[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/170928/aaa12bb8aef3921676ebc49ed2c656fa.png[/img][/center] [hr] [center][img]https://fantasy.ambient-mixer.com/images_template/1/e/1/1e19d18f51db812a7565593a170a4e3d_full.jpg[/img] [i]Somewhere below the Craft District...[/i][/center] The underground sewers beneath the Craft District danced to the haunting voice of Edgar "Lantana" Cervantes. The night had started with him and his troupe, planted along a nook big enough for a small audience. [url=https://i.pinimg.com/564x/b0/40/f1/b040f17ca3f3e0f7e92e11b9d7988830--aquarius-fantasy-characters.jpg]Giuseppe Gavignone[/url], the group's half-ling talent manager, coordinated with the local herbalists to bring in droves of wonderfully scented fauna to combat the stench of excrement. Natural light came from the moon shone down from the manhole opening above. People came and went, but there was always a crowd, even when the moon left and the bits of sun started rising in its stead, peeping through the manhole and down onto Lantana like a faint spotlight. He basked in its glow like an ethereal deity, strumming his guitar as its melody lanced out in harmonious echo. The rhythm was soft, slower now, a calm that seemed to match the beauty of the rising morning, further accentuated by his somber ballad: [center] [color=Red][b][i]Summon the old flames cast anew, Light the lantern, see the truth, What was once will never be, Yet broken hearts will wish it so! No matter peasant, king or queen, It matters not with kindred souls, The Sun and Moon forever dreams For the day they'll be made whole! So, Dance The Night Away! (bridge) Dance until your life, is ablaze! Your tomb awaits your brittle bones, Your spirit longs... to go ... back, ... home.[/i][/b][/color][/center] The final note was sung; The chords plucked from his guitar melted away into the silence of morning's light. A slow clap was heard, followed by many more, until all that could be heard was an overwhelming echo of applause. Streetgoers corralled around the open manhole from above, their shadows blotting out the sun as they joined in on the jeers and whistles. Coins and flowers rained down on Lantana, even a random Telchar sword and stiletto, which thankfully fell onto the ground without injuring anyone down below. Lantana didn't think the cheers could get any louder, but they did when he bowed his head, thus concluding their [i]Night & Day[/i] concert. He straightened up, pointing toward where his troupe should've been, but they were nowhere to be found. [color=Red]"Oh my, where did they run off to?" [/color] Lantana said, deeply concerned. Giuseppe Gavigone appeared at his side, pulling Lantana away from the continued shower of coins, flowers, and whatever random objects people felt compelled to chuck down at them. "You did it again." Giuseppe simply stated. Lantana stared at the half-ling, confused for a moment, but a knowing look from his old friend made him realize his folly. Lantana sighed. [color=Red]"Who was the first and last to leave?" [/color]Lantana asked, walking over to his guitar case. Giuseppe waited until he put his instrument away, then cleared his throat. "[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.vancekovacs.com/wp-content/uploads/galleries/post-494/full/games_044.jpg]Osid[/url] gave up after his 2nd string broke, likely a drunken stupor somewhere. [url=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/99/42/4a/99424a421f1598bb9c46ed6522e57ea0.jpg]Tizald[/url], well, tried Fisstech to keep up. [url=https://img00.deviantart.net/aa87/i/2016/042/9/5/commission__sondra_sparkle_by_tjota-d9qo3o0.png]Setra[/url] had to take the lad back to the inn and tend to him." [color=Red]"Why didn't you stop me?"[/color] Lantana had a somber look about him, but Giuseppe only smiled, the kind of smile that hurt because such happiness came at the troupe's expense. "It was magic incarnate, dear friend, and no one dared interrupt a Grand Wizard's summons!" Giuseppe raised his hand, pointing to the audience crowding around them. "This was your defining performance, Lantana! They'll be talking about this for ages!" The pale bard tried to smile as all eyes were on him, but his attention was still back at the empty wall where his troupe should be. [hr] [center][i]Meanwhile, at the Jolly Lion Inn...[/i][/center] [hr] The world spun madly about. It felt as though a surgeon flayed his body open, doused him in peppered spices, and sewed the bard back up with barbwire. The slightest of movements exacerbated his torment, so he laid there like a paralyzed dolt in an aracnomorph's web, groaning in agony. "Quit yer codswallop, Tizald!" A woman's voice called out. The man could barely make out the details of the room, but her figure was undeniable. It was Setra. "I'm almost ready." She said. Ready, ready for what? Was this a fevered dream, or had she finally warmed up to his farm boy charms? He pursed his stiffened lips, gritting his teeth through the pain as he held them in place for a kiss. What he received instead was a wooden spoon full of what could only be described as ichor from a mutilated calf. Tizald lurched, but Setra firmly planted her hand over his mouth. "Don't ye dare, Tizzy!" Setra warned, pointing a finger at him like she were his mother. "I ground that paste down to wee bits til the sun came to, so ye best get ta gulpin if ye know what's good fer ya!" Tizald submitted to her will, calmed his aching body, and swallowed the syrupy paste. "There ye go, Tiz." Setra's voice went from sharpened pikes to feathers and bath soap bubbles. She sat beside him and lifted Tizald's head, then scooted over so he could use her lap as a pillow. He gladly obliged. "Wh-what happ--" Tizald lazily slurred, drifting into a hazy calmness. "Shh, Shh, my lil bumpkin." Setra hummed a tune, The Handmaiden's Sonnet, the last ingredient needed for Tizald's recovery. She combed a loose strand of hair from his forehead back into Tizald's mane. As she did, she left a red mark in its place. Setra frowned, drawing her hand close, then out into the bouncing light from the Inglenook flames. The skin on her fingers were torn to bits, riddled with nicks and cuts. "Lantana, ye crazy fuck. You'll be the end of us all."