2. The Golden City Oolacile
Upon crossing underneath Oolacile's archways, a structure of mossy stone that shined brilliantly with a golden aura, Siegmeyer is taken aback by the splendor of the township before him, overwhelmed with nostalgia of his time in Catarina. The townsfolk gather throughout the streets and golden bridges, shopping at vendor stalls selling all sorts of different, amazing trinkets that Siegmeyer had never seen before. Woman and children laugh and play around a great, golden fountain, spewing golden water up into the air that sparkles and casts a golden rainbow, arching over the entire square with magical radiance. Sorcerers gripping great staves and adorned in golden, shining robes and hoods can be spotted here and there amidst the crowd, each bearing solemn, emotionless faces. Siegmeyer would've thought their presence strange, until Solaire mentions in passing how the sorcerers are actually casting magic to keep the city in its constant golden state.
"How can you tell?" Siegmeyer asks.
"I know a sorceress from these lands. She told me if I loved the Sun so much then I should visit this place someday, for these sorceries are of the light. Well here I am! Hahahaha!"
"I've never seen anything like this... Golden sorceries..." Then the onion knight spots something that gives him pause.
There were other creatures in the township he hadn't noticed until now. They were short and tubby things without limbs, and their heads were wide and fungal. Living mushrooms. Siegmeyer had never seen such creatures in all his life. They reminded him of the tree men back in Darkroot. The difference was forthright, however, for the children appeared to enjoy playing and dancing around them, some even poked them with sticks and made the mushrooms release a funny gasp.
"I'm a stranger in strange lands." Siegmeyer remarks as they cross the busy golden streets, "Something tells me there'll be even more oddities up ahead."
Sure enough they see the silhouette of Oolacile's Royal Barracks, a golden castle that sparkled and shined beneath the sun. There the Royal Family of Oolacile resided. Siegmeyer had heard they were a benevolent family. Perhaps that is why there was not a trace of poverty anywhere to be found in Oolacile.
"This city is an achievement of the Gods." Solaire says then as they pass by a pair of statues depicting Lord Gwyn bestowing a crown upon a much smaller man's head. "Nowhere in the world will you find a place like this. A valley of gold, a city of gold sorceries... I may never leave, hahahahaha!"
"Oh ho!" Siegmeyer points up ahead with his free hand, up the road just beyond the crowded fountain, "There it is!"
The Colosseum of Oolacile sat on a grassy cliff overlooking the valley below. Its towered over everything, taller than any stadium either men had ever seen. Siegmeyer had battled his fair share of tussles in the Catarina Colosseum, but it was a mere anthill compared to this... this marvel of a structure. It was still quite some distance away, they'd need to travel the rest of the township to get there, but seeing their destination on the horizon filled the onion knight's heart with excitement.
The sole reason for his coming here was to participate in the tourney. Determined to succeed and become the Champion of Fire, and bring honor to his homeland, and perhaps he could finally make his pregnant wife proud of him as well.
"What a grand sight to behold, indeed." Solaire comments as they admire the massive colosseum ahead. "Praise the Sun..."
"You say that a lot, you know, and I've only known you for a short time!" Siegmeyer laughs after he says this and Solaire chuckles heartily as well.
"It was something a man I dearly admired used to say... I guess I adopted it as my own. Haha!"
Siegmeyer liked him. He couldn't help it, there was something about his mirthful attitude and just overall warmness, he radiated kindness and confidence. It reminded Siegmeyer of some of his close friends from Catarina, the way he carried himself and spoke with care and intelligence. Suddenly Siegmeyer realized that this man was to be his competition in the tourney, and if the time came where they'd face each other in battle, he'd have push his fondness for him aside...
"Are you alright, Siegmeyer?"
"Ah, my apologies. I tend to venture deep in thought at times..."
The air around them suddenly changes, becoming heavier and harder to breathe. The clouds above began to rumble and swirl as if alive. The townsfolk all freeze in place, looking around with looks of confusion and dawning realization, and for a brief moment the magic of the golden city appeared to fade. Siegmeyer and Solaire wheel about in place, entirely lost as to what was happening. And then came the thunder-beat of an otherworldly bell from the heavens itself, ringing so loud that the onion knight thought his ears may burst.
"What's going on?" Siegmeyer asks Solaire as if his friend might know the answer.
Solaire did know what was about to happen. He'd experienced this atmosphere, this intense, morbid feeling of dread, only once before in his life when he was just a young lad training under the former Warrior of Sunlight. His suspicions are confirmed when one of the townsfolk cups his lips and shouts over the ringing of the bell.
"He's here! They're coming!"
"Who's coming?!" shouts Siegmeyer.