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The throne room was larger than what Sybelle had expected. The title floor reflected the sunlight pouring out of the large, open window to her right. The high ceiling held a crystal chandelier, and how it had gotten up there was unknown to her, but she guessed it was by magic. Two thrones were placed at the front of the large room, in opposition to the large oak doors leading into the main hall. Upon the velvet seat of the one on the left sat the Queen, her piercing eyes on the girl before her. In a clear voice, she asked, "You are Sybelle Evara, are you not?" Sybelle nodded, and replied, "I am." The Queen smiled softly. "I am glad you are here, but we shall wait for one more before I discuss what I need you with." At her words, Sybelle looked towards the grand oak doors expectantly.

Both the Queen and the young Mage did not have to wait long. Two footmen opened the door to allow a tall red-haired woman to enter the throne room. She had vibrant green eyes that reflected the sun cast from the windows, and her hair looked even brighter as the light caught each strand. She walked with a grace and dignity that betrayed her elven heritage, but the smile on her face also allowed the others to know human blood also flowed through her veins.

She crossed the hall, her leather boots thunking gently against the floor with each step, until she came to a stop beside the Mage. Giving the shorter girl a soft smile for a moment, she quickly sweeps into an exaggerated bow. As overdone as the bow was, it was genuine, respectful, a clear indication the half-elf was not wasting anyone's time.

"My Queen, I am Caelvanna Youngoak, and I have come to assist in your quest to save the King. Please, if you would have me, I lend you my bow." The young woman looked up, green and gold-flecked eyes sparkling.

It wasn't long before the doors were opened again, allowing a young man with pale skin, dressed in somewhat flamboyant, though dark, clothing, to enter. He was equipped with a strange looking saber, and had nearly no armor on. Of course, Auren wasn't fazed by the fact that he had no armor- his sword was his weapon and armor. He approached the throne; it was obvious that he wasn't intending for any theatrics or anything, but he still walked with a grace that was unnatural. His brooding black-red eyes swept around the room, analyzing it for any potential threats, before focusing on the queen.


It was then he bowed. It was stiff, as if Auren wasn't used to such formalities, but really, he wasn't good at formal events at all. After all, he had to wrestle down the thoughts that were screaming at him to tear out the throats of everyone... he distracted himself by presenting himself before the queen: "Your Majesty, I am Auren Corve, a student of the sword art of Galth'rin. I have heard that your husband is in need of a cure, and that competent people are needed." At this, he smiles faintly, showing he meant no harm with that slight sarcasm, before continuing, "I hope you'll allow me to help you, and join these two adventurers." After saying this, he glances at the two next to him.

Sybelle smiled back, then turned her attention back to the queen as the latter spoke. "Thank you, Caelvanna. The two of you shall leave in the morning. Now, Sybelle, what did you find on the stone?" Sybelle eyes lit up when she was called upon to speak. Her words were clear as she spoke, "I have read as much information as I could Your Majesty. According to my research The Healing Stone should be in the Northern Mountains, most likely in the Ruins Of The Gods." The queen nodded. When the doors opened, a newcomer walking in and asking to join. The queen nodded. "You may join in their quest. I appreciate your help. Sybelle will fill you in. Now, please excuse me I am to return to my chambers." The queen left, leaving the three alone. "I am Sybelle, and this is Caelvanna. Thank you for joining our quest. Tomorrow morning we will leave to head into the Ruins Of The Gods in the Northern Mountains to find the Healing Stone," her eyes held a hint of humor as she added, "I hope the two of you like danger."

The Halfelf looked to Bel as she spoke, and then over her shoulder when once again the doors opened. The queen asked Bel to tell the newcomer what was going on, before she departed. Cay bowed a much more normal bow as the Queen left, rising only when it was just the three of them left in the room. Bel introduced them both to the man, a smile resting upon her lips. After Bel had explained once more what they would be doing, along with the quip at the end, Cay laughed lightly.

"What is fun without a little danger?" Her own eyes sparkled with humor before she looked back to the man. "I suppose we should get to know each other first." She cleared her throat gesturing a hand over her shoulder to where her bow rested against her back. "My preferred weaponry is my bow and arrows. I have the ability to imbue the arrows with elemental magic." She looked to Bel. "Judging by your well thought out research, I would like to venture a guess you are a mage? I've known too few an individual interested in reading who did not wield magic." She smiled genuinely, before looking to Auren. "I am unfamiliar with the art of the sword, it will do us well to have you on the field."

Auren nodded a recognition at the half-elf's words, before replying, "It will be good to have an archer at my back: I won't be swarmed or shot at by other archers." He then turned to Sybelle, and asked her, "If it's alright, I would like to know your specialty. Do you focus on healing, or some sort of abjuration?"

It pays to know how people in a group work. That way, they can figure out ways to mesh together better... Blood...

Auren's darker thoughts inturrupted his train of thought. bloodbloodbloodbloodthirstyhungerblooddrink... In an attempt to push out the thoughts, he introduces himself, again: "As I stated before, I am Auren Corve. I am a Galth'rin blademaster, which normally focuses on the art of dueling. However, my style is slightly different than the norm, and I am more able to take on multiple foes better than other blademasters."

Sybelle pondered on his question for a moment. She had studied different types of magic, though elemental magic more so. Finally thinking up a reply, she answered, "I know the bare minimum in healing. As for abjuration... I do know a little bit of it, as well as a couple other types. I focused primarily of elemental magic throughout my studying, so you could say it is my 'specialty'."

She took noticed to his strange behavior, but didn't call him out on it. Instead, she asked him about his craft. "I have seen blademasters at work, and they live up to their name well. I highly respect them, to be honest."

Cay nodded at Auren’s comment, smiling, then followed his eyes to Bel’s. It was a good question; Cay had assumed she was simply a conjuration mage, not so much a healer. Her mother's people had other terms for them. Out of the corner of her eye she noted Auren’s strange action, but all walks of life had their quirks, so she thought nothing of it.

Instead she focused on Bel as she seemed to ponder the question. Even humans had their own terms for things, Mage could mean one thing to one person and something entirely different to the next. Wasn’t language beautiful?

So she and the other girl had their similarities with elemental magic, but she already had a leg up on Cay, as Cay had no abilities regarding healing. And she was not very good at the sword, so Auren had a leg up there too. All in all, they had their strengths and weaknesses, and she hoped they would play off each others skills well.

“Hopefully if anyone else heeded the call, it will be an actual healer.” It wasn’t meant to be an insult. “Not that your healing isn’t good of course,” She quickly added, looking to Bel, “but it would do us better for you to be able to focus on your specialty, and have a healer to focus on theirs.”

(Sorry for the wait- I was trying to see if yourfathersuncle would jump in.)

Auren nodded in agreement at that statement Caelvanna made. It would be nice to have a healer... Even if it didn't affect him. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. He then proceeded to business.

"Mage Evara, do you have a specific planned route for us, in order to get to the Ruins of the Gods?" he asked. He didn't ask her what she suspected the cure might be, just the path. It was too early to tell anything; the king could have just as easily have been poisoned as have become ill.

Sybelle cringed slightly at what he called her, rather uncomfortable with the formality. "Sybelle, or Bel, is fine with me, Auren. I do in fact have a planned route, but there is no telling if we may have to change course.

"We will cut through the forest, which will take four days at least. A days travel from then will take us to a village. We will stop there to restock on any supplies we need, and rest. It will take a few more days to reach the bottom of the mountains. It wouldn't be much longer from there until we reach the ruins," She explained, reciting the plan she spent days trying to figure out. The mage let out a small sigh, before adding, "The trip there should be less than two weeks. On the way back, we go as fast as we can."

Caelvanna listened to both man and woman speak, taking mental notes from both parties. Bel made it clear she disliked formality, which Cay was glad for since the only formal speech she ever used was saved for higher classes such as the King and Queen. She smiled to herself, as she had already used an internal dialog calling Sybelle one of her preferred nicknames, Bel. Quickly shaking off that thought, the half-elf woman watched Bel speak as she laid out the plan before them. It was an unflawed plan, save for a couple of things.

“We will need supplies, and we will also need to keep our guards up. With this announcement that the king is ill, there are likely others who may be seeking the very thing we are with the intention to use it to overthrow the kingdom.” It might have been a little dramatic, but if magic was involved, for good or evil, someone bad was usually looking for it too.

Again, the half-elf speaks true. However... "Wait a moment, mistress archer, can you not hunt the food for us? The mountains are plentiful this time of year, I hear." Auren said, with a straight face. Too straight.

After a moment, he smiled slightly, and adopts a business tone again. "We will need tents, flint and steel, pitons and ropes, bags, either torches or lanterns, oh, and one of those magical bags." Auren listed, then continued in a dry tone, "Food, as well, if Arche- Caelvanna isn't feeling like feeding us chicks. Do tell me if I forgot anything."

Also, he asked Sybella, "Tell us about these woods. Are they safe? Or are they a dragon infested, hellspawned, warped incarnation of evil?" It would just be his luck if they were. Cursed Half breeds like him never were lucky.

Bel but back a laugh at his description. She eased his concious by replying, "The most harmful things in the woods would be rogues, possibly a dark magic user or two. I traveled through them on the way here, so I'd say they aren't too bad." Sybelle then mentally ran through of what she had prepared.

Tents.

Fire starter supplies (though unnecessary).

Dried food.

Ropes.

The lost continued as she checked off each one. She laughed. "The flint and steel is a bit unnecessary, but I packed some anyways. I've got dried meat, bread, and other foods that will not bad immediately.

"Food won't be a problem if it comes down to it. I know most edible plants and yes, as you said Auren, I can hunt." She smiled, but then her face got more serious. "But yes, what you said is what I mean, but also medicinal. Some, more potent medicines would take weeks to make effective. I can create salves from plantlife on the go but they will not be as good if we got them from a true apothecary. A healer would be best, but at this point, we really cannot expect one to just show up as we need them. We should also pack antidotes for possible poisons. As Bel had said, users of dark magic may linger in the woods, and they can poison plants and animals to a point I won't recognize until after we eaten. It might be overkill, sure, but since our mission is so dire with the King on his deathbed, I do not want to leave any stone unturned, if you can understand."

She shifted the bow on her back, reaching up to fiddle with the strap crossing her chest. She could deal with rogues, most of them were cowards who ambushed caravans. It was the dark ones she was concerned about. There was no question of the skill the other two had; they had come here on their own without pressure, just as she had. But she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. She wanted to be careful.

Though he felt that Caelvanna WAS going slightly overboard, he agreed with the sentiment of bandits being more active now that the king was ill. When the cat is away, the mice will play. As he thought about how this adventure was going to go, his darker side began to creep in.

Rip their throats. Drink their blood. Bloodbloodblood...

Auren distracted himself by resuming the conversation: "Well, I guess the feast is about ready to start." At the mention of food, his stomach-firmly human- drove out any thoughts of blood. He turned to head to the kitchen.

Auren continues, "However well we plan, there will always be suprises. An adventure wouldn't be one without them."

(Sorry for the wait. Waiting for yourfathersuncle to join, but then decided to give him an opening.)

The female mage nodded fondly, recalling the many times unexpected things had happened in her travels. "What you speak is true Auren. An adventure is boring without something to spice it up."

Her stomach growled, Sybelle then realizing that she had barely eaten anything at all that day. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before turning to the doors. "He's right, the feast is about to start. Let's eat!" She called over her shoulder as she made her own way to the feast.

Cay followed both of her companions.

It wasn’t hard to find the feast, the smell itself leads the group right to it. The banquet hall was full of delicious smells, and even more smells were pouring out of the half-door, it's top open and bottom closed, of the kitchen on the other side of the banquet hall. Hundreds of candles had been lit, in candelabras along the table, in sconces lining the walls and even high up in the glistening chandeliers. The candles cast a warm, flickering glow that reminded Cay fondly of her time back home. It was a welcoming feeling, and the girl was indeed famished from her traveling.

Royalty and their extravagant meals...there was enough food here to feed a dozen families, Caelvanna noted. There were many types of meat, even seafood, and just as many sides. There was even an entire pig taking up the center of the long table. There were jugs of water and mead, wines and ales. She could even make out some high decorated elven wine flasks mixed in. That made her smile.

“Well what are we waiting for? The royal cooks have done all this for us, why don’t we dig in before it gets cold?" The half-elf gestured to the three obvious seats left for them.

Auren needed no further invitation. He sauntered over to the left seat, sat down, and eagerly- as much as his restrained self would allow him- set food onto his plate. However, before he ate, he did a ritual he always did on dinners: he prayed.

Auren was not a spiritual man, definitely not a priest. However, his father was devout, and prayed to his gods, and his uncle did too, in addition to the assasin's god of darkness. What or who Auren prayed to, though, even Auren didn't know. He simply followed this habit, asking for a change of luck, relief from the curse he was born with.

After finishing, he decided to remain polite, and eat after the two ladies sat down and gathered their food to eat. He followed habits instilled into him by men better than he, after all.

She fetched her food quickly, sitting in the center in between the warrior and the elf. Before Bel ate she silently said a quick thanks to the Gods for their meal, and helped herself. She could never understand how anyone could eat such divine and exotic foods all of the time. She herself had never seen this much on one table before.

Sybelle surprised herself at the amount that she ate--which even on a normal day was quite a bit--but even she had to replenish herself after quite a long day. As she helped herself to some of the desserts, her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Was everything ready for the quest? Was she ready? The queen was no stranger to her, as she had done a few tasks for her before. This was much larger in scale than what she had to do previously, though. More doubts raced through her mind, as much as she tried to stay positive. She finished off her last helping, waiting quietly for her comrades to finish.

Caelvanna had gone to the right seat, having let the others chose their chairs before her. She set her gear against the chair before she sat. Her eyes scanned over the table again, subtly getting a peripheral view of the other two praying. The napkin decorating her plate was quickly placed over her knees. She would join them after she gathered her food. And Elves loved food, even though it wasn’t something they were particularly known for. Usually, it was the fine wines and meads. But a good meal paired with a good drink would soothe anyone's soul after a day of hard work, and although most of her day had been travel, the meal proved to do just that. She made an effort to pick foods neither of her companions had chosen. It wasn’t that she may have particularly liked those items, but she wasn’t picky, and it showed a good form that something was sampled from each dish.

And then there was the wine. Oh, the delightful, Elvish wine. Cay had liked many kinds of drinks but never had she enjoyed anything more than a good Elvish spirit. When she had the food steaming on her plate, and her goblet filled with the Kingdoms finest Elvish wine, did she bring her hands together in prayer. It was silent, like the others, but the words flowed through her mind like they had every day since words could form upon her lips. She had learned the prayer in Elvish, as well as common, and for the longest time as a child, every meal was practically an adventure when her parents decided to change it upon her. At least they had a sense of humor.

When the prayer was done, and the ending punctuated with a slight tilt of the head, she opened her eyes and smiled again. Prayer was serious. Eating was not.

She did not eat quickly, nor was she slow. She had this delicate balance to uphold; eating and both enjoying the meal. A quick meal, to the chefs, meant the meal was rushed and not tasted, a grave insult on the time spent on its creation. A prolonged meal could mean the food was forced down, among other things. Yes, Elves could be seen as strange in their ways but her mother did well to teach her proper etiquette. If there was a conversation, that was a different story, but as the other two were focused on their meals, Cay had no problems eating and enjoying said food. And she might have had more than one glass of wine as well.

Even though there were a few questionable choices on her part, the woman cleaned her plate, literally. A hunk of bread was taken at the end, and the leftover juices were promptly mopped up, little by little until the plate could almost pass for untouched. Dabbing her lips with the napkin she had protected her legs with earlier, that too was folded neatly and placed upon the plate.

“Well I think the meal was lovely, and kind of the Queen to offer after such a day of travel, don’t you two agree?” Cay smiled at the other two, breaking the silence.