Welcome to Gaia! ::

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

It took her quite a long time to find their trail.
But she made it.
Thank goodness for this hover thing.
There was no way she could have caught up with her short legs.
"Wait! Pardon! Please stop! I have something of dire importance to speak with you about!"
They could hear the roaring of the motors behind them.
And when they turned they noticed...well...a floating vehicle that was working?
And that girl was riding it.
Her long white blue hair flying all over the place behind her.
Waving at them wildly to get their attention.
"Wait for me!"

Faris continued informing Justin of what he had gathered from his studies of the ruins. "This village was formed Lyran exiles that found peace with Runists of a similar fate. Together, they combined their knowledge and began drilling for mana into this mountain ahead here. Over the years, some mixed breeding was done and the need for a village with an established mana well was in order." By now they were closing into the base of the mountain, and a circular passageway leading into the cliff could be seen. The ground beneath them was worn, enough that one could tell people had recently been entering and exiting through the entrance.

"Alas, this particular village was shortlived. Like the many small villages, this one got swept up in the hunt for mana. They never could establish a mana well though, which is why only ruins remain here today. Ruins...and a few tasty artifacts." Faris snickered to himself a bit, which ended abruptly when he spun around almost instantly with a solemn look on his face. For a moment, he thought he had heard something that was not of the forest. The Arpegius family was very secretive in their operations, and no one should have known of their trip. Faris spun around once more and continued toward the cave with an uncomfortable expression. "Let us get inside." His pace had picked up a bit, but he was movements were still casual.

When Faris reached the cave, he noticed that the sounds he had heard earlier were now growing louder. When he turned to look back once more he saw the girl from back at Dashna. He was suprised that she had followed them this far. She was yelling something that he could barely hear over the roar of the vehicle.

At first, he considered taking her as prisoner until he could get more information on her. But then, Faris remembered that she was not a typical Runist, and was not in association with them. Therefore, he did not consider her a threat to the operation. "Pay no mind.." Faris mumbled as he turned and walked into the cave, eventually dissapearing from sight.

arrow Heading back to Lyr

The tunnels inside the mountain were a marvel in themselves. The precision and accuracy in the drilling made it seem as though the mountain was unreal. It was hardly what one would expect when walking into the great rock.

As they walked deeper into the tunnels the sunlight began to fade and soon they were conforted with the darkness. Alas, ahead shone a warm gleam that seemed to be growing. Soon they were confronted with well lit lamps that were placed along the tunnel wall. Someone had clearly been here to light them recently.

Several minutes in, the tunnel seemed to be getting wider, and smaller, unlit tunnels could now be seen branching off of the path. These were most likely used for commerce of residential purposes. Inside, one could see past the broken down doors into the renments of a race once existing. Though, Faris continued to lead down the main tunnel, confident with his navigation. Also, the climate had become significantly colder, with only the warmth of the dancing flames to heat the windy tunnels.

All of a sudden, Faris stopped dead in his tracks. The path ahead of them was unlit and dark, probably for a reason. Faris pulled one of the lamps from the wall and turned his attention to Faris. "This is as far into the mountain we will venture. The rest of the village is unrelated to the operation and will remain under the Arpegius family's supervision. The artifact we wish to repair is right this way." Faris turned and began pacing into a smaller, unlit tunnel. This tunnel was not as neatly drilled; it was a bit rockier and only about 12 feet high.

The walk down the dark path was quick and soon Faris's lamp lit a larger domeshaped room. The room looked empty with only the standard rock surface in lights view. Though, as Faris moved around the room and lit the lamps lined along the wall, a large apparatus appeared resting against the walls of the great dome. It was clearly lifeless, but its shape was not apparent until all of the lights had been lit.

"This is our object for today." The artifact was definetely larger, probably around 10 feet high when erect. It had a gorilla-like figure with a large upper body and small legs. The building style probably made it slow in movement, especially since one its arms appeared to be missing. The arms, legs, and torso were made from a brown, heavy looking metal, probably iron. This iron was etched with various symbols that lined along the heavy arms and legs of the mammoth. On the artifact's hand was a large drill. It was not nearly large enough to form the tunnels of the ruins, but probably of good size for smaller drilling jobs. "Do any of these symbols look familiar to you? Keep in mind that this is a combination of Runism and Lyran magick, thus the symbols may hold Lyran themes as well."

Faris hopped onto the mammoth machine, standing over the breastplates to analyze the runes. Faris could not agree with Justin, for these runes seemed to be entirely foreign to him. He leaned over and ran his fingers over the symbols. "Runic magick occurs through the process of chants. I have tried most of the common Runist words for rune activation, but I have gotten no response from any of these artifacts. I'm convinced that a hybrid language has been formed for the sole purpose of the artifacts in this city."