"Speech: Halkeginian"
'Thoughts/telepathy'
'Spells and the like'
"Speech: Common/Dwarven"
"Speech: Draconic"
Golarion: country of Druma, City of Highelm
Fouquet or, as some very select few might know her as, Matilda was fully intent on ditching the Man that had escorted her through some sort of portal that is friend with the woman who had ruined her plans.
This mindset lasted for all but five minutes as they approached the ENOURMOUS walls of a city. They dwarfed the ones of Romalia at least twice over, and those gates look like they weigh tons upon tons, not surprising considering that they appear to be made out of metal and stone. How they manage to operate them she can only guess.
Her resolve to flee further evaporated when she looked around herself, or more precisely the people that are sharing the road with them. Short stocky people, were it one or two she would chalk it of as a birth defect but there is at least a dozen, and unless there is some form of midget bazaar going on it is unlikely for so many people with the same defect to be in the same place. Not to mention these people did not look like it was some for of defect at all, they look natural, all their limbs being the right size and all.
As they approach the gates her guide, Zarhon, she reminds herself, suddenly sprouts a long fleshy tail as if it was completely natural. But considering the visage she had seen that familiar take on it might just be.
'Dear Brimir what have I gotten myself into.' She muses to herself.
Once they get closer she can see that the guards of this place are too of the short stocky kind. She might have considered it funny if someone had told her there was a city somewhere with massive walls guarded by midgets, if she hadn't seen it first hand just now.
Unlike the people who had been walking along side them for the past few minutes who are obviously civilians, these guards looks fierce. Much fiercer than any guard Matilda had ever seen outside palace or even royal guards. Their entire bodies were covered in chain and plate, magnificent long beards decorated intricately and wielding long pole-arms. They meticulously go check each and every person, not throughout enough to be considered invasive but every person is checked.
Matilda cant help but gulp, if this is what these peoples gate guards are like she does not really want to find out what might be found deeper inside.
As they wait in line Zarhon sees her inspecting the guards of the place and whispers into her ear "Yeah, dwarves can be a bit iffy about security, especially in one of their capitals."
"Dwarves?!" she almost shouts out before reigning it back into a whisper. She only gets a nod from the bard, and now that she can see his face she can see that there is a pair of rather small horns jutting out of his forehead. 'Great, I might just have made a deal with the devil.'
Once it is their turn the guards quickly check them over and wave them in, Matilda not understanding a single word they are saying. and now that she is inside the gatehouse Matilda cant help but shudder at the amount of redundant defences it had. It must be a nightmare to try an assault this place.
Once again the bard notices her all but gawking "Yeah, impressive, isn't it? But its only the outer gates, the inner gates is by far more impressive."
'INNER GATES! MORE IMPRESSIVE? What do they need more gates for with outer gates like these.'
As they are walking out of the gatehouse Matilda once more focuses on her surroundings, what greets her beyond is a bustling city dozens of dozens of people walking to and from.
Most of them are these so called Dwarves, but what catches her eye is the fact that there is so very few humans in the crowd and… IS THAT AN ELF!?`
"Yes that is an elf, not that common in a dwarven city but they exist. Also stop staring that's impolite." Shaking her head in embarrassment she quickly starts walking after the Bard looking at everything and everyone.
She notices that there is a regular amount of guards everywhere and that not a single person does not have at least a dagger with them. In fact there is quite a few people in full gear, consisting of armour and weapons fit for any knight but not associated with the guard from what she can tell.
Looking up after hearing a screech she sees a squadron of dwarves flying of gryphons moving overhead. She cant help but marvel at this city, it feels completely alive yet she also feels at once secure and oppressed.
Walking further into the city they exit what might be the residential area, bypassing what she assumes to be the commercial area judging by the sounds coming from there and going straight towards what she assumes to be the industrial area.
As they get closer she can see, and more importantly hear, that she was indeed correct in her assumption as she starts hearing the rhythmic hammering of steel on steel from many places around her.
But it also seems like this might serve as some form of commercial area, considering the amount of people here. Most of these people are armed and armoured with a few who appear to be mages of some kind. And aren't they a jolly mix of races. Some she has never seen or heard of before. Walking lizards, people even shorter still than dwarves, a woman with bird like wings coming from her back, some man with aqua blue skin, elves, humans, dwarves, and even a humanoid rat of all things. It takes quite a bit of willpower for her to not stare at these people but she manages.
In the distance she can see a smaller wall jutting out from the ground, in the centre of which is what seems to be a oversized forge, judging by the plumes of fire coming out of the chimney periodically. And this is what they are approaching.
Right on the other side of the street of this walled in complex in fact.
The building they are entering is of solid make and two stories tall, she would have read the sign but finds that the writing is illegible to her just like the languages she has heard so far.
What she notices is that this building has quite a bit of traffic all things considered, mostly from all those mercenary looking people she had been passing quite often the past half an hour.
Stepping through the large double-doors into a very large room with rows upon rows of armour and weapons lining the walls and on shelves on both floors, the upper floor being visible from below. The shop currently houses a good dozen people browsing various weapons that each look quite expensive to her eyes.
Zarhon once more leans in to whisper something to her "Don't steal anything here. I mean it, you wouldn't like what happens if you do." As he says that he nods towards something behind her, and looking back she sees something that she has no idea how she missed it in the first place.
Two really rather large golems that appear to be made of iron. But what unnerves her is the fact that something is off about these golems. Their faux eyes are watching, like, actually watching everyone in the shop closely.
Walking through the shop she has the opportunity to look at quite a few weapons as they pass and many of them she wouldn't mind possessing herself, but the lingering threat of the golems is still there and she really does not want to find out if these are actually as dangerous as she assumes them to perhaps be.
After a brief conversation between the bard and a exotic looking woman they are let into the back of the shop, a conversation that she once again could not understand since it is in yet another language, the fifth or sixth she has heard in this city so far if she has heard correctly. What a diverse place this is.
But as interesting as such a thing is she would much rather understand what is being said. And voices such thoughts "You know, as much as I like hearing new languages I would much rather know what is being said, especially as it concerns me as much as you in this case."
The bard looks a bit confused at first and then looks a bit ashamed of himself "Ah, apologies. I forgot that you don't speak the common tongue. Here let me cast a translation spell on you. 'Tongues'" She doesn't resist the spell being cast as she sees little point of him trying to harm her at this point. And once the magic settles the background chatter from the store makes a hell of a lot more sense, well, the parts she can hear at least.
Going further through the corridor they are in and through a door they come into what Matilda must admit is probably the most well equipped forge/workshop she has ever seen. Quite a number of people working on this weapon or that armour and even a few muskets are being made here and there by skilled hands. As they are walking towards the middle of the workshop a dull explosion can be heard behind a closed iron door to one side, yet judging by the lack of reaction by pretty much anybody this must be a regular occurrence as such she ignores it as well.
Once they arrive at the centre of the workshop she takes a second to study its make, and its rather impressive in and of itself. Large pistons are constantly fuelling it air, four large openings are shaped into the likeness of faces and when one opens the hatches in their mouths it reveals the burning inferno beyond. In the short moments one of such hatches is opened she could swear she saw something move inside the furnace but passes it off as her imagination.
Working at this central forge is what she would call, from what she has seen so far, a prime specimen of his species. A very long mane of hair and a beard as, if not longer than his hair, both braided with fine decorations inlaid in them. He is almost as broad as he is tall but not an ounce of fat to be seen on him, just pure muscle. This look contrasts greatly with the current work he is performing, engraving fine decorations upon a set of plate armour, decorations so detailed and fine it would take others magic to make yet he does it with simple tools any black- or gold-smith would have. This will, once its complete be a exquisite set of armour that is for certain.
They just stand there next to the dwarf for a good five minutes, not saying a word and presumably waiting for him to notice them. She can understand that, with what he is currently doing a distraction could ruin his entire work. After those five minutes the dwarf stops, having completed the current symbol he had been working on and looks up, instantly spotting her and the bard next to her. To her surprise the dwarf lets out a sigh loud enough to be heard even in here.
Zarhon flashes the dwarf a huge grin offering his hand in greeting "Hey Kwalin! Just thought id let you know I'm back"
"So you met Raskreia over in that other world then?" The dwarf, Kwalin, says in a tone of resignation but that is not what catches Matilda's attention 'Wait what? Other world?'
"Oh yeah, and she sent me to let you know that your operation is a go."
To which Kwalin simply nods at which point he turns towards her. "And the lass?"
"Oh, her! Right. This is Fouquet, she is a new employee of ours and she is… a rouge, if you will." Kwalin's eyes narrow on her which causes a shudder to run down her back 'He is dangerous!'
"You haven't been there a year yet and already you associate with criminals. Was this your idea or the airhead." During this entire sentence he has neither taken his eyes of her nor blinked, which made her sweat more than the heat of this place ever could.
"Hers, actually. And we would like you to cast a Mark of Justice on her." The amount of cheer Zarhon put into his voice that sentence made this all the more uncomfortable for her, yet she is not about to let a dwarf of all things stare her down. So she, gathering all her willpower, straightens herself up and stares right back into the unblinking eyes staring at her.
After a few moments of this and just as her eyes start to water Kwalin lets out a deep chuckle. "HAH! At the very least she has some backbone. Fine I will cast the spell, but tomorrow, don't have it prepared today. Of course I still haven't heard her say anything about this. Few people steal without reason, so tell me, Fouquet, what is yours."
Taking it as her cue to speak and considering her words wisely, she doubts lies would fly well for her, and this person seems like someone to value honesty.
"Well, I required money at a certain point in my life, for reasons that are my own, and I needed it fast. So I did the first thing that came to mind and stole from those that seemed to have too much for their own good. I never really harmed anyone during my work and was just after the money needed to help… a friend. That is all I am willing to say."
He studies her closely for a few moments, likely trying to find any falsehoods in her story. Which there are none. The only thing she left out are a few details concerning her friend and the fact that by now she is stealing for more than just to help her friend but also because she likes the challenge of a well executed heist.
"I see. And is this friend of yours sick or injured that you need to care for them?" Contemplating whether or not to reveal the reason she needs to support her friend she decides that a half truth would be best at this point.
"Brimir I hope not, not she runs an orphanage. And I am helping her cover the costs as the nation does not fund it. And before you ask, she does not know where the money comes from, I doubt she would accept it otherwise." Studying her words once more he suddenly starts chuckling once more.
"I like you Fouquet. Hah! A Thief with a heart, what will Raskreia encounter next? A friendly balor? Now off with you, I have work to do."
"Alright but first: You Jinxed us with the balor. And second: we should contact Thorgal and ask him if he wants to partake in this too." The bard says while already heading for the exit.
"Already done so and he has sent quite a bit of money just in case it actually happens. We have everything set up on our side." The dwarf waves dismissively at them to leave.
Once they reach the main part of the shop Zarhon turns back towards her "Alright, let us find a tavern for the - " before he can finish she is treated to something that those that frequent this place could tell her is a rather rare occurrence. The heads of both golems at the entrance snap towards the space between them and they both at the same time punch the air, their fists colliding mid way with a sound of flesh being torn and bones broken.
'Wait, flesh and bone?' as if to answer her question a mangled and broken body of what might have once been a woman appears out of thin air on the ground, blood splattered everywhere. Its all she can do not to vomit all over the place.
"Oh look, a thief!" as he says that the woman behind the counter walks outside at a sedated pace and calls for a nearby guard. Said guard walks over, sees the corpse, sees the sword she is still holding in her now broken arms, nods, slings the corpse over his shoulder, and walks away.
The woman looks at the blood that is sullying the place, and with a wave of her hand the ring on one of her fingers glows briefly before all the blood and gore is gone as if it was never there.
The people in the shop, while a bit startled at first, are now browsing the different items once more, trying out this or that, and animatedly chatting about what had just happened.
'Brimir, he was right. I would not like what happens when one steals from here.'
TAoM
Those that had remained behind after Zarhon and Fouquet have left once more make their way towards the academy. The air I filled with an awkward silence broken by small talk between Raskreia and Felniir, non of which the locals can understand. After ten or so minutes of this Kirche joins them and with both of the other now switching to the native language for Kirche's benefit.
Once they arrive they all head towards the headmasters office in silence once more, Raskreia carrying the container holding the item they had gone out to find in the first place.
Inside the office Osmond is already waiting for them along with Colbert.
"Ah I see you have retrieved the staff, but where is miss Longueville?" he does seem happy at the retrieval of the item yet at once worried about his employee, at least Raskreia now knows that he actually cares for those he employs. Maybe the incident with Siesta was actually out of his hands.
Raskreia steps up putting the box holding the weapon onto the headmasters desk "We did retrieve it, and I sent miss Zarhon to bring Longueville to a the best healer I know, post haste."
"Ah I see, know however that we would have had a competent healer on site as well." He smiles at the four girls present in the room. "But what happened to the thief, Fouquet?
"Her body is outside in the carriage." This was surprisingly Kirche who spoke. "Fouquet was a woman, and she is now dead."
Both Colbert and Osmond look sadly upon the young people present in the room. "Ah, I see. Such a shame that people as young as you had to see something like that then."
After a few moments of silence Osmond once more brightens up and smiles at the three noble girls "Never the less I am to award you three the title of Chevalier for capturing, or in this case eliminating, the thief by order of the crown. Well two of you at least, miss Tabitha already holds that title." Any shock the two might have felt at Tabitha already possessing this title is overwritten by the fact that they are both gaining such a title for basically doing nothing.
Louise has something else on her mind though. "What about Raskreia, she did most of the work, as did that man."
The two adults look a bit sad before Colbert speaks for them "While that man, I forget his name, would qualify for the title and he will receive it once he returns, Raskreia does not. She is a familiar, and her actions are by our law your actions miss Vallière."
Raskreia looks thoughtful for a moment as the others voice their outrage "Peace your three." Seeing that she got their attention she continues "He has a point, a similar law exists where I come from as well. Though I must admit that I have never heard of a human to be summoned. In either case I don't particularly care for the title." That pacifies the duo who had spoken up for her and makes the men smile.
'I'm surprised at how mature this woman can be sometimes.' Colbert thinks to himself.
A clap from the headmaster garners everyone's attention once more "Very well, now that this is out of the way, on to something more pleasant. In celebration to your feat of heroics we shall be holding a ball tomorrow evening, with the fou-" he stops at as he hears a growl coming from the cat in the room "- I mean five of you are of course invited as guests of honour."
This information makes the girls present smile, as it would do for any young woman, and Raskreia sends a subtle wink towards Kirche who after a moment realizes that this falls under 'The next opportunity' which they had spoken about earlier that day, though she had hoped for something less public.
Raskreia after a few seconds of listening to Louise and Kirche proclaim their excitement turns back towards the headmaster smile on her face. "I believe we had a deal did we not?"
He returns her smile as he leans forward resting his head on his hands "I believe we did. How soon can transport be arranged?"
Raskreia looks at him, and her smile changes slightly, now not radiating kindness but rather malice "Oh I would say as soon as you stop using that familiar of yours to look under my robe." As if in answer to her statement a small white mouse instantly scurries out from beneath Raskreia's robes to the horror of the girls present who turn to glare at their headmaster who is now sweating bullets. "Right…be sure this wont happen again. To the vault then."
Still quite nervous the headmaster stands up, making sure to keep a wide berth from the masses of feminine fury in the centre of his office to lead the group towards the ruined vault.
Once there Raskreia looks over the masses of items scattered everywhere and tries to figure out how long it would take to move all this, noting the crudely repaired wall, yet also noting the lack of magic coursing through it after a brief check with her arcane sight. Deciding that with the people present it wouldn't be all that easy to simply move all this nor wanting many strangers to enter her home she turns towards the headmaster. "Say, can you cast a spell to move this through the portal I will open? Sadly I have to concentrate on keeping the portal open and cannot cast any other spells while doing so."
"Oh I am sure those present cant help with that, how long can you keep this portal open?" Osmond says as he observes the piles of items everywhere, it shouldn't be to hard to merely move it using wind magic.
After doing a bit of math in her head to be as accurate as possible, Raskreia replies to the inquiry "Well, I can keep a Gate open for two minutes before it grows too unstable to maintain, and I can open… five more today. So ten minutes in total, if that is not enough I can do the same again tomorrow."
"That should be enough id wager. Even if not we should be fine for one night. And Miss Vallière please no explosions in here." To which the girl nods in sullen understanding.
The next ten minutes are spent with one person holding open a tear in time and space while the other people are quickly moving a mass of items using wind, or by what-ever other means they have at hand/paw, through said rip in space and time. By the end, the vast majority of items is now secured within a space only accessible by very few and the seven people in the vault are left panting slightly.
Osmond stretches a bit before letting out a content sigh "Ah, nothing like flexing ones magic like this once in a while. Now then, you held your part of the agreement young miss, now I shall hold mine. If I remember correctly you were interested in the purchase of a trio of items, I had taken the liberty of placing them inside my office for now."
"Ah I was wondering were they were, thanks headmaster, I appreciate it. Why don't we go back to your office to get them."
"Very well, and I do so wish to know what you know about them as well." Then he looks over at his students, who are swaying lightly from exhaustion "It seems however that these three students of mine are getting tired. Please do head off to your rooms and rest, tomorrow will be an exciting day after all." The three look reluctant at first but after a moment they realize that they wont be missing much anyways and silently trudge off to get some shut eye.
The three adults and tiger once more reconvene inside the headmasters office, and after a servant delivers some refreshments for them they sit in comfortable silence for a few moments.
Its Osmond who breaks this silence once more after finishing his current cup of tea and pouring himself some more. He then pulls out his wand and levitating a blanked away that is covering the three items, the staff and (presumably) the hourglass being inside the cauldron.
"I am assuming you have the money requested." And to his surprise she pulls out a sizable bag out of a much smaller bag, ignoring the fascinating display of magic he focuses on the bag which, judging by the sound it is making, is filled to the brim with coinage. "Very well, now what can you tell me of these items. Know that I wont be altering the price nor will I decide to keep them after I know what they are, as I said before I merely wish my curiosity to be satisfied.
Raskreia smiles then walks over to the items in question, inspecting them closely. After a minute or so she walks back and sits down once more.
"Well, I have no idea what the cauldron and the hourglass do, but I know the staff. Or rather I know staffs like it." The two men are listening with curiosity "All three items have one thing in common, they are artifacts. Now I don't mean that in the sense that they are old, which they probably still are, but in the sense that they are extremely powerful magical items."
Colbert looks over at the items with a gaze that Raskreia might describe as hungry. "So you are saying that these things are something from your home then?" to which she shrugs.
"Potentially but I cant be certain. Anyways, with artifacts its rather hard to determine their function unless you can identify which one you are looking at in the first place. And again I don't know two of them, but the staff is a Staff of the Magi." As she says that she mage hands the staff over and the two locals are looking over the staff trying to discern what makes it so, supposedly, powerful.
"These things were crafted during my homes ancient times in a long gone empire, and they were given back then to their most powerful mages. Each one is pretty much the same, but still they are quite outstanding staves. For one they give the wielder a certain amount of protection against magic as a whole, they let them cast a number of spells by using the magic stored inside the staff, and perhaps most importantly can be used to completely negate spells being used against its wielder to refuel its internal magic. Oh and it is, as pretty much all artifacts REALLY hard to destroy. In fact destroying this particular item will actually more often than not kill the person who breaks it."
Colbert was looking at Osmond in a way that was saying 'And you sold this thing?'
Osmond blinks a few times not having expected something like this to have been stored in his vault. "I-I see. This is most unexpected. I understand that it is now yours, but would you be terribly opposed to us more closely studying this staff?"
She thinks it over for a few moments, on one hand knowledge like this is best kept close and guarded. But then again many have tried recreating artifacts such as this and failed miserably, what could it hurt for them to inspect it, it will only garner her more good will from them if she accepts. "I wouldn't mind all that much honestly. As long as you don't break the thing of course."
The old man smiles at her in relief, such knowledge could help in the coming conflicts. "I thank you. Now, I believe it is getting late, and it is way past my bed time. Why don't we all go take a well deserved rest in preparation of tomorrow." To which the other people in the room nod and exit at their own pace, Raskreia after stuffing her newly acquired items inside of a bag of holding much to the amazement of the people present, and Colbert shortly afterwards.
Unknown to everyone but Felniir, after rounding the first corner Raskreia starts silently jumping up and down in excitement and cheering at the fact she has just acquired not one, not two, but THREE artifacts for such a low price. Hell, even if one of them is ultimately useless to her she can sell it for substantially more than she paid for them as a whole back home.
The next morning
Raskreia's morning was quite busy, well… To call it morning would be an overstatement in and of itself, as she took full advantage of the fact that she only had to rest for two hours. First and foremost she used her newly acquired staff to planeshift herself into her own demi-plane.
Once there she makes a beeline towards her dwelling, or more specifically the basement thereof. In there she purposefully strides past numerous closed doors and walks on forward, through a forge, through a secret door, through a trap door and trough a cave and into a hidden room where there is a library.
This library, while not as large as could be, is quite the sizable collection of some of the more esoteric works Raskreia has come across in her travels. But what is the more interesting thing in here is the floating, eye shaped, gem currently reading one of said books.
Sidling up to the eye she takes a moment to look at what book it is that it is reading, which happens to be just some romance novel. "Hey, Xel. I have something to do for you."
The thing, Xel, turns to regard her for the first time since she came here. "If we must. I have been here doing nothing but read books for the past year, at any rate. Let us be off then."
Xel as her close friends would know, is not your ordinary, sentient floating eye/gem. No it is a magic item she has crafted with the express purpose of studying any texts she comes across, and perhaps more importantly, make spells she casts permanent if she so desires.
She smiles at it and unceremoniously grabs it, and gates herself, and Felniir away.
Druma, Highelm.
Raskreia appears once more outside of the dwarven stronghold of Highelm, and after going through the usual proceedings of entering and walking through the city she arrives at her intended destination, which is once again Kwalin's workshop.
And after a short, but pleasant chat with Kasumi, who told her about the incident earlier that day, she heads into the back of the store into the workshop.
"Kwalin! How are you." She calls out to her friend, unperturbed by the fact that he is currently doing rather delicate work on a set of plate armour, which to be fair does not phase him in the slightest.
Without even stopping his work he addresses her "Raskreia, I hoped you would come along soon, go find Kloin, he should be here somewhere. You can settle everything with him, oh and the share of the rest of us that want to invest is with him too." Nodding to him, not that he can see, she walks off to find the young dwarf.
After not even a minute he spots him behind a desk brooding over a stack of papers. He spots her as soon as she approaches and gives her a hearty smile "Ah, there you are. I expected you to come soon, but not this soon. Father was right with you anything is possible I suppose." He shakes his head in amusement while she just pouts at the fact that everyone seems to be making fun of her sometimes, not helped by the snickering from the tiger next to her.
"Nevertheless I have everything in order, I even prepared a formula of a spell you had wanted for quite some time now, simulacrum. I assume you know where I am going with this, no?"
To his mild surprise and large amusement she lets out an excited squeal "YOU DID!? You are the best godchild one can ask for, I have been looking for a copy of that spell for ages!"
He just strokes his slowly lengthening beard in amusement "What can I say, I try."
To which she cant help but laugh "That you do, anyways. I assume you would like me to provide a form of transportation for you right?" To which he nods and she give him a toothy grin. "Well its time for me to blow your expectations away and tell you I will trump anything you might have envisioned."
He cocks his eyebrow and, to someone used to his facial expressions, one can tell that he is showing a moderate amount of apprehension at what might be considered exciting for the half-dragoness.
"I will create you a Demi-plane that connects from here to there." He lets out the breath he had held for now at the fact that things are not as bad as it might have had been.
"That would indeed be useful, but as I am to understand it something like that costs a small fortune to create, or at least to make it last. Does it not?" to which she just keeps smiling at him.
"Let that be my worry just give me a spot where I can make such a portal." He just nods in acceptance and thinks for a moment.
"Out back of the workshop should be fine, we can always just make a door or gate around it and people deliver things to the back of the shop quite frequently anyways so the added traffic shouldn't draw attention."
"Right then, I will get right to it. I should be done by the end of the next day." She, without further words pockets all the items offered to her and heads over to where Kwalin is and merely passes by him while saying a few words that make him stop hammering for a few seconds before shaking his head and continuing as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. "Gonna go out back and create an inter-dimensional portal there."
Once in the back Raskreia zeroes in on a suitable spot for a portal like this, where she then settles herself to create such a portal by creating an entirely new demi-plane. Which will take a paltry six hours, an then another twelve hours to make the actual portals for both ends… joy.
'Yeah no way in hell I am doing all that today, wait doesn't Simulacrum take twelve hours as well… fuck me.'
Six hours, and several leg cramps later Raskreia sits back up now within a newly created pocket in space.
"Well, got this part done and over with at least. Thank you Xel your help was appreciated I will I will planeshift us home now if you don't mind."
In response Xel floats over from where it had been inspecting the edge of space and hums in what might be considered agreement. Raskreia takes her new favorite toy in hand and both of them are gone in a blink, leaving the newly created space empty.
TAoM
After having dropped of Xel back at home and then returned to the academy Raskreia's first order of business was to finalize her deal with the Zerbst. A deal that did not take all that long and now a good eight thousand gold pieces lighter from acquiring the deed for the land she steers the conversation towards a more casual direction.
"Sooo, about that ball tonight." Rask starts out.
Kirche looks a bit uncertain now that it actually came this far "So I am to take it that you would like to go there with me then?"
To which Rask just smiles warmly "Well, yes actually. Besides you are the only one, so far to have asked me, if indirectly. Mind you I am quite sure quite a few boys are going to ask sooner rather than later but first come first served. Never mind the fact that I have yet to see a guy here that I can stand."
"I suppose we could" Kirche starts out "I mean, what's the harm?"
"Exactly!" Rask stands up and walks towards the exit "I cant wait for this evening to arrive, oh and dress to impress. I know I will." And with that she was gone.
Outside Raskreia stands there for a moment, unsure of what to do next.
'Well, I could either finish the portals, or I could make myself the simulacrum… I think the portals are of a higher priority though, so that's what im going to do, the simulacrum can wait until tomorrow.'
'Greater Teleport' and with that incantation she was gone from the academy once more.
Border between Tristain and Germania.
The border between these two countries is largely empty, as their relations are not the best for the most part, to put it mildly. Sure there are roads and such leading to and fro, even quite nice plots of land here and there. This is not one of them.
True, there is a road, but that would give it too much credit to be honest, it is more of a beaten path, a muddy one at that, leading through something between a marsh, plains and a swamp. So all in all not a place one would like to build anything, normally.
Thankfully Raskreia is anything but normal and her only thought is the fact that this 'Thank the gods for magic.'
Looking around for a moment she spots a prime place to start a outpost, on a hill and next to the road/path and even relatively dry to start out with.
So walking up to the very top of the hill she then casts a 'Wall of stone' around herself to keep out any casual intruders for the time being and mentally prepares herself for the coming twelve hours of casting. This time however she is smart about it, by placing a blanket and a pillow beneath herself first.
'Why oh why can't these spells be done quicker.'
Twelve further hours of weaving the fabric of creation to her will Raskreia is once more standing in the new Demi-plane which now resembles a dark tunnel, with exits on both ends.
Walking over to the Golarion side of things she walks straight into Kwalin's workshop through the back entrance. Once in she seeks out Kloin once more, who is still sitting behind the same desk he had been hours ago, or perhaps again considering it is a new day for them over here.
He looks up at her and it looks like he had not expected her back so soon "Back so soon? Have you finished everything?" to which she shakes her head.
"No but I finished the damn portals, you can get people over now, oh and here is the deed." She says as she pulls out a roll of parchment handing it to him.
"I hope you can live with the fact that you will have to wait a while for me to make the simulacrum, I cant be asked to do any more long castings for today." He nods and takes the deed from her.
"Right, I will get the workers started on making a perimeter and such."
"You do that, I am going to speak with your father." And she leaves to go find the other dwarf she wants to talk to.
And she does find him, as he is currently finishing his prayers.
"I see you are back again, are you finished breaching a hole through reality in my backyard?" he says with no real hostility in his voice, heis probably thinking this being the most convenient solution to the problem of transportation just like her.
"I have, but I would like your help with the creation of a simulacrum tomorrow, more specifically you healing me after I use blood money to fund the damn thing." He nods and walks past her.
"That can be arranged. Anything else you need?" She contemplates a moment but cant think of anything, Kloin even got her a good amount of Ruby dust for the creation of the simulacrum, more than enough as to cover the fact that she cannot make all of it out of her own blood.
"Nope, I'm good. Kloin finished the most tedious parts already, so I am just going to go back." He just grunts and starts collecting his tools and to start work for the day.
Raskreia meanwhile walks out back, through a extra-dimensional tunnel and into a marsh. Where she casts 'Greater Teleport' once more, while thinking about how nice it is that she doesn't have to use a ninth level spell anymore to travel between the two worlds.
TAoM
In the great hall the ball has already started and all students and faculty, minus a secretary, are present. Everyone is dressed in their finest clothes and trying to vie for attention of their peers.
Well, all but a few.
Tabitha for example seems more interested in the offered food.
Louise who has surprised everyone with her magnificent looks once properly brought to shine, was mostly keeping to herself. Somewhat perturbed that people who had bullied her not too long ago are trying to garner her favor now that she looks attractive in their eyes.
Kirche is also gaining quite a bit of attention but valiantly shooting off all of it, as she is waiting for her date of the evening. She took Raskreia's words to heart and did indeed dress up in her finest dress. It is a fine silk piece of dark blue closely hugging her figure and fit for high nobility such as her.
She is a bit put of by the fact that Raskreia is late, but it is still within the margin of being fashionable so she is forgiven… for now.
Just as she was about to give up on her arriving and just going to accept a dance from one of the boys still trying to get her attention the door of the hall opens to admit one more guest.
And most everyone's jaws would have hit the floor if it was possible for them to do so.
There in the door stood Raskreia hair, which is usually pulled into a ponytail, I now left hanging loose all the way to her lower back and has been interwoven with gold, accentuating its natural silver color. Her dress I pure white, with multiple layers of overlapping cloth. She is also wearing what might be called a corset made of what appears to be silver, which has two inlaid, lightly glowing gems in its center. Her right arm is covered in a sleeve while her right arm is left mostly exposed yet sports a shoulder piece and wrist guard of the same make as the chest piece, including the gems.
All in all it gives he a kind of ethereal feel that many wish they could attain but never do.
Raskreia saunters up to a slack-jawed Kirche and extends her hand towards her date for the evening. "My apologies for being late, I shant make excuses for it is unforgivable to make a lady wait. May I still have a the honor of a dance?" the mischievous smile Rask has on her face as she is holding out her hand does it all for Kirche who with little to no hesitation takes the offered hand.
"Why how could I ever say no to someone like you."
Aaaand done.
Let me just apologize for one thing, I cant describe clothes for shit. If you want to know what Raskreia's dress looks like look up Tyrande Whisperwind (new one) from World of Warcraft. Basically that.
Also I wonder if someone can correctly guess the last two artifacts (both are official, but the cauldron is a custom official artifact, so basically the same as the official but a bit modified)
And ALSO I wonder if someone can guess what she plans to make as a simulacrum and what for, here is a hint it has 23HD.