struck Ar´oa with the velocity and precision of an arrow. It, or rather her, spoke with the tone of someone who meant no harm in their words, only expressing a sense of tranquility. It was a common facade for Ar'oa's people. Yet this was no anubis, nor a regular sentient being. It seemed that Mirithal's wonder had never stopped finding new ways to bewilder and excite him.

"You are able to transform yourself at will?" he asked, his curiosity dripping through the cracks of his stoic behavior. "That reminds me of the spirits I would encounter in my homeland."

His ears perked up slightly. The voices of his elders once again snarled warnings from within his mind at his irresponsible displays of emotion. He ignored them entirely. This was one of his goals, to satisfy his intense curiosity. No clan members were around to scold him for pivoting towards a surprise conversation and he intended to take complete advantage of that.

"I have lived a life far away from the flora that many take for granted, and I am currently unaware of how to speak with you in a manner your culture could deem appropriate." His dark eyes bored through Mirithal's features like sunbeams, alight with a passion and a need to illuminate the dark. "Yes, I am cautious, but I feel as if it is rather obvious why. Please tell me about yourself."

The inquiring tone that very briefly pulsed through his words was reminiscent of how one appropriately behaved around spirits, dancing around their wordplay and making the unpredictability mutual. It was born from habit and unintentional, yet he could feel a small kick of adrenaline beating steadily. He thought of Mirithal some more and realized that perhaps... it could assist him with his mission?