The energy around this area seemed to shock Thomas as he approached the stone figure. Yet he did not feel the great, loving powers of the light, as he felt elsewhere, but the manipulative, corrupting powers of shadow. Thomas did not feel that this was the "Great Power" he was searching for, but it was a great power he felt nonetheless. -Why is something so powerfully evil trapped in a place so full of life and light?- Thomas pondered for a second before turning away from it, finding some rock in the distance to sit upon.

There, in the silent area, he felt it alright to speak his thoughts. "I come all this way, feeling all the energy of life, only to find it a work of manipulating shadow magic. I fell for a trick, a trick probably set by another." Then he sighed. "Then again, not all presences of darkness mean ill. Perhaps the source of this energy is only making its energy known in anger. Years of rage making it hate everything that lives. The torment of years has made it a corrupted form of light - a being of evil - and all that can stop it now is the stone monument that it is sealed within."

Openly sighing, he blinks to the ground around him, feeling more of the same energy gathering around him but yet from a different source. Something was coming close, but he could not tell what. Alerted, he grasped his staff, waiting for whatever it was to show itself.

Oh, of course this wasn’t a life-giving source that he was feeling! In fact, if he was feeling some sort of life-giving source coming from the likes of her, she’d label him as more insane than she was. And it was pretty hard to be that insane, now, isn’t it? Especially compared to those twisted tails the folk or Taras told of her because of her love to set buildings on fire. Alas, great stories were told of her in Balefire, though half were not true, but put in a good word for her nevertheless. Oh, she loved that city! Thankfully, they had come back from the abyss in which they had resided in for the longest of times. Now that the city was back, she made almost daily visits there in the Gloomwood and in the city itself.

Feeling some sort of good come near her, she shifted her golden eyes to look out to a rock quite the distance away. She saw someone sitting on it, and he seemed to be talking to himself, she assumed. Well, was he even talking? She didn’t know. Not knowing whom this was, she used her ‘Alter Form’ ability, which she used to turn herself into a pretty-looking barmaid from [what it looked to be] Taras. She had long, red hair, which was tied back into a rather loose ponytail, with a set or bright, icy blue eyes. Also, the barmaid stood at about five foot eight, to be exact.

With a glance into the water, she grinned, satisfied. She hummed slightly and her voice was much softer than usual: more woman-like and more along the lines of someone who was on the good side of things (be it lawful or chaotic). She then looked don at what she was wearing: the usual attire a barmaid would wear, which was a dress with an apron on it, which was stained slightly with wine, due to the fact that it looked as if it hadn’t been washed in a while. That’s just how she wanted it.

Grinning to herself, she then made her way over towards Thomas, deciding to name herself Ayame. Ayame Amandil, a distant relative of this Goddess of Darkness [whom she would claim not to like at all]. Smirking, she looked over at Thomas, as if she hadn’t seen him there before. “Oh, hello,” she said and smiled, looking at him and bending down slightly to be at his height and grinned. “I didn’t see you there before, I’m sorry. Might I be so bold as to ask your name?” she asked and then stood up, still watching him with her bright blue eyes.

Thomas almost jumped as this new figure came near him, his words muttering out "Light!" before he had the chance to stop them, his staff almost coming close to striking this figure around the eye before he wrenched the staff back, its light-tipped figure being held upright as he looked upon the female. While looking upon her, she did seem...odd...for the sort of woman who would wander to some desolate place like this. She looked like a barmaid. Thomas could somehow sense that it was not truly a barmaid, though. He could not tell what magic may be affecting his vision, but something was definitely amiss in his mind.

Still, he felt it impolite to respond. Especially after the way he reacted. "Sorry, miss. I did not notice you there. And this energy...this feeling of evil energy...it's not something I can easily grow to like. My apologies." At least he could apologize without making a mockery of himself. "Besides, I still know little of this land. And of its people. May I ask what brings you here?" He had to ask. It was bothering him to the point of irritation. "I mean... a barmaid here near a statue? In a place where there seems to be no bars around? It does seem abnormal, if you know what I mean."

-Why is it I feel she is going to lie to me?- Thomas suddenly thought as his brown optics fell upon her sky blue gaze, his gaze fleeting to his staff to dismiss the light as he looked once more upon her, trying to work her out while he awaited a response. He could definitely feel something was not right and, since he himself knew no truth of the lady that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, he did not feel it was fair to say his name when she may not be truthful herself. Not to mention the fact that, despite she appeared like a good person, something - some sort of energy composite that was around her perhaps - made it feel as if she was not whom she was, leaving him with more queries as he questioned what magic could make someone like this.

“What, a barmaid cannot have her own freedoms to walk the lands of Imythess when she has days off?” she asked him and rose both of her eyebrows as she looked at him, and then turned away from him, thinking to herself. To let her true form out? Or, just let him keep on feeling awkward in her presence? She grinned to herself and decided upon her second choice. Then, she muttered a few inaudible words and the evil powers around her subsided, and it seemed that she was of the good side completely, which she though to be very…amusing…

“Oh, my apologies as well… My name is Ayame Amandil,” she said and nodded her head with a bright smile on her face. Well, it was fake, but it looked rather real and it would have to do. And now, she’d have to get used to answering to the name ‘Ayame’ instead of ‘Ranewen’. Well, how hard could it honestly be? It was a character she mad made, after all, right? She silently agreed with herself and then turned around and looked back down at Thomas and smiled.

“I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name?” she said and grinned once again. Maybe since she made the real Ranewen’s evil presence subside and to add to that, she had introduced herself. She shifted slightly and then tilted her head. “Well, what are you doing here then?” she asked after a slight pause. If he didn’t want to introduce himself, then so be it. She’d let him get away with it. Still smiling, she laced her hands together in front of her, blinking her bright eyes as she awaited at least for once answer.

Her scorning him made him almost think twice about the comment he had made about her appearance here being "abnormal". Then he had a thought again: -If she is having a day off, why does she not change? Surely she has other clothes to wear!- Now more suspicious than ever, knowing now that she would not reveal her true identity, he figured he would not reveal his. He could tell something was up, if only because all he now felt was the evil aura of the statue. Then she had given a name. -Ayame...- Still knowing little about this land, he could not guess at the names of the people. He mentally shrugged as she asked for his name, a name he felt he had best not give out just yet.

"You wish to know my name, miss Ayame?" Thomas replied. "What purpose would that be? I mean...has someone been asking for an azure-clad figure at the bar recently? Someone they knew the name of?" While talking, he tried to recall which spell it was that could change the shape of a form without making it seem too unreal. "What importance is a name when you can use any name for a flower despite it giving off the same bloom? Names are merely something to label one. Like you, you label yourself Ayame Amandil to allow other people to call you by that. Does not a flower follow the sun if you call it any other name?"

-Alter Self! Of course!- He almost jumped as he thought of the spell, feeling as if he cracked the puzzles of time and unlocked their secrets. Yet he maintained his composure and, steeling himself, he prepared for what may yet come. After all, since he distracted himself from answering her question about his name (and, with any luck, distracted her as well), he had to now answer for his reason for being here.

"I came here seeking a great power." Thomas responded. "A power that brought to this place such life and fruition(sp?), a place full of a feeling - a feeling that every step is like walking on a miracle. Yet I find that in this land of life there is a black heart right in the middle of it. I can feel its dark energy from here. So much anger and rage...built over so many years...can you feel it, Ayame?" Thomas turned to the feminine figure temporarily before turning back to the statue. "The chaos resting within a tormented heart. Were it not trapped so long ago, it may have done more benefit to the land. Now only rage festers within its depth, its release surely meaning a furious struggle, else a sudden death to all in this land. I merely hope that it does not occur in my time."

“Well, if you’re just going to deny the fact that I am naught but a barmaid, then I best be on my way. I don’t like to talk to strangers,” she snapped at him, wrinkling her nose as she narrowed her eyes for a moment, crossing her arms. She ignored his talks about names were labels. Oh, if she was only in her true form… She’d probably have killed him on the spot from being annoyed. A stream of cusses went off in her head as she glared at him, and then simply turned away, walking a few feet away.

She then smirked. “Oh, where would a land be without its darkness, though?” she asked, blinking her eyes. “They’re nothing compared to the good side,” she lied, “But I heard that they were rising somewhere near the Marshes. I can’t be sure, however, as I haven’t dared to go near there…There are rumors that there are souls walking around it, watching for those of the good side and waiting to kill them if they dare go on towards a supposed building, in which the darkness followers can find with ease. I heard that, that is the black heard of Imythess,” she said and nodded her head, giving a fake [but realistic] shudder.

She then shrugged her shoulders simply and began to walk away from him. If he wanted to know more he’d have to give her his name. And he also would have to apologize for ignoring that fact that she had asked for it nicely before. “Well, I’m off now, I guess… I have to return to Taras to get ready for my shift, which starts tomorrow morning…” she said with a nod of her head and smirked to herself, though her back was to Thomas and it would be literally impossible for him to see. She simply kept walking away from him and to the border of where the surrounding trees were located and she stopped for a moment, as if deciding on a route to take, which would give him enough time to catch up with her.

||ooc||Sorry it’s short… But I have to get off for my stupid mother…

He could clearly see that his attempt to distract his name from the conversation was a failiure. Yet it was not wholly so, for he almost knew that a spell was then used to transofrm her. His knowledge of magic had found it out and now all he had to do was prove it. Her changes of moods then made him wonder what side she was really on. She had suddenly turned from hateful and cursing (in her mind at least - that was evident from the glares he recieved) to informative and cautioning. He could not say whether she was telling the truth or not for, either way, it did not seem to have any purpose save blind information. Watching her walk away then stop a distance from him, Thomas simply gazed upon the form for a few moments. He could not know anymore without telling her his name, but he was sure determined to find out who she really was.

So, walking up to her in a casual pace, Thomas called to her. "Does the spell 'Alter Self' or 'Alter Form' mean anything to you? For you see, I have a suspicion that you are not whom you appear to be. There are too many clues to say that you are not who you appear to be." He then stopped, about a metre or so away from her. "Don't get me wrong, my name is Thomas and I do not have any other forms, but I trust that I can recieve the truth from you now that I have said what you wished for me to speak of initially. No more lies, no more hiding. I have seen many things in my time, so your true form is unlikely to come as much of a surprise."

There he waited, wondering what this 'barmaid' will be doing now. He had said his suspicions - his reasons for not giving his name initially - so now he wanted her to speak up about whom she was. To him it seemed to be a fair deal. Of course, he always thought in the back of his mind that only creatures of darkness would want to hide and disguise themselves - else those with ill intent, such as thieves - yet this figure did not strike him like thieves may have done so his suspicion held.

||ooc||I am not continuing this Role-Play any longer. It is literally impossible for anyone to see that she had used her Goddes Abilities. Therefore, this topic is now closed.