A start in Kerios

" You all gathered here, ravenous and terrified."

" Your kings have failed and here you bleed yet you still call out to the gods."

" You do not kneel... nor do you repent, but yet you scream they have abandoned YOU."

"LOOK TO THE PAST FOR YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS."

"the great cataclysm from which magic was born."

"We did not give up that foul art but instead we accepted it in all it's vile glory."

"We tinkered with what brought these atrocious beings into our world and yet we ask why have the gods forsaken us."

"blood has been mixed and now the devil's sons walk the earth while witches steer us wrongly as though they were Judas' incarnation."

"Can we find ourselves back to the light and forsake magic?"

"BECAUSE THE TIME OF BLOOD AND PUNISHMENT IS UPON US"

"THE HERALDS SING JOYOUS PRAISES AS WE DESCEND INTO THE FIELDS"

"BECAUSE THIS TIME,"

"We are all alone."

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"Kerios, it's been a while but this place hasn't changed at all these past years."

A man covered in a black cloak could have been seen on a horse staring at a town from on top of a hill.

Beneath the hood wisps of black hair could be seen as well as an eyepatch across his left eye.

His skin was fair and his shoulders broad while his remaining eye was coloured in using cerulean.

'There's been an awful lot of these dogs everywhere but to think they'd even be guarding a town like this is surprising indeed' thought the man as he approached the town's gate.

He was referring to the man approaching him wearing full iron armor.

A knight one would say but they are more commonly known as the dogs of the empire.

These knights were rarely ever interested in justice but instead interested in the taxes and belongings of the citizens.

As they say, even a knight's honor can be bought.

"State your name and present the entrance fee" harshly called out the knight.

'No manners indeed, as expected of a dog' silently thought the cloaked man as he reached into a pouch and brought out 5 coins.

"Arthur." he tersely quipped, though the knight didn't even bother to listen since he saw the coins.

As expected the knight stepped to the side without so much of a word and motioned for him to go through the gate.

Kerios, it was the most north-western town in Lucidus. It was home to many mountains and harsh winters.

It wasn't the most prosperous town nor were the people in poverty.

Unlike the biggest cities in the empire, the people here don't discriminate much so you would be bound to find all sorts of people which was perfect for Arthur.

'Looks like the tavern would be the best place to find out more information on Lux'

Lux is Arthur's brother who has gone missing. After getting a message from his father, Arthur sought out to find Lux whose trial led here.

As he strolled through the streets, he could see many children running around without a care in the world while adults made their commutes back and forth through the street.

'I hope that they'll still have this freedom in the coming years though it seems highly unlikely.' sadly thought Arthur as he approached the tavern.

Opening the door he was assaulted with various smells varying from food to alcohol to even distinct species.

Seeing everything from elves to catfolk Arthur couldn't help but think, "this really is the devil's backyard" an endearing term for kerios due to its diverse races.

"Welcome to the Boar's Hat sir, can I get you anything?" A melodic voice drifted to Aruhtur's ear.

As he looked towards its source he saw a beautiful blond haired barmaid.

'Looks like i found my person.'

Although taverns had food and drinks, a lot of its business was dealing in information and requests for services particularly for witches.

Noticing the faint traces of mana surrounding her it seems as though she was the witch of this particular tavern and she wasn't there just for show.

Walking over to the counter and sitting down, Arthur took off his hood allowing his messy raven hair to make its appearance .

"I'll have a beer and a house special" said Arthur as he laid down 26 coins, a whole twice the amount for the meal though this wasnt a mistake.

Normally you would order a 'house special' and pay twice the amount to inform the barkeep they would like to make a transaction.

Seeing this the barmaid raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Please wait in the second room on the right upstairs, I'll be right with you to discuss our.... business" she finished with a wink while passing a beer to Arthur.

He nodded and got up to go to the room to wait.

After 5 minutes and a beer the room door opened and in came the barmaid.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

"I can tell that you're no normal man though that is besides the point"

"What do you have to request but i must say upfront im not on the menu sadly" she finished off with a demure smile.

"While i'm sure that would be heartbreaking to others, i'm on more important business"

"Have you seen or heard anything about this man?" Asked Arthur as he pulled out a sketch of Lux.

The witch pulled the sketch from his hands and studied it momentarily.

After a moment she looked back at Arthur. "I assume that this isn't the only request of me"

Arthur shook his head signaling there was more.

With that the witch smiled, "i have a feeling this would be good and since this information isn't much at all ill give this first part for free." she stated surprisingly.

Though witches never gave out freebies so Arthur didn't get too excited as yet.

"This man passed through here about 3 months ago. He just stayed for 2 weeks and headed eastern."

"Now what is the second request." asked the Witch

After hearing his brother indeed passed through here not too long ago gave Arthur confidence he was on the right track.

He rummaged through his pouch and took out a piece of paper with symbols on it.

"Do you know what this means?"

The witch took the paper and studied it.

Seconds passed and eventually turned into minutes.

After about 10 minutes the witch looked at Arthur with curiosity in her eyes and a little bit of something else.

"Where did you get this?" she asked

"Somebody close gave me it and told me to figure it out." there was more to it but of course he couldn't give it away to these masters of trading information.

"Well all i can say is that i don't have an answer for you because i don't know what it means. Although I think I might know where you can find your answers or at least part of them." she said.

'This is why i hate witches after all' lamented Arthur as he asked,

"So what's the catch for you to tell me?"

"Glad you asked,"

"All you have to do is carry me with you." she said plainly

Surprised Arthur's eyebrow raised,

"Carry you?", "I don't really see witches out in the wild like this, so what's so special about there?"

The witch smiled and said, "Well you see i'm a bit of a history addict and this particular place will be beneficial to both of us because although i don't know what the symbols mean, i have seen them in that place before but i never could venture far because it is a dangerous place"

"So what makes you think I can protect you?" shot back Arthur

Although the witch took it in stride, "As I said, I know you're not ordinary and my intuition is never wrong."|

"Touche," replied Arthur. "Then if you don't have anything to do i think we should go tomorrow"

"Indeed I believe we should" replied the witch.

With that Arthur said goodbye to the witch and was about to go look for a room when,

"Hmm?" questioned Arthur as he caught a pair of keys from the outstretched hand of the witch.

"Well I am excited so why don't you just spend the night here instead so we don't waste time tomorrow" said the witch.

"The name's Chloe." she said as she walked up to Arthur and stretched out her hand.

Taking her hand and shaking it he replied, "Arthur."

Chloe slipped out of the room with the parting remarks, "sweet dreams," and a wink.

Arthur was left in the room sighing, 'my life is about to become a bit more troublesome now.'