Dal, and the power of being stoned

[Ress]

Descending wood, 15

" The Feeling of oncoming fire was in the air, as the clouds became fewer and the air warmer. The open air market of Bezair was bustling with commerce from both parts of the seaside city. In the distance, the sunlight played across the ancient Empire walls, making it look like a miles long slumbering serpent, basking in the heat as it protected Imperveress.

At the top of Bezair's manse, geysers of water sprayed out into the air at the four corners, weather it was to help the growing oat fields for the season, or to keep combatants cool as they trained on the stadium, it was still a marvelous sight to the common people of the city.

Using previously tamped foot traffic roads, some cobblers seemed to have taken the liberty of making roads out of smoothed and sea polished stones, which helped to guide flows of traffic through Bezair.

It was early afternoon when the image of Emperor Ress appeared before Dal, giving him a small bow, then addressed him*

" Hello Admiral Dal Lumen, I hope I am not bothering your training, but with the next stage of the Empire's growth is upon us.

There are many manses on these lands and each one has a hearthstone. As I am sure you have realized, these hearthstone are very valuable.

For now, I would like you to attune to and gather the hearthstones of the manse under yours, The one beneath the manse between West Bezair and Arania, The surface manse between Bezair and Ramoth, the one floating in the grey river, and the one that lies beneath that. Hopefully in not long, we will have accumulated each one in the Empire. Any questions?"

[Dal'Lumen]

Descending wood, 15

Water ran down Dal'Lumens face and down his shirt as he took a moment to cool off in the falling water around the arena atop his manse; behind him a group of sore and tired looking recruits for the new police force he had been helping to train looked up at the Emperor as well, wondering if this would allow them a moment of rest. The group seemed to settle a little, discreetly leaning against pillars and making a move to the fountains themselves.

*Dal Returned a steeper bow to the Emperor, and listened tentatively to the Emperors instructions. He shot a look back to the recruits as the Emperor finished, the group immediately stiffened, looking at one another, farmers and harvesters from the fields primarily, one could tell by their clothing and the strong bodies working in Qui-Ra's fields.*

"You lot train to serve the Empire... This - is - the Emperor STAND AT ATTENTION!"

*Each man shot bolt upright with their left hand cupped over their right fist over the center of their chests, eyes wide and looking quite terrified by their intimidating Zenith teacher. Dal turned a sly smirk on Ress, and gave another quick, confirming bow.*

"I understand, I will collect the stones immediately Emperor. I suppose getting to each one will be fairly straight forward?"

[Ress]

Descending wood, 15

* Ress nodded to the up and coming soldiers Dal was training, then brought his attention back to the Zenith. He winced a moment as he searched for the words to answer Dal's question with*

" Straight forward?... that seems to be the problem, I am not quite sure how straight forward gathering the stones might be. as we speak, I am searching for an effective way to get to the floating manses, as the Warbird seems to be showing some ware and tear. It would be best if we used that only when necessary... and not only that, I am conceptualizing the most effective way to divvy up the stones.

That said, I can not tell you what you will or will not experience when you go to the manses. All I can say is that you should keep on your guard."

[Dal'Lumen]

Descending Wood, 15

"I was thinking I could take one of the ships we discovered in the marina out for a spin, however, if that is not a viable option I could always contract a crew and vessel at the docks to get me where I need to go."

*Dal thought Roaring Wave might appreciate a trip into the water, and perhaps even have some handy tricks along the way for such situations.*

"I may also call upon the Dragon Blood, Roaring Wave, his water aspect may prove useful for the River Manses."

"I will travel with full combat preparedness should we come across any surprises out there."

[Ress]

descending wood, 15

*He watched Dal a moment as he thought over the marina... it seemed he had forgotten about that and what lie within.
Ress then nodded, giving a small smile*

" Yes, I would suppose that the ships in the marina would be perfect. and a Dragon-Blooded first mate to go with is exactly what The Sun would call for! Now then, there are many thing you understand better than I do. I have full confidence in you, Admiral Dal'Lumen... should you discover something lost or achieve something great!, I will trust you to use you best judgment on what to do with or about it. I trust you are prepared? "

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent Wood, 15

*Dal nodded calmly.*

"Your faith in me is an honor Emperor Ress...

I am ready, I will need to grab some gear beforehand and contact Roaring Wave, none of which should take long so I should be on my way within the hour."

*Dal was doing his best to set an example for the recruits behind him, but at the same time he could hardly contain his excitement to actually utilize one of the ships in the Marina.*

[Ress]

Descending wood, 15

"Thank you Admiral. Please send me a report when you are finished. good luck, but I am sure you will not need it.. Goodbye for now"

*The image of Ress slowly faded out of existence, the golden light dimming untill there was nothing but the spray from the manse*

[Dal'Lumen]

Descending wood, 15

*Dal clasped his hands together just as his men had been trained and with a powerful exhalation he signaled his men.*
"Ho!"

*The men replied and bowed their heads along with Dal, as a respectful salute to see the Emperor off with.*

"Ho!"

"See you soon Ress"

*The Admiral turned around on his men and slowly began pacing up and down the front of the ranks, giving a good hard stare to each of the men, waiting for one of them to show some sort of sign of weakness.*

"I suppose you all think that you will be getting a break with me leaving... Well sorry to bust your candy ass pipe dreams but YOU are not done here today!"

*Dals hand shot down and pointed at the ground firmly*

"Get down and push that ground till Quie-Ra tells you otherwise! HO!"

"HO!" *They replied*

*His voice boomed and the men all shot down to the ground and started on what would likely be a very long set of push-ups. He Knew Quie-Ra was aware, wherever he was, that he was in charge of the recruits while he was gone; secondly because Quie-Ra wasn't the sort to let anyone do anything the easy way.*

*Dal stormed away from the trainees and relaxed just as soon as he was out of sight. he walked down the hall and gathered up his weapons, and equipment, and then made a trip to the kitchen to bring some extra supplies just in case it took longer than he was planning. All of this took several minutes by itself, while the men were still supposed to be doing their push-ups, Dal casually walked to the control room and dialed Roaring Wave.*

*As the Figure of Dal warbled into existence wherever Roaring wave was.*

"Hello my friend? Roaring wave are you available today?"

[Ress]

Descending wood, 15

" Yes Admiral!"

* The troops did as they were told and got down, doing push-ups without number until the absent god Quie-Ra showed up and told them to do otherwise. This was a chore in the minds of each of the troop's minds, but they knew better than to disobey the Admiral's orders... and also knew that he meant to temper them into a crack team beyond mortal standards.*

* The communication window opened to show both Wave and Tari sparring.. or at least the tail end of it, catching only where Tari landed a kick up under the crouching Wave's chin, taking him of his feet, then plowed her palm into wave's chest, sending him backwards a yard and knocking him off his feet.

Wave landed flat on his back and groaned a little as he sat up, unhappy that this was seen by Dal. With a sigh, he dusted himself off and turned to greet Dal, acting as if that had not happened, though sounding more than slightly sheepish in the process*

" Why, Hello Admiral Dal! How are you today? What can I do for you?"

* Behind him, Tari snickered, putting her hand to her mouth to try to muffle the sounds. Proud of herself once more, she put her hands to her hips. Today, she was dressed as a Tya sailor, something almost unheard of in these parts (check Compass of terrestrial directions: of the west for details)*

[Dal'Lumen]

*Dal chuckled and applauded the pair.*

"Hah, deciding who cleans the shop? Perhaps I should be asking Tari to come along with me, I see now why you needed that armor back Wave! Do not worry my friend, your secret is safe with me!"

*Dal tried to fight back the smirk, and took on the best businesslike tone he could while still chuckling.*

"The Emperor has requested that I retrieve the Hearth Stones from several outer wall manses, and what's better is we are going to get to take one of our first age ships out for a cruise in the river, official business and all! I could use a good first mate, can I count on you?"

[Ress]

Descending wood, 15

* Wave soon gave up the act and could do nothing but laugh and give a shrug. he stepped back and next to Tari, patting her on the back as one might a champion fighter after losing to them severely*

" What can I say? as far as Martial Arts go, she is better than I am. I went to school on The Blessed Isle where they trained us in a little of everything... she grew up in an Immaculate monastery in The West where they taught her 'History', 'Hearth lore' and 'How to kill ten men with your bare hands'."


* Tari laughed and patted Wave on the chest like a champ might to an aspiring nobody who got in over their head*

" Oh yes, I remember 'the three h's of growing up very well! and don't worry, the dragons chose you, not me.. and if you ever used that power when we sparred, maybe you could win one of these days!"

* When it sank in what Dal had said, Wave became business as well, taking a step from his wife and closer to the image of Dal* " We are going to get those stones? and with our new ships! and up there too?

* Wave pointed up to the ky, his eyes widenning in excitement*

" That's great! just let me get my gear!, I will meet you at the Marina in no time!"

[Ress]

Descending wood, 15

*Dal gathered up the three cache eggs he collected after the trial and packed into them what supplies he deemed important, along with a few easy to carry food items and water were things like rope, gloves, and simple tools they might find that they needed later. Dal quickly ran out of his manse and along the rooftops and streets on the path to the Marina. It wasn't long before he reached the destination and hurried up to the bridge to the Marina he guessed Wave would meet him at.*

* When he arrived, Dal would see a fully decked out Wave standing on the golden bridge to the Marina, his black jade armor glinting in the sunlight and his jade daiklaive at his hip followed in suit. the Dragon-Blooded Roaring Wave looked as though he was chomping at the bit, much like a child on the day before his birthday. When Dal got close, Wave turned and put his foot to the huge gates of the Marina, and mustering up all his strength, pushed it open*

" Lets go pick out our ride, Admiral! the manses are waiting!"


* Dal was every bit as excited as Roaring Wave about getting the chance to captain the hot-rod first age ships in the Marina but that didn't stop him from grinning, and throwing a taunt at wave just the same.* " What is this the highlight of your year, come on then let's see what we've got brother!" *Dal puffed out his chest and strolled into the Marina, a big proud grin on his face like a big muscle bound kid getting ready to show off his new toys. He exhaled and gave a short laugh.* "Beauties!"


*Wave followed close behind Dal, stopping just behind him and began bending and extending his knees, as if jumping in place without leaving the ground* " It certainly ranks, Dal! Now pick one pick one! Some of these can be found nowhere else in creation!" * the more he spoke, the more he began sounding like an impatient child*


"Very well... let's see, nothing too big now, so I think that leaves the gigantic one out for now." *Dal walked down the docks inspecting each ship he passed, pinching his chin thoughtfully.* "As I understand it from our inventory inspection, some of these are capable of traveling under the Sea... that could be useful for the under water manses."

*Dal looked over at the Cloaks hanging on their racks against the wall they were walking past. He walked over and picked one up.* "I'm also told that one can put this on and breathe under water, I might need something like that, I doubt you do however."

* Wave shook his head, patting the side of his neck before speaking* " No sir, the dragons have equiped me with what I need to get along under water... but you grabbing one is a good idea. And under water ship? That works... not the big one?...shame... "* he shrugged as he looked over the ships, wondering what they might say if they could talk*

*Dal grabbed a cloak seeming destracted by something that had cought his eye. He smiled, walked straight up to an unusualy long, and narrow ship, he put his hands on his hips and looked up at it happily.* "This one! The Glorious Dragonfly something er' other, Shes fast, and should get us out there in no time! Let's get aboard and fire her up..." *Dal shot a smirk at Wave, and with a powerful, cat-like leap, he hurtled himself high up through the air, and landed on the deck with barely a sound.* "Come on, hurry up or I'll leave you!"

* Wave took off running when Dal made his choice and came inches from leaping up onto the deck of it, untill something occured to him and he came slideing to a stop. he looked up at dal with a almost worried expression* " We cant sail on a ship without a name! its bad luck! it will will be consumed by the storm mothers and sank to the depths Kimberry's hope chest! We have to come up with something before setting sail" * Wave then hopped up on the deck now that the problem had been addressed... there was nothing against standing on a nameless ship after all*


*Dal pondered for a moment, accepting what Wave had said as proper sailors gospel, he was no stranger to superstition, and when it came to the power of open water any little thing to ease a worried sailor was better than none, he knew that first hand.* "Well, I suppose you are right... Don't seem right taking her out without a proper name now does it. Well... I guess we should have a think on this a moment brother, anything come to your mind?"

"Humm...." * Wave stroked his chin a moment as he pondered what to name this. looking the ship up and down, then looking himself over a moment.... his eyes rested on his Dailkaive for a time, untill hesmacked his hands together and rubbed them* " Ah ha! I got it! its perfect! Lets call it ' The Saber of D'annad!' What do you think?*

"A fine name!" *Dal exclaimed cheerily.* "I Christen this ship 'The Saber of D'annad' may she make many journies and always take her crew home safely!" *Dal reached out and put his hands on the hull of the ship, a flash of light from his forehead and hands quickly followed as he blessed the ship and it's new name.* "With D'annad, and the Sun as our terrestrial and celestial witnesses... So then, you think we're ready to go?" (10 sxs prayer blessing the ship)

" Yes! Wait no!!!...." * Wave dropped to one knee, put his left rist in his right palm and bowed his head in prostration* " Mercury,Maiden of Journeys.. please watch over this ship and all of its crew on any voyage it may take" * Wave then leapt back to his feet, slamming his hist into his palm once more as he gave a nod* " There we go! no we are all set and ready to get this show on the road! lets find the control room and see what it needs to run!" ( 5 suxx on prayer to Mercury)


*Dal pointed his index finger at wave and nodded approvingly.* "Good call, yeah let's get going." *The Admiral strutted down his ship proudly, looking around for the control room he figured would be something like the one in his manse.*

* on the bow of the deck, Dal would soon find what looked to be an ornately carved steering wheel made from white jade. it was nothing like the control room of Dal's manse... but it was just too similar to a mundane ship's control wheel to not be what he was looking for*

" wow! that's what we were looking for? they sure knew how to do a lot with a little back in the first age... while you pilot, I'll take care of everything else!" * Wave's only poked his head around the large disassembled mast only long enough to see what was found, then left to take a better look of the ship*


"Ah good, here it is, yeah I was half expecting something a lot more elaborate." *Dal walked over to the steering wheel and placed his hands on it, pumped a few motes of essence into it to the point that he felt the ship stop absorbing his energy, he also looked around for some sort of receptical for a hearth stone if this ship was anything like Bine.* "Let's see here... ok I think we're good to go? Need a hearth stone Saber of D'annad? yes, no? Well lets go!"

* The ship lurched to life as the gates in the back of the marina opened on their own, allowing the ship out into the Grey River. The ship was very fast, faster than any ship could sail under wind power. in just under four hours, the two arrived at the floating manse. There was a huge arch in the center of the manse, allowing ships to sail in and out... but at the same time, the top of the fortified fortress like structure, rows of guns were planted.*

" Manse ho! Sail into that arch, it looks like there are places to dock at either side"* Just as Wave had said, there were indeed large docks inside the archway where they could dock. it seemed the architects of this empire knew what they were doing*


"Taking her in!" *Dal spun his wheel and the ship banked, and straightened out coming to an easy stop right at the edge of the dock. He looked up at the cavernous arch, impressed, and down again at the ship, impressed. He directed the ship to set anker or whatever it was that it did to keep from moving and let go of the wheel, walked over to the starboard side and leaned over, pointing out at the entry ways into the manse.* "Lets head up through that way there, let's just stay together, we don't need to split up." *With that he hopped down, the air streaming through his silks like a fluttering flag all the way down to the dock where he landed loudly, stood up and walked away towards the doors casual as if the fall that would have been much greater to any mortal had been totally under his notice. He walked down the dock and through the doorway and peared into the manse cautiously, listening for any odd sounds, or perhaps the snarls of creatures using the manse as a home.* "Lets hope nobody is home."


"Ha! You can hope what you like, but I am looking forward to seeing something!" * Wave patted the daiklaive at his hip as he followed behind Dal over the docks and up the ageless marble stairs, to the door of the manse. Inside the structure was a wide hall thet spanned to either side of them, lined with small alcoves with holsters for weapons to be held and retrieved if an attack was launched. above them, hovering globes of golden light illuminated the hall they stood within... not as cozy as the bezair manse, but not uncomfortable. this manse was obviously a barracks of some sort. Suited for soldiers to live comfortably as well as be ready for war at a moment's notice*


"Seems clear, let's take a look around, we should probably look for the control room, thats where I found the stone in Bezair." *Dal cautiously stepped through the opening with one hand on an axe, the other out in front of him ready to grab at anything that might move or jump out.* "Let's try looking down this hall, see what we find, and while we're at it we might as well check the whole place out for any artifacts left here for gods know how long."

*Dal began moving through the main hall and into any connected rooms at a delicate pace, turning through anything and everything that could hide something valuable.* "Oh well, look what we have here." (7sxs Ransack)

" I am sure there has to be something... from what I hear, during the Usurpation, the Dragon-Blooded came in and killed everything that moved and just left most of it... lets see here..."

* at the end of the hall, it spilled out into a larger room with a center table and ruined chairs strewn all around, two of which were still good (thousand comforts lounge chairs). The table was chipped, but still in great shape, bearing tell tell signs of being something of magical significance. this room went out into three more directions, ( assuming when they entered, they were facing north-west and they went down the left hall... assuming these are all correct...) one going farther north-west, another going south-west, and one more going north-east. South-west poured out into a large bare room lined with green and blue veins of jade, with reminents of bodies and piles of dust that could only be ancient bone and clothing. the room to the north-west opened out to a mini armory, with corroded and long rusted swords and spears, ruined suits of mundane armor, broken bits of jade artifacts which had been destroyed over a thousand years ago... but among the surprisingly well kept bodies ( they looked only a few hundred years old, rather than one and a half thousand.) there were small orbs lined with magical material set in each joint and in their spine. But the crowning glory was a fully intact suit of armor that stood at the far end of this weapon's room made from black jade... but this was no ordinary suit of armor... for lack of a better description, this looked like a tiny warstrider, equipped with black jade tiger claw on its hands* ( 7 suxx)

"That look's like it's just your style there brother, you should take it home with you and scare Tari with it! Haha!" *Dal looked around at the bodies littering the floors, his eyes full of sorrow for these ancient souls that had lay there for so long without proper dealing with.* " It is our duty to deal with these fallen warriors Brother... We must burn them." *Dal leaned down and layed his hand on the breast of one of the fallen with the magical materials in their joints and with a sigh a small flash of golden light cascaded from between his palm and the body.* "I'm sorry you and your brothers have had to wait so long... Wave, I can not burn them all, we will need to gather them and take them outside once we gather everything we have here." (1 mote to burn one of the bodies)

" You know.. there is something about this place.. he longer I stay here.. the better I feel. And that thing? Its not exactly my style, but i'll take it anyway! maybe I could scare Tari with it! you think? * He looked over at the armor, then back to the bodies, picking one up and slinging it over his shoulder* " maybe we can take them to the hearthroom... we could use the extra essence there to burn the bodies or something" * Wave continued to sling dead bodies over his shoulder, not phased by the fact that... they are dead bodies*

* When Dal touched the body, it burned away in a flash of golden light, taking its tattered clothing with it, but leaving the nine crystal balls with magical material behind in its place*

*Dal grimaced at roaring wave slightly, but turned away not wanting to show him as much. He looked around the room for something he could use as a sort of stretcher he could carry the bodies without having to inhale the dust clouds the came from the bodies once they were disturbed.* "Perhaps we can find something to carry them on... perhaps in another room." *Dal looked down at the 9 magical joints and nodded approvingly.* "Well, these look like they could be valuable, let's be sure to collect as many of these as we can find, we have a nice big ship and can probably carry a few nice things back with us, you think perhaps those chairs in the other room would look good in your place?" *He shook his head at the pile of bodies on Waves shoulders and then jerked his head in the direction down the other hall to where the hearth room might be.* "Well if you've enough friends for your trip down the hall we should go get what we came for." *Dal grabbed a pair of bodies by the scruffs of whatever material still clung to their ancient backs and dragged them out into the hall.*
*Dal dropped the bodies off and looked back into the room where he had seen the chairs and pinched his chin curriously. It didn't take long for him to snap the leggs off the already broken chairs like twigs and pull the upholstery from their frames and tie several frames together. He used strips of the fabric to create hand holds and layed a few sheets of fabric over the exposed framework.* "That should do it." *He nodded at his work, which had become a sort of sled, three arm spans wide and twice that in length, a little death train made of ancient chair parts.* "Hey, stack them up on here, this will do." *He plopped the device down outside of the room Wave had been in and hoisted his original pair of bodies onto the sled.* "Unless you like the dust of the dead in your hair and eyes and mouth."


" You are right.. this isnt efficient.. there has to be something" * He carefuly set the bodies down as he looked about the room, his gaze continuously going back to the suit of armor* " Maybe... that would give us the strength to carry more. but who knows..." * Wave turnned away from the armor and back to looking around the room* " You know... this could be a good place to put troops for patrol... we have not seen the living quarters, but maybe those are nice?" * Wave then snapped out of it and focused one more on what Dal was doing. seeing he had made something for transporting the bodies, he began loading it up* " I grew up in a sociaty that held no taboos for Dragons.. the dead dont bother me, so long as they dont move..." * Wave looked over either shoulder after mentioning the walking dead, giving a small shudder before going back to his toil*


* From behind the two, the suit of first age power armor lerched to life and leapt forward, each step creating waves of blue essence like ripples in a calm lake, both jade tiger claws bared and ready to attack. The suit jumped into the air, making a springboard pattern in its anima and tossing its weight to the side to flip himself upside down, then pushed off the celing with the sound of a boulder splashing into the ocean and swiped downward at Wave, only to roll forward in an attempt to pin him to the ground with his jade clad knee* " Defiler! Returned to ransack The Holy Purist Empire? Consider your swift deaths to be a gift, as your soul's eternal torment by myself and the rest of the 13th Elite Power Armored Bergade of Admiral Chaplin Cho-Hi-Xo! Loyalty in death and beyond!!"

* Wave laid wide eyed at the once lifeless suit of armor that had attacked him, stunned under the crushing knee of the supposed specter. Under his own set of jade armor, the floor began to crack and chip as the pressure built. four cuts began top bleed from the top of his head to under his chin... lucky to have kept his head at all*

*Dal was too late and was unable to pull wave to safety in time, but when he heard what the suit had said the course of action he needed to take became all to clear. He raised up with a thunderous roar and as if it simply came to him naturally the voice of an Admiral erupted from Dal'Lumen as he readied his axes to bash away the armor.* "STAND DOWN BRIGADIER I AM YOUR ADMIRAL REBORN!" *He prepared a mighty swing from his ancestral axes, which he hoped the machine would recognize as his Admirals Grim cleavers, Truth and Law.* "Unhand my warrior NOW, or face Truth and Most dreaded punishment at Law's edge!" *His cast mark flared and essence whipped off of him like the spidery tendrils of a solar flare. He swatted down with his axes flat blunt sides at the suit of armors head furiously, his eyes were cold, but at the same time wild and terrifying. His voice as it usual seemed to shatter the very stone around him and crash out of the open hall like a tsunami.* "If you have lost your mind I will end you by the right of the commanding Admiral of this empire!"(13 sxs social combat manip to make the suit see Dal' as the Admiral. 8 Sxs attack 7 sxs attack against the suit attempting to bash him away from wave.)

* The Specter's weight shifted off Wave's chest from the assault, allowing him to slip out from under the crushing pressure. The Specter looked back at Dal, then quickly looked between the two axes and let out a loud yell of both anger and sorrow* " Raider! You robbed the grave of my most honored master!! Sun child, you will never see the light of your patron again, as sure as my name is Gens Aravis Torn Ensaris Rekaine!"

* Taking the initiative, Wave slammed his fist into the torso of the armored specter, pouring all the essence he could into the strike to lift this 'tin can' off him, hi anima spewing off essence like a geyser. when he was airborne, he grabbed his daiklaive from its sheath and cut upwards across the jade clad ghost's chest, leaving a ripple pattern through the air as if strikeing through water* " Cool off that hot steam for a second, dead man! the living now own this Empire... 'No Manse for Dead Men!' "

* The Jade Armor put its left hand out, making sparks of black essence shoot from where stone met jade, sliding him to a stop. He got back to his feet, holding his clawed hands to ether side of him, ready to attack just as sure as he was to defend. the armor was still for a moment, as ghosts did not need to breathe* " I swore to the Admiral Chaplain that I would protect this manse with my dying breath and beyond.. I failed him once, but never again.... and so feels the rest of my squad...' Gunzosha! to me my battle brothers!' " * from the hall, they could see 39 shambling suits of ancient magitech armor, not nearly as splendid as Rekaine's armor and obviously meant for mortals. Rekaine was now in full defense stance, remembering the might of a Sun-king and not wanting to doom himself from the beginning*

*Dal stood tall again, seeming almost to have alowed his body to slacken after his initial blow, like a serpent recoiling from a strike. He hoisted the Axes up to his shoulders, cocking his body to the side staring down at the suit of armor from under the hook of the axe on his shoulder. He payed little attention to the sound of slow moving armor behind him, putting the full force of his presence down on Rekaine.* "You have served your Admiral well, again I say, I am the reincarnation of Cho-Hi-Xo, Zenith of the Unconquered Sun, recognize me and stand down and I will bring you the peace you have earned Brigadier. You may rest now, your duty has been served honorably, but do not make the mistake of soiling your proud service by forcing your commanders wrath... If you would ask me any question that proves I am the reborn Cho-Hi-Xo, then ask it, and stand down." *Dal scowled harsly at the suit of armor, summoning up all the rightful authority he had been gifted with. Admiral Dal'Lumen's presence slammed down on Rekaine with as much force as any physical blow. He knew that this man was loyal beyond measure, and if he could bring that side of the creature out before having to destroy it forcibly it would be better for everyone.* (11 Sxs to convince Rekaine to see Dal as his superior officer, the reborn Cho-Hi-Xo, and ask him a question only Cho-Hi-Xo would be able to answer.)

*With this small push to his essence his banner at last exploded into the open halls of the manse, two towering chained fists exploded from the ground, snapping the golden chains to splinters and seeming to push up against the roof of the manse, essence poured off of Dal as his body became a beacon of light as bright as the noon day sun.*

* The specter relaxed as he watched Dal, looking right through hi as if studying the essence he had inherited, with the wave of his hand, the zombie like 'Gunzosha' troops stopped in their tracks, swaying slightly as if having awoken from a deep sleep* " Is that really you Cho-Hi-Xo?... Has the cycle began its turn once more? ' The Fist in the East'... 'The Great Underdog?' 'The Alchemist Commander?' Have you returned to us?" * as he spoke his arms loosened, untill they lay limp at his sides. he slumped forward as if stunned by this realization and in a daze from it..* " Very well.... what was the name of your wife? I think that is a reasonable question to ask you, Cho-Hi-Xo" * his head tilted to the side, a clear sign of a ghost slipping away and coming close to a self induced Lethe*

*Dal closed his eyes, and sighed his relief. He waited for Cho-Hi-Xo to give him his answer, hoping first that Cho himself remembered. He let the words come from his own mouth, echoing the question back to Cho again.* "Her name was..." *He slowly walked toward the armored specter, growing closer and closer, before he was in reach of the suit just in case he had to reach out and cast the spirit out by power of his priestly right. He thought as loudly and clearly as he could in his own head trying to stir cho to give him some backup on this one.* "Her name..."

* Just beyond the specter, the sound of a sniff could be heard, followed by a soft cough, then the voice of Cho-Hi-Xo, voice quivering slightly, his voice softer than the times before* " you don't need to try so hard, Dal.. I am always here... her name was Avalisa Ristivia... Rekaine wont hurt you..."

*The name passed Dal'Lumen's lips at the same moment Cho-Hi-Xo said it, as if he had spoken it from his own memories.* "... Was Avalisa Ristivia." *Dal reached Rekaine, and his hand came out and landed on the suits shoulder proping the ancient fallen soldier up with the strength of his exalted arm, he looked into the eyes of the suit sadly.* "Go in peace, I will see to it that you and all of your brothers are sent to rebirth in honor, may we meet again some day, Gens Aravis Torn Ensaris Rekaine, you have served the Empire well, and long after your mortal duty, I will take it from here, the Empire is in good hands." *Dal gave the suit a gentle jostle with his hand* "You are Relieved Brigaider."

* While Dal spoke with the ghost, Wave kept his blade ready, knowing that it only took a moment for a tense situation to become a bloody one. Wave's anima fluxed as he stood there, flowing like a river.

Rekaine nodded, standing straight up and giving Dal a salute* " Thank you for everything, Admiral Chaplin... my only regret is dying when I did.. back when I still wielded the power of the water dragon, I could have popped that second rate Terrestrial over there like a quail's egg.... Squad! at ease!" * And with that. the armor fell to pieces, still working, but no longer attached to an attuned being. following their commander, the shambling suits of power armor also slumped in piles on the floor, now completely empty.

Behind where Rekaine once stood, the almost ghostly form of Cho-Hi-Xo stood, eyes reddened, face wet and wiping away under his eye with his right knuckle* " Its that kinda thing that will choak a guy up.... I didn't know he felt that way.... man, I didn't deserve him... he was too good for this world"

* Wave poked the armor with the tip of his daiklaive, making sure it was harmless this time, then put a piece of cloth on his cheek to cover his cut* " Second Rate Terrestrial?.... at least I'm not Deathlord fodder... but thanks for the armor... cause its mine now"

*Dal looked at Cho-Hi-Xo and nodded ever so slightly before turning away to look over his shoulder at Roaring Wave.* "Cho-Hi-Xo" *He said pointedly* "...and that wasn't a guess" *Dal left it at that, and swatted Wave on the back hard enough to make him lurch forward slightly, and then turned away to collect the bodies on his make shift cart so he could deal with them the way they should have been centuries ago.* "Let's get to the hearth room brother, we have work to do and this is just the first manse, chances are next time they wont be reasonable ghosts." *Dal slid the little train of dead bodies down the hall in the opposite direction they had come from, headed for the other side of the manse they had not investigated yet.*

* Passing through the next hall, Dall passed into what looked like a mess hall, filled with comfortable benches ( also thousand comforts) self cleaning & fixing counters and food dispensers that seemed to be able to move to different layers of the manse... everything a super powered arsenal might need to enjoy their dinner. The next room ove was a supply room, with temprature controlled chambers, drawers, closets the size of a broom cupbord that could somehow fit a few horses. Following the staircase downward from this room, they would come across an activities room where it seemed troops could spend their free time. There were more comfortable seats ( yep, thousand comforts), magical game boards and card tables. past this room, was undoubtably the hearthroom.... but strangely enough, it was filled with a vortex of what appeared to be essence filled wate, spewing ice and lightning all through the room... somehow not harming the macheneary within... which was simple, compaired to what was in Dal's Manse*

" What in Kimberry depths?... is this some kind of trap?.... what do you make of this Dal?" * Wave looked on at the dangerous miasma that filled the room, pondering weather or not to run into the manse and quickly attune, or break a few walls untill power failure causes the trap to die*


*Dal appraised the situation, he looked to either side of the doorway, hoping he could see any sort of obvious method to dissable the trap.* "Well by the looks of it who knows, maybe it wont be too bad, but either way it looks like we can turn it off from the inside." *Dal pointed* "Right there, you see it seems the essense of the manse is being channeled through the hearth stone and spilling into the room very violently..." *There was a small flash of light and Dal opened one of his small cache eggs and stuck his fingers into it to grab what he was looking for, gave it a tug and extracted the Gill robe he had borrowed from the Marina earlier that day.* "Now one of us has to go in there, and neither of us have to worry about holding our breath, but somehow that essense looks like it wont feel good... so... ahhem, as the commanding officer I suppose it's my duty to go turn that thing off."

*Dal had another insight, one could almost see a light go on inside of his head. He quickly reached back into the cache egg and began pulling... pulling... and pulling some more a good length of rope was piled on the floor in front of them before long and dal looked up at wave.* "Ill tie this to myself, and if I can't handle the heat in there pull me out before bad things happen"


"?.... " * Wave took the rope and looked it over, then looked back to Dal, still fiddling with the rope in his hand* " and what if the essence bores through the rope?.. i'll hold onto this, but I will still stay close to you, just incase plan A flops... how does that sound to you?" * Wave raised an eyebrow, hos skin began glowing blue and undulating as if he were transparent and full of glowing water*


*Dal nodded* "Very well, that armor of yours should give you an edge anyway, but I'll do this because you've already taken a hit today and I don't see why I shouldn't take some of that for myself." *Dal slipped into the gill robe quickly, and looked into the whirling chaos of essence in front of him reluctantly.* "Well... no use wasting good rope, might as well test it and see how long it lasts." *Dal made a fist and from it protruded about 16 inches of rope that he slowly extended into the essence water.*

* the fibers of the rope quickly began unraveling, then breaking down completely from matter to motes in the vortex of dragon's nest within the control room. Wave blinked a few times as he watched this play out... then, with trepidation, reached his finger out and into the dangerous water essence. he winced a moment as it went in... then relaxed, letting out a chuckle* " Hey! I think that is just a ruse.... it feels just like water to me"


*Dal looked at wave thoughtfully, and up to his fingers in the essence water.* "Perhaps not, the commander of this outpost was a Water Dragon just as you are, perhaps this vortex is harmless to the right type of Exalted being. Only one way to find out..." *Dal too stuck a finger into the essence, sturdying himself for whatever pain might befall him.*

* the feeling of the water was like that of being crushed and frozen all at the same time, a pain akin to being bathed in acid or engulfed in a bonfire.. but of course it was just a finger, so it was not so destructive*

"Ow..." *Dal quickly pulled his finger out and looked at wave casualy.* "Looks like we have found you a very special Roaring Wave doorway, if you are not feeling what I just did then perhaps you are meant to be the one that goes in to dissable it, and not me." *Dal bowed his head in the direction of the hearth room suggesting Wave was free to enter at any time.* "This one is all yours brother."

" Well... it looks like the other Water Aspects turnned this on to prevent the invaders from getting too far... but they died before they could turn the thing off... but no matter, i'll get this thing done, then we can attune to it and move onto the next.... this may take a little while. Wave walked into the watery room, seemingly unphased by the energies around him. he stood next to the control panal and began meditating. thee hours later, the water dissolved away into thin air and Wave stood up. he heaved a sigh, shook the water off him, then motioned for Dal to enter* " Come on in, Admiral! the non-water is fine!"


*Dal opened his eyes and brought himself out of his meditation, he got up off of his knees and looked into the doorway that had only moments ago been too dangerous for him to enter safely. He looked almost skeptical, but slowly walked in anyway.* "Well done, how does it feel, can you feel the essense coursing through you?" *Dal looked around to find exactly what had happened to the hearth stone.* "I guess it's my turn now, then we should find a way to channel the power here into dealing with those bodies." *Dal found a nice open spot and eased himself to his knees again, he looked up at Roaring Wave.* "I would have moved the gear we found to the ship but I did not think it wise to leave you in there without me as a contengency plan to get you out should something have had gone wrong... Perhaps I can trust you with that task while I finish up in here." *Dal smirked covertly, even if he was serious about not wanting to leave Wave alone in a room full of dangerous essense.* " We are also going to have to figure out what these hearth stones are capable of eventualy."

" You got it Dal!... but after this, we should find the sleeping quarters.. Im gonna be bushed after this. burn all the bodies you can, and maybe we should set off for the other manses tomorrow.. but in the meantime, i'll go gather up anything worth taking from the Manse here" * he bowed to Dal, then ran off to get that suit of power armor and the like*


*Yet another 3 hours later, the essence of the manse and Dal'Lumen had become as one, and with a sigh Dal tilted his head back, a loud crackle issuing from his neck after having sat stationary for so many hours in a row. He stood up and looked into the black jade fountain on the back wall, much like the one in his own manse, there lay the stone submerged in it's little pool. He dipped his fingers into in and extracted the stone.* "Well, this brings back memories... fight our way in, make friends, and find a stone in a pool of water." *He chuckled, thinking back to the day he first met Quie-Ra.* "Hey wave, all done in here, you still awake out there?" *he called out the doorway so that wave could hear him wherever he might have been.* "Now for the fallen..."

" Yeah.. I am here!.. " * the sound of Wave's voice was clear, but listlis and tired. it did not take long for him to come into the hearthroom, dragging his feet and still wet.. perhaps he fell into the grey river* " How did it go? everything in order? I have never been attuned to a manse before, but its definatly a rush... nothing makes you feel more like a god. but anyway... I grabbed that advanced suit, the fourty gunzosha suits, a jade daiklave and spear and a bunch of broken jade fragments... but thats only what I could find"


"Very well done Roaring Wave, hit the rack whenever you like... Oh here!" *Dal popped open a separate Cache egg, and out popped a hearty loaf of oat bread, undoubtedly of Quie-Ra's making, and right behind it popped out a two good sized skins of water. He tossed the loaf to wave, and shortly after he tossed the leather water skin.* "Eat as much as you like, I have a manse full of the stuff, someone's gotta help me get rid of it! I'll take care of the fallen soldiers and make sure they all find their way to peace. I'll see you in the morning bright and early, we go down tomorrow, straight down." *Dal pointed at the floor, which obviously indicated that they were to find a way to travel to the manse somewhere far below their feet.*

" Oh yeah?" * Wave reached out and plucked the water and bread out of the air, holding them close as if not seen food in a long time* " Good idea Dal! Bringing a snack is the way to go!. Anyway, I'll see you when the Sun brings tomorrow. Goodnight Dal. " * Wave gave a bow to Dal, then scampered off to the upper sleeping quarters of the Manse, finding that like everywhere else, there were thousand comfort lounges aplenty*

*Dal walked out onto the open docks where all the bodies from the manse had been layed out beside eachother in a long row, Dal walked to the center of the row and looked up at the reddening twilight sky and held his hands out to either side of him palms facing the bodies on the ground.* "These great men fought well, and they died with honor defending this great Empire, let them always be remembered as heroes, and now at last they will be sent to rebirth leaving their brave service with those that have survived them." *With that Dal looked back down and moved to the end of the row and knelt down over the head of each and placed his hand on their brows, he quietly said "Go in peace, brave warrior." to each as a shot of light spilled out from his hand and consumed every one of the bodies in golden sun fire.*

* The bodies burned away in glorious golden fire, making not a sound as they went off to return to the cycle of reincarnation... leaving behind their gunzosha armor and 39 sets of those crystal and magical material spheres that were in their joints*

*When the job was done, Dal collected the remaining magical joints the bodies had left behind and packed them away on the Saber. Perhaps they could serve some purpose to the living, or perhaps they could be a way for people to honor the warriors of the past in the Bezair Freedome Temple. He stopped for a moment to look out over the water, seeing the lights of Bezair in the horizon.* "You had good men behind you, Cho-Hi-Xo. I hope one day these gateways will be protected by men of such quality again, accompanied by the symphony of life all around."

* Just within Dal's periphrial vision, he could see the hazy form of Cho-Hi-Xo materializing, and after heaving a sigh, he spoke* " They were good soldiers... not all of them being men after all. And I would be proud to see you put these 'fortress flats' back into use... thats what the troop's families who lived here called them... 'fortress flats'. * The specter solar shrugged, then looked over the empty sets of gunzosha armor*

*Dal watched as the sun dipped below the horizon and the night was on it's way into the sky, as if in spite of the fast approaching darkness his Anima still burnt brilliantly filling the sky and the surrounding manse with majestic golden light, the reflection of it off the water created bright ripples and waves on everything it could touch. It was by this light that Dal collected the last sets of remaining armor and stowed them away with the rest wave had collected earlier, 80 sets in total, and a thought went through Dal's mind about what had happened to the owners of the other 40 set's, he only hoped they had already found their peace. When the job was done, and Dal's anima had faded into a dim glow around him, he found his way to the quarters Wave had gone off to sleep in and did what he could to fall asleep for the night.*


Descending wood, 16


* The next morning, Dal would awaken to the sound of the manse moving. sinking downwards to the water as if pulled by a giant behemoth. the sounds of large waves laping against the manse walls could be heard, riseing higher and higher untill the sounds were well over the room Dal slept in.. almost as if the Manse had submerged completely*

*Dal Sat up quickly and looked at the cealing, the source of the sound. He spun around and looked for roaring wave, starting with the bed he was last seen sleeping in. Surprises were very rarely good to have in a small expiditions like this one, so it didn't take long for Dal to hurtle himself out of bed and grab his equipment.* "Wave?!"

* The room wave was sleeping in still had traces of him having been there, but he quite obviously had left for other parts of the manse... that is, until Dal heard Wave calling out... but before he could answer, the water dragon popped up from the doorway* " Hey Dal! I found a control that closes the water entrance to the empire!! I am not sure how it works, but what it does is pulls both top and bottom manses together to seal off the archway. We could defiantly use this!"


*Dal frowned at wave, and maintained a grim expression.* "Please tell me you moved the ship before you slammed a manse shut on it Wave?" *Dal hoisted his Axes up on his shoulder, and starred long and hard at Wave.* "And you couldn't have warned me that you were going to mess with the Manse ahead of time? It's clear after seeing that trap in the hearth room earlier, not everything this manse can do is especialy friendly, you might have unintentionaly killed us both!"

* Wave lowered his gave a little, wincing as he realized Dal was correct, having once again acted too hastily. He nodded then gave a shrug before meeting dal's gaze once more* " Yes... looking back, that could have been a bad idea... but I saw on the monitor that the dock moved out from under the manse and is now attached to its outer wall within the empire. So far, it seems as though everything is just fine... we are even closer to the under water manse"

*Dal shook his head, still giving Wave a good cold stare for a few eternal seconds.* "I'm going to tell Tari to kick your ass for me if you ever do something like this again." *Dal shook his finger at Wave, he turned away as he lowered his axes, smirking secretly.* "Well, Don't just stand there let's get going, and remember we're a team, survival in any place within and outside of creation is made easier when a team works together." *Dal grabbed his gear and walked past Wave in the doorway, giving him a solid slap on the shoulder on the way out.* "At least your heart is in the right place, haha."

* Wave gave out a laugh as his wife's name was brought up in reference to beating him up. He slapped his knee as he turned to follow Dal through the hallway* " You want Tari to beat me up? Its not going to happen. She might be better at martial arts than I am, but I am the dragon in this relationship! with a little essence, I can win the day... its just she is better naturally. But you are right about team work... if anyone knows team work, its a Dragon-Blooded. now onto the easy task of going to the under water manse... then the not so easy task of the sky manse... no idea how to do that."

*Dal looked back over his shoulder as he walked away down the hall with a laugh.* "Hah, Well then Dragon, I'll expect you to prove your inherited teamwork mastery in the future! The time will come that we won't have the option to be as carefree and comfortable as we are growing accustomed to here." *Dal knew somewhere in the back of his mind that Wave and others like him were going to be future leadership figures in days to come, and it would be his job to make sure Wave was ready for that day when it came. Dal was headed for the hearth room, though he was not sure where exactly he should be going to get to the other manse below them.* "By the way Roaring Wave, I have been training some warriors in basic hand to hand, and weapon combat, I would like for you to get involved with that, both for your own training... and perhaps if you prove yourself you will be my lieutenant one day."

"Ha!" * Wave exclaimed loudly at Dal's statement about a lieutenant, the sound of jade on jade clacking together following quickly* " And what other prospects do you have that are better suited than myself, Solar? More dragons will come, but nobody will be better than your number one child of Danna'd! There is no doubt I will prove to you that I am your best choice as lieutenant. And when I die, my child will prove the same, and when they die, their children will prove the same, and so on and so on. But as far as being ready, that's why I train with my master martial artist wife every day around the time you called yesterday. I would be glad to get my hands dirty training mortals!" * his tone was matter of fact, with a hint of jest. there was no doubt he was a smug Dragon-Blooded, but at the same time, he knew there was room for growth within himself. When they arrived at the staircase which once lead to the docks, they would find it was now attached to a damp set of stairs leading even farther downward* ...." Huh... easy way down... but can we trust an ancient easy way down?"


"Heh... And what other prospects do we have?" *Quoted Dal.* "We can try the easy way, and we might be dissapointed, or we can try to find a harder way if you like." *Dal took the first step and paused briefly before continuing down the rest of the way, his boots making soft splashing sounds as the water was displaced under them. After reaching the point at which the docks would have been before, Dal again paused, and donned his Gill Robe, just in case. As he walked he softly whistled what sounded like a sailors tune which echoed through the damp stairwell up into the light of the other manse and down into the mysterious deapths below.* "Why do I get the distinct feeling this one isn't going to be so easy."


" Im with you, Solar" * Wave hopped downward, just behind Dal, always keeping his gaze on downward, where the stairs lead them to. He was about to go on deeper, when a loud noise which sound like somewhere between a large bird's screech and a child's screaming though a mechanoid synthesizer, which stopped Wave in his tracks* "... Wow... well, I guess its not getting any safer down there..." * and without another word, Wave ran downward and out of sight*

*Dal's whistling fell silent, he turned his ear to the sound down stairs, waiting for some other sound he might recognize. When wave spoke Dal quietly held a finger up to him and turned his ear in closer to the sound, and before he realized it wave was rushing past him into the unknown. Dal tried to reach out and hault wave before he broke their cover but was too late, and the dragon-blood was gone down the stairs.* "Damnit!" *He whispered, and as quickly, and quietly as he could he made his way down the rest of the way to catch up to wave. He came around the last corner of the staircase and looked around, axes in hand and ears tuned to the slightest sounds of the room.*

* When Dal caught up with Wave, he was standing in an empty hallway, just like in the manse above, complete with sheathes along the walls which undoubtedly kept weapons good and sharp. all along the hall, the manse was well lit and dry, filled with fresh, completely breathable air. Wave, who stood there with his hands on his hips, looked somewhere between relieved and disappointed* "well... whatever that wa, its not right here.... but that means it still somewhere down here... and really big"


*Dal glowered at wave.* "Yes... And id rather have the element of stealth on our side from here on out, if we should need to deal with something agressive then let's fight it on our terms and not let it choose it's own, yes?" * Dal began walking down the hall to the right this time, heading directly for where the hearth room was on the top manse. He cautiously looked into each room along the way, making quick mental notes about the contents and purpos of each, as well as checking for sings of whatever had made that noise.* {10sxs investigation and ransack}


* Dal would quickly find that this manse was constructed much like its sister manse top side, with only one difference... there was not a full scale assault down here.. in fact, there was evidence of soldiers rushing from here to the surface manse and even straight to the Imperial Manse... probably to help secure the empire's heart. The first thing Dal would notice, was the sheaths along the walls of many of the large halls and in the armory, a few of which still had weapons within them ( 15 perfect slashing swords, 10 axes and a black jade Daiklaive and a black jade Reaper Daiklaive). Upon loer inspection, Dal would find that a sheath could be dismissed back into a wall with a simple gesture and could be called bak or swapped for a sheath of a different type with simmilar simple gestures.. also, these sheaths were designed to keep weapons razor sharp and preserved while they were held. The armory was stripped bare, obviously by soldiers who had more of a warnning than their surface dwelling brothers in arms. On the ground, Dal would find tracks where the ground had been rubbed and polished smooth one more by some large, enigmatic being.. undoubtably whatever had made that hellacous sound they had heard a little while ago.... but once they were on the right track to the hearthroom, that sound once more shot through the halls, reverberating off the walls*

* Wave stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound, turnning in all directions as to not be taken by surprize* " .... it sounds louder now.... what do you think it is?.... should we go after it?"


*Dal bent down and touched the floor where it had been polished raw* "Judging by the way this thing has rubbed the ground like this, it's has a very solid hide, almost like stone, and it moves like a snake... something like this would have to be big, probably close to one thousand pounds, a snake that weight would probably be 30 feet in length." *Dal looked up at the weapons on the wall and the watery vortex leading intot he hearth room, a light blinked on in his head and he looked up at wave.* "That thing is behind us somewhere judging by that sound, and look what this has given us... If this thing is agressive then we can lead it into a trap brother, look with these weapons on the wall, and the vortex in the hearth room, if it chases you in there it might kill itself, if these weapons on the wall don't do that for us first. We just need some way to mount them effectivly on this smooth floor to get the creature to run itself over them!" *Dal looked up at Roaring Wave, stumped as to how they would guide the creature into their trap, and plant their Perfected Punji Stakes.*

* Wave looked upon the traps they had set, hopeful in their proper execution. He leapt into the air and clucked his heels together in celebration* " Yeah! There is no was this thing can get past this! Its a wall of first age perfected doom! This was a great idea!... but maybe there is something more I can do!....This should work..." * Wave took in a deep breath and took his Reaver Daiklaive from its sheath and heald it out before him, closing his eyes as his body began glowing dark blue. The weapons stuck into the ground before them began glowing in kind, a cold deep blue. When Wave opened his eyes he rejoyced once more* " Ha! I knew it! first practical application! I have been working on these charms so I can be more help to you and your troops on the battlefield!"


* Coming down the hall, Dal could see a surprisingly beautiful 30 foot mechanical serpent, covered with fiber-optic feathers which glowed rainbow colors over its pure white/silver magical material body. It let out that otherworldly sound once more... but then began making sounds that were far more, familiar. it stopped for a moment and made all its feathers glow to match the field of spikey water aspected doom, then went charging down the hall, barreling towards them and the trap they had set* ( Intellegence + Linguistics )

"Very nice! Uh Oh, we got it's attention... Remember if that thing get's past the first trap, try to lead it into the hearth room, and just in case that still isn't enough, be ready to get out of there!." *Dal' stood behind the traps next to Roaring Wave and clapped him on the back.* "Wait, Does it sound like that things talking?" (2 sxs)*Dal shot a question to Cho-Hi-Xo in his mind, wondering if his past incarnation had any idea what this thing was or perhaps even what it was trying to communicate.* ~Cho-Hi-Xo, what is this thing, what is it saying?~

* When the Serpent ran into the wall of blades, it stopped dead in its tracks, cracking the edges of a few of its fiber-optic Orichalcum feathers... though the mechanized beast continued to strain against its bonds. The more it made those familiar sounds.. the more one would realize, this is a language!... at first, one might think its Riverspeak or High Realm... but this is in fact Old Realm... Upon being nudged, Cho-Hi-Xo manifested to Dal, sitting on the back of the huge, beautiful magitech beast, as if it were his own personal steed... though he leaned on one drawn axe as if the situation were not as dire as it looked* " What is it saying? 'Warning, infiltrators! Exalted Assistance is Required! Present Activation code of met in error! All intruders will be terminated'. Its good to know that this thing still works after all these years"

* The Magitech beast continued to strain against its barrier, cracking and breaking a few perfect blades as it refused to give up its assault. Its feathers flared in its seeming anger, its color turning red for a moment, before returning to its rainbow.*


* Wave stepped back slowly, still holding his blade at the ready* " This this is strong!... I can only hold my charm up for so long... but when it goes down, jump out of the way! It should fly right into the hearthroom and blow to bits! "

"Uh..." *Dal'Lumen Backed up a few steps, keeping his eyes trained on the metal monster, and his Axes in hand.* "Activation Code? It want's an Activation Code.... I don't have one, NOBODY has for a thousand years!... Err... You don't think it could be in the Hearth Room do you?" *Dal'Lumen planted his feet right in the doorway, expecting the beast to charge after him if it got through their defense.* "Go check the computers quickly!"

* Wave looked to Dal, his eyes now expelling dark blue mists of essence, the strain of holding his charm up unable to hide the confusion within him* " Admiral?... who wants a password?... Com-wha?... Oh! the hearthroom? Where in the hearthroom? I'm not sure what you are asking me to do! Do you want me to let go of the barrier? * three blades popped a few feathers off the magitech beast's armored hide, exposing its steel underbelly*

* Wave looked to Dal, his eyes now expelling dark blue mists of essenze, the strain of holding his charm up unable to hide the confusion within him* " Admiral?... who wants a passowrd?... Com-wha?... Oh! the hearthroom? Where in the hearthroom? Im not sure what you are asking me to do! Do you want me to let go of the barrier? * three blades popped a few feathers off the magitech beast's armored hide, exposing its steel underbelly*

* Cho-Hi-Xo placed his elbow on the handle of his axe, leanning his abdomen off the serpent and keeping only his legs on it. with the same arm he leaned on, he put that pinkey finger in his ear and began to clean it, as if they were talking about boring politics while waiting to see a doctor* " Yeah.. not in a thousand years... too bad there is nobody around here over a thousand years old who lived around here, right?" * He took the finger out of his ear, scraped whatever was under his pinkey nail out, then flicked it away with his index finger*

*Dal's face flushed slightly for having overlooked this obvious option, and because he was slightly annoyed that Cho-Hi-Xo was being so care free, nor had he just come out and said it in the first place.* "Cho-Hi-Xo, What is the activation code, I would rather not break this thing!"

" this is not the time to be thinking about getting high, Admiral!... and I am more worried about not getting broken myself!!" * Wave became more and more confused by the moment, getting closer and closer, hoping to knock this thing closer to the hearthroom when the barrier broke*

* Cho-Hi-Xo sat up, putting his axe back on his back and gave a stretch, before answering Dal* " 'Avalisa Sukasa. Cho Isa Da Gare Tesate' .... it means Avalisa sucks. Cho is the greatest!" * Cho laughed to himself as he mused over his ancient joke*

"I'm not high! Avalisa Sukasa... Chi Isa daraga ..." *Dal stumbled, and spluttered to a stop, perfect time to get tongue tied on a new language he thought.* "Avalisa Sukasa. Cho Isa Da Gare Tesate!" *Dal attempted to follow the sounds Cho had made, not really knowing if he had said it right or otherwise, he turned his head to the side and readied his axes for the mecha snake. What he Did know was of course now that he had just spluttered out what sounded like nonsense, Wave was most certainly going to think he was in fact high unless this damn thing stopped.* "Hilarious Cho, that better be the real code!"

* The serpent stopped, then coiled its tail around it as it looked at the two Exalts, then spoke up in a rather long string of Old realm, then turnned around and began scrubbing the ground and walls with its plumage, leaving smooth, sparkeling clean manse in its wake*

* The sound of jade falling on a stone floor could be heard as Wave dropped his daiklaive. he looked at the calm, cleaning serpent going off down the hall, then to Dal, his jaw dropped and gawking in a very confused mannor. he then smacked himself hard on his blue glowing cheek* " Thats for me ever having doubted you!.... You can act as crazy as you want, just so long as you make trouble go away like with that serpent.... or that ghost... or... at the Trial * Wave began to think over all the nonsese and displays of power he had been showing.. trying to make any sort of sense out of it.. but then shrugged and gave up* " You got some explaining to do.... not because I am nosey... but because I want to be in the know under pressure, so I can help take care of business..... but at any rate, the hearthroom is over there and free to be looted!"

* Cho-Hi-Xo stood up on the back of the serpent, then walked down its back while it slithered away* " It said, 'Password accepted, sorry for the trouble... Today the mess hall will be serving braised beef and gravy with boiled lobster, clam stew, fried rice, a vegetable medley and choice of orange, apple or grapefruit juice'. We always made sure our soldiers had proper nutrition"

[Ress]

Descending Wood, 15

*Dal Looked just as dumbfounded as Wave, even more so after hearing the translation.* "..." *Dal scratched his bald head and glanced at Roaring Wave, then back at Cho-Hi-Xo, and beyond at the metal snake. Thing.* "Yes I suppose I can explain what just happened, though it might be hard to take it in, I know it was for me at first. So open your mind and I'll try to clear some things up for you. Ahhem. I have the sentient conciousness of a first age solar living in my head... In fact he is my first age incarnation, Cho-Hi-Xo is his name, he has been emparting knowledge, and training to me since before the trial of the Emperor, and after I arrived in Imperveress. He served in much the same station I serve today, and even lived In the Bezair manse as I do, these axes here, were his." *Dal watched Waves face, waiting for his jaw to hit the floor, or some sign that everything he was saying was getting through.* "Any Questions?...."Oh" *Dal pointed at Cho-Hi-Xo.* "You can't see him but hes standing right over there... You have him to thank for that passcode I just garbled out." *Dal looked at Cho and bowed.* "Thank you Cho-Hi-Xo."


"...? Well..." * Wave shrugged, then gave a wave in the direction Dal said his past self was in* " If there are impenetrable empires and sky manses and all that... why not someones past self come to be their life coach?.... makes as much sense as anything else that goes on around here...... Well then. how about we all go make this manse official?" * As he spoke, the vortex of water energy within the hearthroom dissolved into thin air, leaving the room harmless*


"Well looks like we're in the clear to start attuning, and then I suggest we plug these hearth stones in and try to figure out what they do." *Dal rolled his shoulders and crackled his neck, shaking the tension of the previous minutes out of his limbs, his adrenaline still causing his blood to pound against the back of his eyes.* " You think I could teach that thing to speak our language, I could keep it as a house pet - Haha!" *Dal Sat down attempting to gather his concentration for attunement but for all he was worth he just couldn't center himself so soon after a fight.* "Bah, I will go check out the rest of the rooms, you go ahead and attune first, again."

* Cho-Hi-Xo nodded, giving a smirk as he took in what Dal had aid* " you want it to be set to Riverspeak? Its easy enough... you just need the pasword for its configuration menu... it is 'Pulase da legasu ofa a sapiderase'. You should then say, ' mid river district, 121 A'. That should set it to Riverspeak... so long as you remember the other passwords... but then again.. those can be changed as well... Sun sees you, Dal!" * Cho-Hi-Xo then slowly faded away in a shaft of light.. different than what eh usually did, but then again, he was an echo of an ancient solar.. he can do as he likes* * When Dal walked into the control room, he would see a blur of green and white out of the corner of his, whatever it was, ducking down behind the control deck* ( Perception+awareness)

" You got it, Dal! You know... we can both attune at the same time... I have done it a few times back in my old home.. of course, those attunement have been broken since.. but I can help set us both to.....?" * Having seen the blur of green and white, Wave stopped in his tracks, looking puzzled as his gaze fell on the control deck* " Did you see that? its like a little green person it in here...think we should be worried?" * Wave stepped closer, grabbing the hild of his reaver daiklaive, pondering weather he should be on edge or not*


*Dal saw the green blure and pinched his chin, he signaled for Wave to ease off a little bit.* "Asra... is that you ? What are you doing down here boy, this is a dangerous place!"

* Out from behind the console. Asra crept.. no longerweaing the makeshift canvas pans he wore before, but now sturdy cloth clothing specially made for children who lived near the water, dyed blue and white. on his face was a sheepish look that a cghild might have if they were caught with their hand in the cookie jar* " Hello mr. Dal'Lumen..... How did you find this place?"

*of course wherever Asra was there was a particular blue shadow who was never too far off. A second head popped out next to the green child, brown hair and blue skin giving away exactly who it was. When she saw who her friend was talking to she gave him an assessing look, as though debating if he were a threat to whatever activities they had been up to before. For once, she remained silent*


* As he was 'told' Wave backed off and took his hand off his weapon... when he was there were children here, he hinched over slightly, gawking at the two of them* " You mean to say this place ha been found and penetrated by children?... I must be off my game"

"Ah And Crystal Rain, hello to you both then. I was sent on a mission by the Emperor... but suppose I should be asking you two that question actualy, how exactly did you come to be in this place, this is rather far out from home don't you think?"
*Dal chuckled at wave* "Don't worry about it wave, these are no ordinary kids, these two."

*her eyes wandered over the Dragon-Blooded, noting the watery aspect of him and she seemed to be considering what she thought of him. When Dal'Lumen asked them about their reasons for being here she frowned a little* This is our secret fun spot... Mr. Solar man, who's your boyfriend?


* Wave stood up straight.. wondering who this child was to speak to a Chosen of the sun and the sea... his face scrunched up as he pondered what she said, then spoke* " Boyfriend?.... Child.. I am married, and happily so" * He nodded, trying to keep a tone suitable for children*

*Crystal Rain adopted the air of someone who was dealing with an iritating child, a hand going to her hips and then with a roll of her eyes she amended* Whatever, who's your husband, then?

* Asra looked around the central room of the manse, then set his red eyed gaze at Dal, giving the control console a pat* " We found this a long time ago! We come here to get away from slithers... and play with the under water kids! Even though the ones on land are nice to me now... I like these more... Oh! abnd thanks for making that mean rainbow snake be nice! We woke him up and he scared us!... he didn't like the water room though.. it hurts things that are not me or Crystal Rain"


*Dal still kneeling on the ground in a mediatative posture lost his not unremarkable balance a little at this statement, having to catch himself with a hand on the floor.* " Secret... fun spot?! Ahhem...No problem... Hes married to a lovely woman named Tari, back in the city Crystal, this is Roaring Wave, he is a warrior, and friend of mine come along with me on this mission." *Dal pushed himself up off the ground and walked over and stood towering over the kids.* "So you just came across this place while playing in the river?" *Dal found himself overwhealmed by the number of new questions that had just come up, not to mention trying to keep pace with the conversation of two kids.* "What under water kids Asra?"

* Wave began lauging when he heard Crystal Rain insinuate that him and Dal were married. Dal had his fine points, but Wave was not about to pick them over Tari's... But Wave did stop when he heard Dal refer to Tari as 'lovely'* " Lovely? have her clock you one in the jaw, then see how 'lovely she is... maybe lovely, so long as you dont tussle with her" * he rubbed his chin as he spoke... feeling a dull ache where she had kicked him last... about the time Dal showed up*


Oh, I didn't know you could have a husband AND a wife... Wow, Mr., you must be a great to play with! *she nodded thoughtfully, looking at the Wave guy a little more. She wondered what her mom would think about him... But if he was married twice she probably would like him. Her hand came off of her hip and she ran it through her hair*


* Asra nodded, knowing better than to not obey an adult when asked something... spankings would be undoubtably wourse by a chosen of The Sun* " The under water kids! They live at the bottom of the lake... the adults are afraid of us, but the kids play with us. They talk funny... but we usually know what we want by what we do..." * Asra looked at Crystal ain, then scratched the back of his head, thinking over something his mother told him* " Crystal Rain!... you can't be married to more than one person unless you are a king or queen! My mommy told me so."

* Roaring Wave went from rubbing his chin out of pain, to rubbing it out on thought. , he nodded, then held his hand out to interject* " Technicly, Dal'Lume here is a Sun-King, so he could be....!!??" * he shook hi head a moment, not believeing what they had got him to say.. sounding like ' burburuub'* " No! Me and Dal are not married!"


Then the blue man must be a king! *she looked at him with a mixture of awe and attempt at hiding said awe* Where are you king of King Blue? *she thought over any sort of etiquette her mother or father might have taught her for a king... her mom never said because she was higher than a king, but her daddy said to just be on her best behavior and to do something with her skirt... She looked down at her skirt and frowned, trying to remember what it was* I'm supposed to do something with my skirt.... but I can't remember

*Dal slumped, as if something very heavy had just hit him in the back of the head. He looked at Wave and then back at the kids hopelessly.* "Er... Child, we're not married... nor would we ever be... we just both work for the Emperor... Marriage is - more... ask your parents about it." * Dal shook his head, giving wave an amusedly awkward look.* " Tell me more about these people down here, what are they like?"

* Wave couldnt help but laugh again as Crystal Rain carried on, wipeing under his eye and heaving a sigh* " No, I am not a King... and I dont know much about skirts.. having only worn one once and only because I lost a bet in secondary school"


* Asra didn't know what the big deal was about skirts.. he wore a sail like one for years and saw nothing wrong with it, but he was more focused on what Dal was asking* " They look... a little like Crystal Rain!... but... not.... they are blue... with green hair... some have pink though. And their fingers and toes have skin between them! Like a frog! the ones I know wear seal skin! And they all eat fish!"

The kids are okay, they're fun to chase.. But the mommies and daddies don't always like us. They're funny.. *Crystal Rain would shrug, the thin fabric of her shirt rippling with the action* Asra's right, they have frog parts. Sometimes the girls wear shells I give them, but sometimes I see the daddies get scared about that... They all have these, too, but for some reason they sit on their back and not their neck like me.. *she flared her gills a little as she thought about them, Crystal Rain obviously much more moist and comfortable in this environment if she wasn't dabbing water on her neck every so often*


*Dal chimed in, not being able to resist this perfect chance.* "That's right, Roaring Wave is actualy a queen!" *Dal turned and gave an over exadurated bow to Lady Roaring Wave. Then abruptly turned on his heel and looked back at asra.* "That is interesting indeed, I'll have to meet them and find out a little bit more about them once I've finished the mission here, perhaps you two could introduce me to your friends?" *Dal plucked at the gill robe he was wearing.* "I'll even be able to go swimming with you."

*the little blue girl snorted as she got Dal's meaning and she looked at him again, starting to wonder if it really was a joke... Walking over to Roaring Wave she did a circle around him as she made considering noises before stopping right in front of him. Crystal Rain's brown eyes met with Roaring Wave's and she pointed at his chest* For a girl you have litle boobs. Is that why you have a wife?*a quick glance at the Solar made the water-child raise an eyebrow* I guess you could... if they're okay with it... They might get scared...


"Doh!... I am a man, not a woman! I have a Wife because we are suppose to make Dragon-Dlooded Babies together!" * he blinked a few times... not quite sure how this child got so far under his skin, he calmed himelf and quit his anime like flainling around* " So.. there are people living under the water? I seem to remember something about that in the Immaculate Texts... something about the anathema creating slaves to serve them in the more difficult parts of creation... they are suppost to be ugly twisted things with huge black eyes and scaley skin.. but like everything else in there, I am not sure how true it is"

"Hmm... " *Dal looked at Roaring Wave while tapping his chin. He didn't want to split up, but another idea occured to him, perhaps a little more diplomacy was in order. He walked over to the control panel and punched in some coordinates, and then stopped, wondering where exactly he should be projecting himself. He snapped his finger and then pulled up a detailed map of Beziar and Highlighted his manse.* "Well, I could always ask your mother Asra, I can only hope she would trust me enough to keep you safe. Here is a map, I could ask your mother right now if I knew where she was, can you point to the place on the map that I should be able to find her?"

" Find her?..." * He pointed to a house in the village.. perhaps his home, then stepped back. he smiled, hoping his mother would say yes to this* " There she is!"


" Wait... your mother is Calm foam?" * Wave stepped back, remembering the name and tales of the son the woman had* " She works for me!.. but she told me she is going to be leaving my fishing business to be a teacher in Kideshen... which is fine with me. I heard her child was a Li-... Little master of the waves... She always ays how great a swimmer you are Asra" *He sighed, happy with his save there*

*Dal pulled some levers and turned some knobs and a ball of light blinked into existance in the middle of the room. He motioned for Asra to come closer to the ball of light with him. He stepped forward into the light, and when the world projected on the inside of it appeared before him he looked around for where he might find Calm Foam.*

*Crystal Rain took a step towards the two as they entered the ball of light, a nervous expression on her face that turned to concern and then to something akin to the look one might get when they expected to admonish someone. That last look held as she let them stand in the light, noting that they hadn't actually gone anywhere. She didn't trust the Solar with her best friend.. He seemed nice but he was also a stranger, Solar or not... Strangers don't always like Asra and it was her job to protect him.. She chanced a glance to Roaring Wave again, still not really sure how she felt about the man.. He could be the stranger she needed to worry about. The thought made her tense and she resisted the urge to prevent the event that hadn't happened, her gills flaring and then settling down*



* Asra moved closer to the ball of light, which solidified into a screen. On the other side of the screen, Calm Foam could be seen, mending some fihing nets as she sait in what seemed to be her living room. She was definatly consumed with her project as she sat there.. not noticing the images of Dal' Asra and Crystal Rain glowing before her*

*Calm Foam jumped when she heard the sound of Dal's voice in her house, the net falling to the floor. she looked at the glowing forms before her.. almost unable to comprehend what exactly she was seeing... but all the same, she spoke up to it* " He..Hello?! Dal'Lumen? Is that you? And Asra? Crystal Rain? Are they disturbing you? how did they get to your manse?

"Well... To my understanding I think they swam, but do not worry, they are not disturbing me, and they are doing just fine, in fact I was hoping I could bring them along to introduce me to some friends they have made. I assure you they will both be quite safe and I'll personally see to it that they make it home later today." *Dal smiled, a smile that could convince a turtle it was a rabbit.* {5 sxs]

* a smile lowly spread over Calm Foam's face, followed by a nod and a hand gesture like 'go on and have fun'* " of course, Sun-King... if you want to babysit my son and his friend for a little while, I can think of no safer hand they could be in. Now then, I hope he doesn't run you ragged... he is a little bundle of energy"

*Dal smirked* "Not to worry, I have work for him to do." *Dal clapped Asra on the back lightly, but of course even the weight of his arm was likely half the weight of the boy.* "I also hear you plan to take Lirimana up on that teaching offer, I hope that all works out well for you - take care." *Dal waved, and gave another small bow, alowing Calm foam to return to her work, though he waited for just a moment before stepping away from the light bubble to give her time to reply.*

" Yes, we have been making arrangement for commute though expedited use of the underground water ways. Lirimana seems to be waiting on Ress to finalize the arrangement with this.. Sentinel, who is charged with overseeing the empires.....'municipal artifacts' * *Calm foam nodded, liking the title she gave to the water way. she waved to Dal as he stepped back* " Goodbye Dal! Be good Asra and Crystal Rain!"

* Asra nodded and waved back at Calm Foam, slumping a little as Dal's hand weighed down upon him* " Bye Bye mommy! I will be good!"


*Crystal Rain nodded and waved at Calm Foam, used to this sort of comment from Asra's mother. Most of the time she felt she was exceedingly well-behaved and couldn't figure out why they were always being reminded that they should do so.. Parents were so silly* I am! Bye!


*Dal fiddled with the control panel again and the ball of light faded away, in a whisp.* "Well there you have it, You two are now part of a mission! So, I suppose we should leave right away, this stuff has been here for more than a thousand years, I think itle be allright a few more hours. So have either of you found anything interesting down here, other than that big snake?"

* Wave lifted his fist into the air, then brought it down infront of him in a dramatic way* " Alright! Now lets see whats living down here! If its anything resembling human, then maybe we are in for a valuable surprise!"

* Asra looked down at the ground and rocked from the ball of his foot to the heel, humming as he thought about anything interesting he had found, then stood back up, reaching into his pocket and retrieved a smooth sphere, dark in color with mark of sediment veined all through it* " We found this! it makes things work in here!... other than that, I don't know anything else"


*Crystal Rain frowned as she thought about what they might have found.. and if she wanted them to know about it. Then she reached under her slip of a shirt and pulled out a necklace of delicate and unusual shells strung together with pearls and other shiny stones. Without saying anything she let it sit out in view, using that as an alternative to having to give away her treasure. Her fingers played with the pearls and ran along the ridges in the shells but she remained eerily quiet... Was this the calm before the storm?*

*Dal nodded at Roaring, Wave knowingly, and agreeing. Then turned his attention to Asra.* "Well, look at that, thats called a Hearth stone, and you're right about it being a sort of power focus." *Dal lifted up his axe and ran his hand over the blue, purple surface of the first hearth stone he had ever seen, or owned. He then showed Asra the stone he had picked up from the top side manse earlier.* "I'm meant to be collecting these powerful artifacts and keeping track of their unique qualities. So it looks like you were part of the mission after all, I'll let the Emperor Ress know you helped me find it. May I have that Asra, I'll need to keep it and figure out what it is capable of." *Dal knelt down, to eye level with Asra, but didn't not put out his hand expectantly, but rather waited for Asra to offer it.*

* Asra's face scrunched up as he looked at the hearthstone, then looked back up at Dal. He wrestled with what to do, knowing that The Emperor wantedDal to retrieve thi... but it was the control for some of the special features in his secret fun spot. He winced a little, but slowly held the stone out to Dal, doing the right thing... despite losing one of his most prized toys* " I don't now what it can do... and The Emperor wants you to have it... maybe you can find what its really for"

*Crystal Rain scowled at Dal'Lumen and walked up to Asra and put her hand over the Hearthstone, not taking it, but preventing Dal from doing so* Mr. Solar, this is a treasure to him, that's mean of you to make him give it to you. You know he's too nice to say no and that he would feel bad if he didn't. *she turned her angry expression up at the Solar, not a trace of fear in her face, only annoyance and anger, perhaps some disappointment lurking in there,too*


*Dal Rolled his head to the side and looked at Crystal Rain with a smirk.* "I'm not taking it to be mean Crystal Rain, but things like are so rare and hard to find that it is important for people that can learn more about it to keep it safe and make sure this thing isn't dangerous. It might look pretty, but this thing could very well destroy your mothers house or hurt someone if you are not sure what you're doing with it. Things like this are no more yours, Asras, or mine, they belong to the Imperveress and should be used to help everyone..." *Dal thought a moment... and snapped his fingers.* "But I'll tell you this much, since these stones don't belong to any one person, but they are here in service of the empire and for those that serve it, I'll tell you everything I learn about this stone, and perhaps one day when you're strong enough and wise enough to use it in the service of the Empire, you may be able to use it, if you so wish, or when that day comes, we can find you one that you really can call yours, hows that sound?"

No. Asra found that and it's his. The empire can have it later if he doesn't want it but he found it so it's his. We're not afraid of it and it's safe here with us. It couldn't break my mom's house because it's too strong. Besides, finder's keepers and Asar found it. You are being mean now if you want it *the urge to put her hands on her hips and stomp her foot was strong but she thought scowling and looking very serious were more important and took up more effort so she kept up that appearance. Asra's treasure was special and though she would miss it she took off the necklace around her neck and held it up* If you have to have one of our treasures, take mine. It makes the water-people nicer, but I won't let you take Asra's

"Crystal Rain!... We have to do what is right.... I don't like giving up our secret fun spot... but Emperor Ress sent mister Dal'Lumen out here to get these.... if he dosn't come back with all of them, he might get in trouble! Maybe we are too young to play with things we dont understand.... we also dont know if this can make magic that can protect the empire... and if we have it, the rulers cant use it..." * Asra put his hand on Crystal rain's and lowered it, moving the necklace out of the way and holding out the Hearthstone* " So we wont call it giving up... it is a trade.. that we will see later. Right? * Asra smiled a little, now more sure what he was doing was right... partialy his peech used to convince himself*


* Wave looked on as two children seemed to be in negotiation with a full grown adult Solar... and then he heard what they were saying.... when they spoke, it was hard to tell they were under the age of ten... And that Crystal Rain girl... Wave couldnt help but wonder if this is what Tari was like when che was a child... but of course, that is what Tari was like now!*

Believe me, I'm not the type of guy to back out on a deal, but I think you can hang on to that neckles Crystal Rain, if it helps us talk to your friends, It is very selfless of you to offer to give up something you care about to protect something that Asra cares about, that's exactly what many of the rulers of this empire had to do to get to where they are now, It might seem like a lot to sacrifice right away, but it is important to you, It will pay itself back in one way or another." *Dal put out his hand* "Let's shake on it then, If I know something about this hearth stone, you will know about it too, And if you do want to use it when you're older I'll make that happen, but of course like I said there are many places to go in the world, and there are more of these out there too. So do we have a Deal?"


"humm.... well, that sounds fair enough.. okay." * Asra held out his hand and took Dal's, giving it a little shake... but dispite how little it was, Dal would feel the strength behind it... grip like a lifetime sailor.. or even like Roaring Wave! The small green child smiled a little, happy to make the deal, despite losing his secret treasure*

*Crystal Rain's expression darkened into a scowl as she recognized another brush-off. Her hand clenched over her necklace as she looked at Asra, not retracting her arm but leaving it out while he decided. She was beginning to hate this manipulative Solar, and she tried to brush off the thought that they all must be like this. but the nagging feeling remained. The back of her neck tightened but said nothing when her best friend decided to take the deal. He was being a fool for accepting but it was his choice to throw away their hideout now that the bald man had the treasure*


*Dal tilted his head and gave a chuckle.* "A good strong grip you have there boy! I am glad that you were able to help me with my mission Asra!" *Dal stood back up patting Asra on the shoulder as he did so.* "Do you know what this place is that you two have found ?" *Dal obviously indicating the manse they were standing inside of*

*Wave watched on at the scene of Dal talking to two strangely colored children. He knew they were not Dragon-Blooded... and the green one looked strangely familliar. He also couldnt help noticing the little girl staring daggers at Dal... but of course, thought nothing of it.. simply wondering if all children were like this... as he dealt with them rarely now, and not at all back in Dynast society*


" An old Solar home?" * Asra knew the feeling of this place... it was simmilar to Dal's manse... so the only logical choice is that this one was only a little different*


*Crystal Rain didn't bother answering Dal'Lumen, already gathering that he was only associating with her to get to Asra and only then because she refused to leave the two of them actually alone. She wasn't going to let that awful Solar swindle Asra out of more than necessary and he was already pushing it. She shot a glance at the Wave person and her expression flickered to amusement at the confused look on his face before turning back to her previous subjects. This time her features slipped into an impassive look that kept her thoughts from being known*


*Dal looked around at the walls and ceiling.* "Close - This was an ancient bunker where the soldiers that protected the empire lived with their familes, or so I been lead to understand. Great, and brave warriors used to walk these halls, weild these weapons, and wear the armor you see. They were protectors. I think it's only fitting that you two found this place, there is a lot of history here, and Imperveress Is in need of protectors like those." *Dal saw the way crystal rain was watching him and he knew she was angry with him, but at the same time he wasn't familiar with children, nor how to deal with angry ones. For the time He left her to be angry and waited for an opportunity to make it up to her in some way down the line.* "I'm sure there was someone back then that protected this place, and this stone just as you did"

* Asra looked around... having never really noticed the weapons or armor.. just the things that looked ' fun' and whatever snacks were left over and still good. His eyes became wide and he clapped his hands together* "Wow! soldiers lived here? I can see why! It feels great down here!... aww.. I didnt protect it much... just from slithers and shineys, and they don't scare me anymore. Well... there are lots of things down deep, so Crystal Rain can porobably find a new secret fun spot! Ever since we found this one, we stopped exploring...Oh! but we will show you the underwater kids soon!"

*Dal chuckled.* "Well I think you've done a fine job of keeping it safe, I will make sure to make that rainbow snake more friendly, and I don't mind if you play here, just stay safe, and so long as you can promise me that you will do that, then you may explore the river as much as you like! It will be some time before soldiers once again live here, so have fun... Don't break anything. Haha." *Dal turned around and tilted his head at Crystal Rain, trying to make the friendliest smile he could.* "So Crystal would you like to show me how that neckless of yours works, if you are ready I'm all set to go down and meet the people under the water"

* Wave looked at the celing, then at his feet, cocked his head to the side, then looked to the three* " You know... I have been thinking about that too.... I feel great in here as well... same withthe manse above this one... I thought it was because it was aspected to Water Aspected Dragon-Blooded... but now it seems it is anyone who is water aspected.... a bit of a double edged sword, if you ask me"


*the blue child blinked slowly once before shrugging, her expression continuing to be completely blank. Suddenly the Solar wanted her attention, well she wasn't going to fall for his sneaky ways. Crystal Rain cast a glance at Roaring Wave, noting that he was a Water Dragon-Blooded and looked back at Dal'Lumen* It's already working.

* Asra leapt into the air letting out a happy shout, before taking off down a hall, leading off to a domed room in the distance, the sound of meatal creeking against stone could be heard from where Asra bolted off to *

*Dal sighed, and tisted his lips at crystal rain, he watched as Asra ran off, but knelt down to talk to Crystal.* "Oh, well thats good."

* Wave Clenched his teeth as he heard Asra fiddeling with something, then walked in the direction of the sounds* " Don't know much about kids... but I do know that they shouldnt go deep sea diveing by themselves.... Hey Asra!! Wait for me! "

Yes. *as Asra ran off and she was left alone with Dal'Lumen, Crystal Rain turned and took off to meet up with her friend. She felt a bit of triumph that he was unable to see her activate her necklace, something which she did as she ran down the hallways after the little green child*

*He put out his hand to her this time.* "Hey, I know you're mad at me for taking Asras hearth stone away... That's ok though, I understand, I appreciate that you wanted to protect something he cared about, and I hope you and I can be friends..." *Dal Smiled warmly at Crystal Rain* " It would mean a lot to me.

*Crystal Rain turned back to Dal'Lumen as he tried to make amends and she laughed, a sound full of sardonic disbelief. Her previously blank expression turned harsh, a look that seemed out of place on so young a face* You may have fooled Asra, but not me, Solar Liar. *quickly she turned and caught up with Roaring Wave and Asra*

*Dal stood back up, sighed and shook his head.* "Allright then..." * He strolled down the hall quickly, catching up to the rest of the group. As he reached the others he looked around for whatever had made that hideous sound.* "Asra? What was that sound?"


* When they arrived in the room, they would see that this was a room for personal entrance and exit. The floor was layered, coming to a dip in the center, which was now opened, leaving an exit to the water outside. the hole was rimmed in black jade and eched with runes, warding the water from pouring in. the walls had strange suits of armor on it, and a single tattered gill cloak, too ruined to use. Asra stood on the other side of what looked to be a huge jade bath plug, of which he probably pulled off himself... no small show of strength. Upon first glance, anyone with any prolonged experience with manses would see that this plug was meant to be activated to automaticly open by someone attuned to the manse* " this is how we first got in here! Come on! they are down here!" * and with that, Asra dropped the huge heavy plug, letting it fall back on its treads with a loud clang. He then hopped into the water, dissapearing under the waves*

*in mere seconds Crystal Rain had caught up to see Asra holding the plug. As he jumped in so did she, not bothering to take her clothes off this time. As she was disappearing into the water her legs and feet turned into a fish tail*

*Dal turned and looked at Roaring wave with a mischevious grin, once again thinking about how he had played along in the naming of him as a Queen.* "Women and children first, brother." *He indicated for wave to hop into the water. Trying not to laugh.*

"...?..." * Wave scowled a little as he looked on at Dal, then in a single motion, put his leg out in an attempt to push him off balance and into the pot hole below, cracking a slight smirk as he did*

*Dal laghed and shrugged as he went with the fall, but not without getting a firm hold of Waves leg and dragging him down with him.* "Oh now you've.... Brubble bubble " *His voice trailed off into indistinguishable spluttering immediatly after the Splash!*


* Wave fell along with Dal, but immediatly sank lower, showing off his natural mobility through water* " Ha! There we go... back into the Element that empowers me!" * The sound of Wave's voice was like that of a man with air bubbles within his throat, but clear enough to understand... so long as they were not too far away. Once in the water, visibility became much better. Clear enough to see the watery floor*


* Under the water, asra began swimming around in large circles, darting at high speeds like a green torpedo. Though he moved his hands and legs as he swam, the movements did not seem to match how rapid he was swimming*

*Dal floundered in comperison to the other more watery creatures, but he was a capable swimmer, without any specialy afinity of course, simply experience in the water. More often than not being tied to a barrel dragged by a rope behind a ship as punishment, which if anything only meant he was more capable than average.* "Well I'm glad it works for you wave..." He said as he paddled along behind trying to keep up with the rest of the group.* "So kids, where to?"

*Crystal Rain didn't bother with such movements as Asra did, the powerful tail that had taken the place of her legs keeping her stable with small movements using as little energy as possible for maximum efficiency. Her gills flared as she breathed in and out, obviously able to breathe without difficulty. With a gesture she headed off in the direction of their target*


" Over here!! * Asra abandoned his swimming in circles to dash off after Crystal Rain, sqimming in a cockscrew pattern untill he had caught up with her. their forms began to fade as they motored off into the distance*

* Wave took off after the two, not as fast as either of them, but much faster than any human normaly could ( around 20mph )* " Wait up you two! We are not as fast as you are!"


* Dal slowly puttered behind the rest, much slower than the others in general.* "You can say that again." *A few indignant bubbles burst from Dals mouth as he tried to swim faster.* "Just stay in sight, I'll get there eventually."

*it seemed as though they were slowing down but it wasn't long before it was obvious that Crystal Rain had spotted something and the words she said came back to the other two* There's one, let's get it! *she was quickly a blue blur as she began a formation that was apparently familiar to the two kids, not waiting to see if Asra was going to keep up, knowing in her being that he was*

" Really?! Lets get it!" * Asra swung a wide turn outwards, then darted back in, countering what Crystal Rain's movements and looking like he was intending for them to collide. In the distance, they could see the form of one of those strange blue tinged demons they called ' slithers'. the infernal creature seemed dazed, but was soon struck by both rapidly moving children and torn into three peices.* " Yay! we got it!!"


*Crystal Rain grinned and swirled around Asra happily, creating ripples under the water as she did so* Yay! You're getting really good at this, Asra!

"....." * Wave faultered a bit when he saw what happened, then turnned back to Dal to make sure he saw the same thing* " did those two kids just kill a demon in one shot?" * Wave's voice was more matter of fact than really surprized.. after all, his day has been filled with moments that seem to defy logic... why should this be much different?*

"I'm fairly cirtain that's what we saw... Strong kids." *Dal really didn't like feeling so out of his element, with demons in the water.* "That's one way to deal with your fears."

* Asra laughed as he swung back around, catching back up with Crystal rain* " Thanks! You are really good too! You will be a Dragon in no time!"

Just like mommy! Then I can protect you even better, and daddy, too! I'll be big and strong and pretty! *she grinned like the little girl she was supposed to be, seemingly caught up in her daydream for a moment before pinching Asra's leg and swirling around him some more*

* After 15 minutes or so, White and yellow lights could be seen off in the distance, spraying from a large glowing dome against on the river's floor* " We are almost there! Here is where we find the underwater kids!" * Asra looked back to shout this to Dal and Wave, still speeding off ahead.. slowing down long enough for the two to catch up*

*The power Gill Robe was starting to dawn on Dal, not having even thought about needing to go up for air even after swimming some distance under so much water. With a powerful movement of both his arms and legs he pushed against the water in an attempt to catch up to the others, his Red pants fluttering loosely behind him like a brightly colored tail fin. The water rushed past him, breaking over his smooth bald head but for all of his effort he was still not as fast as the others. Dal looked up to see the lights in the distance, like a city in twilight.* "Good Work, we must do our best to make sure they are not scared of Wave and I since they have not seen us before..." * Dal pressed on being the slowest of the group for a change.*

"!!.." * Wave stopped a moment as Crystal Rain tickled him, causing his swiming motion to go erratic for a split second, but then steadied himself back on course* " Heh... wouldnt you know it... master of all things below the waves, and still two children outswim me... I should really start traiing under water more.... come to think of it... the only real under water combat I hve ever been in was with that accursed metal squid.... Its about time I stopped talking big and started going big.." * He nodded, taking far more from this experience than any one person probably should*

" EEP!!" * Asra Laughed as Crystal Rain tickled him, making him swim in a barrel roll kind of pattern*

* Three moving dots could be seen in the distance, getting larger as they got closer, untill it was clear what these things were.... they had to be the under water children! Three girls wearing what seemed to be tanned river dragon hide, inset with pearlescent shells and semiprecious stones. they were all light blue in color, not much different than Crystal Rain, but had hair that was green and blue, like some sot of fine undersea flora. their fingers and toes were webbed, and upon closer inspection, it gills could be seen on their back. When the three noticed the group, they stopped dead in their tracks.. not sure if they should greet the necklace wearing girl... or run from the strangers*

*as soon as the girls were within sight Crystal Rain swam up to them and smiled, waving to them in a friendly manner* Hi! *she couldn't remember if they had told her their names, but when they played it didn't really matter that much.. *

"Gerateinegisa!" * the three said almost in unison. Seeing Crystal Rain speed out tp them took the focus off the strangers and onto her. The three girls surrounded Crystal rain and began chattering at her in this strange language* ( int+linguistics diff 2 to tell its Old Realm)

*Dal puttered up, it was easy not to appear intimidating flailing around slowly under water but all the same he slowed down and kept his distance hoping not to scare the kids away. Dal smiled and Waved at the group in the distance, he slowly fell the the river bottom where his feet plunged several inches into the silt, the only moving with the flowing current around him and enough to keep himself upright. Under water he wasn't quite sure what these children were saying, nor which language it was they were speaking, it sounded a bit like the rainbow snakes language but it was hard to determine under water.* "Well hello there children!" *Dal called out.*

*at intervals in their chatter, Crystal Rain would respond, touching her hair and shaking her head. After a moment she gestured to the group behind her, the blue girl they knew's back turned so they couldn't see what else she was doing* Tahese a-re pe-o-pu-le faroma tahe suraface, tahey wano-tede me-i-tu tahe pe-o-pu-le i-na youru citaya. Tahe mana witahu puretiti ha-i-ra i-se likedu beyu watera, to-o.

" Huh... I have heard of these.... they live to the far west in more rural fishing islands... they are second class citizens and many times hide their gills and markings so that they can look like everyone else... its unfair really, but islanders taboos mark them as wyld beasts... and always thought that too...... untill now. there is no way these people could be wyld tainted... not with this empire's geomancy" * Wave stayed behind as Dal closed in on the group, keeping his fingers crossed and his hand on his daiklaive.. just incase something went wrong*

*Dal slowly drifted towards the group, hoping to get some good news from crystal rain, it seemed strange but the language crystal was speaking almost made sense.*

* The three stopped, then looked back to Dal, then looked between eachother, seeing if any of them understod what he was saying. One of them then spoke to Crystal Rain* " I-sa Mana Sa-fe ta barinegu ta da ceti?" * The other three nodded in agreement, then looked back to Crystal Rain, waiting her reponse*

*Crystal Rain thought for a moment, warring in herself as to the answer she should give. She knew what she felt but then it occurred to her that she had an ace in the hole for this situation and she nodded to the girls. She glanced at Dal and gave him a scrutinizing look, confirming to her by his expression that he hadn't a clue what they were saying. The thought amused her* Wanata ta burini-gu soma-wane he-are ora ga ta tahe cetay?

" I Wilalu, getase desa hegihe Periseta ta cuma da herase!" * One of the three darted off in the direction of the dome... not nearly as fast as crystal Rain and Asra, but it very fast none the less. The other two girls began softly chatting at Chrystal Rain*

* Asra turnned to Dal and spoke* " Crystal Rain speaks the same language as they do... but I never know what they say. When it is important, she tells me" * he nodded, adding enphasis to his words. he seemed fine to not know what was going on most of the time*

* After ten minutes passed, the girl that left had returned... except this time with an older male sea pearson. his hair was slightly blue, but mostly dominated by grey. he was wrinkled with a few scars on his body, as if he had gotten into many scrapes with large under water predators. his face did not hold an expression of anger or fear.. but one of questioning and confusion... but the most notable feature on him, was the mark on his forehead. The mark of a glittering golden disk on his brow. the elderly sea person swam closer to Dal, getting a closer look of him. taking note of his hands, his eyes and the top of his head* ( Perception+Awareness diff 3)

*Dal noted Waves words and listened.* "Yes well, I can only hope that there is someone that speaks our language, I do have ways of translating all this if need be, I am just thankful Crystal Rain is here to help do the talking." *Dal swam over to the kids, floating a short distance slightly below the direction they were facing when the older man swam up he took the mans investigation of him and decided to do a little of the same as the opportunity had been presented to look just as closely at this man as he was looking at Dal.* "Hello friend, my name is Dal'Lumen..." *Dal pointed to his own chest as he said his name.* "Dal'Lumen." (3 SXS)

* The golden disk on the old man's forehead, upon closer inspection, was not a caste mark... just a tattoo that was made to look like a zenith caste mark. the man nodded and tapped Dal on his chest just as Dal had done* " Dare' Lumena?"... * He then brought his hand back and tapped his own chest* " Ferasada.....Gerateinegisa, Dare' Lumena!" * He then tapped his forehead, where the mark was, then brought his webbed hands up to the sky* "Hegihe Periseta, Da Sol"

*Dal bowed his head as well as was possible under water, He looked back up and a shaft of light burst from Dal's head and swirrled away to reveal a glowing golden Zenith Cast mark of his own. He then put both his hands up to they sky, not unlike his own banner, and looked to the surface.* "I understood that one... As am I brother, Periseta, Da Sol." *He repeated as he had heard. Dal smiled and offered the man his hand, not really sure if the man would understand this jesture as an offer to shake hands.* "My Honor to meet you."


* Wave looked on... tense, as most forign negotiations he has heard of have all ended poorly... then again.. the only diplomatic negotiations he really heard about with his people were with The Bull of the North and The Mask of Winters in Thorns. Even still, Wave was ready at a moment's notice to leap in and 'fix' the situation*

* Ferasada lurched backwards as he saw Dal make his caste mark glow, then put his hand to his mouth, then smiled and gave a nod, motioning for the whole group to follow. he then turnned and swam for the glowing sunken city. The three girls gave a surprized shreek at Dal's show, then followed close by.. somehow cured of their fear*

" Wow! We get to see their home!" * Asra laughed as he followed the pack, fidgeting about in the water as to allow everyone else to keep up*
*Crystal Rain chattered back at the little girls, looking over to the Solar talking with the elderly man. She wanted to make sure he didn't ruin anything by being foolish, though he seemed okay for the moment. A glance at the Dragon-Blooded made her wonder about him, was he uncomfortable with these people? Maybe he was the one to worry about, after all. She looked back as the bald man blared his sun-mark for them to see. Now that their fear was abated she grew worried for the water-people and hoped that she hadn't being stupid to bring him here. Keeping silent she followed them all towards the city*


*Dal suedo-Bowed again and followed the man, allbeit slowly, to his home city.* "Thank you friend." *Dal motion for wave to follow along, It was funny how he took some situations so seriously and others he threw caution to the wind charging head first into unknowable danger or otherwise. It was for the best however, a high profile solar Admiral would need someone watching his back and taking all due caution.* "Come wave, let us make new friends."


" Humm... Yes Admiral" *Wave took his hand off the hilt of his daiklaive then, followed close, trying not to look so suspicous, but it was his job to be the counterbalance to whatever was going on... if times were tense, he needed to be calm, even if it was just to boost something from the area... and if things were seemingly calm, he was to keep vigelant incase it was a ploy*

* When they got to the dome, they would see it is a true first age gem. the outer walls were made of a strange yellow glass, with holes in it lined with black jade, warded to keep the water out. The buildings within were made from an ageless white stone, with buildings that reached up to the celing. From what it looked like. the under water city had to be 25 miles around and perhaps five miles high. The streets were visable from here, busteling with many underwater citizens who seem to be living unchanged since the first age. The old man swam lower, untill he arrived at the entrance, walking through it and into the city that looked as if it could have been made by gungans, if they were not so retarted*

*Dal swam into the same hole behind the old man, more than a little cautiously, this whole place seemed a surreal underwater wonder land to him.* "Wow... To think this has been here all along, unchanged for ages, it's fantastic!" *Dal hopped through the port and landed on his feet, soaking wet but happy to be somewhere dry.*

* Asra didnt bother shaking the water off him, rather liking the feeling of being wet over being dry. he then looked around, leanning back so that he could look at the tall white buildings here* " Wow!... is this was the first age looked like?... Did the Solars make all this.... Can you make things like this , mister Dal' Lumen?"

* the old man walked down the paved street, past a few buildins and trees, which seemed to exist in this mini ecosystem harmoniously. he motioned again for the group to follow. the blue sea-people all around stopped and watched as these strange outsiders were allowed to enter, and were escorted by one of their elders*

*Wave Leapt through the parrier, then shook his hair out dry, before quickly realizing he was being left behind. he ran over to Dal's side, then mentions a recent revalation* " Hey... I think I have heard of these too... they existed in the west and were built before the Shogunate... before the Anathema destroyed them.. they were called 'Mobile Platforms' I think... But then again... that is a story told by The Realm... I have come to accept that most of those stories were just that... stories"

*Dal chuckled* "Perhaps one day I will learn such things, but I am not much a craftsman of cities or technology. I tend to use my hands to protect, and my voice to inspire. We all have things to learn." * Dal turned to the sound of slapping wet feet running up to him as wave aproached.* " I am glad you have an open mind, if not for that those stories might have you blieve that I am given my power by evil gods, and demons."

[Arachnia of the Hour]

* Ferasada lead them all to the center of the city... which felt like no time, due to the perfectly made roads, etched at the sides with prayers to the maiden of journeys. The place they stopped could only be a first age temple to the sun. A large building of the same white stone, except speckled with orichalcum flakes to make it shine. its many right angles gave it a sturdy, ageless look, as if a primordial could step on it and it would still stand. on top of the building, was a pure orichalcum depiction of the Unconquered Sun, which was the greatest producer of the life giving light they needed in the depths of the river. a great deal below it, standing above the large entrance way, was a giant gold statue of Sentinel, smiling as he watched crossed armed over the city. and to the right of the entrance, with hand out as if holding up the building, was a similar statue of Cho-Hi-Xo. the Old man bowed next to the temple, then turned to the group, grinning and pointing to it, as if there were some hidden meaning to this all*

*Dal looked up at the statues, seeing a few familiar faces up above. He looked back and forth between the temple and Ferasada. He then turned and looked at Crystal Rain.* "Crystal, would you be willing to translate for us?" *Dal smiled and nodded at the old man in front of him, showing that he was happy that the man had brought him to this obviously significant place.* "Thank you for bringing us here Ferasada, I represent the new empire that has grown up from the old one."

*with a moment of displeasure at his informal referral to her she sighed inwardly and looked to the elder, offering him a bow of respect before addressing him in the language that it appeared only she knew. After a moment of chattering she finished, waiting for his reply. She was standing straight and tall, keeping herself from fidgeting in order to please the old man by being on her best behavior*

" New empire you say? Well, we were told to stay down here until things were safe again, so if it is safe, we will try to re-connect with the world up there. Unfortunately, we do not know how to lift this platform back up to the surface. But if Admiral Chaplin Cho-Hi-Xo is still up there... tell him that we finished the Temple like he asked" * The old man nodded, proud of his people for accomplishing such a feat without the aid of Exalts*

"I am glad you have been safe down here, the world above has not had so much luck but hope has not been lost..." *Dal pointed at the statue of Cho-Hi-Xo and back at himself.* "I am sorry to say that the Admiral fell in battle protecting the Empire long ago, I imagine it was shortly after this place was submerged. I am the new Admiral, long ago my power belonged to Cho-Hi-Xo as such he lives still, within me." *Dal looked up again at the Temple.* "I would be glad to help you bring this place back into the light of the Sun for you, and any other help you need I am here to help."

[Ress]

Descending wood, 15

"I am glad you have been safe down here, the world above has not had so much luck but hope has not been lost..." *Dal pointed at the statue of Cho-Hi-Xo and back at himself.* "I am sorry to say that the Admiral fell in battle protecting the Empire long ago, I imagine it was shortly after this place was submerged. I am the new Admiral, long ago my power belonged to Cho-Hi-Xo as such he lives still, within me." *Dal looked up again at the Temple.* "I would be glad to help you bring this place back into the light of the Sun for you, and any other help you need I am here to help."

"...Still lives within you huh?... humm... too bad you didnt inherit his priesthood.... but maybe in time, yes? As for help, that would be great! We think the control for it is somewhere in one of the manses around here... Untill then, The People of the Sea are down here and at your service!" * He nodded, now standing in front of the statue of Cho-Hi-Xo*

* Wave patted Dal on his shoulder, trying to get his attention from the aged person of the sea* " Excuse me Admiral... as happy as I am to see that there is a civilization still standing from the first age... I think we should get back to the task at hand... I think Emperor Ress might be getting worried... and those stones are not going to find themselves...."

*Dal turned and looked back at Wave.* "Yes... You are right of course, it is hard not to help these people now, they have waited so long for someone to bring them news of the surface. I also think the Emperor would be happy to know that we discovered more citizens of this Empire" and helped bring about a relationship with them. "*Dal pinched his chin ponderously, at the same time thinking to Cho-Hi-Xo spacificly.* ~Cho - I have to asume you know the means to bringing this city back to the surface, would it take long, or be hard to achieve?~

*Dal shifted his stance, looking like he was a thousand miles away, staring off into the distance. A short look of annoyance crossed his face and then went away just as quickly.*


" I am sure Emperor Ress can help us find a way to raise this 'platform... but for now, lets go.. we can take the dragon boats to our next location. one more to go after all" * he patted Dal's shoulder once more, then turnned to face the way to the exit*


*Dal turned to wave as if cought off guard, but he smiled all the same.* "Good news, we can continue our mission and these people will still be able to have their dinner tonight under the setting sun." *Dal'Lumen bowed to the old man, properly this time.* "Do not be alarmed friend, If your city suddenly ascends, tell your people that this city will sit upon the surface before the end of the day, and we hope that our people we will make fast friends with you and yours, if you would like we could even trade amongst eachother and bring prosperity to both our cities. I will need to continue my mission now but do not think yourself forgotten!" *Dal clapped wave on the back happily but at the same time somewhat vengefully for having been prodded quite so much by the dragon.* "Relax Wave, we're going."

* The old man waved and gave a little bow. retireing to within the temple for now. the image of the unconquered sun glowing brightly over their heads*

* Asra watched the old man disapear within, then looked to Wave and Dal, waving as well* " Bye bye Wave and Mister Dal'Lumen! I am going to stay here and look at the city. I will see you soon!"

* Roaring Wave waved to their small friends, then began speed walking to the exit... feeling strange being in an under water dome like this... which was strange, since he liked the water*

*Crystal Rain's face was a blank, shame hiding in her as she realized that she'd been duped despite her effort not to be. Even with that speech the Solar had found a way to take another precious thing from her. She said nothing, remaining by Asra's side with no intention of following the adults up to the surface. Her translation job was done so they had no more desire to manipulate her further.. at least for today*

"Allright Asra, don't stay out too long, I don't want to break your mothers trust in me. Crystal Rain... Thanks for your help, it's a good thing you're so smart, It would have been hard to help these people sort this out without you!" *Dal reached down and squeezed her shoulder gently and walked away with wave.* "Don't get into trouble kids!" *He called back over his shoulder.*

*as Dal'Lumen spoke to her she could feel pleasantries warming in her heart and she stuffed it down, wondering if Solars could do magic like that... A simple gesture wasn't going to change her mind so easily. Her expression changed into one of surprise, however, and she looked back at the retreating adults. She would have to ask her mother is Solars could do that sort of magic... or maybe he was just feeling guilty for stealing away her things and places. If he meant it then it wasn't so bad.. but did he really have such a heart? She hoped that all Solars weren't as he was, then things would be much too complicated*

*Dal turned to Wave as they aproached the porthole.* "Barely time to dry off and here we go right back in the drink again. I'm surprised you're in such a hurry to leave this place brother, is something wrong?"

"Eh.... " * he leapt out through the exit and floated just beyond the glass walls* " To tell the truth.. I have a fear of being burried alive.... and that place gave me that feeling... the under ground manses make me queezy .. .but there is something about that platform that I didnt like"

"Ah" *Dal plunged into the water* "Well some people say such feelings are signs of our futures if you know how to interpret them, some say you should just face those fears and grow stronger in removing yourself from beneath them." *Dal flipped over and back paddled away from the doorway, watching it shrink into the murky distance. His mind drifted to far off thoughts of years long antiquated while the ancient city yet filled the breadth of his vision.* "What a place though aye?" *He rolled back over and swam facing ahead of him as he satisfied himself on the view.*

* Wave continued to paddle away from the structure and back to the Manse, not looking back for a moment at the shrinking under water city* " Maybe so... I just figure, if the dragons wanted me under ground, I would have been Exalted as an Earth Aspect... but I am water, so " * Wave shrugged, speeding up as the under water manse came closer and closer*


*Dal thrust himself forward with some effort before coasting through the water and speaking.* "Ah well I am of the school which put's itself out of it's element when it is opportunity to grow in some way. Train with me and, I have no doubt you will, you will come to find yourself knowing what I mean." *Dal slowed as he came to the submerged manse's dive bay, slowly rising back into the air pocket it held for him.* "And here we are, let's attune and take care of what we need to do and inform the emperor of our success!"


* In a single fluid motion, Wave bolted out of the water and landed upon the dry ground of the mans' port room. He shook, getting much of the water off him and onto the ground. With a sigh, Wave walked out of the room and to the Hearthroom* " Train with you? sounds like a blast! I once got an opportunity to train with a Dragon-Blooded hero... I turned it down of course, because the man was a sadistic psychopath... but I still kinda regret it... I guess this is my second chance, yeah? * When he arrived, he began preparing the ritual for attunement for both him and Dal*


*Dal knelt down and focused himself on filling the room with his essence, and did just that.* "Well then, I will send for you after we get home and I have my trainees as audience. We can make such training something more routine, it will of course take some dedication to further yourself significantly."

* After a time of ritual, the two Exalts soon achieved attunement. A tingle of essence rushed through the manse as the familliar feeling of Sentinel moved through the ancient manse. Wave raised his fist into the air, then brought it back down, cheering as he did this* " Yes!! One more down! now we need to move one of those thingies for the under water people, then onto the last manse!"


*Dal looked up slightly.* "Sentinel, I hope the new leg room suits you, I have a favor to ask. I'm sure you have the undersea city systems in your range of new connections, so would you be so kind as to bring that city to the surface for our new found friends?"

* A click could be heard thought the room, following with the voice of Sentinel, sounding more confused than he normally did* " Did you mean using essence tokens from this manse, or any other in particular?"

" I am not sure we know what an essence token is... so, if its important, whichever one that causes the least ammount of damage... if any at all..." * Wave nodded, thinking about what he had just said, figuring there was nothing wrong with it.... but also making a note that he should think a little longer before saying something like that*

*Dal held up his hand.* "Who yeah we don't know what essense tokens are, so before you do anything lets hear about them."

" Moving Essence tokens now" * The distant sounds of something huge moving could be heard all around, magnified largely by the medium of water they were surrounded by. the sound went on for about fifteen minutes, then stopped. whatever it was had finnished its ascent* " What are essence tokens? You can think of the Empire's manse network as a series of tubes. when you connect the tubes from one manse to another. The city manses are rigged with more artifacts than the capping manses can power, so there are a number of manses here that are used to generate essence tokens to power them. when one power is not used, its essence token can be re-routed using those tubes to a manse or structure that can use them. That city platform is one of those artefacts that requires manse tokens"

"Ah, well that is good to know, It sounds like the power will regenerate eventualy. In any case, it sounded like we kept our promise, and made some very happy blue friends. I suggest we search the last of this manse and then report to Ress." *Dal hopped off the ground and headed down the hall to the other unexplored half of the manse.* "There is yet some history this place can share with us!"

* A Good number of artefacts could be found down here!.... unfortunatly, none of them had any millitary implications. 3 automatic gateway boards, four cases of unknown viscus liquid, 4 green jade palluses. ten 1000 comfort's lounges, a fully stocked enchanted fridge, all the food still perfectly fresh. 20 mostly broken jade automata and 1 untouched automata*

*Dal happily raided the fridge upon its discovery.* "Hey wave, check this out, fifteen hundred year old food!" *Dal took inventory of what he could identify in the fridge*...


"?..." * Wave stopped in his tracks when he heard Dal say this, scratched the back of his head then winced.* "I am gonna have to pass on that, Mr. Sunshine... I make it a point not to eat anything older than twelve hundred years old... its just too old.. fuzzy.. moldy.... and rancid then... anything short of I think Icould eat if I was starving in Malfeas and had not a snowball's chance in the south of survivng otherwise..." * he then turnned and followed where Dal's voice came from *

* Inside the huge walk in ice closet was enough food to keep a complete dragon of troops well fed for about two weeks. Everything from Beef to mammoth, from goat cheese to yak cheese. from Lookshyan potatoes, to Rathess glowfruit, and just about everything in between *

*Dal laughed at waves comment, but just the same he was both hungry, and curious, both emotions worked to corner and give a good beating to the little voice telling him he shouldn't eat something older than he was. He grabbed what smelled like a sharp creamy cheese and smeared some on a loaf of the oat bread he had extracted from its egg sized container. He then grabbed an assortment of the meats and slapped them on there as well, grabbed some greens, and threw anything else that seemed to pass in front of his vision and threw it on top of his mountanous sandwich, topping it off with aother layer of cheese and some sort of sauce. His hands found his hips as he looked over what he had created, and deamed it to be good. seemed that after several months of eating primarily oat based foods, he was going to make his tastebuds explode with the flavors of plenty of unknown foods. He looked around for one last thing, and found his eye landing on some of the odd glowing fruit, he grabbed some and carried it out, in his opposite hand rested a plate, atop of which mounded a massive unknowable combination sandwich. He smiled at Wave as he entered the room.* "Oh yeah... You bet I am!"

*Dal set his plate down, failing again to think about what he was doing, he raised the sandwitch up, watching as bits fell off of it, he chomped down filling his mouth quite completely, his cheeks bulging from the new occupants. He turned and looked at wave, his eyes wide, looking quite surprised... Several moments passed as he fought to swallow the mouthfull, as his eyes began to water profuseley. Finaly with a loud gulp, the mass in his mouth dissapeared down his throat, only to be followed by a loud noise.* "WHAAAOOOOO!!!! SPIIIIICY!"

* Wave raised an eyebrow as he watched the monsterous scooby doo sandwich that Dal held, he looked between them for a moemtn,then decided to speak* " You know.... that was old before your great great great grandfather was at his mother's teet................ is it any good still? " * The sound of wave's stomach could be heard as he began having doubts about how tainted this food might be... perhaps he spoke too quickly once more*
" Oh yeah?...." * he ran to the closet fridge and began grabbing all mannor of things, making a pot head sandwich as well, before eating it... perhaps it was from eating with high sociaty folk when he was younger, but he did not make a sound as he ate.. just watched dal flail around*

*A glutton for punishment, and compelled by the astonishing taste of such food, he continued eating... quickly, each bite his face grew redder, sweat dripped from his brow and long tendrils of mucous dripped from his nose, rivers of water poured from his bloodshot eyes as he screamed and ate at the same time.*

* Wave continued watching Dal, not batting an eye at the sight before him.. as if he had seen this a few times before* " So you dont know to stay away from Lethe chilies? They grow in the southeast jungle and are sometimes ued to ward off hungry ghosts... enough of them actually gets rid of them for good. Some people love them, but most of them are Dragon-Blooded... fire and earth aspects to be exact.... I know to stay away from them" * Wave then went back to eating his own stoner sandwich*

*Dal turned his watering eyes on wave again as he downed several more over sized bites.* "Der'e goo..." *He spluttered, as steam rose off the top of his bald head. He swallowed after a while, each time going back to flailing around hopelessly. He spoke up in a hoarse voice* "Where did that snake thing go, I havn't seen it for a while..."


"... That thing?... it went down the hall I guess. if you want to find it, look for the cleen floors... it seems to like to clean" * Wave ate much slower than Dal and still had half a sandwih to go*

"I'll be back..." *He croaked. He took himself and the remaining ingredients of his sandwich with him down the hall, following the clean floors just as wave had suggested. Every so often shoving parts of the sandwich in his mouth and renewing the inferno in his mouth and face.* "Here snakey snakey... Where'd you get off to....*Sniff*"

* The clean floors could mean only one thing. And it was not long untill the clean floors lead him to that one thing. the feathered serpent, slithering its multi colored self though the hallways of the Manse. No longer was it speaking in Old realm,it looked more like it was taking in the differences of the surounding area... obviously, things were much different than it was over a thousand years

*Dal picked up his stride a bit to catch up to the colorful snake, he wasn't sure exactly how to adress it or to make it stop to listen to his instructions.* "Hey there big snake! uh..." *Dal rummaged through the past few hours trying to remember the passwords and commands Cho had told him, fortunatly he had silently used them as his mantra during the attunement process.* "Ah uhm.... Pulase da legasu ofa a sapiderase?"

* The feathered serpent stopped in its tracks, its iredescent feathers falling dull as it seemed to deactivate from the phrase uttered. three lights on the back of its neck began lighting up one after another, as if waiting for another word to be said so it can return to its duties*

*Dal stopped, wondering if he had done something wrong.* "Uh.... mid river district, 121 A." *He walked over to it getting a closer look to inspect the damage his trap had done on it earlier, and also checking as if someone might check a drunk one might suspect of being dead.* "You understand me now?"

* The feathered serpent whirred to life as the proper commands had been uttered, it turnned on a dime to face Dal, looming over him like a multi colored metalic horror, untill it spoke in a silvery woman's voice( think eve from Wall-E), speaking in an upper class Lookshyan accent * " I understood you the whole time, it i in my programming to wait for certian commands issued before I can give normal responses. I am now set to riverspeak and out of defense mode. how can I be of assistance?"

*Dal was put off a little by the oddly gentle voice that came out of this monsterous machine.* "Ah... Well I suppose it was simply that I didn't understand you. Assistance... hey well, I couldn't help but notice but you seem to be a little out of sorts, and I just wanted to make sure that trap I made earlier didn't damage you too badly. So I guess I want to know if theres anything I can do to help you, I'm sure things are a little different now than when last you were active."


*Dal was put off a little by the oddly gentle voice that came out of this monsterous machine.* "Ah... Well I suppose it was simply that I didn't understand you. Assistance... hey well, I couldn't help but notice but you seem to be a little out of sorts, and I just wanted to make sure that trap I made earlier didn't damage you too badly. So I guess I want to know if theres anything I can do to help you, I'm sure things are a little different now than when last you were active."

" A lot different. There used to be Dragon-Blooded here. but as for my damages, they are minor. There is no loss in performance. With the loss of residents, my duties are now void. what are my new directives?" * the back end of the serpent coiled around it, looking more snake like.. as if it were a snake charmer's cobra*

"Well you may know this, but you and everything down here have been inactive for well over a thousand years, long since after the ancient war that brought this empire down." *Dal leaned up against the wall.* "I suppose you could come stay with me in Beziar, you seem handy in a fight so you would be right at home in the dojo for the time being. But before you move in, how do I adress you?"

" Alright.. I will come with you. And address me? i have been called many things. ATV: 10768214x2020. I have also been called Twenty Snake... and Cho-Hi-Xo used to call me Ugly Avalisa. So, where is Bezair? * she began slithering around Dal, looking at him from all angles, shineing different colored lights upon him*

*Dal turned his head watching the snake circle him, he couldnt help but feel a little like what someone else might feel like while fighting him.* "Beziar is the city on the River, in the north western part of the Empire, It pobably had a different name in ages past. Those names don't quite suit you... I will give you a new one." *Dal crossed his arms, taking his eyes off the circling snake and resting them on the cealing as he thought.* "How about... River of One-Thousand Resplendent Scales... Though I will probably just call you Scales for short... Does that name please you?"


* The sounds of multitonal beeping could be heard in the chest of the serpent, but it quickly ended, hinting that this was its way of adding new names to be called* " Very well, I am now 'Scales'. Shall I wait for you here, or is there something else you need?

"Allright, well I am Admiral Dal'Lumen, and we will be in the hearth room shortly to report back to the Emperor, if you could quickly determine if any of the other automata are functional enough to move themselves when the time comes that would be appreciated, we will be moving back aboard the ship shortly. So you and any others salvage any broken automata and bring them upstairs, Roaring Wave and I will also be salvaging gear as we need it after our debeifing."

" Yes Admiral Dal'Lumen" * Scale gave a little bow to Dal, thn slithered off through the manse, undoubtably to gather up all the requested items*

"Thank you..." *He said as she turned and left. He too departed walking past the door to the mess hall where Wave was last seen, he peaked his head in throught he door briefly, but long enough to deposite his plate.* "Come Wave, finish up your food, close the pantrey back up, and let's go report in so we can get outa here!" *Dal turned and walked down the hall, his mouth and nose still on fire, he reached into his wraped cloths and extracted one of the glowing fruit he had gathered, thinking perhaps it would help cool the burn in his mouth. He took a bit of it as he entered the hearth room and activated the projector requesting an audience with the Emperor.*[/b]

* Wave was standing next to the closed pantry, looking over a shaft of black jade in his hands. he looked up to Dal and tossed it to him ( Black Jade Switchklaive), before patting him on the shoulder and heading out* " Looks what I found! its a little too dainty for me, but maybe another water aspect you find might like it. so a report huh? Sounds like fun! Ever find that shiney devil snake?"

* A screen of light openned up before Dal, showing an image of Emperor Ress stanging atop his manse, shooting arrows off into the distance. He did not notice Dal's image there, untill he went back to reload. he chuckled some, then set his bow down, now addressing the two way image* " Well hello Admiral Dal! How has your exploration been going? have you found anything worth while yet?"

"Good day Emperor... yes, infact I have found quite a bit on top of already gathering two of the hearth stones, roaring wave and I have yet to investigate the others, But the good news is we have found enough equipment to to gear up a very well armed Army. Got to meet some of the original inhabitants, and managed to find an entire lost colony of people living under the Rivers surface that are now floating within their city in the river just outside of Beziar, It seems we have made many new friends in our Empire!"

"... All that in a matter of days?! Thats fantastic! an under water city that has survived? How do they breathe? What do they eat? How could they survive?... but at any rate... an army you say? that is a good addition. We should perhaps take a closer look at the armory and what you found... I feel there are gems going unnoticed. Oh yes! and if you can not find a way to the sky manses, dont beat yourself up... we will think of something" * Ress looked out to the river, seeing something large and disk shaped within it * " Ah! so there it is.. I am very happy to see that we have new members... I wil be sure to send a formal greeting"

"Yeah, I would say It was been a successful trip, I will Add a good part of the gear I found to the armoury's inventory untill we have soldiers to put them with, perhaps a few of the men you saw me training may one day fill out such suits of armor." * Dal nodded in agreement.* "I believe so, There is much undiscovered wealth in this empire, I suggest we form regular salvage teams to make the most of it! As far as your questions about the people of the Sea, you will just have to ask them yourself, I only spoke to them breifly, mainly because I can't speak their language... They speak Old Realm and appear to have a very Solar Centric society, which is good news for us."


"Suits of armor for mortals?... you dont mean Gunzosha armor, do you?" * he tuenned back to Dal, leanind over slightly as he waited for the answer* " Because if so..... you may have found what makes thewm work... There is Gunzosha armor in the Armory... but we lack the means as preent to power them for mortals... unfortunatly, the only place that knows for sure hjow is Lookshy, and they keep that a well guarded secret.... but asfor tapping into undescovered wealth, I feel you are absolutly correct"

"If I were to go out on a limb emperor, I would say that the process in prepairing soldiers for the suit is not a pleasent one. I recovered aproximately 40 sets of artificial joints made from combining magical materials... Inteded to be surgicly implanted in the soliders bodies." *Dal shook his head and grimaced slightly.* "I will leave any further diagnosis to someone with more of a head for machinery... and biology. Other than that, you will probably need to check it out for yourself. Oh, and of course Sentinel has full access over the manses now. I Will inform of the final missions success as soon as I have opportunity." *Dal clasped his hands together, bowing.* "Is there anything else Ress?"

humm.. artificial joint.... I will have to send some to Lirimana.. maybe she will know what they are But barring that, I think its a great find you made, Dal. I cant wait to hear from you again. Is there anythign else you would like to tell me, Admiral? * Ress stepped back once more, grabbing his bow andsmirking slightly, that ame look he got when he had an idea of how to advance his nation *

Automata huh? I will have to let Lirimana know about that as well. I can only imagine what those might do. You have done well Dal'Lumen. Our Empire will be a super power in the east in no time. Thank you very much" * he bowed just before the screen dissapeared.*

*WaveNodded to Dal, having gathered up some more of that food in the ever fresh fridge, then made way out of the hearth room. The Feathered Serpent was there waiting like it was told, and without another word wave leaped on her and began to laugh* " Hey! We can use this to carry our stuff!... thats a great idea! " * finding a place amongst the automata and the omewhat strange artefacts and road the beast up to their awaiting ship*

" It would be best if I stayed behind at your city of Bezair. The dragon boat's essence tokens crack my carapace. Thank you for your offer Admiral, but I am afraid I can not follow." * when the ship landed, Scale slithered off the dock carrying all the needed gear along with her.* " I can take your belongings with me.. if I remember correctly, the attack 1500 years ago was from the river and from the south... the manses you seek were untouched by battle I think" * Scale's feathers glowed brighter in the sunlight, as did its scales, as if taking in the light of the sun and storing it for later use*

* Wave pumped his fist in the air again, letting out one of his infamous shouts, leaping into the air and hitting his heels together before landing on the deck once more* " yeah!! More gear! more respect and another couple manses to ransack!! So then... the next three are easy... but the ones in the sky... any ideas so far, Admiral?"

"Very well Scales, See you back home." *Dal laughed at this odd sort of cloud strife dance that wave had done.* "Well I was writing up some blueprints for something involving Quar-Zagot, and a really big catapolt with one of us sitting in it, but somehow I don't think it would work out at all. I think for now we will need to wait untill our empire has a discovered a reliable method of flight."


* Wave nodded as he watched Scale slither away, rubbing his chin as he pondered what Dal had said* " You know.. if we had an Air aspect... maybe that could work... too bad we dont though... any way, lets go get those other hearthstones!... and maybe those sky ones! Who kknows? there might be people up there too! "


"Sure enough." *Dal hopped down from the boat, landing on the smooth floor of the marina docks.* "Let's hurry up and get to the waterway, we still have enough supplies to last us a while so we have no need to stop now."

* When they arrived in the subterranian Arania/Bezair manse, they would come to find that these are mostly stock made, looking simmilar to the under water manse, but not the same. this manse was not mared by battle, left mostly like a huge complex of expensive apartments that had simply been moved out of*

"Ah, and here we are..." Dal peered inside while still standing on the ramp leading fromt eh dragon boats to the manse, listening for unusual sounds. "Seems clear for now, lets get started taking inventory and loading it up on the Boat, we will make a clean sweep of the entire manse and make sure we don't have any of the usual ghosts and monsters we have become so familiar with."

" Ha! break my heart why dont ya... well, lets get to clean picking!" * he leapt into the manse and began running all around, as if he were alloowed to do as he liked in a famous celebrity's home* Come on! Somethig useful for me and my family! at least something cool to look at!!" * he began ransacking the drawers and rooms, glossing over the paper work that was almost everywhere and paying no attention to the thousand comforts lounges... those seeming to be the most common artefact in the empire*

"Well, try not to trash the place too much, one day this will be a propper gaurds post." *Dal checked the manse up and down searching through the countless piles of paper looking for anything that might be of value to the empire.*

* As before, they would find many thousand comforts lounges, as well as a bag full of jade disks with fine jade circuts upon them and two more jade disks, these ones about as large as a thumb nail and wired differently. A crystal rectangle the size of a man's palm and framed in blue jade was also found, though unknown were its properties, along with a lrger crystal rectangle, sectioned off with a fold in the center so it can fan out larger like a menue. A plasma tongue repeter lay in a chest nearby.... and of course, a huge collection of first age pornography complete with succesful eugenic servent experiments, featured attractive demons and Dragon-blooded... and occasionaly, a celestial exalt centerfold. none of the pornography was gender bias... some of them were even holographic special editions and it was all in old realm*

Dal Tossed a magazine at Roaring Wave.* "There you go, thats something useful for you to take home, get you and Tari a few ideas to work with... Hahaha." Dal was less than clueless about the strange disks and crystals, but they looked delicate so he was careful not to break them, just the same he tossed them into the loot bag and made his way to the hearth room to find the Hearth Stone, and get attuned.*

" Ha!! Hey Dal, you gotta check this out!! * the sounds of Wave's swift footsteps could e heard down the halls, untill he arrived in the hearthroom. he stopped just short of Dal and held out one of the magazines of pornography. on this particular page was a naked silver haired man laying on a bed with a pile of red rose pedals on it, holding a simmilar rose in his hand while he smiled and winked. a noticable feature was his wolf like canine teeth and aimalistic eyes. For some reason, Wave just couldnt stop laughing as he held the picture for Dal to see*

*Dals face twisted as he turned his head to the side, he felt a small part of him shiver in awkward confusion each time the image winked at him.* "...What in Octavians great fat is that...? Wave, I was trying to concentrate!"

" He laughed harder at Dal's reaction o the picture he showed him, then calmed himself enough to speak coherantly* " Well.. i dont know much old realm... but I do know that the name at the top there is Ma-Ha-Suchi! do you think that is the same monster that lives in the southeast?!" * Wave kept right on laughing, then looked back at the page, putting his finger on a cline of characters* "Oh! It has likes and dislikes!!" * Wave dropped his magazine and fell to one knee, before falling over onto his face, laughin in a way that would make someone think 'crazy'*

"Eugh... I have enough trouble with nightmares as it is, now you bring me this... this Monster Porn? That wink is going to burn itself into my eyes like a sunspot!...* Dal shook his head still slightly horrified, but he couldn't help but laugh as Wave became hystarical. Finding himself laughing right along with him.* ... "Don't forget to breathe wave..." *Dal shook his head again, trying to go back to his meditation, though each time he closed his eyes there was that distinctly irksome wink again, haunting him from behind his eyelids. Dal flinched every few minutes, while his eyes were closed,.*

* Wave gasped for air every few moments.. sounding almost like he was a drowning man. after a few moments of hysterical laughter, he calmed down enough to get to his feet and begin preperations for his own attunement ritual* " I guess its because I am a dragon-blooded... I am desensetised to it... but everyone knows, you dont look directly into another man's junk... its like looking into the sun...."

* Once they were both attuned, Wave began gathering up all the porn he could find, almost as if it were a powerful artifact* " Well then.. gather our new belongings and head out to the next stop, right?"

"Yup just need the Hearth Stone..." Dal gave a quick look around the usual spots one might expect a hearth stone. "And we will be all set...

* upon secong look, it was set into the top of the larger crystal rectangle, obviously left in haste *

"Ah and there it is... I wonder what this thing does, guess we can experement with it later. Let's get outa here, on to the next manse and then we can go home!"

"I second that... maybe its a porn protector!" * Wave laughed as he made his way back down to the dragon boats*

"Something like that, for now it might as well be porn paper weight." *Dal hopped on the dragon boat, and secured all the cargo for travel, and easy carrying. * "Just be glad that was the easiest salvage run yet!"

" yeah.. war tends to leave behind bad feelings..." * Wave secured himself on the boat with dal and held on*

* The boat shot off through the water ways, zooming past many ahnkbut which scurried across the walls. The boat soon stopped at another platform, a comfortable respite for travelers, tempratue controlled and full of places to sit ( think a high class bus stop ), just as the rest of the stops were.* " So... can we ransack this one too?.... or are we just allowed the one above this, on the surface?"


"Our mission only involves the one up top, I think Ress wants to reserve some of the treasures and manses for someone else. So lets just find a way topside and take care of business there. If we are forced to engage any hostiles then obviously we will get it done and save some trouble for someone else later!" *Dal looked inside the manse for a way to get to the one above it.*


" eh... fair is fair" * He Wave shrugged, guessing that he would have been pretty sore if someone had taken all his ransacking fun.*

* topside, the manse looked like that of the other surface peremeter manses... which isnt to say it wasnt completely posh, spacious and comfortable... but it was not exactly unique like the city manses or the Imperial Manse*

*Dal, carefuly as always, walked through the manse taking note of any and all inventory. It wasn't long before he had searched the manse up and down, hall to hall, room to room.* "Allright so... it looks like we have a few things here..."

* A plentiful supply of strange crystal shards from the size of ones hand to about a yard tall and roughly 1/3 that wide, with orichalcum circutry all through them. they all glowed softly and felt like hearthstones themselfes... though obviously not. besides those were two cases of jars.. one with a glass flower on them, the other of yellow glass with a picture of the sun on it. the flower case held about 50 mili-liters of liquid within them and had 5 in the case, the golden containers held 3o mili-liters and had four within it. among a bedroom's personal gear, Dal would find first age tools ( artifact 2 ) and some raw materials of an arcane sort... it seemed as though someone was a bit of a hobbiest*

" Iim not sure what half this shit is, but let's get it on the boat, some of it looks like its going to need someone more familiar with such things to have a look at them, and some looks like its just going to need to be tested... But not here." *Dal hoistedan armload of gear, and dropped it off at the boat before coming back.* "So you were hoping for something useful that you could use around the house or for your family, check it out... Some fancy tools, those would probably be a good thing to claim for yourself!" *Dal cracked his knuckles and rolled his kneck.* "This is going much quicker, let's get it done, One final stop back home and we're done, I have a feeling we are in for an experience when we travel to the manse under my own, I've had a feeling for a while now that something else has been down there all along..."
*Dal moved again to the hearth room, searching both for the hearth stone that had lay there for so long.* "And Let us get aquainted with this manse... shall we?"

Wave helped Dal haul the strange hearthstone like crystals ( 20 very small ones, 15 small ones, 9 medium ones, 6 large ones, 4 very large ones ), but then gawked at the cases, looking over the flower ones a few moments* " you know... there is something familliar about those things.... I think I saw some of those once... I House Cynis Pleasure Barge stopped on my island to pick up more supplies... I think they payed with these. I'll be damned what they are, but they fetch a very high price... worth more than their weight in jade" * he then lifted it up and took it back to the boat, following close behind Dal when he mentioned 'getting aquainted with manses' * " You got it Admiral!" * he began prepairing the ritual as he ran to the hearthroom.. of course, the stone set into the console of the manse *


"It looks like some sort of drug... What sort or to what end, I can't say, but I spent enough time in Nexus to recognize high priced mystery fluids as such." * Dal knelt on the ground and focused himself for the fourth time.*

* Attunement came quicker than times before... but not by much. it took a little longer for Wave to attune, but when he was done,he did his now signature ceebration of jumping into the air and clicking his heels as he pumped his fist in the air and shouted* " this is what I was meant to do! This is why the Dragon's chose me!! if only the realm could realize this!!" * he sighed nodding as he came down off the attunement high, tapping his foot as he looked around* " you know... as much as I love Bezair... I have got to move into one of these... they are just so..... comfortable!"

"Well, I don't doubt that can be arranged Wave, Dal stood up and shook his entire body chasing away the lingering tingle. Something feels different about this manse, I wonder what it is, It seemed to be more welcoming to me... Hmmm. Brother, I don't think Tari would have any qualms if you told her you found a nice peice of realistate with a view of the River! That first manse we went to will one day need a guardian not unlike yourself, and what's more that place will be a great place for you business as it will soon be where the greatest majority of trade will happen with outside nations! Or... so I plan."

" Ha! Thats fine with me! I feel the city will still need me there for a little while longer... but soon as the city become its own heartbeat, Im goning to have to protect that heatbeat with all I have!.... but my favorite so far has to be where we met that 'scale' thing... it just felt right to me" * Wave patted the console of the manse, then began his truge to the boat*


*Dal raised an eyebrow at wave.* "That's odd, I would not have guessed as much after what you said in the submerged city, something about a fear of being burried... Oh well, If you felt comfortable there, then who am I to question it!" *Dal found his way to the Dragon boat and happily readied himself for the trip homeword.* "Back to Beziar it is then!"

" Bezair ho!!!!... but that is too bad we couldnt find somethingto get us into the sky... oh well! we did our job.... and as for the under water manse... there was just something about it" * he followed Dal into the boat, looking over the bottles once more*

"Well, there may be something simmilar to what merged the two manses together like you had discovered could be done with the ones on the water, perhaps it was something else, I will be able to investigate if such a thing exists in my own manse, and then come back for the sky manses later, an adventure for another day." * Dal pinched his chin, wondering if there was anything he missed in his search that might have provided a rout to the sky.* "For now our feet remain on the ground, lest you discover you can sprout wings!"

"Sprout wings? I am afraid I am not that kind of dragon, Admiral.... but there has to be a way... I mean... they did it in the first age... * Wave shrugged, then loaded up the dragon-boat with their new supplies, before setting the destination for Bezair and hopping back onto the boat* " There anything else we need before we take this show on the road?"

"We have done all we were ordered to do, let's get back to my manse, deal with whatever we find there, and then investigate further this... hidden method to get to the arial manses, We will gather all the stones from the beziar manses soon enough..." *Dal tapped his foot on the dragon boats deck, ready to leave for home. Dal'Lumens mouth gaped as he sucked in air noisily, he closed his eyes letting the yawn take him.* " Let's go then!"

* the dragon boat shot down the tunnel at high speeds, leaving the trip a blur of color and flashes of Ankbut. The boat then halted all at once, the enchantments upon it nullifying the inertia that would have been. Under the bezair manse, waves of slightly warm colored light wafted past the boat port and down the halls, bringint to attention that there was light down here that came from nowhere. on the celing, they could see where the giant pearl ended, and where another strange material started... and anyone with knowlege of the ocean would know that this manse was carved out of the oyster's shell*

" you ever wonder how long it took to make these manses?... I would imagine hundreds of years... but then again, its Exalts we are talking about... so a matter of hours as far as I know * Wave laughed as he hopped up off the boat and onto the smooth platform, he first made for the stairs that went upwards... but stopped short* " Oh yeah... not up here yet"
[/color]

*As the landing port grew in the distance Dal made his way to the edge of the boat where he stood untill it came to a stop. With hardly a pause at all Dal stepped off the boat and onto the landing dock just as it slowed to a stop, his foot landing solidly on the ground.* "Nope, we discover what lay in wait within my basement. Bwa hahaha" *Dals tone was ironic, and took on the very cliche of spooky. He indicated with a flowing fingered poit into the mysteriously lit opening into the underground manse* "Follow me... if you dare!" *Giving a steep bow, with an odd smirk on his face, a smirk which became not but a white streak when as quick as a shot, and as smooth as moonsilver did he vanish into the somewhat dark entryway.*/color]

" Oh yeah? Well, I dare to! * Wave hopped off the staircase and followed Dal through to the bowels of the sub-bezair manse. On the other side of the corridor*

* On the other side, Dal would find himself face to face with a lifesized statue of obviously a solar, and a twilight caste by the look of the mark on his forehead. He was not a muscular man, but was definatly strengthened by years of working with magical materials and gathering exotic components. colors were hard to destinguish, as the depiction was solid orichalcum. at the man's knees, an attractive woman (app:5) woman made of white jade lay, an arm arapped around his waist. The woman seemed to be wearing nothing more than a long green ribbon made from green jade that wrapped her from her neck to her ankles. at the base of this statue was an inscription in old realm. Elsewhere in the room, it seemed as though this was a focal point for a large skirmish. there were very fine nicks in the walls and floors of the impenetrable manse. by the looks of it, much of down here had been broken or ransacked... making everything look like a storage unit.... an unloved storage unit *

*Dal, stopped abrubtly, a haunted look creeping onto his face when he came to stand near the statue.* "Whao... I was'n expect'n that!" *It seamed for whatever reason that this small startle had pushed the Westerner to regress to a more heavily accented version of himself.* "What'a you suppose this bit down here says... Malfeas' Balls I need to learn this language!" *Dal rolled his eyes and this time didnt even bother being descrete about talking to himself.* "Hey, Cho, I hate to bother you about this again but maybe you can shed some light on the meaning of this here inscription."

" Damn..... you need to get a maid down here, Dal..... it looks like there was a war down here... or a Air aspects exaltation... those can get messy too... Hey!! * Wave walked over to the statue, knocking on the shoulder of the statue* " Wow.. solid orichalcum! you think we could make some money off this?!" * Wave stepped back, corssing his arms as he looked over the statue worth more money than a merchent lord's treasury*

* Cho materialized next to the staue, side opposite of Wave, patting the opposite shoulder of the first age solar man* " What it says? It says, ' Happy One thousand four hundred thirty second birthday, love Larquen Quen and The Green Lady'. i'll never forget that day... those two were a little narssesistic, but its one hell of a gift."


*Dal turned to Wave, cocked his head sideways at him and spoke.* "So the inscription says that it was some sort of birthday present to my past incarnation, Cho-Hi-Xo, for his one thousand four hundred and thirty second birthday or some such, from a green lady and some guy whose name I can hardly pronounce... Large Quin Quin or something. But something seems to draw me to this thing, it has some sort of importance. I plan to find this guys work shop one day, so maybe this thing has some clue on it that might lead me there..." *Dal darted around the statue, checking it for any sort of insignia, or clue to it's origin, or any secrets it might hold, but when he had come to some level of conclusionhe moved on tot he rest of the manse, searching high and low for clues about it's past, and what treasures still reside within.*(8sxs Investigation of the manse, with some special attention payed to the statue)

"Oh yeah? Damn... I would love a preasent like that. You could buy a whole line of caravans with that kind of scratch" * Wave began picking through the debris and trash for anything that might be interesting. Finding very little... but something worth holding onto as he looked*

* The room was mostly trashed... there were many hunks of broken inert orichalcum ( enough to make 3 daiklaives ), evidence of elemental essence burns everywhere, and traces of buckets of blood. he did find a set of moonsilver dragon claws... other than that.. the place had been plundered. The lower manse was just as magnificent and posh as the upstairs, complete with magical conviences, a master bedroom the size of many houses and a hand full of other powers and amenities that would require a little more looking at to fully discern. the statue, however... had many more hidden secrets than one would first guess. to the far right of the background, one could see that the imperial mountian was present. To the far left, a mass of forrests.. but the most promenent feature had to be the floating mountian just behind the two* ( Lore+Int diff 3 )

"What is this... Does that look like anything you know of Wave... It's almost like a map of some kind." *Dal ran his fingers along the surface from one symbol to the next, like a far off memory on the edge of grasp he just couldn't think of what this third symbol was or what it all meant.* "I will need to ask the others about this one... but I think we have found everything there is to find for now, let's go find the hearth room, I will get to work cleaning this place up now that I know it's down here soon enough." *Dal Looked over his shoulder in the direction he asumed the hearth room would be in, based on the layout of his own manse, and made his way towards it.*

* Wave walked back to the statue and looked it over, trying to remember anything he learned in school... but finding that it was largely a waste of his younger years* " Now.... I know the imperial mountan..... I also know of the Haltan forrests.... but a flying mountian? sounds familliar, but I am afraid I know more of the west than the east... but those are definatly places. this was probably made north of here... Oh! but before I forget. I think I found the plans to your axes" * He held out the scroll of parchment* " Maybe we can make more! or improve on the design... its in old realm, but they look just like your axes!"


*Dal turned in his path and looked back at wave.* "You dont say? That is a good find, well done Wave! I have been meaning to make some adjustments to these things for some time now, this should make all of that a great deal easier!" *Dal clapped wave on the shoulder as he accepted to the parchment from him and turned back to walk to the hearth room.* "I warn you now, if you choose to attune to this manse as well, this one will have a good bit more kick to it than what you have gotten used to brother, this place is a good bit more powerful."

* Wave followed Dal to the hearthroom, but stopped just short of, very unlike what he had been doing till now* " Cool, thats good to know you have plans for it already. But as for this manse..... I would rather not... I dont want the responsability. The perimeter manses are more my speed... first line of defense and all." * Wave leaned against the far wall as he reached into his posessions, retrieveing more of the first age porn* " i'll tell ya.... there is just something about Water Aspected Dragon-Blooded women... wow" * Wave took a deep breath as he looked through the magazine, which could only be the 'Lutienents of the delibrative edition'*

* The feeling of attuneing to this manse was the same as the attunement to the manse above.. a huge rush of essence, followed by the sensation of being completely omnipotent and having creation's well of power all to himself. As soon as attunement was achieved, the console before him opened a compartment, which lifted out of it, the hearthstone. It seems Cho-Hi-Xo had the foresight to lock the stone away so the userpers could not plunder its power*

*His eyes remained closed as he stood back up into the still air of the hearth room. Dal'Lumen made fists out of his hands, a surge of power rushing through him charged every nerve and hair in his skin, more alive than ever, his muscles rippled with the surge.* "Hah.... yes... That will do nicely..." *His eyes opened* "Ah, and it seems we have a gift from the manse, Dal lifted the new hearth stone into his hands, rolling it's cool surfece around in his palm.* "Well then... It couldn't hurt to ask. Sentinel, what knowledge do you hold of some way to reach the sky manses?"


* The click of sentinel openning his communication channal sounded, followed by the voice of the ancient guiding spirit* " I am afraid not, Admiral Dal'Lumen... my memory is not what it used to be... at the same time, there are commands within me that I do not know the trigger nore the actions to. I am sorry to be of no help"

*Dal sighed.* "Hmm." * He pinched his chin, and found an open spot against the wall to lean against.* " Allright... Well thanks anyway Sentinel... How about you Cho-Hi-Xo, any pearls, no pun intended, of ancient wisdome as to how non flying folk like wave and myself made their way between the manses above and below back in your day?"


" Do I?! Of course I do! I have no wings as you can see * Cho-Hi-Xo materialized once more, on the other side of the console, his back facing Dal, as to show he has no wings* "C'mon top side! i'll show you how I used to get around the sky back when I took care of this quarter and its tributaries and Provences" * Cho ran off... one could only guess in the direction of the nearest staircase to the upper manse*

"Ho ho, allright then!" *Dal chased after Cho, running past Roaring Wave on the way out.* "Remove the hand from your cock and come with me Dragon, now we reach for the sky!" *Dal ran past leaving nothing but the rush of wind in his wake all the way to the staircase he thought he had seen cho run up.*

" Wha?..." * Wave looked up from a picture of a Western skipper, wrapped in a diaphenous peice of cloth that was meant to look like a sail, then stashed away the mag as he followed close behind* " The friend in your head had an answer?! well i'll be! lets get moovin!"

* Outside the Bezair manse, Que-Ra could be seen barking out orders at the troops while they did push ups in the oat field... Que-Ra could be seen pileing sacks of oats on their backs as they did push ups. The sun hung low in the sky as the day was coming to its end. Cho-Hi-Xo stood opposite of the direction of Que-ra, hands on his hips as he looked at the sky* " Ah... perfect day for something like this..."

*Dal ran up beside him.* "Something like what?" *Dal took note of his troop in the near vascinity, and decided it would be best to keep the talking to Cho-Hi-Xo disquised from them. He looked back at Wave as if he had been talking to him.*

" So... let me know what your brain buddy's method of flight is and I will follow" * Wave just happened to stop right where Cho-Hi-Xo stood, occupying the same space together*

* Cho nodded, then brought his right hand up and held it to Dal, palm extended outward* " First.. start by relaxing your hand... then bring it back near your face" * he brought his palm infront of his face" Now.. this is where things get a little complex... take notes

*Dal turned his head sideways at wave.* "Oh... Uh ahem." Dal waved his finger at where wave was standing, trying to respond descretely he quickly pinched his chin and jerked his head trying to indicate wave should move.* "Yeah... wave... you're standing in him.." *He whispered, and lifted up his hand to follow Cho's instructions.* "Right... relax your hand... and bring it to your face..."

* Wave looked down at the ground, then back at Dal, before taking a step to the side, hoping he had stepped out of Dal's friend... which he had. listenning to what Dal was repeating, he relaxed his hand, then brought his palm near his face* " Check.... now what next, before someone smacks my hand into my face?"

*He spoke rather loudly, as if trying to make it look like he was teaching wave to do something, or rather something to mask the tight liped whispering and fidgeting.*

" Now then.... take your thumb and put it to the edge of your bottom lip, your fingernail lightly touching your lip" * He then gave the thumbs up and put his thimb to his lip* " You then take your index finger and hook it along with your thumb, bringing the tips almost to touching" * He did this, his hand now making the 'okay' hand symbol with his thumb and index near his mouth* " and then... blow like this" * Cho blew, letting out a sharp short whistle, followed by a longer low one which grew to be loud and sharp ( like the whistle someone might give to call a taxi over)*

*Dal reapeated the actions, making sure that wave could see them accuratly enough to do the same.* "Err..." *Dal blew, but managed to do nothing but blow air in waves face.* Uh... *He tried again, blowing even harder this time, causing Waves hair to flutter from the Solar powered breeze, again he failed to make so much as a peep.* "Huh...* "His dark skin reddened and his distinct chisled Linowan face puckered with the effort, this time he might have nearly blown Wave right over if he didn't first hold his ground against the gust of air. This time however a shrill, ear peircing whistle came out, short and once he realized he had managed the first note, he followed witht he second, still the wistle was somewhat overpowered, and about as loud as having ones head directly beside the screaching breaks of a train on it's tracks.* "Ah... there we go."