The Magecraft Chronicles III Story Thread

[Sariel of Tevet]

Liulfr began running circles around Valendis and the rest of the group. Suri began to laugh and laid her head on Roluo's shoulder.

"Just like when we were kids huh?"

Roluo scrunched his face and bent down to call his undead pup over to him. "Yeah, except he wasn't dead back then. Maybe I shouldn't have him out for a while. Most people don't like necromancers remember?"

He shot a look over at Nathaniel and his troops. "We have no idea how welcomed we will be in this place."

"Oh, big baby, he is just excited to be off of the ship. Let him have some air."

Liulfr ran up to Roluo and nuzzled his face. Eleazar walked over and bent down next to them.

"How about we try this, Roluo."

He placed his hand atop of Liulfr's head and the dog began to fade into dark shroud before returning back to normal. Suri joined them and crouched around the necrotic pup.

"So.........what did that do?"

"I imbued him with a little bit of my shadow magic. I did the same thing once with a pterodactyl and a fire rune once. Oh Wawanarduwas, you are surely missed."

He felt the harsh gazes of Roluo and Suri, so he snapped out of his personal flashback. Before he could explain what exactly he had done to Liulfr, the pup faded into the shadow casts by the crouching necromancers and disappeared, and then hopped out of a shadow beneath a nearby tree.

"Uh...yeah. That, that is what I did to him. Guess I don't have to explain it now. Anyway now all you have to do is give the word and he can hide from passersby. We don't exactly look normal, but atleast we would be less obvious without an undead dog at on our heels."

Liulfr barked from his spot under the tree and took the shadows once more and appeared right behind Eleazar, and wagged his stubby bone tail.

"What? No that was an expression. I wasn't actually telling you to.....nevermind. Good dog."

[Myrdraxxis]

Magnus chuckled. "I hadn't expected to come back here ever again. When I left things were finally becoming peaceful." he sighed again. "This is Serioc. A world I visited a very long time ago." he glanced around. "Though from the looks of it, it hasn't been all that long here." His eyes narrowed. "I wonder if..."

He shook his head. "Regardless. Now that I know where we are I know how we can proceed. it makes things easier actually."

"Do tell." Hecate said.

"Well, some tips then. Serioc is home to three races: Humans, Euryon and Methusela. Euryon are basically lizard men and Methusela are vampire-like creatures. All races can use different types of magic innately. When I was here last the world was in themidst of a war with a large army of undead. Not sure how much time has passed but it would probably be a good idea to keep our resident necromancers under a low....profile..."

Magnus trailed off as he saw Roluo and his friends. More specifically he saw the skeletal dog running around and barking loudly.

His eyes widened.

Which was when the first screams of alarm broke the silence.

Nathaniel whirled around to see a couple of townsfolk staring at them in horror. One raised a shaky finger towards Liufr. "Undead! THe undead are back!"

"Kill it!"

"Necromancers! Someone call the guards!"

the cries went up quickly as more townsfolk appeared.

"Magnus!" Nathaniel hissed. He drew his sidearm but didn't fire yet. Magnus snarled an angry curse.

"Damnit! Everyone run. We can lose them in the hills." With that he took off towards the edge of town, dodging a few thrown pitchforks. Hecate and Nathaniel followed, his team forming up in a defensive retreat behind him.

[Mizagium]

"Someone remind me," Valendis yelled as they ran, "Who thought it was a good idea to bring NECROMANCERS along on this trip?"

"I didn't hear you complaining," Raefe hissed.

"Well, I should have. Hang on." A spell came to mind and he muttered the incantation as they kept running (which exhausted him more than it should have) "Yami, the Black Wind!"

A roughly human-sized cloud of smoke manifested beside him. No face was discernible, but it crossed its arms and looked genuinely annoyed. "Well. Whatchu want? Smokescreen?"

"Yes. Those...chasing us."

Yami looked back, shrugged, and flew off, creating a thick cloud of smog behind Valendis. Meaning, anyone who happened to be running slower (or just got off to a late start) was caught in the smokescreen.

"What the - some of my friends are back there!"

"Hey pal, you said the people chasing you. I don't which is which."

"Ugh. Fine. Dismissed." Yami bowed mockingly and vanished.

[Damien]

Izaak, having been quiet and reading over his tomes this whole time, was one of those that happened to got a late start.

"What the hell?" he said between coughing and choking on the thick, acrid smoke. I've got to get rid of this or I'll suffocate.

He raised his right hand, moved it as if creating a vortex in the air, and exclaimed an incantation of wind. "Rapta vento statim!" Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind blew through the area, dissipating the smokescreen and allowing Izaak to finally breathe normally. Now to hold off those villagers. He raised his right hand again, but this time in the direction of the oncoming villagers and as if giving a signal to stop. He then spoke the words of arcane power, "Murum vis!", and the air tingled with pure arcane energy, invisible to the human eye save for a slight purple tint to the air. Smiling, he turned and ran after the rest of the group, which had covered a lot of ground while Izaak was casting.

The villagers, finally getting their act together after the smoke had cleared, ran after Izaak until the front of the group stopped in their tracks with a resounding thud, as though they'd run into a wall...which they had. Izaak's last spell had created a wall of pure arcane force. The rest of the group stopped, shouted, and tried to find a way around.

-----

"Oh, please, dear Lenore, just call me Vyn or Vynalion as you have been," said Vyn, smiling. "I may be teaching you, but 'master' is hardly a title I'm worthy of. If anything we're more like 'colleagues', especially since I can learn some offensive magic from you in return for my teaching you healing magic." He patted her on the shoulder. "Now where should we start?"

Meanwhile, Sorin was standing in the background, almost blended into the shadows, awaiting those left behind to formulate their next move.

[Monika]

Kazan had been absently walking beside Valendis the entire time, adjusting his pace to keep up with the summoner once the chase sequence had begun. He wasn't exactly sure why he was walking next to Valendis. Perhaps it was because he was the person Kazan could most likely relate to. Perhaps it was because Valendis was the least intimidating figure in the group. Whatever the reason, Kazan kept his spot at Valendis' side before stopping to ask, "Hey, Vally, have I ever killed one of your family members?"

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Lenore nodded and thought for a moment. "Well, Vynalion, um..." Where did Lenore need to start? What did she need to learn? Or, better yet, what didn't she need to learn? After a moment of consideration, she answered, "What are the basics of healing, Vynalion? How are you able to do it? You saw my attempt at healing Valendis back then." Lenore winced as she thought back to their battle against the girl whom she had mentally christened "Blood Red". "I ended up trying to burn away his wounds with Light Magic. I'm no healer, clearly, but I am fairly certain that my method was not the way to go about it."

[Sariel of Tevet]

Roluo and crew caught up with the rest of the gang after Izaak had produced his wall. He placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath and watched Suri and Eleazar coming up from behind.

"Right well...we can't let that happen again."

Liulfr popped up from under Roluo's shadow and joined them. Eleazar noticed his shadow cape flapping in the wind and had an idea. He casually snapped his fingers and their raggedy Nostia torn clothing were whipped up into shadows and took on a new shape.

Eleazar's clothing morphed into a black cowled hoodie and jeans.

Roluo's clothes turned into a sleek black suit and tie and his staff turned into a wooden pen that fit into his top pocket. He held out his arms and looked down at his legs and flapped them about in disbelief. He turned to see Eleazar in is casual lounging gear and was fuming.

"Why in the world would you put me into something like this?! Aren't I just going to stand out more!!"

Eleazar pointed over to where Suri was standing behind Roluo.

"Not when you are standing with her."

Roluo turned to see Suri in a classy black dress, carrying a purse to contain all of her blood magic fixings.
She noticed he hadn't said a word yet and mumbled, "..w..what? Does it look that bad?"

Liulfr just nudged Roluo's pants leg and began to bark to try to keep him from staring.

[Mizagium]

Time stretched on to infinity as the company of Marion Criss, Kugo Agetev, Telan, Jolie, and Professor Penrose T. Fezziwigg followed the three Hellen soldiers across the sands. All of them, save perhaps the Professor, were shambling forward, fueled only by a steadily dwindling will to stay alive. They were tired, hungry, and very, very hot.

Everyone was relieved when the one guard announced that they would make camp beside an oasis that night. Oddly trusting, two guards ventured off to find food and inform other scouts, leaving only one behind – and he seemed less than interested in the company, leaving them time to speak.

“Is it really safe to be going along with them?” Telan asked first.

“Safety is sort of in the eye of the beholder right now,” the Professor intoned. “That shadowy figure isn’t pursuing us as far as I can detect currently. Nor are the other dragons.”

“But I’ve never heard of this Red Queen,” Marion retorted. “And I’ve gotten around.” She ignored the snicker from Kugo. “And this is the freaking desert. We’re screwed either way – so I choose the option that involves less shadowy mystery.”

Kugo shrugged. “In my experience, kings and queens are no less shadowy, but you have a point. And if worse comes to worse Fezziwigg and I can fly you all out of here.”

The Professor grumbled. “I don’t like passengers…”

Marion sighed. “Do we stay the course then?”

“At least until we understand where we are exactly, and perhaps who this Red Queen is; I’m quite curious.”

Telan tightened his grip on Jolie. “We just want to go home.”

Kugo smiled as best he could. “Hey, I’m sure the queen will be more than happy to help, yeah? We just got lost is all. We ain’t no part of this.”

Nobody seemed convinced but were too tired to argue further. They supped with the guards in silence and fell asleep almost instantly, each dreaming differently, but all of a home they feared they would never see again.

-

Valendis gave Kazan a strange look. "Um. I don't think so. Not unless you had something to do with my parents."

Jorsin shifted uncomfortably, but none of the Familiars said anything.

"Why?"

[Razgat]

Deyanira stretched her arms over her head. "Soooo....today was fun. What's up for the rest of today? That's what I'd like to know."

(I have no idea what I'm doing.)

[Myrdraxxis]

There were times, Cole reflected, that he really wished he'd turned down Minister Weyland's offer to lead the Mage Knights. Oh sure, the formation of the magical warriors as a separate entity from the Arcian army had been his idea- reminiscent of the mage warriors of old Megolin- and he'd been the one to recruit most of the original members, back when the Knights had been a small band of maverick soldiers in a war-torn land still emerging into its new form. But gods be damned, if someone had warned Cole of all the bureaucracy that came with the job.

"Support one little joint operation with Vaer and everyone thinks you should be the go-to guy for every bloody diplomatic mission." he grumbled to himself. He missed having Hecate around to complain to. At least that way he wasn't just griping to himself like a senile old fool.

Since the operation with Vaer was finalized, Arcia and her sister nation had been in a great deal more dialogue than previously so. It was as though both sides were eager to cooperate more fully with one another but neither were willing to take the first step. Given all the bad blood between the two countries and their fundamental political differences, it was understandable.

Cole should probably been happy that Arcia and Vaer weren't at each other's throats with the threat of the Celestials bearing down on them all. But now, he had to deal with this situation on top of organizing his troops in preparation for the Celestials. There had been no more sightings of Ahriman or his followers; it seemed that the Cleestial was content to bide his time until reinforcements arrived.

Well, Cole had some reinforcements of his own to call on.

On that note...

"He's late." Cole muttered, glaring down at his paper.

"Nah, I just wanted to see how long it would take for you start burning that paperwork." A voice from the door said, making Cole jump. He threw a glare towards the door, and the man standing there snickering.

"Arrick. Nice to see you're still an upstart little shit." Cole rose, walking around his desk and clasping the man's hand in a firm shake.

"It's part of my charm." Arrick Sorien grinned widely, returning Cole's handshake and clapping the man on the shoulder. "It's been a long time Cole."

"Too long." Cole's irritation was replaced by a warm grin.

"Done well for yourself." Arrick glanced around the office. "I distinctly remember you saying that you weren't going to be getting involved with the military. 'Too damn restrictive' were your words, I believe." Arrick raised an eyebrow at Cole. The commander snorted.

"That was over a hundred years ago, Arrick." Cole said. "I changed my mind."

"I'm sure Hecate had something to do with it." Arrick chuckled. "She not gonna say hello?" He glanced pointedly at the old ratty keychain that sat on Cole's desk.

"Hecate...isn't here anymore." Cole sighed. Arrick blinked.

"I suspected as much" a deep voice echoed from the ring on Arrick's finger. Arrick glanced down.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Sol." He muttered.

[i]"I was held up with...a troubling matter"[/i][/b] the voice responded.

"Solomon, a pleasure to see you again." Cole greeted the Celestial.

"And you as well, Cole Andermann." Solomon greeted. There was a moments pause. "You have aged."

Cole let out a bitter chuckle at that while Arrick gave him a surprised look.

"By the Mage...you have!" Arrick exclaimed. Cole nodded. He'd begun to feel it creeping up on him lately. He knew that he no longer looked like the man that first come to Mundus Magica, first accepted Hecate. In contrast, Arrick looked practically the same as he had three hundred years ago when Cole had first met the young Sorien.

The same youthful features of a man just entering his prime, the long-ish ash white hair that had once been a signature of all the Sorien family line, the same sharp eyes once so serious and driven now holding a twinkle of amusement that came with watching time pass without feeling its pull. There were a few scars that hadn't been there before, the most notable being the ugly line that ran across his jaw, given to him by his own brother Malcolm.

"And you haven't aged a day," Arrick sighed again. "Told ya it would happen."

"How..." Arrick started.

"I'm," Cole hesitated. "I'm not a Seeker anymore Arrick." He said it plainly. Arrick's eyes widened and he waited silently for an explanation.

"I assume you know what's been happening with Mundus Magica lately." Cole started. Arrick nodded.

"Sol told me as soon as the first one crossed over. I've been running all round trying to get everyone coordinated." Arrick shook his head. "The world's gone to hell all of the sudden. Celestials crossing over, necromancers rising up in Nostia, the Hellans massing in Cerberus, and Frontier colonies are going missing by the dozen."

Cole hadn't been aware of those last ones, and he made a mental note to get scouts out that way.

"We have a plan in motion to hopefully deal with the Celestials. But in the meantime I need forces that know how to combat these things." Cole said. "I need the Seekers."

[Damien]

"I..." Izaak started, trying not to sound mean, "...I agree with the...lady?...necromancer for once. The villagers are blocked off for a time until they get a mage of their own to dispel my wall. So what's our next step?"

-----

"Well, Leonore," Vynalion replied to Leonore, "burning away wounds can be helpful, especially if they need to be cauterized first to slow and stop bleeding. Our ability to heal is somewhat impeded if there is a large amount of blood bursting from the wound...anyways, let's start with bringing forth a soothing, healing light. Just imagine something that makes you happy and calm, something that soothes your inner self, and let it pass into the other person."

Vynalion pulled up his sleeve, removed his dagger from his boot, and cut his arm. "Try practicing on me. Don't worry of you accidentally burn me, we can try as much as you need. I can just heal it up nice and tidy when we're done for a bit."

Sorin, bored with waiting on things to finally happen, faded into the shadows and went about his business, randomly going around the town tricking people as he used to do.

[Monika]

"Hmm...No reason." Kazan screwed up his face in confusion, confident that he had killed one of Valendis' family members at some point in time. He knew that this couldn't be, of course; having just recently met Valendis, he would be hard-pressed to even identify one of the summoner's family members, let alone kill them. Still, the thought wouldn't leave his mind. "I owe you one, Vally. I dunno why, but be sure to call on me if you need a favor."

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

"Alright." Lenore took a deep breath as Vynalion cut himself. "Calm and soothing...Calm and soothing..." She closed her eyes and placed her hands above Vynalion's arm. What do I think about? she thought. What calms me? What soothes me? How am I supposed to pass that calm feeling into Vyn? What does calm even feel like? Lenore became increasingly flustered until her thoughts eventually manifested in the form of a searing red light in front of her hands - certainly not the soothing light she was supposed to call forth.

[Damien]

"YEEEEEEEOOOOOOOW!!!" screamed Vyn, shaking his arm in an attempt to "cool" it.

Once it finally cooled a bit, he burst out laughing. "BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Lenore, my dear, remind me never to get on your bad side." He gave the girl a kind smile. "You've definitely mastered the offensive side of magic...not to mention the art of cauterizing a wound!" He spoke words that sounded of celestial, otherworldly origin, "Vonel sutelnayel fuoctl," and his wound, along with the burn marks, disappeared as if they were never there.

"Now then," he said, drawing his blade across his arm again. "Try channeling the same feelings you get from summoning a creature. From what I've seen, you seem very calm and focused while doing so. Maybe that will do it, hmm? Once more."

-----

"Well," said a disembodied voice, "you definitely won't be going back that way. Those people will kill you."

"Fulminis!" shouted Izaak, hand outstretched before him, aiming towards the source of the voice. Motes of electricity, conjured by the spell, danced around his hand and across his fingers. "Show yourself!"

"I'm right here," said the voice, which was right behind Izaak. Izaak spun and saw a man wearing something akin to chain armor with a blue shawl-like cloth around his shoulders. Without even thinking, Izaak released the energy at the man, creating a rather massive bolt of lightning for such close quarters. The force pushed Izaak back a bit, but it was just an illusion! The image shattered like a pane of glass as the lightning bolt made contact with it. "Where are you?"

"Well, since you're not readying another spell," said the voice, "I suppose I should be okay." Suddenly, a man that looked exactly like the image created by his spell appeared a short distance away from the group, the air around him shimmering and warping as he dispelled his glamour of invisibility.

He appeared to be about as tall as Izaak, maybe a bit taller, with dirty blond hair, bangs swept upwards, and amethyst-colored eyes. Izaak couldn't help but stare at the handsome man, but whether it was illusion or truly the man, he could not say.

"I'm Dorian, by the way," he said. "And you must be friends of my brother." He looked across the group caught Izaak staring at him with such a look of longing. It was quite flattering. He turned to Izaak and said, "Is that a wand in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

Izaak began to blush and turned away, slightly embarrassed that he'd been caught, but then he turned back and said, "wait a second. We don't know your brother."

"I see," Dorian replied. "He didn't tell you. Well, my family name is Harper, so if that doesn't tell you who I'm talking about, then I don't know what else to tell you." He sat down on a nearby rock, pulled his lute from his back, and began to play.

[Myrdraxxis]

After running for what felt like three months, Magnus finally managed to lead the crew away from the angry mob of justifiably concerned citizens that were attempting to, completely justifiably, skewer them with pointy weapons.

"Right, uh. Lower profile people." Magnus said as the group finally came to a halt.

"I assume we have a plan, then?" Hecate asked.

"Well I figure we might as well head to Altinor before anything else happens." he shot a dirty look towards the small cadre of necromancers in their party. Then at Nathaniel, as if to say 'this is your fault'.

Nathaniel didn't even look offended, just shot Magnus a weary look of resignation.

"Then let us be off." Hecate said.

THe trip to Altinor didn't take long, and before long Magnus had led the group up into the cliffs. The hovering city of Altinor could only be accessed through one the bridges that connected it to the mountainside. Magnus had designed it so to make it hard for the undead to breach the city should the Lich King's forces have ever made it that far. Thankfully, the undead were brought low in the fields of Tintalla.

"It's certainly busier here than when I left." Magnus observed as the group crossed the great bridge into the academy proper. It was filled with students and teachers coming and going about their duties. When Magnus had left their had only been twelve magic users he entrusted the small city with. "Looks like they've done well for themselves." he muttered.

"It sort of reminds me of the stories about Morah Academy." Nathaniel said, looking around. "Before Altinor closed itself off."

"Yeah, that was the general idea." Magnus grinned. As the group continued Nathaniel noticed that people were beginning to stop and stare, whispering to each other. At first he thought it was due to their rather...rag-tag appearance, but upon closer observation he realized that most of the stares were directed at their "fearless leader".

"You have made quite an impression here." Hecate observed. Magnus shrugged.

"Maybe a little bit." He said modestly.

Which was when the group happened upon a bronze statue of Magnus posed heroically -and rather seriously- in the center of a small square. The Celestial shot him a look, make Magnus shrug again.

"Okay, maybe a lot."

[Damien]

"So you're Vyn's brother," replied Izaak.

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner ladies and gentlemen!" said Damien, playing a series of power chords on his lute. "Now, where is he?"

"Umm...you do realize that we're not in Mundus Magica anymore, right?"

Dorian thought for a second. "I knew something weird happened. I've never seen this place before, and I've been all over the world."

"Yeah, our leader, Magnus," Izaak said while pointing at Magnus, who had began moving the group along, "opened a portal to another world. This one is called Serioc, apparently."

"I see...so where is he? He came with you, didn't he?"

"Actually, no. He elected to stay back to help aid the efforts against the Celestials."

Dorian looked at Izaak as if he had just spoken some archaic language. "Stayed behind?...efforts against...What?"

"You need to be caught up, it seems," said Izaak. "Come with us. We could always use someone of your obvious talents to help us along."

"You know," said Dorian somewhat flirtatiously, "Magic isn't the only thing I'm good with..."

Izaak blushed a bit but managed to retain his composure. "I'm sure you have other talents that we'll get to see eventually."

The two caught up with the group before they were left behind completely.

At first it seemed that the people of Altinor were looking at the group strangely due to their rather...rag-tag appearance, but upon closer observation it was obvious that most of the stares were directed at their fearless leader.

"You have made quite an impression here." Hecate observed. Magnus shrugged.

"Maybe a little bit." He said modestly.

Which was when the group happened upon a bronze statue of Magnus posed heroically -and rather seriously- in the center of a small square. The Celestial shot him a look, make Magnus shrug again.

"Okay, maybe a lot."

"Well, he's certainly caught my attention," said Dorian.

Izaak reached up and smacked him on the back of the head.

"OWW!" yelped Dorian. "What did I do?"

Izaak said nothing, only shot him a look of "you know exactly what you did".

[Mizagium]

"Something amiss, Valendis?" Hesseppatt settled on his shoulder and began preening herself.

He gave a noncommittal shrug. "I mean. Kazan just asked if he had ever killed one of family members."

"Are you ok?"

"I'm just focusing on the group right now. I'll deal with...her when I get back."

He felt strangely at home in Altinor, and not just because the name was familiar. He was a scholar at heart, loved learning, and felt most at home with books. Were the circumstances different, he might like to stay here, and learn the magic of this world. Giant bronze statue of Magnus and all.

"It's gone!" Someone shouted above the dull murmur of students. "It's gone!" A crowd quickly gathered around the gasping, doubled-over form of a human in dark robes. What's gone, they asked excitedly. Come on, tell us! He stood back up, started to speak, and hesitated. "It...the...T...Tintalla."

Everything stopped, dead silent. Even the wind seemed to hold it's breath.

"Tintalla....what?" someone ventured.

"Tintalla...the Methuselah capital...it's gone!"

[Sariel of Tevet]

Roluo and crew had been following silently along, attempting to blend in as much as they could. Their new clothes helped with that quite a bit, but all the pointing and giggling directed at him and Suri was beginning to become annoying.

"This is beginning to become annoying."

Suri thumped him in the ear before wrapping her arm around his, "Big baby. It's not THAT terrible that we look like a couple."

Roluo huffed at her remark and continued on until he paused in front of the giant Magnus statue.

"You know, for someone named Magnus, you would think that his statue would be alot more bulky, and beardy."

Lulifr whined and came out of his shadow, hiked a leg and began to pee on the base of that statue.

Eleazar laughed, "Well looks like he doesn't enjoy it either. Come on guys let's catch up to Magnus. We don't exactly know where we are."

[Myrdraxxis]

"Tintalla is gone!" the cry echoed through the entire city. The whole courtyard, minutes ago filled with happy people going about their business was now nearly dead silent as thr citizens tried to come to terms with the news.

Slowly fearful murmurs filled the plaza.

For his part, Nathaniel watched wordlessly, the grim news lost on him. Faust looked around at the crowd and then at Magnus. The man looked stunned. "Commnader? What's happening?"

Magnus inhaled. "Well..." he began. "If there's any truth to that news...something just wiped a city off the map."

"Shit." Faust swore. "So what does that mean for us?"

"Is it really any of our business?" Hecate asked. "A tragedy to be sure, but I don't think it could be connected to our search for the Mage."

"You never know." Magnus muttered, mostly to himself. Without warning he suddenly started running. A moment later Nathaniel and his crew followed, unsure where they were going, but following nonetheless.

A few minutes later Magnus had led them to a towering building near the heart of the city. Several people ont he street stopped to gape at Magnus as they passed, but the mage ignored them.

Inside the building was some sort of meeting chamber. Generally at this time of the day the Altinor Assembly wouldn't be meeting, but the sudden and terrible news of Tintalla's fall had summoned them all here rather quickly.

All heads turned as Magnus entered the room. THere was a moment of stunned silence. "Hello gentlemen." Magnus greeted. "Been a while. For me anyway. Probably not for you." He paused, then looked over at the closest Altinor headmaster. "What's the date today again? Nevermind, doesn't matter. What's all this about Tintalla?"

[Sariel of Tevet]

Roluo and his crew were hot on Magnus' heels and entered the building as well. He placed his ear against the door and waited to hear the news.

Suri tapped him on the shoulder and whispered, "What are the saying?"

"Uhh..." He strained to catch Magnus' last words. "What's all this about...chinchilla?"

Suri squeed and it echoed through the tower. "Aww I love those!"

[Monika]

"When I'm summoning a creature?" Lenore asked. "I suppose that it is worth a try." She breathed deeply, closed her eyes, and thought. About calling upon Kazetama and cleansing the air around them. About bringing forth Ixion and roaming the skies upon his back. The all too familiar summoning words came to her mind, but she did not say them out loud: Incola Mundus Spiritus, custodite mandata mea et responde mihi dicere: venerunt ad me... A warm, soothing light flickered from her hands before eventually steadying into a continuous glow that spread across Vynalion's arm.

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Kazan kept pace with the rest of the group, hanging around Valendis. Like many of the others (except for Magnus, who seemed to be intimately familiar with the region), Kazan had no idea what Tintalla was, but he assumed that it meant trouble. "Maybe finding it will lead to that accursed Mage of the Beginning," he muttered. "That's the second time this month I've used the word 'accursed'. Hmm..." Kazan hit himself in the chest a few times, as if trying to keep some particularly bad meal from coming back up.

[Damien]

As the glow created by Lenore's spell reached peak intensity, Vynalion's arm began to heal. The skin on both sides of the cut began to weave together, closing the wound and leaving a barely noticeable scar.

"Splendid!" he exclaimed. "A near-perfect heal! The scarring can be healed by me later on if need be. Very good, Lenore! We now have TWO healers for if the Celestials attack us again." He gave her a pat on the shoulder and a wink, and went to the library, searching for any knowledge or legends on the Celestials that might be of use.

-----

Izaak and Dorian ran just behind the rest of the group, stopping just behind them once they reached their destination, Dorian's face in a state of confusion and interest at the mention of the Mage of the Beginning.

"Who is this 'Mage' everyone keeps talking about?" he asked.

"I'm not really sure myself," Izaak replied. "All I know is that he's supposedly a key person to help us stop the Celestials back in our world...universe...dimension?...whatever. Regardless, we're doing this to find him and ask for his aid. Apparently, Magnus knows him and learned this travelling magic from him."

"I wouldn't mind jumping across universes and dimensions with him," mumbled Dorian, indicating Magnus.

Izaak slapped him in the back of the head again.

"OWWW! Why do you keep doing that?!"

Izaak remained quiet, listening intently to the gathered leaders.