The Lord of Silk watched Talaitha closely, his large black eyes had not moved in the slightest since he had arrived behind the girl.

"Before you kill me, tell me who and where Kariya is!"

A smile crossed the Lord's face as he leaned towards Talaitha and placed a hand on her numbed face, allowing his hand and finger tips to run down the side of her face. "This has nothing to do with who you were searching for." he spoke in a deep, monotonous voice. "This could have happened to anyone, it didn't have to be you. Fate is a cruel thing and for many after you It will continue to be a cruel thing. This is nothing personal of course, you're just worth money to me, all slaves usually are."

As the Lord spoke Talaitha seemed to have been drifting in and out of consciousness. It wasn't until he removed his hand from her face that she began to completely slip away and it wasn't long after that that she felt her legs buckle and her vision blur.

"Take her... the sea... if you aren't able to find... lock the doors and feed the others... find more" words drifted in and out of Talaitha's mind and before long not even the sound coming from the people around her was sensible. Sometime during this state of confusion The Lord of Silk had vanished and his place were his three men who were slowly gathering about Talaitha. Each of the men leaned over and grabbed at Talaitha lifting her from the ground. A terrible sensation crossed through the helpless gypsy and it was, at this time, the last thing she felt before her vision faded to black.

It seemed like a dream, something that had happened long ago to someone else, perhaps in a book or song of some sort. This was not the case though as Talaitha awoke from slumber in a dim cage in the middle of a small room. The cage was just barely large enough that Talaitha could lay down and the only source of light was a small torch by the door that lead into the room. The events had actually taken place, Talaitha had been captured and enslaved.

_______

Quentyn grimaced as Kechts throatily spoke about some abducting vagrant who was running about the town snatching up women. "It would figure a good for nothing like her would be kidnapped in the streets." running his hands through his hair he gave his response some thought before he turned to Nero who seemed ready to go out searching for the girl himself. "What do you think? This guy probably costs a lot right? I don't even think the captain would want us to pay money for this sort of thing. I mean, we don't really need her. We still have you, Nadya, and the other two who are up north. I mean, she really isn't even worth that much now that I think about it..."

Before Nero could even object to Quentyn's 'observations' Nadya, the older gypsy, rushed forward and grabbed the mercenary by his collar and shook him about. "You will pay this man to help us find her or I'll gut you right here in the street!" she yelled as she pushed the mercenary towards Kechts. "You owe her! She came all this way for you people just like us!"

"So forceful!" Quentyn gasped as he recovered from being pushed by the enraged Aitotian. "Well then!" he turned immediately back towards Kechts and grabbed at his collar to straighten his now ruffled tunic. "I suppose we're paying then, but you better not start reading fortunes from cards or some other occult s***. I want real information and I want you to personally come with us to find her, how's that for a deal!"

_______


"Lord Hugh Tate!" The man picked himself up from off the ground. He seemed to have emotionally recovered from his run in with Lucia's fire. "He came here to find some stuff, I think... He brought a ton of people and they helped make a path for Lord Tate and, uh.. uh me! yeah me! we came here! I just don't remember why..." the man seemed utterly incapable of remembering how he was trapped in the vault, he seemed to be trying hard to remember but the whole endeavour seemed completely hopeless until out of the blue the man shouted. "A MASK!" the man pointed towards himself as he continued on. "He put a mask on me! We came here... and we came through some door... I think... and- and-" he seemed to be excited, so excited that he was losing his words like a child."-and he, uh... he got this really scary lookin' mask and put it on me! and then he went up using a flying floor! Yeah! that's it!"

Lucia's eyes widened in shock. Despite his crazed ramblings, Lucia believed she recognized the mask he was speaking of. It was the mask that Khast had been attempting to acquire before the husks had swarmed them. What was the importance of this mask? Perhaps this meant that there was another way out of the vault besides the doorway which they had entered which was clearly no longer an option. She placed a few of the rings, the necklaces, and parchments in her bag; Gonye would be able to explain the objects to her, or so she hoped. Taking up one of the ring-like weapons she raised it in front of the man.

"What is this? " she asked the crazy man, though she remained doubtful he'd know or remember anything.

oooc: its hard to deal with two stories moving at different speeds so give me some leeway (xD) and let me assume my part is taking place while whim is still outside
also suspend all disbelief

Returning an awkward smile to the group, Kechts shook his head to assure that he was no fake.
"It is no expensive procedure to find someone, especially if they are outside. If you manage to apprehend the kidnappers you will likely be paid back threefold as well. Furthermore, I will only accept payment if I am successful," he said with an unsettling air of confidence.

He took a few large steps back as if to create a safe distance between him and the group.
"That said, please cover your ears," he cautioned them. Thus, he began to slowly posture himself.

The process was disturbing. As Kechts straightened up like an uncoiling snake, one could hear faint cracks and pops coming from his back. When he reached his full, towering height, he was quite a few heads taller than everyone else, yet he was still somewhat hunched over. Giving a one last moment for everyone to brace themselves, he went to work.

Everyone could see that Kechts' entire body violently recoiled from something. Within a split second, a loud BANG, the sound of a thunderstrike, echoed across the streets. From the way his mass of hair flew up, it was evident that the sound emanated from within his head.

Kechts put one finger on his lips, motioning a request for silence. He closed his eyes and began listening, now able to hear the slightest peep from any corner of the street in the area.

The man simply shook his head as he looked at what Lucia presented before him, it was clear he had no idea what it was.
"I've never seen it... I think." Taking another close look he reached out to grab for the item Lucia was holding but immediately drew back his hand in fear that she would take his actions as some type of aggression.

"S-s-sorry." he whimpered as his eyes teetered towards the ground. He was still obviously afraid of Lucia, or at the very least afraid of Lucia when she was alert.

"You two... both of you... you.. you came in here, so you know how to go outside, can you take me too?" he added, trying to appear as though he were being polite.

_____

Quentyn, Nero, and Nadya all stood in awe as Kechts worked his twisted magic, each of them were wowed by, well, whatever Kechts was doing, all but the oldest mercenary Andreu seemed completely amazed. Andreu stood firmly and silently watching Kechts work, and although the others were busy awing over the spectacle, Quentyn couldn't help but take notice of his elders apparent disinterest. Slinking away to the back Quentyn jabbed his elbow into Andreu's shoulder and leaned in close to him.

"Are you deaf old man?" he whispered whilst taking a finger and pointing to his own ears. "That noise, that weird stance, you've never seen anything like it and yet here you are, you look bored as day. You must either be blind or deaf!"

Casually Andreu removed his comrade from his side and took a step away from him. "Sure, whatever you say." he muttered as he waited for Kechts' performance to end.

Lucia frowned, feeling disappointed and put the mysterious article in her bag along with the rest of the things. She looked at Khast expectantly hoping that he had found a safe way out, though she wasn't entirely sure how safe she felt dragging the man along with them. The journey in was dangerous enough, the journey out was to be even more, or at least it was what she believed.

Now that Lucia was done with her portion of the interrogation, it was Erratus's turn. He looked the man directly in the eyes.
"Listen to me closely. We can get you out of here, because we know how to work the flying floor." Sensing Lucia's confusion, he signaled for her to stay quiet for now. "But we can only bring you with us if you give us the mask that Lord Tate gave you."

The man seemed confused, almost as if he had completely forgotten the existence of the mask he had been speaking of earlier. His eyes once more began shifting about the room and repulsive teeth bit down upon his bottom lip, he was obviously 'deep' in thought.

"I remember!" he shouted out before pointing to his face. "He put the mask... on me! and then he wore it!" a content grin crossed his face as he nodded his head reassuringly as if he had properly answered the question.

Lucia looked at Khast with a deadpan expression, clearly this man was going to be of no help, and she believe him to be more of a danger than a boon. Regardless, she didn't say anything, for even though he had once tried to attack her, she couldn't help but feel an inkling of compassion for the poor man. Trapped in a vault for so long, it was a wonder he was even alive to begin with.

Erratus let out an exasperated groan. He could tell that Lucia was skeptical as to this man's value to them. He was inclined to agree, but he wasn't quite finished yet.
"Did he take the mask with him when he left? Where did he go?" He inquired.

Amongst the whispers of the mercenaries, the chatter in the buildings and general din of the town, Kechts tuned his attention to listen for a female.

He heard the cry of a woman in distress -
"Before you kill me, tell me who and where Kariya is!" The voice drew Kechts' attention. It was slurred as if she were drugged and raspy with fear. It was most likely the person he was looking for, and with perfect timing.

Then the voice of a man -
"This could have happened to anyone, it didn't have to be you. Fate is a cruel thing and for many after you It will continue to be a cruel thing. This is nothing personal of course, you're just worth money to me, all slaves usually are." The man was cruelly efficient. He sounded monotonous, yet seemingly took glee in his deed.

As soon as Kechts heard the woman collapse, the man slipped away, even the traces of his sounds were as elusive as his presence. The woman was then hoisted away by a few other men, and Kechts noted her path until his normal hearing returned.

When the sounds of the kidnappers' footsteps faded away, Kechts coiled back to his old hunched form and looked at Quentyn.
"I - have a good idea of where - friend may be. But - no guarantee whether - is her or another unfortunate individual. She - unconscious but mostly unharmed. Follow me - you believe it - her." He turned towards where he projected the woman's destination would be and began walking.
For a man whose gait was like the lurch of a crippled snake, Kechts moved surprisingly fast.

Talaitha tried to sit up, but barely had room to lift her head. She glanced around the room to get an idea of where she was, but couldn't take in much.

"He took the mask... and... he went home." The man reached deep into one of the pockets of his pants as he thought back on Erratus words. "You can work the floor, you can get it to go up!" from his pocket he produced a key. "He left me this, but I don't get how the floor works. It opens the door! I tried climbing before but climbing is hard." the man shuffled his feet as he pushed the key towards Erratus.

"But you know how it works! You can take me up!"

________________________________________________


"Great!" Quentyn immediately chased after Kechts and the rest of his party slowly followed behind. With any luck Kechts might have helped to put a quick end to what might have been a wild chase around town.

It wasn't longer after the group departed from the square that they arrived at their destination which was marked by a red archway. Just inside the archway there seemed to be some kind of fenced in compound, most of the area was either empty space, gardens, or large red stone and wood buildings which looked completely foreign to everyone in the group.

"This it?" Quentyn's voice echoed out just behind Kechts as he barely managed to keep up with the deformed man's pace. "Doesn't look very sinister, but if you think this is it-" he added before even giving Kechts the chance to respond. "then where do we start?"

Lucia looked at Khast expectantly, though she did not know what they were talking about, they had a key now. She supposed that meant that they would be able to leave? She was not sure where the exit would lead them, though with most of her fabrics having been mostly used, she did not have much to use for weaponry, besides the strange objects she had found in that particular room. While they could have been quite potent objects of power, she did not feel comfortable using things would could essentially kill her if misused.

"I'll be right back" she said softly as she skirted out of the room. She had grown tired of the enclosed space, especially after having been nearly attacked by a madman. While she had come to pity him, she did not forget the fear that she had as he nearly approached her. She did not want to think about what would happen if she did not release the fire from her beloved cloak.

She entered the tomes and foreign collectibles room once more. Having remembered that there were various weapons within the room in a coverless case, she decided she would take one up for herself. She still did not yet trust her own magical capabilities, so she need something physical with which she could defend herself. At least until she got her bow and her staff back from where she had left Gonye. She approached the case looking for a weapon that had been researched or had a label. Anything that would let her know that what she was using would be safe to use.

Most of the weapons within the uncovered case seemed to be labeled with tags which were either wrapped about the hilt of the weapon or placed near the weapon itself. Quite a few of the weapons also seemed to be missing a form of identification completely and finding their respective tag or any scrolls or papers about the weapon in the piles of paper which sat on the tables which surrounded the glass case seemed like a hopeless endeavour. All together there were 15 labeled weapons within the case, six of which were clearly labeled as not having a 'magical' origin.


Dusk - A great sword which seemed to be forged from some kind of black steel. The sword stood at roughly 100cms and besides the hilt, which was a stoney grey colour wrapped in a dark green cloth like material, there was nothing very visually appealing about the sword. The weapon looked fairly heavy and was obviously something that needed to be wielded with two hands. A paper which sat near the blade claimed the sword was from some placed called Messe and that it was recovered almost 80 years ago.

Harssick - A eloquent looking sabre which came with an even more eloquent looking scabbard made of black oak and leather with slight silver-like accents. The sword appeared to be about 80cms long and was forged of a beautiful and shining silver steel. Around the hilt which seemed just large enough to fit a single hand a golden globe-like guard swirled about, meeting the lengthy yet skinny cross guard of the same colour to form an amazingly rich looking hilt guard. No papers could be found with the blade, but the tag did note that the blade belonged to one Isaris of Ghaltia.

Unnamed - A slightly curved dagger about 40cms in length. The dagger sported an incredibly small cross guard made of what appeared to be silver. The blade seemed to be more ornate than anything as creating a hilt guard of silver would result in the guard being easily dinged or bent, though as a dagger the chance of it deflecting other blades is already non-existence. The tag claimed the weapon was from Variya. The dagger's scabbard is unremarkable.

Allure -A thin, straight short sword which seemed very unremarkable. The sword is about 68cms long and the scabbard is also unremarkable. One thing that does set this blade apart is the fact that the weapon is not made of steel or iron but another metal which allows the sword to be INCREDIBLY light weight, though the sword is also less durable than it's steel and iron brothers and sisters. The sword is apparently from a place called The Isle of Fallshure.

Akir ana Ahar - A pair of claws which seemed entirely too large for Lucia's small hands. Each blade of the three blades that made up each of the claws appeared to be about 35 cms in length. The weapon's land of origin is labeled as Ashenskia

Unnamed hook swords - A pair of hook like swords with no name or scabbard. Each blade appeared to be about 50cms in length with no hilt guard to speak of being anywhere on the weapon. Large iron pommels balanced out the end of the weapons but it seemed as if these unknown blades required a large amount of training to use. Country of origin, Shara.

OOC: Harssick won because it was prettier.

Lucia glanced over each of the weapons carefully. The claws looked to be too large for her hands, and she feared that she would be more likely to hurt herself with the hook swords. The dagger definitely looked beautiful with its silver hilt, but fighting at such close range was not her preference of combat, while the dusk looked to be much too heavy for her to wield. This left her with the Allure and the Harssick. She glanced between the two, not entirely knowledgeable about what made a good sword, she judged them based on practicality. While the Allure was lighter and easier for her to swing, the Harssick seemed better at protecting her hands. She was very protective of her hands. Considering that without them, she would not be able to spin magic. Taking these things into account, she picked up the Harssick along with the tag, perhaps Gonye would know who this Isaris of Ghaltia was. She walked back into the main hall and called out for Khast.

"Are you ready?" her voice echoed in the hall so that despite her soft tone, it was heard throughout the vault.