Dark Age Legends

[Xorlak]

- Phoenicia, forest -

Something wasn't right.  Wasn't right at all...

Just where the heck was he?  Kelmarr ran a claw through his spiky headfur.  Blast, he needed a smoke.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a soggy cigar.  Great.  Just fantastic.

Replacing the cigar (who knows, it might dry out later) he sat on a log and curled his tail around his left side.  Green boughs shadowed him from above, thick enough to block out all but thin streams of sunlight.  Still through those cracks in the trees, those towers... those spires were visible.

Definitely not Tjed.  But where else?  He'd been in taverns all around, and knew a decent amount of Gaian geography just by listening to drunk morons complain about each other.  Ariosis: Rich country.  Dranniville: Cat people.  (He'd been asked if he was from Dranniville a couple of times... Ugh.  Come on, just look at his tail.  What an insult.  Morons...)  Helternia: Birthplace of some sappy hero...  Those were all too far away from Tjed for him to crash land after such a short trip.  Just how long did he drift in the ocean?

Was there another island he didn't know about?  That couldn't be the case.  If so, why didn't Tjed trade with it?  Why did he never hear drunk merchants talk about it in the bar?  It's not like he just crash landed on some invisible island or something.

Hmmm...

In any case, if he did find some backwater hick island, he may be able to sell the sword without any chance of getting caught.  Probably not as much as some rich nation like Ariosis, but hey, he had to work with what he had...

He stood and made his way towards the city once more.  Hopefully it wouldn't be infested with humans like everywhere else.  Blast it.

[D. Ein]

- South-westen Kandarinian town -

Onwan was visibly impressed by the crashed ice wall. He watched indifferently as Puco's foot struck the secondary protection barrier, which also contained all of the raised rubble inside.

-"How's the glyph coming along, Scylax?"

The Stalker was adding finishing touches to his glyph, which was now floating in the air just over the secondary ward.

-"It is done," he said, shielding his eyes from a quick flare from the symbol. "We can begin." (2/2)

-"Make it so."

Scylax bowed his head lightly, and turned to the floating pentagram. It seemed to be glowing around the edges.

-"The ward is completely isolated," he said before continuing. "It's going to take a lot more than a mild earthquake to break something that cannot be broken by physical interference. The destruction of the ice shield certainly threw a wrench in our plan, or so I thought at first. Looks like it won't matter either way, though."

The Stalker brought his face close to the glyph, and, after taking off his facemask, blew lightly on it. On the other side, a cascade of incredibly potent knockout gas flooded the ward-sealed enclosure.

-"Don't bother closing your mouths, ladies," he whispered into the glyph. "This gas is courtesy of our Regiment 4's Lieutenant, Vandrin. That man certainly knows his ways around chemicals... It will take action upon touching your skin. So unless you want to willingly suffocate yourself, don't fight it."

//Notice how I said "knockout" - in other words, I'd very much prefer it if both Puco and Sienna were hit by the attack. I have a cool story thread planned, don't worry, your chars aren't going to die.\

--- --- ---

- South-eastern Kandarinian coast -

-"Heh," coughed Mikola, who was regaining his eyesight. "That, my winged friend, is a very, very major mistake on your part."

The Augment created a portal just in time before Duilin's sword hit it, letting the sword stab the ground a few feet away. Both portals closed shortly, but the Augment was quick to create another one to its right. The initial blackness from the rift soon faded, to reveal...

...Duilin's beating heart.

-"It looks to me as though you've never fought a Necrolyte before, pan," Mikola sneered. "Otherwise you'd know not to get this close to a Vischy. As I'm sure you can see, they have an annoying tendency of opening a portal right inside you in those situations."

With another demoniacally fast movement, the Augment made a stab at the heart.

Then, something went wrong.

Its long claw stopped a mere millimetre from the pulsing flesh. The zombie made another twitch, and fell to the ground in the grotesque fixed position. Slowly, its limbs relaxed, and lowered down to the ground - as if it was being released from some oppressive power constricting it.

The Necrolyte himself was nowhere to be seen, at least in the first few moments. Then, a weak moaning a few meters away announced his presence.

Mikola was pinned to a nearby tree by a dauntingly long, barbed spear. It looked like a very large version of the standard Kandarinian ammo for spearguns, with several strange marks on it. There was something else, though... There seemed to be small white cracks in the Necrolyte's body spreading outward from where the spear made contact. About 30 zombies in the vicinity of Mikola and Duilin dropped dead for no observed reason.

-*cough* "What the hell.... is this...?"

The white cracks seemed to be doing their deed, though - the Necrolyte's head soon limply dropped to the side. Suddenly, his body burst in flames, burning a fiery glyph in the tree. The glyph liquefied the surface upon which it was burnt, turning the tree into a sort of a wavering curtain. Soon, a dark form emerged - a hooded man holding a dangerous-looking apparatus on his shoulder.

-"Hello... bird."

[Drannic_Lord01]

- Dranniville, Port Arakissnav -

Aaron found himself a nice bench to sit on as he waited for his guardian to escort him to the stronghold to the south; known as Fort Gadowran. The Drannic port flooded with Drannivolkans and elves trading among the endless rows of markets. The Drannic insignia, the double star and cross, fluttered in the breeze on a flagpole near by. Aaron looked above at the flag, tranced by the beauty of the blue doublestar, the gold cross, and the purple background.

A few moments later, to large-looking Drannivolkans walked up to the former Emporer of Ariosis. They both bowed and greated him.

"Hello, lord consular," the first began, "I am Marrik and this is Bradly. We are here to escort you to your stronghold now."

"About time." The young consular got to his feet and pulled out his sword, letting it sit by his side in his hand. "What manner of creatures are south of here."

"There be loads o' wyverns, me lord," Bradly started, "and tons o' bloody scavenger birds too. We best be careful and be watchin' tha' first step, me lord."

"Very well. I know that the wyverns will not hurt us unless we hurt them first, so just keep your guards up. Meh, you are 'guards' after all."

"Indeed, sir. I'll take point." Marrik walked to the head of the three and Bradly in back. The two guardians weilded large, blade-tipped spears. They set out on the path to the south of the port. After a minute or so of walking, smoke could be seen from above the tree tops in the forested paths. Not a good sign to be sure. Could be the smithy, or perhapse the great hall fireplace. None could be certain.

However, after a bit more walking, their fears had been realized. The fortress was under seige, but not by the kandarinians... but by rebels from the first war of Ariosis. None thought they were even around anymore. The battle was still raging on as Aaron pushed through the gatehouse and entered the stronghold. It was nearly all in ruins, but the guard was still holding up.

"Damnit, I thought I disposed of them four years ago!" Aaron walked into the midst of the battle, and as he did, the rebels fled back to the woods. The main castle was still intact, but the stronghold outer wall was extremely damaged, and rubble was everywhere.

"Lord Aaron! You've come at a rather unexpected time... what are you doing here?" This came from an average-sized Drannivolkan soldier who came up to Aaron and saluted.

"I've made this stronghold my base of opperations. It's all here in my writ. I'll show it to you as we enter the castle. After all, your men could use a break. Have the mages generate a barrier."

"A BARRIER!? But sir! You know how anoying barrier generation can be... and how unstable it is for land AND air units!"

"Of course I do! I realized how unstable they were when the Dark Empire invaded! However, it's time that we errect another one. I feel that our mages have grown more knowledgable after the past three years."

"Hmm... Alright, lord. I'll have the men get right to it. You two!" The Drannivolkan pointed at Marrik and Bradly. "Tell the mages that consular Aaron demands a barrier be errect within the hour." The two Drannivolkans bowed and ran off into the castle, most likely to the mages' quarters. The Drannivolkan then turned his attention to Aaron once again.

"What do you plan to do about the rebels, sir?"

"Absolutely nothing. Nothing can penetrate a barrier... however, the only fault is that nothing can leave it either."

"Indeed sir. It's quite the measure you've taken."

"Rebels are weak. It's not them I'm worried about."

"It's the Kandarinians, isn't it?"

"Indeed. Well, let's start planning on how we'll get my plan into action. I'll tell you all about it after we get inside."

"Of course my lord."

------------

- Terian, southeastern coast -

"I'm sorry for your loss... Geomarcus! Get this back to my ship and place it on the deck. Be careful, I don't want the god-damn Kandarinians resurecting him while he's in there." Geomarcus walked over to Doriana and lifted the large bag.

"Don't worry, General. It's a straight shot to the ship. I'll be back in a jiffy."

"No, you wont. I'm sorry Geomarcus, but I want you to guard it, along with the ship."

"*sigh* Yes, General." With that, Geomarcus was off.

--- --- ---

//Not sure if this'll be okay with Ein. If not, post it as a miss or something.

"I don't think so. You wont be able to come back if you're fried to ash! Take THIS!!!" Jacobie put two hands together and immediately shot a small beam of fire at Keshel's body.

------------

[Mikado]

~ ~South-westen Kandarinian town~ ~

"Holy..."
Even though she escaped outside the ball of Ice she was struck into an another one!
Things happened quickly, puco let all her power to her fist but the gas already entered.
If only... it wasn't gas.
She tried to freeze the air isolating Sienna and Puco... however it seemed that the gas was very heavy, and it was entering quickly... to quick, to fast to guard.

Puco felt the foreign gas touch her body...

With her last strength she punched the second layer of ice, making a hole into it,

but it was too late,

she breathed the gas, and felt light,

too light,

some gas leaked because of the hole,

did,

it,

matter?

Thud.

~ ~ Swan Creek, R9 HQ ~ ~

Czernn left the room and walked slowly towards the main hall.
"I have to get some kind of transport... it's way to far off to go there on my own..."
He entered the dark hall. All kind of weird objects were making the hall look really obscure, but Czernn wasn't bothered by it, didn't he live in a room without any light?
Some soldiers were walking around, and the hall was more empty than usual because everyone was leaving for some kind of mission. Czernn stood in the middle in search of some... ah, yes. There were two of them.

- "Chodzie wladcy smierci" [Come lords of death] He spoke softly, however the necromancers heard him and quickly walked toward Czernn, bowing deeply.
- "We are in your command pan Manteia!"
He raised his hand somewhat unenthusiastically and began to speak.
- "I need to go to a certain location, and I need a transport... now."
The necromancers looked at each other and bowed once more.
- "We have a carriage that was meant to transport pan lieutenant in command Lokiwa..."
They gulped.
- "It is ready pan Manteia, allow us to guide you towards your destination."
Czernn rised an eyebrow. Or he did do something that looked as if he did, for he had no eyebrows to raise.
- "Necromancer," He pointed at the taller one. "please get some other transport for pan Lokiwa, and..."
He looked at the other necromancer.
The necromancer looked back, and realized he had to say his name.
- "I'm Motylek, pan Manteia."
- "Pan Motylek lead me to this carriage, I have been... asked to leave quickly."
- "I shall pan Manteia, follow me pan Manteia!"
He turned and walked quickly outside while the other one bowed mumbling something with "wish" and "Pan Manteia" and left.
"Sheesh... such stress for them, I guess their still necromancers. Will do them good to actually breath."

He followed his new driver outside... the sun was shining bright.

In Czernn's eyes.

[Jenia]

~Glimmer Spire, Spire City, Phoenicia~

"Hey, Indher, take a look at this..."

Indher gave out a loud sigh.

"Are you using the orb to spy on someone showering again?"

Elphos went red.

"D-Don't be silly! I'm looking into the forest."

Indher sighed again.

"Oh, and what is it you see? A bird? A squirrel?"

Elphos grumbled.

"Well... It kind looks like a squirrel... A really big, black squirrel with knives..."

Indher pushed Elphos away from the orb and took a brief look.

"What the... Elphos! Inform the townspeople that theres a stranger on the island! Call Shuichi, too... He'll take care of things by the time I get there..."

Elphos nodded and ran down.

-----

~Gros Morne Citadel~

Kerig nodded with a bright smile and stepped back into the portal.

"Where should I go next? Oh, who cares. Might as well wander around for a while..."

[D. Ein]

- South-Western Kandarinian town -

//I'm going to be a bitch and assume that Ophelia is knocked out as well. I'm sure DM will forgive this minor transgression... He can't post today. Also, amazing post there, Mikado!\

-"Phew," Onwan sighed. "That girl was really something there... Vent the gas if you would, Scylax."

The Stalker tacitly nodded and backed off from the ward, as did all the other mages. Scylax added some small lines to the large sigil on the ground, and the ward seemed to pull itself out a little - as if making a tube. When he finished, the tube erupted on the other end, shooting a concentrated jet of gas into the skies. The ward finished its existence by vanishing into thin air as Scylax wiped the sigil off the ground.

One of the Cryomancers came up to Puco, and poked her with a stick.

-"Well, she isn't moving," he said. "Best if we disarm them while we can... and tying them up wouldn't be a terribly bad idea either."

-"Not necessary," grumbled Onwan. "That gas knocked them out for a fair amount of time, much more than we need to get them to where they're needed. Captain Goethe will certainly be pleased."

The enormous lieutenant picked Sienna up, and threw her over his shoulder. Scylax did the same with Puco, while the Cryomancers wandered off back into the town. Thus, the pair walked off into the distance...

--- --- ---

- South-Eastern coast of Terian -

//That's fine, Drannic. I was trying to get rid of him anyway =) \

Keshel's body burst into flames. The smoke, oddly, had a dark red tint to it - the same phenomenon that Duilin was observing in the dead Necrolyte as well. The strange vapour quickly whithered out of its concentration in the wind...

---

Ein put the large ranged weapon on his back, hiding it below his cape. He looked around, quickly scanning the battlefield, and then shooting another dark glare at Duilin.

-"I remember, back in our first, ah... encounter, I asked you to define evil, bird. Due to the inactivity of the Aspyes, I can no longer safely call myself one... so here we are, stuck in a dilemma. There are undead beings crawling all around us, and I just saved your life from that twitchy freak. Can you still call me evil?"

While Ein was talking, several zombies crept up behind him. He only noticed them when it was too late - when two swords and an axe were already flying at his spine. Contrary to all expectations, he did not panic. He simply held his left hand out to the side, revealing a shirtless chest covered top to bottom with basic glyphs, scratched right into the skin. Several of them on his arm lit up, blasting a fiery wave around him. The zombies were knocked back, and one was set on fire.

-"Those that abuse the very powers of life and death should not be allowed to exist." Ein half-turned to Duilin. "Are you getting all of this, bird? Or is your avian brain too small to comprehend even the most basic of matters, such as this?"

With those words, he clapped his hands together. The glyphs went crazy - every single little line on both his arms burst in a cascade of light, sending a lightning shockwave forward. The zombies were cut clear in half, their remains sizzling with small white sparks.

---

-"Pan Mikola has fallen, it seems..." Vladimir's whisper did not hold even a gram of regret. "Are we ready to unveil our final Mertvetz?"

-"We are ready, pan Vladimir."

A hushed murmur of agreement echoed through each Necrolyte's mind. After it settled down, Vladimir spoke once again.

-"Remember that we are not here to win. We are here to weaken. Once the enemy is weakened, Kandarin will capture his homeland, enslave his men, and reign across all the world. Now then... begin."

---

The chaos at the battlefield stopped for a few seconds - and then everything went even more haywire than before. All of the undead creatures fell apart, even the newly deceased Gaian Federation troops. The Necrolytes also exited their Marchers, using their Vischys to get around the battlefield quickly and defend themselves from attack. Soon, the little group of the 13 surviving death mages huddled below a growing mass of bone - carefully arranged into some sort of structure... or... creature...

(13)

--- --- ---

- Gros Morne Citadel, Northern Kandarinian town -

"Agh. Looks like I couldn't hold off from writing in here, after all. Those two strange, strange fellows just visited me again - Kerig and Weloss. They proposed an interesting offer... to imbue my Hammer with some sort of an enhancement. At first, I wanted to scream, "Why the hell not?! Get to it!!", but then I realized that Weloss might as well just be toying with me. As such, I got several of my faithful Stalkers to create a passive aura around the Binding Glyph, coming from a little soulstone I attached to it. The aura is rather weak, which shouldn't set Weloss off - but even if it does, I can just say that it is a part of the device.

In any case... The purpose of the field is to collect information on Weloss. If anything goes wrong, I mean, I can just pull the plug. If not... well, good for me. The proposal certainly sounds interesting... Now, just to wait until those slow idiots are finished casting the damn thing. Ugh. I should get them to train better Stalkers."

[Dude Man]

- South-eastern Kandarinian coast -

Duilin looked around in confusion, he wasn't exactly sure what happened, but he knew he almost got killed.

"It's...you. I definitely remember you." Duilin said to him, sheathing his sword and crossing his arms. "Yeah, I heard about the little falling apart of the Aspyes." He replied. "What a pity." He added mockingly.

"But yes, I am willing to accept your help. But you better give me more respect than that if you want mine. But you may be glad to know that a couple of your Aspye friends actually joined me. I think you might know one of them, Marshall Royle."

"General!" Called a voice from behind.

"Speak of the devil..." Duilin said softly.

Marshall, followed by Grant, approached Duilin, panting from the run. "General, the zombies, they all just fell apart. Something...odd is happening."

Duilin turned around and saw that some sort of creature was forming together.

"Hmm..." Duilin rubbed his chin.

"What should we do?" Grant asked.

"I'll worry about that." Duilin then put his right middle and index finger on his right temple and sent a long ranged telepathic message to Vaughn.

--

'Vaughn, get your ass to my location. And bring the rest of the group with you'

'Right away sir. But it appears that Ryan and Firstman were killed in action.'

"Damnit..." Duilin muttered. 'Well, you see what's going on? I don't like it. Just get over here now. We'll grieve latter.'

--

"Wait..." Marshall stepped towards the familiar looking cloaked man. "Ein?! Is that you, Ein?!" He said with a lot of surprise. "My god. It is you! It's been...what four years!? Wow, you've changed a little. I thought I got tougher. But look at you, you're as big as a house!"

[Mikado]

~ ~ Swan Creek, R9 HQ ~ ~

A huge carraige was waiting on the road, it was decorated with red pieces of metal, maybe they were an other colour a long time ago. Other than that the carraige was black but a cean eye could only see that, for the carraige was covered in dust and sand. It was a mighty carraige indeed, one that lost its long glory.

- "I'm sorry for the looks of the carraige pan Manteia, it as war antique as one could call it."
- "Do not feel troubled drogi Motylek, I have no needs for rich looks, in contrary, I dislike to draw attention..."
A silence followed as they entered the cart. Czernn went into the carraige and at the last moment that he turned he cought a glimpse of pan Motylek summoning something like unlife horses and attaching them to the front.

Czernn sat down with his back to the front looking through the back window of the carraige.
- "Where to pan Manteia?"
Czernn gave him the map over his back without turning his head.

- "Please... ride slowly."

[Ted Der]

- Somewhere South of the Dark Continent -

Royen let go of the bow string, but the Gilden Warship was sinking. He missed by a mile as he lost his balance and stumbled back. Akran took advantage of the opening and thrust upwards with his dagger.

"Argh! Wha-?" Royen looked down at the blade sticking out of his chest. He let the Raven Bow drop onto the sloping deck. Royen stood there, staring.

"Akran!" cried a voice from the Shadowshot. It was Martin. "Come here quickly! Your on the wrong ship!" His crew was shoving the last of the pirate bodies off the side of the ship. They had won.

Water was rushing up the stairs and Akran knew he had not much time left. He yanked his dagger back out of Royen, who collapsed on the deck, and shakily stood up.

"Here!" Martin threw a rope at his Captain. Akran grabbed it and let his crew pull his up on to the Shadowshot just as Royen's body slid down the wet deck into the water.

Back on the safe deck of his ship Akran looked around. There were about twenty of his men still left. The seven who had died were nowhere to be seen.

"Lost to the sea, poor blokes." said Martin who seemed to guess what was on Akran's mind. Akran just nodded. Then something caught his eye. The bow that Royen prized was floating on the water just ahead. He walked over to the front of the ship and used a paddle from the rowboat to retrieved the weapon.

As soon as Akran grabbed it his right hand started to burn and the fiery sensation spread up his arm. He was frantically trying to drop it, but he couldn't. Martin came over to see what was the matter.

"STOP!" Akran yelled, "Don't come any closer."

Dark black lines were creeping up his arm - cutting his flesh. They kept crawling up even though his blood was trickle down. His eyes started to burn red and with his other hand he frantically rubbed them.

"AHHHHHH!" Akran screamed.

Then, all of a sudden, the pain stopped.

*Clang*

He let the bow drop. Akran took his hands down from his eyes and looked at his arm. The lines ran all the way up across half of his chest. He could see because the black lines had burned through his shirt, leaving it all ripped and smoldering.

Akran felt a strange sensation of power. He flexed his arm. Man, it was strong! Slowly, he picked up the bow again. He felt a grin spread slowly across his face. He turned towards his crew who were all staring at him intently.

"Let's go North. I feel as though we should have gone a while ago now." he said calmly.

[D. Ein]

- Kandarinian South-Eastern coast -

-"Hello, Marshall." Ein decided to completely ignore Duilin. "Well, fighting off wild beasts and undead monsters for three years does have its perks."

He looked at the creature being build some distance away.

-"Ah, yes... it's one of those..." He scratched his chin. "I've fought those creatures before. Normally, I'd kill the Necrofreak creating it before he finishes the spell, but there's 13 of them - and all with those puppet things hanging around them, there's no way a spear would get close to him."

Another creeping zombie rode Ein's lightning into oblivion, which he casually let off.

-"I'd love to get reacquainted, Marshall, but right now we have more important things to do. Their puppets are on the inside, so there is no point attacking it at this time. I suggest retreating to form a strategy." (2/3)

//I absolutely cannot post anything else right now. Sorry.\

[Dude Man]

"Alright, then. You probably know best." Marshall replied. He then turned to Duilin "You hear that General?"

"Yeah, I got that." Duilin turned and looked at Ein. "I'm going to put my trust in you for this. But I've got my eye on you, so don't try anything funny."

Lagart, Vaughn, Hance, Sheri and Zuhani arrived and joined up with the group.

"There you are. Okay guys, this is Ein." The general said pointing to the cloaked man. "He's going to help us out. But apparently whatever this creature is, it's dangerous. So we need to get out of here and then devise a plan."

[Ted Der]

- The Dark Continent: South-Eastern coast -

The crew was looking at Akran strangely. He would pace back and forth on the deck and feel eyes on him, but when he turned around, the crew would quickly turn away. It didn't matter. Those fools knew practically nothing anyway.

Akran was testing out the strength of his new arm. It did not only feel stronger, but a strange tingling came from the dark lines whenever he flexed. He tried to shoot some birds with the Raven Bow, but it felt strange. He wasn't used to the feel of it yet.

"Um, Captain?" said Martin nervously approaching Akran. This was the first time someone spoke to him since the battle with Royen.

"Yes, Martin?" answered Akran sighing. Just tell me the news already!

"We see land up ahead."

"What? Already?" Akran ran up to the bow and looked for himself. They couldn't be at the Kandarinian Sovereignty already. Martin jogged up beside him.

"Look." Martin pointed to the land. "Is that a fight?"

He was right. It sure looked like there was. There was smoke was rising and Akran could hear the faint sound of a battle. The lines in his arm tightened. He felt burning strength from his fingers to his chest. Hell Yes!

[Xorlak]

- Spire City outskirts, Phoenicia -

Well, blast... he was coming up to a big city... a huge city...  Possibly the biggest city he had ever seen.  He could see towers and spires and all sorts of white marble structures jutting up to the heavens.  One spire was particularly large, a testament to grandeur as it poked at the clouds above.  This was major... some massive urban network.  He could smell the magic in the air, sustaining such a conglomeration of impossibly tall structures and knitting them and the people together like some well-oiled machine.

Why didn't anyone know about this?

As the forest cleared, he came to a village of sorts set up at the edges of the city.  Some refuge for the dregs of society, no doubt.  Merchants were in the streets, yelling about their wares and whatever nonsense they did.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.

Of course, stop and stare at the skunk.  Blast it.  Wherever he was, the locals were exceptionally rude.  Ruder than the average human villages.  Children ran, grown men walked away. People whispered and pointed before disappearing behind locked doors.  Real nice.  Thanks.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and grumbled, ears folded and tail hanging low.  Entirely human, of course.  Just like everywhere else.  Ugh.  Never mind not having any money.  He wondered if they'd even accept coin from him, or if he would have to dodge old women beating at him with brooms.

Well he was here, and he had to make due.  Just sell the blasted sword and get out.  Should be able to make a few hundred gold easy on this thing...

[Mikado]

~ ~ Spire City outskirts, Phoenicia ~ ~

Shuichi was walking the streets again this morning. He got a message that something unusual came to the city.
He didn't see action in three years, and he was quite enjoying it. But it's not easy to turn fate away, and he wondered what it was walking through the crowded streets.

Suddenly people began to move quicker, as if walking away from something. It was hard to pass by, and he couldn't see why but it didn't take long before the street became way emptier.

Shuichi halted.
"Hey... a walking Skunk..."
Was this the thing that the guy that Indher sent to him informed him off? It must be, seeing a walking Skunk IS pretty unusual after all.

Shuichi tried to act casually, but it was hard for he was almost the only one walking in this street now. After looking a little weird and coming close enough he gave up, and faced the Skunk.

- "I'm sorry for the behavior that you just faced," Shuichi bowed casually. "but we don't see Skunks that often, and even if we do not walking ones." He meant this as a joke, but whether it was seen as one was a question...

~ ~ Swan Creek, R9 HQ - Mournbury ~ ~

Czernn felt a little ill from the ride even though they were riding quite slowly.
He wondered what the necromancers would be like and fell a sleep... or something that looked like it.

~ ~South-westen Kandarinian town~ ~

Puco was unconscious.

"Nice to meet you again Catgirl, dying again?"
The voice was silent, almost a whisper but Puco could hear it really well... or rather feel it.

"I'm not dead am I!?"
Her voice was filled with fear.

"You're never dead. You can't die. The cataclysm locked your existance... or not existance should I say."

"Oh, come on! You know what I mean! The pain..."

"Yea... the feeling that you get when your body tries to die, but you can't die by physical means..."

"=D"

"Their only taking you... but do you think they discovered your power?"

"What power?"

"... to nuke down a country..."

"I can't do that!"

"No, but you're a gun loaded with atomic bomb for someone who CAN use you properly..."

"Erm... what are atomic blobs again?"

"Bombs. It are... oh nevermind, you'll never understand it anyway. Just hope the don't know."

[Xorlak]

- Spire City outskirts, Phoenicia -

"Hmmm... if they don't walk, how do they get around... fly?"  Kelmarr brought his hand to his chin a moment and smirked at the blond human.  Of course, this guy was a total moron (like all humans, basically), but hey if he played him right, he might find a good price for his sword.  Judging by his fancy robes, this guy had some money...

Kelmarr flicked his tail and a bunch of dried beach sand fell to the street.  Now to make up a quick story...

"The name's Kelmarr, rare weapons dealer.  Traveling the world in search of items worthy of adding to my collection..."  He praised himself inwardly.  Blast he was good.  He even got the snooty rich-guy tone down. "Also... may consider letting go of one or two of my personal prizes... depending on the price, of course.  Do you know of anyone interested in such things?"  He thumbed to the ornate sword sheathed upon his back.

His eyes shifted around a moment, unable to keep them off that huge spire in the background.  He couldn't resist asking, "Also... just where am I?"