NationStates Jolt Archive

ooc: This RP is closed except for those that I have asked/are reserved/are already signed up. If you still wish to join, please refer to the OOC

In ancient Iskan, long ago, before the Patriarch's ascension, before the Rimorian Wars, even before the split of House Ifrete, there were four guilds of sins, treachery, and deciet to the greatest extent, all for the same reason- more power.

Magelord Darian Medelus Ifrete leads House Ifrete and the Guild of Mages to a path to advance the use of Magic, but more importantly, advance his name and his own powers...and then names of his family. He has already succeeded in getting well connected to powerful people, including the dragons.

A guild called the Conglamoration, led by a council of powerful business owners, known as the Board of Executives, wishes to rule the nation of Iskan as well- by cornering the market and monopolizing it.

Then, there is the powerful, but very secretive, Dreadmaw Guild, or "The Coven", as it is known by few. Officially, however, it is known as the Vosmalez Guild. Rumors have surfaced that it's leader, the mighty Lord Tanar Il'Jarod Vosmalez is a vampire- a believable attribute to the reclusive leader, as he very much enjoys the company of women and there has been many strange occurances happening nearby his castle.

The last, and ruling power in Iskan, is the Senate. Supposedly the ones in charge of running the nation, they are in charge of the guard and keeping the four families in check. They are the only ones keeping the guilds from breaking into all out war. However, they do a poor job of it, as it as the Senate itself is full of corruption and a mockery of the democracy it is supposed to be. Bribes, blackmails, assassinations, even conspiracies have engulfed the once glorious assembly.

***

Victoria was the "Emerald of Iskan". Everyone loved her, everyong wanted to be near her. She was a people person, always having some tale to tell, always some way to relate her experience with another, always able to connect to anyone.

Victoria was tall, perhaps the tallest girl in her family, the famous Ifrete family, standing at 5'9. She had long dark brown hair that reached past her shoulders to her seductive hips. She had an atheletic trim, not being quite volumptious as her sister, Rimoru, or as petite as Shar'Isual. Her skin was tan in color, from her constant runs around the palace or just being outside getting to know her people, including the peasants and such who had always believed the upper class to care little about the lower, especially one of her status- the richest of the guild and daughter of one of the most powerful men in Iskan.

Victoria was, in general, the person everyone loved, even in rival guilds.

So when she suddenly vanished without a trace, all of Iskan was shocked.

Lord Darian Ifrete was devasted at the loss of his favorite child, the "golden child". Although he was a very powerful mage, not even his greatest and most taxing spells could detect where she went. He soon turned to his fortunes, exhausting half of the gold in his family, purchasing the aid of search teams and making plees of help to the Senate.

Yet Victoria seemed to have just...vanished...

***

A robed figure walked quietly towards a large building with warm lights. Sounds of laughter and happiness eminating from it pierced through the quiet night as a cool breeze brushed through the streets, lifting the woman's robes briefly, giving any onlooker a glance at shapely legs. The Drunken Gnoll was not a place one would normally find a princess, however Rimoru made it her tradition to come nearly every middle of the week since she was seventeen years old. It was a place for her to converse with the locals and flush down her troubles with alcohol (wine of course) and check to see if any cute man has stopped by for her to enjoy for a short time...

As Victoria, Rimoru's sister, was the "Emerald of Iskan", Rimoru was the "Sapphire". Her piercing blue eyes seemed to cut through even the darkest of rooms...or hearts. Her hair, much like her other sisters, was long, reaching down to her seductive hips, in a blonde cascade that felt like silk to the touch. But her eyes and hair weren't the only thing that attracted others. It helped that she was quite curvy, a perfect hourglass figure- someone everyone wanted a piece of. On the usual day, Rimoru enjoyed basking in the limelight always projected on her, showing off her assessts to a few lucky men, usually married...however, in more recent times she had seemed to stop, or decrease in it as the grim news hit the Ifrete family hard, even if there was a bit of sibling rivalry between Victoria and Rimoru.

The princess walked through the doors, still in her robes, her features remaining hidden as she walked passed the crowds of people and took a seat in a large corner, two guards stationed to either side- since the Princess always snuck out of her own home and refused to accept any sort of protection, believing herself capable of defending herself in most situations.

But the Barkeep didn't wish to take the chance. He positioned them there, saying that was their normal spot, as it provided good view of the entire bar. Which it did- a reason why Rimoru chose the spot to sit.

"The usual, Miss Ifrete?" the barkeep asked as he personally walked over to her booth and sat down in front of her, a warm smile on his face. "Are you doing alright?"

"Yes, please. The usual," she whispered, taking off her hood, revealing her elvish ears, her high cheekbones and her full lips that were drawn into a small frown. She didn't need to say how she was doing. It was quite evident in her behavior...

"Alright, Miss Ifrete. I shall be back with your drink," the barkeep replied and hastily stood up to get some of the high elven wine. It was incredibly expensive and no normal tavern would buy such, however the Barkeeper got the huge casks just for the princess. And she seemed to appreciate it.

Rimoru gently stroked her long blonde hair as she looked around the room, doing her traditional examination of the bar patrons, checking out who was handsome, who was not, who was drunk, and who was sober. She needed someone to help relieve her of her troubles...she didn't think the wine would be enough...

A sleek and elegantly statuesque figure stood leaning against the stonewall of a small inlet in the shadows of a quaint street. A cloaked figure crossed from side of the courtyard to the other, not noticing his presence. His face lifted to examine the figure as the moonlight lit a mysterious and winding black mark on the side of his face. In his hand was a small scrap of parchment with a note and picture on it; the picture of a beautiful elf with long blond hair, piercing blue eyes with which a gaze alone could cleave a man's heart in two, and the stunning body of Aphrodite with all the right curves to make a man melt - his target. He lay in wait for the lady in the picture, captioned Rimoru Ifrete, to make her usual visit to the local tavern, but the cloak this figure wore made it hard to discern as to who exactly it was. And then a most beautiful, soft, lovely, and devious wind stirred... his hair blew lightly, but more so did the figure's robe. It lifted into the air, revealing shapely, curvaceous, and stunning legs.

"Bingo..." The cloaked figure looked about, stared right at where he was standing, and gazed past as she entered the tavern. When the door closed, he pushed off the wall and stood upright, lifting his hand and releasing the picture to the will of the wind. It fluttered about before being carried off by a strong gust into the darkness of the night.

A moment later he had crossed the courtyard and street and arrived at the door to the tavern. He too looked about before entering to a scene of drunken fools and joyful peasants. Song and cheers filled the air as men bashed their mugs together and then drained them of their ale. Dressed in all brown - a fancy, embroidered shirt with the top two buttons undone revealing his chest, a stylish leather jacket, a cross-leather belt with a gold buckle, a paperboy hat, and a pair of gold earrings - he no doubt stood out from the rest of the crowd. Crossing the tavern floor, he noticed without being noticed his target in the back corner alone save for two guards. Violence, despite his urge, would be out of the question as he had left his weapons, save his blades, behind for this mission. Nor did he particularly want an angry drunken mob chasing him for abducting their princess. No - he would have to be much more dubious and clever than that.

By the look of it, she enjoyed a drink - an easy avenue into someone who was already half-drunk. He went to the opposite end of the bar and summoned the barkeep over, ordering two of the finest drinks he had. When the balding man returned with his drinks, he dropped a gold coin on the counter, a whole bag of coins more than the drinks were worth, so that he would be distracted. While the barkeep was busy staring at the coin, he disappeared back into the crowd of people and made his way through to the back corner - his voluptuous target. Oh how he would have fun spending time with her after they disappeared. While in the midst of the ruckus, he slipped a small file of power from his sleeve and poured it into the right drink before disposing of the vile. It was Veritiscium - a drug that makes the user somewhat loopy, but more to the point very agreeable to suggestions - a useful and powerful drug to make the princess naught but a puppy on a leash.

He walked up to the table where his target was sitting and presented the glass in his right hand. "Mythos (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b360/DMG2005/Mythos.jpg)..." Immediately, the two guards that were watching their princess grabbed his arms and held him still.

"Guards...wait..." came the soft voice of the princess as she looked up towards the man. "Let him be..."

She had to admit, he was rogueishly handsome...so much so that he may be the man she needs at the moment.

Rimoru gave off a brief smile and tapped the table for him to sit across from her, although she was tempted to have him sit next to her.

Her eyes went to the other bar patrons who began to watch intently, making sure their favorite customer was alright and safe. Once they met her eyes, they began to make their general ruckus- as drunks tend to do.

She shifted her attention back to the handsome man in front of her. "Mythos, is it? My, you are bold barging past the guards to see me..." Rimoru flashed a smile before she rolled another "Mythos" off her tongue.

"Any last name?" she asked as she pursed her lips, scooting closer to him.

The road was a lonely one. Where one could travel for league after league and see not a soul. A horseman, atop his steed clopped down the dirt roads, over the hills and through the forests. It was dark out, but the moon provided some light. A black cloak was draped over his shoulders as he skillfully guided his horse through the darkness. Life on the roads was not an easy one, but this weary traveler lived much of his life out inthe forests and on the roads. It was a lonely life, except for when he intereacted with others on the road. Usually it was a one sided conversation due to he held the tip of his Kindjal sword at their throats as he ''liberated'' their money pouches from them. It was a dishonest life, the life of a highwayman but it was a living. He never killed nor injured those he robbed so he never lost sleep over the encounters; however, the guilds didn't take kindly to his ways so his group disbanded, scattering across the lnad and now he rides alone. After another league he rode over a hill and saw the lights of the city. He didn't bother to admire the sights of so many lights but rather listened more to the rumble of his stomach. The horse quickened its' trot for it too was hungry and tired.
"Finally" he uttered into the darkness. A guard at the gate challenged him
"What be your business this late of night, stranger?" he asked, standing ready.
"Just a weary traveler seeking nothing more than food and shelter" he replied, showing his face to the guards. His face was rough from being unshaven and strong hazel eyes.
"Why do you carry a sword, stranger?"
"It's not safe on the roads these days" he chuckled to himself.
"Aye, a sad truth. There is a tavern down this street so far and make a right" the guard motioned with his hands.
"Thank you, good sir. Have a safe night" the strranger replied with a false smile and rode on down the street...

"Guards...wait..." came the soft voice of the princess as she looked up towards the man. "Let him be..."

"Thank you, my dear," Mythos commented as the guards released his arms and he gave them a signature flattering grin. "I thought I would buy a lonely girl like you a drink..." He placed the drink from his right hand on the table in front of her as he took a sip of his own.

With her indication, he took a seat across from her and lounged out, leaning heavily with one hard arched on the back of his seat and the other gripping his drink. His shirt lay half open, showing his lean and muscular chest as well as brief glimpses of black ink marks on his skin - the same as those on one side of his face.

"Last name? No... but you may call me what you wish," he said as he lifted his mug to his face. "To health!" He turned the mug upside down and drained it of all its contents.

"And what, praytell, may I call such a lovely lady?" He questioned flatteringly as he leaned in close.

ooc: Kulikovia, make sure to read what I posted in the OOC, just to make sure

"You are too kind," Rimoru replied as he placed a drink in front of her, the edges of her full lips curling up ever so slightly.

Her eyes barely lingered on her drink when they darted to the man's open form, his mucular chest, his intriquite tattoo. She sniffled slightly and leaned to her right to get a better view of his chest.

Her bright blue eyes flashed up to his own and she gave him a small grin, along with a slight flush on her pale skin. "Anything I want to call you, hmm?"

Rimoru leaned in, giving him a good view of her bosom. "Alright, my mysterious Mythos..." she commented as she swirled her finger in her drink. "Why should I drink something from a complete stranger?"

The stranger drapped the hood back over his head and continued down the street. There were people dragging up and down, drunks, and other people. The tavern must be near He thought that he would not get through when the guard saw his sword but the guard was gullable. The sword he carried was meant to be held by a guild lord many years ago but he got a hold of it first and the lord to his knowledge was left with a stick to go into battle, he joked. The stranger searched through his vest which lay over a linen tunic. He was from the northern regions and resembled a bit of what people in other lands would call a norseman. But those were only rumors. Where he came from they lived as horse herders and were skilled riders. Many of the men from his region would serve as cavalry in the guild armies, but he wasn't meant for war, but for personal gain. After following the guard's instructions he finally saw the inn. It was bustling with patrons, music, and laughter.
"I guess this is the place" he said to himself. Before he could enter he went to a nearby stable and found a spot for his trusty horse.
"Don't worry girl, I'll be back" he said as he ran his hand down the horse's snout and patted it once. The horse began to eat hay and he walked off towards the inn. The door opened up and he stepped in, gazing around at the different people. Everyone seemed friendly enough, except for a few soldiers who were off on the other end. They seemed to be guarding some woman with blonde hair but he couldn't see her face from where he was probably royalty he shrugged his shoulders and took a seat in the corner. A tavernwoman came by and gave him some food and drink. He sat in the corner, watching...

OOC: About interacting? My character is just going to hang back for now if that's what you were wondering

Rimoru leaned in, giving him a good view of her bosom. "Alright, my mysterious Mythos..." she commented as she swirled her finger in her drink. "Why should I drink something from a complete stranger?"

As Mythos looked down the barrel of his mug, his eyes caught Rimoru leaning in to get a better look at his flashy and intriguing body. Like what you see? But then as he down his mug and Rimoru peered into his eyes with her sharp blue pupils, she must have caught him staring at her more than ample bosom. A mesmerizing sight for any man, even one trained for a mission such as the man across from her. She smiled intently as he broke eye contact with her voluptuous chest and leaned in close so that their eyes reflected each other's - sapphire blue upon golden orange, the colors shimmered with delight.

Mysterious Mythos... more fitting than she realizes, he thought with a mental smirk, though also noting her possessive title in front of it. Clearly she was someone used to getting what she wanted... but what did she want was the question.

"Do not ask me - I wouldn't - but rather ask the one who let a complete stranger - possibly armed - passed her guards to sit with her... namely, you," he retorted with a flirtatious grin. "Perhaps it is not I who you should be wary of, but you," he commented with a jesting smile.

"Then again... I just came here to buy you a drink," Mythos continued as he leaned back in a non-threatening position. "I noticed you appeared to be lonely and distraught - never a good combination, but the perfect blend for a drink to cure."

The peasant travelers were a party of five men. They had been journeying across the road returning to their homes after staying to late at the local tavern drinking most of the day and part of the night away. These men were drunk, loud, and boisterous. They continued to slag and sway and talk loudly about the good old days before having their families.


They had already reached the farther part of the road away from the town. They were heading out to their country farms several leagues away from town. The night air did wonders for these staggering drunks. They could start to make semi corhent sentences again. They even started to have a fairly decent conversation. This all ended when a sudden burst of red energy appeared in front of them. The energy formed a terrifying portal like gate that seemed to be forged out of red human blood and lots of it. The bloody red energy would form skull like shapes around the center and the edges of the portal making temporary shrill like screams.


The sight that came out of the portal was almost as scary as the portal itself. They looked and saw a massive human like figure wearing a skull like helmet. His eyes were glowing red like a demon’s eyes. He donned a red cape and had spikes protruding out of his wrists, shoulders and knees. He looked like some kind of unholy demon that had escaped from the Abyss.

The men were shaking at the sight of this giant and the bravest of the group said, “Who are you sir???”


The dark figured looked upon the man and drew out a wicked looking long sword. The giant monster did not even respond, he began to slash and hack the men in front of him. They tried to run and escape but they could not avoid his deadly and proficient strikes in their drunken state and they slowly felt the cold effects of the enchanted blade. They could feel the pain of the sword and the feeling of an even colder feeling tearing at their very being of existence.

It was like a sudden chill beyond mere corporal death and they cried and screamed for mercy and begged for their lives. It did not help and five corpses had suddenly disappeared from the road leaving only trails of blood that disappeared where the portal ended.


These attacks had been going on for weeks now and it would look like a hungry predator had simply taken these poor souls for its next meal and had taken the bodies with it. The local inhabitants would never be able to guess that the real reason behind the attacks was for a purpose far more cynical and even than they could ever imagine….

ooc: That's fine. But please keep all OOC comments in the OOC forum unless they are attached to an IC post

Rimoru stared at Mythos as he said a slightly confusing statement. But she just kept her eyes trained on him as he spoke. However, she did have the wit to keep up with his statement and giggled.

"Me?" she looked down at her drink as she continued to swirl it. She gave a small chuckle before looking back at Mythos. "Do I look dangerous?" She cocked her head slightly and pursed her lips.

She sighed as she leaned against her arm, again giving Mythos a good view of her chest. "But...I suppose you are right. I am lonely...and distraught. My sister was kidnapped, you know." She gave a small chuckle, as if trying to boost her own mood. She picked up her drink and smiled. "For my sister...bottoms up."

Rimoru picked up the goblet and drank quite a lot in a few gulps before setting it down and squinting her eyes. "What is this stuff?" she coughed, not quite expecting the slightly stronger alcohol to be in the glass, rather then her elven wine that she usually drank.

The patrons continued their partying in the tavern, drinking, telling stories, and laughing. The stranger just sat there in the corner, an empty plate and a half empty mug of meade. He tapped the scabbard with his fingers lightly, continuing to watch the other people carry on. One person caught his eye, it was the female with the guards. He finally got a look at her and she gave him a knot in his throat. She was radiant and quite sexy; however, she was talking to some other man oh well and he quickly dismissed his thoughts. There was other things that needed to be done. There was an agenda to stick to and he meant to do it. But the time wasn't right...

When she first glimpsed the city ahead, Maya had felt heartened. She knew the light was failing, and that she would have to find somewhere to rest, but the sight of the city meant that she was nearly there. It would be dark by the time she reached the gates, but it was worth it to sleep in a real bed. With renewed vigour at that thought, she continued making her way along the road leading to that city.
---

Such was her attire that, when she approached the gate guards, she appeared to materialise out of the gloom a bare few metres away, her long grey cloak blending into the darkness. When the guards challenged her, she held her arms away from her body, the stout ash staff in her right hand taller than she was. The long dagger at her belt remained hidden in the folds of her cloak.

“A wandering traveller in search of food and a bed for the night,” she told them. “Could you direct me to an inn, please?”

Once she had been allowed to enter, and been given the directions, she drew the warm cloak more tightly around her shoulders and began making her way up the street. She was tired, but not so tired that she did not keep a wary eye on her surroundings, alert for thieves or other unsavoury types. She found herself wondering what the people of this city were like; she had been in places where she had been welcomed and treated as a native, and others were she was met with distrust and hostility.

<Kaolai?> she asked the spirit that had been her companion for many years.
<Yes?> replied the voice in her head.
<Do you know anything about this place?> she inquired. The spirit frequently knew far more than she did, as one does when you have little to do but observe the world and share knowledge with others.
<Not really. Never come across it before, nor have I ever met anyone who has been here. I’m afraid I know little more than you,> came the reply.

She entered the inn without a second thought, and carefully wended her way through the patrons to the bar.
“I’d like some food and a room for the night, if you would be so kind?” she requested politely, once the barkeep had come over to serve her. She had a pleasant, almost musical voice, though it was spoilt somewhat by her weariness. Her left hand disappeared into her cloak, then reappeared several seconds later with a handful of silver coins retrieved from her money bag. “Oh, and a bath, if that’s possible.”

She had been travelling for several days, through all kinds of weather, and felt in need of a bath to cleanse herself with. The feeling of cleanliness that followed it was not something she was willing to part with in her travels. It was something she inquired about at every inn she stayed in, and the one thing she missed about living in one place.

Rimoru stared at Mythos as he said a slightly confusing statement. But she just kept her eyes trained on him as he spoke. However, she did have the wit to keep up with his statement and giggled.

"Me?" she looked down at her drink as she continued to swirl it. She gave a small chuckle before looking back at Mythos. "Do I look dangerous?" She cocked her head slightly and pursed her lips.

She sighed as she leaned against her arm, again giving Mythos a good view of her chest. "But...I suppose you are right. I am lonely...and distraught. My sister was kidnapped, you know." She gave a small chuckle, as if trying to boost her own mood. She picked up her drink and smiled. "For my sister...bottoms up."

Rimoru picked up the goblet and drank quite a lot in a few gulps before setting it down and squinting her eyes. "What is this stuff?" she coughed, not quite expecting the slightly stronger alcohol to be in the glass, rather then her elven wine that she usually drank.

"Aye, you look more dangerous than a dozen men combined," Mythos responded as she spun her seductress web about him. His statement was meant to be in jest, but it carried a certain truth about her - the power she and few others in the world had about them, so natural as to be deceiving and so obvious as to be entrapping. Her very presence was intoxicating to all men, and no doubt her words carried a certain weight as to be nigh impossible to protest. And yet here she was... one stroke from midnight.

Once again he, and possible she did as well, caught himself staring at her ample bosom. However, this time it was her words that broke his concentration. "Your sister you say? I am so sorry... I had no idea," he tried to sound sincere in his concern, feigning his ignorance on being from out of town. "Well then, to your sister indeed." He lifted up his already empty mug and made to drain it in a gesture of solidarity.

Yes... that's it... drink it down. He watched her take it sip by sip, letting the drug enter her system. There was no need to empty the goblet as she had swirled the drug into equal concentration, enough to do the job in her already intoxicated state. Soon the drug would enter her blood stream and make its way to her brain, slowly affecting her frontal lobe - the decision making center of one's brain. And then all that was left was to make an obvious getaway... through the front door. "Truthfully..." he grinned at the word, "it is just something they had on tap."

The stranger looked up from his mug and saw the woman bolt down hers. There was some hesitation in agreeing to be a part of this. But he agreed in hopes of accomplishing something greater, something that weighed heavy in his heart, a pledge he made long ago. The man promised to do whatever it took to get what he wanted, what he needed. Accepting this would allow him to finally find the one person he so desperatley wanted to find. The years of bitter, cynical life he lived helped to dull him from his emotions. A smile came across his face. Excellent, just a while more He looked at the man who sat with the woman.

The fast acting drug overwhelmed Rimoru's bodily defenses within minutes of drinking the alcohol. Her normally closed up mind seemed to lose it's inhibitors almost instantly with the combined power of drug and alcohol. Rimoru's normally distinct lady-like and exclusive upper class demeanor was shot down in flames as she coughed slightly. Perhaps one may even say the beast within her was unleashed...

"So that's what the rabble of the streets drink?" she asked somewhat loudly.

"But that's alright...do you want to know why, Mythos?" Rimoru giggled and grabbed his shirt, pulling him very close to her, so her lips reached his right ear. The guards turned at the sound of rapid movement but returned to scanning the rest of the bar when they noticed Rimoru getting close ot the guest.

"Victoria always got the attention I deserved..." Rimoru whispered in his ear, getting even closer to him, her lips brushing against his ear. She sat back down, letting go of Mythos and chuckled. "Always...father never liked me..."

Her eyes flashed to Mythos and she smiled again. "Now let me get this straight...you want to get me soooo drunk that..." she paused and smiled slightly as she leaned in close to Mythos again, this time giving him an even larger view of her bosom. And she seemed to know he would look since her smile widened even more. "That you will carry me away and do what you want with me? That is my guess. I am beautiful, right?"

**********************************************

"Of course, little lady," the barkeeper replied to the new woman with a staff, slightly mesmerized by her voice- until she dropped the money on the table.

"A bath? Always for you, ma'am. What sort o' drink do ya want? Beer, wine, water, grog..." he chuckled as he brought out his cleaning towel and cleaned off the slightly dirty table.

***********************************************

"Oi, where's the bard?! I need zzzaah bard!" laughed a drunk patron who twirled around, a mug of thick beer frothing in his cup, occasionally pouring out on the floor.

He looked at one corner- Rimoru seeming to already be enjoying herself with a new man. "Pffffaaaah!" he shouted and shook his head as he looked the opposite way. There, a small figure sitting by herself. The drunk made his way towards her, staggering about, before stopping suddenly at her table. "Sorry, ma'am...your beauty tis like a moth to a...hic...a...cheese...but yer not the one I look fer!" He made down to give her a kiss, but the bar keeper pushed him away. "Come on Maverick. Go home- I ain't servin ya anymore drinks!"

"Pffhogwash!" came the reply as he stumbled to the corner, where a man was cloaked in shadows. The drunk began to laugh at him before he stumbled and fell upon the warrior.

However upon falling, the drunk slipped a note within the man's jacket.

The note read in a coarse, scratchy handwriting:

Blonde hair, Blue eyes. Medium height. Beautiful beyond compare- the kind ye want to go to bed with and never come out. Magical- how powerful we don't know but we assume 'tis not so good. Approach her with utmost caution- has dragon bodyguard amongst other regular ones.

She may help you find Victoria- she may search for her. If not, move to Athral, her brother. Meet once completed.

-Judge

Whoever had wrote the message clearly had some sort of connections inside House Ifrete and decently close to Rimoru herself...


"Sorry...hic...sir..." the staggering drunk burped as he made his way out the door.

The stranger watched the drunk parade around the tavern, making a fool of himself, barking loudly. The woman too began to succumb to the affects of the alcohol which he knew was drugged. Everything seemed to be going fine. All of a sudden, the drunk made his way closer to him, blubbering about what he didn't understand. He kackled and tripped, knocking into him.
"Watch where you go, drunk" he said and moved his hand to catch the man who was sprung back up and continued to dance around drunk. He reached into his cloak and pulled out the paper which the drunk slipped him, reading it closely and smiled.
So, I am to travel with her, eh Judge? He rolled up the piece of paper and slipped it back into his vest and continued to sit there.

Drasken had rolled into the town shortly before dawn the morning before and with his eyes already beggining to sting at the first hints of light he was paid off by the caravan master and hurried to the nearest inn. He spent most of the day with the cover over his eyes sleeping or listening to the noises from the tavern. Rumours suggested an important and beautiful woman had vanished and the possibility of a reward was tempting.

It was beggining to darken outside and he dragged himself from the bed, splashing some water in his face, he pulled on a shirt and flung a hooded cloak around his shoulders. He pulled up the hood, casting his face in shadows as he opened the door and stept quickly from the room. The shadows from the hood did little to reduce the shock of the light, but it only stung slightly and his eyes quickly adjusted and he moved slowly to the bar.

Sitting heavily he waved the barkeep over he said. "I'll have something with enough edge to wake the dead." He reached into a bag and put down a few coins, more than enough for the drink. "The rest is for if you tell me what all these rumours are about or if you bring me someone who can."

"Well now...I got two things very fitting fer ya," the barkeep answered as he pulled out a large mug of a blackish looking liquid that bubbled like tar. He poured it into the mug where it sizzled and bubbled for a few seconds before returning to it's tar-like attributes. "Tis an old ogre recipe-Mugrock's Gutrot. It does just as it's name suggests, if ya drink too much. Rots yer gut- but also takes ya outta a coma. Not many people try it..." the barkeeper grinned and brought the mug in front of the man. "Much less an elf..."

The barkeeper took the coins and, quickly counting them and smiling. "Well, there are two types o' rumors here, boy. There's the usual drunken rumors...an' there are the connected rumors from a certain...patron," the barkeeper's eyes motioned towards the incredibly beautiful woman in the corner, seemingly enjoying herself with the new man.

Drasken shrugged. "From what i've heard... i'm not the average elf." He raised an eyebrow at the bubbling tar-like substance but lifted the cup and took a sip, the taste burnt his throat as soon as it made contact, but through a sheer force of will he swallowed it before caughing violently. "I think it'll do the trick." He gagged out before getting that undercontrol and placing it back on the table, but kept his hand around it.

He returned his attention to the barkeep and nodded, casting a glance at the beautiful woman in the corner who seemed to be getting quite friendly with the man near her. He indicated her with a small wave. "What would those rumors be?"

The barkeeper laughed as he set to cleaning out more mugs.

"Well, them other rumors...they are quite expensive ta keep comin' ya know," the barkeeper replied, leaning on the counter with his elbow, a look on his face like he wasn't going to say anymore.

"But, ye can always settle with the common rumors that float around 'ere. So-and-so cheatin' on so-an-so, mysterious disappearences, the general madness ya hear goin' round the nation..."

"So that's what the rabble of the streets drink?" she asked somewhat loudly.

"But that's alright...do you want to know why, Mythos?" Rimoru giggled and grabbed his shirt, pulling him very close to her, so her lips reached his right ear. The guards turned at the sound of rapid movement but returned to scanning the rest of the bar when they noticed Rimoru getting close ot the guest.

"Victoria always got the attention I deserved..." Rimoru whispered in his ear, getting even closer to him, her lips brushing against his ear. She sat back down, letting go of Mythos and chuckled. "Always...father never liked me..."

Her eyes flashed to Mythos and she smiled again. "Now let me get this straight...you want to get me soooo drunk that..." she paused and smiled slightly as she leaned in close to Mythos again, this time giving him an even larger view of her bosom. And she seemed to know he would look since her smile widened even more. "That you will carry me away and do what you want with me? That is my guess. I am beautiful, right?"

Rabble? Hardly... Perhaps not one of the intellectual or aristocratic class, but Mythos was far from the average "rabble of the streets" as Rimoru so delicately put it. He was stylish, handsome, clever, and skilled... not to be confused with a bum. However, he could not protest as she grabbed the open part of his shirt and yanked him forward so that her sweet lips nearly tickled his ear. In this close proximity his nose was filled with a sweet and intoxicating aroma, felling his guard so that he didn't even notice the soldiers turn around for a brief moment.

"Perhaps I should show you the attention you deserve..." Mythos whispered, trying to get back in control of the situation. But he could speak no further as her luscious lips brushed against his ears and sent a tingling wave of pleasure through his body. And then it was gone as she released him - she sat back against her seat, but Mythos was still sitting on the edge of his, yearning for more.

Again she pushed her ample bosom forward and immediately his eyes flashed to her perfect chest. She grinned as his eyes could look nowhere else. "Is that your wish?" he responded to her guess with a smile, trying to regain some composure.

The mission... the mission! Don't get caught up... you are in control. The drug seemed to be unloosing certain parts of Rimoru that he had not been prepared for, but nevertheless he would struggle forth to ensnare her in his web. "Beautiful? You are like the northern star, shining in a dark night. Your beauty surpasses even the aphroditic gods and can cause wars to pause just by your presence..."

Drasken let out a small groan, "Curiosity killed the cat, and it seems like it might take my wallet aswell, how expensive will it be?" He said it with a slight flinch, he had a fair bit of money stashed away should be able to afford anything that wasn't outrageous. He took another swig of the volatile liquid, barely letting it touch the insides of his mouth before swallowing it down, he shuddered at the thought of the damage it was probably doing to his insides, but he had paid for it, and he was damned if he was gonna waste it.

He glanced around the bar, apart from the local drunks and the beautiful woman in the corner with her partner, there were a few other unusual people around, these romours had seemingly attracted more than just himself and with the price of information weas probably running high with such demand, he sighed inwardly.

"Tis only a guess," Rimoru giggled in response to his question of what she wanted. To be honest, she wouldn't mind...he was certainly handsome enough. She gave a high pitched hiccup, covering her mouth as the color began to rise in her cheeks She giggled again and scooted around the table so she was right next to Mythos. "But...perhaps it is a wish...to be swept off my feet by a handsome, fearless knight..."

Rimoru blushed as he complimented her beauty. It what she always wanted to hear. It not only boosted her ego, but told her she still had something that stood out from her sisters. "Oh dear...perhaps I should be a diplomat if I can pause wars..." she giggled and continued to examin his body, at a different angle...and a much closer one too.

She smiled as her hand slowly held onto his chin and she guided it so he looked directly in her own face. She hiccupped again and gently traced the outline of his tattoo. "So...what is this, then?"

Within minutes, the barkeeper came, bringing two new goblits of Rimoru's favorite wine. "I got one for your friend as well, My lady Rimoru." The man glared at Mythos for an instant, before returning to the princess. Then again, most people who got that close to Rimoru were very lucky...and made all the other men very envious-possibly murderous.

"Jarold! You weren't suppossed to tell my name!" Rimoru laughed. "He was supposed to guess! Shoo! Shoo!"

The barkeeper's cheeks turned bright red and he quickly bowed and retreated back to his station.

Drasken let out a small groan, "Curiosity killed the cat, and it seems like it might take my wallet aswell, how expensive will it be?"


"Oho! Funny elf," the barkeeper laughed. "Since you are brave enough to drink such deplorable a drink...an' ya funny...make it a gold piece an' the info is yers. Believe me...tis the best ya can get unless yer part o' the guilds themselves..."

He looked at the corner as he saw movement and frowned temporarily as he noticed Rimoru scoot herself closer to the man and touch him with her own hands...

"But...perhaps it is a wish...to be swept off my feet by a handsome, fearless knight..."

She smiled as her hand slowly held onto his chin and she guided it so he looked directly in her own face. She hiccupped again and gently traced the outline of his tattoo. "So...what is this, then?"

Within minutes, the barkeeper came, bringing two new goblits of Rimoru's favorite wine. "I got one for your friend as well, My lady Rimoru." The man glared at Mythos for an instant, before returning to the princess. Then again, most people who got that close to Rimoru were very lucky...and made all the other men very envious-possibly murderous.

"Jarold! You weren't suppossed to tell my name!" Rimoru laughed. "He was supposed to guess! Shoo! Shoo!"

A knight, no... but perhaps... She moved around the table so that her thigh rubbed against his, practically on top of him - every man's delight. "How about... to be swept off your feet by a handsome, fearless knave?"

Her hand touched his chin, sending chills through his spine, and guided his eyes to hers. Her eyes were like none Mythos had ever seen before; blue like saphires, sharp as diamonds, and piercing as a rapier - eyes that could take your breath away.

She continued to touch his face, tracing up his cheek bone with her delicate finger, following his winding 'tattoo.' "This..." he mimiced, reaching up with his hand to touch his cheek and laying his fingers instead upon her hand. "This is naught but a sign of my people." It was true - a sign of his people - but more than 'just a sign.' He was grateful that the bartender came over and interrupted them so he didn't have to explain any further.

Mythos grinned dubiously at the bartender as the man stared at the knave, but then returned to the lovely form of the lady next to him. "Ahh... Lady Rimoru Ifrete is it then..."

He shrugged, "Bravery has little to do with it." He reached into a bag at his waist and pulled out a gold piece. He flipped it to the barkeep and said; "Tell me what you know."

He watched as the man looked over to the woman again and noticed his disaproving frown. He hadn't taken the time to examine her properly, but it was obvious from people behaviour that she was wanted by most of the men in the room. It seemed this information had something to do with her, he would probably have to meet her sooner or later. He made a dismissing gesture with his hand ans if pushing the thought away and snapped his fingers to get the barkeeps attention again.

Rimoru let out a laugh. "A knave? Oh my." She looked downwards at her new goblit and giggled again. "A knave..."

As his hand layed upon her own delicate hand, Rimoru's blood quickened and she held her breath slightly. She leaned in closer, curious as to what the tattoo signifies, and perhaps more than curiosity as her lips quivered slightly. Her eyes looked at his own lips, then back to his eyes.

"You have found me, Mythos. And you already know far more than I know about you," Rimoru replied quietly, leaning back in her chair, pulling her hand away. She looked down at her new drink- the one she usually drank- and remained silent for a few minutes.

"I suppose it would work...you are handsome enough to be a knight..." She stated suddenly, as her cheeks flushed an even darker shade of red before she raised her goblit. "A toast then, Sir Knave Mythos, the one to sweep me off my feet." She smiled broadly to Mythose before drinking down her next goblit.

He shrugged, "Bravery has little to do with it." He reached into a bag at his waist and pulled out a gold piece. He flipped it to the barkeep and said; "Tell me what you know."

He watched as the man looked over to the woman again and noticed his disaproving frown. He hadn't taken the time to examine her properly, but it was obvious from people behaviour that she was wanted by most of the men in the room. It seemed this information had something to do with her, he would probably have to meet her sooner or later. He made a dismissing gesture with his hand ans if pushing the thought away and snapped his fingers to get the barkeeps attention again.

"Aye, my apologies, sir," the barkeeper replied as he leaned in closer to the elf figure. "That beauty o'er there- She is the Sapphire of Iskan...Ye won't see anyone as beautiful as her."

"The trouble is...just bein' with her is the trouble. Her father dislikes the idea of Rimoru- that's her name- leavin' the palace without guards."

"'Specially now...with her sister's sudden disappearance. Just vanished in thin air. Aye, the lass was beautiful as well, but was not so physical in her relationships. E'eryone wanted to be her friend an' she wanted to be e'eryone's friend."

"So when she just vanished, all o' Iskan's been in mournin'. Lord Darian Ifrete, their father, is goin' mad...'specially with the other disappearances. Bloody disappearances- like a wild animal dragged 'em somewhere ta eat."

"I suppose it would work...you are handsome enough to be a knight..." She stated suddenly, as her cheeks flushed an even darker shade of red before she raised her goblit. "A toast then, Sir Knave Mythos, the one to sweep me off my feet." She smiled broadly to Mythose before drinking down her next goblit.

As Rimoru leaned in close, so that her lips nearly brushed his cheek, Mythos' eyes involuntarily shut and he extended his neck. But she pulled back, much to his disappointment, and Mythos was unable to feel her sweet lips upon his skin.

"If one such as you should deem me to have the appearance of being a handsome man, then I know it must be true," he jested, "for the goddess of beauty knows nothing else." He wished her to be close to him.

Then, as she toasted him, with the speed of a tiger, Mythos leapt up, pushing back the table, and quite literally swept the lady Rimoru off her feet. "How about it then..." he said in his soothing voice, "We get to know each other a little better."

Rimoru's eyes widened as the table fell to the ground. She raised her hands protectively, by instinct, over her face and winced as she expected him to attack her. My life to end so soon! Even shorter than Victoria's life! She squealed when she was lifted into the air and she clung tightly to Mythos, shivering as she began to recollect herself.

The guards shouted, their swords out of their scabbards, advancing on Mythos.

Then, he spoke, soothing, perhaps slightly naughty, words. Rimoru smiled and waved the guards away. She rolled her Rs. "Alright, tiger...let's see what more we can explore," she whispered as she gently bit his ear and giggled quietly.

Drasken leant back as he considered the problem. After a moment he asked a stream of questions. "What was the name of her sister and what more can you tell me of these attacks? Any rewards for information or investigators?"

He glanced over at the sound of a disturbance and swords being drawn, he instantly reached for his own, but stopped himself from drawing it. "If his father is worried about her, this seems to be an odd way of showing it."

The disturbance across the bar caused the strangert o look up and examine the situation; however, it seemed like nothing big. Just the target getting friendly with some guy. He continued to tap his fingers against the table.

The barkeep reached under the bar to pick up a sword that remained hidden to the patrons when the clatter of noise erupted from Rimoru's corner, but stopped when she seemed relatively safe and she shooed away the guards.

"Name o' her sister that vanished, an' I do mean vanished, 'tis Victoria Ifrete. The attacks that occur on the roads at night are bloody, gruesome things. May all the gods have mercy on the creature if it attacked our poor Victoria...the whole nation'll be after the bugger...and we sure as the underworld won't give it mercy. But no...when Victoria vanished, she left no trace. No magic particles, no hair, no blood...nothin'. And she supposedly was in her room. That's the scary part...Darian's palace tis an impenetrable fortress...that's why Darian is letting go of many o' his servants and trusted..."

"Well...truth is, Lord Darian loved Victoria amongst all the children...'cept perhaps one o' his sons. But Rimoru sneaks out o' the palace at night ta mingle in her own sweet way with the guests. Some may think it torture to us- knowing we could ne'er marry such a girl...but 'tis a wondrous and marvelous feeling just to speak with 'er. Man I wish me wife was like her..."

Drasken thought for a moment, "An impenetrable fortress and a vanishing girl, sounds like she wanted to vanish. Either that or an inside job." The other matter... "Probably distraction of some sort. If someone is savage enough."

Ah, He thought, maybe the heart of the matter. Jealousy, that would certainly suggest an inside job. He placed another coin on the table; "Out of curiosity, which son is his favourite? and where might i be able to find an official of some sort during the night? I'd like to find out if theres a reward for either of these matters."

((OOC: Happy New Year! I apologise if this post isn't so great, but I'm slightly drunk...))

Good, thought Maya at the confirmation of a bath. I really would like one this time. The recent weather has not been pleasant. She smiled at the barkeep.
“A small mug of beer, please,” she told him, and took a moment to adjust her cloak so she could sit down without pulling it free of her shoulders.

<Might be worth staying here to eat,> pointed out Kaolai. <That way you can see if the patrons are surly or sociable when intoxicated, and you’re clearly from foreign lands, so if any approach you, that would give a starting point to working out their sober treatment of strangers.>
<I knew you would say that,> she told him, a slight smile playing across her face.

As she waited for the barkeep to return, she looked around her, taking in what was going on between the patrons. Nothing stood out, until she noticed that one of the men, clearly drunk, was moving towards her with what could be purpose; it was hard to tell, he was so drunk. As he got closer, her grip on the staff she still held tightened, her knuckles showing white. She would try and keep the disturbance to a minimum if she had to, a single blow to the head should send the drunk down for the night.

Fortunately, the barkeep intervened just in time, so all she had to put up with was a blast of foul smelling breath, heavily laced with alcohol. She had been just about to hit him too, so they were both lucky. She gave a small nod of thanks to the barkeep and returned to watching the other patrons.

<Okay, so he probably wasn’t the best example,> admitted Kaolai. Maya just smiled.

She looked up at the sound of swords being drawn, and saw a woman, not that dissimilar to herself in appearance, though considerably more attractive, as she would readily admit, being held in the arms of a man, with what appeared to be guards around them. As the situation seemed to resolve itself, her gaze dropped down to the table top in front of her. Probably someone of minor importance, and they’ve found a date for the night. Nothing for me to bother about, she thought to herself, then yawned tiredly.

Rimoru's eyes widened as the table fell to the ground. She raised her hands protectively, by instinct, over her face and winced as she expected him to attack her. My life to end so soon! Even shorter than Victoria's life! She squealed when she was lifted into the air and she clung tightly to Mythos, shivering as she began to recollect herself.

The guards shouted, their swords out of their scabbards, advancing on Mythos.

Then, he spoke, soothing, perhaps slightly naughty, words. Rimoru smiled and waved the guards away. She rolled her Rs. "Alright, tiger...let's see what more we can explore," she whispered as she gently bit his ear and giggled quietly.

Perhaps it was not the first reaction Mythos thought she would have to his actions, but then none of this had been. The drugs, alcohol, and turmoil in her life caused swirling emotions, turning from glee to fear in but a moment. With her sister abducted, she had reason to fear for her life. More than she realizes...

The guards advanced on him, convinced he was doing her harm, but then Rimoru once again was her playful, flirtatious, and sexual self, telling the guards off while simultaneously nibbling on his ear. Oh, how sexy a creature she is... too bad really... "Let's.." he said in his usual voice as he crossed the tavern floor - the people standing in the way stared but then parted for their princess. One of the entering patrons held the door for him, as he squeezed his through so that Rimoru didn't bump the side of the doorframe.

Once outside in the cool air and breeze of the night with only the stars as witnesses, Mythos sprung into action. The shadows lent him aid as he disappeared with the princess into darkness. It was late; nobody was out wandering the streets, especially as they were petrified of being mauled by the mysterious beast of the night. He let her down for a moment in a dark inlet; obviously she expected a guess as his hand reached closer to her...

"Sleep!" he commanded in a restless whisper and as if on command, she fell limp. At her mouth Mythos held a rag soaked in a chemical that could knock out an a cow let a lone a dainty princess. "Such a pity..." he whispered as he looked down at the limp figure in his arms. "Come now..." The dark figure lifted Rimoru into his arms like he had just a moment ago and pushed off the ground hard. With the ease of an Atharian, Mythos and Rimoru leapt onto the roof and began their trek across the city's rooftops.

The darkness of night was the greatest ally of Mythos, none could see him if he wished it so and his delicate yet strong steps made no sound at all. When the buildings and houses dwindled near the outskirts of the city, he leapt down, making sure to steady his arms so that Rimoru did not fall. His arms grew weary from their burden, but he did not wish to stop now and risk discovery. Best to get to the safe house quick... So Mythos battled against the weariness and continued forth down the road. The houses became few and far between, and light was a scarcity. Should they run into someone on the road, hiding would now be easy even for someone without the abilities of Mythos. But fortunately such an event did not occur and he could soon make out the outline of the safe house...

An old church long since abandoned and left to ruin, on the outer limits of the city. Nobody lived nearby nor did anyone ever bother to look inside. It was broken, shattered... a virtual trash dump of splintered wood and ruined walls. Books littered the floor, candles could be found under the pews, and anything of true value had been pillaged long ago. The doors had been locked and chained shut for nearly a generation ago, but for someone with the skills of Mythos, there was still a clean entrance. Near the back of the church there was a bell tower, though the bell had rusted to one side of the steeple and had not rung in many years. There was, however, a balcony that was still intact some thirty feet up. A near impossible climb for most, but for Mythos it was a jump... a strain of a jump considering his weight load and weariness, but he could make it.

Now, he had arrived to where he could fully see the church - his home until the morning when the sun would wake him and bring a message from his mysterious and unknown contact. He made his way along the side to where he would make his final ascent. His arms ached as they neared the end of their journey. Carrying about nine stones of weight for over forty minutes was to light task. Mythos glanced down at his burden and once again noticed her ample bosom, pushing out and presenting itself to him from the position she was in. "Simply stunning..." At last, he had found his way up. There was no need, nor desire, to jump to the roof some twenty feet up. Damn high ceiling churches... There happened to be a piece of the roof that had fallen off and formed a steep ramp from the grassy floor to the delicate and unstable roof above. "Here we are..." Mythos commented as he aligned himself and made the strenuous jump to the balcony above. "Home sweet home."

"Have a rest my darling... you've worked so hard," he jested to himself about the unconscious form of Rimoru. He laid her down on the ground with her head lying on a pile of rope. I don't think there'll be any need to tie her up... he thought to himself confidently as he stepped outside and leaned over the rail. "Not the easiest exit..."

"Hey wait a min, elf," The barkeeper chuckled. "Ya move to fast fer yer own good. I was gettin' to the rewards part. Lord Darian has hired hundreds o' search teams ta find his daughter. Earnin' lots o' money fer the lookin' for her. Even more if ya find her alive...an' alone. Enough ta make a street beggar into a Duke.."

"As fer the sons...tis hard to tell...There's Athral the youngest...rumors 'bout him an' Rimoru gettin' into fights all the time...but they are- or were- closest ta Relthor...Then there's Terseras an' Zeinomir. But Terseras an' Zeinomir are both takin' classes elsewhere in Iskan...or with the dragons. Dunno who is Lord Darian's favorite...but Terseras is supposed ta inherit the throne after Lord Darian."

***********************************************

"Beer, Mi'lady?" the barkeeper asked with faint surprise. "Right then, comin' right up." He walked off, dodging a few staggering drunks and filling up a small mug- small being quite large, nearly a pint...

"'Ere ya go, my lady Tis the smallest we got, I'm afraid...Rimoru usually get's the smallest an' we only got a few goblits fer her...currently, they remain dirty...but think o' this as extra beer, on the house!"

***********************************************

As Rimoru lay on the ground she chuckled and let her arms reach out and grab a few leaves nearby as she stretched. "Awkward...I don't think I've ever done anything naughty outside before...well...not many times before..." she giggled and sucked in a long breath, letting her bosom rise and fall slowly. As she noticed his hand getting closer she smiled and shivered with anticipation. "I'm ready for whatever you-"

Her vision went black.

***

"Ugh...headache...hurts..." Rimoru groaned as she placed her hands on her throbbing head. "Wine is stronger than I remember it..."

She slowly sat up and opened her eyes. "Wha-what is this? Where am I?" Her eyes widened with dread and she pushed herself against the nearest wall. "Oh no!" she squeaked. "I've been kidnapped too!"

Her frightened eyes searched the area to get some idea of where she was and possibly an exit.

"Mythos? Mythos!" she yelped. That's when she saw him, his eyes closed. Please don't be dead, please don't be dead. She crawled towards him and grabbed his arm with her delicate hands and tugged. "Mythos, wake up! We've been kidnapped..." she whispered, her voice quivering as her breath quickened.

"Mythos? Mythos!" she yelped. That's when she saw him, his eyes closed. Please don't be dead, please don't be dead. She crawled towards him and grabbed his arm with her delicate hands and tugged. "Mythos, wake up! We've been kidnapped..." she whispered, her voice quivering as her breath quickened.

Despite being so weary from the travel, Mythos couldn't seem to fall asleep. He propped himself again the wall of the bell tower and closed his eyes, but there was something tugging at him... something tugging down deep.

Then a screech and Rimoru was quite literally tugging at his arm. She was distressed, no doubt, from being abducted... but she wasn't mad; only scared. Uh-oh... she doesn't know yet...

"Hmmm... I have to apologize, M'lady." Best to start with an apology - that's what woman always want: a sincere apology. "You're a real darling and all, but I had a mission to do and they wouldn't exactly pay me if I just let you go..." His voiced trailed off, hoping she could fill in what happened without him having to go into details about it.

"Wait- what? You...mission? As in kidnap me? Let me go?" Rimoru stared in shock as she fell on her haunches. Then, with surprising speed, Rimoru slapped Mythos in the face.

"I thought we had something, you blundering idiot! I sincerely thought you were being truthful!" She made to slap him again. "Did you take advantage of me? You made me drunk!"

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I am too young! What is going to happen? What is Mythos going to do?! That-that- fiend! I was even willing to let him kiss me and...what-

Rimoru let out a growl as she looked around angrily. "I thought we had something!" she shouted again, tears forming in her eyes.

"I am ruined..." she sobbed, scooting away from Mythos.

"Wait- what? You...mission? As in kidnap me? Let me go?" Rimoru stared in shock as she fell on her haunches. Then, with surprising speed, Rimoru slapped Mythos in the face.

"I thought we had something, you blundering idiot! I sincerely thought you were being truthful!" She made to slap him again. "Did you take advantage of me? You made me drunk!"

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I am too young! What is going to happen? What is Mythos going to do?! That-that- fiend! I was even willing to let him kiss me and...what-

Rimoru let out a growl as she looked around angrily. "I thought we had something!" she shouted again, tears forming in her eyes.

"I am ruined..." she sobbed, scooting away from Mythos.

Mythos made no attempt to stop her - she needed to take her anger out, shed a few tears - as Rimoru quickly crossed the tiny bell tower and slapped him hard in the face. There was a stinging sensation and redness in his cheek, but he made no movements.

He didn't know how to act. Years of training never prepared someone for a situation has convoluted and twisted as this. Do I comfort her... as her captor? Do I say nothing and let her wallow?

Finally he decided on his words and spoke up as she sobbed. "I truly am sorry. I think you are marvelous, more than I deserve, and more beautiful than any man can handle... and I swear I did nothing to you." He swore to her of his innocence in any wrongdoing but abducting her, not that his word carried much weight anymore.

"But you see... everyone has to make a living... and while someone like you fetches a pretty penny... I confess that I have little skill in handling my money - I like to spend it you see, which always leaves me in a tough spot without anything. As is, I am nigh broke until I am paid," he tried to explain his position, though knowing she probably didn't want to hear it.

"I know this doesn't make you feel any better nor justify my action... I'll be quiet now."

"You seem to have little skill in anything...other than lieing," Rimoru sobbed angrily. "You even fail at kidnappings...I would have taken advantage..."

Rimoru balled her fists and slammed them on the floor. It wasn't so much the abduction, but the feelings she thought they felt- genuinely matched feelings...

"Rude, good for nothing, imbecile," she muttered as she crawled towards the rope. "What is this for? Suicide?"

She began fiddling with it, occasionally wiping her eyes of tears. "If my father finds out, you will be flayed alive," she growled.

"You seem to have little skill in anything...other than lieing," Rimoru sobbed angrily. "You even fail at kidnappings...I would have taken advantage..."

Rimoru balled her fists and slammed them on the floor. It wasn't so much the abduction, but the feelings she thought they felt- genuinely matched feelings...

"Rude, good for nothing, imbecile," she muttered as she crawled towards the rope. "What is this for? Suicide?"

She began fiddling with it, occasionally wiping her eyes of tears. "If my father finds out, you will be flayed alive," she growled.

"Aye... you speak nothing but the truth," he said mournfully.

"I have been told many times my true skill lies in my deception. And I know of many men who would have... taken advantage..." Mythos said sadly. "But perhaps I am just a failure."

"If you were to attempt to use that for suicide, I would most assuredly have to protest," he replied as she looked at the rope he had decided against tying her up with. For more reasons than just money... Perhaps his feelings were real even if they hadn't begun that way.

He began to dwell on the future as they sat alone in the bell tower of a ruined church. "Aye, I would imagine. Probably have me strung up by my toes and beaten to death with a blunt instrument. Don't blame him either..."

There was nothing left to do but wait for the sun to rise. By then Rimoru's lungs might have given out, lending silence to her sobs and furious torrent of rebukes. Slowly, still leaning against the bell tower and looking forward away from Rimoru, Mythos closed his eyes begging that sleep would come relieve him of his burden.

"Why? I'm not worth the effort if I killed myself? Not worth anything dead? Since I am only worth my weight in gold for you," Rimoru sobbed. She let go of the rope as a particularly long sob engulfed her as she slowly scooted herself back against the wall.

As the talk of Mytho's torture came up, Rimoru shook her head in disagreement. "I'll make sure it's ten times as worse," she sobbed.

The princess continued to sob as her partner grew silent. He falls asleep, then I can escape...if I fall asleep, then he may murder me...what is he waiting for anyways? Wants me to cry myself to death? Torture me some more?

Rimoru beat her fists against the floor again as a new wave of sobs wracked her body. Soon, she found herself tired, her voice hoarse, as she curled up in a fetal position, truly feeling alone. She looked at Mythos again. I shall stay awake...I shall stay awake...

Within minutes, she had cried herself to sleep, her breathing soft except for the occasional sad moan that escaped her as she seemed to search for a comfortable spot on the floor.

Rimoru beat her fists against the floor again as a new wave of sobs wracked her body. Soon, she found herself tired, her voice hoarse, as she curled up in a fetal position, truly feeling alone. She looked at Mythos again. I shall stay awake...I shall stay awake...

Within minutes, she had cried herself to sleep, her breathing soft except for the occasional sad moan that escaped her as she seemed to search for a comfortable spot on the floor.

The lady's protests and rant continued, but Mythos no longer made an effort to assuage her fears and anger. She could let it all out as he attempted to drift off to sleep - a nearly impossible task with her banging her fists on the floor and crying puddles.

Eventually though, the banging and noise stopped and the constant bawling was replaced with intermittent sobs. Mythos peeled one eye open and looked across to see Rimoru lying asleep. He simply stared at her motionless body for several minutes, not batting an eye or making a sound. "I'm sorry..."

Closing his eyes with the knowledge that Rimoru's pains were temporarily relieved by the mystifying nature of slumber, Mythos found it much easier to drift off himself. Within moments sleep had overcome him and his next sight would be the brilliant reflection of the sun on the great bell...

The Graveyard was a dark and desolate sight for most living creatures. It however felt like home to the massive man that had just exited out of his magical gate. The overwhelming energy of consuming five souls was coursing through Akarth’s body. His already large frame seemed slightly larger and more muscular than it did during the ambush.


The lightly armored behemoth picked up two of the five bodies on the ground next to him and walked passed the various graves and tombstones and headed towards a small crypt towards the northern part of the graveyard. The crypt was originally designed to hold a family of old aristocrats that had long ago died out. This monument to their family had become the haven for an undead Emperor in exile and his few remaining vassals.

The Emperor passed through the large stone slab of a door by merely speaking a single command word. The glyphs protecting the door immediately deactivate and the zombie guards on the other side opened the gate for their liege lord. Akarth smiled and commanded the zombie guards to retrieve the other corpses left behind. The guards shambled out of the crypt and headed towards the direction their Emperor had come from. They would easily find the bodies and drag them back to the entrance of the crypt.


The Emperor would come back later to reseal the door. Akarth wanted to hurry and begin the ritual upon these fallen bodies. If all went according to his plan the bodies would rise up as more powerful undead creatures rather than the mindless skeletons and zombies that were making up the heart of Akarth’s would be army.

The former Emperor sighed at the thought of calling his small collection of walking corpses an army. He once commanded entire legions of powerful undead creatures like Vampires, Liches, even Death Knights.

The Emperor with a minor sigh shoved the massive slab on the middle sarcophagus out of the way. This action exposed a large flight of stairs heading downward like a massive stair way down to the pits of the Abyss.


The dark stair way went down in a spiral like fashion all the way to a large chamber. This chamber was the storage area for the army. The army was composed of roughly fifty to sixty skeleton infantry soldiers and over one hundred zombies of various sizes and shapes. They all were armed with basic weaponry such as swords, axes, hammers and even scythes. This assembly would look like a fearsome sight to most people whom had not seen some form of combat with the undead.

It would not however be enough to fulfill the purposes of the disposed Emperor however and thus he began to walk over to the next chamber to the right of the room. This chamber was guarded by two Mohrg guards that promptly moved away from the entrance at the sight of their dreaded Emperor. They even muttered simple greetings as they tried to avoid their dark master’s attention. The Emperor quickly walked over to a red pentagram in the center of the chamber. This is where the ritual would take place an act so unholy and foul that even the undead guards were afraid of it.


Akarth placed one of the bodies in the center of the massive five star pentagram that covered most of the floor and began to recite the dark rites to this most blasphemous and foul ritual.

“I summon the powers of darkness and despair. I curse upon the forces of light and summon you here to unleash your all consuming rage. I demand of you to enter the body before you and become a creature of death………”

The Graveyard was starting to become more corrupt and decayed looking. The dark wind started to scrap across the corpses of the dead trees that continued to sway and dance to the rhythm of negative energy that was seeping from the ground to the surface like heat rising to the air……

Rimoru awoke as she felt the sun's rays heat up her body. It was already uncomfortable enough, cold hard floor, kidnapped, and decieved by one whom she had begun to think as a friend.

Her eyes went to the figure opposite her and she fought back a sob. She got up slowly and picked up the rope she had neatly coiled up the night before and walked quietly to the edge of the bell tower. Perhaps escape will take my mind off of this fiend.

Rimoru hadn't anticipated being so high up, and she stumbled backwards with vertigo after she looked over the edge, getting a few creaks out of the wood underneath her. She immediately turned towards Mythos to make sure he was still asleep and walked towards him, hearing the quiet snores of the man.

Her fingers wiggled as she prepared a rather lethal spell, atleast to one who was sleeping, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Why does he have to be so handsome? she asked herself and sighed quietly. She crouched down and looked at his sleeping face- so peaceful, and still handsome. She pursed her lips and kissed him ever so gently on the cheek. At the same time she gently placed a glowing hand over his muscular stomach. It wasn't quite lethal, but it was annoying. And it would make sure he didn't seduce anyone soon. The spell itself would make Mythos feel bloated and very uncomfortable.

And he would be quite embarassed to show himself in public, considering all that gas will need to let itself out one way or another. And the best part of the spell was it's longevity- lasting a good portion of the day. "Sleep well, my brave knave," she whispered as she walked back to her rope and shook her head. It wouldn't reach a reasonable distance. She would need to jump.

And so she did. With her eyes closed, Rimoru took a deep breath and stepped off the tower. Immediately she felt the wind rush across her, tossing her hair too and fro. Concentrate, Rimmy, Concentrate! The spell! Before it is too late! Rimoru tightened her shut eye as she formed a relatively simple spell- that is, if she wasn't falling to her doom.

A powerful gust of wind picked up and slowed Rimoru's descent so she could fall to the floor without hurting herself.

"I am not going back home..." she finally told herself. "I am to find Victoria. Then Father will like me more. He has too," she whispered to herself, motivating herself to follow through and not retreat back to the safety of the palace. She will be more careful from now on...

Excellent...'the stranger 'has not- and will not- spot me... came the thought of a cloaked figure as it swiftly made it's way behind the large man who was dubbed "the Stranger".

The man had been tracking this "Stranger" and his increasing undead presence for a while, the intentions still remaining unknown. However, it has just been ordered that this roguish figure was to confront this mammoth man with an ultimatum- join or die. This was, afterall, not the man's territory...

The cloaked spy walked through the darkness, avoiding eyes and light as much as possible, until, of course, the ritual.

He walked into the light, sheilding his face momentarily with his arm. As he talked, however, he lowered his arm, revealing a intriquetly made face mask of red, white, and black with gold outlines.

"I wouldn't do that. This isn't your territory. Bad things could happen...however...you could always get permission from those who own this land..." the masked man said with a young voice. Beneath his cloak, the man was dressed in black silks. He wore black leather gloves and boots. He was truly a man of the shadows...

"Hey wait a min, elf," The barkeeper chuckled. "Ya move to fast fer yer own good. I was gettin' to the rewards part. Lord Darian has hired hundreds o' search teams ta find his daughter. Earnin' lots o' money fer the lookin' for her. Even more if ya find her alive...an' alone. Enough ta make a street beggar into a Duke.."

"As fer the sons...tis hard to tell...There's Athral the youngest...rumors 'bout him an' Rimoru gettin' into fights all the time...but they are- or were- closest ta Relthor...Then there's Terseras an' Zeinomir. But Terseras an' Zeinomir are both takin' classes elsewhere in Iskan...or with the dragons. Dunno who is Lord Darian's favorite...but Terseras is supposed ta inherit the throne after Lord Darian."

Interesting, but perhaps not the best choice, paying them before they have found anything, seems a waste. "I will have to offer my services sooner or later. But, i still have questions, who is the Relthor?"

He closed his eyes and mulled over the information, taking another swallow of the foul concoction in front of him. Terserar and this Zeinomir seem to far removed to have taken a hand in this. That and Terserar doesn't seem to stand to gain much either. Why would he bleed his father dry of the money it must be costing to finance these search teams if he would inherit anyway. No, if it was an inside job it is unlikely to be him, but i need more information on the others and they would need to have support from somewhere.

He opened his eyes again and looked at the barkep. "The other guilds, what would they stand to gain if house Ifrete went down?" Saying that he glanced over to where Rimoru should have been, but she had vanished. He frowned I should not get so carried away with my thoughts.

ooc: Kulikovia, 'the stranger' is Death's char. Please edit/delete your post

"Ah...Relthor..." the barkeeper started, once again returning to cleaning mugs. "Rimoru's handsome teacher. He also teaches Athral. Thing is, Relthor is also a dragon...one o' them Ageless ones too- created directly from the gods when the world was made. Powerful man he is. Even Lord Darian respects 'em. Then again why shouldn't he?"

"Do ya even need ta ask, elf? If House Ifrete goes down, the other guilds go up. The gobble up what House Ifrete has lost. Fer us normal folk, things'll probably change a lot. I'd feel bad fer 'em though. One o' the guilds may even hunt down the Ifrete family an' kill them one by one. 'Tis what happened to the Orocrull Guild long ago. Ya see, each guild no longer wants to share Iskan. It has become an' underground war to take it over. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if one o' the guilds stole Victoria. Then again, it goes back to the problem of how..."

Drasken smiled. Dragons, guild wars, missing girls and rewards. This just keeps getting better. He thought with a hint of sarcasm. "I doubt it would be possible to meet Relthor given his status. Very well then, is there anything else before you tell me where to find an official?" He had heard of the guilds before, the merchant he had travelled with had been very vocal and outlined the basics.

"Aye, common folk don't tend to speak with the royal family except fer Rimoru and Victoria. Relthor is no exception- he tends ta stay in the palace. So, unless ya get in that impenetrable fortress, yer outta luck. Now if ya wish to speak with an official, Krellin's office is down Palace Road an' to the left when ya reach the palace. 'Tis a large office- big sign that says Senator Krellin- Senator. He tends to talk to most people- fer a fee."

"Other than that, thar is nothin, really. Just watch yerself at night. Aside from muggers an' kidnappers, an' believe me, Victoria wasn't the only one ta disappeer, there are strange things out there- ya never know what to expect."

The sad, wailing sound of a violin echoed through the morning air as Rimoru walked quickly from the belltower and Mythos; around the next street corned stood a short man shouldering a massive pack on his shoulders, gently struming a small violin. Many multicolored rings were on his fingers, and all sorts of strange ornements hung from his large bag. The commoners on the street didn't seem to be paying too much attention to the man's music as they walked past him, apparently ignoring his efforts.

He started with hope as he saw the incredibly lovely form of Rimoru turn the corner, rushing down the street. A Noble! He heaved his pack over his shoulders and struck up an equal stride next to her.

"My lady, you look troubled; would you care for a bit of music to cheer you up on this glorious morning? Perhaps you could spare a coin or two for a song?"

Rimoru raised an eyebrow as her blue eyes raised up and looked at the strange man. He appeared to be some sort of wandering minstrel or bard...or better-off beggar. Can't trust anyone anymore... She was, somewhat surprised to notice he was a bit shorter than even her.

"Get lost," she replied sadly. Last time someone cheered her up had been the night before, of course. Resulting in her being kidnapped. I won't be kidnapped again...

"Ah, come now, my lady!" The man stared hard at her, inspecting her face. "You're one of the Ifrete girls, if I'm not mistaken. I thought Ifretes were always known for their charity and kindness? At least lead me to that nice little palace of yours. I've always dreamed of trying to win your father's ears with my music, but those damn guards never let me so far as the gates. I'm sure with you by my side, I could finally get a chance to perform in a royal court."

The little man's face was pleading, his eyes filled with hope that the princess would help him.

"Look, monkey man," Rimoru growled as she stopped and faced the bard. "I am not so kind and generous as my sisters. And one of them was kidnapped and I nearly was my-"

Rimoru stopped and closed her mouth. If someone found out she was kidnapped, she would be bombarded by questions until she explained what she knew of her kidnapper, Mythos would indeed be hunted down, punished and executed, and she would never hear the end of her father's and Relthor's and everyone else in the palace for that matter, scolding.

"I'm not going to the palace," she finally replied, crossing her hands over her chest. "Besides, I won't let you into the palace. Who knows what's junk in your bag and what is not."

"Ah, so that's it." The short man scrathed his head and looked hard at Rimoru. "You see, word around the street is that Lord Ifrete is worried sick about his daughters; first one of them gets kidnapped, then the other dissapears for a night. Actually, it's not so much a rumor as a fact; he told me himself last night, and gave me quite a large bag of gold to find you."

He set his bag down and reached his hand into it.

"You're going back to the palace weather you like it or not, and we can do this the nice way or the mean way. Which would you prefer?"

"For one thing, I doubt my father would even let you near the palace. For another, my father wouldn't care about me...he's...just..." Rimoru began to reply when he set his bag down. She watched with wide eyes and began to back up.

"W-w-what do you mean? I-I-I am just minding my own business...you wouldn't kidnap me in broad daylight!" Rimoru began to panic, her eyes searching for the best escape route. She began to think of a spell to cast on the man if he did pounce on her. Nothing lethal, however. Rimoru may not have been the kindest out of her sisters, but she certainly did not kill people randomly.

The morning sun crested over the rooftops of the city. It was early, but the stranger was well rested despite getting little sleep. He awoke to see the woman whom he was to follow had disappeared. Dammit! I must find her He emerged from the tavern, shaking off the sleep and searching frantically. The city was large and she could be anywhere. The stranger hurried to the stable and rested himself in the saddle and rode off down the streets, searching for the woman. Losing her would compromise everything he'd work so hard for and sacrificed so much for as well. The townspeople went about their business, the markets began to fill with citizens. After an hour of asking questions and relentless searching finally paid off when he turned the corner, near the bell tower and saw the woman, interacting with some man with a violin. He got off the horse and led it to a post, tying the rope and skirted along the building, peeping around the corner.

"I'm more well known among the guild than you might think. This isn't the first time I've worked for your father." The man pulled an arm-leanth, ornately carved silver rod out of his large pack; it was an extremely beautiful and old peice of work, etched with the faces and swords of bygone heros and villians. He pointed it at Rimoru; the rod's end was hollow, and a strange blue light pulsed deep inside it. The man's finger curled around a silver trigger on it's underside.

"If you would be so kind, start walking in the direction of the palace. This isn't exactly a kidnapping, you know; your father told me to return you at all costs, so I'm really able to do whatever I want without any repercussions. None of that Ifrete magic, either, unless you know what's good for you." He brandished the small staff threateningly in her direction. "Do not test me, miss."

Rimoru continued to back up, her mouth open in shock. Here stood a man that claimed to have worked with her guild before- with her father even, and yet she never knew of him. He could be a lier...

"I-I-I'm sure my father wouldn't appreciate i-if you hurt me..." Rimoru squeaked. Two kidnappings in less than twenty four hours...

Princess Ifrete changed her tactics and summoned a brilliant shield around herself. "I-I-I'm not going back. I-I-I am going to find Victoria."

She had no idea what that strange object he held could do, but wasn't willing to stick around and find out. Better to run and dodge then stand and get hit. And so, she spun around and bolted as fast as she could down the street, early risers watched in confusion at the actions happening-unsure of what exactly to do...

"Your father only told me to bring you back; he didn't say anything about what condition you were to be brought back in." He paused as she summoned a shield and started to run for it. Stupid girl...Luckily, he had a backup plan.

As Rimoru burst down the street, a figure turned the corner. It was the same man. Same pack. Same threatening rod, and an equally threatening stare. Rimoru dashed down another street; still the same figure greeted her. Rimoru turned a final small alleyway into a dead end; she was trapped. Four of the same man advanced on her, all speaking at once.

"This is your last chance, Rimoru. Surrender, or I will take drastic measures."

Rimoru backed up until she hit the wall, the her energy shield glowing faintly around her. She contemplated summong her own illusionary copies of herself...but why? She was already cornered. This is why I should learn teleportation immediately... she thought to herself, remembering Relthor telling them teleportation is reserved for mages far more advanced than her current level. Not even the dragon had mastered it. She thought about taking the offensive...but again, why? There were three of him and she was unsure if they were illusions or what- not to mention her father would be even angrier should she ruin some of the nearby buildings with a spell.

"Please don't hurt me," she pleaded, tears slowly falling down her face. She fell to her knees and sobbed in her hands. She didn't want to go to the palace- not now...

Dammit! The woman and the man took off. The man held some unusual staff which emitted a blue glow. Magic wasn't his strength but he had to do something. The stranger unsheathed his sword and darted across the square, past bewildered citizens in a desperate bid to catch up to her. After a lengthy foot chase he emerged in an alley way. The woman cornered by four men...the same man! It was now or never.
"Halt! Leave the lady be in peace!" he shouted, discarding his cloak, buta scarf like cloth was wrapped around his lower face, hiding his mouth and nose, his sword ready to strike.

"I'm not going to hurt you, girl, not if you don't make me. Please, trust me, your father is worried sick about you."

The man's head whipped around as a man wielding a sword advanced down the alleyway. Three of the bards turned to face him.

"Halt! I am under charge by Magelord Darian Medelus Ifrete to return his daughter Princess Rimoru Ifrete safely back to his palace. You have no right to interfere with the wishes of the Guild of Mages. Turn back at once, or face me."

The three bards stepped forward and brandished their arms forward; the limbs snapped apart, revealing all manner of sword, axe, and scythe blades. The creatures-for they were obviously not men-stepped down into a ready defensive position to face the newcomer.

"These aren't illusions, if that's what you're wondering. They're my own personal golems-powerful puppets completely under my control. It would do you well to step out of this alleyway and go about your buisness, sir. The Princess is safe in my hands."

The stranger stepped back once in face of these advesaries. Magic was above him, something of which he feared. But now was not the time for fear but courage. The woman was on her knees, scared out of her mind, tears rolling down her cheeks. This man from what he could see meant only harm.
"From the way things seem, you mean to do harm to her. She'd be better off with a den of cobras than in your charge" the stranger retorted, his sword ready. These puppets advanced slowly, but now he stood his ground.
"Release her!" he demanded in a hardened tone.

"Stupid idiot! Her father charged me to bring her back no matter what. I could have killed or incapacited her a dozen times by now. She's quite safe...unless you want me to change my mind." The man snapped his fingers, and the golem puppets halted their advance.

"What do you care, anyways? I'll give you a hefty bag of gold to just go on your way." The man loosened a bag from his pack and threw it in front of the brave, but apparently dimwitted warrior. "Leave, or my puppets will attack. They do not tire, and do not die by just a single sword thrust. You are doomed if you advance."

He then pointed his weapon at Rimoru. "Drop your sheild, or I'll do it for you."

"Help me! I don't know who this man is!" Rimoru screamed to the new comer. Perhaps he could not save her- but he atleast distracted the 'golems'. She may be able to help the sword-wielder by perhaps doing some sort of spell on the golems...

Instead, however, she brought her hand, palm forward, straight out, facing the man. Suddenly, a blast of fire shot forth from her hand directly at the one who claimed he was sent by her father.

Perhaps that would buy her and her savior some time.

He realized that he was getting in over his head, but he had to do it. The gold was tempting, but something more valuable awaited him if he accomplished his mission. A name and a location was worth more than any gold. He steadied himself, ready for the onslaught. The woman knew magic, he was hoping that she would compose herself and maybe do something. If not, he'd have to do something drastic.
"Keep the gold" he plainly replied, his face stoic.

The man brought his free hand up cast a brilliant blue wall before him; the fireball hit the shield and fizzled out patheticlly. The bard waved his hand and the sheild vanished.

"Amature," he snorted. "Still learning the ways of magic, I see. That was a decently powerful discharge for one so young, but I'm trained specificlly to combat offensive magic like that." He rebrandished his weapon. "One more trick like that, and you won't like what I'm going to do to you."

What the stranger lacked in magical abilities he more than made up for in physical abilities. All his life he trained, conditioned his body, succumbing it to a wide variety of pain, relentlessly training. Such was a demanding life he led, all towards one goal which he was so close to gaining. The woman let loose a ball of fire, the stranger darted forward at a blinding speed, his sword slashed at one of the puppets, the other came at him as he tried to fight them off, dodging death with great agility how long can I last?

The bard's head whipped around as the newcomer began an attack on his puppets. The man was fast, but obviosly no one was industructible. It was just a matter of time before the warrior was worn down by his tireless golems. Still, he didn't have that kind of time. The town guard might be here any second, and he was not in a good position.

"Right then." The bard turned and faced the Princess, and discharged his weapon at Rimoru; a blast of silver light peirced her magic shield and struck her in the chest, dropping her and her shield instantly. He quickly slipped the rod back into his pack and drew out a new staff of equal leanth and beauty; this, however, was dyed blood red and adorned with the faces of demons.

"Stop!"

The golems stopped their attack, focused and ready on renewing their assult on the man if they needed to.

"These staffs I posess are relics from another time; seven individual weapons were carved and given power by seven prophet-mages hundreds of years ago. The silver one nuillifys the effects of magic." He brandished the new staff at the warrior. A deep red light pulsed from it's spout. "The red one kills quite effectively."

"Amature?!" Rimoru pouted, her sadness turning to anger. "I don't want to kill you, which you seem intent on doing so to me and my savior! But if you ask for it..."

Both her hands glowed as her eyes began to. Her hair whipped around her as her robe did as well, once again, revealing her smooth, shapely legs.

Then just as suddenly, the bard shot a strange blue bolt into her exposed chest, sending her sprawling to the floor with a scream. She gasped for breath and clutched onto her flat stomach, looking down towards her hands, she let out a wheeze of relief. She pushed herself up slowly and tried to cast a spell to rid her of her dizzyness.

But she couldn't remember exactly what the spell was. She tried to cast again, but lost herself in her own thoughts. "Ugh...I can't cast!" she groaned, pushing herself up with one hand and holding her stomach with the other.

"You imbecile! You shot me!" Rimoru screamed.

Suddenly five guards rushed to the alleyway entrance, weapons drawn. Yet a few of them also wore LawMage clothes, bright orange robes with gold trimming- a known warning for people to get out of the way. When the Lawmages were involved, some sort of crime had been committed and a death would usually be involved...

"Halt. Do not move a muscle, any of you. You are all under arrest by law to be placed in the dungeons of Malet'Hath. Fighting is not permitted in- Your highness?"

The lawmage was greatly startled when he noticed the beautiful woman stumbling about clutching herself.

"Arrest him..." Rimoru pointed to the one who shot her. "He shot me with something...and...tried to kidnap me. And he is threatening to kill him," Rimoru pointed to the man with the sword. "Who was trying to rescue me..."

Rimoru shot an angry glare at the bard and leaned on the relatively young lawmage, most likely on his first assignment. "I feel so weak..." she whispered, her chest heaving as he stared down at her.

"Err...yes...bind them, men," he stuttered.

"First off, I'm not trying to kill anyone, much to everyone else's misunderstandings. This man over here was merely trying to interfere with my completely ligitimate work. Secondly, I'm charged by Darian Ifrete to bring his...errant...daughter back to him. So if you please, I would like to do my job." He started forward; the soldiers brandished their weapons threateningly. Several LawMages stepped forward to combat him. His three golems focused on the new adversaries.

The bard hesitated; LawMages weren't usually as powerful as their name inplied-the newer ones, anyways-but killing LawMages and guards wouldn't bode well for the powers-that-be. The entire army of Iskan would probably be on his tail if his started something here.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'm sure Lord Ifrete will clear this all up for me." The bard snapped his fingers, and his golems suddenly vanished in a cloud of moke, only to be replaced by a trio of tightly-rolled scrolls of parchment on the ground. He put his powerful staff back into his bag as well.

"Don't listen to him. Look- he shot me with that blue staff thingy. He would have killed if me I didn't have my shield up. Then that red staff- I heard him- kills "efficiently"...I'm glad you guys came when you did. Best not let him see my father in case he tries something against him as well."

"And I am not an errant! I was just-" she had to come up with something quick. She still didn't want her father to know about the relatively kinder man who had truly kidnapped her. "I was in the garden when he jumped me! He told me that he killed Victoria and he was going to do the same with me!"

She looked at the floor and noticed his bag of money still there. "Look! He stole that from my room, too!"

As the LawMages bound Selim with anti-magic binds- quite rougly-, they glared and pushed him around.

"You are sick...if I had the authority to, I'd kill you myself. But I'm sure Lord Darian or Relthor have a better way of executing you..." the nearest lawmage snarled. "How could you do such a thing to Rimoru and Victoria?"

Rimoru buried her head in the lawmage's robe and wiped some of her tears away. "I don't know what he would have done to me if you guys hadn't come...I'm afraid he would have taken advantage...over me..."

She peaked over at the bard and stuck her tongue at him, a large smile on her face. Got you...

"Don't worry, My Lady. Just come to the palace with us."

"What?" Rimoru replied, startled. "I-I-I can't..."

"You must! Your father wishes to see you. Besides he needs your story to put this cretin in Execution Square," the Lawmage said, gently placing his arms around Rimoru's slender waist, giving him a smile as he did so.

Execution Square, the most feared section of House Ifrete's territory of Iskan. It was where public executions were put to use, taking out highly dangerous criminals, public enemies, traitors, and political opponents- which were usually reported as traitors. The forms of execution were many, some magic, some not, some simple, some complicated, some grand- but it always ended the same way blood shed.

"B-b-but...I...need..." Rimoru struggled to find the right words but her hangover, mixed in with her clouded memory seemed to get in the way. "I need...to...get jewelery," she finally muttered.

The LawMage shook his head and gently guided the princess away. "Come now, My Lady, let's go."

Rimoru sighed, realizing that perhaps it was hopeless for her to try to escape her own home. But she didn't know if she could handle her father's constant bickering on how great Victoria was...and how insignificant Rimoru was compared to her...

Selim fumed at the Princess. Her money, indeed! He growled at her as the LawMages kicked him around, forcing him to the ground. He brightened, however, as the LawMages began to force Rimoru back to the palace. He began to cackle excitedly.

"Hahahaha! It's over for you, my lady! Looks like the LawMages completed my mission for me! Have fun in the palace!"

His eyes met with her, and he smiled.

"I am Selim Savid, my Princess. Remember my name, for we will surely meet again."

A voice spoke from the shadows at the corner of a building. “One hears a request for jewelry?”

A figure robed in brown, steps into the street. The face is hooded in shadow, but bright orange eyes show from the darkness. The left hand holds a plain staff, except for the orange-red stone gleaming in the top of the staff. Bare feet show below the hem of the robe as the figure strides across the dust of the street.

“May one be of service?”

The right hand sweeps the hood back revealing a face that is rounded, with a strong, but curved jawline. The braided hair was tied back with an intricate gold weaving of leaves. Each braid had was interwoven with silver thread. His(her) eyebrows and lashes were dotted with gold that seemed to reflect the gold that speckled her(his) eyes.

“A beautiful woman like yourself needs fine jewelry. May one show you our wares?”

Kneeling and spreading her(his) hands out, rings, earrings and necklaces seemed to gleam in his(her) hands.

Rimoru fought and pulled as the lawmage tried to guide her towards her home as the one known as Selim began laughing at her. "Shut up, windbag!" she growled as she pulled away from the Lawmage.

"My Lady, please, resist yourself or we may have to...well...stun you..." the LawMage said sheepishly.

"You can't stun me! I am...I am Rimoru Ifrete! I am part of the ruling house!" Rimoru whimpered. She held onto the man's robe and pressed herself to him, making the man's face turn scarlet. "Pleeaaasee don't let me go back."

"Err...sorry My Lady. Rules are rules," the LawMage said rather hesitantly, trying to pull his eyes away from her body.

"Sir," one of the Law Mages said to the swordsmen. "You are to come with us as well, for trying to save Rimoru and helping to find a wanted criminal."

Soon enough they began taking Selim towards the palace proudly, having believed they had found Victoria's kidnapped. Until, of course, they stopped when someone began shoving their jewelery at Rimoru

"Look! Jewelery! Leave me here, I'll catch up-"

"Follow us...sir," the Lawmage holding Rimoru said. "We are not to stop until Lord Darian sees Rimoru but you may attempt to sell things to her from a respectable distance away."

"No! I want to buy while I'm not walking!" Rimoru whined as she reached for the jeweler.

Maya smiled to herself as the barkeeper disappeared to get her drink. Her choice had surprised him, as it would most people, but she had grown to like the drink during her travels, initially forced to drink it because some taverns stocked nothing else, but now she would drink it by choice. Not every time, it wasn’t her favourite drink, but sometimes it suited her mood, as tonight.

When the barkeeper returned with the larger mug, she smiled at his apology.
“Don’t worry about it,” she told him, “And thank you.” She took a long sip of the beer, wondering idly who ‘Rimoru’ was, and whether she should know. The way it was said suggested that everybody knew who Rimoru was, but she though it was fairly obvious that she was from foreign lands, and not likely to know such things.
“Now, what about that food?” she asked.

Maya had no idea what food the barkeeper might be able to offer her, but she didn’t really mind. She would settle for a small loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese if necessary, though she really wanted something more filling, preferably hot.

“One feels that a trinket with gold to match your hair with stones of azure would bring out your eyes. These earrings would fill that role. My Lady, one is almost ashamed to offer it to you and if you won't take it one would understand. A dazzling creature such as yourself deserves a commissioned work. Take these earrings as a gift. They are not worthy to be sold to one such as you, but would forever sorrow at missing your beauty.” (S)He dropped the earrings into Rimoru's hands.

Turning his(her) gaze to the LawMage, (s)he pouted. “An emerald clasp for your robe, would proclaim to all, your virility, power, and station.”

The guards shoved Selim away when Rimoru attempted to inspect the jeweler's wares, occasionally prodding him in the back with Burst-stick- the stunning tool the law enforcement wielded against unruly criminals that would simply send jolts of energy through their body leaving a short spasm and loss of muscle control for a few seconds.

Luckily, these were not loaded and the burst-sticks just prodded against Selim's back.

"Get on with it, you sad pile of imp dung," the LawMage growled, prodding him again. "I hope you get your skin peeled off while you are alive. That is a good execution for you- long and painful...especially when a novice torturer is behind the work..."

This went on for a good ten minutes before they reached the massive gold gates of Ifrete Palace. The Ornately armored palace guards took custody of Selim instead, treating him much the same way as the Town Guard, but with sharp swords rather than simple Burst-Sticks.

They passed through a beautifully carpeted stone staircase, burbling fountains surrounded by beautiful gardens on either side, with Trees casting shadows along the path.

Ifrete Palace was a beautiful structure. Large White Columns supported the large domed roof atop the massive palace. The floor was polished marble and the carpets ornate, exotic imports from all over the known world. They turned the corner once they passed the massive wooden doorway to the palace, and passed by a series of statues, all men, until they reached another massive doorway.

"Sir...your daughter has found Victoria's kidnapper," was the announcement made. Immiately the doors swung open and a large man walked out.

Lord Darian was in no way an imposing figure. He was tall- however he was notoriously skinny and seemed to have more hair on his face rather than the top of his head, as a long white beared stretched down to his waist and a moustache sat uppon his upper lift. Yet his eyes were a brilliant gold that seemed to command respect themselves.

His robes were gold and dark blue- the colors of the Mage Guild and gave him the look of a larger, muscular man. On his fingers were many rings of different colors, shapes, and sizes. Around his neck were several amulets, a few holding images of gods. Atop his head stood a large ornate crown, each spoke holding an icon of a god, a whole pantheon of them atop his head.

"Let me see him," he growled in a low voice. The guards made way and Lord Darian's eyes widened. "Let him go. Leave us. He didn't do it..."

The guards looked puzzled and let go as they returned to their posts. Behind the Emperor stood even more guards, however they were waved away as well.

"Where's my daugter? I told you to get my daughter, not get arrested!" the man hissed.

"Your daughter is fine, last I checked." Selim stood and brushed himself off as the guards let go of him. "It took me a while to find her, and even then she wouldn't believe that you were so kind as to send a seach party for her. She absolutely refused to come to the palace, so I tried to use some other...manners of persuasion to get her back. A brave, albiet misguided warrior tried to stop me. Complications arose, and the town guard got involved. Last I saw, she was buying jewelry from some wierd Druid."

He sighed heavily, streaching his aching muscles.

"Your daughter is a bit more spirited than I thought. You know, she actually tried to burn my face off with a fireball? Didn't do much to me, of course, but the nerve! You should have your daughter's tutors instruct her some more on the proper usage of offensive magic. She stole some gold from me as well, which I'd like back...Anyways, your daughter is safe, and the guard is escorting her back to the palace. She should be here quite soon."

He held out his hand patiently.

"What about that payment you offered?"

"Always the youngest, always the foolish," the mage growled. "Of course I'll send someone to search for her! Victoria's gone!"

Darian shook his head and walked back to his enormous lobby-for his room. Bookshelves lined the walls, a massive fireplace in front of a small table with luxorious sofas surrounding it.

"Yes...Rimoru turned out to be a surprise to everyone. She was not always like this. She was afraid to go outside, she was shy, not very outgoing...I thought she was going to be my perfect little girl...Now she is nothing more than a scoundrel, a prostitute. I won't have the Ifrete name go to her hands..."

"But I still love her- she is my daughter," Darian growled. He sighed and wiped his eyes as they began to glisten. Then, his thoughts were interrupted by Selim's payment...

"She is not here yet," the lord growled angrily.

***********************************************

"Here ya go, me lady. 'Tis made from the head chef 'imself," the Barkeeper said as he came back to Maya with a bowl of stew, small pieces of beef swirling among the mass of vegetables and broth. Leaning on the side of the clay bowl was a piece of bread, half soaked in the broth. "Enjoy. If ya need me, don't be afraid ta ask."

With that, the barkeeper smiled a gap-filled grin and walked back to wait on other patrons.

***********************************************

Rimoru continued to push against the Lawmage as she tried to stop for the jewelery, but the mage had enough and just lifted the girl into his arms.

"Now that...is bold," Rimoru said with wide eyes. But she didn't mind. "And nice of you," she added in a whisper. The man's face seemed to turn purple from all his blushing, but he kept on going. "Now only if you were taking me somewhere else!"

"Ahh...thank you!" Rimou smiled at the jeweler as earings were dropped into her hands. Truth be told, she had some like these in her room...but more jewelery never hurt anyone...

"Keep on movin'!" growled another Lawmage as he pushed the jeweler behind the Lawmage carrying Rimoru so she can continue selling her wares.

Selim backed away carefully, holding his arms wide.

"She'll be here soon. I have faith in the LawMages to bring her back here. Still, there's no need to be so harsh on her; she's a lovely and spirited girl, if a little spoiled, and if that fireball she spat at me reflects anything, I think she might be quite a skilled mage someday." He searched around for his pack, finding it in the corner of the huge room.

"Maybe you could spend some more time teaching her proper manners, but she's not as much a scoundrel as you assume, I think.

"What? Do you think I am a senseless father? Who do you think taught Victoria what she knew? I've taught them all from the moment they could walk! Relthor should know...he is the favorite amongst Rimoru and Athral..." Lord Darian replied angrily, fiddling with his rings- a common nervous habit of his that has made it's appearance more often than usual now that he has one less daughter...

"How would you know if she's a scoundrel, anyways? Do you stalk her?"

“My Lady, a commissioned work would outshine those earrings by far. If the lady returns here one will find her.”

Turning to the LawMage, that was trying to hasten her(his) journey. “An appropriate pendent would set off the noble angle of your jaw, the width of your shoulders, and the power in your chest. Unfortunately, one does not have such a piece with one's self at the moment. One could go fetch such a piece if one knew the customer's name and where one could find him, having recovered the piece. One would leave this valuable ring to assure you of one's return.” (S)He indicated a location, back the way they had come. “It is not a great distance.”

Selim backed away questionaly.

"I am but the messenger, my lordmage. I'm not one to comment on your parenting skills by any means, but Rimoru seems to think that you hate her utterly. She seems tired of living in her sister's shadows. Perhaps your teachings have not fully taken root in the girl; I've heard she's quite the tomboy by reputation, but still flaunts the fact that she's loyalty. Keep in mind I deal in information as a part of my job; I don't need to stalk her in order to know what she does."

A young man woke with a start to find himself partially in a bush. With a sigh he extracted himself, brushing off burrs, leaves and other detrius. After stretching to work out any number of kinks and hearing a few joints pop back into place. It wasn't unusual for him to wake and find he'd dislocated his shoulder or something.

Cocking his head Itzuki picked a direction and took off in it, spiralling along the trunk of a tree before gliding along the treetops. To those familiar with skating, that would be what he appeared to be doing, to an extent, but without the skates or surface that might otherwise be needed.

Two days later, after extending his 'Road' along Lustria's landscape he arrived in a fairly large city. Standing at wall high, he spotted a large palace and continued on his way along roof-tops. Shingles slid from the roofs as he travelled, landing on any number of rapidly becoming irate common citizens and certainly some important or goverment persons.

Itzuki intended to spend sometime using the palace's contours to further hone his skills, disregarding the fact that if there is a palace in a populated city, then it must be inhabited and the inhabitants might not appreciate him leaving indelible marks all over the outside of thier home.

"Get away from me," the guard growled when the jeweler began to try selling wares to him.

"What about me?" His overweight partner asked anxiously.

"Shut up!"

"Hey!" Rimoru wistled. "I believe you were talking about me?" She asked with a knowing tone. She brushed her hair out of her face as she peered over the LawMage's shoulder at the jeweler. "What rings would you suggest?"

She curled her arms around the LawMage's neck and set her chin down on his shoulder. Her lips curled up ever so slightly as she could feel the man temperature rise. She shifted her legs so they uncovered themselves from her robe, making the rookie LawMage all the more uncomfortable.

"My most recent ring was given to me by Relthor. It's a red ruby atop a gold band. Very beautiful...unfortunately, I lost it somewhere in my room...Perhaps you have a ruby ring?"

"My Lady... we approach the palace..." the LawMage muttered as he gently set her on her feet.


"Thank you, Sir Lawmage," Rimoru replied, giving him a flirtatious smile and pinching his cheek. She wrapped her arms around him and brought her lips to his ear. "I'd give you a bit more...but you took me to the palace..."

The LawMage's eyes widened suddenly as she pulled away from him.

"Come on, jeweler. I have a pendant I want a duplicate of!" Rimoru said as she looked up the stairs. Here it goes... She took a huge breath and slowly walked up the large stairs. My dad is going to kill me...
***********************************************

Lord Darian frowned and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Selim...It's just so hard..."

The Magelord sat down on his sofa and casually lifted a pear to his mouth with magic and took a bite of the sweet, juicy fruit. "I love my daughters so much...and for one to just disappear. To just vanish and I cannot even track her....makes me feel so helpless..."

**********************************************

Relthor was in his private study, writing his more recent letter to Dominatistradz.

Since he had first arrived, back when Rimoru was only five, he had promised his mentor he would write as he learned more and more of humans and their way of life. It was all quite interesting, how they talked, played, ate- so many factors affecting their lives...

Relthor was an Ageless One, very powerful, very strong, "Hand Crafted" with loving care by a god from the heavens. His powers were magnificent and his dragon form was large, but definately not the largest.

At the moment, he sat in his humanoid form- blonde spiked hair, turqoise eyes, tall, skinny, and still retained some draconic features such as sharp teeth, long fingers, and thin lips.

Suddenly, his work was interrupted by the strange sound of something on the roof. He averted his eyes to the ceiling and followed the noise as it passed over him. He grumbled something in his native tongue and opened up a trap door to the roof. That's when he saw someone moving about quickly in a mesmerizing way- back and forth, back and forth.

"Get off of that, by order of the Imperial Court!" the dragon growled, not quite getting out of the hole he was in.

After the starnger slashed at one of the puppets he darted out of the way of the others. He brought his sword up to block their blows, they were quite powerful. They battled up and down the alley when all of a suden lawmages appeared and halted their fighting. He was panting heavily, sweat rolling down his cheek, the puppets were too fast and he pushed himself too much. If the lawmages hadn't arrived he would've been killed. Rimoru was in a fragile state as he could see. He lowered his sword as the lawmages approached. She vouched for him and he breathed a sigh of relief. Wait, I have to go to the palace? He was getting in too deep, it was getting more complicated. As they stood in the great hall in front of the guild lord, he stood fridgid, scared. All these magical beings in one place made him nervous. But he had to do something, so he stepped forward and removed the cloth from over his mouth, revealing his whole face.
"My lord, I am known as Atticus. I was making my way through the city when I saw your daughter being chased by this man and several of his...puppets" Atticus intejected on behalf of Rimoru "I saw that she was in distress and I followed them. As I came into the alley, she was on her knees, in tears frightened out of her mind. And this man was standing over her with some staff pointed right at her. I do believe he had ill intentions, my lord. He threatened her menacingly. I tried to fight his puppets off in an attempt to save her. Luckily these magelords found us. This man did not have her best intrests in mind, my lord" Atticus pleaded.

“One carries a silver ring shaped with the image of a powerful tiger. One believes it would compliment a man of your imposing stature. The cost is one gold piece of the realm.”

Turning to Rimoru, the robed figure continued. “One carries a golden ring with a shower of rubies entwined in it's filigree pattern.” The ring appeared in his(her) hand.

“As for the pendent, One is interested in the work and desires to see the pendent in question. There is the opportunity to endow the pendent with certain abilities that we can discuss later.”

“One prefers not to enter the palace as one is not comfortable in confined spaces and would gladly await the lady's return here, just outside the palace.” (S)He indicated an area in the shade just outside the palace.

Maya thanked the barkeeper and picked up the spoon. As she began to eat, Kaolai spoke in her head.
<Head chef? Is one man the head of himself?> he asked sarcastically. Maya giggled slightly.
<Now, now. There might be more than one cook here. And who cares? It’s quite good, and that’s all that matters,> she told him.
<True enough,> agreed Kaolai, falling into silence again while Maya ate.

Nearly an hour later, the virtually empty bowl long since pushed to one side, Maya sat with her cloak wrapped around her, leaning back comfortably. The mug of beer was also nearly empty, sitting within easy reach of her reclined position. She felt a pleasant warmth in her cheeks and a lack of desire to move. She couldn’t tolerate much alcohol in her body, but she knew that, and she also knew what effect intoxication generally caused on her; a feeling of relaxation and her current lack of desire to move, eventually falling further towards sleepiness the more she drank.

Contrary to what her appearance might say, she wasn’t off guard either. Alcohol didn’t generally make her any less alert until she had consumed quite a lot, and even then Kaolai helped to keep her out of trouble, by giving loud warnings in her head.

She was starting to feel the pull of sleep, and she still wanted that bath, so she took one last long sip of the beer, then forced herself to stand up and find the barkeeper, remembering to pick up her pack and staff as she did so.

Itzuki almost tripped over a loose tile when he heard someone speak. Not expecting anyone to have shown up, he almost exited the roof in a manner not at all condusive to living.

Looking around, he spotted the head and shoulders and walked over. "And you are an imperial court? I do not think so as there is only one person addressing me and the last time I was in a place that had an imperial court, it was composed of many people. Since one does not make many, I must conclude that you are not an imperial court and have no buisness making orders."

The barkeeper was waiting by the counter, next to a man washing dishes, until he noticed the women stand up and begin searching around.

"Methinks she's a pretty one," the Barkeeper said.

"'Ave ya seen 'er?"

"No, but she has a pretty voice."

"I used ta say that about me wife. Until that pretty voice was always yellin' at me. 'Tis like she's posessed."

The Barkeepers laughed and nodded before the barkeeper who served the woman walked over behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Ma'am, ya lookin' fer yer room or the bathtub? 'Tis jus' right up them stairs. I can show ya to 'em if ye wish."

**********************************************
"Ah tiger, ahh. I always thought I had something with them. A druid kinda thing, ya know. Like I could speak with one. I was in a zoo once and the tiger was walking about and-" the overweight guard began to babble.

"Just shut up already!" growled his partner.

"And I thought it should go to bed. An hour later, I found it asleep!"

"What? No! You must come with me...uh....Jeweler," Rimoru replied, a bit startled by her response. Who didn't want to go into the palace? Someone dangerous? "Alright...I'll try to see you..."

"If my father lets me," Rimoru muttered as she looked at the swordsman and pulled on his arm. She didn't want to face her father alone...

As they reached the main entrance at the top of the stairs, Rimoru stopped in front of a guard and poked him. "How do I look?" she asked worriedly.

"Beautiful as always, my lady," the guard replied almost immediately.

Rimoru furrowed her eyebrows and waved her hand in front of the unmoving guard. "No, really. I've been caught up in a fight and I don't want to look messy before I die..."

This time the guard looked at Rimoru- slightly above her face actually- and furrowed his brows. "Your father is wise. He would not let you go in a fight if, if I may be so bold, you did not sneak out of the house so often without your guards. You will not die, your father is worried sick about you."

Rimoru frowned and shook her head. "Yeah, whatever," she grumbled as she pushed open the large heavy door.

"And you still looked absolutely beautiful, My Lady," the guard added as Rimoru walked through.

Perhaps one night I will pay him a little visit... Rimoru thought happily. Unfortunately, their faces were somewhat obscured by the helmets they wore and their bodies were not so outlined by their plate armor. Who knows exactly how the guard looked.

Suddenly, Rimoru's thoughts came to a halt as an angry shout burst through the halls.

"Rimoru!"

Rimoru looked in the direction of the scream and saw her father making his way quickly towards her. She sighed and took a step behind the swordsman, as if he was to protect her.

As the man burst into an explanation, Lord Darian narrowed his eyes. "You, wait here," he looked at Rimoru, "You, follow me."

Rimoru whimpered and looked at the swordsman as if wishing he could come with her, but alas that may mean instant death from her father- he hated being disobeyed.

Lord Darian walked hurriedly down the hall, Rimoru walking to keep up, albeit slightly behind. She tried to think up some sort of explanation or some way to weasal her way out of this, but her headache began to throb again.

"Father...I-"

"Rimoru, why do you always disobey me?" Lord Darian shouted, spinning around, almost knocking Rimoru down. "I have always tried to teach you right and yet you run away from the safety of the palace- Alone- without any word! And you are gone for a whole blasted night! Is this how you honor your sister?"

"Is this how you honor Victoria, locking us all in this cage so we can't go and be ourselves in town, to mingle with the-"

Lord Darian's hand smacked right into her left cheek, some of his rings digging into her soft skin. Rimoru soon fell to the ground, tears falling from her eyes.

"Go to your room and remain there," Darian growled before stomping off towards his room.

Rimoru was sobbing as she pushed herself up. I don't care anymore. I should have remained kidnapped. Or gotten killed...what would he think then?

She just about ran to her room, passing by wondering guards, even the swordsman whom she brought in earlier. Her cheek stung and her eyes were no doubt swollen and red. He never even asked if I was hurt... She ran to her door and shut it angrily before throwing herself on a massive, luxorious bed.

***

"Sir, payment for Rimoru's safe return," A guard said to the man named Atticus, tossing him a bag of gold. "But I'm afraid Lord Darian wants the palace clean of outsiders at the moment."

Itzuki almost tripped over a loose tile when he heard someone speak. Not expecting anyone to have shown up, he almost exited the roof in a manner not at all condusive to living.

Looking around, he spotted the head and shoulders and walked over. "And you are an imperial court? I do not think so as there is only one person addressing me and the last time I was in a place that had an imperial court, it was composed of many people. Since one does not make many, I must conclude that you are not an imperial court and have no buisness making orders."

"Well, you are right in the aspect that I am no court. However, with you making all that noise, you'll probably end up having the whole palace sending fireballs up your behind. So I ask again for you to get off," Relthor growled as he hopped on top of the palace.

"Besides, I am more of an advisor to the king and his children."

Atticus didn't even have a chance to say anything to her as she bursted down the hallway in tears and obviously in pain. It was a sad sight and he tried to think of what to do next. This is bad, how am I going to uphold my end? The guard gave him a pouch of gold, though a nice token was not what he wanted. How would he get to her?
"Guard, may I have a moment to say good bye to the princess?" he asked the guard. There has to be a way to get to her

The guard grunted, his hand falling to his hilt, not because of feeling threatened, but more of a place to settle his hand. "No, Rimoru is off limits, as is the palace. Leave."

But the sight of the poor girl crying made even the toughest guards crack. "Well...alright...only a few minutes..."

The guard looked around and began guiding the man around corners, through lobbies, and a series of other rooms before they finally reached a large doorway. The guard knocked on her door three times.

The door opened slowly and Rimoru's head moved into the open space , eyes puffy and red, full lips quivering, her cheeks red and wet.

"My lady, Atticus wishes to say a few words," the guard said with a bow.

Rimoru looked at the swordsman and opened her door. "Leave us," she whispered.

"I shall be back in five minutes," the guard said as he backed away.

"Come in," the princess whispered.

"But this is the best location to practice." Itzuki replied as he looked at the non-human. "So what kind of advisor are you. The naive kind that is ineffectual and ultimately ignored, or the evil kind that is out to overthrow the king and merry his daughter?"

Atticus lived a rough life and knew nothing of formalities. The guard left and he was grateful that he had a heart.
"Rimoru, are you alright?" he asked as he walked into the finely decorated room. Such was something he'd never seen before. Campfire in the woods and tavern rooms were all he ever knew. Now he was in the palace.

Relthor let out a laugh and shook his head. "Your tongue is not quite so annoying as your play," the advisor replied.

"In a sense, one may think me to be the second one. But I think the most logical template would be more along the 'Dragon steals daughter, takes over city' sort of way."

"But alas, as much as I adore the daughters of Lord Ifrete, I have given my word to Dominatistradz of the dragons and Lord Ifrete himself that I shall not engage in relationships with the Ifrete daughters, something one may find...hard...but alas, I am a good boy and have not done anything."

Relthor's grin widened slightly, as he crouched a bit to see the man's teeth, revealing his own sharp teeth. "And what exactly are you? And who may I address you as?"

***********************************************

Rimoru's room was enormous, easily capable to fit as a recreation room or another lobby. Along the wall, between two large windows, was Rimoru's large bed. Across from it sat a long mirror atop a desk filled with many pieces of jewelery, make up, perfumes, scarfs, and a good many love notes. Once entering, on the wall to the right was another door- the closet, would could no doubt fit atleast twenty to twenty five people.

On the walls hung beautiful paintings, a few of Rimoru herself. On the far side of the room was a large fireplace with the family coat of arms- a large dragon holding a book, a sword, a sheild, and a thunderbolt in each of its claws.

Along the floor, there was clothes strewn about, including- but not limited to, Rimoru's undergarments.

The princess hurriedly picked them up, resulting in a large pile of clothes in her hands, before she disappeered in her closet.

"Does it look like I am fine?" Rimoru asked somewhat harshly as the sound of something loud thumped against the wall, followed by a growl and a long string of words in a different language.

"No, you don't look like like it" he replied. This was a difficult situation and a risky on eta that too. It was getting complicated as well, he had no idea any of this would be happening. Doubt raced through his mind as he tried to think of something. His mind raced around in circles as she darted around the room picking up clothes. He didn't want it to seem too obvious that he wanted to get her out of there. She might get suspicious. Before he could utter a word a loud growl bellowed from the deep.
"W-What is that?!" he asked in a suprised tone.

"So a dragon advisor. Somewhat cliche isn't it?" He asked, "And who pray tell is Dominatistradz?"

"As to who I am, you may call me Itzuki, or Blue." Itzuki replied as he smirk-smiled at Relthor's intimidation attempts.

"Oh is it? I have never heard of a dragon advisor before," Relthor replied. "Dominatistradz...my my my...you must be from far away to not know him...very far away."

"Blue? Clever," the dragon man replied, growing bored. "Now leave. I have a job to do and can't do it while you're causing a ruckus on the palace. "Go play in a forest or a fountain in the town square."

*************************************************

"Watch out!" Rimoru shouted as a large lizard ran out of the closet and straight towards Atticus. It hissed and lunged at the swordsman, it's sharp teeth glistening as it fell short.

"He bites!" Rimoru said as she watched from the doorway. "But don't hurt him!"

Atticus grabbed the hilt of his sword as the lizard came at him, he jumped back and was ready to kill it but she warned him not to.
"What the hell is this?" he asked under his breath. There was only a short amount of time and he had to make the most of it.
"Rimoru, you want to leave here, right? I can help you find your sister" he stated plainly in a determined tone. They only had a few more minutes. He listened to her talk at the tavern and had other information, he knew she wanted to find her. Getting her out of the palace was the only way he could lead her to him. He wondered if there was a way for them to get out of there. "You're in danger if you stay here. There are enemies within this guild" he began to say but stopped, trying to think of the right thing to say.

"It is my name, nothing clever about it." He replied, "And I don't see how my noise might be keeping you from working. It's just a matter of concentration afterall."

"Anyways, what is there to do in this town, and are there any airtreks?"

Rimoru laughed as the swordsman bounced and dodged her lizard pet.

"Pinky, come here," she smiled as she snapped her fingers and the lizard made it's way under Rimoru's hand, so she could pat it's scaley head. "I'm sorry...it's more of a traditional thing. I sick Pinky on new comers...he is really harmless unless I actually do sick him on someone..."

Rimoru wiped away her tears and walked to her bed, her lizard following suit and curling up behind her, but keeping a watchful eye on Atticus.

As her sister was spoken, she narrowed her eyes.Now why doesn't he try to find her himself? Does he want to use me for information...or for nocturnal pleasures?

"The Palace is the safest place to be," she replied staunchly as she lay got up and walked to her mirror, sitting on the stool and examining her face. "If the kidnapper can come here, he or she can go anywhere."

But as moles within the Mages Guild was spoken, she looked at Atticus. "How would you know that?"

***********************************************

"And concentration comes easier when it's silent," the dragon replied.

"There are plenty things to do here, however you should ask at the foreign affairs office just down the street. Perhaps they can even give you a tour. As for Airtreks, I wouldn't doubt it. You just have to look for them."

Atticus relaxed his guard as the lizard waddled around harmlessly this time. He felt a bit silly but stood tall and retained his pride-filled air.
"I am wise as to the workings of councils, organizations...and guilds. I have been in this part of the land before, as well as around the other guilds. I have weaved in and out of their outter circles, listening, gathering information. But please, don't call me a spy. That title doesn't sit well with me. What makes you so sure it is safe behind these walls? Where the enemy knows where you are." he said as he paced around the room, but keeping his distance. He pasued for a moment, trying to pick the right words.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Rimoru. I'm not idealistic, nor a saint. You want to find her as well, no?" he left off on a question. "I have worked as a tracker, a hunter, and other occupations. I can find your sister. But...I lack magical abilities which you have" he said.

OOC: I'm suffering from writer's block. I hope this post is good enough.

"Well I haven't seen any roads as yet." He commented, "And since you offered, when would be convient for showing the foreign affairs office, and the rest of the palace.?"

ooc: Aye, it's good

"Well, for one thing, my sister has been kidnapped. My...father...has made this place a prison. No going in or out, apparantly. Another, this palace has been safe for hundreds of years. My ancestors have built it and summoned wards and all this other hoo-hah to keep it safe...but I do suppose you are right in one way. They will know where I am..."

Rimoru grabbed her brush and began to brush her long, gold locks.

"Alright...I'll go...but you can't wait here. I will escort you outside myself. Might as well get my last breath of fresh air for a while. Meet me at the Drunken Gnoll tavern around the stroke of midnight. They know me well there. I should be able to sneak out by then..."

***********************************************

"Roads? They are here," Relthor pointed over the edge of the palace to a road winding along several buildings.

"And I never offered to give you a tour...but...I suppose I can give you a tour to the front door."

"Those are roads. At least not real roads, they are mundane and not true roads." He replied after briefly glancing at the road indicated. A road to an airtrekker was different from the common usage.

"Then lead on Mr. Draconic." Itzuki replied

"The mages of this house are weakining. Where did your sister disappear from? Was it in the palace or out in the city?" he asked. Rimoru was foolish to believe it to be safe in the palace. Atticus could've held a knife to her to show how vulnerable she was but chose not to. The fact that he was there proved that the mages were slipping and the guild was weakining.
"Alright, I'll meet you there then" he replied as she brushed her hair. He thought about what he was doing for a moment but it was all starting to work out.

"Aye, common folk don't tend to speak with the royal family except fer Rimoru and Victoria. Relthor is no exception- he tends ta stay in the palace. So, unless ya get in that impenetrable fortress, yer outta luck. Now if ya wish to speak with an official, Krellin's office is down Palace Road an' to the left when ya reach the palace. 'Tis a large office- big sign that says Senator Krellin- Senator. He tends to talk to most people- fer a fee."

"Other than that, thar is nothin, really. Just watch yerself at night. Aside from muggers an' kidnappers, an' believe me, Victoria wasn't the only one ta disappeer, there are strange things out there- ya never know what to expect."


Drasken nodded his thanks to the barkeep and reached into his bag of coins once again, placing a few on the bar. "I think i'll be in this area for a while, keep a room open for me. You have been most helpful." He drained what was left of the 'drink'. He managed not to gag on it and stood, it had been more potent than he expected and his head felt a little dizzy at the sudden movement, but he made his way confidently to the stairs and headed for his room.

When he got there he grabbed his belongings, throwing a light chainmail shirt on, not the most powerful of armors, but not overly restrictive either, it suited his style and didn't make too much noise. he checked his sword was still in a good condition and made his way back down to the pub. He gave the barkeep a small wave and left, following the directions given towards Senator Krellin's office. It was still dark out at this point and his vision was quite good, his eyes were constantly scanning the areas for the treats the barkeep had mentioned.

Relthor nodded and walked down the trap door to a room filled with stacks of books. Several candles were lit nearby upon a parchment of paper with a very neat handwriting written out in draconic on a table. There were paintings scattered not on the walls, but on the floors nearby, and one painting in particular, of Victoria, propped up in front of the desk.

Relthor opened the door and motioned for "Blue" to follow.

Down a set of winding staircases they went, then, around a corner, passed a few statues and more paintings, finally coming across a hall with suits of armor lined against the wall. Whether there were people in there or not was nearly impossible to tell as they remained motionless and soundless.

They finally entered the Great Hall and Relthor pointed to the front door. "Your tour, and your exit, sir. Now leave."

***

Rimoru frowned again and stopped brushing her hair as she looked at Atticus. "How do you know the mages are weakening? My father is the greatest of his time. He simply cannot be stopped...much less a few of his best men..." Rimoru's face scrunched up and she shook her head. She hated putting her father in such high regard, but it was true. Not one man or woman had been able to match her father in skill when it came to magic.

"Well, come on then," the princess said as she stood up and opened her door. "Pinky, guard."

The lizard perked it's head up from on her bed and hissed at Atticus as they walked out.

Rimoru looked around, making sure her father was not around and hurredly walked towards the main hall, pulling Atticus along the way. "Remember, midnight. I shall hope to make it in time."

As she turned a corner her frown brightened up as she noticed Relthor on the opposite side of the hall, ushering some boy out of the door.

"Relthor!" She called out and waved, running over to him.

"Rimmy, I am glad you are safe," the dragon smiled as he picked up the girl in a hug, holding her tightly. "I was worried sick. Are you alright?"

"Other than a run in from some mugger who cornered me, in a dead end and tried to kill me before this man," she motiond to Atticus, "stopped him and saved me, along with the guard."

"You have my sincerest thanks, sir. I do hope the Guild has given you a reward for such bravery," Relthor said with a broad smile.

She peered over Relthor's shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Who's he?" she asked as her piercing blue eyes fell on the man's incisors. After staring for a few seconds, her eyes searched for his own.

"A scoundrel who's never been in town. I was just showing him the way out," Relthor replied, turning back to Itzuki. "Now out you go," he said, pointing at the door again.

Itzuki looked around at all the stuff in the rooms and passages. It would make a sweet grounds to practice on, better on the inside than the outside. Even the armour suits would only make it better.

"I am no scoundrel, I am an airtrek master. And who are you?" He asked as he met Rimoru's eyes. She was attractive, very much so, but did fall slightly short of his perfect girl.

"The fact that I know isn't important. It's the fact that other know it too is what's important. Your father may be powerful but...no one is invulnerable. If they can't get to him directly, they'll get to him indirectly, namingly through his family" he said with a serious tone. It was time for him to depart and meet her later, as well as Judge. She hurried him out of the room as the lizard hissed at him, Atticus shot it a mean glare as they left.
"I'll be there waiting" he replied to her. Hopefully she would be able to arrive and not locked in the palace. Seeing the dragon alarmed him at first but kept his composure. It spoke to him and thanked him.
"Yes, they did reward me. But the true reward was making sure she was not harmed" he smiled.

"Aye, Iskan can't have two jewels to worry about," the dragon-man replied to Atticus, glancing at Rimoru who continued to watch the strange tusked boy.

Rimoru smiled widely and looked at Relthor. "A little modest now aren't you, 'Airtrekker'?" she replied, turning her attention to the "Airtrek Master".

"As for me, I am a master. That is all," Rimoru replied with a gentle smile on her face. She turned a bit sideways to flaunt the beautiful Family crest pinned on her robes, but whether she wanted him to see that or her bosom was quite a mystery.

"Alright, get out, both of you. You don't want to get caught by the guards."

"Modesty is over-rated." He replied with a grin. "I don't mind, guards are slow afterall and seem to be rather dimensionally limited."

Itzuki looked over at the crest and then asked, "Does that stand for anything or is it simply ornamental."

Rimoru chuckled and took her pin off, examining it. It was a very beautiful piece of equipment, certainly worth a pretty penny. It was made of gold, silver, and platinum, with several highly valued stones placed in the crest dragon's claws, all resembling the shapes they were supposed to be. Rimoru had made her own little adjustment to the beautiful badge to mark as her own. Behind the dragon was a large heart, the edges made of gold.

"Depends how you think of it," Rimoru finally replied with a large smirk.

"Well, I do mind. Get out now," Relthor said rather forcefully.

"Relthor, hush...he's alright...for now. Plus, I don't want father to know I am no longer caged in my room..." Rimoru said softly.

"Fairly pretty thought there are prettier things, both here and elsewhere." Itzuki commented as he looked over the pin and the person it had been attached too.

"Earlier you said you were a master. What have you mastered and is it related to this pin in any way?" He asked

Drasken reached the palace after a significant time walking, he had decided to take a detour and familiarise himself with some of the city. Looking around he found Palace road and turned towards the direction he had been given, keeping his eyes open for Senator Krellin office.

After a few minutes he found it, the sky was beggining to lighten and he cursed his desire for exploration, he had wasted time and would pay the price when he left the building in daylight to return. He was unsure how to approach, as it was a senators office, barging in through the door would probably be quite rude. Instead he settled for knocking and waited for a response. If nobody came, then he might try and force a way in.

Maya did not jump at the touch on her shoulder, but only because of the alcohol in her body. Her hand did tighten on the staff automatically, but she relaxed it immediately; she recognised the voice.
“Yes, please. The bath first, then my room. And tell your chef that the meal was most satisfactory,” she gave the barkeeper a smile, and gestured for him to lead the way.
---

She spent a long time in the bath, soaking in the hot water and just enjoying it. She had washed her long hair through, then scrubbed herself clean, and was now relaxing. After she decided that she was clean enough, or more accurately once the water in the tub started to go cold, she dried herself off, then washed her clothes as best she could in the remaining water she hadn’t used, kept warm by the fire.

She dressed in her only other outfit; the light, flowing veiled robes she wore when she was dancing, though she left the veils off, then picked up her belongings and went to her room. After draping her wet clothes over the chair, she climbed into the bed and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep within minutes.
---

When Maya awoke the next day, it was already mid-morning, though she felt fully rested. Eager to get out and see the city, to learn what this place was like, she hurriedly dressed in her now dry travelling clothes once again, packed up her few belongings, then fastened the cloak around her shoulders, picked up the staff and left the room.

She did not stop for breakfast, but bade farewell to the barkeeper and went out into the streets. She would find something to eat on a street stall, as she explored. Her time in the tavern last night had suggested that this would be one of the friendlier places she had visited in her travels, which always made the experience more pleasant.

Rimoru's grin widened, at the mention of more prettier things in the room. "What can be prettier than a pin?" Rimoru asked, her eyes large as she leaned closer to the boy.

"Well, I am a master of many things. Most unofficial, yet widely accepted..." Rimoru laughed and turned around and began to walk back to her room, her hips oscillating alluringly- even Relthor watched quietly. "And the pin is not related much to what I am a master of," she finished as an afterthought.

*************************************************

A tall man opened the door to Senator Krellin's office and grunted. "You know it early, right?" the creature growled as he stared down at the dark elf creature. The bodyguard seemed to be half orc as his skin was greenish in color, he had large tusks growing from his lower jaw, and his shirt could barely contain his muscles...

As Rimoru and the others walked into the palace, the robed figure strode over to the shaded area and pulled his(her) hood on as (s)he sat down. After a little while, (s)he folded her(his) hands and focused intently on them. Soon, two cats came walking up to her(him) and sat down next to him(her). The robed figure leaned down to the cats.

Speaking to the cats in their own language. “My friends could you stay here and watch for the woman with long golden hair and blue eyes? When she is available, one would easily be found by two great hunters such as yourselves.”

The cats rubbed up against him(her) and ambled over to lay in the sun. The robed figure stood and wandered the town, selling jewelry here and there, until coming to the Drunken Gnoll tavern. (S)he stepped inside and meandered over to the bartender. “Could one please have some wine to wash the dust out of one's throat? One was also wondering if the sale of jewelry would be permitted in this fabulous establishment this evening.”

"Many things, like you, the wind and the roads." He replied with a faintly reverential tone when he mentioned the last two. He watched her as well, but more out of curiosity regarding her motives than of other interest, not to say that she didn't appeal to those instincts as well.

Rimoru glanced back, placing her hands to her hips and shifted her weight, giving off an air of cocky seduction. "You are too kind," she chuckled before continuing her path back to her room.

As she turned, Relthor turned back to Blue and pointed out the door. "Get out, sir," he said harshly.

"Only to a lady." Itzuki replied with a grin. "Perhaps we shall meet again mystery girl. If you wish to seek me out while I remain in town, ask Mr. Surly here where we meet and that'll provide you with a good clue to my location."

With a somewhat cheeky smirk at Relthor, he took a short run and headed along the wall so that he was gliding in a horizontal position. Nearing the door, he leapt off the wall and landed just to the side of a very shocked man in senatorial gard before speeding off and up onto the side of a nearby building.

Excellent...'the stranger 'has not- and will not- spot me... came the thought of a cloaked figure as it swiftly made it's way behind the large man who was dubbed "the Stranger".

The man had been tracking this "Stranger" and his increasing undead presence for a while, the intentions still remaining unknown. However, it has just been ordered that this roguish figure was to confront this mammoth man with an ultimatum- join or die. This was, afterall, not the man's territory...

The cloaked spy walked through the darkness, avoiding eyes and light as much as possible, until, of course, the ritual.

He walked into the light, sheilding his face momentarily with his arm. As he talked, however, he lowered his arm, revealing a intriquetly made face mask of red, white, and black with gold outlines.

"I wouldn't do that. This isn't your territory. Bad things could happen...however...you could always get permission from those who own this land..." the masked man said with a young voice. Beneath his cloak, the man was dressed in black silks. He wore black leather gloves and boots. He was truly a man of the shadows...

OOC: Sorry for the delay work held me up…

IC:


The shadowy man’s words disrupted the incanting Undead Emperor. He turned around to see the fool that had spoken to him and then broke the spell binding the dark powers to the bodies making the lifeless corpse turn into pure ember like ash.

This turn of events had angered Akarth and he replied, “So living one, how did you get past my defenses? I had several guards and wards all across this underground crypt. You either have experience in infiltrating into places you are not wanted or you’re a master assassin.”


The Emperor thought about drawing his swords but felt that would be overkill. He would wait to hear this man’s reply before rushing into rash action.

"Perhaps we shall..." Rimoru whispered, somewhat hopefully as the man certainly did intrigue her. For one thing, he didn't seem to want to kid nap her. For another...he just seemed different...

Rimoru sluggishly opened her door, thinking about how her exciting day had been going so far. Pinky made a low growl when Rimoru came in, but let it's head fall back on the bed. The princess went back to her mirror and sat down. What do I see? She rested her chin against her hand and stared at her piercing eyes, her sharp features, her pale skin. I see the most beautiful girl in the world...and perhaps one day...the Empress of the world as well... She grinned at her reflection and began to brush her hair again.

**********************************************

"What? I don't know where-" Relthor growled as the man sped off. The mortal realm is full of unruly children and angry old men...including me. The dragon sighed and looked down the hall to where Rimoru's room remained.

"I ask the questions, thank you," the infiltrator replied. "This graveyard isn't yours...however...my masters may be able to strike a little bargain with you. But first, we must know what you are doing, necromancer. Why the undead? Why here?"


The masked assassin stood tall in front of the daunting figure, a feat many probably could not. And there was no doubt the man was a powerful creature- but alas there were certain procedures that could not be tampered with. And this man had the potential to tamper with it.

Akarth was amused by the man trying to act brave, so the giant of an undead laughed and said, “You wish to know why I am here? It is simple really; I am building an army to get my revenge on my traitorous son.”

Akarth was careful not to correct the intruder about being a necromancer. If the man found out Akarth was undead it would make a fight all the more difficult. It was better for them to underestimate him as a lowly necromancer rather than a powerful Soul Eater.

"Build your army on your own terf, necromancer. You can't build an army here. This is ours..." The intruder smiled underneath his mask as he stood to his full height, still at least a foot shorter than the undead monster before him, and began to pace about. "Unless..."

The man stopped pacing and faced the behemoth. "There is one way we will allow you to have two medium sized cemeteries...but you will need to work under us..."

The Emperor replied harshly, “Do you think, I like coming to your pathetic country to build an army? I would have preferred to stay in my homeland but that would have brought my son’s already established forces on my doorstep. I had to find a place where his assassins and thralls could not reach me.”

The Emperor tensed as then listened to the man’s offer. It seemed reasonable to work with them and get another cemetery under his control. That would greatly increase his army’s numbers and probably get him the secrecy he needed to launch his coup against his venomous son.


Akarth replied to this offer carefully, “What does working under you entail?”

"Hey now. Perhaps you should have not lost your pathetic throne...if you had one," the assassin replied with a cool demeanor. "But alas, one's country is as good as it's ruler..."

"Well...there have been some terrible things happening...a certain princess has vanished...in thin air..." the assassin paused. "And her sister has tried to find her. Lucky for us her own guards took her back. We do, however, suspect her to repeat this menuever and find her sister. What you must do is stop her. We must not have anyone interfere with our own searches."

"But there is a catch. We also require her sister alive..." The assasssin opened his palm, a small image of the beautiful girl forming through blue smoke. "Rimoru...the Sapphire of Iskan and a beauty to those who look upon her- perhaps even with your cold heart."

"So what do you say?"

This is when Akarth smiled and replied, “There was once a time when my name was synonymous with death and destruction. I had brought an entire kingdom under a reign of such darkness that it still to this day has a reputation of evil and unholy corruption.”


Akarth’s arrogance was getting away with his ego. He gave several clues to his orgin with those comments but figured this guy would never guess the Shadow Empire. The large undead giant of a warrior looked at the princess and said, “Chasing her might be fun, but not killing her will be a little hard. I mean my minions are creatures of death and holding people without murdering them will be difficult. I would have to direct them personally…"

"Your kingdom has no meaning here, nor your name. Different land, different powers, different people. But no matter. It is necessary this girl be brought to us alive and in no way, shape, or form...dead. If you encounter any guards for her- kill them. They are unimportant."

"Do not worry about me and my master- we work under the shadows, silent, illusive...deadly. We shall know if your work is completed. Do not search for us...we shall find you."

"And...perhaps if Rimoru does come to us, after we are through with her, you may be able to use her...perhaps..."

With that, the cloaked man began to walk up the stairs. "You won't be sorry..." he said aloud as his leather boots barely made a sound against the floor."

The Undead Mohrgs that spotted the intruder were about to chase after him. They stopped upon hearing their master give the command to halt. These were intelligent undead and they could have disobeyed his command. They knew better than to disobey an order from the Emperor and started to head back to their posts.


The Emperor watched the man walk up the stairs and then turned towards his failed experiment and in anger used his deadly swords to hack up the remaining good body. The alliance between him and the intruder would hold until Akarth could find a weakness to exploit.


The former Emperor decided to begin his search for the girl. He started to send out small bands of his minions to the surface with the orders of finding her…..

Atticus took his leave of the palace, saying his goodbyes with a smile and swiftly left the palace. A million things ran through his mind, troubling him. Having to lead Rimoru to believe he was what he was not. She had no idea he was a highwayman and a mercenary. Not honest trades, but trades none the less. He walked down the streets, looking back only for a second at the palace. It could've ended there He decided to head back to the tavern and speak with this Judge. After a long walk in which time he was in deep thought he finally arrived at the tavern and took a seat in the corner, waiting for Judge.

A tall man opened the door to Senator Krellin's office and grunted. "You know it early, right?" the creature growled as he stared down at the dark elf creature. The bodyguard seemed to be half orc as his skin was greenish in color, he had large tusks growing from his lower jaw, and his shirt could barely contain his muscles...

He was unfazed by the creatures appearence, though he hid a slight look of surprise, it was not what he had expected. "I prefer to see it as late. Now, i have business to discuss and limited time to do it in. I'm sure the Senator can manage an 'early' morning." He was impatient and cast a glance towards the horizon, dawn was not far off.

As Atticus waited, a man with a large gray beard and dark brown eyes walked by, taking a seat in front of Atticus, flashing him a grin. "You're going to be rich after this," the man said quietly, leaning closer to Atticus. "To fool all suspicions, I am the judge."

*************************************************

"Tor, shoo, let the poor man in," came the soft voice from behind the half-orc. "Don't mind him...it's somewhat unusual to have someone this early, but I don't mind, i couldn't sleep anyways."

A short, overweight, balding man waddled out from behind his desk, tidying his senatorial robes- silky purple robes with a badge showing he is from House Ifrete- and brought his hand out to shake the newcomer.

"Senator Krellin at your service," he said hurredly.

Atticus remained stoic as the man took a seat. It was some time since he last spoke to a man like this Judge. His sword lay on the table with an empty mug. It was a long day, full of suspenseful activities.
"I could care less about the money. Money is something I can get by robbing the guild lords on the roads, as I've always done. What I'm more interested in is a name and location" Atticus said to Judge "I've spoken to someone like you before. Your master or whoever you work for promised the name and location of a certain man. A man whom I want to kill. But the details of what I must do and how to do this task set by your master are a bit sketchy" Atticus wanted answers and the plan.

Drasken came in as ordered and was struck by the ironic differance between the tall muscular half orc and the short senator, one was clearly the brain and the other the brawn.

He took the Senators proffered hand and shook it. He saw the crest and recognised it as Ifrete's. "Thank you few seeing me Senator. My name is Drasken Embar and I have been lead to believe you may have some work for me." A thoughtful look appeared on his face. "Though i am sure you have heard that, or something similar, enough times in the last few days and not had any results."

"Guild Lords, my friend? Most certainly not. You would be killed in an instant! Perhaps some of the minor lords. But this is beside the point."

Judge leaned in closer as he slowly took the empty mug in his hands and idly picked it up and spun it slowly in his hands.

"Aye, aye, Atticus, we know the deal. But you have not yet finished your goal. Find Victoria, bring her to me. However, there has been an addition to the objective. Bring Rimoru as well...don't worry- your reward will be quite hefty should you complete it. And whatever you do- keep them both alive."

**********************************************

Senator Krellin's smile faded slightly as he cocked his head, his wid eyes staring in Draskin's for a few seconds. "Job? Hmm..."

He smiled suddenly and brought his hands up. "Ah yes! Job!" he walked back to his desk and shuffled through several papers, mumbling a few things. "You are the new page boy, then? I was expecting someone...ehmm...younger..."

"I have too robbed guild lords, friend" Atticus boasted. But now his tone became serious "Rimoru is going to meet me here at midnight, after some convincing discussions. The two of us are going to find her sister. Do you have anyway to assist me? A clue, a bit of information?" he wondered. As of that moment he had nothing, no leads and he doubted that Rimoru had much more than her.

He leaned in closer, his voice lowering, "Who exactly do you work for? And why are these two women of such importance to you?" he asked, those two questions were like pins his his mind.

Judge waved away Atticus' boast and smiled. "Assistance would be nice, yes. Unfortunately all we have is what we've already told you...no leads, no suspects, no anyone."


"As for why I want these girls...well, don't all men want them?" He let out a loud, deep laugh and shook his head again, his long unruly beard wiggling as it moved against the table. "Let's just say I work for Iskan on this one, alright?"

Drasken was wondering whether to be insulted or to laugh. He settled for an amused smile. His thoughts about which one seemed to posses the brains may have been premature. "No, not that sort of job. I was told to come to you concerning the dissapearence of a certain family member from the house you work for..." He said, indicating the badge the Senator wore. Perhaps it was just that the senator had not slept, i wonder if i should recommend the bartenders drink.

Atticus frowned, his hoes of some useful information dashed.
"I don't believe you" he flat out said "There's more to this than some lonely old man looking to bed two women. There's something bigger, I can feel it" he began to say but caught himself. Atticus didn't want to compromise any chance he had of gaining what he desired.
"Bah, it doesn't matter to me what your agenda really is. I have one of my own and fulfilling it is my main concern. I'm only doing this to help myself" he admitted to Judge. Only more questions raced through his head. "So what more do you want of me or is this it? Will I be seeing you again?" he wondered.

"Oh! Oh my- I'm sorry," Senator Krellin replied, not expecting that at all. "Yes, yes! Please, sit down!" He motioned to a chair in front of his desk as he sat down himself and steepled his fingers.

"Aye, poor Victoria. Each time I was graced to see her face, even from a distance, no rain could ruin my day...oh how I miss her. How everyone misses her..." His eyes glittered, however he pulled a hankerchief from within his robes and dabbed it along his eyes. "Mage Lord Darian has placed three thousand gold pieces on whoever can find her, well enough to buy your own mansion and not have to work for the remainder of your life!" The man gave a fake laugh and dabbed his eyes again. "But, if you find Victoria- please do bring her back- but if you do find her and return to me, I shall add two hundred gold pieces to it. Oh how I miss her darling smile and her wondrous 'Good Morning, Senator' whenever I would conference with Lord Darian..."

The Senator's response was not the one he expected. "She must really be something special to command such devotion. Could you perhaps give me some more information? Have you see the 'scene of the crime' as it were?" He had the feeling that very little that he expected would be happening in the town, but that was a very substantial reward. But he couldn't get ahead of himself, better to focus on the matter at hand.

Atticus frowned, his hoes of some useful information dashed.
"I don't believe you" he flat out said "There's more to this than some lonely old man looking to bed two women. There's something bigger, I can feel it" he began to say but caught himself. Atticus didn't want to compromise any chance he had of gaining what he desired.
"Bah, it doesn't matter to me what your agenda really is. I have one of my own and fulfilling it is my main concern. I'm only doing this to help myself" he admitted to Judge. Only more questions raced through his head. "So what more do you want of me or is this it? Will I be seeing you again?" he wondered.

"Believe me or don't, 'tis your thoughts not mine. But I assure you, the women won't go to me. They shall go to our master- well, my master to be exact.

"Only to help yourself? Certainly there are more things than selfish desires," the old man commented as he stood up. "This is it for now. If more is needed, you shall recieve a letter with a distinct marking on it," Judge finished by revealing a tattoo on his arm, a meat clever. He winked at Atticus and walked out the door, pulling a hood over his head.

The Senator's response was not the one he expected. "She must really be something special to command such devotion. Could you perhaps give me some more information? Have you see the 'scene of the crime' as it were?" He had the feeling that very little that he expected would be happening in the town, but that was a very substantial reward. But he couldn't get ahead of himself, better to focus on the matter at hand.


"She is one of the jewels of Iskan- everyone loves her and everyone wants her back, especially her father, Lord Darian."

The Senator shook his head and pulled out a few papers, shifting them into a neat pile in front of him. "Aye, I was there- nothing was moved, nothing was out of the ordinary. It was as if nothing happened..." he sighed as he absentmindedly pushd his papers around on his desk.

"As for useful information- I have none," the man chuckled weakly, trying to lighten the mood. "That is what makes this such a mystery- no one knows where to look."

Atticus sat back as Judge departed. He said nothing to him as this mysterious contact walked out the door. The tavern wasn't very full at that time, but no one looked their direction as they conversed and plotted. Nothing about this really disturbed him. Atticus was willing to do whatever it took to exact his revenge. But a part of him, though small felt somewhat sorry for Rimoru. She was foolish and inexperienced to the ways of the real world and had no idea what lay before her...

"No signs of a struggle? absolutely nothing?" It tied in with what he had heard. "If the palace is as impenetrable as people say, I would think its an inside job, were there any unusual people in the palace recentely? a shady new employee?"

He was trying to eliminate some possibilities, he was sure that one of the following had to be true, she left by herself somehow, managing to escape everyones notice, though her popularity that was unlikely. Someone she trusts took her by some means, magical or via poisoning. Or that she was still hiding somewhere in the palace and it's own protections were stopping people from finding her within.

"Hmmm," the senator mumbled as he wiped his hankerchief over his sweating brow. "Well, from what I heard, around the time she disappeared...the candles seemed to go out through the whole palace. Even mage spells that were cast seemed to die off, no matter how much energy was poured into it. However, when all the palace defenses were checked, there was nothing wrong with them."

"There are no records with new servants or the such. A few merchants were allowed access, however they were meeting with Darian and a few other mages."

The sun poured through the sole opening in the bell tower - its powerful rays reflecting off of the rusted bell and directly into Mythos' eyes. He woke up early, with the sun usually, but today he could have slept much longer - the previous day's events had worn him out - unfortunately something else had stirred his mind from its comfortable slumber. His stomach, a rotten mess of acids and alcohols, was feeling rather bloated and upset. It groaned loudly as he a put a hand to it, but then his attention shifted as his morning amnesia was wiped away.

The girl! His eyes blinked a few times to remove the morning residue before darting around the small room. For the moment at least, his surge of emotion had relieved his mind of the bloated and uncomfortable mess in his stomach. His head curled around the wall to look ou the balcony, but there was no sign of her. How could she have disappeared! Furious at being given the slip during his slumber, he slammed his fists against the wall and cursed loudly, echoing through the bell tower and waking the nesting birds. His eyes looked down the long road that led into town and he thought he caught a glimpse of his target, but the figure was too far off to be sure let alone catch.

Letting his target get away would be both a financial setback as well as a blow to his ego - there was no way that was going to happen. With a powerful leap, refound by his rested muscles, Mythos leapt from the balcony and landed in a small hole in the roof of the church. The opening was near the middle of the rows of pews, now broken and disheveled as they lay in a mess. He turned towards the altar and strode directly to the sarcophagus that lay atop it. Long had it been since it was the last resting place of a damned body, and now was used by the Atharian warrior to store his weapons in secret. The stone tablet pushed aside revealing various leather cases housing different deadly weapons. Mythos reached in and removed a few; his diamond rapier - a most prized possession for any mortal - his indestructible spear, and a couple other small packages. No plan had entered his mind on how to recover his target, seeing as she had probably entered the safety of the palace by now, but it was best to be prepared when the city guards were alerted to his identity.

With his sword attached to his belt and his spear strapped to his back - and a bloated stomach making every step quite uncomfortable - Mythos exited the church and began a brisk pace up the road towards the heart of the city. Unsure if the guards would have been handed pictures of him yet, and even if they had, whether they could identify him or not, he decided not to take any chances and dawned a nondescript brown cloak. His hair attempted to cover the markings on his face - the most distinct image of him - though not doing the best job as they were still partially visible. At worst... I will have to fight my way out of a small jam...

As he entered a more populated area, Mythos stopped for a but moment to ask the local people whether they had heard news of the Lady Rimoru or recent events. What they told him was quite a story, but strangely not a mention of what had happen the night before. There was fighting, a chase, a few strange men, and then the LawMages... but no talk of a kidnapping... just an attempted one before the LawMages showed up to her defense - though it unfortunately confirmed his suspicion that she had returned to the castle. Thanking the locals for their help, Mythos carried on his quick pace to the city's heart.

Upon arrival, he figured he might as well sit down at a bar to plan his next strike; at the very worst he might gain a little information while he was there. The nearest pub had a sign over it that read "The Morehouse." He poked his head and was greeted by a much higher class establishment than the previous night's had been. There was no ruckus - then again it was still morning - and quite a few wealthier looking patrons. But there, in the corner of his eye, he found his golden ticket. Bingo... Mythos' golden orange eyes lit up with the formulation of a plan and the presentation of a rare opportunity. Without a backwards glance, the Atharian crossed the tavern's floor and approached the bar. After ordering, the barkeep handed him to average ales of good quantity and taste. As he turned away from the bar, he slipped a vial of Veritiscium into the drink in his right hand - the same drug he had used the night before to coax the Lady Rimoru into leaving with him.

"A job well done!" Mythos proclaimed as he sat heavily in the seat across from what was no doubt a fully clad Palace Guard. "I say, I just couldn't help buying you a drink for your guys' great job recovering our Princess." He pushed towards him the mug that he had drugged and lifted his own into the air. "A toast, I say!"

Itzuki sped off his mind partially on mystery girl, as he had named Rimoru since he didn't actually know her name and pin girl just sounded tacky, and Relthor but also watching for any signs of roads. He knew the odds were absolutely miniscule that he would as he'd never heard of any riders to come from this land.

After skimming around a few portions of the city, he returned to the palace and from there to the office the dragon had mentioned. Landing, he walked in and looked around.

The Palace guard looked at Mythos, then the mug and smiled. "Well...I am off duty an' I don't have to be back until the afteroon hours..." He took the mug and drained it in a matter of seconds.

"Let me tell you- it was hard rescuing Rimoru. The terrible man had three heads. When I tried to get to Rimoru, his hand extended and turned into a sword while his other hand was slowing me down with spells. Each one of his heads shot fire, ice, and water. Luckily...with my advanced training, I was able to kill the brute and save Rimoru. In fact, she even asked to be with me during the night shift," the guard said rather boastfully, showing signs of heavy drinking already.

Itzuki sped off his mind partially on mystery girl, as he had named Rimoru since he didn't actually know her name and pin girl just sounded tacky, and Relthor but also watching for any signs of roads. He knew the odds were absolutely miniscule that he would as he'd never heard of any riders to come from this land.

After skimming around a few portions of the city, he returned to the palace and from there to the office the dragon had mentioned. Landing, he walked in and looked around.

"Greetings, sir!" A halfling woman said, smile on her face. "Welcome to the Office of Foreign affairs! We offer information on the city, tours of the city, and a few services such as translation spells or translators themselves, passes for certain events or buildings, and inn room reservations. What do you wish, sir?"

"Hello. What information do you offer and a tour sounds interesting as well." He replied to the halfling.

"We offer information about the city itself. And if you are interested in a tour, please sign this form," the halfling replied, still wearing that smile of hers. She pushed a form towards Blue that asked for the name, general time of day, gender, magical knowledge, participation in criminal activities (and if so, why), and a signature.

Itzuki took the form and filled it out then returned it. "Could you give me information on everything, but heavy on buildings?"
Name: Itzuki
General Time of Day: Any
Gender: Male
Magical Knowledge: Aeromancy
Criminal Activities: None
Signature: Itzuki

"But of course, Mister Itsuki," the halfling replied as she examined the form and chuckled at his answer for "Time of Day". She looked outside and carefully scratched out his answer with her quill and wrote "Noon" instead.

"This city is one of the oldest in Iskan and in Lustria itself. It is the very model of a modern, well governed city. Crime rate is low, economy is high, and the general air is that of happiness and peace."

"Several buildings you should take note of are, the Ifrete Palace, located just around the block. It is the third oldest structure in the city. We used to offer some tours through the main lobby, however with recent happenings no one is allowed to go in, unless allowed by one of the Ifretes."

"Another close building is the Basilica of Gods, where you may worship any of the Lustrian Pantheon. A very common sight is to see a romantic couple walking down the Goddess of Love's forest pathways. The Basilica is the second largest building in the city, right under the palace, as each god has their own section dedicated to them."

"In the center of the city, near the town square, is the Department of Security- where the town guard barraks are. This is the oldest building in the city."

Drasken leant back at that news with a look of surprise on his face. "The whole palace? Magic died out?" He was sure that would take some powerful magic or something powerful at least, his thearies may have to be revised. "To nullify magic on that scale... any idea who would be capable of that?"

As his mind calmed for a moment the reputation of Darian Ifrete surfaced in his mind. "Even Lord Darian's magic did not work?"

"No one I know is capable of doing that. Possibly the advisor to Lord Darian and teacher to Rimoru and Athral, Relthor his name is, or Lord Darian himself. And as far as I know, Lord Darian was not casting any spells at the time of this disturbance. Rather, he was reading. Mind you, this blackout only lasted a second or two."

"I thought you said Lord Darian was meeting with merchants at the time." Drasken said as he thought back over the conversation, even if the effect only lasted a few seconds, to cover that area was powerful. "You said the blackout lasted only a few seconds, did the candles relight after then? or did servants see to that." He didn't see any significance behind the question, but it could prove useful and nothing else came to mind. That would make for a quick entrance or getaway, but not both unless by some supernatural or magical means that wasn't disturbed by the nullification.

"I'm sorry, aye. He was doing one of those- perhaps both," Krellin replied, before looking at Tor. "May you bring me some ice water, Tor? Many thanks. And would you like to eat or drink something?"

"Well...I don't know really. The candles needed to be lit I believe. However, take into consideration, this was during the day, so many candles did not need to be lit."

Selim remained behind Darian as Rimoru was brought in; he witnessed the Magelord scold his daughter severely. If he wasn't being paid handsomely for the endevour, Selim would have had a considerable amount of empathy for the young girl; it must be hard, he reasoned, to live in the shadow of a Magelord, plus a pair of talented and well-loved sisters. His eyebrows shot up, however, as Darian displaced his heavy-set hand stright onto Rimoru's face; her eyes welled up with tears, and she ran to her room. Although he felt somewhat obliged to speak out, Selim remained silent. He had heard Darian to be a quick-tempered man, but not one to hit his own offspring.

Best not say anything about it. He's mad enough as it is.

Selim spread his arms wide and smiled.

"Well, there you have it; she's back in the palace, safe and sound, thanks mostly to me. I'll take my payment now, please, then I'll be on my way."

Lord Darian looked disheveled after he struck his own daughter He stroked his beard and leveled his eyes on Selim. "Yes...yes...good job, Selim, as always," Darian nodded and opened up the palm of his hand. A medium sized bag, heavy with money appeared in his hand and he tossed it at Selim. "I'm just glad my Rimoru is back and relatively safe...I don't know what I'd do if I lost another of my children..."

What if she tries to escape again? She refuses any guards and she rarely listens to anyone. His eyes flitted to Selim. "Selim, please stick around the city. I may need your assistance again," the Magelord said.

Selim caught the bag, testing it's weight. He put the gold in his pack, smiled at Darian, then walked off, talking over his shoulder.

"I'll keep in touch. I was planning on staying anyways; I've got some artifacts to pick up downtown, anyways, and get a few of my puppets repaired. That stupid swordsman nicked a few of 'em. If you or the guild ever need my services again, don't hesitate to come and find me."

Drasken considred for a moment, if he left now, he may still catch have some darkness to head back to the inn in, but he was hungry, he had been too curious about the rumours and hadn't eaten. "I would enjoy a small something to eat, do not overly trouble your kitchen staff on my behalf."

"I can see why there is such confusion over this dissappearence. Is there any way i could be admitted to the palace and be allowed to poke around? perhaps question some of the staff or speak to the family?" He did not hold out much hope, but fate could be kind. If she was abducted, the abductors were very organised, which deffinately suggested help from the inside, if only on the most basic levels of providing information, maps or shortcuts. Something occured to him. "Is there a tavern or bar frequented most often by servants of Lord Darian?"

"Alright. Who are the Ifrete?" Itzuki asked as he wondered at the viablity of using the Basilica since Relthor seemed to object to the palace being used.

(S)he stepped inside and meandered over to the bartender. “Could one please have some wine to wash the dust out of one's throat? One was also wondering if the sale of jewelry would be permitted in this fabulous establishment this evening.”

"Aye...uh...jeweler," the bartender smiled as he poured one of his cheap wines into a goblit and gave it to the jeweler. "An' sure, ya can sell yer jewelery. I may even get some fer me wife. Perhaps that'll take me outta the doghouse for one night!" The bartender laughed as he put the wine bottle away.

**********************************************
Lord Darian nodded to Selim and waved him off as he sat down on his couch again, holding his head in his hands.

As Selim walked out, he was flanked by Darian's personal guard. "Move along, sir," one of them said. "We shall guide you out." Another guard moved in front of him.

"Follow me, sir," the front guard said blandly as he began to walk to the main entrance.

***********************************************

"Tor, please give our guest some of the fruit from Nath'kahn," Senator Krellin ordered to his bodyguard before turning to Draskin and giving him a smile. "Nath'kahn has some of the best fruits in all of Iskan, possibly Lustria too."

As Tor brought over a large bowl of fruit, the senator furrowed his brows in thought over the question he was presented about entering the palace. "I'm afraid the palace has become offlimits to the public and only one who can enter with an Ifrete or their consent may enter. Even I have trouble entering."

He looked up and waved Tor away before leaning close to Draskin. "Word on the streets say Rimoru sneaks into the Drunken Gnoll tavern, though. Perhaps you should check there sometime. You should recognize her quite easily. Her beauty is unmatched, her spirit uncaged, and her temper fiery."

***********************************************

The halfling stopped suddenly, her mouth agape, then she shook her head and laughed. "Forgive me, I sometimes forget how far people can come from!"

"The Ifrete family is the head of this guild- they live in the palace. Lord Darias, his three- I'm sorry....now two, daughters, Rimoru and Shar'Isual and his three sons, Athral, Terseras and Zeinomir."

Drasken shrugged, nodding his thanks to Tor and taking one of the fruits, he took a bite and found it delicious. "No matter, it was a faint hope." He though back to the tavern he had been in earlier and remember she had been there. He took another bite, then an obvious question came to mind. "How quickly was it discovered that Victoria was missing? When was she last deffinately seen inside the palace?"

"Hmmm...." Senator Krellin mumbled, narrowing his eyebrows and stroking his chin as he tried to remember. "I believe that a guard walked into her room when the candles blew out- perhaps a few minutes- and noticed her gone. The alarm was raised and all the children herded to the lobby with their father. Last day she was seen inside the palace was about four days ago, I believe."

The Senator grabbed a rather large pear and took a bite of it, wiping his mouth as juice began to dribble down his chin.

Hmmm, a few minutes can be a long time, long enough at least. "4 days, what is the in comparison to when she vanished?" He was trying to get a scope on the time they had had to get in and out with Victoria if that indeed happened. He took another bite of the fruit and waited for an answer.

"Well, she disappeared at night, I think reports said close to midnight," Senator Krellen said.

ooc: sorry for such a short post! have to go!

"So they're the ones who have Relthor as the advisor?" Itzuki asked, "And could you tell me about him and why he might be grumpy."

"Let me tell you- it was hard rescuing Rimoru.

In fact, she even asked to be with me during the night shift," the guard said rather boastfully, showing signs of heavy drinking already.

That was easy... Mythos had an internal grin from ear to ear as the guard finished downing the drugged ale he had presented him with. The drug worked quickly, absorbing into his blood stream and traveling directly to his brain where it affected several lobes, most important among them being his frontal lobes - the part of the brain that controls impulses and judgment. With his judgment compromised, the palace guard was highly vulnerable to the power of suggestion.

Mythos sat patiently, amused by his obviously fake story of how he single handedly defeated the monster and saved Rimoru. "Quite the noble effort!" he said, clapped him on the shoulder for a 'job well done.' "You guards must have some pretty handy gear to help you with such dangerous threats," he commented innocently as he observed the man's armor. Leaning in close so that none save the guard across from him could hear, Mythos whispered something into his ear then stood up and walked out of the bar with but a glance backwards.

[ooc: Blastit, you know what to do. Mythos will be waiting outside across the street near the entrance of some dark place.]

Again Drasken raised his eyebrows, this story kept changing. "Do you mean she was last seen at midnight? You said she was found to be missing during when the candles went out, which you said was during the day..." The senator, on the one hand, seemed to say that it happened during the day, but now was saying she vanished at night. Drasken took several more bites of the apple he had been eating. I may have to go somewhere else to find the true matters of this case. he thought.

Maya spent most of the day wandering the streets of the city, just looking around. What she saw seemed to confirm that these people were generally friendly, but from snippets of conversations that she overheard, it seemed like something had happened recently that had tightened security. She wondered about this, since she had not had any trouble getting into the city.

I think I’ll keep my ears open at the inn tonight, see if I can’t find out what’s going on, she decided. She only wanted to know out of idle curiosity, and to find out whether or not it would interfere with her leaving the city or her passage through these lands. I had thought about dancing tonight, since I could use some more money, but perhaps not if I want to learn about this.

Later in the day, late afternoon, she decided that she felt like talking with the spirits for a while. She could go back to the inn and do so in her room, but she had always preferred to do the ritual outside. She felt it was more appropriate to do it that way, though it made no difference to the ritual. Finding a clear area of ground, she sat down under a tree, crossing her legs and laying the staff down in front of her feet. She closed her eyes, put her hands together, resting them in her lap, and relaxed. She murmured a few words under her breath in an ancient language few could recognise, then raised her spirit up into the spirit plane, where she could commune with those long departed from the physical world.

<Greetings, people of Aesar,> she said. She always gave a polite, blanket greeting, since she never knew who she might talk to. There were some spirits she spoke to fairly frequently, and some she had spoken to once and never encountered again.
<Hello, young one. I am Shekmah, once scholar and council to the lord of Vanderra,> came the first reply. She could sense at least one other spirit presence as well, and a second greeting followed shortly after.
<I know of you, Shekmah. You are the one who dissuaded the ninth lord of Vanderra from starting a war with his neighbours,> replied Maya.
<I am indeed, and I am flattered to be recognised. Though I did not do it alone, I was but the lead voice of many,> admitted Shekmah modestly.
The other spirit turned out to be a humble farmer, but that did not make speaking with him any less worthy. Any spirit, other than the very young, had more wisdom than she could hope to achieve in her entire lifetime, even with daily consultation with the spirits. She continued their conversation, mostly unaware of what was happening around her, though Kaolai was acting as a watchman, ready to alert her to the first sign of trouble.

"Aye, Relthor is their wondrous advisor. He doesn't venture out of the palace much, however..."

"Well, rumors say he's a dragon and I wouldn't doubt it. He doesn't deny it nor does say he is- well, openly admit- that he is a dragon. However he jests about dragons every now and then. If you think about it, the Ifrete family may be very mysterious even though they used to be so open."

"As to why Relthor is so grumpy...perhaps you caught him on a bad day? He can be short-tempered from what I heard. For the most part, however, he is a relatively nice man. Good looking too..."

"It looks like your paperwork is in order, sir Itzuki!"
**********************************************

"Aye, me armor has basic anti-spell wards an' the such..." the guard replied as-a-matter-of-factly. When Mythos whispered something in the guards ear and left, the guard sat staring for a few moments later, then got up. "Aye...I s'pose that's a good idea..." With that, the man followed Mythos outside, catching a movement in an alleyway across the street. "Ye know...bein' a guard ain't all it's said to be..."he growled as he walked into the darkness.

***********************************************

"I'm sorry, sir. My days recently have been quite busy. I meant evening. The sun was still showing, however nighttime was on the approach. But then again, I am going by some sources that I would say are one step above those on the streets," Krellin replied, slightly startled as he realized what he said.

"Then about that tour..." Itzuki replied when she said his paper was in order. "What do the Ifretes do and are they at all related to efreeti?"

"Right, the tour," the halfling replied as she got off her seat and knocked on the door behind her. "A Mr. Itzuki is ready for his tour," she called out, before returning to her desk. She laughed at Itzuki as she began to fill out more paperwork.

"The Ifretes learn, really. They all do- even Lord Ifrete. But Lord Ifrete runs Northern Iskan and oversees the Mage's Guild. What the children do specifically is beyond me. As for their relations to the efreeti...Like I said- there are more mysteries to the Ifrete household than most people realize. They very well could be related to them."

"If you exit the door, a carriage should be waiting there for you. Thank you Mr. Itzuki and feel free to ask any other question you so desire. I hope you enjoy your tour!"

The carriage itself was a beautifully made transport pulled by two pure white horses who whinnied and neyed as they awaited their passanger. Inside was beautiful red leather and cushioned seats. A few snacks were layed out on a window table, where several fruits and nuts were layed out. Underneath the table were bottles of wine and a few other bottles of fruit juices or just water.

"Thank you and have a pleasent day." He replied as he bowed, or at least gave the impression of a bow without the physicality of one, before heading out to where the carriage was waiting. He looked at the carriage, impressed that the city was obviously reach enought to put on such accomedations for free. He looked around for a tour guide for a few seconds before heading to the door and stepping in.

"Greetings, Mr. Itzuki!" exclaimed a rather excited human women with dark green eyes and long black hair. "Welcome to Ifrete City tours! I am Elizabeth and I shall be your tour guide today! Driver, if you shall begin."

"If you feel hungry at all, please feel free to use the snacks on the table, along with the drinks below. They will be added to your bill after the tour."

"If you look along the right side of the window, once these few buildings are out of the way, you will see the amazing Ifrete Palace, the third oldest structure in the city..."

"Hello Elizabeth." He replied as he took a seat and listened to her give her tour. He did raise an eyebrow at the word bill as there had been no mention of cost previously. "Also home of the grumpy Relthor."

ooc: I just drank a 2L bottle of Vault in a 1/2 hour period.

"Aye, me armor has basic anti-spell wards an' the such..." the guard replied as-a-matter-of-factly. When Mythos whispered something in the guards ear and left, the guard sat staring for a few moments later, then got up. "Aye...I s'pose that's a good idea..." With that, the man followed Mythos outside, catching a movement in an alleyway across the street. "Ye know...bein' a guard ain't all it's said to be..."he growled as he walked into the darkness.

"Really now? I would have thought it was a spectacular life!" Mythos exclaimed as they walked into the alley. "You get to live in the lap of luxury... you are the ultimate authority... and, best of all, you get to see the lovely ladies of the Ifrete family every day... what could be better than that?" He said with a wink of his eye.

"Come now... let's get you out of that armor and let me have a try. It just seems so powerful!" Mythos leaned up against the dark wall, deep in the alley so that passersby probably wouldn't notice them, their eyes just glancing past.

ooc: Oh dear, Theao... your going to be bouncing off the walls lol...or have a throbbing headache.

The Ifrete City tour carriage brought Itzuki around the city, atleast most of it- the exciting areas, giving him good views of landmarks and fountains, lovely tropical forests, and even a good around the palace. Finally finished, the tour came to a halt in front of the Office of Foreign Affairs. "Thank you for choosing to take a tour with us!" Eliabeth said cheerfully, still wearing the same smile she wore at the beginning of the tour. She reached into her robe and pulled out a small piece of parchment that had the price of ten silver and thirty copper.

***********************************************

"Aye, 'tis all that, even the lovely ladies part. But we can't do anything! We are only wall ornaments for them..." the guard said as he peeled off his armor and slowly handed them to Mythos. "Don't you be gettin' too many ideas...don't want ol' James to be gettin' fired!"

Itzuki enjoyed the tour. Many of the buildings and monuments looked perfect for 'treking. When they arrived at the end and she pulled out the parchment with the bill he asked, "What's this?"

ooc: Actually I feel like I have to let out a window-shaker class burp but its stuck. For some reason energy drinks don't do much/anything to me. A few years ago, I won about 3 6-packs of an energy drink and drank like two of the sixers almost like water, not even realizing what they were till I saw some in a store a few days later. Turned out I'd drunk the equivilant of 30$ in an hour

lol eww...

"Tis the price for the tour, Mr. Itzuki!" the women laughed happily.

"Aye, 'tis all that, even the lovely ladies part. But we can't do anything! We are only wall ornaments for them..." the guard said as he peeled off his armor and slowly handed them to Mythos. "Don't you be gettin' too many ideas...don't want ol' James to be gettin' fired!"

Perfect... Mythos purred in his mind. He was just about to ask the guard his name in case he needed to do more than blend in, but the drunken and drugged up fellow offered it freely.

As the guard slowly peeled off his armor, piece by piece, and handed it to the rogue, Mythos slowly put it on piece by piece, from bracers to helm until he looked the exact part of a palace guard.

"Thank you, my good man," Mythos said in a barely audible whisper, causing the guard to lean in close to hear better.

"Sorry, wha'id you say?" the guard asked as he cupped a hand to his hear.

"I saaaid..." From behind his back, Mythos produced his ruby studded diamond rapier and smacked the guard across the back of his head. "Sorry about that chap." Before the body landed, Mythos dropped his sword and grabbed the man so as not to injure him too badly. The knock had rendered him unconscious and he would be out for several hours. The knave dragged the body deeper into the alley and laid him out against the wall. Searching around for a few seconds, Mythos grabbed the nearest rubbish one would find in an alley and dumped it on top of the knocked out guard, hiding him to the best of his ability.

"Right then... time to infiltrate the palace and abduct the lady again," he whispered to himself as he walked back to the entrance and picked up his spear and sword.

Upon exiting the alley, Mythos made a b-line for the palace, all the while formulating his plan. As he was about to turn the corner where he first came in sight of the other guards, the disguised rogue stashed his spear and rapier, leaving him all but defenseless as his smaller blades were trapped beneath the armor. However, he wasn't expecting a fight - at most just a brief chat with the entry guards to get "James" in. Upon entering, Mythos planned to slowly make his way up to Rimoru's room and then enter without anyone the wiser. After nabbing the lady, he would leap from the window, over the wall and be out of the palace, back on this very same road where he could pick up his weapons and be off - this time no stupid mistakes that could allow her to escape.

"Ahoy there!" Mythos disguised as James proclaimed as he rounded the corner and came into sight of the palace gate. The trickiest part, which would be relatively easy considering he was now a guard named James, would be getting in. The rest should be a piece of cake.

"Then unless you happen to have a currancy converter, we may have a bit of a problem." He replied, as the currancy he had was likely to be drastically different that what this city used. "Also there was no mention of a bill previously."

"Well, tis a service my friend.And all services are worth something! And I'm sure if it's worth it's weight, it is accepted," Elizabeth replied, still smiling as she took a seat on the comfortable seat behind her.

*************************************************

"Greetin's James," one of the guards said in hushed voice. "Shhh, some of the royals are fallin' asleep! An' we aren't supposed to talk on duty yet!"

"Have you been drinking again, James? Ya know that if Lord Darian finds out, yer on the streets!" another guard whispered as they opened the gate.

"Would you accept this?" He asked as he pulled out a small wooden disk. It could be redeemed for the correct amount, but where it could be redeemed was likely a goodly distance outside of the bill collection agency for the tour company.

"Greetin's James," one of the guards said in hushed voice. "Shhh, some of the royals are fallin' asleep! An' we aren't supposed to talk on duty yet!"

"Have you been drinking again, James? Ya know that if Lord Darian finds out, yer on the streets!" another guard whispered as they opened the gate.

"J-j-just a lit'le..." Mythos said, disguising his voice as best he could, though aided by the fact he was playing drunk. As a drunk, his voice could go up and down rather rapidly, disguising the true pitch of James' voice.

"All t-the more reason notta talk-k-k," the rogue said jovially as he laughed at his own comment and held a finger to the place his lips would be on the other side of the armor.

He got really close to one of the guards and pointed at himself and then pointed over his head to the palace, showing his direction. His hand then moved very close to the other guard's head and Mythos waved goodbye before walking towards the palace. His behavior would probably be attributed to his partially drunken state and none would be the wiser to his infiltration.

Damn... now how do I find her room, Mythos cursed to himself as he ascended the main stairs. Now away from the guards that knew James' drinking habits, Mythos was able to act normal and create his own guise if necessary. The palace was a marvelous, grand place, but had so many hallways and paths that he quickly realized it would be a futile effort to look through every door.

Luckily, a pair of servants was whispering at the end of one hall and Mythos just happened to be walking slowly past - on patrol, of course - and overheard their mumblings.

"I heard that she was arguing with her father..."

"I heard that Lord Darian actually hit her when she returned..."

"Poor dear..."

Mythos noticed that both the female servants' gazes turned towards the end of the hall they were standing at the head of before they departed back to their duties. Bingo, he thought as he waited until they were gone and headed down the hallway. However, hearing the short whispers between the servants made him feel semi-bad for the unnecessary pain he had caused the Lady. Sure he wasn't a good guy as his trade rarely permitted, but he also wasn't mean nor was he unnecessarily cruel - hell, he didn't even take much pleasure in doing what he did. Nonetheless, he persisted and made for the last two doors of the hallway.

As he neared the last two doors in the corridor, clearly one was larger than the other, indicating more importance and probably belonging to Rimoru. However, just to be safe, Mythos checked the smaller of the two doors first and found nothing but an average sized sitting room. Then he moved swiftly to the final door, glanced about quickly to make sure nobody was watching, and then slowly opened the door.

He slipped inside quickly and shut the door behind him, ratcheting closed the lock behind his back. When he looked about for the first time, there was no doubt in his mind that it was her room - a massive, beautifully decorated room, with all of the amenities and luxuries of a princess.

His eyes glanced about and came to a rest on an alluring figure on the bed - clearly it was that of a lady, as the figure was dressed in very revealing and alluring sleepwear... but unfortunately he could not see her face. Curse my luck... it could be any of the princesses, Mythos realized, not knowing exactly how many daughters the Lord Darian had.

Clearing his throat distinctly to get the lady's attention as well as enable him to deepen his voice slightly, Mythos bowed his head slightly and spoke. "Excuse me lady..."

Rimoru tensed up and leapt when she heard a deep voice behind her. Who could this be? she thought rather tersely. She stopped swinging her bare legs over head and slowly rolled onto her back, pushing her sleeping gown over her legs as she sat up and hugged her knees.

"Did father send you to check up on me? To spy on me? To give me a good whack? How about scold me and tell me how much of a better person I could be if I did what my sisters did?"

Rimoru turned away and wiped her eyes before growling in a shaking voice. "I don't need any guards...so leave me alone."

However, upon further thought, his voice sounded familiar. His stance was slightly relaxed and he seemed a tad nervous. Too relaxed and nervous for a guard.

"You aren't a guard...Mythias-err...Mythos! Pinky, sick him!" Rimoru growled. Suddenly, a snarl came from the nearby closet as the lizard appeared in it's doorway.

****************************************************************

"Wood? I'm afraid not, sir. But if you cannot pay, we can leave the guards out of it and let you do services around the building or town if you would rather do that than serve time in a dungeon..." Elizabeth said, her smile never faltering.

"You aren't a guard...Mythias-err...Mythos! Pinky, sick him!" Rimoru growled. Suddenly, a snarl came from the nearby closet as the lizard appeared in it's doorway.

Damn... my cover is blown, Mythos cursed as somehow Rimoru was able to identify him.

Pinky? The rogue had no idea what to expect as his target called out someone or something's name. However, he soon found out that she housed a giant lizard to defend her. It came out of the closet snarling as it advanced upon him.

Instinctively, he grabbed at his hip where normally he kept a scabbard and sword, but now there was nothing except the loud clang of metal against metal. Crap... Mythos realized the predicament he was in when his smaller blades were trapped beneath his plate armor.

His next instinct was to run, and run he did. Quite a bit faster and more agile than the lizard, Mythos was able to dash for and long jump onto the bed, landing mostly where he had intended next to Rimoru. Quickly, he fully got on the bed and pulled his legs to safety.

Time to smooth talk my way out of this... The knave began doing one of the only things he knew how to - lie. "Wait, wait, wait! You have this all backwards! I'm sorry... but after hearing what your father did... I came to rescue you. I heard you wanted out of the palace, so I came to get you out! Please, please call it off!"

Without responding, Rimoru instinctively kicked her bare foot out at Mythos' face- realizing too late that bare flesh doesn't feel good against cold metal.

Rimoru yelped, not quite wanting guards to enter the fray and take the handsome man out to the dungeons to be flayed alive.

"Who said I wanted to be...rescued?" Rimoru growled between clenched teeth as she rolled out of her bed, holding her foot, while the lizard was snarling and tearing up whatever Rimoru had on the ground. "I am very capable of...doing it myself!"

Rimoru searched around the room and stood herself up, balancing with one foot as she still held her other and hopped to her mirror, wrapping her hands around a flower pot and tossing it at Mythos with all her strength, making her lose her balance sending her to her rump on the floor.

“Thank you for the wine as well as permission to sell one's jewelry in this wonderful establishment this evening. If you wish to buy one's humble jewelry this evening, one would be honored.” After paying and leisurely finishing his(her) drink, (s)he left, but sat down in the shadows nearby. Again (s)he folded his(her) hands and concentrated. A long nose stuck out of a hole nearby and then the rest of the rodent shaped head came out. Seeing that there was only the robed figure around, it came out and showed that it has a long light body covered in reddish brown hair.

When the robed figure saw it, (s)he laughed and said to the skrit in it's own language, “Ahanu, you always did love to explore and sneak around. One has a way to use those great talents of yours. One may have a rich buyer soon, but one wishes to know more about her. She is the one with the long golden hair and blue eyes. One was wondering if you would like to sneak into her home to find out more about her for one. Find out how she deals with others and who she lives with, for one may be able to sell things for her to gift to others if she does that. Either find a way to watch her or ask any animal that you find. Please try to not take too long for one does not know when she will come looking in hopes of buying. One hopes you can succeed in this so one can deal with this woman better.”

Ahanu climbed into her(his) lap and the robed figure hid him in her(his) robe. They went back to where Rimoru had left the robed figure and sat down after noticing the cats were still sunning themselves there. Ahanu left him(her) looking for a way to get into the palace unnoticed or for any animals able to tell him about Rimoru.

"Who said I wanted to be...rescued?" Rimoru growled between clenched teeth as she rolled out of her bed, holding her foot, while the lizard was snarling and tearing up whatever Rimoru had on the ground. "I am very capable of...doing it myself!"

"To say nothing of you answering your own question with your next statement," Mythos rattled off fairly quickly, one word after the other without a breath, "I would have to respond that while you did escape from the bell tower, that was fairly easy as I misjudged your skill, whatever it was that allowed you to descend the height. Now, however, you have done a right of job of getting out!" The knave continued to spin his web of lies, attempting to get her to calm down so he could steal her away and eventually collect his much needed bag of gold.

"Please," he was about to continue as he saw a pot come flying through the air at him. Instinctively, he raised both arms in front of his head and turned his face away from the incoming projectile. The pot shattered into hundreds of pieces, reflecting off his gauntlets and across the room, but his armor kept him safe from injury.

"Please just call him off and I will help you out of here," Mythos begged as the lizard was destroying everything in sight with his powerful jaws and teeth. An unquestionably blood ending should it come to that.

Rimoru yelped again as glass pelted the room. "Pinky, stop!" Rimoru said as she held out her arms. "Come here." The lizard obediantly obeyed, walking slowly back to her but keeping it's eyes on Mythos.

"Poor guy...you almost killed him," she said quietly as she pet her lizard. "How could you do such a thing to my poor Pinky?"
Suddenly, a knock on Rimoru's door. "Lady Rimoru, are you alright?"


Rimoru looked up at Mythos for a brief moment, before turning to her door, noticing it was locked. "Yeah...I just fell while I was changing. Don't worry, everything is fine..." she said loud enough for them to hear.

"What makes me believe you can 'rescue' me. You'll probably just take me back to some hide out of yours and keep me as your slave...or whatever you were going to do." Rimoru sighed and shook her head as she cradled her foot.

"You're lucky I don't want you to die..."

"I'm sorry, sir. My days recently have been quite busy. I meant evening. The sun was still showing, however nighttime was on the approach. But then again, I am going by some sources that I would say are one step above those on the streets," Krellin replied, slightly startled as he realized what he said.

Drasken was getting suspicious of this senator, it could all be coincidence and due to the mans tiredness, but a lot of other search parties may have come to this man and they obviously hadn't found anything yet. The Senator's story changed too often for him to be a reliable source of information. He would have to find another, and keep an eye on this Senator, he may be deliberately confusing people. He had finished the apple and instead of looking for a bin to put the core in he focused and fire surrounded it, dissolving it into a few fragments of ash that fell to the floor.

"Very well then, i will be off to get started on my search. If you want my recomendation, you seem awfully tired and need a good drink to wake you up." He paused for a moment as if thinking about something and then said: "You mentioned the Drunken Gnoll earlier, ask the inkeeper for a Mugrock's Gutrot. That should see you straight."

He stood from his chair and said: "If there is nothing else, i will be off, thank you Tor for the fruit and thank you Senator for the information."

"What makes me believe you can 'rescue' me. You'll probably just take me back to some hide out of yours and keep me as your slave...or whatever you were going to do." Rimoru sighed and shook her head as she cradled her foot.

"You're lucky I don't want you to die..."

"No doubt I can rescue you," Mythos replied, "I did get into here without any trouble, didn't I? But you want to know will I 'rescue' you." His voice emphasized and jumped at certain words, attempting to get his point across with no more than his words and expressions.

"And you're right, I would probably just try to turn you over to my contact again, but then... I am your only way out. You think if the guards caught me in here your father would ever let you out of your room again?" Mythos questioned, making sure to keep all of his limbs on the bed despite the distance between Rimoru's 'poor Pinky' and him.

"Besides, I could be convinced otherwise... if you made it worth my while."

Atticus got some much needed rest in the basement. He had time to collect his thoughts and think every step through. Then, he returned upstairs and took a seat...

Rimoru thought for a moment, stroking Pinky as she did so until she shakily stood up. "You were lucky..." she said quietly, however the princess did wonder how Mythos did happen to steal a guard uniform. He didn't have the weapon so either he forgot it or it was an off-duty guard.

"Alright...if I wanted to be rescued-by you- I wouldn't want to be taken somewhere I am not able to leave. Especially in this clothing," Rimoru looked down at her desirable night gown, accenting the best parts of her body and being somewhat revealing by it's deep neck and short skirt.

Ignoring the pain in her foot, she walked as best she could towards Mythos. If she were to change her mind, it would be best if he took off the guard uniform.

"Isn't that uncomfortable. I mean, it's all stiff, cold...you cannot feel one's touch or kiss...nor can I see your face. When we were in the bar, unlike what you said, I was truthful with my words...for the most part," Rimoru said as she reached out for him, stroking his breastplate and looking sadly into his eyes.

"Not wood, pay chip. Can be exchanged for the right mass of valueable metals at Shar'len Tor's treasury building." Itzuki replied, leaving out that the Tor was on a different continent. "But should it still be unacceptable, what kinds of services are you talking about?"

Pinky whined quietly as he got up and plodded towards the door, only to realize it was locked. He slowly walked to a wall nearby the door and began to scratch at a loose brick- not wanting to bother Rimoru in her game. A few bricks unloosened and parted under Rimoru's window- too small for any humanoid races, and barely large enough to fit Pinky in.

However when Pinky needed to go, Pinky needed to go. He continued to glare at Mythos before he finally pushed himself in the hole and began to drag himself with his front feet out to relieve himself.

But something tasty caught it's sense of smell. Some rodent was scurrying about on Rimoru's land. And Pinky's hunting grounds... It hurried out of the small passageway and went about it's business before trying to pinpoint the rodent's location...

***********************************************

The Senator looked up at Draskin as he began to leave and gave him a fake political smile, especially at what he witnessed with the applecore. Tor closed in, his hand on his hilt when he realized the man had potentially dangerous magic. Krelling waved Tor away and got up as well.

"Nay, there is no rest for the weary. I still have much paperwork to finish. But...I may try out that drink. Is it good?"

As Tor opened the door outside, Krelling bowed his head. "Always a pleasure, sir. Best of luck and I do hope you find Victoria! Iskan will thank you for it!"

**********************************************

ooc: Free Eagles: This is Maya that he thinks is Rimoru
There she is...under that tree. She looks a bit different from when I saw her...Why under the tree? wondered a man in a grey cloak swiftly made his way around the other cloaked figure so her back was facing him.

He swiftly crossed the grounds and dodged the tree, smashing into the women as he tackled her, however when he pulled his knife out of it's sheath it flung off into the grass. The man cursed loudly and ran to find it, while keeping an eye out on 'Rimoru'.

"Don't worry Rimoru...I'll send ya to meet yer sister! In the grave!" The man cackled as he searched the grass in vain for his knife.

**********************************************

"I'm sorry, I don't know where that is,"Elizabeth said shaking her head.

"However services include, but aren't limited to, cleaning the building, picking up trash around the building or the city, filing papers, and gardening, among other things. If you choose to pick up litter around the city, it takes longest but that would be the only thing you had to do."

"Didn't think you would, unfortunately. That leaves me with two choices. Stay and work, not a pleasent prospect, or slid, not an enjoyable or ethical prospect." He commented to himself.

"The cleaning of buildings and or trash. Are they 'paid' by surface area and mass/volume respectively or some other criteria?"

Though Maya’s attention was wholly elsewhere, Kaolai was watching out for her. Even so, he didn’t see the assailant until he was into his charge. Kaolai couldn’t do anything to stop the attacker either, he could only warn Maya of his presence.
<Look out!> he yelled at her, interrupting her interaction with the two spirits.

Maya’s mind snapped back to the physical plane instantly, and her right hand shot forward to grab her staff. Before she could get a firm grip on it, though, the assailant tackled her, and she felt it slip from her grasp. Slightly dazed by the impact, Maya rolled over as her assailant momentarily left her alone. Her legs hurt from the tackle, since her sitting position had not easily allowed her to be pushed forwards, and yet it had been done anyway.

As she struggled to stand, her left hand withdrew into the cloak and fastened around the hilt of her dirk. She could not immediately see the staff, and she needed a defence now, before her attacker came at her again. She brought the long dagger out, the 10-inch blade glinting softly in the light, and held it ready, able to fend off another attack.

She knew that running would get her nowhere, this man would pursue her. And he had called her Rimoru. There’s that name again. The barkeeper said it like I should know who she was. And now this man thinks I am her. Does this have anything to do with the tightening of security? She brushed the train of thoughts away, knowing she had to focus on the matter at hand. She could use her weapons competently, but she was by no means a master. And to call upon her true talents, she would need to get at least ten seconds where she could concentrate enough to summon them. Which wasn’t likely to happen.

The man was obviously surprised when the women he thought was Rimoru pulled out a dagger. There were no reports of her being able to wield one- much less carry one with her. He cursed again and finally pulled his smaller dagger out of the grass.

"When did you learn how to use a dagger, Princess?" the man asked angrily as he finally realized how much of a disadvantage he was with a smaller weapon. Then again, Rimoru would probably wield it clumsily. "I'm going to flay you alive, little Rimmy...and I shall be rewarded handsomely for it..."

The man lunged at the women, swinging his dagger horizontally in attempt to slash at her chest.

**********************************************

"They are paid by the hour, Sir Itzuki," Elizabeth replied cheerfully. "And I suppose partially what you clean up. More important things are tend to pay more- such as filing papers."

"Wouldn't such a system encourage sloth instead of industriousness?" He asked before adding almost as an afterthought, "What is the best 'paying' one?"

"I am not a connoisseur of drinks, but it's a pretty solid one, packs a good punch." He watched Tor warily as the guard moved and after a moment followed him to the door, he turned to Krelling and gave a small bow saying. "I will do my best."

Then turned and stepped out into the morning light, shutting his eyes momentarily against the glare, then turning away from the sun, blocking out most of its light with his hood and opening them again, there was some movement as people began to go about their business. The light reflected off buildings and windows still hurt his eyes somewhat. But he made his way back towards the inn, sticking to the shadows.

Princess? Just who do you think I am? thought Maya as she stepped backwards out of reach of the swipe. She made a feint to the left with the dagger in her left hand, then slashed diagonally downwards. She didn’t want to kill the man, but she had to defend herself. If she could disarm her attacker and prevent him from either getting the weapon back or running away, she could get some answers from him.

“I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not a princess, and I don’t have a sister,” she told the man firmly. “Whatever you want from me, I suggest you look somewhere else.” Her voice had a determined edge to it, far from the pleasant musical tone she had used with the barkeeper; it was clear she wasn’t going to give in, and she wasn’t afraid.

She glanced at the ground, still unable to see the staff. If she could find it, she would feel more comfortable with the situation, though what she really needed was some time to summon a guardian. She still had other options than fighting it out with the dirk, but she didn’t favour them. However, there were a few things she could do to help in this situation. Even if she couldn’t summon a spirit, she could still call on their aid.

“Ah him ra beh yan!” she cried. Instantly her vision sharpened, allowing her to see almost perfectly in the gloom. Though she still could not see the staff lying in the grass, she could see her attacker more clearly, which would help her to fend off his attacks.

"Perhaps..." the tour guide replied, looking out the window. "I would say the best paying one tends to be those that involve boring filing away paperwork. But it should settle your debt within two hours of work- work that observers see fit."

************************************************* The man dodged barely, his shirt getting torn by her dagger. His eyes even wider with more surprise. Then, when she spoke, he really began to question his thoughts.

"Perhaps you aren't Rimoru...but...I can't stop now- you'll turn me in. You shall die!" Again, he struck out at her, this time attempting to tackle her again.

Although her shout scared him a bit, he couldn't stop himself in mid-run from plowing into the girl. He had to kill her, even if she wasn't his target...

Drasken reached the inn what felt like an eternity later. He stepped inside and took a seat in a chair near the wall, waiting for the itching in his eyes to subside. After a moment, though with his eyes still somewhat blurry he waved the barman over. "I'd like a beer and tell me, what have you got to eat?"

Well, that solves that problem. He knows I’m not his target, but he wants to kill me anyway. I guess I’ll have to deal with this, she realised. The revelation didn’t surprise her overly; few criminals would allow someone to go free just because the person wasn’t who they were originally after. And she still wanted answers from this man, so she was committed to the end.

She saw the man come at her, realising his intent from his posture. Her sharpened vision gave her enough time to react, spinning on one foot and removing herself from the path of her foe’s dagger. He would still come into contact with her, but she was ready for it. As the man collided with her for the second time, she brought the hilt of her dirk down solidly on his head.

She was ready for the impact too, and had braced herself against it, so it did not cause her nearly as much trouble as last time. After they hit the ground, she rolled away and was quickly back on her feet, silently blessing her training as a dancer that had given her the agility to make those moves. She spotted the staff near her feet and grabbed it, holding it firmly in her right hand while the left continued to wield the dirk.

"Oi, glad ta see ya again! What have I got to eat? Mutton, venison, stew, beef, pork, chicken, ye name it! I even got vegetable soup fer ya elves that don' like ta eat meat," the barkeeper replied. "And do ya think ya want gutrot again?"

*************************************************

The assaulter fell to the floor with a loud "Oomf!" as his dagger bounced and flipped over the ground, a good four feet away. The man groaned as he held onto his head and began to stagger away as fast he could. He realized that he wasn't in a good position at all. And this wasn't Rimoru. If he could make his getaway, he would still have a chance to avoid being executed or thrown in the dungeons.

"Is there some sort of arena or track that I might be able to utilize to make money rather than paperwork, which since I don't know the filing system, would likely lead to problems. If not, then take me to the paper so I can deal with them." Itzuki replied.

Drasken quickly responded "Beef please, and no thanks to the gutrot, but the Senator might stop by for one sooner or later. Something a bit more mild this time." He looked around the inn, there wern't many people in, it was too early in the day for most people to grace it with their presence.

"I'm afraid not. There is, however, the mage training arena, located by the Guild Office- where students face against each other- not to kill, mind you-. But that is not the Office of Foreign affairs! If you please go inside and ask Meredith what you can do," Elizabeth replied, giving Itzuki an even brighter smile. "You've provided fun company, Mr. Itzuki. It would be pleasant to see you again!"

*************************************************

The Barkeeper came back, setting a large portion of beef in front of Drasken, along with a mug of frothing ale. He held out his hand as he awaited his payment.

"I heard Rimoru was almost kidnapped early this mornin'. Luckily, the law enforcement an' a good hearted gentleman was able ta save her. 'Tis even said the man had three other abominations with weapons fer arms!"

Drasken gave the barkeep a few coins and tried the beef, good enough quality. "Rimoru almost kidnapped? Her father must be getting worried. A man with three abominations helping him you say? It seems this city is full of surprises." Drasken said. He took another bite of th beef and followed it down with a sip of ale, he was quite hungry. "Bring another one of theses, i've barely eaten all night." He put another few coins on the table.

"Aye this town seems to be falling inta the pot o' chaos if ya ask me. The higher ups in the guild fear that people are gonna be migratin' out with all the fear goin on!"

"O' course!" The barkeeper laughed as he went to make another dish of beef.

When he came back, he placed it nearby. "Anything else, sir?"

"Oh well." He replied with micrometric shrug. "Perhaps I'll see you around."

He then headed in and asked directions to Meredith from the first person he noticed.

Maya wasn’t in the mood to let her attacker get away, and chased after him. She caught up with the dazed man easily, despite her aching legs, and tripped him up with a well aimed sweep of her staff. Before he could react to his position on the floor, Maya stood over him, one foot on his hand to prevent him from trying to bring her down, the other foot and one end of the staff on his back to prevent him from getting up again. She was out of reach of his other hand too; clearly she had done this before.

Now she could concentrate, she took a few seconds to summon a spirit warrior. Even though the fight was over, she did not have the physical strength to manhandle her captive without him being able to overpower her.
“Ah sang beh. Behnu ra fan kuu!” she chanted.

A spirit form drew itself up out of the ground nearby and moved over to her side. The spirit form wasn’t human in appearance, though it was vaguely humanoid, and the spirit controlling it had been human in life. It was translucent blue-green, just over six feet tall and carrying a long sword and shield.

Maya removed her feet from her captive and kicked him in the stomach to turn him over on to his back. The spirit form moved over and put the tip of it’s sword to the man’s throat.
“Now, you’re going to tell me everything I want to know, or my friend here will relieve you of your limbs,” she told him bluntly, and the spirit form prodded him non too gently with the sword to show that, despite being ghostly in appearance, it was still capable of hurting him.
“So, who is Rimoru, and why do you want to kill her? And why did you think I was her?” she asked.

The man yelped in fear and looked around, hoping some sort of guard may apprehend this woman and her ghost.

"Alright, alright! I'll tell you all you need to know! Just-Just let me go, alright?" The man said as he tried to scamper away, only to feel a prod with the spirit's sword.
"R-rimoru is the Guild Lord Ifrete's daughter. I was payed to kill her...I don't know why, but it may be related to Victoria's disappearance! From a distance you looked like her- blonde hair...blue eyes, I thought- but I was wrong. Please let me go!"

**********************************************

The halfling looked up from her desk and smiled. "I am Meredith, Mr. Itzuki. Were you satisfied with your tour?"

"Fairly, thought the presentation of a bill at the end was a bit of a shock. On that not, I was sent to serve as a paper jockey for the next couple hours due to currancy conversion difficulties." Itzuki replied

Drasken had polished off the first plate and quickly brought the next plate over, though he began eating a bit more slowly. "I'm sure the guilds want this matter to be resolved quickly then... and preferably without bloodshed, a noble daughter being murdered... would make safety appear nonexistent. Which guild would benefit most from if the city did go crazy?"

Drasken laughed, "I think this will be all, apart from the odd question or two, but i know where to find you."

ooc: They should dump jolt for a differnet forum...couldn't get in most evening...

Meredith laughed and shook her head. "I'm afraid nearly everything costs money here. By curiousity, what did you try to pay with?"

"The paper is back there, by the way. Just sort them by client names in alphabetical order. Mr. Frothen is back there sorting them out already. He will supervise your job."

*************************************************

"Well...methinks the other guilds don't care. They all benefit if House Ifrete falls 'cause they get to disperse the newly gained power. Senate seats become open, power gained, rivals gone."

"Aye, sir, don't be afraid ta ask me anything," the barkeeper smiled and walked back to the counter.

"A chip that could be collected for the correct coin, but is likely a little out of the collection agencies range." Itzuki replied, "Then I'm off to sort out papers."

He headed back to do his two hours of void work.

As Ahanu wandered around the palace he noticed the smell of a lizard and there was the overbearing wiff of pet smell (the nasty smell of an animal being fed foods that are much too rich for it:p ). Ahanu wrinkled his nose, thinking, best not to get down wind of that one. Ahanu also thought that it might be best to get above since the smell of the animal seemed to be the heaviest near the ground. He took off looking for the animal, while keeping to things that he felt were either too high for such a big creature or wouldn't support it's weight, because it's best to know where a larger creature is at all times.

It was while he was scurrying around one of the outside second story railings, that he caught sight of the creature making a smelly deposit of some of the remains of the overly rich food. In Ahanu's limited experience the creature reminded him of one of the lizards he had seen in the far off land of Komodo. He decided to follow it to find a way to get close enough to it for conversations, but far enough that he would be out of reach. A tree near the top of a wall would be perfect. The creature didn't look like it could climb, but if it could Ahanu figured that he could always get over the wall before it.

"Oh, you are silly," Meredith chuckled as she continued to fill out more paperwork, while Itzuki went to the back.

There he would encounter an old man, mumbling to himself as he slowly put one folder into a drawer...from a massive pile of folders that was a bit taller than the man himself. There were atleast twelve piles in the tiny room, but the man was skinny enough to traverse between the forest of paperwork.

"Ah, greetings, ol' boy! You've come to give ol' Itsini a hand?" the old man chuckled.

***********************************************

Pinky let his tongue flow out of his mouth as he tasted the air. He could sense the creature nearby. He could taste it was a mammal, all that sweaty hair constantly making it hot and rather wet...and stinky. A tasty meal- a change from the normal food Rimoru fed him. Oh it was quite tasty...but live prey was a delicacy!

Pinky began to prowl about, making it seem as though he didn't sense the creature...perhaps if it came down, Pinky could just spin around and snap...delicious.

"Yes, I have. Now what would you like me to do?" He asked as he wondered where he was suppose to fit to work.

"Oh, so hasty...that's the problem with you children these days. You all work so fast and don't take the time to appreciate what you're doing. Take modern artists for example back in my day, the day of real painters, we had Vishrel, Mal'thakas, Telithir...now who do we have? Junk that's all. And do you know why, boy?" The old man began to babble, sitting down on a stack of papers as he did so.

"Because all artists who feel compelled to put thier work in a solid medium are failures." Itzuki replied as paintings and such were staid and unchanging while art was by its very nature everchanging.

As Ahanu followed the big lizard he saw a sturdy tree and climbed up into the protecting branches. As the lizard drew nearer, Ahanu thought, I have to treat this disgusting creature with respect like my friend did with that blond lady and the men. None of them deserved any respect as far as Ahanu was concerned, but sometimes you must do it. As the lizard got close enough Ahanu spoke.

“I come on behalf of my friend, who wants to know about the blond woman with blue eyes that lives here. You are obviously the protector of these lands and, with your vast knowledge and keen observations, you must know much about her and this place. My friend would like me to ask you some questions if you would be so kind as to answer about the lady. My friend thinks she is an important person and has something of great concern going on.”

"There you go again, boy, making all them conclusions without giving it much thought! An' parents these days, lettin' their think such a way! Maybe it is the parents fault. 'Tis a shame so many kids are on the streets because of it. I don't let my children come to hasty conclusions, nor on the streets. In fact, I bet that those kids who are on the streets are a result of hasty decisions or conclusions! Listen, boy!" The old man continued to ramble.

*************************************************

"A friend? Blonde women with blue eyesss? My master treatsss me well. I will anssswer you if you come clossser. My hearing iszz not what it ussed to be. " Pinky replied, somewhat surprised to communicate with the animal. Most animals he caught were nothing more than unintelligent rodents...but perhaps this was an unintelligent talking rodent.

"Considering the discipline I choose to devote my time and effort is highly artistic, I have given it thought." Itzuki replied to the rambling old man. "Now does this time count as work time, and if not, would you mind describing what I am suppose to do. Don't worry I can listen to you and work at the same time."

"There you go again, coming to conclusions so quickly! It seems to be the common plague these days. And here we are worrying about disease, locusts, famine, war...and we have to fight with our own young'n's to get something done! Back in my day, we had to work all day until the sunlight disappeared from sight. Then we would go home or to class. It was tough...much tougher than now. And all you kids take things for granted..." continued Itsini, not seeming to listen to Itzuki at all.

Itzuki leaned off the wall and tapped Itsini on the shoulder. "Sir, as much as hearing you rant is interesting, would you mind giving me my task so I can get on with other things?"

"Otherwise, I'll start on my own and you might not like my system or method of organising."

"Ah...yes...yes, that's why you're here then, right?" Itsini replied with a nod and a smile. "Well then, I have tried to stack the stacks according to alphabetical order starting with their name. So this stack that I am sitting on- all the last names start with Q. Just finish stacking them from those stacks," he pointed to about half of the towers of folders. "Then, when you're done stacking, we can place them inside those drawers in order."

"Good boy, taking the initiative," Itsini chuckled, patting the boy on the back.

Well, I suppose that’s a start, but I don’t know who Lord Ifrete is either, thought Maya, But if one of his daughters has disappeared, that would account for the increase in security, which would logically be around their home. She stood silently for a moment, wondering if it would be better to continue this interrogation or to go to the tavern and ask questions there.

“Thank you,” she subtly altered her grip on the staff, “You’ve been most helpful.” She nodded to the spirit form, which withdrew the sword, but before the man could react, the staff was already swinging, catching him on the head and rendering him unconscious. With the spirit form’s help, she moved the body so that it was sitting with it’s back to a wall. It would attract less attention than a body lying in the middle of the street.

With that done, she thanked the spirit form for it’s assistance, then released her concentration on it. It immediately faded from view, the physical presence dissipating as the spiritual one returned to the higher plane. The dirk disappeared back into her cloak, no longer needed, and Maya walked off casually in the direction of the tavern.

Once there, she made her way up to the bar, sat down on a stool and waited for a barkeeper to come over. When they had, she requested some water, and asked a question.
“What has happened here recently? I have heard things about Rimoru, Victoria and Lord Ifrete, but these names mean nothing to me. Perhaps you could explain for me?” she asked, the musical tone returned to her voice.

"Do you want them broken down by total alphabetical order or just sort out all the last names with Q and put them in the pile?" Itzuki asked as he moved to the indicated pile and awaited confirmation to begin sorting.

"Now please...just let me go...I got a wife an' kids, and-" The clumsy assassin was knocked out as a women and her spirit disappeared from site.

Yet they were not alone- a figure, clad in black was watching from a nearby rooftop, crouched in the shadows of the chimney. When his assassin was truly out for the count, the man notched an ebony bow and let loose one arrow- straight into the man's heart.

The black clad figure shifted around to see this person walk down the street and into a tavern...

********

"No beer today, milady?" the barkeeper smiled as he left to get some water and came back to answer her questions, cup in hand.

He set the cup down in front of Maya and sat down across from her. "You are an outsider then," the barkeeper nodded. "I guessed it but me friends didn't think so," he chuckled and nodded.

"Aye, very important figures if ya gonna be travelin' 'round here."

"Who to start with? Hmmm...Well, Lord Ifrete is the king, I suppose ya could call him that, o' Northern Iskan. The palace outside is his. He's also the most powerful mortal mage I know. He has a bunch of children, six people have seen most often, but possibly more. Three boys and three girls."

"Victoria was the oldest girl. She was so beautiful, mature, an' very kind an' caring. She always helped out when she could an' always mingled with us lower class folk. There was no doubt that she was Lord Ifrete's most favorite child since he always brought her with him."

"Very recently, somethin' happened ta her in the palace. She just disappeared without a trace. Lord Ifrete was outraged, ta put it lightly. The entire palace is on lockdown an' the Ifretes are only allowed ta go out with their father's or Relthor's agreement."

"An' that brings us ta Rimoru. She looks a bit like you, milady. Very long, golden blonde hair. Piercing blue eyes that ya think can pierce the hearts of even the strongest an uncarin' men in the world. She's the free spirited one. Ta be honest, she enjoys ta secretly escape at night an' she comes ta this very establishment. That women in the corner when ya first came," the barkeeper pointed to the now empty, and cleaned, corner booth. "Was Rimoru. She hates to be bound, yet she loves the life in the palace. She can be a bit spoiled...but oh my, ain't she lovely. This mornin' there was an attempted kidnapper who may 'ave succeded if there werent a swordsman and lawmages nearby ta save her."


**********************************************

"Total alphabetical order, boyo," the old man replied as he stretched. "'tis about time we got some young blood to help ol' Itsini. I'm too old for this kinda stuff."

“My friend knows a plant that could improve all of your senses. It could improve your already great skills to be a better guardian for your great master. All you need to do is eat only plants for two days, eat the herb and then eat plants only for another week. You could start eating plants right now. It's good that we have become friends because I have heard that those of my blood have caused the death of lizards that have tried eating us.”

“I must ask you about the things I am supposed to find out. What are her favorite things? What is the jewelry like that she favors? Who else lives here? Who does she like and who does she dislike?”

"Alright...if I wanted to be rescued-by you- I wouldn't want to be taken somewhere I am not able to leave. Especially in this clothing," Rimoru looked down at her desirable night gown, accenting the best parts of her body and being somewhat revealing by it's deep neck and short skirt.

"Isn't that uncomfortable. I mean, it's all stiff, cold...you cannot feel one's touch or kiss...nor can I see your face. When we were in the bar, unlike what you said, I was truthful with my words...for the most part," Rimoru said as she reached out for him, stroking his breastplate and looking sadly into his eyes.

"I would assume you wouldn't want to be taken somewhere you didn't want to go..." Mythos replied, however he spoke no further as Rimoru forced his eyes to her accentuated body. She stood in a most revealing outfit; it was light, short, and flattered her perfect figure in all of the right places. It ran just barely past her bottom, leaving her soft and curvaceous thighs in the open; it plunged at her neck, revealing a good deal of her ample bosom; it was tight around her curves, pressing her body against its thin and silky fabric. The rogue's eyes were locked on her unbelievable body and his mind was nearly blank, at a loss for thoughts.

She then approached him, and in her seductive voice she began convincing him to remove his armor. Ensnaring him with the wiles of a real woman as she reached out for him.

"Yes... I think that would be best," Mythos replied as he began unstrapping the armor and placing it next to him on the bed. Certainly he was no fool, but the threat in the room, Pinky, had left and he no longer believed himself to be in immediate danger. After removing his protection, his only line of defense would be his natural wits and skill as well as a few small blades, but the most dangerous weapon in the room was not one of steel, but rather of feminine seduction.

"And you don't think I was truthful..." Mythos continued her thought, responding despite his mind being caught up on other worldly pleasures. "You don't trust me," he presumed. Pausing for a moment as they were just inches apart, he leaned in closer and whispered, "My services could be bought... if the price was right..." Having glanced around her room before, it was evident she was quite wealthy and would have the means, monetary and other, to afford his fealty.

"Well...methinks the other guilds don't care. They all benefit if House Ifrete falls 'cause they get to disperse the newly gained power. Senate seats become open, power gained, rivals gone."

"Aye, sir, don't be afraid ta ask me anything," the barkeeper smiled and walked back to the counter.

Drasken nodded his thanks to the Barkeep and pondered while he finished his meal, thinking on all he had heard, but drawing no fresh conclusions. He soon rose and returned up to his room.

After a few hourse he returned, he had not slept for long, or heavily, the noises of the city had disturbed him frequently. It was drawing near evenining when he had finally risen, the light beggining to fade from the sky and after donning his armor, scimitar and cloak, though this time keeping it unhooded.

Drasken approached the bar where he could see the barkeep conversing with a beautiful cloaked women. He took a seat within hearing range and indicated that he would like to order something when the barkeep was free. He spent the time he was waiting listening intently, though only appearing slightly impatient for service.

"Plantss? No thank you...massster feedss me well," Pinky replied, looking up at the mammal. He paused, drinking in the information the skrit was giving him. No such mammal could kill him! He was Pinky the Great! That's what Rimoru called him...

"Come down here! I cannot hear you ssso well," the large lizard called out as it creeped closer to the tree. "Massster enjoysss many thingss. Jewelery, onesss with expenssive ssstonesss. Ssshe alssso enjoysss wealth, magic, power...and love...and me. Ssshe lovess me very much. She disslikesss...beggarssss, ssssometimesss her family, essspecially Athral. Ssshe lovesssss Relthor..."

“Okay you don't have to take my friend's help for it will only improve your already great skills.” Ahanu noticed the lizard sneaking closer to the tree and made sure that he was ready to run up the tree and that he could get to the nearby wall.

“Does your great knowledge also include the types of stones that your master likes? What about the metal the jewelery is composed of? Who is Athral and Relthor? Does anyone else live with the three of them? Does Relthor like any jewelery if so what?”

Maya took a long draught of the water as soon as the barkeeper gave it to her, and started listening.
“I want to keep a clear head tonight,” she told him after his comment.

“You are an outsider then,”

“You could say that,” she agreed. “I come from so far away I’d never heard of this place until I got here. I’m from the kingdom of Rhyda, if you’ve ever heard of it.”

She listened carefully to the barkeeper’s explanation of the names, and the events surrounding them, taking in every detail and fitting them into what she already knew, so that she had a clear picture of what was going on. Normally, all she would have wanted to know was whether it would interfere with her passage, but these events had gotten her involved on their own, against her will, and now she was curious.

I already know Rimoru looks like me, to my detriment, she thought jadedly. I wonder if anyone else will make that mistake. Proving that man’s error was rather tiresome. She thought back to the previous night, trying to recall Rimoru’s appearance. I can’t be sure, but I’m fairly sure I’m at least two inches taller than her. Of course, that could be said of almost any woman, as Maya was taller than most women, and more than a few men.

“Does anyone have any idea what happened to Victoria? Surely she can’t have just vanished?” asked Maya. “Do you think Victoria’s disappearance and Rimoru’s attempted abduction are connected?”

Maya decided that she should probably go over to the palace tomorrow, to warn them that someone wanted Rimoru dead, in addition to whoever it was that wanted to abduct her. Even if they didn’t let her in because of their strict security, she could at least tell a guard. On the other hand, they might question why she had not notified the authorities about the would-be assassin.
<Maya…> said Kaolai disapprovingly.
<What? It’s not worth the hassle it will probably cost me,> she replied. Kaolai made no reply, but Maya knew that, were he still alive, he would be giving her a disappointed look. <Alright, fine. I’ll go and tell them about it. But if I end up in a cell, you’re breaking me out,> she told him firmly.

"Price? You wouldn't do it out of love...your love for me?" Rimoru whispered as she began to nudge him, gently leaning against him until he lay upon the bed.

Her delicate fingers traced along his chest as a playful smile crossed her lips. "No...I don't trust you. How can I? You tried to kidnap me..." her mind flashed to her disappeared sister. "Have you tried it before? On other women?"

"Mythos...I don't think I can trust you. You would rather work for money...and people who switch sides for money...can do the same again." Her hands began to unbutton his shirt and sneak onto his bare chest, gently outlining his chest muscles. "I do want to leave...but I want to rescue my sister...and I need someone strong..." her lips got closer to his. "And handsome..." only centimeters away.

***********************************************

"Well...maybe I will...but give me the herbssss firssst, then I will begin eating that trasssshhh," hissed Pinky.

"My massster likesss ssssshhhiney and expensssive ssstonesss...and sssshhiney and expenssssive metalssss.

Athral issss her annoying taller brother. They pick on each other and ssssometimesss me," Pinky thought of the painful pranks Athral pulled on him just because of his foolish sibling rivalry with his sister. "Relthor issss much kinder...he isss a large winged lizard. Huge...very sssstrong. He teachesss Rimoru in magic and other thingsss. They alssso ssssspend many nightsss together." Pinky's tongue flickered in and out as he thought for a moment. " Relthor likesssss expensssive jewelery...but doesssn't wear it."

"Other than thosse, massster usssed to have two ssssisters...but one issss gone for ssome reassson. Then sssshe hasss two older brotherssss...but they are elssssewhere. And her father...kind...but sssstrict."

************************************************

"Aye, ne'er 'eard o' it, my lady, however, I ain't been out much either," he chuckled. "But I don't know anyone who knows what 'appened ta Victoria. Not even the most powerful wizards or most inspective detectives can tell, But I strongly believe Victoria's disappearance an' Rimoru's attempted abduction are connected."

The barkeeper looked at the armored Draskin and smiled as he subtly pointed him out to Maya. "This guy has some knowledge o' Rimoru an' perhaps the Ifrete family. I told 'im quite a bit an' I think he went ta get more information out o' a few people," he said to Maya.

“I cannot give you the herbs, but my friend can. Once we finish our discussion I will fetch them for you.” After hearing what the lizard said about Rimoru's choices of jewelery, Ahanu started wondering if he could get any useful information from the creature. His friend wanted him to try though, so try he would.

“I take it then that your master dislikes Athral. Would she buy gifts for Relthor? How does she get along with her other siblings? Would she be likely to give gifts to any of them? If so what do they like? Why are three of the siblings gone? Is she likely to give any gifts to her father? If so what would he like?”