Atharen, A Fantasy Roleplay Forum

Posted: **Tue May 03, 2022 2:55 pm**

Glade 10th, 4622

Lux had left Amoren for no particular reason at all, beyond the general Daravinic atmosphere of the city. After wandering the woods and camping with the cat, he simply never returned. Instead, he traveled east, and south, mostly along a river he did not yet know the name of. Lux's avoidance of people and Halamire was accidental, but supremely effective in keeping him alive. As much as he did not realize that he was a likely target for near anyone that wished someone else ill, he preferred to stay in the wilderness, away from roads, sleeping during the day in sequestered hiding spots and travelling at night by the light of the stars.

Excitement grew when he could see the mountains grow in the distance. This wasn't far from his home, hidden away in the snowy peaks and dense evergreens that crawled up the mountainsides, but he wasn't ready to return home. He spent his riverside journey taking notes of the wildlife, though he was not a biologist, but he especially kept notes of the curves and shallow portions of the river itself, split through pages and pages of his journal. Lux reckoned he had drawn a page for each day's travel, and with his strong legs and wanderlust he managed a great distance each day. He was running out of room in his journal, even though he started to cram his doodles of birds and flowers into the margins of the river mapping. It didn't help that he recorded the position of the stars he could see each night in the very same journal.

He did not know the name of the city of Boghadar, but he was near enough to see it at the edge of the mountains and the waterfalls that poured at its feet. Still, the city proper was too far for him to reach that night, and with the dangers that Taelian had warned him about Amoren, he was unsure if it would be safe for him to actually enter the city in the first place. But he did need a new journal, and if he was lucky, he would be able to find a place to sit and project the map of the river from Amoren to where it met the rivers that fell from the mountain around the new city.

It was around a smaller piece of river, partially up the mountain, that Lux decided to make camp late in the morning. He set up his tent back into the brush, nearly invisible from the riverside and anyone who might chance pass it, and slept the sunlight away in a light, dreamless sleep. It had been long since he was able to get a good night's sleep, being ever more aware of the dangers of the world.

Early evening came and Lux awoke, feeling as if he had not received much sleep at all. From his guess it was seven, or maybe seven-thirty in the evening; the sun wasn't yet low, but it was approaching its own bed. Frustrated at his own tiredness, he sat himself near the edge of the river in a spot of grass and rocks and began tossing them into the water. His tail flicked around behind him with each toss and the remaining arms of sunlight caught the reflective gold rings on his arms and horns. With the mindless throwing of smooth river stones, he wondered if he should simply sleep again and go to Boghadar the next morning instead.

Posted: **Tue May 03, 2022 4:25 pm**

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Cain had left his chambers in the mid morning wearing little more than a black robe and sandals as he wandered through his manor and into the more obscured areas of the estate’s gardens. Once properly sequestered, he shifted into his True form and disrobed. The only thing he left on was a Sunderstrike resting within a leather sheath firmly anchored to his thigh. The strap that held this together was also adorned with a small, durable pouch he used to transport Sunderscraps.

Shortly after discarding his clothing, he climbed over the wall of the estate. From there, he dove into the nearest river and began his voyage out of the city to find something easy to kill. While he could hunt in the city proper, there was something…improper, to him, about killing the citizens of his home city. That…and there was a thrill to hunting travelers along the road, leaping from the river and catching them by surprise. He’d actually started hearing rumors about himself since he’d started doing this. There’s a monster lurking in the rivers of Boghadar, so they’ve said. A fun urban legend, he’d always reply.

Now midday on the outskirts of the city, he swam by a simple campsite along the riverbank. The Rathor could smell a presence within, but it was rather…weak? Small? Something of the like, but definitely lacking in marks of control. One convenient thing about being a Dranoch is that he could tell if one was marked or not based on scent; the more appetizing to him it was, the stronger the mage. He pulsed the sound of the water’s flow into a low rumble with Sonar to see if he was missing anything— he wasn’t. It was as he thought, a single person lay within, small in stature and quite light in weight. That wouldn’t be very filling, now would it?

And so he swam by.

Continuing down the river, he’d occasionally poke his head above the water to just breathe in the air around him. His true form’s eyesight was pretty terrible on its own– he relied almost entirely on scent, sound, resonance and anything picked up by his ampullae of lorenzini. He caught the scent of something nice on the wind…further down the river.

So onward did the Neoalt swim.

After a time, he poked his head out again and the scent was much stronger. It was that of a living body…two of them, to be precise. He’d taken a fork in the river that had apparently led towards a road where these travelers must have been walking. Cain could not detect the presence of anyone else nearby, so it would just be these two he’d have to deal with. Easy enough, he supposed.

As he neared the pair, he sent another pulse of Sonar, refined with Ethersonography, resonating through the sound of the river’s flow. An adult man and an adult woman, but the woman came across as more appetizing, despite the fact that Sonar revealed her to be much smaller in height and muscle mass than her companion. She had to be a mage in that case…lucky him. Of what kind? That was not something he could tell– but given the fact that he was fairly new to Sundering, he did not care at all. Anything would do, he just needed them for practice.

With a pulse of ether, the Resoner manifested the skill of Kinesthia around his lithe figure as he lay crouched in the river’s shallows. Using the water’s flow and another pulse of Sonar to gauge the pair’s exact locations, he then casted Sonic Blink to appear mere inches behind the male figure he’d perceived. To set them both off balance, he channeled yet more ether into a use of Intonation that sharply increased the volume and pitch of the sound made at the end of his Sonic Blink– loud enough to make their ears ring and heads spin. In the same motion, he launched himself onto the back of the male and twisted his head around hard enough to break his neck utilizing the supernatural strength granted to him by virtue of being a Rathor crossed Dranoch.

The woman screamed and leapt away as he did this. With remarkably sharp reaction time, the Risen mage took note that he was covered in water. With that in mind, she casted a quick Ionize to turn the thin veneer of water on his flesh into a powerful acid, immediately spreading acidic burns all over the Rathor’s body. Having not expected that, he dropped the body of his initial target in a fit of pain as he quickly realized what had happened. She, too, had a mark of Baptism.

Once this clicked, he used his own mark to Ionize the acidity of the water back down and then Realigned it into gas, drying himself off and disabling her from immediately doing that again. Using Tendril, the woman tried in vain to swipe at him with water drawn from the nearby river– but the Dranoch Resoner was too fast for her to hit. With a quick cast of Aural Burst, he sent himself flying at a cheetah’s speed and smashed into her with all of his weight focused into his shoulder.

The impact resulted in both of them hitting the floor, but he used her body to cushion his fall. Still alive but disabled, he grabbed for his Sunderstrike and in a few swift motions, plunged it into the unfortunate Risen’s chest. Panting and in horrible pain from the acid burns all of his body, the botchling struggled to grab the Baptism scrap within the time limit, though in the end he did succeed as the woman’s body began to crystallize beneath him. The glinting, deep blue Vaponel now acquired, he tucked it into the pouch on his thigh and made his way back over to the corpse of the man he’d killed first, disabling Kinesthia on his way.

Slowly, he moved to unhinge his jaw and eat the man’s corpse. He left nothing behind– not a single scrap of clothing, metal, or bone. All was consumed as he tore through bone, flesh and sinew. Cain wanted to waste nothing, especially now that he was injured. Feeding was the only way to expedite his healing and with this he figured he would be fine again in a couple days.

As soon as he was finished, the Rathor made his way back to the river’s bank and gradually lowered himself back in. The sensation of the water agitated his damaged skin for only a moment before the cold temperature was overall soothing to him. Cain wanted to return to Boghadar even though his Human form would also bear the marks of his burns; he’d just grab the Shard Resonator he’d left with his discarded clothing and use it to warp to his cave near Leride. There, he could easily rest and heal unbothered.

As he journeyed back to his home, he swam near the part of the river with that little campsite he’d seen in the morning. The sun was just beginning to set as the warm evening hues started to spread across the sky and the man made no attempt to come out of the water to check that camp again. That is…until he was struck in the shoulder by a small projectile? This couldn’t have been on purpose…could it?

Poking his head just above water, Cain would look noticeably burned, though it would look like he'd already made it well into the cycle of healing. What he saw was…certainly strange. The little thing who’d thrown the stone that had hit him froze like a deer in headlights once he’d set his misty gaze on him. He was just as small as the Sonar he’d cast earlier in the day revealed, but that wasn’t even the strange part. The man was bright red with horns and a tail. He didn’t resemble any sort of fauna he’d come across in all his travels…he wasn’t any kind of Rathor he’d ever seen.

“Do tell— did you throw that with the intention of striking me? If you did…I would like to inform you that such a thing is not only impolite, but also rather unwise.” Despite speaking formally, his voice was low and monstrous with a sort of hissing ring to it almost like a snake. The tone with which he spoke was rather austere and cold.

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'Thoughts'
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Vithmi Tongue/Speech"
"Raillen Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Tue May 03, 2022 7:42 pm**

Lux shouted an expletive in Kornaan in surprise as his latest tossed stone resulted in a man, some sort of cross between fish and humanoid, sticking his head out of the water. The man was clearly displeased, and perhaps injured, but he didn't want to make the assumption if that was just the way his skin happened to look. Unfortunately, the most Lux could do for an injury was attempt to suture a wound, and these looked like burns. But as Lux was thinking all of this, he leaned forward and was quiet for a bit too long before replying.

"Oh, no, I'm so sorry! I didn't know there were fish men in the rivers. I was just, I slept here for the night but I got an absolutely awful sleep and I was a bit frustrated..." Lux spilled out his thoughts in thickly accented Common, an accent that Cain would have certainly never heard before. "I usually travel at night and sleep during the day, I think it's safer for me. Daravin really seems not to like me. But everyone looks so similar here, I've not met anyone that looks like you before. I suppose everyone looks similar when you grow up with people who look like me, but that's besides the point." His tone was friendly, especially compared to Cain's, though Cain's voice did little to scare the Moroi man.

Lux stood up and brushed himself off. "I was wondering, actually, are you familiar with that city?" He gestured towards Boghadar, not too far off but not so close that many people would have stumbled across the Moroi usually. "I was wondering because I don't know the name of it, and I need to buy a new journal... I've been charting the local rivers and I'm running out of space, and I've just been travelling so much I've had nowhere to actually lay out my maps — I'm a cartographer, you see —" Lux paused, and realized he had been rambling endlessly to the man who he just hit with a rock. He supposed that was a natural reaction to not having socialized with near anyone for as long as he had been solitary. Being alone didn't bother him, but he did like to talk to people. It just felt so dangerous to be seen in Daravin. He smiled, a real smile, his solid gold eyes wrinkling in the corners and the constellation tattoo on his cheek stretching to match.

"Sorry, I've just not had many people to talk to lately. I'm Lux Ki-Bahraz. What's your name?"

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2022 12:59 am**

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Frankly, Cain was expecting the little red man to be fully terrified and that was the point. He thought scaring people was minorly entertaining…mostly because he’s kind of mean. Instead, the stranger was silent for an uncomfortably long period of time before launching into a ramble about Daravin, needing to go to Boghadar, needing more paper, and being a cartographer? The muscles of the Rathor’s brow knit together in utter confusion at this response. Firstly, what the hell was he? A creature from another dimension? Where was that accent from? Once the little one had gotten over his initial shock, he was completely friendly, almost happy to have seen him??

…

It took an extra few moments for him to…think about what he wanted to say. At first, he couldn’t help but just…laugh. “No…no. Lest you wonder, I am the only one like me that lives here. Are you familiar with Rathor…? We’re Beastmen. Far as I’m aware, I’m the only aquatic one in the vicinity. Daravin does not have many Rathor– so I relate to you in regards to the fact that I stand out. Well…at least like this.” His voice was still notably monstrous and animalistic, but he’d actually let a fairly notable amount of his amusement bleed into his words and spoke with a much more amiable tone than the first time.

After he spoke, he hesitated for a second, not really knowing what his human form would look like burned. Nonetheless he briefly shifted into it and then back to display the fact that he can blend in here. “I survive by hiding myself, though. I’m actually a noble here—” he laughed again. Would the other understand how absurd this was? If anyone found out one of Daravin’s nobles was a Rathor in disguise the scandal would be…massive.

“...but I can’t really be seen like this. I was returning home to get teleportation crystals to…go hide until these burns heal. This was…an accident? My skin will regenerate, however, it’ll just take a few days. After that, far be it from me to deny helping you out.” Why did he just say this? The sheer level of out of character it was for him of all people to offer a complete stranger his help was bordering on almost as absurd as his existence within Daravin’s high society. Despite this fact, he didn’t retract the offer. There was something charming about the little horned one’s naivety and open friendliness to him. Especially since he was so very kind to him whilst he was both in his True form and burned to hell.

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'Thoughts'
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Vithmi Tongue/Speech"
"Raillen Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2022 1:33 am**

Lux beamed, though the man had not given him his name in return, it did not seem to bother him. Assistance in procuring another journal was both wanted and needed, given the reception he had been given by most others in Daravin. But it did not seem that a cruel, cold-hearted demeanor and the threat of death was held by everyone, and he was just happy to have met yet another person who treated him kindly.

"I met a Rathor once, he couldn't shapeshift. Stuck in the form of a cat man forever. He told me that some of you could shift, though." He watched as his new friend turned into a human — it was burn scars, it seemed, clearly visible all over the naked man — and then back again, his own mouth in a toothy grin. "That's amazing! I didn't know that Rathor were nobles here. I've tried to avoid people here, you know? Once some armored men pointed a gun at me! I didn't know what it was at the time so It was mostly confusing, but then I was saved by a very tall man and we went to Amoren. But I left Amoren, and I walked all the way over here, and I thought okay, I'll keep track of the rivers, too, because that's what I was travelling by. And so I have all these maps and notes about the rivers and the shallow, narrow parts.

"I need new pencils, too. I actually need a few new things, now that I think about it. You know, I've been sleeping on the ground for ages but I have been wanting to sleep on a real bed. It's intimidating to go into the cities, though, and once I was told that I would be kidnapped and enslaved the instant the wrong person saw me." Lux shrugged, completely oblivious to the fact that this new friend could very well be a wrong person — after all, he offered to help him, and why would you offer to help someone you were going to take?

"I can't hide like you can, though I don't think I would want to pretend to be a human. That sounds exhausting, but you'd know better than me." Lux took a few steps towards the river where the man was, as if to get a better look at him.

"You're really colorful, that's amazing. I mostly draw wild flowers and sometimes birds if they sit still long enough, but I've never drawn a fish, or a man, so maybe I could draw both." He paused. "You said your skin regenerates? That's wonderful! Maybe I could draw you when you're healed! I'm not that great, but you know, as a payment in return for helping me out." He sighed. "I don't have a lot of money. Maybe if I started travelling and making maps, I could sell them to people, but I mostly just keep them to myself... I make them the way my mother taught me, so they're different than any I've seen in Daravin." He paused for a moment to catch his breath. He was somewhat aware he was talking to much, but he felt like he had been keeping in his words for ages and now that he had started it was difficult to slow down.

"Thank you for your offer, is what I'm trying to say. That's very kind of you. It's been difficult travelling by myself, and I am very homesick, but meeting new people always makes me feel better."

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2022 2:26 am**

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The smaller one pretty immediately began to speak in a waterfall of words again as soon as the Neoalt had made his offer. Apparently, he’d met a Beastalt once— but that of a cat. Similar to him in race, but not quite the same in function much less appearance.

The next thing he said was somewhat confusing– if only because it was several different thoughts jumbled into a pile. “Oh– I should clarify. No, nobles here are only Human and Norai, elves. The nobles outside of my family have no idea I’m Rathor. The head of my house breaks…all kinds of laws, and so did his parents before him. However, if you found people with guns then you either found Badlanders or the Halamire. Easy to tell apart, though. Halamire are Daravin’s military and Badlanders are…madmen from the desert.” As for ‘a very tall man’ this didn’t sound too strange to Cain, all things considered. He just assumed that Lux was referring to a taller elf…sometimes they bordered around seven feet tall. “You walked from Amoren all the way here? How long has that journey taken?” Cain was no stranger to travel by foot, but since he’d started using his Shard Resonators, he couldn’t really imagine traveling that way all the time anymore.

The next set of things the strange man said included needing more pencils, the fact that he’d been sleeping on the ground for awhile, and the dangers of being enslaved. After thinking for a moment, he clicked his tongue and responded. “Well...Personally, I’ve no real use for slaves. However, I will extend to you an offer– should anybody try to enslave you…tell them you’re already claimed by House Socorro. Which, for the record, is mine. If you wish to be more specific, you can say you’re working under Veir Cain, Lola, or Degare. The first being my name, for the record. If you choose to say the other two, just tell them you’re with me and they’ll turn a blind eye. I give you their names because they are both significantly older than I am so theirs will carry more weight. Especially Degare– he’s my house’s Lord-Regent….but he won’t be mad, I promise. Mind, you won’t actually be anyone’s slave. Just a safety measure to keep somebody else from snatching you up. As for pencils and a place to stay, I have both…but my house is at the far end of the city, nestled against the mountain. I could go get my crystal and come back to create a portal for both of us to be transported directly into the manor, if you wanted. Again, though…I would need to sequester myself away until my face heals, but you could stay in the servants’ quarters. Just say you’re working under me.” Given his profession, taking in a young cartographer was objectively a good idea. So while it was a little strange for him to extend hospitality in this regard, it isn’t as if the Veir would be gaining nothing. Plus, the little horned one was charming in his…extreme naivety of Daravinic society and blindly optimistic attitude.

When the other said he can’t hide and how that must be tiring, the Rathor grimaced. “It…can be. Humans are so…” he trails off, but from his rather bitter tone of voice, one could assume that whatever he’d meant to end that sentence with wasn’t very kind.

It was then that Lux spoke again, this time talking about the colors of the Rathor's skin and fins. He was…very excited. He wanted to draw Cain…? The notion was odd but endearing in and of itself. With a curious tilt to his head as the other finished speaking, “If you’d like to, I wouldn’t say no. As for…money, ah…selling your maps could work, I think. As an archaeologist, I’ve personally spent a great deal on such things in my time so I’d be happy to both fund you and serve as a guard while we delve into the unknown. When I said these burns were an ‘accident’ what I was alluding to was combat— a mage took advantage of the fact that I was covered with water and converted it to acid. My own fault, really. I have the same magic. Could’ve dried myself off beforehand but didn’t think about it. I’m really very competent, though." Not a lie– his Resonance was potent on its own and that’s before you take into account the strength of his Rathor form and the fact that he’s Dranoch. At this point, he was genuinely interested in traveling with the naive one. He usually made his expeditions alone, but wouldn’t mind a change in that regard.

The last thing he said was something about being both alone and homesick– that and he liked meeting strangers. As nice as that sentiment was, such a thing would be…ill advised here. With light laughter, “I understand the sentiment…but as I’m sure you’ve been told, Daravin is not very friendly to lone travelers. If you consider my offer, I’ll be happy to provide a veil of protection for you, though. That, and I’d love to learn all about your people should you agree.”

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'Thoughts'
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Vithmi Tongue/Speech"
"Raillen Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2022 6:19 pm**

Lux nodded in acknowledgement as his new friend explained the entire situation. He thought it was funny that he was telling him that he was a noble that wasn't supposed to be a noble, or however that situation worked out. Then again, he'd almost erupted into his life story, and he didn't see the point in keeping his own secrets. Nothing he had was worth hiding like it seemed to be for the secret Rathor noble. At the question of how long his journey had taken him, he looked at the sky and shrugged. "Oh... I don't really know. I left mid-Frost, but I like to take my time. I spend a lot of it drawing or taking notes. It's the 10th, right? I'm an astronomer, too. I keep track of the stars."

Lux listened intently at the instructions Cain gave him. "So if I tell people I'm with House Socorro, It'll be easier to run around in the city? Thank you!" His tail flicked, and he smiled. "I can stay anywhere just fine. I'm pretty low maintenance. I'll pack up while you go get your crystal." Lux had no idea about portals or teleportation or crystals of any means, but he also knew that asking more questions about it wouldn't really explain anything, especially when Cain already seemed in a rush to get home.

"I know nothing about magic." He didn't really care for fighting, either, but Cain seemed nice and if he was fighting someone he was fairly sure it must have been for a good reason, whatever the reason may have been. "But you're an archaeologist? I'd love to travel with you. I'd love to map out places that haven't been seen in ages. I can't fight worth a damn, but I'm a quick learner — I'm a lot smarter than I seem, I mean. Just most everything I've learned is about a planet that was destroyed decades ago. I can tell you about it when we get to your estate! My people are the Moroi. Most of us were killed while escaping to Atharen."

With that, a loud cawing came from above and a crow appeared, landing onto Lux's shoulder, and the Moroi reached a hand to pet his beak. The bird looked inquisitively at Cain, his head tilted, and he cawed again. Lux looked back at Cain. "This is Nyx. I trained him after I befriended a whole group of crows near my house. Sometimes he flies away for a few days." He was just happy the bird returned before he disappeared to the Socorro estate.

"Okay, I'll pack, and then when you come back I'll go with you." With that, Lux immediately turned to start taking down his tent and to pack his bag with everything he may have gotten out the morning before. The coincidence and the fortune of meeting someone like Cain did not strike him as particularly odd, and he didn't really wonder if it should have. He seemed to have a knack for meeting the right people at the right time, and Cain seemed interested in his skills as a cartographer already.

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2022 7:22 pm**

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The carefree attitude that the horned one had towards the nature of foot travel was surprising, though probably a good thing in the long run given his profession as a cartographer. Such a thing would also make him naturally a more amiable traveling companion since he’d be less likely to complain…actually, at this point, Cain could kind of tell that out of the two of them, if anyone was going to be whiny about their circumstances, it’d be him, not his newfound companion. “Astronomy, too, huh? Fascinating…” He seemed relatively pleased with this information, though he didn’t expand upon the reason why.

When the other responded to his offering of protection, he would appear to nod. “Correct…most places have at least heard the name our House– the Lord Regent, though reluctantly, does his best to make his presence known in all of Daravin’s large events for Entente. Especially in Boghadar will our family name pull weight. Most will fear overstepping against us, and consequently, will leave you alone.” The Rathor spoke with notably bright notes of pride about his family. “Our servants’ quarters are really quite generous so you needn’t worry about a lack of comfort,” he assured. “It won’t take me long to collect the crystal, Resonance makes movement quite quick for me.”

At the notion that the man knew nothing of magic, Cain was honestly not surprised, though he did realize he’d probably have to adjust his speech to contain more of an explanation of the tenants of the magic he used if he wanted to make sense to the other. He looked pleased when the other expressed interest in traveling with him, but he did laugh a bit when Lux stated that he was nothing of a fighter. The Dranoch had figured as much from looking at him. At the mention of Moroi, he seemed intrigued. Cain had heard of them, but beyond that, very little else. Just that a strange looking race had serendipitously arrived at some point in time. He’d always wanted to find one out of his natural curiosity and…one ended up throwing a rock at him.

“If you want to learn about magic, I can help you, though I am really only good with Resonance. I do have a second mark, but I got it…recently,” he spoke with slight embarrassment at how little he’d managed to advance his Baptism at this point. Using Realign, he froze some of the river’s water into a chunk of ice in his palm and held it just above the surface. “The second is Baptism, all I can really do with it right now is shift water between the three states…or make it mildly acidic.” With that, he dropped the ice back into the river. “If neither of those interest you, I can point you towards the Lord-Regent– he knows more than I. As does his Valran along with my mother. Combined I think the four us have, hm…ten…? different marks.” That sounded about right.

“Regarding combat…again, you needn’t worry about that unless you want to. Provided I don’t make any stupid mistakes, I am quite strong.” He says this with a toothy grin that might look a little disturbing given the jagged, razor sharp nature of the teeth that crowded his mouth. Remarkably shark-like in shape, they also had a sort of monstrous nature to their form having been warped by his Blight. They alone would make his bite devastating, and that’s before one even considers his venom.

“I am eager to learn more of you and your people.” He spoke without restraining his sincerity.

The caw of a crow rattled Cain’s sensitive hearing, but he did like birds, so it didn’t really bother him…just made him flinch. “Lovely little friend you have there!” He remarked with a small nod.

“I really shouldn’t be long since my goal will be to remain out of sight.” Shortly after he said this, he sank back into the water. With a loud bout of wake left behind, the mage’s Aural Burst propelled him forwards as he deftly navigated the turns of the river he’d grown so familiar with. Any incline he needed to traverse was also crutched with Resonance, using Aural Burst to propel himself upwards as opposed to manual climbing. The Rathor’s movements became more controlled and quiet only when he neared his estate. It didn’t matter to him if he was seen in the vicinity of the city, or even in it, since nobody would connect his appearance to that of his Human form. However, it would be odd if anyone saw a monster making their way onto his family’s property.

It probably took him ten minutes at the absolute most to get back to his estate. Arriving back at the sequestered location he left his belongings, he dug through them and obtained his Shard Resonator. Placing it in the little pouch on his leg, he made his journey back down to where Lux would be waiting.

Once he’d returned, he lifted himself out of the water and withdrew the glinting crystal. “Alright…just let me know when you’re ready and I can make the portal.”

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'Thoughts'
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Vithmi Tongue/Speech"
"Raillen Tongue/Speech"

Posted: **Fri May 06, 2022 1:43 pm**

Lux was rather adept at packing quickly. He travelled lightly, and the longest task was simply attaching his rolled tent to his backpack for ease of travel. With all his hiking and carrying of things, he was much stronger than he looked at first glance, but he had no idea how to really use his wanderer's strength. If someone tried to fight him, he'd lose immediately. It was a fact that didn't bother him as much as it should have. Lux didn't like violence or fighting and he certainly didn't want to participate in it directly; he understood the need for self defense, though. Especially in such dangerous environs as the real world.

He was standing by the edge of the river, packed and ready to go, for a few minutes before Cain reappeared. Doubt that Cain would come back had never crossed his mind. He had been totally sure that the Rathor would come back and whisk him away to the estate, and he was right to have this faith. Nyx sat on his shoulder still, perched and still curious about the continued nonsense Lux had managed to get himself into.

"I'm ready to go! I've never gone through a portal before, is there anything I'm supposed to do?" Lux had everything he needed strapped to his person, so he entertained the thought that all he'd have to do is...well, he wasn't exactly sure what a portal would look like, so he hoped it would be easy enough to just walk through. In any case, when Cain summoned the portal he would do exactly as he was told to do with a smile on his face.

Posted: **Fri May 06, 2022 11:02 pm**

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It didn’t take that long for the Rathor to make the trip to his estate and back, and when he climbed out of the water, he used Realign to evaporate the water off of himself to not get it all over his chambers when he traveled through the portal.

When he’d arrived, he saw Lux just standing there, waiting expectantly. Of course, Cain did say he’d come back– but he still found the image rather funny in his head given the fact that realistically, an Entente making an offer like his was more likely to be some sort of lie or trap than genuine.

“You? No– just step through after I open it. Probably…have the bird fly to us. The vibrations might be harmful to a creature so small.” With a nod to the crow, he genuinely did think it was likely a risk to throw the little thing through.

At that, he charged ether into the crystal, causing it to float out in front of his palm and vibrate rather violently. After a few seconds, it tore open a reasonably large portal into the space in front of them. “Step through after me, and I’ll recall the crystal to the one on the other side.” With that, he went through himself, ending up in his chambers in the manor on the other side.

He felt a little dizzy after going through, but this was a fairly normal side effect of using pretty much any powerful resonance skill. The room on the other side was reasonably large in size and grand in decoration.

____

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