To say that the Radiant Gate was an interesting asset would have been a gross understatement. If Ordai'el's current situation had been the primary incentive for developing and building this portal, then the capital's fate might have been really worth it. Varandas was miles away from saying that openly of course and had he known the the city's population and splendor better than what he had happened to read in a few shabby books somewhen in his life, he might have thought very differently about said Gate as well.

By all means available to Varandas' humble comprehension, this place was as dead as his body. The thrall would have really liked for it to go well beyond that threshold though the moment the fountain erupted into... whatever kind of wicked liquid that was. Things still moving were hardly an issue in a living environment, but here, everything that showed sudden activity was just bound to make everybody's spine become frozen in an instant. If one could only have the assertion that all mechanical things had become deprived of energy long ago and that everything that was already dead had also already rotten away completely. It would have made things quite a tad more comfortable he felt.

Speaking of comfort, the impenetrable sky above them did not hamper it nearly as much as the other things. The mining town he came from high up in the mountains had experienced conditions not so vastly different on a regular basis. Dense fog, clouds, winds and snowstorms had denied any star- or moonlight to reach the ground for days on end as well. The only major difference was that weather was explainable, this thing here was not.

[color=#00ffaa]"My name is Varandas and I have no previous profession worth mentioning I think. There is not much else to tell about me, at last I think you might invent enough facts about me yourself."[/color] Varandas spoke loud and clearly, but in a tone relatively close to sarcasm. He just waited for the first comments about his nature, his alleged stench, the crystal stuck in his chest or anything else about his appearance to come up. Yes, from a perfectly rational point of view there was hardly a more inappropriate place for this than right here and right now, but when had human prejudice ever failed him ? Incorrect assumptions were just way to precious to cede them to the truth.

Speaking of comfort again, Varandas found himself quite happy to just stop breathing for a few moments as the fountain's smell wafted towards them. Unfortunately however he also couldn't speak while doing this, and seeing how the portcullis and other things obviously suffered from corrosion and general decay he felt like having to say something: [color=#00ffaa]"I suggest we all watch our steps and don't hesitate to look at the ceilings above us here and there. The buildings might have become a tad unstable maybe, who knows for sure yet."[/color]