Meanwhile, Back in the Town of Hidden Tragedy...

[Lasair Anubail]

((Closed to Call me J and Nightsangel))



“Do you even know where you’re going anymore?”

“Of course I do! I’m going ahead dead, as the humans say it.”

Lasair turned her eyes from the path before her and focused on the flying form of her best friend. Well, the miniature version she made to represent her best friend in every single way. The pint sized Draconian was only around twelve inches tall, with a set of dark blue scaled wings adorning his back, a spear in his hand and a simple pair of pants and a vest on. He looked like Tristram is every way, except he was a tad bit on the cuter side and he was much more cuddly. Tristram wasn’t exactly someone she’d cuddle. He hugged her when she was feeling down and comforted her when she needed it, but he could also be quite mean to her when he thought she needed a swift kicking to.

Tristram merely sighed and shook his head, “It’s dead ahead, Lasair. Not ahead dead, that makes it sound like you’re leading us into certain death!”

She thought about that for a few seconds, narrowly missing a jutting root from the soft, ground of the forest surrounding her. “Hmm, no, I’m sure it’s not certain death. It could be a possible outcome though!” She said it a little too cheerfully for someone talking about their potential demise. But in her mind there was no point in dwelling on something like that. If she was going to die then she was going to die. Hopefully it would be quick and painless and not very messy either. Messy was never fun. Unless it was painting, oh, or digging for buried treasures. Both those were messy and they were a lot of fun.

All around her were the sounds of the forest, something that comforted her and reminded her of home. Though some of the noises varied and the flora and fauna were not the same, it didn’t matter. It was still nature and peaceful and alive. The untouched beauty of it and the energy that radiated from here was something that perhaps her race appreciated more than others.

Concordia forest was definitely a place that Lasair found extraordinarily beautiful as well. It wasn’t Luthmor with it’s twisting trees, tall lush ferns, mist and heavy rains, but it had it’s own beauty. The trees grew tall, their branches reaching for the sky and creating a canopy of protection above her. It only allowed the light to filter through in small rays that danced upon the dried leaves and dead twigs. The greens were not as vibrant as they were in Luthmor, but their colours were still lovely to the eyes and she also noticed that some of the tree trunks had grey or even white bark instead of brown. It was quite fascinating. The biggest difference was the temperature. It was much colder in Corone than she was used to and Lasair often found herself shivering slightly when the wind weaved through the trees and created a symphony of sound.

“Can’t you just admit that you’re lost, Lasair?” Tristram asked, beginning to sound a little annoyed.

The plushie flew over and perched himself on her shoulder where he usually stayed. Avery, her other plushie, was currently sleeping in her Never-Ending rucksack. He tended to do that a lot. Whereas Tristram disliked being in the rucksack for long periods of time, Avery did not seem to mind so much. It didn’t bother her either way, just as long as he came out and helped her when she needed it.

“But I’m not lost.” She said to him. She didn’t understand why he was being so persistent with this. “I’m in Concordia and if I know where I am, I am therefore not lost.”

Her eyes scanned the path she was following, most likely some kind of animal trail as she occasionally nearly stepped in dodo, which was not a very pleasant experience when one was not wearing shoes. Concordia definitely had a lot more dead sticks and leaves in it than Luthmor did and they were starting to aggravate her feet. Nearly every time she stepped down something poked her or crunched and broke beneath her. It made walking quietly nearly impossible. If there were monsters around they’d know she was coming for a fifty-foot radius! Just as long as none of them decided she looked like a yummy treat everything would be fine though. Besides, Tristram would probably butt kick them.

“You’ll butt kick them, right Tristram?”

“Eh?” The plushie looked at her as if she’d gone mad. “Kick their butts and why, what are you talking about? Who’s ass am I kicking!?”

“No one’s!” She said cheerfully as she nearly tripped. Her long purple dress got snagged on an outstretched branch that seemed to want to keep her. With a few forceful tugs though, she freed herself.

Adjusting the traps of her rucksack, Lasair stopped for a moment, wondering where she should turn next. She couldn’t properly see the sun but she guessed it was mid-day, so she had plenty of time before she had to make camp. But she should probably find a place to stop and have a quick snack. Noticing a bit of a break in the trees that had a small grassy patch—and if her ears didn’t deceive her a stream—Lasair turned to the left and started heading off into that direction.

With only a few steps on her way there, the Fae experienced a sudden and drastic change in scenery. Almost all the colour seemed to fade from the trees and the surrounding area, turning everything grey and dead looking. Trees that had once looked so inviting now reached for her with twisting arms and fingers, mangled and grotesque. The sun disappeared behind a grey sky and all noise stopped. No birds chirped, no animals stirred and no wind played through the leaves. The entire place felt dead. Even the air felt dead and stale and hard to breathe. Whereas before Lasair could feel the life and the energy within the forest, now she only felt a darkness so cold it dug into her soul and chilled her to her very marrow.

Taking a few steps backward, the Fae managed to catch her foot on a root and send herself sprawling onto her behind. When she opened her eyes, the forest was once again returned to it’s normal self. The noises and smells assaulted her senses, calming the caged bird that was her heart.

“Are you all right?”

Looking in the direction of the voice, Lasair saw Tristram hovering a few inches in front of her face. “Yeah, I’m fine… that was just weird.”

He nodded in agreement.

Quickly getting to her feet, Lasair took a deep breath and once again headed in that direction. Like before the forest around her suddenly shifted and changed as if she stepped into the mind of a twisted illusionist. Getting a bit of an idea, the tiny Fae stepped back and was once again surrounded by the life of Concordia.

“Umm… Lasair, I don’t think you should be doing that…”

Ignoring him, Lasair smiled and took a jump forward, landing herself in darkness, then jumped back and ended up in the bright sunny daylight.

“Tristram this is so cool!”

Jumping forward again, Lasair giggled and jumped back once more only to slam into an unseen force and fall to the forest floor.

“Ow!”

Standing up and shaking her head, the tiny Fae placed her hands on the barrier and felt an extremely strong magic course through her fingers. Whatever it was there was no way her feeble magic could do anything to it. And on top of that it had trapped her on the scary side. Just perfect.

“I told you to stop…”

She just shrugged and stood up, brushing the dead leaves and twigs from her dress. “It’s fine, we’ll just do a little exploring. I’m sure we’ll find a way out.”

And that’s exactly what she did. Easily noticing a path that clearly led somewhere and was walked upon many times, Lasair headed off in that direction, hoping to come across something soon.

[Call me J]

(Takes place before Death in the City of Lights)

Jame never understood why an area like Concordia had to be romanticized. There was nothing romantic about a forest. An area that was conquered by plants and untamed by civilization was only a breeding ground for bandits, the undead and man-eating wolves. As a half dragon, Jame supposed he should have had at least some affinity for nature, and he did, as long as it remained in the academic sense. Nature was fine, as long as it wasn’t crawling all over his skin, making mating calls and latching on to his boots. Jame was just glad it was still afternoon. He would have hated to have been caught in the woods of Concordia at night.

He had little purpose there as it was. The only reason Jame was in Concordia instead of a boat out of Radasanth was that that he had heard rumors that the Patriarch’s minions were meeting together somewhere near a place called Crystal Lake. Jame had gotten a map of all the lakes within Concordia, but had also managed to get himself lost. By the look of the sun in the sky, if there was a meeting, he had completely missed it.

“I just hope trudging through all this for nothing’ll be worth it in the long run,” he sulked. Jame didn’t see how it would, but he felt as though he was entitled to have something redeeming happen after being stuck in Concordia. “If the bandits used to live here, they probably left some gold lying around here or something...” he mused. With a light chuckle, that thought lifted his spirits, but only momentarily.

Less than seconds later, the entire world changed. The noon day sun seemed as if it had been swallowed inside a sea of grey. Everything had changed. There was no color anymore, anywhere. Jame could feel his heart beating faster inside of him as he suddenly began to panic. Remembering what Rainee would do in a situation like this, he was almost tempted to pinch himself. However, he knew this couldn’t be a dream.

Jame knew he didn’t have this morbid of a sense of creativity.

Not only were the trees no longer colored, but their branches were mangled and twisted. There were no animals around, the annoying high pitched chirps of birds had been replaced by an uneasy silence. Jame reached to unsheath his sword, but when he did, he was surprised. The Namesake, his glowing blade that portended danger, was dull. But, it wasn’t dull to signify that Jame had no reason to fear, it was dull because the light that emerged from the blade dissipated quickly into the darkness.

The half dragon watched as little blinks of light appeared around his sword and then disappeared immediately after, like small flames being snuffed from a candelabra. Jame shuddered, and then sheathed his sword. He knew he might need a weapon, but looking at the sword was far too unsettling.

He turned around to move away from the grayness, but he was blocked from moving in the direction from which he came. It was an invisible force, which made it that much more disturbing.

“HELLOOOOOOO!!” Jame shouted. He wanted reaction. He didn’t care from whom or where it came from, but he wanted some answers.

A few seconds passed. Nothing happened. Jame began to reconsider whether he should have shouted out into the trees.

[Nightsangel]

Her original intention for coming into this forest had been to stop a trade her father was making. She had heard through a old Drow merchant that a high ranking vampire was purchasing slaves through a slaving deal. The beauty had not liked this and with the assurance that the forest was a safe and beautiful place. She had left to stop this deal. She did not want to see any more innocent humans turned into nothing more then mindless zombies.

With this goal in mind, she had left the dark elf’s rickety little shop, he had called after her asking if she had wanted to buy something. But she had ignored him and had swiftly made her way into the forest’s beauty. She hadn’t been in the forest’s lovely colors for long before things begin to change.

"The forest is beautiful!" The elf had said. "You’ll see all kinds of brightly colored birds, and the trees! Oh you just can’t beat their beauty!"

The young vixen had heard this awhile ago. However, the beauty that the wizened old dark elf had spoke of had not appeared. Furthermore, her orignal intention of stopping her father's deal was completley forgotten. It was replaced with the more immediate concern for her safety. The trees which were suppose to look like shining green gems, were withered. Their thin snake like branches reaching out to the young vampire. The ground was brittle, the dirt a gritty gray that matched the sky. Furthermore there was no calls from animals, there was no chirp of a lovely bird, no chatter from a little squirrel. There was only deadly silence.

Sivienna did not like it, when the colors had switched abruptly from jeweled greens and soft browns to dull grays and withered blacks, she had tried to turn around. But, her way had been blocked, by a thin invisible barrier. The night beauty had tried to press her magic against the barriers, but she had failed miserably. The only results she had gotten for her troubles were burned fingers.

Said fingers were now healing, the mottled red skin slowly returning back to their pale beauty. It seemed whatever being had trapped her, was making sure that she was unable to find her way out. Moving her way over a thin blackened root from a tree that looked as if it would grab her at any minute. She soon came to a clearing.

Inside it was a tree that looked ancient. Almost as if it was alive. A face was carved into the brittle wood. It seemed to watch the vampiress as she moved to pass it, a shiver passed through her skin as she could have sworn she heard a whisper against the cold thin air Come follow the path of the twisted snake. Look for a tree with a carving in it, then search for another and soon…soon you’ll find the village riddled with tragedy!

A shiver passed over the beauty’s shoulder as she turned to stare at the face carved into the tree. It seemed the image was crying, a marked hole in the tree meant to indicate tears. Staring at it, she remembered the riddle on the wind. Moving to touch the cold bark she thought Is this the first marker? What could this mean? Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard shouting. Someone was calling out into the empty forest. Hope filled her heart as she hurried towards the voice.

She nearly tripped over a hidden root, barely avoiding it, she soon had retraced her steps until she was standing near a trio of interwoven birch trees. There branches seemed to be hugging each other, as if they needed the comfort. Ignoring this Sivi called out “I’M HERE! HELLO! WHOEVER YOU ARE! HERE! I’M OVER HERE!”

The pale beauty then begin to wave her hands, eager to see who had called for any living sign of life. The atmosphere was getting to her, and even in her undead state, she still valued living things. She was glad that she had heard this voice, it meant that she wouldn’t have to travel this silent forest alone.

[Lasair Anubail]

The air was stale. The normal smells of the forest having abandoned it, leaving only the smell of dirt and something stagnant and rotting. It filled her lungs but left her feeling winded and breathing heavily, as if it were choking her. No matter what she did she felt breathless and no amount of deep breathing was allowing her to catch her breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh?”

Lasair looked over at the worried expression of Tristram, but only smiled assuredly at her friend. “Nothing.” He was worrying needlessly. She didn’t want to hide anything from him, but she didn’t want him worrying over her for nothing either. She was just used to the fresh, clean air of Luthmor rather than whatever this was turning into. Perhaps it would get better if she could find a way out of this forest, or even passed that little magical barrier. Strange that there would be such a powerful barrier like that in the middle of Concordia. She couldn’t really see a reason for it after all. Barriers were good at two things, keeping stuff in and keeping people out. This one appeared to be doing a little more than that though as the forest within it was not the same one she had been walking through before.

Pushing aside the thoughts, her eyes scanned the closely growing trees, looking for something, anything. But all she saw were the twisted and shrivelled branches that reached outwards her like mangled hands, forever grasping and searching for something to tear into. Hollows in the trees stared back at her like screaming, gaping holes in an endless cycle of misery, looking for that simple relief of rotting away. There were no sounds other than her own feet, crunching down on dry twigs and snapping beneath her lightweight. It reminded her of the telltale sound of bones breaking and echoing in the silence.

A branch broke in the distance. The sound reverberating throughout her body and sending her heart skipping. She spun around expecting to see someone or even perhaps something, but there was nothing there.

“Did you hear that, Tristram?” For some reason her words came out as a whisper, even though she hadn’t wanted them to.

“I didn’t hear anything…” He grunted.

Her eyes scanned the darkened trees but found nothing moving within them. Her heart was beginning to beat faster within the confines of her chest, thumping against the cage that was her ribs in an attempt to escape. But she wouldn’t let it. It was her heart after all and it wasn’t supposed to go anywhere. Turning back to the worn path before her, she continued to move forward. Eventually she would find someone or something. She couldn’t be the only one out walking in Concordia and the forest was apparently littered with small towns. So all she had to do was find one.

Lasair didn’t make it far before the sound of scurrying feet came from behind her, freezing her in her spot. She didn’t want to turn around to check what it was; it could be a monster that was trying to eat her like that evil troll she came across in this very forest. Oh that would be bad, she didn’t see any horse ladies around to save her this time. Before she could muster the courage to turn around she heard laughter coming from her left, turning her head she saw nothing. But then the sound of people talking started echoing all around her as if she were surrounded. She couldn’t really understand what was being said though; each voice overlapped the other one creating a garble of jargon her mind couldn’t focus on.

Turning in a circle, the tiny Fae began looking everywhere for the source of the sound. In front of her, to the sides, behind her and even up in the trees. Taking a few steps backwards, her back bumped into something that moved slightly with her. The moment she hit it all the sounds around her stopped, once again leaving the forest in that silence that chilled her soul.

Spinning around, Lasair found herself starring up at the slightly swinging body of a man. A noose of rope was tied around his neck digging into the bruised skin as it then further disappeared up into the tree. His pale skin was decaying and slowly falling from his body as the elements ripped at his greying clothes, tearing them into pieces. Stepping away from him, the Fae tripped on a jutting root and found herself sprawled in the dead leaves and twigs, with her eyes still focusing on him and nothing else. He was just swaying there!

His head shifted to the side and eyelids opened up to reveal blackened holes where his eyes should have been. Screaming, she scrambled to her feet and began running through the woods as fast as she could. Her bare feet broke twigs big and small as the tiny shards dug into her sensitive skin, but she didn’t care. The branches of the trees seemed to reach out for her as she tried to run passed, tearing at her dress and skin, creating red welts and silver wells of blood along her arms and even her face.

“Lasair, stop! There’s nothing there!”

The words of Tristram were lost to her. She wasn’t paying attention to him or anything else. Just running. That man had been dead, he had been dead but then his head had moved and his eyes had opened like he’d been alive! How is that possible, why had he done? Why couldn’t he have just stayed dead!

[Call me J]

Jame was a bit nervous about meeting another person in this forest, but his ears practically jolted with joy when he heard another voice. “A female voice at that,” Jame realized, though he didn’t smile the way he would have in a different situation. The sound of a sultry female was always appealing to him, but now, his surroundings were so unsettling he could barely think at all, even when it came to the opposite sex, a subject that required little thought.

Still, Jame wanted to head towards the voice. He didn’t know if they would know any more about this grey, rancid area, but regardless, meeting someone else in the forest was a welcome proposition. At the very least, a new person would be security. The dull branches and the grey sky both gave off an air of impending danger, and Jame felt as though another person meant that he’d at least have someone else to fight off the dark horrors that had created the situation that surrounded him now.

Despite his pleasure at hearing another voice, Jame still gulped as he moved towards it. His steps were somewhat ginger, and his eyes glanced around furtively. He looked at the twisted branches, smelled the rancid air, watched as his feet stepped down on the lifeless ground, all the while looking for some kind of explanation or sense of what was going on.

The moment that Jame saw the source of the voice, he wasn’t sure whether to relax or to become more apprehensive. The woman was pretty, perhaps even gorgeous. Jame might have fumbled for words had he met her at a soiree or fancy dinner. In the greyness, that reaction was only somewhat muted. Still, Jame couldn’t shake a disturbing feeling that he couldn’t trust anything in the village, especially when he noticed how pale she was. “Any paler and she’d be glowing…” he realized.

Jame’s sword was already drawn, but he gripped the hilt of the weapon tighter. He could tell by her blood red lips that she wasn’t a tragically ill human being but a vampire. “This could be her trap,” Jame realized. His eyes were open wide, and he took a deep breath, only to shudder as the stale air filled his lungs, practically crusting over the brachia within his lungs. Exhaling was a relief, and Jame realized that a row of cold sweat had fallen down his back.

Still, Jame decided not to act rashly. Vampire or not, the woman could have been trapped in the greyness just as much as he was. There was no guarantee, of course, but the half dragon was desperate enough for solutions that he was willing to consider alternatives.

“Keep your distance from me, but you can state your case,” Jame said. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but if there is dark magic, then it’s a sinister beast that’s responsible.”

Whatever smile had appeared on his lips after first hearing the vampiress’ voice had completely disappeared. He had spoken to her a bit harshly, but from what Jame knew of vampires, few of them had any feelings that could have been hurt by harshness.

Though he didn’t like to bring it up in polite company, Jame decided that he would make sure this vampiress knew his name. He knew it could be dangerous, if she had been responsible for the trap, then she would have been overjoyed to capture him in it. However, if she was trapped just as he was, she would know better than to challenge him.

“I wouldn’t try any funny business, because I am Jame Whitizard-Kaosi,” he continued. “Yes, son of Damon Kaosi- and I’m just like him too. If you hurt me, then it wouldn’t go well for you.” Normally, Jame might have felt a bit cheap bringing up his father, but given the circumstances, he was more interested in survival than decorum. “If you’re trapped here too though… then come with me, we’ll figure things out…”

With that, Jame began to walk deeper into the grey, all the while wondering who his enemies were.

[Nightsangel]

As she heard the crunch of twigs snapping underneath a heavy foot, Sivi's heart beat with anticipation. she had no idea whether this person was friend of foe. But from the sound of the voice she could tell that the caller was male. As heard the rustling of brittle branches being pushed aside, she saw the figure that appeared.

Her hands lowered, as a warm smile curved on her rich red lips, however the smile turned to fear, when the expression in his face changed. As he pulled out a weapon and brandished it, her eyes lowered until the lashes were covering her closed lids. Lowering her hands, she put them up in a I mean no harm manner. Hoping that she'd let the young man no that she was harmless. She did not want to be slashed to ribbons in this dank and barren place.

As her lungs exhaled some of the stale air, a voice seemed to play in her ear Come now pretty dark maiden. Come with me! You can bring him too! You can feast on his rich warm blood! I promise you that treat! All that you need to do fair lady is follow my voice! Keeping her hands up, Sivi tried to ignore the sweet, cajoling voice, shaking her head she hissed in her mind Stay away! I don't want or need any of your offers!

She then took a deep breathe, as she moved to settle on a dark almost brown red stump of a nearby fallen tree. Settling her legs in a V position, she looks up into the male's deep red eyes. Shaking her head she says in a sultry voice "Honey...you call me vampire and claim to be the son of the most famous vampire slayer on Althanas! But, sweetie your not human either! I can smell dragon in your blood! So don't go spouting fancy words at me! Or threats for that matter! I'm trapped here same as you!"

Moving to show plain hands she hisses "Sivienna Mizami, perhaps through your slayer connections you've heard of me. Runaway daughter of Raoul Mizami. I value human life! I don't just slay humans for the fun of it! I only attack and feed from criminals in the human world!"

After pleading her case, Sivienna pushed herself off the grimy cold stump. Moving to walk towards him she whispers "Please, I called to you because this forest is silent...creepy." Moving to shiver as yet another cold wind danced around her thin outfit she whispers 'Have you not heard the voices? Calling to you? Saying to come to the town of tragedy, trying to offer you sweet things? In return for you going there?"

As the wind blew a dead leaf to the ground, Sivienna's eyes widened, the leaf looked shredded almost as if it was made to be a pointer. Blinking as she followed the leaf's arrow, her eyes fell on a bubbling grey colored stream. Shaking her head, she was about to pass it out, before her eyes fell on yet another thick grayish-brown tree. It was shaped like a girl screaming, as if she was dying in a very painful way. Moving to head towards it she whispers "Oh my god...its like the other tree! Are these markers true? Do they really lead to the town of tragedy?"

Pursing her soft lips, the dark beauty's soft lavender eyes fell on Jame's red ones. Sighing she says soflty" Can we put aside the mistrust for now dragon boy? In order to get out of this horrible place...I think we need to head to the town of tragedy..and company wouldn't be so bad? Would it.."Closing her eyes and trying to soften her first words she finishes "Jame?"

[Lasair Anubail]

She had to keep going. If she stopped it could come and get her, if she stopped it was going to be there, right behind her waiting for her. Even though her lungs were burning and her heart felt as if it would burst from her chest, she had to keep running. Her frantic eyes barely cut through the darkness of the forest, seeing things seconds before they were right in front of her face. Countless times she smacked part of her body off the trunk of a trees or a low hanging branch, but still she kept going. Until her foot landed rather painfully on a sharp branch and sent her sprawling into the dried dirt and dead sticks. They pricked at her and scrapped along her skin, breaking it open and causing small cuts along her arms as she braced herself. Her knees were throbbing and most likely bruised, but she didn’t care.

Her head snapped around as her eyes searched the trees behind her. There didn’t seem to be anything there though. No hanging bodies, no strange noises, just the silence that had enveloped this forest before. She felt her heart beginning to calm as she began to gasp for large amounts of air to fill her screaming lungs. Bowing her head in relief, the Fae slowly brought herself to her feet as her plushie Tristram caught up with her and rested himself upon her shoulder. He didn’t look very pleased with her but he kept his mouth shut for a change.

Raising her head, the Fae looked ahead her and to her surprise she saw the form of a young woman walking through the forest. She may have missed her if not for the fact that she wore all white and it stuck out drastically in the dismal colours of the forest.

“Uhh…wait!”

Lasair called out to her but she appeared not to hear her. Quickening her steps, she began to head towards her at a light jog. The close growing trees made it hard to catch up and multiple times she lost sight of her only to find her again. Her steps seemed to be a little erratic and off balance as she weaved to and fro and no matter how many times Lasair called out to the woman, she never turned or even acknowledge her presence. A child-like laughter seemed to echo throughout the forest, causing the Fae to looked around her at the twisting branches and when she turned back the woman was gone.

“But…where did she go?” She asked to no one in particular.

“Where did who go?” Tristram asked.

“That young woman…”

“I didn’t see any young woman… are you sure you’re okay, Lasair?”

She nodded her head as her eyes scanned the forest. There was a path just a little bit ahead of her; she could just make it out in the trees. Her golden eyes followed it along and up to the top of a small hill where she could just make out a small freestanding entrance gate that was clearly marking something. There was also a gentle, red glow coming from the top of it.

“Do you see that, Tristram?” She asked, pointing to it. He merely nodded his head. “I bet we can find something up there, perhaps a way out or some help at least.”

At the top of the hill, Lasair walked underneath the simple and wooden constructed entrance that served no point other than a marker. She couldn’t see it being used as anything more than decoration; it was just not sturdy enough. On the other side she found herself walking out into a small, dirt covered clearing. All along the edge of it were torches, lit and burning into the night. Their light a welcome comfort to her eyes. In the centre of it all was a small stone altar or platform of some kind that was completely flat. It was roped off to apparently keep people from touching it too. Whatever it was for, it must be sacred to them.

Walking passed it, she moved towards the other side of the clearing. As she reached the edge, her eyes widened in surprise and relief as she saw the tops of multiple houses below. The wooden surfaces rose and fell like the tops of many hills. She easily picked out the few torches in the village that were burning through the night. She couldn’t really see much else from up here, though she bet that girl from before had probably come here. It was most likely her home. Looking around, she saw a small path leading down the side of the hill and quickly moved towards it.

[Call me J]

(Bunny approved)

The idea of a vampire that just fed upon criminals struck Jame as slightly preposterous, but he still decided to believe Sivienna. There was something about the way that she looked into his eyes and called out to him for help that stirred a bit of pity within him, and perhaps even a few other emotions as well. He also supposed that Sivienna wouldn’t have mentioned her own pedigree to him had it not been true. She would have had no way of knowing Jame that Jame had neither his father’s inherent distaste nor knowledge of the undead.

“Be careful though,” Jame reminded himself, as if it was possible to not be careful with the constant reminders of danger all around him. “She knew the name of a place, a real city name, and she wants you to go there. I wouldn’t trust her much…”

“Just walk before me,” Jame said. His voice was surprisingly hostile given that he was talking to an attractive woman. “If you want to get to some town of Tragedy, you’re walking first, alright?” Surprisngly, Sivienna complied.

Jame decided that he would keep at least one eye on Sivienna at all times. Trust was something that he was normally much more willing to give, but the circumstances now called for more caution than Jame had ever been used to giving. Even war somehow seemed less intimidating than this, for there Jame at least knew his enemies and their intentions. Here, he found himself alone, surrounded by grey and uncertainty.

The lifeless air began to blow. It felt cold and clammy to the touch, neither humid nor dry. Somehow, it also felt lifeless. Jame would have struggled for a word to describe it if asked, but the only thought it created in his brain was a sensation of drowning. He coughed a little and pulled his shirt closer together.

“You don’t have an extra coat do you?” Jame asked sardonically. He didn’t expect Sivienna to answer, and even if she did, he doubted that she had one. Still, it was a slight excuse for conversation as the landscape was changing. The emptiness all around them still seemed just as vacant, but yet the temperature was growing colder. The wind carried small wisps of mist with it, though the mist seemed to have no body or intention to it.

The number of trees around Jame was diminishing. The half dragon looked ahead, and all he could see were larger clouds of mist and fog. They were so thick that Jame could barely see into them, let alone through.

A pale man, translucent and colored completely in white now hovered before Jame. The half dragon was startled, and he practically dropped his sword in surprise. He forgot all about his fears for Sivienna as the hair all over his body stood at rapt attention. Jame’s shock had been so great that it took a few seconds for his blood to remember to continue to flow through his viens.

“Wh-what do you want?” he asked.

The pale man merely pointed in a direction. It was the direction he and Sivienna had been heading to anyways. Jame just blinked. He was too awestruck by circumstance to even consider his possibilities.

[Nightsangel]

The young man was suspicious of her, this did not come as a shock to the young vampire. But, she was disappointed. She had hoped that her revelation that she did not harm innocents would have been enough to mollify the young half dragon. However, all her efforts got her were a curt nod and the instructions for her to walk ahead.

Frustration was in her heart as she stepped over an upturned broken branch. The branch looked like a broken arm to the dark vixen. But, she ignored this as she continued on her way, her heart was thumping rather painfully as she thought Urgh...why did have to be cursed with this unending disease? It prevents me from interacting normally with humans...they all fear that I will kill them. Drink them dry...like, the rest of my kind does....

Time seemed to move slowly as the two traveled past trees that were frail, some that looked as if they were crying for help. Jame asked her a small question, the night vixen sighed as she keeps moving. Now was not the time for small talk, they needed to find their way out of this silent forest.

As they neared yet another muddy brown stream, Sivienna could hear her companion screaming about something. Turning to look back at him, she saw nothing there. Shaking her head as her lips pursed she mutters "There is nothing there Jame. Come on, we better keeping moving." She then turned to continue on her way, but paused.

A shiver went up her spine, she felt as if she had just walked into an icy river. Wrapping her arms around herself, she shudders as she murmurs "Its cold...it feels as if icy hands are moving across my body." The cold slowly passed through her body, as if the thing that she had walked into was moving on its way.

"What was that?" Sivienna asked as she felt the coldness brush past her and breeze through the trees. Shaking her head Sivienna held it as she mutters" What is with this place?" Not liking this at all, Sivienna swerved on her foot to continue on. Her mind though was racing First screaming trees, then streams that look as if the water is poisonous and now a cold deathly breeze? Just what is happening in this forest?

As her thoughts continued, she soon bumped into a cold ivy covered steel gate. Blinking as her thoughts ended with escape Sivi sighed. She knew what her body was telling her flee, get out of here! There's more here then your prepared for! Her hand though was moving blindly towards the gate, pushing it open. It felt to the night vixen as if some invisible force was pulling her forward.

As her feet stepped on small stones, she let out a wince, the sensation from it moving though her body. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tried to regain control. Once she was sure she wouldn't step on anything else, she begin to walk forward.

The mist seemed less here, almost as if it had been scared away by something. As Sivienna's eyes looked around her, she could make out small shapes within the clearing gray fog. As her eyes adjusted she could see small tombstones, worn by age set up around a small steel fence. A church with faded stain glass windows was towering like a stern teacher over the quiet graves.

Where are we? Sivienna thought apprehensively as her foot bumped against a raised stone platform. A name barely legiable was written on the grave Icarus Ba The last name was faded but Sivienna could clearly read the phrase underneath Your sacrifice will be remembered. Confused by this, the beauty's eyes fell onto the stone platform and her eyes widened. Black melted candle stubs were surrounded by a ritual circle drawn by herbs. It looked old but this concerned the vampiress.

Turning with fear in her eyes, Sivienna stammered to Jame "Something doesn't feel right. This atmosphere..it feels as if we are being watched....."

[Lasair Anubail]

The atmosphere within the village was no better than the one she found in the forest. In fact, it seemed far creepier in the village. Here, there was a gentle and cold breeze that seemed to rip through the area and cut through the thin material of her clothes, covering her body in a multitude of bumps. Not to mention she was beginning to get the feeling that she was being watched. The closer she got to the village the more she began to feel it, like something crawling underneath her skin and snaking it’s way into her mind. It was far worse than the cold that was working its way through her small form.

At the bottom of the hill, Lasair moved to step forward and smacked her toe into something instead. Something soft that moved with her. Fearing another body that might reach out for her, her heart leapt into her throat, but after a few seconds she found the courage to look down. There was no body; instead it was a plain brown leather rucksack that appeared to be haphazardly discarded upon the path. Leaning down, she reached out and grabbed the slightly worn straps, a bit of a shock running up through her arm as she did so, one that began a dull throbbing in her head. It nearly caused her to drop it. As she stood straight, she felt her dress brush against her back as if someone had just walked passed her.

Where did you go…

Turning, she expected to find Tristram flying there but instead all she saw were some more trees and bushes along the edge of the path. Tristram was still perched upon her shoulder, silently regarding her every move.

“I don’t really like this village…” He said to her.

Her only response was a simple nod as she slowly turned back around. She didn’t either. There was a rather large looking house directly to her left. The wood was worn and grey, as if time and the elements had stripped away its colour. The windows were dark and empty and every time she glanced at one she expected there to be someone looking back at her. She wanted to call out for help but the words died in her throat. For some reason Lasair thought it best to keep quiet and not attract attention to herself, but there didn’t appear to be anyone to attract attention from.

Tightening her grip on the rucksack, the Fae was just about to open it up and see what was inside when she noticed something from the corner of her eye. Turning her head she saw the figure of that same young girl disappear around the corner of the house. Without thinking better of it, she ran after the girl, rounding the corner of the house only to find no one there. Perplexed, Lasair looked around the hard packed dirt road only to find more houses similar to the one she’d just seen, dark windows, rotting wood and…chickens? Blinking a few times to see if her eyes had deceived her, the tiny Fae continued to stare at the small group of chickens. They were pecking at the ground as if oblivious to her and her presence, their white feathers, little yellow feet and red faces made them stick out tremendously in the grim surroundings. Not only that, but they were the only living things she’d seen since crossing into this place, well, besides that girl. But she kept disappearing on her.

As Lasair began to move forward, her light steps upset the birds and sent them scattering away from her before they resumed their group once more. Strange that there would just be a random flock of chickens in the middle of the street and well, not in someone barn or however the humans kept their animals. Forgetting about the rucksack in her hand for the time being, the Fae continued to move forward hoping that she would come across that young girl and that she’d be able to help her.

[Call me J]

When Jame was able to return to his senses, he realized that Sivienna had asked him a question. “Uhh… what did you say?” he said, a bit sheepishly. He was beginning to realize just how dangerous this part of Concordia was. There were so many threats around him, that he had been able to ignore a vampire. Gulping at the grim reality of the situation, Jame watched as the ghost that had pointed him down the pathway disappeared and Sivienna, clearly displeased, repeated what she had asked.

Now that he’d heard Sivienna a second time, he couldn’t help but feel a bit more nervous. He wondered if it just was that he wasn’t noticing things, or that his mind had been so attuned to the threats that he’d observed that he’d missed everything else. He wondered what else in had escaped his attention in the bichromatic atmosphere.

Unsure of how to respond to Sivienna, Jame let his anxiety get the best of him. “How am I supposed to know what we’re supposed to be doing?” he said, as if covering up his fear with indignation. “I mean, you’re the vampire, didn’t you grow up around this creepy stuff all the time. I don’t know, where I’m from, the air doesn’t smell like stale milk and ghosts don’t point at you and there are no towns of tragedy.”

Jame put his head in his hands for a moment, his fingers combing into his bangs. He took a deep breath, only to inhale the chalk like taste of the mist around him. Immediately, he coughed. “Sorry…” he offered.

As a peace offering, Jame offered the only suggestion he could come up with. “Let’s just follow the path,” he suggested. “If the ghost pointed us there, someone wants us going that way. Not sure who and not sure why, but I guess we’ve gotta get moving somewhere for some reason. I don’t know. Moving feels better than being here, you know. Someone in here somewhere is going to have to know something. Not sure who… but there’s got to be people here.”

With that, Jame began walking down the pathway he had been walking. Nervously, he eyed the gravestones as he passed them, as the chalky smell and texture of the mist brushed coarsely off his skin and the insides of his lungs. He shuddered reflexively a few times, and tried to ignore the cold sweat that was collecting down his spine. Jame wished that Sivienna knew more, but he knew it was unfair of him to expect that from her just because she was a vampire. In most cases, she seemed just as overwhelmed by everything as he did.

Thus, armed with little more than the nervous prayer on the tip of his lips, Jame continued down the pathway to whatever lay ahead in the colorless world that he had entered.

[Nightsangel]

(Bunny of Call Me J approved)

Your sacrifice will be remembered? What could that mean? Damn it all! What the hell! Why does this graveyard feel so cold? Why do all these graves seem to differ in age? It... Moving from Icarus's grave, the dark vixen studied yet another grave.

Isabella Maelle "Your pure spirit will carry you through the afterlife!" Cold sweat beaded down Sivi's back as she read this one. It seemed this town....was cursed. This grave looked to fresh...to be here when the graveyard had been made. Her eyes nervously glanced up at the church, its shadowed visage, making her feel as if something was watching her. The stained glass windows looked old, caked with dust, but at the same time their was this ominous force to the church. As if whatever power looked out for this town was centered there.

Rising from the grave, the dark beauty turned to tell Jame what she had discovered, but she only saw particles of dust floating in front of her. It seemed he had started down and old dusty path that led to a dark red iron gate. Blinking as she watched him pulling the gate opening with a loud CREAK. Shuddering as the gate slammed behind him and he began to disappear into the misty horizon, she hurried forward.

Her heart was beating fearfully as she passed cracked and discolored stones. As she neared the gate she tried screaming "JAME! WAIT! I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!"

However her pleas for him to wait were answered by a dancing voice Forget him! Come with me! I'll show you bliss dark lady! the voice was playful, almost childish in conduce. It almost made Sivienna want to follow. She could feel the cold wind pressing against her pale flesh, causing little prickles against it, that made her want to come.

However, she shook her head, trying to clear it of the numbing cold. In a soft voice she mutters "No...I won't follow same nameless voice. I must keep moving...I need to figure out what...what happened HERE!" The loudness caused the cold to vanish, relief warmed the vampire's heart as she moved to push the creaky gate open.

With this done, she begin to follow Jame's footsteps in the worn path. Soon she came upon a small town. The buildings looked old, as if no one had been hear in awhile. The only sound she could hear was the clucking of chickens. Confusion filled the dark vixen's heart as she carefully stepped forward looking around. It seemed something lived here...but what? Chickens? If chickens were alive then who kept them? As the dark beauty stepped forward more she could hear shuffling as if something that was alive was here aside from the chickens.

Fear filled her heart, as she listened to the shuffling, moving forward Sivi squinted her eyes as she saw a tiny little creature with wings. Blinking as she saw the size, she blinked. Of all crazy things that had happened so far, this was by far the craziest.

The tiny creature was a fairy...her skin was softly tanned, her hair a shining circle of red and gold, her wings were cute and they shimmered in the colorless town. She was like a bright flash of color against the dullness. Struggling to find her voice the night vixen stuttered "What the? WHO ARE YOU? A FAIRY? IN THIS PLACE? YOUR ABOUT AS OUT OF PLACE HERE AS THOSE CHICKENS CLUCKING BESIDE YOU!" Sivienna said this as her eyes fell on the clucking white feathered birds.

[Lasair Anubail]

Lasair practically beamed when she saw the emergence of the lovely lady in the really pretty dress that the Fae would love to own one of. And there was also this strange and rather tall man behind her that had a somewhat familiar energy coming off him. Reminded her of a Draconian, but he definitely wasn’t a Draconian because his eyes weren’t black. And the female too felt rather strange, kind of dark, but she seemed friendly enough and even kind of funny.

Waving her arms rather enthusiastically, the tiny Fae began running towards the two people, more than ecstatic to have finally found someone within this place. That other girl just kept running away from her and it was growing rather annoying. The chickens around her squawked in protest and ran from her figure, dispersing about the area even more, before finally coming together into the same large group. They were rather strange little creatures, kind of cute and a wee bit ugly at the same time.

“Oh, I’m so happy to have finally found someone! There’s this other girl I’ve been seeing but she keeps wandering away from me, no matter how much I yell at her.”

Lasair came to a stop just a foot or two away from the female and her companion, a huge grin plastered across her face. She was really pretty, the kind of woman that Lasair wished she could look like, with curves everywhere and not just some really skinny body. Maybe there was a secret to it that the woman would let her in on and then she could be all curvy and pretty and all the guys would look at her too like they did Aileen.

“My name’s Lasair and this is my friend Tristram!” She said as she gestured to the plushie resting upon her shoulder.

He grunted in response, “Yeah… hey. You guys know how to get out of this place?”

For a second or two the rather cute looking guy just stared at Lasair and Tristram as if he was going out of his mind before he finally answered. “Uhh… why is there is a 12 inch plushie talking to me?”

Lasair giggled as she looked over at Tristram, “He’s a miniature version of my best friend, right down to the last scale. I made him and animated him myself.” She said rather triumphantly.

Feeling her arm beginning to grow a little sore, the Fae remembered that she was still carrying that rucksack she’d found. “Oh, yeah… I found this along the main path into the village but then I saw that girl again. I think it might be hers but when I ran after her, she disappeared and I found you guys instead.” As she talked she began undoing the straps of the rucksack and opening up the top flap. “I wonder what she has in here…”

Strange, the more she handled the carrying bag, the more that headache grew until it became a pounding and throbbing pain in the back of her skull. It was quite annoying and beyond the point of just ignoring it. Reaching into the bag, she felt her hand hit something that felt like paper. Wrapping her small fingers around it, she pulled it out only to find an article from the Radasanthian Reader. Unfortunately it was written in Common and though Lasair could very easily speak Common, her written understanding of the language was not so good. But she could tell that it was dated ten years ago and yet it looked as if it had been printed yesterday.

As her eyes skimmed the words, her headache suddenly exploded throughout her skull and forced the Fae to drop the rucksack and clutch at her forehead with her free hand. Whimpering, Lasair stumbled a bit and dropped the piece of paper as the pain only began to grow worse. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she felt her legs give out from under her, but lost everything after that.

Instead of everything just going dark, images began to flash before her eyes as if she were someone else. She saw the rotting and dying trees of the forest surrounding the place as she heard laboured breaths that she knew weren’t her own. Then the village flashed before her face, showing the front of a house. There was a crest on the front door, but she didn’t get to see much of it besides a large tree carved into the centre before it disappeared and she found herself in a hallway. Feet stumbled along the creaking floorboards. Then for a brief moment she saw the figure of someone hanging from a tree lifeless, motionless and utterly dead. Then it as gone.

As that image faded another took its place, a back room with a shelf lined with many things. She could feel her heart beating rapidly within the confines of her chest as her eyes frantically searched the area, trying to see something. Before she knew what was going on she was on the ground and hands were wrapping around her neck, squeezing and squeezing until the airflow was cut off and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t fill her lungs with what they were screaming for.

Above her, the face of a man loomed, disfigured and rotting. Cuts marred his skin and his cold, dead eyes starred directly into hers. As her hands struggled against the tight grip of his, Lasair could hear only one word repeating in her mind over and over again.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

[Call me J]

As the red haired girl began to crumble upon looking at the newspaper, Jame shuddered. He wondered what could have happened to her, whether or not she was demonically possessed. For a moment, he even considered trying to kill her, just in case she was some kind of witch. Quickly abandoning that idea, both because it would have been imprudent and he lacked the will to kill a Fae so needlessly, he just looked on with bug eyes. He was so confused he now even turned to the plushie for some answers.

Seeing as he wasn’t going to get any kind of real explanation from the plushie or the red haired girl either, Jame decided he was going to have to look at the paper himself. A grey withered leaf passed over his back as he picked it up, and Jame turned around, fearful that it had been a bony hand. He’d shrieked, just slightly, and now looked at Sivienna embarrassedly before he reached down to pick the paper up again.

“It was just the wind…” he tried to explain, hoping that the comely vampiress wouldn’t take that as a sign of his cowardice. “Don’t worry about it…”

With that, he picked up the paper a second time, though this time much more cautiously. The headlines were unnerving. The paper talked about how more people had gone missing in Concordia, and Jame could practically feel dark energies wrapping themselves around his forearm as he read.

Unsure of what else to do, Jame declared his findings to Sivienna. “It says here that there have been eight people lost in Concordia already,” he began. “I don’t know if this paper coming to us here is a coincidence, but it’s been enough to know the poor girl down on the ground. If you have any healing powers help her or something. I don’t know what else, but we need to do something. This paper is here for a reason. I’m not sure if it’s because someone’s out to get us, or they were trying to give us a warning. Either way, this paper can’t mean anything good.”

Jame was convinced that the paper wasn’t a coincidence. Faes didn’t break down over coincidences. He took a deep exhale and looked around, cold shivers running down his spine. He threw the paper to the ground and stamped on it, almost as if he hoped that by stepping on the paper he’d be able to kill the thing. It was futile. He had no idea where he was, or what to do, all he knew now was that his life hung in the balance in the Town of Tragedy.

The chickens Sivienna had mentioned earlier clucked nearby. Jame looked at them despondently. He now had a newfound sympathy with animals raised for the slaughter.

[Nightsangel]

(Bunny of Lasair approved.)

Concern filled Sivi's heart as she watched the red haired girl crumple to the ground. She wondered just what the poor girl could have seen that made her frail tiny body tremble so. Taking a step forward, the purple haired vampire bent down to reach for the fae's small hand. She felt an unexplainable urge to comfort the poor girl. However, before she could even get near, she felt a kind of frozen air waltzing around the fae's body. This made the sultry vampiress shiver and pull her hand away.

Rubbing it, the dark vixen tried to hide her embarrassment by saying "Its the wind...its cold..." She didn't want Jame to see her fear, she noticed that he was acting the same as her. It seemed that both she and the half dragon had experienced things out of the ordinary. As if a paranormal occurrence was happening right here in this town of tragedy.

With her hand still tingling, Sivi heard Jame talking, it was a comfort for her to listen to his warm voice. It was better then pondering just what occurrences were happening. Though, as she heard him declare his findings from the pale paper that he held in his hands. She felt another shiver, this time she was sure it wasn't wind, but from pure fear. Letting go of her hand, she says in a soft worried voice "That doesn't sound good Jame. My first instincts would say we should get out of here. It would not be wise to mess with the paranormal." She gave him a weak smile as she tried to say jokingly "If you think messing with vampires is bad...ghosts are much worse. At least you can see us! You can't see a vengeful spirit if they attack!"

With fear dancing down her spine she said softly "This fae must know something Jame. We need to ask her what she saw...otherwise we won't know what were up against!" She then looked down at the tiny fae, whose body was laying silent against the pale ground. The chickens were clucking loudly around her. Their little beaks aimlessly pecking at the ground for food. As she watched this she frowned, her voice was curious as she turned to Jame and said "How can these chickens be alive? Its weird...this town is empty...dead. Nothing is here! Who feeds these things?" Pausing as one of the chickens strutted near her, the vampiress bent down, sniffing at the creature.

The pulse of life came to her, but also their was another scent...one that disturbed her. Rising quickly her lavender orbs were wide as she hissed "This is odd...these chickens...they are alive...but..."pausing to look warily around she whispers "the scent of death clings to their feathers. What could they have witnessed? These birds must have seen something..."

Hearing soft shuffles against the dirt, Sivienna's eyes fell onto the fae's body. Seeing her eyes flutter open, the dark beauty coughs. Soon though she asks politely "What did you see miss fae? This...town is creepy...as you said...your the first sign of life Jame and I have seen. I can deduce that something happened here. But, I don't know what...maybe you do? "pausing for breathe the vampiress finished quickly "I have to ask...what did you see in your vision? What horrors could you have seen that made you convulse like that?"

[Lasair Anubail]

Lasair moaned and shifted as the feeling of hands wrapped around her neck was replaced by the cool and dusty dirt road she had fallen on. Small rocks and rough, hard soil scrapped across her bare arms and back as she moved around. She could feel something extremely light and soft sitting on her chest and she could also hear voices, voices she didn’t recognize. Slowly she opened her eyes to look up into the lovely albeit a little pale face of that woman whom she’d come across. The one with the really pretty dress and the secret of learning how to have curves.

She has purple hair… it looks funky…

As the barrage of questions and words began to filter through the haze still surrounding her head, the Fae looked down to see her plushie Tristram sitting on her chest and looking at her. His expression was a little worried and she could tell that like the lady he wanted to know what happened to her too. She didn’t though, well she already knew what happened and what she saw, but she didn’t want to remember it. She just wanted to curl up into a ball and never open her eyes again. Tristram was right, she should have stayed out of the barrier when she had the chance instead of playing around with it. That just got the two of them stuck and her with a splitting headache and seeing visions of people dying.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position, Lasair took a deep breath before she started talking. “It… was a vision of this village, of someone who had come here looking for a friend. She found him, but… he strangled her…”

Tears were welling up in her eyes as she remembered the feel of his fingers around her neck, the woman’s neck, and the fear and confusion that had clouded her mind until the very end. It had been a horrible way to die.

“It wasn’t him though!” Lasair said as the tears start falling down her cheeks, “It wasn’t him! I could tell by looking at him, it wasn’t him. His eyes were cold and his body was bruised and cut, it wasn’t him because he was dead!”

Just like the body in the woods that she had come across, the one that had looked at her, and the one that had moved. He had been dead, her friend would not have strangled her like that, Lasair knew. She wasn’t sure how she knew, she just knew it. Just like she also knew that they had to get that house. It was the only clue that the Fae had and she was going to follow it and hopefully not get strangled by a scary man covered in cuts with dead eyes.

Reaching up, she wiped the tears from her face and sniffled a few times to clear her nose. Then she took in a few deep breaths and slowly got to her feet, Tristram fell from her chest as she stood, spreading his wings and hovering around her. Reaching for the rucksack that had fallen from her grasp when she’d fainted, the Fae glanced around inside at the various items, none of which seemed as important as that piece of paper had. Not wishing to leave it behind though, she slipped her own rucksack off and stuffed the other one inside.

“I’m going to try and find a way out of here.” Lasair said, her voice sounding much stronger than she felt. In fact, she still felt quite shaky. “You’re welcome to join me if you wish.” She really hoped that they would. Going this alone sounded less than pleasurable.

“Yeah, we’ll join you.” Jame said, speaking for both himself and the woman.

Her entire face lit up and her eyes began to well with tears once more, only this time the tears being of happiness more so than fear. Slipping the straps of the rucksack back over her shoulders, the tiny Fae began to lead the way. For some reason she had an idea as to where she was going, even though she’d never been in the village before. She was rather certain it had something to do with the dream though, so she just went with it. It wasn’t like she had any better options paid out before her.

Instead of going straight and towards the way Jame and the woman had come from—funny she didn’t know her name—Lasair turned right and began leading them down a small side street. There were several houses along the road, large in structure and some of them bearing marks from what looked like weapons. Their windows were grimy and dark and a few of the walls and doors had collapsed allowing her eyes to peer inside to see rooms still furbished but worn by the elements now.

Halfway down the street, Lasair’s eyes wandered to a specific home. It looked like all the others except that upon the door was the carving of a large tree within a circle. It was intricate and rather beautiful but something about it bothered her, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Changing her course towards the house, the Fae wrapped her small hand around the cool metal door handle and then pushed. The door gave way easily, nearly causing her to stumble into the dark home. Her small bare feet slapped against the worn floorboards, which creaked and groaned even under her meagre weight.

Within the home the air stayed the same, lined with that stale and stagnant stench that her lungs had a hard time breathing. Within it was even darker than outside, the structure allowing little to no light within and her eyes not to see farther than the worn walls of the hallway she stood in. The shadows were too dark for her eyes to penetrate and she felt a deep sense of unease coming from within the house. It leeched its way into the very core of her and tried to get her to leave, but she refused. Instead she pressed on and at the end of the hallway, found herself standing upon the threshold of what could have been a living area. The remnants of furniture were around the area, possibly in the exact spots that the last owners had left them in. Chairs covered in dust and what could have been a rather comfy cough was the centre of the room, along with a table, one leg of which was broken. It seemed so strange and too quiet.

[Call me J]

Jame had followed Lasair because he didn’t know what else to do. He was somewhat of a skeptic as to whether she could help at all, her demeanor and behavior had been eerily childlike. Still, as Sivienna had pointed out, she seemed to have more answers than either of them. “She’s still kind of scary though…” Jame thought. He could feel himself growing closer to Sivienna now, not out of anything she had done, but just the fact that the deeper into trouble he got, the more he felt like he needed someone.

As they entered the house, Jame was very cautious. He half expected that an assassin or demon would be lurking behind the doorstop as he entered, and was relieved to see that the house seemed normal enough given the circumstance. The air inside was dry and stale, and the floorboards, already having creaked under the weight of the lithe fairy, groaned under him. He scowled. If there were any predators in the house, they would have heard him coming.

Still, Jame didn’t see anywhere where they would have been able to hide. The home was a meager affair, well put together and surprisingly neat, but there would have been few places to hide. There were just two rooms, and no indoor doors. A bedroom was separated from the dining room where they now stood by nothing more than a thin cotton curtain that’s pattern had faded over the years. It still hung translucently, collecting a thin film of dust from years of neglect.

The bed inside was spare. It had a worn, beat up mattress and a rusted metal frame. A few cobwebs had collected against the legs. As if pulled by an inexplicable, Jame made his way towards the bed, coughing as he passed by the dusty curtain. He began to examine the nightstand, noticing a yellowed old newspaper and a small porcelain statuette that had served as a paperweight.

Curiously, Jame began to glance at the paper, but there was nothing in it like the other one. He lifted up the statuette so that he could examine the rest of the news. However, the moment that he touched the statuette, his entire hand began shaking. The statuette leached on to him. Suddenly, Jame could feel a thousand little pinpricks, all like tiny scorpions, digging into his flesh. He shouted, in shock and in horror.

“Please… please…” he begged. “Don’t… just don’t do this.” He was absolutely mad with desperation until the little porcelain model fell off his palm and crashed down to the floorboards. Even then, there was no reprieve. Vapors emerged from the remains, and soon, two large translucent beings hovered above Jame. The half dragon blinked. They looked like an old man and woman, but their eyes shone with an unnerving wickedness.

“Sivienna,” Jame began, his voice trembling as he unsheathed his sword. “S-s-sivenna, Las-s-s-sair!” He could barely finish a thought before the ghosts started howling towards the two women.

[Nightsangel]

Sivienna paused, she didn't want to follow Lasair...nor did she want Jame to. Her gut instinct still was telling her to get the hell out of here. There were too many signs that evil was a foot. That this town was cursed and if they stayed, they had a fair chance of joining those poor souls who fell to this towns ill omens.

Clearing her throat, Sivienna started to call out, to tell Jame and Lasair that they should try to find an exit. But the words got caught in her throat. It felt as if something stopped her words, as if a cold mist have entered her throat and clogged it, prevented speech for a moment. It nearly choked her, that cold sensation, the only way it seemed that the mist stopped was when one of the chickens pecked at her foot by accident.

Letting out a groan, she hissed under her breathe "I'm not a kernel of corn...stupid bird!" Bending down to rub her foot, she sighed It is no good. They are too far ahead now. I can't tell them to head in the opposite direction. I have no choice but to follow them... her thoughts ended here as she made her way towards the eerie house.

Pushing open the creaky door, her heart jumped as her eyes fell on the first room in the house. The neglect was obvious, dust hung on the cloth covered furniture. It appeared like the furnishings were cozy, but from the rips in the cloth, she could see the discoloration of the fabric.

The floral pattern looked yellow, the whole room screamed neglect and disuse.Praying that no demon or assassin would be waiting around the next corner, the night vixen begin to make her way against the dusty pale yellowish blue carpet. Moving quietly, she soon entered the next room. Which seemed to be a sitting room of some sort.

A tattered rose patterned love seat was the key accent in this room. There was a matching chair, but both were faded and dust clung to the cotton fabric like leeches would cling to your skin. Shivering a bit due to the chill in the air, the vampire's lavender eyes soon fell on a wooden desk. Pictures seemed to litter the dusty surface.

Moving with caution, Sivi picked up one of the dusty drawings. A young girl with brown hair and bright green eyes smiled sadly back at her. Concern filled the dark vixen's heart. Though before she could study the room anymore she heard Jame's yell from somewhere in the house. His voice was filled with fear, forgettng that she was holding the picture, she rushed from the sitting room to follow Jame's voice.

Worry filled her heart as she thought What is wrong? What could be attacking Jame?

[Lasair Anubail]

Everything looked normal to her eyes. Despite the neglect and the years of dust that was building upon the furniture, the floors and everything that lay within this building, it all looked normal. She had expected something far more menacing, something innately evil that she could point to and say was the cause of all of this, but her eyes couldn’t find it, if such a thing existed. She had wanted such a thing to exist. She had wanted it to be that easy, but there was nothing here. It was just a few rooms and some furniture. So why was she supposed to come here then?

She followed after Jame as he moved through the house. His footsteps were far from confident and bordering on apprehensive. It was obviously that this entire situation had him on edge, as well as the woman Sivienna. Lasair didn’t exactly feel the same caution that they did, but she did feel a little frightened, especially after that strange vision she’d had. It was hard to dispel the feel of someone strangling her and the thoughts of the woman as they had flittered through her mind like they’d been her own.

Walking into the bedroom with Jame, Lasair noticed something on the floor. It was mostly hidden by the shadow cast under the bed, but she could see just a small corner of it peaking out. Curious, she walked over and looked under the bed. To her surprise she found a few pieces of paper scattered around and under the bed. Gathering them up, she stood up and was just about to leaf through them when she heard Jame’s voice calling out to her and Sivienna. Turning her eyes towards him, she felt the blood drain from her face as she perceived two spectres floating roughly two inches off the dust covered floor. Their clothes were tattered and torn, their skin covered in what looked like cuts and their faces old and weathered from many years of exposure to the sun. Plus their eyes, they just stared forward with a deep and dark menacing look that made a deep shiver run through the very core of Lasair. Worse yet, one of them were heading straight towards her and the other in the direction of Sivienna who was heading into the room!

Frozen in her spot, Lasair could do nothing as the ghost of the woman passed right through her body, chilling her as if she were caught in the coldest of snow storms.

The ritual must be completed...

Cold hands wrapped around Lasair’s neck from behind, squeezing as hard as they could and completely cutting off her air supply. Struggling to breathe or even speak, the tiny Fae wrapped her fingers around the translucent hands and tried her best to pry them off but she couldn’t.

“Lasair!”

Tristram came into her vision as the tiny Draconian branded his spear and charged for the spectre behind her. He spun the spear around in his hands and with a skill quite similar to the real Tristram, and thrust forward with the weapon completely prepared to impale the person strangling her. But he merely passed right through. When that didn’t work, he conjured a flame before his body, one that was only an inch or two in size but this he quickly sent towards the ghost. As the flame impacted upon it, she heard an ear piercing screech and the hands around her neck let go.

Coughing, she fell to her knees as she rubbed her fingers across the sore area, her burning lungs once against filling with air that she greedily took in.

“Are you okay?” Tristram asked as he hovered a few inches from her face.

She nodded her head, “Uh... Sivienna!”

The plushie turned and sped through the air, pumping his little dragon scale covered wings to hurry himself towards Sivienna and the ghost that had headed in her direction.

[Call me J]

Jame didn’t really have the presence of mind to attack the ghosts until they had already sped out of reach from one of the meager attacks he could have offered. It wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyways, looking at the way that the little stuffed creature had been unable to do much of anything with his spear. Jame figured his sword wouldn’t be any better. Stunned, the half dragon just stared at Lasair, unsure of what he could do as the dragon throttled the life out of her.

“I have to do something...” he realized, unable to do much more than just watch as Lasair gasped for breath. He looked on helplessly, sighing in despair as he couldn’t have done anything but watch. He looked at the little creature, trying so desperately, searching for some kind of weapon since its spear had failed. “I can’t let these girls die when I’m the one who let the ghosts out.”

Seconds later, the plushie’s dedication paid off. Jame smiled at the sudden bit of fortune came their way. He grinned eagerly, realizing that the little creature wasn’t the only one who had brought fire to the fight. The half dragon was normally about as ambivalent to his dragon side as he was to his Kaosi lineage, but in neither case did he hesitate using them when they came to his advantage.

Just as he’d revealed the name of his father when he’d first met the vampiress Sivienna, he now bounded over towards the ghost chasing after her, letting fire accumulate in his lungs as he bounded forwards. He knew that he needed to help her, and though scared that his flame might injure her in the process, he felt that was a risk he’d have to take. For all he knew, his chances of a successful fiery attack were far better than the chances would have been for the little plushie or the exuberant Fae.

“Siv- duck!” Jame shouted before unleashing a column of flame up at the ghost above him. The fire shot up in the sky, but the ghost was expecting it, and with surprising agility was able to dart out of the way. Jame looked on in frustration, and watched as the ghost came barreling towards him, only to pass through his torso without any affect.

Now, Jame cursed his stupidity. “I shouldn’t have told Siv to duck,” he realized. “I should have known that it’d tip off the ghost.” It might have meant that she would have been in more danger of being hit with an errant attack, but Jame should have trusted himself not to make a mistake. The ghost, swerved back towards the lithe vampiress eagerly, looking perhaps to throttle her now that Jame’s attack had been fruitless.

[Nightsangel]

Hearing the word duck, Sivienna gaped in shock. She had just arrived in the room and she was greeted with the most bizarre sight. A little plushie, obviously belonging to the faerie was attacking a ragged, pale and translucent ghost. The hate that was emnanting from the spiritual being was palpable. Shivering as she watched the plushie try to attack the ghost, her eyes went wide when the physical attacks did nothing. But, when the little plushie used fire, the ghost shied away, then heading for Jame.

Seeing why Jame had asked her to duck, she barely had. Hitting the dusty pale carpet with a THUD, the night vixen felt a rush of flames whiz right over her head. Luckily it did not touch her, but she could feel the heat pulsing in the air above her head. Fear, lodged deep in her heart, even though her own fire magic wasn't harmful to her, if any other flames touched her, she knew that it wasn't safe for her.

Grateful though that Jame had given her warning, she then slowly pushed herself to her feet. A scream escaped the dark beauty as she saw the ghost's soulless eyes staring at her. Her neck felt cold, as the spectre's icy hands wrapped around her throat. She could feel herself being lifted off teh ground as the ghost begin to choke her, a strangled whisper was echoing in her head, the words seemed to be The ritual must be completed! Sacrifices must be found!

Struggling against the ghost's iron grip, Sivienna managed to choke out two words "Let......go..." her lovely lavender eyes then darkened as the ghost did not respond to her plea. Clenching her hand together, Sivienna begin to gather her darkness flame, if the ghost would not let her go and she saw that the being had a weakness to fire magic, she would use her arsenal to set her free.

Fighting to keep conscious, the flames that were forming in her hands, flickered, they went from growing smaller ot larger. Finally near the point of where she would black out, the gorgeous vampire let loose with a very tiny flame of dark fire.

The purple flames nicked the ghost's arms, but an unearthly shriek filled the dilapidated cottage. The spectre then dropped Sivi uncourteously on the dusty ground. It then fled the room, its shrieks and howls still echoing in the dusty and dirty cottage. Shaking ominiously, the wrattled beauty looked at her two companions. Horror was vivid in her light eyes as she asked "What is going on here? RItuals...ghosts...a graveyard that contiously points towards a horrific magical ceremony....just what have we stumbled into?" hoping that one of her companions would know the answer, Sivienna merely wrapped her arms around her busty figure. Her thoughts of escape, of fleeing were now strong. She wanted to be gone from here, but feared that the only way she could escape, was to discover the mystery of what was happening in this deserted village.

[Lasair Anubail]

Lasair breathed a sigh of relief as Sivienna was able to dispel the second ghost. Its shriek was nearly ear piercing as it dissipated into the air and left nothing but some kind of faint energy that lingered and tickled the skin. Her little plushie had not been of much use to either Jame or Sivienna, but the two of them appeared to be able to handle themselves. Especially Jame with that really nifty fire breath he had. Come to think of it, it completely reminded her of the fire breath that the dragons back in The Neamh Mountains used on their enemies.

“That was quite the attack,” Tristram said as he once again returned to Lasair’s shoulder, “reminded me of the fire breath from a dragon.”

Lasair nodded her head. “I agree, it was awesome!”

Slowly coming to her feet, the tiny Fae realized that she was still clutching the pieces of paper in her hand, bent and crinkled now from having gripped them so tightly when the ghost had attacked her. Looking down at them, she once again felt her inadequacy overcome her. They were written in Common and though the letters were very neat and pretty, she could only make out a few words here and there and it made no sense when she couldn’t piece it all together. Turning to Jame, she gave him a sheepish smile and extended her hand towards him.

“Can you read them for me?”

He face turned into a slight grimace, obviously not too fond of doing as she asked. But he took the papers from her anyway, “Ahhh... sure.” Taking a breath and seemingly clearing his throat, Lasair watched and listened as Jame read aloud from the papers.




My quest to find Bryce has landed me in a strange village where the sun never shines and no living soul, save myself; seems to wander. I am almost certain that Bryce must be here somewhere for I have checked all the other villages in the area and searched Concordia without success. Though I have found no trace of him, I will keep looking; I know I cannot give up.




I know I have only been here for a few hours but it’s starting to feel like days. I feel so tired and I don’t know why and I’m constantly seeing things out of the corner of my eye but when I turn there is nothing there. Everywhere I go I feel like I’m being watched and the sky never seems to change. When will morning come? I found Bryce’s rucksack at the end of the main road, it was battered and dirty but there was no other trace of him.

The longer I stay here, the surer I am that this is the Caelin village, rumoured and passed into legend by now. My parents used to tell me stories in order to keep me out of Concordia. It’s said that the village practiced some kind of ancient ritual to one of the old Gods and that without warning it disappeared one day, leaving nothing but a thick fog where is used to lay. Travellers that wander into the area become lost in the village and are supposedly sacrificed. I’ll have to start searching for a way out, but I still need to find Bryce...




I’m so tired I can barely move now. I no longer know how long I’ve been stuck in this village for and I don’t think I can search for Bryce any longer. He’ll have to come find me, maybe if I just take a bit of a rest, he’ll come and find me. I left him a note and said I’d be in the house with the strange tree carved into the front of it. I know he’ll come if he finds the notes.

I found a key while I was searching for him, I’m not sure what it opens but there’s a carving of something that looks like a crest of some kind. But I lost it, it fell from my hand when something grabbed me from behind. There was nothing there when I turned around though. I heard it slip between the floorboards in the bedroom—ah, I can hear someone—

He stopped reading suddenly and the silence that filled the room felt more than uncomfortable. Lasair didn’t know what to make of the entries or what they truly meant. The town of Caelin, ancient rituals and some kind of God? It sounded weird and hard to believe, then again, it sounded like something the Draconians did on the monthly basis. It appeared though that they were trapped within this place thanks to the rituals that had gone on in it, but Lasair did not really feel like staying. She wanted out of this place, her curiosity be damned, and that strange girl she had been following around was most likely a ghost as well.

“I suppose we have to find a way to break this curse then in order to get out of this village...” Lasair said, thinking aloud. “Maybe we should find this key that she mentioned... she said she dropped it in here.”

Immediately the golden eyes of the tiny Fae went to the worn floorboards. She had no idea how she would be able to find something that slipped through them, but it was the only thing they had to go on. That key must lead somewhere.

[Call me J]

Jame wasn’t sure what to make of the letters as he had read them. He was very agitated, neither the shapely curves of Sivienna nor Lasair’s cute exuberance did much to calm him even though he would have found both of them to be quite attractive in a different situation. Now, he was locked in a town with no pity, with no means of escape and they had barely survived a group of ghosts. He didn’t want to look around the floorboards for a key. They were dusty and unnerving, the color of the wood had seemed to have blended with that of the dust over the years. Perhaps it only looked that way in black and white, but the grayscale wood was pale and unappealing.

“Sivienna, help us look,” Jame said, knowing that even though he didn’t want to look, they were going to have to find the key. It was a matter of what they needed to do to survive. He wondered about this Bryce person who had been mentioned in the letters. “Maybe the author was his lover, and she had gone after him because he’d been gone too long on an adventure,” Jame supposed. “Or else Bryce was her brother or son, and she’d gone off to chase after him…”

Jame had no reason to be certain that the author was female, but he felt a sense of that from reading the neat handwriting. Only a woman would have put that much painstaking detail into a letter that wasn’t geared for a school. With a sigh, Jame continued to search the floorboards, hoping that he might be able to find the key before a new set of ghosts came after them.

Eventually, a glimmer in a crack in the floorboards caught Jame’s eye. He knelt down, prying cautiously through the floorboards, fumbling with dust and hoping that he didn’t run anything left by a critter. Soon enough, he discovered what he had been looking for. It was the key, it was thin, made of metal, and the contours suggested that it would open a door somewhere. Jame pulled it out of the crack.

“I’ve got the key,” he said, as he looked at it. Suddenly, he could see the body of a woman, dressed in white, moving forwards as if walking through a corridor. Her body grew bigger and bigger as she moved closer and closer to the edge of the key, and Jame watched as she reached the perimeter, only to belch up a series of snakes before she disappeared. The half dragon shuddered. It was somewhat strange.

He hoped neither Sivienna nor Lasair saw him shudder, but he was certain they had. After all, he had just called for their attention. “I have the key,” he repeated, somewhat more humbly.

[Nightsangel]

"Al right" Sivienna said softly, despite the fact that she'd rather be anywhere but in this deserted and quiet house. Biting her lower lip, the night vixen's eyes slowly lowered towards the worn floorboards. Seeing nothing with just her eyes, Sivi lowered herself to her knees and begin to crawl across the dusty floorboards. As she looked between the cracks, her eyes caught nothing, not a glint of metal, nor did she see any signs that anyone had dropped anything down here. Shaking her head, her eyes rose to look at her companions and she said bluntly " I don't think anyone has dropped anything here. All I see are dust balls and..." she stopped her thoughts when she heard Jame exclaim that he had the key.

Rising to her feet, the night beauty brushed the dust off her clothes. Grinning as she walked over to Jame she said jovially "Better you then me. I hate getting down on my hands and knees to search for things. Its, nothing but a pain." studying the key, she soon saw a crest shaped like twin snakes. Blinking as she could have sworn she saw the snakes move, she sighs. In a quiet voice she murmured "I think we need to find the house that matches this key...there is a crest on the key, its shaped like two snakes encircling each other to form a circle."

With this in mind, the night beauty quickly made her way through the quiet house. No ghost showed itself in any of the other antiques left within the house. For this Sivienna was grateful as she begin to inhale gulps of fresh air was the three of them had gotten outside.

Once she had gotten her bearings though, the sexy seductress soon noticed that the town was much quieter. In fact it had gotten darker while the three had been searching inside the house for clues. Scanning with her eyes, Sivi couldn't even seen the fabled chickens, the only sign of life that had been in this village when the three had arrived.

Wondering what on earth was going on, the vampiress began to take careful steps forward. Each step sounded too loud for the frightened beauty's ears. Shivering a bit as she passed house that looked even more neglected then the last, she soon saw a rise in the town's quiet streets.

Blinking as she looked at it, she could feel almost an eerie chill just from staring at the house that was located on a craggy hill. It seemed to have a worn foot path leading to it. Blinking as she pointed it out, she could not see the door, but she felt as if the house was the right one.

Biting her lip, Sivienna moved ahead of the others as she begin tio follow the worn path. Soon she saw a well worn door, with a golden like crest engraved on the door's splintered surface. Blinking as she moved closer she noticed that the crest was shaped just like the key's crest. Moving to look at her companions she murmured "I think this is the house...the crest on the door matches the crest on the key.." nerves were like dancing butterflies in her stomach though, as she thought about just what might be waiting for the fae, Jame and herself when they entered this house.

[Lasair Anubail]

The house looked much larger than the last. It’s tattered and worn wood still grey with age and weather and rotting away, but none the less, larger and yet no more inviting. The empty windows were still broken and dark and staring at them all like the empty and soulless eyes of someone long since dead. The wooden steps leading up to the porch still groaned in protest, no matter how little weight was put upon them and the closer Lasair walked the more she wanted to turn around a flee. There was something in the house, something she couldn’t quite describe but it was there all the same. She could feel the brush of its magic against her skin, like a thousand slimy and rotting fingers running along her arms and her back, leaving a trail of filth as they left her.

Turning to Jame, the Fae wordlessly took the key from his hand and moved up to the door. Her eyes trailed along the carved and painted crest of the two snakes for no more than a moment. Taking a deep breath, she inserted the key into the lock and with more than a little force, turned it in the lock, hearing the metallic pieces inside grind and fall into place with a few resounding clicks. Pushing on the door, the Fae was a little more than surprised when it moved so easily allowing her entry into the dark room.

Unlike the last house that had simple but small windows to allow in the light, this room appeared to have none and the only light was that coming in from the open door. It wasn’t enough. More than half of the room was left in shadows so thick she could barely make out anything in them.

“Tristram, a light please.”

The small plushie begrudgingly did as he was told and two second later, the room was awash in the orange glow of the fire he cast. It seemed unnaturally bright and colourful in all the grey that had been surrounding them throughout the town, but it was also a welcome warmth and comfort. Light always was in the darkness.

The room was practically empty. There was a worn rug below her bare feet that felt like dried grass and a large vase in the corner filled with some kind of dried plant, but other than that the room was bare. It must not have had any other use apart from a front entranceway when the home was in use. There was however a hallway directly in front of her. The light of Tristram’s flame did not cast far enough down it for her to see much of anything, but there had to be something down there in one of the rooms.

Knowing, or more so hoping, that Jame and Sivienna would follow her, the small Fae began walking down the hallway. Her steps were slow at first as her eyes shot around at anything the shadows gave the slightest hint of movement to. After being attacked by those spirits in the other house, Lasair couldn’t help her feeling of apprehension. Being strangled was not a very pleasant experience and she didn’t want to repeat it if she could help it. She doubted Sivienna wanted to go through the same experience as well and Jame just seemed like he wanted to run away from this entire village and everything in it. She didn’t blame him, but according to that journal page they read, they were trapped in here.

A break in the wall appeared.

Moving towards it with more assured steps, the small Fae rounded the doorway and found herself in some kind of sitting room. It was rather large and spacious and the first thing she noticed was the worn stairwell at the far end of the other wall, which led up to an overhanging second floor. She couldn’t see enough of what was up there though. The room looked like a normal and comfortable sitting room with two couches and a table between them covered in a few various nick nacks. There were also some chairs and a large stone mantle over a fireplace, darkened with disuse and filled with ashes and soot from the previous flames to have burned within.

Moving into the room, a sudden chill snaked over Lasair’s body, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and her bare skin to explode in an array of bumps. Hearing a sudden groan in the wood, her eyes shot around the room until they came to rest on the form of a woman. She was standing directly across from her, her face looking at some point to her left and not Lasair at all. Her body was covered in delicate and embroidered black linens that looked tattered and ripped and allowed her to blend into the shadows of the room as if she was part of the darkness.

Feeling her heart try to claw into the constricted passage of her throat, the Fae watched as the woman suddenly turned and pinned her in her place with a stare that was a sad and hate filled gaze. Then she faded away as if she had never been there.

How could I have failed...

[Breaker]

Just numbers, as ye requested.

Continuity ~ 4/10.
Setting ~ 7/10.
Pacing ~ 4/10.

CHARACTER

Dialogue ~ 5/10.
Action ~ 5/10.
Persona ~ 6/10.

WRITING STYLE

Technique ~ 4/10.
Mechanics ~ 6/10.
Clarity ~ 4/10.

MISCELLANEOUS

Wild Card ~ 4/10.

TOTAL ~ 49/100.

EXP and GP Rewards

Lasair Anubail gains 675 EXP and 200 GP
Call me J gains 1600 EXP and 150 GP
Nightsangel gains 900 EXP and 150 GP

[Zook Murnig]

EXP/GP added!

Nightsangel levels up!

Lasair Anubail levels up (and about damn time, too)!

See y'all in RoG.