[center][h2]Nickolas Rienbach - Basilmeron Castle Courtyard[/h2][/center]

He started in surprise as the girl's fingers caress the flame and caused it to burst to vivid life with such ferocity that Nickolas immediately glanced at her tome in abject bewilderment, half expect it to be cracked open and actively drawing power. He'd never felt the flames become that intense so quickly before, even with his study of the Dying Blaze tome that he'd recently managed to get his hands on. The dark mage was still staring in amazement as the girl slammed her hand on to her obviously modified tome and shut out the fist-sized inferno with a noticeable [i]pop[/i]. Nickolas looked up as the girl began to stammer her apologies.

"No, no, little miss, it's quite alright." The smile that crossed his features was as gentle as the dark mage could make it as he withdrew his hand to examine it for any side-affects of the willful possession of his spell. Finding none, he glanced up again to the stuttering girl and figured his best course of action was to calm her down with some sort of knowledge. He tapped the side of his nose when he was certain he had her attention. "You can usually smell it on the mages, little miss. What their strongest magic is. Lighting mages smell like hot iron, fire mages smell like burnt wood, the ones that deal primarily with stone magic smell like clean dirt, and so on." He chuckled, quite amused by the oxymoronic image that 'clean dirt' created. "I think it has something to do with the tomes, really. Although I don't think I've [i]ever[/i] seen someone so [i]talented[/i] with fire before." 

He chuckled again, although this time he was doing it to hopefully set the girl's mind at ease. "It's a quite a gift, you know, although a bit unrefined. Without a tome, I can only do what amounts to parlor tricks and sleight of hand with [i]any[/i] of the elements." 

[center][h2]Kuur Salcair - Basilmeron Castle Courtyard[/h2][/center]

Kuur remained mute for the next few seconds, simply examining the large pirate man's stature for any obvious flaws until Lilith's kindly tone shook her out of her revere. There was an uncomfortable pause as the tall young woman thought about her response in relation to the large pirate man, and would ignore him in kind unless he interjected again. "I meant... the kind of people that... take such good care of their weapons are... rare. I didn't... expect that." She paused again, still watching the axeman warily. "I am from... Panoply. We don't all... want this war."

As the axeman's more direct question came to light, Kuur turned to face him fully, still tensed in preparation for a fight or flight response. "You are... irritatingly dense." Her eyebrows knitted together in a sure sign of her annoyance, although her lilting voice remained as void of emotion as ever. "And...also correct in your... assumptions. Does that mean... you will leave?"