Chapter 1

The fire borne had seen this day coming, just as he knew that Seren was not immediately consumed by darkness he also new that a call would go out. He did not know what roll he would play but he had seen in the dying flames of divination that he had to step forward.

Phumas steps forward By the celestial fires I would extinguish myself if it would bring light to the world. My flames and my orb are yours to command.

Narbo slowly scans the quickly darkening horizon, then the quickly dispersing crowds and dons a look of disappointment.

I had not known it would get this bad this quickly, surely there must be others willing to sacrifice for the good of the land?

Gingerly stepping through the crowd and being very mindful of his large frame, Narbo slowly makes his way closer to the front of the square through the throng of citizens headed in the opposite direction. Once he gets through the mass his eye is drawn to the first voice raised to volunteer and stops to stare at the wondrous flaming being for a moment. Catching himself, he turns back towards King Darrack, now close enough to add his shout,

Narbo Quills, citizen of Choss Mar'ak and Cleric of Reyna volunteers! For the good of all Sieldar, I lend my aid to those willing to brave the Darkness and rescue Lady Light!

A lone Aarakocra sits on a rooftop in the town square, taking a respite from the hours of flying he had to to do reach Sieldar. His clothes are a bit dirty and wrinkled from the storms and winds he endured in his travel, and his eyes show a little tiredness. He initially entered the city on foot (or rather, talon), but as he walked, eyes everywhere seemed to be glued onto him, wondering what kind of strange creature was he. After all, Aarakocra were a rare sight, especially those from the Halia Coast. In fact, even a few people seemed to want to come up to him and question him, but he was too apprehensive of these new people and the size of the city to want to respond, and so he instead took flight to a random rooftop and sat to recuperate.

At least I got here safe... wonder if anyone from my village is here, or my parents... if they did, they'd probably steer clear of me anyway... I'm a failure to them, anyway. He stares at the metal bracelet on his right arm, feather and storm cloud patterns engraved upon it, the mark of a Storm-Speaker. He takes his eyes off of it, not wanting to remind himself of the past any further. At least I can get a fresh start here... I hope. At least enough to survive when night finally gets here... He leans back a bit, ignoring the speech from the king. Lady Light was a foreign concept to him. All he knew before this was Apet Village and the Halia Coast, after all.

However, it seemed that the travel took a greater toll on him than he had anticipated, because Quetza found his eyes drooping closed and himself leaning his chin on his talon to rest his hand...

...until he lost his balance and fell, his eyes opening instantly as he flapped his wings in panic. All that can be heard from him as he descends is his frantic flapping and even a bit of panicked squawking. However, he safely recovers with his wings giving him lift, and as he finally regains his bearings, realizes that he's right in the middle of the square that people were clearing from after hearing the announcement, amongst a few other people that seemed to answer this call to adventure.

O-oh... erm... yes?

Narbo's attention is drawn to the commotion and he ends up doing a double-take as he takes in yet another creature he has never laid eyes on before.

Well, wonders never cease! What an amazing creature, and that display must have been some sort of ritualistic call to action. Wonderful!

Mistaking the avian's blunder for intentional, Narbo begins eagerly clapping.

Here, here! Such courage and bravado is to be commended in these trying times!

After a long and arduous trek through the endless night, Kai came through a mountain pass and fell to his knees as he saw the sun shining down upon Seren. Tears of joy rolled down his cheeks as he said a prayer of thanks to Lady Light.

"Kai Sunseeker Whatoto is here, Lady Light! Kai will keep Kai's word! Kai will save Lady Light!" Pilgrims and refugees from lands far and near walk carefully around the very large man who bellows to the heavens at the opening of the mountain pass.

Kai rises, gathers his things and hurries along the path. He does his best to avoid hurting these little people in his haste. "Oh, Excuse Kai....Sorry...Pardon Kai"

The noise and crowds of Seren are overwhelming to the barbarian, but as foreign as this land is, a familiar smell gets his attention...Food?!

As the goliath happily munched a hunk of roasted meat on a stick, he followed a crowd that was being directed to the town square. He listened carefully to the king's call to arms.

---

Excitedly, he shoves the rest of the meat in to his mouth and advances through the crowd. Mmmmm! Mmmmm! Kai! he mumbles in vain. He raises his large maul in the air and waves it around.

Naturally the sight of an eight-foot-tall man wearing a brown bear skin and waiving around a massive weapon while growling incoherently incites panic from the majority of people in his vicinity. An area clears around him. Amid screams and cries, Kai steps forward boldly.

He steps up on to the platform, finally swallows down the meat and belches loudly! Kai Sunseeker Whatoto, Champion of the Karakia, has come from the top of the mighty Maunga Ra far away. Kai has come to save Lady Light. Kai will lead Mighty Bull, Clumsy Bird, and Fire Man and crush Evil Night.

Quetza flinches at the arrival of the boisterous, devout goliath, and frantically looks around his surroundings, taking a moment to put two and two together based on what is currently being said and the announcement he heard just before he fell. His blood runs cold as he realizes his situation, and his mind begs of his body to move, to spread his wings and get out of this situation. These look like capable people... I think... Surely I could leave and nobody would blame me, they could take care of this! However, his legs were locked in place, and his wings refused to open, as if he was panicking so much that he couldn't move. He sighs in resignation. Us Aarakocra don't live that long anyway... For Reyna's sake, why can't I move?

He meekly looks up at the goliath, gulping before speaking, a few nervous squawks and clicks in his speech in lieu of an actual expression. M-my name's not "clumsy bird"... It's Quetza K-kontor, if you will... C-cleric of Reyna... He looks down again, hoping the goliath doesn't crush him underfoot for the correction.

A fellow practitioner of Reyna's miracles?! Surely this is providence which brings us far across the land to meet here and now, Quetza! Let us give thanks Reyna's will can still be felt during these troubles! As it says in 'Troubled Waters' 13:2; "It is during the most tumultuous storm that circumstances align to reveal one's true destiny."

Barely able to contain his beaming face, Narbo clasps Quetza firmly but not forcibly on the back and turns to regard the large newcomer. Before even beginning to get used to being larger than most other people around him, his view gets pulled up... and up... and up before finally meeting Kai's gaze.

Kai is it, my aren't you a grandiose individual?

I watch the others introduce themselves to the King, practically falling down at his feet begging to be chosen for this heroic task. Amateurs! Time to put on a show. After all, first impressions are my forte.

The sounds of rhythmic drumming followed by trumpeting fills the air. I wade through the crowd to find an appropriate perch. It's easy to blend in amongst the crowd. Most are not accustomed to smallfolk like me. They probably think I'm some wayward child trying to get back to her mama. In any case, I wait for the whispers to reach a crescendo and for the heads to turn towards the music before I release a shimmering light that seems to explode outwards from my form. When it fades (little sparkles falling around me), I am standing on top of a large rock as close to the center of the square as I can find. My long, purple finery (edged with silver and gold thread) billows in the gust of wind that seems to continually flow around my form. My pink hair is elegantly coifed, and the shine from my signet ring (enhanced, of course) can be seen from quite a distance. I address the king with a voice louder than my own.

"I am Xanarya von Beren III. You may not know me by name, but perhaps you know my uncle, commonly known as the Duke of Rysia. No matter if you do not know his name. Us gnomefolk are not known to frequent this magnificent city. But my Liege, as you know these are trying times. I understand far too well the weight, the burden of leadership. If you cannot yourself lead a force against this Night, then allow me the honor and I will ensure that we save Lady Light and bring our kingdom peace."

Quetza flinches a bit at the back clasp. Oh... right... yeah... destiny... as the good book says, heh. He averts himself from the minotaur's gaze, clearly uncomfortable and frankly quite nervous in the current situation. However, he then looks questioningly at the gnome coming through, trying to avoid flinching again at the booming, magically amplified voice. Oh dear... these people are getting stranger and stranger... And I'm just caught up in the ride... Can I have off, please?

After a few moment's hesitation, he makes the decision to speak again, perhaps a mistake. Wh... what's a duke?

I turn towards the flappy bird-creature. "Indeed! These are the questions one must ask of themselves. What is a Duke? What is a King? What are we made of? We have been brought together under these dire circumstances! We must... rise!" I somehow resist the urge to wink.

I ask a question and am answered with more questions and strange sayings? What IS this place? Confused by the gnome woman's strange speech that failed to answer his question, he simply tilts his head with a small click, signifying confusion in his culture. He then returns to observing the rest of the group. Strange... it's a city full of humans, but none have stepped up, I think.

"Oh, ho,ho!" Kai laughs jovially and points at the king and informs Xanarya, "Him Good King, Loud Gnome."

"Ah, yes... Quite right, Kai my good man. 'Him King.'" Narbo pats him on the shoulder, not really understanding Kai's literal answer to the gnome's existential question. Turning towards Xana, "And what a privilege it is to see a member of a royal family join this monumentous expedition!

Now let me see, custom dictates one bows before royalty so as to honor their raised status. Narbo begins to bow as low as is comfortable for him, then seeing he is nowhere near low enough, begins to bend further... "Narbo Quills... at your (ughh!) service, milady." And further... "If I'm not mistaken... (hurk!) I believe the correct honorific is 'Duke-Niece'?" (complete bluff) And further... "How refreshing to hear one such as yourself... (Nggh!) speak so humbly."

Realizing he is now practically splayed out flat on the ground, Narbo quickly dips his head the last few inches and jumps back to standing. He fastidiously starts brushing the dust and dirt off his gleaming armor and pristine vestments, a very pleased look on his face for making his (in his mind) flawless introduction.

Phumas was remaining silent, he was in the presence pf on of a substantially higher caste and wound not speak unless addressed. He spent much of his time trying to figure out the ordering of races, it seemed pure-bloods were at the rope, the gnomes also show to have quite some honour. The Minatour seemed to be above or on level with the Aarockra, but substantially below the gnome, and he was entirely unsure where the Goliath would fit in. But of course what if the skill classing is different, the Minatour and Aarokra both claimed to be from the Divine Caste, maybe in these lands it is lower then he was used to, if that was the case where would the Arcane caste got in...

As he took in the scene he never looked upon the face of the king and the gnome, lest he offend them.

It seemed that the universe only wanted to confuse Quetza further as he stares at the odd sight of the minotaur groveling before the gnome. As far as he knew, while figures of authority were respected, groveling was an odd practice.

Figuring that questioning further would yield no results, he looks at the odd fire person. He had little idea of that creature's race, much less his name. However, he can't muster the courage to ask.

Narbo scans the square, taking stock of the recently assembled party and seeing if there may be anyone else willing to join the motley group. Well, if nothing else we are truly blessed with diversity this day!Very nearly bursting with questions for his strange new companions, Narbo can barely contain his curiosity. Noticing the fire-being standing away from the rest of the group, he gestures the man over with a wave. "Feel free to join us, comrade. I imagine we will all be getting to know each other very well in the near future. You are quite exotic looking if I may say! Tell me, where do you hail from? Does everyone there appear to be a-glow with flames? What do your friends call you?"

Phumas does walk over to join the group but remains stoically silent, looking towards but not at the king.