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the moment you've all been waiting for has arrived; here's the starting post for Kiral! (see the details in the discussion thread)

Country: Kaimas
City: Maika
District: Harbor

"Damn boat ticket prices," Marcus swore under his breath as he looked at the pricing for a ship across the Malya Sea. Pulling his hood farther over his head so no one would recognize him, he sighed and started walking back to the higher end of Maika. It was two-hundred gold pieces for one person to board a ship, and while Marcus would have much rather taken the quicker route across the water, he was impatient, and wanted to meet with the Thgilsoulholder as soon as possible.
I guess I'll just have to go through the mountain pass, then... he thought, then sighed again, That means I have to face that cliff again... What a pain... Krad's soul surged annoyingly within his body at that thought.
Quit whining; we got over it once, and we'll go over it again, the dark god scolded his host. Marcus rolled his eyes.
You just don't want to cross the sea, he accused.
Need I remind you that the last time we crossed the sea we had to sleep in the storage area far below the boat that reeked of rotting food and dead fish?
I don't like it any more than you do, but it's better than having to be on guard constantly in the middle of the woods with no fire,
Krad was about to make another comment, but just then, Marcus bumped into someone and his hood flung off as a result.
"Gah!" Marcus and the man he ran into both yelped.
"Can't you pay attention to where you're--" the man snapped, but then he gasped. Unfortunetly for Marcus, the man he just bump into was a priest of Thgil, and he recognized him before he could get his hood back on.
"You!" the priest gaped, but Marcus turned tail and ran back towards the harbor before he could do anything. Then the priest and two others started chasing Marcus, yelling things like "Stop!" and "Catch that criminal!" All their yelling did, however, was cause a ruckus and scare citizens away from the streets. Marcus, seeing the situation he was in, quickly stopped, turned, and dark magic glowed on his fingertips.
"Dark Energy Ball!" he cast, and a black ball of dark, almost electrical energy was flung at the priests. On impact, the energy made a small explosion and smoke appeared, blinding and choking the priests.
"A-After him! Don't let him...get away...!" one of the priests yelled, but Marcus was long gone by then, and heading down an alleyway, away from the eyes of the citizens.
Someone, however, was already in the alley with him.

A form passes down the street, seeming to be nothing more then a strong breeze to most as he passes. He continually chants to hold the illusion but his concentration is broken for a moment as a man runs swiftly past, startling him. To most looking on it seems as though the the figure appears out of no where. He notices annoyed that everyone can see him now and watches as some of the guards surround him, while most chase after Marcus.

"Umm pardon me, noble guards, but have I done something wrong?" asks Raid trying to be polite despite his situation.

To them he looks like a monster and seems to have been summoned out of air. No doubt they believe he is a creature called forth by Marcus in their ignorance. He casts around glances nervously then bows, before they can do anything he seems to shimmer in the air and appear everywhere at once. They reach and snatch at the wind born illusions as he slips away after the man that caused him this grief. He is curious what this is all about.

Scrambling across the rooftops, using his vulpine agility, he reaches the spot above the alley and looks down on the two below, observing the scene.

A strange young man was walking down the dusty road, only just crossing over Kaimas' western border from Giangia. He wore dark, natural looking clothing, with a cloak covering his face, and had the obvious features of an Elf. But the main thing was that other than a curious, bright blue snake with pearly-white eyes wrapped loosely around his neck and shoulders, he travelled alone. This was particularly good news for the gruff-looking bandit that came out of the cover of the bush in front of the young man. Smiling with the confidence of fools, he halted the young man's progress with an outstretched hand. "Sorry friend, but to cross here, I'm afraid you'll have to pay the toll." The bandit brandished a long knife menacingly. The young man simply stood for a minute, not moving. The python-sized snake flicked its toungue lazily out, tasting the air and looking at the bandit with uninterested eyes. "You understand what I'm saying to ya? Now hand over your valuables like a good little unigen." the bandit sneered, with an edge of impatience to his voice. The young man seemed to go rigid at that last word--unigen. A racial slurr for elf. The snake hung its head and shook it back and forth, apparently intelligent enough to be disgusted by this cretin. Then snapping its head up with a glint in its eyes, it hissed. Its body rippled down its entire length, and as the ripple passed, the snake changed its solid form for one made of pure electricity, bright white with a bluish tint at the edges. The bandit's dagger dropped, as well as his jaw, and he began walking backwards in fear and confusion. What had he stumbled into? But it was far too late to escape. The young man held his arms down by his sides, hands open, palms forward, and elbows slightly bent. Touching his first finger and thumb together ((like the "a-okay" hand gesture)), a small, white, sparking flame appeared between the two fingers. And in an instant, his entire body was engulfed in a surging electricity. He took a slow step forward with a crackling intimidation. The bandit fell over backwards, scrambling to get away. But again, it was too late. The young man thrust out his arm, the snake-creature instantly slithering down with lightning speed till it was coiled around his arm, with its mouth open towards the bandit. With a resounding BOOM and a flash of light, a single bolt of lightning erupted from the serpents mouth, striking the bandit and killing him instantly. As quickly as they had changed, the young man and snake chenged back, so that he was once again a normal, lone traveller with a curious snake about his neck. Adjusting his cloak and casually stepping over the charred body, the young man, Dex was his name, continued on his way towards the center of Kaimas.

She started to blink more and examine more closely. Amara's mind then started to look back into her memories to find a wanted poster she recently saw to figure out that this person she questioned was indeed the Kradsoulholder. She automatically jumped up and hugged Marcus tightly. "Kraddy!" she squealed in delight excitedly as she stuck onto Marcus like glue. "I've been looking all over for you, Kraddy. Now I don't have to destroy this place," she added.

"Kid?! I resent that! I am much older then you, Marcus," she pouted as she pushed herself up away from him. She brushed herself off from the dust and debris. "I am Amara," she said proudly with a definitive stance. "And ever since I was little, I always thought of Krad as an Idol," Amara pointed out joyfully.

"Oh, so just because I'm a rabbit-lamina, I can't worship Krad," she replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Geez, you must be stupid and prejudice," she said as she leaned against the wall of the alleyway. "No offense, Kraddy, my lord," she immediately added with a cheerful smile.

I like this kid even more now! Krad laughed as Marcus's face turned beat-red at that statement.
"I--wha--huh!?" he stuttered, a look of astonishment on his face, "I only meant that it was rare to find a lamina worshiping Krad! I didn't mean any offense towards it! And you didn't answer my question!"
Just then, a priest had stepped into the alleyway and spotted Marcus.
"Here's where the screams came from! Look! There's the criminal!" he shouted, and Marcus sharply turned around and cursed under his breath. He quickly grabbed the girl and started running.
"Now's really not the time," he growled.

Marcus collapsed to his knees once they stopped. He gasped and panted and swallowed just to keep his lunch from bellying-up.
"Not what I call fun..." Marcus grumbled. Krad was making no comment other than the continuous laughter going off in his hosts' head. Marcus finally got tired of it and screamed out, "WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT!?"
Oh, nothing, Krad answered. Marcus groaned. The dark god obviously knew something about the girl that he wasn't going to tell Marcus about, as he was getting such a kick out of seeing his reactions.
Shouts of the priests, meanwhile, could be heard far behind them. Marcus turned around and saw the group coming up to them. Fast.