Paying His Respects (Open)

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Spring, Era XIV

The day was not unlike so many others.

The weather was amiable, at least for the Elementalist coasting along in it, for the salt tinged breezes that swept across the grassy plains virtually unchecked from the north carried along with them a touch of precipitation. It would rain later, like it often did within the northern confines of Arium, and with it nature would tend to her wounds and nurse her subjects back to health. Eren did not mind this. He found it a natural part of order, something that was to be expected, and he made no means of stopping the environment around him from healing itself even though he possessed the power to do so. In his naivety, perhaps, he might have pulled such a stunt; but age had brought wisdom, and Erenthril Mael’tharias had aged more than others in the last two eras.

The sore sight that was once his beloved home for so many patterns brought forth a new burst of wisdom, like the superfluous petals of flora opening up at the beckoning call of the sun.

The city was a disaster. It did not surprise him; he knew there were others of his discipline capable of wrecking such havoc upon the world they inhabited, but it reminded him eerily of Narim. And whilst he had been at the latter of the two destruction ceremonies, he’d failed to make amends for the former. There was no espionage on Ire, no sabotaging Orckon or any other means of redemption, he’d simply failed to show, and the curtain had fell without him present.

A bright speck of white bursting light here one second then gone another, Erenthril wouldn’t have considered himself noteworthy until he passed over the outer city’s limits. Admittedly, he was travelling pretty fast, but he’d done this a hundred times before elsewhere, so what was to make it any different? His target had originally been the Rainbow Citadel – ever since his graduation from the Academy as an Apprentice Elementalist, it had been his understanding that his mentor had actually managed to succeed the position of Thane. It had delighted him formerly, but now it served little use other than to fear for her life and well being. Was Aranel even still present after the destruction of Paxia? Had she survived? And… more to the point, even if brought about by selfish concerns, what would she make of his rise to Mastery?

He always wondered if he would be the most successful of her protégés.

A bright speck of light brought about by his masterpiece, Erenthril blasted across the sky’s limits high above the clouds, his altitude lowering as he attempted to perceive just where the Rainbow Citadel stood, or rather… if it did at all.

[Z'kron]

FETH! HEY! I'M FLYING HERE!
A loud, irritated squawk which inexplicably managed to form into words errupted from the blue-and-orange form of the bird-shaped druid as fire-trail of Erenthril passed him by. Feathers shed off him like sugargrains off dry pancakes as his wings flapped at the air furiously, trying to regain velocity. His blue eyes glared as he steadied himself again on the current- an arcanically enhance current no less; a variation on the various heat spells he had developed early in his career which he used specifically to aid his flying.
A glare as he thrust himself into an arcanically-aided swoop; with wind and heat sending him into a spiralling dive towards the now distant speck of white heat that was the slowing elementalist, gradually approaching as the other's pace slackened. He smiled, in the unusually quiet, selfconfident way only a sentient bird-form could.
"And who the hell are you anyway? Didn't know there were many other magic-types around here. Elementalist by the looks of things? You fly round here regularly? "

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Eren’s eyes narrowed at the sound of the voice, and he quickly arose from the kneeling position he’d landed in as he turned about. His demeanor was cool, and calm. Not quite complacent today, for a change. He was adorned in a dark blue silk shirt that hung about his slender frame rather loosely, not quite matching the almond-shaped emerald orbs that regarded the bird suspiciously. Chestnut-colored hair was tied up and let down, chocolate tresses cascading in ponytail fashion down the back of his neck. Black leather boots picked their way over the rubble to where the bird had perched itself, and almost immediately the Elementalist crouched down to get a better look at the sentient creature.

He let the first remark slide off his shoulder, shrugging it off as the squawking thing launched into its angry tirade. Something along the lines of damnable druids and pea-sized brain.. floated its way across the dark crevices of the Elflord’s minds, but he ignored the tang of irritation nonetheless and instead forced a thin smile.

“No, I’m afraid to say I don’t. What about you, Mister Squawk? Do you usually patrol this pile of rubble?” he asked without introduction.

[Z'kron]

"Only for the orcs, I'm afraid. Someone has to keep an eye on them, and it's worthwhile to keep them running whenever there seems to be a group of them. You'd be surprised how easily a few exploding aerial carrots can rout a batch. Just until we can get those damned walls up."
The bird spiralled its way back up a little. "Fascinating spell. Upward propulsion using heat... air maybe? Adept level spell, three techniques? Must try and create something like that myself someday. "
Suddenly, with a shiver, the bird seemed to fold outwards, his being warping and twisting, as if the entire insides were shifting disconcertingly. Then, in the blink of a broken eyelash, another creature stood in its place- elven looking, dressed in fine brown clothing, old but unbent and with a moptop of fine green hair and eyes made of roughly-hewn sapphire that smacked of centuries of heavy arcane usage. At his belt was an impressive array of various carrots, each so vibrant and orange that they served to attract the eye even more than the peculiarity of the man who bore them.
"Name's Z'kron. What brings you to this neck of the woods... skies ... then?"

[Archalen Andares]

The Thane Archalen, along with the diplomat Turnis and Christos were slowly, very slowly, becoming acquainted with the ruined power that was Paxia. Such a shame, he thought, that a once beautiful city could see such dark days. The Esh'lahier Official led the way, wearing a black robe stitched with silver leaves along the arms with black cushioned sandals. Turnis walked quietly behind, caring the flag and banner of Imperia with a look of dismay and disappointment stretched across his face. The status of the city was almost disgusting in his eyes.

Christos the bodyguard followed last, eyes peeled with his longsword clanking against strong chainnmail. They were surveying the city, plotting how Imperia could profit off its port city neighboor fairly while helping Paxians regian their footing. True, Paxia neglected Imperia during the fire rain, or so Archalen thought, but such petty items were below him.

It was near a ruined and still crumbling building in a dirt road that Christos first heard it. A squak, or caw of some sort. "My lord......um..." he said, unsure of the alien sound his ears caught above the din of reconstruction. Three heads looked skyward, catching a most unusual sight.

A Man and a bird...no wait, now another man...in the sky having a conversation? And here Archalen was one to think he had seen it all.

They watched with hands shaped to shield the sun, as if the mere gesture could let the see further into the sky and catch the most bizaare occurence. Turnis, ever the supsicious one called out, without permission. "You two there!" Christos looked around him to see if anyone else caught the strange sight beside the three.

"Mages will be mages." Archalen said whimsically watching the two.

What would happen of this most extravangent display of skill kept the three guessing.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Eren sized up the figure that had transcended out of the form of the bird, crossing his arms in front of his chest and attempting to gauge where the man opposite of him was at, psychologically and otherwise. There was a slight stir on the Astral Plane as Eren’s mind bent itself out and flexed across the rippling arcanic energies; here was a powerful individual that could crush the world others knew in less than a blink of the eye. Z’kron, too, seemed to possess a variation of that power – though the Elementalist was able to ascertain him probably not quite yet the rank of Master. The easy transformation from bird to elf suggested a hint of practice, which meant the journeyman had at least the sense of mind to strive for something greater.

There was something off about his elven counterpart’s appearance, however, but Eren didn’t waste the time to place his finger on it. Druids were always quirky anyways.

“Close. Master-level spell, enchantment of course… you missed the unnecessary evocation for sheer speed. Otherwise, probably dead on – more or less,” he tilted his head to the side, a curious glance over the carrots that the other wielded like daggers. He took a few steps and kicked a pile of dirt, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

“I used to learn here, you know. Pity the Orcs had to come all the way from Narim to destroy it. We were staving them off so well from the route back to Ire, too,” he added almost as an afterthought until he was jerked away from his abstract musing at the sound of a man calling in their direction. Frowning in quiet confusion, he cast a sharp glance over his shoulder to see if they were cohorts of this Z’kron fellow and, seeing nothing resembling recognition, mumbled beneath his breath and waved.

“Serale! Can I help you?”

[Z'kron]

"Evocation for speed. Right. So a hard-air protective barrier to prevent the pressure backlash. Sensible enough." Masterpiece spells tended to fascinate the druid, who was something on an engineer himself aside from his magical abilities. Physics and the like had always been a fascination.
With a slight head shake, the druid noticed the elf's eyes dropping to his belt.
"Ah. These. Well, you know the old adage about not being able to imbue living things? Well, turns out it was wrong. Just a bit more difficult, it turns out."
The druid casually flipped a carrot up from his belt in a smooth motion that almost seemed superhuman in its deftness, so much that it barely seemed to move at all. His hand gently moved over the vibrant orange surface, in something between a caress and a dabble with the arcanic weave. Suddenly the carrot seemed to twist, warping apart, flattening out and retracting into itself, becoming a flat filamentous layer slightly curved and notched at the edges so as to allow rising air to catch its grooves- but still, quite paradoxically, retaining much of the look and feel of being a carrot. A slight shimmer underneath it; the unmistakable tingle of magic and hot air rising. And then the druid let go of the carrot, the oddly darknening hollowed out living creation hovering above the ground in a slowly rotating fashion.
"Alteration filter. Simple, single technique converting light to heat, which heats the air sufficiently to lift. Good for energy. An initiate could power it. Horrible maneuverability though. "
A puff of air from the druid's mouth, as the carrot spiralled lightly away. The druid turned his head with an understated glance at the dirtpile.
"Yah. Nice town. Not much they could do against an archnecromancer though. Put a portal right in the middle of it, slaughtered the mage population then let the orcs do the rest. All the walls really did was keep the people in." A look that might be interpreted as pain or perhaps even sadness, which quickly dipped away into a demeanor of casualness as he noted the newcomers. His voice echoed out with the casual notes of trained command, apparent even through his relaxed wording.
"Hallo there. Who's this? "

[Archalen Andares]

The Thane started walking towards the odd couple, obviously against the judgment of his bodyguard Christos. The Human was an ex-legionnaire, not one to put either trust nor safety in the wish-wash that was arcane dealings. He attempted to stop the Thane from walking towards the two with a weak grab of Archalens gray robe, but alas Archalen was dedicated to finding out such a bizarre trick and wouldn't be stopped by safety. His curiosity was unsatisfied as yet.

Christos brow furrowed as the Esh'lahier made his way closer to the two mages, but with a sigh and a shake of his head he started walking that way too. The poor human bodyguard, always being caught up in trouble by his elven employer! And Turnis for his part, only carried the banner behind the other two with a stern look of suspicion.

Hands clasped under deep folds of the black robe Archalen wore a grin and greeted the two with a slight bow. Turnis, coming up from behind called out; "His Lordship, Thane Archalen Esgalvith, of Imperia." Archalen rolled his eyes but a little and focused on both Z'kron and Erenthril. "I apologize for the.,...interruption. I must say...I have seen many things yet in my young life..but nothing so....exquisite as that. Tell me my friends....who are you and what...knowledge have you that allows such sublime feats?"

To anyone but perhaps the most un-observant, the young Esh'lahier Thane was simply amazed by what he had seen. Christos and Turnis however, stayed their distance suspicious and ready for anything the arcane users potentional trickery would show. It was a sad, but true fact that people just feared what they didn't know.

But Archalen, the shadow elf in black stitched robes was wonder-struck.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

A grin flared on Eren’s own countenance as Z’kron artfully described the spell. It had taken Eren more than a few tries to develop the need for any sort of barrier at all, and that was only after the supersonic launching that had landed him neatly on his bum some forty feet later. He still swore there was a bruise.

“That’s a most interesting contraption. Not very many journeymen know how to activate arcane artifacts by simple touch – let alone create them. I’ve been working with this idea of touchable glyphs for quite some time now, truth be told,” he confessed in genuine wonderment as emerald eyes sparkled the reflection of the hovering carrot-like structure in mid air. Yes, he could feel the sudden expansion of heat from beneath the flattened paper-like entity, and the hot air swelling form underneath. It acted much like a balloon, to be sure, but how proficient or sensible such a spell would be for anything quite larger was decidedly questionable in the Elf’s mind. He wouldn’t risk stepping onto anything like such.

His attention briefly drawn away by the trio of newcomers, Eren lazily sabotaged Z’kron’s carrot missile with a gentle evocation of the air nearby, trademarking his own elemental manipulation and creating a simple breeze that misled the druid’s creation astray in a playful series of bends and curves. Entertaining himself while titles were tossed about and egos measured, Eren looked up only once to frown at the presence of an Esh’lahier before ducking his head once more and quietly listening. Imperia, as he’d known it, was nothing short of a hellhole, filled to the brim with crimelords and backstabbing bastards who’d given the Elf a run for his money in his younger days. He’d been blackmailed and backstabbed by doing little more than requesting to purchase a house, and he’d been sure to extract some semblance of justice on the Head Aedile for the underhanded dealings. The rest of the population, however… well, Eren wasn’t the one that caused the meteor shower, but he certainly wouldn’t have minded practicing his aim on a block or two. The place needed redecoration anyways.

“Well, my counterpart here is a Druid and I am an Elementalist,” he tossed a grin at Z’kron, before quipping, “and that makes us Mages, quite naturally. You know – bending the rules of nature and performing supernatural wonders on a day-to-day basis… that sort of thing.”

[Z'kron]

"A handy trick I developed. If you expose forming life to a well tailored vis field, the ara becomes permanently incorporated but unstable- however with a careful divination and acceleration of growth, the life will adapt to the ara and the surrounding environment. Basically the same process believed to have created Katta and Dorins, but on a much smaller scale. And if you have an inbuilt divination style response- an imprinting; then you can essentially breed very minor lifeforms which have effects similar to magic and which are triggered by, say, pressure on certain sensory parts of them- causing an energy flow which can be neatly tailored to activate whatever you want."
A grin as the contraption span away under the elementalist's control. Z'kron's creations, as ever, straddled the line between the living and the mechanical, and as such often made the more traditional druids uncomfortable. It was pleasant to be able to "talk shop".
"And, of course, with proper assistance, you can build in effects from any sphere. It's all just a matter of ara flow, and might even be able to be used to activate conventional magic items. Though that's a particularly druidic solution to the touch glyph problem- I'd be fascinated by an elementalist one."
The druid casually gestured again at the wind-buffeted carrot, sending a tiny surge of growth energy towards it so it swooped upwards towards Archalen. His eyebrow arched just a little at the politician. Z'kron was not, as a rule, particularly fond of them, before his mouth settled back into a playful smile as he responded to Erenthril's quip.
"Though, after that flying demonstration, I'm not quite sure if my magic counts as supernatural. Makes little floating plants seem a little mundane." A turn of the head as he directed his attention to the politician.

[Archalen Andares]

The Thane watched the proccedings, listening in to what was some other language these two spoke. Divinations, energy flows, glyphs and so forth..all these words and ideas were essential lost on the three men before the two mages. Turnis mumbled something only heard by himself, and Archalen turned round to glance at the man before turning round to the two arcane practitioners with a slight grin.

"Indeed, I should say so." he said to the Elementalist in return to his comment of breaking the mundane on a daily basis. And oh, so modest too, he thought. That was the trouble with mages. Inflated egos and a sense of overvalued slight superiority. In fact, Archalen had never met a mage or practitioner of the arcane who didn't have a bad case of 'better-then-you'. Perhaps the ability or condition to cast arcane came with it? Or was it an acquired trait? The Thane of Imperia cared not, and would not commit the folly of judging new people based on past experiences.

Such a thing could be dangerous, after all.

Watching the carrot (was it really a type of carrot? he thought) swoop towards him Archalen made no move nor flinch. Christos however, stepped forward on gaurd, only to see that the Thane wasn't under danger of the misunderstood arcane. Seeing such, he relaxed again but kept his eyes firmly on Z'kron the druid. Archalen however thought it was wonderful magic trick and chuckled throatily.

"I must say....a wonderful trick. Do you have any others by chance? In Imperia, we have little of those that follow the......paths of the arcane"

Archalens gray orbs flickered from Z'kron to Erenthril. Surely, he hadn't seen such things since he was a child. Amused and intrigued he stood close watching the two. Turnis, for his part was growing tired of the unwanted mages, for he was not a person who enjoyed such things. Christos simply remained alert, ready to engage in combat should his leige come under attack from the magicians.

[Z'kron]

A raised eyebrow. "Few that follow such paths in Imperia? Ironic, given your history. Imperia was started by a group of mages, I recall, even before it became Ak'dar. But I daresay I've encountered a few mages in Imperia before, though that may have changed since the meteor shower."
A smile as the druid evaluated the man in front of him. Young, very young. But that couldn't be taken to mean particularly much. And thane at that age, well, that was impressive. It didn't look as if it was acquired purely by hereditary. Hmm. Another smile.
"I suppose, yes, we do have a few more tricks. Entertaining ones too. But is there a good enough reason to show them?"

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Eren, for the first time that morning, offered a genuine smile towards Z’kron. “That’s incredible. I really need to get out more – did a treatise get put out explaining the theory behind it? Or did you discover that only just recently? Are you tying that into your masterpiece?” he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning forward eagerly . The fact that living creatures could be imbued, enchanted even, was something that he’d always failed to look into. There was a simple all-around rule that you should tamper with life (that is, unless you wanted some rather pitiful adverse side effects to occur) and thus Eren had always obeyed that rule and never manipulated or bent it. Z’kron, however, must have been hellbent in discovering a means behind it – and he’d just given Eren a very easy and alternative solution to the touch-form glyphs he’d been debating about for those damn airships. It was all too coincidental.

“What about flying dirigibles, then, Z’kron?” he asked, a wide grin spreading quickly over his face. He might as well include the druid in on the project, even though he’d really been looking for a sorcerer. He still needed that vertical lift without relying too heavily upon his own masterpiece… and although he could accomplish roughly the same with air… well. “Would you be interested in constructing an airship? I have plans… ideas… figures. Not necessarily the aerodynamics, but the strategy for getting one up and functioning in the air. I’d love for you to come along and discuss your glyph theories,” he clapped a hand on the Druid’s shoulder, hesitating very briefly before adding, “my name’s Lord Erenthril Mael’tharias; you can call me Eren.”

Archalen was all but forgotten in the new rush of adrenaline brought about by an alternative prospect of finally creating those dirigibles he’d so longed for.

[Z'kron]

"No treatise as yet, though doubtless it will be published soon enough, to the horror of my druidic comrades. As for the dirigibles, I'd love to. Such things have always been a fascination of mine. Was rather fascinated with them back in pre-aetherfracture days with the old magics."
An answering grin. Airships. Who would have thought. He'd not really considered the things in a long while- certainly not since his return from Trelore. He'd mentioned them once to Milo, but his attempts since then had been rather abortive, scarcely getting past the stage of hot air baloons. But this- this might just go somewhere.
"The triggering was just a side effect of my masterpiece research. The same process I described works to create subspecies of plants within minutes. It allows crops to be altered to thrive in specific soils as if they were the best ground in the empire- it's something I'm planning on using to help Paxia, though I'm aware of the economic repurcussions of such a thing and so I'll be introducing it rather gradually. And as I said before, can also breed for specific qualities- which might be useful in materials to construct the dirigible in. Ideally something which partially generates its own lift. I'm fairly certain I could develop something." A pause, as the druid contemplated. Cogs ticked over in his mind as he considered the possibilities, experimenting and discarding one after the other, weighing them up in true scientific fashion.
"It also works on animals, though I'm a little more wary of that field. Small steps. Just because you can breed a flying salamander who lives mostly off sunlight, doesn't mean you should. "
A slight shrug, as Z'kron thought back to the salamanders in his cave. Who he hoped were floating happily in their little salamander-basin, along with the bubbling algae.
"Oh. Z'kron, Z'kron Khysryth. Technically lord, but I spent half my life running away from those sorts of titles anyway, and I certainly don't plan to stop now."

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Some Candlemarks later

Eren eventually managed to ditch the two others after several long discussions that seemed to endlessly renew on when he’d be meeting Z’kron before inevitably trotting towards the temporary Aedile’s office that was in charge of overseeing the construction of Paxia.

Running a hand through chocolate tresses of hair, Eren spied the doorknob and opened it, neatly dodging a lumbering human brute who seemed to be walking without looking as to where he was going, brushing past the door and haughtily strutting his way down the street. Muttering something not so nice beneath his breath, Eren side-stepped into the small space designated for an Aedile.

Never mind the Imperial bunch standing about bristling and armed to the teeth.

“Serale. My name is Erenthril Mael’tharias, and I come from Syl’rosya. I heard about the attack on the city, and feel obligated to help. I learned Arcana here, see, so… I have the unique ability to offer you my services. By the end of the cycle, I could have all of the rubble in the city cleared for reconstruction, and within two cycles, possibly less, a stone wall erected around the perimeter just as tall and just as fortified as your last – if memory serves,” he smiled, well, no… smirked rather, but still all the same. He felt rather good about himself in times like this, when all the tutelage and studying actually had a chance to pay off, for once in a blue moon.

After all, how many people could walk into a disaster zone and offer to have it relieved in such a short span of time?