Fantasy Aerial Distinction, Ethereal Discretion

[Spazzycat101]

Covering a sizable portion of a single supercontinent, one dotted with both high and low-bearing soaring islands above it, there is a flourishing city-state, with tiny towns scattered about it. The grand capital is situated atop one of the largest hovering lands. Neither the land nor the capital possesses any formal name, not even by its own government. The land of this place is one deeply associated with magic of many variations, but contrary to that truth, the civilization has only begun to understand a few.





Perhaps in consequence to that lack of knowledge in magic, the city has been finding odd occurrences taking place. Things such as floating cattle, sudden disappearance of goods, and even people.

(Please introduce your character in the main city if you join from the beginning)​

 

[Spazzycat101]

Cora drifted between the small crowds, hovering around shops, armouries, bookshops and other various sellers and merchants with booths overshadowed by awnings. She was wearing her more casual clothing, her bag secured over her shoulder. She had little use for any of what she saw, but she believed she would be staying for a while in this town. Cora asked citizens and merchants, for in this culture there was little in this culture to distinguish them compared to her own customs, about what she had heard recently. She was occupied with enthusiastic tales, and noted many variations of what appeared to be the same even from different people. The shop down the avenue had closed, its inventory was suddenly found to all be rusted and dusted as if unused for years, but had been gleaming and ready for sale the day before. It sounded not too complicated, in Cora's opinion. A few skilled alchemists or enchanters could have achieved such a feat.


She moved on, inquiring of the magics found in the city. She gathered from observation and conversation that this was not the most magical of the four realms; that title was granted to the SouthEast. While it was not the most common, however, there were a few shops who carried spellbooks or supplies, and even two or three she heard of solely dedicated to it. Cora made her way there with the varying directions she collected person to person.


She finally arrived at one of the few explicitly magical shops. She noted a few simple items, such as systems of small gears, whirring and clinking happily. After a quick examination, she determined it was fueled by a small motion enchantment. She grinned. The toy didn't seem to serve much of a purpose, though, unless one wanted to watch a series of concentric hemispheres whir in place all day. After further examination, most other products were similar. Finally, however, she reached a single corner of the shop in which more useful things seemed to hide under the cover of shelves. Cora selected from a leather-bound stack what appeared to be a book of general magical lore. She tenderly flipped through the first several pages, but was slightly disappointed for it was quite bare compared to her own book, one with more detailed diagrams and descriptions. Side by side, her own was a more worn and thicker volume. Her smile fell. Perhaps this place didn't have as much to offer as she had originally thought.....


She stepped out of the shop later, holding her hand above her face and glaring against the bright sun. She stood on the steps up to the small shop, a few heads above the crowd not only for the ground, but for her own height.


(My apologies for only now putting up the first post... ;-


(@Elvengarda @Dragongal)

 

[Dragongal]

"You best be apologizing to that young miss right now," Elith said, looking at a man who'd said something quite ruse to a young lady, though it was something scum like he might consider a compliment. She kept her country accent out of her voice as best as she could. The man said some rather unsavory words to Elith as she leaned against the wall of a shop. She shrugged, explaining, "I'm just a-sayin', you ought' apologize to the young miss, your behavior was worse than a rat's. Though, perhaps that ought' be expected from you." A punch was thrown, a wrist was caught, weight was imbalanced, and a swift kick from Elith ended the resistance, throwing the man at the feet of the crowd. She knew exactly how hard to kick to knock the man out but not cause permanent damage. A Guard member glanced at her, and she smiled nonchalantly, and the Guard nodded; they knew her.


Elith spoke to the young miss she'd been defending, saying, educatedly and without her accent, "Pardon this man, ma'am, he does not represent the mannerisms of the rest of this city. I hope he did not injure you?' Elith, being informed that he didn't looked to the downed man, and then to the woman whose feet he laid at. She smiled kindly, saying, "Sorry, ma'am, this sir needed a bit of a lesson in manners, and he seems to have failed. Terribly sorry if I've caused any problems, ma'am."The woman wore casual clothes and a leather pack over her shoulders, similar to Elith. "Beg pardon, ma'am, but are you a traveler?"





@Spazzycat101

 

[Spazzycat101]

Quite suddenly, a few words were spoken beyond Cora's attention. She acknowledged their existence and little more until blows were dealt. By the end of whatever small quarrel, a man lay at the feet of a woman, also with reddish hair. She had been speaking to Cora. The woman made a few comments toward the man that were all too true, he'd have been absolutely intolerable in Cora's own community. Nonetheless, she had been addressed. Cora spoke with a small bow.


'There was no trouble with that, miss. In fact, I quite agree with your lesson of sorts, I'd have scolded him myself had I noticed his... disgracefulness.'


Cora shifted the relatively light weight of her bag, looking down at the man with a pitying expression. She then returned her attention to her conversation.


'And indeed, I am one you might classify under a traveling trade. I may go as far as my feet may take me, and have yet to find what limit that sets upon me. After all, there is little harm to exploring new cultures.'


She gave a broad smile and another bow of her head.


'Oh what trade might you be, miss? Apparently one whom shall find their own share of disrespectful creatures?' With the last sentence, she sent a quick and accusing glance toward the man, who had now begun to right himself, although with pain.

 

[Dragongal]

"Well, many people who are plenty respectable become quite contrary waking up in a medic's care. But I have many trades, not least among them - Beg pardon, ma'am, one second," Elith had to pause to haul the man up by the back of his collar and shove him into the crowd before returning her view to Cora, "working with the Guard. Normally I hate to resort to blows, however, I'm afraid you met me at the wrong moment." Elith sighed. It was already a rough morning, but she'd admittedly let off some steam a few moments ago. She held her hand out, saying, "My name's Elith McCoy. Need some guiding around here? I know just about every merchant hereabout."

 

[Spazzycat101]

Cora reached her hand out to shake Elith's.


'I see, a medic. Quite respectable of a career that is, in my opinion. I am Cora Grove. And if you would not much mind, it would be of spectacular help to me if you could show me towards any shop of magic you might know? Of course, you need not hinder your own work.'


It seemed to Cora that as of now, while the only magical shop she had visited had been the one behind her, this may not be very fruitful of a journey in the way of magical studies. While this disappointed her, she reminded herself that there would soon be many more opportunities for avocado exploration. At the moment was mental cartography -- the best of that she could manage -- of placed in this floating city.

 

[Dragongal]

Elith shook her head with a chuckle, "Worry not, It's a slow day, good news for the general public. If you'd just follow me, miss Grove, there's a nice little magic and tome shop just a few streets over." Elith began to lead the elf through the crowd, tossing a bronze to each beggar she passed with a practiced flick of her fingers, not even having to look. A young man sat on the roof of a building, playing a pipe merely for the simple joy of it. Elith glanced over her shoulder every once in a while to make sure she hadn't lost her elven friend - friend being a loose term. Ten minutes wasn't enough to consider one a friend, however Elith was laid-back and content enough that she seemed to be friends with anyone who minded common decency.

 

[TGrape]

Vothas stood combing through an alchemist recipe book at a tiny shop in a rather shady looking part of the city. He ignored the looks from the few other shop goers and tried to smile back at the little boy who pointed out his large tail that poked out behind him. He absolutely hated coming into civilization for just this reason, very few humans accepted him. He could count all the human friends he had on one hand.


But he had heard that some strange going-ons were happening in the city and decided that he might just get a rile out of whatever was happening. So far his trip had been a dud. He had heard tales of people floating at random and some cows creating milk that turned things purple.


The book Vothas was looking through was one that held no new information on alchemy for him, a recipe for turning lead to gold, how to create the Philosopher's stone, basic alchemy principles, and the book wasn't even completely correct. Vothas sighed, shut the book, and placed it back on the rack. He was certain he wouldn't find anything new in this shop but he was waiting. He was waiting for something, anything, to happen in this city. At this rate he might just try and head back to the SouthEast and tend to his plants back home.

 

[InsanEleven]

Delai ran through the streets, several scrolls and folded papers in his arms. He had een tasked to draw out some charts for the owner of a bookshop, in return he would get a decent amount of money. Money he really needed as his savings dwindled quickly once he arrived in the city. Some charts were more detailed and intricate than others, but he knew they were all correct within reasonable margins.


The problem was that he had slightly lost track of time on a particularly complex cavern map, and though he had started the evening before with finishing touches, it had been getting light outside by the time he truly felt done. What didn't help matters was that while clearing the table off he had knocked over a pot of ink, and had spend several more hours trying to scrub it out of the chairseat and floors. The result was less than great, proven by several smears on his clothes and face.


While running through the crowd, he bumped into a fairly disgruntled man that looked like he'd been roughed up not too long ago. He muttered a soft apology while attempting to catch his charts. There was no time for full apologies though, as he should've been at the shop an hour ago before opening. Then, the unthinkable yet inevitable happened. While running, he bumped into two ladies, quite effectively knocking him over with a not very manly cry, sending his charts flying everywhere.


"Oh, no." Was the first thing he could say when crawling up and looking around finding his work spread out everywhere. Then he turned and saw the two ladies, about the same age as him. "I'm so sorry, please forgive me miladies." He said still on his knees, trying to pick up the few papers he could reach while apologising as politely as possible at the same time.

 

[Spazzycat101]

While she was speaking with Elith, a man rushing through the crowd of people suddenly ran quite literally into her. She stumbled back a few steps while she saw him tumble to the ground, scattering the papers he held in his arms. As he stooped to collect them again while apologizing, Cora bent and gathered a few of them herself.


'You need not apologize so profusely! Crowds are the fall of many, especially so when coupled with urgency.'


She stood again, a few of the elegant maps in hand. After glancing at them curiously, she held them out to the seemingly scattered man, chuckling at his excessive apologies.


'I guess I should be the one apologizing to you for standing in your path when you have such an urgent matter to see to.'


Cora chuckled, then dipped her head in a greeting.


'And... It appears you might be needing these?' Cora nodded toward the few scrolls gathered in her hand.

 

[Dragongal]

Elith reached down and picked up a few stray scrolls, handing them to the young man. She chuckled, "Sir, your titles are misplaced. You needn't worry about being so formal. However, might I suggest a box or bag next time? I'd think t'would be helpful for you." Well, she didn't know about Cora having a title, but she hadn't mentioned one, so, assumptions were okay at the moment, it seemed. Elith often spoke in what some might consider a formal way, but this was simply because she got the best results using that speech; people who demanded respect felt she was respectable and well-mannered, and people who didn't care didn't mind anyway. She glanced at one of the scrolls, commenting, "These are extremely well-done, sir. On par with, if not better than, some of the Guards' maps. I commend you." She handed him the final scroll.

 

[TGrape]

There was a slight commotion outside of the shop Vothas was in. He turned towards the noise and saw a young man had run into a couple of young women. The man had been carrying a bunch of scrolls and papers, which were now scattered all around the street. The women helped the man collect his belongings. Vothas was intrigued and quietly exited the shop. He dipped down and grabbed a piece of paper that had flown a little farther from the man than the other pieces and continued walking casually.


He studied the paper and found that it was nothing more than a map of some sort, there wasn't even any treasure marked on it. Vothas sighed and stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket. "Useless, but maybe I can do something with it later." he said to no one in particular. He threw his hands behind his back and walked towards the market section of the city as the crowd shifted around him with people trying to avoid touching him.

 

[InsanEleven]

Delai felt his cheeks grow reddish when they replied so nicely, feeling even more sorry that he bumped into them in the first place. He took the maps from their hands and looked around to see none laying around anymore. In his embarrassment and hurry he didn't notice one of them missing, there were so many it was hard to keep track of them. And to hold them apparently.


"I eh... thank you kindly, for your help and your compliments," It was only then he noticed their garbs and weapons. Where they perhaps adventurers? He had seen quite the amount of adventurers pass by the court he had been living at before, but from his experience they were hardened and cared more about beer and money than knowledge and manners. "Is it correct of me to assume you are adventurers? Or perhaps just travellers? If so then can I offer to make a custom map, it would be a better apology than anything I can possibly give now." He was late anyway, and he had no money to properly thank them, all he could do was hope they would instead take knowledge as a replacement. Shifting the maps to one arm as best as he could, he took out a journal and a pencil with some effort, quickly scribbling his information and address. Well, when he said scribbling it was more like a slightly less than perfect, fine handwriting, but to him it felt quite horrid not to be able to perfect each character, it would do though. He felt his heart skip a few beats out of agony when he had to ruin a perfectly fine page by tearing it out. Not offering any apology would be even worse though, and ruining a page was a small price to avoid that.


Giving a well meant nod, he handed over the piece of paper to the girl on the right, and then went on his way to the shop. All he could do was hope the shopkeeper wouldn't be too mad; despite working with books all day he was known to have a raging temper even when things were fine. It was just something he had to deal with then, and for one who had survived the tantrums of a young prince things like these were mild backlashes at most.

 

[XxLuluxX]

The Raven,


Inner City.



​

The Raven remained still, melting into the shadows as if he was one of them. He was perched on a rooftop, keeping close eye on the window opposite. The figure slipped down, his movements graceful, and filled with fluidity. Cold merciless eyes glimmering with the adrenaline of the kill. So it was, that Raven kept in a low crouch. His hand tightening around the handle of his weapon, blade flashing in the rooms filtered light. There she was, her back to him, sweeping the stone floor. Long brown hair, slim figure, pale grey eyes. It would be so easy to dispose of her. Almost pathetic.


He grabbed her long hair, catching her unaware as he snatched her back. One arm wrapping around her neck. Struggling was immediate; the thrashing as she tried to pull away, how she attempted to scream. Yet it was choked. His arm drawing in to cut off her windpipe. He rocked her in a sense, hushing her to an everlasting sleep. The swords blade slipped up between her ribs. Wet flesh being sliced, her eyes wide with fear. The strangers murderous embrace holding onto her like a lover would. Till death did them part. Blood gurgled, splattering her chin and lips. "Shh" He murmured, breathing in her feminine scent. A light cinnamon, and fiery ginger. She gasped, her chest racing as she choked on her own bodily fluid. Her eyes gazing fearfully up into his, with one word on her breathless lips. "Why?"


"You were at the wrong place, at the wrong time."


He held up the knife, drawing it across her throat. The crimson cascade of rain, falling unto the whitewashed walls in a red mist. She dropped, his arms releasing her. The woman hit the floor with a wet thud, a heavy flesh doll was what had been left. Glassy orbs now staring up at him accusingly.


"Sorry lass" He muttered, kneeling beside her to wipe off the blood, with the hem of her skirt. Raven gave one last look to the corpse, before he turned away. The contract had been fulfilled. Shame. She had seemed a kind soul. Young, sweet...Yet one must not dwell on the past. The past being mere seconds ago in this case. Twas then the assassin vanished out onto the rooftops. Shadow flickering across the daylight backdrop, now slipping down and into a dark alleyway of sorts.


The man whom emerged, seemed a humble traveller, mysterious in his ways yet quiet; shrouded in a certain


indecipherable persona. The mask no longer threatening, but a question. What does one call, a man in a mask? He passed one of the establishments with a little commotion out the front, involving a young lad and a couple of lasses. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was normal for a few disputes and accidents to happen in such crowded areas, hard for it not to. Mind you, the tavern confrontations got a little more vicious than with polite youth.
​

​

 

[Anaxial]

Rajab shuffled through the crowds of people, his eyes to the ground and a wool cape wrapped tightly around his shoulders, draping over his body and concealing his clothes. He held his bag tightly to his chest with one arm, the other kept the wool cape wrapped around his body. He seemed to be in own little world as he mumbled to himself and blindly bumped into residents as he made his way along. Most were given a quiet apology, some receiving a venomous look as Rajab thought they perhaps got a little too close to his scrolls.


The deranged Occultist had been staying in the city for a few weeks now, tracking down a lead that some pitiful mage had stumbled upon a Ritual tome and was unaware of the power he held in his hands. The very thought of another abusing and misusing the Rituals made Rajab growing mad, quite literally growling as he mumbled angrily to himself. Around the Inn that he stayed at, most had grown accustomed to the man, they knew when to keep their distance and could tell he was a bit more evened out and approachable. Despite their attempts, Rajab mostly kept to his room and had the barmaids bring his meals up to his room. He was an odd one but as long as his coin was good, Rajab could stay.


Rajab was currently walking deeper into the city, into a shadier part of town, he had caught wind that perhaps one of the brigands that stalked the streets at night knew a friend of the Mage and could point him in the right direction and so Rajab followed the lead. If it proved to be another dead end, it wouldn't discourage or halt his progress at all, Rajab's life had been a constant unending story of dead ends and false rumors. Still, Ritual Magics was more alien here than anywhere else, wisdom would tell you that if someone is talking about something they shouldn't know anything about, they're more than likely telling the truth.


Wisdom was a curious thing though, many times Rajab had been asked to simply hire Treasure Hunters, or peruse libraries to find the clues he needed, to be pointed in the right direction of whatever it was he was searching for. However, a wise man could tell you that Libraries contain information of the known, you'll never find the unknown in a library. As for Treasure Hunters, they ask too many questions, heaven forbid that they inquire about the Rituals or.. Attempt them! It presented too much of a risk, and so Rajab was stuck trudging through the filth of the world, hunting Brigands, searching ruins, combating bandits and other damnably transcendent nightmares that result from delving into Dark Magics and Eldritch Rituals.


Pulling his cloak tighter, fearing someone may spot his messengers bag, Rajab raised his head if only to scan the streets, they were getting more and more desolate, more and more laden with refuse and garbage. He was nearing his goal, he need only grab the Brigands attention and hopefully not be interrupted.

 

[TGrape]

Vothas had been walking, minding his own business, towards the marketplace of the city when he noticed a rather dark character pass by. Vothas could practically smell the dark magic rolling off of him. The way he moved, how he kept his gaze towards the ground, the strange bag that was clutched to his chest. Something strange was going on, and Vothas' curiosity was getting the better of him.


Vothas slowly turned to follow the crowd that was moving in the same direction as the stranger in the cloak, another warning sign: who would wear a cloak in such warm weather? Vothas just knew that this stranger was up to no good. His plan for now would be to trail the cloaked figure until he either made a move of some kind or something more interesting came along.

 

[BookWyrm]

Another city meant another opportunity to make wages. Ronan would be considered imposing, to say the least, even out of his armor. His sword he kept at his side in a specially made scabbard designed for larger two handed swords. Even in cities Ronan wasn't keen on leaving his sword behind at an Inn. The guards would just have to deal with it. He wore a light shirt underneath a gambeson, with mail over that. His blue sash was pulled up around the lower half of his face, with a hood topping to top off his outfit. It was mostly to keep people from bothering him. He didn't like crowds that much, let alone busy city streets where people were apt to bump into you and make off with your coin purse.


Which brought Ronan around to his current predicament. There were two women he saw conversing with some scribe, maybe a cartographer, who had dropped several off his pages. They had helped him and saw him off, but an unsavory looking pick-pocket appeared to be sizing one of the women up. As the shady individual reached out Ronan picked him up by his shirt, causing the man to make a slight choking sound. Ronan wrapped a strong hand around the man's neck and held him out in front of him.


"I'd find a new profession."


Ronan tossed the man into the crowd and watched him scurry off. For being a man who made his living by killing people, Ronan couldn't stand a thief or a liar.


@Dragongal @Spazzycat101

 

[Dragongal]

Elith pivoted swiftly, naturally slipping into a defensive stance, turning around to face the noise of someone choking. She knew the noise well, and any noise of battle from behind her reflexively made her turn. The sight of the tall, imposing man with a sash hiding his face and a large sword on his hip holding a man up by his neck, however, was not something she knew well, or had expected. It was easy enough from the weaker man's garb to tell that he was a pickpocket. Hadn't she done something similar just a few minutes ago to a different man? The pickpocket was probably feeling a little grateful that the larger man hadn't decided to use his blade - and she was too, she didn't feel like healing anyone at the moment. Blood was terribly messy, too.


Elith smiled with genuine appreciation to the larger man as he tossed the smaller one into the crowd, saying, "Thank you for that. I don't claim to know the exacts of what happened, but I can guess what the result would have been had you not stepped in. I don't know how we could repay you." Honor and manners deemed it necessary to repay him unless he refused, so she had to at least offer. Elith looked at the sword on his belt, then held out her hand to him. "My name's Elith McCoy. I can tell you're a fighter. If you ever need a free healing and you're nearby, ask around and you'll be sure to find me."





@BookWyrm

 

[BookWyrm]

Ronan looked down at Elith before taking her hand. "No need." He pulled his hand back and lightly patted his pouch. "Work has been good recently. I might take you up on the healing though, later of course. I don't much need it now." Ronan looked around the city streets as if searching for someone. "You wouldn't happen to know of anyone looking for a hired sword would you? So far all I've managed to find are pick-pockets and fish merchants." Ronan laughed slightly at the thought. Fish merchants, all the way up here? They peddled their fish like it was the freshest quality you could find. Judging from the smell, though, Ronan figured the trip up didn't far for the product very well.


"My name is Ronan, by the way. Sellsword, hired guard, intimidating tall man, whatever is required."

 

[InsanEleven]

Delai left the shop with hanging shoulders, somewhat disappointed both with himself and the shopkeeper. It wasn't that he minded being scolded and only paid half for his work because he was late, he had indeed made a mistake, just sad that people had to be so mean to one another. Ah well, it could have gone a lot worse, at least he now had enough money for another two weeks of food, and he would find another job by then. He wasn't however, disappointed enough that he would instantly forget his manners. The two women were still there, now accompanied by a tall, knight-like person. He didn't quite feel like making conversation, but a smile and a friendly nod would perhaps affirm his existence to them, and his offer to make a map still stood of course.


Once he was in his home, a small two room place in a not particularly pretty part of town, he put up the kettle to make some tea and pulled a tome out of his impressive stash of books. Despite having been here only for two months, everywhere you looked there were papers, charts and books, some he had made himself, others he had bought from the shops or the markets. This particular tome was an interesting one though, Ritual Magic, and it had been quite a while since he had seen the likes of it. His companions had called it demonology before, though it seemed like a fairly powerful subdivision of that. Of course they pulled energy from the same place, this Void, so to speak, the difference was that these rituals had no filter on what they pulled through save it for perhaps a type of demon. The demonology he had been taught instead focussed on pulling energy through and giving that a form of 'life', giving a demonologist full control of his minion, even if it wasn't as powerful. Ritual magic had been banned by the magistrate though, and for the reason why he wasn't entirely sure, as all he had gotten out of the man was 'it has caused too many evil already'.


That didn't mean he couldn't hold an interest and research it purely for the intent of understanding it. Even if that wasn't the case, he figured the book was better off in his hands than being viewed by people who had no business or understanding of what it was. Before someone accidentally set loose an immortal, evil creature in the middle of the city.


(@Anaxial )

 

[Spazzycat101]

Cora turned at a sudden noise of suffocation from behind her and Elith to find that a man, taller than herself, held a man of much less reasonable appearance. After tossing him down, the knight approached.


'Thank you, sir.' Was the most she could fit in before Elith took up conversation. After the man spoke a few words, Cora nodded in the direction the theif had made off to.


'Well, in this... varied city,' she settled for such vocabulary lest she offend anyone, 'Even the least of your own talents could deem themselves useful. Heaven knows the fewer thieves among the honest men the better.'


She silently hoped that, were there a large religious system, that they would so much as have a heaven. She would be lucky, as this city was a scramble of anyone, believing anything. Her own home was just so.


Truthfully, this city seemed rusty to Cora. The crowds appeared to be a collage of people, all with so little in common. There were scruffy ruffiansand rich men with apparent body guards standing a few feet away. People who appeared to be mages or wizards, and those who seemed entirely magicless.

 

[BookWyrm]

Ronan nodded. "True, but...I don't do well with crowds. Too many people wearing facades that look like faces. Life is easier on the battlefield than in the city. At least there you know who plans on stabbing you in the back." Ronan stood, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and watched the crowds go about their daily activities. He almost would rather mull around with these two women then try and find work among wolves in sheeps clothing.


"If neither of you mind a bit of intimidating company." Ronan looked back at Elith and Cora. "Ever since I left my old Company I've been a drifter, so I'm used to traveling with strangers. If either of you are traveling out of town, I could be of some use until the next city. I make it a point not to charge for protecting the people I travel with."

 

[Dragongal]

Elith smiled wryly, accidentally slipping into her country accent. “Intimidatin’ means you’re s'posed to be scary, though, don’t it?” She was obviously just joking with him. This man, though he was big and armed, didn’t scare her in the least. Then again, she also didn’t fear death, and once that fear was lost, there was little else that could frighten. She caught herself, then sighed and said, “Sorry, the accent gets the better of me at times, my bad. I can’t seem to get rid of it, it causes problems.” He’d mentioned not being comfortable around liars - she wasn’t lying or hiding anything, she was just trying to be understandable. Her accent at times could get so thick it was incomprehensible. While she could switch between any accent, that required thought - her natural accent often slipped.


She smiled widely, and quickly shifted the subject, “I think I could quite easily leave this city, personally, though I wasn’t planning it, and good company improves any journey.” She had her own reasons for wanting to leave, besides boredom. She missed the roads, the changing landscape, the different people… and she had other reasons. This was a good opportunity.

 

[Spazzycat101]

When there was mention of travel from this particular city, Cora grinned. The notion seemed incredibly appealing, and was actually her intention, but she had a duty or two more to see to.


'I'd accept your offer with haste, sir, but there is a thing or more I should see to before I'm to leave th--'





At that moment, from the shop directly behind the small group, there came a magnificent plethora of noises and clamor. Windows blasted forward and a slight smell of smoke could be observed with a keen nose. A few products from the shop soared from the building as if borne by invisible, possessed wings. Through the absent windows, absurd scenes were playing out; glowing spellbooks were animate and attempting to eat each other, smashed pots of ink stained the floors of the shop, some of the metal products were glowing with a white-hot temperature and searing holes in the wood of the shelves beneath them, and a customer or two screaming with horror for their life.


Cora whipped around, catching a few small shards of glass in her skin. 'Damn!' she thought, the chaos in the shop catching her off guard. 'I of all people should've seen that coming...'





(Conflict! Yay!)

 

[TGrape]

Vothas had been in hot pursuit of the man in the cloak when they passed a street that was near the shop he had been in earlier. All of a sudden the sound of an explosion echoed through the area along with the noise of breaking glass and human screams. Vothas immediately turned and ran towards the sounds hoping to finally see what he had come to this city for, magic. A magic that defied belief.


Vothas ran as fast as his legs would carry him, he heard the screams of people as he sped past them, his tail waving wildly back and forth behind him. He felt his tail brush against bricks, trash, and clothing, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was that he found the source of this magic so that he could finally get the revenge he had longed for his entire life, revenge against the wizard that turned him into the half-human breed that he was now, revenge against all wizards of his kind.


Finally, Vothas skid into the street where the chaos had originated, and he was dismayed to find that the source of the trouble was the very shop he had been in not a hour before. "Come on!" he shouted, "I was just in there! They couldn't have done this sooner?" Vothas growled and ran towards the shop. Outside was the two girls from earlier, plus a new gentleman with the other man nowhere in sight. He stopped next to their group and surveyed the insanity occurring inside the shop. Books flew, toys danced on their own, it would be comical if not for the people screaming and running in circles. Vothas looked over at the group standing in front of the shop. "Did any of you see what happened?"