User:Nextoy/Rookchester/5

A lot has been said about Gigaza. In all honesty it’s the most lively town in the entire continent, if not the world. Then again, it’s essentially this world’s equivalent of Earth’s Middle East: the crossroads to three major paths. In this case the continent mainland, the Shaman Islets, and the technological island metropolis of Jularga.

Due to this there is an insanely large level of hustle and bustle going about nearly everywhere. This was a much different kind of busy then Hazara Nevasa though, as Gigaza was one of the few neutral cities in the world. Many came there, many left, but very few ever stayed, and most of the ones that did usually owed a debt to someone else.

It was a city that rose with the sun and set with the moon, with very different crowds for morning, night, and evening, and always a large variety of people. You never know who will find their way to you, or where they’ll go when they’re lost. The only thing you can know is that they are always moving, as all travelers do.

Rowan was one such traveler, only there to complete the final trial. However it wasn’t until he got there that he remembered what he was supposed to do there. Not only that, but Norris was in no way able to find out what was going on.

To make things worse they had the Chastiel looking for them. Course Rowan had no idea that this was a bad thing at the time, but he would soon come to learn why. In fact it was when they first arrived that things started to go south

After all, ever since Airships went contraband there had been tighter security in airports around the continent, especially in a big city like Gigaza. And since Rowan was unaware of the contraband, he was also unaware of the check in stand being an issue.

“Oh, shouldn’t we go over and-” Rowan was about to ask before Norris cut him off.

“Now ah don’t know where you’ve been, but technically we’re not even supposed to be here mate. I’d suggest you quietly get a move on.” Norris told him, walking off. Course when Rowan followed, he was stopped by one of the security officers.

“You sir. Can you come here for a moment?” The guard asked, Rowan nodding and walking to him. “You look like one of the pictures on that wanted board there, and so does your friend. Can I have your names?”

“Why of course. I’m Rowan Rookchester, Rune Master of Survira.” He answered, grinning.

“Rowan, eh? I’m afraid you’ll have to come with me then.” The guard answered, grabbing Rowan and pulling him to the side. “Now what have you been doing? You’ve been caught not only on accounts of murder, but also for abandoning your trials.”

“Abandoning? I was told to meet someone here in Gigaza.” Rowan corrected, the guard laughing.

“Here? There aint nothing here for you. The trials and always and will always be exclusive to Hazara Nevasa.” The guard informed. “Now if you don’t excuse me, I’ll have to ship you off to there. Today!”

Fortunately however Norris had noticed his partner missing and doubled back just in time to give the guard a solid hammer fist to his helmet, knocking him out.

“That’s enough trouble from you for today. Now then, let’s go.” Norris told his airheaded partner, walking back off. This time Rowan was quick to follow, and both of them made it out of the aerodome before anyone could tell what happened.

Upon reaching the docks they could see many different stalls and shops lining the piers; the market just as diverse as in Hazara Nevasa, if not possibly more so. But among these shops one stood out in particular. While otherwise blank and dull, Rowan noticed it had a runic symbol where any normal shop sign would have been. Specifically a protection rune.

“Hey, you mind if we meet back up later?” He asked, Norris turning to him.

“Not at all, but Ah can’t save ya from any trouble that way y’know.” Norris answered.

“Oh it’s fine, I just want to check out the shops a little. I saw a sign saying that there was a cafe just around the corner from here, so maybe we could meet up in two or three hours?”

“Sounds fine to me. See ya then.” Norris told him before turning back around and walking off.

Now Rowan’s first priority would be to find whoever he was sent to look for. However the problem was that he couldn’t remember what he was even doing there.

Well now what? He asked himself in the comfort of his own mind, a pondering expression on his face as he walked along the main road. During his thoughts he bumped into a large, muscular man who was in an obviously bad mood.

“Watch it ya pipsqueek!” The man warned Rowan, who was unaware of the man’s presence.

“Oh, my apologies.” Rowan told him, scratching his head. “Guess I was lost in my thoughts.”

“Well how about you get lost in my fist!?” The man yelled, an older man stepping forward.

“Now, now, I would leave him be if I were you.” The older man tells him, raising up his cane.

“What’d you...” The thug-like man started before he looked at the elder. “Uh... yes sir...” He corrected himself, walking off.

“I’m sorry about those ruffians. I hope you're quite alright.” The elder asked Rowan nodding in response.

“Yeah, perfectly fine. Why’d they dart off like that, though?” Rowan asked.

“You must be new here.” The elder told him with a grin before he motioned with his cane for Rowan to follow. As they walked along eventually they arrived back at the seaside boardwalk, stalls passed them by one by one. However an odd building stood in the middle of them, where they two went inside.

“I’m guessing you’re the owner?” Rowan pointed out as he looked around.

“Yes. In fact I’m this city’s sage.” The elder answered, knocking something off the wall and catching it. “And you must be Rowan, correct?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Rowan asked in confusion.

“Simple: very few people these days wander randomly quite as well as you do.” He answers, putting the picture on a desk. “Plus I should at least remember my own grandson.” The elder added on, turning around to smile.

“Wait... Grandfather Riker, is that you?” Rowan asked, grinning wildly as the elder grinned back. “My god, how long has it been?”

“Long enough for you and your sister to get in a heap of trouble, that’s for sure. I’ve heard that she’s gone missing and you’re being hunted on criminal charges.” Riker explained, Rowan getting an obvious look of shock.

“Criminal charges? Of what kind?”

“Murder and contraband. They say you killed dear Gwen and rode off in an airship.” Riker explained. “And since I know you’d never kill anyone, and that they never found the body, obviously you were framed for something.”

“Well it is true me and Gwen killed someone... but it wasn’t her, I can tell you that. I came here looking for her as a part of my trials.” Rowan explained, balling up his fist a little. Why would they tell people that? Why not just say what actually happened?

“But what reason would they have to explain it like that?” Rowan asked, looking around the various staves and tomes in the room.

“Well probably because of your strong, yet unrefined, grasp over magic.” Riker answered honestly. “After all, with the rumors of the Shamans having entered the mainland they might find it convenient to pair you with them.”

“Pair me with them? Like as in having me work for them?” Rowan asked, shocked.

“Of course. They’ve been cracking down on self-trained magic users for a while now. It seems that they might be massacring self-trained magicians these days.” Riker explained.

“Odd. They haven’t had a problem with it before.” Rowan replied, grabbing a tome and looking at the cover. The front reads Flaming Ambitions: The uses and weaknesses of fire magic.

“I’m almost certain its the new Grand Chastiel.” Riker told him. “They ushered a new one about a year ago, and this started roughly three months later. I’m not willing to call it a coincidence just yet.” He explained.

“Hmm...” Rowan hummed to himself as he was casually reading the book. He usually reads tomes like these when thinking. It help him focus, in an odd way.

When properly performing your fire spell, always ensure that there’s nothing flammable that would block off your own mobility and/or abilities. Trapping your opponent may be a good way of pressuring them, but it's good to keep in mind that the same can be done to you if unthought or improper planning is behind your tactics. The book read as he skimmed through it, which Rowan was sure would be odd to a non-magician that fire would have to have such careful forethought.

“Hey, mind if I stay here for a few days?” Rowan asked. “I’m supposed to meet someone here, but judging that its probably a trap they are either not counting on me being here, or have someone waiting as an insurance plan.” He explained, still flipping through the book.

“Of course. I need a shop hand anyways, so how about you work for me until you leave? I’ll give you a decent amount of money, a room to stay, and we can alternate breakfast and dinner. How’s that sound?” Riker offered, walking over to the counter towards the back of the room.

“Sure.” Rowan told him. “And as always I’m allowed to borrow one book at a time, so long as it’s not being sold or leaves the building right?”

“Of course, as always.” Riker answered, with Rowan walking up the stairs, obviously absorbed into his book.

As a wielder of flame, your magic has three natural enemies on the elemental wheel. Ice, Water, and Earth. Now Water is obvious, and Ice can be nullified if your flame is stronger, but Earth is something you must be tricky about. While a novice of Earth magic may just end up fueling your power, a master will know the properties of flame. It’s best to treat your flames with a bit more chaos and play mind games with them. Just remember to stay mobile. Earth may be slow at times, but it is always strong.

Some time later Riker walked into the upper room with scroll in his hand and some food, placing them in a pot on the table as he spread the scroll along a counter. He took out another pot and filled it up with water before placing it on a large, circular marking on the scroll. and snapping his fingers, causing a small flame to appear beneath the second pot.

“Still haven’t figured out what a stove is, have you?” Rowan teased, looking up from his book.

“I own a magic shop, remember?” Riker replied, laughing a little.

“Yeah, and you’re using your income.” Rowan teased, laughing along.

“I’m a senile old man, where’re your manners?” Riker teased back, laughing a little louder. Rowan and his grandfather continued back and forth like this for a while, taking short breaks every few minutes between topics.

Once the stew Riker prepared was done he set the pot - along with two bowls, a serving spoon, and two table spoons - were placed on the table, with Rowan placing his book underneath to keep it clean.

“So what brought you here, of all places?” Rowan asked, taking a spoonful of the stew.

“As primarily a water mage in life I thought it would be fitting to live the rest of my life near the waves. Consider this shop my retirement.” He answered honestly, chuckling a bit as a seagull landed on the window sill.

“Must be nice, waking up to the sound of the waves and the fresh sea breeze.” Rowan told him, watching the seagull as it hopped over to a piece of bread that had fallen onto the floor.

“You know, when they squawk it’s almost like they’re saying ‘Mine.’” Riker pointed out, taking another bite.

“I know right? Its funny to watch them squawk and chase after any poor fish that got on the pier.” Rowan added on, laughing a little as the gull watched them eat.

“Oh no, that’s enough for you. Go on now.” Riker told it, watching the gull fly off.

“So what about our little shop here? You get many customers?” Rowan asked, looking at him as he ate.

“Mostly tourists who don’t know about magic. But I learned to stock extra on beginner’s books because of this. Saddens me that there are very few mages in the city. However fortunately most of them are regulars for me, as I’m the only generalized magic shop in town.” Riker answered, turning to him.

“Maybe I can find someone here who could teach me a thing or two then.” Rowan pointed out, thinking about it while eating.

“Probably. Even I could, if by nothing else then allowing you to borrow books for a time.” Riker told him, chuckling to himself. With that they ate their fill before putting the pot and its remaining contents in the refrigerator near the makeshift stove.

It wasn’t long after dinner that the sun began to set. Night was coming, and the shift in crowds was becoming very apparent. While the streets were quieter, more shady people walked along it. Long coats, hooded robes, and larger hats were common along the night crowd. However Rowan hadn’t noticed this, as he spent the rest of his waking hours reading the book he had borrowed.

As a fire magician, one of your greatest enemies may be someone who doesn’t use magic at all. Instead, an armor clad knight can be your true nemesis. Most fire magic won't affect their armor, and not much more to the man inside. With them, there are almost no non-lethal approaches to combat. The best you can hope for against one of them is to either intimidate them into fleeing or surrendering, or pressure them into allowing you to escape. If neither situation is possible, then all you can do is weigh the risks of killing them vs the risks of surrendering.

This is the last paragraph he read before closing the book and falling asleep. As someone who used fire rarely, it was a nice insite for him. But it was time for bed, and he responded to this by turning out the light, closing his eyes and resting his head.

That night Rowan's dream took a darker turn. In it he saw himself clothed in a midnight black robe, surrounded by many others in similar outfits with all of their hoods up.

"So this is our new initiative?" One of them asked, pointing at Rowan. This, as well as his new outfit and the featureless room he appeared in, confused him.

"Not quite." Another one answered. "He has yet to show anything worth our while."

"What do you mean?" Rowan cried out, jumping awake from a surge of dark magic. His Grandfather looked over at him, confused.

Rowan explained his dream when he was asked, receiving a stern, yet also concerned, look.

"Rowan... either you're under a nightmare curse or, worse, the Chastiel know something that we don't." Riker explained, sighing between the two options.

"What do you mean?" Rowan asked while his grandfather picked a book off of the book shelf in the back of the room.

"If it was a nightmare curse then you find the counter charm in chapter eight of this book, otherwise..." Riker explained, handing it over. The book's cover read The Mystical Side of Dreams and Nightmares. Rowan looked at the index before turning to chapter eight, which he saw was only a few pages long.

Chapter 8: Repelling Nightmares and Related Curses


 * When under the influence of a nightmare or dream-based curse, several methods are offered to keep dreams peaceful. The first of these options is to create a dream ward, which, when properly enchanted, will block out dreams that are received through magical means.

However if you want to target a specific kind of dream, then a repelling charm is required. Before moving on to the charm of your choice, please go into the glossary in the back and refer to Chapter 2: Understanding Dreams to decide what kind of charm you need. After an hour of searching for the right key words and their meanings Rowan came across  what he believed his dream could of been. If you've came across the Shadow Senate you may be experiencing a Tier Six vision charm, not a nightmare. This is something that cannot be pushed away without great strain to the dreamer. Should you have this dream, the best thing you can do is seek out what the Shadow Senate wished of you.

"Um... thats not good." Rowan spoke aloud, looking over to his grandfather and showing him the passage. Riker stroked the small, grayed beard he had, reading over it before closing the book and putting it away.

"I think it'd be best if you just continued on your day and didn't think about this." Riker told him, handing over a small coin purse. "Here, take this and go into the market for a while."

Rowan nodded and headed out of the shop, walking along the pier as he sees one of the boats come into the harbor. A prisoner ship, though Rowan wouldn't recognize it since he's lived inland all his live. As the ship anchored at the harbor, a boarding plank comes down and people start to walk off of it.

Of them, several different varieties of people were transported to the town. Men, women, demi humans, and even some of them were completely covered by cloaks. Norris then game up to Rowan from behind and placed his hand on the rune mage's shoulder.

"Looks like some of the shops are rolling in. I wonder if any of my old buddies are on there." Norris commented, with Rowan looking up at him.

"You know some of them?" He asked, half curious and half worried.

"Not as of yet, but not everyone's off yet. Might be someone ah used to work with, though." Norris answered, watching the prisoners walk off. A knight came from behind them to one of the men working on the boat.

After a few moments of mumbling to each other one called out, “You two! Come ‘ere!” Norris, clearly suspicious about this, walked ahead of Rowan.

“What seems to be the problem?” Norris asked, dampening his accent a bit.

“I need to have a word wit you two.” The knight asked, his own accent foreign to Rowan, turning his head to the mage. “About this man here.”

“What’s wrong with ‘im?” Norris asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“Maybe you dun’t know, but you are harboring a fugitive.” He replied in a condescending tone. Rowan, honestly shocked, found himself at a loss for words.

“Oi! How’da like for me to be spewin’ words like that without any evidence!?” Norris replied, his stance growing more aggressive.

“I have evidence, do not worry about zat.” The knight replied with a grin, “But I need the other one, too.” He added, his grin fading. “Now where is she?”

“The Chastiel are looking for her.” Rowan answered. “She went missing some time before I headed out of the capital.”

“A likely story. I know you’d never lose track of your sister like that, Rowan.” The knight mused. “Now if you insist that she’s not wit you that means she still must be in town.”

“Hey, if you find here you’ll be doing us both a favor.” Rowan replied, shrugging and shaking his head.

“Especially after I bring you to the Hazara Nevasa wit me.” The knight remarked, dragging him off the ship and towards the commerce center. “And you, sky pirate. Don’t follow and I’ll forget your face.” He added, looking back at Norris. “It iz time we found out what you’ve been planning Monsieur Rookchester.”