• Event • Through the Fire and the Flames [Ymiden Seasonal - Group 1]

[Lynessa]

Karliah was suddenly thrown in front of her. The fall certainly didn’t bother woman for she immediately jumped to her feet. Lynessa sat the other priestess’s body tense, preparing to lunge at her enemy when an arrow tore through her chest. Blood sprayed towards her and Karliah was suddenly on the ground again. She did not make a sound, a trained priestess through and through.

For a moment fear spiked through her as she turned, expecting another enemy. Her heart went cold when she saw Leth standing with his bow, his eyes unfocused. He was stoic as always, but his gaze was far off. Like he couldn’t see what he had done. What horrible thing he had caused.

The priestess for only a moment before launching herself towards her enemy once again. Heat welled up inside her and Lynessa’s first strike hit home, tearing the redheaded woman’s chest open. Blood spilled out from the wound and she could see the disbelief in her eyes. Like she hadn’t expected the priestess to get her so quickly.

“Looks like….lover boy….did some damage…all on his…own.”

Her fury flared at the comment and she plunged Stormsister into the woman’s heart to make sure that she was dead. More blood stained her hands and her clothes, but the priestess barely noticed. This was not the first time she was bathed in blood. Lynessa let herself watch as the life slowly ebbed out of the woman, the light leaving her eyes.

Tics later, Karliah’s movements caught her eyes and Lynessa was reminded of her dire state. The younger priestess knelt on the ground and grabbed one of the torn azure banners from the ground. She was no healer, but she knew that staunching the bleeding was one of the first things she needed to do. “Karliah, look at me. Say something!”

They were talking just now, about how they were going to train together. She could not die. Not like this.

Dazed, Lynessa looked up to scan her surroundings. More chaos had erupted as knights rolled into the scene. She saw Vabina in a flash of blue fur, fighting against a shadow monster and assisted by two men. Arlo and a stranger. Lynessa caught sight of the alchemist disappearing after a turn, probably racing for Rharne Bank.

She ran over to Leth, grabbing his arm and forced him to face her. When he struggled for a moment, she realized that he couldn’t even see where when his eyes were directed straight at her. “Leth! It’s me! By Ilaren’s name… Your eyes…” His eyes were red and his gaze unfocused. Whatever that alchemist thrown at him, the effects were not wearing off. She waved a hand in front of him. “Gods, can you see?”

He stilled and rested a hand on her shoulder, his grip as warm as always. It was clear he was trying to hide the pain he was in. “I can’t, but I’ll be fine. You heard them. They’re going to the bank and you need to catch up to them.”

Lynessa laughed mirthlessly, reaching out to hold his face. “I am not an idiot. You are clearly not fine. I’ll tell the others about the bank, but I am not leaving you. We swore to have each other’s back and this is me having your back.” She looked around desperately, trying to find anyone who could help. “Please, we need healers! A priestess is down and my liaison can’t see!”

The young priestess would guide him, bringing him to a healer as fast as she could. She glanced back to the direction of the bank. It crossed her mind to track down that alchemist, to force him to tell her how to fix Leth, but it was risky. No, she needed to focus on finding him help right now and delivering the message about Rharne Bank.

[Oracle]

Nir and Arlo The Becomer in the skin of the Shadowhound yelped in pain as the Zephyrus clawed deep gouges into her prey’s back. Vabina was practically rabid at this point. The great cat’s eyes were wild with fury at her rider being hurt. While the Zephyrus continued in her relentless assault, Nir’wei and his wolves had surrounded the enemy mage. His pack of canines moved swiftly, racing forward to tear and bite and the Becomer’s legs, shearing tendons and muscle with bloody abandon.

Nir himself struck out with his sword but his practice was a blade was very limited and he fumbled the blow badly. The sword went wide and clattered against the cobblestones of the ground, clanging loudly. That was apparently enough to get the attention of the Shadowhound who snarled, rearing back and threw Vabina off to the side. The massive indigo lion skidded across the ground , her large paws scrambling to find purchase. The Becomer wheeled around, forcing the wolves back for a moment as she set her gleaming golden eyes on Nir’wei. Blood leaked down her black hide and down her legs from the efforts of the wolf pack and the Zephyrus but still the mage stood there in her Kathor form with determination in her eyes.

As the Shadowhound was combating Nir’wei and the other creatures Arlo was securing the Aukari leader in Lighting Knight custody. For a brief trill Arlo caught sight of Vega across the plaza, she was fighting the Defier! The red haired woman was soaring through the air with her crystal sword in hand, a gout of flame scalding the air beneath her leap. She looked fearless surrounded by a spray of embers even though she was marked with ash and a few mild burns. Vega vanished as she descended onto her enemy who fell beneath her blade. The dozen or so Lighting Knights surrounding the Defier soon closed in and it seemed that Vega would be just fine. A Priestess even approached to offer her medical aid.

With Vega’s safety assured Arlo then turned toward the deadly Becomer. With a practiced and steady hand he took aim at the Shadowhound’s head.

Right as Arlo was taking aim, the Becomer was turning her attention to Nir’wei. She stared at him, her glittering eyes seeming to pause for a moment and hesitate. She had called him Wolf Brother. Had that meant something?

Nir’wei would never know because at that moment Vabina came tearing in with an ear shattering roar that caused the Lighting Knights in the area to flinch. She leapt in, latching on to the Becomer’s throat with her wicked fangs. The Shadowhound flailed, snarling and yipping and trying desperately to get the feline off of her. The Zephyrus hung on tight, holding the Becomer still just as Arlo took his shot. The bolt passed clean through the Kathor’s left eye just as Arlo had intended. The Becomer went utterly limp and Vabina snarled viciously before throwing the corpse to the side. Her maw was bloodied and she was clearly limping from the fight but the great cat wasted no time in heading toward where her dying master lay prone on the ground.
Lynessa There was blood everywhere.
Some of it was from the woman Lynessa had just killed but most of it was Karliah’s. The younger priestess knelt before her mentor and made a futile attempt to staunch the bleeding with one of the banners.

Karliah turned her head to look at Lynessa, blood dribbling down her pale lips.

“Lyn, make sure...she’s...taken care of...” she croaked weakly before her words were quickly clarified. Vabina came trotting up, her fangs bloodied from her fight with the Becomer, the cat was exhausted and panting but she instantly laid on the ground and started nudging Karliah’s shoulder with her soft pink nose. A low whine came from the Zephyrus’s throat that quickly turned into a sorrowful whimper.

“Don’t..." she swallowed as she struggled to find the strength to speak.

"Don’t let her be....alone.” With those words Karliah weakly raised her right hand, barely seeming to possess the strength for the action but she set her palm on Vabina’s forehead, and snaked her fingers into her companion’s fur. The feline was trembling with worry but this small gesture seemed to calm her, if only for a half trill because in the next moment Karliah breathed her last breath.

Lynessa didn’t have time to mourn even as the Zephryus began to incessantly nudge the limp arm of her rider, because the Priestess had to see to her liaison. Leth stared blindly toward the body of Karliah, trying to discern exactly who he had shot. Lynessa struggled to take hold of him and force him to focus. Finally Leth stood still long enough for her to get the attention of a nearby Thunder Priestess standing with a gold cloaked member of the Order of Adunih. The priestess was a white robed novice but she was clearly of the healing branch given the medical bag at her shoulder and she waved the Order of Adunih healer toward Leth.

The two medics set to work, the Order of Adunih healer taking Leth by the arm and asking him to come have a seat while they worked at washing the toxin out of his eyes. Lynessa was left standing on her own, with the body of her mentor lying a few feet away, slowly cooling on the ground. Vabina was grief-stricken, the cat lay flat on the earth next to Karliah, just whimpering sadly, her eyes looking expectantly at her master as if waiting for her to wake up. Everyone knew how strong the bond between a Zephyrus and their rider was. Great Zephyrus of the past had wasted away before after their masters died, simply lying at their side and waiting listlessly for death. The felines were hand raised from cubs by their rider and often a close sibling-like bond was formed. Vabina had lost her sister that day, and now she mourned for her.

!

Message from: Oracle

Details Karliah is dead. You now have a lull of roughly five bits before we move forward. Use that time as you like. You can ask questions of the nearby Knights, count your dead or simply do as you wish. The choice is yours. Most of you should be aware that the Ring of Fire is headed for the Bank of Rharne. Impacts and Achievements Animal Assist: Arlo and Vabina worked in tandem to bring down the Becomer. There will be an extra reward at the end. Zephyrus Friend: Vabina defended Nir, there will be an impact for this. There will be an extra reward at the end. The Loved and the Lost: Lynessa made a tough call that will haunt her for a long time to come. There will be an extra reward at the end.

[Nir'wei]

As Cold and Myrth ripped chunks of flesh from the beast's legs and streaked their muzzles with gleaming red viscera, Nir'wei took aim and swung - and missed. Fantastically, in fact. The shock of scraping the cobblestones nearly pulled the handle straight from his hands, but what really did it was the creature rearing, nearly tossing the indigo creature on its back straight onto his head - he barely managed to stumble back out of the way, dropping his sword in the process, since it wouldn't do him much good when he was flattened under several hundred pounds of who-knew-what. It wasn't like he was doing any good with it... but it didn't stop him from sorely missing it when the Becomer turned to face him directly, despite four much better targets to choose from.

He was dead. Even as Greyhide saw the danger he was in and began a heedless charge, the Shadowhound could have snapped its jaws around his neck and torn it free in a heartbeat. With its size and speed, it'd tear him to shreds even if he tried to run. He braced himself, waiting for the end... but, unarmed, simply standing there, the giant hound stopped. Didn't it want to kill him? It'd gone after his wolves fast enough, daring to try and rip Cold to shreds without any hesitation, but it'd never made a move against him directly before, and now that it finally had its chance...

Unthinkingly he reached out a hand, daring to try and touch it. If he was going to die, he was going to die, but there was hesitation, maybe even reluctance there. What if he could talk to her? He'd assumed that, given the form she'd taken, she had some fascination with wolves. She knew the marks of Karem. Could he convince her to surrender to him, maybe?

The sudden roar rattled his skull and left his head ringing, so close to the beast as it practically bowled him over in its charge straight for the startled Shadowhound. He didn't even remember falling over in the scuffle, but when he next opened his eyes, the two were a mass of black and indigo fur rolling in waves together, occasional flashes of teeth, claws and blood surfacing and vanishing again. He tried to shout for them to stop but his voice was hoarse; he almost scrambled to his feet in time as they seemed to halt, but somewhere over his shoulder a sharp twang sounded, and the Becomer fell limp in the tight grip of the creature's fangs, blood seeping from its split eyeball. She'd died instantly, and with her, whatever secrets she'd carried. He let himself fall back to the stone again, sat up and staring at the Becomer's bloodied corpse as its killers moved stalked away.

Greyhide was the first to reach him, licking at his cheeks and nudging him with his forehead. "I'm fine," he muttered numbly, pushing the wolf back with a hand while Myrth took up the other side and began licking as well. Cold was the only one who stayed with the Shadowhound, nudging it with his muzzle and biting at some of its wounds. It was dead, there couldn't be a doubt. As he strode back to the group he barked something, causing Greyhide to snort in half-amusement and half-disgust. "What is it?" he asked.

"Cold..." His muzzle scrunched. Wolves didn't talk, they didn't have a language, per se, but they were good at using what little they had to convey meanings. "Cold thinks the skinchanger's fur should be stripped." Greyhide snorted again. "Make a coat of them." Cold's next bark, he almost understood. Laughter. Mocking. Vicious. He turned away, suddenly sick of seeing the bloodied animal corpse. By chance they caught the indigo beast that'd fought off the Becomer with him, hunched and lying on the ground. That, of all things, was the one that gave him enough strength to stumble back to his unsteady feet again.

From its place on the ground it'd almost looked injured, but he soon wished it had been. He knew the look of mourning. He'd seen it in Traveller, and on Myrth, who now stood pale and silent at his left side, her head pressed up against his palm. He squeezed reassuringly. She'd been the first one to shout the rallying call, he remembered now. One of the attackers must have taken her from behind while they were fleeing. One hand still clutched a bloodstained flag, but its grip was already slack and her eyes were closed. Carefully he knelt down on the other side of the body, staring not at the priestess, but the beast opposite. It didn't seem to understand... he didn't have the heart to explain. "Easy..." he said in a soft voice as he slowly took hold of the flag, tugging it free of the priestess' grip and stretching it out, letting it settle over her body, covering her face. "I'm sorry." He might not know the beast, nor its owner, but he knew loss and the pain it brought. All loss was pain. Even that of the Shadowhound, silent and still not several paces away.

[Lynessa]

Just before the healers pulled him away, the young priestess grabbed her stormbringer’s arm tightly. Even though he could not see it, her eyes were glassy as she recalled Karliah lying in a pull of blood. She couldn’t… couldn’t lost another person today. “Promise me. Promise me you will be alright.”

Leth’s gray eyes somehow seemed to find her as he pulled her into a tight embrace. Even though he was the one injured, he still reassured her, steadied her. “I will. Stop worrying, alright? I have no plans in retiring as your liaison. No one else would take the job if I did.”
Lynessa laughed weakly as she pulled away, not wanting to delay the healers for too long. Perhaps she should be grateful that he was out of action for now. If this whole debacle managed to take down Karliah, a priestess far more experienced than her, there was a good chance that Leth could suffer the same fate.

After the healers pulled Leth away from her and started figuring out what was wrong with him, Lynessa scanned her surroundings, taking in the knights and priestesses who flooded the scene a little bit too late. She just walked up to one of the knights, her face grave. “I need to talk to whoever is in charge. I am Sister Lynessa and I was one of the first ones to arrive here. I’ve made contact with the Ring and I need people to accompany me to the Rharne Bank. I believe they have something planned there.”

Once the knight agreed to relay her message, she walked over to where Karliah’s body lay. Her efforts to staunch the senior priestess’s wound had been useless. The cold knife of realization stabbed her heart as she knelt down beside her… The woman probably lost so much because Lynessa decided to find Leth. A man, the one who had fought off the monster, the Shadowhound. Their eyes met for a moment – she couldn’t help but note his startlingly blue eyes – before she looked away to stare at Karliah’s pale face before he covered her with the dirty, torn banner.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” the priestess whispered shakily. They had been talking less than a bell ago, yet now here Karliah lay dead. She took a deep breath as she looked at Vabina and remembered the older priestess’s last request. The Zephyrus whimpered and nudged Karliah insistently. The sight made it harder for her to compose herself. “Vabina, I am so sorry.” Hesitantly, Lynessa reached out to touch her, a bit unsure if the feline would welcome it.

[Arlo Creede]

Too much chaos and too many creatures both two legged and four that were taking part in it. Too many to methodically sort them all out. Arlo's approach then was that anyone or anything that was attacking or killing innocents or those he knew already to be allies, were in need of a good killing. And apparently, judging by the brief glimpse he'd gotten of Vega, she was taking a similar approach. With great skill, flourish and drama, it had to be said. Very impressive and he couldn't be prouder. What was more important to him at that moment, was that she was still whole, and he could at least focus on his target while handling his bow.

His skill with a bow was more than sufficient. It was only the timing that required some patience, considering how many innocents and allies were running this way and that between him and his target. But as luck would have it, the great cat leaped in and conspired to arrange the perfect split trill during which he'd release his arrow. And it flew just as true as he'd imagined it would. Quick, clean, efficient.

The beast was dispatched and he could focus on trying to get to Vega, a crowd of knights and medics between them or no. He knew about the bank, true enough. But if he was going to head there at all, it would have to wait until he'd managed to reach Vega. Putting away his bow, and then taking his sword in hand just in case, Arlo called out "Vega!", in the direction he'd last seen her, and then asked Lyova in fact to locate her and then show him the way to her side.

[Oracle]

Vabina continued to whimper and cry at the side of her dead rider but thankfully Nir’wei was there to give her some company. The Zephyrus initially bristled when he came to kneel next to Karliah’s corpse, her bright jewel toned eyes snapped up to him as her whiskers flared with aggression. There was a subtle crackle of electricity across the surface of her horn but otherwise the feline remained where she was. She seemed to care more about Karliah than about him getting a little too close to her.

Lynessa on the other hand was helping to ensure that Leth was properly cared for. After the healers poured a clear solution in his eyes his vision had begun to return, but only faintly. He would still be struggling to see more than basic colored shapes for a while yet.

Lynessa then turned to the matter at hand and grabbed the nearest Lightning Knight that she could get her hands on. It was an middle aged man with dark skin and well-muscled features along with a clean shaven head. He looked at the young priestess for a moment as if he didn’t quite take her seriously before his gaze inched upwards to see Karliah’s body cooling on the ground a few feet away. Sadness lanced through his eyes but the Knight’s disciplined composure kept him from becoming distracted. He looked back down at Lynessa, making the connection that she had been the woman fighting off the terrorists with Sister Karliah Winters. If she had been any other air headed priestess then he might have ignored her, but instead he took her words incredibly seriously.

“You were with her at the end.” He said quietly before his eyes grew determined. “I am Knight Commander Urien, and you will have the men that you need.”

While Commander Urien called forth a dozen able men and women of the Knights to escort Lynessa to the Glass Quarter, the young woman took what time she had left to go and say her goodbye to her mentor. With the banner covering the worst of her wounds she looked almost normal, as if nothing had changed since they had last spoken. Someone had removed the arrow from her chest and the blood had stopped flowing and gone cold. Vabina herself had also gone quiet, she simply rested her massive muzzle somehow very gently and lightly on her rider’s shoulder. There was a depth to the sadness in the feline’s eyes that made it clear that she understood now that the woman was gone. Lynessa reached out to stroke her fur on the Zephyrus’s neck and the cat didn’t flinch or seem to recognize that she was even there, she was simply lost mourning. It would be uncertain if she ever recovered from the events of the trial.

Arlo on the other hand was once again trying to find Vega. He had seen her only moments before when she had killed the Defier and she had been taken aside by the Thunder Priestess. She was alive, that much he knew but now it seemed that she had vanished entirely from the scene. Behind him Knight Commander Urien had assembled easily a dozen Lighting Knights that were to take Lynessa and whoever else to the Bank to try and head off the terrorists.

“We are moving out!” Commander Urien said sharply, his eyes flicking toward Arlo as if to see if he was going to accompany Lynessa or not. He knew that the man had been involved in the fight and assumed him a willing volunteer, but perhaps he had more pressing issues on his mind.

In the direction where he had seen Vega last there was a woman who appeared to be a Lightning Knight who carried something in her hand. It was a shred of fabric, the same fabric from the summer dress that Vega had been wearing. The woman headed toward a small narrow iron grated door that was embedded in the northern wall of Azurewind Market. She opened the door with a key before locking it behind her. She then disappeared down what seemed to be a flight of stairs.

!

Message from: Oracle

Alright guys, so there is a contingent of Knights going with Lynessa to the Rharne Bank to stop the Ring of Fire. You can choose to go with them or not. Gather yourselves and make your choice. Arlo, you have a special choice available to you. I will allow you the chance to leave this group and join the other one if you wish to follow the lead on where Vega has been taken. Please pm me with your choice.

[Arlo Creede]

It wasn't that Arlo didn't care about the wounded, the lost and the potential for more were the perpetrators not stopped in their tracks. It was that that there was something else that he cared about more. One thing above everything else. And the square was filled with knights. Trained knights who surely were capable of doing what needed to be done. They'd be focused on that, and not tracking down a single woman.

It was that single woman that Arlo was focused on as he made his way through the crowd, his sword Harmony gripped in his hand. He'd lost sight of Vega somehow, but there in a lady knight's hand, a scrap of fabric that looked all too familiar and never taking his eyes off it, he sped up his pace. Not fast enough though, he realized when the woman reached a gate, looked behind her and then disappeared. Something seemed off about it, to say the least. "Lyova," he said, reaching out to his little diri that only he could see and hear.

"Go, follow that woman. Don't lose track of her, and you tell me the way she's gone," Arlo said. After all, Lyova could move swiftly unseen like no other. She could pass through every barrier in her path. People, walls structures both natural and man made. In a flash she would be on the woman's trail, communicating with him all the while. He'd tracked Vega down more than once this way, and silently thanked Jesine for providing him with his little friend, guide and protector as he watched for a glimpse of Vega, and relied on Lyova to help him find her.

[Nir'wei]

There were few things scarier than being face-to-face with a 500lb Shadowhound, unarmed and unarmoured. Being face-to-face with the beast that had just killed said Shadowhound a few moments ago and still had its blood dripping from its fangs? That was one of them. From over the dead Priestess' body, he could make out all the little details he'd missed during the battle. Sabretooth fangs, something almost like a mane ruffling around its neck... and that horn, poking from the top of its head and sparking with faint tingles of static. He could tell he definitely wasn't welcome here. Not the first time. He didn't move though; as those piercing eyes tried to stab him with a stare, he took a very shaky breath and swallowed an unflattering squeak of fear, but he didn't look away. Nor did he stop gently smoothing out the flag, tucking it under the dead Priestess' sides. His hands moved almost automatically, with practiced motion. This would be the third time he'd tended to the body of a person while their animal companion looked on. Nir'wei didn't know whether he felt better that he was at least competent at doing it now, or terrible that he'd had to do it so much already. Almost as an afterthought, he clasped his hands over her chest and muttered a quiet prayer his grandmother had once told him, slightly altered to fit the occasion. "Kïyäyẹwä tä anou lori's hitimisho ar bou'eri hermeyp teyr srä, mẹẹdọgun sọ cokali ar valour."

When he looked back up at the beast a second time, its head had folded down over the Priestess' shoulder. It didn't look angry that he was there anymore. "It's realised, Myrth says. It's accepted their death." The wolf's voice preceded his presence, but it wasn't long between. Warmth spread across his lower back as the large wolf lay on the bloodstained cobblestones, naturally assuming the rear guard even in an empty battlefield. "There's a lot of knights assembling behind you, talking about heading towards the Rharne Bank in a few bits and chasing down the last of the attackers." There was a hidden question in there somewhere, he could feel it. The only reason Greyhide wasn't asking outright was because he didn't want to hear the answer.

"I think I've reached my limit," Nir'wei admitted. "I'm actually over it already, by about two dead bodies." He hoped it'd stay at two. He'd hear stories from Gaspard of the bonds Jacadons formed with their riders, how they'd turn to stone at their riders' deaths, unable to continue living without their companion. No other creature was so extreme in their mourning, but the bonds grown between man and animal were something to never be underestimated. "I'll stay here. Help them clean and bury." Myrth ghosted to his side and licked his cheek and ear, but he carefully pushed her back until she understood and sat on her haunches, staring over the body and the beast.

A shadow ghosted over his back and he turned, briefly meeting the eyes of a stranger before he found his composure and turned back to the body. She'd been in the battle, somewhere else... like everything else, it'd all blurred together in the heat of the moment, and now that he actually had time to focus, he saw the true depth of what he'd heedlessly thrown himself into. She was a Lightning Knight, she had to be, and she... she knew this one. Was he supposed to say something to her, comfort this complete stranger? How? He suddenly felt an awful fool, praying over the body of a complete stranger without a thought to those who might have known her. What right did he have to treat to her. But they had a city to tend to, they couldn't, they didn't have that luxury... and like that, a thought came to mind. "She'll be waiting for you here when you come back," he told the Knight quietly. "Both of them." This time, when he looked up to her, he didn't turn away when their eyes met a second time. "Do what you need to do." Karem above, this wasn't his strong suit and he hoped it didn't show too massively as he tried to settle a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Translation: Return to the forest's embrace and be whole once more, warrior of courage and valour.

[Lynessa]

Vabina didn’t even notice her touch, now settling to mourn her mentor silently. The sight shook Lynessa to the core and her body started shaking. She looked up to see where Leth was still getting treated by the healers. They still seemed to struggle to figure out what happened to him. How could she ever tell him what happened? That he shot and killed Karliah?

“Do what you need to do.”

Lynessa nodded and spoke a silent thank you to the man. She stood up slowly, her eyes still unable to leave Karliah’s lifeless body. Someone needed to pay for this. Fury burnt inside her chest as the young priestess walked over to where the group of knights had been waiting for her. They all looked at her grimly, perhaps noticing the icy rage in her eyes.

“They wanted to go the Bank. I don’t know why, but we need to get there fast. They already had one hell of a head start,” Lynessa said briskly before nodding at the Commander Urien. She turned her back to the group as she eyed the streets, mapping out the fastest route to the Bank. Once they started moving, the young woman would keep at the head of the group, the anger fueling her body to move faster.

In her mind she could see it… Once they found the Ring, she would end them. End each and every one of them. It didn’t matter what they did, they needed to pay. And she would make sure that alchemist would die by her hand too, just like his partner.

[Oracle]

Arlo. Lyova sped down and into the dark after the “knight” that had been seen with a scrap of Vega’s dress in her hands. The diri ignored walls and gates blocking her path and kept close behind her quarry. Eventually the woman came to meet with two others down in the depths of what was clearly an old forgotten section of the Rharne sewers. There was another woman, she was beautiful, with soft brown locks yet she had sharp cruel eyes. To her right was a short balding man who seemed to be some sort of chemist or alchemist going by the belt of potions and vials hanging off his person. The group was only a short five bit walk from the door Arlo was positioned at and the diri relayed the directions on to Arlo.

There was a conversation being had between the “knight” the other woman and the alchemist, they were talking about two prisoners they had apprehended. Apparently the prisoners had gotten tangled in their plan and were to be executed by the “knight” that Arlo had seen earlier. The woman dropped the scraps of Vega’s dress to the ground just before drawing her sword and heading toward a dimly lit cell.

!	Message from: Oracle
	You can post in Vega and Vivian's thread with your post And pick up where they have escaped and are facing the alchemist.

Nir Vabina whimpered softly as she sniffed Karliah’s remains. The great cat tensed her paws as if she couldn’t stand the thought of inaction while her rider lay dead. The Zephyrus had killed the Shadowhound, but that almost didn’t seem to be enough for her. Even with her maw bloodied from her battle, she still had some fight left in her. The azure cat stood, turning her bright eyes toward Nir’wei to meet his own. There was pain in her eyes, a pain that few ever truly knew save for those that lost siblings and the dearest of their loved ones.

“I’d be careful.” A nearby Thunder Priestess healer said as she finished dropping off water and bandages to the right of the plaza where a make-shift medical tent had been erected from the torn banners. The woman was pale skinned and had short blond hair arrayed around a round youthful face.
“Zephyrus can be mighty dangerous after the death of their rider.” She warned before her gaze turned sad.

“Karliah was a good woman and a good Priestess, she will be missed.”

!	Message from: Oracle
	Nir can attempt to bond with Vabina. Bear in mind that this is a risky process but the bond needs to be cemented before the Zephyrus becomes too lost in mourning her rider.

Lynessa As the medical staff arrived and began treating the injured, Knight Commander Urien gave the order for the dozen Lightning Knights to begin their race to the Bank of Rharne. The group departed, taking Lynessa with them. The trip seemed to take an age as they ascended through the Earth Quarter and into the Glass Quarter of Rharne, knowing the entire time that the Ring of Fire was several steps ahead of them.

Finally after at least twenty bits the squad arrived to the scent of smoke on the wind. Clouds of dark gray rose up from the roof of the gilded building along with spiraling embers. The bank was normally a gorgeous building, with its central dome and gold ornamentation arrayed across every surface.

However, to trial the windows were smashed and there was clearly a fire burning somewhere within. The bank had been under minimal guard and there had been no one inside when the Ring arrived only a few bits earlier. However they hadn’t used blunt force to get inside as the main doors were only slightly ajar, as if someone’d had a key in hand when they had arrived. There were several side windows along with a ladder leading to the roof where there was a clearly visible access hatch through the sky lights. There was also the already ajar front door.

Lynessa needed to choose how to best approach their entrance into the bank. Would they rush in and attempt to take the Ring by surprise or use stealthier methods to gain entrance?

"What should we do Priestess?" one of the Lightning Knight's asked. He was a young man with short clipped brown hair and dark brown eyes. Most of the Knights with her seemed unsure and untested. Even if Commander Urien had given her his support, he clearly had kept his better Knights to cleaning up the mess in Azurewind Market.

!	Message from: Oracle
	Lynessa, you have three options for entering the Bank. 1. Through the front door (Fast but risky) 2. Through the side windows (Moderately fast, slightly risky) 3. Through the access hatch in the roof (Slow, least risk and best chance for stealth)