Mists in the Desert [OPEN PROMPT, Kingdom-wide]

[Finn]

Finn could feel the man seeking and got the sense it was with more than just his eyes. He didn't let it bother him, knowing magic was prized in the ruling bloodlines, and knowing he had nothing that he ought to hide. The man's smile seemed honest enough, at least insofar as he could hear in his symphony. He returned it earnestly.

The man's vowel shifts were certainly interesting, and if he was disappointed that he wouldn't get to practice his Vastian, at least there would be plenty of other opportunities.

"Practice is good, yes," he said, deciding to speak Common properly so as to give the man a good model. And he nodded, glancing up for a moment. "The Crownwyrm greeted us at Tertium, and protects us here, as well. The wyvern-riders knew what to do. I was more anxious about the crowd becoming a frightened mob, but it all went quite orderly, all things considered."

As for the question, he thought for a moment, but shrugged and shook his head.

"I suppose I will find a spot to be out of the way and then return to the Aurecine District when the all clear is given. And you?"

The Kalzasern traveler didn't know whether Khyan would be returned to house arrest or something similar; the trial had been interrupted and he was just learning the ins and outs of Solunarian justice. He hoped the Nykara family wasn't being abused, but he would seek to hide his disapproval if such was the case. He had come to learn, not to judge.

"Pardon. I don't know if I am being to forward given the difference in our status."

[Raithen]

Rai laughed when the man in his arms swore, partly in commiseration to the feeling of the ground dropping out from under you for the first time, and partly because he so rarely heard such language from one who looked like he could be part of the imperial family.

The directions he'd been given were simple enough, or they would have been, on a normal day. As it was the flight consisted of sudden turns and changes in altitude to avoid the dangers that filled the sky, both friendly and foe. Aside from the mists themselves he had to loop them upside down or sideways several times to avoid running into Wyverns, and, once the massive tail of an actual Wyrm.

Raithen was exhilarated but kept the emotion under control, he had a job to do. Just as he was reminding himself of his sacred duty a tendril of mist boiled out toward the golden pair so specifically it seemed as though it had a mind of its own. Rai flipped them over and changed directions several times, increasingly confused as the mist continued to move with him until he realized what was happening. A frown creased his mouth and brows and he said,

"Sorry about this." Close enough to the elf's ear that he would be able to hear it even over the wind buffeting them both. Then, he dropped him.

In the same instant a creature finally burst its way free of the obscuring mists that had clung to it. What it had once been, Rai did not care to guess. Vaguely bird like in shape it was now a being of sharp edges. Every visible part of it's form appeared sharp enough to slice through flesh like a shaving razor. As soon as his hands released the elf they were reaching into the little pouches that sat on each of his hips. Coming out with a double fist full of what looked like long metal slivers he threw them into the air like a street magician might toss glitter for an audience. Even before they fully left his hands the rune on his right bicep burst into bright-burning light. The slivers snapped into alignment, as if pulled by a lodestone; each of their points turned toward the beast and then slipped along the aether streams between it and Rai so fast they blurred.

Even as they slammed into the body, raising a hideous shriek that no normal living thing could have made, Rai turned his attention back to the falling elf. Reaching again through his rune he 'caught' the flailing body as gently as he could, holding it still, dozens of feet above the ground until he could swoop down and wrap his arms, again, around the heaving chest.

[Arvælyn]

"Mists alive!" Arry cried out, squeezing his eyes shut as the serpentine swing of an actual dragon's tail swept so close to him that he felt the gale force wind in its wake. In a land of living gods, it oughtn't have surprised him that his prayers had been answered, but when he'd hoped to see a dragon up close, this hadn't been what he'd had in mind.

The other exclamations Arry emitted were of the non-verbal variety. Yelps and shrieks that exploded from his throat as various obstacles appeared before his eyes until, ultimately, he squeezed them shut. He couldn't do much to silence his other senses, so he could still hear, feel, smell and even taste the precariousness of the air around him, but it was somehow easy to suspend his disbelief that this might end safely with his eyes closed.

He only opened his golden eyes when he glanced over his shoulder at the sound of an unexplained apology.

"Why-...?" The obvious question didn't have a chance to be completed, but the answer came in the form of an action. He felt the grip of the Guardsman slacken as the warmth at his back cooled with the aerial winds. Gritting his teeth, he quickly realised he was in a freefall. He didn't know how high up he was, but he knew the fall was a deadly one.

His thoughts returned to Aurin's cottage, when he was being marked with his Rune of Masquerade. His mother had indicated he was meant for another Rune, and that he was going out of order- Perhaps this was why. Though his two Runes had served him well, they were not suited to the current predicament and, lacking any means of self-preservation his thoughts turned to inevitability. And from there, to the people who would miss him...

Aurin first, for he was the easiest segue from thoughts of the Rune he'd carved and then, of course, to Finn. If this day was a true disaster- like those that seemed to plague poor Finn, he wondered whether the human would ever learn precisely what became of him. He might just be an anonymous form amidst many and, being foreign, would be harder to identify by local authorities.

It was a longshot, but he tried to reach for Finn's Symphony in the morass below. To somehow communicate something- His terror and the certainty of a decisive doom. But, before the thought had done much more than flash forth from his mind to the mark at his wrist, he felt himself suspended.

He opened his eyes again by which point the guardsman's arms were enveloping him again. Imminent disaster averted, his own impulse surprised him. He was laughing.

"I'm sorry!" He knew the bouncing of his abdomen wasn't making it any easier to carry him but, for whatever reason, the impulse that burst forth was hysterics and they felt as beyond his control as the freefall that preceded it.

[Khyan Nykara]

Khyan smiled and nodded enthusiastically at Finn's agreement. Much of the enthusiasm stemmed from his self-satisfaction at understanding so much Common. He'd studied the language in school, but hadn't had much opportunity to use it over the past year or so since graduation.

"The Crownwyrm?" His brown eyes widened at that, and he nodded. "Two times you see Hees Exalted Majesty means you twice blessed. Ees good, good omen for you." He said with earnest emphasis.

"You no worry over mobs, Feen. We too close to Palatium. We have Mesmers, like you, who keep the populi in line so things not, uh... chaosful?" He shrugged, figuring it was close enough that Finn would understand.

"Me?" He grinned, "Umbrium has best night life. Here ees always night, so they have lot of practise, yeah?" He chuckled at his own joke and winked.

"So, when we get to bottom I probably go lookeeng for good times. Find night spot- Have a dreenk, have a dance..." He shrugged. "You know- Make Meests party, yeah?"

Khyan looked at him curiously at the apology.

"Ah, Feen..." He shook his head, "When the Meests loom above you and me no stand on the ceremony, huh? You are good viator to make pardons, but today we just two refugees fleeing from disaster. Just two boys- Feen and Khyan. No Patricius, no Peregrinatorus." He patted Finn's shoulder encouragingly.

"Eef you no know where to go- Maybe we make friends and you come weeth me. You explore Umbrium yet? You go to night spots?" The lift was nearing its terminus and the strange, silvery lights that had been distant dots at the start of their descent were now in view for what they were- Street lamps.

[Hilana Chenzira]

Where some were busy observing at what was a highly sensationalized trial, many more had their day-to-day to continue on with. Hilana was one of them. But be that as it may, to be able to observe and be in the presence of the Crownwyrm alone, she would have desperately wished to have been there. Her love of snakes and other reptiles also encompassed the dragons, especially those that nested down in the Dragon Chamber. What a normal person might have feared, Hilana was fascinated by, and sometimes that fascination was an excellent way to shorten one's lifespan. But what was the point of living to look like a walking husk if you experienced nothing that stirred your blood a bit in the time you had?

Tucked inside the comfortable shop in the district of Port Vasta, Hilana was settled at a table in the back corner where she could observe the shop and get on with the task that she had been put to by her boss and mentor. She had a piece of paper with a list of what was expected of her, and multiple tins of ingredients were stacked in a neat row. A scale, a large mixing bowl, a reed whisk, a mortar and pestle, knife and wooden cutting board, measuring spoons, and yet a larger spoon were also set to the side. Perched on a stand out of the way was a well-used recipe book, and it had been opened to a recipe for a herbal tea remedy for indigestion. Along her shoulders, though sound asleep, her black and white patterned boa constrictor was draped there, his face hidden in her long, dark hair. Tiaz wasn't particularly inclined to be bothered with anything or anyone, considering he was familiar with being handled since Hilana had gotten her hands on him as a little snakeling, and she was nice and warm now that they were out of the heat of the sun.

"Fennel seeds, ginger pieces, chamomile, and peppermint," she murmured, lining up the little sachets, each already marked with a written label as to what it was. She would have preferred to make a single larger batch in the bowl, but the problem with doing so was with the fennel seeds and the ginger. Had it just been dried herbs and plants which would have had a similar weight, it would have been easy. Put them all in the big bowl, use the whisk, and mix it up, then portion into the sachets. But because the fennel seeds, even though she would work them over with the pestle, and the little pieces of dried ginger that needed to be cut, weighed much more than the crushed leaves, they'd sink to the bottom and the recipe would not be as effective. Sometimes you could take shortcuts, and sometimes you couldn't, and this was just one of those times.

She pulled the mortar and pestle in front of her, and the jar of fennel seeds. Opening it released the sweet, herbaceous scent of the brown, pointy-ended narrow seeds, and she used her hand to waft the scent upwards before taking a measuring spoon and beginning to portion out enough for the ten sachets, a fifth of the expected quota: three tablespoons and a teaspoon, and the pestle was next as she began to crush the seeds lightly, working the tool in a steady, circular motion. She wasn't aiming to turn them into powder, just crack them a bit to open them up. People hurrying past the windows of the shop with a rather urgent manner were unusual, and Hilana set the pestle down on the table, coming around it and heading over to the door. Opening it tinkled the bells up top, and she poked her head out. "Salve," she called out to an older woman that was doing her best to stay out of the way of the swelling crush of people. "What is going on? Why are so many in such a hurry?"

"Look up, girl," the woman called back. "The Crownwyrm flies." Three words, and Hilana's eyes just about popped out of their sockets as she immediately left the safety of the doorway and looked up, shielding her eyes from the light. It wasn't just the golden dragon, but there were the Dread Mists as well. In the barrens of the Atraxian Expanse, that would have been cause for alarm. But here in the city of Solunarium, Hilana knew that it was handled. Still, she should really go up and make sure the bee hives were okay... and if she got a good view of the monstrous reptile, so much the better. She stuck her head back into the shop.

"Vasilei," she called out, "there are Dread Mists overhead. I'm going to go check on the hives." She didn't wait for an answer, her boa not particularly pleased by being woken up this way and trying to curl up under her mass of hair and constrict around her upper arm at the same time. "Tiaz," she unwound him from her bicep, grabbing her shoulder bag from the hook hidden on the wall, and slipped the constrictor into it before hurrying around and heading for the ladder to take her to the rooftop of the building. Pulling herself up, rung by rung, she finally climbed up onto the roof and turned to get another look now that she could see better. She soon realized she wasn't the only one who had had the same idea - others, too, had wanted a better view of what was going on, and after quickly checking the hives over, she seated herself on a stool, her snake all curled up in the bag on her lap in a thick ball of muscle. "You're alright," she told the snake, knowing he would uncurl in time. But for now, she could watch the spectacle, overhead and below, and only wonder what had brought it into being.

[Pharaoh]

R E V I E W

Arvalyn:
Lores: 8
XP: 15 (May be used for Mesmer)

Finn
Lores: 8
XP: 15 (May be used for Traversion)

Hilana
Lores: 8
XP: 15 (No magic)

Khyan
Lores: 8
XP: 15 (May be used for Semblance)

Raithen
Lores: 8
XP: 15 (May be used for Kinetics)

Injuries/Ailments:
Abject terror abounds in all directions!

Loot: Finn acquires a drinking partner and an invitation to a Mist party. Raithen unwittingly meets his lil bro.

Notes: The Mists have been repelled, though their effects have warped creatures in the distant reaches of the Atraxian Expanse.