Old habits die hard (closed to Breaker)

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

When Shinsou awoke, he awoke in a void. He was in some small, square chamber, looking through groggy eyes at what seemed to be a watercolour spillage of grimy hues. The Telgradian stumbled to his feet, his bare soles pressing against the cold stone floor, whilst he mumbled to himself unintelligibly through numb lips. He didn’t know where he was, or how he had got here, but could feel the tell-tale throbbing in the back of his skull that told Shinsou that wherever he was, he had been dumped against his will. More worryingly, the Telgradian had not been able to prevent this from happening.

It was an unsettling feeling.

There were no windows and no doors, with only the slightest shred of some strange green light pulsing from behind what appeared to be a heavy, rusting iron door, but the light was so dim that Shinsou could barely even make out the expanse of the room. There was no other fixtures or fittings in the room; no bed, no toilet, nothing. Worse; Enpera and Stygian, his treasured swords, had been taken.

Fuck this. I don’t know why I’m here, but this hotel is awful and I’m checking out. I’ll find the bastard who did this to me later, but I want my weapons back first.

A wave of the hand and an incantation would be all it would have taken to escape. Yet, as Shinsou tried the first time to summon Enpera Kurohitsugi, and then the second and third, the Telgradian was left wanting. The wild flailing wasn’t working, no dark magic was forthcoming and Shinsou was left impotent and vulnerable in the heart of the darkness.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?

A quick pat down of his person would reveal a bit more about the situation Osiris had been thrown into. Gone were his normal clothes and white greatcoat, replaced with some horrible black prison uniform consisting of linen pants and a shirt. Shinsou rubbed his palm down his chest, finding the rough texture irritating. Oddly, they seemed to fit perfectly and clung to Shinsou’s form, which was strange. The small thought that this was some sort of setup was starting to dawn on him and wasn’t exactly reassuring.

“Is anyone there? I don’t appear to have an ocean view and the champagne is warm!”

His sarcasm went unanswered. He recalled his last memory; of being in Radasanth. Shinsou had been fighting with someone in the High Tap tavern and the guy had come at him with a knife. The Telgradian’s hand explored where he thought the blade had entered his chest, but the skin was unmarked.

A small groan came through what appeared to be a crack in the western cell wall, startling Shinsou. His wide eyes dilated as he realized he wasn’t alone and that the moaning couldn’t have come from one of the guards. A few moments passed before the Telgradian stood against the dank, damp concrete and talked again.

“Someone there? Where are we?”

[Breaker]

All bunnying approved.

A distant noise recalled Cronen from unconsciousness, and as his eyes slitted open he realized the sound was a moan emanating from his own lips. In the pressing darkness he rolled on his side and scrambled upright, ears ringing and vision blurred green. No... it wasn't his vision, but rather a sickly hue emanating from a crack in the wall. He stumbled on the uneven stone floor and leaned against the wall next to the crevasse, for the first time noticing that his own fashionable sifan clothing had been replaced by coarse linens. His enchanted boots were gone - his bare feet had scraped the coarse floor - and a quick search of his person found the black diamond blade he usually wore at the back of his belt missing as well. Whoever had dumped him so unceremoniously in the dark chamber had effectively disarmed him.

Finding nothing of use in his pockets, Joshua "Breaker" Cronen reached out with callused hands to feel his way along the solid porous wall. He coughed, attempting to clear the dryness in his throat, and then lifted a hand to summon an ice tumbler full of water. Nothing happened. Ordinarily the Eternal Tap flowed through him, awaiting his call, but he could not feel the ethereal river of magic. It felt as if a someone had slipped a veil over his arcane eyes.

"Someone there? Where are we?" A voice came through the crevasse in the concrete, asking the question at the same moment as Cronen thought it.

Josh inhaled sharply at the sound of the voice. It had startled him, which was a wholly unusual experience for the demigod. Most days his hyper-vigilant senses apprised him of any person's presence long before they made themselves known. He could hear a heartbeat at ten paces... most days.

Perhaps this place is shrouding more than my magic, he reasoned.

"My name is Joshua Cronen," he spoke into the crack in the wall. For the moment he had to assume the man on the other side was somehow involved in this strange kidnapping, but for the moment he could do little more than play along. "It appears I'm in some sort of chamber with no door. Is there a way out on your side?" Josh worked both hands into the crevasse and threw his weight to the side, heaving around a long exhale. The concrete wall shifted slightly but then settled in place without budging. He pulled his fingers out and smashed an elbow against the wall in frustration. Skin broke beneath the thin sleeve, and a few droplets of blood stained the dark linen.

A wispy mote of fear flitted through the back of Breaker's mind. Whoever - or whatever - had placed him here, they'd managed to subdue his legendary strength, and softened his body to the like of a regular human. It was an uncomfortable stretch imagining a being powerful enough to do such a thing wanting to punish him.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Shinsou listened to the brief words that Joshua spoke through the wall, which offered reassurance that the Telgradian wasn’t alone in this situation. He knew little about the man on the other side, other than he was a man, but could tell from Cronen’s tone that he was suffering the same and was overly keen to leave. The Telgradian wagered that there were probably others also caught up in this preposterous game, but a verbal check of the other walls proved fruitless and bore no responses.

“Shinsou Vaan Osiris. There’s just one door, Joshua. I can’t hear anyone else, so I think there’s just me and you here; wherever ‘here’ is?”

It was far from stupid to assume the mysterious Joshua might have some passable knowledge of their situation or location. Perhaps if he found a way out of this room, Osiris would be able to glean some information.

Someone is going to have a bad time for this.

Shinsou had never really been made a fool of like this before. He was starting to feel like this may have been set up by the Brotherhood as some kind of odd test of strength, like a training exercise. They were definitely not beyond screwing with him like this to keep him on his toes, but the experienced Telgradian had his doubts.

Shinsou’s voice lowered as he crept around his cell, looking for any small detail to hang on to, any clue about how to get out or where he might have been. He hated being powerless like this. He was on strings. But then he realised; this is when I am at my best, when I am being tested.

“Wait a minute…”

With his arms by his side and stood bolt still, Osiris carefully scanned the ceiling as he stepped into the centre of the cell. Above him, a circle of runes appeared as his eyes adjusted to the ambient light.

One half circle in tradespeak. The rest seemed to be missing. It was perhaps a meter in diameter and scrawled in a greenish paint, more and more striking as the seconds passed. The symbols appeared to have been hand drawn upon the cracked surface of the ceiling.

“There’s something on my ceiling, like a circle of some kind of writing. I think it says ‘Light is the doorway that has led me’ but the rest of it looks scrubbed off. Do you have anything on yours? Mine is in the centre of the cell.”

There was a deafening screech of iron scraping upon stone that briefly drowned out Shinsou’s voice and thoughts. For a moment, the Telgradian thought it may have been his cell door swinging open at the behest of some sort of keyword he had just spoken, but nothing had changed inside his cell. It ceased after a few seconds, but then the light that had illuminated the apparent corridor outside cut out entirely and plunged Osiris into full, blinding darkness.

[Breaker]

The shriek of iron on stone came from above, in the center of Cronen's captivity chamber. The glow coming from the other man's side of the crevasse vanished, and total darkness settled in the room.

Breaker flushed the fear from his mind, saving the fretful thoughts for another time. He was not worried about his physical body, rather concerned with the possibility of disappointing his goddess, Am'aleh. He could recall only shaky scenes from the past day... he had been on a mission from Am'aleh, at some sort of event with finely dressed folk.

That makes sense, I remember wearing finery. The details and conversations of the soiree were as obscured as the walls surrounding him by the inky blackness. As his eyes adjusted - with agonizing slowness - he made out a circular void in the ceiling, almost certainly the source of the sound. He could not see it so much as perceive the absence of the ceiling in the spot his comrade-in-captivity had drawn his attention to. Shinsou Vaan Osiris.

Josh stood and took short steps to the center of the room, palms thrust outward lest he bump into anything, even though he was certain the room contained nothing. He stopped beneath the hole in the ceiling and leaped as high as he could, flapping one hand above his head like a blind man warding off a curious bird. His palm struck iron with a solid thunk, and he leaped a second time with less hesitation. This time he reached upward with both hands, hoping to catch the lip of what seemed to be a metal hatch set in the stone ceiling. His fingernails scraped agonizingly down metal sheet with each attempt however; he could not jump high enough to seize the ledge.

"Osiris," Josh said as he returned to the crevasse, "as you spoke a hatch opened in the ceiling of my cell. I cannot quite reach it..." Trust him, Josh told himself, even if he's in on this, the fastest way out of here will be to play along. "If you can get in here, I believe I could boost you up." Shinsou had the voice of a narrow-chested man, although he didn't sound like an elf. The accent was unfamiliar to Breaker's ears.

Once again Josh wedged his hands into the crack in the wall and set his bare feet on the coarse stone floor.

"When I pulled on his wall earlier I felt it give," Cronen said into the space between his hands, "help me. Perhaps together we can widen the crevasse enough for you to slip through."

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Shinsou could feel the crack in the stone wall Joshua referred to as a small fissure that was rough to the touch and wide enough to be a serious structural defect. The Telgradian stood in the center of captivity chamber, directly in front of the weak brickwork, and began to ram his right shoulder into the stone. Though Osiris was strong for his size, it was going to be a slow and painful process to breach that wall with just his body, even with help coming from the other man's side of the crevasse.

Shinsou put to rest the anxiety, instead saving his energy for breaking down those bricks. His shoulder rammed over and over into the masonry, the boney pauldron chipping away at crumbling cement and ageing sandstone.

Fuck...fuck that hurts...ignore it, keep going, there's no other way...

The constant smashing of shoulder upon stone was agonizing and left Shinsou's shoulder a muddled mess of raw, bleeding flesh and bruised bone. Almost as the Telgradian was about to reach his breaking point, the crack gave way with a mighty final tug from Joshua and a jagged wound in the wall the size of a man appeared through a cloud of dust and debris. Osiris could not see through it thanks to the murky darkness and couldn't make out the form of his fellow prisoner, but was grateful to be able to experience at least one small positive for the cost of the health of his right shoulder.

"I think," Shinsou said, panting, "...I think I can get through. My shoulder's busted up pretty badly though."

Shinsou carefully stepped into the center of the artificial doorway, hands outstretched to guide him through the unstable pass in the darkness. Once through, the Telgradian stopped beneath the hole in the ceiling in Joshua's room, clenching his right shoulder with his left hand.

"Don't say I didn't run through a brick wall for you," Shinsou quipped as he returned his gaze to the crevasse, "I can't see you very well but let's just focus on getting out of here...I'm going to boost you up into the hatch. From there, can you either grab me or find a way to open the cell door? My shoulder's fucked..."

[Breaker]

The coarse stone wall chafed Breaker's fingers and his back and legs strained to maximum effort, but together the two men managed to widen the gap in the wall.

Moments later Shinsou emerged, a narrow-chested man of a height with Breaker. He clutched his damaged shoulder but his golden eyes, the only feature Josh could truly make out in the darkness, showed little sign of pain or fear. Osiris was direct and to the point, wasting no time getting to know his companion and instead focusing on the task of seeking freedom.

Josh rubbed the coarse stubble on his chin as he mused over the situation. He was considerably heavier, and probably stronger than Shinsou, making him the ideal candidate to do the boosting. However with an injured shoulder the other man would have difficulty pulling himself up through the hatch, and even more difficulty pulling Breaker up behind him. After a brief moment of reflection Josh decided to align himself with Shinsou's suggestion, but not before he did what he could for his new comrade's shoulder.

"Allow me a look at that shoulder," he said, and removed Shinsou's clutching hand from the damaged joint, replacing it with both of his own wide, powerful palms. Fortunately the joint did not seem dislocated or broken, but the repeated trauma Osiris had dealt it had left the surrounding muscle tissue badly inflamed. With his shoulder so swollen, Osiris would have trouble moving his arm, let alone using it to deadlift his body weight. Josh located the source of the swelling and pressed both of his thumbs into it on either side. Shinsou grunted at the pain but allowed Cronen to continue his work. As he kneaded the damaged tissue Josh felt the inflammation reduce slightly, alleviating some of the pain and allowing Osiris more mobility in the joint.

At least whoever trapped us here couldn't take away my skills, Josh mused, knowing he would need every bit of his acrobatic training to get through the hatch. The ache at the base of his skull had receded somewhat, and more memories of the previous night's mission flooded in. He'd been at some sort of private party, although not quite a party... no, an auction. Through the sea of finely dressed Coronians in his mind's eye he remembered the sound of a gavel striking a tabletop, of figures in gold pieces being called out... but what had the folk in finery been bidding on? And why had Am'aleh sent him there? Thinking of his goddess urged Breaker to find his way out, and again he spoke to Shinsou, who was testing the range of motion in his injured shoulder.

"I've done what I can," Josh said, clapping his comrade gently on the back, "let us see if you're strong enough to boost me up through that hatch." He let a hint of a challenge seep into his tone.

The warrior's golden eyes glowed at the insinuation, and Shinsou laced his fingers into a stirrup and braced his wrists low against his hips, bending his knees slightly in anticipation of Breaker's weight.

Josh steadied himself by grasping Osiris' good shoulder, stepped up into the stirrup, and then leaped straight up with Shinsou adding to his momentum. This time Breaker's reaching fingers found the lip of the hatch easily and he clung fast, hanging for a moment before heaving himself up and into a new, equally dark chamber. Wasting no time, Josh squirmed around onto his stomach and draped his arms back down through the hatch. The iron was cold and hard through his thin linen shirt.

Shinsou stretched up on the balls of his bare feet and just managed to reach Cronen's dangling hands with his uninjured arm.

"Ready?" The Telgradian hissed as thick, callused fingers wrapped around his wrist. "On three; one, two..." He leaped as high as he could.

As Josh felt Shinsou's weight ease in his hands he stood up and heaved and fell backward all in one motion. Shinsou made it halfway into the new chamber, his chest draped over the iron hatch, his legs dangling below. He crawled and Josh pulled and before long both men were laying on the hard stone floor.

"Well done, Shinsou Vaan Osiris," Josh congratulated the other man, "now let us see if we can't find a way out of here."

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

It had been a long time since the Telgradian had been congratulated by anyone, and longer still from anyone that meant anything to him. It was in Shinsou's nature to shut people out through neccessity alone and yet somehow this man, this Joshua; whom he had barely known half an hour was starting to make an impression. There seemed to be no subterfuge in his words or actions, but instead a strange power to him that Osiris couldn't place.

It seemed odd that someone would want him incarcerated for any reason at all.

"I have to ask," Shinsou said to his new companion, who had now chosen to lead the crawl through the labyrinth of passages that snaked through the roof above the cells, "Do you remember anything about how you may have gotten here? Anything that may connect why the two of us would be randomly kidnapped and dumped here?"

Shinsou’s question held significance. Joshua didn't seem the type who would make the same kind of enemies the Telgradian did. So, that being the case, what would connect these two men, assuming that there were no others in a different part of this building?

There came no answer. Perhaps Joshua hadn't heard him, being a little ahead of the wounded Osiris and after a while their course was taking all sorts of tangents. As they swerved left and dived into the maw of yet another of the labyrinthine crawl spaces, the Telgradian stumbled as his injured shoulder gave way under his weight. Joshua turned back to check on his partner, but Shinsou waved him on.

“I'm ok, sorry. Just slipped on some moss. Luckily the swelling's gone down, thanks to you. Let's carry on."

Joshua nodded and took off at a brisk pace, crawling over a set of metal grates as he went. Taken aback by the speed his compatriot could move at, Shinsou was almost left behind as he followed in the man's wake.

Shaking his head at the frustration of his injury hampering his speed, the Telgradian began to clench his teeth and powered forward, gaining on his charge. It wasn’t long before the dank tunnel twisted into another left turn and, as Shinsou carefully but quickly negotiated a dark hole in the floor that led to an abyss, a sudden and violent tremor reverberated through his body. The feeling was strong, so much so that the next vibration sent a ripple of nausea into his stomach. Joshua must have felt it too; he had stopped dead in tunnel.

"What the fuck is going on?" he murmured, ducking to avoid a low-hanging iron pole as he clenched his stomach.

Joshua put his finger to his lips, asking for silence whilst he tried to determine what he could as the cause of the quaking.

Shinsou chewed his lip as the shockwaves became more frequent. The Telgradian had little idea of why their paths had crossed, but he hoped that the gods that governed the fates, today of all days, would somehow see the pair of men through this madness.

Considering the day’s events, it was perhaps not that surprising that their next test would be more difficult than the last. What Shinsou heard next was alarming; the distant rumbling of what sounded like a torrent of water crashing through their tunnel.

"Joshua, we need to get out of here now!!"

[Breaker]

Josh led by the feeling of a slight breeze on his face and the smell of less musty air. The tunnels were so short and narrow that the men had to progress on their hands and knees, in single file like worker ants racing to their queen's will. As the tunnel vibrated with the sound of rushing water, he began to wonder if he knew who had placed them there after all.

"Stay true," Cronen called to his companion over the roar of what sounded like an oncoming tidal wave. He continued crawling towards the fearsome noise, gaining speed as his confidence grew. He'd begun to suspect where they were, but he would only know for certain if he investigated...

Josh rounded a corner and the roaring of water grew unbearably loud, coming through the left tunnel wall. On the other side of no more than a foot of stone, and underground river raged. Despite himself Cronen laughed, and signaled for Shinsou to keep following him. If he was right, then at any moment...

The crawlspace opened into a large, vaulted stone chamber with the river coursing down its center. The waterway tunneled into the rock beside the passage they had just exited. A strange breed of luminescent moss grew on the sides of the river basin, giving the room a soft green glow.

"I don't remember much!" Josh said, still having to shout over the sound of the water. "Last night is just a blur to me. I believe I was at an auction of some sort... but I do remember a passage my friend Phyr made me read from an old mining tome." Josh crouched to cup a little water from the river in one hand and sipped it before continuing. "Some years ago a silver mine near Radasanth was closed down on account of its main vein intersecting with an underground river. The miners could not advance any further without risking a total collapse." Josh spread his hands and pivoted, searching the walls until he found an iron grate which acted as a door blocking an exit tunnel off the river's right flank. "The mine was active for many years, and before being shut down had expanded enough to warrant the addition of several jail cells. My friend has an odd passion for irregular prisons," he added by way of explanation. In truth his mind housed so much knowledge, Josh was surprised he hadn't identified their location sooner.

"I believe that tunnel was a test of faith; it forced us to press on in the face of a seeming certain death," he explained, gesturing back the way they had come, "I know of one with the power to put us here, and the passion for such trials." Josh rubbed the coarse stubble on his chin and ran a hand through his close-cropped hair, deciding how much to tell his comrade. In the end he determined to start with what the other man knew, and work from there.

"Tell me, Shinsou Vaan Osiris... what do you know of Am'aleh?"

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Am'aleh?

Shinsou met the question with wide open eyes and a blank look on his face, one that went un-noticed in the dim ambient light of the waterway. This was a new name to him. Was it the name of the abandoned mine they were in? Or perhaps something more sinister? Joshua waited, quietly and patiently, for Osiris to confirm one way or the other but the Telgradian had nothing. That being said, Shinsou began to wonder how much Joshua did know about their current situation. There was no doubt in the Telgradian's mind that Cronen had been honest with him from the start, but he had a vague feeling of unease about what was going to happen to them.

"Doesn't ring any bells. Should it?" Osiris answered coyly, flattening his back to the wall to put as much distance between him and the raging river as possible on the walkway.

Eventually Shinsou looked up and noticed something moving behind an iron grate in the wall across the water; two big, burly looking creatures who were brown and green, respectively, wielding what looked like a pair of rusting axes. They didn't seem to be overly aggressive but had apparantly instead chosen to observe the pair as they travelled through this section of what Joshua believed to be a disused silver mine.

"Looks like we have an audience..." Shinsou noticed, gesturing towards the grate. "I think we've become someone's sport, which is a big mistake for whomever thought up this game."

As Joshua was preparing his answer to Osiris's earlier question, the iron door behind him suddenly clicked and swung open without assistance, as if inviting the pair of prisoners in. The corridor that unfolded before them seemed to be some sort of cavernous tunnel, lined with a row of cages containing what appeared to be derelict mining equipment of various shapes and sizes. The Telgradian started opening one up and dragged two pairs of boots out by their scruffs, inspecting them to approximate sizes for the two men. He waited until he was happy with his approximations before speaking up.

"Here. I don't know about you but barefoot isn't really my travelling method of choice." Shinsou reassured Joshua with a smile.

The men looked at each other, exchanging a cursory nod, and then edged closer to the corridor's end. Shinsou realised then that their discussion on Am'aleh had been cut somewhat short by those short interruptions.

"So," he said, less twitchy than before "Tell me more about this Am'aleh..."

[Breaker]

The boots were old and uncomfortable, with musty laces that threatened to snap as Josh tied them off. Better than nothing, he supposed. With his ordinarily thick skin reduced to the softness of a normal human, the demigod knew every bit of protection would help.

As they walked down the tunnel, confident in their new footwear, Josh once again took the lead. He dragged one hand along the rough rock wall, expecting the light from the previous chamber to diminish. Instead it merely changed its hue, from a dank green glow to a blueish tinge, as though there were a source of light ahead reflecting off water. The sounds of their footsteps preceded them down the tunnel in a series of muffled echoes.

"Am'aleh is the deity of the sea." Josh said simply as they walked, while scanning ahead for movement. "Worshiped throughout Corone, most particularly by sailors and fisherfolk. She appeared to me first when I was lost at sea, off the northern coast of Radasanthia. According to legend her gender is unknown, and she ordinarily appears as a strange hybrid creature... but she showed me her true form, her chosen form. When she shows herself to me she is a woman of water," Josh said, and his voice took on a tone of reverence. "She is beauty incarnate, and her words are filled with wisdom. These past two years, I have become her closest follower."

They rounded a bend in the winding tunnel and heard a strange shuffling noise in the distance. Josh turned and quirked an eyebrow at Shinsou, and got a shrug in response. They marched onward.

"If Am'aleh is responsible for putting us here, I cannot answer for her reasoning. I can only say that she would not have done this without a purpose." Josh let his words hang in the moldy air as they rounded another bend.

The tunnel extended ahead and behind, and branched off into a third fork which looped around in nearly the same direction they had come from. At the center of the intersection stood the brown and green creatures from the previous chamber, still clutching their long-handled axes. The posture of their bulky, muscular shoulders had shifted, and they shuffled their feet before the green one stepped forward and lifted its axe.

"You should not have come here, hoo-muns." It rumbled.

As he drew nearer Josh could see that the green creature was actually just as brown as its partner, but covered in the same moss that had grown alongside the riverbed. He realized they were a pair of orcs, although different looking from the ones he had encountered in the northern reaches of Salvar. These seemed slightly smaller, perhaps adapted to their confined living space.

Even so the moss-covered orc towered over Cronen. Its broad shoulders seemed to fill the tunnel, and its head nearly brushed the ceiling.

"This mine is ours," growled the orc, and lifted its axe to the side, for it had no space to raise it overhead.

Breaker placed a palm on Shinsou's chest and pushed the thin man back a half pace. At the same time he swayed backwards from the waist, chin tucked, anticipating the attack.

The orc's axe whistled as it carved a swathe through the air where Cronen's head had been a moment before. The near miss caused the creature to overextend, and it leaned forward and twisted as it followed through on the empty blow.

Josh swayed forward like a striking viper. He took a powerful step and rose to the balls of his feet as he delivered a solid upward elbow to the point of the orc's chin.

The moss-covered creature stumbled back into its companion, momentarily stunned.

Josh winced and rubbed his elbow. On any other day the blow would have killed the orc, or at least shattered its jaw. You're fighting without your ordinary abilities, he reminded himself, better play it extra smart.

"You should not have done that, hoo-mun." Roared the brown orc, helping to steady its partner. The mine-dwellers clapped heavy hands onto each others' shoulders in a bizarre ritual and opened their mouths together, speaking in one thundering voice.

"You... will... pay!"

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Shinsou firstly couldn’t believe his ears about Joshua’s story about Ama’leh and then, not moments later, found himself disbelieving his eyes.

A hushed silence fell over the vast tunnels that formed the intestines of the mine as the two contrasting orcs that Shinsou had spotted earlier revealed their contribution to the game he had been forced into. The last hour had been flecked liberally with pain and sweat, but if the Telgradian had been wishing for an end to this lunacy what he was about to face would dampen his spirit and expectations. Shinsou watched helplessly as the guardians of this mine began an unfamiliar ritual, placing a muscular, slime drenched arm over each other’s broad shoulders and chanted an incantation in a language that was entirely lost on him.

The resultant light that poured forth from where the orcs stood beat down upon Osiris’s face harshly, forcing him to raise a palm to his face to shield his eyes from the being blinded by the magnesium hue. Shimmering fragments of glass and crystal within the passageway walls seemed to ring out some sort of strange high pitched tone in time with the light, severely disorientating the Telgradian and sending ripples of nausea through his system.

God almighty, what is that noise?!

After what seemed an age, the blinding light and deafening noise settled to reveal something grotesque. The result of this odd ceremony was a snorting olive and viridian amalgamation of the beasts that guarded the mine. It stood almost ten foot tall, hunched to fit within the confines of the tunnel, and had a chassis supporting a gargantuan slimy, distending gut and legs and arms the size of trunks from Concordia forest. Varacose veins pumped blue orc blood around its huge biceps and colossal goat-like hooves stomped and scraped the stone walkway beneath it. Every breath from its fang lined mouth hit the foul air and turned to vapour in the cool temperatures of the mine. It stood for a moment as if it had forgotten why it existed, before its bulging, demonic looking eyes locked straight into the pair of men in front of them.

A confirmatory growl of aggression came to signify this walking nightmare had remembered why it was there.

“Fuck!” Shinsou exclaimed, exchanging horrified looks with Joshua, “Look at the size of that thing. We have-“

Osiris was cut off by a loose of pungent, rage-fuelled breath roared at him by this goliath and as the Telgradian swayed from the startling uproar he noticed two metal items glinting on the floor. Beneath the orc’s titanic arms were a pair of axes that the original components to this nightmare must have dropped as they merged, but they were well out of reach with this behemoth blocking the path.

“It’s our only chance. I’ll distract him…” Shinsou determined, pointing Joshua towards the weapons. “See if you can get to those by sliding under his legs when I draw him out!”

For as long as he could remember, Shinsou Vaan Osiris had always felt he had some sort of divine power driving his actions up to this point in his life. He had always known what to do, rightly or wrongly, Yet now, faced with his own mortality and stripped of any power to prevent it other than sheer force of will, the Telgradian’s fortune was now of his own making. What the implications of this almost suicidal approach would be depended entirely on the execution. Would he approach the beast and hope to sidestep the likely feral haymakers that would come his way, or would he bring the beast forward and let Joshua go under the giant archway of the titan’s legs? The risk of killing his new companion was like a proverbial noose around his neck and he could feel the rope tighten with every breath.

Osiris found for the first time ever he was lacking answers, but there was no more time. A nearby rock on the floor the size of a fist would be enough to piss it off if he aimed it into the beast’s blackened eyes and even if he felt ravaged at that moment, Shinsou knew the lumbering monster wouldn’t catch him in a foot race.

He moved slowly but smoothly along, proceeding with carefully timed steps until the Telgradian was close enough to collect the rock in his palm. The beast, still making its mind up who to kill, watched tentatively.

The rock flew from Shinsou’s hand.

“Come on then you fat fucker!” The Telgradian screamed, “Let’s see what you’ve got!”

Thandular the World-Eater, slayer of the Colossus of Draken, made its mind up very quickly.

[Breaker]

Josh pressed his back against the tunnel wall as the pungent monster advanced, its nightmarish gaze focused on Shinsou. The spots in front of Josh's eyes finally faded to nothing, but the ringing in his ears caused by the orcs' transformation spell persisted. He crouched and waited. There was no space in the tunnel on either side of the beast's bulk; he would need to time it perfectly.

The behemoth took a lumbering step. Its deadly arms reached toward Shinsou, massive hands gnashing the air in anticipation. Its bloodshot eyes glared murder. Its leg extended in a second step.

Josh dove and tucked into a ball, elbows and knees pinched together. He rolled beneath the orc's massive gut, through its legs, and safely past its broad back. Cronen kipped to his feet and realized that the thing's bulk would make it slow to turn around. He ducked down and seized one of the long-handled axes. The weapon was old but made of good steel and stout oak, with only a little rust etching the blade.

The giant orc's roars echoed down the tunnel. It surged toward Shinsou.

Josh stepped in and twisted from the hips and swung the axe into the back of the orc's left knee with all his might. Flesh and sinew parted but the blade caught on the bone. Cronen clicked his tongue in irritation and went for the second axe.

The monster collapsed to one knee, its attention finally diverted away from Shinsou. Its roars became deafening, the stench of its breath dangerously toxic. Blue blood flowed to the ground but still the beast tried to stand.

Just like a kid playing stickball. Josh grasped the second axe and swung it into the side of the orc's right knee. As the beast knelt in a pool of its own blood its spine straightened. Breaker jumped on its back, arms snaking around its neck, but even with his considerable wingspan he could not connect his hands to choke the beast. As it reared back, reaching for him, Cronen glimpsed a loose slab of rock in the ceiling.

The orc's giant hands came at him as the beast sought to vent all of its anguish.

Breaker leaped up off its back and grasped the stone sticking out of the ceiling. For a moment he hung there, and then the rock came free. In a shower of silt and small stones Josh fell atop the orc's shoulders and smashed the stone into the top of its head. He pushed off and jumped backwards and rolled away, toward the strange blue light at the end of the tunnel.

"Shinsou!" He shouted, "get back! It's going to--"

The orc swayed slightly, and then the tunnel collapsed on top of it.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

The mine seemed to crumble about them in a hellish cascade of granite and dust.

The deeper into the intestines of this place they had gone, the more aged and fragile the masonry supporting the structure had become. The passageway smelt musty as a result of the dislodged debris and with the avalanche came the scent of ancient dry wood from the supporting beams, one that filled Shinsou's nostrils until he could no longer smell anything else. Though the supports were hardly adequate enough to prevent the collapse of the ceiling, they had well and truly saved the Telgradian's life, falling in a crossed pattern that had prevented the debris from crushing him.

"Ugh..."

Shinsou felt around for a gap in the rocks around him, one that would help him loosen the burden on his other arm and legs. Osiris realised, as he scrambled frantically at the stones, that this place hated him. It was guiding him and his companion Joshua through these trials almost as if there was life hewn into the rock of the mine. The labyrinth was pulling them towards an endgame.

Joshua!

The realisation that Joshua had been caught in the torrent of stone hit Shinsou quickly, sharpening his focus and sending a burst of energy through him as if he had been defribilated. He extended his right arm before him, and as he finally freed himself the Telgradian scrambled over jagged rock to the area he last saw his comrade-in-arms; directly below a void in ceiling where the giant orc had surely met its end.

"Joshua! Joshua, can you hear me?"

Though the majority of the timber beams holding the cavern passage together were intact, dangerous new footfalls and dangling debris emerged from the shadows. Shinsou’s task from then on involved treading lightly and darting over the tonnes of fallen rock almost certainly entombing what he believed was Joshua's resting place; the place likely to be where his companion's journey had ended with that orc.

Shit! I'm so sorry. I won't let this go to waste, i'll find the fucker that did this to us, this Am'aleh, and goddess or not i'll ruin her. I don't know why she tested us but she'll regret it, I swear it!

As the passageway's ruined mouth opened up into a larger, elaborate chamber ahead, a stone rolled beneath Shinsou’s overeager heels which forced his balance to fail. There was a mighty crash moments later as the adventurer jarred his knees and hit the floor. As he spread his hands out to try and support his weight, Osiris realised he felt something move beneath the rubble.

The orc?! Dammit! How can it be- no, wait. That's-

The rocks moved askew as Joshua tried to escape from his stone sarcophagus. It appeared, though, that his strength had fallen short. There were groans, but the slight movements weren't enough to dislodge any serious amount of material. As the Telgradian rushed to his aid, he wondered how many more tests he would be put through before the day was done.

[Breaker]

"Joshua, can you hear me?"

Everything hurt. Breaker had been hit by falling debris before, but this was on a different scale. He felt flattened. His breath came in short gasps. With what little energy remained he made a futile effort to free himself from the suppressing pile of rubble.

"Don't worry Joshua, I'll clear this shit off of you!" Shinsou's voice was incredibly distant. The sound of hands scrabbling fruitlessly at heavy rocks seeped down to Cronen's ears.

"Shin..." Josh managed to whisper.

"And if I can't," the digging stopped, "if I can't get you free I'll kill that bitch Am'aleh for you. Whatever you may have thought of her, and whatever it takes--"

"Sou." Josh hissed. Osiris fell silent. "Have faith."

"Have faith in what?" Osiris all but screamed, emotion rising sharply in his voice. He resumed digging frantically. "Have faith that you'll die here? Or that your immortal soul will be at peace? I don't care about that shit! I care about living damn it and you're going to... what's that?"

The faint blue glow at the end of the tunnel brightened. It drew nearer, engulfing every rock and bit of splintered timber it passed along the partially collapsed tunnel. As it grew bright enough for Josh to see a sense of serenity washed over him. The light approached Shinsou almost tentatively, and then it enveloped them both.

Josh awoke in a stone quarry, standing next to Shinsou. Their wounds were gone. They had their weapons and they had their clothes. They were washed clean of the dirt and grime from below. The exit to a mining tunnel smelling of mildew was behind them. Dust stirred. Before them floated a beautiful woman woven of water. She shone the same shade as the wall of blue light that had enveloped them in the tunnel. Her glimmering hand outstretched and caressed Cronen's cheek. She radiated love and acceptance. Any anger or doubt Josh felt was scoured away by the power of her presence.

"You must forgive my champion," Am'aleh said to Shinsou, "he does break things."

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Garah City, Telgradia
One year ago


Captain Telos Soltair was a successful and respected member of the Royal Guard, Telgradia’s elite warriors, and a damned good teacher. Ever since the completion of his academy in Garah’s city centre for young Telgradians wishing to join the King’s army, Telos had earned the plaudits from Garah’s citizens and his fellow peers. Mostly, it was for his work in educating the children of what was expected of them, in both a life of soldiering for the King and a life they would later build for their families in Telgradia once their service had come to an end. However, the academy aside, a certain measure of admiration was saved also for his talents as one of the five recognised Royal Guard captains who ranked as the five strongest of Telgradia’s warriors.

His college had only a single classroom in which to conduct his lessons, and it was always oversubscribed, but Telos didn’t mind. It was a splendid place for a teacher to do his job, actually. After negotiating for several months with the army, he had managed to acquire several pieces of fine furniture, even books and the odd tapestry to make it feel more like a library than a classroom. In the quiet times, after studies had concluded, Telos could recline in his chair and sip whatever fine brandy his companions were drinking back at the barracks in peace. He loved the silence after a hard day’s teaching. Of course, he loved giving the kids of Garah their lessons, but the quiet time was truly the best gift given to him in the knowledge the next day would always start loudly again for him.

He was, after all, a man of peace.

At exactly 9am on Monday morning, Telos was standing at the front of his cozy, book-laden classroom, flanked by the kneeling forms of all the children who’d come in for their lessons. The captain was dressed in his favoured Royal Guard robes, consisting of the traditional black uniform with silver buttons and a flowing white Haori with great, wide sleeves. They were old to be sure, and a little frayed at the edges, but they had moulded to his form perfectly. A pair of soft, hazel eyes peered out from underneath a curtain of matted black hair and fell upon the students curiously. As he spoke, Telos’s thin designer stubble around his jaw and chin drew back and fell forward repeatedly.

“So, kids, does anyone know what this is?”

Telos reached down to the table in front of him and picked up an ivory sheathed weapon. With a steady, hairy hand, the Captain unsheathed it and held it aloft for all to see. The sword was the shape of a Katana and about a metre in length. The guard and hilt were crafted from beautiful, smooth crystal strips that interlaced perfectly to the flange and glistened in the morning light.

“It’s a sword!” Exclaimed a young boy sitting in the front row as the sun bounced off his golden hair and illuminated his excited face.

“Very good,” Telos said, nodding at the young boy. “But, I wonder, does anyone know what type of sword it is?”

Another boy, sat a row back, bowed his head and ran his fingers of his right hand through his brown mop haircut. Then, as the answer came to him, he leapt up and waggled his arm around vigorously as if his life depended on it.

“It’s a Kurai sword! My dad has one of those!”

Telos raised his head and turned to look at the lad, who stared back with intense blue eyes. The captain smiled warmly, clapping his hands together in appeasement.

“Very good! Now, the Kurai sword is the single most important tool in a Telgradian’s life. You see, the sword contains a piece of each of its owner’s soul, making it very special!”

A young girl with curly brown hair and freckles, perhaps no older than eight years old, put a finger to the corner of her mouth and chewed on the fingernail. She took a moment and allowed her developing mind to establish a chain of logic before asking her question.

“So, is it alive?”

Telos grinned to himself. They were cottoning on quick, and although they wouldn’t grasp the whole picture until a lot later in life, he felt that his kids were going to be just fine.

“Yes, and no. Each Telgradian’s soul is split in half when they get a sword like this. One half stays in the body, and the other half is sealed inside the sword! Then, each half of the soul begins to heal and becomes whole again!”

The brown haired boy a row back piped up again. “So, in the end, my dad has one soul and his sword has a soul too?”

“You’re a smart one!” Telas jabbed a finger at the young lad emphatically and winked. “Your dad and his Kurai sword are linked to each other, like brothers! This means that your dad can talk to the sword, and the sword to him. Sometimes, he will even be able to release the seal on the sword and use that soul’s power! The stronger the soul and the connection are, the more powerful the sword becomes!”

A bespectacled kid to Telos’s left joined the fray, pushing the gold rim of his round glasses back up his nose. “My dad says his sword has a name. Is that true?”

“Yes, each Kurai has a name,” Telos replied with a soft smile. He snapped his fingers crisply and pointed at the child with the glasses in a way only a charismatic teacher could do. “In fact, kiddo, they have three names, depending on the stage of release. There’s stage one, which is called Kurai. Stage two is called Senkai, and stage three is the most powerful, called Senkai Shinjitsu. However, only really strong people can use Senkai and Senkai Shinjitsu. After Senkai Shinjitsu, well, no-one has ever really found out.”

The kid with the glasses seemed awed by Telos’s feast of information. A wide grin covered his chubby cheeked features and his young eyes glittered playfully. He saw no reason to stop feeding on the teacher’s informative morsels, and pried for more.

“What’s the name of your Kurai, Captain Telos?”

Telos flicked his hair back with a deft wave of the hand, and folded his arms with a smile. “Odayakana Kaze. It means ‘Calm Wind’. Its Senkai release is called Hana Kaze, which means ‘Blossoming Wind’.”

“That’s so cool Captain Telos! What about your Senkai Shinjitsu? I bet it’s really powerful!”
Telos chuckled heartily. His students were quite the inquisitive bunch today. “One day, when you’re all grown up, maybe I’ll show you. Now, kids, I think we need to move on…”

There was a moment’s pause. Then, suddenly, one kid broke ranks and stood up, raising his hand as high as possible to the sky. Telos regarded him with a curious expression, wondering what on earth was so important a question it required such a sudden movement.

“Is it more powerful than Enpera Kurohitsugi?”

The question from the little boy’s mouth struck the class like a gunshot. The moment’s silence that followed felt like an eternity to everyone in the room, and after what felt like an age, the silence was shattered.

“Shut up Xun! We aren’t supposed to talk about that, its taboo!” A voice hissed to his classmate.

Telos closed his eyes and breathed a soft sigh. He was a patient man, and no kid would ever really burn through the Captain’s almost limitless stock of patience. That's why he had been chosen by the Council of Five to be a teacher. But, even so, the hissing voice was right: all talk of his son Shinsou Vaan Osiris and his crusade against Telgradia was taboo. Enpera was Shinsou’s sword, an instrument of destruction in itself and to discuss it in a classroom in front of children would surely be inappropriate at best. The Captain wondered, though, what would happen if he didn’t answer the question. After all, it was often said in Telgradia that those who do not learn from the past are sure to repeat it. Perhaps it was time for people to hear the truth about his boy.

“…No, it’s alright, I can answer that last question. Xun, the truth is that Enpera was the most powerful Kurai sword on the face of Telgradia. I only ever got to see its third stage, Enpera Kurohitsugi, once…and I’m glad about that. It was definitely more powerful than mine.”

Telos trailed off when he looked up and saw the silhouette of a figure stood in the empty doorway. It was one of the Royal Guard’s messenger girls, only usually sent in urgent circumstances where primary communications via magic were not practicable between high-ranking Captains.
He knew what this meant.

“Captain Telos? Emergency Captain’s meeting in thirty minutes.”

He shuffled his feet with a groan, placing both hands on the small of his back and popping it with a crack.

“I’ll be right there.”

He was privately glad that the sudden appearance of the messenger girl had cut his story short. Still, he couldn’t really complain too much about the student’s question. Telgradia needed more people taking an interest in its chequered past rather than distancing themselves from it, and perhaps future generations could glean something from the conflict if they tried to understand it and the reasons behind its brutality. Hell, maybe even his generation could learn a great deal from it.

With a final wave of the hand, Telos dismissed the messenger, and collected his belongings from his desk. He turned to the sea of disappointed young faces in front of him.
"I'll have someone come in and take over. Be nice to them, ok?"


Present Day

“Is this Am’aleh?”

The mere sight of the goddess that chose Shinsou for these trials made him revisit the dank cell he had awoken in that afternoon. Mildew grew on the walls of damp stone and on the black iron door to the mine’s prison. A chill did nothing to soothe his sweat-damp scalp from the odd humidity of the underground jail. Pain beat down on his neck from the cramp caused by a night of sleeping on the floor.

Why then, after all this, did he not feel angry? Osiris’s heart stopped beating every time their gazes met. His screams of pain in the trials echoed without sound, his earlier rage held prisoner to paralysis. Clenched fists drew their fingers from his palm. Shinsou was a foolish but courageous creature. Whether futile or not, he would have attacked the goddess naively thinking he could win. This time, though, something new stayed him. A feeling. Not compassion, or mercy, or even virtue.

“You don’t need to say anything, Shinsou Vaan Osiris of Telgradia.” Her words spilled from soothing lips as she dove inside his mind, “I can see your heart. A proud, strong thing it is indeed. That you did not attack me out of gratitude rather than fear is evidence enough of that. There is a deep anger there, doubtless, but also regret and a strong desire for atonement for many things you did under duress. Your redemption will be assured, one day, if you can accept it. Tell me, young warrior, what is it you wish to protect?”

Osiris reeled as the beautiful Am’aleh laid bare his troubles for Joshua to see. Thoughts of despair accompanied the tears that he could no longer cry. Rhovani’s dying screams forever lingered in his ears, every echo like a shard of glass across his soul.

“Everything I wanted to protect is gone,” Came the solemn reply as Shinsou’s eyes met the ground. Then, suddenly, they rose back to meet the goddess’s stare, full and alive with a new fire. “But everything I need to protect is here, on Althanas. That is why I became the Brotherhood’s enforcer and why I will overthrow their corrupt council and take command for myself. They will be reborn from the ashes of criminals to a force worthy of repelling Telgradia’s planned invasion; of protecting the people I give a shit about!”

After a moment, the goddess nodded, as if confirming something to herself.

“Your sword, Enpera, is calling to you Shinsou, but you can't seem to hear it. Could it be that it is restrained, that somehow you are deaf to its cries? I can help you commune with it. It is time to hear its call, Shinsou. I will grant you this power as thanks for taking part in this trial, in assisting Joshua to the very end. Go now with my thanks.”

Osiris met her gaze, then glanced down at his kurai sword; his faithful servant.

Enpera...?!

The blade in his hand slowly crumbled from sight, torn apart by a freezing cold energy emanating from Am’aleh’s glowing palms.

What the fuck?!

The sheer cold energy forced the ivory hilt from his hand, and needles of black and purple replaced the wide blue lights. Nothing interfered with the ambience of this landscape of angry energy; Shinsou could not see what was manifesting even five paces ahead. It was then it came; a beast of shadow with the body of a panther, scanning its new environment. A dome of dark matter replaced the bright colours given off by Am’aleh’s radiance and surrounded Shinsou and the creature that had manifested. It raised its head; eyes of electric yellow meeting the Telgradian’s for the first time.

“We meet at last, master.” The panther, sparks of electric loosing from its magical body, bowed its head. “Do not be alarmed. This is one of my many true forms. I am Enpera’s spirit manifested; the fourth and final stage of a kurai sword. At last, you have answered my call and now I will give to you my whole soul so that you may defend us from your enemies. My life is yours and my power is yours to command. I am grateful to you, Shinsou, for this."

Am’aleh must have been a powerful practitioner of either the arcane or incarnate arts, to have activated the fourth release that had eluded most Telgradians. Shinsou composed himself and returned the bow.

“Enpera...I never imagined I would be able to realise your true form. Even after the things I have done, will you still stand with me? Will you protect me as I will protect you?"

The beast nodded, closing its eyes. Only then did Shinsou realise that its entire body was made from dark matter; a shimmering, void like fur coating its body and crackling a little with each movement. He wondered what would happen now to his powers, to his life.

“This bond is an immortal one. Through good, through evil, through life until death I will stand at your side. What you and I want to protect are different things. You wish to protect Althanas from Telgradia but my only concern is to protect you. It always was." Enpera rubbed a black paw on the floor, roaring into the air with a throaty bellow. "As for now, I would see you safe. We must leave this place.”

Enpera finished speaking, bowing its head lower. Those irises pierced him, penetrated him, daring him to question it. Shinsou needed not. Instead he nodded, and raised to his full height before turning to Joshua and offering his hand. He had a lot to be thankful to the man for.

“Thank you for your help. It wouldn't have been my first choice, but this served as invaluable experience for me. What will you do now?"

Shinsou loses Enpera.

[Breaker]

A measure of awe remained in Breaker's eyes as he shook Shinsou's hand. The grace of his goddess never ceased to amaze. Hazel eyes met gold as the two men looked at each other, remembering the trials they had endured that day. A young pale moon shone down on them amidst twinkling stars, and a light breeze tussled their hair and clothing.

Am'aleh and the panther Shinsou's sword had become looked on impassively, untouched by the wind.

"Now I will speak with my goddess," Josh said with a small smile, "but first I think I should replace your sword."

"No Telgradian captain should be without a Kurai." Am'aleh chimed.

Josh took two measured steps away from the others and lifted his palms. The ground shook slightly and a cloud of steam burst forth at his feet like a small geyser. Cronen pressed his palms together and then stretched his arms wide, shaping the steam into a katana-like sword, nearly a meter long. After crafting the hilt from memory he focused on the blade, folding the steam upon itself like steel. As he worked steam became water, and then water turned to ice. Before long Josh held an icecraft kurai balanced by the blade across both hands. It was cold to touch, but not as frigid as natural ice.

"This will never melt," Josh assured Shinsou as he offered the sword. "The ice is strong as steel, but may still shatter under a strong enough impact. You'll want to wrap the handle," he suggested as the Telgradian accepted it somewhat reverently with both hands, "braided canvas or leather should do well enough." Shinsou swung the sword into a casual salute and then sheathed it. The blade fit almost perfectly in Enpera's old scabbard.

"Thank you, Joshua," Shinsou said, "will we meet again soon?"

"We will send word," Am'aleh answered.

"Call me Breaker," Josh said, clapping the other man on the shoulder.

The panther Enpera prowled to Shinsou's side, tail moving sinuously above its spine. It inclined its head to Am'aleh.

"Thank you for your assistance, Mistress of the Seas," Enpera said before turning to Shinsou. "Come master, we must away." Shinsou climbed out of the quarry with the panther flowing effortlessly at his side.

When he was alone with the woman woven of water Breaker turned to her, his eyes full of questions. Looking at Am'aleh was like staring into a still sea.

"Where was I last night?" Josh asked, "and why did you bring Shinsou and I together in such extreme fashion?"

"I am dying," Am'aleh said, and the weight of her words drove Breaker to his knees. He gathered both of her hands in his and kissed her palms, sending ripples across the still water of her skin. "As are my brothers, Wyron and Trisgen. We are forgotten deities, native to this land but overwashed by the worship of the thayne Draconus. Without mortals to remember us and pray to us, we will fade into the ether."

"But you would not die," Josh insisted, rising to his feet and cupping her face in his callused hands, "you cannot."

"Not in the same way a human dies," Am'aleh admitted, "but I will lose all of my power, even the ability to take shape. You would never see me again, although I would still watch you."

"What must I do?" Josh whispered, combing fingers through hair that parted like ribbons of silk. "You have saved me before and you saved me today. It is my turn to rescue you."

"My champion." Am'aleh's smile let Breaker know that there was hope. "It will not be easy, but I have searched with Wyron and Trisgen and discovered the reason our power is dwindling. A certain sect of the Clerics of Draconus have expanded, building several new temples across Corone. After much inquiry we realized that this new sect is involved in the underground slave trade. Last night you were--"

"At an auction," Josh exclaimed, "a slave auction?" He released Am'aleh and paced back and forth as images flooded his mind. He remembered the auctioneer banging his gavel with a snide smirk on his face, and the parade of young men and women that had been sold to those unsavory types who supported slavery in Corone.

"Yes," Am'aleh said, "and you discovered the locations of all of the slaving temples across Corone. Only then did I realize that you would not be able to undertake this mission on your own. So I introduced you to the Telgradian, whom I have had my eye on for some time. You must overtake these temples," Am'aleh said. She reached out and halted Breaker's pacing with a hand on his stubbled cheek. "And declare them in the name of Am'aleh, Trisgen, or Wyron. With new places of worship open to the public, my brothers and I will have a chance at maintaining our influence on Corone."

"Then it will be done," Josh said, embracing his goddess. Formless, The woman of water fit perfectly in his arms.


Spoils Request

Shinsou Vaan Osiris receives an icecraft kurai sword created by Breaker using his water affinity ability. It is cold to touch, though not so frigid as natural ice, and similar in dimensions to his former sword Enpera. The yet unnamed sword is as strong as steel and will never melt, though it may shatter if met with a force which could break or bend steel.

[Philomel]

Name of Judgement: Old Habits Die Hard (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?31381-Old-habits-die-hard-(closed-to-Breaker))
Judgement Type: Workshop

Rewards:

Shinsou Vaan Osiris: (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?18305-Shinsou-Vaan-Osiris)
1173 EXP
0 GP

Breaker: (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?97-Breaker)
1735 EXP
105 GP

Spoils:
Shinsou receives a sword with the description below, costing 150 GP. This uses up all his rewarded GP from this battle and 37 EXP.


"an icecraft kurai sword created by Breaker using his water affinity ability. It is cold to touch, though not so frigid as natural ice, and similar in dimensions to his former sword Enpera. The yet unnamed sword is as strong as steel and will never melt, though it may shatter if met with a force which could break or bend steel."

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

All rewards added!