World Tree MUSH

     Rynn and Arokh have been traveling for some time after visiting a place called Limsa Lominsa. These lands were strange and foriegn to them in so many ways. No matter where they turned or which direction they went, it felt like nothing ever made cohesive sense.

How could they find the evil they were seeking or really anything if they, themselves, couldn't understand how these lands operated. How it was all-- connected.

The travel eventually brought the two to a place called 'Sanctuary'. While it didn't look very 'friendly', it was a place where Arokh could land to rest his tired wings.

With the red dragon's wings flapping, he gently kicks up dust from the ground, a few weeds here and there move slightly by the breeze he creates on landing. Rynn hops off with ease, her leather boots resting on the ash-gray soil of what seems like a barren, deadland world. "What do you think happened here, Arokh?"

The red dragon's gaze looks out over the land, before he looks to her, "I am not sure Rynn." He says calmly, "But it may be wise we do not stay here long."

The woman cuts him a glance, with a smirk on her lips, "Scared are you?"

Arokh hmphs loudly, before rumbling in his words. "Hardly. Just cautious."

    Barren, indeed. All Rynn can see for miles is sand tinged gray and white in the light of the moon that has just risen into the deep indigo sky. A few tumbleweeds blow by.

    But, if one looks hard enough, or if one has sharper vision than a typical human, a distant figure might be spotted wandering around a slightly sunken area between several dunes. What could they possibly be doing all the way out here, alone?

     While Rynn doesn't spot anything in the distance, Arokh however does with his dragon eyes. They narrow slightly as he tilts his head ever so slightly to the side. "Rynn, look over there." He motions with his muzzle to the figure in the distance.

Rynn turns to look where Arokh has motioned, but doesn't see anything, "What is it Arokh?"

"A person I believe, off in the distance between the dunes." Arokh then rises fully to his feet. "I could--"

Rynn raises up her hand, looking still in the direction. "I can go investigate it, Arokh. You need to rest. If there is any trouble though..."

Arokh nods his head, "You know I will come to your aide Rynn. Just be safe."

The dragon then watches the red-haired woman slide down a little of the hill they are, easy enough with the sand, and starts to make her way to where they saw this 'person'.

As she continues to move across the land with an easy jog, she eventually calls out as she starts to see something, or at least, someone come into her own view now, "Hail!" She raises up her hand in a friendly manner, though keen on what this individual does if she needs to draw her blade at her side.

    Rynn would find herself jogging for a while, the sand kicking up at her footsteps and getting on her clothes. There is a slight chill in the air, as deserts in the night tend to be, but it wouldn't be too long before she herself could spot what her dragon saw--a cloaked individual seemingly wandering aimlessly about a slight depression in the sand. By 'slight' we mean the degree of the depression--not the surface area of it. The area it covers is actually quite large.

    When she calls out to the stranger, the face of a young man looks up at her. He doesn't seem to make any hostile moves, so far so good. "Greetings madam. What do you seek?" he asks.

     Rynn comes up to the invidual, who seems to be a young man. She gives him a quick studdy and while she still stands on her guard, she makes no hostile motion; Just watching for now.

"My friend and I have come here after a long journey. We were wondering if there may be a town near by or--" Rynn looks around, before back to the young man, "Is everything like this?" It kind of reminds her of what her own homeworld could have become like if she didn't stop the Sand Lords, sending them off to-- wherever they have gone now.

The thought they could have come here even sends a minor chill up her spine, but a thought she pushes away. "Also, I am Rynn." She says with a smile to him.

    Upon getting closer, Rynn would be able to tell that he's quite young, probably a teenager. "Depends on what you mean by 'everything'. Almost everything in Kehjistan, yes. And Kehjistan is quite large. But, I'm sure if you headed across the Twin Seas you'd run into some vegetation of some kind."

    "As for a town," He looks off into the distance a moment then back at Rynn. "Give or take forty miles east of here would be the nearest I believe."

    Another pause, as he studies her for a moment. "I don't suppose you're looking for secrets, too?" He actually maybe looks a little bit hopeful at this.

     Rynn raises a brow to the information the young man gives her. She alao takes note that he gives no name and that has her tilt her head ever so slightly.

It is the question that causes her to shift her weight. Her hand coming to rest on her hip. "Secrets?" She asks back. "That would depend on the secret really." Her hand the lowers from her hip. "Is there something I /should/ know or maybe learn that would be seen as a secret?"

    "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I'm Petrus." the young man tells her. Then at her question, he looks around at their rather empty surroundings. "There used to be a deserted village here. My elder brother Terrick always used to come out here looking for some kind of forbidden knowledge, but he hasn't returned in weeks..." Then he gestures at the empty depression, frowning. "I know you are not from this world, but have you ever seen such a thing before? An entire town disappearing without a trace?"

     Rynn looks toward the depression. "A town was here?" She asks Petrus, "And your brother is missing." Her brows furrow. "That does sound troublig, Petrus."

At that, the fiery haired woman turns to look off into the distance, "Arokh! I need your wings!" She knows that he probably already sensed that he would be needed, but it never hurts to use her voice to confirm it.

While waiting for Arokh to get his scaled hide over to where she is, she looks back to young man again. "Is there any clues as to what might have happened to the town or even your brother?"

    Petrus starts walking in a bit of a circle, pacing about the sandy depression. "Well, I can only imagine that something happened to the town while he was out here rifling around as usual. It was a few weeks ago...I can't think of anything strong enough to lift something so large, so it either could have sunken into the sand somehow or someone with -very- powerful magic used a very powerful spell to reduce it to dust and debris or move it elsewhere."

    He sighs, shaking his head. "I was always worried something might happen to him as a result of his obsession. He has always been interested in history, but over the past few years he's become completely attached to this idea that the human race once possessed god-like powers."

     Rynn starts to look around the area, including finding a small rock and picks it up. "Powerful magics can do some very interesting things." She admits, though before she can toss the rock into where the town once was-- Arokh flies overhead.

It isn't long before the dragon lands down slightly away from the two, but he does give the young man a strange look over, before look to Rynn, "You called, Rynn?"

Rynn smiles and then motions to Arokh, "Petrus, Arokh. Arokh Petrus."

"A pleasure." The dragon rumbles, before looking back to Rynn to see waht she wanted.

Rynn tosses the rock up in the air, catches it, and does this a few times. Then she goes to toss the rock where the depression is, just to see what happens.

    "Yes, but such a spell would have been very expensive and possibly dangerous to cast. Well in any case, whatever happened, someone was -very- determined to make it disappear. But why? It was just an old ghost town, plenty of those in this desert. It just...perhaps Terrick was in fact onto something, and someone very much did not want him to be." the Petrus muses.

    The young man startles a bit when a dragon appears. A -dragon-. "By the light--!" he exclaims. But then, it seem Rynn is familiar, and the creature is a friend. And it -talks-. The World Tree is a strange place indeed. "A-a-ah...right. Of course, v-very pleased to meet you, Arokh." he finally manages to stammer out.

    Meanwhile, Rynn tosses a rock into the depression. It skips across the sand and finally comes to rest. For a few seconds, nothing happens. However, slowly, but surely, the rock seems to sink into the terrain until it is completely buried, disappearing from sight.

     "I am starting to think your mystery town may have sunken." Rynn says watching the rock. "Which may still be connected to magic." She thinks on this a little.

Arokh meanwhile looks to the depression, then to the young man, "I suppose dragons are not common here in these lands?" He tilts his head a little, though he does look over to Rynn from time to time. Maybe keeping a mild eye on what the woman plans to do.

And as for what Rynn plans to do next, well, she ends up moving her hand in a motion, as energy gathers to follow what she traces, then a hand gesture a gust of wind blasts out from the magical sign. Perhaps all in hopes that if she pushes back enough of the sand in the depression, maybe something will peak out to give some clue.

    "Yes...it would seem so..." Petrus frowns pensively as he also watches the rock. "But again, for an entire town, even if a ruined one. It would have been a very powerful spell. The Horadrim are the only ones I know of who would be capable of such a feat."

    He looks back over at Arokh's question, still looking a little bit nervous around him. "Er, well perhaps, but such creatures are usually...not exactly friendly toward humans..."

    The air rushes out, blowing away the sand in a small area. There isn't much, but indeed, what looks like a broken piece of wood suddenly pokes out of the sand. It is sticking straight up, perhaps it's what's left of a wall.

     Rynn spots the wood and hrms softly. She then walks over to Arokh, who is still talking with Petrus, "Well, you have nothing to fear from I nor Rynn. We will help however we can."

Rynn then goes to hop up on Arokh's back. "And help we shall." She agrees, "After you get me closer to that piece of wood."

Arokh cranes his head around slightly to look at her. He rumbles softly before he speaks. "And if you end up falling in?"

"I'll be on your back. I just want to see if I can blast a gust of wind downward." Rynn explains to her dragon companion.

Arokh shakes his head gently, "And I could use my own abilities--"

"And if you used something like a sonic burst, you could destroy whatever is underneath." Rynn cuts him off. "Now come on then." She looks over to Petrus, "Give us one moment."

With that, Arokh rises up into the air with Rynn on his back to move himself over the spot that Rynn wants to repeat her magic act of wind bursting the spot where the wood is showing up at.

    Petrus watches with a measure of awe as Rynn rides on Arokh over to where the wood is sticking out of the ground. As she blasts it with air over and over again, the depression grows deeper and deeper, and indeed there is some kind of dilapidated building there. Furthermore, if one looks down into it through the damaged roof, it seems as if there is actually a cavern of some kind down below. Something is holding the sand back--maybe rocks, maybe pure magic. Maybe both.

    Petrus' eyes widen. "Incredible! You are also a skilled mage, it seems. Thank you."

     Rynn looks down at the Cavern and then motions for Arokh to land back down near Petrus. Once he lands, she hops off to bettter speak with the young man. "I am not sure how, but there is something keeping the sand from falling down into a cavern."

Rynn gives Arokh a fet pats on the shoulder flank as she continues to speak. "I am going to go down in there and see if I can find anything below. I am not sure if Arokh can fit, so I am going to use a rope to carefully lower myself down."

She then shifts her weight as she crosses her arms over her chest, "With any luck, maybe your elder brother is down there and if he is, I'll see what I can do to get him out safely."

Arokh gives Rynn a stare with his draconic eyes. There is clench of the dragon's maw, before he lets out a gentle sigh. "Don't even try to argue with her either." The red dragon admits. "Once Rynn's mind is made up, it is very difficult to set her off the path."

    Petrus nods. "Wait, but can't I go with you? If he is down there, he'll be more likely to trust you if I'm with you..."

     Rynn hears Petrus question and stares at him. She seems to think this over. "You been out here in this wasteland, so I am guessing you know how to take care of yourself." She studies him a little longer. "... Very well. I went through a great deal to find my own brother, so I can't really say no."

At this point, Rynn starts to go over her supplies. She may have to go to that town some 40 miles or however far it was to get a longer rope, if her own isn't long enough.

    Petrus nods and his face lights up with excitement when Rynn obliges. It was true that his brother would be more likely to trust her this way, but also he might possibly just really want the chance to ride on the dragon too.
    "I am in your debt, Rynn. Thank you for offering your help!" He watches as she rifles through her bag. "Your brother, hm? You'll have to tell me about that sometime."
    The rope seems to be long enough, but of course there is only one way to find out for sure...
    

     "Arokh, this hopefully won't take me long. Do stay out of trouble hm?" Rynn teases her dragon companion, who only shakes his whole body in response as he goes to settle back down for a bit more respite.

Rynn then goes to see about hooking the knot around the edge of the structure, giving it a few good tugs to make sure it was secure, before moving to repel herself down.

If this seem like nothing was going to budge under he way, only then would she tell Petrus to follow after her. If there was any danger though, she wanted to be the first to find it; She also didn't add anything further on her own brother.

    Rynn would find herself in a defunct, half-demolished building. Indeed, it would seem that the ruins of the town are down here. And there is definitely some powerful magic in play. Magic that created this massive cavern under the sand, as there doesn't appear to be any rocks to hold the sand back. It's just sort of hanging there as if some invisible force were pushing against it.
    Other than that however, nothing else unusual or apparently dangerous seems afoot. At least not yet.

     Once on what seems like 'solid' ground, at least as much as the ruined buildings can be. Rynn takes a look at how the sands are being held up, then she looks around herself. "Take care Petrus and stay close to me."

The woman then makes a small gesture with her hands to create a fireball before she takes piece of wood and uses it to create a makeshift torch. It is here that she starts to examine the ground, looking for any tracks and trying to gain an idea of how long ago they were. Maybe even an idea of where they could have been heading if any are found.

    Petrus hurries down the rope after her, eyes widening at the sight of the now underground ruins. "Incredible..." he mutters, following her as instructed. "This--this most definitely looks to be the work of the Horadrim. I know of no other mages who would have access to such powerful spells. But...why?"
    There are indeed tracks in the sand, though they are less visible inside buildings with floor still intact. But it looks like human footprints, most likely a few different ones. It gets a bit harder to follow them as she moves away from the spot where she came in, as it is completely dark other than her torch, and they seem to be going in multiple different directions.
    ...But wait. It's not quite completely dark. It appears that there is a light in one one of the buildings.

     Rynn looks over the faded tracks and says softly back to Petrus, "Why indeed..." Though her eyes slowly catch the source of light in the distance. "You see that, Petrus?" She asks him, looking at the light source. ".. Come on."

She keeps her own torch lit for a bit to make sure their footing would be sound, but as she moves closer and closer to where the light is coming from, she eventually snuffs out her own torch light.

    "Well, they are known to be rather secretive about certain things...'forbidden knowledge' as they say." Petrus replies, keeping his voice low as well. "And that everyone should trust them because they serve some kind of divine being."
    "Do you think Terrick is in there?" he whispers hopefully as they approach the building. It seems there is an oil lamp of some kind burning inside, the light coming through a single window. This structure is a bit less dilapidated than the rest, and looks like it could have once been a stable or barn of some kind.

     "Its hard to say if your brother is-- or isn't. It could even be one of those mages you speak of." Rynn says with her own voice down. She continues to move toward the building, as her hand gently comes to rest on the hilt of her blade. While she doesn't draw it, she does try to creep around to the door or any entry really.

    There isn't really an intact door, but certainly plenty of blown out windows or other 'holes' where Rynn could easily step inside. Once there, she can tell this used to be a barn. There are still some piles of hay in stalls that were likely used to hold horses or other livestock. 
    The light is coming from one of the stalls near the far wall. Whoever this is isn't trying to hide, not that there is much of anything left of the stall doors to hide behind. But she can see there is another man huddled in the corner of that stall, his clothes dirty and haggard. 
    Petrus seems to recognize him instantly. "Terrick?"

     Rynn looks over the barn, examining its details. "I wonder if the animals..." She didn't get to finish her thought as the young man seems to say his brother's name.

From there she looks to where Petrus calls and her hand relaxes gently. Rynn then goes to make her way over to the man, moving closer and closer with each step. She does extend her hand to Petrus however, as if silently trying to tell him to continue to stay behind her.

After all, if magic is at works here-- who knows what state any person could be down in this place.

    Petrus cooperates with Rynn's recommendation, staying slightly behind her. The man in the stall looks up at them, but there is no recognition in his eyes. "Wh-who are you?" Though, he seems eager to speak with them, standing up suddenly. "Please tell me you know what this place is..."
    The younger brother frowns. "Terrick, it's me, Petrus. You--you always come here, seeking lost knowledge. What's happened to you?"

     Rynn slowly lowers her arm when it seems that Terrick will not be a threat. Rather it seems the man is very confused about how he ended up where he is and perhaps even /who/ he is.

"Do you-- remember anything before this? Can you maybe retrace your steps mentally?" Rynn asks the man.

    Terrick shakes his head. "No...no I remember nothing. I am not even certain how long I have been here. Perhaps hours, perhaps days...please, tell me what this place is! And how to escape it."
    Petrus stares at him. "Oh Terrick..." He turns to Rynn, his face hardened. "Burying the ghost town was one thing...but this? How could they do this?! I do not know what sort of 'divine' purpose justifies this madness!"

     Rynn hrms, "Your name is Terrick.. and this," She motions to Petrus, "Is your younger brother." She then moves her hand toward her chest. "Why don't you come with us. We can take you top side and maybe-- some fresh air will do you some good."

She wasn't sure if it honestly would help, but for now getting these two out of harms way was priority one. Solving how to restore the memory of the older brother, along with if the mages were behind this, was another matter entirely.

    Terrick nods. "Yes, yes. Please let us leave this dark, wretched place. Thank you for your help, stranger."
    Thankfully, Rynn and crew would be able to make their way back to the rope with little difficulty, and it is still there. It doesn't seem that anyone else has come out here...yet.

     Rynn motions for both Terrick and Petrus to head up the rope. Given Arokh was waiting top side, gave her some relief that the two should be fine.

After all, if someone was to hurt Arokh-- she would know.

However, as she makes sure the two go up first, she decides to look back where they came from. Mostly to see if anyone /was/ following them. After all, there were more footprints than just one.

    Indeed, someone with Rynn's skills would be well aware that there had been multiple different sets of human tracks in the sand down there. Others besides Terrick had certainly been down here, if they were not down here now.
    Anyway, Terrick and Petrus clamber up the rope ahead of her, but it does not appear that she has been followed. At least as far as she can see from her position by the light of her torch and the opening she created.

     Rynn waits a bit longer, before she goes to take hold of the rope, snuffing out the torch for good, and moving to make her own way up the rope. She calls up to the two. "Keep climbing! You'll be surface side soon!"

    Once the whole group resurfaces topside, Petrus seemed about to pull Rynn aside when there is suddenly a loud cracking sound. Magical energy appears and morphs into a portal nearby before a woman in deep maroon-colored robes steps out. She appears to be about the same age as Rynn. But upon seeing them, she seems to do a double-take, shocked at their presence.
    "What--who are you all? How did you find this place?"

     Rynn is pulled to the side once up top and when the portal opens. The woman is quick to draw her blade, but holding it in a defensive manner.

"I can ask the same of you." Rynn responds back to the woman. "A ghost town here was sunken into the earth by mages and it seems /you/ are a mage. So I ponder if you may have some connections to this.. and including one young man's memory loss."

Arokh meanwhile only moves to stand up, but takes no type of action. His eyes only watching what unfolds for now in silence.

    The woman looks around at the group, though she does not appear as startled by Arokh as Petrus was originally. She pulls down her hood, revealing full locks of auburn colored hair. 
    "Hm. No, I am merely here to investigate this strange occurrence, the same as you. As for memory loss, I do not have knowledge of any such spell." She pulls the hood back up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have my own digging to do. And do not tell anyone else that you saw me here."

     Rynn watches the woman closely and when she deems this auburn haired woman not a threat, she puts away her blade. "I am sorry for my-- aggressive stance. Just I know these two," She motions to the brothers. "Have been through much." Rynn then shifts her stance as she continues. "And given talk of mages along with the magic keeping the sands at bay underground... I was worried perhaps someone would come to finish the job."

The red haired woman raises a brow, "Though before you go, what is your name? I am Rynn and the dragon is Arokh." She would introduce the brothers as well, but she is still leery of the woman before her.

    "Know this, Rynn. If those responsible for this event catch wind that someone is investigating, they may finish the job and destroy all evidence." the woman says, sounding a tad impatient. "Therefore, you did not see me here, and it is best if you do not know anything further about me."
    With that, she steps back into the open portal and it disappears. Did she teleport down into the ruins? Or elsewhere? Who knows...