It was a rather normal spring day in Sol City, a bustling city, excited shoppers and tourist from all over sight seeing, visiting famous and notable land marks in the capitol. After months of cold winter, people were excited to get out and enjoy the warm weather, basking in the warm sun and taking advantage of the nice atmosphere. It was not uncommon to see the city packed to the brim with people, and today was no exception. 

Plague was not really into sight seeing or basking in sun light however, she had more important things to do. The young chemist furiously paced back and forth in her under ground lab, mixing chemicals and crafting potions. She wore her normal olive green jumpsuit fitted with a hood and plague doctors mask, and was assisted by both Mouse and Sparrow today, her little minions. Their day was going just as normal as the world above them, running through their normal routines and day to day activities. 

Things were about to change. 

The alchemist was focused on a particular potion when the ground began to slowly shake, light vibrations moving through the earth. Being this far underground, she was the first to feel the tremors, and was not the least bit interested. It was not uncommon to feel the earth shake from time to time, and she had learned to push the shaking from her mind during these interruptions. However as the seconds turned to minutes, the vibrations began to increase, both in intensity and frequency. No longer able to ignore what was happening, Plague decided to investigate. 

She quickly moved through the underground tunnels and passageways that made up the undercity of the capitol, Mouse and Sparrow tailing her as they tried their best to keep up. It was a quick journey, one that led the trio to a small hatch in the ground, a service tunnel that city guards used to inspect the sewer system. Plague's hood head would poke up from beneath the street, a tiny green bump in the middle of a busy road. Everything looked normal, shoppers were buying goods and business men were conning their way into tourist pockets. 

That was when everything shifted. A violent tremor rocked the earth, sending many people to their knees and almost causing Plague to fall from her perch. The tremor was followed up by an alarming sound, a massive fissure cracking the earth open somewhere in the middle of the city. At first she had no idea what was going on, but as people began to scream and scatter, like roaches in the sun, her interest was peaked. Sliding out from her underground hole, Plague, Mouse and sparrow all ran towards the sound, as people began to run from it. 

It only took the group a few minutes to navigate the now chaotic streets, turning a corner only to come into full view of what was causing the panic. A massive crack ran several yards down the cobblestone streets, smoke and ash billowing out from beneath the earth. The earth was now constantly shaking, intense tremors plaguing the island as people started to run, trying to find anywhere to hide. Plague watched, mildly entertained, as a red glow began to form at the mouth of the crevice. Excitement turned to fear, for she could handle an average earthquake, but lava? That was something she had no experience with. 

Just as quickly as she had arrived at this thought, a thick red liquid shot up from the crevice, showering local homes and business in a goopy substance, only seconds before catching fire and engulfing in flames. Alarm set in, it was time to run. Plague screamed and turned around, sprinting past Mouse and Sparrow as they followed behind. Never in a million years did she think this was possible, but it was happening. Some unseen force had caused a tremor so massive that the earth itself was splitting at the seems, sending lava, fire, ash and soot all over the down town city proper. 

The young ranger had arrived in Sol City on the back of his giant kestrel, Halcyon, as usual. This was actually his first real trip to the capitol ever. He'd spend enough time in Capitol Landing with the Fighter's Guild, but a trip to Sol City proper had never been made before. It was certainly a lot bigger and more densely packed than he was anticipating. It made his time in the White Walled Keep almost seem quaint just by the sheer size of it.

Gerhart was enjoying some time backing in the sun as for the moment, he did not have many important things to do. Ever since the incident with the Sol Stone and the Sultan's Tomb, a slow down was needed. An odd job here or there sure, but get away from the chaotic events of the world.

Well, little did he know what was about to happen, but that is a bit of dramatic irony. He searched through the market stalls, barely feeling the tremors at first. It could easily be written off as the movements of so many people walking at once. The second, more violent tremor was much harder to ignore.

He quickly scanned the crowd and worked to fight against the flow of traffic to move towards where people seemed to be running from. What was happening? All he could hear was the gurgling of the earth and the screams of people trying to escape. He needed to get above it all.

Gerhart fought to get a hand to his mouth and blow out a sharp whistle before surrounding his feet in wind to send himself into the sky.^[1] Halcyon swooped low enough that Gerhart could grab onto his leg, working in tandem to swing him up top and into the saddle.

"Let's go, something pretty bad is happening here Hal."

---

^{1. Step of the wind}

He had arrived under cover of night the previous day, aiming to hide his presence as he made landfall in the home of his greatest enemy. His goals and intentions were still somewhat of a mystery to those he knew and had interacted with thus far, some of them had even been those that he had wished would never know what it was that he was aiming to do, Like Astrid and Lloyd, others he had made a plain example of and held no qualms in the way they were dealt with. He had a follower in Granth whom he assumed was still disrupting the southlands, carrying out his own whims as expected. It was here in Sol City that Tarkhan had the desire to begin setting up what would eventually become the hammer to put the nail in the coffin of the Solar Empire.

He stayed at one of the myriad of inn's that dotted the docks and entrance to the city itself, blending in to the masses as it were. His appearance and furs made most assume that he was a Northman or perhaps an off duty longshoreman, home from their most recent voyage which suited him just fine as people, kept their distance either way. The solace of the night and the ease at which his infiltration had begun was good enough for him, and allowed him the privacy that he so desperately craved. having payed for the cheapest of accommodations, he was with the other "low-enders" in the stables out back of his chosen inn, claiming on of the uppermost hay lofts to himself as the ladders didn't bother him, nor had he imbibed as much liquor as the others, meaning it was prime real estate to him.

As the first light of the morning rose he was already up and about, having started upon his exploration of the city itself. The early morning gatherings at the gate into the city were sparser then he thought they would be, but again after seeing how the patrons of just one of the inns partied the night before he was less shocked and more dismayed at the state of society. It worked out however as he was able to get through the checkpoint with relatively little hassle as he made his way into the heart of the city proper. His goal was simple enough as he spent the wee hours of the morning simply observing everyone and everything, attempting to make a mental map of the area and the placements of barracks and the like.


He had a specific goal in mind and he would see it through, in this case it was to observe the fortifications and the common people. To take in all that Sol city was so he would have an easier time of toppling it and the ruling class in the future. During his meanderings however he felt a soft shaking in the ground that set fear ablaze in his heart for the briefest of moments as his mind involuntarily wandered to the thought of avalanches like in his homeland before his brain reconciled that there was no snowy mountain in sight. This revelation however immediately led him to the thought of an earthquake which was good enough as he wasn't in one of the buildings that would no doubt be a hazard to find oneself in. 

When the second much large quake came however he was immediately a thousand times more focus and alert as he could feel the ground before him churning and giving way to something. Looking towards the people who fear spread through like a wildfire, he took a deep breath before he shouted, "TO THE DOCKS! DO NOT STAY IN DOORS!", his words were no doubt lost within the cacophony of screams and anguish that quickly began to spread throughout the section of city streets he had found himself in, but he had to make the attempt at the very least. See his issues did not lay with the people but with those that ruled over them and only knew how to take and take until there was nothing left. He hated those at the top of society and it was them that he wouldn't hesitate to see burn to a crisp. The common people though deserved no ill will and would receive none.

Remaining where he was even as more quakes began to tear through the cobblestone streets, fissures with the red hot blood of the earth opening around him as some people became swallowed up by the massive caverns he watched on in sorrow at the failing attempts of the city guard to do anything but barely contain the rabble for all out anarchy. Taking it upon himself he instead made the effort to at least harden some of the lava that had sputtered up from below as he suffused his mana into the air and used the inclement weather spell, making it begin to rain upon the city itself. What actual slowing of the impending doom like lava flows it would do was unknown but hopefully it would help cool some of it and stop the fires that had begun to swallow up sections of the city.

Once enough people had cleared the area he had remained in he activated his pet pocket and summoned forth Temujin, his trusty steed. Temujin was an adult wind drake with sapphire colored scales. He was a massive winged beast and he was Tarkhan's oldest and most trusted friend having hatched the Drake from an egg. Mounting him, he rose into the sky above and looked for signs of resistance, that he could make some attempt at supporting if it all possible as his massive winged dragon like mount took to the sky with a loud roar of amusement at being allowed to stretch his wings, a massive dragon roar like sound erupting from the drakes mouth as it were, "ROOOOOOOOOAAAAARR!".

To describe the scene unfolding as chaotic would have been an understatement, it was full on pandemonium, with citizens running in every direction, buildings toppling over and flames spreading from block to block. No one was remotely prepared for something like this, the city guard completely abandoning their post as random civilians tried to find any nook or cranny to hide in. Some people were doing what they could to help others, mainly evacuating buildings, but through the chaos of it all it was nearly impossible to do anything really. The giant fissure now sat agape in the center of the city, smaller cracks running down streets and into the other parts of the city. 

Plague was paying no attention to the others who were trying to help, and only slightly noticed the handful of people who had become air borne, some of them fleeing with others barking out commands and guiding people to freedom. The street rat was not concerned with these surface dwellers however, her mind was on the hundreds of poor and homeless people that lived beneath the street, trapped by the layers of earth and stone that divided the top layer of the city from its underbelly. These were the people Plague wanted to save, and yet it seemed an impossible task. 

Mouse and Sparrow had strict orders to head to the docks, which was what many of the locals were already doing, find their little fishing boat and sail to the Marsh Flats, where Plague was going to meet back up with them. It was one of their many contingency plans for when shit popped off, and this was a good enough reason as any to run. Plague however was not fleeing, and instead of running towards the docks, she ran towards the gapping hole in the earth. Fires burned all around her as the small chemist pulled out two glass bottles, separate potions that she had never combined, and began to drink both concoctions. Normally only one of these potions was needed, but this was a desperate time that called for desperate measures. 

The first potion she drank was a crude imitation of a bull strength potion, with the second being a creation of her very own, a dangerous mix that turned its drinker into a giant rat monster. She would normally never cross mix two potions, but she needed every ounce of strength she could muster, and so as she speed down the cobblestone street, her form began to morph, contorting into that of a giant were rat. Her olive green jumpsuit expanded, ripping and tearing in spots, her muscles growing along with the rage and anger inside of her. Plague was now juiced up and ready to leap into the pit of hell. 

Debris covered the entire emergence zone, lava still flowing, but slower now as the efforts from others was doing enough to at least slow the progress. Plague used this window to get as close to the hole as she could, peering down into the open maw of the inferno. She could see several layers down, different parts of the undercity all stacked on top of each other. She could see huddles of people, stuck and unable to escape, as their only options were to climb out of this hole and risk falling into the lava below, or stay and get buried beneath the city. She was trying to work out a plan all the while fighting off her inner rage, the potion trying to fully grab control of her mental state. Plague shook the thoughts free and located a large wooden wall that had been toppled over, strapping it to her now enormous back and began to climb down into the pit. 

"Shi-!" Gerhart pulls Halcyon to the left as the drake makes its way to the sky, wanting to avoid a mid-air collision. Great, was this another problem?

He narrowed his eyes to spot the rider. It was hard to know in the chaos of everything whether a dragon rider was a good or bad thing. On top of that, they didn't exactly have the time to have a calm and collected discussion about everything currently happening.

It was then he scanned the city below and picked up the brief sigh of some large rat monster. Could this city have on singular problem at a time please? This is a lot to process at once for a kid who was fighting with armor and knives picked off corpses just a few months ago.

Stop thinking Gerhart, there's no time for any of that. People need your help. "Oi! You! Can you scan the city? We need to find out how long that fissure goes or if there are any others. I'm heading down to help."

He calls across the sky before climbing with Halcyon a moment before making a dive bomb back towards the fissure where Plague is. The kestrel pulls out of the dive in time to slow to a stop, wings blowing out some of the smaller flames but feeding other embers. Not much to do about that. He leans over the hole to see that Plague has moved down to start helping, ok good. They are helping....or this is a very elaborate scheme to eat people.

"If you can get people over to this side, I'll help pull them up." The ranger slid off the back of his mount and jogged over to get into the best position to help.