Welcome to Gaia! ::

Once you exit the strange home it vanishes with the shut door. You are now standing alone on the outskirts of SilverStone kingdom. The gates are opened but are always heavily guarded by the failing light. You may proceed to enter or venture down the beaten path to meet the local villagers tending their farms.

*NOTE*
There are surprises good and bad in both directions, so look hard everywhere you go.

*NOTE2*
More to come:
Introductory Options
Commander Garret

Sakura quietly looks around the armoury seeing little that interests her as she playfully pokes and prods each weapon. Stoping breifly at a table with several raw bars of metal still yet to be formed into a lethal weapon she glances around to see if she is being watched. Quickly she slips two of the bars up her sleaves and continues on.

A brief stop in the kitchen to steal some snackes she makes her way into the library.

Looking in awe at the sheer inormity of the library Sakura browses some of the titles. Picking up a large dusty tome she walks over to a table and sits down to read.

Time passes without notice to Sakura as people pass by her without giving her little form much notice if even seeing her at all. She has totally blended in with her surroundings looking like she has always been there.

Several hours later she finishes the book she was reading. Carefully and with respect usually reserved for royalty shereplaces the heavy tome back from the spot she tok it from. Suddenly realizing that she is hungry again she heads back to the kitchen having long ago finished her snacks. Seeing no one in the kitchen she fills her bag with some provisions and eats her fill.

Once again entering the library Sakura notices the potion, pops the top and drinks the tasty beverage down as she heads out the door.

Zei jumps up onto the catwalk beam and studies the movements of the unharmonious gauntlet. Each obstical is swinging to its own rhythm which begins to hypnotize zei at first. Once he steps into it he ducks and weaves around the blades then dances with the crushing boulders. He is careful of his footing but manages to slip on occasions.


(edited in after roll)
Owne laughs at the clumsyness of Zei's attempt.
"Congratulations Zei you have barely passed the first challenge in one attempt. Now you may retire for the night and see me tomorrow morning for lessons with your swords." the commander notices the scimitars hanging at Zei's sides.

"NEXT!"

The large man recites, "Congratulations, Sakura. You have surprised even me no go rest and tomorrow you will report here for your next assignment. "

After everyone had retired to meander around the town farmers were preparing to call it a days work. Clubs and restaurants were setting up for the evening and even the merchants were closing their tents to relax.

Zei skipped out and ventured the ally of the market looking for something to do with the little change he had saved up. He had not enough to join the clubs or guilds or even buy a fine meal but he always found something inside the fortified walls.

As he stalked around each corner searching for things left behind by the caravans and local merchants. Down the sixth row was a sparkling amulet sitting on the ground in the shadows. With caution Zei approached the object analyzing the circumstances. It seemed safe but there are always bandits lurking after the failing light. Zei was able to pick the item up before he heard some scuffling of feet rounding the bend. He quickly ducked behind a pillar to the side.

(Sorry I wasn't really on last night.)

As the feet were coming closer and closer, Zei noticed he put himself in the dead end ally and had no way to escape unnoticed. The muffled voices were becoming more clear and he could only make out certain words over their clomping boots. "...I want... Kill Garret..." He was shocked as how they could even think of harming the weapon master in their kingdom. He knew it must have been a bandit leader or a rouge assassin but where could he go? If they had a suspision he had a clue of what he heard they would surly strike him dead with no hesitation. Just as Zei's hand slipped off of the wall he fell backwards through a break in the wall he cowered behind. He rolled downward for several rounds of head over feet before slamming into a door.

It was dark and the smell of musky mold made it obvious he was underground. The light from above was just enough to shine on the handles of this smaller door and he pulled hard to open them. The feet stopped just around the break in the wall and he slipped in the door and closed it quietly behind him. In front of him now were candles along the wall of a hallway that led to stairs reaching upward. He proceeded and was not sure he has seen this building before. After reconsidering the foundation and the everyday fixtures he noticed it was completely constructed out of books. He darted around the bookcases and nearly tripped over the book spine floor.

Zei pulled out the object he picked up earlier and had an idea. If these are all books maybe they could help him identify this object. As he searched around he found a small figure girl reading comfortably between... well, books.

"Excuse me." He called out. "Arn't you Sakura? From Garret's gauntlet lesson? Yes it must be! That was awesome how you rode the boulders around." He paused for a minute remembering what he overheard just a moment before stumbling into this place. It was obvious something was now troubling him.

He looks at her quizzically. "The same could be asked of you, however I see your reading." then he crosses his arms. "I also take offense to your statement. I did not break in. I just fell into a hole and came out here." He scratched his head for a moment realizing he was thinking about something. He pulls out the amulet and holds it out towards Sakura. "Perhaps you can help me discover the origin of this and why I have found it?"

The amulet is made of silver and has a emerald arachnid symbol in the center.

"alright.. then hold this." He hands Sakura the amulet and takes the book and opens it. He scans the pages and shakes his head. "Arrg... Its too complicated..." He continues to look for pictures but only finds one. He looks at the amulet, squints, then nods his head. "Yeup, thats the one... what does it do..." He thumbs back a few pages and starts form the beginning.

"AH!" He stuffs the book into his satchel and grins. "Follow me we have no time to waste. Lives are at stake.!" He stumbles through the darkness and knocks over a few things before finding the stairs he came up from. "This will take us to the market, don't ask me why. But I need to see Garret right away I think he is in trouble."

Mean while...

Commander Garret was just about to lock his door before it crashed open, knocking the larger man back a few steps.
"What the..."
Before he could speak any more his axe was in his hands while three dark figures bounded for his limbs. They thrashed about and Garret had the upper hand. He threw one into the wall , another out the window and the last was taking the blunt of the axe handle. It seemed it was under control until smoke screen filled the room in a flash. Garret choked from the inhaling gas and his vision became blurry. Another three dark figures scrambled around and knocked him over. He was dizzy and slowly the smoke made him fall asleep.

Garrets room is in disarray from the violent scene. Only the busted door and drag marks are signs of foul play. The dragging of what appears to be a large man ends just before the field in front of the forest to the east. From here on there are no signs of tracks or any movments at all, save for a burnt ring of grass.