Retrieve The Staff of Fire [Koga!]

[Ethereal-Star]

@Koga

"Remember now, this is to be done with as little notice to yourselves as possible. I'm counting on you two to bring back this staff. It's quite important." Drogas Fepnor, the Head Master Elementalist of the guild informed them. His robe of deep purple and red was no different than usual, long blonde hair tied back with a leather band behind his neck. Wizened blue eyes gazed out at both Dilwen and Koda with a serious look from behind thick spectacles on his nose.

The three of them stood in the guild entrance hall, making their final preparations before Dilwen and Koda would leave on their retrieval mission. The colorful gem-studded chandelier sparkled above their heads in colors of black, white and dark green, while the guardian statues stood ever still, lifelike yet still as stone not moving an inch. Their countenances a fierce example of what they were capable of doing, should the situation require it. Around them the hall was mainly empty with the exception of one other guild member on her way out the double doors.

"I understand Drogas. We will do our best." Dilwen, the storm mage healer promised him, a sincere expression etched onto her tattooed face, the strange red markings which imitated abstract swirls. Double-checking to make sure she had her orb implement and dagger, the orb in which she carried in her left hand, dagger sheathed at her waist. "Right, Koda?" she asked her flame-haired companion.

[Koga]

Wildfire gazed around the hall in absolute wonder. Everything here looked so shiny and beautiful, it was so new to him it was almost overwhelming. He had been accepted into a rich and powerful guild where magic was welcome and readily practiced, it was almost like a dream come true. Yet, still he felt out of place. He was so used to the rustic nomadic lifestyle of a wandering mage that being someplace so grand and... clean was awfully strange to him. All he could do was stare in awe; the hall was adorned with so many fine jewels and colossal statues made up of expensive stones. Even the smallest gem here looked as if it was worth more than every possession Wildfire owned. The boy had never seen anything like it.

When Wildfire's eyes met with Drogas, he could physically see all the experience and power this man had within him. The man was truly a master of all the elements and he didn't have to cast a single spell to prove it. He had such a powerful demeanor to him; you could almost feel the power radiating from his soul. Wildfire stood there in awe: trying not to look like a nervous little boy, trying his very best to look older than 19, trying to look as grown and experienced as Drogas, but he just couldn't do it. He was still learning how to master one element, and he wasn't sure if he'd every even attempt to learn a second. How could I ever become as powerful as him... Wildfire looked down at his hands and saw the scars where chains once were. A sentiment of determination grew within him, and he clenched his fists. The flame-haired boy looked back at Drogas with a firmness of purpose in his eyes. One day... As Drogas began to describe the details of the mission, Wildfire tried his best to pay attention, but that was something he was never really good at. He continued to gaze around the hall: he glanced at the mages, the jewels, and the statues, even the giant double doors seemed to amaze him to some degree. It was safe to say that Wildfire was still getting used to The Elementalists' Guild.

Koda was looking at the opening double doors when he heard Dilwen's voice.

"Right, Koda?"

Wildfire cocked his head back as fast as possible then nodded quickly. His flame-colored hair swayed across his face as he did so. "Right." He said somewhat awkwardly. A feeling of discomfort was growing within him, all of this just felt so weird. It had been a long time since Wildfire had slept and ate somewhere clean, and even longer since he had worn a fresh pair of clothes. Today he was wearing some fine new robes compliments of the guild: A long hooded cloak made of expensive silks reached all the way down to his ankles, it was dark red with yellow embroidery. Underneath he wore a black shirt with a golden salamander etched into it, and a pair of loose-fitting red and yellow harem pants tied up by orange wrappings around the calves. Also a yellow sash was tied at his waist, representing his expert skill level in the guild. The outfit was comfortable, yet still strange feeling to him.

"Just one question Drogas, do you have any idea where we can start to look?"   

[Ethereal-Star]

As Dilwen was busy listening to the details about the mission Drogas outlined for them, she hardly noticed Wildfire's awe and reverence for the guild HQ and everything it contained. Looking back at him for an answer, she wondered then if he was even paying any attention, but was courteous enough not to mention it in front of Drogas.

After he replied in the affirmative, she nodded her head and gave an encouraging smile his way. This would be her first mission working with Koda and she was excited about not only the mission but also the prospect of getting to better know her companion. After all it paid to know just about everyone in the guild as much as possible, that way they could better form plans and strategies with one another. To know their personalities and get to see their abilities up front. Dilwen knew that her companion here wielded the powers of fire, while she herself was a storm wielder and a healer to boot. However her abilities over storm was what made her eligible for the guild in the first place. And she was definitely interested in seeing him in action. Although considering the nature of the mission, more stealth was required here than an outright frontal assault. Retrieving a staff from an unknown thief did tend to require such tactics anyway.

If Drogas noticed Wildfire's inattention, he chose not to comment on it, but it was likely he did notice. Answering the fire mage's question, the guild leader scratched his chin before replying. "Yes, indeed. While the exact details are rather sketchy here, we do have one small lead. That is, the wards the thief got past were elemental in nature and so he or she must have some means of overcoming that. Perhaps the culprit has an item allowing them to do such or they got into contact with somebody who could. Regardless when they disrupted the wards, they left behind this." He held out a piece of black cloth in his hand for them to inspect. To Dilwen it looked like any other type of fabric found nearly anywhere, but when she looked at it more carefully, she saw it was a handkerchief made out of black satin. Even more telling was the small emblem she saw on a corner of it. The picture was of a silver leaf. Okay, so not much to go on but it was something at least.

"Okay, so I guess we find whoever lost a handkerchief of this sort and then interrogate them?" Dilwen shook her head in confusion. "I don't know where this could possibly lead. The thief could literally be anywhere." she frowned at this.

"There is one more thing of note." Drogas told them, while readjusting his spectacles. "Whoever owns this handkerchief has to be moderately well off financially as the make of it seems to indicate that of a noble standing. The embroidery on it appears to be made from an expensive type of thread and I seriously doubt any normal commoner would have something of the sort on them. I would suggest checking out the richer districts of Darken Vei and see if you two can scrounge up any clues there. But be discreet about it please."

Placing the bottom of his staff on the floor, he gripped it more firmly before saying, "That is all I have for you I'm afraid. Might as well get started, yes? Best of luck to both of you. Hopefully we can uncover this little mystery before too long." Drogas waved them farewell before turning around to go back to his office.

Dilwen pocketed the handkerchief and looked to Wildfire then. "I guess that's that. Let's go then." She made to walk toward the double doors, her white guild attire lightly touching the ground as she made her way there, hair pinned back in a bun to keep it out of her face.

[Koga]

Wildfire nodded to Dilwen, before following her to the double doors. "I just wish we had more information." He said, biting on his lower lip. This was definitely not going to be something he was good at. Wildfire was more of a act-first-think-second kind of guy, and this was a mission that required a lot of strategic thinking and planning ahead. Not his style, but he could work with it.

The thief had stolen an extremely valuable staff from the guild, and only left behind a small handkerchief. This guy had to be good. Who would carry around an expensive handkerchief like this? Who would even spend so much money on something so trivial? Wildfire scratched his head as he walked through the double doors. The sun burned his eyes as he walked outside, it was a bright afternoon. He blinked a little bit to adjust to the new lighting, "So who do you think the dunce who left the handkerchief behind is?" Wildfire asked as he walked around the outside of the Elementalists Guild, looking for something in the air. "You don't think it could be one of those over-pampered high-births do ya?" He didn't know much about nobles, but he knew that sometimes they had peculiar symbols for their houses. Could the silver leaf be a symbol of a house?

Wildfire looked to the top of the Elementalist Guild, and then he found what he was looking for. Atop one of the higher towers, a Phoenix perched up next to an eery looking gargoyle. Wildfire waved to the Firebird, and the bird responded by diving off the building and soaring through the air above the Dilwen and Koda. He nearly beckoned her down, but then he remembered that they had to be stealthy. A Phoenix walking around the city would draw way too much attention to them right now. Wildfire sighed as he looked around the busy streets, wishing he could just fly to the richer part of town. Being stealthy was going to be hard, Wildfire was used to taking on his enemies head on. Hopefully Dilwen was better at this sort of thing than he was.

He looked around at all the crowds of people, then realizing that he hardly knew this city at all. Wildfire had only visited a few times before, and hasn't really gotten the chance to explore since he joined the Elementalist Guild. A confused frown grew on his face as he looked from side to side. Somebody who was in quite the hurry bumped right into Wildfire, causing him to trip slightly. "Hey, watch it!" Wildfire shouted, as he struggled to regain his balance. When he found it, he shook a clenched fist at the man. However, the man ignored him and kept walking "Why I oughtta..." Wildfire groaned, looking down at the floor. Somewhere in the distance, a baby was crying. As if Wildfire needed anything else to annoy him today.

"I hate cities..."

[Ethereal-Star]

Frowning at Wildfire's depiction of nobles, Dilwen chose not to say anything instead looking around as well. Her adoptive parents after all were lesser nobles and they had taken her in as a baby ever since she was found on their doorstep. A mystery for all of them even to this day as to the nature of Dilwen's background and where she came from. One of her parents had to have been human though, being that the blue and purple haired girl was half-human. As to what the other parent was and which one, Dilwen had no idea.

She recalled her little trip to the fake seer some weeks prior and her frown deepened, but for a different reason. It had been an unfortunate deal but Dilwen for the most part got over it. She had made a mental note though to be more careful about the kind of fortune teller she went to see and that they had a good reputation from others who had also availed of their services, and were not simply a con-artist. That is if she wanted to go that route again. But yeah, that was neither here nor there. Dilwen brought her attention back to the present.

Answering his question as best she could, the storm mage replied that she wasn't really sure. "I don't really know but it's possible. Maybe one of the lesser houses?" She didn't know of any houses though with a silver leaf emblem here in Darken Vei. Maybe the culprit just liked the design and wasn't actually associated with a noble house. However they weren't going to get anywhere just standing around guessing.

Seeing a flash of orange and yellow out of the corner of her eye, Dilwen looked up and saw a phoenix firebird of all things! Her companion waved to it before it flew off somewhere. "Is that your familiar?" she asked, curious. She knew some mages in the guild and others who weren't in the guild had formed close magical bonds with various animals and other creatures and they served them willingly. Dilwen herself didn't have a familiar, but she was fine with that.

Lost in thought again, she didn't notice Wildfire's trouble with a passerby and his not so subtle threat towards the man who bumped into him. Instead, she was trying to think on where they should head first in the richer districts of the city. Perhaps she could ask a friend of her father's who also was a noble of some standing. Although there were lots of nobles, so she wasn't sure if he would have anything pertinent to add. But it was worth a shot. "I know of a nobleman named Sir Beckett Goldman. He's a friend of my father and business associate. Perhaps he might know something about a silver leaf house emblem. I know where his mansion is, it's in the eastern part of the noble districts, the first and nearest one to us that is." Dilwen's adoptive parents themselves lived in the second district on the western side. "I think we should go there first."

[Koga]

"I guess you can call her that." Wildfire said, gazing up at the Firebird. "She's my best friend before anything else though." He continued, turning to face Dilwen, and scratching the back of his head awkwardly. He wasn't necessarily good with normal human interactions, or social situations, or people in general. However, he tried his best. "Do you have a best friend?" He asked while smiling, trying to make some sort of light conversation with the Storm Mage despite their current situation. Wildfire was horrible at focusing, he knew he had a very important task at hand, but he also knew that he wasn't going to be able to figure it out on his own, and that despite how shy he may be, he'd have to get to know his fellow guild members if he ever hoped to gain some status in the guild. His eyes met back with the Phoenix, who flew in circles around the Elementalist Guild. His physical self was trying to find the culprit who stole the fire-staff, however, his mind was flying in the sky with Fia.

The Fire Mage was a bit too easily distracted. He stood there in the center of a passing crowd, staring up in the air, paying no mind to his surroundings. "Move it ya' bloody pignut!" Shouted someone as they bumped passed Wildfire and disappeared into the crowd behind him. It  was only then that the Mage was brought out of his day-dream. He shook his head out, and looked back to his surroundings.

"Huh, wha-" Then he looked behind him, but could no longer see the man who had brushed passed him. I reaaaaaaaaally hate cities. Then, his eyes met back with Dilwen, who seemed to have a better plan than he did. "Alright well-" He said, walking over to her "I have absolutely no idea where that is!" He exclaimed, chuckling awkwardly as he stepped behind her, taking cover from the crowd. The people scared him to some degree, and there weren't many things that scared Wildfire -- and those few things that did scare him, he could usually burn away with his flames. However, he couldn't do that with innocent people. Wildfires' face grew flushed, there was just so many of them, it made it hard for him to think. "Mind leading the way?" He asked, trying to hide the anxiety in his voice.

[Ethereal-Star]

Dilwen smiled at his declaration of the firebird being his best friend. "That must be really wonderful to have such a unique companion and confidante. While I myself do have a few friends and acquaintances around here, I am not particularly close with any of them. Much of my time during the last several years has been spent with my mentor, him teaching and instructing me how to channel my magics safely so as to get a better handle on them. After all, it wouldn't do to accidentally let loose an electrical storm inside a building now would it?" she chuckled a little at this, even though if something like that were to actually happen it would be far from funny, as people could get really hurt. And she didn't want that at all to ever happen.

Clearing her throat, the storm mage continued. "So, after lots of tutelage and occasional frizzy hair, I improved dramatically with my abilities and while I do sometimes receive further instruction from him, nowadays being part of the guild there hasn't really been much of a need for that anymore. If I have a question about something I usually go to Drogas and ask him. However since his magic doesn't encompass thunder and lightning but the four basic elements, he can only help me so much. But the instruction remains the same for all mages regardless of what type of magic one practices. After all, focus, concentration and patience are key to any magical abilities."

"So really to answer your question thoroughly, my mentor has been a great friend to me over the years, very understanding and patient even when I sometimes lost patience with myself." She smiled at some of the memories which surfaced. "I help out a lot at the guild so I know a lot of members there too. But we aren't really 'friends' per se. Plus my adoptive parents I love them very much. Even though I know they aren't my actual parents." Dilwen left it at that, as she felt that was more than enough sufficient information for the other mage to digest.

Looking over at him again, she noticed some anxiety present on his face, although she didn't really know why it was there. Dilwen herself was while not exactly a social butterfly, she wasn't a wallflower either. Somewhere in the middle would be the best way to describe Dilwen's social tendencies. She liked parties but she also loved curling up with a good book from time to time and sipping some tea during her alone times. Especially if the book was a magical tome of some sort, and even more if it had to do with storm magic or healing. So the crowd around her wasn't all that bothersome to the blue and purple haired girl.

"Sure, I have no problem with showing the way. Serendipity after all is a big place." As they walked, Dilwen stopped to admire an interesting flower on the way. The color was an electric blue, and it reminded her of lightning. She didn't know what kind of flower it was though, but there didn't seem to be too many of these around here. It grew in a light brownish pot in a small community garden plot in the city here, with plenty of other flowers in their own pots surrounding it. She looked to see if there were any more like it before she continued on.

[Koga]

Wildfire listened to the Storm Mage describe her years of tutelage with her mentor, who sounded like an alright guy to him. He smiled a little bit, for he could relate to this. His mentor was his best friend as well! Fia had taught him nearly everything he knew about Fire Magic. She's been training him for years now, so Wildfire could sort of understand the mentor-student relationship Dilwen was describing. An awkward chuckle escaped his lips when she mentioned accidentally releasing an electrical storm inside of a building. Thinking back, he could recall several occasions where he had let his emotions take control of him an accidentally burnt whole buildings down. That's just what happens when your only teacher is a Phoenix.

While Dilwen talked, Wildfire couldn't help but think that she reminded him so much of Drogas. The way they talked was so similar. So knowledgable, and wise sounding. It was as if you could hear the experience in her voice, she clearly has had years of practice in her field of magic. "..focus, concentration, and patience are key to any magical abilities." Wildfire chose not to comment, he wasn't necessarily good at any of those three things. In fact, he was horrible at them. He had a short attention span, horrible focus, and couldn't wait for anything. If he had to choose three basic principle for magic, they would be: embrace, channel, release. Embrace your emotions, channel them into magic, and release. However, he wasn't going to argue ethics with her. She obviously learned magic in a much different way from him, and there was nothing wrong with that. Besides, he was sure this girls magic was definitely more refined than his own; Wildfires' was more explosive and catastrophic. Sometimes' he lost control of it, but that's what makes him good at what he does.

"Your teacher sounds like a good man." Wildfire said, smiling as he followed her through the city. "Fi's been sort of a mentor-bestfriend for me too" He laughed softly, noticing the blue flowers. Pretty... He thought to himself, before continuing on, "Taught me everything I know."

Wildfire tried to stay close to Dilwen as they walked, careful not to get lost. Everything here was so busy, and confusing. He would never be able to navigate this giant city on his own. "Thanks" He said, following her though the city, "I'm really not used to cities, I've only been here once or twice before. And before that the only other city I've been to is Ketra, and that's nothing compared to this.


((Sorry for late reply. Finals are driving me crazy! Dx))

[Ethereal-Star]

((No worries, my own reply is even later. Sorry for the wait.))

Dilwen smiled at Koda's comment about Aaron, her mentor. "He is indeed a good man. Knowledgeable, wise and friendly, much like Drogas is. What more can a student of magic ask for in a mentor and guide?"

She looked at Wildfire as he talked about his phoenix, Fia her name was, being a mentor and friend to him. "Yes, I can imagine there's no better a teacher of fire magics than a phoenix. I have heard tale of them being able to be reborn from their very own ashes. Is this true, I wonder?" Dilwen had indeed wondered this as while phoenixes were not exactly rare around these parts, they weren't all that common either. They were somewhere in the middle. "If so, it is a fascinating thing, to have that kind of longevity." Dilwen looked around for the entrance to the district they were trying to locate and estimated there to be another block to cross before they actually reached the bronze gates themselves. In the meantime, she continued to converse with Wildfire about this and that as they got to know each other better.

At his gratitude of leading him through the busy city, she answered amiably. "It is no bother to me, I have lived in this province nearly my entire life. I am well familiar with just about every part of Darken Vei, although I haven't traveled much to the other parts of the kingdom. Ask me whatever you like about my home, and I'll do my best to answer."

Walking past one of the town squares, there was a bunch of people gathered there listening as a traveling musician played his banjo for the crowd. She stopped for just a second to listen to his performance as he was quite good. At the end of one of his musical pieces, the people applauded gaily and some even shouted ''Encore! Encore!'' while several citizens even put some gold coins into a basket at his feet. The bard bowed profusely and gave a huge smile, showing perfectly white teeth before playing his instrument again, this time a more slow-paced melancholy tune. Dilwen, however moved on as they weren't here to socialize. They had a job to do after all. Drogas was counting on them. Still it didn't hurt to stop for a minute or two to enjoy the sights and sounds. Recalling something Koda had said, Dilwen asked a question of her own.

"You had mentioned Adela. What's it like?"