One step closer.

[The gospel speaks]

(Closed to all except Sei)
Lucien grumbled as he trudged into the city of Radasanth, he had overheard a stranger saying something about a Sei Orlouge. The man sounded alright, they spoke nothing but praise for his selfless acts, but he was really far away from Underwood. So he had begun his journey to visit the mystic, perhaps he knew something about his predicament, maybe he knew a way home. The boat ride was a nice treat, reminding him of his time spent sailing from Terra to Divinus back home. Now he had arrived in town, starving.

His stomach growled angrily as he checked his purse and saw a few coins he could use to grab a quick bite before seeking Sei. He found his feet carrying him to the marketplace, actually it was his nose. He smiled at a rather ugly baker as he bought a roll and quickly devoured it. It was stale, but anything tastes decent to a starving man. He sighed and then thought back on the directions he had overheard.

He again lifted his nose to the sky, "It's in a park..." he said inhaling deeply. He turned towards the park and began to walk, stopping every now and then to take another sniff. He chuckled as he found the park. "I wonder if this Sei Orlouge knows anything about the O ring." He pondered briefly before locating the entrance to his home.

He took one step down a slight slant, and slipped on a piece of seaweed. "What the hell?" he spat as he got up. Then he looked ahead, there was a wall fifteen feet away with a rather simple door. He paused, and walked towards it, stopping roughly a foot away from it, he raised his right hand and knocked. "Hello? is this the residence of Sei Orlouge?"

[Silence Sei]

After he spoke, the door creaked open just a tad. A teenage girl with blue eyes and brown hair peeked out from behind the entrance. She eyed the man up and down to make sure she wasn't seeing things. The silver hair and matching silver eyes caused the girl to lift an eyebrow in surprise. Very rarely did someone's eye color match their hair, and with such odd colors, on Althanas.

"It is," the girl said, "who is asking?" Her tone sounded protective, as if Sei Orlouge was somebody very close to her.

"That's enough, Anita. You know that everybody is welcome into the Ixian Knights." The girl peered her head into the door once more and shared a few hushed whispers with some people. After a moment or two, the door opened and 'Anita' hurried Lucien into the main room of Sei's Tomb, where it's owner was standing, his face buried in a piece of literature. When Sei noticed that Anita had let their guest in, he moved his head up to look at Lucien with a smile.

His blue eyes looked at the man up and down as his daughter had done previously. The sounds of bustling activity were echoing in the hall behind him. The man looked rather awkward, wearing a gray fighting gi and a pair of brown shoes. However, Sei gave off the aura of someone to be both intimidated by, and someone to aspire to be. Such thoughts were natural, given that Sei was the 'Hero of Radasanth', the 'Avatar of Alerar'.

The mystic closed his book and tucked it under his left arm. A right hand went out in a gesture to shake the strangers own hand. "Welcome to my home. How can I help you?" The voice would enter Lucien's mind rather than fall upon his ears. This was because physically, Sei Orlouge was a mute, only being able to communicate via telepathy to those he wished to speak to. Sei stood in the room with his hand extended, hoping the man would take it soon, lest he look very strange with an extended hand.

[The gospel speaks]

Lucien smiled and shook the man's hand. "Greetings Sei Orlouge, I am Lucien Gospel here on important personal business you may or may not be able to help me with, but before I proceed how open is your mind to unproved theories of creation, and for that matter, multiple realms of existence" he asked sounding rather scholarly. He paused, this next moment could make or break the mans trust in him, or possibly make him believe he was mentally ill. He took a deep breath, "Because well..." He paused and almost lost his nerve. "I'm from another such realm, and I have been exiled here. I hear you are a great mystic, and I wish for you to help me return home."

He paused, "Of course I do not have much money to pay you for your information, but I will work for you until my dept is payed off." he then looked into the mans blue eyes, both a feeling of dread and calmness washed over him, then he shut up. Well time to watch and wait, see what he has to say about my problem.

He glanced around and felt a slight twinge of longing for his study. The bookcases were filled to the brim with all sorts of books and tomes, the room itself was bigger and more regal, but he still felt at home here....then he smiled, he was going home soon.

[Silence Sei]

"A pleasure, Mr. Gospel," Sei responded to the new man. Lucien did not hesitate to start asking the mute questions almost immediately. He asked how open was the telepath's mind to various realms of existence, which caused the mystic to smile. Sei had actually visited a few other worlds before, and once even found himself stuck in an alternate dimension. As Sei opened his mouth to 'talk', Lucien continued on as to why he asked such a thing.

People from other worlds were not such a strange thing. Sei had encountered being such as the demon Ter'Thok, who was from a different realm like Lucien. Sei began to speak again when Lucien continued on about payment, and swearing his loyalty to the mute. Sei smiled at the man who would not let him get a word in edgewise. The telepath looked over to his daughter, Anita brushing off her blue, knee-length dress before addressing Lucien Gospel.

"You are welcomed to what books we own, Mr. Gospel," Anita spoke as if she had rehearsed the words over and over again, "Anybody is. We just ask that you place the books back from where you got them. We will accept your loyalty, but please do not think of it as a debt. Papa does what he does for the good of the commonweal. He doesn't see himself as a hero, just somebody who's trying to do what's right. We'll have some of our people look at your amulet, and I'm sure Papa would like to have first crack at its investigating. Enigmas always amuse him."

Sei thought he heard Anita mention something about the whole reason Jensen was always around, but ignored the mumbles of his daughter. The mute placed a welcome hand on Lucien's shoulder as he smiled brightly to his fellow man. "We will get to the mystery of your amulet in time. For now, I think a man who rambles on like you do may need a good meal, and to be introduced to his room, provided you still wish to stay with us?"

[The gospel speaks]

A smile spread across Lucien's face, "Thank you sir I would love to stay with you," he replied. Then something hit him. "What are the Ixian knights" he asked puzzled. Something else nagged him, he was unsure what, but it felt as if his back was lighter somehow. He frowned, the action being involuntary of course, something was missing, but what? He shook his head and banished the thought to the back of his mind.

Then the mystics hand landed on his arm, as if Lucien was now part of some big family. "Yes sir I would love that, but first may I inquire the amount of tomes you have on shadowmancy? It appears my powers have diminished and I would love to restore them to help in any way." he then grabbed the amulet and removed it from around his neck, then he handed it to Sei. "Take good care of this, if you can't find anything out I'll need it in a thousand years." he said chuckling, this man was apparently a legend, he doubted he would have any trouble with the amulet.

[Silence Sei]

"Good questions," Sei stated as he took the amulet from the much older man. "The Ixian Knights are a group I formed to keep the world of Althanas at peace. We hold all kinds of people from dark sadists, to the holiest of heroes, to people who even consider themselves 'Soup Nazis'. I would be glad to give you the grand tour of things, if you so wish?" Sei was enamored by the way this man had shown him such respect in the few minutes they had gotten acquainted. It was definitely a step up from the likes of Jensen Ambrose, and Aislinn Orlouge.

"As far as shadow magic goes," Anita said, "We have Aislinn,, she took the Shadow Trials of Chateau Drantrak. She failed though, so she only knows the basics. My sister Kyla would know more about how to use the shadows to fuel mystic powers, but I don't think that really applies to you. Other than him, the only other shadow user I can think of right now is Talen. He's out of town at the moment though, had to go do something about some grave robbers or something."

Anita flipped through a notebook that she had pulled out while she evaluated the knights that could help Lucien. So far she was not coming up with anybody who would be of decent value to the man. "I'll keep looking through the pages. For now, why don't you and Papa take the tour, and I'll try to get back to you..."

[The gospel speaks]

Lucien smiled happily, "I would love to take a tour with you" he replied to Sei. He caught the girl saying something about pages and smirked, "This Talen seems like the man I might want to talk to, thank you very much Anita." He chuckled and turned to Sei again. As he did such he caught a glance of a title, it did not strike him as much, but the message it sent bugged him. "Lead on Sir," he said quietly, his mind was deep in thought, and something was nagging him, a strange lightness on his back that he wasn't used to.

The nagging kept on in the back of his mind, but he could not find it's purpose. Something tugged, and he felt a snap in the back of his minds, as if the gears that turned inside his mind clicked into place, bringing a slumbering part of his mind awake. Memories flooded into his mind, he grimaced, memories he had supressed 8 thousand years ago flooded into his mind, the day it all began. Happy birthday son.... he heard in the back of his mind. Something clicked and the memories were cut off.

[Silence Sei]

Sei began to lead Lucien down one of the hallways in the Tomb. He held onto the necklace firmly, tossing it up and down on occasion to get a feel for its weight. As he tried to determine the metal the necklace was made of, the two of them came across an orange door. This was the only orange door in the cavern, and it held two torches on each side of it. Two large guards stood still, their eyes darting down to Lucien as if he were some despot.

"This is my chamber. Despite the menacing guards, if you have any questions that need answering, simply knock and I will do what I can[/i]." Sei turned back around, his feet keeping a rhythm on the dirt that was his floor. After passing a few unremarkable doors, the two came across open double doors, several beds lined the white room. Medical supplies and privacy curtains were also quickly noticed in this area. "This would be the infirmary. The girl over there issuing orders like a battle commander is my niece, Aislinn Orlouge. She is rough around the edges, but she's quickly warming up to people."

Sei began to continue the journey when the two came across the sounds of screams. Sei looked towards the pitch black door, and then back to Lucien. The words 'Keep Out!' seemed to be written in somebody's blood. Sei closed his eyes and took a few steps away from the door. "This is one of your commander’s rooms. Cassandra Remi is the one person here you should avoid at all cost. Being the leader of one of our busiest teams, as well as official interrogator has done something to the girl’s already fragile psyche. Remember, avoid Cassandra Remi."

Sei motioned for the boy to follow once more, and the two soon found themselves in another round area that looked conspicuously like the first room. The difference was that there was a wooden side beside Sei with an arrow painted in blue pointing back in the direction in which they came. "Signs like this are all over the Tomb. They're to help you find the entrance in Radasanth Park, the one you came in from. Though this cavern has many exits, I have yet to explore them all and would advise you not go wandering without supervision. Anyways, what did you think about the tour thus far?"

[The gospel speaks]

Lucien followed and watched the mystic toss the necklace up and down. It glittered like silver, but the overall luster was stranger than any metal Lucien had seen. He followed it, up, down, up, down, just like a cat. If he had to guess what the mystic was doing, he was probably trying to get the weight of the metal...or it was just a nervous tick.

He noted every detail of the cavern, making a mental map of the cavern. He smiled uneasily at the two gaurds, "I'll make sure to come to you if I have any questions." he replied softly. In truth he was already thinking of his home, this man would get him there, Lucien was sure of it. As they continued on he glanced around, he could hear voices echoing off the walls, soon they approached a set of double doors.

He watched the people through the double doors with a perceptive eye. There was enough blood on the floor for him to power a beautiful illusion strong enough to become tangible. He made a mental note of the infirmary on his mental map. The girl caught his eye, Aislinn, he smiled and began to break down her appearance, like he did most women. To his suprise he found her quite attractive.

He found it hard to decipher what it was about her that seemed to...pull him to her. Was it the power she seemed to possess? Was it the respect she seemed to demand? Or was it her strange appearance? Whatever it was it quickly made him forget the old lady of his heart, Liliana. He smiled and followed Sei as they continued on their tour.

Soon the sound of screaming pierced the silence they had been walking in. As they approached another door he shuddered. The resident of this room sounded like they were a force he would not want to meet. "Advice noted" he replied staring at the black door. The blood was an old favorite of his cult, it was used for everything. For some reason his cruel streak that had let him blow that off was gone.

Lucien smiled at Sei and looked around the new room. "I already like it here." he said looking around. "So then, what else is there to see?" he asked looking amused. He had no idea how big the cavern was, but he planned to explore.

[Silence Sei]

"Glad you're still on board," Sei said, running the necklace in between each individual finger now, "follow me and I'll show you the rest." Sei began to walk off once more until the duo came across another double-wide entrance, the interior of this room housing a small waterfall. The cascading water was falling down into a rather large pond, and a red haired woman was engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a rather muscular looking fellow.

"That's Stephanie and Tagaz. They're both rather friendly. I would advise against getting on Stephanie's bad side, however. Mr. Jensen Ambrose can attest to that." Sei smiled as he thought of how his primary bodyguard would react to another member of the household. The cave was becoming quite large, and Kyla was starting to house complaints about crowded bathrooms and paranoid thoughts of people reading her diary.

"Fuck you, fagot fairy king," came a rather crass voice. Sei turned to meet the red haired man. Jensen Ambrose was standing before Sei and Lucien now, eyeing the latter up and down. "Who the hell is this queer? Another member come to suck your d---"

"That's quite enough, Jensen!" Sei shouted, which got a smirk out of the other man. "Fine, whatever. I don't care anyways," Jensen brushed past the two, managing to hit both Sei and Lucien with his shoulder as he did so. Sei closed his eyes and sighed, turning back around to his new guest. "You have just met Jensen Ambrose, possibly the rudest man in all of Althanas. What you just saw was his good side. He may be crude, but he has his uses. There's nobody here outside of my own family I would trust more with my life."

Sei still couldn't determine the feel of the metal. He was starting to get rather frustrated with the way things were shaping up concerning the necklace. "Anyways, now you've seen our little meditation area, I think we should close out the tour today. I hope it's been informative. I'm going to go read up on your necklace in the library. You are more than welcome to join me, if you wish?"

[The gospel speaks]

Lucien smiled and continued after the mute mystic, he hardly knew the man, but it looked like he was just as benevolent as the stories told. When they came to the room with the waterfall he lifted an eyebrow quizzically. "Is this a training room?" he asked allowing his eyes to shift across the room scanning for anyone or thing that might help him, again a strange lightness nagged at him on his back, he couldn't tell excactly what it was.

"If you have any physical combat skills I'm staying on your good side, I'm not even good with my scythe...." realization hit him like a truck. He reached to his back and grasped at thin air where his scythe handle was. his hand plopped down to his side, he was seething. I LEFT MY GODDAMN SCYTHE AT UNDERWOOD! he roared inside his head.

He was so angry he was about ready to tear Jansen Ambrose a new one just for talking bad to either of them. He felt the same cold feelings he had back home, for a moment he was back to normal, then it faded. He stepped somewhat nimbly to avoid the rude man and growled. "Why do you put up with him?" he asked quizzically, surely the great Silent Sei didn't need to put up with that.

"I would love to join in the Library, perhaps I could do a little digging and find some things to help me regain my powers. Back home I was what they considered an prophet, they were beings closely linked with a particular element, because of that I never really developed my ability to conserve energy and develop my energy pools. Instead I could just borrow power from the darkness." as he said this something struck him, he would have to find out how each element was personified. He was positive that would help him greatly.

[Silence Sei]

Lucien's thought of anger slammed into Sei's mind like a ton of bricks. Angry thoughts were always the easiest to pick up, as the minds defense temporarily dropped to all comers when anger raged. Sei grabbed his head with one hand and shot a glare slightly at Lucien. "I don't know what you said, Mr. Lucien, but please be aware that angry thoughts in the presence of a telepath are a bad idea."

Sei began to walk to the library, now possessing a rather nagging headache thanks to the knight’s newest member. "Also, I put up with Jensen because his combat ability is incredible. The technique he uses, making his foes rage into a weapon, I find it very intriguing. Inquiring minds always want to figure out how something or somebody works. Having Jensen around helps me figure out what makes him tick."

The two arrived at another double-entrance, this one leading to a room with ten foot high bookshelves. Novels, comics, scrolls, all sorts of text coated the oak shelves with their knowledge. Sei gripped the necklace in his hand and walked over to one of the shelves. He fingered through the spine of several large encyclopedias before he finally stopped on a particular one. Its cover was red, and its title was 'Arcane Technology: Everything You Need to Know About Merged Science and Magic'.

Sei walked over to one of the tables in the thirty by thirty sized room. Setting the book down, Sei began to turn through the pages. He set the necklace down as he began to run comparisons through the illustrations. "I'll look into your necklace, Lucien. I would advise you read up a bit on Althanas. Learn the lay of the land so you can start your own adventures soon. I'll be back with you in a moment."

[Silence Sei]

Lucien nodded to Sei, confirming that his own adventures could very well be the best course of action. The mystic opened the pages of his own tome and began to wander off, no doubt to get so immersed in his reading that he would wind up in some obscure place within the tomb. Lucien began to search through several of the books in the library, trying to find the right one to quench his own thirst for knowlege.

~~~~~~~~~

Sei returned a couple of hours later, his hair covered in white feathers, and the smell of stale crackers upon his form. The stench that expelled off of the Mystic caused Lucien's head to turn. Sei merely stared the youth down in a 'don't ask' sort of way. However, rather than speaking, Lucien bursted out into fits of laughter, causing Sei to form a smile across his lips as well.

"Did you find anything? the telepath asked, getting straight to the point. Lucien nodded and pointed down at the book he was currently reading. It was a map of Concordia, though not a very good one. Because of the large nature and volume of the forest, most of the map was covered in green, save for a few known Bandit Brotherhood hang outs here and there.

"I think this is probably the best place in Corone to start my search," Lucien said, causing Sei to nod. Concordia had a whole wealth of unexplored things to it. Every day, it seemed at least one adventurer or young couple would stumble upon a magical artifact or two. "With your permission, Sir, I'd like to take an immediate leave of absence in order to investigate."

Sei nodded, though he had a feeling the man simply didn't want the mute to know that he had to go back and retrieve his weapon as well. "Granted, just be back within a couple of weeks, if you don't mind." Lucien nodded and closed the book, leaving the room. No doubt the foreigner would find a room before he began to take his leave. Sei smiled as he looked up to the air, reflecting on just how many people were coming in in swarms to join his coalition.

We just might do this. We just might defeat the whole of Althanas...

[Revenant]

Condensed rubric requested.

STORY: 13

CHARACTER: 14

WRITING STYLE: 11

WILD CARD: 3

TOTAL: 41

Silence Sei receives 1506 exp and 90 gp.
The Gospel Speaks receives 278 exp and 75 gp.

Sei, I’m not going to approve your requested spoil for this thread.