[i]"Hiya! Name's Mikan, meee-kan, me-kan, got it? Okay! We're the blades sent to help your king! Courtesy of our queens."[/i] -Mikan, Page 1. [b][center]Royal Blood[/center][/b] --- Rayne Walker quickly left with Auric.Jason Drake stayed behind for a moment, making some comment about how he wanted to look around for a while longer. After all, they had a clear objective: The ex-ranger in the Rat Skull Charmé. They traveled back down the large set of steps they previously came from, and within minutes, found the poison shop. It was a humble looking bungalow, with a simple wooden door that had a rat's skull painted on it in green. Within it were several rows of shelves of variously shaped daggers, crossbows, bolts, and even a few import bows from other lands. Variously coloured liquids lined the walls, some bubbling, some fizzing, some being eerily still. Some were partially transparent, even, but those tended to have a higher price--all outside of their pay range, of course. For a humble looking shop it had quite a vast array of tools. Behind the shop's counter stood a middle aged man, with a few hints of gray in his otherwise sterling black hair. There were many scars on his arms and three prominent ones on his face: This man had seen many conflicts in his time, and yet, his faded brown eyes gave the impression of a man that welcomed new customers. He wore simple commoner's clothes, though on his left hand he had a ring with a very expensive ruby gemstone on it, and he still wore the tattered green cloak of the King's Rangers around his waist. Upon closer inspection, his heritage became immediately clear with the thick villager accent: This man had been born and raised Renaltan pure, central lands, closest to the once forgotten capital. [b]"Name's Vesal. How can I help you? If it has something to do with the royal murder, please, fuck off in advance, I didn't sell the assassin anything."[/b] --- As Rayvon's hand touched the door it opened with utterly no effort, likely assisted by magic. Within was the first floor of the multi-level location, built in an almost labyrinthine way with several rooms and halls and other such places. From the outside it was plain that despite how large the place was, there was no way it could physically contain the several hundred meters of corridors they could see, and that was, of course, only what they could see, there was likely [i]more[/i] beyond that. Mikan's breath is caught in her throat as she stumbles forward for a moment, grasping her head. [b]"Ohh..."[/b] She says softly as a hand grasps her shoulder softly... It felt familiar. Mikan looks up and spots something that immediately causes her to become extremely confused. [b]"A...Manda?..."[/b] As it turned out, there was more than just "dragon lady", AKA, Venidrus, within the building. The building that seemingly stretched on for eternity. No, no, no no no... This was a Mage's Guild establishment. One of many that dotted the land, collecting artifacts, and a hub to boot. It physically connected to all the local outposts in Liveria, without actually, [i]physically[/i], connecting to them, using a series of magical, ethereal pathways that likely laid just beyond the corridors. Amanda, now in her middle age with signs of wrinkles starting to appear around her eyes, managed a small smile at the sight of Mikan. [b]"Yes. It's me... Though..."[/b] She motions with her hand, showing a crisp image in the air of Rayne Walker. [b]"...He needs a woman's intuition with him... Before he makes a mistake in Fate's Web... You wouldn't mind, doing an old woman a favour?"[/b] Amanda asks, the small smile remaining ever persistent along with a warm glow behind her purple eyes. Mikan sighed and nodded, looking at Ceann and Rayvon. [b]"Ohhh welll... Catch'ya later, gotta do granny a favour."[/b] She says with a wink and a giggle before leaving the way she came and moving at a quick pace to reinforce Rayne Walker. It was at this point that, amidst floating book cases and a couple of apprentices, Venidrus descended with levitation from a higher floor. Her scaled arms were wreathed in flames as she did, a sign of her magical power, and yet, her decorative red dress remained undamaged. The dress revealed her surprisingly feminine curves, and one glance showed a complete lack of a tail. Yet her hands did show hints of the scales that ran up her arms to her shoulders, and at 6'5", she was abnormally tall, for a woman... A human woman, anyway. As was described, her hair, long and red, was as fiery in colour as it had been described, short of actually being on fire. Her high heels clicked as they touched the ground, and her eyes fluttered open, red irises greeted the party, as did a sharp toothed grin at the sight of Penelope. [b]"Ahh, Penny! Welcome back, have you finally decided to try on a dress I found for you?"[/b] She stated with a motherly tone. A quick look around the room after Venidrus' distraction would show that Amanda had already left as soon as she had appeared. In all likelihood, she had been there just to speak to Mikan, and then leave. How she knew Mikan was coming right at that moment was anyone's guess. Penelope quickly shook her head. [b]"T-Too revealing..."[/b] She says with a blush as Venidrus laughs. [b]"One day you will see the point of it."[/b] She looks at Ceann and Rayvon, and does a quick bow of her head. [b]"Welcome, my guests, welcome! This is my home, make yourselves comfortable! Just don't bother the apprentices, they have much to learn about golems. And that they shouldn't make one out of a bear."[/b] A few shredded papers and books, and what looks to be the remains of a once beautiful dress, float through the air near the apprentices. [b]"...Because bears do really bad things to things I like..."[/b]