Welcome to Gaia! ::

This was easily the most people to ever have graced the inside of the Magician Lucillien Dark's shop. Really now! The hours spent at that printing company trying to figure out exactly how to create and distribute these flyers as well as the extra pieces of gold given to the man behind the counter so that he could "type" the message all seemed worth it! Of course, he would have been a fool to assume that just because people were knocking at his door shortly after business began that they were all here for the quest, and yet, no one seemed to put up any other reasons for their presence and so the Shadow went with the assumption.

The door clicked shut behind him cutting off a gust of dry desert air and leaving only a small island of sand pooled near the doormat to give away that Strata was ever there.

Honestly, for a moment Maximos found himself afraid that Kuro was going to devastate the meager wooden frame of the door and send turn his enchantment wild, leaving him stranded in Durem and cut off from all of his adventures but after aiding Tenkai in a push, everything went smoothly. One by one the soon to be adventuring party was settling.

As a whole the group would find that the shop looked cluttered. There were alot of items on display, the glass showcase which doubled as a counter was filled with literally hundreds of trinkets laying side by side as they might inside of a jewelers case. Some were simple, some were complex, some were colorful and seemed, others were dull, lifeless and boring. There were no labels on anything as one might imagine there was no room for any labels. Behind the counter were shelves lined with larger items, some were obvious pieces of equipment and others were clearly weapons both ornate and simple. And yet for those with the ability to sense it, nothing present was without some degree of magical essence. All together the magical "impact" of walking into the shop was something like walking outside into the hottest part of summer from a frigid and air conditioned room. There was no real heat, but the initial moments were stifling, until ones senses balanced.

The powerful presence of the place, coupled with the strong scent of tea, coffee, and pastry, and then combined with the sight of so very many magical treasures made any first time visit a somewhat heavy experience. And yet, there was just enough room to be comfortable, and just enough order to the madness to make it relaxing. As busy as the store was, it was also spacious.

This fact, was made immediately evident by a certain black feline adventurer who bounded up onto the counter and then nimbly off onto a shelf between an box covered in chaotic swirls and specks of glimmer, and a fat black dagger in a sheath. If this perch was an intrusion in any way, Maximos did not say or show it, in any way. His mismatched eyes did however linger on the growing row of tea cups, watching as Joshua counted a head and then poured a cup. He smirked when the demon noted the black cat and poured a cup of pure creamer. Part of him, nothing her almost natural skill at the task, wondered if the Lady Gale wouldnt be interested in working at the shop and greeting customers. She had something of an indelible smile and a sort of innocent about her that completely belied her bloody past. And then his attention was called to the speaking Samurai Monk.

"I cannot speak for the whole group, but I certainly am interested. I'm going to assume by this consequential gathering that others are interested in it as well." Maximos grinned.

" S'more like a war party now, but that's what we can assume Maximos." The Shadow's grin stretched to a toothy smile and he nodded his head in slow repetition.

"Then assume I shall, and if I am mistaken, feel free to approach me later regarding your orders or desired purchases." At which point, taking a cue from his Reaper co-worker masterfully working the tea cups in the rear. "Everyone also feel free to help yourselves to a cup of tea while I bring you up to speed. I believe my good friend Razliek there has set one out for each of you."

The information being presented required just about no visual, and so as people turned or moved for their tea Maximos continued. "As you all know, we are each about to head off in search of the Frostfire Soul. And as you each also know, there is nearly next to nothing know about this..."

Maximos gestured at the air, his fingers moving as if trying to mold something out of a very large piece of clay as he attempted to find what word could best describe something as of yet unknown. "...something. The only individuals who know anything about it at all are the citizens of a village deep in the frozen heart of Guldor."

By now, likely, just about everyone had received their cup leaving it safe to introduce a visual aspect to the presentation. With a wave of his hand Maximos gestured to Dorul. While D had been beside him when this all began the child was entirely absent now. Dorul, covered in his thick winter clothes stepped forward. "This is Dorul Stormcaster. Or rather he is a Stormcaster and one such citizen of exactly that village."

Maximos looked back at Dorul as if for confirmation, Dorul gave a silent and stout nod. While no longer sweating profusely, Dorul still seemed rather reserved, rigid. Uncomfortable and frozen if you will. "Ve haf tried to pray to owr gawds, and owr forfahdders, but to no avayl. This is last hope."

Maximos nodded and continued. "And that is where we come in. In exchange for our assistance in unraveling this mystery and alleviating the troubles the Frostfire Soul is visiting upon his people the village leader has sent Dorul to provide information, and agreed to let him lead us back to their village to begin investigations."

As he spoke Maximos made his way through the crowd, to the counter picking up a cup of tea and then made his way back to the doorway. "So! Before we catch our boat to Guldor, I'd like to open a forum with our friend Dorul here and see if we cant get a better idea of what we're headed into before we head into it. Any questio--"



Just about everyone in attendance would be able to see the green light ignite above Maximos head and hear the soft knock. Maximos face twitched into something of an embarrassed grin, his hand moving automatically to scratch the back of his head. "Pardon me. Everyone feel free to continue."

In the time it took Maximos to turn around and find the proper key there was a sudden...



...And the blue light above the shop door ignited beside the green. Now, etiquette said that Maximos should answer the Durem door first, then Latent. First come first serve. But...etiquette also said that you should not attack someones door just because your impatient and rude. And if Maximos hated anything it was rude people. He fumbled with his keys, impaled the lock and...

-|-

Latent:

...The Shop door swung open, nearly slamming into the door stopper. In the doorway stood an already rather perturbed looking Maximos. His brow furrowed, his lips pressed in a flat and unamused line and his arms slipping between each other and across his chest. This was not the picture of a happy man.

"Pardon us.. We ran into some trouble." Blink. Blink. Blink.

He was expecting some brute with a weapon bigger than himself and perhaps a group of thugs. He got a little girl, and a dragon wearing fruit, and a new stylish yellow head piece. His small friend must not have approved of the banana because she was in the process of removing it.

Maximos honestly tried to tone the mood down slowly. To go from furious, to cool, to cold, to calm. It didnt work. He moved from frowning straight to laughing, buckling over and leaning his weight upon the door frame as he laughed. If anyone inside the shop wondered what caused the hilarity, Maximos did not bother to explain. When a dragon dressed in mostly white crashed into a multicolored fruit stand...well, his garb would tell the story.

As the laughter faded, Max gestured to the flyer in Ryugi's hand, and then extended his hand to help the dragon to his feet. "I told you we would quest again some day! Admit it, teaming with me is just too...appealing."

And he laughed...for approximately three seconds before realizing that was probably the least funny thing he had ever said in all of his life. "Both of you, come on in, help yourself to some tea and join the Q & A at your leisure. Come now, there's someone waiting in Durem."

When Ryugi and guest entered, he shut the door behind them.

-|-

Durem:

The shop door opened with a click, and there stood Maximos, teacup in hand and practiced smile across his face. "Hello there! 'Here for the ad--"

And the cup fell and shattered instantly on the concrete adding another stain to the already pre-existing thousands. It was at that moment, that the man on the other side of the door stopped being just the face of another adventurer and became recognizable. It was like the past crashed head first into the future and in a moment Maximos was caught between everything he was and everything had become.

Maximos was made of shadow back then, not flesh. He did not need to eat or breath, and now was all he breath. He opened his mouth to say something and then shut it, and then opened it again and left it hanging agape. Maximos’ looked at Night as if he expected the page to turn, or the television to turn off, or the recording to end. As if he were the very face of the impossible, and yet Maximos had stared into the impossible with these two eyes and it was not like this. Maximos' eyes, mismatched as they were. Black for his left eye, and white for his right. Black and white. And as definite as the concept his eyes stood for, was the memory of this man. Nighthunter. That eve, so long ago in the LevKit. Broken glass speckling a fist. Maximos did not use the term brother frivolously. Be it a brother in arms, a brother in blood, it did not matter. There was a soft knock on the door, but for the moment it did not matter either.

What mattered was how Maximos’ mouth closed. How his hand reached across the distance to Nighthunter and with a clap on the shoulder said more than his lips or vocabulary could ever express. What could he say? What could he do? Shock slipped to a thousand discarded plans, and in the end Maximos tossed out the past and continued with the present. There would be time for catching up soon. And then, in a warm tone absolutely befitting of a friend seeing another dear friend who had all but vanished from existence for literal years he spoke. “Come in, Brother Nighthunter, come in. Have some tea, listen in. I have something for you, something I've meant to give you for quite some time.”

-|-

Strata:

The shop door was something reminiscent of a saloon door. Opening, closing, opening, closing. Maximos was happier than ever he had listed each of the shop entrances, having this all happen in Latent would have made quite a scene! Regardless, there was a click. The door knob turned, and the door swung steadily open to reveal Maximos. His stark navy blue hair, his mismatched eyes, and his friendly smile. "Hello sir!"

The man before him looked in every way like an adventurer, or at the very least like a man who knew his way around a battlefield. Something about the hue of his skin struck a chord in the Shadow's memory. Dark skinned elves existed in legend as things of evil, of ruthlessness, of darkness. And yet Maximos was never one to judge a book by its cover. His smile never faltered, his voice projected strong and warm. He had a way of speaking that made it sound as if he had known the person he as addressing for years. "You must be here for the quest! Come in, have some tea, we're discussing what information there is to discuss with that large warmly dressed fellow there before we head off."

And the dark elf was ushered into the conversation hopefully already in progress.

((Everyone feel free to ignore Max if you like, you can address Dorul while Max answers doors. As opposed to all of you posting just once for every time I post, since there will be alot of introductions and first impressions going on, everyone can post once for every one of my posts and an additional time in reply to any questions or comments or interactions made toward your character/characters.))

Strata


Damrius readjusted the strap of his traveling pack on his shoulder as he walked along in the desert town. He was wearing his usual white long coat, white khakis, black boots, and black knuckle-gloves. He figured that the white would help reflect some of the Sun's heat, but apparently that only applied to light-weight clothing.

As he approached the door of the shop, Damrius pushed his sunglasses back into place, made sure the sword that was attached to his back wasn't loose, and rolled up both of his sleeves to make sure his knives were both still in place. Rather uncomfortable, but useful in tight spots, or so he hoped. Maybe he'd find out otherwise on this little excursion. He'd seen the flyer while walking through a street in some city, and one word, or rather name, caught his attention: Maximos. If it hadn't been for that, he'd have completely ignored it, since it had been simply another way to get paid.

He ran a hand through his hair at the door, a little nervous to knock. He didn't quite know why, but he just had an odd feeling about this... soul they were after. A lack of information was usually a bad thing, but this somehow felt different. Not that it mattered - he'd paid for his trip here, and now he was going to go through with it.

Knock.
Knock.
Knock.

"I would have to start here obviously." With a flick of his wrist the paintbrush in his hand stiffened, it was remarkable how a little shadow crafting to thick black wetted bristles could turn a brush into a scalpel. "...those eyes are too huge to serve any natural purpose, they're clearly masking whatever it is that has replaced most of, if not all of, this creature's brain."

"..."

She watched how the Shadow got lost in imagining a dissection of Piri, whose instincts had kicked in fully for once, for she was writhing and squirming in his hand. Lucind cocked a brow. She knew he sometimes got like this. Maybe it would teach the frog-lemure to act less carelessly from now on, but she wouldn't let Max cut her up. And when Piri began to bite his fingers (not that her teeth were sharp enough to hurt him), then, since that was useless, screamed for help, Lucind went to say something when...

"Or does it involve the bullets?"
"Oh right! The bullets!"

And with that, the Shadow dropped Piri with a unceremonious plop back onto the counter and in the same motion scooped up the inscribed bullet. The animal directly jumped on Lucind's arm, crawled upwards and hid between the woman's neck, her hair and the jacket's cowl, where it went on whining for a moment. The Siren reached up to brush a finger along Piri's head, feeling how that tiny heart threatened to burst from the chest. Lu mumbled something in her mother tongue that made the naked monkey calm down quickly, but Piri remained where she was. At some point, Lucind stopped, as if she had stumbled over whatever Seireneian words she had just spoken. Thoughtfulness, sadness even, made her frown.

Maximos lifted the projectile to Lucind, oblivious of any wrong he could have committed and said. "Lucind my love, if you would?"

"Ah...yes." She blinked, thinking of a song, but the sorrow that had just entered her mind and heart would not allow her to direct her thoughts to a melody with an intent opposite to the current sentiment.

What she sang, therefore, sounded like a lullaby. A simple flow of notes. Which brought sleepiness.
Even though Lu only performed four stanzas, each line was made to seep through every layer of your brain, to make each part of your body feel heavy, to make you long for closing your eyes to encounter gorgeous adventures in your dreams.

Since the bullet was the target of the song, Max and Damion were out of danger to drop to the floor sleeping. Still, they wouldn't remain completely untouched of her singing, which was probably the reason why Lucind did not perform the whole song, knowing that the Shadow had little natural resistance against mental "attacks" in whatever form. ... Unless he had thought of providing some well working ear plugs.

It seemed as if the small shop was beginning to get quite crowded quite quickly due to the number of adventurers that had picked up on the thread Maximos had laid out for them, but it was no frivolous gathering that was taking place either. Each person that had come to ask about the flier was here because they had an appetite for adventure - one way or another.

If it came down to money, there were more reliable ways for a skilled individual to make it than going half way across the world to chase after something that may or may not exist; and if they were only here to stand around and sip tea with old friends they would not have been so enthusiastic after hearing about the frozen north. The real draw, and the thing that would keep them here, was the promise of an unknown future.

"Everyone also feel free to help yourselves to a cup of tea while I bring you up to speed. I believe my good friend Razliek there has set one out for each of you."

When addressed, the Razliek behind the counter simply nodded and placed his hands upon the glass case while he waited for any more guests to arrive. It would have been rude to interrupt Maximos now, when he was in the middle of welcoming everyone and beginning to bring them up to speed. Even though many of the people who had come in answer to the flier were strangers to each other proper introductions could wait until they were sure no one else would be coming.

While the young woman inched around the corners of filled shelves and behind the backs of guests towards the large ball of fluff in the back, Maximos continued his story-

"As you all know, we are each about to head off in search of the Frostfire Soul. And as you each also know, there is nearly next to nothing know about this... something. The only individuals who know anything about it at all are the citizens of a village deep in the frozen heart of Guldor."

"This is Dorul Stormcaster. Or rather he is a Stormcaster and one such citizen of exactly that village."

Dorul's introduction had answered a number of questions already that hadn't been asked yet. The way that he was dressed in heavy clothes even in the warm air inside of the shop showed the influence of his life experience in what he considered to be normal; because their host had described the village that Dorul came from as being in 'the frozen heart of Guldor' it was clear that this was a man who knew nothing of warm weather. The other answer that it gave them right off the bat was that this man possessed a title in his village, which meant that Dorul held either rank or ability.

"Ve haf tried to pray to owr gawds, and owr forfahdders, but to no avayl. This is last hope."

From the smell of him Razliek would have guessed he was some type of shaman; a guess given more weight when Dorul mentioned praying to the gods and forefathers of the village.

...but Maximos was not finished speaking yet. Questions should always wait until the end of an explanation.

"And that is where we come in. In exchange for our assistance in unraveling this mystery and alleviating the troubles the Frostfire Soul is visiting upon his people the village leader has sent Dorul to provide information, and agreed to let him lead us back to their village to begin investigations."

"So! Before we catch our boat to Guldor, I'd like to open a forum with our friend Dorul here and see if we cant get a better idea of what we're headed into before we head into it. Any questio-- Pardon me. Everyone feel free to continue."

At last it seemed like the introduction was concluded and the expedition leader turned over the floor to the man from the frozen north. There were a number of obvious questions that would need to be asked, things like 'what is the Frostfire Soul' and 'where are we headed to' but questions like that could be left for others... as for Razliek, there was one question that he wanted answered first-thing:

"What happened to your village, Dorul?" The man from the north had said that they had tried prayer but it hadn't helped them... something that meant it was a problem they couldn't deal with ordinarily. If bringing in outsiders to come and take the Frostfire Soul away was their last hope, it meant that the object itself was bringing disaster upon them...

...and just at that moment, as if operating on some cue, Kuroshiro was jumped on by a stalking woman in a green dress.



There were more and more who seemed to keep coming as Maximos continued to open the door time and time again and each time that he did a new face would step through into the shop to join the others that were already gathered.

Another cup of tea was poured for the shadow's old friend Night, and another after that for the drow mercenary Corth who was keeping to himself in the back (though Ms. Varhetel was not poured a cup of tea as she existed in another timeline entirely from the gathering going on in the shop currently). So far they were up to fifteen and the door continued to be abused by knuckles rapping at the other side of it.

Ms. Raven finished her tea and placed her cup back upon the counter, but the moment that she turned her back it was filled again with hardly a sound. The sophisticated black cat that had perched upon the shelf earlier had likewise made his way to the glass counter and, with a little suspension of disbelief, replaced the saucer of cream with a smaller teacup and then returned it to the way that it was with just as much mystery. Though the method was unexpected the fact that it had been done was unsurprising to the man behind the counter... after all, Maximos would not have let the animal through the door if it weren't something special. In another moment a second helping of cream was poured out into it.

The same for any of the others in the room who took their tea and returned an empty cup to the counter-top. No one could say that Maximos Lucillien Dark was a half-hearted host and the tea would continue to flow as long there were those who wanted more. Though the small teapot that it was being poured from should not have been able to even pour out the fifteen cups that were lined up on the counter it seemed that there was still more and it was still hot and fresh as if it had just been made-- the answer to how it managed that had nothing to do with magic though and everything to do with the black blur and suited, monocled figure that some of the guests might notice behind the shop's counter from time to time in the corners of their vision.

Such a fruity pun deserves another, Max. It's good to see you again.

Ryugi chuckled as a burst of flames flowed up around his body, the multi-colored mush on his coat burning almost instantly to ash, before it was brushed away, leaving the white coat as clean as could be. Ryugi then walked inside, taking a moment to wipe his boots, seeing several familiar faces, and some new ones as well. He didn't wish to speak outwardly as there was important conversation going on, so he politely waved and nodded to Hono Raven, Sutiiven, Tenkai and Kuroshiro, and his friend Damion who he hadn't seen since Team Phoenix disbanded.

He made his way to the counter to gather his tea, beckoning Tilly to follow him as he did. He always kept a watchful eye on the little muse. He felt much like her big brother, and always tried to keep her safe. As he neared the counter, the back of his neck began to itch, and he immediately grumbled. If his neck was itching that meant only one thing. HE must have been here too. And sure enough, as he took up his teacup, the somewhat familiar form of Joshua, as Ryugi knew him, came into view. He also recognized the form of the woman currently glomping Kuroshiro, but the last time he'd seen her, she hadn't seemed so...physical.

Ryugi took a sip of his tea as he mustered a nod of his head in greeting to the Reaper, and moved to lean against one of the bookshelves. As he did, he noticed a cat sipping a saucer of cream in a rather un-catlike manner. As he passed, he stopped and stared for a moment, as if trying to make sense of the situation. After a moment, however, he nodded silently and continued to sip his tea, turning back to the conversation that was just getting started.

As the Reaper behind the counter had asked the man from the north about what had happened in his village, Ryugi decided that he would wait for a bit before he spoke, and attempt to passively gather information before asking any questions.

Raven was very glad she hadn't picked up the tea cup after the nice fellow behind the counter had refilled it...He acted like nothing had happened, like he hadn't avoided her at almost every turn as if she was some damn leper! She was afraid that she might have been tempted to crack Night over the head with the tea cup, or throw the contents in his face.. or just plain crush the china as she resisted the urge to lash out in some way.

She blinked and the thought of lovely violet eyes replaced the visions of petty vengeance, and it dawned on Rave that she wasn't really angry, she just thought she should be angry, most women would have been furious... but Raven knew she wasn't like any other woman, and she had a lot of other things to worry over than one lost love.

Her lips twitched into a sweet little smile of her own, looking up at him through her eyelashes and mentally cursing her choice of utilitarian outfits over something that showed off her curves to their full advantage... and she was wearing far too many weapons for easy flirting xp . so she returned his greeting, acting as if this was all planed in advance.

"Night..."

Yes, there would be time for catching up later.

H'o s**t panda. Damion wasn't sure what had made the creature jump like that, but needless to say it seemed like a good time to move, with his feet almost jumping at the chance to lay down some distance between himself and the giant furry critter. He instead settled down across the shop, tiny streamers of spiderweb trailing, each with a tiny white ball at the end, almost like snowflakes. They settled once he stopped next to Ryugi, settling a firm hand on the dragons shoulder for amoment in greeting as Dorul began speaking.

He listened quietly and watched the ill-dressed man tell them of his problem, the many holes undoubtedly left for questionin from the audience. The first one made him arch an eyebrow, but spurred him to ask one of his own, " And what is this Frostfire Soul? Is it a creature?" It sounded like one, what with a name like that, or maybe some sort of sentient trinket gone wrong. In any case, it would help to know, and if he needed to drag out the requisite parts to his question he would. But since two questions now needed to be asked, he could look around, his eyes sliding over the cat and back.

Damion had not been born into this world with social graces and no one had ever seen fit to teach him more than the most rudimentary of things, so it was no suprise that he was staring at this cat which had settled into a very human pose. He had to be careful not to forget the answering going on and dragged his eyes off, remembering to figure out how it managed to do that with a cats skeletal structure. The magic of Gaian's was powerful indeed.

And there was his friend Stephen! He gave a short wave, smiling wider for the briefest of moments before continuing on, picking out the dark elf in the corner, brooding and silent, and the young lady who seemed more energized than a humming bird. She had been there when they'd come in, but he didn't have a clue as to who she might be. And then there was the young lady hanging off of Ryugi there, a scholarly air hanging around her. Some sort of teacher? Had the Dragon been held back a grade?

Even as Tenkai sat there, more people kept knocking on the door to Maximos' shop. Even with the number of people they had now, things were starting to get a bit crowded. It almost made Tenkai wonder if there was some sort of additional room somewhere in the shop that'd allow for a larger audience. It seemed odd indeed, as there weren't even that many people outside the doorway when Tenkai arrived. You'd think there would be a whole crowd of people lined up outside like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory if that was the case.

Then again, the doorway was curious enough. It was only for a moment, but he could tell that the outside was a bit different in the edge of his peripheral vision each time it opened. He could have swore he had entered from Durem...but that poster had said something about Latent and Strata as well. What sort of magic was this?

Curiouser and curiouser indeed.

Meanwhile, Kuroshiro had been pounced upon by Joshua's female companion...as usually expected. Kuroshiro was a rather huggable sort of animal, and reacted to it the same way a giant teddy bear would. As the black cat took his time to sip his tea as if it were a human, the panda simply looked at it with its usual dumb-faced expression, as if it didn't really know better to think otherwise. Perhaps he was watching to see if he'd sneeze again, just so he wouldn't be startled.

Nevertheless, it seemed as if the tea being laid out for them was theirs for the taking, now that Maximos had given the word. With a nod, Tenkai kindly took his cup and brought it back to his seat, taking a single sip as he sat down. It had been a long time since he could have a pleasant little gathering like this...even though the growing attendance was quickly making it into a much larger gathering.

Now that things were settled, Maximos had finally gotten down to business. Tenkai figured that there was more behind a search for a magic item that met the eye, and Maximos did not disappoint. It seemed that this 'Frostfire Soul' was in fact causing some sort of peril for the people of Guldor, namely the people of the overdressed man named Dorul. Tenkai may have not been interested in treasure, but he was certainly interested in aiding others who were struggling with some sort of threat. The monk's interest was piqued further.

Joshua appeared to be the first to ask question a question (unless I missed something in my backread x_x), so Tenkai would sit there and listen as Dorul answered. All the while, his mind was fast at work, thinking of the possibilities of what might be causing so much trouble for Dorul's people.

Although Maximos doesn't seem to know much about the Frostfire Soul, his interest seems to imply it's some sort of magic item, or magic...well...anything. That seems all the more possible if it concerns a 'Stormcaster'...whatever that may be. Whatever that may be is whatever Mr. Dorul is, and if he originates from Guldor, then that would explain his attire.

Of course, it'd be hard to say anything more about this until Tenkai heard Dorul's answer to Joshua's question. Once they knew more about just what started plaguing Dorul's village, the easier it'd be to plan things out. Tenkai continued to weigh out the variables and reformulate his conclusions as he listened.