The Search For Mana

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

(Sorry, forgot to mention. The two cities that we start in are within 1 league of each other, on the southern shore of the first continent. There are two continents in all. Boats are unable to go around the continent, the only actual open waters safe enough for any kind of boats is the 2 day sailing distance between the two continents. The second continent has no actual cities. However, exiles live there. Anywhere between lepers the worst of criminals. The last 3 miles before Kratos Mountain is a baron wasteland, despite the large network of small rivers running through it. The river itself doesn't dry while it's in its riverbed, due to the protection of the Flower. Now, the two cities are Brisbain and Caprica. Choose where you start. Brisbain is where the most decrepit and despicable lot in the world live. Caprica is where the most rowdy and violent live. For some reason, the chaos is contained within the city... weird. Monsters exist in the world, but even more so on the second continent. Beware, some are very strong and most attack in hordes. Note: The one month preparation journey and countdown is called Ceremony. Many people take a head start at this time because it's a long journey. Absolute war breaks out on the exact day the flower releases the Drop. That day and the whole year following it (or at least till someone consumes the Drop) is known as Crimson Blue.)

Lazaryos dressed particularly slowly today as he looked out the tiny window of the Inn that he was staying at in Brisbain. So, we're down to the last month now, huh? I've heard that Ceremony was always bustling, but I never thought that it would be that way here in Brisbain. But sure enough, the people outside are actually running around buying supplies and equipments. All these people who deal under the table, in back alleys, in secret locations, are now all setting up stands and selling merchandise like candy and the buyers are flocking to them. I know most of those buyers just normally slit someone's throat and steal their supplies. Ceremony seems to make even the most vile into honest people, at least until Crimson Blue.[/i] After finally getting dressed, Lazaryos opened up his door and found a few bodies burnt to a crisp outside his door. He sighed as he peeled off an untouched Fire Trap Rune. "Well, most of them anyways. You know, gentlemen, you have just wasted a good fortune on my part. These Trap Runes are really hard to come by. Lazaryos crumpled his last trap and tossed it into his room and walked off, the Rune bursting in a muffled blast as it landed. He walked out onto the busy streets and headed for the food district to hopefully get some foodstuffs before it was all sold out.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember awoke early on the first morning of Ceremony. After getting dressed and grabbing her staff, she looked out the window of her room down onto a busy street of Caprica. It was indeed an extremely busy day. Everybody was busy buying things they needed for their journey. "Well, I need to buy a few more things and get some food, then it'll be time to start on my journey to Mana." She thought as she turned away from the window. She walked over to the door and opened it to find a Jaguar standing outside her door. He lunged at her and she dodged out of the way, hitting him upside the head with her staff as he stumbled past her. Closing the door behind her as she heard him hit the floor, she headed downstairs and out of the Inn, ready to buy the rest of her supplies.

[White Wolf Guardian]

*Nitrous dropped a few coins on a counter in a lone shop in an alleyway somewhere in Brisbain, the middle aged husky owner came along to the customer who replied before he could welcome his guest* "I'd like some of your 'collection' books." *He said with a smirk* "Oh alright, since you insist. But you better have the money for that mouth of yours." "I think if I really wanted those books I wouldn't be talking to you at all, I would have already killed you, raided your storage room and left without warning." "...Don't underestimate me, I've probably survived in this city longer than you have puppy, here they are." *He heaved a grimoire onto the table and the wolf looked down at it closely blowing off the dust on the cover* "Perfect, here you go." *He laid a small palm sized bag of coins on the table and picked up the book carefully* "Alright, I'll take that. Have yourself... a swell day." *The wolf stopped after picking up the book and turned around for a moment taking off his hood that had since his entrance hidden his face. He looked the owner square in the face and replied somewhat loudly* "Too late mister." *He chuckled and turned around leaving as the man was practically frozen in space still horrified by the picture embedded in his head*

"Gotta prepare as today is the first day to prepare for taking what is mine... that power shall be anyways." *He retained a determined look behind his green eyes as he kept walking, a couple of teenagers following him behind already as was a usual trap for this terrible place* "Hey mister, I think you have something of mine." *He didn't turn around to face the feline that was standing directly behind him* "I think you do too." "Oh really, what is it you think?" "I accidentally kept your face." *He turned to face the cat and he looked mortified seeing Nitrous's face as the wolf brought up his claws and ripped through the feline's face, kneeing him in the stomach and kicking him on the ground after he had already fallen* "Oh my face, my face!" *He screamed on the ground and writhed on the stones of the street as blood gushed forth from the young man* "See I gave it back." *He smiled and looked up at the other possible to be punks* "And let that be a warning to the rest of you scoundrels." *He growled and whipped his cloak around to keep walking fast holding his book close to his side*

[Chrono Blackwyng]

"Hes running off with my money!!" "You heard him, that hybrid is dead!!" along with various other shouts, the group of usual scamers and enforcers chased after one guy who was encased in black-gold armor. "Oh come on, it was only two-hundred coins!!" he yelled as Chrono weaved through the streets and alleys of Caprica. As he got to the gates, the guards stopped him, and Chrono whirled around to point at the mob chasing him. "you, I'll pay you both fifty coins to hold off those guys!" Chrono handed them the 100 coins and sped past the guards and out of the city. He glanced back and saw the guards not only stopped the group, but demanded a 'toll to leave safely'. He stopped running and walked north, to where he guessed the docks would be, then pulled out a small parchment from under his mouth guard.

It was a make-shift calendar, which had all the days of the Ceremony on it. "Okay, It'll take at least ten days by foot, I'll need to cat-" He caught out of the corner of his eye a group of rather large wolf-like creatures, and his eyes narrowed though 'smiling'. "What a coincidence..." he mumbled as he made his way over to the pack....

[Gabag]

To an outside party, Justeph walking along, with his robe, and ceremonial armor on, and talking to himself... was to say the least a very strange thing. But to the man inside the armor, he knew exactly what was happening.
"The Ceremony... as the people call it, is a period of preparation to the wars that follow the Mana's release. During this time, you'll see Mages, Monks, Noblemen, Mercenaries, lowlife thugs, and even the bored peasant, get as much equipment at they can. It gets quite funny when people try and rob you."
Uttered Sindri Myr, in an almost whisper like tone. It echoed inside Justeph's brain, it was one of the things you had to get used to when you shared a spirit within your possessions and body.

"So during this 'Ceremony' you called it, everyone's preparing for war... makes sense, considering the Mana is all powerful... but what do they call the period after that?" Asked the young black mage. Where he was going, he did not know, nor really care, he was a demonic looking dark mage, there wasn't much to worry about.

Although the weird looks people gave him made him want to ask something else.
"Well my boy... the period after is called Crimson Blue.. basically life before the Mana, nothing special..."

Justepth stopped walking and scratched the back of his head and asked.
"Is it me.. or do these people think I'm weird for talking to you..." he correctly summarized. He raised his eyebrow at the small group of gangers who looked like they wanted to mess. After all a crazy mage who mumbles to himself must be an easier kill and loot right?

"Yes... and the fact they seem to like the reflection of the sun from our armor...I missed you Caprica"  sighed the dead Magus.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos chomped on some of the food he had bought as he left Brisbain. He had strapped his belongings onto his back and the topaz on his staff reflected the sunlight onto his white hood. Already, he could see many an experienced fighter already heading north towards the docks. A particular pack of wolves caught his interest out of the corner of his eye. An infamous bunch, to say the least. The Bloodhound Gang were indeed mischief makers of the third kind, the murderous kind. They have been known to cause trouble in both Brisbain and Caprica. The Bloodhound Gang comprised of 20 Mages and 30 of some of the world's strongest Normals. Their leader was no small name, either. His great grandfather was the last person to consume the Mana, and through that, his father and himself have monopolized on that, seizing whatever they wanted from people. The leader has also been known to kill both Normals and Mages by himself.

Lazaryos raised his staff and pointed it at the group's feet and lightning shot from the Topaz. The lightning struck the ground beneath them and created a large electrical web. The men turned and looked at Lazryos and cursed at him, making hand gestures, and the like. Two of their Mages shot an ice spear and a fireball at Lazaryos, but he merely sidestepped. He chuckled to himself and yelled over. "You know, it'd be easier to hit me if you weren't standing over half a league away in Caprica territory!!" More curses and random spells shot at him, not really hitting their mark. Lazaryos laughed as he walked on. Well now, that should give me a 30 minutes head start.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember took a bite out of the apple she held in her left hand as she headed out of Caprica in the direction of the docks. This was going to be a long journey so she wanted to make sure she had something healthy to eat at the start of it, even though she had more good things to eat in her bag. Walking past a cursing group of wolves, she chanced a glance at them. It took her less than a second to realize who the group was before she looked away. She didn't need them to spot her looking at them because she knew they'd start shooting spells her way and she didn't want to waste her majicka on them. Looking up at the sun as she continued on, a smile spread across her face. "Today...should be a good day." She thought as she felt more energized by the sunlight.

[White Wolf Guardian]

*Nitrous came out of Brisbain looking pissed off as he had usually become by the middle of the day* "I hope there's no more of that crap for today, I gotta get out of dodge and get on one of those docks so I can get to the boats so I can get my treasure."' *The wolf walked further along the path eventually crossing into the border of Caprica and Brisbain and saw the trouble over with what appeared to be a gang of wolves* "Stupid punks, that's all these are is a bunch of rambunctious idiots!" *He just got more mad by watching them fight the lone wandering mage antagonist and tried his best to ignore them and stay clear of firepower* "Don't want to deal with that one." *He gave a cold stare to Lazaryos as he kept his distance, watching him carefully*

[Gabag]

"Where you goin spooky.... why are you in a hurry" One of the gangers asked Justeph, walking alongside him.

Lie boy... the body I may inherent depends on it!" whispered Sindri, sounding completely unconcerned.
Justeph ignored the sarcasm and just lied like his mentor told him. "Oh you know... looking for the latrine..."
The other gangers just stood their laughing, as the three biggest ones surrounded him.
"Well now, that makes what's gonna happen next all the funner! I say he has ten seconds till he pisses himself in pain!" His compatriots laughed, but he personally stopped laughing when he got a staff to the face... hard.

The man staggered backwards, clutching his bleeding nose, as Justeph ran for dear life, with the thugs in pursuit.

"That wasn't exactly the smartest idea in the world, but it sure was fun... boy you remind me of myself back in my heyday..."

"Oh shut up you decrepit ghost... Right now i'm running for dear life and your cracking jokes!" He yelled, dashing behind a back alley.
His options were limited here, but fortunately there was a ladder. Grabbing onto it like it was candy, Justeph began to climb, but a couple of the faster gangers managed to get really close behind him. The young Mage just managed to get to the top, with a short, wiry man, clutching a dagger in his teeth. He just grinned evily at  Justeph, who took off his helmet and just grinned like an idiot.

At first the man was confused. He was about to murder this kid and he's happy? Then came the realization of what was about to happen. The man shook his head, pleading with the boy to not do what he thought he was doing, but all he got in response, was a nod of 'yes' and a push to the ladder, and it was sent tumbling down.... along with the 5 people who were on it.
Crashing down, screaming, they landed hard. Justeph smiled even more hearing the crack of bones.

"Not the way I would've done it.... But since they aren't going anywhere.... pick their pockets and pawn their stuff"

The Mage found an alternate way down, and walked to the same back alley, where the same thugs were still on the ground, in pain, howling and crying. Whistling he knelt down and gingerly picked up their weapons, and checked their pockets for some loose gold. Sure enough he found about 100 pieces, and that wasn't including the price of the items that were soon to be pawned.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono continued towards the pack, but suddenly lost interest as every single wolf noticed him and began to growl. He walks around the pack and continues on his journey, but the wolves followed him. Either I'm so dead... or they're just curious... he thought while keeping a hand on his cutlass, in case they started chasing him down.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos trodded for a good while, when he heard a screaming and yelling in the distance. He turned back and saw 7 men running towards his general direction, the leftovers of the Bloodhound Gang. They must have pissed some people off that while they were still caught in the Net, to be following me with only 7 people. He chuckled and thought for a moment. Up ahead, he saw some wild wolves following what seemed to be a black-armoured normal. A very cynical smile rose between his lips, and Lazaryos followed close behind the pack. For the next 10 minutes, the pursuers finally caught up. With a simple aiming of his staff, he created a smaller net, and the blindly enraged gang members got caught again. Without thinking, one of them shot a large chunk of earth at him. Lazaryos dodged off to the side and rolled into a recovery. The slap of ground smashed into two of the wolves and they all turned around, growling. Noticing what just happened, the gang members all swallowed hard and almost in unison, "Oh..... (censored)..."

[White Wolf Guardian]

*Nitrous dodged around fallen bodies of all sorts of injured or dead mages and normals* "Alright this is getting ridiculous, stupid punks!" *He snarled around him and started getting really pissed off* "If one more person even so much as LOOKS at me, I'm going to KILL him." *He stared around hoping to catch someone's eyes because right now he needed to just kill anyone or anything to relieve his built up rage as he kept walking along under trees to avoid the brunt of vicious attacks*

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono turned around, and waved his blade as a way of saying 'thanks' for getting the wolves off his 'tail' before continuing his walk, not even caring if the guy gets killed or not. Ever since he was abused by his family for not being a mage, Chrono really didn't devealop a desire to care for others safety. Just means those wolves either die or get fed, and I can continue on my journery to the other continent he thought as he actually whistled a drinking song while walking.

[Gabag]

Justeph had lots of items to sell. Sure they weren't the best quality, but he Did have to pour them onto the counter of the merchant's stall. The salesman raised an eyebrow at the mage, and shook it off and gave him the money for the items, 200 in all, combined with the 100 he pick-pocketed and that's 300 gold.
Depositing the gold in his pouch, he went to the same merchant to buy the supplies he needed, which gave him another raise of the eyebrow, to which he just responded to with a smile.
Grabbing the food, drink, and sleeping mattress, plus the necessities for cooking and setting up a tent, the boy stepped outside.

"Ok... you thought Caprica was violent? Well all hell should be breaking loose soon... so expect pockets of sporadic violence" Sindri warned.
Justeph just started laughing and responded naively. "It can't be that bad can it? I mean who...."

He stopped mid sentence as he watched a giant slab of earth go hurtling towards some dots in the distance, and take down a coupple of them.

Now it was Sindri's turn to laugh.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos paid no mind to the traveler ahead. He never really cared for the well-being of others, unless it was for his own personal gain. This instance was no exception. Those wolves just happened to be an amusing use of getting rid of the pursuers. Lazaryos walked on, enjoying the sounds of those 7 gang members slowly get torn apart by the horde of wolves. It was really tempting to turn around and look, but he had more pressing matters to attend to, getting to the docks. 10 days on the road really never seemed like much to him before, but this was Ceremony. An event that only happened once every 200 years, with the prize of the war being ultimate power. He chuckled to himself as he thought about it. Once every 200 years, everyone fights in this bloody war, decimating world population down by a half, but in the time in between, that population grows back, no matter who had retrieved the Mana. Lazaryos kept his mind occupied so that the time would pass by, but that was short lived as he heard the sound of carriage wheels. Oh, goody. Who is the idiot riding one of those?

Lazaryos turned to watch a steel carriage rolling past a female red-colored dragon Mage and another small crowd of people making the journey. The carriage didn't even make it to the middle between him and the dragon Mage before it combusted and sank into the ground. The driver tried desperately to escape, but roots came from under the ground and dragged the poor soul down with his "shortcut". Not too far from the new sinkhole, 4 Mages of different species stood there, pointing their staffs at the sinkhole and laughed whole-heartedly. THIS is why everyone walks, poor idiot.