It had been another week since Phoenix and Dazien had spoken with the Scholar in her temple. The party found themselves with a rare day off from their wall patrols, and the Wayland siblings found themselves alone at their family Estate in Tulimeir. While she had been portalng them back to their new home near...
Saiya was nervous as Uriel led her through the temple of the Mender back to the room filled with a plethora of pillows that Priest Jacob called a meeting room. She wasn’t positive about what the cinderen was planning, but he was remaining calm at least.
Much of his anger had left after their ta...
2024-07-26 00:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
“I did not know he would be put into a stasis like that,” the small goddess said slowly and deliberately, “I was working off the assumption that as long as the ritual itself was of the correct Caste, then it would cause a link similar to what I have seen another Soul Reaper do to a Caster within the wo...
Knight Veldrix Thevaris was displeased by the turn of events that had interrupted their fairly pleasant evening. They managed to destroy the monsters easily enough –none of them beyond Sapphire Caste– but the knight hadn’t been able to determine who in the city had managed to use the Soul Reaper’s ri...
Everin was surprisingly enjoying his time with the Royal Knight, who had moved into a room at the Ducal Palace for the time being. Veldrix had an odd sort of patience about them that he had come to appreciate as he had shown them around the city during their free moments together.
The Ruby Caster was u...
2024-07-23 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Phoenix was horrified by the details that surrounded Uriel’s time in captivity. It turned out that the level of manipulative conditioning the cinderen had gone through as a young teen put Patricia’s level of political maneuvering to shame.
She learned that one of those conditioned responses was tha...
2024-07-20 00:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
As Saiya slowly opened the door to Dazien’s room and peeked inside, she was further dismayed by the sight that matched the emotions she was sensing. Bliss had come to retrieve her from the party, claiming more cookies were needed before disappearing towards the kitchens while she had made her way upstairs ...
Uriel felt lighter than he had in longer than he could remember. With yet another person sitting beside him to support the weight of his worries and fears, the reassurance that maybe he wasn’t completely irredeemable grew a bit stronger. Maybe it wasn’t just a fluke with Dazien or part of the job like wi...
Phoenix thought over the list of people “in the know” for Uriel’s divine secret. Most made sense if the goal was limiting access to it but that idea nagged a bit at her, “Wait, if the AOA Director and duke both know…” she hesitated, realizing what she was about to say might come off as an insult ...
Uriel didn’t even dare to breathe as he watched Phoenix’s eyes go wide and lock onto the Soul Mark. He had never worked up the courage to tell anyone himself before. The people that currently knew were either present at the time or had been told by others. Phoenix was the first person that he had wil...
Uriel found himself packing his more permanent belongings for the fourth time in his entire life. The first had been when he had aged out of the Temple of the Parent at sixteen and moved into the little apartment in the International District. Dazien had joined him there a year later and the pair had lived t...
“You know, I should have thought about this before I said ‘yes’, but do you think people are going to wonder if I’m a parent now that I have the mark of the Parent added to this?” Phoenix asked Dazien as she borrowed the large mirror in his room to double-check her appearance and gest...
Uriel lay in bed idly playing with Dazien’s freshly unbraided hair as the gemite slept beside him. The Defender had always been a heavier sleeper than him, which allowed him moments like this. Moments of peace and quiet contemplation away from the noise of the world with the person who kept him grounded. H...
“Phoenix, you can’t ever accept that lie,” Everin said sternly to her, “Trickster cannot be trusted. Even when she tells the truth, sometimes, it is misdirection and only intended to make you fall prey to the trick. The best thing you can do is forget everything she said....
Phoenix had been happy to see Uriel again that morning. She had wanted to thank him for helping her out last night. His presence had become a desperately needed comfort lately. No matter how crazy things got or how much she messed things up with Paul, Presley, or anyone else, he had been there for her. Uriel...
Patricia wasn’t sure how to feel about walking in to retrieve her niece, only to find her in the arms of the man she had begged to leave them the day before. Nor did she know how to respond to the pile of furry tails all over the six people in said niece’s bed of cloudy nebula.
Saiya was snuggled i...
2024-07-06 00:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
“Thank you for making the time to meet with me,” Patricia said as she sat down across a small desk from a priestess of the Parent named Yua Yavuz. She was an older cinderen that had been working at the temple for decades.
“My pleasure to be of service, Ambassador Wayland, especially to such a pre...
2024-07-05 00:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Phoenix and Dazien ended up running into the Obsidian Caster at the Alliance of Adventurers’ headquarters as they sought out Director Trayvious. Informing both women at the same time about the imminent threat of more than just high-Caste monsters in the near future.
Agatha thanked them for the confir...
2024-07-04 00:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Phoenix made sure to be completely restocked on potions now, including ones that cleansed various types of Banes. The Cultivator’s Citadel and local alchemists had been overworking themselves, trying to replenish what had been used during the Soul Reaper’s assault. Unfortunately, this made it harder to e...
Phoenix stared up in awe at the tree that had grown even more in her time away. After agreeing earlier that evening to let Everin hold onto the Flame of Life for his own reassurances, she had been informed that the entire Wayland family would be relocating to the World Tree soon and Patricia wanted everyone...
Everin was feeling more on edge than he had in a long time. Aside from Kara being a potential threat just by her very nature of being an Obsidian Caster, there wasn’t really much reason for the Paladin of the Champion to want to end his life.
The Royal Executioner of the Monarchy of Blo...
2024-06-29 00:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
“Thank you, Lady Dewsong,” a middle-aged cinderen said from behind the group as Rayna’s dirge came to a sorrowful end.
Phoenix recognized him immediately yet had never actually met the man before because his son, Simmon, was practically the spitting image of him. Dazien greeted him for the ...
2024-06-28 00:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Phoenix was a bundle of nerves the following morning as she donned the white dress and stared at her mess of red curls in the mirror. She debated on using her Prism Brush to help style it and get it under control. Only briefly did she contemplate using it to change it completely and try to hide her identity,...
Phoenix was sitting on the floor between a low coffee table and the fireplace, its warmth radiating up her back. She was wearing a simple sundress, which she usually only wore around the house due to its lack of layers or coverage, along with cuff-style bracelets that helped hide her Oathbond.
On the t...
2024-06-26 00:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Veldrix wasn’t sure if they were concerned or impressed when they met the Emerald Caste Lord Ethan Teras, who looked more sleep-deprived than any Caster at that level should be. Judging from the stagnant smell in the Magi’s workshop, the man hadn’t left or probably even stopped working within it for we...
“Again,” Paul would say as Phoenix completed the complex form for wielding two daggers against an invisible opponent during their morning training exercises in the room they normally used at their shared home.
Paul wasn’t here, though.
The memories of his voice and assessing gaze were, howe...
2024-06-22 00:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Knight Veldrix Thevaris pulled the hood of their cloak further down over their head, better hiding their sparkling red hair, as they approached the enormous city walls of Tulimeir. They were impressive for the zone normally being so much lower than the magic required to sustain the enchantments and weapons o...
Patricia Wayland was exhausted to the extreme despite getting her full three hours of sleep every other day. She had been strained even before losing her brother to the strange curse that came with his deviated Talent that Everin explained to her and that she confirmed with a Knowledge Tablet and Identificat...
As the party moved among the sharp rocks at the bottom of the icy gorge earlier, Phoenix felt the various auras of her friends encompass hers like ripples in a pond, one after the other adding their effects to strengthen and protect one another. Dazien’s aura had become stronger with his ascension and the ...
While Kara was having fun helping Presley hide in one of the high-tech barrels the obsessed Obsidian Caster had discovered, Phoenix and her team, along with the other clergy members, were looking around the ship’s facilities that were still intact, which was surprisingly most of it, though there were some ...