"The Purple Lantern Tavern." Thomas spoke out loud as the quiet surroundings and the people within them seemed to continue on, not noticing the azure-clad figure in their midst. "Well I could use a rest from my feet. I have little money, but perhaps I can find somewhere to sit and pass the time. I have nothing better to do."

Openly sighing, he opened the door and looked about him. Most of the bar looked to the new figure that trotted in, his azure clothing soiled with rainwater. Thomas simply looked at them back, each one of them soon spotting the space in the center of his forehead then turning away the next instant. Sighing, part in relief and part in despair, he walked up to one of the empty tables in the tavern and sat himself down. The barman came across but he simply waved him off, sending him back to the bar without order or will.

Looking around, he sighed openly. He looks to the decorations upon the walls, keenly glancing to the lanterns that were sending their glow against the tinted windows, the burning red giving an unusual effect, in his eyes, to the amethyst windows that littered a few spots around the bar. For a moment he was thankful that he could not spot any mages in the bar so that he could not be thought powerful by one of them and he crossed his arms over the table and sighed once more before planting his forehead onto his folded arms, motionless for some time and listening to the surroundings closely.

Noath was defiantly to far away from home. He had been traveling for about 2 years, and had not seen anyone from his clan. All he wanted was a good dwarven ale. He noticed that there was a tavern sign ahead, and quickly entered. Noath looked around the bar, it was not overly crowded, but there was a fair amount of people. He walked up the bar and took a seat next to a rather large burly man. Noath started to look for the barkeep “what’ll it be” he asked. “Ye have any dwarven ale?” Noath asked. “We don’t” was the response. Noath sighed and replied, “Give me ye darkest ale.”

Caught by surprise by the loud vocals of one particular person, he looked up to the bar, where it originated from. To his surprise he gazed upon a dwarf - and one alone at that - which made him wonder. -What brought him here...? Aren't dwarves natural miners, forever remaining in their clan-halls deep beneath the earth? What happened to his clan, I wonder?-

What blind curiosity moved him Thomas could not tell, but he felt that the dwarf mayhap make better company than the table. He walked up to the bar and sat next to the dwarf, gazing upon him for a moment. The barman looked at the battle mage with muted interest but the glare given in return soon turned him back to the dark ale he was preparing.

"Let me pay for that, friend." Thomas spoke to the dwarf. "And may I have some water please? I haven't felt like drinking anything for hours, yet I feel like I need something to keep me alive."

The barman sighed. "Don't concern yourselves about it. You both seem more weary than most so I shall pay for these ones."

"Many thanks, friend." Thomas responded, sighing and looking around him. The gazes around him returned but his stares soon disheartened most of the others from looking back to them. Only a small group of cloaked figures continued to look his way, but Thomas decided to pay no heed to them. Instead he shook his head and sighed. -This is why I hate bars.- He thought to himself.

“Thank ye friend.” Noath replied to the bar keep. “And thank ye too” Noath said to the strange dressed figure seated next to him. “Me name is Noath of clan Enmess,” Noath said introducing himself, after taking a long drink of ale.

"No need to thank me, Noath." Thomas replied. "My curiosity brought me beside you, for it has been many a year since I have seen a dwarf. The last I met was very pleasant after an ale or two so I figured that it may be something the dwarves enjoy." Thomas exhaled a chuckle for a moment at this point. "They do say that you should never disturb a dwarf from his cups, so I do not."

Sipping at the water provided, he glanced to the dwarf for the briefest of moments before thinking about the name of the clan. -Enmess, huh...? then I am far from my own lands. The last dwarf I met was of clan Firehammer...but that was so long ago. I'm surprised at how I remember it, especially since I was so young. Not to mention that the clan never left the mountains...- Coming back to the moving world, he sighed.

"I am Thomas, once a proud ruler of men but now a worn-down battle mage with few powers to my name." He responded, his hands digging into the tunic to retreive the sapphire shard. "This is all that remains of the memory of my power. This indent in my forehead shows where it once rested," he pointed to his forehead, "where the jewel was once a part of me." He sighed once more, turning to his water. "Do you know much about the different kinds of people in this world, Noath?" He asked out of the blue as he sipped once more at his water, watching as the cloaked figures his gaze caught onto before began to gather their heads around the table, taking the occasional glance to Thomas for some unknown reason. -Looks like there'll be trouble in the bar tonight...- He thought for a brief moment.

“Yer right about not disturbing a dwarf when he is drinking.” Noath replied with a roar of laughter at the end. Noath noticed that Thomas started to stair off into though, but soon returned.

Thomas reached into his tunic and retrieved a beautiful sapphire shard, and talked of the times he was the ruler of men and such, But Noath was to concerned with the group of people glancing in the direction of the two. Noath did hear the question Thomas asked about the people of the land and responded “this be my first time here, and I have not meat anyone but yer self.” Noath had a bad feeling about the group that had been watching them and placed his had on the mace to his side.

Thomas tossed a brief glance to Noath as he reached for his weapon, Thomas then knowing that there was going to be trouble this night. Quickly tossing his water past his parted lips and down his throat he sighed a little, glancing to the now rising figures one more time before telling Noath that "those are not the sort you want to know" and walking back to the table he occupied, grabbing the stick that rested there.

The moment he turned around, though, the figures were around him. Four in all, each wearing a mysterious cloak around their bodies. Nothing of their features could be seen, but it was clear that they were bandits - and established ones at that - and it was all too clear what they were after. The sapphire. Thankfully, for Thomas, it was within his tunic once more, placing it within its foldings before reaching for the staff.

"Give us that jewel and we will let you live." The foremost figure commanded, his voice sounding brutish and deep.

"You will not threaten me with such insolence." Thomas responded, annoyed with them. "Let me pass."

He attempted to break through, but the foremost simply thrusted him back over the table and leaned over him. "You seek death, child? Then you will get it."

Glaring into the cloak of the assailant he did not notice the figure's hand rising up, ready to collide with his facial compsure. Nor did he need to. His dagger was unsheathed from within the tunic's folds and was sent forward to thrust deep into the folds of the cloak, driving home the resistance to them as the man shouted in pain, his arm collapsing to the side of the table as the dagger was withdrawn, the other three stepping back as the assailant rose up and turned to them.

Thomas blinked for a moment before hiding the dagger back inside the tunic, grasping his staff and rising to his feet. -Lie down.- The words passed through his mind as he whacked the staff into the back of the cranium of the figure, forcing it to almost instantly collapse to the floor in pain. The other three looked to each other then around, dazed at what has become of their companion.

Noath noticed that the group of man had encircled his new acquaintance and he was not surprised by the action of the group. Noath jumping from his seat at the bar with his mace in hand at the chance to no someone’s head in. “no yer not thinken of do nothing are ye?” Noath asked as he swung the heavy mace at the back of one mans leg right behind the knee. The blow shattered the mans knee and he was soon on the ground clinching the wound. Noath stepped over the man on the ground and past his friend and joined Thomas, in what once was the center of the circle.

The second grunting in pain on the floor, the two remaining assailants became angered and rushed for both Thomas and Noath, one on one. His second assailantl approaching, Thomas smacked the staff right onto the center of the assailant's forehead, the blow knocking the form back and flicking the hood off its head. A male, it seemed, and a young one at that.

"How your young kind get caught in these situations I would like to know," Thomas spoke to him, "but I don't think you will give me the chance."

Not satisfied with words, the male unsheathed a sword and sent it forward towards Thomas' form, the staff just knocking the sword to one side. Whipping the staff upwards while the assailant recovered, he knocked the sword straight out of the man's hands and into one of the empty seats at the bar. Unarmed, the man rushed at Thomas with a sense of anger, fists hoping to land a blow which it soon did, in the left shoulder of Thomas' body.

Angered, Thomas charged into the male form and knocked him back, Thomas' aching arm drawing out the dagger once more as the other held the staff, ready for anything. The assailant was stunned, but not out, and in one last act of defiance he leaped up and hoped to choke the life out of his target. Thomas was ready for anything, though, and the dagger once more shed crimson as it tore across the throat of the assailant, the life being coughed out of the body as the last breaths expired.

The other man was rushing towards Noath with rage in his eyes. The man took a swing at the small dwarf but Noath quickly moved out of the way and countered the attack with a swing of his mace to the mans arm. The blow was not powerful enough to break the bone but the man pulled back quickly and rubbed the already bruised flesh. He was angered even more man drew his sword and swung furiously at Noath. The dwarf had been in many battled and instinctively blocked the sword, moved to the left letting the sword fall to the ground and, attacked the mans unguarded left leg. The blow crippled the man, breaking his leg just below the knee. “That’ll teach ye and yer friends,” Noath added after replacing the mace to its resting place.

Not satisfied with their 'victory', Thomas grasped each of the assailants one by one and tossed them out of the bar, each one grunting in pain as they collapsed onto the road outside - each save one, for the will to make a sound had left him, only a thud appearing from his casual casting-off. Looking around, Thomas could see all of the bar's occupants gazing upon them in total silence, some looking upon them in awe and others in disgust. A few of the teenagers in the crowd were insisting that what they did was cool while the parents insisted that it was not cool to kill someone. Sighing, he walked up to one of these in particular.

"Stay away from my children, murderer!" The woman cried out, the man leaping up to protect her.

"I only come to say that I agree with you." Thomas responded in a soft tone. "Killing people is not a way to live. Yet sometimes you have to to protect those that you love, be they relatives, friends or possessions. For me, it was the jewel, for it is all I have left of my past." It was at this point he showed the jewel to the people before him. "It is my memory. I will not let it fall to the likes of them."

"That's cool!" One of the children said. The mother remained silent, but anyone could see that in her eyes came an undrstanding that couold only be achieved from someone who knows what the other is talking about. The father also felt calm after those words, once more occupying his seat, satisfied that the azure-clad figure means no harm.

"I shall leave you be." Thomas commented, returning to the bar. "So, sir, do you have any information about that group that assailed us?"

The man shook his head. "None. They seemed to have been an amateur thieves group, though...possibly this new one we've been hearing about, though it is only rumour."

"A rumour, you say?" Thomas responds. "This seems to be more than a rumour."

"I'd best get you both another round of ale." The barman replied as he glanced upon Noath once again before moving off to do the ale, leaving Thomas to watch him inquisitively, silently pondering as to what this thieves' guild is about.

Noath started towards the bar, paying Thomas’s visit to the family no mind, and thought to him self about the time’s he was forced to kill. Noath winced as he remembered killing his own kin when the city divided and war was raged dwarf against dwarf. He left the painful memory when he heard the bar tender remark about some more ale. The dwarf posed and looked around the room, then returned to his seat.

Noath turned looked up to Thomas and remarked “yer not as useless in battle as you make ye self seem.”

The bar tender had come back with the ale, and started to tell the two about the “rumors” “well about two or three weeks about people started reporting to the city guard that valuables were being taken, these were some very wealthy people in the community too, I ant never seen any of them in here.” He continued “not only…” the bar tender was interrupted by a customer “eya bar keeps, geet me an alle.” The man was clearly drunk, but the bar keep left to tend to his, and some others needs.

The azure-clad figure smiled at the dwarf and his remark to the 'usefulness' that Thomas was in comparison to how he appeared, offering a likewise, complimentary gesture. "You can do pretty well with that mace too, master dwarf. A warrior worthy of the given strength you must be."

Perking a brow as the barkeep spoke of the rumour he heard about, Thomas became more intrigued by the moment as the thieves seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Constant thoughts brimmed through Thomas' mind as he thought about that fact but they faded almost as quickly as they came, unable to pin down any of them. Left to wonder as the barkeep was distracted, he turned to Noath once more.

"Well I would not part with this jewel for all the riches in the world." Thomas stated to him. "This is all I have left of my past and I refuse to let it go until I either return home or death part me from it." At that point he grinned, turning his gaze to the ale before him. "Not that those children would take my life so easily. I still have a fighter's spirit within me, no mistaking that."

Fuelled by the desires and anger he felt inside, he grasped the handle and downed the ale, taking it all in with one long drink and placing the tankard back where it once stood, wiping his lips quickly before he felt the pockets of air tingled upon his face. Letting out a sigh of relief and intaking a gasp of air to sigh again, he relaxed, waiting for the barkeep to return to continue on.

“Aye, if I had me axe they would not be as luck to leave with their life” Noath remarked about the dwarfs skills with his mace. When the bar keep placed the ale down Noath quickly took a drink of the smooth ail. He noticed that Thomas had drank the mug very quickly, and quickly did the same not wanting to be out drank by a human. “Ye can drink too,” Noath said shocked, after the two were done with their ale.

“Well I wouldn’t part with for all the gold in the world,” Noath said and pulled out a small rock carved in to a hammer. “Me father gave this too me the day before he left, for the war,” Noath added after returning it back to his breast pocket. The rock was worthless but meant the world to Noath.

Thomas almost roared with laughter at the dwarf's remark, but it was delayed by Thomas commenting about the drink. "Yeah, I can drink. Though I oft do drink when I am annoyed beyond my belief. He that tries to steal what is mine let neither the Heavens or Hells stop my anger."

"Nor let me or anyone here get in your way, friend." Tha barman replied, returning to them both. "We are not so keen on thieves ourselves, but they have been a problem for some time now. This new group, however, is more bloodthirsty than others I have known. I cannot say what leads them, but I do know that whoever does must be as sinister and twisted as his lackeys if not more so." He leaned in to them both as he whispered his following words. "Some say they hide in a forest, but not the Gloomwood that lies nearby, though that had come from nowhere, but I believe that rumour has it Norwood Forest hides these brutish fiends of injustice. I highly suggest that you stay away from that place unless you seek the thieves' treasures or death. I don't know about you, but I think it best to keep away from all concealed places. A greater chance of staying alive that way."

Turning away, the barman rushed off to tend to another customer who must have felt he had been waiting an hour by the looks of his impatience. Thomas simply turned to Noath, silently thinking that the dwarf may be able to beat down these fiends. But a second thought caused him to turn back to the empty glass before him, not wishing for more conflict while his powers are still drained. He cannot risk it. Not now. It was then Thomas' memory recalled the rock that Noath showed to him, granting him something to talk about.

"You can fight expertly, friend," Thomas spoken towards the dwarf in a hushed tone, "yet it seems like you have bad memories of conflict in your time." Nodding, Thomas turned back to the glass. "Of course, I will respect your father and your fellow kind that were involved in this war if you wish not to speak of it. I know myself that war is something that nothing can be gained from but much can be lost within. The only war that something emerges from it is a war that has the divine or unholy beliefs that drive it forward to victory. I pray that you, Noath, shall never find that out personally like I had."

“Aye, no one has ever truly wanted this” Noath remarked before the bar keep returned and patted his breast pocket, “but if someone knew the value it holds, I believe they would.”

The bar keep’s words truly intrigued Noath, and after hearing them, all Noath could think of for a brief second was the treasures that the thieves might have. Noath thought of the gold, and other valuables that might be hiding in the Norwood Forest.

Thomas’s words snapped him from his thought, though they were not deep. “In truth, I remember little of the war, for I was young at the time, and was forced to stay in the tunnels, for me own safty.” Noath said in a disappointment tone, “though I was very skilled for my age, some even said was would be a hero someday.” Noath started to squirm in his seat, not being very comfortable revealing so much about his past to someone he barley knew.

Trying to change the subject Noath asked, “How many thieves do ye think are in this Norwood Forest, and do ye think we could disband this group of halogens?”

Knowing that his new-found friend had not had the same experience of battle that he had had satisfied him so he decided to respond to Noath's query about the thieves. "Who can tell, friend? I know nothing about these thieves except where they may come from. There is not even a name for them. We won't know if we are killing the thieves that attacked us, for one thing, and if we start taking on the thieves guilds all at once we could be in more trouble than we may be in already." Looking around, he then leaned in to Noath, whispering. "Besides, I would like to regain my powers first before tearing them all apart."

With a wide grin Thomas looked to Noath, bringing his head back to hover above the empty glass. He remembered what powers he once had and now all he had to do was to get them back. With this intent he wished himself to get his powers back and, for a brief moment, he felt something stirring around his stomach. Blinking, he moved his hands into his pockets and looked at the jewel he brought out, being given its cold, dimmed gaze as it seemed to look upon him. He begins to wonder if his energies had truly left him for a moment before shrugging and placing the jewel back.

In the meantime, outside, the thieves were recovering in parts. The two Thomas wounded had subsequently died, the latter being the earliest to meet their demise, yet the two Noath had struck slowly recovered their motion they carried their comrades off slowly, heading off with whatever strength they could get to their base camp. Their wills forged, they travelled to their base which, contrary to what the barkeep thought, was not that far from the bar, in an abandoned storage hall that they now occupied as a thieves' hall in the town. The place would be in an uproar this night.

Noath started to think that Thomas did not share his love of skull cracking, that was not uncommon with humans, and dwarfs, but After Noath heard Thomas’s last words a wide smile appeared on his face, and he roared with laughter. “Ye truly had me thinkn that you weren’t come with me.” Noath said after he settled down “thought that wouldn’t have been a bad thing, all the more skulls for me to be smashn.”

Little did the dwarf know of how much trouble the two had caused, back at the thieves hall the surviving men were telling the others of the fight. The apparent leader was very disappointed with what had happened and started to plan how the group was going to ambush Thomas and Noath when they left the tavern that night. Truly the small town would be disturbed tonight.

Noath's concern over Thomas' lack of bloodlust had then began to get Thomas concerned about his newly found friend. "I had said that I would like to regain my powers first, Noath. Not that I would go with you to their camp. If you wish to take out whatever thieves lurk there then you are more than welcome to make your own grave but I do not fight for money or blood. I only fight because I must." Thomas then turned to Noath, the expression of one who knows appearing upon his face. "If I had things my way, weapons would not exist and I would happily live my life in some peaceful home with a loving wife and a few children playing merrily in the back garden. Instead I am forced into a life of eternal struggle, forced to fight on to survive, forced to fight on for my friends, forced to fight on for my people." Turning back to the empty glass, he sighed. "I fight because I have no other choice. I shall not go with you, master dwarf, if you wish to go now."

"Never have I heard a wiser man speak such heartfelt words, my good man." The barman commented, returning to them. "You sure are two people that I can feel entertained with. May I ask your names?"

"Thomas, friend." Thomas replied. "And I thank you for your praise, though I only wish that it was praise that was truly wanted." He quickly raised a palm to show he meant no offence. "Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for it, but when speaking the truth praise is not something you look for."

"Yet for truth being spoken, it should be praised nonetheless, for not many speak truth in this age." The barman responded. "Rayvern is my name, my good mage. Shall I have the pleasure of supplying more ale?"

“This fight would be to better the city of Balefire” Noath argued “this is yer fight. Ye don’t know what them thieves will do now that they been challenged they will be strike back, and hard.” Noath was certainly angered by Thomas’s blatant disregard for the city’s well being. “ye too know that they will fight back,” Noath said to the barkeep “and they will most likely start with ye bar.”

“The only way to stop this is to strike first.” Noath said as he hoped down from the bar stool “ye can join me if ye want, it dont matter all the more smashing from me.” Noath added in a grim voice as he walked out of the bar with mace in hand.

Little did any of them know Noath was right. The thieves were going to fight back, and they were going to start with the Purple Lantern Tavern. When Noath walked out of the Tavern he was met by two thieves scouting the tavern to see when would be the best time to strike.

Thomas sighed, glaring at the back of the dwarf as it left, the barman watching with a confused glance. "I thought that the mention of ale would stop him from leaving." The barman said. "And a dwarf hardly disregards an offer for more ale. What a strange fellow he is..."

"Bloodlust clouds his mind, Rayvern." Thomas responded to him. "He seeks the thrill of combat, the rewards it brings, the glory it gives to the hero. As I told him, I only fight because I must. Those four tried to steal from me, yes, but that is not a reason to take them all down. I see no reasoning behind charging to where the gathering of the thieves may be and breaking them apart. The scatterings will only spawn more anger within the thieves, especially if the attack was unprovoked."

"You may be right, wizard," Rayvern responded, "nonetheless, the dwarf will have a point. Now that they have been denied their wishes from you two they will come for this place, thinking that you are one of us, coming back at them for all the times they stole from here." Thomas spun and glared at the man behind the bar as he continued. "They will not rest until they take down all who witnessed the time they were denied their payment. No thief can survive with people knowing they can fight against them."

A surge of anger flowing through his veins, Thomas tried to contemplate the fact that the dwarf was right. Lost and unsure on what to do, he shouted to the celing, raising his staff before impacting it against the floor, shocking all that were in the bar, forcing them to flee from the bar in their fear of what could occur. The surge of people running out made Thomas decide that he had to watch out for them, so he walked after them and found that a group of the thieves had surrounded the bar suddenly, shouting to all to return inside the bar. As the people fled back into the bar in their intensified terror, Thomas glared, shouting above the screams and the yells "Create Water!" and coursing his staff in an arc, the sudden blast of water rushed out of the tip of his staff and impacted heavily against each of the surrounding thieves, knocking them all off their feet.

"Leave now, damned thieves!" Thomas shouted to them. "I am Thomas, Battle Mage of Light, and I will not leave you to harm this place. It is I whom you want, so back off and you can all have me." -Of course, not without a fight.- Thomas suddenly thought as he glared into the darkness of the garbs around him, wondering how many were in their number, knowing that the advantage was now his as their footsteps would be easier to make out due to the heaviness of the absorbed water and with magic and weaponry at his side he could once more be the battle mage he once was - not as powerful, but at least a small testament to his old self. Inside his pockets, the jewel glowed a brilliant sapphire hue, reflecting its light from outside the pocket and failing to be noticed by Thomas.

Noath noticed that after he walked out of the bar that it was surrounded by a large group of the thieve guild. Noath readied him self and pulled out his axe, and yelled “ye wont be as lucky this time ye dolt’s!” Right after he said that the tavern door swung open and Noath was almost trampled as the stampede of people came out of the tavern.

Noath was knocked about but stood strong, yelling at the people to return to the safety of the tavern. He heard Thomas then advising the people to do the same. “Nice of ye to join me.” Noath yelled over the roar of the crowed to Thomas.

As the people rushed back into the tavern Noath heard Thomas say something, but could not make out the words, but soon understood that it was a spell as a large burst of water come from his staff. The blast had caught most of the thieves and knocked them to the ground, but other advanced quickly.

The first one that came close to Noath was struck in the hip by the heave axe and smacked into his comrade next to him, knocking him down. By then the thieves that had been knocked down were getting up and charging toward the two. Noath dug in knowing that this would be a hard fought battle. The second thieve that Noath knocked down had started to get up but Noath smacked him across the face with the flat part of the axe knocking him out. Noath looked around only to see that more thieves had come out from the shadows and were fast approaching. Noath snorted and ground his feet into the ground reading himself for the battle.

A few of the thieves sprang forward and, with true-to-form style, Thomas leaped upon the one, sending his heel into the cranial mass and knocking it unconscious with the motion, whipping the dagger into a second's chest as he landed and a third recieves the staff across the eyes as Thomas' feet impact the ground. Some of the thieves turn back but they were soon met by the staff pointing at them, a call of "Create Spark!" sending small embers into the eyes and garbs of the assailants, setting them alight and forcing them to either flee the scene to douse their clothes or cast away their cloaks, forcing their full visage to appear.

Spiralling around in a violent circle, Thomas called once more "Create Spark" just as his knife embedded himself into a thief that tried to take him from behind, penetrating its liver as it was promptly knocked to one side by the staff that was shooting out small sparks of flame at the thieves, singeing eyes and igniting cloaks, putting them off attacking him, instead aiming for Noath, the dwarf who knew no magic to disable them.

The sapphire beamed out light from his garment and Thomas had noticed it then, but his concern for Noath was still great and he ignored it as he cried "For Livarencia!" and leapt over several of the thieves, bouncing behind Noath once more and crying out "Create Spark!" again, sending embers in all directions away from the bar, catching as many of the thieves as he could with the magic.

“Bah I can handle myself” Noath shouted as Thomas jumped around behind him “and I don’t need any of that magic.” Noath then hacked at another thief, connecting with the knee with his sharp axe. The blow cut deep into the thief’s knee, and forced the assailant to the ground.

Noath then took a quick glance behind him and realized why Thomas had jumped in behind him. Noath did not take long and when he turned back a thieves were right in front of him swinging his sword looking to behead him. Noath quickly ducked and kicked at the thief legs knocking his down, but Noath did not have time to add the finishing blow as another thief was fast on him. The thief swung his sword widely and Noath knew that he was not a very skilled fighter. Noath dodged the wild swipes and soon knocked the thieve out with a blow to the head with the flat of the axe. The other thief had gotten up and had swung at Noath again and this time Noath was not so lucky to completely doge the attack. Noath was cut, not badly, on his left arm. This wound only make Noath fight harder, and he roared, and quickly took that thieve down.

“When are ye all going to learn, ye ant going to win.” Noath questioned the group of thieves

With the new energies coursing from the jewel as it glowed, Thomas could feel new magic flowing through him, as if educating him once more in the ways of spell casting. Noath's confidence brought a grin to the azure-clad battle mage's face as he suddenly called out "Light!", Thomas closing his eyes as a beam of light flashed out of the end of his staff, blinding those looking in his direction. Using this to his advantage, he arced the staff out, calling "Fire Lash!" to summon a fiery whip upon the tip of his dagger, the flames dropping on the floor in a straight line as Thomas then snapped it against some of the enemies, keeping his staff levitated to hold the spell in place as he continued to course the whip into the closer of the thieves as they approached, igniting them almost on the touch as their dry, brittle cloaks met the string of flame.

Looking around, he had noticed that only a scattered few had remained. They had looked among themselves, either seeing their chargrilled comrades lying on the ground, scared allies fleeing for their lives or ignited or aflame friends fleeing to the nearest watering hole. Several garments that once were the thieves' cloaks were now in cinders upon the terrain around them, Noath and Thomas the two in the middle of the carnage.

"Come on, children..." Thomas snorted, glaring at them all as his staff was lowered, dispelling the fire whip. "...what do you want to play next?"

As the last few thieves ran off, Noath commented “I guess they don’t want to play with us.” Noath then noticed that Thomas’s jewel was glowing, “yer jewels, it’s glowing?” Noath said in a surprised tone. “I thought it was drained of its power?” Noath questioned Thomas.

Soon after commenting about the jewel Noath noticed that his wound of more serious then he had thought as he heard the large drops of blood splashing in the pool of blood forming on the stone. Noath quickly asked “Thomas by any chance do you know any healing spells?” and turning to show him the deep wound. “I’ve had worse, but the bleeding is a bit annoying” he added but hope that in all of Thomas’s great knowledge he would know one. Noath now had his hand griping the wound with his hand trying to slow the bleeding. “nothing an ale cant cure,” he added with a chuckle.

Thomas noticed the jewel glowing as Noath mentioned it. Yet unlike Noath Thomas could see something different about its glow, making Thomas weary of it. It continued to glow and Thomas eventually ignored it, turning back to Noath as he spoke of his injuries. Thomas nodded partially as he kneeled to Noath's injury, hovering a hand over it as he whispered the words "Greater Heal!", tendrils of life coursing into the wound and repairing the injury.

Thomas, though, was unaware of the glow turning into an unsettling crimson and, with a vicious scream of pain, Thomas arced back and fell backwards in incomparable pain, the use of his energy in the conflict evidently lashing back at him in great force as the inner spirit of the jewel spoke to Thomas in caution as he slipped form consciousness. -Now is not the time for the desire to be ruthless. You can still make many enemies too quickly and you are still weak. Do not be hasty, young battle mage, for your time will soon come.-

Suddenly the glow faded away and Thomas regained his breath, though still unconscious. There were no dreams to consolidate him now, no nightmares to haunt him. All was darkness, and would continue to be until he awoke.

“Ah thanks Thomas” Noath said before hearing the cry of Thomas. “Thomas are you alright?” Noath asked as Thomas fell to the ground. Knelling down beside Thomas Noath noticed that he was unconscious, and ran into the bar to retrieve a bucket of water.

“Hey give me a bucket o water” Noath shouted when he entered the bar. “I ant got no time to explain.” The bar keep knowing what kind of trouble the two were getting into, knew that something was wrong. He quickly grabbed a pale of water that he had been using to wash the bar; Noath grabbed it and ran back to Thomas as quickly as he could.

When Noath returned he splashed Thomas with the foul bar water, trying desperately to wake him.

Still lost in sleep, Thomas had been conjured into a dream. He was looking at a waterfall, its misty white clouds that it forms from hitting the alike clear substance closer to the earth giving off an aura of peace and tranquility. -The task set for you is still to be revealed. You should not be so eager to make a name for yourself yet, Battle Mage. Enter the cavern and you will see what I mean.-

He wanted to resist but he was a mere spectator as he was walking into the waterfall's fluids, walking right past it. The feeling of water rushing over him felt so real he thought he could feel it. Then the stench of the cavern seemed to echo into his nostrils the dampened terra around him making itself renowned for its noticeability. -Go further in - this is the task set for you once you return to Livarencia.-

-Take me back now!- -Now is not your time. You do not have your strength.- -What do you mean "my strength"? Why are you torturing me like this?!- -Go inside. Discover.-

Unable to argue any longer he goes deeper into the imaginary cavern, unaware that the smells and the water was real - it was just water from the bar that had a sense of age to it - but he was too lost in his subconscious to know about it.

Noath began to shake Thomas when the water from the bar didn’t wake him up. The smell of the bar water was now becoming noticeable. Noath violently shook Thomas as a crowd started to gather around them.

Noath jumped up and tried to back he crowed up, give Thomas more room to breath. “Back up all ye,” Noath yelled “he Needs room to breath.” The crowd responded by backing up a little, but not enough to really notice. Noath sighted and looked at he friend lying unconscious on the ground, and knowing he was useless. Noath hated to feel useless, he had always had a purpose back home.

He ventured onward into the cavern, losing his balance as the earth around him began to shake, stumbling down for a moment before rising back to his feet, the shaking subsiding. Walking on forward, he came into a clearing where an azure orb rested, something Thomas recognised on sight.

-The pastseeker orb...?- -Yes. Now watch...-

Thomas watched on as a vision of a warrior of elven-kind came into view, immense powers charging right through him and granting him incomparable strength. He appeared like a god, else a descendant of one, yet he could tell something before anyone else could, causing the elven warrior to whisper some arcane words into this strange crystal. This then shattered into fragments of its former self, altering into different colours and shapes, a last fragment forming in his palm - a pearl-like object. Thomas blinked at this as he rolled it along the ground near some strange mountains - else they would have been strange if it weren't for the familiarity of the peaks.

-Ascargret...?- -Yes. That is what you called them. It is also where you found your orb, is it not? I will explain more of this as time passes on, but for now, please, mention nothing of this. You will soon understand.- -What? Wait! WAIT!-

"WAIT!" Thomas shouted, awakening from the sleep, finding everyone around him and looking upon his soaked form. Silent, Thomas sighed, seating himself up on the chair.

“Thomas yer ok” Noath said after mover to the chair. “What happened, to ye.” Noath asked after taking a seat next to Thomas. “Give me another ale.” Noath said to the bar keep, then turned to Thomas Noath asked “ye want anything?”

Noath thought it was strange that Thomas had fainted after the battle, it didn’t appear that he had been injured. Noath then remembered that Thomas was a battle mage and had said he needed to regain his strength.

"Huh...? What?" Thomas asked Noath dazily, still trying to stir himself from his sleep and tiredness. "What happened? Oh, don't ask." He then looked around as Noath asked for another ale, Thomas only raising a hand in response to his query. "I don't want to drink. Not yet."

He then desperately wanted to see to his clothes. As soon as he gained the strength to walk, he walked off to a spare room - after being kindly directed there by the barman - and used his Create Water spell to wash out the bar's water, Thomas then using the Create Spark to heat out the moisture in his clothing. He wanted to use a faster way but he was incapable of doing such a thing now.

Returning back to the bar in his cleaned clothing, Thomas called for a ginger ale - similar to the regular ales but with extracts of ginger in its blend - and asit came forward he prepared to have his throat tingled with a strange fire that could only come from the ginger extracts. It was this that he actually liked the most about this type of ale, though he didn't often have the chance to drink it often.

When Thomas left, Noath didn’t think much of it. Noath thought Thomas was a bit strange even for a human. If was after Thomas returned that Noath realized why he left, to clean his close. Noath was confused as to what a ginger ale was, and further insured that there was something different about Thomas. “Thank ye for healing me out there” Noath said, “I didn’t know it was going to drain yer power that much though, or I wouldn’t o asked.”

While Thomas was gone Noath had drank his ale and placed an order for a slice of beef and some bread.

((OOC: Noath thought Noath...? Clean his close? *blinks* That's odd...))

Thomas looked upon the dwarf as he spoke, smirking and shaking his head as he concluded. "Nay, master Dwarf. It wasn't the healing that drained my powers. It was the use of my magic throughout the battle that had me drained of power." Thomas looked into the glass, still half-filled with the substance he called for. "Not only did I exceed my abilities but I was also drained of power by the jewel I showed you earlier. I had best not explain incase it occurs again."

He looked across to find the people looking on, watching these two as if they were watching a show, something Thomas felt no courtesy towards. "How about you all back off?!" He shouted at them, sending away their stares and flinging them back to their seats as they regained control of themselves, spurred away by the sheer surprise and suddenness of the voice that moved them away. "Geez...can't anyone find peace in a place like this?"

With this in mind, Thomas sighed, continuing to take in the beverage he had before him, paying little attention to the surroundings as he thought about his homeland once more and curiously prodded with intent the memory of his 'dream', if that was what it was to be called. He was certainly not awake when he saw it, so it was unlikely it was a vision, but dreams are random events that help you learn so, knowing this, Thomas decided he could not call it a dream either. -But what can I call that...?- Thomas asked himself. -And what does it all mean?-

Noath noticed that Thomas didn’t want to talk about what had happened and tried to change the subject. “What is that ale ye got” Noath asked, but he really didn’t care.

Noath started thinking about what he was really in Imythess for. It had been a long time science he had looked back to see why he left his clan hall. He had left over a silly little argument with his brother. Well in Noaths eyes it wasn’t all that silly little, his brother was going o sell the family tavern instead of giving it to Noath. Noath was starting to drift in and out of conciseness, because it was getting late. Most of the people in the tavern were gone, only Thomas, Noath and a few other remained.

Thomas sighed once more, starting to become annoyed with the ongoing discussion about him and his powers. -Why can't they just leave me be?!- Thomas wanted to shout. -I'm like the unreasonable outcast in their eyes, something the town hasn't seen for a millenia or something. Stupid people...- Thomas concluded his ale swiftly so that he could answer Noath's query and be off.

"The ale is similar to yours, friend," Thomas proceeded to explain, "though mine is mixed with essences of ginger, giving it a more throat-tingling taste and feel to it as it sinks down." Smiling, he patted the dwarf on his shoulder as Thomas rose to his feet. "You should try it sometime." In the space of time he left behind he looked around, not liking the atmosphere that the place presented to him and preferring to wander off elsewhere, somewhere that he will not be so easily disturbed. "I shall be going now, Noath. May your weapon defeat many foes and your clan be blessed to have such a stout heart among them. Farewell."

At that, he walked out of the tavern and out of the town of Balefire. As he had reached the outskirts, though, he considered the fact that he should note his adventures down. He had some possessions with him - namely books and such - but he had little writing equipment. Sighing, he returned to the town and borrowed a quill and an ink vial from a helpful resident and he wrote his tale in the book - something he now called his journal - and thanked the figure before walking off into the gathering dark once more, his adventures in this unknown territory continuing on...