Guixiang, City of Living Rubies Resplendent Wood, RY 768
Meymun hadn't had the opportunity to do much more than chuckle at the resident old man's apparent sound effect before the group was again being addressed by the leader of the City of Guixiang. Anyone with eyes could probably tell Meymun was getting excited at the prospect of meeting this 'Lord of the Adamant Land' to the point that he was practically ignoring everything else in the room. He knew the blessing he received from Luna was a sign, and it felt like his grand adventure throughout Creation was finally starting to pick up steam.
The final sentence had hardly left the city leader's mouth before Meymun grabbed the hilt of the sword that seemed to give off an impossible breadth of colors in the blade. Instinctively, he could feel as if the blade spoke to him as he slipped it into his fingers. He held the blade in front of his eyes for but a brief moment, and with his very next breath, it shone with all the colors of the rainbow and radiated throughout the throne room as the newly Exalted Lunar subconsciously channeled his own essence into the weapon.
It was his first time even seeing an artifact, let alone attuning to one, and Meymun was simply speechless. Hell, he quivered with excitement and had his mouth agape for what felt like an eternity before he finally came back to reality and bowed to the woman before him.
Guixiang, City of Living Rubies Resplendent Wood, RY 768
To say Meymun didn't look like he belonged in such a grandiose room would be an understatement. He still looked every bit as homeless as he had in the years prior to his Exaltation, only now, instead of leaves and twigs hanging from his unkempt hair, it was a permanent layer of dirt hanging on to his clothes and mud between his bare toes. While the sight of the homeless wasn't exactly unexpected in trade cities, most urban poor didn't tend to have prehensile feet and emerald green hair that fell just below their shoulders. The fact that he didn't have the common courtesy to look extremely humble rather than eyeballing everything around him probably didn't help the odd looks he was amassing from the natives. He at least paid attention when the leader of the City was brought before and addressed him and a number of others he now found himself next to. He even had the wherewithal to respond in his heavily accented version of Riverspeak.
"I'm just passing through the city on my travels. Used to trade with some merchants from here, but I'd never seen the place myself. Figured I'd stop by."
It wasn't a lie. Even Haltan craftsmen had dealings within Quixiang, and Maipa had been one of the best in the Republic.
"While I'd love to experience the 'pleasures' of Quixiang, despite what you might think when you look at me, you'll find I'm quite low on money. Not to mention that I, too, am curious as to why you've brought us here."
The man couldn't help but grin and start scratching the back of his head as a way to idly pass some time.
Weapon took the liberty of taking a few steps closer to his Elven compatriot's cage when she began addressing and tossing pebbles at him. Even in the low light, he could plainly see that she was unarmed, same as he was when he initially came to. Though he couldn't help but raise a suspicious eyebrow at the offer of assistance, he nonetheless motioned to unlock her cage, albeit at a bit of a slow pace. Even if she turned out to be some sort of magic wielder, it wouldn't take much more than a single swing of his sword to split her in two. He didn't bother keeping his voice particularly low after he'd opened the Elf's cage.
"How'd you get captured?"
It was a simple question, but Weapon felt it was probably best to form some semblance of dialogue, if only to keep the woman even vaguely distracted. He waited for his newly freed companion to exit her container before pointing the pommel of his sword at the nearest cage, imploring her to take the lead to ensure she couldn't up and stab him in the back for his generosity.
Weapon was stirred by a throbbing sensation in his head. He couldn't even recall what had happened to cause such pain. All he could recall was that one moment he had been camping in a cave in the early hours of the morning before his mastiff had begun growling, and when he had taken the liberty of inspecting the entrance, everything went black, and now? Now his dog was gone and he was in another prison. Weapon was not a man to willingly be put in a cage, and it only took him a few seconds to perceive his surroundings. Torches. Boxes. Cages. Figures within those cages. A key.
As fate would have it, what he assumed to be his freedom sat only several feet beyond his set of iron bars, and whatever beings had brought him here had made the mistake of putting him in a large enough container for him to have just over a meter of space around him. They'd taken his armor and gear, of course, but even the most thorough of captors couldn't anticipate just what they'd come across.
From a seated position, Weapon held out his right hand to his side, closed his eyes, and channeled his energy. He saw the faintest hint of a glow, which would've been drowned out by the torches in the room if not for the fact that it was directly next to him, and felt his greatsword return to his hand.
He didn't take the time to pat himself on the back however, and quickly set to work. While grabbing the business end of a greatsword with both hands wasn't usually a good idea, Weapon did so in order to maneuver the pommel of the blade over the key's black iron ring and drag it towards him. With a twist of the wrist, Weapon managed to catch the ring when it began its fall. To his relief, the key fit perfectly in the lock on the other side of his cage.
Before he had the chance to survey the room in earnest however, he could see one of the four captive strangers he shared the space with begin to rouse themselves.