#[ic] 𝔄𝔫 ℑ𝔫𝔮𝔲𝔦𝔰𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫

[flametruths]

@ofdraiocht begins their tale!

“ My, traveling alone, are we? “ Darkness had fallen on the byroads, but that was of little consequence to the Inquisitor. Monsters who sought to take advantage of the night to attack innocent travelers oft found themselves victims of the judgement of the moon. He’d never found much trouble moving about in the wee hours.

Though, it was rare, he thought, for others to walk the moonlit trail. There were dangers to be had, especially when traveling on one’s own. And yet, he’d crossed paths with a stranger. Usually, he’d dub this strange, but at the moment, he had no room to talk, and would like to avoid camping alone in the wilderness if it could be helped.

“ I can’t help but notice we’re moving in the same direction. Would you like to come along with me as far as the nearest town? There’s safety to be had in numbers. “ Not that he feared for his own safety, of course. No, frankly, he just didn’t want to be moving all night with the monsters about, and two people would dispatch them twice as quickly. He’d much rather rest in the comfort of an inn than sleep outside once more.

“ What say you? Will you accompany me? “

[flametruths]

@aeniqmata begins their tale!

Exploration was all well and good, in moderation. Temenos, however, wasn’t exactly enthralled with the idea of a several-day-long hike with no particular destination. That sounded like far to much walking for something unlikely to bear any fruit.

And still, wander he had. Only, the area had stopped seeming at all familiar. He was fairly certain that he’d visited the towns that were supposed to be in this region, but they didn’t appear to be well... anywhere! He wasn’t sure exactly where “Riverford” was supposed to be, but he was definitely lost. Was this not precisely where Ku should found? Yet, instead of desert sands there were stone buildings. Were his navigational skills really so poor? How embarrassing. Best not let anyone else find that out.

He paused briefly, taking in the area around him, before deciding that he was indeed, completely and irrovocably, lost. At least, he was fairly certain, until something caught his attention. Or perhaps more precisely, someone. A familiar flash of purple in the crowd caught the Inquisitor’s keen eye, and he thought he recognized the silent gait. Could he have found a familiar face in such an unfamiliar place? Excellent! Slipping through the crowd, he began to follow what he thought to be a friend of his.

“ Pardon me. Just a moment. Yes, thank you. “ As he made his way through the people in the square, he moved to the side alleys rather than directly pursuing the thief in question. This approach had two motives. One, he didn’t want to draw attention, should this friend of his be practicing her usual trade. And assuming that to be the case, he’s certain she wouldn’t mind someone else drawing eyes. Then, he could catch up after.

It was a solid plan, with only one flaw. As he moved to reconvene with the thief in question, it was someone completely unfamiliar to him. That... Definitely wasn’t Throné. Yes, it was likely best to take this entire endeavor to the grave with him. His surprise only stopped him for a moment, however, before he approached regardless. “ Good evening. Might I have a moment of your time? “

He might as well still learn something.

[flametruths]

@umbra-academia begins their tale!

The vast shelves of the Montwise library towered over the castle-like room below. Tome after tome of Solistian knowledge were left open to perusal, and like moths to a flame, it attracted Solistian scholars. Slightly out of place, however, was a single cleric. Puling a foreboding book down from one of the shelves, he has a seat at a table nearby and begins to skim.

The words scrawled across the pages might as well be aimless scribblings to him, but even so, this particular work held his interest like a vice. The illustrations accompanying the text were gruesome enough for him to hazard a guess at the intent, but why would something like this be created..? Leaning back, he muses for a moment, the mumbles of distant thought escaping him.

“ From the Far Reaches of Hell... ” Why was the library so keen to recieve an unintelligible book? And why did he feel wrong to give it to them? His fellow travelers had made the decision to hand it over to the library some time ago, and in light of everything, it should have slipped his mind to leave room for more urgent matters. However, something nagged at him. There was mystery to be had here. “ What are you hiding..? ”