The Search For Mana

[Vosur Aekira]

Vosur had not sat down during their set-up of the camp, but instead had decided to start hunting as the creatures in the desert were more active when the air was cooler. His red eyes locked onto his first prey as he ventured about 100 meters away from the camp: a group of desert-burrowing owls. He pulled out a couple of his cards, taking aim at the larger ones of the group. "I hope they have a fire ready when I get back." he muttered to himself as he took aim and flung the cards at the birds, the two cards hitting their targets and one extra per card due to the velocity. The four birds that were hit went down immediately, the others seeing this and tried to flee to their underground burrows, a couple not making it in time as Vosur had closed the distance between himself and the group right after throwing the two cards. He made two clean swipes with his sword and resheathed it after he got in his six kills, gathering up his two thrown cards and the birds, tying up their legs with a leather strap to make it easier to carry them all at once. The largest two were about 20 pounds each, the other four were not much more than 10 pounds each. Starting his way back, his nose caught a scent that made it twitch... mesquite. "Going to need some of that to smoke what's left over." he spoke to himself, trying to plan ahead for the journey.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

As the dream ended, Lazaryos shot up in a yell. As per the information Alistair gave him from his dream, he checked his tail, and sure enough, there was the now-blue scythe attached to it. "Oh (CENSORED)!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Hope I don't end up looking like that (censored), at least. That bloody wanker ended up with the last laugh. Lazaryos sighed as he grabbed the scythe and stood it up similar to a staff. As he did so, his hood fell back, revealing the glowing staff. "What the...?" The scythe bursted into shards of lightning and flew into the topaz. Lazaryos quickly pulled out the staff as that happened and tried to throw it, but it stuck onto his hand. The the staff widened and wrapped around the Topaz, and formed a scythe blade in the front, the topaz lodged in the middle of the blade.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember just thought that what Chrono had said was some kind of joke so she didn't look up when he spoke. She was busy trying to get rid of the anger she had that she didn't understand when Lazaryos had awoken and yelled. Her head snapped up at the sound as she wondered what had him so upset. Her eyes immediately found the scythe before it burst into shards of lightning and she saw that what Chrono had said wasn't a joke in the slightest. Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she watched the change of Lazaryos' staff. "You have got to be kidding me!" She grumbled as she let herself fall back against her sleeping mat. Now she knew why she was feeling so angry and why she had felt like Alistair had been lurking behind her...because he had been, in the form of his scythe that had attached to Lazaryos who had been carried behind her by Chrono. She growled angrily up at the sky then sat up quickly and punched the sand with a flaming fist.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Lazaryos' reaction did little to deter Chrono's resurfacing laughter, although it would be more ironic if Ember ended up with the scythe, Lazaryos just turned it into a running joke. "On the bright side, you don't have to spend majicka to fight in close-quarters!" he piped out while still lying down. It was also at this time that Chrono's markings started to glow, looking like glyphs on his body that all seemed to have sprouted from the copy curse item.

[Vosur Aekira]

Vosur was on his way back when he heard the yell, gripping his catch tightly as he sprinted back to the camp. He caught the very end of Lazaryos now holding a glowing scythe. "That grim-mage struck again... Those that wish for power normally get it, but at a high price." he muttered under his breath as he slowed his walking with the prey he bagged. Not speaking to the others, he quietly set the birds in the center of the campsite and started to head back out in the direction of where he caught the scent of the mesquite to try to gather some smoking-wood in anticipation of having leftovers. "Ruby, why did you have to go searching for information on the Mana? We met under trying times and circumstances, we could've lived peacefully, you wanted me to become a mage somehow so we could live together and your parents would've accepted us..." he spoke to the starry sky, letting his nose lead him. "Even if we got it, they probably wouldn't have accepted a mutt like me."

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos' anger flared at Chrono's remark and the scythe's blade grew into a larger one made of lightning and he swung it over, holding it less than an inch from Chrono's neck. "No, but it seems to react even to my feelings and Majicka. I'll at least be able to match that bloody sword-user, if I can figure out how this scythe had reacted to being mine. Just you wait." The blade soon subsided with Lazraryos' anger and he pulled it away, swinging it a couple times before attaching it to his back like a sword. Lazaryos peeked over towards Ember's direction, hoping for some reason that he looked macho enough to her.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember wasn't worried about Lazaryos' hurting Chrono since they were all still in an alliance so she didn't pay attention to the shadow made by the moon of him swinging the scythe at Chrono. She wished that the scythe wasn't invincible so that she could have set it on fire and gotten rid of the wretched thing. She let out a sigh and when Lazaryos looked towards her, she was looking in his direction, but more glaring at the scythe than looking at him. She glanced at his face then down at the sand by her feet.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono was rather stone-faced when the blade reached his neck, but when it lifted away, Chrono got up and pulled one of the remaining kunais out of his sheath, and threw it at the mage with unusually close aim. The glow of the markings became a shine as his rage started to well up. He didn't even say anything as he looked at the mage with near-feral eyes. It may have been the Majicka running through his system, but ever since the bandit fight, it seemed he hadn't been able to get the 'urge to fight' out of his sytem.

[Vosur Aekira]

He had gathered up quite a bit of the mesquite wood and got back to set himself up a campfire to clean and cook the owls he gathered up. There wasn't much meat on all of the birds, even the largest one of the group had more feathers and bone than meat. He ate on two of roasted birds, leaving the rest to smoke for a while as he looked to the rest of the camp, restlessness having gotten hold of him for most of this trip. Even though his hunger had been satisfied, he couldn't rest easily as he recollected what he saw: the scythe of the necromancer passing onto the leader of the group, the least likely of the bunch to get his weapon. In Ember, her demeanor and somewhat protective nature he could see the familiar face of Ruby... but instead of working with her, he would eventually have to fight against her which would pit him against his own flashbacks and possibly compromise his mission. "What is it with Majicka and it's allure? Why do people want it so badly they would kill each other for it? Ruby... I am no mage, I don't believe I'll ever be one now. But, for your efforts you gave a year ago, putting your life into trying to find it for me, I'll find it." he spoke to the starry sky then looking down at the smoked meat as he started to pack it away.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos merely let the kunai pass and walked off towards Vosur, blushing a bit under his fur when Ember looked at him. As he neared Vosur, he heard his little private rantings. "I don't mean to pry, but Majicka has been the symbol of power for many centuries. The single drop of Mana gives the person who drinks it unlimited Majicka. Before the last Mana's possessor, Normals like yourself had no defense against Mages. Many Mages still see themselves as the superior race. Krastok was the first Normal to reach and obtain the Mana, which gave hope to all Normals, and separated the bounds of suppression. With his newfound powers of Majicka from the Mana, Krastok created a new type of armour that was resistant to magic. However, the war for power between the two societies still exists. The two seek the Mana this time to end it all for the other. Other people are in it for themselves, for full supremacy over the world. I have my own reasons, as does everyone else here, including yourself. I care not what your reasons are, I only care about getting past the Gate. We must fight the guardian dragons to get into the mountain. Krastok and all before him had made it only with the help of a party. No one knows what happened to their party members, but each person who obtained the Mana came out alone. Many say that the hunger for the power of the Mana drove each founder to kill his/her party. Such is the lust for unlimited power."

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember laid back on her sleeping mat, still not worried about the little "fight" as Lazaryos walked over to Vosur and started talking to him. She glanced over at Chrono and saw the markings glowing on him. A puzzled look crept onto her face for a few seconds before she lost interest and looked back up at the sky. She thought about what lay ahead of her on the journey and whether or not she would actually survive, let alone get the Mana. As she thought about the Mana she realized something big. She didn't know what she wanted the Mana for anymore... "It'll come back to me, I'm sure..."

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono noticed that he was just being ignored, or they just didn't take him seriously. He was attempted to throw another, but his unconsious release of majicka that was going through his system was starting to take its toll on his mind. So, before he would embarrassingly fall unconsious at the drop of a hat, laid back down on the sand and went to sleep, the markings going from shine to a faint glow in a matter of seconds.

[Vosur Aekira]

Vosur exhaled and looked to the mage, seeing something fly by as he looked to him. He instinctively put his hand on the hilt of his sword, relaxing only when he saw the source of it, Chrono now going onto his back and no longer moving. "Geh, power is power, abuse of it comes at a high price no matter who it belongs to. Having 'Magicka', not having 'Magicka'... does it really matter who has it if those who get it suddenly disappear off the face of this world?" he started to speak to the lightning-mage. "Even before I started this journey, people fought over just the possession of the knowledge of where this Mana resides. Rumors spread like wildfire, hopes and dreams get raised and dashed to bits quickly... but I don't think you want to hear the ramblings of a 'kid', now do you?" he spoke in a somewhat-snide tone to Lazaryos, hinting at what he was called before. During this time, he was letting the mesquite flames start to die down on their own since he had eaten and put away the food for later use.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos chuckled as he sat by Vosur, "I don't know. It seems you amuse me. The dramas of life is something I never really cared for, nor ever experienced. The Mana only produces a single drop every couple centuries. To live in the time where the Mana is produced, is an event and miracle of a lifetime so of course people will be very excited. Even if our lives are limited, obtaining the Mana already grants the founder lordship over all the countries. What's more, even if it didn't, it would only take less than a year to forcefully take over the world with that unlimited power. Imagine, if you will, a spell that could destroy an entire fortress city, like Brisbain. The amount of Majicka that it takes is enough to kill most Mages, but with the Mana, even a Normal can cast that spell over a hundred times within an hour without even feeling a tingle. As for research on finding the Mana, not many people listen to the old songs that tell of the mountain's location. However, the research lies in finding the Mana after getting past the already seeming impossible task of breaking past the all-out war/battle out side of the suspension bridge, and then the fighting of the two guardian dragons that protect the entrance. After limping through with what little life you have left, you have to navigate through the labyrinth inside, that's filled with traps and and monsters of all kinds. This time's Crimson Blue will be the biggest in history. If either major party should reach the Mana, it'll be the extinction of either Mages or Normals. And as you may have noticed on the way here, there are those who could care less about the Mana. The Thieves' Guild, Merchants' Guild, Sailors' Guild, and a large number of privateers, as well. Not everyone seeks power, and do not find the risk of their lives to be worth the journey. So they just live out their lives like normal. The Sailors' Guild even regulates the war, to limit the overall casualties to the world's remaining population. And you've seen how strong they are. Anyways, get some sleep. Unless this old man's already bored you to death with his history lessons." Lazaryos laid back on the sand and closed his eyes. At least with the scythe, I won't have to worry about getting attacked in my sleep, though my research on these are still incompletely, as is my assessment of its effects on me.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember closed her eyes as she half-listened to Lazaryos speaking to Vosur. The main part she heard was the part about the battle at the suspension bridge and fighting the guardian dragons. She also caught the part about some people not really caring about the Mana. She slowly started to drift off to sleep while Lazaryos was finishing his talk. Her mind took her to when they would be in the battle at the suspension bridge. She saw them getting past the battle and then moving on to where the guardian dragons were. The battle with the dragons took a while but they made it through. When they finally got to the Mana, she saw them all fighting with each other to get it. Finally, she saw the Mana plant destroyed in a burst of flame. But it was only a dream...why would she want to destroy the Mana plant when she could get unlimited power from it? She didn't know, because in the dream, it made complete sense.