Legend of Ransera

Posted: **Fri Jun 16, 2023 12:22 am**

To hear the people that were there tell him that things would be alright, that the pain he felt would only be somewhat a temporary issue, it brought even more comfort but with a sense of uneasy for the wolf. Deep down Lykos knew that this pain, wherever it stemmed from, would likely be something he carried with him for a long time. Yes, it would eventually lessen, and yes, he would find it easier to carry as time waned the scars upon his memory. Even so, that did not make it easy to cope with in the immediate aftermath of his awakening. Nevertheless, he did not want that doubt to drown out the effort the trio here made today, not when such kindness had been the first thing he'd awoken to in this new world of his.

He nodded along to everything Lia said to him, agreeing that somewhere down the road, they would hopefully find those who might've known him before. There had to be some small semblance of his previous life out there somewhere, and even if it still remained somewhere in the distant north, he now had what he felt was a good pair of people worth sticking around for. Their kindness would be something he repaid one day, in full, once he figured out what exactly he could do to achieve this; and what his talents might be as the alleged Lord of Frost.

Lia advocated for her sister in regard to finding things, something that led the wolf to glance from his table companion to the cook herself. If that were true, then maybe, she could indeed help him find his original home later down the road. There was so much ahead of him though, so much that Lykos wasn't aware of, that he hardly had any real idea where to even begin; let alone start looking no less. The look she gave Lia in regard to the disaster comment brought a slighter smile out of the wolf, as he found their playful banter heartening as well as even more comforting.

Yes. These were good people to him, Aeros included, even if the ghost seemed a bit of an oddity to Lykos. Even so, his mind had been made up, and somewhere in his aching heart the decision was sound there also. The wolf noticed that Hilana showed exaltation when it came to the rain, and for what it was worth, he could somehow sense that she not only enjoyed the sound of its relaxing downpour; she wanted to bask in it and let all her fears and sorrow be drowned out. Washed away even. Lykos wasn't sure how he could sense it, but strangely, he felt his connection to the rain as well as the yearning Hilana beheld for it in turn.

He'd started to wonder that, perhaps, being part of this Lord thing was inclusive toward that. And while he wanted to ponder the thought further, that remained short-lived when he heard the noise across the door in the other room. Curiously enough, Lykos could even hear what carried on in the other room, as though he just now realized he had sensitive hearing compared to what a normal person would have. Therefore as he vigorously chewed and gulped down the half of chicken he'd already eaten, the wolf actually slowed down on his grazing to pay closer attention, while still tearing into what was left of his meal indiscriminately.

It sounded like... footsteps maybe, and the welcoming of guests perhaps. Whoever had shown up, the wolf hadn't really determined whether or not to worry, yet he did still pay closer attention to the sounds in the other room. While it seemed his tears had finally lessened, the distraction as to what went on led him to engage his other senses, particularly his hearing and smell; seeing as how he could pick up the moisture in the air hanging over the delectable smells of cooking in the kitchen.

Posted: **Fri Jun 16, 2023 9:01 am**

Did the Sentinels require Dominus Labaoth per the serva’s query?

“Næ. But we will await him.” Phocion and the agents who flanked him waited as still as if they’d been carved into the edifice of the manse. Upon his arrival, the slender sentinel at the nearest point of the triangle inclined his head. At the gesture, which may have been taken for a simple greeting, there was also a command. Herodyn began to Semble the surroundings, seeking out wards, notable peculiarities and the location of their intended marks. At the same time, Vindrys extended an urging of tranquility and compliance into the Symphony of the master of the house as Phocion addressed him.

“Salve and forgive the intrusion, but it has come to our attention that your daughter Hilana is on the property just returned from an exploit abroad. You may resume your day and we will make every effort to be unobtrusive in our work.” Phocion lifted a gloved had to sweep a dismissive wave to the head of the house who would feel the strong compulsion to return to what he’d been doing prior to the interruption from the serva, who would feel the same impulse herself.

With the welcoming party out of the way, Phocion would nod to Herodyn, who stepped out in front of the other two Sentinels to lead the way with the consummate confidence one might expect from someone intimately familiar with the property. By and by, they found themselves in a kitchen.

“Of course.” Phocion muttered. Hilana had earned herself a reputation at the Prætorium for her predilection for bringing foodstuffs to offer to whomsoever she encountered- lofty or low. Before he so much as greeted Hilana or her company, Phocion leaned toward Herodyn who leaned close to report on what lay before them. Though his eyes were concealed, his head tilted in the direction of the male present… the one with the corporeal form, that is. Turning to the problem prone Vastiana, he addressed her in his posh High Vastian dialect.

“Chenzira Hilana… so eager to feed your new friends that you forgot to pass them through Customs en route to your kitchen? I believe you owe us a debrief, young lady.” His chastisement was vaguely playful, but there was no arcane urging toward peace for them as there had been for Labaoth or the serva in the foyer.

Posted: **Fri Jun 16, 2023 11:25 pm**

TIMESTAMP: -
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- - -

It was a painful thing to sit and wait in limbo when one’s fate hung in the balance; waiting for any kind of judgment always was. This, though, was particularly uncanny; while he’d managed to return home to familiar sands, he himself was completely changed, and so now, his only choice was to wait for fate to show the rest of its hand.

“I’ve no doubt of your desire to know what became of me,” he started his reply to Hilana, “...but I have no desire to recount that myself. You are free to find the answers yourself with Semblance, and I suppose if you’ve further queries…you can ask.”

It wasn’t a tale he was willing to tell, but much to his convenience, anyone who needed to know could likely find the answers within the memories of his Aura– that is, unless his being an apparition somehow obscured them; of this, he had no way of knowing, but he doubted there’d be issues there.

There was little left of this interlude, though, before the ingress of the Vigilia proceeded: Phocion, flanked by two others, arrived in the kitchen not long after the last thing Æros had said– the ghost only recognizing him because he remembered the other man’s voice. The ghost did not, however, outwardly react.

Æros had previously spread his essence throughout the room, and the arrival of newcomers did not change this. His presence really wouldn’t be visible unless Semblance was actively engaged, but it could be felt; a ghost made both the space it encompassed and the space around it noticeably colder. Given that he had not been directly addressed, he did not say a word or engage with the sentinels in any way.

- - -

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Sat Jun 17, 2023 11:08 am**

The girl listened to the ghost’s words, and merely nodded. Fair enough. But with him in no mood to explain and she in no state to try and read him, it would have to wait. Considering what she had already done earlier and now that she had the onset of a headache from trying to see and sense him around the kitchen with Semblance. She had used that enough, and she was going to need to make herself some star thistle tea. The others could likely use it too - Lia had definitely used her share of aether, and if those wards that had saved her from her Void-self came from Lykos... well, no wonder he was so starved.

There were wards aplenty around the house, though they were primarily for security and comfort. Having been shown in by a member of the household meant that those designed to keep the uninvited out meant that a chunk of them did not apply to the Sentinels now that they were in the enormous foyer. The layout and people within were no longer as obscured as they had been now that they were inside, and it made for easier work of finding auras and symphonies of what was inside the house.

“She what?” Lebaoth sounded almost incredulous, and a shade exasperated. As controlling as he was, the last time they had checked, Hilana had been showing the Re’hyaean senator around town... how in the name of the Founders had she gone off abroad...?! Well, it was being handled, clearly, so he would let the Vigilia deal with it. “Of course. She’s likely in the guest house with her guest from the Capitol...” But he headed back the way he had come, and the serva followed in his wake. That left them free rein to look for their quarry. Through the halls led to a great room, where an older Vastian woman was working on her lacecraft at a table and a comfortable seat while music played quietly from a lorestone. But with their wards, she took no notice of them. More walking through the large home led through a formal dining room, clearly meant to hold and host multitudes, before entering the enormous kitchen where Hilana was presiding over cooking food.

Because of course she was. An older Vastiana who had similarities to the youngest was at the table with a clear foreigner, and Lia’s eyes darted to Hilana, who had turned around, her eyes widening slightly to see the trio of Sentinels there in her father’s home and in the kitchen. Before she had been able to send for them. While the mask was still active, she intended to keep it that way. Considering Prince Phocion - she was visibly relieved to recognize the sound of his voice - was blessed by the Mistress of Chains... he had a tendency to see through her Mask anyway. That didn’t mean Hilana was about to release her Void-sister and Lykos from its protections; she didn’t know who else could see or sense them, but she was content to let it be until she had had her chance to explain.

And fortunately, the Moonborn was going to give her a chance.

She raised a hand, palm up to those seated at the table, and lowered it, smiling reassuringly at Lykos, and Lia put her hand on his forearm to allay what concerns and instincts might come up. Frankly, she looked like she had been on one end of a beating - her clothes were dirtier than normal for the frolicking dirt child, not to mention there were some tears in the hem of the skirt. But her right arm had ugly purple-black bruises at elbow and shoulder, not to mention the swelling there that she was ignoring for the time being and working through. But it fit her character that instead of getting changed and cleaned up she was cooking. “I was going to send a letter with a servus to the Sentinel outpost once I got everyone settled,” Hilana offered as explanation. “Can I offer you something to eat or drink?” she asked the trio of Sentinels then.

If any of them would take her up on it, she would get the appropriate beverages or comestibles, but then she could continue, taking up the chicken from the stove and bringing it back to the table. “It’s alright, eat,” she encouraged Lykos in Common before turning the burners of the stove off now that the chicken had been cooked. “Dominus Æros wanted to see beyond the Eclipse, so we went to the edge and found a Crystal Tree when we went north,” Hilana began. “And, well... we went to investigate it. When we got to it, our boat and everything else froze...so we went inside the tree and found a monolith, and it pulled me into the Void,” she glanced at the Void-shade at the table with the divine peregrinus. “We fought our way out, her and I, and when we got out, the Stitchweaver was there... or I’m sure it was her, from the stories... so many spiders and mandibles... The monolith was broken, and Myshala touched it and it revealed two elven corpses there. A male and a female, both with a lot of tattoos. He was there, too, unconscious,” she nodded at Lykos to clarify who ‘he’ was. “She said that we owed our lives to him, and called him the Lord of Frost. That he gave everything important to him to save countless others. He doesn’t remember anything of who he was, even his name, so we called him Lykos,” Hilana smiled at the big man with the fur vest.

"He asked her what happened, so she is explaining to them what happened at the tree and how we found you," Lia murmured to him in Common so that Lykos did not feel too left out by the way Hilana responded to Phocion in their main tongue. "I believe she is familiar with the Sentinel in the middle, so it will be worked out."

“Myshala made it very clear that he will be needed in what comes next, and that we are to look after him... so I brought him here until I could send a message to the Vigilia Magna to see what our next steps were to be,” Hilana was trying to be as concise as possible while still making her case. “I don’t know the lands outside of ours, and I can’t keep him as safe there as I can here. I’d like for us to make an offering to His Divine Radiance and Her Argent Luminescence to ask Their permission for him to stay here,” she finished up.

There was, however, something glaringly obvious missing. The Fae-Re'hyaean hybrid that had been mentioned by her father and now by Hilana was not in the kitchen. But the feeling of a ghost that had spread around it certainly was.

Posted: **Sat Jun 17, 2023 11:31 am**

His keen sense of hearing had been the first to alert him of the company which arrived, and when he saw it, boy did the wolf's very eyes tense at the sight of the trio that had entered. He'd never seen such intimidating figures in his life, and now that he had, a feeling of unease started to settle inside his gut. The fact they spoke in their native tongue, a language he had yet to comprehend, made the situation a little more unsettling for Lykos to try and handle. He feared that, ultimately, these people had come for either him... or the people that brought him here.

Seeing as those were the immediate options he conjured, he quickly glanced at Lana to gauge how she would react. Turns out, she seemed rather calm and easygoing with their presence, a reaction that instilled brief confusion in the wolf, before he felt Lia's hand brush along his elbow and forearm next. His gaze went to her immediately and in her expression, he found that her calm stature regrew what comfort had dissolved from the trio's arrival. Lana then urged for him to continue eating, and that nothing seemed to be apparently wrong with their arrival. As wary as Lykos might've been of that, he had already felt able to trust the two ladies at their word.

Thus, even with his hands and bearded face greasy from all the food prior, the wolf resumed grazing on his next portion of chicken with curiosity in his eyes. Who were these people? And what reason did they have for coming here? Lia was quick to at least inform him of the situation quietly, and shared that the trio in question inquired as to what happened prior to their arrival. Nodding appreciatively in response to this, the wolf continued chewing his food and pressing a hand over his gut. There was a rising pressure in there that led him to quietly belch with a closed mouth, to keep from making such an obnoxious sound while the lady explained her story.

As satisfying as it was to feel more room in his gut, that ache from before still remained a subtle reminder of his partially filled stomach. Therefore, he continued his graze of the chicken and watched with patience, ever wondrous of the things that were shared between Lana and the three interesting figures. One day, perhaps, he wouldn't feel so clueless as to what they were saying, but until then he'd simply allow the ladies to do their thing; until such a time came where he felt he should step up and intervene on their behalf.

Posted: **Sun Jun 18, 2023 11:03 am**

Phocion listened to the tale as it was offered, with no specific prompting from him. There was a lot to be gleaned from extempore freely relayed. It highlighted the priorities of the orator… what they deemed most or least important and many other minutiæ one might not gather from direct interrogation. He did not answer the offer of refreshment, but leaned toward Herodyn from time to time, who whispered insights and details into Phocion’s ear in a tongue that was pronounced like Vallenor, but would sound like gibberish to anyone intimately familiar with that tongue.

Something Herodyn told him elicited an audible response. Perhaps it sounded like a slight scoff at first, bursting behind the veil. But then it happened again and again and soon it was overtly clear what it was: laughter. Peels and peels that bent the Sentinel slightly forward, as he leaned his weight onto his glaive.

“Oh, Æros…” He sighed as his amusement receded and he straightened his posture.

“You were also involved the last time Solunarium needed to deal with such an entity. You’ll find us far better prepared this time.” With that said, he turned his head to regard the Vastiana translating for the benefit of their peregrine guest. He lowered his voice for Hilana’s ears alone, his prior whimsy now wholly absent. Now he sounded arch, as he bade:

“You should not have informed him of his nature. That was ill-considered. Still, gather your motley crew and meet us in the courtyard.”

His head tilted toward Lykos as the man quietly belched. Amusement returned to his voice as he raised it and spoke Common in the Kalzasern dialect he’d mastered before visiting that chaotic city state.

“An equestrian estate in Tertium is no place to receive such an estimable visitor. Sentinel Vindrys, summon the Wardens to rendezvous with us and prepare passage to Rubrum Petram Citadel.”

Posted: **Mon Jun 19, 2023 6:15 am**

TIMESTAMP: -
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- - -

Æros remained entirely inert while Hilana spoke, choosing instead to be a passive observer. He heard them; he heard Herodyn speak, and though it sounded akin to Vallenor, a language Æros knew well, none of the syllables came together in a way that made any sense– he couldn’t parse them into proper words. Perhaps it was an enchantment which obscured the other’s speech? Either way, it was no matter– he could hazard a guess regarding the general gist of what the man might be saying.

He was listening, but most of the conversation pertained to things he already knew and was thus pushed to the backdrop of his focus– it would remain as such until he heard Phocion say his name after a fit of laughter. In the not so distant past, this might have offended Æros. But now? He had far more pressing matters to contend with than to be quite that petty, and he knew full well he aught to be rather more chary regarding whom he vents even the smallest amounts of his frustration towards. Granted, he didn't sense outright scorn or the like in the Sentinel's voice; he couldn't tell what else the man felt beyond the apparent schadenfreude.

"'Tis a funny coincidence, no? Fate’s weave is awfully strange." The ghost responded, his voice flat and not coming from any discernible origin point.

He would've nodded to acknowledge the comment about Solunarium's apparently improved level of preparation when it came to dealing with foreign divines, but alas, he could not. Instead, "I would expect no less." His voice deliberately lacked any perceptible emotion.

There was more the ghost could say on the subject; Æros had never been graced by the presence of the divine directly until last Ash, and at present, he'd thus far crossed paths with six. However, his feelings on the subject were still conflicted; each deity had touched his life in vastly different ways. His interest in discussing the subject, or his feelings in general, with Phocion specifically was also not that high. As such, he deliberately kept his commentary short.

It was curious, however, when Phocion turned to Hilana, that his words weren’t audible– the ghost had spread his essence through the whole room, thus allowing him to hear even the softest of sounds within the vicinity. But when the Sentinel shifted yet again to address Lykos, his Common was clear as crystal and the apparition recognized the citadel he mentioned as the very same one that Arcas had been brought to. He supposed that made sense. He did imagine, given Phocion's prior comment, that it saw more regular use now than in the past.

Once it'd been indicated that they were to be switching locations, the apparition slowly began to condense his form. Æros would not take a familiar shape, or even a shape at all. After a few moments, he was still little more than a slight, barely visible cloud of miasmatic æther around Hilana. There was something he found freeing, for the moment, about the fact that there was nothing to see, that he couldn't be perceived by body language or the like.

- - -

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Mon Jun 19, 2023 3:00 pm**

While both of the Vastian women had a background in Vallenor, it didn’t quite make sense to her. Hilana could only assume it was the highborn tongue, but in the meantime, they elected not to focus on it. They spoke it for a reason, likely for the same reason that the conversation regarding what had happened was in Vastian. If it was meant to be shared, then it would have been in a language that was more common to them.

Hilana only stared as Phocion laughed. She’d never seen that sort of behaviour out of him, nor did she expect it from the marble-and-granite Prince. She’d gotten his brothers laughing, and aside from the brief bit of mirth following their expedition to Kaladon, he had been largely taciturn. The Vastiana had to wonder what brought that on, because Æros had certainly never mentioned any encounter with him, and now a previous event with another had been brought up. So apparently they did have some familiarity... Æros’ words added a bit more to it, but she wasn’t quite at the stage of focusing on it. This would be something to puzzle about later.

When Phocion looked at her, Lia lowered her gaze from the Sentinel respectfully, but she seemed to take the hint when the Vigil in charge addressed her sister directly. Whatever that was, she would have to ask Hilana about it later. Now was not the time, and she left it alone. “Understood, Sentinel,” Hilana nodded solemnly at the veiled Moonborn. Perhaps it was ill-advised, but at the same time... she had hoped to be able to jog him a bit, and if he knew he was a god and what his domain was.. Well, it might help further down the line in understanding what precisely he could and perhaps what he couldn’t do. But his assessment was fair.

Still, it seemed that her explanation had been accepted for the time being, and with Æros condensing himself again, Hilana brought Lykos a damped cloth so he could wipe his hands and face. “Red Rock Citadel,” she translated the Vastian words for him. “I’m familiar with the area, though it’s been some time since I was there last. But we’ll pack up some of this, though I would think that they will have food on hand. If not, then there is a village close by, so we’ll be able to go back and forth to get supplies, or to the Sacred City, Solunarium Proper,” she added, back to Common now for Lykos’ understanding.

“What of the camels?” Lia asked her. “Or your...pets?”

“I’ll come back for them once this is worked out. The cats are with Aunt Eliana, the snakes are in my room... but I’ll come back for them and get us some camels to borrow,” Hilana shook her head. There was nothing for it, not right now. It would be easier to be settled, and then know where she was going to bring her menagerie to, rather than haul them all from place to place. The snakes might be fine, but Risdra and the new kittens? Less so. Trickier was the possibility of moving her dozens of venomous reptiles and their setups... but if needs must. She wasn’t just going to leave the two of them out there at the Citadel; she would just have to commute to and from work.

She gathered her backpack, putting it back on her shoulders before taking a woven basket and wrapping food in sturdy beeswax-saturated cloths and packing it away for Rickter to eat later on. Lia moved the dishes to the sink for the servii to deal with when they vacated the premises. “Time for us to go now,” the younger sister smiled at the Wolf. Lia pulled her hood over her hair, and Hilana’s braids were left as they were. The rain couldn’t do much to produce her curls with them being bound as they were. If Lykos was ready, then the Vastii were. But where he went, they were clearly coming too.

For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the Wolf is the strength of the Pack.

Posted: **Tue Jun 20, 2023 12:58 am**

Lykos realized quickly that there would be times, and a lot of them at that, where he would feel just as clueless of the world as he did now. Namely because of his lack of understanding with the language the room natively spoke, leading him to feel even more out of his element than he already might've been. Perhaps in time he'd pick it up swiftly, but until then, he thought it best if not smart to keep his own words to a minimum. He did not wish to say or insinuate anything which might impede on Hilana, or Athalia in that regard, seeing as how they seemed to be handling the situation accordingly.

The wolf sensed no hostility from those present, nor any scent of malice which might've been traceable off the group. It became clearer that there were low whispers between the leader talking to Hilana, and something which she nodded to after hearing what he had to say. Even with his excellent hearing he still could not make out what had been exchanged, though, thinking about what Lia had mentioned earlier when Lana explained their case led him to wonder. Lykos himself hadn't the faintest idea what exactly happened in that place he awoke in, only that the three who found him there knew him as the alleged "Lord of Frost" shortly after.

It dawned on him then that, perhaps, he needed to ask and see what the three had went through inside that strange location. If he could learn the details about their visit there, then maybe, he could at least surmise where he fell in place with it all. Regardless, it would have to wait until they weren't accompanied by more strangers, ones who could just as easily change up their language into a dialect most familiar to Lykos himself. The man in question used rather large words for the wolf, but all the same, he understood the principle of what had been expressed to him in turn.

"Surely..." He started with great apprehension as his eyes moved from the trio to the founders which brought him here. "... such an estate isn't accommodating for one such as I?" Not that he didn't want to make himself at home right away, but Lykos had found it difficult to even cross that first threshold to arrive here, to begin with. Now, after eating and getting settled in, he was to be moved to a different place he had no idea existed. He might've come off a little cautious as a result of the inquiry, but when Hilana chimed in on the name of the citadel mentioned, the wolf grew to gradually smile in response to her attentive behavior.

From the sound of it she had quite the pile of affairs to sort out, which made him feel a little bad in turn, both for being so reliant on her and for being helpless in return. As far as he could tell though, the sisters and the ghost that accompanied them were intent on going along, an idea he wanted to pose as unnecessary when in reality... he would've rather them accompany him then go alone. There was such underlying fear inside that he hadn't any idea how to combat it yet, not with such immense uncertainty found plaguing the entire world around him.

"Thank you..." He murmured when the cloth was handed to him, the wolf wiping each of his digits off first before their crevices, and then finally the palms of his hands themselves. Once they felt clean enough his face was next, proving a bit more tedious due to the amount hair surrounding his lips. Really, if he was gonna survive in the heat of the south, then perhaps he needed to consider trimming it down a little bit. Seeing as how the sisters were getting ready for the departure, Lykos rested the cloth down on the table before him, rising slowly as he felt the weight settle in his gut. Incredibly enough after all that he'd just eaten, he still felt insanely peckish for whatever reason.

"Alright," he regarded to the leader of the Sentinels present, "I... am ready." His heart thrummed heavily in his chest but Lykos wanted to put on a brave face, knowing he was in good company, so long as he had the two sisters there to look after him. At the very least, he'd get to nibble more on the food they brought along the way.

Posted: **Tue Jun 20, 2023 10:28 am**

"Fate, was it?" Phocion queried of Æros, the smirk audible in his voice even when it wasn't visible on his face. Still, he wouldn't linger long enough on the matter for the ghost to think the question wanted for an actual answer.

Phocion arched an eyebrow at the exchange between Hilana and the one marked by Herodyn as a simulacrum of some kind. He spoke up in Common.

"You presume that this is an invitation to an extended stay. For you, this is not the case, Hilana. You will be properly debriefed and then given leave to return to your home in the capital. There are others in your party who will need to be assessed with greater scrutiny." His glance turned from Lia to Lykos, where it lingered.

"Not for the nonce, no.... Understand that it is out of caution, not animosity, that our realm must take such measures. We must consider the safety of our citizens before we allow foreign entities of unknown potency to freely dwell amongst them. Consider this not an incarceration, but rather..." He paused, to ponder before landing on: "...a quarantine period."

The Sentinels stood by as the party gathered their supplies, speaking not as to whether there would indeed be any refreshment provided at their destination. When all were prepared, he would lead them toward the courtyard of the estate as if he knew the path intimately.

Upon arriving, they would find a pair of Sentinels waiting in the centre who, at a nod from Phocion, collaborated to weave the slipstreams into a portal. High overhead mounted wyverns could be seen circling the area and a Master Sembler or Mesmer of equal skill might note the figures of more Silver Sentinels observing from the roofs surrounding the courtyard.

Sentinel Phocion did not halt his course, heading straight into the portal and stepping onto the appropriately red stone tile of the same conference room that Æros had been taken to when Talon was apprehended in similar fashion. Like then, there was a table of food and drink and a great floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the village below and the Expanse beyond occupied one wall. Opposite that was a wall interrupted by a set of double doors, but now the walls on either side, which had been bare on Æros' last visit, were festooned with tapestries. They looked mundane at first and very old, but at a flick of Phocion's wrist they came alive with illumination.

On one side was a depiction of Zalkyrion Rex Draconum bursting forth from Mount Sorokyn like a living eruption, as minuscule mortals fell to genuflection. The opposing wall depicted the Founding Twins in a coronation scene where the Platinum Dragons occupied the entirety of the background, observing the rites impassively.

"Now then..." Phocion began, gesturing to the table, "Those of you with arses may rest them upon the seats provided, and those of you with tongues may enjoy what refreshment we offer." He glanced to a servus,

"Incipiam a vino." He instructed, extended a gloved hand for a silver goblet of wine to be placed into his grasp.

"I have heard Hilana's tale. What gaps would the rest of you fill into her telling?" He lifted a hand to unfasten his veil, revealing the pale, pretty face hitherto obscured as other Sentinels moved to take symmetrical stations along the walls.

Legend of Ransera

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