It was naught but a few minutes later when Edyta moved off after Dorothea to see if they couldn't find anyone to help in their search for Manfred, the two yasoi girls, Viktor, and Anna. In truth, she noticed, Ymiico had disappeared as well, shortly after some incoherent speech in broken Avincian earlier

The household Sister Laska and Dorothea would be seeking was the carpenter's abode. Heinrich Stigenroth was, just like his father and the father of his father, a simple man that worked with his hands. The 'shop' was open, with a good half converted into a workshop and the other serving as a living space. Mandelein had its own carpentry guild, however with the arrival of a child and Anna's ambitious to follow her step-father's footsteps, the father had made preparations to do more minor work from home.

Of course, in these troubling times there would be no work done. Just the cries of a needy babe and a father far too overwhelmed to handle things at the moment.

Dorothea paused upon hearing the cries of the child, looking towards the good sister. "Think he can help? He looks like he has more than he can handle anyway."

"Do you think Lady Stigenroth might still be... out there? If she was wounded badly and with the time that has past..."

The two women would end up at the carpenter's door with baby cries resonating from beyond the thick, stone walls. It took a solid minute of frantic footsteps until the door was answered by a young man with black circles around his eyes and unkempt stubble. “Was?” he asked dryly, clearly not in the best of moods.

Dorothea looked somewhat hesitant to ask anything of the young man, his appearance did not look all that rested. "Ich frage Sie nur ungern..." Her voice became dry just by trying to get the request out. "Der Suchtrupp ist ebenfalls verschwunden. Wären Sie bereit, uns bei der Suche nach ihnen und Fräulein Stigenroch zu unterstützen?"

Heinrich shot a nasty glare toward Dory, “Es ist Stigenroth. (It's Stigenroth.)” he corrected with growing anger in his voice, “Wie soll ich dir helfen? Ich habe einen Sohn, der seine Mutter braucht. Es ist ein Tier auf der Pirsch. Und ich bin nur Zimmermann. (How do you want me to help? I have a son that needs his mother. There is a beast on the prowl. And I'm just a carpenter.)” his hand clenched the doorknob and seemed about ready to close the door, “Bis zu Ihrer Ankunft war alles in Ordnung. Wie kannst du meiner Frau helfen, wenn deine Freunde es nicht können?! (Everything was fine until you got here. How can you help my wife when your friends couldn't?!)”

"Heinrich." Edyta placed a hand gently but firmly on the door. "The fear and helplessness you are feeling right now is not something I am... unfamiliar with." She bowed her head and shook it tightly. "And I shall offer up prayers to Ahn-Eshiran to spare your wife, but I believe that Ahn-Dami gives us free will so that we might act to make good on what we pray for, empowered by the Gods." She paused as Dory translated for her.

"Perhaps the people sent with us are her deliverance. They have succeeded and are on their way back this moment. Perhaps they have failed. If the latter is true -" she shrugged. "Then I doubt we will succeed alone." She was not finished, however. "Yet, it also strikes me that this task falls to us as no other people in this town are looking for her." The Rezaindian shook her head. "It is not my place to guess why that is, but it occurs to me that, were they to lend a hand, we would have a much better chance of success." She gazed up at him implacably, but not without empathy either. Much of the personal effect was surely lost as all communication needed to be filtered through Dorothea, but at least the girl was an emotive speaker.

This woman spoke just like Jacques. All these religious formulations and confidence in a divine presence were all too intangible to Heinrich when his problem was very real. It all felt like an excuse to not take things as seriously as he was. The lone father was just about ready to slam the door into Laska's hand until Dory's translation got to the point: They wanted to do something, and they were asking for help. His expression hardly changed from one of contempt, but he was no longer clenching the door.

It took a brief moment of silence before he'd answer to the nun directly, “No can help, me.” he said in broken Avincian, “But Koppelman?” he tried to explain what he meant, but lacked the vocabulary, so he gestured for the women to follow him to a shed at the back. There, hanging on the walls and surrounded by well maintained tools of a carpenter was a Koppelman 211 - similarly custom-made for the needs of the region. That thing resembled a portable cannon and was definitely heavy. Heinrich would explain that Anna's great uncle would hunt Skuggvars with the thing, although nowadays there was little use for it. It also came with five heavy caliber bullets. Why gather people when a big weapon wasn't going to second guess you at any point?

Dory's eye inspected the rifle... well it was quite a bit bigger than a normal rifle, her eyes would practically sparkle whilst looking at such a beauty. "Eine Koppelman.... Was für ein Prachtexemplar. (A Koppelman, what a beauty.)" Her sight returned to Heinrich with a look that gave mixed messages. On one side it practically begged him May I? May I? May I? whilst also asking Is it really okay to lend such a thing

Heinrich didn't seem particularly enthused in giving away such a prized item to strangers, but they were also the only ones that were going to do anything about this. He merely gestured toward it, essentially giving the okay to Dory.
With the big weapon in hand and time being on short supply.

It was about time the duo made off into the Teufelssumpf, following the path the previous group had taken. They had, at the very least, the location of the hunting lodge Viktor had been using. However, after a half-hour trek, they'd find it, of course, empty and without any indication of where the group may have went as Viktor had taken the map with him. Not optimal, but there was something both women could notice that definitely seemed off: Increased moisture and a drop in heat just two hundred meters North-East of the lodge.

A cautious inspection would lead them to find a wall of fog in that covered a good 500 meter diameter. Sensing what was inside was difficult, as it felt like a lot of the energy there had already be used up somehow. The fog itself definitely looked out of place in this softer weather and just suddenly appearing there. For Laska, this could've been a trap, especially if she was convinced this was a Wildblood issue. Usually, when transformed, these creatures were consumed by rage and a desire to feast, but once they were 'taken by the beast', they eventually adapted to their form and, while definitely not 'intelligent' by human standards, developed instincts and strategies to catch prey without being overtaken by a murderous drive. This could very well be one of those traps.

Sister Laska's demeanour had changed. Her eyes flicked about suspicious and she seemed tense. Reaching into her satchel, she quickly pulled out a prime shot. There was a ghost of a scowl and she downed it without much fuss, tucking the empty vial back in. "You have some special trick up your sleeve, right?" she inquired, giving Dory a once-over. Her eyes lingered on the crown for a moment. "I may need you as bait but I don't want to leave a helpless babe out there in the forest." She began to grow indistinct, as if already slipping into the space between realities: that comforting space where everything was better. "No matter what it is, it cannot sense me in that place. If you can draw its attention, and you're strong enough to hold it off, then I can appear at the right moment and solve it, once and for all."

She smiled in what was perhaps meant to be a reassuring way, but Edyta did not have that sort of manner about her. "Don't worry. This is not the first monster I have hunted." With that, she began to move, for there was ground to cover and a hunt to be had. The crown... the demon crown. She could sense its energies. She could hear its whispers! How they called to her, taunted her, begged her and mocked her. She tried not to visibly shake her head. Whatever the beast was, she was certain it was powerful. yet, it was nothing compared to whatever had been sealed within the headwear she had not once seen her counterpart remove.

As Laska asked her about any special tricks Dory smirked and lifted the hand cannon up. "I have the Koppelman." Oh, she could almost be seen to be hugging that beauty of a rifle. Then as the seriousness kicked in she looked rather hesitant to say anything. "I do... Although I prefer not using it. It's not something people will look kindly upon." Dory tapped her crown softly with a questioning look on her face as if she were begging for advice.

Edyta pursed her lips. "Hmmm. Yes." She kept her voice low as the walked, even though there was nobody to hear them. "That is a dark magic artifact of unfathomable power." She shook her head, taking a couple of cursory glances around. "Sometimes, it is necessary for the light to use the darkness. That's what I was taught..." She trailed off and the place they were walking through became more deeply eerie than before. "But still, I have my doubts." She paused and a look of some concern came to her eyes. " You haven't made any sort of deal with it yet, right?" Surely, nobody could be so daft.

"Unfathomable power? My little crown? Surely if that were to be the case you would have enlightened me on it all the way back in Ersand'Enise." Her expression was saddened by her zeno group friend's words. "Doubts? What kind of doubts? That I do not use my gift to shine a light in the darkness? To try and make it better for my loved ones?"

A powerful human and threatening artifact had entered the den. Both would inevitably get noticed by whatever prowled these cold, misty grounds. Stray bones of wildlife found by trees were the first hints of something that wasn't quite right. Some of them almost felt purposeful in their placement, like a warning. But there would be nothing to sense within the intruders' range.

Deeper in, they would end up before a very steep downward slope. The fog wasn't letting up and the bottom was hard to distinguish, although basic drawing allowed them to determine it was no more than ten feet deep. On the slope itself were many roots from the nearby trees sticking out, some of them looking to have been uprooted not too long ago. Maybe from something that tried to climb out?

Beyond a couple of birds flying above the trees, there were no signs of life. Not even the smallest of critters.

Then came the distorted, remote howl coming from the West, very much beyond the foggy perimeter they were in and all too similar to what they had heard on their first day to Mandelein.

Little time was giving for these two to ponder, however, as an overwhelmingly powerful force downright dragged them into the pit. A pit full of bones and cold, damp dirt.

She had been misunderstood, as was so often the case. Edyta shook her head. "Nevermind. We have a job to do and I will have your back. I will explain later, if we live." With that, she let herself sink out of this reality and into the space in between.

Scarcely had she done so when there came the howl of what could only be a monster, somewhere off to the West. The rezaindian stayed her course, however, rising close to the surface of the grey space and faintly sensing Dory to keep track of her. They were stopped at the edge of a pit of sorts and there was something eerie about it, without a doubt. The Feskan leaned over the precipice to peer in and, to Sister Laska's horror, seemed to lose her balance and start falling in. Głupek! She shouted at the girl mentally, diving out from the veil to grab her.

That was when she realized her mistake. Dory had not fallen. She had been pulled, and so was Edyta. Maybe it was the shock of judging so harshly and then being the idiot herself. Maybe it was the setting, her suspicious, and her lack of sleep. Whatever the reason, she was too slow in fading out of the world. By the time that she had, she was at the bottom. She went evasive, ready to attack if needed

The moment she felt herself being dragged downwards the first thing Dory could think of was propel herself upwards, however no matter how much force she put into the spell it did not matter for she was going downwards into the pit whether she willed it or not.

Landing onto the damp dirt rather roughly. She wasted no time to get up however, readying her rifle whilst clicking her tongue. "Scheisse, ich bin so blöd!" Looking towards Laska to check up on her. "You okay?"

The Greyborn faded as she watched, disappearing into the space between dimensions with a small nod. Now, it was time to see what sort of hell awaited them.

The pit was filled with bones, some with old, rotting meat on them, others with puddles of congealed blood below them. Most were animals, with even a Skuggvar carcass set aside, belly wide open, but there were some unmistakably human bones too. The stench had become overwhelmingly powerful to those who lowered themselves into the foggy den of death.

Before Dory, and eventually Laska, was a growing mass of energy that lurked within a burrow on the earthen wall opposite of them. They didn’t need to sense any energy or even see anything to know they were being stalked. Something behind the white veil, hiding inside the earth, had picked them as an appropriate mark for dinner.

The thing crawled out of its space now that it had prey in its trap, and the sweet scent of food was too alluring. A large, barely human-like shadow began to grow within the fog. Loud, uncouth steps were getting ever closer to the duo of women that had gotten lost in the woods. Just a few more steps, and they could see the horror for what it was. Sticky, unkempt grey fur covered the beast that easily tripled their height, yet remained hunched to just barely surpass the tallent by a head or two. By how it stood, it was clearly bipedal but it favoured using its humanlike front paws to drag itself forward as would an animal.

It was now close enough for its face to be seen. It’s snout was that of a human, but its lips and teeth were undoubtedly that of a beast’s, clearly canine by the shape of the legs and the rows of teeth. It’s eyes were a strange blend of both worlds, making for an uncanny and misshapen horror that was the beast’s face.

It eyed both prey, and then stood on its hindlegs before unleashing an ear-piercing screech that would echo through the entirety of the Teufelssumpf. A howl so strong it could almost shatter the wills of both Laska and Dory as if they had tangible forms.

They were not given the luxury of any leisure as they recovered from the fall as the beast lunged towards Dorothea. A gasp of surprise was all that the time allowed to escape her mouth as the beast was quite a bit faster than his size would tell them. In a moment of desperation used the frame of the beast to propel herself back with the use of what little knowledge of Kinetic magic she accumulated. Her arm shook as the girl noticed that said push was not enough for the arm to go completely unscathed.

The good sister however was able to land a clean slice against this thing’s knees. Growling in pain, the beast turned its gaze towards the sister which had delivered the blow. Dorothea tried her hardest to give Laska some breathing room by distracting it with magic of her own. It barely affected the large figure to much of her frustration.

The beast was strong, but Edyta had seen things like it before, and knew it was no match for her. She had already damaged its left knee. She now savaged its wrist with blood magic. Then, Dory struck with an arcane lance that burned it as well. They kept it this way, pinned between them, alternating attacks as needed.

The beast recoiled and glared at the two. Instead of lashing out, it extends its hindlegs, the initially wounded one now fully healed, to stand up completely straight. Then, it howled once more, although not nearly as loudly as it was with the one before. However it wasn't an intimidation tactic. Both Dory felt herself compelled to withdraw, make herself small and her body felt overall weakened. Edyta did not stick around for it. The moment she felt it - eerily like... She shakes her head to clear it. She fades into the space between realities. The beast itself looked invigorated in some way.

Dory felt her mana not doing what she wished them too made her somewhat remember the start of what happened with the highwaymen. However! She was not as reliant on only magic as before! This time she has something else to help in cases like this.

She steadied her aim, waited for the right shot and fired away. The kinetic energy released by it was enough to practically fling the girl away. All that mattered in the end was for it to hit its mark and hit it did, the bullet hit true as a hole was blasted through a part of its abdomen.

The beast cried out as the bullet hit it. Its attention returned to Dory and attempted to gore her, luckily as it was about to bite down on the girl. Edyta summoned all of her kinetic magic to slam its hideous head into the ground. The beast only grunted further in pain. Blows were exchanged between the two parties yet Dory began to falter, her spells began to lose its effectiveness against this hulking monster. The beast was taking control of the situation as it circled the wounded women as if they were cornered prey

In desperation Dorothea fired a Dark Bolt and like it was as slow as molasses was dodged by the beast. The good sister began to build up a rather large cryogenic spell. Dory panicked as a lot of the damage done to it began to slowly heal away. The energy radiating from Laska’s spell caught the monster’s attention. Dorothea knew there was only one way she could hinder such a beast and once more readied her the Koppelman, steadied it for how much she could in what little time she had and fired it a second time, hitting true once more. The beast recoiled from the hit and cried out. This gave Laska the perfect window to release her spell upon the beast, freezing it in place.

Finally, it was encased in a prison of cold that penetrated through the massive hole in its body and glaciated its entire bloodstream. Still, it didn't falter. In its agony and rage it attempted a final, desperate attack on the nun, only to stumble and fall right before her feet. Its heart had exploded from within, and no amount of binding could restore it from such catastrophic damage. The beast, with slush for blood pooling under it, had been slain.

Sister Laska lined her scythes up to either side of the beast's head, crossed.

It didn't feel right.

Certainly, it had been powerful - a menace, even. Certainly she was good at the job for which she had trained since she had first manifested the Gift. Dorothea was, unsurprisingly, a capable mage, and with both Dark magic and the Koppelman in her hands... a menace.

Edyta's muscles flexed - taut and sinewy - and her twin blades finished the job. Slushy half-frozen blood squirted and then slowly began to pool. "This was a beast, to be sure," she said evenly, "But it wasn't the beast." She shook her head. "The things we found in that dungeon. They weren't like it." The rezaindian pursed her lips and made a sour face, shaking her head tightly. Then, she forced a smile. "But we did well today. I could not have done this without you."

She forced herself to gaze dispassionately upon the creature's misshapen horror of a face. So close. She had come so close to death, at least a handful of times in that fight, and Dorothea, even more so. Still, we were only two. She'd been blasted with fire and burnt, despite her mastery of the Thermal and her attempts to resist it. The wounds were healed now, covered with fresh pinkish skin. It was far from the first time Edyta had smelled her own flesh cooking and it likely would not be the last, but her clothing was tattered: almost indecent, and it bothered her. There were no men present, but she still pulled what remained of her habit over to cover her largely-exposed left side. Then there had been the teeth, the fangs, and...

Most of all, it had been that...noise. The rezaindian had second-guessed it a few times, but her calling was specialized enough to have had contact with it before. It reminded her of Command Magic, as daft as that sounded. It reminded her of such and... she considered paying a visit to Fr. Dubosque, but she did not trust him, in truth. She would have to pray on the matter. For now... "We should leave this pit of death and search for the others." Her voice became grim. "First, however, within this place."

Dorothea's hands shook as the adrenaline from what had just transpired started to fade away.

Not good enough the girl gritted her teeth.

With the satisfaction of having beaten this thing came a feeling of bitterness. After everything she has done to be more imposing, more powerful it did not help much against this... thing, every spell she threw at it barely had an effect if any and it left her frustrated. Never has she been this close to death before. Eyes travelled towards the Koppelman in her hands, clenched tightly. "Firearms never let me down..."

This must be discussed with the young brother at the church. Turning towards the sister. "Do you think we might be able to find more evidence if we search this thing's pit for a while?"

With its death came the dissipation of the fog its body had been emitting, likely as a means to disorient and trap prey. There were bones everywhere, and a lot of rotting meat. The skuggvar is had been eating had been dead for likely over a week. The human bones looked old - not ancient, but old.

Inside the den it had made itself on the earthen wall, there were piles of old clothes and leathers, along with a piece of metal that shined as the sun reflected on it. Some of the more intact skeletons and carcasses may also have goods that could be of use. If this experience taught this group anything, it was that anything they could find could be a considerable use in their endeavours against aberrations of nature!

Edyta went more or less immediately for the shiny object. Call her worldly or simple minded, she didn't care! She reached out. Laska found an old but well-preserved watch with a Haureenium casing. A very fine piece of Thalak craft with the initials 'C.W.' engraved on the shell. Would sell for quite a lot, or just tell the time very well. What is it doing here in Mandelein? Edyta blinked, pocketing it as evidence. She cast about for more. The skeletons were too old to be any of her peers, and that was some relief, at least.

There wasn't much more bling to find. A lot of it was old tools, bones and dried flesh. She could notice that the watch wasn't close to any corpse, and there weren't any bones in the creature's small den. It definitely gave some consideration to hygiene. It occurred to the rezaindian, briefly, that this watch had likely belonged to the original human that had become this... beast. She searched carefully for any further evidence of a link to someone she might be able to research later.

Unfortunately there wasn't too much to find beyond this watch. Clothing had long since been ripped apart and decayed into the soil. There were pieces of a rifle nearby, although most of it had been charred from the beast's flames

Dory looked towards the skeletons. looking around to see if anything was moving before inspecting them to see if they'd hold anything of interest. Dory found corpses of various typical wildlife in the Teuffelsumpf. Some human bones too with not much left of them. There was a big Skuggvar carcass stinking up the place. And a few echobird feathers remaining that aren't burnt from the beast's rampage. Dory grabbed the feathers before she made her way towards the Skuggvar carcass whilst preparing herself for the stench.

There wasn't much to salvage, except for the Skuggvar's tail, still filled with quills and Dory ripped it off before looking towards the sister.

Edyta grabbed the stock of the rifle, just in case and, with that, she dusted her hands off and emerged from the den proper. "I think that about wraps things up here. We should go meet with the others."

Dory followed suit. "I hope the others are okay, if things similar to this one is why the others took so long... It makes me concerned for their safety."

On the morning of the last day of their southern trek through the mountains, emotions were running high. The group had awoken to find their packs empty, gnawed open, and any edible contents inside eaten by vermin thieves sometime in the night. Already the journey had been uncomfortable and awkward, the mismatched group struggling to find commonality, but the prospect of completing the stretch on empty stomachs proved the final straw. Passive-aggressive remarks quickly turned to blame-shifting arguments by the time camp was packed.

Sensing an argument brewing, Silas gave voice to something that been bothering him since they’d left the Hegelan city. “Someone’s following us.” He said, loud enough to be heard over the others, but not quite shouting. He’d been uncommonly quiet since Harrachora’s snapping him away. The boy nose wrinkled as he focused in on the presence that’d been coming and going from the edge of his senses, then finally pointed overhead. A ledge struck out over them some fifteen feet, used as cover from the drizzling rain the night before, it wouldn’t be difficult to make it overhead with some basic kinetic magic.

“Been tailing not too far behind since we left. Something small, even by Hegelan standards.”

Nazih squatted down to look Silas in the eyestalks. "Is there a reason you're only telling us this now, while we're all agitated and hungry?"

"Can we eat whatever it is?" He asked, half seriously

Trusting her friends judgement, Esmii crouches down next to him. She tried to pick up the scent of whats following them, however because of the moist air she can't. "I can't tell if it's an animal but hopefully it's not dangerous."

Silas's not-eyes stared, unseeing, back at Nazih

"He wasn't doing nothing before" He replied with a shrug, then lifted his own pack to be inspected. Unlike most of the others, it was free of obvious tears and holes, but none the less empty.

"Stole whatever the rats didn't get." Silas' face turned upwards to glare at the figure still sleeping beyond the overhang.

"Sleeping." Silas informed, then considered a moment more. "I think. "

Marz scoffed as he set his hand on his side, right on top of his hammer, "Might as well see who it is. Standing around gives us nothing but more questions".

Silas nodded at the Hegelan, but made no motion to do anything beyond stand in the same place he'd been sitting.

While the rest of her group discussed and bickered, the Yasoi amoung them was naturally the first to take action. The cliffs might not have been Esmii's native terrain, but they provided more than enough holds and ledges for her to move up and out of the other's sight before most notice she'd begun at all. Once some fourteen feet from the ground they'd begun on, she turned around to observe the object of discussion below.

Sure enough, a young boy was sitting cross-legged atop the rock, staring back at her. It didn't take long to recognize him as the stable-hand from the few days before; unmistakably filthy and small. A small trail of crumbs lead from his mouth down a soiled shirt, and finally to a small pile on the rocks between his thin knees; the remains of their rations, it could be presumed.

Yuli brushed herself off from the dust of the mountains and the steppes. She was hungry, both for blood and for food at this point. Being a nomad did not suit her lifestyle, and she was half tempted to subsist off the mana brews that she'd bought in the hegelan city. Still, her annoyance was peaked by the powergazer. She had first felt endearment to the lad, when they had undergone their plan in the trials, but he was a known shifty character at this point, and she couldn't help but feel as if he was responsible for some of the troubles that had been plaguing them thus far.

"Why is your pack fine? Is empty, but no damage. And why would not say anything? You aren't even supposed be here! she shouted accusingly at the lad. Were she not famished and angry at the situation, she might have chosen a more stealthy approach but the time had passed for such measures in her mind as she was very ready to beat the snot out of this would-be informant just to make herself feel better at this point.

Once realising that it's a boy from the stables a few days ago "If you lot are finished discussing whatever it was. It seems we were being followed by one of the stable-hands that we met. And it seems that he is covered in crumbs." she informs the group below her.

Ah, a fight between a merchant and a commoner breaking out might be just the entertainment the Perrench lad, Yvain, could use at a time like this, however there was no need for hostilities still. "Perhaps he just got lucky. Even if he is not supposed to be here a helping hand is always appreciated."

A smug grin appeared on his face after he finished saying his piece. "Oh, if you do choose to fight with one another. He paused. "Then I will have to be forced to end said quarrel and I promise I won't be gentle."

Silas’ face darkened with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. Some fear too, if he was honest with himself; he’d gone to great effort to avoid Yuliya at all costs for some time, after all.

“Just told you- I got robbed.” He shook his pack in demonstration, nothing but a cloth and two bennies fell out; the latter of which the boy quickly scrambled to collect again. But Yvain’s words didn’t go unnoticed.

“I’m supposed to be here much as any of you!” Silas spat out incredulously, “Ain’t nothing to even end- snail-sucking prick.” He finished, the last of his anger spat at the Perrench boy. It wasn’t fair. None of this was his fault, and offering help had gotten him nothing but condescension and more blame. He glared and fell back to his initial seated position, arms crossed and indignant, as Esmii’s shouts echoed from above.

Being ignored by the others, Esmii rolls her eyes and scoffs looking down at her group bickering with each other. "Boys..." she mumbles to herself. "As I was saying. A boy has been following us, he came from the stables a few days, and he's covered in crumbs. Did you hear me that time?" she shouts down once again, next time, she'll throw something at them.

Marz hears the constant bickering of those behind him, and let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes. He was about to turn and bark out until he heard the short long foot call down with information about who is following as he threw her a thumbs up.

"Ya, I hear ye".

Marz began to leave to confront the child, "While ye all bicker and try to keel each other, I'ma see our rat".

The child continued to observe Esmii on her first call to the others, but on the second he made to scatter. In one sudden motion, he was crouching, the debris of his stolen breakfast scattered as launched himself away from her on all fours, disappearing under the ledge.

Rather than immediately fall, he gripped tightly with his fingertips, swinging his narrow frame with enough momentum to launch him self to another handhold in the rock some feet further in- still in clear view of the students below, but safely out of reach. Or so he’d assumed. Forgotten amongst the shouting, Marz was already half-way up to where the boy had just been, and within arms reach of his shoeless, callused foot.

Esmii says in a worried tone " Marz, be careful with the boy "

Marz saw the little bugger scampering about, seemingly to maybe try and dodge the many prying eyes. Using reflexes and skills of an experienced climber, he expertly came right into Marz' hands as all Marz did was reach up and grab the boy by his foot and began to try to pulled him down while saying, "And down ye come".

"Chied! Chied!" The boy screamed as his foot was grabbed, throwing his balance and sending both tumbling to the rocky ground. The child's screaming didn't end, even after nearly crushing Marz upon falling atop him. "Tall strangers tried to kill me! Vagrants! Liars! Criminals!" Yuliya had the grace the tanslate the heavily accented Hegelans for the others at first, but soon gave up as it became clear the boy intended to do little more than hurl insults and curses at them.

Marz had taken falls before, stone is where he was born from. Earth is his home, so a small fall of 20-30 feet meant nothing, especially when magic was introduced.

Merz however was angered on how now the boy hollered to the wind like some banshee. Marz' face contorted as he yelled at the boy in Hegelan to hopefully shut him up so an interrogation can actually begin, "Shut up! You follow and steal from us, and we're criminals? The least of your worries is a little tumble!"

The fluent language was enough to quiet the boy for a moment at least. He stared up at Marz, as though just realizing that he too was a Hegelan. "Not you!" The boy replied with shock and indigence- as though these strangers would ever be worth following. "Ilvir follows the Margukh." His eyes scanned the area for the beasts in questions, but they landed on Nazih first and narrowed. "Protect Margukh"

Marz sighed and shook his head, he looked to those in his party, "He's here for the animals. Making sure they don't get injured and can make it back".

Sven blinked. "All life is sacred," he said. "Of course we will protect these animals that have helped us. Why wouldn't we?" He patted his big goat. He'd become rather fond of her. "If you're here to look after them, why didn't you just say so?"

Ilvir stared blankly at the tall Eskandish while the others translated for him. "most ousiders don't know how to respect a Margukh" He replied, withering gaze falling up Nazih again ask he kicked the loose stones at his feet.

"Chorily gave orderes to keep away from the strangers, so Ilvir keeps alone, travels only with the Margukh." Sure enough the familliar sound of the boy's voice alone was enough to draw two of the goats towards the group to investigate.

Esmii climbed down from her stone vantage point, she came close to losing her footing a few times on the way down, but she recovered. With a couple feet from the ground she jumped to land on he feet where the group is. "There we go." she says, dusting herself down.

Hearing what the boy was saying. "What do you mean?" she asks him.

"Well, maybe you can teach us if you let us talk to you," Sven answered. "I love Marghuks already, but I really don't know much about them, so I'll probably make some mistakes unles syou correct me." He paused. "You know, maybe it was the same for Nazih." He gestured toward the darker-skinned boy. "He doesn't have any where he's from." He raised an eyebrow, glancing between the other two. "What did he do anyway?"

"Obviously something very wrong, though I was just attempting to give the Marghuk's some relief from all the dirt their coat is ridden with."

Nazih crouched down next to the boy, "I too wish to know more about how to care for the Marghuk. I'm sorry for earlier."

Ilvir backed away at first, eyes darting between Nazih and Marz as the older Hegelan translated for them. He seemed to relax a little once it was done, and picked one of the pelts of moss that made up most of his clothes and draped it over Nazih's outstretched arm.

"Moss." He said. "Marghuk's need the muck to grow the moss. Keep warm from the wind." He shook his head and let out a sigh before looking to the horizon, squinting at the well-past-risen sun "Lowlanders don't know much, should have taken the east route last day- a climb then would save time now. Won't make it down before dark."

Nazih blinked in surprise a few times, wondering if something was lost in translation. The thought of needing to be covered in dirt to survive was not one he wanted to entertain for himself, but he started to understand why the beasts needed the moss.

He turned to examine the coat of his mount more closely, "Intriguing, I never would have guessed."

"I get it. I hate it, but I get it."

Silas, who had remained quickly sulking behind the rest of the group, had decided enough was enough when both the Darhanic and Eskandish tried to make nice with the stowaway.

"What do we care about the cows?" He complained and pointed an accusing finger at Ilvir. "He still stole our food!"

Marz spoke up once more, now stopping his own translations, "Blind one has a point. He stole our food. And if he was actually here for the beasts and following us, he'd have brought his own".

"That is a bit of an issue," agreed Penny. She counseled herself patience. Commons like this one clearly was always seemed to act in bad faith, but it was often because they did not have it so easy as she did. He'd likely been hungry. "If you were hungry," she began, glancing apologetically toward Marz, who she hadn't known well before but who'd be an absolute gem as a translator. "Why didn't you just ask us for food? If this was your job," she continued, "Why didn't they give you anything to eat?" She still skewed more sympathetic than accusatory, but she let her confusion show too.

Whatever tension had been brewing in the young boy for being accused, evaporated at Penny's comment; which sent him into a fit of laughing.

"Ilvir hungry on a mountain trail! Do fish drown in the lowlands? Birds forget to fly?" He shook his head to regain some solemnity. "Low food on low ground belongs to the rats, soft-head. It's the them Ilvir took from- rats don't mind difference between Hegelan food and mountain food." He shrugged but offered back the soiled warping-cloth that had once held Silas' rations.

"Well he sort of has a point there, the rest of our food did get snatched by rats." Nazih poked the holes in what was once a sturdy bag.

"But wait; if we had the Hegelan food, what did you mean by 'mountain food'? Why didn't you eat this mountain food instead of ours?"

Nazih was hungry.

"Moutain food is best for the Marghuk and birds. Rats don't appreciate Zuri's cooking like Ilvir." The boy shifted his weight to lean on one of the goats that had approached him, in turn the creature nuzzled the hip where his other hand was placed. Almost miraculously, he produced three berries for it to gobble down.

"But if lowlanders are hungry, mountain food is better than no food" He considered something intently for a moment before nodding to himself, and taking two steps forward put himself in the centre of the group. "Ilvir can show where to find mountain food, and how to get down the steppe quick, if the tall strangers can keep quiet about Ilvir to Choliry."

The discussion that followed was a short one. Silas alone protested the other boy's entry to the group, but the elder Biro's dismissed his concerns as the hungry grumblings of a robbed thief.

They didn't mount their Marghuk for long, instead following Ilvir through twisted crevices that Sven and Nazih would struggle to pass at times. The goats were indifferent to their struggles; gracefully leaping upon the more open cliffs overhead, those gifted in climbing or kinetic magic might have a better time following their lead, as Ilvir did.

The tight spaces continued for what felt light hours, and just when the hunger and claustrophobia might have broken their spirits; the group poured out to a small opening. Cliffs surrounded them on all sides, but looking directly upwards showed clear blue sky far past the rocks. Under their feet was, while not actual soil, wet clay; nourishing enough for thorny bramble to take root and latch itself to the stone surroundings. The sound of running water was everywhere, but the numerous tiny rivets of water coursing down the walls were easy to miss at first glance.

The brambles, while cumbersome to navigate, were spotted with large dark berries similar to those they’d seen Ilvir feed the goat. He later showed them how to uproot the plant without hurting themselves, and how to clean and cook the long and thin roots over a fire made of the thorned branched themselves. Nothing was wasted.

While the group stopped for their late breakfast, Ilvir paced the small area, picking through the few plants they’d left behind for more fruit. The whole time he muttered to himself, glancing up on occasion to check on the Marghuk or stare curiously Marz. Their guide was a good more subdued on the remainder of their journey, directing them to follow the sound of water through further caves and canyons.

The sun was setting, but still lighting the sky when the party emerged from the base of the mountains to the misty, cool air of the upper steppe. ”Ilvir and Marghuk will stay here until twilight before going home.” He said as goodbye, clearly not intending to follow them into the human village.

It was late when their audience with the village elder ended. Nikolai led them to yet another building they were meant to spend the night. There were only two rooms available, and two beds in each. It would be up to the group to decide who would be spending another night sleeping in a bedroll on the ground. Before that, they had a final chance to speak with Nikolai, ask him any questions about the begemot and give him a final answer as to how they intend to proceed.

Silas sat some ways away from the others. Silently munching a thick slice of bread over a steaming bowl of stew while discussion began around him; his sulking attitude had persisted all day. The only time his mouth had opened was to make a snide comments and half-audible insults. But the proper warm meal and warm fire of their resting spot seemed to have brought back his voice at least.

"Why stick around at all?" He asked of the others "The big ol' monster ain't what we're here for, I say we take the boat and keep on our way."

Penny paused with her bread - dipped in stew - halfway to her mouth. "You know," she admitted, glancing at some of the others, "He's not wrong." She shrugged. "We have a purpose here, and it's not to get caught up in the animal troubles of some random village. We're not soldiers or mercenaries. I imagine they have a government or lord for this." She shrugged. "Sounds selfish, I know, but we have to trust that we're here for a reason and that reason is urgent." With that, she stuck the fast-cooling food in her mouth and ate it.

Nikolai's nervous hand-wringing habit kicked up again while he stared between Penny and Silas, very clearly not liking the direction the conversation was taking.

"None will *stop* you from leaving." He admitted, "But as I said, this place it remote. It is a town built on trade, not warfare. I am the beginning and end of any magical talent to be found here, any 'guards' we have are little more than a militia of dock workers." His nerves seemed to wain as he spoke, replaced with frustration and deep resentment. "Help will come for us, but it will come too late. More will die and our food stores will not be full in time for next winter."

His settled and remained on Penny, able to actually look directly into her eyes. "You leave, people die. It is that simple. But helping would not be a charity, there is payment waiting for you."

Yuli sat and contemplated as she enjoyed the first hot meal in a while. On one hand, these weren't her subjects. On the other, they had her people's names and spoke their language. And were they to help, then they'd either have quite the mount for the rest of the way, or ample food and fur supplies.

"I think we should help. I tired of eating bread and leaves. Meat would be good." she spoke, looking at the others. She would be fine if they just left, but this would be a good test.

Penny frowned. Since when had she been afraid to help? Only... it wasn't fear. It was a weird sort of antipathy. She was ever being roped into things that were, quite frankly, not her concern: putting her neck on the line for others in often-thankless endeavours. It was difficult to forget the previous year's misadventures on Isla D'Amato, the thefts of the auction house items, and the events of Bloody Victendes. Yet it was her forays into the Workman's Quarter that smarted the most. She'd been insulted, assaulted, and nearly killed simply for... existing as she was and trying to help. Her entire life, she'd been sympathetic to the commons, imagining them an underserved class. She'd wanted to make common cause or at least help uplift them but, time and again, they had proven that they were violent, hard-hearted, impulsive, and simple. She hated them, in truth. It was the same kind of helpless anger that she'd felt for most of her life towards her family and even towards the Gods. She could not love those - why should she help those - who refused to love or help her back and, in fact, did quite the opposite!?

Yet, Nikolai and his small, isolated village were not her enemies. Here they were housing and feeding her and her... fellow students. She would hesitate to call any of them friends save Yuliya and Yvain. They were offering payment as well, and testing herself against a Begemot sounded... Dangerous! Deadly! oddly exhilarating. Then, Yuliya spoke and it was more weight to swing the other way. Why was she listening to Silas anyway? Had she felt some misplaced kinship with him because he, too, was viewed as disabled? He was merely proving his common simplicity and selfishness. She was a princess of Perrence! Was it not her prerogative - nay, her duty! - to behave in a manner befitting her station?

"I have perhaps spoken in haste and judged the situation too harshly and without complete knowledge." She took a moment to shift as she sat. "It is true that we are here on urgent business of our own, but I am not opposed to finding and either driving off or slaying this beast in the morning." She nodded in Nikolai's direction. "I am happy to offer that much of my time for a matter that is clearly of great importance to the people of this place."

Sven scowled. He was seated beside Esmii, with her snuggled into his side, but he could feel her shift at Penny's words, and then Yuliya's. For a moment, their eyes met, full of concern. It had never occurred to him not to help, and then he realized that most likely those here were out for blood. They were fixated on killing the great creature without even bothering to understand why she was doing what she was. "I believe we should help theshe people," he said solemnly. "But I believe there ish a more elegant sholution than 'shoot first, ashk questionsh later.' Thish ish highly unusual for a Begemot, at leasht to my outshider knowledge. There ish a caushe. We may not need to shed blood here: hersh or oursh."

Esmii sat next to her boyfriend. Enjoying her food that she was given. Breaking small bits of bread off to feed her loyal dormouse companion Sage, who was sat on one of her shoulder. She agreed with Sven, wanting to try to at least help them with this Begemot situation. "I think we should help them. she says looking to the group. "It might be beneficial for us to help, I could also help treat people even the citizens if they get hurt." she says to Nikolai with a little smile. Her smile slowy fades. "That's really all i can do, Heal. I feel so inadequate, especially with inability to fight. Can i not do any more?" she mumbles to herself.

"I am an emissary sent by St. Yuri's to ensure Vissoriya's interest in the trade through the Kirguz and good relations with the people here. In turn I provide them with services in the Gift, and... educated council. Nikolai replied to Yulia in rapid Vissoriyan before returning to the other in Avincian.

"I thank you for your reconsideration." He nodded towards Penny then Sven where his gaze remained. "But I fear I cannot promise reward without clear evidence the creature will not trouble us again."

"Well good, because I think we need more information before we decide how or even whether to approach this. Perhaps you have a hunter that can give us more details about the beast or how to best subdue it?" Nazih prodded

Penny nodded agreeably and twisted to regard Nikolai. "Any edge you can give us will make it easier to figure out how or if we can help you."

"I can tell you what I do know, but it is little. The Begemot is fully grown by all accounts, some say say up to fifty feet in height," He hesitated before continuing. "They also claim it's developed a taste for blood so," He splayed his hands in display of his own blindness to the truth of the situation.

"It's strange enough that one's travelled so far north higher than the lower steppe. That it's come directly to our farms, attacked other animals is almost unheard of. There are farmers you can speak to, witnesses, but I warn you these trying times have awakened a... provincial irrationality causing them to invoke all sorts of ancient superstition."

Esmii thinks to herself, about the information that had given to her and her group. "I wonder... placing a hand onto her chin. "If its traveled so far north, something must have happened to its habitat. Something that has forced the creature to leave. Like hunters invading and it defended itself or its nest, that could explain why this had a taste for blood. But why its up here, its could be out for revenge or lookingforsomething. " this idea was based on it happening a couple of times with some of the Beasts in the swamps of her homeland.

"I cannot imagine any hunter- even an entire guild, being foolish enough to engage a full-grown Begemot. But there has been word of troubles on the lower steppe... Nikolai shrugged. "Begemots are occasionally hunted for their tusks- useful in magical crafting and very valuable, but rarely is such a task taken without a number of certified mages and notice to the surrounding areas. If someone was desperate enough though... Well, I wouldn't completely rule it out."

Sven tried not to speak over Esmii or make her feel invalidated, but he had taken something different from this. "Jusht what short of 'provincial irrationality' and 'ancient shupershtition are we talking about?" he questioned.

"Desperate times have people searching for explanation and reason. We've lost much is what should be a time of plenty. The cold first, then the begemot. The people here look for sense in it all and find the gods' anger." Nikolai's face tightened and darkened a shade, though it was difficult to tell whether from frustration or embarrassment. "Of course, that these events happened shortly after word reached us of a curse plaguing the lower steppe greatly fuelled the superstition."

Marz had been contemplating and thinking about something, it was only when Nikolai spoke of the Begemot Marz' face lit up, "Akay, I think taking care of this Begemot business should be good".

Nazih sat in deep thought, "Who do we know that is an expert on the local fauna and flora? Someone who has shown us to be very knowledgeable in the ways of the mountain..."

And then, it dawned on him.

He spoke up, "Maybe we can consult with the goat boy? He did know a lot about how to survive on the mountain, and he hasn't left town yet. It's worth an ask at least..."

"Goat boy?" Nikolai frowned. "If there is another with you, the Elder should know of it."

Esmii looks at Nazih, " Great idea, he was able to tell us a lot about the area, his input would be good to know."

"He should be one of the firsht we shpeak to," Sven agreed, and Penny nodded along. "I'm in favour. And you, Yvain?" She looked to the only one who'd not yet spoken.

Yvain, having kept quiet for most of the discussion. Nodded along with a shrug. "If he can tell us how to deal with it quicker, It's worth a try."

Penny leaned over and hugged him from the side.

Yvain looked rather surprised, soon showing a warm smile. "To what do I owe this, Penelope?"

"Doing the right thing! Penny chirped out.

"Oh dear me, You make it sound like I never do the right thing. I am not completely heartless." He hang his lip in a teasing manner.

Nikolai's look of concern only deepened as the students talked to each-other. "I will come with you." He announced, "We should not have strangers coming to our lands uninvited and without announcement." He added reproachfully.

Nikolai's words pricked Penny's suspicions and she worked to hide a scowl. The people of Kyrguz were either more xenophobic than she'd thought - though, technically, Nikolai wasn't even one of them - or there was something being hidden here. She leaned in towards Yvain and switched to Perrench, making sure to keep her tone and expression artificially light. "Something is up. I don't trust him."

Silas kept quiet, he'd made his desires known, even if the others had chosen to ignore is obvious wisdom. Let them throw their lives away, he was more than ready to go home already. But when they mentioned their new found accomplice only hours after promising to keep his presence secret, he spoke up again.

"Damned animal lovers," He forced out a laugh with his words, shaking his head. "Grown so attached to our mounts they really think they can talk to them now." Once he turned away from their host to face the Biros, his cheerful expression changed to one of icy judgement.

"But it would be good to make sure they're on thier way."

We're here to help and this is the reception we get? The perrench noble thought to himself. Then upon hearing Penny speak in their native tongue to him to switch over as well, smiling as if she made A joke. "Oh? What makes you say that? Being unwelcomed guests doesn't sit right with you?"

She'd noticed Esmii looking over and wasn't completely sure what to make of the yasoi. She shook her head to clear it and responded. "Not even just us. He's referring to goat boy - Ilvir, was it? - and his tone.... he's asking for help with a problem he won't reveal more about, yet they don't welcome unannounced guests and he basically wants to supervise us talking with someone we know. Sounds like they have something to hide. If you have any abilities in chemical, I would check for foreign substances in our foods."

Then, however, Silas spoke and Penny'd had enough of him. "Silas, let's walk and talk for a second?" she advised, rising. The look in her eyes made it clear that this was not an offer.

Nikolai did nothing to hide the fact he was staring at Penny, clearly uncomfortable with her shift to a language he did not know. "Kyrguz is a small country surrounded by larger powers. Tagayungri is smaller still and struggling through hard times. Maintaining borders and relations with our neighbours is of the greatest importance." He answered Yvain, while staring at his cousin. He replied to Silas as well, before shifting his gaze from her.

"Margukh? From the Hegelan lands? I'd be very interested in seeing a tamed one up close." He did nothing to break the rules of politeness, but was clearly instant in coming with them.

Esmii ears twitched as she heard Penny whisper to Yvain, luckily she was able to understand what they were talking about. While hugging Sven, she whispers into Sven's ear, " Penny has suspicions about Nikolai, be on your guard, do you think everyone else will catch on."

Niklolai stared after the departing pair, but made no comment except to call after them. "We shall leave to visit your goat friends within the hour."

Sven leaned in and lowered his voice, nuzzling behind her so his mouth was hidden as he spoke. "I am not shure she's right. I'm not shure we should trusht her either. To be honesht, I trusht neither. Let'sh wait to shee how this playsh out."

"We should really check with Ilvir before we let anyone see the Margukh, especially since we don't quite trust this one yet." Nazih said, quietly enough so Nikolai could not hear.

Penny led him a short ways away, outside and out of earshot before turning to face him. "Silas, for Dami's fucking sake," she sighed, still more concerned and exasperated than angry, "What's going on with you? Who pissed in your porridge?"

Silas stared unseeing at Penny, shocked the near stranger of a girl would speak to him so. But it didn't take long for the surprise to shift into anger. "I didn't get breakfast if you don't remember. On account of it being stolen" He folded his arms and scowled at her. "I'm just trying to keep myself alive and the thieving rat a secret- something the rest of you promised too."

"For someone who seems so angry at him, you sure are putting a lot of energy into protecting him." She tilted her head to the side. "Why's that?"

"Like the smiling host trying to get us to throw ourselves at a monster even less." Silas replied.

Marz looked at his food, with his helm on his lap to act as a small table, his bowl sat atop it. Marz took a bite yet he seemed to have been lost in thought. He began to look around as he continued to eat and watched everyone.

Some people spoke of going and talking to the Mountain Rat, Silas knew exactly what they did and tried to deflect, yet others continued to speak of the Rat and let Nikolai know of him.

Others seemed to begin speaking among each other and even seemed to speak in other tounges. Possibly doubts of what is going on, and possible worry of things.

All Marz did was continue to eat as he heard the conversations, many of which he couldn't understand. Yet something felt off, this was good for him, materials he needed for his work were right in front of him, yet it seemed strange with their mission. What would cause all of this, Marz couldn't know but it bothered him.

Marz continued to eat, silently, while he lightly tapped his helm. His gaze seemed to have been caught in a 1000 yard stare.

"For what it's worth, I agree: something's up with him and I wanna find out what, but... Fuck. I dunno. I should've kept my mouth shut about Ilvir, but once Nazih started, I just... forgot." She paused. "You're also avoiding the question, though."

Esmii smiles joyfully with Sven nuzzling her. She kisses him on the cheek, before pulling away "Ok, We'll wait before making a decision. It would be best to keep our guard up. Just in case." she whispsers then kisses his cheek again.

A shadow of a smile flashed across Silas' face. "Maybe I just have a soft spot for all the small vagrants of the world"

"Even when you wanna strangle them, huh?" Penny couldn't help but display a wry grin of her own. "Help me out here, Silas. Like - Ipte - I barely even know you, but you're the only other one who didn't just totally go with the flow. This stinks, Nikolai stinks, and I can smell it from a mile away." She shook her head. "Doesn't it make you just wanna bust it open? Just because these fuckers are trying to make us dance?"

A full smile broke through and Silas' head began nodding vigorously. For the first time since Harrachora's damned bird, someone was speaking sense. "Need to know more 'bout our puppet-master here first." He jutted a thumb back at the building they'd come from. "Keep him talking and walking slow and I can get Ilvir hidden away before you get there."

Penny nodded and, in eager anticipation, began to turn. "Leave it to me. I'll either broach the subject of dragons with Sven near, hammer him with well-meaning questions, or..." She was already moving away, but she glanced over her shoulder. "Worse comes to worst, 'Oops! Oh no! The girl with one leg needs help!'" She winked. "You just get our smelly little... friend? outta there."

Magic lit the groups path back to the mountain path, the reflection of the moon on the rippled waters of the late providing a pretty sight, but little to see with. Nikolai produced the glowing orb himself, arm raised above the others, still nearly coming short of Sven's full height. Even so, it was hard to see amongst the shadows, and near impossible to keep track of each student travelling with him. The short walk was uncomfortably quiet, none entirely sure what they would find upon arrival.

They needn't have worried. The small inlay where they'd left Ilvir was empty. Hoofprints and marks on the stone wall made by the Margukh horns the only evidence they'd been there at all. Nikolai frowned, his light growing to illuminate further as he investigated. He did another count of the students, but all were accounted for. "Well," He finally said to them, "It's unfortunate that your friends have left you, but it is likely for the best they did not linger long on the border.

Silas wasn't entirely sure the boy would re-appear again; their communication had been made mostly through poorly interpreted gestures, but he'd arrived, scowling atop the back of a single remaining Margukh. He muttered something in a language the Constansian boy didn't understand, and another series of violent gestures ensured until the Hegelen was dismounted and following back down the path out of the mountains. Over the flat of the steppe, the faint light of the rest of Nikolai's party could be seen, just in time to disappear inside the building that acted as their home for the night. Silas urged his companion to follow his lead, gripping the smaller boy's arm in a tight grip. But he was near as quick and silent as Silas himself, and the other students had been gathered in Marz's room for less than ten minutes when the pair rapped upon the shuttered window to announce their arrival.

"Things are bad here." Ilvir repeated the same phrase, but Marz and Yulia gave it meaning to the others with translation. "There isn't enough grass- trees should be sprouting by now."

The students told them what they'd learned, the mere mention of a Begemot had excited the young boy, but word of it's violence and supposed destruction upset him more.

"Lies!" He almost shouted, prompting the others the quiet him lest their host come to inspect any noise. "Begemots are solitary and wise, have no need for humans. Not unless they bothered it first." He glared reproachfully at the surrounding group, as though they were somehow responsible.

"There wash a shtorm," Sven offered, "They shaid it whiped out mosht of the new plantgrowth- maybe itsh just hungry?"

Ilvir shook his head after the translation. " Begemots are tough and smart, they can wait through the longest thaws without-" He stopped, leaving his translators and listeners confused as an idea dawned on the small boy. "Ilvir can help you," He said, suddenly standing in-front of his seat on the bed. "Take him to the places the Begemot went- help find tracks, markings in the steppe. Listen to Ilvir and Begemot will be gone; day after next."

Sven was quick to seize on the idea. The problem was that they didn't know exactly where beyond Nikolai's vague mentions of it attacking some of the farms and possibly killing animals. "We should track it tonight," he suggested, "if we can find our way to theshe farmsh. Anybody else in favour?"

Esmii stood talking with the rest of the group. She jumped a little bit from the boys outburst since he was behind her. Her heart, pounding from fright. She wanted to punch him, but refrained since he was just a child. After some deep breaths, she regains herself "What makes you say that? " she asks Ilvir.

When Sven offers if anyone else wants to join him on his suggestion, Esmii smiles putting her hand up. "I'm in.

"You all really just going to go jumping at this kid's offer without questions again?!" Silas stood from his cross-legged position on the floor, he was taller than the Hegelan boy, but still not by over-much. "That food he lead us to this morning was barely food at all- he hasn't even told us what he wants to do." He scowled and folded his arms across his chest. "I still say its a waste of time and we take the boat out come morning. If Ilvir feels so strongly for the monster let him deal with it."

Marz said, "Eh, yer just a pansy who's used to not needing to eat a traveler's food. Ilvir brought us to something to eat. It's hard, sure, but it filled ye up, no?"

Penny quirked an eyebrow. There was too much inconsistency for her to ignore it anymore. "You bend over backwards to help smuggle him away from Nikolai and now you wanna disregard what he's saying? Which is it, Silas? What gives?" She turned to Ilvir, glancing at Marz and Yuliya along the way. "He has a point, though. What is the plan? You can't expect us to just take it on faith when we hardly know you."

"Ilvir needs only two days to lead the Begemot away" The Hegelan boy interjected. "Find tracks, make lure, no more problems for the lowlanders by tomorrow." His eyes darted between the students as he bounced in place, either excited or nervous about the prospect of his self-appointed mission. "Yous can't be telling Chorily about this either though." He added.

Perhaps feeling a bit guilty for carelessly messing with the child's friends back in the stables, or perhaps just because he was curious, Nazih wanted to pursue this avenue.

"I'm inclined to trust Ilvir here, but it can't possibly be as simple as making a lure. I vote aye, only if we can get a little more information about the plan; namely, what we do after the lure has been made." He directed the latter sentence towards Ilvir.

Marz looked to Ilvir, "What will you need us then? You seem to have it handled, no?"

Ilvir scowled at the Darhanic boy. "No." He shook his head. "You can help keep the lowlanders away but only Ilvir goes near the Begemot." His attention turned just as quickly to Marz, when he finally realised the older boy had been speaking to him, not translating.

"Need meat, if she's gotten a taste for it. Ruce seeds, and any other food that can be found. Gotta find tracks too- anything with her scent, fur, blood waste." He gaze shifted to each of the group again "That being your jobs so Ilvir can stay hidden."

The Perrench lad was looking around to see the other's reaction. "And what if it ignores the lure? Or maybe it just returns to it's normal path after it has taken it."

His noblesse oblige was kicking against his better judgement. "Going in alone against something like that could turn dirty if it goes wrong, no?"

Sven shrugged. "There'sh alwaysh danger." His eyes roved about the room. "Thingsh will probably go the way we plan, but they might not. If we were here to do what wash eashy, then we wouldn't be here in the firsht place. Our prerogative ish to do what ish right: what will shave the mosht lives with the leasht harm. That ish clearly thish option if it worksh. If not, we explore othersh." He rose to his full height and stretched, prepared to get moving. "I have spoken my piece. The resht of you can do as you wish."

Ilvir shook his head emphatically. "Can't go wrong if Ilvir is the one alone with her."

Silas snorted at the translated proclamation. "If the rest of you want to spend the night looking for monster shit go right ahead; leaves a bed for me." With that, Silas yawned, stretched and took leave to the second room assigned to them.

Ilvir scowled after him, but quickly shifted his attention back to Sven. "Helping the Begemot *is* right." He assured him. "Plan should be easy as, except for finding Ruce seeds, too early and too close to the water for them."

"Could've mentioned that bit earlier," Penny grumbled to herself. "Well then, where are we supposed to find them?"

Penny furrowed her brow, glancing between Dastan and Nikolai. Clearly, something of significance had passed between them. She did not particularly trust the latter, but he'd been making an effort at least. She leaned in. "Sorry to impose, but do you think you might be able to translate that for us?"

With a short nod and tight smile, Nikolai repeated the farmers words in Avincian for the students to understand- censoring only the most reproachful of the man's insults. "Dastan is a good man, but provincial. He does not trust outsiders, and in troubled times as these that includes myself and even the elder." His head shook remorsefully "His brother's farm was the second attacked, his nephew died trying to lead away livestock. It's been difficult to reason with him since, but if you believe you can I will do my best to translate."

Penny stepped forward, close enough to Dastan that he couldn't reasonably ignore her, but not quite into his personal space either. She knelt in her awkward way, pulled upon the Gift, and concentrated with all of her might. A small, simple loaf of bread began to materialize in her hands and she took care to shape it. She added in a tiny bit of heat at the end to give it that freshly-baked aroma.

"You are right," Penny admitted, "We are not the 'real' help you asked for. I don't know where that is anymore than you do, but we're here now, we are very strong in the Gift, and we're willing to help, but we're young and I can tell you that I am a bit scared, I will don't want to risk my life, but I will if it is the only way." She paused as she rose to her foot. "I have always been told that begemots are not usually like this, but it is you who lives here and you probably know the animal best. You know this land best. Why is it killing? If you tell us, maybe we will have a better idea of what to do next or at least where to find it."

There was a hesitation, but Nikolai eventually translated Penny’s words for the farmer, who seemed indifferent to his presence-being singularly focused on the miraculously created bread in the girl’s hands.

“More magic tricksters.” Nikolai translated Dastan’s word with an apologetic tone the farmer certainly hadn’t possessed. Still the foreign man stared at the loaf of bread, then to penny’s one leg.

“It kills because that is what hungry animals do.” He continued despite his words. “Spring has come too late, even the endless grasses of our steppe remain dead and rotting. What crops we have left survive only because of Nikolai’s protection from the late frost. But she has found food here and will continue to return and feed unless properly dealt with.”

"This is no trick," she assured him, tearing the small loaf in two. She bit into one half herself and held out the other towards him. She took a moment to chew and swallow. "Try for yourself if you like." She waited for him to either accept it or not and his hand darted out and took it as if it might be poisoned. He watched her as he took a small, wary bite, chewing as if it might not be bread at all.

"Might there be a way to discourage it?" Penny questioned. "Scare it badly enough that it will not think this area worth the risk? Or encourage it to go elsewhere: some richer feeding ground?" She saw him glancing at the empty side of her skirts where anyone else would have a left leg. She followed his eyes there before looking back up. "We will fight it if we must, you have my word. We have enjoyed your hospitality and could not simply leave you in fate's fickle hands, but that may be a costly fight and you must understand that we are not eager to risk life and limb." She smiled faintly. "Perhaps you've noticed I already have little to spare when it comes to the latter. We will do right by you though, if you do right by us, I swear it." Penny smoothed out her clothes. "If we use your resources in vain, myself and those of my friends who have just now headed off will replace them. It would only be right."

The man remained quiet and disapproving, but he did listen to Penny at she spoke at least. “And what is it you want from us to attempt this fools errand treating a monster as a pet?"

Most of the day had passed, and the sun had begun is decent over the flat horizon of the western plateau by the time the hunters descended from the mountains again. Each carried a Margukh over their shoulders. Even Ilvir travelled behind them, rather sullen and slow compared to his usual energetic gait. If Nikolai noticed that the groups number had increased by one astoundingly short child, he said nothing of it.

Esmi and Sven had returned from the woods sometime earlier, and had already begun the process of weaving their found begemot material together, and amplifying the scents with their magic until the entire area around them had a distinct musk.

Penny sat with Yvain, leg folded under her as she continued the process of binding food into existence. The cousins spoke casually while foreign children gathered around to stare at the magic in wonder, and swipe from the small pile of food that begun to form when none of the others were watching.

Silas had worked to gather what remained of the crops from the begemot’s first too targets. What he’d found was partly rotted and not suited for human consumption, but Ilvir seem satisfied it would do with the other materials the group had managed to procure.

When it came time, Dastan went so far as to lend a horse to drag the lure east of the settlement, down from the plateau to the eventual forest beyond. It would take over a day of riding, but both farmer and Hegelan appeared in agreement it was the spot for the begemot to make a new home.

The group had a final chance to exchange words and discoveries as they worked on the final steps of stitching the lure and securing it to the horse.

Sven was among the first to return, and he bounded up eagerly with Esmii in tow. "We have found out shomeshing!" he announced, "Shomeshing big!" He glanced at his griflfriend, wanting to giver her the honours.

Esmii smiled at her boyfriend " Aww your so sweet thank you." Esmii waited for the group to gather round both her & Sven. Once they were all gathered she began to explain, what they had both found." Sven and I have managed to find out some important information, SOMETHING BIG !!! She clears her throat & continues. " Using our tracking skills, we have found the nest of the Begemot, however using our Binding skills we discovered that there are TWO Begemot's, one is much smaller and the other was recently PREGNANT!!, which means they are Mother and Baby, and she is searching for food for her newly born child"

Marz sets down the recently deceased animal that his group hunted and said in astonishment, "Fuck. That'll make this much more difficult"

Nazih responded, "I'm not sure it will; the offspring will go wherever the mother does. If she finds the new location suitable enough for a home, they should both be successfully relocated. Unless there's some behavior unique to Begemot that we're unaware of."

Ilvir's face darkened at the announcement and he looked around wildly. Sure enough the locals all whispered over the new excitement between the shouting visitors. Nikolai stared at them with a deep frown.

"Is this something you want me to tell them?" He asked the group.

Ilvir cursed in Hegelan before looking to Marz to translate for him. "No need to change plans, little Begemot will follow the mother- just keep the lowlanders away"

The sun beat down on Penny from above as she worked, endlessly refining her technique and making ever larger and more elaborate loaves, and then cookies. It was cold enough that she did not particularly mind, and there was the ever-present wind. She could not fault these people for some of their wariness, but they had done her right and she was determined to do the same back. Not all commons were hateful and full of deception. They were people, after all, just like she was.

The Perrenchwoman kept on working and the food piled up, along with curious throngs of locals who seemed to take a particular liking to Yvain. She smiled at first and laughed as they messed with his hair and tugged at his fancy clothes, but here she was, doing nearly all of the work and there was... a certain wariness to them around her. It...hurt, strangely. It bothered her more than it should've. She shook her head to clear it. She looked different, she knew. It had always been this way and always would and the best way past it was to actively break down that barrier.

Penny knew the chemical formula for sugar, so, with a smirk and some trial and error, she began making sweetbreads, and then... well, why not icing sugar? Cookies, cupcakes, and then cakes! She worked her way up the ladder. The kids darted in when they thought she wasn't looking and stole some and she pretended not to see them, except when it was too obvious. Their punishment was a tiny electrical zap on the rear and a dab of frosting on the nose. Before long, they were coming back in just to be caught and it became a kind of game until some of the village women broke it up.

They shooed the children away to go bother Yvain after that, and sat around her, speaking in their strange tongue and communicating through gestures whenever Nikolai wasn't around. The Perrenchwoman may have even picked up a few words of Kyrgish in the process. She made dough, as well, and some of the women brought out boards and formed a circle, kneading it as the hours of Oraff edged toward those of Eshiran. For a moment, she was just one more woman in their circle: part of something and no different than the others. Her heart swelled with a sense of purpose. She would use her power to ensure that this place - a place that was good and right - would thrive and not wither.

It was around the time of this high-water mark that Sven and Esmii returned, and their reveal was a source of much conversation. Both Nazih and Marz had much to say, and Ilvir was... wary but optimistic. The locals fairly erupted in conversation, though, and she was not sure what it meant. Finding Yuliya, freshly returned, she leaned in. "It has a calf," she whispered. "Do you really think we still should? Plus... the villagers have been so helpful in gathering everything for the lure..." She was not losing her nerve. She was not. She knew it might come across that way, but nothing was ever simple, this situation included.

Yuli was surprised by the reveal, to be truthful. It was a confusing matter to say the least. The begamot had a calf, but it was still a begamot. Mother and child were still beasts at the end of the day, no matter what they were. It was not as if they were about to kill a human being, a mother trying to protect and raise her child, but simply an element of nature. She didn't feel bad, but if Penny was wavering on this, then that brought its own issues. What left was there to do but to cease the attempt to kill the creature?

"I don't know. You made food for villagers, so no need worry about that. At this point, we watch where Ilvir take them. I think we let it go. If it attack us, or plan go wrong, we can step in. I can save the calf if all go wrong." she spoke, pondering her options. There was no reason to fight this thing anymore. She doubted this kid had the stomach to lure them into hunting grounds after watching the way he handled the goats, so it probably wasn't a trap, but she was not going to be unprepared for a tussle should it come down to it. Worst case scenario, she'd save the calf and bring it home to raise.

Penny nodded. "I know you wanted those tusks, Yuli," she teased. "Maybe Reshta will throw us some yet." She glanced over her shoulder at where the village women were singing as they baked. "For now, though, we are in agreement: stick to the plan but, if anything goes wrong, I'll put these people's lives over an animal's." They parted with that much decided.

The Perrenchwoman did not have very much longer with the her bread and her circle of baking sisters and she knew it. Preparations were finished before long and they began to say their goodbyes. She took a deep breath, preparing for the uncertainty to come. Truth be told, her manas were... tired, if such a thing could be. While it had not been combat, she had been drawing and casting for hours. If it comes down to it, I have my mana shots, she reminded herself, but Penny was loath to waste them. Nikolai hovered nearby, the hint of a smile creasing his lips, and she couldn't help but smile back. To think that this had begun with such ill-feeling!

That was when one older woman who she recognized as Ahrora - vaguely, she recalled a girl of the same name during last year's Trials - came up to her for a polite parting embrace but instead pulled her aside. Confused, Nikolai followed. "Young woman, beware," she rasped, through crooked yellow teeth, before hesitating. Penny looked confusedly between her and Nikolai, her alarm growing. "Dastan lies. If that lure goes east, they will spook the animal and its calf with fires and you will put your life in danger to fight and kill it." She shook her head and embraced Penny tightly. "I told you nothing. I am merely a weepy old spinster who became too close with you. understand?"

Woozy under the onslaught of information, the one-legged woman swayed into the embrace and returned it tightly. "Рахмат, Ahrora." She used the native word for thanks. "I understand. азырынча кош."

The goodbye had scarce left her lips, they had scarce parted, when Penny whirled on the spot, fists closing tight around the grips of her crutches. She would thwart him, and then she would smash his fucking skull in. Some people here were good people, deserving of her respect and regard. Some were selfish deceitful pieces of human shit, deserving of... she stopped herself a half-pace short of thinking 'death', but it was there anyway, in her head. "So what do we do now, Nikolai?" Her eyes bored unflinchingly into his.

Nikolai’s weight shifted. His nervousness was palpable- and contagious. The smallest of children near Penny and Yvain broke out in tears, somewhere further away, a dog howled, but it wasn’t enough to cut through the excited whispers of the translated news of the begemot and her child making its way through those gathered.

“Glekil!” One voice finally broke out above the others, a shout demanding silence so fiercely Nikolai neither needed nor dared translate the word. The others followed suit. The steppe was silent within moments; and there was nothing to distract from the rhythmic tremor under their feet.

The silence lasted only long enough for another tremor to hit, before the people rallied. The atmosphere was markedly different, the excitement and joy from before evaporated into fear and panic.

“The Begemot!” Nikolai shouted over them towards the students, unsure he could even be heard, he pointed south, to a barren horizon of the steppe.

The ground tremors increased in intensity and frequency each passing moment. The small stream from the mountains to the Kuzka began to fill and overflow. Deep and loud rumbling accompanied each of the shockwaves, some from the west, but even to the northern mountains, the sound of crashing rocks could be heard. The sighting of a small figure on the impossibly flat horizon of the steppe proved just how little time the students had to adjust their plans.

Nothing so large should move so fast. Even as they blinked, the small shape expanded and grew - along with the tremors, until they grew strong enough to disrupt the balance of less sure-footed villagers.

“You need to move!” Nikolai shouted to Yuliya while those around them scrambled, fleeing for cover.

Ilvir, crouched low to the ground to avoid falling over, shook himself out of a state of stunned awe. “Marz!” He yelled to the Hegelan “She’s coming too fast - they have to slow her!” With a final tug, the knot he had been tying was finished, and the child made to mount the horse - lure fully secured or not.

What a drag.. Yvain looked rather tired with all the locals messing around with his hair and tugging on his clothing. What a horrid curse, to be so beloved by all! But alas, it is a burden to bare If he had the freedom to move he would have dramatically placed the back of his hand on his forehand.

Seeing some of the children leave his presence to go over to Penelope to steal some of the treats she created could not help but put a soft smile Yvain's face. Soon enough they returned to him as they were shooed away. A rather surprised look came across his face as he was offered a piece of a cookie from one of the children's. Taking the piece and eating before clapping his hands and showing the children around him some small illusions such as floating cookies and cakes.

"Arrête de rêvasser, cornichon!" Penny pulled on all of her kinetic power to blow past her cousin. "Les petits gâteaux et les biscuits n'arrêteront pas le mastodonte!" At this rate, the Begemot would catch Ilvir in a minute or two, and the lure would do nothing to relocate it.

Sven was already mounted and racing to intercept the colossal animal on a non-head-to-head path. "We need to give him a lead of at leasht two or three minutesh!" he called. "Whatever we do, we can't directly antagonize it!"

Penny could see Nazih, as well, hopping on a horse, and there were none for her, Yvain, Yuliya, or Marz. So be it. She had her father's Gift for Kinetic magic, and so did her cousin. Yuliya was... Yuliya, after all. "Then we slow it!" she shouted as loud as her lungs could manage. "Siphon momentum! Anyone who has some Kinetic ability, but not too much! We just need to stop it gaining!"

"I'll do what I can with Chemical" Sven called over the rushing wind. She was hard-pressed to keep up with him, but she only needed to stay within range for a couple of minutes. Penny could manage that. She knew she could. She broke into her three-step run, pulling from the beast to empower herself. Then, however, she got another idea: what if... What if I can make... the air denser and the ground looser in front of it? That was both subtler and possibly just as or more effective an approach and she was a good enough binder to - in theory - pull it off!

Watching the other gallop away, Esmii knew she had to do something, We can try to keep the Begemot away from here, but we need to start getting people out of here just in case we cant keep it away." she says to Nikolai.
With the information that her and Sven found, hopefully we can find a simple solution to this, without killing it or it's baby will never survive. Esmii knew that she had to stay close to the group, in case someone gets hurt. Not to mention she'll have to stay hidden, in case it decides to attack the weakest person. Which is her.

She feels her nerves getting to her, can she really do this? She eventually reassures herself. So she begins help people escape for the moment, she'll provide support for the group too.

Nazih rushed to get between Ilvir and the Begemot with his mount.

He started using what binding he could to soften the ground as he worked to catch up with Ilvir. Hopefully that would be enough to slow the behemoth begemot down, at least a little bit.

"Any advice Ilvir?!" Nazih shouted over once he had caught up.

Silas was quite happy to stand some ways back from the rest, and had only increased the distance between him and his fellow students since the tremors began. In no way was he going to fight such a monster. So he watched instead, as Sven, Nazih, and Ilvir fled east and the rest began using their magic to prepare. His attention focused most on Penny, trying to understand what it was she was attempting to do with binding magic. Dark smoke began to pool around the ground of the steppe, slightly warm but very tick, it moved like oil to flood the area and even seep back into the earth; the source of her drawing he presumed. The porosity she'd created, mixed with the tremors of the approaching begemot had started dangerous seismic movements beneath them.

"Stop! stop!" He yelled at her, forgetting his original fear and running up to the one-legged girl. "You're going to make a sinkhole at this rate. You make it muddy, I'll make it stick." He crouched down beside her an d began imbuing the ground with his own magic.

Aside, Nikolai already had two children in his arms when Esmii looked to him. He nodded at her words, "Be sure to keep it away from the mountain, and I can keep the people safe." His attention quickly shifted back to the matter at hand, and he all but disappeared among the villagers in attempt to organising them, his long dark robes the only obviously distinction from the Kyruz farmers.

Penny started as Silas appeared in her orbit. "A...I -" She strained to look. He was right. "Mud," she replied lamely. "I can make it muddy." She called out to Nazih, who'd been doing much the same thing that she had with the ground. "Mud, Nazih!" she shouted. "Make it muddy in the begemot's path!"

Sven, meanwhile, reached into the vast creature's mind as best he could with all of the other distractions. He did not know begemots particularly well, but their brains were not so very unlike the Mastodons of his homeland and he recognized well the potent mixture of biochemicals that denoted absolute focus and desire. It would be a small tweak of the senses, playing on the begemot's existing desire to reach the lure. He would make it seem closer in both sight and smell, enough that the rampaging pachyderm might slow down, or perhaps move to do whatever it would do upon reaching the lure and distract itself in the process. At the very least, this would be informative. He reached out and began drawing, began focusing.

Ilvir, clearly unaccustomed to the mount provided for him struggled to keep his bottom on the saddle. The small boy was jolted into the air with each gallop the horse took, but it didn't seem to give him trouble enough to warrant slowing. He stared blankly back at Nazih, before replying to him in Hegelan and gesturing wildly. Between the speed they move with and Ilvir's jostling it was difficult to determine, but he repeated the movements; a point towards Nazih, a flat palm facing forward, a second point in the direction behind them before Ilvir indicated himself and then the direction ahead.

When the beast started it's charge and Ilvir yelled, Marz yelled out, "We gotta slow the bitch!"

Marz's hand shot into his bag and pulled out a mana shot as he took a deep drink of it. The moment he downed it he looked to the large creature and rushed forward to try and catch up.

With his new power he began to draw from the energy of the Begemot running to slow it down while he boosted himself.

His smaller body made keeping up hard, yet with his magic and boosted power made it where keeping up was possible for a time.

To further give Ilvir a lead, Marz began to try and slow the rate the Begemot's body would break down lactic acid, the chemical that makes muscles fatigue. Marz isn't skilled enough to produce more lactic acid, yet the slowing of the break down process is doable enough to slow the beast down over an extended period of time.

When Esmii loses sight of Nikolai, she quickly runs back to where most of the group is, to inform them what Nikolai told her. When she finally gets back to Penny, Silas and Nazih, she is out of breath. After she is able to breath again she tells them " Nikolai told me that we need to keep the Begemot as far away from the mountains as possible, that's where he is taking the villagers.", she then goes on to say " So how is the plan going so fare & what do you need me to do."

Yvain clapped his hands and soon enough the little floating pastries disappeared, carefully plucking the locals off him. Seeing his cousin blow past him caused him to chuckle. "Frimeur. " He prepared to catch up to his cousin. Cela ne suffit pas, je dois être plus rapide. Realising that just augmenting his pace would no be enough.

Yvain's stance got more relaxed, lifting himself up from the air and soon enough darted towards her cousin. He was able to close the distance between them but did not manage to overtake her. This can't be right. Did he lose his edge? No matter. This is not a time for his ego to be hurt, even if it were to sting.

Landing not too far away from his cousin. "Suppose we can't just use brute force against this thing, huh?"

Penny shook her head, trying to create some water in the dirt and mix it in ahead of the begemot. She gritted her teeth. "Non, cousin, I think not. Now come help me, would you?"

Yvain sighed. "Cher moi, I am not a chef." He began to use his kinetic magic to create small rotations in the softer earth. "I can mix it as well as a trained cook, however it will do the trick. You focus on softening the earth."

With great effort, the others were contributing in attempting to stop it. Yuli would not be outdone in this regard. It was tempting to attack it while it was stuck in the mud, force people's hands, but since the news of the calf, it would not be viable whatsoever. So, she pulled on it. She'd never been good at controlling her strength, but she figured that a speeding begamot would not be so affected by one person that it would go feral. And if it did, they could put an end to this farce for good.

The distance continued to shrink between them, with nothing else on the empty steppe to compare, the begemot’s size was sensed by those with the gift before they could truly see. Four full tusks radiating with magical energy of their own lead the beast by a good thirty feet - apiece, not all that different in size from the longboat waiting to take them to Kirimansk. The colossal monster behind them was a mess of dense dark fur, matted with entire branches and more than a few small trees jutting out in places.

Even at a distance, the massive span of her ears sent billowing gusts of wind towards the group with each of her impossibly fast steps. What seemed like impossible speed before seemed only inevitable now; how could anything built with such power and strength move any other way? Her feet alone could stomp a small house, and her trunk - equal in length to her tusks but more than twice as thick with fur and muscle, stretched forward and into the sky. A thunderous trumpeting that split skulls and shook the ground came from it. The begemot reared upwards as she bellowed out, only to come down with the full force of her upper half again. The impact was enough to send a full seismic shock across the steppe, flattening any who remained unsheltered.

The student's efforts had worked to reduce the thundering aftershocks of the monster’s gallop, the soft mud absorbing rather than echoing the force. More importantly, the massive pillars of the begemot’s legs had slowly begun to sink. She’d reared in panic, but did her best to return to running speed the moment her front feet landed again.

Making good use of their head-start Sven, Ilvir, and Nazih were oblivious to the goings on behind them. Ilvir had pushed further ahead still, while Sven had just caught up with the Darhanic when the blaring sound of the Begemot reached them both, stranger still, they hear its higher and softer echo coming from the east; their intended destination.

Sven heard the distant call and... he wasn't too familiar with begemots, but he knew other pachyderms, and that was... a juvenile! "Hey, guysh!" he shouted, as loudly as he could, "That other call: it'sh a baby!" He did what he could to project his voice, but he had never been good with kinetic magic, much less specialized sonic. "We have to be careful. We can't get between mother and baby or we'll make thingsh worshe: much worshe!" He did not take the lead, however, deferring to those who knew more about both begemots (Ilvir) and combat (Nazih).

The begemot was slowed, but not by much and not for long. There was only one thing to do. I have to try it, he decided. He reached out, full to the max with every bit of energy he could muster and, with the most delicate sledgehammer ever, or perhaps the least elegant scalpel, pulled the enormous animal's perceptions. Now, it just had to be seen if his efforts had borne any fruit.

The slick ground the biro's had worked to soften went flying, splattering them all indiscriminately. Craters were left behind where the begemot had slammed her front legs to the ground. But the grand display had been nothing more than a sign of mild frustration, for she continued running through the mud. The adolescent mages and remaining villagers may as well been ants to the animal; she was too large and focused to pay mind to their lacklustre preparations and charged forwards towards her unseen target.

The magic had immediate effect. The begemot stopped in her tracks. Her half sprint had come to a halt so suddenly the wet grown was torn under her. Deep rivets, wider than the armspans of three men, were left trailing behind and threatened the balance of those around them once again. Momentum carried her further still and the mud pilled in front of her massive legs until finally, the begemot came to a halt. She gave another roar of frustration, but it was muffled the second time; her tusks and trunk sunk deep into the mud.

Penny, meanwhile, in a world of pain, had also stopped, collapsed on the ground, balance shot to pieces, and trying to find the wherewithal to heal herself. She found the damaged fibers of her eardrums and began to knit them back together, the nothingness and pain being replaced by a ringing of tinnitus and then something like normalcy. Her sharp, quickened breathing normalized. The fuzziness of the world resolved itself. The pain became a recent memory. She rose to see the elephant come to a halt of its own accord, bogging itself down almost irretrievably in the mud as a result. Someone had worked their magic, and it hadn't been her, but she was grateful for it. She immediately cast about for somebody in need of healing.

After some frustration and yasoi swearing, Esmii finally managed to get herself free from the mud. She then made her way towards, Yvain & Yuliya as she noticed that they were both holding there hands to their ears, and she saw some blood coming from them. Not wasting any time she began to heal there ear drums, from the Begemot's scream. While she was healing them, she was talking to them the hole time so that she knew when there ears were fully healed. After they are both healed, she asks " So what is our next move."

Nazih, aware that the Begemot was going to catch up eventually, was frantically trying to think of anything that could slow it down.

His eyes landed on the lure trailing behind Ilvir; did he dare? He didn't want to disrupt the binding that was holding it together, but if he did nothing they would be overtaken.

Nazih attempted to unbind an enticing chunk from the lure.

After hearing what Nikolai said about Sven been stuck in the mud, Esmii quickly runs to Sven's side to help him out of the mud, already knowing how hard it is to get out of, as she was just stuck in it to. " Sven I'm coming to help you, dont struggle it will make it harder for you to get out. "

Sven was not struggling, per se. Well, he sort of was. He drew. He drew massive amounts as a blood mage Binder and the ground immediately around him evaporated, all of its stored potential energy filling him. Woozy from drawing right up to his capacity, he leapt free, stumbling upon landing.

While Esmii was running to help, and because she was so focused on getting to him she, tripped and slipped a few times. However she managed to get to Sven just as he stumbled, she tried to catch him, so that he didn't hurt himself to much. " Sven are you ok, do you need me to heal you. "

Sven somehow found time for a small kiss in the middle of a life-threatening situation, because he would. He smiled at Esmii's question. "Looksh like you do too." With all that energy he'd drawn needing to be used, he reached out to heal her scrapes and bruises, as she did the same for him. They were in the shadow of a massive, raging beast, and it needed to go down, but they also needed to be out of the squish zone. Sven picked Esmii up like a doll and filled himself with the last of the energy he'd drawn, casting a chemical enhancement to give himself a bit more speed. "Let'sh get outta here."

As Esmii is carried by Sven she becomes a little flustered, and blushes. She try's to calm down as this isn't the time as there is a giant monster that needs to be delt with. " Thank you Sven for healing me, I was that focused on healing everyone else I forgot to heal myself, I do that a lot."

Silas had done little more than sit in awe since the Begemot had come close enough for him to sense. It was enourmous, and the amounts of energy it produced with each moment rippled throughout the air, readily absorbed by his hungry eyes. What focus he had was spent keeping himself from slipping down towards the monster, the self-made mud hindering the group nearly as much as the begemot itself.

"She's waking up," he added hurriedly once the Vissoriyan mage returned and demanded them act. For a moment longer he stared as Sven freed himself from the muck to embrace Esmii, then he mirrored Nikolai's actions; using the little binding skills he had learned to entomb the creatures front half in solid rock. It was a slow process; slower still with the boy keeping half his capacity in reserve to flee the moment the beast began moving again.

In the chase to track down and slow the Begemont, Marz did not realize that the muck that was to be used against the large beast had spread out so far. It made sense for it to be so spread out it did not remedy the fact that Marz was not ready for such an extreme terrain shift. Especially for a man of his shape and heft, his leg instantly sank to his hip and he we stuck in the mud.

It would normally take minutes to get out of this mud with such hefty armor, but for a magic user like Marz, moments. Marz launched himself out of the mud and muck and onto solid earth, As he began to notice the things going on, Sven seems to have been caught up in the mud like him, but was struggling to get out. It was once he did he implored the help of his lover to try and quell the beast. On the other side Nikolai and Silas seemed to be trying to encase the beast in stone by using the mud they made. All the while the beast seemed to worsen in mood.

In this seemingly worsening situation for the plan to lure the beast away, it gave Marz an idea.

Marz began aiming his hammer at the Begemont and using chemical magic to assist in the quelling of the beast. HIs aim was not to try and tame her, but make her less mad as she was encased in stone.

Marz' head turned to Yvain and Yuliya as he yelled out, "You two! Begin making an illusion of the beast but small! We'll use it to lead it to Ilvir and her actual kid!"

Marz then turned to Penny and barked, "You! Help them encase the beast. It'll buy time!"

Penny was... not a fan of people barking orders at her, but she'd spent just enough time with Marz at this point to have an understanding that this was kind of just... his way. "Could've at least..." she began. "Aw, fuck it." With that, she gathered all of the energy she could, as the area around her seemed to become a maelstrom of drawing and casting and general energetic chaos. The animal had to be stopped and, if that meant playing a little bit rough, then so be it. Having already helped Marz with encasing it in hardened mud-gone-stone, she reached out with Chemical magic and, following Sven's expert lead, found the areas of its simple but not too simple brain responsible for producing soporifics and slammed them full of what she hoped was the right stuff.

Sven, meanwhile, who had switched from encasing around the same time as Penny, now focused on cutting off the flow of adrenaline to reduce the begemot's activity levels and overcome the ridiculous amounts it had been pumping out. Combining this with some chemical dissolution of existing adrenaline where he could find it, he continued to work. On one level, he felt bad. This was a mother protecting its young. On the other, he was also saving it from itself, else they would be forced to fight it, likely to the death: its and some of theirs. "Shorry, big girl," he murmured as he cast. "Thish ish about the worsht place imaginable for you and your little one."

Yvain and Yuliya, meanwhile, he could see working hard on an illusion. From his perspective, it shimmered imperfectly in the vague shape of a small begemot, but he knew it would look far more convincing to the huge pachyderm's eyes from a different angle. he only hoped it would be enough. The stone had well and truly trapped the beast, despite its immense size and, as it began to take hold of and notice the illusion, he prepared to unbind some of the trap and let it follow, away from him and his peers, away from the town and the danger.

Yvain looked rather frustrated by having to work together with a merchant, or rather one pretending to be one. Even if his ability for illusions is not the highest, this was humiliating. "Travaille avec moi, lumière" As he tried his hardest to coordinate with Yuliya to get their structure of light to move away from the town slowly. As it started to move Yvain could be seen with a shit-eating grin. "Sometimes I scare myself with how talented I am." Even whilst under this mental strain of keeping such a behemoth consistent. It did not stop him from looking as perfectly presentable as ever.

Once Esmii, had been safely moved out of the Begemont's way, by Sven, she ran over to Penny, shouting " I'm coming to help you encase the Begemont.". When she reached Penny, she quickly started to help her encase the Begemont, before it tried to escape the mud again.

When the begemot awoke, it was all at once. She wasted no time making short work of the binder's efforts: Though the stone cut and scraped at her as she broke through, but break through she did, sending further shrapnel of rock and mud towards the biros. Whatever pain she might have felt came second to the overwhelming sensation of familiarity she felt when looking upon the well-constructed image of her offspring, and she began tearing off again; her attackers ignored. It didn't take long for the begemot's monstrous tusks to reach and break through the illusion as the caster's reached the limits of their range, but the effect had been enough and the frantic mother showed no signs of turning back. The biros were left in her wake, aftershocks from the thundering gallop returning for some time before true peace fell over the steppe again. The valley between the town and mountains was destroyed. A massive crater where the begemot had been stuck, and the half-stone hill nearly twenty feet high Sven had been buried under. But she had left, and all the remaining group could do was hope Ilvir and Nazih had gotten enough of a start to keep her from returning.

This will be very brief.
-There was a Town Meeting you likely attended.
-Jocasta made an appearance.
-The town is under attack and different areas have been struck. You can choose to help.
This battle will happen on discord, and you will likely be split up. Different NPC’s can be met in the encounters.

Deadline: Monday, May 22nd

Coming Soon...

Yvain looked towards Penelope as her cousin was binding food into existence, a weirdly warm smile covering his face as the loaves turned to cookies and more sweet delicacies. In truth he was a bit jealous of such abilities. For all the finesse and beauty his appearance gave off his affinity towards magic is more brutish than anyone he knows.

What a drag.. Yvain looked rather tired with all the locals messing around with his hair and tugging on his clothing. What a horrid curse, to be so beloved by all! But alas, it is a burden to bear If he had the freedom to move he would have dramatically placed the back of his hand on his forehand.

The Perrenchman’s interest was caught by her cousin shaking her head as if certain thoughts were plaguing her. Was he responsible for those thoughts? People were always acting differently around him when she was present. The expressions, the minor changes in body language. In truth, he had always appreciated having her around as a source of genuinity.

Penny knew the chemical formula for sugar, so, with a smirk and some trial and error, she began making sweetbreads, and then... Well, why not icing sugar? Cookies, cupcakes, and then cakes! She worked her way up the ladder. The kids darted in when they thought she wasn't looking and stole some and she pretended not to see them, except when it was too obvious. Their punishment was a tiny electrical zap on the rear and a dab of frosting on the nose. Before long, they were coming back in just to be caught and it became a kind of game until some of the village women broke it up.

They shooed the children away to go bother Yvain after that, and sat around her, speaking in their strange tongue and communicating through gestures whenever Nikolai wasn't around. The Perrenchwoman may have even picked up a few words of Kyrgish in the process. She made dough, as well, and some of the women brought out boards and formed a circle, kneading it as the hours of Oraff edged toward those of Eshiran. For a moment, she was just one more woman in their circle: part of something and no different than the others. Her heart swelled with a sense of purpose. She would use her power to ensure that this place - a place that was good and right - would thrive and not wither.

Seeing some of the children leave his presence to go over to Penelope to steal some of the treats she created could not help but put a soft smile on Yvain's face. Soon enough they returned to him as they were shooed away. A rather surprised look came across his face as he was offered a piece of a cookie from one of the children. Taking the piece and eating before clapping his hands and showing the children around him some small illusions such as floating cookies and cakes. The floating delicacies moved about around the children as if they were in a dance.

Nikolai’s weight shifted. His nervousness was palpable and contagious. The smallest of children near Penny and Yvain broke out in tears, somewhere further away, a dog howled, but it wasn’t enough to cut through the excited whispers of the translated news of the begemot and her child making its way through those gathered.

"Arrête de rêvasser, cornichon!" Penny pulled on all of her kinetic power to blow past her cousin. "Les petits gâteaux et les biscuits n'arrêteront pas le mastodonte!" At this rate, the Begemot would catch Ilvir in a minute or two, and the lure would do nothing to relocate it.

Yvain clapped his hands and soon enough the little floating pastries disappeared, carefully plucking the locals off him. Seeing his cousin blow past him caused him to chuckle. "Frimeur. " He prepared to catch up to his cousin. Cela ne suffit pas, je dois être plus rapide. Realizing that just augmenting his pace would not be enough.

Yvain's stance got more relaxed, lifting himself up from the air and soon enough darted towards her cousin. He was able to close the distance between them but did not manage to overtake her. This can't be right. Did he lose his edge? No matter. This is not a time for his ego to be hurt, even if it were to sting.

Landing not too far away from his cousin. "Suppose we can't just use brute force against this thing, huh?"

Penny shook her head, trying to create some water in the dirt and mix it in ahead of the begemot. She gritted her teeth. "Non, cousin, I think not. Now come help me, would you?"

Yvain sighed. "Cher moi, I am not a chef." He began to use his kinetic magic to create small rotations in the softer earth. "I can mix it as well as a trained cook, however it will do the trick. You focus on softening the earth." The mud did not slow this behemoth down at all.

People barking orders at him would usually be met with a proper punishment, but through it being a high tension situation and he seems like the dumb yelling type he let it slide. "Least you could’ve done is grovel at my feet and beg for my help…” A rather annoyed look appeared on his face before. "But it seems you truly would be hopeless without his gracious moi!” His smug aura was practically radiating off him.

With a sigh he nodded towards Yuliya to start to coordinate with her. In truth, Yvain was rather frustrated by having to work together with a merchant, or rather one pretending to be one. Even if his ability for illusions is not the highest, this was humiliating. "Travaille avec moi, lumière" As he tried his hardest to coordinate with Yuliya to get their structure of light to move away from the town slowly. As it started to move Yvain could be seen with a shit-eating grin. "Sometimes I scare myself with how talented I am." Even whilst under this mental strain of keeping such a behemoth consistent. It did not stop him from looking as perfectly presentable as ever.

As the Begemot started to move away the illusion began to dissipate Yvain let himself slump over a little, not even caring about the mud all over his frame. ”I did it… I actually did it…” The boy’s voice was soft as if trying to not let anyone hear it. His giddy smile said more than words could have. It was one similar to an excited child. Once realizing how he may have appeared he coughed a little before standing upright and showing his noble character once more. ”It seems like I am truly gifted in every magic that I start practicing. I might give old Bene-” He halts himself as he was close to saying something that might have insulted such an important figure.

Silas: “”
Yuliya: “”
Khaliun “”
Ahrora: “”
Penny: “”
Nikolai: “”
Ilvir: “”
Nazih: “”
Ozodbek: n/a
Dastan: “”
Oksana: " "

The night was a chilly one, for the standards of Ersand'Enise. Perfect for the event in store. A raffle had been held the previous day to determine who would have access to the event hosted by Pelova Fascino, the up and coming Mudville business taking over the former grounds of Moli's. The last of the icebergs had been ported in via Jocasta, and fused together by several hired mages to form the base of where the party would occur.

A private security team stood near the docks, ready to let the winners of this raffle enter. And strangely enough, it was a mixed bag of individuals. A commoner would enter, then an pompously dressed noble. One thing was common between them though, they were both dressed to the nines. Some just in their best clothes, other in full costumes. Including a certain Yuliya, standing near the entrance greeting the lucky winners dressed as.. some kind of demon?

A low music came from the iceberg as many a man and woman were let on board...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB6WY24cPDM

Yuliya had done it, she got the dragon to crawl out of her den. Not that Zarina looked anything like such a reptilian, but the Saguinaire was one of those in the know so it was an amusing thought still. Her black circles were covered by careful layers of makeup, and her attire was a gift from her Vossoriyan friend - a means to show off a product from Pelova. And the silk chosen was just what Zazzy enjoyed to wear, plus the shape seemed tailor-made for her. It probably was.

“Brrr. Already cold enough at the docks, and you bring a huge block of ice too?” whined the Virangish, so far from the warmer winds of Gandakar. Her hands hid beneath her pits as she began to work up some basic arcane magic to keep herself warm, “Is there wine for me to survive on?”

Despite having sworn to never don such a get-up again, Silas found himself again dressing in the gaudy velvets and silks of the firnery he'd purchased for Nox Arcanum. As unwieldy and uncomfortable as it made him, the former Mudville urchin was near indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd pushing to enter the party- even his eyes were covered by the increasingly familiar mask.

"Wish me luck," Silas whispered to three friends before departing from the mainland. Two of the other figures, decidedly not human, fell in the water to swim after him, circling under the iceburg as the event began. There was music, free food and drink, all of which Silas helped himself to merrily. He avoided the hostess entirely, and never made any attempt to socialize more than a polite nod to the few classmates that recognized him, but otherwise remained by all appearances a perfectly respectful guest.

Ayla came to the dock dressed similar to Nox Arcanum again. Frilled in that red and black Flamenco, her lioness masquerade mask on, and now adorning what appeared to be cat claws on both her hands and feet. She is dressed up in costume rather like Yuliya as she put her arms around her good friend and kissed her upon each cheek.

"It is time to party! Going to party, drink, dance, probably try to steal a cutie for a dance partner. Find when me when you are free." She giggled mischievously as she walked upon the ice berg.

She approached the Zazzy as still had to pop up on her tip-claws to hug her and reach up to peck her on each of the cheeks as well. "Meow. You look really good, this fashion thing suits you very well." She released the virangish girl from her clutches as she looked around. "Time to get to the food and drink before Silas comes and steals it all."

People were looking at her.

That was fair considering yaniis might never have seen a Qarii'Muuna yasoi all dressed up for Neen'baun'taw. It was basically a fancy dance like this yanii party, so Casii thought. Dressing up required a yasoi to put a lot of effort in making their appearances colorful. Those that were dedicated enough tried to appeal to more than just sight. Smell, touch, hearing, and even taste could help a yasoi stand out and attract potential suitors. Not that Casii was looking for a suitor since she was happily with Isii. In fact, Isii had helped Casii with her outfit this evening.

She wore knee-high slacks that were at one point white but now they were painted in blue, green, and yellow dyes that spiraled up to her waist. In a reverse spiral, a flowery vine wrapped itself around each of Casii's legs, spiraling down past her slacks to coil the yasoi's bare ankles before reaching the top of Casii's low rutty boots. The flowers from the vine grew in many colors but it wasn't just flowers, berries dangled from small interwoven twigs like mistletoe, raspberries, and yellow cloudberries. From her waist up, she wore deep cut tangerine-colored blouse that clung tightly to her torso, revealing her lithe form and a generous amount of cleavage. It also revealed the flowing and neatly painted swirled patterns of the teal body art, that seemed to be flowing out of her the center of her chest and reaching out to her hands and feet. Her arms bore several organic bracelets of floral arrangements, spaced evenly and becoming more colorfully decorated as they reached the top of Casii's shoulder. Around her neck she bore the sigil of her family, the Antlered Stag, a wooden carving of a stag with small flowers growing from the tips of the horns. On Casii's own head she bore a flowered crown with a pair of flowered and lush branches acting like antlers.

Casii tightened her hand around her Living Staff and the staff reciprocated, gently growing around the back of her hand. It was by Isii's insistence that she commit to attending. She didn't like it, having to be here alone with all these yaniis, but she was committed this year to try after all. Her promise to Isii.

Casii approached the entry, waving her ticket in her free hand. "Gotta wonder why yaniis about bringin' the party to somewhere so cold. Ice! Y'all think it can't gettin' any more colder?" She shook her head at the nearest security guard before her attention shifted to the demonic yanii standing to greet her. "Yulii gurl, right? Why are yer dressin' up all fixin' to be evil? You ain't gonna sink us as a joke, humph?" Casii asked, seeing as how she always grew up with dress-up parties providing a chance to show who you are. Casii was a greengrowth and dressed like that. The way Yulii appeared, she looked like she was up to something like one of those fool plays in yasoi culture.

"I'm just 'ere playin'. Yer ain't yasoi so yer probably just dressin'. Yer lookin' peachy, gurl." Casii smirked naturally joking as yanii never got yasoi culture. She reached out to pat Yulii's cheek before continuing on, her flowery perfume wafted in an aura as she wandered up onto the iceberg to see what kind of mischief awaited. The third arrival was a yasoi. Curiously dressed for the occasion, but honestly, Yuli digged the outfit. If she'd brought a piece of herself with this party, then it was only right that this girl should do so as well. A mischievous smile took her face as she spoke to the girl, taking her ticket.

"It can get colder. But, there is reason. People have to stay warm, so drinking and dancing and well, other things..." she smirked. Part of her think she should have done a couples entry, but then there'd be double the people on the iceberg as is. And then, maybe she'd be thinking of her suitor that had gone into exile. She broke those thoughts quickly. "You looking good too, vysokiy! Maybe it's bit of both though?" she winked and held the hand that touched her cheek, before directing her to the booze and other fun substances on board. There wasn't merely alcohol and wines, but a decent supply of bakeleaf, monkey(jamb'ysp), and brandix covered lolipops. As an alternative to that though, there was a like Coal Toad of a decent size sitting there, and every so often a denizen of the party would go up and lick. Definitely odd, and unhygienic, but curious!

Rikard Ambrus was one of the invitees. He arrived with a helmet tucked under his arm and wearing his finest which was... well, his mage's robes. He was rarely seen out of them or in something that wasn't at least similar and nobody quite knew why. The young teen - youngest student at the school - found himself bouncing between the many bars before long with a few of the younger invitees, until he spotted Silas who... didn't seem to want very much to do with him, to be honest. Slightly disappointed, he went back to... what one might consider lurking... and playing the occasional prank. Some of the girls here were dressed like... the boy swallowed and nursed a drink, trying not to stare.

Penny had won a ticket and, in truth, as one of the organizers, had little use for it, so she'd given it, free of charge, to one of her fellow students who they'd been targeting to model for them: the eeaiko Kaureerah. She sat in the VIP area while Yuliya fluttered about, nursing a cocktail and somewhat sour over the lack of Ashon, but that was outweighed by her excitement. Even if her Vossoriyan friend was the face of this endeavour, she was still here. To think that she had been invited somewhere so stylish! To think that so many people were here and just to enjoy themselves, noble and common alike! Penny smiled and took another sip, resolved to get up and look for some of her classmates. If this was the new Mudville, then she was already loving it. They could do it, she knew; they could uplift these people and change this place for the better, and what better way to start it off?

Ymiico had left Nikan with very little, that being said she always thought that attire fit for a ball would come in handy. The invitation she was received was just confirmation. There were seldom instances that allowed her to fade back into the familiarity of her culture and this was a moment she wouldn’t squander. She left her scalding hot bath to all the parts that made the flowery appearance of kimonos look so clean. Like a skilled artisan she dawned each piece of clothing: Susoyoke, Nagajuban, Koshi-himo, Date-jime, Obi, and finally the Kimono. She was decorated in deep greens with trims and cuts of a royal red. A pattern of flowers and mythical animals ran around the bottoms of her overflowing kimono. Her kanazashi looked like solid beams of gold jetting out her hair. Her face had also been touched by a layer of pale white make up with red accents on her bottom lip, eyebrows, and wings of her eyes.
Removing the entry ticket from the hanging sleeves of her kimono, she showed her ticket and entered. Greeted by an intimate group affair.

The last of the light had faded from the sky, for these were now the hours where Dami reigned and, before long, gods willing, those of Ipte would call forth even greater levels of debauchery.

The time was now ripe.

Then, there came a powerful gust of wind and the dozen torches lighting the path up to the berg flickered and died with wisps of smoke that became ribbons and then snakes. Amid a deep and all-encompassing darkness they twisted and swirled and people followed them as they raced and darted between fellow faces in the crowd. Then, the first one exploded into a burst of smoke - blue. A second one erupted in hues of green, and a third in gold, a fourth in orange, and three more in red, purple, and indigo: not people but illusions!

Yet, these were only there to distract from the greatest mass of the smoke, which had gathered at the entrance and formed itself into the shape of a woman. Tall, slim, and graceful, she emerged from the haze, bathed in soft but brilliant light, and stepped with measured grace onto the gangplank, feet light and bare.

In lieu of any clothing, the clouds seemed to follow her, clinging to her shapely form but teasing, always teasing, offering glimpses of more. Gasps and murmurs arose and eyes remained affixed to her form. Then, from behind her long, deep blue-dyed hair, she extracted a lute and darted forward with a performer's flair. The haze parted fully and left behind on her a dress that seemed to live and breathe and move of its own accord: black and swirling like smoke and like ink, but with a soft, pale bluish glow. As she walked, strumming the opening chords of her song, that blue glow began to resolve itself into individual snowflakes of all shapes and sizes. With each step, they peeled off and away, fluttering into the cool night sky, wafting about, swishing and whirling over the heads and past the faces of the crowd. Finally, the new arrival opened her mouth to sing:

youtube.com/watch?v=Nx-x_1lIXh4

With each spellbinding word and movement, reality itself seemed to shimmer and dance. The snowflakes changed colour: blues, browns, and greens: melting. Then, they were leaves, whispering and shifting in the wind like the fish of some great underwater school. The woman in the living dress pranced and spun, long, delicate webbed fingers flowing over the strings of her instrument, and the leaves became gold, amber, and vermilion. The music worked its way toward a crescendo and there was not a man in the audience - and perhaps some women too - who did not think, at least once, about what it would mean to become the songstress' 'hero'. Next, the woman's voice soared and the leaves turned brown, then blue, and then, once more, as the music faded, they glowed softly bluish-white, fluttering gently down from the sky as snowflakes once again. Among them was a single golden ticket, which twirled whimsically, teasingly, and ended up in Yuliya's hand.

Kaureerah Wenhan had arrived.

Ayla purred as she spotted Kaureerah, it appears she decided to live up to reputation and she greatly appreciated her playing. The mist appeared to work perfect too in obscuring her features whilst promising the onlooking a glimpse of more that just never seems to come. There were temptation to join in, but she didn't want to ruin the majesty of the moment by sharing the audience, or competing with her tonight.

When Kaureerah finished her grand landing, Ayla moved up to her and swung her arms around her to place a kiss upon both of her cheeks like a hungry kitten. "My sister in Ipte, your performance was ravishing. We love the blue, it is our favourite colour.". She gave her a light squeeze then broke away. "We think that is all that your adoring fans will allow me to have, they will evny me too much otherwise." She giggled fondly.

Ayla had enjoyed a bite to eat and a drink, and now she was hungry for something else, dancing. The music has been continuing and a few were on the dance floor, primarily couples and noticeably taller than herself as well. She pried around the audience for some one suitable till she pried a rather glum boy nursing a drink in the corner, looking a little out of his depth in his mage clothes. The perfect victim.

The girl, dressed very fashionably, fixed her eyes upon Rilard as she approached him. Like a lioness who had found a gazelle, stalking through the tall grass. The boy may have saw him coming, but nothing would prepare him for the pounce. Ayla moved quickly as her hands grabbed upon Rikard's as she started to pull him up. "You are going to be my dance partner." she beamed widely and mischievously toward him as she dragged the poor boy to the dance floor.

It just happened with a little influence, as managed to persuade for some Torragonese music to come up. Clicking her fingers as she got upon the dance floor to signal she had arrived. She leans in to speak softly to Rikard. "We don't know you experience, but Torragonese music is very passionate. So just say your hips, legs and arms, and follow my lead. We will take charge. You should blend in my dancing nicely." She held herself close to Rikard like two lovers embraced, then as the music started pushed herself away with a twirl. Rikard is getting introduced to ztorragonese Slasa style without an introduction. Taking his hand with her, she used it to spring board back to her. The Torragonese lion cub twirls, swirling, moving those hips as she draped herself upon the boy. All eyes moving to them as the Torragonese girl danced around him with flair. She gave the boy instructions as she moved around him, both verbal and guiding with her own hands. Hands on my hips. Twirl me. Hold. Catch. Shoulders. Hold my leg. Hold hands.

youtu.be/PGOT0p2ms5Q

After the dance, she smiled widely as her arms her around the boys neck, gazing deep into his eyes. Their dancing was attracting the crowd as they stood in watch. She saw he looked rather terrified due to being thrust into the spotlight like this, her nose brushed against his as she smiled sweetly toward him. "Now watch."

She clicked her fingers as she attracted the attention of someone in the crowd. "Chair, now". As the chair is brought up, she pushed Rikard back upon it. His role has not completed. Now he is the centred piece as Ayla clicked her fingers to the musicians, "Flamenco!".

The Torragonese girl had only begun as she adopted the characteristic stance. Slowly building up tempo as she twirled, clicking her heels upon the ice, clapping her hands, the swirls, and circular movements, using the frills of her dress to enhance the performance as she danced around the boy in the centre. Giving him the full front row personal treatment with her dancing.

The crowd clapped along as the other Daughter of Ipte put on her beautiful performance, and perhaps the boy was visited by the Lord of Love himself in those moments.

¡Olé!

Rikard had.... intensely mixed feelings. On the one hand, here he was dancing with a beautiful girl, and she was pretty, and he could see, well... her entire shape more or less. It was almost impossible not to stare and he wanted to... No, you won't, he chided himself. All eyes were on them, and he was... actually a much better dancer than she or anyone else had likely assumed: more or less able to keep up with her even in this strange form of dance. His dopey grin and fluid but somewhat overwhelmed motions played to the crowd and the storylines they might imagine in their heads. She was... spellbinding, after all.

Yet... it also felt kind of... he hesitated to think it, but there it was: wrong. He didn't know this girl, aside from a few incidental and passing encounters on campus. He didn't even know her name. She was a good three or four years his senior and didn't know him either. Yet, here she was, pressed up against him in a way that could only be described as intimate. He was... a prop, more or less. All eyes were not on him, but on her. It was... at best, a sympathy dance, and his cheeks burned with helpless embarrassment.

So, when she more or less threw him onto a chair, Rikard let her have her show. He even clapped along. It was a good show, but something in the boy had been sparked. He wouldn't just let himself meekly become a footnote in the story of others' brilliant performances. He rose and bowed and thanked her but, while the crowd was still cheering, he called his metal helmet to his hand and began to rise into the sky. Then, the air itself began to grow light and staticky. He had noticed the two decorative steel posts with rings about them earlier and, now, Rikard decided to employ these to their fullest, filling them with charges. He placed the helmet over his head. It was his own unique spell: one he had not tried publicly yet. He had practiced the notes, though, just for this event. He took a deep breath and focused, and then... music... of a sort commenced

There was benefit to being in the band with a Vossoriyan merchant girl and hanging out with a Kozaky girl, you get to experience the music and moves first hand, and this was the second song this evening. The task she had to do was pretty simple. Clap-Clap, She raised her hands in the air as she begun to clap. Clap-Clap. Encouraging members of the audience to do the same. Clap-Clap. She raised her hands apart from each other as she leaned during the dancing, leading the others to do the same, encouraging them to dance upon their feet.

Now came the signature move.

She went in a crouching as she kicked out before her, moving her hands to each of her elbows in that typical fashion. Clearly those familiar like Yuliya can join in quite nicely, and soon so can the rest. Switching into the jumping jacks.

It is time for others to be encouraged likewise, to get immersed in true Vossoriyan culture. Switching to simpler moves as she moves side to side waving her arms with a lot of energetic movements. Moving to each of the participants and getting them moving. It is Lednikrayva time.

After the performance, amongst much cheers, dancing, and merrymaking. She moved up to Rikard and put her arms around him. "Loved it. You need to show me how to do that some time." She winked and planted a kiss upon his cheek.

Rikard blushed fiercely. "Uhh... haha. Thanks!" he replied. Then, he took her hand, spun her free, and raised her arm into the air. They both took a bow. He glanced over at her from the corners of his eyes and winked once he knew that he'd caught hers. "I'll show if you show," he teased.

Ayla was as quick, "Sounds fun!". Finishing their graceful bow as they stood up. "Salsa lessons in exchange for Lightning? We can agree to that." As things turned to relative normalcy for a moment as attentions were elsewhere. She turned to face him for a moment, "Someone said Lightning was the raw expression of fire. It has made me interested in learning more about it. Enrolled in the Magnetism class to find out for myself."

Rikard smiled. Maybe he'd judged her a bit too harshly before. "Well, then I guess I'll see you there!" Then, there was a buffet calling to him, and he could say 'no'. "You know, I'm gonna go get something to eat, actually. Hope it doesn't uh... go out the way it went in."

Dorothea entered the party confident, although not without hints of awkwardness. These fancy dresses are always so annoying to wear but she can't help but feel a slight bit more confident wearing them. Looking around, she spotted quite a couple familiar faces and some less so. Her dress a crimson red and silken, opposed to her usual browns and furs. Usually she feels bad for flaunting her wealth and social class... but indulging a little doesn't hurt anyone, right?

The little Torragonese cat didn't fail to make her presence known to the Virangish reptile, prompting a few chuckles and a share of her red wine before the little Ayla scampered off to harass a poor child way out of his depth. Along also came the over-the-top fishbard that even put the Varrahastan musician to shame with such a performance. It was definitely enough to have Zazzy pose her glass of wine so she could keep a sound mind until the end of the show. It went from a whimsical piece of music and theatrics put together to something that brewed deep within the captivated Zarina. A desire that many others manifested so freely, to be the hero this strange girl sought out in her lyrics. Fantasies in her mind eventually turned into boiling frustration and revulsion as she stared more and more at Kaureerah's form. With every passing moment Zarina created something to hate about her. This silent and uncomfortable moment was punctuated with a downing of her glass she had picked back up before she moved on.

“Fucking Yasoi.” she muttered to herself as she saw the disaster that Casii was. And there was another one too - One from Rettan or Nikan or whatever these half-breeds with the eyes came from. It was like Zarina was finding things to hate, and in turn nurturing any sort of justification for her to leave early.

A proper target was eventually found. A boy she still had a score to settle with and looking conspicuously proper for what he truly was. No desire or ire, despite what one may believe, could be found when she saw that little rat. Maybe this was her chance to pass the time. “Surprised they let you in here, little man.” she introduced herself whilst seizing a recently opened wine bottle and poured herself some, “Want some? Tell me, did you feel anything when that fish-girl did her thing?” she asked whilst pouring some wine regardless of approval, “She's a lot of pizzazz and looks- well as far as fish-folks can anyway - but did the singing move you too? I can't tell if she's actually good or just conned everyone with her lights and sways.”

Yuli grinned at one of the first arrivals, a good friend and future model for the business. She looked exquisite! She gladly took a ticket, and smiled as she directed her friend to the tables on the iceberg. Alcohol and food were plentiful, of all kinds, including the vossoriyan specialty that Zarina had not taken a liking to.

"Barely coat weather Zazzy. But if you cold, drink up, and dance. You'll warm up." she spoke with a wink, and gave her a kiss on the cheek, before going back to attending the other arrivals. Zarina's heart skipped a beat. And then she blushed when she looked away. Bad thoughts. Wine to down it all.

Peculiar eyes narrowed behind Silas' mask when Zarina approached. She's shamed him once, and he wasn't about to fall into another trap quite so quickly.
"I came with a ticket!" He replied indignantly, the feathers of his hat bobbing erratically as he offered his cup to be filled. "Got much a right to be here as anyone else."

His attention returned to Kaureerah- the swirling magic about her that had no obvious source. There was magic in the music too- but not like Ayla's, which had always felt predictable and familiar. Even Silas, sullen and stoic as he had planned to behave for the night, had felt his feet inching towards the dance-floor upon the Eeiako's arrival. The inexplicable energy sent chills down his spine, but he showed only a shrug to Zarina. "Don't think she came alone; someone doin' them tricks for her. Besides, got too many eyes for me." His grin was wide before disappearing behind he glass to take a long, deep drink of sweet wine offered.

Some feet away on floor, two small but familiar figures passed them, one twirling, the other barley staggering to keep up. "Is it some noble courtship ritual from the north?" He inquired with distaste, but couldn't keep his attention away.

Zarina flinched at the kneejerk reaction from the commoner. She wanted to laugh, but had the willpower to withhold it all in a shaky grin, “I wasn't going to say anything, but now I'm wondering if you stole someone's ticket.” she let a teeny tiny chuckle escape her before she took a sip from her drink.

She then raised a brow at Silas' observation, “Huh. That's what you've taken note of,” she attention went to the performer and the seduced crowd near her, “the parlor tricks. I was wondering if you found her singing as nice as her tricks.” she shrugged and filled herself a third serving of the sweet wine.

Then came Ayla, "dancing" with Rikard. The drink was starting to up the Zaz's mood, causing her to giggle more liberally and dropping the downer mood, “It's just how they shake it in Torragon. Aggressively sensual. Ugh.” she downed half her glass, and then snapped her fingers by the short king's ear, “Okay. If you want to actually fit in, invite me to the floor.” a demand more than an offer, “I'll teach you some basic steps. You've actually danced before, yes?”

After only a brief hesitation Silas placed his glass on the edge of the table and stooped to his lowest bow, hand outstretched. His knowledge on dancing was minimal, restricted to the awkward shuffling he had preformed with Ahrora to move about targets on Nox Arcanum, but he'd watched how they were meant to start enough times at least. Besides, he was a quick learner, especially on his feet.

"Oh noble and ever-enchanting Zarina Nader-Al," The feathered hat scrapped the snow from the grown and threatened to fall off- were it not for a quick slip of kinetic magic. "Would you do me the honour of a dance?"

It'd be a lie if Zarina said she was anything less than charmed by Silas' approach, even if it was all a game of pretend. She graciously placed her hand onto his and tilted her head to the side a little, “It would be my honor, Young Lord-to-be of Mudville.” she cracked a smile before tugging at his arm to drag the boy onto the floor.

There were so many different energies flowing about. Some were electrifying, other spicy, some even more mellow than what the music would suggest. But eventually, when the teens calmed with their showing off, Zazzy picked up on the next piece being played and adapted accordingly. It wasn't a Severan dance - it wouldn't fit and would be a bit foreign for Silas, probably - but something more Constantian. Her hand kept a hold of his, while the other reached behind his shoulder, “Try to mirror me.” she whispered, as their cheek got oh so close to one another, “And feel free to spice things up.” she giggled, as the steps began to flow with the rhythm of the song. It was very much folkish, fitting for where they were and the people they allowed in.

With Rikard off to stuff his face with food, Ayla looked around for Zazzy to find her with Silas of all people, and they had been dancing!

She approaches the pair as she placed her hands around them both. "Rawr! You two make a cute couple", giving the unlikely a pair a wink. "You two should go for becoming the Lord and Lady of the Berg. We will make you Nobles out of you both after all!"

In the midst of the rising crescendo and their footwork becoming more and more demanding, Ayla seemed to take an interest in them. And finally, once they reached their peak, Zarina stopped, content with simply swaying her hips with their shoulders loosely following the movement, before finally taking the final ten steps to punctuate this dance, “He does owe me quite a bit. An Iceberg to rule would be a good start, hmm?” she didn't let go just yet, although now they face-to-face with passing glances given to the little third wheel. “And what of your consort, Ayla? He has the vigor of a champion. Might that befits a throne.”

Ayla beams at the discussion of Rikard, "His performance was really electrifying, wasn't it? He even agreed to show me how to do it!" She clapped her hands as she turned her head to look to where ever he might be, speaking quietly toward her friend. "We cannot wait to spend some time alone with him."

Her big smile dropped as she took a better look upon the Virangish girls expression of amusement in respond to what she just said. She paused for a moment, blinking, before she hit against her arm. "Zazzy! Don't you dare give me that look. We didn't mean it that way. You and your consorting." Her cheeks grow a dark shade of red as she dies of embarrassment. "... not my fault he turned out to be rather interesting choice of dance partner."

After a defiant huff, she considers her next options.

It had been meant to start out as a joke- good fun to help fit in at a party of people who, for the most part, either ignored or hated his presence. But there was only so much composure the young boy could muster when the older girl pushed up close and whispered in his ear. He could feel the warmth and softness of skin under the fine clothes she wore, and found himself struggling to keep up for more reasons than simple lack of skill. Neither the music or girl showed him any mercy, and both continued to quicken until beads of sweat started forming behind Silas's mask despite the cold air.

Ayla's arrival was nearly a relief; though he did not notice the beginning of the conversation- focused as he was on not stepping on his partner's feet. But when Zarina replied, Silas searched the crowd for Rickard, only to locate him apparently no worse for wear beside to food tables again. If making a show would free him of this torment he could give a show.

"Lady Arslan," He managed to gasp out between the lulls of a musical change. "You gave us quite the show to follow up" An unseen grin cracked wide behind the mask as the beginnings of a plan formed.

"Hold on tight!" He warned before pulling Zarina away from Ayla back to the floor just in time for the music to begin. Except the floor wasn't the same, kinetic magic trailed ahead of them making the already icy surface impossibly smooth until they weren't dancing at all- but gliding across the iceburg. He placed one hand on her forearm while the other tightened around her waist as he puller her along, demonstrating how to move on the slippery surface. There was no more worry of crushed toes if their feet never left the ground at least. It didn't end there, just as he let go of her arm his other scooped further downwards until he was lifting her in the air as he slid and spun around the floor, faster and faster until he thought he might faint from dizziness. Then he released her down, still with the spinning momentum as they circled each-other, only to again come together for another display of lifts, poses, and spins gliding on the ice.

He'd listened the music of the night closely enough to recognise the ending crescendo- when he pulled Zarina close to him, and with barely a final word of warning, flung her whirling away towards Yuliya; the full beauty of her dress dazzling with added arcane sparkle to further wow and draw the crowd to her as Silas vanished into the food table cluster once more in search of Rikard

Casii indulged herself in some yanii wine, some of the food offerings though of course she stayed away from anything that had meat, before moving on to sucking on a lollipop. She'd be back for the other stuff depending on how the night went but for now, was trying her best to avoid the things yaniis typically commented about. Always smoking and spitting, they'd say, like they were bad things. Fine, for now, she will not take anything and smell like a fresh spring garden.

Although when it came to actually pestering the yaniis around her, she ignored them and immediately found the other yasoi at the party. Ymiico, the suunei who barely uttered a word some days it seemed. Also owed her one of those fancy kimono. She approached announcing herself, "Miico, suunei." She reached out to lightly feel at the kimono, running the fine material in between her fingers. "When yer fixin' to supplin' me with a kii-mo-no? We ain't have any of these back home."

Ymiico could feel the gaze of others on her, whether they were inviting or discriminatory wasn't known to her. She was no stranger to it seeing as she didn't have much comradery built with her peers yet. Casii had made her way over, finding other Yasoi was quite easy with how many yanii surrounded them. She dressed to the nines to the private event, it was a nice polarity to her dress. "Oira, suunei". Ymiico was slightly caught off guard by the way she pulled at her kimono. "Yes, Kimono. I just finished putting yours together. You'll have to come find me after today and I can fit it for you. Maybe you can show me some of yours"

“Hmm? Follow-up?”

Zarina never skated in her life - ice itself remained pretty novel to her overall. Luckily, this wasn't skating, but it didn't make things any more relaxing. But what really got her flustered was how Silas took the lead in what she was supposedly one of the best at. Zazzy so easily let herself be taken by the flow that the rat-boy created, from taking on poses to being lifted. A little squeak even escaped the tall teen! Then came the spinning, and she did her very best to try and cling onto Silas, “Bwaaaahhhhh!” she ended up laughing quite a bit, very much enjoying herself.

As the peak of the song was reached, she blinked as her eyes met Silas' mask's eye slots. She wanted to utter something, but was immediately flung into a spin. Surprised, but not graceless, she adopted a a final pose where she reached for foot over her head while the other slid onto the smooth surface. Little did she realize she was crashing into Yuli! “Oh fu-!” splat. Zazzy tripped, ready to collide into the blonde organizer's unsuspecting body.

Although the party had begun the moment that people had begun to board the iceberg and partake of the food, wine and various narcotics available for consumption, it had only just set sail down the river. No more guests were to be let on board as Yuli smiled, looking at the tickets to determine who would be the ruler of the iceberg for the night. It was not to be Silas, or Zarina, or Rikard. Nay, it was the Eeiako songstress that had enchanted the entire vessel with her music, playing up a storm. She enhanced her voice with a kinetic touch, piercing through the various tunes that were playing.

"The ruler is here! Lady Kaureerah, what is first decree as Lady of the Lednikrayva?" she spoke, holding the songstress' ticket to the sky. It was in this moment that Zarina had crashed into Yuliya. The average denizen of Ersand'Enise would have fell over at the sudden impact, but Yuli was incredibly sturdy and used to the ice, so they rapidly slid for a couple of seconds before the momentum caused them both to hit the floor a decent distance away from the centre and relatively close to the edge. Zarina was on top of her now, the two in a very awkward and hard to explain position, their faces barely an inch away from each other?

"Zazzy?" was all Yuli could muster, being surprisingly flustered by the sudden entanglement they were both in.

“Yuli.” it took a moment for Zarina to register just how close they were. Was this a dream, or a nightmare? She just stared, wide-eyed into the girl she had accidently pinned down. Exhales turned into steam in the cold hair, brushing both of their faces as the staring didn't cease.

Her eyes closed for a moment, and then she whispered, right by the Sanguinaire's ear, “How bad do you want to drink from me, Yuliya?” she taunted the blonde host with foxy grin on her face. Maybe three glasses of wine were all she needed to loosen up.

Yuli's mind went blank for a second, and blood rushed to her head. What was this situation? She felt as if she might melt through the iceberg. Alas, a second passed after she spoke and she was still lying there, Zarina on top of her and whispering into her ear. The cogs went back into motion and she thought - perhaps - that she might want to drink from here then and there. An d would she be two more drinks in, perhaps she would have indulged that intrusive thought. But - she was far too sober to be so stupid, yet her desire was still present. She turned to face Zarina, and put a hand on her chin, before leaning in for a kiss. She held it for a couple of seconds, biting the girls lip almost to the point of drawing a drop of blood before pulling away.

"Is that answer? she whispered, letting go ever so gently and attempting to sit herself up from her prone position.

The moment Zarina's chin was seized, she froze up like a kitten being nipped at the nape. The mighty dragon fallen prey to the carcass that was a Sanguinaire. It felt oh so wrong to be this close, to say these depraved things. And yet she had never felt more right. Goosebumps rose throughout her body and her mind focused on the one thing that mattered right now: Yuliya's face. She was so fixated on her crush that she didn't initially react to the kiss. Like a girl that never kissed before, her lips didn't move. Her eyes slowly widened in the same pace that her pupils dilated once a degree of sense hit her.

I kissed a girl.

And she liked it.

Of course she did. And in five minutes to two hours she would regret it terribly after all the blushing and drunken sunshine walking had passed. But right now? Her sister's hedonism had finally made its influence. The bit lip was pricked by Zarina's own teeth with the help of very light magic, causing a drop of blood to flow out of her bottom lip, “No half-measures.” she uttered in a voice slightly louder than a whisper as she adjusted herself to match Yuli.

"Die things sind a lot more ereignisreich than expected." The Drudgunzean proclaimed in a bout of ditsiness. Properly intoxicated, the girl began to what some call dancing. Kicking all around her before she started to become more cohesive as she began to lower her form, almost looking as if she was squatting.

"Ja, ja!" Dory clapped as if hyping herself up. "Lassen Sie uns mit den Feierlichkeiten beginnen!"

Kaureerah's already-large eyes widened. "Oooh? Mee?" She jumped up and down, clapping excitedly. "Beloonleeness!" After a moment, the eeaiko cleared her throat. "Es yaur feer end joost rooler, Eye decree..." Then, she took notice of Zarina and Yuliya's... entanglement. "Aull peepool shool paurner oop! Yoo hev ten secoon too graub e fren... oor lauver," she added with a wink. With that, she whipped out her lute and began playing an escalating tune.

Rikard, meanwhile, was busy stuffing his face plate when the decree came out. He was just reaching for the potato patties when he found another intrusive hand doing the same. About six seconds remained on Lady Kaureerah's decree...

Silas took his time around the food, poking at the odd piece but not over-indulging. The dancing, wine, and nerves of enacting his plan were beginning to have an effect on his stomach. But Kaureerah's crowning and announcement sent his paranoia into overdrive. He reached for some carbs to attempt to settle the butterflies, but instead his hand landed on Rickard. A more useful find in the end. "You don't want to dance anymore do yah?" Silas asked him with a grimace.

"C'mon" The older boy hissed as already the pairs around them joined together and the music began again. Silas nearly dragged Rikard down with him and under the tablecloth, his other free hand bringing the full plate of patties down with them. "Wanted to ask you something-" He finally said, mouth half full of food while the music outside kicked into gear while the visible feet surrounding the food table dispersed to begin dancing. "Want some easy money?"

"This sounds... too much like a nefarious scheme...." Rikard trailed off and glanced around. "Besides, Ayla knows now!" He paused and considered. "But what is it?"

"A scheme?!" Silas did his best to look appalled, a rather difficult task with a mask covering most of his face. Clearly the rumors about him had spread since the events of Right or Spite, making useful friends was becoming more and more difficult. "Let Ayla know! There's nothing to hide." One of his hands reached into a pocket demonstrate the jingling of coins inside. "Just want yah to enjoy the party till the end- honest to truth- a full ten magus. No tricks or nothin." He removed the hand from his pocket to place it over his heart. "May dami descend to judge if I lie."

Rikard narrowed his eyes, sensing... something. This was too good to be true. "So... you're just giving me ten whole magi for... shits n' giggles?" he questioned.

Silas nodded vigorously and produced two of the coins in question and held them out in offering. "Near enough- Give you this now, the rest -money and details- after I talk to Kaureerah. But nothing dangerous- or illegal!" He assured the younger boy. "Think you can help me get to her?" He asked sensing the small crowd of men and woman surrounding the Eeiako, making any chance at a private conversation impossible.

"You... uh... got a crush on her or something?" Rikard inquired, dubiously accepting the two hatlike coins. "I mean... she's..." He trailed off.

Silas flushed deeply and his nodding turned to equally vigorous shaking. "Just want her to play me a song."

"Ipte," Rikard laughed-slash-hissed, "You coulda juss said so. So, what do you need your wingman to do?"

A relieved smile broke across Silas' face. "Your electric show was a crowd pleaser before; maybe some fireworks to dazzle them again? Just something to get the attention off her- wont even be a minute."

"Ya know... I could just slip her a note and say a special fan wants to talk to her... Maybe slip her the cash?" In truth, he didn't have a helluva lot left that was novel and was too embarrassed to admit it. He didn't want to let Silas down, but he also didn't want to make a fool of himself.

Silas considered a moment. "That would be better." He finally agreed, with a pained smile. "'So long as you're able to write it." There was still embarrassment as to the limits of his literacy; especially revealing it to the one student younger and smaller than himself.

"Yeah, I can do that," Rikard decided. "What should I write? You gotta dictate it." He pulled a pencil from one of his pockets, and then a scrap of paper, unfolding it.

Silas was quiet for a moment while he weighed his words. There was a chance to hasten things there, but it would require more trust than he was typically willing to give.

"Great and beautiful lady of the iceberg," He began "Silas Rieger, friend and associate of Tiff, wishes to honour your sovereign rule with a performance. To do so he humbly request a tune of the lady's choice; perhaps a more sombre song to quiet the excitement that her presence brings and give the dancers a moment of respite; so they may simply watch in awe and wonder." When he was done he reached out for the paper, attempting to parse the words for himself before clumsily writing his first name on the bottom. "That should do it. -Thank you," He added to Rickard, returning the note to him. Then another realization dawned on him. "Might want to get rid of that after she sees it." He nodded to the paper. "Fire is good."

Rikard pursed his lips and, after a moment, nodded. "Right. Time to go deliver it." He scooted out from under the table, rose, and composed himself, searching about for Kaureerah.

Silas nodded in thanks and did his best to regulating his nerves as he waited for the boy's return. There was one final chance to save his home. Still under the table, he removed his hat and overcoat- those were for Rikard to wear, he left a full 15 magus in the front pocket for the boy to find before leaving the hiding place before he could return. But it wasn't Silas that appeared standing behind the table a moment later, but a tall noblewoman sporting a gaudy wing weaved into a crown and ornate dress. A sight- but not at all out of place with the rest of the party.

"Go Kaureerah! We knew you could do it!" She clapped excitedly for her friend. This is a far better calling for the Eeaiko, the opportunity to freely create beauty and spread love in Ipte's name without being caught up in the lies and blasphemy of places like the Swirl.

However, what caught her attention was the sight of Zazzy and Yuliya laid upon each other like eager lovers. "Now that is what we call having too much to drink", she giggled as she then noticed her other friend dancing away happily even though the music stopped. "We stand corrected... Dorada! You are not meant to drink on an empty stomach."

She started to plate up some food for the drunken Feskan, whilst casually glancing at the scene, only absently paying attention as her hand roams the table picking things up.

The Feskan saw her bestest of bestest friends on the iceberg and quickly leaned against her, stopping her rather sloppy dance. "Aaaaaaaaaaylaaaaah, how're you toda-y?" Oh dear, perhaps she indulged a tad bit too much.

"Ai've ben sooo jealoos of every..one!" Her Avincian started to become rather messy. "Meine Liebe, willst du tanzen?"

Ayla started to pat Dory upon the shoulder, rubbing it and holding the girl close. She held the plate of delicious food in front of the girl, the plate having a wide selection of servings from the table as she attempted to help sober up the girl. The sight of the boy from earlier moving across the floor reminded her of his words, "Try not to taste the food a second time, Dorada."

Dory began to munch down at the food Ayla brought. "Ai'm not one of tose weaak panziez! Ai donn't just puke.." Even if she proclaimed it, she did get close to letting it all out once more... however her determination not to waste the food won.

Once the girl finished her food she left a peck on Ayla's cheek. "Danke.... du bist mein Retter..." A couple more pecks.

She rolled her eyes with a playful sigh as her cheek is getting smothered and wet due to the drunken kisses. "When Kaureerah was singing about us needing Hero's, this was certainly making this look a lot more glamourous." She started to look for a chair, or perhaps an exit to get some fresh air, otherwise she might end up being the next Yuliya at this party. "Here we go, Princesa Dorada."

"Prenceesa? Ai'm not a Prencees! I'm a Cooontesh. A Cooountesch tat son will ruul it al!..." Dory proclaimed proudly. Looking at her saviour, swinging slowly from left to right. "Werr it nott fur tat boi Kazpee..." She paused for a while, thinking of what words to say. "Ai, woul' take you as mah waiv..."

She sighed and simply smiled politely, "Dorada, don't say things like that, people might get the wrong idea.". She stood in front of Dorothea as she started to preen and smarten the girl up in front of her. Leaning in to fix her collar. "Besides, if you were to take me as your wife, what would Manfred say about that, Mmh..?" She smartened the girl up, before realising what she said, her face dropped and then rolled her eyes. "Perhaps better not to tell me what Manfred would say about that." Giggling, she pecked her friend upon the cheek. "There we go! Looking beautiful as always."

She swayed her arms around in annoyance. "Ten lettem hav teh wrong idee! Ai lov mah friend!" The girl thought to herself aloud. "Waht woul' Mannie thinck? Ai... don' kno'..." Seeing the effort Ayla went through to tidy her up placed a warm smile on the Feskan's face. "Nott ash beu... beuteful as you!"

Ayla squeezed upon her friend, “You are sweet, and we love you too, Dorada. We always love it when you come around with your Spratzmuffins. Cannot wait to stick them in my mouth. Nom.” She beamed as she bared her teeth, acting out biting them. “Though, we definitely know now to keep you away from the wine, you're a flirty drunk like Ingrid. Banning you from the booze, water only from now on." She teasingly chastised her presentation, booping the Feskan upon the nose with her index finger. “Feeling well enough to go back inside yet?"

"Ai'm not flirtin'! Ai speak only teh truuph!.. Fine.." The girl sighed and began to clumsily draw and cast yet it was somehow still working to a certain extent. the eyes began to look slightly less of one passed out drunk. A deep breath from the Feskan before a small little pout appeared on her face. "But you know if I don't drink... I'll die..."

It took some time for Rikard to get through the crowd to Kaureerah but, when he did, she seemed relieved to see him. "Reekaur!" she exclaimed, darting forward to enfold him in a hug. "Whaut treeboot doo yoo brenk?"

They separated and he got down on one knee, holding the letter dramatically out before him. "From a secret admirer, milady, who wishes to ask something of you."

The eeaiko's eyes widened, but she took the proffered note. "Eye thenk yoo faur thes moomentaus news." She opened the letter and read it but then, much to Rikard's dismay, slipped it into a hidden pocket in her dress. He tried not to show his alarm. He was supposed to have burned it, but that couldn't be helped now. "I shall take my leave, milady." He faced her, bowing, as he backed into the crowd, all theatricality.

It was less than a minute later when a new song came on: a soulful lament...

The mysterious woman paced through the crowd- never straying far from the clustered groups of guests. It was rather impossible to tell the ground was warming beneath her feet- a damp mist began rising along the northern end of the iceberg. Only when it was near their eyes did those surrounding seem to notice; laughing in amusement at the fanciful party trick. The woman had vanished completely, in her place was a tall; familiar looking old man. Or he would be should anyone have been able to see him through the steam. The figure began rising, until the peak of a large pointed hat broke through the low clouds.

"Even in death I cannot rest." Eyes surveyed the crowd. Hugo Hunghorasz, at first only identifiable only by his voice, hat, and beard as the mist swirled below him; beginning to dissipate as a series of lights began sparking behind the floating dead man. "You all did not truly think a simple illness could take me?" His staff appeared next, along with his arm and robes as the full boy of the former Paradigm came into view to the icebergs invitees. "Listen close all here, and I will tell you the true tale of my death; and why I have returned." He raised his arms, and as thought commanded the floating lights came together into an explosion of fireworks behind him, startling the crowd into more of an excited frenzy. Confused whispers grew louder as they began to wonder if this was another part of the night's entertainment.

Hugo silenced them all with a raising of hands. "I do not have much time- so I will make my piece quick. It was no illness, but murder and betrayal that ended my life."

There was a pause as again the whispers rose, only for other members of the party to hush them just as quickly.
.

"A murder," He repeated before continuing. "Witnessed and perpetuated by our very own host." The left raised arm slowly swung around to point towards Yuliya.

"Have you not wondered where all this foreign wealth came from? Why it seeks place itself just outside our city walls?" The hand fell as did the old man's face.

"I am gone, but this city was my home, and having taken an oath to protect it- even death cannot stop me. I will not see our great city become a tool in the hands vile monsters. Yuliya Vasilieva is no innocent academy Biro- but a murderous sanguinare! A monster who was maimed and wounded those within the Workman's quarters. Targeting and feeding upon the students and guests within our city. And now seeks to corrupt our Free City with funds from the Vossoriyan Royal Court to try and force us to bend to a foreign Callanasti influence" For all his words of being dead, he'd increased in virgor as he spoke until the last words were all but shouted out- nearly loud enough to reach the mainland.

"But we are the free city of Ersand'Enise! We bow to no emperors or kings, nor fall to outside influence. Friends! Let us show this monster how we welcome her kind in our home." There was a final great flash of light; and the man, mist and lights were all gone in an instant.

In the water below; a young boy held his breath, and grasped a shrimp-dog tightly as the pet began to carry him back to shore.

Ayla was back in the main bit of the Berg as there is suddenly a light show, more of a spectacle than anything. Though the content was terrible. Someone was ghastly enough to dreg up the recently deceased Hugo.

"So you are telling us .. that the little blonde over there, who had just been bested by a drunk girl tripping over her, murdered the Paradigm?" Ayla loudly proclaimed as she pointed toward the girl lying upon her back underneath Zazzy. She did the dramatic pause then started to laugh, "We love the publicity stunt! Now everyone is going to wish they were attending this party! Let's sing and dance before Benedicto the Blessed decides to turn up revoke the berg from Queen Kaureerah.".

Ayla cheerfully heads toward the band and picked up a lute as she begun to strum, playing to the crowd. Her eyes roam till they land upon Rikard as she began to sing.

Yuli was prepared - ready even - to partake of the small treat Zarina had prepared, when an illusion had rocked the iceberg. Singing tales of truth to her, but wild accusations to the rest of the onlookers. She froze halfway through leaning in to finish up this 'half-measure' for just a second as her brain once again racked. Why were there people determined to make her life difficult? And who could have even given this information? She thought it might be Zarina, but there was tales that even she didn't know. Augusto? He was long gone, and why would he throw her in the mud like this? Penny? Not a chance, not after all the money she put in. Where did she slip up?

Alas, she didn't care anymore. She would not let this ruin her night, ruin the experience she had spent so long preparing. She finished the job, leaning in to Zarina and fully partaking, both of the drop of blood and of the kiss in which she would hold and enjoy for far longer than previously planned. By the time the kiss was over, the little charade was as well, with Ayla commenting on it and redirecting attention. She owed her for the save. She stood up when the illusion faded, pulling away from Zazzy for just a minute.

Yuli began to laugh and clap at this 'performance', maintaining her vibe on the exterior. Inside, her blood ran murderously cold, but she did not let it show. "And a demon! He forgot demon!" she exclaimed, pointing to the little horns on her head. But her smile quickly turned into a pout "All is fair here, but this is bit disrespectful, no? Let dead men rest a while before making mockery." she waved her hand, offering her other to Zarina to pick her up off the ground.

Many people seemed to buy that it had been some weird sort of prank: a sort of Lednikrayva roast gone a bit too far, but there were murmurs as well. At the very least, it was a mildly uncomfortable incident. At worst, it was true. Penny, who knew that parts of it were, soon came to the conclusion that this was no mere innocent act, but rather the result of some kind of grudge. The Perrenchwoman kept her feelings closely to herself. She could not imagine Yuliya having anything to do with the murder of Hugo Hunghorasz, and that presupposed that there was a murder. Yet... would Yuliya wantonly kill? She told herself not, but there were uncomfortable facts at the heart of their friendship: Yuliya had attacked her in the night and she'd only found out due to her vile blood type giving the sanguinaire problems. Then there had been attacks on Owain and Marlijn and, supposedly, Yuliya had not wanted to harm them. Marlijn had vociferously stated otherwise and Penny had known Marlijn for longer.

As to whether the entire thing had been real or an illusion, Penny was a binder, and a good one. The illusion was good. The appearance had been almost impossible to see through. The energy had been on point. Yet, beneath the illusion, the cold hard matter of the speaker alluded to a much smaller person. That intrigued her. She needed to find out who it was.

Kaureerah was left holding a piece of paper from Silas, asking for a quieter song. She looked around for him as unease rippled across the crowd and even as Ayla promptly forced some more music to start. There were plenty of nervous laughs and she recognized them for what they were. Silas was from Mudville and, as a true mistress of illusion, she came to understand something else too. This was Silas' work and he wasn't far off of the truth. Here comes the coverup. She let out a low whistle, tucked the paper away, and decided to save it for later.

Truly, her goal was always to bring joy to those around her. It was why she had signed up to model for Pelova Fascino - to perform! Yet, she was now equipped with a growing awareness of how the endeavour she was a part of would change Mudville in fundamental ways, for she had seen it before, far away on the frontiers of Akrihar. This will not uplift the people here, the eeaiko knew. Except for a lucky few, it will replace them, and that was not something that sat right with her. How long will I keep selling myself, body and soul, to smiling rich people?

She swallowed and composed herself flawlessly, drifting through the crowd, making smalltalk, and easing worries. She had standards. Whatever else she might be, Yuliya was a client, and Kaureerah had standards. It had all been so exciting: so lively and colourful and... she'd felt like she was finally somebody for a little while ago. They'd noticed her! They'd liked her. It was oh so hard to let go of, and a very large part of her did not want to. A very large part of her remained painfully undecided.

Rikard blinked, dumbfounded at the display. It was... clearly not Hugo Hunghorasz and some sort of jape or grudge, but at least a few of the simpletons around him seemed somewhat convinced. The thing was... he hadn't sensed anything 'off' about it. Any reasonable form of scientific diligence could disprove the existence of ghosts and, if it was truly Hugo, why would he have simply appeared to level an accusation at a party instead of going straight to those who could make a difference, instead of seeking his revenge!? Rikard would've totally reaped his vengeance had he been in the paradigm's shoes, had any of these tall tales had any truth to them, and how terrible it would have been! He decided that this was all false. It had to be. Nothing else would make any sense. Then, there was Ayla dragging him into a song and dance number and it was distraction enough... for now.

Initially, Zarina thanked the Gods for this over-the-top distraction that'd keep eyes away from the humiliating mistake she was consciously doing. But as Yuli went to claim her small bounty, and made it last, Zaz widened her eyes when the subject of the grand Hugo-show was made clear. Her gold pupils darted toward the illusion, and then to the crowd that shared their attention between the apparition and the host of the party. Which meant attention to Zarina and the girl she was smooching with. An absolute catastrophe.

The words of the false Paradigm resonated loudly in her mind too, serving as missing pieces to a puzzle she had forgotten. The Hugo-murder story was known, but the Workman's Quarter? And Vossoriyan royalty? Who was Yuliya really? A combination of doubt and immediate regret when Ayla made it clear that everyone would notice the couple had one simple saying from the Count Mendoza that resonated in her mind:

Sanguinaires are real. Be wary of them.

Simultaneously the predator and prey of the Wildblood, Yuliya's form brought cold shivers to run down through Zarina's spine. She had briefly zoned out, only to snap out of it when Yuliya presented her hand. She accepted it with a bit of a delayed reaction, “Thanks.” she stood up and brushed herself, but also remained quiet. A normal Zarina would have spoken up, either made fun of or intimidated the pranksters, but this time she kept it all to herself. Nothing felt right, not even that delicious reward she had been wanting for a while. She may have actually fallen for an actual monster with the face of pretty girl.

The party raged through the night, despite the distractions. The complications the ghost brought on the morrow, and following days however, did not disperse as the Lednikrayva did. The battle for Mudville had begun in earnest, not in the form of violence but propaganda.

Maura patiently awaited the arrival of her fellow students as they slowly trickled into the communal area. One by one, they begrudgingly entered the room and took their seats. “Thank you, Kaureerah, for your beautiful siren song this morning that brought us all together,” Maura warmly acknowledged her colleague, aware that her actions might have garnered some disapproval. “We must get straight to business before our glorious nannies arrive for the day.”

She turned her gaze towards each of them, her expression serious. “By now, it should be abundantly clear that the reason we were brought here is not the reason we were told. Our knowledge, skills, and ability to stop the Traveller were not the primary reasons they desired our recruitment to ReTan. We were brought here as pawns, mere distractions, while the real power plays unfold behind the scenes, using us as convenient cover for their misdeeds.”

“Now, if any of you wish to turn a blind eye and enjoy a blissful ignorance of our true purpose here in ReTan, we give you the chance to leave now. Go back to your beds and pretend this conversation never happened.”

Maura's gaze hardened as she studied each of her peers, looking for any signs of wavering resolve. “The fact that you are still sitting here tells me you want more. From what Ayla has informed me, these 'little trips' of ours can lead to significant impact, benefiting others as well as ourselves. Many among us here have already reaped the rewards of these ventures, like our pauper brother Yalen who bought himself an entire village overnight, or our noble scholar Ingrid who emptied out the auction house with her own funds. These are just a few examples of what can be achieved.” with a convenient nod to the both of them.

“We don't believe the individuals we encountered today were the Traveller or his men. They may be revolutionaries, but the Traveller? That doesn't align with what we know about him. The truth is, we don't know who they are. One thing is certain, though: we refuse to be mere puppets in someone else's game, even if they call themselves the Twin-Emperors. We highly doubt they will honour any proposed arrangement with Ersand’Enise.”

Maura paused, her gaze sweeping across the room. “So, here's our proposition: keep an open mind. Don't rush to take sides. Instead, gather information. What do they want, and how does it align with their interests as well as our own? Listen attentively, show genuine interest, and build connections. These will be crucial.”

“Ultimately, we were sent here by the Zenith to establish a trade deal with ReTan, and my goal is to fulfil that objective. What about you? What is your goal here?” Maura challenged her peers, her voice filled with conviction. “We want each of you to ponder this question deeply. Don't give me a hasty response or a meaningless, superficial answer. When you're ready, let me know, privately if you prefer. The only way we can succeed is by working together, and as a merchant, I want to know the price for each of you to make that happen.”

Rikard didn't understand why they couldn't just pound the bad guys. Did it really matter what their exact alignment was? He and the others had a job to do and both the Zenith and the government here were asking them to do it. Why make things more complicated? Being used as a dupe bothered him a little, though. Surreptitiously, the boy's eyes flicked about the room, taking the temperature of it and studying the others in brief. Kaureerah seemed to agree enthusiastically, and others were nodding along, though he knew that Ingrid and Maura were not friends. His eyes settled on the Eeaiko for a moment, who leaned conspiratorially over her ally's shoulder, the corner of one of her breasts coming to rest there for a moment and the tops of them quite visible. Quickly, the youth averted his eyes. He did not desire to be lecherous.

If this was the path that the others chose, he realized that he would do well to walk it himself. Rikard also decided that he might do well to start being more critical in his appraisal of the people who had been brought in to surround him. On that line of thought, there was one thing that stuck out, however. "We should be wary of those who centralize power and keep secrets," he allowed. "I agree, and I'm all for remaining open-minded. I don't wanna be used as a tool either, but I think that anything we share should be shared with everybody instead of being limited to one person. If we are not comfortable doing so with anyone, we should address it forthrightly, or else draw our lines in the sand now. I mean no offence, Maura, but knowledge is power and anyone sharing with you alone gives you exclusive access to most of that power. I don't distrust you, but I don't know you well enough to trust you with that kind of authority either."

Niallus sat there, listening to what Maura had to say. It was clear that her goal was clearly the ReTan trade, that was offered. Then again, she is from a Merchant family. "This could be a difficult thing for us to trust each other, this adventure, is the first time that some of us have had interactions." Niallus looked towards Rikard, then Kaureerah. "Finding trust in people that you don't know, can be tricky."

But Niallus did agree with Maura about the Traveller situation. "I agree with Maura. We don't really know much about it, so we blindly ran into the fire. Well, me and Ingrid did, literally."

Taking a sip of water, then he continued "We've been here for a few days now and what do we have for results, barely anything. Plus, if it was the Traveller, then I wonder why they haven't tried to sway us onto their side."

"But it will probably be best if we keep our eyes and ears open, they could try to turn us against each other, while they just use us as a scapegoat. We're supposed to be a team, after all." Niallus yawned a little, still a tired from his lack of sleep.

Ingrid suspected that this conversation was going to come, though she wasn't too pleased to see Maura heading it off. Even by accepting the terms of the conversation, things are in her court. She already has backers from Kaureerah and most likely Abdel.

Ingrid let her head rest on her hand as she listened, So she doesn't think it's the traveller and that the Twin-Emperors would stick up the academy. Definitely not favourable considering who I would be letting down. The proposition is essentially lubricant in Ingrid's mind. An offer that seems harmless on surface but leads to a compromising outcome. How much was that her distaste and caution versus genuine concern, she wasn't fully sure. If it was someone other than Maura, she could agree with no issue.

There was one thing that Ingrid wholeheartedly agreed on with Maura. We couldn't do it alone. That always leads to disaster. Ingrid had been clear on this since the start of the mission, her main concern was getting her and the others out of here alive. She didn't want to see anyone die like last time, or nearly die a dozen more times.

"I have to agree with Rikard, sharing information solely with you creates a power imbalance. I can keep my ears out, though. Though, as a show of good faith on my part, I will give you some information I know. The Traveller isn't a 'he' per se. They can appear as anyone, living or dead, and seems to be able to act as them seamlessly. Last time I saw her, she took the form of someone that looked like Jocasta, eerily so." Ingrid wanted more time to think on the proposition but still wanted to share something.

Yalen nodded along politely as Maura delivered her speech, but his heart did not stir. Nothing was being said that he hadn't already confirmed through his interactions with Xiulan and the other Rettanese officials. From his point of view, being used as a tool for a separate agenda did not matter to him much, as long as his own goals were achieved. What bothered him at the moment was the insinuation that they had been set upon the wrong target from the get-go. The priest wordlessly reached inside his robe and pulled out a folded up piece of paper, passing it to the person on his left.

"I would hope that my allegiance would make it abundantly clear what my purpose in ReTan is. I don't care about the Emperor's political squabbles. I'm here to apprehend a Traveller agent, and nothing more. Furthermore, I was going to send this letter to my superiors tonight, to report everything I've learned in the past two days. If it comes to a question regarding the investigation, I am an open book. I'll offer any help I can and request any help I need to bring this case to a close. That is my number one priority before all other social or economic agendas." The letter was a thorough description of everything Yalen had witnessed with his own eyes or senses, from Kaureerah's and Maura's strange movements, to the battle in the square and his pursuit of the masked woman. He hadn't even hidden the existence of the magic nullifying device he recovered.

"As you say, an open mind is necessary when finding yourself in the middle of conflicting interests. However, I woke up today firmly believing that we had discovered our mark. Their masks, their training, their ability to funnel supplies from outside government jurisdiction... these are all calling cards of a revolution indeed, but especially a 'Traveller' revolution. If you want me to drop every lead I've been chasing up until now, you'll have to tell me why I am mistaken. If I am wrong, then I am wrong, and I will accept that."

Maura listened attentively to each person's response, taking in their thoughts and perspectives. She was pleased to see Kaureerah enthusiastically on board with their plan.

In response to Rikard, Maura nodded thoughtfully. “Our goal is to work together, not to consolidate power. I see myself as more of a facilitator, the first among equals, as no one else has stepped up. While my gift may be weaker compared to others in terms of raw power, I excel in areas such as organization, logistics, and accounting. We need to rely on individuals like you with strong gifts to complement my own.”

Turning her attention to Niallus, Maura smiled warmly. “There are forces at play that seek to distract and divide us. It's crucial for us to communicate and collaborate, guarding against those who aim to sow division. Our Noble-Scholar can provide the exact quote, but in ReTan, they have an expression: 'Divide and Conquer.' By keeping the enemy separated, it weakens them and allows for a more effective dismantling. We already have some positive results, enough to see through the deception. We could have easily enjoyed a carefree existence here, but we chose to act.”

When it was Ingrid's turn to speak, Maura anticipated disappointment but was surprised by a more tempered response. What intrigued her even more was the information Ingrid shared. Maura couldn't help but smile inwardly, amused by the mental image of the all-powerful Traveller, feared across Sipenta, being a blonde girl in a wheelchair. At that moment, she gained a newfound respect for the Traveller and felt a sense of inspired competition. If they could have such an impact, imagine what she could accomplish in this world. Bringing herself back to the present, she addressed Ingrid's words and asked that was likely on everyone's mind. “Ingrid, you've met and worked with the Traveller?”

Taking a moment to examine the information Yalen provided, Maura confirmed Kaureerah's earlier intuition that they were being followed during their bath. “We never said to abandon every lead, but rather to be mindful of which ones we pursue. It's been suggested that we're up against the Traveller, so naturally, we expect to encounter the Traveller. However, there's clearly revolutionary activity at play here, regardless of the Traveller's involvement. This activity can be just as dangerous, if not more so. It appears there's a simple misdirection at work.”

Maura went through the papers Yalen had provided, quoting from them and further elaborated. “The device mentioned appears to be of Nikanese origin, made from folded steel. This indicates the involvement of Nikan, a rival nation of ReTan, in sponsoring this revolution. It explains their access to resources by having a powerful backer." She smiled at Yalen, emphasizing the need to be aware of misdirection. “We shouldn't dismiss these leads; they've been very insightful. We simply need to use the facts to inform our judgment rather than imposing our preconceived views on the facts.”

After a brief pause, Maura directly answered Yalen's question. “Regarding your question, it's the small details that matter. Mr. Bao mentioned that his master was named Huī, which translates to 'Ash' or 'Grey Dust.' This doesn't align with the Traveller or any known variants. In another document, you describe how the man in the mask killed everyone to prevent their capture. Based on my own experiences in Ersand'Enise, the Traveller tends to use people as martyrs to fuel resentment against authority. By acting in this way, it would provoke fear and resentment towards working with the Traveller.”

Niallus tilted his head to one side, confused. "Even if it's from Nikan like you say. Nikan might even be involved in this, but it would be best for us not to cast that theory to one side." "The Traveller has agents everywhere, what's to say one could have acquired this from someone another agent that resides in Nikan." looking around the group, Niallus wondered how many have actually come into contact with the Traveller. "This revolution could have been months of planning, and we've been called in a couple of days ago"

After a moment, Niallus continued on something that concerned him from the beginning of when they arrived. "I think the Traveller agent knew who we were from the moment we arrived. This thing. he continued "Could have been a precaution on how to counter someone from the outside with magic interfered. They'll probably have more of these, as well."

Ingrid wasn't expecting Maura to ask that, it sounded accusatory to her. She needed to respond quickly, "No, I've only met the traveller and some of his agents the night before the final event of the Trials. It wasn't the friendliest meeting I've had." Ingrid could say more on the encounter, but she would hold onto that for now unless pushed.

Though, the whole Nikanesse magic suppressor had her curious. She knew that the Sirrahi had some connections to Nikan and couldn't help but speculate if this was a more modern device or one that got left and is being distributed again.

"And since the topic came up," Ingrid pulled out some folded papers of her own, "There is some evidence I found yesterday while investigating the charred remains of the building. I don't have the actual letter as I handed it over to one of the investigators, but I wrote down what it said." Ingrid unfolded the papers and began to read, "It was partially burnt, but it started with addressing whoever as their friend and ally. Followed by them asking if help was coming. Most likely since the Guards were closing in. Lastly it is signed, Your brother in revolution." Ingrid put her papers away, "While this isn't definitive so make of it what you will. But we may need to worry more now, since it seemed some of that help arrived."

Rikard blinked. This was like herding cats, but he figured he'd share what little harmless bits he'd learned. "For what it's worth, I headed out last night with these two -" He jerked his thumbs at Niallus and Abdel "- and we saw a huge serpentine dragon rise from the big mountain to the north. I think they called it something like..." He trailed off and furrowed his brow, glancing at Abdel for some potential assistance. "By-long-chan?" He shrugged. "Was pretty cool and impressive. There were these really red explosions and some others who were with us mentioned that they were caused by Mana slimes that nest there being disturbed by the dragon. Apparently, lots of people go to collect them? The place is gonna be a zoo today."

Abdel had been taking a leak outside while everyone poured the intelligence they had gathered. He returned with an apple in his hand, plucked from a nearby tree. His eyes started on Maura, and then to Rikard, and finally to the rest of the group. Chew, chew, chew. Its juiciness reminded him of the Gran Naranja's Oranges, in a way. “Mmm, thuy'rn vury vauuble!” he added to Rikard's remark on people flocking to get the Mana slime remains, mouth full of apple. He swallowed. “But it's apparently dangerous even without the slimes and competition.” he mused, “I'd watch for avalanches or, maybe, big slimes that may have survived.” his eyes returned to Maura, and he couldn't help but smile with strained, red cheeks at her.

“Oh, right.” he snapped his fingers as he recalled something. “The girls caught a blood scent. I'm following up on that, I think.” his eyes brushed through the group of students. “Are any of you still willing to work with them?”

Ingrid was still unsure of the animals. They went out of control and attacked everyone close to them. But a part of Ingrid has to admit that she didn't help as much as she thought, underestimating the skugvars and Abdel's strength. "I'm fine to work with them, they are great for investigation." Ingrid was going to leave it at that but continued, "I apologize for underestimating your skill as a handler. I don't regret going in after you, but it was a mistake to help in that way."

Kaureerah, who had more or less called the meeting in the first place, had been conspicuously silent. Now, she decided to offer her heavily-accented input. "Eye theenk wee shoold spleet aup. Saum too te mauntain end saum too te gaurdien staitoon." She fiddled with the strings of her lute. "Eye em terrefaid of thoos eneemels," she admitted, "Baut eye weel traust yoo with them end eye em naut mooch auf e mauntain climber."

Trypano, who had been nearby, though nobody would have known it, stepped forward as they discussed the day. She had halfway considered discussing some of the matters raised but caught herself, remembering wisely that it was always a bad idea which carried consequences she'd rather not deal with later.

"The Mana slimes are locally known as the 'Red Death'. The purpose for our investigation is to determine how the traveller's agents are involved in the collection of these creatures. It would seem they are being used as a form of makeshift suicide capsule, eliminating captives, so they cannot be interrogated." She bothered to inform them before turning and making her way along.

"I'll be over at the meetup point. When you're all ready, do come and try to not wander off too far." A little passive-aggressive? Perhaps. They did love to flee into the night and keep secrets so. If the government distrusted them, they did little to help sell their trustworthiness.

Yalen leaned his chair back and tapped his finger against the table. He wasn't entirely convinced by Maura's conjecture, because that's all it was. However, there was some merit to her reasoning, and so he felt himself compelled to relax his way of thinking a bit.

"You make some interesting points, Maura. I cannot in good conscience halt my efforts in the investigation... but out of respect for you, I will pursue our targets with the intent to discover their identities for myself, and not with the certainty that I am pursuing an agent of the Traveller. I will not speak against you if you wish to relinquish your part in this. I will continue to report my findings to everyone here."

The priest turned towards Abdel. "I don't know how much the others trust your animal companions, but I believe their services will be invaluable. I plan to go back and inspect yesterday's crime scene and see if I can pick up a scent for them."

"Eye shell goo weth yoo," Kaureerah volunteered. She did not much care for the skuggvars, but Maura would surely not be headed to the mountains, and something about Trypano's manner and very presence... set her ill at ease.

Rikard nodded. "Well, I'm heading to the mountain," he offered, as others began to solidify their choices.

Niallus sitting forward in his chair, "I'll head up to the mountains with you Rikard. Hopefully we'll be to find something worthwhile."

Niallus looks at Ingrid, who is sat next to him "Don't worry Ingrid, we couldn't have predicted how that was going to turn out. We got out of it safely." trying to cheer his girlfriend up

Whatever discussion may have followed did not. Captain Zhu and his men, including a rather tired-looking Peng, approached, and it was a normal breakfast, more or less. Yin and her father came and went, bringing them food. The soldiers chatted boisterously among themselves and, occasionally, the speaktrout translated their words.

While the absence of Xiulan was initially a subject of much discussion, the discovery of her letter eased it and the table was full of hopeful feeling for her return. By now, all knew the nature of ReTan's control over magic, but she was a capable individual and she certainly sounded confident. It was decided that Maura, Kaureerah, Yalen, and Abdel would make their way to the Guardian Station, while Rikard, Trypano, Ingrid, and Niallus would head for Bailong Shan.

Maura carefully considered the options and investigation possibilities while mulling over the idea of being denied entry to the Forbidden Quarter due to bureaucratic hurdles. The thought of facing such obstacles irritated her. "The Purple Guard can inform Mr. Hui to be patient with the revolution while we arrange the necessary paperwork," she suggested, her annoyance evident.

Her mind began to formulate a plan. "They may not grant the warrant immediately, but they should provide an entry pass, right?" Maura pondered, her mind active as if cogs were rotating quickly within her mind. "It would be highly inappropriate for them to delay entry to the Governor of Longwan," she added, slightly embellishing the truth but reinforcing her points with the appropriate documentation that proved her legitimacy to the title. "Especially considering we were summoned to the personal request of the Twin Emperors. After all, that's why we were called to Wánggǎng isn't it?" Her smile widened as she skilfully wove the narrative. "Submit the warrant request and mark it as high priority. If they delay, it will be their responsibility to explain the corruption and inefficiency within their organization. Also, complete the necessary paperwork for the Governor of Longwan and her plus one, please." She smiled widely to Zihan, hoping she would use her skills to make this as seamless as possible.

Maura's gaze shifted towards the escorts in front of her as she pondered on who could be her plus one. She noted Zihan's reservations, similar for Ming as well, and recognized the risk of them asserting their authority over her as a leash. Xiang seemed like he would be out of place in that environment. Whilst Yawen…

With a wide smile, Maura pointed her finger at Yawen. "You would be perfect as my escort. No one would suspect or question two beautiful girls taking a stroll together. It would appear completely innocent," she explained, nodding enthusiastically as the pieces fell into place. "There's a nearby tailor shop. Hopefully, my Hanfu will be ready. It will give us time to prepare and dress for our roles. Yawen, should we request a suitable outfit for you as well?"

Ming and Zihan glanced between Yawen and Maura, and each other, and the tethered blushed even more if that were possible. "No need to uhm... worry," she replied sheepishly. "I have clothing that will suffice. I shall go change soon."

Maura stood ready, adorned in the finest silks ReTan had to offer. The tailors had meticulously crafted her outfit, incorporating elements of her usual attire by infusing it with Torragonese court fashion, a testament to her worldly experience. She couldn't help but fall in love with the exquisite fusion of traditional Hanfu style and adaptations from her homeland. As Yawen appeared in her more traditional ReTannese outfit, Maura couldn't contain her excitement, taking her hands in hers. "We truly look like princesses in these outfits," she exclaimed, her smile stretching from ear to ear. Yawen blushed, offering a muted response. "Yes, indeed."

Approaching the gate of the Forbidden Quarter, Maura and Yawen were greeted by a monumental entrance that exuded grandeur and architectural splendour. It was a structure designed to inspire awe and convey ReTan's power and authority. The imposing walls and towering columns showcased intricate carvings and vibrant paintings of mythological creatures. The roof of the gate boasted ornate ceramic tiles in the vibrant colours of the imperial court, with eaves curving upward in the distinctive ReTanese architectural style. Walking toward the gate, embellished with gold accents and intricate patterns, they were flanked by a pair of imposing ReTanese stone lions standing guard. The lions were expertly crafted, their fierce expressions adding to the imposing atmosphere.

Maura turned to Yawen, overwhelmed by the sight before her. "It reminds me of when we were little and visited the Arslan family's home in Varrahasta for the first time, but this is easily three times the size," she remarked. A tinge of anxiety crept into her voice as she realized that they might not be able to simply walk in with their papers. Would they need these guards to personally open the doors for them? As they drew closer, the guards in their vibrant uniforms positioned themselves in front of the door, and one of them struck a gong twice, signalling for the girls to stop.

Maura turned toward Yawen as she never expected them to face an entrance like this. “Reminds me of when we were little and visited the Home of the Arslan family in Varrahasta for the first time, yet this is easily three times the size.” She started to grow anxious as she thought they may be unable to just walk in flashing some papers, but needing the doors to be personally opened for them like this? As they grew closer, the guard in their vibrant uniforms positioned themselves in front of the door, another rung a gong twice, signifying for the girls to stop.

"停。谁接近神圣威严区的大门。" Stop. Who approaches the Gate of the Sacred and Majestic Quarter?

Maura found herself momentarily speechless, feeling overwhelmed. She gathered her composure, mustering all her resolve as she addressed the guard.

"龙湾总督莫拉·梅尔卡多和她尊敬的同伴。" Governor Maura Mercador of Longwan, and her esteemed companion.

Speaking in hushed tones to Yawen, Maura expressed her hope that Zihan had managed to secure the necessary papers in time. After a considerable wait, the guards responded.

"未经授权。现在离开。" Unauthorized. Leave now.

Under her breath, Maura sighed, turning to Yawen, who appeared anxious, fidgeting with her tassels. Maura looked at her with concern. Perhaps Yawen wasn't the best choice for this task. She was of a similar age to Maura, and they were directly challenging the authority of the Twin Emperors. However, Maura wasn't ready to give up so easily.

"龙湾总督欲见门监。" The Governor of Longwan wishes to see the gatekeeper.

Silence fell as all eyes fixed upon the girl in the rollerchair. The realization of speaking out of turn quickly dawned upon her, given the reaction of those present. The guard at the gate snapped at her.

"大婚前夜，瑶池传来什么窃窃私语？" What whispers did the Jade Pond carry on the eve of the imperial wedding?

Maura looked at Yawen, almost desperate for a response. "It's a love poem. I know this," Yawen said, prompting Maura to act quickly. "Quick, respond. Our heads are too pretty to be on the end of those spears."

"月拥莲花，玉池花语，祝福两颗心因天命而结合。" The Jade Pond whispered of blossoming love as the moon embraced the lotus, bringing blessings to the union of two hearts destined by the Mandate of Heaven.

The guard struck the gong thrice, and one of the guards stationed there disappeared through a side-door of the gate building. Maura turned to Yawen, who still appeared anxious. "Seems your fondness for love poetry came in handy," she remarked, tapping Yawen's arm. "Sorry for putting you in this position."

The side-door opened, and a ceremonial officer in uniform emerged, the Gatekeeper of the grand entrance to the Forbidden Quarter. Approaching them, he spoke in ReTannese. "The ink on these papers is still wet." He scrutinized the two girls, with poor Yawen receiving the brunt of his gaze, causing her fidgeting to intensify.

Maura spoke up, "My companion is awestruck by your impressive dedication to duty. I am the Governor of Longwan, summoned by the Twin Emperors themselves. When one is summoned, there is no luxury of testing their imperial patience. We have travelled swiftly to answer their call."

The Gatekeeper continued to peer at them, inspecting the papers, but then his demeanour seemed to soften. Maura was caught off guard by the rapid change in his expression. "The paperwork does appear to be in order and will be authorized swiftly. Grant entrance to the Governor and her companion."

The gong rang eight times, and the large ornate doors swung open, revealing the sight of the Forbidden Quarter beyond. Following the Gatekeeper's guidance, Maura and Yawen were escorted through the doors, fully entering the district. Maura's gaze turned to Yawen, whose cheeks were flushed and hands were knitted together, looking away. "We got lucky," Yawen said, to which Maura nodded in agreement. "But the important thing is, we are inside. Now we must follow those leads."

The leads diverged in front of them, with one path leading to the residences of the Exemplars and the other to the embassies of major foreign powers. Maura looked at Yawen as they discussed the options, taking the lead. "We have a hunch that the second trail might lead us to the Nikanese presence in that area, which could pose a challenge. We've already met the Exemplars when we arrived. Perhaps they could offer some assistance," she suggested, nodding in agreement. Yawen rolled her eyes but eventually nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

The two of them proceeded towards the Exemplar residences. Maura remembered her conversation with Wu Long at the restaurant, realizing that everything in this district was a display of power. As they walked, she couldn't help but notice an ornate door made of ice, belonging to the Hong family. She extended her hand towards it, feeling the coldness draw away the heat. Yawen looked at her curiously until Maura spoke up, "Is that the home of Hong Xiulan from the Soul Sisters? We saw her perform in Ersand'Enise." Yawen blushed and corrected her, "小妹妹洪秀兰?" Little Sister Hong Xiulan? Maura pondered for a moment and then asked, "Are they referred to as the Little Sisters here?" Yawen nodded, saying, "They serve as ReTan cultural ambassadors." "So they are the Soul of ReTan!" Maura exclaimed excitedly as she solved that little puzzle.

As they arrived at their destination, Yawen narrowed down the specific houses that had been visited. They chose the closest one and headed towards the property. The surroundings exuded grandeur and splendour befitting the positions of the Exemplars. Imposing stone lions guarded the buildings, while the ornately decorated entrance gates showcased intricate patterns, symbolizing the authority and prestige of the Exemplars and their domains.

The first building they approached was built in classical ReTan style. Its sweeping roofline and upturned eaves showcased intricate woodwork with elaborate carvings depicting scenes from ancient myths and legends. The exterior was adorned with vibrant, colourful paintings portraying historical events and symbolism, creating a striking contrast with the canvas. The overall elegance and refinement paid homage to the past.

Yawen confirmed that it was the residence of the Exemplar of Tradition and Reform, based on the pattern and symbolism. After stating their purpose to the servants, they were shown to a waiting area adorned with calligraphy scrolls, where they awaited the Exemplar's arrival. When he appeared, he greeted them with a warm smile.

“欢迎光临，尊敬的 Maura 女士和尊敬的 Yawen 女士。殿下的出席具有重要意义，因为它触及了改革与传统之间的微妙平衡，这属于我的职责范围。”
Welcome, esteemed Ms. Maura and distinguished Ms. Yawen. The presence of the Dianxia holds significance, as it touches upon the delicate balance between reform and tradition, which falls within the realm of my responsibility.

Maura felt her cheeks flush as she and Yawen were addressed in such a respectful manner. She gathered her confidence and replied.

“谢谢你给我们听众。我们有兴趣了解 典范 和您所做的工作。我们被包先生推荐来参观，他对你评价很高。”
Thank you for granting us an audience. We are interested in learning about the Exemplar’s and the work you do. We were recommended to coming to visit from Mr Bao who spoke highly of you.

The Exemplar seemed confused by the request, taking his time to ponder the individuals he had recently greeted.

"宝先生？对不起，这个人对我来说并不熟悉。虽然，吴龙的随行人员中可能有这样一个名字的男子。"
Mr. Bao? I apologize, but this person is unfamiliar to me. Although there may have been a man of such a name among Wu Long's entourage.

Maura couldn't hide her puzzled expression, and the Exemplar easily sensed the situation.

你和吴龙商量了什么？”
What did you discuss with Wu Long?

The Exemplar continued to respond cautiously.

"吴龙经常访问我们的领地，并介绍一些重要的客人给我们认识。"
Wu Long frequently visits our domains and introduces us to guests of importance.

The conversation continued, but not much detail was shared. Maura and Yawen thanked the Exemplar for his time and took their leave.

Maura was about to excitedly share something, but Yawen rolled her eyes and pointed to the other building, where there was a bustling of activity. This residence featured spacious courtyards and open spaces, structured within rigid geometric shapes, emphasizing the value of individuality within the confines of responsibility. The architecture adhered to ReTan principles but incorporated subtle modern elements as well. As they approached, a servant guided them inside. The interior seamlessly blended traditional and contemporary elements, aiming to strike a balance between obedience to established norms and the pursuit of innovative ideas.

The Exemplar of Obedience and Initiative entered the room before them, eyeing them both suspiciously yet expectantly as he extended his welcome.

"啊，你们来了。欢迎你们到来。"
Ah, you have arrived. Welcome to you both.

Maura greeted him with politeness and warmth as she posed her questions, making them more nuanced.

“我们问的是武隆和他的客人。他们也去过这个住所吗？”
We were asking about Wu Long and his guests. Did they also visit this residence?

He replied in a slightly awkward manner.

"哦，关于我的会见，确实是吴龙带来的一些客人。"
Oh, about my meeting, indeed, it was some guests brought by Wu Long.

“那些客人中，有外国人在场吗？”
Among those guests, was there a foreigner present?

"嗯，确实有一个来自Constantia的男子。"
Yes, indeed, there was a man from Constantia.

Maura had expected someone from Nikan, so this information was very valuable. There was a figure from her homeland present as well, perhaps that meant some involvement from the Traveller. It seemed that she had more questions than answers, especially about Wu Long. After concluding their visit and being politely shown out, they made their way back towards the main centre.

In the opulent and prosperous setting of the Forbidden Quarter, the desire for wealth attracted numerous skilled artisans and craftsmen, diligently practising their crafts. The air was alive with creativity as each artist showcased their unique talents. Intrigued by their work, Maura expressed a keen interest in getting a closer look, knowing such opportunities might be rare.

In one corner, master calligraphers demonstrated their mastery of brush and ink, gracefully crafting characters on rice paper and silk scrolls with fluid strokes, capturing the essence of ancient stories and proverbs.

In another area, craftsmen focused on the art of porcelain-making, meticulously shaping and glazing ceramics. Each delicate piece was adorned with intricate patterns and vibrant colors, while others skilfully sculpted clay into lifelike figurines of mythical creatures and legendary heroes.

Amongst these artisans, a Retanese knot shop caught their attention. A skilled craftsman expertly wove intricate designs using colourful silk threads. With nimble fingers, knots, loops, and braids formed exquisite patterns. Maura eagerly pointed to various designs, some with symbolic simplicity, while others depicted vibrant animals and objects like fish, butterflies, and dragons. Her eyes sparkled with amazement. "These are gorgeous, just like yours," she remarked, referring to the tassels and knots that Yawen had fiddled with earlier when she was anxious. Yawen blushed and nodded, while the craftsman explained how these designs represented “幸运、繁荣、长寿和友谊。”luck, prosperity, longevity, and friendship. Yawen rolled her eyes playfully and decided to wait outside as Maura continued to browse.

Moments later, Maura emerged from the shop with a radiant smile on her face, as Yawen beckoned to follow her, “Let me show you something.” They approached a quaint teahouse, a serene haven promising tranquillity. Upon entering, they were greeted by the gentle fragrance of brewed tea and hand-painted scenic murals adorning the walls.



Soft melodies resonated in the background as two musicians played the Sanxian and the Pipa, their skilled fingers coaxing enchanting music from the strings. Dressed in beautiful hanfu attire, they added to the atmosphere. “Kaureerah would be envious of us right now; she loves music too. We should try to bring her next time,”, Maura mused, with Yawen nodding gently.

Seated together around a low carved wooden table adorned with a delicate vase holding a single blossom, they were enveloped in comfort. Silk cushions and embroidered tapestries enhanced the seating, while ornate lanterns cast a warm, inviting glow, creating an intimate ambiance.

The menu presented an array of carefully selected teas, each representing unique flavours and qualities. Yawen, acting as Maura's guide, instructed the servers and explained her choice. "For our tea, I've selected Jasmine Green Tea for its refreshing and floral qualities. It pairs well with a Retanese delicacy called Mooncake. Let's have the classic lotus seed paste with salted egg yolk." As the delectable treats arrived, Yawen spoke warmly, "With each bite, you'll experience the smooth texture of the paste, complemented by the savoury richness of the tea."

Savouring their tea and indulging in the delightful treats, they immersed themselves in the ambiance and comfort, fostering their growing friendship. Curiosity sparked within Maura as she sought clarification. "What does the term 'dianxia' mean?" she asked. Yawen blushed slightly, attempting to find the right words to explain. "It means 'below the palace hall.' You can think of it as 'your highness,' similar to addressing a prince or princess in Avince." Maura beamed with a wide smile, giggling as she exclaimed, "We must truly look like a pair of beautiful princesses then!" Yawen looked away, blushing fiercer, and nodded in agreement.

After savouring their afternoon tea, Maura and Yawen redirected their focus to the task at hand as they headed towards the Nikanese Consulate. Yawen didn't need to guide Maura much as she instinctively gravitated towards the Consulate, given their earlier conversation with Yalen and the relevance of the device found at the crime scene.

Approaching the imposing Nikanese Consulate, the girls were met with an air of formality and strict adherence to protocol. The guards stationed at the gate wore stern expressions, conveying the seriousness of their duties.

Confidently, Maura stepped forward and introduced herself, "My name is Maura Mercador, representing the Mercador trading company. We request an audience with the Nikanese Ambassador to discuss potential trade opportunities. My port in Longwan provides the perfect staging point for trade between our Twin-Continents. We wish to explore a business venture." The guards listened attentively, their unwavering gaze indicating their seriousness. They relayed Maura's message to those inside the consulate, initiating a slow progression up the hierarchical chain.

As they waited, Maura engaged in casual conversation with Yawen, discussing the potential avenues for prosperity that could arise from a fruitful collaboration between their two countries. Maura aimed to entice the listeners with her sales pitch, highlighting the promising prospects awaiting them. However, the response they received was disheartening. The guards, with regret in their tone, conveyed the unequivocal denial of their request for an audience. There was no room for negotiation or conversation. They encountered an insurmountable barrier, a stonewalling, that left them no choice but to accept the outcome.

Feeling defeated, Maura voiced their predicament, "Well, it seems we have run out of ideas for this one." Yawen, rolling her eyes, seemed to be preoccupied with a mischievous thought. "How pressing is our need to gain entry?" she asked with a playful tone. Maura scratched her cheek, pondering the question. "Considering the circumstances, it's unlikely they would leave the evidence conveniently lying around for us to find," she replied, her gaze turning towards Yawen. "Do you have any ideas on how we could sneak in?" Yawen nodded, a mischievous glimmer in her eyes.

After carefully surveying the surroundings, they devised a plan to create a diversion and misdirect the guards' attention. Maura would cause a commotion away from the main entrance, while Yawen utilized her illusion magic to disguise their identities. When the guards were lured away from their posts, they would seize the opportunity to sneak inside.

As time passed, an air of anticipation enveloped the area. A peculiar metallic object appeared, crackling with sparks and electricity near the entrance, diverting the guards' attention as they passed by a large plant. Commotion ensued, accompanied by a mesmerizing display of colourful firecrackers exploding on the ground. Capitalizing on the distraction, Yawen and Maura slipped through the door entrance, expertly concealed by Yawen's illusions.

Yawen continued to cloak them, blending them seamlessly into the surroundings, rendering them effectively invisible. They proceeded to explore the premises with stealth, avoiding areas of heightened security and strategically manoeuvring through corridors and rooms to elude the patrol routes of the guards. Maura employed her kinetic abilities to muffle any sounds that could potentially reveal their presence.

Their infiltration of the Nikanese Consulate led them to a grand, meticulously prepared chamber that exuded luxury. The ornate designs and the presence of freshly cleaned surfaces and neatly arranged sheets hinted at its significance. This opulent room, they surmised, was reserved exclusively for the shogun or even the emperor, suggesting recent use or preparation for an imminent visit.

Their progress through the Consulate was hindered by the unusually high number of guards patrolling the corridors, emphasizing the heightened security. Yawen, narrowing their focus, directed them towards the area where the guard presence was strongest. They found themselves drawn to a heavily guarded vault, under constant surveillance.

Realizing the gravity of the situation and the potential consequences of being discovered, they decided it was best to retreat. However, their exit was hindered by the presence of windows blacked out with heavy curtains and guards stationed in dimly lit areas. The metallic scent in the air, akin to iron, hinted at something more sinister—blood. Though neither fluent in Nikanese, they caught one phrase that stood out, "秘密の利点," which suggested the existence of an advantage, though the exact details were lost in translation.

With every passing moment, the weight of the secrets they uncovered grew heavier, heightening their sense of danger. They found themselves in the ambassador's office, only to discover that everything had been meticulously cleared away. At least we gave it a try, Maura thought, her resignation evident. Armed with the knowledge they had acquired, they carefully retreated from the Consulate. While more questions swirled in their minds, they now possessed a deeper understanding of the complexity of the intrigue and hidden agendas surrounding the Nikanese in these affairs.

As they made their way back, Maura suddenly halted and motioned for Yawen to wait. Intrigued, Yawen turned to face her, curious about the reason for the sudden pause. Maura carefully unfolded a cloth, revealing a pair of beautifully crafted knots resembling Retanese dragons. "We asked for a recommendation for a meaningful gift to symbolize a new friendship, and these were suggested," Maura explained with a warm smile.

Leaning forward in her chair, Maura reached out to pin one of the intricate knots onto Yawen's clothing, while she adorned herself with the other. The delicate knots seemed to come to life, their vibrant colours and intricate patterns representing the essence of their bond. "Through our time spent together, we've come to cherish your company," Maura expressed earnestly, her eyes gleaming with sincerity. "We would be honoured to count you as one of my friends."

Yawen's cheeks flushed, touched by the gesture and the genuine sentiment behind it. She nodded appreciatively, acknowledging the significance of the gift. The exchange of knots silently sealed their friendship.

Welcome to Chapter 6. We’ve made it so far. Good job on keeping up!

This cycle, despite having a big objective, is actually quite ‘free’. You can choose whatever way you want to engage the big threat, if you even want to engage it. You will have the following available:
-Laura and Constable Hunds, they are trained and more or less reliable. However they’ve rarely had to deal with actual combat.
-Cristophe and four highwaymen, there is clear resentment for the group among the rabble but they’re actually experienced in combat.

You are free to reject help.

You are ALSO free to not join the raid and instead continue investigating loose ends. There might be things in your investigation that are missing pieces. So far a big connection has been made between the beasts and the hostile smugglers, and whoever they work for. But there’s clearly more going on here, and of course wildbloods erupting midday is not nothing.

For the Smuggler raid, I’m going to organise this likely as an interactive event, but one that’ll be kept simple. What will matter is the STRATEGY and then eventual TACTICS you use, and how you use the resources available. You are fighting a group that is fourty-strong, with some Yasoi that clearly aren’t red shirts with magic. Expect heavy resistance and consider prisoners in the boat, as well as other smuggled goods.

Brother Baudile requested one alive, but you are free to do as you wish.