No one believed it would last as long as it had. Valiere had been, always been, a powerful country with a foreboding presence. By "nature" they were imperialistic and they took what they needed, what they wanted. Their encroachment in the islands surrounding the country and then further south was predictable and expected. Expansion was the forefront of Valieran politics, no amount of protest or feebly constructed resistance could stop that. Yet somehow, they were stopped.

What was, at the time, nothing more than a collection of trading countries, countries not even recognized as kingdoms on a worldwide scale, denied Valiere the right to take their land. They would have no compromise, no discussion or treaties. A small body of seemingly weak nations said "no" to the embodiment of military might. And so the two countries went to war.

The expected outcome, Valiere flattening the loosely connected provinces and merchant cities, had been overturned. Inderea fought back. This conflict, what began as what the rest of the world would assume was little more than another bloody series of battles for the power mad country, which would tax the resources of tire the foolish resistors until they begged for mercy, had become a war, a truly massive and frightening war.

Inderea did not fall. They fought back, pushed back, and so the conflict raged on and on and on, until not a generation on that scarred earth hadn't tasted the ashen air or known the scent of rotting flesh. War consumed them, and further, deeper into its drudges did they go. They fought as if it was all they knew.



Nothing seemed to penetrate this place. Not the fading light of the midday sun or the idle whispers of budding woodland life—Cantata was a restless place yet one void of noticeable stirring. Only the cold light of watching eyes, predators, prey, observing creatures and odd beasts, existed as a reminder that the land had life. Old oaks and firs wound about and knotted. Intertwining like so many lines of fabric quilted together and circling high above the earth below, the ground was saturated with countless leaves from the giant woods towering above. How anything could survive in a place without light, one could only venture to guess. But Sonvei would have to learn. His eyelids weighed heavy and closed out of habit. Even if they were open and the canopy above suddenly released its embrace, illuminating the forest, little but shapes would appear before his vision.

What difference did having his eyes closed make to one trapped in a world without light?

Stepping weightlessly and shallow, attempting to mask his presence as he shifted through the thicket, his fingers traced over old bark as each cautious step hovered over the earth, doubting its security before planting as softly as a leaf on the snow. A strong gust would have destroyed any trace of his movement and that was fine, that was how he was trained to behave. To be able to fade within a breath, to vanish in the folds of a wafting breeze and leave no trance behind—ambushes, espionage, hit and run tactics were ingrained into his very being until they seeped from his form naturally.

With a grunt as a prickled leafy branch slid across his face, he stalked through the carpet of foliage. Hands searching along everything they came across, he soaked in familiar objects that had now become so unfamiliar with a clumsy fumbling touch alone. This exploratory venture had taken place over the course of hours, and he was growing increasingly drained by it. Shifting his body carefully did not completely protect him, and Sonvei’s blind steps sent him slamming into an oversized root and crashing onto the ground. A silent curse escaped his lips as he staggered back to his feet, reaching out for the nearest object to provide support.

His fingers tightened over a tree’s bark. Nails dug into the rough exterior as he bit down into his lower lip until it grew red. Sonvei had to rememorize the world now, understand subtle differences in nature with only his hands to guide him. It was not going as well as he had hoped.

“Isou,” he called out to the deep wood. There was no response. “Isou!” a louder cry broke the forests silence this time, his voice strained.

“Ah? Can’t even walk around the woods yet? You’re so pathetic!” A light and melodious chime rang all around Sonvei, his face slowly contorting into a deeper look of frustration.

“Please, Isou, I need your help.”

“Hah! Help yourself. I can’t be around to watch you stumble all the time.”

With a subtle chuckle, the sweet chime vanished, its words bitterly lashing Sonvei as he grit his teeth and continued, hands trailing over any object they came in contact with.

The forest of Cantata was deprived of human disturbances, as always, so minus the calls of birds and the sloshing of river water as fish swim by; the forest was silent, as Rin floated in the river feeling the fish go by her fingers and silver hair, the bandage on her arm was coming loose but Rin didn't pay any mind as she basked in nature's silence til a few birds went into flight, which caused her to open her eyes as she saw the birds fly by.

"What is it Rin?" asked a deep, soft voice that was coming from a lavender glow that was floating by the river bed.

Rin looked over to the lavender glow and looked back to the sky, with a monotone voice Rin answered with, "Nothing, just some birds." Rin got up from the river and walked to the river bed, not even bothering to dry off her clothes or hair, Rin went over to a tree with lower branch that held her weapons and strapped on her Zweihaender onto her back and put back on her belt that held her Yatagan.

"Are we leaving now?" asked the glow as it went to follow Rin, who just nodded in response to the question, "Your bandage is loose Rin." the glow said as it went to Rin's side; Rin looked down to her arm and fixed the bandage.

"You should really replace that Rin." the glow said with concern, "There's no reason to." Rin said simply as she looked around the area to see if where she was going was correct, not even noticing that she left her shoes by the river.

Symbols of danger worthy of respect, mountains were nature's best obstacles for man. To climb one was a task best left to fools, death an almost guaranteed result if a single slip-up was made. This is why man, in all his glorious cowardice and desire to make everything easier, found means to avoid challenging these towering beasts. Sometimes they chose the option of tunneling their way through it, others they decided to skirt around it entirely. In this particular situation, the mountains themselves had made quite the effort to mock man, leaving paths for him to travel on to go straight on through to build and reach his city of Artruito.

Sonata was certainly a perfect representation of mountain ranges of its kind. Its peaks rose up high all around, easily protecting the prize that lay within its defenses. Sonvei was not the only one dealing with hardship, as there was one man choosing to try and defeat this mountain range, though the way he was going on throwing a fit, it seemed more like he had little word on the matter.

"Worthless rock! I never--there's a path right over--such a waste of--godforsaken winds!" The red-robed man seethed as he made his slow ascension up the mountain, and indeed the winds were impeding his progress the most as they battered him about. A strange, wooden mask covering his face was clearly making it hard to breathe as the oxygen in the air lessened the higher up he went, but he made no attempts to remove it.

Voices carried up from the air far below him, but it didn't seem as if anyone had noticed him climbing. Probably for the best, if anyone did spot him he'd probably end up with an arrow in his back. Those men and women speaking were the guards and citizens of Artruito, going about a typical day while this man tried to sneak past them in the most insane method possible.

Fatigue was showing in his body, this wasn't the type of activity he was used to. A lack of muscles made clinging to the rocks a difficult task, made even worse by the air chilling his bones. Supporting himself with one hand while the other grasped for another rock further up, the pressure broke the rock free and sent him falling a few terrifying feet before he caught hold of another rock jutting out further down. He paused as his heart nearly pounded out of his chest, his head spinning as it tried to level out the rest of his body.

Starting his climb again, this time far worse for the wear and at a snail's pace, he called out just loud enough to fill the air around him but not for the people below to catch, "You freakish thing, where are you?! This is ridiculous, I'm not fit for this kind of work. Where are you?!"

A crimson wisp suddenly appeared floating the area just at his back, though it was only making itself visible for the man calling for it, "Oh, well if it isn't freak-face. You should stop yelling, it's rather annoying." The relationship between these two was still rather fresh, but it was plain to see they weren't too friendly. Freak-face was one of the orb's affectionate names for this man named Loritz, meant to mock the man's tarnished beauty.

Needless to say, it wasn't taken well. Leaving only one hand clinging to the wall, Loritz turned out to face the sphere of light and started swinging wildly at it with his free hand. It did little but nearly make him lose his grip and fall again. Trying to contain his well-deserved anger, he took a deep breath and asked, "Why couldn't I just use the path through the mountain, you affront to existence?"

Scoffing at the man's attempts to anger him, the wisp hovered up, down, and all around as if to poke fun at Loritz, "We've been over this, pathetic human. For the tasks I have for you, it's better that the military here doesn't get to know you too well. After all, you were from Valiere, were you not? Enemies might fancy a chance to end you for good. Now go, get up there, we don't have all day." With that, the wisp vanished just as quickly as it had come, leaving Loritz with no more than a bit of unrequited rage.

The wind seemed to pick up as he went along, and a powerful ringing in his ears did little to alleviate his stress. He'd be lucky to survive long enough to reach a point where he could see the city, let alone step foot in it.

The winds of Sonata was harsh, it would seem to be an unclimbable mountain. Although, it would seem someone is climbing it, that would be one fool, and one other, Reia Azure. Reia steadily climbed up the sides of the mountain aiming to see the city he once resided in. What was his purpose in doing so? There was none.

He climbed to see his past, he wanted to know that he had once lived. But what then? There's nothing there save people that will no longer know of him, there's no one here that he cares about any longer, and there shall never be anyone new he shall care about. Such feelings are gone, taken away, what loyalty he had to anyone what ties he had, gone, erased. Besides, a dead person coming back home would be quite odd.

He stopped for a moment and pondered upon his actions. "Why do you stop?" A clear deep voice had uttered some words to Reia. "We cannot enter through the entrance since you are already dead and yet you hesitate on your journey? I've agreed to this small detour so you should hurry up and finish what you wanted to do." A golden wisp hovers next to Reia, glowing brightly.

Reia glared at the side of the mountain he clutched and started moving again. He was making slow but steady progress. The winds bothered him not and he already had the strength necessary to move his weapon/armor clad body. The only thing that is hindering his progress is his thoughts, why did he come here again?

When he was first ressurected, feelings still lingered for his homeland. But, now, such things have faded. Reia sighed, as he increased his pace. There was no reason to stall, there was not much time for his little escapade. He had more pressing concerns other than this.

The peak of the mountain was visible. Reia climbed to the top and stood there looking down at the city below. What breath taking beauty it once has was now lost. Reia looked down upon it and scoffed at himself. "I've wasted my time."

A voice echoed through the air. It would seem he is not the only one foolish enough to scale these mountains. Reia looked down the side of the mountain and located a moving red object.

"Drasil. I doubt my eyes, but do you see something there?"

The golden orb moves in front of Reia and floats slightly downwards, "I see something. However, I do not know what it is unfortunately." Reia continued staring at the moving red object. "I see."

Reia put one knee down and crouched into a sitting position. His armor hindered his movements so he had to rest in such a position. "This seems to be interesting. I'll wait here, I'm sure this is fine with you, Drasil?" The orb floated around, "I have no qualms."

Reia nodded and waited. It's possible another fool is climbing the mountains as well.

After hours of walking on grass and soil, the ground beneath Rin's feet started to go rough and grainy and the scenery started to have less trees of Cantata and more mountain ranges of Sonata, Rin observed Sonata for any caves or opens for short cuts but seemed to find none at her range of eyesight.

"You're not going to climb that are you!?" the glow asked surprised but was ignored by Rin, as she started walking again toward the wall of Sonata.

"Rin! RIN!! You're not serious right!? You could DIE!!" the glow panicked as it went after Rin; Rin on the other hand was ignoring the glow and started climbing the rocky wall of the mountain barrier, "Rin, please answer me." the glow pleaded.

"Enough already, I'm already died and it's not that big of an issue." Rin said plainly as a small breeze started to come by the higher Rin got, "Not that big of an issue!!? Rin, do you even know what is behind this barrier of rock?" the glow said with worry and anger mixed in his voice.

The breeze started to pick up to more of a harsh wind that blew Rin's hair and dress wildly,"Artruito." Rin said bluntly as she placed her foot on a small ledge that crumbled when the pressure of her foot was placed on it, causing Rin to lose her footing.

"Rin!" the glow shouted in worry, "I'm fine, you worry too much." Rin said tonelessly like always as she placed her foot on a more stable rock and stared climbing again, looking again for any caves or openings that she can go through, til she saw a cave opening at the corner of her eye and started going to the right til she was close to the cave and stared climbing up again.

"Will that make you stop worrying?" Rin said as she pointed to the cave, the glow followed where her finger was pointing at, "Not really but I guess it's better than nothing." the glow said a little displeased with the option.

When they finally got to the cave, Rin went to check the inside of it but came up short when
there was a dead end and went back to the mouth of the cave, "I guess we'll take a break." Rin said as she sat at the ledge.

The glow went up to Rin and asked, "What is Artruito anyway? Why go there?" Rin just shrugged her shoulders, "No reason." the glowed just sighed in displeasure but he was just glad Rin wasn't climbing for now.

His senses were bombarded as a cacophony rose and fell around him—noises, some being the gentle splashing of a slowly flowing creek as it eroded away at the soil near it, others from sources unknown, the dark denizens of this place and their shifting and stirring. He attempted to focus on each individual one, reading and studying and probing it within his mind in the same fashion he did to everything he touched. What Sonvei could no longer understand with his eyes he gained in another fashion, through his hearing and touch. He crouched low to the earth with a soft crunch. Each origin of acoustic information he shifted his head toward, rolling about his neck as calmly as a stalking beast.

And he began to identify them one by one, muttering the names to himself as he did so. The names of trees, of thorn ridden bushes and vines, of strange birds with their high pitched cries, of rumbling beasts’ growls were laid out and painted onto a mental canvas. Making up for the lack of eyesight would be difficult. His teeth sank deep into his lip. Deep enough to draw blood as he creaked open his eyes. The world was filled with vague shapes and dull grays. Sonvei balled up his hands tight, scooping up a healthy amount of leaves as he did so.

No matter how many times he let his now faded brown orbs fill with light, the world remained a constant, melancholic gray. He wanted to curse, to yell out in angry protest at his fate. But he steeled himself and continued observing.

The sound of a body shifting out of a nearby body of water caused Sonvei to stir with mixed emotions. His breath slowed, lulled by instinct into soft, constant exhales. He crouched lower and somehow his structured form became smaller, compact, and blended with the forest. The canopies above swayed to and fro, scattering more lifeless colors through the air before they touched the ground. His nostrils flared, his ears twitched.

Something, no, someone was moving, Sonvei corrected as his mind raced. The sound of the forests natural presence had become normal to him. Such foreign sounding steps carrying odd weight drew his attention. The figure was far too far to determine an exact location, but close enough to hear, to smell. A strange fragrance layered with rust. Light and airy steps but powerful, oddly so.

A woman, he thought.

He made not a move, continuing his blind observation, maintaining his nearly invisible breaths until the sound, the smell, and the sensation of another human left his presence. Sonvei exhaled deeply.

It’s time to leave.

In a flash he was gone, dashing with lofty steps that bounced over the mulch. The threatening mingling branches were soared over or skipped atop of, and shortly the dark wood of dull grays was replaced by a sparse, wide road. Sonvei landed upon the barren path as lightly as he had bounced through the woods. The ground reverberated with the jarring sounds of a concession in the distance—familiar sounds and scents wafted about the air, and Sonvei’s face spread into a smile.

“Indereans.” He beamed.

A strong wind continued blowing, threatening to do all it could to make him experience another heart-stopping fall before this climb was over. Despite this, he seemed to be getting on well enough now, knowing that he didn't have the opportunity to go back down, though the grumbling had hardly diminished at all.

Beneath the mask, his teeth chattered and his nose freely dripped fluids, only remedied in short spurts by his constant sniffling. He would certainly have to remove the mask and clean the snot later. How uncivilized for a man such as himself to have to deal with such paltry concerns. With this thought, reminders of the life he had been forced to leave behind flooded in, and his will was crushed as a result. Somehow he managed to climb on through it, an ache settled firmly in his chest all the way.

It was only when his gaze shifted upwards toward the peak, solely to discern how much longer he had of this strenuous task, that something stole his attention. At this distance it was hard to see much, but by squinting his eyes he was able to make out a sturdy set of armor clad over a human figure on the mountaintop.

This was not something Loritz had been expecting, and it was certainly nothing he had been hoping for. Wearing armor, this man was either a warrior or a city guard, neither of which were on his list of favorite people. He didn't want to reach the top only to find the man was waiting to behead him, or worse--looking for conversation. A shudder of disgust ran up his spine, but with it came a bit of defeat. He really couldn't go back down. Up was it. Through the holes in the mask, Loritz glared at the figure, though it would likely go unnoticed by its target.

Ascending to the top and pulling himself over onto the level spot of the peak where the man was sitting, he remained cautious with his body low and his hand prepped to rip the ornate staff from its wrappings around his back. It was foolish at this proximity, as another fireball conjured would only serve to return him right back to his grave, but it made him feel safer all the same.

With his peculiar mask and his heavy breathing, the image he displayed was disturbing, almost that of something inhuman. Even the way he was positioned now looked almost like a creature stirred on by vicious instinct. In this stance, he spoke no words to the armored and well-equipped stranger, waiting for any opportunity to flee down the other side of the mountain.

After resting for awhile, Rin continued climbing and was close to the peak of the mountain but apparently the glow would not stop his ranting about Rin's decision to keep going, if Rin was able to show any kind of emotion, it would be annoyance.

The glow's emotions where so frazzled that he went from caring, "Rin, why don't you listen to me? I only care about your safety." To anger, "Rin! I swear to god woman go back down from this mountain now!" To surrender, "Find don't listen to me, you'll know I was right in the end."

Nothing seemed to stop the glow from ranting and complaining til Rin said, "We're here." They were now standing at the peak of the mountain and you could see little bits of Artruito; Rin was about to start jumping down like a mountain goat til she saw two men in her way.

"What is it Rin?" The glow asked, "There are two men below us." Rin said as she stared at them, this made the glow happy, "Well I guess we have to go back." the glow said smugly, Rin said nothing but looked over to the glow and then back to t he men.

"I guess we'll have to go pass them." Rin said before she jumped off the peak with grace, this was an advantage of being a female soldier, the glow was being too smug to noticed that Rin left and when he did, he panicked, "Rin! Are you crazy!?" the glow said as it went after Rin.

Rin on the other was jumping ledge to ledge, working her way down the mountain; about halfway down, Rin went pass the two men and took quick side glances at them and noticed that one was in armor like a guard or soldier and the other was wearing a mask and a robe almost like a priest, but what she really missed was the glow next to the solider but apparently her glow didn't miss it.

"Rin! Please stop for a second!" the glow yelled over the powerful winds, Rin stop and waited for the glow, "What is it?" Rin asked, "One of those men have a wisp with them also." the glow pointed out, Rin looked back to the two men with a straight face and just stared at them to see what they would do.

He immediately doubled back, rushing towards the wood in search of a long loose branch for a makeshift cane—after several minutes of unsuccessful searching he managed to find a sturdy piece of wood, with some luck and reluctant assistance from Isou. Tearing a bit of his sash, he bundled up his bow as best he could and tucked the blade at his hip underneath his jacket. He probably looked suspicious, but this was a best a chance as he would get.

“What a stupid plan.” Isou barked while hovering about Sonvei’s head. “They’ll think it’s strange to see a soldier out in the woods near Cantata. You can’t make up a good excuse for that.”

A wide grin placated his face as the rumbling of the caravan neared. Sonvei leaned on the cane for support as Isou continued whizzing about at random, buzzing in defiance of such a half-baked plan. The wisp was correct. It was strange for an Inderean soldier to be wandering around the woodland rim of Cantata in the midst of the growing conflict. This carried any number of negative connotations with it, some with dangerous consequences.

Being viewed as a deserter by loyalists to his homeland was one example—even if these people were from his country, who was to say they would so easily welcome a stray soldier in the borders of Artruito?

The possibility of the caravan being unaffiliated with the war as well, merchants who thought the conflict was simply another opportunity for monetary gain, was also a chance. But he remained unflinching in his decision. Slowly the concessions raucous increased, the smell of the herbs used to deter beasts saturating the air as clomping hooves pounded the earth. Sonvei made no attempt to move.

“I’ll think of something.” He responded to Isou’s protest and said nothing else. Slowly, rising from him was a melody, a tune of his homeland which he hummed in concert with the building wind.

As a second stranger made an abrupt arrival, much to his chagrin, Loritz considered what possible options of escape he had in his arsenal. The reality of a spell cast at this proximity obliterating him on the spot finally caught up with his fearful mind. There was no way he could slowly descend the mountain and hope to put any form of distance between himself and these two people.

His warm breath billowed out from the mouth hole in the mask, showing prominently against the chilly air of the mountaintop. It seemed irregular, the altitude clearly affecting what would normally be a thoughtless, simple process. While not a major problem right now, his vision was starting to blur and his mind was becoming clouded. He had to act fast before fainting up here on this godforsaken rock.

Having been a battle-mage for the forces of Valiere, risk wasn't anything foreign to Loritz. He'd do what he could to avoid such circumstances, but sometimes it was unavoidable. This moment seemed to ask for some risk.

Questioning his actions even while doing them, Loritz tore his staff free from its ancient paper casing, sending fragments of said paper scattering into the air. He used his slim figure to slip sideways right between his unwanted company, only speeding up as he neared the cliff. Fear, and quite a bit of reason, assaulted his mind, begging him to stop this madness and avoid the danger. Unfortunately, he ignored these pleas and jumped straight out over the cliff, the sight of the ground far below making his heart pound like mad.

Curses streamed through his head, but it was too late to go back now. Loritz gripped his staff tightly in both hands and held it out in front of him, battling against the force of the air whooshing past that threatened to rip the object from his possession. All sound vanished, save for his ears and their painful popping. For a moment he felt as if he did not exist, that the world around him could have easily been mistaken for nothing more than an illusion.

As he zoomed closer and closer to the ground, his eyes just starting to pick up the life of the land a little clearer, his mind went completely blank. It forgot why he had jumped, what he came here for, and how he planned to make it out of this alive. Just when he was getting dangerously close to the ground, he recalled his makeshift method of survival. Gathering as much breath as he could, finding it difficult with the speed he had garnered from falling such a distance, Loritz pointed his staff towards the ground and conjured up a spell in his mind. The ruby at the top of his staff glowed a bright red, and a powerful fireball erupted from the end as he forced his energy into it and grunted loudly, "GYAH!" Certain spells required a somatic component, but this was luckily not one of them.

The fireball formed into a powerful explosion as it hit the ground, forcing quite a bit of pressure back up at Loritz. He felt the heat consume him and batter him about, and for a second he wondered if he had cast the spell too late. This was not the case. While it didn't completely stop his descent, it did just enough to slow his fall so that he could roll out of it without taking damage. Admittedly surprised to see he was still alive, he clutched at the scorched dirt beneath his feet. He ventured a glance back up towards the peak in this crouched position, and that merely solidified the thought that he should not have survived.

With relieved laughter filling his chest, Loritz staggered away towards Artruito. He had come out near the military district in the north, having landed just inside the wall around the city. It mattered little that they might have seen his fall or that they could have then pegged him for a wizard, he had managed to make it through such an impossible task with his own power. Of course, the fact that he had forced himself to enter such a high-risk scenario in the first place had conveniently been forgotten.

Reia had hardly any time to get up and talk to the masked man in red before someone else had apparently climbed this very mountain. Three people, three fools who decided to face against the will of the mountains. But, it mattered not, Reia just wante information.

That was, until the masked man decided to throw himself off the cliff behind him. Reia turned around and watched as the man fall down below. Suicidal? Possibly. But the man thwarted death with a spell of his. Reia was amused, the man was a mage. Although, his staff would've made it all the obvious.

"Drasil, was there anything interesting about that man that I may have missed?" Reia asked as he started to turn around and face the other person that came to the peak of the mountain. Drasil floated around Reia's shoulders and spoke, "I think I sensed a presence of another Wisp with him. Wait... It seems I was wrong. The presence is coming from our firend here."

Reia did not have much time to look at the two people but now that he had time, he spotted the other's Wisp. "I see." The woman was fairly skinny, but it would seem she had strength to hold her own, seeing that she carries a zweihander on her back.

Reia laughed a bit as he found this situation somewhat amusing, "For what reason would three fools climb a mountain such as this?"

Rin watches as the man with the mask jumps, Rin was unfazed by the act but her wisp was acting different, "Holy crap! Does that man have a death wish?! Rin you should of stopped him!" the glow yelled with panic.

"It wouldn't have made a difference any way and by the looks of it he was able to have a safe landing." Rin said emotionless and unimpressed by the man's stunt, "Really?! What is he? a monster?" the glow asked with shock and awe, "Probably a mage and it's rude to call someone a monster."

"Is that compassion I'm hearing?" the glow teased, "No. It's common sense and manners." Rin said with 'common' emphasized in her voice.

Over the somewhat harsh wind, Rin heard a bit of a chuckle from behind, Rin moved her hair from her face as she moved to turn around to look at the man that was still there, "What is he laughing at?" the glow questioned, "You?" Rin joked but because of her voice it sounded serious and that made the glow go ballistic, "How dare you Rin! I've been caring, nice, generous and CARING!!" Rin had her ear that was closet to the glow closed off from his ranting, "You said caring twice."

"I know I did!! I'm trying to make a point!" The glow yelled again, "Will you stop? If you that irritated about what that man was laughing about, why not go ask him and his wisp why he was laughing." Rin pointed out, "You know what!? I will but that wasn't the problem here!" the glow said as he went to the man

"Yeah, Yeah" Rin muttered and looked back at the masked man to see what he would do next

No sooner than he set foot within sight of the barracks, the sound of orders already booming through the air, a squad of guards was quickly approaching him. They did not get too close as they tried to surround him, rooting Loritz to his spot with their spears and swords held to his face. It was clear that these men weren't on-duty yet, most of them only wearing bits and pieces of the guard armor. Despite their appearance, they weren't to be taken lightly.

With staff still in hand, Loritz kept his arms at his side, doing his best to make no sudden movements. In avoiding a rather small group of strangers, he had thrown himself into the clutches of the city guard. The abominable wisp, he considered, wouldn't be too happy with this.

"You! State your name and business in Artruito!" The best prepared of the guards stepped forward, fully clad in a set of intimidating armor. His blade was an elaborate sort of thing, the steel wavy and sharp as could be. It shined brightly as the sunlight danced along it, but it was his own image in it that caught Loritz' attention. He could clearly see his ugly, wooden mask reflected back at him, and this put him in a foul mood.

Holding his position, Loritz dusted some dirt from his silken robe and responded, "Both my name and my business are my own, and I don't have time to waste here." Foolish move, a very foolish move.

The guard's dedication to getting the information he needed wasn't shaken in the least, and so he said again, his tone one of warning to this suspicious man, "When you're creating explosions within our walls, your business is ours to know. I'll ask you one more time. State your name and business in Artruito."

For a moment he was silent, but the painful prodding of a spear against his back urged him to speak, "Fine. My name? My name is John. And that explosion you heard, well--" He moved a hand carefully to his mask, trying to come up with a fitting lie. An idea came to him and he went with it, albeit unsure of all the details or what the outcome would be, "It's embarrassing to say, but I--uh--make fireworks."

"You make fireworks," He wasn't having an easy time of believing this, and a few of the guards around him even chuckled.

"Yes, yes! But you see I'm not very good at it. I usually end up making them too powerful," It was only by coincidence that he was fiddling with his mask when he said this.

Putting his blade to Loritz' neck, the man asked, "How do we know you weren't making a bomb to blow a hole in the wall around the city? Come to think of it, I've never seen you before and I've certainly never heard any fireworks until today."

"Well, you see--" He was getting caught in the lie, and ideas just weren't coming fast enough to make his story believable. If he stalled for too long without saying anything. it was going to be a cold jail cell for him. Considering how big the city and the environment was in, Loritz combined this information with his military know-how and came up with something, "Usually I test my concoctions down in the south, but someone informed me the air up here was much better suited for my fireworks. Seems they were just making things up. The fuse was harder to light up here, and I nearly lost my arm when the fuse went out and I had to relight it."

Lowering his weapon, starting to see that he had little beyond personal suspicion to go on, the guard finally had no choice but to give in, "Alright, you're free to go, but if I find out you're lying to me and I catch you again--well, let's just say you don't want that to happen."

Loritz acted pleasant on the outside, but inside he was laughing as hard as could be. He even got quite a kick out of it when one of the guards, a boy wearing nothing for armor but steel boots, patted him on the back and said, "Hey, my birthday's in a few weeks. Maybe you could make some fireworks for me!" Of course the boy was dragged off by a superior before he could get any information to contact him with.

Once he was finally left to his own devices, he moved off towards the city chuckling all the while. He couldn't believe they bought his story full of holes, even worse that they hadn't asked him how he got such a pretty staff or what a maker of fireworks was even doing with one.

For now, he was a man without a goal. Until the wisp, for which neither Loritz nor the wisp itself found it necessary to come up with a name, contacted him, he was simply left to wander the streets of Artruito. Perhaps he'd visit the market and see what was on sale, "Maybe even pick up some fireworks." At this, Loritz nearly busted a gut laughing, causing a nearby guard to give him some strange looks.