Wanted: Venoms Expert. Found: Complications

[Amur]

-[Ell, Rrah]-

Ace smiled lazily as he tilted his head back to rest against the trunk of the tree he was sat with his back to while he dozed. Sure, he was still very sore from the ass kicking he had taken from Mentor Josk, but today had been a good day so far. He had woken-up... And now here he was, sat doing a considerable amount of nothing while he rapidly lost track of the world around him as he strongly considered just taking a nap... Well, it was warm... And his eyes were already half-closed... And if there was any danger his brother, Baldur would obviously warn him... Yes, indeed, there were very few reasons for Ace not to take a nap right now.

He did consider telling Baldur that he was going to take a nap, but, Baldur had constantly insisted that Ace speak in the foreign language that everyone –or most everyone- in this land spoke even when it was just the two of them to help him, in his brother’s own words “master the language”, Ace didn’t like the idea. But he didn’t dare try arguing against the idea, not when Mentor Josk had also given Ace a similar task.

He groaned inwardly, learning a new language was hard, this task just added to the difficulty of the current lessons he was being given. So, instead of simply telling his brother that he would be taking a small nap, Ace opted to instead give a half-hearted groan before falling silent and looking at nothing in particular through his half-closed eyes. He may not have liked this foreign language he was being forced to speak, so he saw no harm in not speaking when he didn’t need to.
---

Baldur briefly lowered the book he was reading as he heard Ace make one of his usual unintelligible noises. Judging by the way Ace was currently sitting Baldur didn’t have to make much of an effort to figure out that Ace was probably asleep. His brother did have a tendency to make odd noises as he slept, so Baldur simply shrugged to himself and looked back at the book he held. Turning to the next page he continued reading in silence, he saw no reason to wake Ace right now.

Well, and Baldur was almost certain that Ace was still angry with him.

The ordeal hadn’t been easy for Baldur to watch, in fact, it had been very hard to resist the temptation to run to Ace’s rescue. But, really, his brother had brought the outcome of that “sparring match” upon himself, had he not incessantly insisted that he was better than the lessons Josk had been giving him then the result that had been would have never happened.

He approved of the message behind the beating, he did. What he did not approve of, however, was the fact that Josk had opted to toy with Ace. That, however, was less down to the fact that Ace had been the focus, and more down to the fact that it largely conflicted with Baldur’s lessons on taking combat seriously... Ace had yet to show signs of being any worse at being able to take combat seriously than usual, but Baldur still did not approve of toying with one’s opponent, even when in combat as controlled as a sparring match.

[Mali]

Taured wasn’t a happy camper right now. He was rather irritated with his dragon companion at the moment.

Varden was picking flowers. Flowers! He wasn’t even that good at it since he didn’t have an opposable thumb. He was able to pick up the flowers but after a while, he would crush them in his hands. He would make an audible ‘aw’ sound before trying to pick up more than the last time, his tongue out to the side as he tried to concentrate. Taured didn’t even know what had brought this on. That was the worst part about it.

Taured had to admit that they had some time to kill but this wasn’t how he had planned to spend it. They had just left Morona’s camp not too long ago and they needed another much-needed break. He would rather not talk about what happened for them to need a break.

He currently sat with the saddlebags as Varden went from a lot of flowers to another. He was crushing more than he was picking up, which caused Taured to grin to himself. Silly dragon, so easily amused. “Varden, you know you’re crushing more than you’re picking up, right?” there was amusement in his tone as he stood up and walked over to his dragon, picking up one wildflower.

“Shush! I’ll get it eventually.”Varden glanced over at Taured for a moment before ‘awing’ again as he crushed the flowers. Sitting down amongst the flowers, Taured picked a few flowers and started to weave them into a flower wreath. It was a rather large flower wreath, especially since it was for his dragon.

“Taured, where did you learn to do that?” Varden paused long enough to watch as Taured’s deft hands weaved in and out of the wreath. “From my mother,” As Taured stood up, Varden knelt down for him to be able to place the wreath atop his head. Varden grinned like an idiot and Taured couldn’t help but shake his head at his companion.

“C’mon, can we go now?” Varden nodded his head and Taured moved over to help his dragon get his saddlebags back on before they could depart for the Danta manor. They were headed to the best venoms specialist in all of Alagaesia. He wondered how he would handle the resemblance of the specialist, especially since him and Niko are identical twins. This was sure to be a little awkward.

~~~~~

Taured and Varden were lost. They had no idea where the manor was. Of course, if Varden had decided to go where Taured told him to, they wouldn’t be lost right now.

“If you listened to my directions, we would be there already,”

“Oh yea, and why are you right? You’re the one holding the map upside down.”

“At least I can read the map upside down,” it continued on like that for a little while, Taured speaking half a conversation aloud while Varden remained mental. It wasn’t long before the pair came upon a clearing with two people lazing around. One appeared to be asleep and the other was reading a book.

Hopping off Varden’s back and placing the map back into one of the bags, he started to move over to the pair that were peacefully lounging around.

“Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to know how to get to town, would you?” It was something easy and fluent to say in the common language and something that shouldn’t offend the two men in the clearing. Hopefully.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Ace was perfectly content as he was, half-oblivious to the world around him Ace began to actually fall asleep. He was still half-aware of what was going on around him, his eyes were still open by a crack and he could still hear the sounds of the forest around him –though he was beginning to flicker in and out of consciousness at this point- so he was still alert... At least to a degree... It was for that reason that Ace did not immediately acknowledge the blurred shape that approached, right away.

“Nngh, Noht now, bro... I wunna’ sleep.”
It was as he heard the voice that was not Baldur’s that his eyes snapped open and he immediately tired to scrabble further backwards while raising a hand out in front of him, curling his fingers inward giving his hand the crude likeness of a claw.

“Noh... Noe... Noo... G-geht... Geht bahk...”
He continued in vain trying to back away even as he conjured a small flame in between his clawed fingers, just to show that he was going to defend himself. His eyes darted over to look at Baldur, who seemed to be doing little more than looking at this new Elf-guy curiously. Ace had no idea what to do, he continued to try and back away even further despite the fact his back was still pressed to the trunk of the tree he was sitting against.

What was Baldur doing?
---

Well, this certainly was interesting. The appearance of an Elf whom Baldur was immediately able to identify as a Rider –the large green Dragon gave that much away- had been a very unexpected turn of events, indeed. What surprised him further, however, was the almost complete lack of a reaction from the Elf after finding a human child in what was hostile territory.

Baldur wasn’t sure what to make of that, but, it could definitely be a bad sign for the future. Information people thought nothing of had a tendency to come-up in casual conversation, and this was the kind of information that shouldn’t be spread around at all. Nevertheless, Baldur would have to deal with that further down the line, for the time being his focus was getting the Elf away from Ace in order to calm his brother down.

He stood up and set the book down, picking up his sword Baldur approached the Elf slowly.

“Interesting, if you don’t know the way to one of your own towns what placed you under the impression that either myself or the human child over there would? We’re in what should be hostile territory for humans, are we not?”
He asked calmly, stopping a respectful distance away from the Elf, he placed the tip of Findinokhind’s sheath on the ground and set both of his hands on the pommel. And then stood in silence for a moment, simply regarding the new arrivals curiously, he didn’t believe that they would pose a threat to either Ace or to himself, but that didn’t mean that Baldur was immediately going to trust them.

He didn’t trust anyone.

His gaze eventually settled on the Dragon, he didn’t see anything threatening in regards to its posture and body language... And well, the flower wreath we also doing a good job of making the Dragon appear less threatening... Baldur simply arched an eyebrow at the sight, but otherwise remained silent on the matter before turning his attention back to the Elf.

“I trust there is a good reason for this clearly unnecessary interruption.”

[Mali]

Taured and Varden were a sight to see. A dragon with a flower wreath around his head, and an elf that was bewildered and lost. How was it that they couldn’t find Ellesmera? They were probably close to the city it was just a matter of finding it.

The first reaction the pair received from the two individuals was unexpected. It seemed that the boy was very tired after all, since he hadn’t realised that it wasn’t his ‘bro’ who was speaking. So they were brothers. What happened next made Taured quirk an eyebrow. Was this boy high? What did he think a clawed like hand was going to do to him? Really, it looked somewhat pathetic of the boy. The best he would get is a slap with that hand and it wouldn’t even hurt Taured aside from the sting.

Varden continued to watch the boy however, not paying attention to the other individual. He was rewarded when the boy conjured a small flame in between his fingers. Varden started to get giddy at the sight of it, asking Taured how he was able to do it. Taured replied that he didn’t know and that it didn’t matter right now since they had two people to deal with.

The fact that the boy was human didn’t matter to Taured. He didn’t see species as different or of different value. They were all equal to the rider. The fact that there was a human boy in this part of Alagaesia did cause a raised eyebrow response but it wasn’t something that he was concerned with. People were allowed to go where they wanted; even Solomon was headed to these parts of Alagaesia after dropping off the map.

Varden trotted closer to the boy, cautious of the fact that the other man had shown his weapon when he picked it up. He just wanted to get a closer look at the flames, even though Taured said it wasn’t a good idea to do so. But what did that matter anyways? Varden did what he wanted when he wanted to do it. I mean, they were just picking flowers because Varden had wanted to. He was in charge of their flight paths.

As the other spoke about how they were in hostile lands and that they were human or at least, that the boy was human, made Taured curious. They knew enough about the history and culture of the land to know about the differences between the elves and the humans. Were they locals? The fact that they were in these parts suggested that they weren’t local to Alagaesia.

“And yet knowing this, you’re still here, that is also interesting.” it was a casual comment, one that could be taken as taunting should the individual think too hard on what he had said. As the individual continued on about how there must be a good reason for their interruption, Taured had to think that this man thought highly of himself. The nerve to assume that they were interrupting, they were just asking for directions from the only people they had come across so far.

“Sheesh, not even Morona’s people were this hostile,” it was a comment that was murmured quietly, not one that Taured believed the individuals to take to heart. Since they had just left Morona’s camp to head out to find Josk Danta, it was something that was still present on Taured’s mind. However, he didn’t know how hostile Morona’s people would be the next time they visited since the Siren ordeal.

Varden was still interested in the boy, so much so that he was dying to ask him how he did the flames trick. Not even regular magic could mimic the natural course of fire they way this boy had. The wild ferocity that fire could inhibit couldn’t be duplicated by regular magic. So how did he do it? But the dragon would remain quiet for moments longer, the need to ask killing him slowly.

“ There is a reason for the interruption. We’re lost, we can’t seem to find Ellesmera. We’re looking for someone specific to help us out. However, we may be delayed if we cannot find him quickly. It was true, that was their reason for interrupting. Maybe if he introduced himself it would make things less awkward between the pairs.

“ I am Taured Doenning from the rider’s council, this is my dragon Varden.” Taured doubted that these two would speak the ancient language. If they did, they would know what Varden meant. And hopefully that would help them in understanding that they weren’t a threat since Varden meant protector. However, Taured doubted that they did understand the ancient language since Taured was assuming that they weren’t local to Alagaesia.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Ace was still on full alert, even when his brother managed to distract the elf that had approached them, but, before Ace even had half the chance to consider moving and just generally getting away from where he had been the large dragon-creature-thing almost casually drew closer to him. Now Ace was lost, he already knew that his skill in Pyromancy was nowhere near enough to produce flames powerful enough to deal any kind of significant damage to a creature of that size... His eyes darted in all directions looking for any form of escape that might exist to him, there were only a small number, but there would be no way he would be able to use them.

So he did the only thing that came to mind and intensified the flame that he had conjured in his crudely clawed hand. It flared brightly for several seconds and then increased in intensity, changing from a small flickering flame to a larger one that looked less controlled and more menacing –Ace was still in complete control of the flame- just to try and make it seem as though he posed more of a threat than he actually did.

“Noe... Puh... Puhleese... Geht bahk.”
Ace whimpered, still trying to back away no matter how long he failed to get past the tree he still had his back to. He had to get away.
---

Baldur observed the elf carefully, looking for any sign that either he or his dragon would be hostile, when he was able to determine that no such sign was immediately apparent he allowed himself to relax just a little bit. But he was still wary, he would always be wary. He remained straight-faced through the elf’s first comment. He did raise a good point, which Baldur simply shrugged lightly at, eyeing the elf curiously for a moment before opting to answer.

“Indeed, the real question would be, ‘why’, though, wouldn’t it?”
Baldur retorted calmly, letting his statement hang as a rhetorical question, since he was not going to be answering that question. Not when it could potentially place Ace in danger... Well, and he didn’t think that dropping Josk’s name would help matters either, so, for the time being it would be best for Baldur to deal with this little intrusion in his own way.

It was then that the elf dropped Morona’s name. Baldur paused for a short while and then allowed himself to relax further. If these two had already met Morona then there was a good chance that Baldur would be getting message from Morona through Nel any day now. He kept that to himself and arched an eyebrow slightly before speaking.

“Ah, you’ve already met Morona. Since you’re still alive to talk about it, I gather that it must have gone well enough for you to earn their trust to at least some degree.”
He stated flatly, if Morona trusted this elf –whom soon introduced himself as Taured, and his dragon as Varden- then that would go a long way to earning Baldur’s trust. Not that such information needed to be stated out loud, since this was a native that knew Morona’s name there was little doubt in Baldur’s mind that he was telling the truth.

“I am Baldur of the bloodline Vauxx respected Warlord heritage of Empire Nirvana. And that is my brother, Ace.”
He gestured and looked over to his brother to see him still backed against the tree with the dragon; Varden clearly way to close to Ace for comfort. Baldur blinked, the presence of fear was a good thing, since it prevented stupid decisions in later life, but, now was hardly the time for Baldur to be teaching Ace the importance of such a thing.

“Before we talk further, I must ask. Does Varden have no concept of personal space?”
He asked calmly, arching an eyebrow curiously.

[Mali]

Varden was curious as to what the boy was doing. Was he completely sane of mind or should the dragon be worried? As the flame intensified and the boy continued to back into the tree behind him, Varden wondered if the boy was all right. He couldn’t be afraid of Varden, could he? He knew that he was really close to the boy, but what would he be so frightened of exactly? He knew that he was a rather large animal to be approaching a stranger, but that couldn’t be the reason. Could it?

Well there was his answer as the boy spoke. Looking at Taured curiously, he wondered what had frightened the boy. Was it their presence that scared the boy or was it something else? Maybe he was still half-asleep and didn’t realise what was going on exactly. Whatever the reason for the boy’s terrified composure, Varden backed up a bit and allowed the boy some space. He was hesitant to speak to him since he was so scared of Varden already and refrained from talking to him.

Taured didn’t feel the need to answer the question this man posed. He assumed it was a rhetorical question and would look like an idiot if he did answer. He wasn’t one to make himself look stupid on purpose. So he nodded his head, thinking about whether or not they would be turning the other in rhetorical circles this entire conversation. They needed to find Josk Danta before the day was over. It wasn’t as if they were only hours away from sunset, however, the day was getting on and they needed enough time for Josk to be able to analyse the venom sample they had for the expert.

As the man mentioned Morona, Taured had to admit that he was shocked. He had said the comment in passing, not intending for it to mean anything to anyone here aside from himself and Varden. It was then that something Morona had said during their first meeting that caught his attention. As he was about to come to the conclusion, the man introduced himself as Baldur. He didn’t remember the boy’s name or if Morona had even told Taured the boy’s name.

“Yes, we are contacts with Lord Morona. They called us back to the camp just the other day for some issues that had come up which they didn’t understand about Alagaesia.” Morona had directly mentioned Baldur and his brother to the rider pair meaning that they were trusted allies of Morona. Hopefully they would be trusted allies of Taured and Varden as well.

Baldur asked a good question which caused Taured to shoot Varden a look as to say back away. Varden had already backed away when the boy asked him to but was still rather close to the boy. “He is usually much better behaved. I am sorry, but he is excited about the flame your brother was able to conjure.” it wasn’t an excuse to invade someone’s personal space however and Varden backed up a bit more away from Ace.

“It mimics a real flame, none in Alagaesia can conjure a flame so beautifully. I am sorry for getting so close,”

[/b] He addressed everyone openly, his eyes still focused on the larger flame in Ace’s hands.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

They had earned the trust of Morona enough for them to call Taured and Varden back to the village? That spoke volumes to Baldur, he knew Morona well enough to know that if they trusted Taured and Varden then there must be a very good reason for it. And because of the trust that Morona had for these two, Baldur would trust them in kind... But, he used the word “issues”, had something happened to cause Morona harm? Had something bad happened to the village? He ran possible scenarios through his mind before coming to the conclusion that Morona was an incredibly capable mage with over eight-hundred years of experience behind them, and then there was Kaime, the man may have been a pure-breed. But he was more than capable of keeping pace with many non-humans... No, it would take something closer to the scale of The Nameless Emperor to pose enough threat to cause either party harm.

“Issues? Nothing too serious I hope.”
Baldur said calmly, after everything the people following Morona had been through it would have been nothing short of a tragedy if something were to happen to any number of them... Baldur would need to find the time to return to the village soon, he needed to retrieve some of his things from there and generally make sure that his books were all in good condition. He would likely have a discussion at length with Morona upon his return; they were requesting regular updates on Baldur’s and Ace’s wellbeing, after all, and there was only so much that Nel could do.

He couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow at this Taured’s next comment. Excited? Pyromancy was still a well practiced art back in Empire Nirvana... He absently wondered just what this Dragon’s reaction would have been upon seeing the Monastery of Pyromancers that Baldur and Ace had previously lived in... He shook his head gently and rapidly pushed the thought aside.

“... Excited? It... Doesn’t take much, does it?”
Baldur questioned curiously.

The Dragon’s comment to follow both interested, and very silently irritated Baldur. On the one hand, it showed Baldur just how large the difference in direction this land had taken when compared to Empire Nirvana was. And on the other hand, he already knew exactly how Ace would interpret that comment. And it would undoubtedly set back several months worth of working on decreasing his younger brother’s ego... Nevertheless, Baldur kept that to himself; the damage would have been done already.

“It’s more than simple mimicry, Pyromancy is the art of conjuring and manipulating fire magically to a much greater degree than other mages can... Of course, it comes at the cost of magic’s usual versatility.”
Baldur explained flatly, casting a half-glance to his brother, who was already working through several other conjuration and manipulation techniques.
---

Ace was still breathing heavily, even as the dragon-creature-thing backed away from him... That allowed him the opportunity to take in everything that was happening around him, from the introduction –which he was still steadily translating to himself- right up to the discovery that these two had already talked to Nemesis Morona twice. Ace knew that Baldur trusted Nemesis Morona, but that was about all The Young Pyromancer knew about whatever relationship lie between Nemesis Morona and Baldur.

Heck, Ace had only ever met the guy twice, and on both occasions his exchanges with Nemesis Morona had been little more than greetings. Not least of all because that guy confused the Hell out of Ace, but mostly because Ace still had trouble understanding the language that Nemesis Morona spoke.

He lowered his arm slightly and allowed himself to relax just that little bit more and continued listening in silence... And then the dragon-creature-thing made his comment. Ace paused for a long while and blinked slowly, a small smile quirked the corners of Ace’s lips.

“I’m the... Onlee, won?”
Ace questioned, already beginning to feel happier with the way this meeting was turning out. To learn that he was the only one capable of doing Pyromancy in this entire land... Well, it made him happy.

“I’m nu... Noht, too güd speekin’ thess...”
He frowned slightly, the pronunciation of the word “language” in this tongue eluding him. Not quite enough to remove the feeling of happiness he now felt at learning he was the only Pyromancer in this foreign land, but enough to visibly frustrate him. He paused for a long moment and then decided to change what he wanted to say.

“I dunno’ how... How to speek to yew.”
He said, now unsure of what to say or do... He fell silent for a short while and listened as his brother spoke to this Taured guy, it was when he managed to translate what he was telling this Taured guy about Pyromancy that he had an idea.

Instead of dismissing the flame he had conjured in his palm, he instead raised his arm to be level with his face and held out his palm facing upwards. And again, he increased the intensity of the flames, turning them into a small inferno in his palm, which also caused the fire to creep half way up his forearm.

(That was his current limit, if he made the fire any stronger Ace already knew that he would lose control over it... he was still much further along than other Pyromancers his age, though.)

And then to further demonstrate his abilities, he lifted the flames from his palm and then compressed them into a single controlled orb of fire before releasing that control and returning the flames once more to the small inferno in his palm. A small smile spreading across his face as he finished the demonstration, however, he kept the fire in his palm... Just because he could.

[Mali]

Baldur asked about the issues that Morona had when he called the rider pair back and Taured felt that it was all right to tell him. Morona had mentioned Baldur within their first meeting, so he had to trust the man. If Morona trusted Baldur, then there was no reason for Taured not to trust him as well.

“Nothing serious. There was a misunderstanding about Lord Morona’s union which caused some conflict,” he didn’t need to go into all the gory details about what happened. The little bit of information that he had provided Baldur should be enough to set the man’s worries at ease. “However, everything was dealt with and was solved.”

Taured couldn’t help but chuckle at Baldur’s next statement. No, it didn’t take much to excite Varden, but that probably wasn’t what the man had meant exactly.

“No, it doesn’t take much,” He had probably meant that the flame was something simple in their lands that Varden shouldn’t be as excited over something so simple. However, here in Alagaesia, it was something for the dragon to be excited over since no one here could conjure flames that mimic the natural ferocity of fire.

He soon gave a description of what it was that Ace was doing exactly and Taured nodded his head. This must be a branch of the magic that Morona had mentioned briefly. That there were different branches that magic could come from. This pyromancy intrigued Varden. How could people be able to manipulate fire without being able to create it? Or maybe they did create the fire first in order to be able to control it? Varden was definitely interested in the topic.

It wasn’t long before Ace had calmed down enough to speak to the dragon. Of course, he could tell that this wasn’t his native tongue. And they didn’t expect him to completely understand him anyways. It would be rude to assume that they would understand their language when the two were from a different country.

“Our magic doesn’t work that way to allow for pyromancy, so yes, you are the only one.”

[/b] he looked at the boy curiously as he seemed to work it out in his head exactly what Varden was saying.

Varden waited, knowing that Ace wasn’t done speaking, and that he was trying to say something that he couldn’t quite figure out how to say. His broken English was understandable to the dragon, he remembered a time when he was only able to speak with broken English. That was a long time ago, however, but it still brought back memories of his younger days.

As the boy admitted that he didn’t know how to speak to him, Varden looked down at the boy kindly. “Would you like to use pictures? I can speak to you in your mind if you’d like.”[/b] Varden spoke slowly to the group and tried to be as simple in wording as he could. It might be a lot for the boy to take in, but as long as Varden kept the mental connection open, he would be able to convey and see messages from the boy to be able to speak.

Varden watched the display of the pyromancy craftsmanship and had to admit that he was impressed. Opening the mental barrier to the boy, he gently touched the outer regions of his mind, allowing him to get used to his presence before he showed him an image of people applauding. Communicating this way should be easier for the boy.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Ace felt his spirits lift as The Dragon-creature-thing –Ace is pretty sure his name is Varden- spoke and confirmed that Ace was the only Pyromancer in this land. That made Ace fidget on the spot, since, in a way it made him better than anyone else on this land... And he liked the idea of that, his smile broadened slightly as the thought occurred to him, yes, now that he was able to make sense of what was happening around him Ace definitely liked the way this meeting was going.

What Varden said next to Ace confused him, speaking using pictures? And wasn’t he already speaking into Ace’s mind. He didn’t fuller understand what was said, but he nodded his head slowly, unsure of what would happen. When it came to mental conditioning and speaking using his mind, Ace only knew it was possible, he had not been trained to do so in any way, so he had no idea what to expect.

Ace flinched slightly as he felt... Ace found the experience difficult to explain even to himself; almost as though another mind was touching his own... He blinked, unsure of what to do or how to react... But, he otherwise did not react.

He remained silent as he became familiar with the sensation; it was such an alien feeling to The Young Pyromancer that it took him a long moment... But eventually he felt comfortable again.

When he saw the image of a small group of people applauding in his mind, his eyes widened in shock and he looked up at Varden... We he actually impressed by Ace’s Pyromancy? That was what Ace got from the image he saw –completely forgetting he was just as surprised to actually see the image in the first place- which made him want to keep going, but how? He had already given a visual demonstration of his limits.

Ace brightened up slightly as an idea occurred to him, it may not have been an impressive demonstration, but a few small tricks with his Pyromancy would probably also be enough to continue getting him compliments.

He reduced the size of the flame in his palm and instead replaced it with several orbs of controlled flame, he held them in his hands for a moment while he adjusted himself to be more comfortable as he sat and then began juggling the orbs of fire he was holding. To Ace the motions were so practised that he was able to do them with his eyes closed, and for several brief moments he did close his eyes –just to show off- and then opened them again, the motions of juggling continuing all the while.
---

“A misunderstanding?”
Baldur questioned calmly, there were people that had difficulty speaking with Morona simply because they were unable to completely make sense or understand what Morona was... But he had never before heard of people out right misunderstanding them. And the only conflict that had ever occurred around Morona was always due to the historical reputation that they had been given by The Nameless Emperor... There was no way that such a reputation could have spread to this land, there must have been something else.

“Hmph, I believe you when you say it was resolved. Morona is a good leader... But, I have to ask, how was their Union misunderstood? There are many back in Empire Nirvana that are unable to make complete sense of Union, but that alone has never caused conflict before... That’s usually down to their false historical reputation.”
He said flatly, now curious as to how the natives of this land could have misunderstood Union in such a way as to cause conflict. Baldur was clearly missing some vital information.

[Mali]

Varden could feel the awkward reaction to his touching of Ace’s mind. He wondered if he should pull back and allow Ace to just speak in broken English again. However, he continued to stay attached to the boy’s mind and waited for him to become comfortable at the touch. He knew how foreign it could be at first. He had been inside his egg for so long that Varden had become accustomed to the silence that once Taured touched his egg, he had a lot to get used to.

Varden saw the shock on Ace’s face as he showed him the image and chuckled, the deep rumble echoing from his body. He didn’t remain shocked for long, as Ace seemed to brighten up. It was then that the flame in his hands became smaller and duplicated itself. Varden’s head tilted to the side, wondering what Ace was up to now when the boy began to juggle.

He was like a boy at Christmas and shifted on his feet eagerly as he watched the fire move from hand to hand as the boy juggled. It was an impressive trick and even Taured looked away from his conversation with Baldur to admire the act briefly.

Varden didn’t know how to say that he appreciated the tricks to Ace this time. He couldn’t show him the same image as before, but he had to show the boy something for his appreciation of the trick he’d performed. With his mind still attached to Ace’s, he showed a street performer doing tricks. The image then shifted to a dragon, Varden to be specific, dropping money into a container that sat next to the street performer. Hopefully Ace would get the message correctly. He was trying to say that he was appreciative for the display and would pay for his entertainment, should he have any money to give the boy. He doubted that Ace would ask for real compensation hence why he wasn’t worried about showing that image to the boy.

Taured listened to Baldur for a moment and noted the slight confusion about his features. It wasn’t long until Baldur explained how Union was thought of back in Empire Nirvana. Taured found it interesting that even back in its native land, it was still misunderstood. He cleared his throat and thought of the best way to convey the issue without having to explain in such detail as he had to Morona.

“There is a creature in this land called a shade, where the spirit or soul of an individual is brought back and takes over the body of another. Morona, being two complete souls together, confused the traders into thinking he was possessed by a shade.” Taured hoped that the short explanation would be enough to answer Baldur’s question. He didn’t want to get too into specifics as to what a shade was or how everything went down when he was last in Morona’s camp. He would rather try to avoid the other main reason for their being at the camp.

“I’m sure that there shall not be such a confusion again, the traders know that Morona is backed by the rider’s council, despite their mixed feelings for the riders, they understand that Morona isn’t a threat nor a shade.” Taured smiled to Baldur, knowing that even though the people may not like the rider’s council, that if they could trust Morona, so could the traders, to a small extent. They might now like the riders, but knew that they weren’t evil. So if Morona was considered an ally of the riders, then he wasn’t evil either. At least, that’s how Taured hoped that they saw things.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Amur]

Ace couldn’t help but shuffle around excitedly as he saw the next image that Varden showed him. He didn’t fully understand the meaning behind what he had just been shown, but it was clear enough to Ace that Varden liked what Ace was doing... But now, Ace had a problem, and that was that he didn’t know how he should continue. Ace personally never got tired of juggling, but other people may have –not that Ace ever saw why- so he needed a way to keep his tricks fresh.

He paused for a long moment, still juggling as he tried to think of a way to keep showing-off. But, given his lack of an education so far he struggled to think of a way to accomplish what he wanted to do... No, wait! Ace smiled again as he thought of an idea, one he knew that he was capable of because he had done it so many times already.

As he was juggling he selected one of the orbs of fire at random and rapidly expanded his influence over it, causing it to grow rapidly before exploding whilst at the top of his juggle, dissipating into a large collection of still flickering embers. At this point Ace adjusted his position and moved to juggle the remaining orbs of fire with only a single hand while collecting the small embers with his other. From there he forced the embers to levitate in his palm and simply made them spin rapidly in the air in an orb-like formation.

Though deep in concentration Ace managed to smile again as he managed this, he may have been running out of ideas, but he still had a small number of tricks up his sleeve.
---

Baldur had to admit, what Taured had just told him was fascinating. Baldur resolved to study some of the specifics on these “Shades” that Taured spoke of. But for the time being he had other things to concern himself with. Nevertheless he allowed himself to think on what he had just heard a moment longer. It meant that in some for possession did indeed exist here; he stood in silence for a short moment longer and then simply nodded his head.

“I see... Interesting, it seems that possession does exist here in some form.”
Baldur commented calmly –more to himself than to Taured- before looking back at the elf in full and blinking once.

“Interesting, your kind work faster than expected. Regardless, it is good to hear that there were no injuries in this misunderstanding. How is the village doing now? I haven’t been back to talk to Morona since Ace and I departed to explore, I imagine everyone must at least be living in relative comfort now.”
Baldur said calmly.

“Must at least be a vast improvement from the tattered tents everyone was living in while we all travelled on the back of Ascalon’s shell?”
Baldur mentioned calmly, he did need to make time to return to Morona soon. He had several items he needed to retrieve from the house that had undoubtedly been built for him and Ace, and also needed to report his findings since leaving, he was sure that he and Morona had a lot to discuss once they did meet again... Baldur was already looking forward to the knowledge he would receive when did speak to Morona again.

[Elloria]

Josk watched quietly from a short distance away, his energy masked and his body hidden by the trees and shadows. It was late afternoon – around the time that he usually visited the clearing where his new apprentice and the humanoid were now living. He was still frustrated by the brat’s intellectual limitations but, as his mother had been fond of saying, there was no rest for the wicked. So he had come out thinking to continue with the basic exercises that the brat still believed it understood oh-so-well. But long before he had reached the clearing, he had sensed strange energies present in it. This had sparked even greater caution in the mage – slowing his pace and hiding his presence. The last thing he wanted was to enter the clearing to a group of elves taking on the brat and the humanoid. Being traced to those two would be devastating to his family’s reputation and would make his life considerably more difficult than before. Better to seem like a curious bystander than an accomplice to what could be considered treason – sheltering a human in DuWeldenvarden.

And now he stood beyond sight, watching with fascinated horror at the unlikely scene before him. It was almost worse than finding a group of hate-filled elves. It was a Rider and its dragon. He did not know why they had stopped in the clearing or what they were looking for…but the brat was being an egotistical idiot. Again. How many times did he have to lecture the brat on showing off like that? It was a waste of energy and served no purpose other than to unnecessarily stroke one’s own ego. And the fact that the dragon appeared to be encouraging that behavior…

Josk strode out from the shadows and made his way into the clearing, glaring at his apprentice as the brat performed some trick with its flames. He paused just within the ring of trees, his arms crossed over his chest. In a very quiet tone that nonetheless carried across the clearing, he asked, “Would someone care to explain what, exactly, is going on here?”

[Amur]

Ace was starting to build his confidence now, several other small tricks that he already knew himself to be capable of seemed to just spontaneously “occur” to him as he continued with his latest trick –still juggling several orbs of fire with a single hand while he manipulated embers with the other- his smile widened slightly even as he concentrated on beginning his next trick.

He needed to reignite the embers floating in his palm, and then he could-

“Would someone care to explain what, exactly, is going on here?”
Ace flinched and gasped as he heard Mentor Josk’s voice and immediately dismissed the fire that he had conjured, moving his hands so that his palms were pressed together he sat in such a way as to make himself smaller than he was, crossing his legs Ace set his hands between his knees.

“M-Mentor Josk... I wahss n-naht doin’ anyfin’...”
Ace said as innocently as possible, not daring to turn and look at his Mentor. He already knew full well that Mentor Josk had seen him showing off, yet despite this, Ace still tried to make himself look as small and innocent as possible.

That could have worked, couldn’t it?
---

“The Rider: Taured was lost and approached us requesting directions.”
Baldur said calmly as he heard Josk ask his question. He didn’t bother raising the point that Taured’s mention of Morona’s village had left Baldur feeling obligated to ask after their wellbeing, he had after all simply been surviving alongside those people for the entirety of their journey here. An unfortunate sidetrack, but one that Baldur had not anticipated at all.

“And, knowing very little of the surrounding area I couldn’t answer the question. And I wasn’t about to drop your name, not when there was very little chance of it helping matters at all.”
He continued, again, not verbally raising the point that he wasn’t going to go throwing Josk’s name around to any random stranger that approached them, not when he was sat right in their territory with a human child. Josk may have already said that his reputation had been damaged when Niko became a Rider, but, Baldur knew enough about hatred to anticipate the kind of backlash that might cause for the elf. And creating such backlash would be a poor way to show his appreciation for Josk’s patience with Ace.

“And then, well, you showed up. And once we’ve had these two agree to perpetual silence on what they’ve seen here, perhaps you can give them the direction they require.”
He looked back at Taured as he finished speaking.

“It’s nothing personal, of course. I’m just not going to have my brother’s wellbeing in jeopardy when information like this tends to find its way around.”
This time he reverted to his usual method of flatly stating what he had said as fact. In fact, it wasn’t Taured he was worried about, it was the dragon. This one seemed to talk before it thought about what it planned to say, and in that regard he reminded Baldur of Ace... And, well, Baldur wasn’t about to have information like his and Ace’s presence here potentially blabbed to someone else in an idle conversation.

[Mali]

Taured nodded his head. Yes, something similar to union existed here. The fact that it was taboo and evil wasn’t included in the similarities. But yes, there was something relatively close to union here in Alagaesia.

He was about to correct Baldur that there was one injury, one death to be precise but felt that it wasn’t needed. He wasn’t sure if Morona would mention it should Baldur bring it up when he finally returned to the camp, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t that he was lying to the man, it was a lie by omission, but he wasn’t trying to lie to the man. He just didn’t feel that correcting him would be for the best of interest right now.

“Yes, they are living in comfort, buildings appear to be almost all complete and they have even grown crops for trading. They are well on their way.” Taured wondered what Baldur meant by travelling on the back of Ascalon’s shell, but decided not to ask. It probably wasn’t knowledge that he needed right now. If it ever came up again, he would certainly ask about it.

Varden was amazed again as Ace managed to perform another trick for his entertainment. He was about to praise the boy again when another man appeared. From what Varden could tell, he was elven and looked angry. Why he would be angry, Varden wasn’t quite sure, but he was surprised to see another elf here. It wasn’t until he remembered why they were here in the first place that he realised who the elf was. It was Niko! Well, it wasn’t Niko per say, but he looked like Niko, thus making him his brother, the man that they were looking for. Looking over at Taured, the rider nodded back to his dragon and waited for everything to be said before addressing Josk.

Looking back at Ace, Varden noted how the boy stopped what he was doing immediately and hid his hands, making himself appear smaller than he was. What was going on here between Josk, Ace and Baldur? The dragon didn’t comment on what the boy said and pulled back from his mind, now able to be alert should anything else happen.

Hearing Baldur address Josk next made Taured step forward. He held himself in a composed manner, waiting for Baldur to explain everything before he would address the fellow elf. Dropping Josk’s name? What did that mean? Things just kept becoming more curious to the rider pair. Perpetual silence? Now Taured and Varden believed that Josk must be up to something. They knew the rules around these parts and assumed it was because Josk was helping Baldur and Ace. And seeing as Ace was human, Josk would be in big trouble should people find out. Wow, who knew that meek little Niko’s brother was more outgoing and a daredevil.

“Of course, however, our need for directions no longer matters. Our intention was to find Niko Danta’s brother. We have business that requires his knowledge of poisons.” he let the sentence hang in the air in a moment before he continued. “Josk Danta, I am Taured Doenning, head of the Council of Resources. And this is my dragon Varden.” the fact that they were the head of the council of resources, should in fact tell the three other individuals that they were important people within the order of the dragon riders. They weren’t just any regular dragon rider pair, they were the head of an entire council section. Anyone who worked in the council of resources, reported back to Taured and Varden first and foremost. However, no one else wanted to work directly under their section of the council, so that meant less messenger hawks their way.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Elloria]

Josk quirked an eyebrow at the brat. It was intelligent enough to realize that he did not want it showing off, but was still stupid enough to do it anyway? What had the humanoid been teaching it all these years? And the worst part was that it thought that by acting innocent and guiltless, it could escape punishment. “Of course you were not, Ace. You never disobey your mentor, do you? Especially if he has asked you countless times to refrain from showing off for no other reason than just because you can.” He applied a generous coating of sarcasm to his tone so that the brat could not mistake it for anything but the promise of future punishment that it was. He turned to the humanoid and the Rider, setting the matter of the brat aside for the time being. He leaned his back against a nearby tree and listened quietly to the humanoid’s introduction and explanation. He could always trust the humanoid to get straight to the point. “I see.”

“Of course, however, our need for directions no longer matters. Our intention was to find Niko Danta’s brother. We have business that requires his knowledge of poisons.”

Josk’s body tensed up. So the Riders had discovered his…hobby. He doubted Niko had informed them of it – his twin had no clue about it. Or at least his twin had had no clue about it, as Josk highly doubted the Riders had not already approached Niko. Outside of the Hive, Josk’s name was not connected to his interest in poisons, toxins, and venoms. But his appearance was. And his appearance was still very similar to Niko’s. The mage wondered who of his associates had spilled their guts about him and what sort of retribution he would have to exact for it.

“Josk Danta, I am Taured Doenning, head of the Council of Resources. And this is my dragon Varden.”

The mage narrowed his eyes at this Rider, this Taured. What did it want with him? What threat was it going to pose him in the future? It was part of the Rider Council. That meant this was probably something big, something dangerous and something that could potentially ruin him. He couldn’t help but be somewhat intrigued, even if he had no respect for the Rider Council whatsoever. “I cannot say I particularly care what position you hold within that den of pacifistic peons. The Riders have never proven to be particularly useful to me one way or the other, so I pay little attention to whatever it is you people do. Neither am I particularly pleased with how you so freely divulge the nature of my hobbies without a thought as to how I may feel about the information. I suppose you also discussed the matter with my brother first. Otherwise you would not have learned my name or my location – I was always painfully scrupulous about not divulging either to my associates. I also took great pains to keep that knowledge from Niko. Are all Riders so careless with other people’s personal information or is it just you, oh noble Councilman?”

[Amur]

Ace started fidgeting uncomfortably as Mentor Josk spoke, his tone of voice doing more than enough to tell Ace that he was displeased with what he had seen. He already knew that Mentor Josk was likely to punish him for what he had seen, and the thought of that made Ace flinch. It wasn’t his fault. Ace held his tongue for a moment more, thinking on what to say next... Perhaps he could explain that to Mentor Josk to avoid punishment later.

“I did naht meen tew show off, Mentor Josk. I jus’ did naht know how tew-”
He froze as he caught sight of the look that Mentor Josk was giving him and immediately looked down at the floor, knowing full well that Mentor Josk was not having any of what Ace was trying to explain to him.

“...Und ich mag ihn...”
Ace mumbled briefly pointing at Varden.

“Er pries Sie, Sie möchte ihn.”
Baldur answered flatly. Ace looked up at Varden and then over to Baldur, shaking his head first before answering.

“Nein, das ist nicht der Grund!”
Ace answered hotly, giving up his efforts to try and explain himself to both his brother and Mentor Josk. His frustration with their willingness to not understand what he was trying to tell them which caused him to become flustered, he fell silent, moving his hands in order to fold his arms over his chest crossly.
---

Baldur listened carefully to what Taured had said to Josk. What were the chances that the person that Taured had been looking for was the very reason that he and Ace were currently hidden in this clearing? The odds were just too astronomical for Baldur to pass off, and what was this about having “business that required his knowledge of poisons”? Baldur simply arched an eyebrow and looked over at Josk.

He held his tongue as he listened to Josk’s response and began running everything he had just heard through his mind. Indeed, this was something of an interesting development. Though, his opinion of Taured had just dropped slightly with how carelessly he had brought up a side of Josk that neither Baldur nor Ace knew anything about... Well, he gathered that Josk had some kind of shady side to him, most immortal or long lived beings of over two-hundred did. However, Baldur was knowledgeable enough to know not to so openly address such matters. It only took one set of unfriendly ears to ruins months or years worth of careful work, after all.

“Knowledge of poisons? Not to tell you how to do your job, Taured, but the first rule of meeting with someone whom –to put it simply- is not on your ‘side’, is to keep your hand close to your chest. Neither myself, nor my brother knew anything about Josk’s knowledge of poisons, and he may not have wanted us to know. And you’ve just blurted that for everyone in the clearing to hear. Not that I’m particularly bothered by such a revelation, we all have our secrets, some of them darker than others.”
He stated flatly.

“Though, it definitely reinforces my earlier point of having them swear to perpetual silence.”

[Mali]

Varden noticed Ace pointing at him and mumbling something in another language. A language that Ace seemed much more comfortable in and caused Varden to turn and address Taured mentally, asking if he knew what he had said. Taured simply shook his head, he didn’t know the language.

Taured was surprised to hear what Josk had to say. The shock showed briefly on his features before he replaced it with a calm and composed facial. Josk appeared to be the paranoid type the way that he stated that Taured had probably divulged his hobbies to his brother. Taured refrained from interrupting the elf as he spoke and instead allowed him to finish what he had to say.

However, before Taured could answer, Baldur decided to intervene and made Taured feel embarrassed. Sure, he had said it in front of Baldur and Ace, but that wasn’t much of a problem. Surely they were in alliance with each other and wouldn’t go around spreading the word to everyone in town. However, to suggest that he was an idiot to say such a thing so loudly, well, that made Taured angry. He was here on official business and yet they treated him like an idiot and assumed large parts of a story not yet told to be true. It pissed him off when people assumed things about Taured because they weren’t giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Clearing his throat, Taured looked up, trying not to shout at these people. For some reason, they had really gotten under his skin, but he had to remain calm.

“No, Josk, I did not divulge such information with your brother. The description alone told me that it was you, his brother. Since he is not the type to be interested in such things, you were the only option for such a person. I just merely asked for your whereabouts.” Taured knew that the description sounded like Niko, but that Niko wasn’t the type of person to have such interests. That meant that if it wasn’t Niko and it was someone that looked like Niko, it would have to be his brother which Taured knew Niko to have. It was logical to assume such a thing, but it seemed equally logical—at least in Josk’s mind—to assume that Taured had blurted everything out.

“As for my being here. I encountered Solomon Latro and have some evidence I would like to submit for analysis. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of the murders recently and the symptoms that the victims possessed, but it is due to a rare venom from the Wyvern. He has this blade in which the venom is infused with the blade causing any attack from the blade to inject the venom into the body.” He paused after his long speech, giving them time to understand what he had said before he would continue.

“I have a sample of the liquid venom from the blade and would like to know the properties of the venom as well as if a cure can be created to act against this venom. That is where I have come to you, Josk Danta.” Hopefully, they wouldn’t be so quick to judge him again this time.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Elloria]

Josk cut off Ace’s weak attempt to explain himself with a cold look. The boy needed no reason to show off and the mage knew it. He would not tolerate excuses, either. If he had to banish the dragon from the clearing and forbid the boy from leaving it without Josk’s permission, he would.

His attention back on Taured and Baldur, the mage frowned at Baldur’s words – though the brief shock on the Rider’s face had been satisfying. Josk’s frown deepened as Taured attempted to defend himself. Why could no on just own up to their mistake and apologize? He gave a quiet snort in the brief silence that followed Taured’s defense. If the Rider’s word could be trusted – and his credibility was abysmally low right now – Niko was still oblivious to Josk’s little hobby. He supposed it was possible, given that his baby brother hadn’t contacted him about the matter. So he would listen to Taured’s proposition for…

Josk had to bite his tongue as Taured explained his reason for being here. Wyvern venom. Wyvern venom…he had not known wyverns possessed venom. The creatures were too rare and elusive. But here…here was a new toy to play with! His body quivered with delight, his expression openly hungry. “You want me…to test a new venom?” he murmured.

He might have to thank this Solomon Latro for this gift. He knew it was probably the same man that had gotten Niko all riled up, but it had been a long time since Josk had been able to test an unknown venom. He had used the Hive’s massive scope of influence and unimaginable resources to obtain every venom known to Alagaesia – and a few known only abroad until he had introduced them to this continent.

“Where is it?”

[Amur]

Ace had largely lost track of the conversation going on around him as Mentor Josk had made it perfectly clear to Ace that he was not buying any of what Ace was trying to sell. So, he sat in frustration with his arms folded over his chest. It wasn’t until that Taured-guy said something about a “Solomon Latro” that he looked up. Despite not knowing exactly who that man was, Ace knew enough to know that surviving an encounter with A Hunter back home was a big deal. His eyes widened shock as he looked over to that Taured-guy, up at Varden and back over at the Taured-guy.

“Yu- Ya’h... Yew suh’viv’d a Hunter? Woaaah.”
Ace asked, awestruck. He knew that Baldur had survived and even killed a much larger number of Hunters throughout his life. But, surviving just one was something to be impressed by, wasn’t it?
---

Taured’s frustration had been as clear to Baldur as the nose on his face, yet, he had chosen the tactful approach of not addressing it. It was clear to Baldur that Taured simply lacked the experience that these kinds of situations required, it was hardly a reason to become frustrated, after all, the only way people got better at situations they were inexperienced in was to actually find themselves in that experience anyway.

He absently wondered exactly why Josk would opt to keep such an interest from Niko. He shrugged inwardly, Baldur had several secrets from Ace; namely the full scale of what he had given up for him and what he really looked like. And his secrets didn’t end with those two. He soon dismissed the line of thought, deciding it to be too trivial to bother with, Josks reasons were his own and it, quite simply wasn’t Baldur’s place to ask for them.

Baldur’s curiosity was immediately piqued, however, when Taured mentioned Master Hunter Latro and a venomous sword. He had heard whispered rumours from his contacts of a The Hunters suddenly acquisitioning a large amount of time from a number of Warlord smiths, but, he would have never thought it would have been for such a delicate piece of equipment.

“Interesting, so the rumours were true?”
Baldur muttered calmly to himself. The kinds of alterations that would have had to have been made to the materials for such a request would have been extreme... Baldur now wished to see such a work of art, since the blade would have been of Warlord craft, there was little doubt in Baldur’s mind that it would be a spectacular piece of equipment.

He cast a glance over to Josk and immediately noticed the elf’s reaction... “New venom”? Baldur blinked; did everyone in this land get so excited over the least impressive things? First Varden; upon seeing that Ace was a Pyromancer, and now, Josk; upon learning that Wyverns produced venom.

“You know, Josk. That venom has been thoroughly tested back in Empire Nirvana, I could simply tell you-”
Baldur paused as Josk fixed him with a look that alone seemed to tell him to shut up. He simply held the look with an incredulous gaze; surely, it would be more practical to be told how the venom worked to save everyone’s time and effort. However, apparently, Josk wasn’t having any of that. Baldur simply shrugged gently.

“As you wish.”
He answered flatly, falling silent. There was little point in him saying anything else, if his offer to help was going to be denied so spectacularly he had nothing else to say for the time being.

[Mali]

Taured only nodded his head as the boy, Ace, said that he had survived a hunter. He hadn’t thought it that hard, seeing as he had not only defeated Solomon Latro in battle, but had also taken out Alma, the siren in Morona’s camp. He knew that without his use of magic, both cases would have probably ended in his loss, but that was beside the point. A good fighter uses all resources available to them, including magic. “I beat him in combat..." he had to inform the boy, just raise his own ego just the slightest.

Turning his attention to Baldur, he wondered what rumours he was talking about. Taured had never heard any rumours about Solomon Latro other than what was known and the amount on his head. Of course, Baldur and Ace were also from Empire Nirvana. There may be rumours from their homeland that Taured had yet to learn about. However, since he had no idea the nature of the rumour that Baldur spoke of, he decided to ignore it.

Taured smiled and nodded his head. “You are the most highly qualified venoms expert in all of Alagaesia, Josk Danta, of course I would come to you with such a rare specimen.” Taured wondered why Josk seemed to be quivering on spot. Was he actually excited for the task that Taured had brought him? Walking over to Varden, Taured dug through the packs as Josk asked where the sample was. It wasn’t a large sample though, the vial was about four and a half inches long and about half an inch wide. The vial was also filled completely with the venom, hopefully, it would be a decent amount of venom to be able to do tests with.

As he brought the vial out, the bright purple liquid swashing around as he walked over with it, he then heard Baldur state that he could simply tell Josk how the venom worked. He paused almost, about to ask when he noticed the look that Josk had sent him. Not wanting to ask Baldur and risk angering Josk, Taured decided to hand Josk the vial and not ask questions.

“I hope this shall be enough. I was told that a single drop was potent enough to do the enough damage to result in death. I could always acquire more if you need it.” He held the vial out to Josk, waiting for the man to take it for himself. “I’m hoping for a cure, if that is at all possible with the venom’s properties.” Taured needed a cure for the venomous effects. He hated to see Solomon able to kill men and women so easily with one slice from that blade. The council wanted a cure and so did he.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]