[i]Outside the Forgotten Ruins, just outside the waste gate.[/i]

A man, dressed in what could only be described as needlessly opulent and gaudy armor, wearing a helmet crowned by golden yellow plumage and sitting atop a spotless, pristine white horse, surveyed the mess of sounds, smells and motion ahead of him. His face, and jawline, seemed to have been cut from actual stone, hard and stern, set with deep and rough features. His eyes, grey as steel, stared uncaringly and unblinkingly at the sights before him, his mouth drawn into a disapporing scowl. At his side, and on foot, stood a much younger man with a far more meagre ensemble of gaudy gear, with a blue-plumed helm, who also looked upon the chaotic theatre ahead - though with much more concern and discomfort upon his face and in his eyes.

"Jarvys." The man atop the horse said, not turning his head to look at the boy next to him. The youngster perked up, as if snapped from a daze and turned his head to look up at the superior officer.
"Y-Yes, General?" He stuttered, nervous.
"How's the situation?"
"It's... Well... It's not going so well, sir... The enemy forces are less numerous, but their wide range of skill and power makes it difficult to engage them. The terrain's also proving to be a problem a-"
"So what you're saying, Jarvys, is that we haven't found the fallen piece of sky yet?" The man rumbled with a deep, disapproving voice. The boy gulped.
"N-No, sir... In addition to a large variety of foreign agents, we've also run into military belonging to our neighbours, who refuse to accept his Majesty's imperial decree of claiming this region an-"
"And why are we not [i]dealing[/i] with them if that's the case, Jarvys?" The man now shot a glance at the boy from the corner of his eye.
"B-But General! Engaging foreign forces openly could cause a war! His Majesty's orders were only to retrieve the sky-fallen prize, not to-"
"Not to, what? Start a conflict with our dear neighbours? Fool boy, look at this!" The man growled, pointing a very heavily embellished glove at the numerous fresh imperial soldiers jogging into the western gate, and the several ones htat were either limping their way out, or being carried by their fellow brothers-in-arms. "I think we're well past those concerns, Jarvys." The man snarled.
"I... Yes... Of course. My apologies, General."
"For goodness sake, what the Emperor thinking, sending me to lead this flock of unproven lambs? You lot haven't even seen a single campaign, yet you've been sent to receive something that every petty king and noble with coins in their poeckets would contest?" The older man sighed, as if he couldn't comprehend his own bad luck.

The General, or Radegar vi Nomoronth, was a seasoned officer within the Galanon Empire's army. Born a commoner, he had joined the army at the age of 10, and steadily worked his way up the ranks, proving himself in battle and eventually earning himself boht a knighthood and a title of nobility. A self-made man who had lived a hard life, and had only himself to thank for everything he had. His entire life spent fighting and studying the art of war... And now here he was, commanding a force of snot-nosed, unproven, unprepared and clueless bunch of reserves, who had been dispatched to secure the sky-fallen treasure simply because they were the closest unit available in the region. The General himself had been on vacation at his modest estate, when messengers from the Imperial Court had arrived and issued him orders to take command of this unit and recover whatever piece of heaven had fallen to earth. And so, here he was, watching the gaggle of headless chickens mill about. He gnashed his teeth in frustration.

"Jarvys!" He roared suddenly.
"Yes, General!?" The boy stood at attention, tense like a strung bowstring.
"Have our forces begin sweeping along the outer walls. Clear the way to the north and south gates, once those are secure, continue to the eastern one. Once all gates are in our hands, begin moving inwards. Slay anyone and everyone who doesn't fly the colors of the EMpire."
"Sir? We have reports that a small detachment of Palagrian forces are stationed to the south of the ruins, and they-"
"They won't do anything." The man sneered, a glint of malicious glee in his otherwise cold eyes. "That kingdom of cowards would never dare openly oppose our Emperor or his might. They're just here to keep any stragglers from seeking asylum within their borders, just like a good little watch dog should." The man almost laughed as he spoke, but only almost.

With this, the young Jarvys nodded and ran off towards a tent, where a gathering of other red and blue-plumed helmet-wearing officers of the Empire stod. Once he relayed the instructions, there was a bit of back-and-forth before the shouting of commands began. Soon, the Imperial army would become less prevalent in the inner parts of the ruins, but instead, their focus would be on clearing out and seizing the outer ring of the old city... And once they held all roads out, they would only need to begin moving inwards from all directions, denying anyone the ability to leave..."

[i]Meanwhile, inside the more central areas of the Ruins...[/i]

The lizardman and the elf would find themselves a potent combination. Few were the men who were brave enough to stand up to a giant, bipedal lizard, let alone one who looked as if he had been lifting boulders since the day he'd hatched. This coupled with the sight of  an angry elven man, wearing fancy army and wielding a shield that crackled with lightning, was enough to keep most of the rabble or somewhat intelligent at bay. Naturally there were still those who braved to take on the combo, but these brazen fools soon found themselves either slammed into the broken cobble streets, or being flung like empty bottles through the air, only to crash down painfully somewhere else.

The foreign girl who chased after the dudering duo would mostly avoid any issues, though at times some conniving rogue would leap from an alley or dark corner, only to suffer a face-full-of-fist, or straight kick to the groin, thus thwarting any attempts at ambushing or stopping the female. She would soon catch up to her two targets, and as others saw her head for them, the three were soon implicated to be a team - regardless of their own personal feelings on the matter. It goes without saying though that, if you're a group of skilled individuals among a crowd of cannibal ants, you tend to stand out and draw attention.. For these three, they were now approaching what looked to be an old temple or church of some sort, as well as a path that split. It was clear they were coming up on the center of the ruins, but where to go next?

Push forth and head through the ruined holy place and deal with whoever or whatever may lurk in there? Or choose one of the two roads, east or west, to try and keep their momentum going? There were Imperial soldiers to the west, and mercenaries to the east, and adventurers on their heels and rear... What would they do next?

On the other hand, the group that had just recently forged a bond, consisting of two noblewomen and a summoner from the mountains, would find that they had a bit more trouble. Every step they took seemed to be a hurdle, with either groups of run-of-the-mill soldiers trying to block or arrest them, lonesome cocky adventurers or teams of cutthroat mercenaries trying to fleece them. It may have been because they all looked so... Prim, and well-dressed... And wealthy... And one of them had a horse. They would encounter many challenges and many enemies along their path.

Still, they had the advantage of being closer to the eastern parts of the ruins, where the Imperial forces were the fewest and weakest, and as they kept away from the main road and apths, the enemies they encountered were never among the strongest or most skilled. If they kept to the side-paths, alleys and backstreets, they could - with some troublesome interference - perhaps worm their way past all the major fights and get to the center of the ruins with nothing but nuisances and irritation along the way.

[i]Mean-meanwhile, at the center of the Forgotten Ruins...[/i]

The old palace, once a symbol of power and influence, now lay in ruins. Its walls crumbled, its towers collapsed, its roof caved in and the windows and doorways bare and dry like sand. Not even the gardens or rows of trees that had encricled and framed the mighty structure remained, uprooted, cut down or burnt long ago, leaving only cracked, lifeless dirt behind. The stone tiles that were laid on the ground were different and more exquisite than the rough cobble that belonged to the outer parts of the city, yet even these were cracked and broken, worn by weather and chipped, dented or scratched beyond repair.

The center of the ruins were where the rich had lived, the nobies and wealthy merchants. Remains of their lavish mansions and grand homes now looked like nothing more than husks of stone and gloom, empty and cold. Yet, there was something strange about the entire central area, something that set it apart from the grey, monotone ruins that lingered throughout the rest of the collapsed and fallen cityscape. And it, whatever it was, was something truly spectacular.

Small, green and pink crystals had sprouted from walls and the streets, some in small clusters and others entirely alone. They emitted a strange, soft liiight - which wasn't overly easy to see during the daytime. However, while these strange minerals dotted the area around the district, they became more and more prevalent and numerous as one got closer to the palace, until they nearly covered the entirety of the north-eastern tower. The tower itself looked somewhat like a broken fang with a cavity along its southern wall... But it was from this cavity, this indent in the msaonry, that the green and pink crystals were most numerous and most densely populated.

Unfortunately, the crevace was well above ground, and with the palace in its dilipidated and ruined state, relying on things like stairwells or ladders would be wishing for too much. Anyone who wished to reach the glowing source of thes mystery crystals would have to somehow climb the side of the crumpled, ruined tower and make it inside, without falling down and breaking their neck. Ironically, those sensitive to magic could feel that these strange crystalline structures emitted magical energy, but should one so much as touch or graze them, they would shatter like brittle glass and dissolve into not but dust...