The noble's caravan was heading on a rather easy journey, from Stargazer village to Eclipse City, a simple delivery of trade crops he'd purchased. The job was almost perfect, Cervayhn could nap while his young master simply needed to keep her eyes open. That was of course if he could get her to listen.

“Who's going to be escorting me?” Ulmiyda asked in a confused tone to her retainer.

“For the last time, you are the person who is going to be doing the escorting. It’s time you learned how difficult my job really is.” Cervayhn replied in an annoyed tone as he led the younger dark elf to the caravan.

“WHAT. I’m a child and you’re a former soldier, I’m not supposed to be the one doing the protecting. Wait till Dad and Mom hear about this.” she exclaimed in an accusatory fashion.

“I’ve already cleared it with them, we’ll be part of a guard team so chances are you won’t even need to do anything.” He retorted with a smirk.

The young dark elf’s expression twisted in response to his words. While the words were meant to ease the girl’s concern, they had the unintended effect of hurting the girl’s confidence.

“Are you saying I’m useless? I can defend people just as well as any other mage! I’m stronger than people twice my age!” She yelled back to him.

Her retainer let out an exasperated sigh as he crouched down, placed a hand on her shoulder, and began to whisper.

“No Ulmiyda. I took this job because I’m confident in your abilities and your intelligence. This is simply a test, just like before. You know how your parents fear your urges. If you can show them that you can use your talents to protect, rather than destroy, it will go a long way towards easing their worries.” He replied with a calming and reassuring expression as he smiled at his young master.

Her eyes drooped slightly as she looked at her attendant’s smile. She held back her tears of frustration as she did her best to smile back to him.
“O-okay, I’ll do my best.” she replied meekly.

“Atta girl.”
A smirk formed across his face once again as he rose to his feet. “And besides, someone twice your age is still pretty young.”

Her pout returned at his jest.
“Whatever, grandpa.”

The pair moved to where the noble and the farmers had gathered. The noble was dressed rather causally, like being on a lower step of the social ladder than her own family. Noticing the pair's arrival, they began to talk to Cervayhn about all manner of things, none of which interested the young girl. She had to deal with it enough already at home; profitability and similar terms meant a lot to her mother, so much so that it often interfered with their relationship. Her eyes scanned around the village, searching for anything else that might occupy her time.

Just as she was about to give up, a wagon had caught her eye, or more specifically, the demonic deer attached to it. With her retainer occupied, the young girl scampered off, eager to learn what curiosities awaited in such an oddity. Seeing as the front of the wagon was unoccupied, she climbed aboard and peeked through the wagon's door. Her eyes widened at the wonder that lay within. Inside was a massive library, and moon elf reading deeply into a book.

She stepped inside before she was granted any welcome, too enamored to bother with any formalities.

"Is this your library?" She asked the moon elf, unaware if the woman had even realized her presence.   

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Royal Escort
Participants: Two or more
Location: Anywhere
Post Requirements: 4 post per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown
Description: A local noble is in need of an escort from one city to the next. With the world getting crazy, all kinds of dangers have become more common on the open road. They are willing to pay good money to anyone who can transport them to their destination. But be careful, their fears are valid, for bandits, wolves, and all kinds of creatures of the wild lurk right around the bend. All you need to do is make sure they get from their home city to the neighboring city alive, and unharmed if you can manage.

Nose-deep in the most recent addition to her collection, Cirice was more comfortable letting her employer speak to the nobles and farmers and stuff while she hid from society to read. This was much more easy than trying to keep up with all the fancy talk. Just hang out and once they start moving protect the caravan.

She was just getting to a truly good part when a voice interrupts the quiet of her library startling her from her reverie.

“Huh? Hello? Yes?” Cirice answers, looking at the young elven girl in surprise and confusion. “Ah, welcome, I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you there. Yes this is Mother Moon’s Mystical Flying Library! I’m Cirice, I live here indeed. How can I help you, little lady? Do you like reading? I have all kinds of interesting books here!”

Cirice hops to her feet with a grin, as some of the books start pulling themselves off the netted shelves and forming into a humanoid shape. The book at the humanoid’s face opens itself and turns towards the girl, beautiful calligraphy forming on the pages for her. I can offer you many choices, what kinds of books do you enjoy? Magical texts? Recipe? Romance? Tales?

“Ah don’t mind Ars, he’s my spellbook and the keeper of the library’s collection.”

“Mother Moon?” Ulmiyda asked with a confused expression to the moon elf. Before she could get a response however, a collection of books started to move, and her eyes widened as if she had just spotted death itself.

I knew this day would come, too many books accidentally burned in the academy for me to get away with it. Here they are, ready to enact their revenge. What a cruel end for me, lured into such a nice library only to suffer death by a thousand papercuts.

Her fingers began to glow as she took a defensive stance, ready to take the tome-based titan with her into the afterlife. Just as she was about to let loose a spell, fanciful text started appearing where the monster’s face would normally be. The extravagant letters were difficult to make out but it appeared to be asking her preference in books. Cirice’s voice calms her as she begins to drop her guard.

“Oh umm, my name is Ulmiyda, Ulmiyda Flameborne. I like magic texts mostly, usually earth domain focused, occasionally fire centric.” She replied nervously as she held back her flames.
“S-Sorry for intruding. Where did you get so many books? This library is bigger than the one in my family manor.”

The sudden sound of the door creaking behind her caused her eyes to widen once more. She slowly turned, already knowing who awaited her and how displeased he was.

Sure enough, Cervayhn ducked down, and entered through the wagon’s door. He immediately glares at his young master, noticing the fading glow of her fingertips. Knowing that disaster could have struck mere moments ago, he let out an exasperated sigh as he looked at Cirice.

“Sorry about my young master. Her curiosity gets the better of her more often than not. I hope she hasn’t been a disturbance. We’re part of the escort team, so I’m guessing she thought she was free to explore the caravan to her heart's content. We’ll be out of your hair shortly”

With a stern expression he looks back to the young dark elf.

“Ulmiyda, time to go.”

The young girl looks to him with a saddened expression, unwilling to go back to the boring caravan she was in charge of protecting.

“Cervayhn… I… I want to ride with Cirice.”

The older dark elf’s face contorted from the girl’s request. First, she enters without asking, now she is demanding that she rides with the stranger she intruded upon. Perhaps her time away from the estate in Frostgale had dissolved her concept of manners.

“No, you can’t. I know you haven’t even asked.”

“Its nice to meet you Ulmiyda!” Cirice said chipperly, ignoring the fact the girl was about to set the place on fire and she’d have had to deal with that. “I’ve gotten these in my travels all across Charon, I’ve been just about everywhere as an adventurer and I tend to find the most interesting books and add them to my collection. Its an expensive hobby, but adventure and the Mage’s Guild pays pretty well!”

As the stern dark elf joins them and reprimands her new friend Cirice frowns and shakes her head. It isn't often she has new visitors just show up and start asking questions and the young lady's demeanor enchanted her. 

“Oh no she’s no trouble at all." She disagrees. "Perfectly lovely! Any lover of books is welcome in my home! I didn’t realize the rest of the escort team had already arrived. I was just doing a bit of reading while I waited. Like Ulmiyda said I’m Cirice. I’m also escorting the caravan, and she’s more than welcome to ride with me. You too, if you'd like, sir. There's room under my kotatsu for everyone! I’ve even got a book I think you might enjoy, Ulmiyda. It's by my senpai, the Witch of Moonglade who is a great fire elementalist!”

Under her elbow-length gloves the runes on Cirice’s arm begin to glow and a book bound in deep red leather with a motif of golden flames emblazoned on the cover floats off a shelf and comes to her awaiting hand¹. “Here we go, you can read as we travel, just so long as you promise to keep the book safe. Kamille is my teacher and I haven’t gotten much into earth and fire magic, but one day I hope to learn more.”

---

1 telekinesis 

Cervayhn looks between the two young elves, both of which were a mere fraction of his age. On one hand, this could go extremely poorly, extremely fast. On the other hand, it got his young master out his hair and also gave her the opportunity to socialize over an actually normal hobby for once. 

With a sigh, he puts on a warm smirk and addresses Cirice.

"Okay, she can ride with you. I'll be in one of the leading carriages if you need me. You don't need an old elf like me getting in the way of your girly talk." He replied teasingly.

The older dark elf walked out of the wagon as quickly as he came in, but not before peeking his head around the other side of the door to address Cirice one last time. 

"Oh and one more thing. No take backs." He exclaimed with a devilish grin before closing the door.

As fast as the fear had entered Ulmiyda's body, it departed as Cervayhn left and she took in Cirice's words. 

Mage's guild? Payment? Perhaps mother would…

She paused in a rare moment of actually sensible contemplation. Her mother had always been the coldest person in her life, too consumed by the family business to ever spend much time with her. When they did find the time to talk, she couldn't help but feel like she was an annoyance, or worse yet, a burden to the business woman. Perhaps this was the opportunity she needed. A chance to make up for the events at the academy, and a chance to show that she could take care of herself outside of her family's coin purse.

Her concentration is soon broken not by Cirice's magic, but rather the golden flame adorning the hovering text.

"I'll keep it s-safe." She replied nervously as she took the sizable red tone into her hands, struggling to contain her excitement.

Scanning through the text, the young girl's eyes lit up with excitement as she read descriptions of magic she had only dreamed of, while remaining blissfully unaware of the plethora of imagery containing abs in the example diagrams. Whoever this Kamille person was, she was likely a powerful mage. If she was Cirice's teacher, this was any opportunity Ulmiyda couldn't miss out on.

With her motivations now coinciding, she looks up to the moon elf with a fiery determination. 

"How do I get in? To the guild I mean."

No takebacks… That sounds… Ominous. What could that mean? Cirice looks at the young girl curiously, she doesn’t seem like trouble. She seems innocent and sweet, easy to get along with. A little sister-type, like Cypress. Surely she can be trusted.

“Well oji-chan is a real serious man, huh?” Cirice giggles, winking at her new companion, “The guild? Well you have to be very skilled in one domain of magic and then find some ancient or lost knowledge or artifact to bring them.”

The girl’s enthusiasm is really heart-warming. “I’m actually an archmage-in-training and I brought them this huge magical gem that I found delving an old dwarf home. Ever since then I’ve been doing jobs for them here and there and bringing back all kinds of interesting things. Why just recently my friend Gwen from the Guild joined me and broke into a necromancer’s lair!”

She regales Ulmiyda with the tale of breaking into the secret dilapidated hideout of the underground necromancy society and stealing all their vials and notes. As she’s talking the call comes through that the caravan is getting moving. She whistles sharply and Hitia starts to follow, taking up the rear.

“I suppose if you want I could speak to the Guild on your behalf and let them know you want to join. Then you can go on fun missions with me!”

Ulmiyda’s eyes light up accompanied by a big smile as Cirice describes the simple requirements needed to join the guild.

This is going to be a cakewalk, just smoke a few fools and take their artifacts, easy peasy. Already did once with those so called fire thieves after all.

“I can do that, I can definitely do that! I found this old book in Zeinav, it taught me a bunch of stuff already like how to breath fire, how to make my fire more fiery, how to boil fle-" *coughs* "S-sorry, I was saying water, definitely water."

Ulmiyda quickly collects herself as she throws on a nervous smile. Luckily for the young girl, her poorly acted cough arrived just in time to catch her before her excitement caused her to accidentally spout something incredibly unhinged. She listens to Cirice’s tale of necromancers and their ilk as she tries to calm down from her excitement. In a surprising moment of self-awareness, the young girl figures it was best if she let the moon elf ramble on about her adventures, before her over-zealous tongue gave her new friend a bad impression.

Cirice’s whistle and the sudden shift of the wagon surprised the young dark elf, but the moon elf’s words surprised her even more.

“WOULD YOU REALLY?” the young dark elf basically shouts in reply before quickly realizing her error.
“Sorry, would you really though!?”

Through her excitement she suddenly remembers the task Cervayhn assigned to her.
“Oh, we need to keep a lookout or else Cervayhn will get mad at me. Let’s sit outside!”

She runs to the wagon door and opens it, gesturing Cirice to pass through.

“Do you have any idea what dangers are out here? Last time I was in Moonglade I had to fight a giant spider. That was really annoying, turns out they are rather explosive resistant…”

The young girl’s eyes grow wide as she pauses, realizing her slip-up a bit too late.

Giggling at Ulmiyda’s excitement, “Sounds like you learned a lot! I also love learning from books, I’ve been reading up on necromancy lately, even though I don’t know any of it really. All I can do is bring the dead back to life, not make undead. But after that last adventure, I thought I should study it! Oh, but I’m probably boring you with my silly tales.”

“Of course I’d love to help you! You’re a much better companion than that quack Morrigan Moonweaver, and you’re cute and sweet, like a little sister!” She replies as they move to the front seat of the wagon, two unhinged peas in a pod. “Well I’ve seen some massive bugs, oh and an Origin Matter… I really hope we don’t run into one of those again. Last time I had to jump into it and absorb it from the inside. And Cyran didn’t like that I called them Ziev’s balls…”

“I haven’t fought any explosive-resistant spiders, but then again I don’t really have any explosive spells, my talents lie elsewhere. I hope I get to see you in action!” This is one of the more normal conversations Cirice has had with fellow adventurers and Ulmiyda is so passionate and excitable she can’t help but have the same energy. Its like having a small version of herself to hang out with. “I’ve heard there were bandits out here and some crazy things like giant flowering snails and displacer beasts. OH! One rumor I heard was that there was a large, multi-headed hydra living deep within the Lanternlight Woods that comes out and eats people. Seven, one for every head. Isn’t that interesting? Maybe if we’re really lucky-I mean unlucky we’ll get to see that!”

Despite Cirice’s assumptions, Ulmiyda listens intently as the moon elf describes her studies in necromancy. Something about her words resonates with the young girl, causing her mind to race with the possibilities this dark magic held. She faces her new companion with an expression that betrays her thoughts, her uncertainty palpable in her eyes.

“No, no, no don’t worry… I’m not bored by those kinds of subjects.” Her eyes dart away as she continues “I can understand your curiosity, losing stuff can be really sad. I lost a pet cat and wish I could have done something about it.”
She moves through the door of the wagon as whispers her lingering thoughts “Too many lights are snuffed out after only a brief existence.”

As the young girl struggles to climb onto the wagon’s front seat, she suddenly freezes in place upon hearing Cirice’s words. She looks at the moon elf with a nervous countenance. “Sis-sister? I-I-I don’t know what that’s like, it’s always been just me, my parents, and retainers back home. Do I have some responsibilities or something?”

She sits back in the cushioned seat, only partly taking Cirice’s words as her mind wanders, her face suddenly contorts as she mishears describe the many threats she has faced.

Oregano matter? Isn't that a plant? What's so dangerous about an oversized head of lettuce? Wait a minute… if the plant was big enough for her to absorb it from the inside how is she so skinny?

She devotes an inordinate amount of thought to trying to understand how someone can consume a plant bigger than themselves, before she gives up and idly replies, the comment about Ziev’s orb obliviously flying over her head. “Doesn’t sound too scary, I think some fire could take care of it.”

Cirice's bestiary offers little to catch the girl's interest, until she mentions the hydra. The thought of something vaguely dragon-like excites Ulmiyda and she looks to the moon elf with a hyperactive glee as she begins to barrage the moon elf with questions.
"Have you seen one before? Do you think it has one stomach or seven? Do you think one head can choke to death and the others will be fine, or will they all die? I think I remember reading that they have elemental breaths, do you think it can breathe fire? Breathing fire from multiple heads at once sounds dangerous, I've almost set myself on fire and I only have one head."

Cirice smiles at her cute uncertainty. As Ulmiyda settles into the seat with some difficulty she pets her hair lovingly.

“Oh absolutely! Sisters protect and support each other. They talk whenever they can and have the best time in the world!” She lowers her voice mischievously, “And little sisters have this secret power to be the cutest thing in the world and get just about anything they want in the world.”

At the fire comment it’s Cirice’s turn to ponder it. “Maybe… Fire is very useful. I don’t have much skill in fire magic myself so I couldn’t try it.” She shrugs helplessly. “I had to come up with something else.”

Ulmiyda’s line of questions is so earnest and curious she can’t help but laugh.

“I’m not sure Ulma, I haven’t seen one myself but I’ve heard of them. Apparently when you chop off one head two more take its place. Isn’t that fascinating? I suppose each head lives independently and the creature has a very fast rate of healing. It would be very cool to study. I don’t know about the elemental breaths, I thought that was dragons…. But if they do I bet they’re pretty resilient to their own breaths.”

The comment about nearly setting herself on fire makes Cirice chuckle. “Do you often nearly set yourself on fire? In that case you need to learn to not burn, okay? But if you ever do get burned or hurt really bad come to me and I’ll make everything better, I promise. Healing is one thing I’m very good at.”

She gently pokes Ulmiyda’s nose playfully. They follow behind the line of wagons, matching their pace.

Ulmiyda still fidgets somewhat nervously as she sits beside Cirice. The sudden feeling of the moon elf’s fingers on her hair causes her to flinch momentarily, but Cirice's calm tone helps suppress her nerves. “Oh um… I kind of already get everything I want. My parents don’t have a problem buying stuff for me. They also say that I have a lot of responsibilities though, and they get really mad when I do something they don’t approve of. Is it the same way for sisters?”

She takes a moment to ponder Cirice’s words as she comments about the hydra. “Having multiple heads sounds really annoying. What if they don’t get along and start biting each other off, but then two annoying heads replace the one annoying head, or the two new heads also don’t get along and start fighting each other?”

The girl continues her inane speculation about the creature’s biology before she suddenly remembers their goal. “Hopefully it isn’t fire resistant, I think fire might be a good way of countering its healing. You know how you can stop bleeding by burning something; I think it’s call coatirizing or cutetirizing; either way, I think that would be effective for stopping its head growth.” Her expression suddenly twists in disgust as a gross image enters her mind. “Or it could give it a very ugly, gross head, like when you get a burn and your skin gets all puffy. At least then the other hydras won’t want to hang out with it.”

Cirice’s concern about Ulmiyda’s reckless use of flame causes the young to regress back to nervousness, she looks away from the moon elf as she begins to respond. “Kind of, I’ve gotten better though. I know they don’t want to harm me, they protect me more often than not. I feel like I’m pretty close to that manifestation thing I’ve read about, but if I do get burned, I’ll come to you, I promise.”

The young girl lets out a yelp as Cirice pokes her nose, before breaking into a laugh at her own reaction. Her jolliness is short-lived however, as the sudden rustling of a bush causes her to quickly rise to her feet, pointing both hands at the bush as her index and ring fingers aim towards the bush. The ferocity in her eyes dissipates as swiftly as it arose when a small rabbit hops out of the bush.

“Oh… I thought it might have been a hydra.”

“Absolutely not, your only responsibility is being loved and loving in return.” Cirice says matter-of-factly. “Its cool they give you what you want, but you’re still a kid, they should let you have your freedom!”

Ulmiyda’s theorizing about the hydra and its trials and tribulations makes her laugh. “Seems like it would be quite the trial, maybe that’s why they’re so irritable, the heads are always fighting. Cauterizing the wound is a good idea, that should stop more heads from growing. And if it was deformed well, we’d just kill it so it didn’t have to suffer. If it attacks we’ll have to kill it anyway, otherwise it’ll just come back another day and mess with people on the road.”


“Ohhh manifestation? Is that when you become like an elemental? I’ve seen Blue-Wolfe do that before, it was really impressive! It seems like you’ve got quite the mastery over fire, I’m sure you’ll be fine. I’ll be there for you if you get hurt. Of all the fundamental elements I think fire is the most friendly. It warms us when we’re cold and helps us live, gives us light and can even help when we’re wounded. Of course it can be destructive, but anything can be. Its all about how its used.” Cirice muses aloud.


The scare with the rabbit makes her laugh heartily. Then a shout comes from the front of the caravan and the wagons come to an abrupt stop. A scream slices through the air like a knife and Cirice is immediately on her feet and on guard. Before she can do anything the lower half of a body goes sailing past, raining blood over them like a sudden, unwelcome cloudburst. Her expression darkens, her sword appearing in her hand as she hops off the wagon and starts running toward the danger.

“We’ve got company. Looks like its very unfriendly. Come on, Ulma, show me what you’ve got!”

Cirice’s positive reinforcement excites Ulmiyda. It was rare for her to find anyone who held such a high opinion of fire and most of the time they were arrested shortly after she met them. "Yes yes yes I try to tell people that all the time but they never listen to me. Fire may burn but it also creates life. None of us could exist without the sun warming us up! Well except maybe vampires, but that’s besides the point. Still, no one back home seems to understand that, despite the fact we almost freeze to death every winter.” She looks up to her newly adopted sister with a big smile, happy to finally have someone close to her who understands her obsession.

The sudden appearance of a bisected body flying overhead catches Ulmiyda by surprise. The whiplash from a moment of peace, to being startled by a small rabbit, to now having to deal with whatever monstrosity killed the man, causes her to freeze in place. As the foreign blood drips down her face, Cirice’s words break her out of her trance. Withdrawing her scimitar, the young girl chases after the moon elf, lifting her blade above her head as she does her best impression of a war cry. She wasn’t sure if this is what sisters normally do, but it was a lot more fun than any other family activities she had taken part in.

The pair charge forth to the front of the caravan, arriving at a scene of pure chaos. A massive hydra with seven heads blocks the leading wagon, tearing apart the guards as they attempt to fend off the beast. The beast’s heads clear the tree line, making it difficult to combat them before they strike down upon them. As the guards getting picked off one by one, Ulmiyda calmly observes the beasts as its heads twist and turn, wondering if this is the adversary Cirice had previously described.
Multiple heads: check, scaly and snake-like: check, massive: check, Elemental breath: to be determined.
The young girl looks up to Cirice with a confident smile. “I think that’s a hydra, what do you think?”