[center][h1][color=f26522]Carnatia de Luson[/color][/h1][/center]
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[quote][b]"We are looking for the Lasse Library. A long time ago, a powerful mage named Theriadore lived there and created a powerful protection artifact that could help us combat the Land of Twilight's negative energy. There was a chance, true, that the place might have been discovered at some point, or worse, pillaged by irresponsible adventures, but my instinct tells me they only managed to find the key, and not the access to the vault itself, for the access of it was well hidden with a powerful enchantment."
[/b]

Pausing to take a breath, The middle-aged elf showed everyone a pentagon-shaped brass device with runic letters on its sides. 

[b]"How do I know that? I've lived long, long enough, and coincidences felt like daily occurrences to me. I am an archeologist, my dear, and my calling is to find curious findings, whether they were in entombed ruins, or a black market." [/b][/quote]

A vault...Carnatia would be interested in taking a look at it. After all, with her Golden Prerogative skill, she might chanced upon valuables or other items that would be of interest to her. Unlike the case in the house, ruins were considered abandoned sites with no legal owners, meaning 'finders keepers' do apply here, so it would be less of a hassle to legally claim ownership of any items of interest. Though, of course, as an archaeologist, Vesemir might be inclined to keep them for study or museum exhibits. But she would cross that bridge when the time came. It wasn't even guaranteed that she would find anything, after all. And for now, far more important to focus on actually reaching the vault safely. After all, this was the Land of Twilight the notorious place where many adventurers met their end or returned forever changed.

And with that, Carnatia excused herself and returned to her tent, doing some maintenance on her rapier before getting some rest.

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As night came, the group embarked on their journey to the Ruins of Lasse. In the cold and damp night air of the forest, Carnatia had half a mind to use her magic to light a fire for some extra heat, before thinking better of it, opting to conserve mana. Instead, she pulled the fur coat she had brought closer to her body. It was an expensive one, and certainly, it did provide adequate warmth, but...well, Carnatia had wanted to buy the really expensive ones, enchanted with magic, or perhaps with some of those Republican-made clothing with portable heat pads integrated. Perhaps after the expedition.

Eventually, after walking through the forest trail, they arrived at their destination, the Ruins of Lasse.

[quote]
Their employer did not stop, so Gray Flame warned the rest of the party with a low, but stern voice. “Follow the white light, do not touch the phantom, and don’t stare too much at them.” 

“Indeed,” Vesemir added suddenly, reciting part of the old proverb like some sort of omen. “If thou gaze long into the darkness, the darkness will also gaze back into thee.” 
[/quote]

[color=f26522][i]'So these are the phantoms they were talking about,'[/i][/color] Carnatia thought.

Carnatia remembered Gray Flame explaining that the phantoms were thought to be the ghosts of people who perished long ago or simply the coalescence of the negative energy in the form of peculiar pockets of dense miasma. Either way, they were the result of the war 1700 years ago that was waged here. The war where the tyrannical Serensiel was brought to justice and the elves were humbled, led to the now-prosperous relations between nations, as humanity ended Serensiel's rule of terror and forced the elves to acknowledge their folly and helped them move forward

...Or so the history was told in Westernant. In Varenheim, Carnatia was sure that the prevalent historical accounts were less black and white. Nevertheless, Varenheim notwithstanding, the consensus was that Serensiel was a tyrannical queen and the war was regrettable but necessary. It was a story of the forces of good triumphing over evil or at the very least the lesser evil checking the great terror that was Serensiel. History was written by the victor, after all, and for good or ill, Serensiel was not the victor.

Faintly, Carnatia could hear their screams of anguish, as the faint shadows reached out to them. Never directly touching, but close enough to almost divert her attention towards them.

It was at that moment that some horrific images flashed briefly through her head. Images of a massacre, of flames engulfing buildings and burning people alive, of dead bodies littering the street. A form of premonition, a warning of dangers that would befall her, perceived through arcane divination as part of her Prescient Defense skill. At that moment Carnatia understood, that these were the illusions that would consume her mind should she allow the phantoms to take too much of her attention.

Heeding the advice of Gray Flame and Vesemir, Carnatia focused her attention on the light, doing her best to ignore the translucent black writhing mass vaguely resembling the shapes of people all around them.

Still, it was easier said than done. Fortunately, honing her mind into one singular focus was something that Master Tokimune had taught her. A 'Zen Meditation' he had called it. She typically employed it in combat to hone her mind into focusing on a singular vital spot of her opponent, but here, she applied it to focus on the light of Vesermir's lantern. The phantoms' existence, meanwhile, she treated as excess that would be discarded as she delved into the zen state.

Doing her best to ignore the phantoms, Carnatia kept her attention focused on the light of Vesemir's lantern, hoping to avoid being captured in their illusory trap. And so, she trudged forward.

[@Mas Bagus]