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((*Resists being a smartass.*

Yes.))

((Edited.))

Perrault looked around as he got up slowly, his eyes meeting each blue-clad monk until he stood. He slowly reached into his soaking wet pack, hoping to grab a curser in case these monks attacked him and Myrrelda.

Perrault took Remido's hand and let himself be helped up.

"What... is this place...?" he asked in awe as he admired the beautiful blue that swallowed the entire area.

"Quick!" Tanessa shouted, commanded, demanded--anything to get the two lazy males' lower ends moving. "That won't last for long. Over here--to the clearing!"

Of course, the sorceress had absolutely no idea what she was doing. She was merely guessing, picking at straws.

~

Helenne glanced around. "Remedius?" she called, frightened. "Are you all right...?"

"Yes yes surely I would be," the Magus replied, from underground. Suddenly, his head was poking out from the hole once occupied by the tree's roots. In his hand was the weird little spear.

"I needed to kill the tree. It is very toxic to the touch, you see. It also sees you approach. To kill it, one must sneak up from below, lest it attack you."

Helenne glanced slowly over at the toppled tree. When she realized that a half-closed eye could be seen on one side of the trunk, facing them--clearly, dead--she swallowed nervously. "Remedius," she began reprovingly, "you can't--"

"Hurry and come," the Magus interrupted. "It will return to life soon."

Needless to say, Helenne hurried up and followed Remedius.

Remedius' voice called back. What they were in now seemed some sort of giant maze dug by a huge gopher or some sort, or meerkat. "Hurry, before the natives notice we're here. We want to reach the chamber quickly, before the Ja'aka Tribe comes around here."

Helenne paused for a moment, and gave Elmire a perplexed look. "He's usually something like this," she admitted, but reassured: "but for all the time I've known him, no one has ever been more reliable." Then, she continued after the fleet-footed Magus.

~

Tanessa stumbled into the clearing. The two males were likely both coordinated enough to steer around her, but it seemed they were stuck. There was no way they could outrun these plant-beasts.

~

Guided by Remido and the other blue monks, Perrault and Myrrelda would be escorted into a cave fitted for the demon's height (and thus, all others could fit, too). The walk would be an easy, steadily sloping path. The blue light without a source would continue to pervade the entire city.

Out of the caves, after a five-minute walk or so, the group came out into a much, much larger chamber. The ceiling of the chamber was so high, the distance was indiscernible. The width of the chamber--it was perfectly cylindrical, and cut of stone--beautiful, quartz, gemstones, strata of multi-colored minerals.

What Perrault wouldn't realize until he came to a huge drop-off in the floor, is that the group was standing at the top of another cylindrical pit--dug into the center of the floor of the one they had entered.

The light did not fade, even down to the lowest depths of this (seemingly) unending pit. So, everyone was able to marvel at the spiraling wall of buildings, paths, balconies, and... people, walking along the outer edge of this descending cylinder that Perrault was looking down. Mostly the blue-skinned variety, but amongst the large crowd of them, white- and black-skinned humans could be seen, as well. A bustle of sound arose--this was truly a city of being.

Remido pointed across the group, to a set of stairs to their right. The path that spiraled and circled the exterior of the pit was about eight to ten feet wide (width varied). Each room or building that could be entered from the constantly-sloped path was matched to flat rooms with the help of one or two steps--flat on top, but slanted to match the path.

"Welcome," Remido said, "to Halbrontr."

((You may time-skip to them waking up from a plentiful night of rest if you like. Then Perrault can be shown to the 'bottom floor,' where he'll meet his fate.))

"Worry not, Your Grace," Helenne assured him cooly. "I can protect you from anything Remedius can't anticipate." Having said this, Helenne doubted there was anything the eccentric Magus could not anticipate. She felt her confidence returning.

As the trio continued through the tunnel, they would notice two things: firstly, that the light filtering in from behind was receding, reaching less and less into their path. Secondly, they would realize that another source of light was ahead--an unnatural light.

~

Myrrelda whistled, then spit a luge far out, into the center of the huge pit.

Remido snorted, but turned away without further reprimand. "Come," he said, "I'll take you to a cafe. If luck is with us, they won't have stopped serving iced tea yet on this fine morning."

With a few nods, the other blue monks returned to the edges of the cavern, disappearing into barely-visible openings in the rock face. The stairway was only a few steps away, and Remido began walking down it as if he were doing the most casual thing in the world. Which, to him, this large death trap was.

Realizing this, Remido stopped and turned around, and gave Perrault a glance. "Her, I'm not worried much about," he said, provoking a quick exhalation of breath by 'her,' "but you, my good friend, must watch your footing. All Luac are naturally unable to fall--we're born as perfectly balanced beings. I don't worry too much, though--after all, you are one of the graceful elves, right? Now, a new human... that would be... tedious, to welcome. Am I right?"

With a chuckle at his own humor, Remido continued down the spiraling slope.

~

As gangly and uncoordinated as Tanessa was, upon seeing the figure rushing at them, she tripped. Cedric dove out of the way, already knowing what was happening, while Irwin did whatever it was Irwins do.

((In other words, SPI, take control of your character. Also, from this point on, Remedius' cavern is yours to fabricate. We've arrived at the grand bishop or whatever, I think.))

((Hm. Is "a**" really a proper term for... Eh. Nevermind. xd ))

((Also, Miine... Farfarello disappeared into the crowd and did what? Post post post!))

Ralendine squinted at the unnatural light that shone from further into the cavern. As the trio walked, they reached the end... their destination. A large room at the end of the cavern, perfectly round, like a dome, shrouded in blue darkness as though it were submerged under the ocean depths. The cavern's ceiling was covered in shining stalagmites, their twinkling lights dancing in a hypnotic harmony with the aquatic reflections that pulsated along the glossy stone walls of the beautiful earthen room, tinting the entire area a beautiful rainbow color. In the center of the cave stood tall an enormous red crystal, it's height exceeding that of several full-grown Draon, glimmering with many different shades of red and purple, complimenting the dancing colors of the cave with it's crimson song.

Ralendine observed this in awe.

"What..." he said quietly, as though he were in a trance of some kind, "What is this...? Where have you taken us, mage?"

-----

The Mandragoras shriveled into ash as they met the wall's frigid teeth. However, that only caused more Mandragoras to sprout upward from the earth and charge to the icy structure. As they crawled to the wall, they spit their foul acid, gooey glowing orange fluid, right through the ice wall, melting large holes into it and continuing through to their prey. The other figure that was rushing towards them came ever closer; it would only be several seconds before the figure came face to face with the mages on the clearing.

For Tanessa, Cedric and Irwin... death seemed inevitable.

-----

Perrault forced a laugh and smiled.

'They must really like elves...' he thought to himself before asking the Luac man, "What, exactly... is your relationship with the elves?"

-----

"Three-hundred gold pieces for two pounds of flour?" spat Raedou as he weighed the cloth sack in his hand, "What manner of monopoly are you running here, merchant?"

"Only the best, my armored friend!" the merchant replied energetically, "That flour is the highest quality in Mythicaa, ground from the finest wheat on the farms of Favraes! Good flour doesn't come cheap, these days!"

Raedou groaned.

"This is ridiculously expensive." he said, "With three-hundred gold pieces, I could purchase eight sacks of flour from the vendor down the street! I've shipped the goods of this trade for twenty years, and I demand you give me a bargain!"

The merchant didn't answer; he just kept smiling.

"Alright." Raedou said, disappointed, "You've just lost a loyal customer. Farewell, you son of a swamp-leech."

And with that, he turned to leave... after kicking the merchant's booth and sending it (and it's flour) spilling onto the ground in a messy cloud of wood, noise and flour. As the merchant screamed in agony over his ruined goods, the Ganzi limped hastily away as though nothing happened.