13org

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Location: Just outside the Jotunheim

---

The subtle threat in Silbermine's words as he mentioned that he commanded a squadron of wallbreakers wasn't ignored by Nellara.

"Was that a threat that I heard, Silbermine?" she asked, looking at the Glen noble with a clearly hostile stare. Silbermine's arrogance and his constant threats were finally taking a toll on Nellara's patience.

"Do not let your arrogance blind you. Take a look around you. Not only you have invaded Ascendancy territory, and directly challenged a Castigator's authority, but you are threatening to steal and 'claim' the fortress of sentient beings. Your words and actions are more fitting of a pillager than a noble knight. Please, conduct yourself as someone fitting of your status." Nellara said as she looked at him.

"I hope you haven't forgotten who exactly I am... Silbermine. You speak with a Castigator. I have enough authority to mobilize an entire army if I so deem necessary. If I told the Order of Magisters what happened here today... What you and your knights tried to do today, retaliation against your house, maybe even your nation would be certain..." She said, threatening Silbermine back.

"There is no need for anyone to die, Silbermine. Nor there is any need for the Ascendancy to pick-up arms to retaliate for the grave offenses you have committed here today. There is still time to salvage this situation and avoid an all-out war between both our nations... I assume I can count with your cooperation, yes? For your sake and your nation's." Nellara said with a very serious tone and a piercing stare.

"You claim to have no quarrel with the Sky People, but they barricaded themselves immediately after you arrived, while they seemed to be fine with letting us enter their ship and communicate with them. Do you need any more proof of how barbaric your actions, words and intentions are?" she said, pointing towards the entrance to Jotunheim, which was now barricaded by boxes, with only a small entrance left open.

Nellara nodded softly as she heard Kareet's words. At least for now, communication between the Glen and the humans would be as difficult as it was with them so even if the glen demanded to talk with the humans, there wouldn't be any results coming from that. Besides, she still wanted to, if possible, to continue being the humans' sole allies, in order to monopolize the knowledge traded from them for as long as possible.

When Zeynap was spotted leaving the fortress-ship, apparently with the intention of joining the 'negotiations' Nellara had to think fast on how to steer that negotiation so things would go according to her desires and to the benefit of the Ascendancy. For now, the best she could do was to stall as much as she could until the thought mages arrived... Or until Silbermine ended up losing his patience and saying or doing something he shouldn't have done in front of Zeynap... Something which could easily consolidate Nellara and her group's status as allies for the humans and the Glen from the Silbermine house as enemies... Regardless of what happened, she would have to be ready for anything.

Before Zeynap could approach them even further, Nellara looked to her with a serious expression, raising her hand in a 'stop' signal as she shook her head as she pointed to the Glen knights behind Silbermine.

"Wait. Enemies." Nellara said to Zeynap. A word that they had already exchanged before and one Zeynap would hopefully understand taking in consideration the situation they were right now.

"How can we trust you to not try doing anything with the Sky People's envoy, considering the fact that you clearly stated that you wished to steal their fortress before? What are your intentions with the Sky People and their fortress?" Nellara asked as she looked at Silbermine.

"We need to guarantee their safety before we even consider continuing this negotiation." she finished as she waited for Silbermine's answer.

The Five Senses - Second Arc (Accepting New Players!)

Karina Frost

Upon hearing Octavio's reply to her plan, Karina couldn't help but let out a satisfied smirk. She knew that there was no one better for that task than Octavio himself. In silence, she watched as Octavio entered the stage and the play began to unfold. Taking the role of a Priest, Octavio began raising concerns about the current situation and especially, the safety of the population who lived near the prison.

It didn't take long until murmurs started echoing through the tavern after the other patrons heard such valid concerns being raised by the priest. The very moment Karina heard the murmurs start, she knew that Octavio already had the other patrons' full attention. Fortunately, be it due to the pressure or the chaotic situation he was in until now, Lord Ru'Tev's words did little to nothing to alleviate the worries that were raised by Octavio.

The very last piece in the puzzle came from a single voice coming from somewhere in the tavern, a single voice that was raised in a staged outrage caused by the situation. Chres's voice echoed through the tavern stirring up the emotions and feelings of the other concerned patrons.

One voice, even if staged, was enough. Chres' growls, were like a spark igniting oil. His was the first one, followed by another random patron, then another and another. The moment Chres mentioned the word 'change'. Lord Ru'Tev should know exactly where the situation would go if he didn't do anything right now and as such, he had no choice but to slam his fist on the table before he addressed the concerns of the other patrons.

With all eyes and ears on him, Lord Ru'Tev opened his mouth again after a moment, giving reason to the concerns raised, before he quickly tried to control the situation and lessen the damage to his image by offering a monetary compensation for everything that happened. Like any other Lord, Ru'Tev was sly enough to know how to 'control' the normal people. Unfortunately for him, Octavio and Chres wouldn't let things go his way.

Even if Octavio and Chres weren't successful in making all the patrons agree with them when they mentioned that money wouldn't bring back those who died, the number who did was enough to make it impossible for Lord Ru'Tev to ignore. That very conflict of interests between those who wanted money and those who wanted action, in the end was what made Lord Ru'Tev finally give up...

After a deep sigh, with an already exhausted expression, Ru'Tev said exactly the words Karina wanted to hear the most...

“I will… use my clout with the royal family to look into better solutions.”

That was Karina's cue to act. Her time to take her role on the play Octavio had started. Slowly getting up from her seat, Karina walked towards Ru'Tev, not caring about hiding herself anymore.

"What an opportune timing, Lord Ru'Tev." Karina said as she approached Lord Ru'Tev, stopping just in front of him.

"I couldn't help but hear the commotion... I believe I can help you with your... predicament." she said, looking at him with a satisfied expression.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Location: Just outside the Jotunheim

---

The more Nellara heard Silbermine and his knights speaking, the more she knew she would have a hard type trying to talk with him and his type. His arrogance and religious fanaticism made him blind to the truth and only able to see exactly what he wanted. Regardless of anything she said, no matter how obvious, Silbermine would only see and hear what he wanted to.

Despite Silbermine's arrogant, loud shouts as he replied, Nellara kept silent, carefully assessing the situation and paying attention on Kareet's words as she approached her.

"We should indeed start carefully positioning ourselves, Seeker Kareet. Solving this situation without fighting might be harder than I previously though..." Nellara said, her mind racing as she thought on the next course of action and what she could do to both protect the Ascendancy territory, their relationship with the Humans and at the same time, minimizing any possible losses from their side, should a conflict with the Glen knights really arise.

"Whether we end up in a fight against Silbermine's knights or not, the cooperation from the humans will be instrumental to solve our situation." Nellara said, agreeing with Kareet and Kerchak's words.

"Kerchak, If we want any hope to solve this conflict without having to spill blood, we need a thought mage as soon as possible. I will try keep Silbermine busy, please take one of my soldiers to Lenkik and tell them that Castigator Nellara requested for a thought mage to be dispatched urgently." Nellara said as she looked to Kerchak before she turned toward Silbermine once again.

"Look around you, Silbermine! The border between the Ascendancy territory and your people's territory, the exact line separating the mountains from the marshland is clear! For you to lay claim to this hill would be the same as if I took an army and laid claim to a hill just besides one of your cities." Nellara said, looking to the Glen noble and his knights with an undeniably threatening gaze.

Soon as Nellara said that, Both J'eon and Shirik spoke with Silbermine as well. The first questioning the honor of the Mythadian Knights as they sought to steal the ship from the humans and the latter bringing into attention the fact that the 'painting' on the side of the ship didn't depict a Glen, but in fact a human riding a beast.

Silently agreeing with Shirik's words, as he, much like Kareet mentioned that a Parley could bought them the time they needed, Nellara once again directed her attention towards Silbermine.

"There is no lack of evidence that your reason to claim this ship as yours is unfounded, Silbermine! But if you still think you have enough reasons to do so, I ask for parley! A chance for us all to settle this dispute without spilling blood, either ours, yours or the Sky People's." Nellara said as she started walking forward, stopping exactly halfway between the ship and Silbermine's knights.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Location: Inside the Jotunheim

---

With the situation outside having been dealt with, which became clear with her soldiers confirmation, Nellara turned her attention towards Tyreese, who still had his weapon pointed at her and her group. Fortunately, Vigdis put herself between both Nellara and Tyreese as soon as she returned from the outside and put her hand on his weapon, lowering it towards the ground.

With Vigdis' action visibly making Nellara calm down, she turned her attention back to the situation at hand...

While her idea seemed to be the one that would best respect the tenuous 'trust' that both the humans and her group had created after all this exchange, it seemed that much like Nellara's own group, there was some kind of misunderstanding between them, judging by the harsh tones they used as they spoke with one another.

After a brief... 'discussion', Ixtaro once again started using the strange floating images to communicate. 'Weapon', Ixtaro said as she showed a spear, then a bow and a sword. Little explanation was needed for Nellara to understand such a simple concept. Simple objects made for a simple objective. To kill. The words Ixtaro taught them next though were something a bit more complex... 'Broken' and 'Repair', she said as the the sword was put into an anvil and smashed, before it was made whole again.

"It seems that their main objective is repairing their ship, this Jotunheim... They seem to insist quite a bit on this part." Nellara said to herself, an observation as she continued paying attention to Ixtaro's images.

Curiously enough, after Ixtaro expressed the humans' desire to fix their ship, the next question was one that made Nellara a bit more... cautious. Using the same word from before, 'weapon', Ixtaro produced an image of a Tekeri, with spheres spinning around them and after that, one similar to Shirik, with flames jumping from the image. It was clearly curious about the metal spheres Nellara used and how Shirik was able to conjure flames, once again reinforcing Nellara's theory that the humans had no knowledge of magic... And they seemed to be quite interested by that knowledge...

That question, by itself wouldn't be something that would make Nellara careful, but the fact that Ixtaro conveniently didn't explain that the metal objects on their hands were also 'weapons' made her a bit more... careful regarding how she would approach that subject.

"Whatever it was that made these humans able to build such things, like this fortress-ship or these strange tablets that can conjure magic images... It doesn't seem to be magic..." Nellara said, replying to Kareet, which seemed to be quite shocked after being confirmed that the humans didn't know what magic was.

"Tyreese, weapon... Teach." Nellara said, pointing towards the metal object Tyreese had on his hands, making it clear to them that she knew what those were and using the same word Ixtaro used afterwards. The message Nellara wanted to pass wasn't hard to understand. If they wanted knowledge, they would have to give them knowledge as well. An equal exchange.

"The humans are still hiding things from us. Neither one of them showed how their weapons work, yet they want to know about ours..." Nellara said with a serious tone.

"Knowledge can be extremely dangerous... We should be careful in sharing what we know." Nellara said, with a sharp stare as she looked towards the humans.

Turning back towards the humans, Nellara thought for a bit, trying to find a way to explain them at least about the spheres, since they seemed to think the metal spheres were weapons themselves instead of being mere tools. When Nellara saw one small piece of metal in the ground, apparently coming from one of the many boxes that either Vigdis tripped earlier or that the metal spiders had opened, she calmly walked towards it, picking up from the ground and showing it clearly to the humans.

"Nellara, weapon." she said, as she dropped the small metal piece, making it float above her hand and raised her other hand in a closed fist, before opening, making her claws touch each other and slide, making an arc of electricity appear for a moment and then disappear.

After that small demonstration was done, she made the small bolt she got from the floor earlier to stop floating and put it back on the ground where it was before returning to her initial position.

Even though that exchange of 'knowledge', or at least the attempt of doing so by the humans made Nellara a bit wary, Vigdis, who previously cooperated with her, grabbed a piece of one of the boxes and made two drawings on it. One of them depicted two figures holding each other's hands. 'Friend', Vigdis said, as she held hands with the human named Tyreese, in what appeared to be a friendly exchange.

The other image was quite self explanatory. The two figures, which were holding each other's hands before, were now attacking each other with swords and spears. 'Foes', Vigdis said as she looked towards Nellara, before giving a step forward and offering her hand, repeating the word related to the friendly exchange she demonstrated with Tyreese.

Even though it seemed to be a simple enough question, Nellara still took quite a bit to reply. She had no idea of what the humans expected of a 'friend'... or even if they idea of 'friends' was the same of theirs. It was only after a good two minutes or so that Nellara finally replied, approaching Vigdis.

"Neither one of us seem to have the intention of fighting... There is much that can be gained with a fair exchange of knowledge..." Nellara said as she give a step forward and took Vigdis' hand, imitating the gesture she did earlier with Tyreese. Although her reply to Vigdis seemed to be a bit more... careful, than what she probably would have expected.

"Not foes." Nellara said, shaking her head from one side to the other as she repeated the word 'foes', before dropping the second board Vigdis had given her on the ground and breaking it under her feet.

"Friends...?" Nellara said, this time as a question as she shook Vigdis' hands. While she was still a bit wary about the humans, that demonstration was clearly showing that she was more inclined to be their 'friends' than their foe and she asked a confirmation of their friendly intentions as much as they did ask hers.

It was exactly at that moment that Kerchak and the soldier that Nellara had dispatched with him to Lenkik suddenly came back with worrying news... An entire platoon of Glen was approaching the Jotunheim... After hearing the soldier's report, Nellara gave a step back, letting go of Vigdis hand as she heard the soldier's words with a worried expression.

"Good job, soldier. Thank you, Kerchak." Nellara said, thanking both the soldier and Kerchak.

"It might be better for both of you to not go to Lenkik just yet. While we still need the presence of a thought mage... We might also need the presence of an army..." Nellara said with an ominous tone.

"They know this is Ascendancy territory and still they came with an entire platoon... I fear we might need to prepare for the worse..." Nellara said as she looked to the group.

Just as she finished saying so, the sound of a horn from the outside announced the arrival of the Glen platoon and a voice arrogantly asked for safe passage, expressing their intent of 'claiming' the fallen star.

Before going out, Nellara turned towards Vigdis and the humans once again, with a serious expression.

"Not friends. Humans, stay." she said as she pointed outside, insinuating that the new group outside was definitely not friends, although they couldn't be called foes yet, while asking the humans to stay inside.

Walking outside, Nellara stepped forward until she could be clearly seen by the Glen of the House Silbermine.

When she got outside, J'eon, whom she thought had left, could be found already speaking with the Silbermine knights, denying their request of safe passage.

"Knights of the house Silbermine, you stand within Ascendancy territory, in the presence of Castigator Nellara, assigned to Lenkik under direct orders of the Ascendancy!" Nellara replied, with a loud, authoritative voice as she approached to back J'eon's words.

"There will be no claiming! This fortress-ship is neither yours to claim nor ours to have! This ship and it's inhabitants are under the protection of the Ascendancy. Acts of violence or aggression against them will be considered as a violation of the Ascendancy territorial hegemony and a direct aggression to the Ascendancy itself!" Nellara shouted with a commanding voice, letting the Glen know that what they were seeing wasn't a 'fallen star' and it couldn't be claimed, as it already had owners, which weren't the Ascendancy.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Location: Inside the Jotunheim

---

Immediately after they were given orders, the soldiers rushed outside with their weapons in hand, quickly forming a semi-circle around the entrance in a defensive formation. Even though Nellara was firm and confident in her orders, it still didn't help much with the soldiers' nervousness and apprehension. They had absolutely no idea of what these humans were capable of. What kind of projectile weapons they wielded or even if their armors would be of any use defending against those and as such, it was understandable that they were rather nervous. It was only due to their training and discipline that they didn't get alarmed and ended up attacking when one of the humans, the one called Vigdis, suddenly appeared walking out from the opening behind them, and stopped in front of them.

While they had no idea of what the human was doing, it was obvious that it was signalling to the metal things that were approaching them. The fact that it was standing between them and the possible enemies also made the soldiers calm down a bit as they waited to see how the situation would unfold.

Fortunately, it seemed like the strange metal things understood her message, as they lowered the strange metal objects they had on their hands and slowly approached Vigdis, after being ordered by a strange human, vaguely resembling a human appeared, wearing some kind of black armor and a strange black mask over it's face.

After being ordered by the human, the metal things, which seemed to vaguely resemble humans, although made completely out of metal, waved towards the soldiers, which definitely helped to calm them down, enough for them to lower their weapons, even if they still were carefully observing the droids and the armored human's movements.

Inside the Jotunheim, Nellara was doing her best to try and salvage the situation, despite the trap that the humans had set by surrounding and trapping them inside their ship. Watching every movement with extreme care, she could feel the tension in the air as the seconds passed by. The bigger humans inside the ship were already pointing their weapons at them and Nellara already had her spheres ready to be shot towards the armed humans in response even to the smallest movement. She couldn't afford to take her attention off the humans to say anything to J'eon, who seemed to be walking away after their small disagreement.

While Nellara saw Vigdis suddenly running outside, both her tone of voice as she spoke something to her and the fact that Vigdis seemed to be unarmed were more than enough to tell Nellara that she wasn't a threat and seemed to also want to solve that situation without any conflict. Offering her a simple nod as she passed by Nellara continued looking towards the other humans, unflinching.

Thankfully, the spiders that the suit had released were quick to gather around the huge armor and suddenly stop moving, just before the armor opened up, revealing a petite human coming from inside it, definitely far too small for that huge suit of armor. Surprisingly enough, she also didn't have a hostile body language or tone of voice, making the same signal Nellara herself did when approaching the humans at first. Zeynap, as one of the humans introduced themselves, was also quick to confirm that the the small human that got out from the suit was also a 'human' just like them and apparently, part of their group.

Among the group of humans, most of them seemed to be quite willing to talk in an amicable way... other than the bigger human called Tyreese. Unlike all the others, it seemed to be quite eager to point it's weapon at Nellara and she was sure to let him notice that she knew what it was doing as she looked at him with a sharp, cold stare.

It was at that very moment that Shirik, the burning Iriad from before, thought it was a good idea to somehow give reason to the humans that had just trapped them, using his staff to draw attention, hitting it into the ground and making the temperature drop a few degrees.
Regardless of what nonsense the burning Iriad spoke to her or how arrogant it sounded, the fact that it thought it was a good idea to suddenly slam it's staff on the ground despite the very delicate situation they found themselves in made Nellara almost burning with anger.

"Silence, Iriad! This entire situation is one small, sudden movement away from turning into a bloodbath and you thought it was a good idea to slam your staff into the ground?! Only to draw an audience to see you acting pretentiously and condescendingly towards others? One sound, one sudden movement is all it takes for one of the humans to get startled and open fire!" Nellara said in a low but threatening tone, trying her best to control her temper and not make any sudden movements, despite the arrogant manner the Iriad spoke to her.

"These 'newcomers' not only had their weapons pointed at us for some time now, but they have us completely surrounded. My actions have been strictly defensive since the start and still, they continue to point their weapons at us. Should I send my soldiers away despite all that then? Should I take off my armor and offer them our weapons and our severed heads as a peace offering?" Nellara asked, completely unfazed by Shirik's actions or words.

"I care not who do you think you are or how little worth you give to your own well being and safety, but I will not tolerate any actions that might hinder our mission or put my soldiers, Seeker Kareet or any other civilians at risk. If we want to salvage this situation, we will need the cooperation from everyone involved. Regardless if they are a Tekeri, an Iriad or a Glen. Are we understood?" Nellara asked, her tone of voice sending a clear warning to Shirik as she continued.

When Kareet mentioned that she would have to take some risks, Nellara simply let out a deep sigh before replying.

"I trust your competence, Seeker, but I hope you know exactly in how much risk you are putting yourself into." Nellara said, as Kareet left formation and crouched down, pulling out a parchment to try and illustrate what she wanted to tell the humans.

"Tyreese!" Nellara said, pointing towards the big human with the weapon pointed towards them and then pointing towards the ground, demanding him to lower his weapon as she did the same with her spheres, making them stop spinning and putting them back into the small pouch where they were in the beginning.

Kareet, much like Kerchak, who mentioned earlier that he wanted perhaps to take a human into the city and put them in contact with a thought mage, Kareet also mentioned having a thought mage to help them. While Nellara agreed that it would be of great help, taking a human with them was a terrible idea.

"Taking a human, any human, with one of you to Lenkik is not an option. There are too many variables, too many risks involved and it would require a great deal of trust from the humans to take one of them from their ship, away from their companions to go alone with us to a city they know nothing about." Nellara said with a firm tone.

"Kerchak, you can take one of my soldiers with you back to Lenkik. Tell them that I requested for a thought mage to be dispatched to the crash site as soon as possible. My soldier will confirm my orders and that you are acting under my request." Nellara suggested as she turned to Kerchak.

"Humans, stay. Kerchak, go." Nellara said, pointing towards the humans and then to the ground before she pointed towards Kerchak and then to the symbol Kareet drew for Lenkik.

"After, we speak." She continued, moving her hand in a vertical circle to symbol the passage of time and then pointing towards her beak and towards the humans.

Having experienced the reaction that the humans had to magic, Nellara thought it would be a good idea to trying to be as simple as possible with her words, while using signals to try and communicate their meaning instead of continuing using magic to communicate with them. While it was unlikely they would be 'afraid' of Shirik's magic, she knew it would undoubtedly be very distracting for the humans. Maybe preventing them to concentrate in what was actually important.

Fortunately it seemed that Kareet's map was indeed able to draw the humans' attention as it became clear when Ixtaro, suddenly pulled out a strange metal tablet and started tapping on it. In no time, something which Nellara could only describe as a 'magical image' appeared floating above the metal tablet, showing a house as she said one word to accompany it... 'Home'.

The magic images continued to pass, with Ixtaro supplementing those with words in their language. 'World', she said, when the house shrunk into a sphere, a planet. Soon, the planet shrunk and a ship, vaguely resembling the damaged fortress they were now inside appeared. 'Jotunheim' Ixtaro continued.
The ship then proceeded to quickly pass by many other planets, before an explosion appeared and finally, it landed into a planet... 'Kanth-Aremek'... This planet...

It took Nellara a few seconds to process exactly what she had seen from the magic images. It was almost too much for her to believe. After a moment, she couldn't help but let out an incredulous chuckle.

"It seems these 'humans' came from much farther away than just another continent, Seeker Kareet..." Nellara said, with an shocked expression as she looked at Kareet.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Location: Inside the Jotunheim

---

The very moment J'eon started voicing his disapproval, in a rather abrasive and disrespectful manner, the soldiers who were accompanying Nellara immediately put their hands on their weapons and began approaching J'eon. Nellara, seeing that, raised her other hand after Vigdis got the steel sphere from it, in a clear signal for them to stand down.

"Do not mistake your own position and role here, Blacksmith. The Guild has no saying in what happens inside Ascendancy territory... You have no authority to order even my soldiers. Much less a Seeker or a Castigator." Nellara said, both the tone of her voice and her eyes sending a very clear warning.

"You should listen to Seeker Kareet's words very carefully. I would like to solve this situation in a peaceful and diplomatic way, but I will not hesitate to to use force and the authority I was invested with as a Castigator if I deem necessary." Nellara said, still looking directly towards J'eon after Kareet reminded him that it was on his best interest to cooperate.

"Now, I will ask you once again. Can I count with your cooperation, Blacksmith J'eon? For both of our sakes. We are dealing with a very delicate situation and I would like to avoid any internal conflict between our group." Nellara said, her eyes still fixed on J'eon before she slowly looked towards Vigdis once again, curious about her reaction.

Focusing her attention on Vigdis once again, Nellara found curious how she seemed to be shocked, almost afraid by her small magic demonstration, going as far as giving a few steps back when Nellara showed the electricity jumping between the steel spheres. Despite the initial shock though, Vigdis' curiosity seemed to win over her fear as she accepted to examine one of the steel spheres from up close after wearing a thick glove, possibly to protect her against electricity.

"They don't seem to know the concept of magic... Are they... unable to use it? If so, how does even this huge fortress of a ship is capable of flight?" Nellara said, still observing Vigdis as she carefully examined the metal sphere.

After a quick examination, Vigdis returned the metal sphere, which Nellara promptly made it return to where it was previously, spinning on top of her other hand together with the rest.

After that brief exchange was done, Vigdis clapped her hands, probably trying to draw their attention before she started pointing towards the strange metal door on the other end of the room, raising her hands after she did so.

Before Nellara could ask Shirik, Kerchak or Kareet about what was Vigdis trying to say, a loud noise immediately echoed through the room. The moment the noise stopped and other beings like Vigdis started entering the room, Vigdis' strange signals finally made sense.

"Stand down. Be on your guard but try not to show any hostility." Nellara said to the soldiers.

While Nellara was definitely focused on the metal objects some of them were carrying, which she now knew that were weapons, she couldn't help but notice how different they were from one another. Not only regarding the skin color, but the size and even the very build. Some of them were so different that Nellara wouldn't be surprised if they were different species... Another thing that immediately drew her attention was the fact that one of them seemed to have an arm completely made of metal.

"Shirik, remember what we talked regarding how they seemed to be dangerous...? I am not sure about the one with the metal arm, but those metal objects the bigger ones are carrying are definitely weapons..." Nellara said, pointing towards the long metal objects some of them were carrying.

Despite not reacting badly to the fact they were armed, Nellara didn't try to hide the fact that she was carefully looking towards the metal objects they carried in their hands as they entered the room, almost as if she wanted them to know she knew they were armed. Her attention was particularly focused on the one that was in front of the others, both due to his bigger build and the fact that it was armed. Despite that, the hand signal some of thmy made, by raising their hands, made Nellara a bit less worried about their weapons. As long as they didn't point those at them, she wouldn't react in any way.

After a brief moment, the one with the metal arm approached Vigdis, talking something with her. The metal armed being seemed to be quite surprised when Kareet introduced herself, repeating her name before saying her own, Ixtaro, before she started pointing to all the others that entered the room with her, saying a strange word: 'Hoo-man'.

Once again Nellara chose to follow Nellara's example as she introduced herself.

"Nellara." She said, pointing to herself, before she turned to Kareet and the others.

"Is that what they are? It seems they are all 'Humans', even those bigger ones... Curious." Nellara said, repeating the word Ixtaro said as she pointed towards her companions.

Nellara was about to do exactly the same thing, pointing to her, Kareet and Kerchak to tell the humans her race when the huge suit of armor on one of the corners of the room, which she assumed that was empty, suddenly started moving and releasing many metal spiders, which started roaming around the room while the remaining metal spiders continued cutting open and apparently fixing the suit of armor.

Despite everything that was going on, including the entrance of the other armed humans, Nellara was still relatively calm but when the suit of armor started moving, releasing many small metallic spiders around, she immediately assumed a more alert posture, with the electricity arcing from each metal sphere to the other getting stronger and louder. As the metal spiders started getting dangerously close to Nellara and the others, she immediately made the steel spheres float to the ground, positioning themselves between them and the spiders in a line on the ground, with the electricity arcs forming almost a fence separating them.

"Vigdis, Ixtaro." Nellara said with a firm voice, pointing towards the spiders and the armor, her tone of voice making it clear that she didn't like how the spiders were approaching them and how the armor suddenly started moving.

Just as she said so, the metal spiders started backing away just as suddenly as they approached Nellara and the others. In response to that, Nellara made the steel spheres go back to where they previously were, spinning above her hand. Her eyes were carefully sweeping the area though, making it clear she was keeping an eye both on the gigantic suit of armor, the spiders and the strange guns the other humans had on their hands.

As if the situation wasn't already tense enough, the two soldiers Nellara had left on guard were soon about to realize that they weren't alone...

"Are those... metal scraps from the ship...? Wait... No, they're moving!" One of the soldiers said, as he suddenly saw something made of metal start moving on the ground on the hill a bit far away.

"They're getting closer! Warn Castigator Nellara, now!" One of the soldiers said to the other, as it immediately unsheathed his halberd, wielding it in a combat stance.

"Castigator Nellara! The metal scraps from the ship! They... are moving and are approaching us!" the other soldiers shouted, already with his spear and shield on his hands.

Immediately upon hearing that, Nellara turned towards Vigdis, Ixtaro and the others, looking towards them with a cold, threatening glare, before turning towards the other three soldiers that had came inside with her.

"I want you three outside. Secure the perimeter around the entrance and be particularly careful about projectiles. One of you! Be in standby, ready to immediately run back to Lenkik to report what is going on, should those metal things engage in combat." Nellara said, ordering the remaining soldiers as she pointed outside, before she turned to the rest of the humans.

Language barriers proved to be no obstacle for the humans to understand Nellara, even though there was nothing Nellara said nor any movement with her hands. Her stare was already enough to clearly convey the fact that her trust on them had dropped to rather dangerous levels.

"Seeker Kareet, Kerchak, you should probably give a few steps back. I don't think our guests can be totally trusted." Nellara said, all four of her eyes still watching every single movement the humans made.

"Vigdis, Ixtaro, Humans..." Nellara said with a firm voice, drawing the humans' attentions as she pointed outside, demanding an explanation.

The Five Senses - Second Arc (Accepting New Players!)

Karina Frost

While it was true that Karina did hope for someone to do something, she wasn't expecting for Týfurkh to act in the way he did. With her eyes wide open in shock, Karina watched, speechless as Týfurkh completely crush the poor Lord's foot. Even though Karina was watching from a distance, she couldn't help but wince as she heard Lord Ru'Tev's loud cursing.

"It's definitely broken..." Karina muttered to herself with a sigh. She was almost sure where that absurd situation would lead them, should no one interfere. The Lord would probably charge Týfurkh with assault and imprison him... Maybe even worse.

She was about to get up before Tayla suddenly approached Týfurkh and Ru'Tev. Even Karina got a bit disoriented by the way Tayla approached like a tempest, with a flurry of words and questionable statements. It was no wonder that Lord Ru'Tev could barely think properly, considering the pain and how overwhelming was Tayla's approach.

Surprisingly enough, despite the chaos that both of them had created, or maybe precisely because of that, Lord Ru'Tev seemed to be willing to answer some of their questions, starting by the reason for why the prison was built in the middle of the divergence. Was he lowering his guard for a moment, overwhelmed by so much happening in such a short amount of time?

Knowing that it might be the chance Karina was waiting for, she discreetly called Octavio to her side.

"The Lord might be able to avoid a few of us, but he cannot avoid popular pressure..." she said in a low tone, with a smirk.

"I wonder what would happen if the people started get curious about how effective is the prison in holding the Crazed and what exactly can assure them that they are safe if the crazed decide to rebel..." Karina continued, clearly hinting at Octavio to use his ability to rile up the people from the bar and maybe encourage them to ask the right questions.

"He won't be able to run away without giving some answers and even then, after being pressured like this, he might be more... willing to cooperate with us if we end meeting him up afterwards..." Karina finished, waiting for Octavio's input on her little scheme.

Akai, who was hearing Karina's scheme, couldn't help but let out a surprised expression, followed by a mischievous smirk, finding all that quite amusing.

"Aren't you quite good at scheming yourself, Karina? I am pleasantly surprised! This will definitely be fun. Maybe as much as watching that guy's foot being crushed by Týfurkh!" Akai said with a giggle.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Location: Inside the Jotunheim

---

Even though the soldiers were now able to properly identify the strange, smoldering figure form earlier as an Iriad, they were still understandably nervous around it. It's appearance was only one of the reasons. The other was the fact that not only it was a mage, but it seemed to be a rather powerful one. Fortunately, despite the soldiers being rather on edge, the fact that the Iriad didn't seem to invoke his powers, coupled with his rather slow movements, made them feel a bit less apprehensive. The moment it finally identified himself, the soldiers seemed to relax a little bit, at least enough to make them take their hands off the hilt of their weapons.

The fact that it identified himself as the companion of an esteemed Seeker coming from Arcaeda, which was probably the female Tekeri they saw earlier from a distance, was more than enough for them to not see it as an immediate threat. It was thanks to that fact that the soldiers didn't react in an adverse manner when Shirik simply continued walking after getting his walking stick and instead, simply ended up 'escorting' him inside.

In the other hand, the Glen seemed to be much more... reactive and uncooperative. Identifying himself as a master from the Blacksmiths guild and showing them the official emblem of the Blacksmiths' guild, he continued to show his displeasure, going as far as asking if they were the ones to bring down that huge fortress-ship.

The very moment J'eon asked that to the soldiers, they couldn't help but look at each other, incredulous. Even if they were both mages, which they weren't, it would still be highly unlikely that they could do anything to bring down that hulking steel fortress.

"We are soldiers of Lenkik, under direct command of Castigator Nellara to investigate and secure the crash site. Our objectives seem to align, so we ask you for your cooperation for the time being, Master J'eon. We are under strict orders of Castigator Nellara to not engage in combat unless strictly necessary." One of the soldiers said with a serious tone, unfazed by J'eon's threat of them being interfering on the guild's business. The way the soldier empathized Nellara's title was a clear way of saying that they were under orders coming from high enough that they didn't need to be worried about such threats.

Meanwhile, Nellara, who was already inside the ship, quickly had her attempts of communicating with the strange creature from the ship frustrated. Not only it didn't seem to understand her words, but it's sudden reaction to aim at her with the strange object she had on her hands and keep it aimed despite having fallen on the ground, was almost enough for Nellara to send a burst of electricity through her orbs to incapacitate the strange creature.

Fortunately, on the very moment Nellara was about to do so, with the metallic orb the creature had nudged away having already re-positioned itself near her, the female Tekeri was quick to explain to her that the beings from the ship didn't seem to speak S'toric before she identified herself as a Seeker from the Order of Sages, showing Nellara the unmistakable medallion, symbol of her position.

"Well met, Seeker Kareet." Nellara said, greeting Kareet with a respectful nod.

"I understand the situation, but we still have no idea of what they are capable of, nor if the other beings inside this fortress-ship will end up being more hostile than this one." Nellara said, lowering her hands and putting them behind her back.

"With that said, you have my word that neither me nor my soldiers will engage in combat or display any overly hostile behavior... Unless strictly necessary." Nellara said, reassuring Kareet that she didn't want to escalate that situation any more than it already was.

Following Kareet's example, Nellara looked to he strange being after it introduced herself as 'Vigdis' and lowered the object on her hand, before she pointed at herself speaking her name out loud.

"Nellara." She said, introducing herself.

At that moment, Vigdis would notice that the metal spheres, which seemed to immediately reposition themselves whenever she tried nudging them away, seemed to back away, rolling back to where Nellara was, making a circle around her.

"Communicating through mimic and hand signals, while primitive, seem to be our best bet for establishing friendly relations with these strange beings for now." Nellara said, agreeing with Kareet.

It was only at that moment that the other members from Kareet's group, the glenfolk and what appeared to be an Iriad, despite it's strange appearance, arrived inside the ship, being 'escorted' by Nellara's soldiers, one of which approached Nellara, quietly telling her about the glenfolk and the Iriad, before backing away again.

"Thank you for your report, soldier." Nellara said with a nod to the soldier before she turned to both the Glenfolk and the Iriad.

"J'eon and Shirik, my soldiers have already told me that you are Seeker Kareet's companions and I am sure they have already explained you about our objective. I assume I can count with your cooperation, yes?" Nellara said, making a hand gesture for the soldiers to relax.

"I am Castigator Nellara, assigned to the city of Lenkik under direct orders of the Order of Magisters of Arcaeda." Nellara said, introducing herself to them, without taking her eyes off Vigdis.

Vigdis, despite apparently being a bit overwhelmed about everything that was happening, slowly took something out from inside her clothes before she slowly moved towards a nearby wall and started doing something.

"Is she... writing? It doesn't seem to be like any other language I've ever seen..." Nellara said, curious as she gave a step forward, leaning and trying to see what Vigdis was doing.

The explanation about what Vigdis was doing only came a few moments after, thanks to Kareet and the other male Tekeri's cooperation, whom introduced himself as Kerchak. Apparently, the things Vigdis was writing weren't exactly letters or words, instead they were numbers.

"It seems to be trying to gauge our level of intelligence... Perhaps by using numbers instead of trying to communicate with words or by writing? Intriguing..." Nellara said, watching Vigdis' actions with clear curiosity and interest.

While she was by no means a scholar like Seeker Kareet or apparently, her companion Kerchak, Nellara was still well versed and educated in many areas which were necessary for a Castigator. Unfortunately, linguistics wasn't one of them and as such, Nellara could offer little to help decrypting Vigdis' writing.

Surprisingly enough, it seems like Vigdis did notice how Nellara was a bit outside of her field of expertise when compared to Kareet and Kerchak. As Vigdis began staring at her, she raised one of her hands and began talking into what Nellara could only describe as some kind of metallic bracelet. After she finished speaking, she slowly approached Nellara, removing a metal projectile from inside a small case and offered it to her. Curious, Nellara slowly took the strange projectile from Vigdis' hand with the tip of her claws.

A quick inspection quickly revealed that the projectile was made of a very rare metal. Definitely not something any Tekeri, no matter how wealthy, would consider using in something disposable like ammunition. It was much denser than iron or steel, much harder to work with and it was also immune to Nellara's magnetic or lightning magic. Those characteristics, when coupled with the format of the projectile would surely make quite a dangerous projectile. If Nellara assumed that the metal object on Vigdis' hand was a weapon able to shoot this projectile repeatedly, it would definitely make her initial assumption even more likely. Those creatures were dangerous. Very dangerous.

As a means to offer something back to Vigdis, after returning the projectile, Nellara extended her hand forward, making the metal spheres, which were previously rolling on the ground, float to her hand and begin slowly spinning. This continued for a moment, before Nellara made a strong arc of electricity jump from one sphere to another as they continued spinning. After that small show of skill and magic control, she made one of the spheres separate from the rest, floating to her other hand as she grabbed it with her claws, offering it to Vigdis.

Upon close inspection, Vigdis would find that despite seeing them not only floating and moving by themselves, but producing electricity, the metal spheres were totally unremarkable. Other than the fact that they were almost perfect steel spheres, there wasn't anything else going on with them.

Meanwhile, Shirik, despite not seeing to be particularly well versed on those subjects like the Seeker and her companion, was still paying enough attention to use fire magic to draw in the air a small summary of Kareet and Kerchak. Which would undoubtedly be helpful both for Nellara and the others to not be completely clueless of what was going on.

When he asked Nellara if she thought Vigdis was alone, she immediately shook her head.

"Considering the amount of equipment they have around and the size of this fortress-ship, it's highly unlikely that she is alone. She also seemed to be communicating with someone by using the strange bracelet on her wrist. Judging by the projectile she just handed me to inspect, which is made of an very rare metal, they seem to be very well armed..." Nellara replied, still carefully watching Vigdis' movements and her surroundings, preparing herself if others like Vigdis approached the group.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Location: Crash site of the Jotunheim

---

The barge Nellara and the small unit of Tekeri soldiers took had left them as close as it could from the site of the crash, while still maintaining a reasonable, safe distance from it. The very first thing Nellara and the soldiers saw just as they disembarked the barge, before they could even see the crash site properly was a strange figure in the air, hovering above the location. Tendrils of smoke, embers and fire seemed to rise from whatever it was that crashed into the soil, being absorbed by the figure.

"Remember, we are here only to investigate the crash site and report our findings. Do not engage unless strictly necessary." Nellara said in a low tone as she looked to the soldiers.

Not knowing if the strange figure would be hostile to them or even if it was responsible for what happened, Nellara quickly judged that the best course of action for now would be to approach in silence and evaluate the situation before acting.

"We will move in silence. Spread out in a delta formation. Keep each other in visual range." Nellara said as she looked towards the small hill separating them from the actual crash site.

"Move out." Nellara said, her final verbal command as she crouched down and started moving towards the crash site, followed shortly by the other soldiers, moving in a delta formation, keeping a distance of about five meters between each other.

Cloaked by the night, Nellara and her unit moved in towards the crash in a steady pace, carefully watching their surroundings as their did so.

The moment Nellara got on top of the hill, she raised her hand, signalling for the team to stop as she looked towards the crater in front of them. What Nellara and the soldiers were seeing was something beyond belief. In the center of the crater, a huge, imposing metallic fortress resembling a ship stood remarkably intact, despite having fallen from the sky. Even a quick glance was enough for Nellara to tell that no nation she knew about had the capability of building something like that. The fact that it was somehow capable of flying was an even bigger mystery. What probably made Nellara even more shocked by the size of the fortress-ship was imagining what was capable of building something like that. How strong were they and which weapons they had used to defend their fortress-ship.

If whoever was responsible for that metallic structure ended to be an enemy, they could pose a serious threat not only to the city of Lenkik, but even to Arcaeda itself.

After taking a moment to properly take in what she was seeing, Nellara continued, signalling to the soldiers to follow after her.

As they continued to approach the crashed ship, they were able to identify that a number of people seemed to have already approached it. The strange figure that was absorbing smoke, embers and fire from the crash despite it's appearance, didn't seem to be hostile to the other people nearby, which were two Tekeri and a Glenfolk. Judging by how it seemed to be observing the metallic structure together with the others, Nellara quickly disregarded the possibility of it being responsible for the crash. Still, what exactly was that creature was still unknown to Nellara, despite being able to see it a bit better than before. Among the group, the only one that didn't seem to be a normal civilian and drew Nellara's attention, other than the strange creature, was the glenfolk, which seemed to have a rather well trained body.

As Nellara and her team approached the ship, they could also see that it wasn't exactly as intact as they previously thought. While the structure was remarkably resistant and was able to retain it's structural integrity despite the heavy impact, the damages it had withstood were obvious once they took a closer look. It was exactly on one of those the strange group encountered themselves. The big gash on the side of the ship was big enough for them to go in.

Surprisingly enough, instead of the dangerous looking, charred and burning creature or the glenfolk being the ones to go in the crashed ship, the one that went inside first was the male Tekeri, which didn't seem to be anything more than an unarmed civilian. Which would probably be enough to alert whatever it was inside the crashed ship. The rest of the group soon went after the male Tekeri, entering the ship one after another.

Raising her hand Nellara signaled to the soldiers to move closer, as she stopped just outside the entrance.

"Two of you, guard the exit, the remaining will move in with me." Nellara whispered to the soldiers as she began moving towards the big opening on the side of the crashed ship.

Arriving just a few seconds after the other group had entered, Nellara and the soldiers carefully entered the ship, leaving two soldiers behind as the others moved together behind Nellara in a delta formation, making as little noise as possible.

The moment they got inside, there was little time to react before they noticed that the group from before, particularly one of the two Tekeri, had already made contact with the beings that were inside the ship. Nellara was surprised to notice how small the strange, hairless beings were, compared to the size of the ship and the strange suits of armor lying around inside the ship. The female hairless creature seemed to be somewhat nervous as it looked towards the female Tekeri, who was... for some reason, sketching in a book despite the tense situation she encountered herself in.

Noticing the strange metallic object that was being held by the hairless being and fearing it might be a weapon, Nellara silently crouched down, getting a four metal orbs from a leather pouch in her belt and laying them down on the ground.

"Stand guard behind me. Prioritize the safety of the two Tekeri civilians and don't take your eyes off the glen and the charred creature with them. Keep your guards up, but don't unsheathe your weapons." she whispered as she stood up, showing herself and began approaching, raising her hands in a signal of peace. Using magnetism, she made the four small, metal spheres move with her, rolling beside her.

Being the only one among the soldiers that was technically 'unarmed', Nellara chose to approach the strange creature herself.

While her steps were slow, careful and calm, she still didn't take her eyes off the strange being. Stopping just as she got nearby the female Tekeri, Nellara slowly lowered one of her hands, holding the female Tekeri's shoulder.

"No need for panic. Don't make any sudden movements and stand behind me." Nellara said in a low tone before she started moving the female Tekeri until she was in a safe position behind her.

Meanwhile, the four small metal spheres continued rolling until they made a line between Nellara and the being, the last sphere standing just a few centimeters away from the it's feet.

The three soldiers that entered behind Nellara, while instructed to not unsheathe their weapons, still had their hands next to them as they approached the Glen and the charred creature.

"Calm down, we are here to maintain order. Please make no sudden movements and identify yourselves." The soldiers said to the glen and the strange, charred creature.

"I am Castigator Nellara. I was assigned to the city of Lenkik. Calm down and lower your weapon. Don't do anything you might regret." She said, keeping a respectful distance from the strange female being, while watching every movement she made with a sharp stare.

"Do you understand me? There is no need for violence. We came here only to investigate the crash and talk." Nellara said, slowing down her words as much as she possibly could, trying to communicate with the creature and potentially deescalate the situation and avoid a fight against those creatures. Especially since Nellara had no idea of what they were capable of.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Location: Lenkik

---

Having a recently graduated Castigator be assigned to a major city, while very uncommon, wasn't exactly unheard of. In the end, it all depended on the skill and knowledge of the Castigator and if they were deemed as capable of shouldering the burden of being assigned as the Castigator of a major city. While it was general knowledge that minor cities had more frequent 'issues' that might require the presence of a Castigator, the truth behind those was that most issues were rather simple and would normally be solved by common soldiers in bigger cities. On the other hand, whenever a situation appeared where a Castigator’s presence was required in a major city though, normally that meant it was an issue that the soldiers and the local authorities of the entire city weren't capable of dealing with by themselves. In these moments, was where the skill and knowledge of a true Castigator was needed, where they had to show if they were worthy of the honor of being assigned to a major city. In Nellara's case, that major city was Lenkik.

While not nearly as old, historic and big as Arcaeda, Lenkik is still an impressively well built and established city. Behind its tall protective walls, a homage to Arcaeda’s own, famous walls, lies an equally solid and well built city. Taking inspiration from Arcaeda, many aspects of Lenkik mirrors the capital city, such as having a ground, middle, high districts and to some degree, even the overall architecture and design of the city. Due to its size and wealth compared to other minor settlements, the authorities on Lenkik were effective enough to maintain public order to a very satisfactory degree. Thanks to that, the interference of a Castigator wasn’t always required in their nightly… and daily, routines.
Despíte that, Nellara still enjoyed keeping a tight and strict routine herself. Waking up every day the moment the sun begins going down, Nellara’s night often began with her making sure her armor and appearance were as impeccable as her status and position required it to be. From the gold dye decorating her feathers, the golden lines on her claws and even making sure her armor was immaculately clean and polished. Immediately after that, she would go to the training grounds for a session of training and sparring with the soldiers followed by a walk through the ground and middle districts, or ‘patrolling’, as Nellara herself liked to call.

Other than the occasional patrols through the most busy districts of Lenkik through the night and even one during the day, Nellara had most of the remaining time to herself after she was done with her routine. Most of this time was spent at her home, a cozy, medium house in the middle district. Unlike some high-officials, which decided to move to the high district as soon as their position allowed them to do so, Nellara was strictly against the idea of doing so herself. Her reasons were not only that she was ill-suited to a life of luxury, but also because it helped her to remind that despite her position of power, she was just another person, much like all the others who went on with their lives and their jobs, keeping the ground and middle districts of Lenkik always busy and moving.

Thanks to the free time Nellara had, she often tried new hobbies, to pass time. Many of them were forgotten after only a week though. The exceptions to that were reading and, surprisingly enough… cooking. On that particular night, after a harsh training session with the (un)lucky soldiers that were on the training grounds, Nellara decided to try her hand at cooking for herself for the first time. The dish of choice wasn’t a particularly complex one, mainly consisting of roasted roots and a rare steak, well seasoned salt and herbs. Thanks to the detailed instructions that were written in the cooking book she bought, preparing and cooking the meat, until it was perfectly cooked, wasn't difficult at all. On the other hand, it was a bit more complicated to know the exact time when to take out the roots. If they were taken out too soon, they would still be soft and wouldn’t have that delicious, crispy outside. If they were left even for a minute longer in the oven than they needed to be, they would start getting burned, which would ruin their taste. It was exactly at that delicate time, where precise timing, absolute attention and concentration were required that a strange light coming from the outside suddenly interrupted Nellara’s cooking. Immediately running to the window, Nellara saw, shocked as a huge fireball cut through the night sky, followed by the sound of a distant explosion.

“My steak and roasted roots...” Nellara said with a sigh, turning off the oven before immediately running outside.

In less than 30 minutes, Nellara was already heading to the docks, after requesting a small team of five soldiers to investigate the location where the fireball had landed. According to the position it was heading to, the fastest way for them to get there would be to take a barge and go up the river.

“Do not lower your guards until further orders are given. I will dispatch one soldier from my division to deliver a report about the situation as soon as possible. I want a preliminary report about the situation being made and a messenger ready to be dispatched to Arcaeda once my report arrives in Lenkik!” Nellara ordered, her voice loud enough for all the soldiers around them to hear, both the ones from her own team and those who would stay guarding the city.

“Yes, Castigator Nellara!” the soldiers replied in unison as they began assuming defensive positions.

As Nellara boarded the barge, she kept her eyes fixed on the horizon where the fireball was last seen. While its distance meant that it wasn’t an immediate threat to the city of Lenkik, the fact that it had happened close enough for them not only to see, but hear the fireball meant that it was indeed close enough to warrant further investigation from their part. Whether it was the result of magic, some type of weapon or even a natural disaster, Nellara would deal with it accordingly before sending a detailed report to the city of Arcaeda.