Amarathia City

Scouter's small convoy rumbled and rattled it's way through the streets of Amarathia city at a leisurely pace. All around them the city was teaming with life that it had been all but devoid of only five years prior. Much due to Sylvire Nasazura's efforts at restoring the city during the time of the fall it was among the first to be re-populated when the voidling menace was broken and scattered to the four winds.

Tall towers of white stone loomed overhead with only a trace of the time still etched into their cracked stone and the ivy that still clung to the less well repared portions of the city.

Scouter hummed away as they made their way deeper into the city. They passed pedestrians and other wagons on their way, and the races and animals present seemed a matter of great diversity. Altari men and women walked alongside races and species from all reaches of Aelora that had been drawn out of their mountain safe-holds to this beacon of a new civilization rising out of the metaphorical ashes.

The pedestrians grew more dense as they neared the market and their wagon slowed to a plodding pace to avoid hitting anyone. Bright banners and signs marked booths and stalls where merchants gathered to sell their wares.

"You awake there, miss?" Scouter asked as the wagon rolled to a stop.

Roxxy's head hung down, her hood draping with pieces of purple hair hanging low. She stirred, and gripped hold of the bench as Scouter asked a question. "Huh?" She mumbled. Bringing a hand to her mouth to wipe away the small amount of saliva that had built up, she blinked her eyes open to find a much busier setting than the one that had put her to sleep.

The appearance of the citizens in the town shocked her. She hadn't seen such... diversity all in one place before.

The slow pace of the cart gave her ample time to analyze each different booth. Some were filled with silver pieces of decoration. She saw tapestries, and glorious amounts of different fruits and vegetables. These looked to be so appetizing, that it brought forth a rumble deep from within Roxxy's abdomen. Instinctively, she reached within her pocket to pull out a small brown pouch of currency. Before she could inquire about an exchange rate, however, she was blinded by an emerald studded giant door.

The door was entry for a two story building. With elegant markings, and bright shining stones decorating the front, Roxxy couldn't help herself from gawking. Such an entrance should only be for a King, in her opinion. With her left hand, she touched the shoulder to Scouter, getting his attention. "Where does that door lead to!?" She pointed with her other hand, coin pouch still in clutch, towards the giant door.

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Scouter looked to the alabastar building Roxxy had taken note of. It was an elegant structure with a large set of stone steps leading to the pair of large, wooden double doors.

"That's the Nasazura Library," Scouter replied. "You at least know who Sylvire Nasazura is, right?" he asked as he squinted at the girl and gestured to the large statue of regal looking elven woman standing atop a stone pedestal in the center of the plaza.

Scouter rose from his seat with a grunt at the stiff ache that had settled into his muscles from the bumpy ride before easing himself down off the wagon. One of the bulls snorted restlessly and he patted it lightly before limping his way around to the back of the wagon.

Roxxy shook her head, "Remember, 'new to the area'? Never heard of the woman." She looked to the statue, "She must have done some pretty amazing things to earn a namesake library of such elegance, though." She eyed the peculiar features of the statue, and noted its' location.

As Scouter set himself down off the cart, the whole contraption lifted up a few inches. Her cloak had slid between the bench and front end of the wagon. With it's rising, she had gotten caught. Noticing this as she turned to follow Scouter's actions, she became entangled in her own covering. With a slight tug, it still didn't come free. "Umm..." She didn't want to appear weak, but it would seem she needed some help removing herself.

Roxxy sat her coin pouch down on the part of the bench where Scouter had been sitting, and began to tug with both hands. "I can tell.." Grunt! "... that some very precise measurements.." Oomf! "... were taken when building this wagon!" The woman rose to her feet, turned all the way around, and steadied herself with a foot upon the bench while tugging on her own cloak. 'How humiliating!' She scolded herself.

Scouter chuckled lightly at Roxxy's predicament. "Might'n want to hop on down and stretch your legs once you untangle yourself," Scouter called to Roxxy. "I need to be get'n these weapons unloaded."

While the grizzled merchant was rummaging around in the back of the wagon and Roxxy's attention was otherwise claimed by her cloak a pair of local miscreants made their move.

With a loud rattle a small boy landed atop the wooden cage that enclosed the wagon. He didn't appear to be more than ten or twelve by the look of him, but his lightly-furred and monkey-like features often left him looking far younger than he actually was.

With a grunt Scouter looked up. "Hey you, get down from there!" he barked.

The little monkey-boy seemingly far from intimidated by the wolfish merchant simply stuck his thumbs in his ears and blew a raspberry at the merchant.

Of course, the lad was just the distraction as a second figure - this one female - darted past the wagon to snatch up Roxxy's pouch from the wagon seat. With a hop and a skip the little monkey-girl was clear of the wagon and over the top of the bulls with Roxxy's pouch. As she landed in the street she too blew a quick raspberry over her shoulder at Roxxy before she was off into the crowded plaza.

Laughing, the boy jumped down off the wagon to take off after the girl.

"Oh, right!" Grunt! "Absolutely! You go ahead..."Oomf! "I'll get it loose!"

As the monkey boy landed on top of the rear carriage, it went unnoticed to Roxxy at first. The loud passing of pedestrians and merchants blocked most anything outside of a three foot radius from being heard. However, Scouter's voice seemed to boom throughout the whole street.

Looking up from her struggle, she spotted the creature. She paused, having felt certain she was looking right at a character from a book she had once read. Her curiosity seemed to offer the needed inspiration to pull the cloak from it's entrapment. As Roxxy budged herself free, she barely caught hold before flipping over the front of the wagon backwards into a pile of stamping feet. With an extended arm, she swatted at the monkey child. "Shoo! Go one!" She hissed.

Suddenly, the cart began to shudder and shake. Looking at her feet, then following to the front of the wagon, she saw that the bulls were fitting; stamping and snorting as another monkey child leaped over their backs. Roxxy's face fell flat as the creature stuck its' tongue out before taking off into the crowd. Just as the other one leaped down from his perch, Roxxy had a thought, and looked to see her coin purse gone from it's spot.

There was no time for wonderment, as that was all the money Roxxy had to her name. And this place didn't seem to be lacking in workers, so she could only imagine the kind of activity she would have to partake in to earn such a savings back.

"Hey! You there! STOP!" Her voice reached a higher level, in hopes of startling the creatures. Apparently, though, all thieves were alike; whether here or there, the only thing to stop a thief, was the will to do so.

Hopping down from the wagon and landing on her feet, she pulled her cloak off the ground, and took after them. Maybe five feet into the chase, Roxxy realized she was chasing monkeys. 'This won't do.'

"I said STOP!" She boomed. While one hand still held her cloak, the other reached out directly in front of her, fingers pointed toward the boy who was pulling up the rear for the team of tricksters. Roxxy's body took on a glow, and sparks flew from her fingertips. Quickly, faster than the normal eye can notice, she shot out a line of electrical current, aiming at the boys tail.

BZZT!

The brief jolt had the lad sprawled in the street with his tail twitching and his fur standing on end.

At the loss of her companion the girl wheeled about and darted back. She quickly transferred the pouch from hand to tail so she could grab her stunned comrade. As her hand came into contact with his electrified fur a brief spark of electricity and a pop filled the air as she jerked her hand back with a yelp.

"Hey that hurt," she yelled at the lad before kicking him.

"Ow! It wasn't my fault!" he yelled back at her.

"Come on! We're going to get caught!"

As if to iterate this point, she shoved the pouch into his hands so he would be the more guilty party if they should be caught.

Roxxy's electrical shock demanded the two culprits' attention in a manner timely enough to allow her gain upon their heels. She saw them catch their footing, but didn't seem to notice the passing of her money pouch.

"I said stop, thieves! There's lots more where that came from!" Roxxy tried to sound stern, but her voice was too high pitch to startle anyone.

As she approached the two, she stood with arms at hip, skin still aglow with specks of color shining like embedded diamonds. As the female was the last one she saw in possession of her money, she reached out to grab her by the shirt collar. The other one was a bit too far out of reach, and both them seemed to almost equal her size.

With a death clench on the girls shirt, squeezing it tight enough to pinch at her neck, Roxxy pointed her other hand at the boy. "I know you two have my pouch. I want it back. Now." She furrowed her brow, "Please."

This section of the temple was oddly darker than normal, he thought as he moved towards the main Vestibule. Weren't there normally more torches? And where was everyone? Maybe something was happening outside that had drawn everyone away. He came upon a set of large doors - weren't these usually open? Were there even normally doors here? Something weird was going on. With a sigh and a shrug - he wasn't going to figure anything out just standing there, after all - Cináed placed his hands against the door and pushed.

---

It was at that moment that the elegant doors that Roxxy had observed earlier swung open. A slight blonde figure stepped out into the plaza, before immediately coming to a halt. Cináed's jaw dropped.

This definitely isn't the temple any more.

He realised that he was attracting a few stares. It took him a moment to realise that it was because of his clothes - a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, whilst everyone else here wore clothing from somewhat less modern times. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Still, it seemed that nobody cared enough to waste more than a few seconds staring. They had seen much stranger things in their lifetimes than a teenager dressed oddly.

Cináed made his way slowly down the steps, staring about at the market plaza until his eyes came to rest on the statue of Sylvire. 'I recognise her', he thought, 'from the vestibule statues. Sylvire Nasazura. So does this place have something to do with the Patronus?'

This was going to take a while to figure out. 'I should probably just ask someone where the hell I am...'

"Hey!" Widget hollered as she flailed about in the woman's grasp. "Lemme go! I don't have your stinkin' money!" she fussed indignantly.

By this point curiosity had gotten the better of Pong, who was at this point looking much akin to a puff ball from the electric shock that had his fur standing on end.

"Huh?" he said as he peered down inside the moneybag Widget had handed him. He gave it a shake before overturning the contents out onto the street.

"Don't you have any real money?" he asked.

Dropping the bag he grabbed Widget's hand and tugged. "Come on let's get out of here."

Widget taking the cue to scram bit down on Roxxy's arm.

Provided the woman dropped her, both Widget and Pong took off into the crowed leaving Roxxy's money strewn in the street.

Roxxy dropped the girl as a hiss escaped her lips, "You little brat!" Clasping the place which the female critter bit her, she yelled after her, "Don't let me find you trying to pick my pocket ever again!" She looked down, then back up again, "Or anyone else's for that matter!!!"

Crouching down, she gathered her coins before they got stomped into the ground by passers by. Quickly forgetting the pair of hoodlums, Roxxy stood and tried to peer over heads to make sure Scouter had not forgotten about her. Eyeing the cart, she scrambled back to its' location.

It appeared that there would be another speculation within the area, as she noticed its' citizens all turning towards the tall entry way that she had noticed upon first arrival.

Indeed there was; as the young woman had found her way back to Scouter's cart, a strange looking man was standing outside the doors. It appeared that he had come from within them. 'Curious.' Roxxy thought to herself. Not sure what to do with herself, her thoughts directed back to a comment that the boy had made as he emptied her change purse. "Real money?" She asked aloud. It occurred to her that her own currency might need to be exchanged for this places' own. "Is gold not of value here?" She aimed this question towards Scouter, shouting a bit so as to be heard.

Cináed's eye caught a small commotion elsewhere in the square, where a pair of odd-looking youngsters appeared to be messing with a woman with brightly coloured hair. As he watched, they emptied the contents of her purse, apparently disinterested in the gleaming coins Was that real gold? Not much, but it must've been worth more than what most muggers pulled from their victims wallets. At least by the looks of things he doubted that anyone around here would be carrying the latest iPhone.

As the tailed youths disappeared into the crowd, Cináed's eyes returned to Roxxy as she gathered her money. He overheard her shout to Scooter: 'Is gold not of value here?'

By the sounds of things, she wasn't from here either.

Deciding to at the very least get down from the steps of what appeared to be a rather prominent building and out of the spotlight of passerby's stares, Cináed moved into the square and towards Roxxy and Scouter.

"Ah, excuse me?" he began, "This is going to sound strange, but I don't suppose you could tell me where I am, could you?"

Skorne materializes from the void.

Skorne has left the area, heading out into Amarathia.