When Pillars Collapse; [Quest 1-3]

Tourmaline returned the smile as they walked closer to the camp. "We're actually out on a job. We're looking for some ruins." She showed him the paper. "They should look something like this, though not exact."

Violet added alongside, "Water would be good, we're a tad low. I can trade you a small vial of Cooling Potion; the only drawback is that it doesn't hydrate you." In truth, they had plenty of water, but if a man with a well in the desert offers you water, you take it.

Tourmaline said finally, "We've come from Stahlmin, though you may be able to tell we're originally from Saoirse."

The man shook his head from the offer.

"That's alright, we're used to the hot deserts," he said. "If I were honest, Dearmad's a little cooler than Saadedge. A little."

The boy quietly placed two tankards down on the mat the man sat on and placed two cushions for the girls to sit on. He then poured water into each of them.

"Why not offer them some bread and cheese while you're at it?" the man suggested to Ravi. Ravi went to the tent to scrummage his backpacks.

The Saad listened what the two girls had to say.

"Hmm, ruins, eh?" he asked. "I'm afraid I'm no expert, so I wouldn't know which ruins those belong to. However, there is a special one that's a little far ahead. Well, three, actually, though the one that's most retained its structure is still there. Does it have a name or anything?"

Tourmaline glanced at Violet, who gave a small shake of her head. "Er, I don't know if it has a name, but it's supposedly the Temple of Eleia. A Great Incantus from way back when."

Violet accepted the food, eating slowly as Tourmaline spoke to the older man. She did smile at the younger boy, whispering a "Thanks" as he handed her food.

"Hey, what're you guys doing out here? Maybe we could help each other out?"

When asked about what they were doing, the man rubbed his chin.

"That's hard to answer," he said. "As it ranges from being wanted by officials, to hating life in my old town, to simply wanting to find treasure and make a better life for me and my kid over here. My apologies, I don't think I've introduced myself yet, either. My names Arnien. As you might've guessed, I'm a Saad. My son and I moved away from home because my family was trying to make a living the only way it knew how: doing things against the law. Saadedge isn't the easiest place to live in. Everything costs a lot, but you earn very little. I did a few mercenary jobs, but some of them required me to go against lords who owned the land we were residing in. When my group was traced down, I left with Ravi. There was no doubt I'd have been put in jail because of what I did--or perhaps I would've been executed. Either way, Ravi would have been left on his own."

Ravi sat down and was eating quietly. Nothing his father said seemed to have alarmed him.

"Now, you mentioned the Temple of Eleia?" he asked. "I'm afraid I wouldn't know if the ones we passed are it. However, it does sound similar to the Temple of Illa. Though, it's more of a rumor than a confirmed place."

Violet paused in her eating for a moment. "Jeez man. That's rough. I'm Violet. I guess you could sort of consider me a mercenary; I haven't ever really had a steady income, though, since my adult life thus far has been searching for this one." She gestured at Tourmaline.

"I'm on the run from an Incantus. I thought it'd be better if no one knew where I went, but she chased after me. Not that I mind," she added after a moment; "it's good to have a friend again."

Tourmaline considered what he'd said about the temple. "I don't see why they couldn't be the same place. It's supposedly been at least centuries since this place was in use, there's bound to be some linguistic differences. Do the legends say where it could be?"

"Mercenary work too, huh?" he said, a little impressed. "And someone running from an Incantus. Well, you've definitely come to the wrong place to avoid those kinds of things. Place is ridden with them, but hopefully not the one you're worried about."

He paused for a moment as he tried to recall the story.

"Mmm...I wouldn't call it a legend per se because the Temple of Illa I've only heard by ear," he said. "And they seem to be recent accounts too."

The man drank from his own tankard his son set up for him and swallowed before continuing.

"There's a rumor that one of the temples still have someone tending to them," he said. "And I don't mean a group of cultists or anything, either. The Temple of Illa is run by some sort of priestess and she helps travelers in need by giving them food or water. She also welcomes people to pray the Greater Incantus goddess using a large great fire. And the oddest bit of the story has nothing to do with an active temple or the fact someone still worships those old forsaken gods, either..."

He paused for a moment and looked around him. Only stone and dead trees were there.

"They say flowers bloom there."

"It's just the one, no worries." Tourmaline didn't want to admit her fear of all Incanti to this man.

After listening to the story, she said, "Yeah... Yeah, I heard it's supposed to have flowers blooming all around it. Very intriguing..." It wasn't something that was difficult to do by magic-- in fact, Tourmaline was quite sure that a Greater Incantus could easily set up a flower-blooming spell that lasted a few centuries at least.

Violet pitched in. "Didn't you mention something about three areas of ruin earlier? Have you personally looked at them? Do you think the temple could be there?"

The man shrugged.

"Who knows?" he said. "It's worth a try to to check out. It's a few hours' walk but you should be fine. The area is wide and open enough to not be ambushed by Incantii and corrupted beasts. If you need a companion, Ravi and I are more than happy to escort you as far as we can. Dearmad looks similar almost everywhere and when everything looks the same it's easier to lose track of where you're going."

"Hello~" A cheery voice called out to the group.

If they were turn around the would see... an interesting teenaged girl. She had long orange hair tied into a braid, and cheerful purple eyes. Her outfit consists of a yellow tunic, black trousers, yellow boots, and a belt that had many bottles of what appeared to be... paint? A steel breastplate was also situated over her tunic. However, the most startling features she had was a pair of fluffy white ears and a striped reddish-brown tail. The group would also see a large, red warhammer on her back.

"Dearmad isn't exactly a popular tourist attraction!" The girl chuckled. Her hands rested on her hips. "It's a bit dangerous, you know. Corrupted beasts and Moira are lurking around every corner!"

She then took a step towards the group and grinned. "Are you guys looking for something here?"

Tourmaline glanced at Violet, who shrugged. "Sure, the more the merrier. We're supposed to be looking for ancient artifacts-- manuscripts and the like. You're welcome to keep anything else we find, though. We're trying to get more money for a couple of mediums."

"Yes, we--"

Tourmaline was cut off by a rather strange person coming over to greet them. At a bit of a loss for words, she tried to speak, but only managed to say "Er?"

Violet looked a bit more wary. As an alchemist, she was a bit suspicious of bottles full of colored liquid, and glanced at the bottles with a hint of distrust. Still, you can't really expect someone to wander around Dearmad without a variety of weapons.

So she stood, and said, "Bonjour. We're looking for a set of ruins rumored to be around these parts. As I was just telling them," she nodded at the other compatriots, "We're only looking for anything with writing-- you're welcome to keep anything else we find, if you want to accompany us."