Lore

Isiri awoke and began to stretch after deftly slipping her knife back where it belonged. "A little advice," she said, "If you're going to try to wake me, I suggest you do it from a safe distance." She stood up and made sure everything was in it's place before unrolling her cloak and putting it back on.

"Mind telling me why, exactly, you found the need to delve into my memories? Aside from understanding my aura. Why did you want to know about me so bad?"

Luxan laughed "Well since I am a time mage occasionally can see the future and well lately I've been seeing us stopping a great calamity in the form of a group of adventurers slaughtering a demon colony thinking it is an army. To be frank I also knew you would be here but i had to be sure it was you so that was why we had to see your memories to make sure." He got up and headed to the door. "Well then shall we be off?" He continued with a smile.

He opened the door and strode to the horses waiting on the other side of the street. It was a cool night and Luxan knew there wasn't much time to intercept the group slaughtered the demons. As he got on his horse and steered it closer to the library he checked his bags to make sure the gold he brought was still there. From what his visions told him there were two soldiers of fortune in their group and he hoped that he would be able to stop them with the allure of money.

Isiri blinked a few times before giving a small shrug and following him. She really didn't much care what the world did to itself, so long as it stayed out of her forest. Though she supposed she may owe the mage something and she wasn't too keen on injustice. As Luxan walked his horse over to the library she looked up at him and asked, "So am I walking or are we riding double?"

Luxan laughed and asked her "Do you wanna see a magic trick?" Before she could answer he pulled the spell book off his back and opened it to a page and began to chant the spell on the page.

With a brief flash of light and a warp in the air around the peg where his horse used to be appeared another horse. The horse then walked over to library the exact same as his did moments ago.

"This is an afterimage of my horse pretty much it will take the exact same path that my horse does. Pretty much it is a tangible memory." Luxan said rather proudly. He loved using his spell book it felt almost like a part of him the same as an arm or his leg. "The only issue is though that I have to keep my book open." He didn't actually mind he loved to keep his book open and just read from its massive pages.

"Impressive," she nodded as she climbed up on the horse. "Well then, Luxan, lead the way."

The two traveled quickly out of the city and into the forest. Isiri enjoyed not having to steer the horse and instead being able to just enjoy the forest. It was darker than her home, but considering a colony of demons lived amongst these woods, she didn't think much of it. Each forest had it's own quality about it that drew different races to it, and she respected that.

Before she knew it, Luxan had stopped them just outside of a glade. Taking in her surroundings like the master thief she is, she notices two men on the other side of the glade setting traps. She looks to Luxan and softly asks, "I suppose they're the ones we're stopping?"

Kael nodded to Yama. "Please wait with Hawk until Malik tells you that the demons are out of the way then you three will go destroy the rune.....I'm not sure how. But I trust the three of you are smart enough to figure something out." Kael frowned slightly as she felt Tanis summon something. 'Show off' she thought with a smirk. "Blue I think our friends have had enough time. Lead the way if you would and we will draw these things out of the city. Everyone else should be at the clearing or heading to it."

As highelves, Thalin and Ved had sharper hearing than humans. Thalin saw that Ved noticed the same slight change in the noise of the forest at the same time he did.
Thalin instinctively ducked behind a tree trunk, shielding his body from whatever had caused the disturbance. Ved had done something similar. Crouching, Thalin furrowed his brow in a question to Ved, did he know what it was?
Thalin lifted the scythe from his shoulder and balanced it along the back of his arm, keeping it out of sight from whatever waited within the forest. He slid his dagger back into its sheath but ready in case he needed it.
Thankful for setting the tripwire within the treeline, it was between them and whoever, or whatever was trying to sneak up on them.
He tapped the link between himself and the Knight, 'Me and Ved aren't alone out here. It is too soon to be the demons you're sending our way. It is possible they already know what we're planning.' an edge of Thalin's hyper-paranoia escaped his mental barriers and echoed down the link, for an instant revealing his mental-state to the Knight.

Luxan looked at the men for a moment and pondered on what the best way to approach them was. After a moment he just smiled and turned to Isiri. "Hey could you keep an eye out for their friends, I think I'm going to try to make some new ones right now. If you see their group or hear fighting could you tell me and then do as you see fit?"

Not waiting for a further response from her Luxan walked out into the clearing. He knew the best way to approach them was to be himself and to be straight forward with them. He reached into his robes and pulled out a bag of gold coins he had prepared earlier and threw it in the direction of the men. After that had their attention he pulled his book from its harness on his back, even if he was just being himself he wanted to be prepared for a fight if worse came to worse. "Hello there friends" he called out cheerily . "In that bag is 50 gold coins I give that to you as a gift. If you wish for more I would only ask that you hear my story." Luxan said as he sat down in the middle of the glade. Now all he could do is watch the elves and hope that Isiri was watching out for him.

Ved signals Thalin for a mind link. Once the link is made Ved begins to walk towards the boy.
"Thalin keep an eye out for the demons, and whoever this kid is with no one is this confident alone."

"OK boy I'll listen but you try anything funny and well have some problems." Ved sits in front of of him.

"Thalin make sure the others can hear this aswell."

Luxan smiled at the one who sat in front of him and said. "Of course I'm not alone however she's a bit hard to see in a forrest. She's drow like that if you know what I mean."

"Anyways pretty much you and your friend there who I hope is picking up that money are setting traps to ambush a group of demons don't bother telling me otherwise I've already seen the aftermath of said traps. I'm a Time mage so i can see visions of the future occasionally. Anyways I also saw me offering you your friend there a good amount of money which I just did so therefore the past vision will come to pass, are you following?" He explained to the half-elf. Not waiting for so much as a nod Luxan continued on saying "Well you and your group have mistaken ideas of how the demon culture is they are act upon humans the same way we act upon them. Are you not planning on slaughtering a whole group of them just for some pieces of silver? Well this is why I offer you this gold now to follow me on the path of peace and perhaps saving you from death. Because in this group of demons there are demon women and children and if anyone so much as lays a finger on them the male demons will go on a murderous rampage and most likely kill someone in your group. You see they fight not to harm humans but to protect their own."

Luxan was finished explaining at this point, he laid flat on his back. He did not know what more to say he had explained his point to the best he could all he could hope for was that even if their group did not listen he could at least buy the soldiers of fortune and therefore save at least 2 lives and potentially several demon lives as well. He rolled over and spoke once more. "All I want is peace for the entire population of lore no matter what ones origin's may be."

The demons were coming thanks to his friends mental power he could use it to extend the range of his own they were coming the rune was clear moving away he was running the half vampire moved quickly through the town heading toward the gate all the while keeping track of the demons they were following him staying just in their reach .

Thalin had seen the bag hit, a few gold coins spilling on impact. Gold was a great way to bargain with men of his particular type, but gold could be faked and he wasn't stupid enough to fall for something like that so easily. He looked up at Ved, accepting the mental link, but keeping it separate from the Knight's. He watched his friend stand and make toward the newcomer. The mental-link jangled violently with his caution, alarmed that Ved might be walking into a trap and possible death. But the many different scenarios of death and destruction faded as he felt through the link his friend sit before the stranger.
'Thalin make sure the others can hear this as well' Ved said down the link.
Thalin looked back to the gold, risking a hand out to snatch it and the loose coins up while they were distracted. Only then did he begin relaying Ved's interaction with the "time-mage" to the Knight, no need for them to know about the gold, it was between him, Ved and the stranger.

Time mage, Thalin snorted to himself, disbelieving. But did he even know what demons were? He thought of them only as animals, things that killed indiscriminately. He knew little and cared less, as long as the money came in.
Paranoia came back hard, 'Ved,' he said through their link, 'This might be a distraction, if we don't stay on our toes we might get caught out and end up dead.' As an afterthought, Thalin flicked a coin up into his hand and bit down on it, testing to see if it was real. It appeared to be. Could he have gotten a good coin by chance, he tested another, and then another, but they seemed real enough to him.
Better to be paid not to fight demons, than risk their lives for the promise of an unknown amount.
'Ved, we have some gold, better we bail now than risk getting killed, we don't even know what this band of adventurers will give us for helping them, if anything.'
Thalin crept around in a large arc around Ved and the stranger, scoping out if there were more than just the mage and his suggested companion, keeping steathy and quiet, using all his skills in sneaking to remain unnoticed.
He worked his way around and hid, watching a girl stood a good distance behind the mage, holding a horse and keeping guard. She seemed small and young to be travelling with a mage, not that that mattered, he supposed.
If it turned ugly, Ved could probably handle the mage, Thalin would take on the girl, they could steal the horse and be gone.

Luxan could sense that he was not coming across very well as the half-elf kept looking at him with doubt in his eyes. He decided to try a different approach.

"My name is Luxan Stillguard, I am a time mage by choice but I am also a baron to the queen. If my name is not enough then let me show you my memories to prove to you who I am. Since your friend seems to have moved that leads me to believe you have doubts in your mind. So please let me prove to you who I am and that I mean every word that I say." Luxan said loudly hoping the tall elf would be able to hear as well. He then opened his book and began to recite the magical words on the page. As he did so the words seemed to float from the page and began to spiral around him. Once he finished reciting Luxan reached out his hand and said simply "please?"

"Thalin come grab this gold well take it and go, for a boy to pay this much he must be pretty confident on his predictions. Plus we did our part so well collect from the other group later, and if neither side survives we can loot the whole town. No need for waste right."

"OK boy well accept your pay, but if your was doesn't work well be back."
Ved Grabs some coin and heads towards Thalin. A troubled look on his face
"Keep the link open I want to know what happens with the others. If this boy is a time mage then something big is about to happen. You think we should have ourselves some fun?"

Luxan was thrilled he hoped that this would be the break he need. It mattered not to him that the cost of having a complete stranger see his past. He just hoped that Ved would believe what he saw and not cast it off as illusions. Luxan was not however particularly thrilled on having Ved see him murder his father. However from what he knew of Ved in the moments they had spent talking that he would see that it really was justice and not murder.

Luxan stood up and reached out to Ved. As he did so he turned to talk to Thalin "Have no fear when we leave our bodies will remain and if you feel that I have wronged you in someway you have my permission to kill me." After saying that he took Ved's hand and touched it to the rift he created on his forehead. Doing so he pulled both his own and Ved's astral forms from their body and delved into his own memories. When Luxan awoke he saw that he was not 20 feet from his manor and he could even see the smoke coming from the demon village in the forest. He turned and looked at Ved's not yet conscious body and wondered when he would wake. Luxan wasn't sure how the astral body thing worked but he just new that they were just figments of his mind and everything they were "feeling" was just a trick of the mind as his real body could not feel anything that he did now.

A bit dazed Ved comes to,"What did you just do to me you little...Is this what you saw before? Not guess your not to good at your job now are you?"

Ved looks around and shouts "Thalin!!! Where are you buddy we have places to go!!!"

"Hes probably getting himself into trouble again. Excuse me child but i must be off"

B

Kael ran in front of a large brown and horned demon. She had smelled the thing shortly after leaving the inn and had been separated from Blue and Tanis. She could sense the magic around the demons in the city and by casting her senses out she confirmed that there were only three in the whole city. That was good. If she could get all three together she could find out which one was acting as the eyes and hears for the magic user. These things were under a form of control, yes but they stilled killed nearly a hundred innocent people if the reports were right. She hoped Malik could destroy the rune...

Kael slowed enough so the fumbling demon could keep up and fired a small ball of poison at the demon and grinned as it roared in response. The poison was weak and mostly served to keep its attention on her. "Come on big fella, almost there." She hoped the Blue and Tanis were doing alright.

Quickly a gate came into veiw and she smiled. Finally. She cast her senses out to see exactly where Ved and Thalin were. She found them, and Tanis' men. But there were two unknown presences as well....and taking a deep breath she could smell gold, lots of it. Dread pooled in her gut. Could those two be accepting bribes from the enemy to betray them and kill them? She prayed to the Queen Dragon that she was wrong because otherwise she had led her companions, her friends, into a trap they might not make it outt of.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAOGHR!" A very large fist swept over her and she narrowly dodged it. 'Pay attention idiot you have a pissed demon on your heals.' Flinging a small fireball at his face she led him to the gate and then the short distance to the clearing. Barely glancing at the others nearly hidden in the shadows she turned just as the demon drew close to her. Muttering under her breath a few words in Dragon Tongue she thrust her hands towards it and winced as strings of purple magic shot out of her hands and wrapped around the demon. She wouldn't be able to hold it long but thankfully a group of Tanis' men jumped to surround the thing. She smirked to the one in charge and recieved a nod in return. She hoped she could last until Tanis and Blue reached her, and that the rest of the group followed the plan with little to no problems. As a last precaution she concentrated some of her magic to create a shield around her and the demon. No outside forces would break her hold on it no matter if it was the king of demons himself. Only she could lower the shield but it would not hold against normal weapons, or very long. Pain flared in her body as her magic strained at the edge of her curse. 'This whole thing had better be worth it.' A harsh tug on her mind reminded her of the being trying to contact her and she cursed in Dragon Tongue, shaking a little with effort as the demon growled and glared at her.

Luxan looked confusedly at Ved. "Do you not know what I did to you?" He said as he felt kind've hurt, He had just pulled the two of them into his own memories and Ved felt nothing. Thinking about it a little more Luxan decided to be happy that he had completed the spell without hurting either of the two.

"He can't hear you right now. Because you aren't actually speaking. You and I are in our astral form and are inside my mind right now." Luxan said as he started walking to the forest. "C'mon I want you to meet someone and change your whole world and if you still want to go so be it." He said without looking back. Luxan hoped that meeting with Mundus and his parents would show his new companion how wrong humanity really is when it comes to demon kind.

the drow stepped forward along with three of the seven uncloaked they had come into view each of them had weapons drawn emitting a powerful dark dragon like aura the drow looked directly at thalin and spoke I know not of your friend but you are under direct contract by the dragon's heir he chose you to protect his very life would you abandon him now for mear money when he offered you a bond of trust Tanis doesnt do something like that on a whim !

as for you Time mage you play a dangerous game we the silent guardians no longer stand in lights shadow we are on the move we have seen the handiwork of the creatures you seek to befriend while their are those that are peaceful many more seek to enslave,devour,and kill those of us here so this is your only warning if you get in our way here then you become the enemy as well and you looking to ved if you take that gold then you better run and run far and fast !




Tanis was moving his friend had taken care of the other demons he was now heading towards kael she was in trouble he had to get there fast he decided it was time he transformed into his dragon form he was stable now the change happened quickly the size was no longer a problem he was now a full grown dragon with red and black scales taking to the sky he found her swooping down he spoke in dragon kael I am here let down the shield!

Luxan looked up suddenly as he was walking and realized that something was afoot. "When you accepted my money you didn't accept my invitation to prove to you who I was didn't you?" Luxan said sheepishly as he looked back. Ved nodded.

"Well then we best return to our bodies because it looks like we have company up there and again my apologies for the misunderstanding." Luxan said absentmindedly as he took Ved's hand and touched it to his forehead. well at least I had some success today. Luxan thought as they returned to the real world. When he awoke Luxan took note of the drow in front of him. Luxan heard the drow's words and looked at him with anger in his eyes. He grabbed his book opened it to a page and shouted the spell in his book. The effect of the spell was instantaneous. Every one of the newcomers froze in place and ceased to move. Luxan out shouted angrily. "Be glad I only froze you place in time and not caused you all to age till you are dust. Isiri Ddo your thing and relieve them of their weapons and i won't mind if you relieve them of their valuables as well." At this point Luxan had calmed himself to return to his usual happy mood. "Well then tell your master that I have saved the lives of these two men at the cost of me relieving them of the contract that would certainly lead them to death. If he has further issues with that settlement then tell him that Luxan Stillguard will reimburse him on whatever he paid these soldiers. Now we get to you and I propose a question do not all races have their criminals who murder and enslave others. Why is it that you do not hunt down human's and slaughter them for they are a far greater evil than any other race and yet they are overlooked because they are the norm. Answer me why does the races of lore see it fit to prejudice against a race who is just different from the norm." Luxan pointed to the drow and said " I will return you to your original time so you speak your reasoning. However, if you cross me in any way i will kill all 6 of your companions and force you to watch." He did as he said and returned the drow to normal. He was reaching his limits with the spell going on he knew he would not be able to move. Luxan prayed silently that his new found friends would not stand by if the drow turned aggressive.

Kael grimaced under the effect of her binding spell on the demon.Where the hell was Tanis and Blue?! Did they decide to stop at a brothel on their way? She watched wide eyed as the mage in the clearing froze everyone around. She could feel his magic bash against her shield and sighed in relief as it held firmly. The demon looked shocked as well and stopped growling to stare at the others. Kael turned to listen to the mage with curiousity as he spoke.She knew him, if only by name. He was a dog to the queen. Her eyes burned bright purple and she spoke loudly and clearly.

"Hey mage listen up. Your name holds no meaning here for I can guarantee everyone here knows the queen for what she really is - a murdering bitch. She very well killed the King and he was the only o.e able to keep the bad demons from destroying our world again. He took the peaceful demons and employed them where they could work in peace and without discrimination. I've met some of the demons and you're right, it would be wro.g to kill them. That's why we aren't killing the good ones. We are killing the ones planning on killing our families and destroying our land. I'M going to kill the ones responsible for the deaths of my Dragon kin. And YOU are wrong to assume that every demon is good. Don't be a fool. We aren't giving our kind some sort of special treatment We will kill those who murder and rape and seek death above peace. WE are keeping theKings goal alive by gaining peace. And I'm sorry but that means killing a few demons. You have two choices, be on your way with the drunk and summoner you convinced to turn on us for a bit of metal or stop being a hypocrite and help us. Sure we will find demons willing to live in peace and we wont kill them. But the three in the city including this one have no good in their soul and you can try to say otherwise but you know it wont be true. I will not stand by and let you endanger us with your far fetched hope that every demon desires peace, no matter how sweet an ideal its not true."

Her whole body was shaking as she spoke, her magic dancing painfully atthe curse.

Isiri narrowed her eyes when the drow appeared with his companions. They were hostiles until proven otherwise.

She nearly scoffed at the threat to the two soldiers of fortune. What did this Tanis expect? They had no loyalties except to themselves and it was a well known fact that they were entitled to go with better offers. Who in their right mind would offer a bond of trust to these two? Though perhaps that was the issue then; that he wasn't in his right mind. His groupies certainly didn't seem to be.

She raised a brow at Luxan's spell. She had not know he was so powerful and made a mental note not to underestimate him. Isiri nodded at his command and even though the master thief inside her wished for more of a challenge, she relieved them of all their weapons and anything she thought might be used as a weapon or magic. She tucked away the objects she intended to keep for herself and then quickly piled the rest of the weapons next to Luxan. When she was finished she stood next to the mage and prepared to fight. This group did not seem willing to be logical, but perhaps they were not all together stable. In any case she would protect Luxan and should the other two decide to fight she would stand by their sides. The odds weren't totally against her and she did have the advantage of being invisible and having masked herself from the rest of their senses.

Luxan laughed in frustration this other mage was so close to understanding the truth yet so far at the same time. He thought to himself slowly then called out to her knowing she would hear his voice.

"Well met my fellow mage and you may dispose of those in the city as you see fit they chose their path of corruption and frankly deserve it. I also no my name means nothing to you and to be frank my name means nothing to me as well it is a title and nothing more. I do not accept my title to the queen out of want but rather of necessity for if I did not don my title then the people of my village will be subject to her evil. The peasants would be enslaved and forced to kneel before her might. And then there are the demon's in my forest. Do you know what happened to them in my village 4 years ago under my father? He ordered a hunt and hunted them down like animals and murdered them just because i was friends with one of their children. You see dear mage this is how the queen controls them so easily the male demon's just want revenge the injustices done to their kind over the years. She is twisting them into thinking that the way to do this is through violence."

Luxan had an idea and knew that this could potentially solve his problem. He called out again. "Have you ever sat down and talked to a demon family before? Not a soldier but a family as in living in a tribe. If you will not hear my words then let me take you to one who can tell you the story first hand."

"Heh. I already know the queen is a cow. I'm not telling you to stop fighting for the demon. I'm telling you not to put much faith in the ones that are being summoned by-" The pull on her mind was fierce and painful "Augh...." breathing heavily she fought a wave of nausea and continued to speak "p-people who want this world corrupted l-like the queen " she clenched her teeth to fight a new wave of pain. "Y-you preach like a saint b-but you are the kind to be used as a shield. Demons like t-these will say they are pure and peaceful to e-escape death but uuuurgh.." she paused to breath deeply "they will turn on you once our guard is down.... You c-could help us save the truely peaceful ones and destroy the others before they destroy us. Yes, I h-have met several families, and they live in peace with humans because they don't slaughter innocents. But the ones that are not peaceful WILL die. If not by our hand, by someone else's." Another sharp pull had her screaming in pain. Her eyes burned bright red as she gasped for breath and heard a dark chuckle in her mind. it was through sheer will she kept standing. Where were the others?!