"What horror!" Simon drew Elisabeth's attention to the bank of flashing boxes. "Those people, tiny and trapped!" After the camera cut to another shot and it was clear the tiny people were looking at them, Simon reconsidered his hypothesis. No one was shrunk and fit into rectangle prisons; the images were flat, and repetitious, like animated paintings.
"We should leave." Elisabeth nudged him.
"In a moment. That is the signet of our king. Look."
"I don't care of it's buried treasure." She twisted him. "They are blocking the road."
"Perhaps a parade is in order? It would explain why so many people occupy the night."
"Or maybe we should leave." She pulled him away from the televisions. "Come on."

The duo walked quickly back towards Martellus. The crowd was thick and unabiding in its quest for the box; Simon had trouble following the elf until she took hold of his wrist and pulled him quickly along. She had no quarter for the pedestrians that stood in her way, leaving Simon to mutter apologies that would never be understood.
Back in the labyrinth of alleys, Elisabeth grew even more tense. She turned some corners slowly and whipped around others, one hand wrapped around the pommel of a sword and the other crushing Simon's wrist. "This is stupid. You're stupid. There is a war in Centralia and you have me here with these... these constant, blaring, metal shells and no stars. This is Hell, Simon. This is where Elsir sends elves that piss her off. You know where you go when you piss me off? You'll beg to your human god that there be a release from my torture by the end of the century." Her demeanor was violent and tense, but Simon knew that was how she masked fear. He decided against trying humoring, and instead silently followed her good senses back to the waiting paladin.

"Our observations prove... inconclusive. And troublesome," he announced when Elisabeth finally let go.

Caclia and Vidari continued to walk, eventually stopping when they came across a store with televisions in the window. The boxes reminded Caclia of the small one the girl had used, but she had no idea how it worked. There were people on or rather in the box, but she was almost certain they weren't real. Rather, they weren't actually inside the box. She and Vidari weren't actually in the girl's little box so these people couldn't be in that box, right?

As she looked at the TV, trying to understand it, she noticed a modified Centrailian symbol on it. She grabbed Vidari's arm with such strength and quickness that he almost let out a yelp. He had been busy people watching. The older sibling pulled the younger one towards the glass window and pointed at the television set. Vidari had just enough time to see the symbol before the picture changed to a woman who began talking in the odd language these citizens spoke in. Vidari glanced at Caclia. "Why was Centrailia's symbol in that box?" he asked her, as if she knew.

"I don't know, but we should go tell Martellus." Caclia turned to leave, heading back the way they had come. Vidari followed close behind, eventually having enough room to squeeze next to her.

When the two returned to the alley, Simon and Elisabeth had just arrived as well. Simon announced that their observations did not lead them any closer to figuring out what kingdom they were in. However, the pair had seemed to have observed the same odd behaviors and mechanisms as the twins had. Once Simon was finished speaking, Caclia spoke. "We are unsure of what land we are in, as the citizens here don't speak our language. They dress oddly and have odd carriages without horses. There are also boxes that capture time here, both big and small. One of the big time boxes had the Centrailian symbol on it, before the..." she was at a loss for what to call the image,"... painting changed. However, our symbol was different than the one we know." The elf gave a full report of their findings, hoping it would give Martellus a clue of where they were.

Although Martellus had a plentiful amount of time to think, he still could not figure out an exact reason why the portal failed. His conclusion on this matter was that it was just pure dumb luck that got them here. Eventually he Simon, Elisabeth return before giving their report, apparently their observations proved inconclusive and troublesome which didn't give him anything to work with. Soon afterwards Caclia and Vidari who had arrived just behind them also gave him their report, from their investigation the civilians spoke a different language and dressed oddly. They also reported that there were odd carriages without horses and strange boxes that capture time. What interested him the most when they reported that they saw a modified Centralian symbol inside one of these strange boxes.

"How interesting, strange carriages without horses, and boxes that can capture time. What I find most odd about all of this is how this land managed to obtain an image of the Centralian symbol? And why is the Centralian symbol modified? Grandun is still in the process of securing the last of our city, the last thing in their minds in modifying the Centralian symbol. This land must either be in a state of peace to be able to have their civilians walking around at midnight." Martellus spoke, visibly impressed with the information the four gathered. "Unfortunately this means that we have more questions then answers. If we are to find the answers we seek we must learn about this lands language, if they know about Centralia then they must have some books capable of translating our language to theirs and vice versa. The most logical place to start is a library but finding one will be a task all in itself." He then concluded his thoughts to the group

"You are all free to rest for the day, however if you are still up for looking for a library then by all mean go ahead. Also if you have any more thoughts you would like to share, please feel free to speak your mind. You are now all dismissed." With that, Martellus leaned back against the stone wall to start compiling his thoughts about this new land.

"Library? I would suspect an embassy, college, archaeological society, or some such other body of humane knowledge would be more forthright with assistance."

Simon waited after Martellus finished speaking. He waited a moment, then another, then thought to speak but Elisabeth opened her mouth first: "We're dismissed? With all due respect, what kind of fucking leader are you? We're free for the rest of the day? I'm so glad to have your damned consent, paladin, but we are not at home. There are no quarters to retire to. You cannot dismiss us. We are in a foreign land, with no way to communicate with each other, and you want us to... what? Wander off?!"
"I, Elisabeth, please." Simon held up his hand. She was clearly prepared to continue yelling. "Martellus, if I may be so forward... we do need to agree on a course of action. We are lucky that our cursory investigations went so peaceably, but this land knows of our own, but we don't know its agenda. I would think it prudent to discuss our actions going forward, rather than being left to our individual devices."

The twins waited quietly as Martellus mused over the report. Caclia wasn't happy about their situation. They were stuck somewhere with lots of people. And wherever they were, these people didn't speak their language and they dressed so differently. It was an uncomfortable situation for her. Martellus stated that they now had more questions than answers, causing Caclia to make a rude remark in her head. She could have come to that conclusion, considering how confusing this land was. The Head Paladin than suggested finding a library to translate the language here to their own, though he admitted this would be a difficult task. The twins both knew it would be hell trying to find a library here. Simon spoke then, suggesting alternatives to a library which the elves weren't very familiar with.

Martellus spoke again, dismissing them. Elisabeth had a very violent reaction to this, though Caclia couldn't blame her. As a knight she had taken orders for most of her life. Now her order was sit around and do nothing? The twins stayed quiet as Elisabeth finished yelling at the Paladin before Simon interjected himself. He spoke with great calmness, which was so different than has partner.

Once he was finished, Caclia spoke up. "I have to agree with him, Paladin. We should have a strategic plan underway in case we are attacked. If we are attacked and cannot defend ourselves, then we are of no use to our kingdom or to the civilians that will also be 'teleported'." It suddenly dawned on her that the civilians were not there yet. "Head Paladin, when will the civilians be 'teleported' here?"

Martellus was surprised when Elisabeth had snapped at the him giving him a piece of her mind, soon after Simon calmly told him that they should discuss a plan. After the two finished talking, Caclia spoke up and agreed to have a plan ready in case they were attacked and she also asked him when the civilians were supposed to arrive. After the two groups finished taking, Martellus spoke up. "No offence taken Elisabeth." He glared at her before continuing. "I have severely underestimated your abilities to handle a situation like this and for that I must apologise. I believed that if we take things at a slow pace we would have a clear head as we proceeded, but it would seem you are all quite ready. So with that out of the way it would seem we should get serious here. Caclia to answer your question the civilians are not coming, they were supposed to arrive one minute after we have entered. It has been a whole hour and I belive their travel was successful, I just pray that they do not get into danger. Now with that out of the way it's time to organise a plan, with my lack of knowledge of this place I will leave most of the planning up to you four, I will of course give my opinion about the plan but for now we need something we all can agree with."

Martellus soon crossed his arms before talking one last time. "I still believe finding the library takes top priority, but since we may not know how long we are going to be here we may need to find a vendor to aquire supplies such as food and water. Now I leave the rest of the planning up to you four." He concluded.

Martellus glared at her? Elisabeth bristled in response and uncrossed her arms, taking the dangerous poster Simon recognized and feared. "We all need something we can agree with? I-you-but..." She stomped her foot and looked at Simon incredulously. "How the fuck is he in charge?"
Simon opened his mouth, like he might answer, but even his confidence in the king's choice of paladins puzzled him. "...I don't know."
"...this really, really is Hell, isn't it? No stars, Simon. None. Where did they go?" In all the time Simon had known her, he'd never seen her so fearful that hitting or killing something wasn't her response. She was, somehow, pushed past that, and it in turn upset his own confidence. "I remember vivid descriptions of lakes of fire and torment," he offered. "Until we find one, I don't think we can judge."
"...find a vendor..." she muttered, then threw her head back and looked up at the pale, empty sky. "...acquire food..."

Simon turned to address the other elves, confident that at least for the moment Elisabeth would behave herself. "In some fashion, there are entities present that are aware of our origins, and will likely facilitate acclimating to our new surroundings. Every language has a rudimentary and near-universal system of gestures and pidgin trade lingo; I'm confident we'll be able at the least to feed ourselves, but it would help if our weapons remained stowed and our hoods remained down, or else risk being mistaken as adversarial intruders." He tucked his shirt into his pants, exposing a belt that carried a knife. He removed it and gave it to Elisabeth, as to be as nonthreatening as possible. "Unless anyone has any objections, I'd like to volunteer my services as mediator, until such a time as a translator might be made available. As far as how we find one, I suggest that we travel to this settlement's highest hill, and if the local provisioner's manor is not there, try to identify it from that location."
"And if the local prof-ess-ioner isn't glad to see us?"
Simon shrugged. "We can always lie. Perhaps I'm a war profiteer and you're the mercenaries that guide my caravans. It's helped me smuggle before."
"Or like the time with the Sarnid?" Elisabeth joined him with the other elves, a bit of color returned to her cheeks. Remembering times when everything was fucked all to hell helped her relax.
"I'm not sure that would work twice. And we don't have..." He snapped his fingers, like it was in any way possible for him to forget such an adventure. "Was that the time with the snake or-"
"When you convinced the baron you were a mad witch doctor, and all his crops would be replaced with writhing snakes."
"Yeah. This doesn't look like an agricultural community. But we should leave the possibility open. Either way, my new friends, do you have anything of your own to add?"

Caclia frowned after Martellus answered her question, having feared that possibility. She said a silent prayer that their travel had been successful as well and that they were safe. The paladin spoke again, causing Caclia to raise an eyebrow. He told the three elves and the human to make a plan for themselves, due to his lack of knowledge about the place. "Yeah, because we sure as hell know where we are," she grumbled. Vidari laid a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her before the paladin spoke again, deeming finding a library the most important task at hand in addition to finding food and water.

Elisabeth had another outburst, but Caclia couldn't blame her. She smirked as the exasperated elf asked how Martellus could be in charge here. She openly chuckled as he responded with an "I don't know." Elisabeth commented that they probably were in Hell, which wasn't hard to argue given the circumstances. Simon in turn told her that they had not seen any "lakes of fire and torment" yet before addressing the twins. He suggested they all remain as nonthreatening as possible and that he would volunteer himself as a mediator. Neither of the elves were against this idea, seeing as he was the most scholarly of the group.

Simon suggested they seek the highest point in this town in order to find a provisioner or at least get a grasp of where they were. Elisabeth rejoined the conversation and the two exchanged comments about what sounded like a very odd adventure. "This sounds like a logical plan to me," Caclia stated. "But how do you suggest we find the highest point in this large town? Walk and hope we are lucky enough to find it? The same goes for finding a library." While the knight was determined to find out where they were and secure provisions for the group, she didn't like the idea of wandering around for more than a couple of hours. She would much prefer riding a horse, except there appeared to be none in the immediate area.

Martellus had decided that raising an argument to Elisabeth's outburst would be adding more fuel to her growing rage, although a part of him would have gladly given her a stern talking. Of course he knew he was a bad leader in this situation, he was more accustomed to commanding armies and organising battle plans, not gathering intelligence or finding a library in an unknown city. "I understand that finding these things are hard enough as it is but I believe that you are all capable of doing this. If we can't locate the highest building, find the tallest building you can currently see and use it to survey the area and see if there are even larger buildings, if you can't find a vendor trust your senses and think of this like a hunt, ask one of the people here and act like you are eating and pray they point in the direction that has the vendor. If you honestly want me to help I will gladly look around myself armour or not, but right now doing anything that may be benificial to use for the times to come. So I'm sorry if I'm a bad leader, I'm sorry if I'm making you do all these things, and I'm sorry I can't help much more then this, but all I can say is that I promise you all that I keep you all safe to the best of my efforts." He then finished encouraging the group with a final slam of his chest plate.

Hoping that his speech was successful in calming or even invigorating the group he decided to wait and see how his speech had affected them, hopefully in a good way of course. Of course he didn't have to give such a speech but he wanted to hide a bit of his frustration under a guise of a speech.

"You should be sorry." Elisabeth didn't look at him. She crossed her arms against the biting cold that hadn't left her since the vile ritual that left her here began. She was cold, in her blood and her bones. She envied Caclia's hood, barely keeping her insults about her cowardly, warm attire below the surface.


"You look up." Simon smiled patiently despite his flat answer suggesting Caclia's question was vexing. "But... well, not when you have walls on all sides."
"There's nothing up..." Elisabeth passed him with a hard shoulder knocking him aside. She brushed past the other elves less brusquely and waited at the turn back into the alleyways. "Seems my... ever confident companion is eager to find that hill." Simon followed after Elisabeth. "Martellus you are welcome to accompany us, just as you are free to stay. I cannot promise that we will be able to venture out again and return so peacefully... and I don't know how to keep in contact with you. I suppose we'll find a way, if fate conspires to separate us."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Martellus," both twins spoke at once. However, Caclia's tone was sarcastic while Vidari's was more sincere. Their reactions were also different at Simon's answer to Caclia's question. Vidari welcomed the humour with a grin while Caclia scowled.

The elves followed the other two as they readied to leave the alley. "You should come with us, Paladin," Vidari said. "That way, you can see this land for yourself. Though, perhaps you should consider not wearing your armour. As Simon said before it is quite loud and large. It may draw attention to us or provoke an attack." Of course, the group was already apt to draw attention to themselves, but Martellus's armour would certainly catch someone's eyes.

Caclia didn't care whether the Paladin came or not. She was eager to do something other than standing around. She was also eager to find food.

Martellus was glad that his speech had affected the group in a good which raised his spirits. As the group was getting to leave, Simon was not opposed to the idea of him going with them but he was concerned that they would not be able to venture and return peacefully, Vidari however encouraged Martellus to come along and asked him to consider not to bring his armour with him. With all that they have told him about and how he had said in his speech that he was willing to come along he had decided to come along. "I will be joining with you all so just give me a few seconds to prepare. Besides with all that you have said I myself am curious about this land myself." He spoke before quickly fumbling with his armour.

The first piece of armour to be removed was his helmet showing his face, he then proceeded to remove all but his chest piece and leggings. He now appeared far less threatening and intimidating and looked more like an average man. "This should be good enough to keep me warm and not draw to much unwanted attention on us. Nevertheless let us proceed out of this alleyway and get searching."

"I don't care who comes with us." Elisabeth waited impatiently for the rest of the group. Simon stood between her, the other elves, and the paladins as they proceeded out once more. He considered what diplomatic difficulties might arise from Elisabeth lashing out at the first, unlucky civilian to upset her, but he had talked them both out of worse escapades.

The street was still busy, despite the clear status of night. "So many lights," Simon mused. "Perhaps these people have forgotten which hours to dedicate to sleep."
"Perhaps they've been cursed to live only waking hours."
"Cursed? Banish the thought. The day is the time of productivity. Invention." But Simon knew what she meant, and why the night and stars and sleep were so important for her, so his rebuff lacked its usual happy amiability. "Now, to look up, and find the highest point..."

The great spires that rose and crowded the sky made it difficult to see very far. Elisabeth suggested they climb one, but "I doubt their owners would be very pleased. And we haven't the equipment to climb."
"Then we will use the stairs."
"I don't know how to ask these people if I can use their stairs. Or even where they'd be located."
"Bloody lot of good your plan has done us so far."
"Elisabeth, how do you find your way out of any problem?"
"...pick a direction and keep walking."
Simon had almost enough time to say "Exactly" before she did, and left them to follow.

The twins followed along as the group left the alley and listened to Simon and Elisabeth squabble. Neither of them really had a better idea, as they didn't want to be attacked should they attempt to climb one of these tall structures. Caclia looked up at the structures, wondering how they could be so tall and not fall over. They seemed to dot compose the horizon, making her wonder how far away the farms must be for these people to receive their food.

Vidari decided to engage Martellus in conversation and see what his thoughts were about the land they were in. "See, isn't this land so much different from Centrailia?" He took a quick look around, wondering what these people's lives were like. He was always curious to learn about others. If only he could understand what they were saying. He looked beside him to his sister, who didn't seemed very thrilled to be back in the late night crowd.

Once Martellus left the mouth of the alleyway, he began to look at his surroundings. Metal boxes on wheels, metal poles producing light, lights changing colour, and all the strange clothing and devices the people around them had. He soon turned to Vidari after he asked his question. "This is indeed so much different, to think that such a kingdom with structures stretching to the skies and horizon could remain unheard of. Imagine how much of the land they must have removed to build a kingdom such as this, it would surely invoke a wrath of the gods of the earth, but maybe they already have and they may have even...I am letting my imagination run rampant." He stopped himself for finishing his sentence before he turned his attention elsewhere to look for vendors.