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Here, There Be Dragons

New arrivals: The dream you wake from is an unsettling one that feels like a memory. It sits out of place and too far forward in your mind, yet feels as real and clear as any other could be. It's the shadow of a massive creature blocking out the sun, skyline, or similar entity. A roar that shakes you to the core and and a feeling of dread and loss weighing heavy on you. Whatever the feeling or vision that comes across, it brings with it a sense that your world is no more. A voice, reassuring and almost motherly in nature urges you gently to wake from your sleep. Rise from the ashes, little one, The voice calls in a whisper of wind and crackling fire, There is need of you, yet. As the voice fades and the world of the waking returns to you, you are greeted with the sounds of faint bustling and the bounce of wooden wheels on stone or the sight of Upper Nuren's winding streets and open squares. A cloud passes by slowly near one of the stone pathway ledges and the sounds of nearby Touched and Remnants at work or leisure filter through the calm, cool air. Whatever you had previously been wearing or carrying has been replaced. You might now find yourself garbed in a cloth tunic, pants or shorts, robe, dress or skirt, and sandals or boots if you wore clothing. A sash around your shoulders or a belt at your waist contains a small but weighted purse of gold coins, enough to acquire some materials, new clothing or food from the market and craftsmen in the city. Current Scions: Concern over the mild Winter has begun to spread through the city. The chill air should have come with the nearing end of the harvest, and so far the weather remains only pleasantly cool. The air barely passes the gentle cool of Autumn. Nuren's citizens are spreading rumors that mountaintop ice and snow have begun to thaw, causing mudslides in the mountains. The thaw has displaced the Ice and mountain creatures, leaving them irritable and unpredictable. The sailors mention that the Frozen Shore has also begun to melt, and the waters around the Frozen Shore and the mountain areas have grown treacherous and unseasonably cold. Throughout the city, activity springs to more vibrant life, with Scholars of the Cycle of Life and Scholars of Knowledge claiming that Benra has blessed the city again, bringing more Scions to help protect the great city. The rumors put the city's citizens into higher spirits, and music fills the cool air, spreading from Lower Nuren both up and down the mountain.

The Heart of Nuren

After waking, a pull starts from within your chest, growing stronger with each passing moment until it becomes the only focus. It tugs insistently once, then twice. A need to follow the pull curls around and through you, urging you toward a wide and torch lit staircase that leads down into the heart of the mountain. The steps are wide and sturdy, and the further down them you travel, the clearer the call becomes until you can almost hear it. At the bottom of the steps, the large cavern beneath the city is revealed. The floor beneath your feet is warm to the touch, and the magic in the air calms your mind and fills you with a strange sense of safety and peace. No magic or harm can be done within the cavern. The cavern's floor is covered in circles of runes carved into the stone that surround small depressions in varying sizes, from a coffee cup's rim to that of a small circular table. Some of the depressions contain dormant dragon eggs of various colors, shapes and sizes. The runes surrounding them glow faintly with a magical light. Only the Scion who is bonded to the dragon within the egg can pass the runes.

Upper and Lower Nuren

Once you emerge from the cavern, the strange spell that fell over you fades. The bond between you and your egg or hatchling remains but your command of your own decisions and actions return and you are now free to explore, question and move about. The streets of Upper Nuren are sparsely populated with Remnants, Touched and other scions with their eggs or dragons. Questioning any of the citizens leads to a variety of answers. You are a Scion of the Great Beasts. You were brought to the city from the ashes of time and space by the Great Phoenix known as Benra and the Great Serpent known as Mouros. Pressing for more information will reveal that there are five Great Beasts. They are Benra the Phoenix, Chelba the Stone Giant, Renzu the Griffin, Mouros the Serpent, and Lysheu the Chimera. They are said to represent Mortality, Order, Knowledge, Time and Chaos. You are in the great Mountain City known as Nuren, and its people are the last remaining vestige of civilization on this wild and dangerous planet. The Touched and the Remnants share an alliance and work together to keep the city protected and its citizens alive and fed. According to these citizens of Nuren, you are here to help them defend the city, unite the remaining races and restore balance to the elements. Soon after the first Scions awake, the city begins to buzz with the news and gossip that more scions have arrived. The curious and braver citizens make their way to Upper Nuren to get a look, and the rumors spread like wildfire through the city that Benra has come again.

Outer Nuren

Although those rumors make their way to Outer Nuren, the citizens there show far less interest in making the long trek up to Upper Nuren. The unseasonably warm winter has done wonders for the fishing in the bay, and the docks are alive with intrepid fishermen and ship crews interested in making extra gold while the fishing is still good. The taverns fill with activity and the markets are livelier than ever in the hopes of selling more of their wares and merchandise before Winter's chill catches up with the passing seasons.

Evening

When night settles on the city, the taverns, inns and squares fill with curious citizens hoping to meet the new Scions or catch a glimpse of the Scions they have already managed to glimpse a few times before. Food is offered freely, as well as blankets to guard against the cool night air. The night sky fills with beautiful displays of magic from the Fire, Light and Energy Mages, the Osaaru equivalent of fireworks, though far quieter. Several Scholars in bright and colorful robes can be found approaching the new scions and older ones alike, offering to tell them more about the city, Osaaru and the Great Beasts. Mages of similar garb guide scions to the cavern homes, and help where they can in making the scions more comfortable. Small comforts of food, pillows, decorative crafts and other small tokens are offered to visible Scions by the citizens of Nuren in hopes of earning their favor and friendship.

Notes

Please direct Introduction questions to the Plotting Post Q&A As a Reminder: Bahemait is not one of the Great Beasts openly discussed or mentioned by the Citizens of Nuren who believe the Great Dragon is little more than an old legend. We would also like to emphasize that the Spirit energy within every resurrected character is required to use all magic in Osaaru, even that which is brought from their own world. The drain of powerful or excessive use of magic will lead to exhaustion.

Comments

here there be dragons

[enthraller]

[Certain things catch Saralegui's eye very easily. The color black is still one of them, no matter how quickly it became clear that it's nothing special here. A glimpse of dark hair turns his head. Obviously a new scion, he notices, judging by the clothes. And obviously, he realizes quickly, badly hurt.

He pauses at first, waits, to see if anyone else will do something. But this section of the street isn't heavily populated at the moment, and no one else seems to have noticed the oddity yet. Caution holds him back at first, but curiosity and some level of actual worry pushes him forward.]

What on earth happened to you?

[He skips right past the standard "are you okay?" because the answer to that is clear a i no. Without waiting for an answer he moves to the man's side with a concered frown, automatically pushing his own dragon back as she tried to press forward for a closer look himself.

Saralegui isn't completely without sympathy for the plights of others, but he quietly finds this scene more unsettling than anything else. Unsettling, because so far this place had seemed extremely peaceful for the most part. Outside the city might be dangerous, sure, but he can't imagine what might have so badly hurt someone within it, especially a brand new scion.]

[yuruse]

[The ninja automatically leans away from the other man. The nature of these wounds and how he'd received them are a bit personal to him so he won't be giving out details, but he's used to only saying what needs to be said.]

Leave some space, please. [His voice is a hushed rasp.] It's hard to breathe.

[That said, he takes the opportunity to kneel down on his good leg, his burnt arm clutching the front of his shirt. If this man has bandages, or something that might suffice, that will at least take care of the larger injury for now.]

None of this happened here.

[In as few words as possible, he lets the other man know that there are no dangers here to be aware of. At least not as far as he knows. His illness especially has been eating away at him for years. It had finished him off, but something had seen fit to bring him back.

Blood has begun to seep through the leg of his pants, making the cause of his limp visible.]

[enthraller]

[Saralegui pauses a step away as requested, one hand pressing his dragon back again as she curiously leaned in for a better look. He does seem to relax just slightly to know there's no immediate danger here, and that lets him better focus on the problem at hand.]

Hold on a moment, I might be able to help.

[He's only practiced with little things so far, and those are several pretty bad injuries, but something is better than nothing, right?

There's a windowbox on the wall building next to them full of plants stubbornly clinging to life in this last bit of unseasonably warm weather. Saralegui extends a hand to them, fingers pressing lightly against a stem, and frowns with concentration. It takes a moment, but then there's a faint glow at his fingertips, and also in his free hand, which he extends to the stranger.]

May I?

[yuruse]

[A healer? How coincidental. This place is continuing to conspire to mend this broken body somehow. He lifts his head, the glow all but a faint blur to his damaged eyes, and nods his consent.

As long as he's alive he has to keep moving. For now, this may be the best way to make that happen. It was sheer willpower that had kept him upright while fighting his brother. His wounded leg can't handle any more of that.]

[enthraller]

[A healer by technicality alone. This had only ever been a borrowed power back home, and in his short time with it then he'd still caused more harm than good with it. It's a twisted sort of irony that this world gave him this.

Still, Saralegui isn't one to turn down anything that might help him, so he'd practiced a little with it, when there were small cuts and scrapes to heal. This is just...a slightly bigger step up than he normally would have attempted.

Consent given, though, he makes an attempt anyway. Saralegui delicately lays a hand on that bloody patch on the man's leg, briefly making a face at the sticky feeling before channeling the earth magic. It draws from the magic inherent in the plants and, slowly, with a refreshing feeling like chewing on mint, it does its work to patch up the injury. The pain dulls -- even soothing the sting of the burns -- and the bloodflow slows, but it only weakly seals the wound closed again with more scabbing than fresh skin.

By that point Saralegui has to pull away, feeling suddenly tired. He sags, but shrugs with a casual motion.]

That's as much as I can manage. You should definitely wrap that up in case it reopens, but at least you might not bleed out this way.

[yuruse]

[The wound on his leg is a deep one, so having it sealed even weakly is an improvement. Itachi had been hoping for bandages from this man, but this level of healing is a far superior gift. He can find wrappings anywhere now that his ability to move around has been improved.

He owes this man more than gratitude, but he has very little to give. Hopefully he won't start to get demanding now.]

Thank you.

[It will take more than anything this sort of healing can offer to release the pressure on his chest, of course. His illness still has a firm grip on his heart and lungs and that new tug that wants to draw him toward the center of town also still remains. What's been done here lessens his load greatly, however, and that will make it possible to go on.

The ninja straightens himself slightly, sitting in an easier position on the ground. Both of them could use a moment of rest.]

I'm sorry I've caused you to tire yourself.

[enthraller]

[Examining the wound, as much as he can see it, with a critical eye, Saralegui lets himself more slump back than properly sit. He's lived the sort of life where he rarely had to physically exert himself -- mental fatigue was much more common, given all the long meetings spent with idiots -- so it's an odd feeling, that weariness in his limbs. A nap would be nice. Or a hot bath.

But he adopts a smile, careful to leave just a hint of that exhaustion visible in it because hey, it can't hurt to let this guy feel just a bit more guilty and indebted, right? Even if he has no specific plans right now, that sort of thing could always be useful in the future.]

Please, I wouldn't have offered if I minded. I've experimented enough by now to have known it would happen.

[yuruse]

I appreciate it.

[And Saralegui would be right in believing that Itachi might not like to leave his debts unrepaid. He doesn't know how his life is going to progress in this place, if his illness will allow it to progress at all, but he won't forget this act of kindness.]

Perhaps I'll have the opportunity to return the favor in the future.

[Once again - an uncertain thing. Unfortunately he has nothing to give at the moment but the clothes on his back.]

[enthraller]

[Saralegui has to restrain a grin, careful to keep his expression appropriately soft and weary. Damn Itachi, you just keep setting him up to appear gracious and selfless.]

Don't worry about that sort of thing. You should be focused on taking care of that properly. [With a little gesture to the barely patched up wound, in case that wasn't obvious enough.] Do you need any more help? I'm sure we could find a local healer or something...

[yuruse]

I... Have somewhere I need to be.

[This feels awkward to say, especially since he's not sure where this place is in the first place. The ninja frowns after saying this, as he absolutely hates not being on top of his own actions.]

Perhaps I'll find someone along the way.

[Though he may not stop to visit them.]

[enthraller]

[Saralegui gets it more than Itachi does, at least. He's had enough yime to learn that the draw to the eggs is normal for scions just waking up here, and he was fairly certainly this man was a scion by his manner alone (polite, sure, but without the enthusiastic reverence towards the scions that seemed typical of locals). And Saralegui notes that the man is without a dragon or egg at the moment.]

Ah. I understand.

[He says it with a knowing little smile, thoughtlessly smoothing a hand over his own dragon's head where she sat beside him, curious but at least keeping her distance now.]

Well, I'm hardly going to stop you, then. Just make sure to see someone about that soon. [Carefully, he gets back to his feet, leaning just slightly against the wall in case he suddenly felt dizzy or anything.] And I never introduced myself, did I? I'm Saralegui.

[yuruse]

Uchiha Itachi...

[He states his surname first, having no reason to believe it should be said otherwise. As the other man rises, so does he - carefully, and with more difficulty. He makes it to his feet all the same, careful to shift weight to his better leg.

Saralegui's response has him giving the scion a look.]

This is normal?

[If this is experienced by all newcomers upon their arrival then he feels a little better about it, but only just.]

[enthraller]

From what I've seen, yes.

[Pointedly, he lays a hand on his dragon's head where she sits by his side, watching on curiously. Bt that's as much of a hint as he gives, just smiling sweetly. Who is he to ruin the surprise?]

[yuruse]

[Itachi is still making sure he's stable enough to move on, brows furrowed determinedly.]

Thank you again.

[His first couple steps are stable enough. This will have to do.]

I guess I just... keep going.