The Lord's Soul (Closed)

[hoytti]

Notice: Anyone can join but only if you are accepted. To request joining you must PM either TheOnlyGhost or myself. We will then decide if we want you to join in.

"I thought I'd never see this place again," Sorish said to Sanderia as they entered New Londo Ruins. The city looked just like the cursed ruins. The buildings were made to look old and tattered but they were made to be safe. The giant glowing mushrooms scattered around the city looked just like the ones in the ruins, and even the water looked like it came straight form the cursed land. If Sorish didn't know any better he would of thought he was actually in the ruins. The smell of marshes was heavy in the air. There was also a hint of magic on the wind for it was magic that built this city. He remembered the day he left. It was a week after sealing the ruins. The other three mages wanted to make a replica of the ruins and live there with anyone who wanted to settle down in such a beautiful place. Apparently they succeeded.

"Big brother Sorish. Why have we returned to this scary place?" Sanderia asked sheepishly. She had grown since the day she was left at his room's door. She was eight. At 4'5, she had a 1'3 crown. She was deep green with the blue still showing in her cracks. She had just received her toy coral sword that will eventually be hardened to become her Coralian Sword.

"My thoughts exactly," Roxi stated.

"Fine, I might as well tell you. I'm going to destroy 'The Lord's Soul'." he said to them.

Roxi and Sanderia gasped while Sorman, Roxi's husband, looked confused.

"I thought you had helped seal it so that no one could enter?" Roxi said stunned.

"I think it would be better to destroy it." Sorish replied.

"But if you fail you and the rest of us will become cursed."

"If there is a chance of removing this evil I shall do it."

Roxi and Sorish continued back and forth. Meanwhile, somebody was watching from the shadows.

[TheOnlyGhost]

Alicia, holding back her ghostly tears, was thinking back of when she used to be human. "Those were the days, when Althanas was young, and more free of government control and corruption. When will we ever return to those golden ages?" Alicia sighed knowing that the chances of that happening are less than zero. She laughed a little, and continued through New Londo Ruins looking at the amazing marble work the mages had put in. They had an open field of mushrooms covered by the same beautiful blue moss with a river flowing through it just like the cursed lands letting everyone know of it's beauty without needing to set forth into that wretched place where she had been betrayed over 1200 years ago. "Time goes by so fast, even well over 1000 years has gone past, the frightening thought of that event seemed like it was only yesterday when my once love, Henry, had betrayed me. The only one I could rely on, was no more than a legend that people talk about, a legend for which he does not deserve."

Sighing as she continued to phase through multiple walls, she came across one of the known sealers of the cursed lands and couldn't help by overhearing the conversation.

"I think it would be better to destroy it."

.....

"But if you fail you and the rest of us will become cursed."

Alicia couldn't help but gasp overhearing them speak about the cursed lands of Londo Ruins. Unfortunately that gasp led to her location as they quickly turned around to look upon her. She could tell they were in cased with fear. Without hesitation, she tried to introduce herself.

"I'm sorry to intrude, but I overheard you. As you can see for yourself, I am one of the legends you heard of, for I am Alicia. I am the legendary girl that got cursed into being a ghost for all eternity, those stories you were told about me are all true. They are true about everything, about Henry, and about the others as well. What they don't know is the treasure that lay dormant in the ruins for the taking. You are not exactly sure what you hid away do you?"

All they could do was shake their heads "no" (with the exception of Sorish of course) in response to her question, still in shock, while she continued...

"The treasure is no treasure, it is a soul of a great lord. This soul is so powerful, it can grant anything and everything that it's owner wishes. You want money? You got it. You want someone killed? You got it. You want someone to fall in love with you? They are yours. Or even worse, you want all the power in the world? It's yours. The Lords' Soul is no treasure that ANYONE should possess even if it were meant for good. Eventually the power will consume you, it consumed the one I loved and turned him against me, don't let it be your fate as well. I'm begging you, do NOT go after the Lord's Soul! But, if you are indeed thinking of destroying it, there are a couple of other things you should know. If you destroy the Lord's Soul, the curse can NEVER be lifted. The ghosts with the cursed blades will forever turn people into ghosts like me that come into their path, however if you break the curse ... the cursed blades and the ghosts will cease to exist turning me back into my human form. The problem with that, however, is the Lords Soul will be indestructible and it can be anyone's possession at anytime for them to use for the taking."

They continued to listen, gradually starting to trust her...

"Another thing you must know, the cursed blades that they carry WILL spread that curse to you if you even get but a scratch. The only way to destroy the Lords Soul is if you defeat the six guarding it, and then destroying the Lords Soul itself with a cursed weapon. Be wary though, a cursed weapon WILL give you a curse when you use it, a curse in which you fear most. I want to help you destroy it, but keep in mind that if we do, I will NEVER be human and the cursed blades and ghosts will resurrect once again and the curse will NEVER be lifted. Do you understand? Will you help me?"

[hoytti]

"Which is why I had planned on continuing alone." Sorish said shocking everyone.

"How on earth were you planning on continuing alone?" Roxi asked.

"Roxi," Sorish said, "I know you are pregnant. "You and Sorman must merge with Sanderia."

"What!!" Roxi yelled, "You can't be serious!!"

"I am Roxi. Please for the sake of your family and my Sister. Please merge with her. She needs protection and you are with child. Please," Sorish begged.

"Big Brother Sorish, you can't leave me." Sanderia cried.

"Don't cry Sanderia, I don't plan on dying. Beside's, you won't be alone will she Roxi," Sorish said.

"Fine, Sorman, we have no choice, it is only temporary," Roxi said. I hope.

"Here is enough money for the next month," Sorish said handing 300 GP to Sanderia. "I will be resealing the door after I enter so don't try to follow me. It will stay sealed till I return."

[TheOnlyGhost]

Alicia was confused with Sorish's lack of true concern. Going alone? How stupid is that? Disappointed she looked to the ones that were left to help her in the cursed lands of Londo Ruins.

"You, you are all that I have left. I need your help! You read and heard about the legends of the curse, and I have told you of it's power, you MUST help me! If not me, at least help your dad (she assumed). You wouldn't want him to be all alone would you? I understand the risk involved, but if you leave him be, sad to say it is highly unlikely he would survive. I will warn you though, other ghosts will be there. They can not be harmed by physical weapons, they can only be harmed by magic and cursed blades. Will you aid me?"

[hoytti]

"Listen," Sorish commanded turning to the ghost, "I am a Mage, the rest are not. They wouldn't last five seconds in that place. I can't allow them to go with me. If you want you may join me but they are to stay in the new section of the ruin's understand."

"But Big Brother Sorish," Sanderia cried, "I can fight. Enchant my sword and I will do fine."

"Your sword is the strength of a wooden sword," Sorish replied turning to Sanderia, "It could never stand up to an iron sword. Please listen to my request and stay here."

"Please, don't leave me." Sanderia said tears still running down her face.

"Sorish, you can't do this alone," Roxi said as she finished leaving Sorish's neck and slid down to Sanderia's neck. She knew he meant it when he said he was going alone. "What would cause a being as wise as you to do something so stupid?"

"Even if I were to be cursed I could still destroy The Lord's Soul," Sorish said with an authoritative voice. "That's why I am going, to rid the world of such a powerful and deadly device. The reason for going alone is that none of you deserve to be cursed as well."

[TheOnlyGhost]

"Abandoning your family? I admire your courage, whoever you are mage but you are definitely not going along. Whether you like it or not I'm going to join you, for you are mistaken a little bit. If you are cursed, it consumes you completely forcing you to curse others and protect the Soul. In other words, if you are cursed, you are dead so I am coming with you. All I have is a measly blade, but it might help some bit with other beings or if you were to enchant it we would have better luck as a team."

Alicia sighed and turned back to what she assumed was his family.

"Don't despair, he seems to know what he is doing and I will help you out if that assures you or not. He is the bravest man I have ever met, even though it might seem like a suicide mission, it is for the greater good I assure you."

... "Follow the way mage, and perhaps you could give me your name so it is easier to communicate with each other don't you think?"

[hoytti]

"Thank you Alicia, my name is Sorish," he said. "May you hold out your blade?" She did. He opened his old Coralian Water Magic Book. He turned to the page of water enchantments. He then rummaged through his bag and brought out what he need. A jug of dried seawater and a jar of Sea Slug Slime. He has been carrying these since he first started on his adventure. He started to chant the spell. "Gawan, Gawan, foosh men theth blan." which means, "Seawater, Seawater, join with the blade." He repeated this as he started to mix the ingredients. He put in a pinch of the dried seawater, a Tsp of Sea Slug Slime, then a piece of his Coralian Crown. He then ground it and mixed it together. as soon as that was done he applied it to the blade still chanting that line. After he put the last of it on the blade the blade started to glow an aqua color. Then the Water came from the hilt and surrounded the mettle. He did the same thing to his blade then put away the ingredients. "The Enchantment should last for 4 years." He said. He then turned to his sister and hugged her. "You be a good girl for Roxi and Sorman. I hope to see you soon." Then he turned to Alicia and said, "Lets go."

[TheOnlyGhost]

Alicia nodded in agreement not saying a word as her blade was enchanted as they left the city of New Londo Ruins to go to the cursed lands of Londo Ruins where the sealed door was all that stood in their way. As they reached the door, she noticed a new more powerful seal that was place onto the door. In the center of the crease of the giant twin doors was a magic infused white orb that help seal it shut with the four elements holding it in place. The four elements had to be combined into one to release the seal, then an ancient crest had to be inserted where the orb was to open the door. Alicia assumed Sorish had it, since he helped seal it, but she had no idea how to fuse the four elements of earth, fire, wind, and water together into one.

"I think that sealed door is your speialty Sorish. You do the honors? But be careful, although Londo Ruins is beautiful beyond belief, it uses that false veil of beauty to hide the true nature of the land, the curse. Break the curse and you free me back into my human form, but the Lords Soul will be forever yours, or anyone elses that gets their hands on for it can not be destroyed if you break the curse. On the other hand, if you destroy the soul the curse will be permantly cast, the cursed blades and ghosts with infinitely resurrect spreading the curse of the blade when anyone comes into their way. Even though I desire to return to the form that was stolen from me, it is best to destroy the Soul."

Alicia started to cry knowing that she would sacrifice her dream of humanity for an eternity of being a ghost, but it had to be done. She wondered, however, what if Sorish fell to it's lustful power regardless of how good he seemed to be? Could Sorish fall into the same fate that Henry did? She had to keep her eyes on him at all times to tell, she wouldn't dare turn her back on him ... at least not yet.

"Your choice Sorish. Destroy the soul yet have a never ending curse? Or break the curse, and the soul is up for grabs indefinitely? Make your choice."

[hoytti]

Sorish nodded then walked to the gate pulling out the Element Seal. He had only one of the elements needed to unlock the Seal's Power. He had of course the Youth Water. The other's; The Eternal Fire, The Shaking Earth, and The Gentle Winds were held by the other four who helped reseal the gates four years ago, after the 1200 year old magic seal had faded and a man tried to enter to take the soul. They defeated the man before he could reach the soul then sealed the gate with a permanent seal. As long as no one unlocked the chains it would be sealed forever. It would also reseal after the person entered. The eternal guardians would make sure of that.

"We need to find the other Mages who helped with the sealing," he said turning to Alicia. "They hold the other three elements that must be combined to unlock this seal."

Timothy walked back toward the city, motioning Alicia to follow. As soon as they reentered the New Londo Ruins, Sorish turned to a house just inside the gate.

Inside the house there where many strange potions inside of jars. Standing behind the counter was an old man mixing together another brew.

[TheOnlyGhost]

Alicia couldn't stop shaking her head (in her mind) of disappointment while thinking he was one of the mages that sealed it, shouldn't he have already known about the four elemental seal and came prepared with it to begin with? Now we have to backtrack to get it, then backtrack again once more. The logic and intelligence of Sorish sure is dwindling down, I hope he knows what he is doing. Alicia, reluctantly, followed Sorish ALL the way back to New Londo Ruins.

You better be right about this one, I have already counted at least six other mistakes you made within the last hour or two alone, and the journey hasn't even started yet.

"Sorish, how do you know for sure the other three mages are actually here? It would be a strange coincidence that all of the other three mages were at the exact same place at the exact same time don't you think? And say they are ... what makes you think they would want to destroy it, when it could easily be up for grabs for themselves?"

She couldn't stop starting at the old man behind the counter creating potions of some sort...

"This better be good."

[hoytti]

"Your questions are understandable," Sorish whispered to her. "First off, the other three built this city not only to show the beauty of the ruins but also to live here. They all have shops scattered throughout the city. Also why should they not be together. I am never nearby. If someone wants to enter the gate they have to find me as well. For the second question. They know that I am a nervous wreck about this thing. I had said I would come back to check on it this year. They have no idea about my intentions. For the question you are probably thinking about. The reason we went to the gate first was to make sure the guardians still had it sealed. If the guardians died then there would be no need to have asked for the keys. The seal would have already been broken."

After he finished explaining to Alicia he turned to the man behind the counter. "May the Gentle Winds guide you Salvador."

The man behind the counter turned around quickly. "Sorish! How good it is to see you. Here to check on The Lord's Soul?"

"Yes Salvador," Sorish said, "Though the gate is locked, I must see it for myself in order to make sure that it is still there."

"Well then," Salvador said turning towards the back room, "Let me go get The Gentle Winds for you." He left without addressing Alicia. Since she was with Sorish he knew he could trust her.

[The Phoenix]

Elisdrasil spun the earthen token idly on the counter top with a sigh, the slender fingers gesturing to get the attention of the bartender who had thus far studiously ignored him. Thus far the Raiaeran found himself wholly unimpressed with the town of New Londo Ruins, but he supposed that that’s how he found most of these sleepy little Corone villages nowadays. Working under the Coronian government in the Empire’s war against the Ixian Knights had had more consequences than even he'd foreseen. This particular set of troubles had come to him in the form of Jorrey, an exuberant middle-aged conjurer who had joined Phoenix Ascendant’s cause in the recent war. Elisdrasil remembered him as a jovial man, with a heavy tan, deep laugh lines, and a friendly manner that had put those around him instantly at ease. He remembered this mostly because Jorrey had approached him one day, before the battle which had claimed the conjurer’s life, with an uncharacteristically stoic demeanor.

“I felt something ominous in the air tonight,” was all the explanation that he had given as he had pressed the wrapped bundle into Elisdrasil’s hand. It was a common enough occurrence on the eve of battle, comrades handing over unsent letters and familial keepsakes to one another that, in the event they should not return, they could trust their battle-brothers to see to their affairs. Given Elisdrasil’s own familiarity with divinations, he couldn’t help but to honor the request from a similarly gifted associate, and true to form, Jorrey had failed to return from the field that day.

But things had taken an unexpected turn at that point. When Elisdrasil had opened Jorrey’s bundle to see who he was supposed to send it to, he found only the earthen token that was currently spinning atop the counter in front of him and a note that said New Londo Ruins. The phrase meant nothing to the Raiaeran and so he simply filed it and the token away with all the other flotsam that the war had produced, things that he would deal with when he had more time and energy to devote to it.

And then he had promptly forgotten about it.

It wasn’t until several months later, once the war was over and things in his life had moved on, that Elisdrasil had noticed the phrase again, only this time written upon a large-scale map of one of Corone’s more remote areas. He had been somewhat surprised to find that New Londo Ruins was a village and instantly recalled Jorrey and the token he had left Elisdrasil. And so, honoring what he assumed to be a fallen compatriot’s wishes, Elisdrasil had come to New Londo Ruins. He was quickly beginning to wish that he hadn’t.

The village itself, while not run down or dilapidated, seemed well past its heyday. Funny, since its remoteness meant that it had been untouched by the ravages of the recent war. Even so, there was a pall that hovered over New Londo Ruins, an oppressive foreboding that seeped into the very foundation of the village itself. Elisdrasil had quickly settled into his room at the local inn, taking particular measures to grab himself as nothing more than a Raiaeran merchant lest someone recognize his battle suit and curve blade. Not that he really needed to do so. The people of New Londo Ruins were certainly not hostile, but nor were they welcoming. It seemed to Elisdrasil that they were nothing but ambivalent towards the foreign outsider.

Something that was becoming as bothersome to Elisdrasil as this entire trip had become. Annoyed, Elisdrasil waved for the third time at the bartender, hoping to finally get the man’s attention and perhaps a drink along with it. Seeing no rush to attend him coming, however, Elisdrasil sighed again, picked up the fallen token, spun it once more on the counter, and then leaned back and closed his eyes.

He’d used his future sight to scan the pathways of potential surrounding the village as soon as he’d arrived of course. Doing so was almost second nature to him by now. But destiny, as always, was a fickle creature, and Elisdrasil had only received the barest of hints as to what the future held for him. No matter how many times he tried, the only things that Elisdrasil could see were ghostly figures bearing ghostly swords, crumbling stone in dank water, and something bright just out of his view which whispered all the promises in the world to him. He might as well have been shaking his hands dramatically in a mirror and moaning “doom,” at himself.

“Where did you get that?” a stern voice hissed menacingly in Elisdrasil’s ear. The Raiaeran’s eyes shot open to find a rough-shaven man, haggard and lean, thrusting his face into Elisdrasil’s own with eyes of rage and a quivering finger locked onto the token which was just finishing its jaunt around the bar.

“Excuse me?” Elisdrasil replied, in a calm, even tone. His elfin features were a stony mask, betraying nothing behind it. He was supremely confident in his ability to handle anything this raging villager threw at him, even with his blade wrapped away in his quarters, but knew that taking the man off his feet, even in a non-lethal manner, was not likely to engender him any goodwill amongst the man’s associates in the village. The last thing he needed was to be forced to flee from a backwater town by an angry mob, and still with no idea what in the Pyre he was supposed to be doing here.

“I want to know where you got that thing there,” the man reiterated, still holding himself unpleasantly close to the Raiaeran.

Elisdrasil’s eyes narrowed the slightest fraction as he thought about the question. He would normally have been inclined to tell the man it was none of his business and to shove off, but this was something Jorrey had thought was important and he was here to honor that. He thought. He supposed it could have been a message to keep the token away from New Londo Ruins, but he would have expected a bit more of a warning from the conjurer with the laugh lines and the friendly eyes.

“A comrade gave it to me for safekeeping when he went into the war,” Elisdrasil said, shrugging. What harm could the truth do here after all? “He never returned so I brought it here like he wanted.”

“Jorrey’s dead then?” another voice intruded on the moment and Elisdrasil flicked his eyes over to see that the bartender finally seemed to have taken notice of him.

“He is,” Elisdrasil nodded. Instantly, the man in his face pulled back, a look of sadness coming over his features, one shared by the bartender as well.

“I’m sorry about that,” the man sighed, putting out his hand as an apology. “Were you friends?”

Elisdrasil took the man’s hand, shook it lightly once, and then retreated. “Of a sort. I was his one of his commanders.”

Both men nodded and then the bartender turned to the other and said, “you best go tell Salvador then.” To which the other man nodded and made his way out of the bar and up the street.

“I take it this is important then?” Elisdrasil asked, picking up the token from where it had fallen and waving it softly.

“More so than you can imagine,” the bartender replied. Elisdrasil cocked an eyebrow at the statement and the man continued. “You’d better wait till Salvador gets here. It’s a long story and he can explain it better than me.”

Elisdrasil shrugged and spun the token on the counter again. “No worries there, though getting a drink might make the wait a little easier.”

[TheOnlyGhost]

"Sorish, I'm not sure where to even start looking." Alicia sighed in disgust getting anxious to get her feet wet. "We still have three others to find, THREE!" Her ghostly figure started to rise a couple feet above the ground as she spiritually flew around the bar in search for possible mages and wizards that might have a token, or preferably more than one token.

There were many mages, magic users, elementals, and wizards in the bar sticking to 'their own side of the bar' while the other races and weapon users (warriors) were sticking to 'their side'. Can't we just get along? How sad is that to separate yourselves like that? I'm surprised we haven't learned anything by now, especially after so long.

...

"So a A panda walks into a bar and orders a beer and a hamburger. After he eats he stands up stretches and pulls out a gun shooting everyone in the room but the bartender. The panda puts $20 on the bar and turns to leave. As he walks out the door the bartender asks why the panda shot everyone. The panda tells him to look in the encyclopedia. The bartender looks up panda and he reads "Panda: Large black and white mammal native to China. Eats shoots and leaves."!" said an elemental to another elemental as she passed by looking around the bar. Not them I doubt. They glared at her presence briefly as they were annoyed by Alicia being so closed to them. It didn't last long as they kept passing jokes back and forth though. She could hear them laughing in the distance as she looked towards other possibilities.

...

"Did you know my brother was ... hey what the hell lady? Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation here?" said another mage potential. She looked over him briefly looking for a token, yet he had none. "Sorry" she said continuing on. Asshole!

...

Other potential token wielders were either asleep and snoring on the tables or even chairs from being drunk out of their minds with no token in sight, or some of them were children and were not even close to what she was looking for. Alicia almost gave up until she saw something familiar spinning on a table top, and knew immediately what it was. I'm surprised he even puts that thing on display. Isn't the magic user worried that someone might simply take it? Talk about either high confidence, or extreme stupidity.

...

“A comrade gave it to me for safekeeping when he went into the war ... He never returned so I brought it here like he wanted.” Alicia continued listening on before introducing herself, for she might be wrong about the token for it could have been mistaken identity. She didn't want to seem like a fool. “I take it this is important then?” ... “More so than you can imagine,” ...“No worries there, though getting a drink might make the wait a little easier.” She was now more than positive that this had to be one of the ones that held the tokens. Not sure exactly what to say, she blurted out the first thing on her mind while heading over near the token wielder.

"Excuse me sir? You probably already know me based on the countless stories here and about Londo Ruins, the town that New Londo Ruins was named after, but if not I am what most people know me as Alicia. Even though I am a ghost, I mean no harm for I was human once, I was not "created", for lack of a better word, this way I promise you." The token stopped spinning and landed on the table face up with images of Earthly objects Definitely what I am looking for. She pointed towards Sorish and said to the man, more quietly this time to avoid anyone else hearing. "See that man over there? I'm sure you recognize him for you helped him conjure up the seal to the cursed lands yes? This might seem odd and frank, but we are running out of time here, so I'll just come out with it quick and easy for you. Will you help us break the seal? There is something there so powerful that it MUST not get into anyones position, regardless if they are good or not. I will warn you though, there are ghosts that carry the legendary cursed blades that turned me into the form I am now for I used to be human. If you get mere but a scratch, I will be your eternal fate. Will you help us? If you don't, the treasure might just be up for grabs for evil, and then we are all fucked. Oh, and by the way, before I forget ... and you are?"

Alicia prayed the man would help not knowing what else to say. Please, please, please, PLEASE!

[hoytti]

Sorish had been watching Alicia as she searched for the next mage. He knew that the mage wasn't here but at least it gave her something to do. While she searched Sorish went up to the bar and sat on one of the stools. He expected him to be here soon, that is if he survived that war he entered. Sorish hoped beyond hope that the mage survived. It would make things more difficult if he had died in that war. Sorish called out to the Bartender, "Seth, get me a glass of your best whine." The Bartender jumped and turned around.

"Sorish, you have returned!" he yelled. Everyone who lived in the town, Warrior and Mage alike, jumped up and crowded around him. Sorish was counted as being half Warrior and half Mage since he used his sword as well as his spells. "Okay everyone," Sorish said with a smile, "I'll visit each of you before I leave town again." Everyone left except for a few who he had motioned to stay. "I have a request for you all," he whispered to the small group. "You remember my little sister?" everyone in the group nodded. Sorish smiled, "I would like all of you to watch her for a little bit. I'm going to the ruins to check up on the Lord's Soul." Everyone nodded that they would indeed do this task of watching out for her. There were two mages and two warriors.

"We agree to watch her as much as we can," they said together then left.

Sorish looked up and saw Alicia talking to someone. It wasn't the mage he was waiting for but he supposed she decided to talk to someone while she waited for the mage to come. It caught his eye though when she pointed over to Sorish. He shrugged it off as Seth brought him his drink. "Thank you Seth," Sorish said putting some gold on the table.

"You should know better," Seth said pushing the money back to Sorish, "The Sealing Mages don't have to pay here. Oh, by the way, that man over there needs to talk to you." he pointed to the man Alicia was with.

Sorish laughed as he remembered the name everyone in town gave the four mages who sealed the ruins. He nodded but secretly put the money in the Seth's pocket as he turned away. He hated getting stuff for free. He then picked up the glass of whine and walked over to Alicia and the man. He noticed the token and frowned. Did this man take one of the mage's tokens? he thought as he finished his trip over to the table. "I see you found a token Alicia though the man is not a Sealing Mage," he said using the name he was just reminded of. "My name is Sorish and I hear you need to talk to me." He held his hand out to the man hoping that he would take it.

[The Phoenix]

The woman’s approach didn’t surprise Elisdrasil in the least. He understood that his Raiaeran features were considered somewhat exotic and attractive to humans, especially out in the out of the way towns like New Londo Ruins where there wasn’t as much diversity passing through. To that effect, Elisdrasil had closed his eyes and leaned back, taking a delicate sip from the drink that the bartender had finally delivered to him, and waited for the opening salvo of this woman’s mating ritual so that he could deliver a definitive yet delicate rebuffing. Much to his surprise however, he found that the woman wasn’t trying to make a pass at him. In fact, she was more likely to pass through him.

Elisdrasil had met many spirits in his time. In fact it was almost impossible to find a Raiaeran Corpse War survivor who hadn’t had experience with ghostly manifestations. True be told however, he hadn’t ever met one who had been so wordy. He supposed that it came with the lack of necessity to draw breath while going on and on. Unprepared as he was for the torrent of words, the Raiaeran sword mage only managed to catch about half of what she was gushing about. But there was one thing that he did understand, and that was that the ghost recognized the totem he bore. Furthermore, if she was to be understood correctly, she wasn’t the only one in the bar with a stake in the token.

The creature calling itself Sorish was of a species that Elisdrasil had never before encountered. Not terribly surprising given the coral carapace which covered it, a sign Elisdrasil had taken to mean that it was of an aquatic race. While the sword mage was well versed in the races that had made up Xem’xund’s army and a wide variety of undead which could be made from them, he was quite lacking in knowledge of Althanas’ undersea races.

“Erm, yes,” Elisdrasil muttered, eyeing the pair warily. Beyond them, it seemed that every eye in the bar had suddenly become fixed upon him. From stranger they can’t be bothered with to New Londo Ruins’ most interesting person, he thought, guardedly examining the routes of escape from the bar should it become a necessity to make a quick exit. He returned the mug of ale he was holding to the counter top, surreptitiously sliding the releasing hand to cover the token which had ceased its spinning and once again fallen flat with a hollow sound.

“Sorish, was it?” Elisdrasil smiled casually as he lightly brushed the creature’s hand, his practiced deception hiding the grim calculations running through his mind in favor of a friendly, easy-going demeanor. Pulling back he switched his gaze to the ghostly woman on the opposing side of him. “And Alicia, I believe you are called. I myself am known as Elisdrasil. How may I be of assistance to the two of you?”

[hoytti]

Straight to the point. Important in this kind of situation, Sorish thought. "The bar tender said that you needed to talk to me. I noticed why while coming over here. You hold A Seal Token in your hand. I also hold one," he held up his token showing it to Elisdrasil. "As only the holders of the keys have one I can only guess that either Jorrey or Tiscalta is dead." He looked at Elisdrasil trying to decipher whether or not the man knew anything, but the man showed a sign of remorse. That told him that one of the two was dead and that Elisdrasil was a friend of the mage. That was all he needed. "Which one was it?" Sorish asked in a whisper, his body trembling with sadness. He sat down in a chair across from Elisdrasil to keep himself from falling over. "I'm a friend."

He looked Elisdrasil in the eye, waiting for an answer to come, but none came. Silence gripped the man as if he was reliving the day of that mage's death. Sorish requested another drink be brought out for them. Not the best wine though, the strongest. He knew that once the man was under the influence the story would ensue and he would be able to understand what exactly happened to his friend. That was all he was asking for.

[Hysteria]

Talen sighed as his eyes scanned the village called New Londo Ruins. How exactly a village could think of it as a good idea to premptivly include 'ruins' in it's name he had no idea. The youth pulled the front of his cap and adjusted it instinctivly as he slowly made his was through the dank streets. It had been a few days ago he had started his journey towards the Londo Ruins orded by his goddess without the slightest explanation. It was not for the young, mage to question however, it was for him to obey. What was certian about this trip was two fold. First, that it was going to be something worthwhile should his goddess send him and second that he was probably going to get dirty in some old ruins.

Like most small villiages there was only one place where the townsfolk gathered. By folllowing the noise and unfortunately the smell, Talen found the large, and slightly shabby looking building. With an intake of the last (mostly) fresh air he was going to have for at least a few hours, Talen entered. The youth was facec with something he was not expecting. The small, arse end town held more magic folk in the Inn than he had seen in even the biggest city. The youth felt uneasy with all that magic crammed into such close proximity, like the world might just rip itself a new magic hole to releave the pressure any second.

For the lad of only twelve he rarely gained much attention, and nary an eye fell on him as he took a seat with two passed out men. Talen took the opportinity and rleavec the men of their coin purses befor leaning back and surveying the room. it was truely odd, with somany men, women and various other gendersfrom all walks of life. the youth pulled his back jacket closer around himself and lent back against his chair with a small smile of someone who was about to get up to mischeif.

[The Phoenix]

Elisdrasil pursed his lips and gave the creature, Sorish, a sympathetic look. While Jorrey hadn’t been the friend to him that he apparently had been to Sorish, he understood all too well the sadness which came with the loss of someone close. But while his feelings went out to the creature sitting next to him, Elisdrasil’s mind retained its sharp, unbiased focus. His eyes flickered around the room, noting the ripple of activity that Sorish’s reaction caused within. Strangely, when given the deluge of words tumbling from her only moments before, Alicia’s ghostly visage remained mostly unfazed by the revelation, as if the long years spent in her form had numbed her spirit and engendered within her a patience that rivaled the very stones.

“It was Jorrey,” he said finally, switching the token from one hand to the other, freeing it to take up his drink once more. “He’d signed up almost as soon as the Ixian Knights declared war.” He took a sip to cover the silence, letting Sorish absorb it.

Finally, feeling as though he’d allowed Sorish enough time with his grief, Elisdrasil let his sympathy fall away as he held up the token, returning the attention of the gathering to the elusive trinket. “Jorrey let this with me before his final outing. He also left me a note which led me here,” Elisdrasil fished the crumpled note from his pocket, depositing the token safely within at the same time, “Though I must admit that it was frustratingly vague in terms of explaining what the token was or exactly how it relates to your town.”

Sighing, Elisdrasil set the note on the counter, the faded letters of “New Londo Ruins” crumpled but quite visible. “Now, from what you’ve already told me, this is some form of key; a key to a lock that needs not only the token that Jorrey gave me, but also the ones that you and this Tiscalta carry.”

Elisdrasil settled back into his chair, turning his shining eyes to Alicia. “And once the lock is opened it leads to cursed ghost blades and some sinister artifact which must be destroyed at all costs.”

Pursing his lips, Elisdrasil looked between the two, searching for any sign that they might betray. “But if this lock is so well guarded, why not simply leave it locked?”

[hoytti]

"Leaving it locked would seam like the wise thing to do, if we were immortal," Sorish said trying to hide his sadness, Jorrey was his favorite of the mages and best friend here in the city, "but since all four of us mages who sealed the Londo Ruins can die, it is possible to take our token, and the keys we hold, from us. Speaking of which, did he happen to give you anything else?" he asked looking at the paper. It was bigger than the words on it so there had to be more to it, the only thing is what else was there?

[TheOnlyGhost]

Quote: Much to his surprise however, he found that the woman wasn’t trying to make a pass at him. In fact, she was more likely to pass through him.

Lol!

Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for joining Hysteria! <3



“Though I must admit that it was frustratingly vague in terms of explaining what the token was or exactly how it relates to your town.”

Alicia was shocked at this, for she could have sworn Elisdrasil knew of the legends. "Either you have not heard or you have forgotten Elisdrasil. The cursed lands of Londo Ruins is indeed home to the six cursed blades that turned me into a ghost, but they, like you said, protect a treasure beyond your wildest dreams. It is a soul of a great lord that can grant it's bearer anything it so desires, both good and evil. You have two choices Elisdrasil, either you end the dreaded curse by killing the six main ghosts and destroy each of the six cursed blades which in-turn would lift it making me human again, but if you do the Lord's Soul will become indestructable and will be forever yours. That is, until someone kills you or steals if from you for their own. Or ... the other choice is to destroy the Soul, but from doing so will make the curse last forever dooming me to be a ghost for all eternity and for anyone else that dare come into contact with the six main cursed ones for they will be indefinitely ressurrected even if they were to be defeated. Something of that immense infinite power, if you will, MUST be destroyed. No one should have such immense power, even for good, for it will consume you. We have no choice but to destroy it and those tokens are the key, don't you understand? We could lock it up like Sorrish said, but eventually someone or something will eventually get through and retrieve the Soul, it would only be a matter of time. I must warn you though Elisdrasil that if you were to be struck, even a scratch, by one of the six cursed blades you WILL meet the fate that I met. You will be a ghost for all eternity yourself, is that what you want?"

As she was finished telling Elisdrasil of the legend, she saw another potential (and final) of the token wielders (Talen {Hysteria} so you know, which I assume you do :p ) wondering into the bar as the trio (soon to be quad :p ) was about to leave for the cursed lands of Londo Ruins. Alicia turned to Sorrish and pointed towards the young one "He is another, I know it. We need him to help break the seal. After we get his help I say we start heading to Londo Ruins immediately and open the door. Most of you know, I assume, what it looks like inside. Don't let the beauty in the city trick you."

[hoytti]

Sorish looked over to the man and knew he wasn't one of them, though he did seem to have enough magic to have been. Sorish rubbed his head as he thought, For someone who lives inside the ruins she doesn't know much about the seal. "That is not one of the sealers, Alicia, though I think he could have been. He might also become an important part of our mission.. Also, the tokens are not the keys, you only need one token to open the door. The reason we are looking for the tokens are so that we can find the actual keys. The keys are magical items which are held by the Four Sealer Mages. I hold the Youth Water, Salvador holds the Gentle Winds, Jorrey held the Shaking Earth, and Tiscalta holds the Eternal Fire. We need to find all four items, put them into the token, then press it into the seal." He then turned towards Elisdrasil, "That is why I'm asking you, did Jorrey give you anything else?" Sorish still thought there was something strange about the paper and if Jorrey did't give Elisdrasil anything else then that paper was the key to finding the Shaking Earth. He waited patiently to get his answer.

[Hysteria]

Talen twiddled one of his new coins as he listened to the myriad of conversations going on across the room. Things had gotten more and more interesting as the youth listened to by far the most interesting conversation going on in the tavern. What little cover the boy had evaporated as an incorporeal figure pointed him out. This startled the youth, and he looked away quickly.

This is definitely why I was sent here. But what are these keys and tokens that they speak of? And these mysterious swords? Am I supposed to try and get one of these swords for the glory of my goddess?

Talen was split on how he would face the challenge before him. It was obvious he had stumbled into a web far more tangled than he could navigate, and perhaps only the group would be able to face it together. Then his only course of action would be bide his time. Regardless, he would watch and wait, and if necessary follow the group. For now there was little to do but wait and watch.

[The Phoenix]

Elisdrasil sat back and sipped at his drink, using the motion to give him time to think, his eyes casually moving between Sorish and Alicia to show them that their tales had not raised his choler. In his other hand, moving with rapidity, the earthen token spun around and around, the smooth surface warming as the motion was repeated time and again. Still, even as impassive as the Raiaeran appeared, his mind was a furious maelstrom of activity. He had to admit that the tale, assuming it was true, was one of the stranger that he had heard, but if it was true then it had the possibility to be worse for Althanas than anything that his future sight could foresee.

He would assist the two of them in whatever goal they pursued, he knew that, though it wasn’t out of any misguided notion of loyalty or honor. As the last of the Phoenix, Elisdrasil had pledged himself to do what he could to protect the peoples of Althanas. If there was a way for the power within the ruins to be used to that end, then it was his duty to see that it was used in this manner.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Jorrey had left him with a bit of a problem. The token in his hand was not only more than it seemed, but less as well. A key which wasn’t necessarily a key, but was a map. It was a puzzle that Elisdrasil would need to solve if he were to satisfy Sorish and Alicia and move their venture forward.

“The Shaking Earth,” he muttered, finally pulling the drink from his lips. “Jorrey was a specialist in conjuration magic. Perhaps he hid your Shaking Earth with that?”

[hoytti]

"Hmm, you might be onto something there. He had many conjures," Sorish said remembering his friends specialty. "In fact he conjured up the Four Seal Guardians after we sealed the gate. I wouldn't be surprised if that is how he hid the Shaking Earth, but which conjure did he use?" Sorish started to think trying to figure it out. Suddenly it came to him. "The Dynamo Conjure! It was his favorite conjure of them all. It conjured up a sack that held his staff that he used to conjure up his biggest conjure, the Beast Conjure, which was used to create the guardians. Now, to remember the words."

Suddenly Salvador walked into the bar with the Charles following. "Sorish, I see you are here too. Did you here about Jorrey?"

"Yes my friend I did. Speaking of Jorrey, do you happen to remember how he did the Dynamo Conjure?"

"Ey, I do, why?"

"We need to conjure it up so we can get the Shaking Earth."

"Right, that's where he would put it isn't it?"

"That's right so how did he do it?"

"He drew a circle in the sand then would chant these words. 'Shino Mi Nano Bom' then he would clap his hands and pull them apart till a bag appeared. Don't forget he gave you permission to use his bag, only you."

"Thank you Salvador. You were a big help."

Salvador nodded then looked at Elisdrasil. "I guess you are the one who holds the Token. I need it back as it's an item no outsider may keep." He swiped the token from the table then walked off.

Sorish motioned to Alicia and Elisdrasil to follow him outside. As soon as he left the bar he stepped to the side and drew the circle "Shino Mi Nano Bom" he then clapped his hands together then started stretching it. The bag grew and soon it was the right size. Sorish started fumbling through the bag. There was many things inside; Jorrey's Staff, his Book of Conjures, his underwear, and a vibrating stone. Sorish took out the stone and looked at it. "The Shaking Earth!" Sorish yelled. He put the stone in his robe pocket then disbanded the conjure. "Now all that is left is the Eternal Fire. We must get to Tiscalta's Spell Shop." He started walking in the opposite direction of the gate, The spell shop was on the opposite side of the city, in a part of town most dared not to travel. The Warrior / Mage War Zone, the place where warriors fought mages, the place where peace was not known.

[TheOnlyGhost]

"I know where Tiscalta's Spell Shop is, like you said it's on the edge of town, but I do know a shortcut. Luckily it is also on the way towards Londo Ruins, the cursed lands. I must warn you though, going through that way has a lot of shady people that know powerful magic and I don't do well with magic because for one I don't know any, and two I am greatly affected by it so I am going to need your help. We need to hurry though, for the more time we waste the more likely someone is already there trying to break the seal to obtain the Soul."

Alicia continued to follow Sorish, but then started to go in front of him waiting for each of their replies...

"There is a certain spell at the shop that used to belong to the most powerful fire mage in the world. Even though she was chaotic evil, it still might have what we are looking for. It was created by the legendary Quelaag who was corupted by greed and obtained her greatest dream, but at the same time obtained her greatest fear, for she is now half woman --- half spider. Her spell would be a great place to start for the Eternal Flame wouldn't you agree? Careful though, we should use it quickly for it might be unstable."

[Hysteria]

Talen turned his eyes away from the group as they left the bar. The young shadowmancer was about get up and follow them but paused as a wicked smile spread across his face. Silently he drew the crude knife of one of the sleeping men and casually placed his arm across his head. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching he slit the man’s throat. Even in the drunken stupor the man struggled, but Talen held him down. It only took a few seconds for the man’s blood to drain from his brain and he was silent. The youth slipped bloody dagger into the other sleeping’s man hand and quietly left the tavern.

It was easy to follow the group as they made their way through the town. Talen quickly scaled the side of a building, his speed and strength allowing him to easy pull himself up the roughly hewn stone wall. As the group made their way through the town Talen followed from the roof tops, silently watching each movement, and sprinting quickly and silently across the rooves of the buildings, and leaping the gaps with ease.

Talen was now sure that he had been sent by his goddess because of these people. But how he was to interact with them, what he could possibly get, was still unknown. As the least tangible of the group mentioned a woman who was half-spider, Talen caught his breath in surprise.

[The Phoenix]

“Tiscalta’s Spell Shop,” Elisdrasil repeated, his eyes scanning between the two creatures before him and the winding streets of New Londo Ruins. “At the edge of town, new the old Londo Ruins.”

“Is there something wrong?” Alicia asked, a puzzled look creasing her ephemeral face.

“Not at all,” the Raiaeran replied as he gestured to the rich merchant’s robes that he wore. “Of course I didn’t really dress the part to go adventuring today. I was repeating the directions to the shop where Sorish intends to find the fourth element so that I could find you once I had changed into something more suitable for the endeavor.”

“Oh,” the ghostly woman laughed, beaming brightly, “Of course. How silly of me. Since both Sorish and I are familiar with the path I could accompany you to ensure you don’t get lost while Sorish acquires the Eternal Fire.”

Sorish turned, hearing the suggestion, and scratched his chin thoughtfully. “It can be quite dangerous to wander the streets of neutral territory between the warrior and mage areas,” he said. “My status as both warrior and mage affords me some measure of respect though, so I should be fine. You might need Alicia’s guidance if we split up.”

“Both a warrior and a mage?” Elisdrasil laughed. “If that’s the case then I think I’ll be just fine.” He continued chuckling as he started the short trek back to his hotel room, waving Alicia off as he did so.

“Tiscalta’s Spell Shop,” he called out, “near the old Londo Ruins on the other side of town.” He gave one final wave to the pair before turning and hustling along.

“I’ll meet you there.”

[hoytti]

After Elisdrasil ran off, Sorish turned toward Alicia. "Alicia, please head off to the gate. Tiscalta will not give me anything as long as I'm with a stranger. She is ultra protective when it comes to important things such as this. After I get the Eternal Fire I'll get Elisdrasil and meet you at the gate. After we meet there we will then proceed to open the gate. Also, the Eternal Flame is already created we just need a small piece of it so that we can open the gate."

"Fine, but make it quick, the longer we take to get the keys, the more time an evil person has to get it." She then floated away.

After Alicia left Sorish turned towards the shop which was in the Neutral Zone. As Sorish walked down the streets of New Londo Ruins, he took in the view of the buildings and plants. Many of the structures looked just like the ones in the actual ruins, they were tall but looked like they would crumble any second. If it wasn't for the magic that held them together they probably would. There also was those stage floating mushrooms through out the city. They almost looked like the jellyfish that were in the sea with the tentacle like moss hanging off the mushroom heads. As he looked at the beauty of the city, a young warrior came out of one of the buildings charging.

Sorish was caught off guard by the boy but naturally grabbed his sword bringing it to a defensive position. The boy came down hard on his sword. Sorish looked in his eyes, he could see the determination in it. He must be new to fighting. "Why attack a fellow warrior?"

The boy looked up at him and smiled, "Your a mage, I can tell by your robes."

"Yes, I'm a mage but I am also a warrior." Sorish swung his sword around the boys sending it flying to the side and pointed the tip of his sword at the boy. "That was your first mistake." The boy looked scared upon seeing the sword at his chest. "The second was attacking a Sealer Mage."

The boy now looked more shocked then scared as he looked up at Sorish. "Then you must be..." He cut himself off not believing that he could be seeing one of the most famous people in the city.

"That's right, I'm Sorish Mon Larsh. Part warrior, part mage."

"I can't believe it!"

"Believe it, by the way son, how old are you?"

"I'm only ten sir."

Sorish was dumbstruck. A ten year old had somehow snuck up on him, but he quickly recomposed himself. "Well son, let me give you a hint. Make sure you only attack an enemy not a friend.

The boy nodded then ran off. Sorish chuckled and continued on his way to Tiscalta's Magic Shop. The shop looked like the rest of the ruins. Old, crumbling, and moss covered. Sorish ducked into the shop. In contrast to the outside the inside of the shop looked like everything was new. All the spell books looked like they were just printed and the shelves looked like they were brand new. The smell of ink was heavy in the air. There was also a bunch of mages inside. Some looking at new spells others who were just trying to stay out of trouble while in the neutral zone. The Magic Shop is one of the few places where both warriors and mages could stay without worry. Tiscalta had told everyone that if there ever was fighting in her shop they will get kicked out. She had also said that warriors could come in and get some Magic Books that activated the spells just by reading it even if you weren't a mage.

After a couple of minutes of observing the prosperity of the shop, Sorish walked up to the counter and rang the bell. A red robed woman with small square glasses and a tomb in her hand came from the back room where they fixed up old spell books. "Yes May I help you?"

"Is Tiscalta here? I need to speak to her."

As if by magic Tiscalta came out from the back room. just like the young lady she also had a tomb in her hand and square glasses and her robe was white, the only difference was that it had flames along the bottom. "Sorish! It is so good to see you." She came around from behind the counter and hugged her, which he returned. "and Roxi, I know your in there."

"Actually, it's just me. I left Roxi and her husband Sorman with Sanderia.

"You mean your little sister right?" Sorish nodded and Tiscalta smiled. "How is the little one?"

"She's doing good, not so little anymore, at least not for you."

Sorish's deep laugh resinated through the shop joined soon by Tiscalta's angelic laugh. After a while they both calmed down to a chuckle. "Now Sorish, I have a feeling you aren't here just to catch up."

"I'm afraid your right. The Eternal Fire burns deep in your soul." Tiscalta stiffened and eyed Sorish searching for something but not finding it.

"YOUR SERIOUS?" Sorish nodded, "ARE YOU CRAZY? THE REASON WE SEALED THAT DOOR IS SO THAT NO ONE WOULD EVER GET THEIR HANDS ON IT! NOW YOU WANT TO REOPEN IT?" Everyone in the shop stopped what they were doing and looked at Sorish and Tiscalta.

"Settle down, I just want to enter it myself, now lets go to the back so we can talk about this in private."

"NO, THERE IS NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT! I CAN'T LET ANYONE ENTER THAT PLACE EVEN YOU, THE PUREST HEART I'VE EVER MET!" she called down then said, "I'm sorry but I can't."

"I understand your hesitation but please, at least let me tell you why I want to do this. Now lets go to the back." He guided her to the back. "Now that we are in private I can give you the reason. I plan on destroying the soul."

"That's impossible. I sent some of my best to try to do just that locking them in but still it continues to exist. I can't let you go."

"I suspected nothing less from you, but seriously, how good were they compared to me?"

"I understand but how do you know you will survive and don't fall into the the trap of greed."

"Honestly, I don't, but I must try."

After mulling it over she kissed him on the cheek and handed him a lantern with a flame inside. "This is the Eternal Fire, please, make sure that you don't let my trust be betrayed."

"I can't promise anything but I promise not to give this to anyone." They hugged and he stepped outside just as Elisdrasil came back in his new cloths. "Lets go and unseal that gate." They both headed towards the Old Londo Ruins.

[Hysteria]

Talen skidded to a stop and looked over the edge of the building. The tall blue man had entered the shop that Talen assumed was the one they had talked about. The youth grimaced as he felt no trace of his goddesses magic located therein. The boy’s eyes turned down the street in the direction the incorporeal woman had gone. Things were moving as the youth watched, but he was still far from obtaining the answers that he sought. What was this thing they had sealed? What was his purpose here? Help or hinder?

There was a slight shuffling sound down on the street. The young boy that had briefly stopped Sorish ducked between the buildings away from the magic store. Talen grabbed the side of the roof and vaulted over. The boy landed with only a tiny sound and immediately ran towards the unaware boy. The youth launched himself around the child and dragged him to the ground effortlessly. Before the child could yell Talen covered his mouth.

“Now, you listen and you listen good. I’m going to ask you some questions and you will answer.” Talen slowly removed his hand and the boy nodded.

“Tell me all you know about that blue man. Tell me what you know of that shop.”

The child nodded and told Talen about the warrior mage that was famous around the Ruins and of the magic shop located where mages were constantly fighting. Talen listened, but found there was much still to learn.

“You’ve done good kid.” Said Talen.

The boy’s face showed relief. Talen placed his forearm against the child’s neck and pressed down the child’s eyes bulged and he gasp as Talen pressed harder. The boy fell silently into death’s embrace and Talen slowly removed his arm. Back on the road the Magic Shop’s door open and closed. Talen dragged the child’s body further out of sight and removed what little coinage he was carrying. The Child’s sword wasn’t bad and Talen slipped the weapon into his belt. The youth left the body and snuck back around to the street. The group had reunited and started moving. Quietly the little mage followed.

[TheOnlyGhost]

Finally ... the party started moving towards the gate and out of New Londo Ruins where nothing but a sealed door lay in front of them.

Alicia and Sorrish lead the way, while the others followed towards the door. Alicia, putting her crest piece inside the door awaiting for the others, or on of the others at least, to put all the four elements in to unlock the door.

"Sorrish, or whoever, you need to place the four elements around the crest I put into the door for it to open and break the seal. Keep in mind, once the seal is broken anyone or anything can get out ... or even worse, get in and hinder us agreed? Good, let's go."

Alicia motioned towards Sorrish to work his magic on the seal.

"Let's hurry it along to, we have no idea how much time we have."

[hoytti]

Sorish looked at the token then at his chest. Impatient much? "Okay everyone, stand back. The seal will open the gates automatically when I put the last one in."

Then Sorish put his bag in front of him. Since we put the Water Amulet in ... Sorish grabbed the veil of Youth Water from his sack and opened it. He then poured it into a bowl in a recess that had appeared in the top right corner when the token was placed, at which time a blue light shown from the recess. Next he took the Shaking Earth and just placed the object in another recess in the top left, making the recess glow brown. After that he took the Eternal Fire and lit a torch in the lower right corner, glowing red. Finally he took the bag of Gentle Winds and attached the end to a pipe that was soon full of the winds. Once the pipe was full Sorish quickly removed the bag from the pipe and a seal was put over it. He put the pipe back in the recess and it glowed white.

As soon as the four elements were placed a A his could be heard coming from the seal, a lightning bolt struck the top of the gate, thunder cracked, then suddenly the gate started to move, a giant creak could be heard as it swung outwards making Sorish step backwards.

The steam from the seal was thick, there was no way to see what was beyond but Sorish knew what there was. He motioned for everyone to follow him into the mist. As soon as everyone entered two more shadows followed them inside as well. The mist was more like a curtain then a tarp. They only had to take one step to get to the other side. Standing in front of them were four statues made of stone, each looking like one of the Four Sealing Mages. but what happened next would shock anyone who was not a Sealing Mage. The statues started to move and they were walking towards them. They were the guardians of the seal.

[Hysteria]

Talen crouched behind a half crumbled rock as the group started to argue about the best way to get into the ruins. The youth rolled his eyes, but managed to supress a sigh of annoyance. Doubt had been stripped from his mind, replaced with the cold desire to rip the lives from the group. Although if it he could do so to the incorporeal one he was not completely sure. With utmost care to remain silent Talen drew his pistols and held them together. The youth’s didn’t stop his preparations there. Dark shadows moves down along his arms and hardened into black arm length gauntlets. The curved blades coving from his fingers clicked against the metal of his pistols as he stretched his fingers inside his armour.

Like any good attacker Talen needed a mask. In a puff of shadows the youth’s face was covered by a white Akashima mask and Talen was ready to rock. As soon as the group opened the gate the youth ducked out from behind the rock and charged forwards. It was for naught as they entered the white mist and disappeared. Talen could not change his plans and charged in as well.

The mist only blocked his gaze for a second and Talen was again running along the ground. Behind the gate the giant structures moved towards the youth and he skidded to a halt. The youth found himself standing between the giants and the group of misfits.

“Um…” Talen paused as he thought about what to do, “You’re money or your lives.” Recited the youth as he lifted a pistol towards the group.

[The Phoenix]

This wasn’t the first time that Elisdrasil found himself having doubts about his decision to carry out Jorrey’s final request. The sight of the statues animating to attack the interlopers didn’t exactly engender fear within the sword mage, as he had been trained to deal with things far worse, but some notice of their existence would have been nice. Seeing as Sorish was one of the supposed sealing mages, it was only natural to assume that the creature had been one of the ones to create the sentinels in the first place. Surely he hadn’t forgotten about the wards that he had set in place while at the same time making the decision to break the seal. Elisdrasil’s hand swayed to the hilt of his curve blade as he wondered what else about the ruins that Sorish and his ghost companion had failed to mention.

But as frustrated as Elisdrasil was with his companions, he was even more surprised at the appearance of the gun toting thug who had picked an extremely inopportune time to try and get the jump on the three of them. He should have been more surprised by the thug’s youth, but given the rest of the uncanny oddities filling New Londo Ruins, he assumed that such occurrences were common. Besides, while the Raiaeran couldn’t exactly put his finger on it, there was something familiar about him.

“While I appreciate the chance to be robbed as much as the next fellow,” Elisdrasil communicated, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of his curve blade while the other slid surreptitiously onto the war mask hanging upon his belt. “I believe you could have picked a better time. After all, we won’t have anything until we reach the end of our adventure.” Behind Talen, the four statues finished rousing themselves and marched forward solidly and full of murderous intent.

“Oh, and there’s that little mess to take care of.”

[TheOnlyGhost]

"You're a fool Talen. I have no money, and I highly doubt we have much to offer at this time like Elisdrasil said. Go ahead and hide behind a rock for all I care, we can take care of the statues ourselves and then we can kill you if that's what you REALLY want. Moron." Alicia glared at Talen, highly disappointed, as she drew her enchanted water sword Sorrish had temporarily enchanted for her.

The sword glimmered a beautiful blue as swirls of water magic engulfed it in tiny streams of water. Knowing these statues were indeed here, but dormant at the time, she found it no threat to mention.

Sorrish must have put the defensive spell on them, for they were simply a sight to look upon when she and Henry ventured through thousands of years ago ... nothing more.

Muttering words she overheard countless mages use in the past on enchanted blades, her sword started to glow white.

Although I know no magic, I know how to alter enchantments but only given to me.

Alicias' sword techniques were fierce and impressive as her sword made contact with one of the statues arm that held it's weapon. In a few short moments, the arm glowed white and froze in an icy shell. Her enhancement faded, for it only lasted about half a minute, but it served it's purpose. Alicias' sword back to water enchantment, she gave the same arm another blow as it bursts into tiny fragments of stone.

She then sliced at an angle at the statues chest as the water magic in the sword slightly penetrated through leaving little gashes but nothing more.

"We need magic!" Alicia yelled as she backed away figuring out what she could do with a useless sword on solid stone. She could only have used that ice enchantment once a month.

Shame.

[hoytti]

Well, this is interesting, a man tries to rob us inside the ruins. "Gaurdian Mages Sorish please take care of him. Also Alicia, put that weapon away, as a member of my group they will not attack you." After that Sealer Sorish went over to the guardian whose arm she broke off and poured some magic into it replacing the arm.

Guardian Sorish bowed, "Of course Sealer Sorish, I shall take him out of here, or fight him if the need arises. He then grabbed Talen by the back of his shirt and carried him off.

Sorish then turned towards the others. "Guardians Salvador, Jorrey, and Tiscalta; have you been disturbed recently?"

"No Sealer Sorish," they replied in unison. "None of the other sealer's have been in to disturb us, nor has anybody else."

"Good," Sealer Sorish said looking at the three, "Now please, Seal the gate as soon as Guardian Sorish returns. Me and my group here must continue on towards the soul."

"Understood sir." All the guardian's said as Guardian Sorish returned and Sealer Sorish walked towards the Lord's Soul motioning for his allies to follow.

[Hysteria]

Talne felt a claw of embarrassment dredge through his intestines. The youth’s pride would make him push on, but his bowels suggested hiding in a corner. The giant stone statues offered a surprising reprieve from the awkward position the youth found himself in. As the incorporeal member of the group fought the statues, Talen backed away slowly.

The statues grinded to a half on the command of the tall blue one. The guardians, as they appeared to be, did not respond to Talen’s malicious intent and neither it seemed did the blue member of the group. Things were odd to say the least, and the ancient Akashima saying came to mind; Just go with it. The youth was dismayed at the lack of plundering of corpses he found himself in as he lingered behind the group, and dragged his feet across the dirt floor absently like a child that had been naughty.

Despite going along with the group, Talen had not holstered his weapons, nor removed his mask. He would see what the lords soul was, and then chose what to do. At the very least, getting back past the stone giants with his plunder might take some preparation.

[hoytti]

Sorish looked back while he waited for the rest to catch up. "Hey Alicia," he called to the ghost, "why don't you take point since this is your home? I'll bring up the rear to watch the thief here." Sorish put his right hand on Talen's shoulder.

[Skie and Avery]

Plot
Story - 4

The story here was lackluster. I wasn't impressed or drawn in, and while most of what hurt was the unfinished nature, the problems with Persona and Technique really hurt here as well. I will go into those problems in more depth in their categories.
Setting - 2

Very little was given in the setting beyond the fact that it was a newer city meant to resemble the sealed ruins, the mushrooms, etc. You could have used some of the plot devices to really let this shine. For instance, when you needed some sand to conjure the bag, you just walked outside and there was sand in a setting that appeared to be pretty humid by virtue of being by the sea, with a marshy smell in the air?
Pacing - 5

Action happened in rushes due to the nondescript, straightforward writing styles that dominated the thread and yet the thread still felt like it just dragged along.

Character
Communication - 2

The communication between characters, from body language to dialogue was flat. I got no sense of character, and sometimes there were moments when it felt like some of you were just in completely different places as far as the story of the thread. The dialogue was inconsistent with the characters at times. For a character that's been locked away for centuries, Alicia didn't give off a feeling of being from another era. While that could be that she's been out and about enough to update the way she communicates, there were still instances where it just felt too casual to be real. There was dialogue that NPCs gave that also made little sense, such as the panda joke that specifically mentions China. Changing China to Akashima makes more sense for the setting, especially since there's no reason to believe that the NPCs have ever been to or come from Earth. Little details like that really help dialogue to shine, as well as interjecting more detail about facial expressions and other physical indicators of feeling and opinion.
Action - 3

What I'd really like to talk about here is bunnying. There is a right and a wrong way to go about bunnying, and the wrong way involves a lot more than just the idea of "cheating". When you're writing, sometimes it's good to bunny because you can get through conversations and tedious actions without having to back and forth through many posts, causing pacing problems and disrupting your reader's flow. Other times, bunnying doesn't make sense and can actually make the reader feel jarred enough to bring them out of your story.

For example, there were a few instances of bunnies that I noted while I was reading. First, when Alicia was talking to the group, TheOnlyGhost wrote that as she spoke, the others began to trust her. First, with this it's better to illustrate how she knew they were trusting her. Were they relaxing around her? She's a ghost that shows up and just rushes through this huge monologue about curses, all the while assuming that these people will know what she's talking about and believe her, and then we're told that through the huge chunk of dialogue, they're trusting it all? No conflict, no indication that this is actually happening, it just is. While using this did help take the thread along, it didn't really help the story itself.

The second instance that bothered me was in the bar, when Sorrish snatched the earth token from Elisdrasil. The Phoenix had been writing the entire time that he was constantly fiddling with the token, switching it from hand to hand, keeping it covered. I definitively got the sense that he wouldn't hand it over quite so easily, and expected at least some reaction of Sorrish just reaching out and grabbing it. However, when you bunnied that, hoytti, you didn't include any reaction. I don't remember The Phoenix really writing a reaction, either, but here the action was swept forward so quickly that I'm not sure he would have been able to write in a reaction that was realistic without completely disrupting everything and forcing the thread itself to backtrack for a moment.

At the end when you bunnied Talen just being picked up and carried away, that was also improper. Even if the bunny was approved, it hurt the story for the boy to be dealt with so easily and unceremoniously. He had guns. He could have shot you while you were talking to the guardian and ordering it to take him away. Instead, he wasn't even given a chance to write his hesitation to shoot, he wasn't given a chance to defend himself against being grabbed. Especially having seen him quickly dispatch of two NPCs in the thread, I was expecting his dexterity to allow him to at least try and evade capture. Instead, he was supposedly taken away, but then not really because he was right there with you at the end?
Persona - 2

There was a huge chance to really pull your characters into the limelight with this thread. Instead, the characters fell flat. Let's look at the party. There's a dude who is apparently made of coral. (Seriously, hoytti, bringing more description into your writing is needed. I have zero idea what you mean by crowns, though I can sort of infer a bit of an idea. Also, I thought Roxi was a normal preggo chick until suddenly she's sliding down necks? Is she very small? I just don't know. No clue whatsoever.) Sorrish's personality was incredibly plain. I get that he's a good guy, and from dialogue that he's pure of heart and all that, but despite being told that he was brave and kind, he didn't stand out as these things. He just seemed like a regular decent person. No real virtue really shone, because well, not really much personality shone.

Next we have a ghost chick. TheOnlyGhost, there is so much you could have drawn on here. Not only are you in this place where your heart was dashed to pieces and your love and your life were both betrayed, you are faced with this chance to be alive again. It's something your character keeps bringing up to other people, even as she insists that she would rather the outcome be for the greater good. I would have loved to see more of a glimpse into her, maybe at some inner turmoil that maybe the REASON she keeps bringing up the chance to break the curse is because she wants someone - ANYONE - to care about her, since she's been uncared for and forgotten for 2,000 years. You should also pay better attention to timelines having a character with such an age to her story. For instance, you mentioned that when she'd been alive and on her way to be betrayed and die, she'd seen the guardians and they'd just been statues then. Well, that was over 2k years ago. Somewhere in the last 20 years was when the Lord's Soul had been sealed, and the guardians created. If the guardians are in the likeness of the Sealkeepers, then how would they have been there when she was alive?

Hysteria, I liked that you kept referencing Talen's devotion to his goddess, but I really wanted to know more about why? Why would a 12 year old be so devoted to a diety? What drives this religious zeal? Also, why does he keep murdering people? Is it a command from the goddess, or is he just a tiny little sociopath?

The Phoenix, I got a little bit of a better feeling from your character, especially the tie of camaraderie that drove him to come to the ruins. However, I do feel that your character came across flat in his apathy for the strangeness of the group. You expressed curiosity about Sorrish's race, and explained why he wasn't especially phased by Alicia's ghostly nature but it just seemed almost too casual.

Prose
Mechanics - 4

There were quite a few mechanics problems, mostly in tensing problems. Make sure that you stick with past or present tense when you write. There were spelling errors, such as "rleavec" in one of Hysteria's posts which I believe was meant to be "relieved", as well as times when words were strung together without a space between. These little problems have the potential to be confusing, and are something you want to watch out for when you proofread.

TheOnlyGhost, I would try and avoid putting in OOC notes and smiley faces in the actual post. OOC notes sectioned away from the writing in a post is less distracting than seeing emoticons and notes in the actual piece of writing.
Technique - 3

For the most part, the writing of the thread was very straightforward. There was hardly any description, a lack of simile, metaphor, or any other literary devices to create interest. Play with your words! Instead of saying that you have a "jug of dried seawater", tell me you have a bottle filled with salts and sand that still hold the soul of the sea it was taken from. Instead of the coral structures on your head being anatomically called a crown, make inferences to the common idea of a crown gracing the head of royalty. When you talk about the purity of your character, this crown could be compared to a halo. Make puns! There are many ways to breathe life into your writing, and it all begins with playing with language and finding ways to light up the scene, rather than just methodically listing what is happening as a transcript.
Clarity - 4

As I said, there was a lot of confusion when I read this. Even though the mostly solid mechanics and straight-forward writing didn't create much of that confusion, it still caused me to do a lot of re-reading of paragraphs and posts. Even though the actual sentences made sense, what you were trying to do and say didn't always make it across.
Wild Card - 2

I wanted to like this thread, I really did. You had the makings of a pretty fantastic story here, and I'd like it if you tried again in the future. It's a shame that such an adventure fizzled out before it ever got started.

Total - 31

hoytti gains 682 exp and 233 gp
TheOnlyGhost gains 443 exp and 155 gp
Hysteria gains 372 exp and 93 gp
The Phoenix gains 325 exp and 93 gp

[Letho]

EXP/GP added.