The sounds of boisterous laughter, slurred voices yelling over each other and the overall chaotic ambiance of the tavern rippled through the far to thin wooden floor, making Icarus momentarily reconsider his destination for the night. The thought only lasted a moment, it was unlikely he would find any other vacancies at this time of night, let alone a place that would have an atmosphere quieter than this one. Resigned to his fate of a poor night's sleep, Icarus made his best attempts to block out the noise as he placed his armour alongside the rest of the gear next to the bed. Even the discomfort warm sea breeze drifting through the town of Erorth and seeping into his room through the open window could not ruin the feeling of freedom from discarding his armor for the night.

Collapsing on the bed, Icarus took one more glance at the information he had gathered today. This was the first real lead he had found after weeks of fruitless searching in a climate that did not treat kindly to those in heavy armour and encounters with a number of his enemies, and it made all of that hardship worthwhile. [color=ff3333]”Well may as well try to get some sleep before chasing after this tomorrow”[/color] Icarus murmured to himself as he heard the sound of glass shattering, no doubt thanks to one of the many drunken patrons downstairs, the chaotic noise that continued for the rest of the twilight hours ensuring he would drift in and out of sleep.

It was during one of this drifts, that Icarus noted a dramatic shift in the ambiance of his surroundings. Gone was the distracting noise of the night-life of the town and in its place a peaceful silence was carried across the air, the feeling of a cool damp wind the complete opposite from the hot and dry breeze that was in Erorth. There was a moment of confusion, before Icarus’s mind woke with a full realisation of the situation, his eyes snapped open as he quickly sat up in his bed, his hand tightening on his trusted blade that had lain beside him. Despite the familiar feeling of the hilt of his blade though, Icarus’s confusion only grew as his hand scratched against stone rather than the frame of the bed he expected. Glancing down at the ground he found himself no longer in the bed he had fallen asleep in, instead there was a cold rock floor that was just as comfortable as the bed had been.

Confused, Icarus quickly moved to a crouching stance while he examined this new area, both so he could react to any danger and draw minimal attention to himself. As his eyes swept across the landscape, he was met with architecture that appeared to defy any common sense, stone walkways spiraled in all directions until they suddenly stopped at an archway, paths overlaps and diverging in a pattern he could not understand. The paths seemed to ascend for miles above him and given what he could see of the towering structures nearby Icarus could only assume they descended just as far as well.
Contrasting the gray stone of the ruins was the green of the moss and plants, nature seeming to have claimed this abandoned citadel of what Icarus could only assume was once a great civilisation. Yet despite the all encompassing growth of vines, plants and trees spanning across this structure forgotten to time, the lack of noise of wildlife was disturbing, as though all life had abandoned this place. What was more, Icarus could not identify any of the plants around him despite his travels across the land, their structure similar and yet undeniably different from any plant life on the lands he had travelled.

After what must have been minutes, Icarus finally stood up, if anything was going to act to his presence he would have expected it to have done-so by now. In his search of the nearby vicinity Icarus had spied his gear not too far from his location which relieved him somewhat, the thought of being in a foreign land unarmoured was not an attractive prospect. Taking a moment to don his armour, his mind considered the possibilities. [color=ff3333]”A kidnapping does not make sense, as if one wanted to capture it would defy all logic to also bring me my gear. And I doubt this is anyone invading my dreams again this landscape is too real, its details are otherworldly and...alien“[/color] Icarus spoke out loud, not minding if anyone heard him as the rattling of his armour would have given away his position regardless of his actions. [color=ff3333]”I suppose it could have been a summoning spell of sorts but where is the summoner in that case, and where in the bloody hell have I been summoned”[/color] Icarus continued as made the final adjustments to his armour.

Taking another look around, Icarus spotted one of the many archways behind him, its inky star-filled void like interior reminding him of a night-sky. [color=ff3333]”Can’t say the prospect of walking into the sky strikes me as a pleasant idea, so we’ll leave exploring that for later[/color] Icarus thought, the idea of walking into a potential void being rather unsettling. Turning the opposite direction, the only other path available to him was the marble walkway. Taking care not to slip on the moss-ridden steps, Icarus followed the pathway as it twisted and turned through the strange landscape, the statue’s of persons of the unknown only added to the strangeness of this setting.

Though Icarus knew little of the lay-out he could not help but feel from the way his path was joining up with others he must be headed towards a centralised location, and it was perhaps at the very core of this structure that he may finally get some answers. His theory was given credence as his path drew closer to a large platform where nearly all of the pathways he could see converged. Dominating the view at the centre of this platform was a large casket floating in the air, no doubt kept in the air through some means of magical nature. Secondary to the casket was the gathering of a group of individuals at the platform as well, some of them almost as alien as the landscape and all defying any common themes between them. Gathered as they were around an unmoving robed man at the centre of the group, Icarus could only assume that the others were in a similar situation to him or served this figure as they seemed almost as lost as he was in this situation

Joining the group and overhearing the comment of a few others, Icarus picked up the idea that this figure appeared to be waiting for some condition before they would speak and it seemed the best guess at the moment was waiting for all to arrive. Looking around as others trickled in, joining the already gathered group, Icarus gave a curt nod to those who acknowledged his presence though otherwise remained silent, he was still on-guard from being in such an unfamiliar position and until he knew why he had been summoned here there was no way to tell if these people were friend or foe. There was the chance he was just as likely to join these people in a quest as it was they would be placed in a blood brawl where only one would emerge.

These lingering questions remained in Icarus’s mind until the individual finally spoke, silencing any of the murmuring amongst the group as they all listened for answers. Though the man (or at least Icarus was assuming it was a man, though when magic was involved you could never be too careful in your assumptions) provided answers to some of the questions that plagued Icarus over the situation, his answers only fuelled more as well. With the information given at least, Icarus could make sense of the immediate situation, it appeared that he had indeed been summoned and, thankfully, it appeared he was to work with this assorted group of individuals in solving a problem that could very likely be a threat to most worlds.

The news of a creature that could crawl across worlds was troubling, though the brief description gave little indication of what it was like or what it was capable of, the description alone made Icarus’s mind flash with images of those who had already dabbled in such magics and if they could use its power it could very easily spell the doom for his planet. Given the power used to summon such a large group to this location, Icarus could only imagine that the situation must be dire for all parties involved, meaning that he should keep any information probing to a minimum and save everyone’s time. Letting a few others make some statements first, Icarus noted as one of them moved up to stand near the robed man, making a few strong points that Icarus himself would have considered as well.

Glancing around the group once more Icarus did comment in response to Asif’s statement of calling the group heroes [color=ff3333]”As flattering as the title of Hero may be, I would hardly find that label appropriate for myself, and I imagine the same might be true for some others here. Which raises the question of why did you choose us? Did you hand-pick us for a specific reason or was it more luck of the draw?”[/color] Icarus questioned the robed individual, though ultimately the answer did not matter too much, it would help provide some content to the situation one way or another