[center][b]Una and Ailis - Chapter 1: Gust from Another World[/b][/center]

[i]Seven Serpents Tavern
Modia
Dis[/i]

Rickety, but quaint. The Seven Serpents Tavern, what with its enclosed spaces, warm fire, and familiar faces, was the picturesque spot to hang around come day or night for countless men and women of the Modia town. Ragged beards, dusty farmer's clothing, full mugs, bits of hay and dirt strewn about the floor. Despite its homely appearance and questionable sanitation, the people couldn't help but feel all the more at ease and well with themselves. This was the norm, and so they acted normally.

All of them, save for one huddled group in the corner of the tavern. Aside shouts of great success out on the fields and raunchy nights with wives, incomprehensible blathering of drunkenness, the twitchy group kept quiet, their words whispering and cautious, as if the nobodies they sat around were of any danger to them should they come to hear. Rather, they kept quiet in fear of disrupting the happiness around them. They kept the terror and despair well-locked within themselves, quite considerate to their neighbors. Word of it getting out might set about something altogether worse than what they saw and heard already.

Two rather out-of-place individuals sat together in their own circular table, a magnitude cleanlier than the rest of their surroundings. Nevertheless, their piercing stares reflected their resolve, as well as their experience. For the mercenary, the thief, the assassin... all could have their worth evaluated with but a glance, and for the two girls, they passed with flying colors. Both of their trained ears, their expertise in wasting little time, allowed for the huddled group's whispers to be audible. Tables away, they listened intently to the rumors.

"No, no. Those claims are just paranoia. I saw them with me own eyes. Right there, over the Tiriel lake, floating like damned dragons! I say I never seen no contraption like it!"

"How big was 'e?"

"Oh bigger than any dragon, that's for sure! I could fit me entire farm on its back!"

"I hear its got a banner like [i]death[/i]."

"You sure you weren't just see'in no dragon?"

"Sure as hell! This thing ain't got no wings, it didn't breath no fire! Patched up with metal and wood it was!"

"Flyin' ship it seems, eh? Drerie?"

"Nah. I hear from my cousin, she says the guys that got off o' it, were common humans... except for [i]one[/i]." The group huddled closer as one of the men finished his last sentence with eeriness and caution. With shifty eyes, he took another swig of his ale and continued on.

"Except for one man... The captain. Red cloak, and a skeletal face. Only the wisps of a ghostly body filled his burly clothes. He was undead I tell ya." The group fell into a slight laughter, obviously dismissing the man's claims. A ship they could believe, but an undead captain!

A sailor's tale, it must be.

[center][b]Veyati - Chapter 1: Keen Interest[/b][/center]

Since embarking out into Aurora, Veyati and the crew of her mess-work of a ship made for what they could; in the clutter of space that was inner Aurora, laying eyes upon a Sphere was as easy as picking out a water bird floating lazily in a still lake. From there, it was but a toss of the coin to set course for one of them. With so many to choose from, and very little knowledge of what each held, the crew resorted to chance, to luck.

Each pointed out a specific Sphere with their finger, deeming it their favored destination. The captain thought of a number one through one-hundred, and the passenger closest to his number was deemed the victor, and their Sphere set as the destination course. Veyati had pointed out a watery Sphere, thick with clouds that would have seemed dreary and off-putting to any other. For Veyati, however, they seemed quite subdued. Hers was the closest number, but the captain's subtle nod in her direction offered a less fair truth.

The ship was set into motion, having decided the destination, and they made way towards that little foggy Sphere in the distance. Along the way, altogether faster ships made themselves apparent, but given their haste, it seemed as though Veyati's ship was of little concern, despite how old it looked and the direction it came from. Their first hours into the world were uninterrupted.

Upon approach to the intended Sphere, however, interest from the surrounding world began to shift. No longer were they simply passed by, but as they neared the Sphere's surface, tiny vessels approached their flanks. The floating platforms looked more like flying dinner tables with wings than airships, but their speed and purpose quelled such silly appearances. Two of them flew to Veyati's ship's side, stood upon by a single soldier clad in sky-blue armor and bearing formidable spears. They stared intently at their ship from outside, keeping pace but a fair distance away. Eventually, however, they too lost interest, waving to the flying table's pilots to simply move away and off to other things.

Their descent into Garuda went unimpeded.

[center]---------[/center]

Having switched to a wealthy supply of liquid mana, the ship descended with some turbulence, making its way to a relatively flat set of grasslands a ways away from the city they had initially come upon. They powered down, and the captain shouted a few words to the rest of the crew before opening up the main door, letting a wholly unfamiliar smell into the ship. It was much like home, except it was a little windy, somewhat colder and... smelled of salt. The grass rolled on the wind with a hint of moisture clinging to its blades.

In the distance, tiny lamps lit up the blackened walls of a seaside town, hidden behind a sweeping layer of fog.

[center][b]Lithus - Chapter 1: Out of the Sky[/b][/center]

[i]Bulwark Ecumenopolis[/i]

It seemed, at the very least, relatable. The library was filled with that which Lithus based his existence around, and so he took a vague comfort despite the menial task which had been given to him. For all his knowledge, all his experience, and all his fervor in the art of learning and discovery, Lithus was immediately put to a less prideful job within the library he had found himself within.

The [i]Bulwark Archives of Late King Venarl[/i] was the largest of the empire, situated amidst a wondrous area of the city laced with the remnants of still-flowing natural rivers. Upon the isle within those encircling rivers sat the chapel-like establishment that was the library, dominated by buttresses and glazed circular windows. With spires standing well above the rest of the buildings nearby, it acted like a sort of beacon to Lithus when he had first come across its vision, enticing him closer into its paper depths.

But when he asked about the prospect of having a job there, he was not denied, but nevertheless given a rather pitiful rank within it. For the time being, he acted as a simple sorter and deliverer, tasked with organizing books, returning them to their place, or attending to a visitors request. His attempts to glorify his own knowledge and prowess went unnoticed, even flat out denied. A strange man appearing out of nowhere and claiming greater wisdom than the one who offered him the job? Ridiculous!

Lithus found himself gathering some stacked books from a top a mahogany table, lit dimly with the glow of a tiny powered mana crystal. Given the size of the library, it was common to find oneself alone and amidst silence. At the time, there was no one around him. No one sat at the empty tables, and no one weaved through the massive bookcases towering high enough to touch the next floor level. Not even the faintest whisper of a turning page caught his ear. He continued on with his work, and with time, noise returned to the world.

From across the open room, a well-armored soldier came into view, his metal greaves clattering upon tiled floors. He paid no mind to Lithus, and simply proceeding through the room and to the other side, disappearing into a curved hallway. It was not surprising in the least for Lithus, he knew well the situation. As the Silence of Life had set in, a great number of petty crimes had begun to occur, especially in areas focused upon knowledge or magic. The people became desperate to solve the issue, and books had begun to disappear from their shelves, never to be seen again. And so the city applied the watchful eye of its military to maintain control over their endless papery wealth.

Once again, the world returned to silence.

[center][b]Ley - Chapter 1: Kindred Spirits[/b][/center]

[i]Reawan City
Garuda[/i]

It had become clear, in the days Ley had spent wandering the town, that culture of Garuda was founded upon whispers, on rumors and myths and gossip. It was the lifeblood that fueled the paranoid nature of its residents, who ultimately seemed to revel in the atmosphere of constant fear and skepticism. Without it, they might have finally gone mad at the thoughts of terrors lurking on their very lands.

See, it was rumors that perpetuated the notion that a great deal of the dark things that happened were but wive's tales. The more one talked about it, whispered about it, the less it seemed like a real thing. Less like it actually happened. A rumor would become just that; a rumor. And the missing daughter of the family down the street would become but another tid-bit of gossip that nobody believed. Only the victims would ever retain the idea that what happened, actually happened.

The mayor liked it this way. and the mayor before that. The cycle and behavior ensured that angry mobs never rose up in arms to take on an evil they couldn't face. Otherwise, it was the mayor's life on the line.

Ley, though dreary and otherworldly to the people of Raewan, managed to fit in all because of it. No one approached her in displeasure of her presence. They would simply turn to gossip and her existence would merely become a rumor.

"Isn't that... her?" they would say, but in a moment another would bring about some quality that had been warped into the myth, and she would suddenly be many orders away from the "Ashen Woman". For her, it was the perfect environment, rife to spread mystery and confusion... and of course rumors themselves. In her warped mind, all that she could dream of doing was at her fingertips. What could she possibly do that the darkness has not already done to the Sphere? Hers would be just another instance of a gruesome demise, blown away into the wind that was Garudan myth.

[center][b]Cross - Chapter 1: A Proposal[/b][/center]

It was strange, coming back to a world where one could actually deduce what they were standing upon. In all its chaos and assortment, the appearance of mixed earth had become a great deal more pleasurable than a smooth surface of unknown quality. Vast fields of smooth steel did not a good sight make. Cross found himself back upon Dis, his homeworld, to eventually find his previous master's despair altogether unwarranted; there was peace, a great deal of it. Besides the haunting issue behind the Silence of Life, all seemed well. To some, it might have been a relief to be integrated into one's home devoid of fighting and strife.

For Cross, who was raised upon battle, it might have seen like a boring prospect. What was he to do then? There existed many worlds out there, and surely the Silence could not be attributed to his Sphere of Dis alone. The issue of transportation was the most pressing; Dis owned no airships of its own, and beyond the presence of Drerie long away in their skies, all of them were ignorant to the existence of a whole fleet of worlds beyond.

How, then, was he to move off of this remote world? Unless he had a method of boarding a dragonborn ship, he had no way of getting anywhere and resolving the issue. Even then, he might have to hijack their ship, for it is well-known that the dragonborn do not leave their home Sphere for much else other than Dis. It was quite the predicament, especially considering every damned individual knew nothing about the Silence Rarely, if ever, would one utter a word more than, "It is beyond me." But, as all prospects seemed lost, Cross, within days of arriving back upon Dis, came across a particular bit of information.

Pirates.

Pirates had descended upon Dis, and not from their own Sphere, but from elsewhere, far outside the realm of Dis and Drerie. It was an intimidating idea, but at the time, it seemed his only chance at finding his way into civilized Auroran territory. They had arrived on a massive airship, stooped over the lake in Modia, apparently themselves looking for treasure on the Sphere.

Cross had his wits to use, but he knew, ultimately, that he'd have to pay [i]in some way[/i] to get anywhere.

[center][b]Scipio - Chapter 1: To Drink from the Fountain[/b][/center]

[i]Tenshan
Just outside the Bulwark Empire[/i]

The farmlands could easily be summarized in a single word; unperturbed. Independent of the grasp of a larger force, Tenshan enjoyed relative solitude and tranquility amidst the Spheres. Even under the pressure of the Silence of Life, it seemed as if its peoples went on oblivious to its effects, or their satisfied but busy nature did not permit them to worry. The farmers and their families continued as per normal, even as the unfamiliar face of a Drider had shown himself but a few days prior. They were almost like the wildlife of a newly discovered land which had not seen a human face in all of time; they reacted with near-indifference. One could go as far as to say Scipio, the clearly wealthier, more powerful, and alien being, was seen as but another commoner on the Sphere. He was treated as equally as the farmers treated their neighbors.

In this sleepy, clockwork world, Scipio found himself searching for the lingering traces that a Drider like himself, his mentor, had even set upon its surface. It was clear that he had been there, but from where he had thereupon traveled to, was beyond the memory of the locals. Much like Scipio then, he too must have been treated the same, and his adventures, origin... they too went unnoticed. With so little occurring on the Sphere, it was easy to recall new faces, but with all their indifference, not much was gleaned beyond their appearance and name. Even then, it seemed, Scipio could find few who even recalled the latter.

"He stayed around for a week or two. Ain't got an idea what he was here for or where he went, sorry lad," they would respond to Scipio, bringing him no closer to the proper direction. But then, as all possibilities seemed lost, a miracle of information passed by him, and despite its suppositions, it was surely a valuable addition. It came from a young boy in a simple town, an adventurous little one, who seemingly adored Kyarian while he was around. His persistent efforts to raise answers out of him led to him being the most knowledgeable of all the Sphere.

"He was looking for someone, yep. He stayed for a bit, doing cool stuff. You and him are the same, right? Where are you from? What are you-" he had to be redirected back to the question at hand, clearly excited by Scipio's appearance. "Yes, yes. I talked to him on the last day. He took a ship off to the empire, said he finally met with a man who pointed him in the right way. Who's he lookin' for?"

The clue was vague, of course; the Bulwark Empire constituted at least 12 Spheres all on its own, and which one Kyarian headed to was left unanswered. The journey seemed to snowball within a single day however, as Scipio was this questioned [i]by someone else[/i].

The small individual had appeared in the night, approaching Scipio with an interest and intent absent in the rest of the populace. The weapon she carried and the painted, white, canid mask she wore was testament to the fact that she was clearly of another Sphere, as out-of-place as Scipio himself. Despite her minuscule size, standing but at his hip level, she spoke with confidence and purpose.

"This man you're looking for. He's following the same individual I am," she plainly stated, motioning to skip past formality. She evidently was quite sure of what was going on, "I have been here for the last month, looking not for your man, but for [i]his[/i] man." Her posture and steadfastness broadcast a powerful signal; she wanted to work with Scipio. Despite how far from him she seemed, she appeared to be the only one with a clue on the Sphere. It was her, or another week of searching aimlessly in the riff-raff of farmlands.

[center][b]Leffi - Chapter 1: The Key[/b][/center]

[i]Garude[/i]

It was but another node on the path to capture, this time quite a bit slower and more dreary, but with the experience upon Sabaton she possessed, Leffi found Garude to be a light breeze in comparison to home. Its populace was wary, isolating themselves from Leffi as best they could. Only the rugged faces working the docks and ships seemed to act instantly warm to her. Her own tough aura was like a kinship in some respects, though most of the men and women she saw were clearly not of the same profession. Nevertheless, their own profession lended to a sternness that allowed for proper interaction, minus the quivering and hushed tone.

Looking for an airship then was easy, though it was clear she needed to wait a small while for the next lift to Bulwark to arrive. In the meantime, Garude proved to be quite the vile place. It was almost sickening to see so much madness prevalent in a population infinitely more well-off than the residents of urban Sabaton. What did they have here that was so much more worse that they could derive so much fear and rumor? In the sanctity of their homes and city, they seemed more like complaining nobles with too much time on their hands than truly suppressed by evil.

Then again, Leffi didn't wander far from the safety of town to notice much darkness.

The airship had finally arrived, a medium-sized craft of white and bronze that lit up the black waters below it like an angel descending into a suffering earth. Her ticket in hand, she set for the airship, headed for Bulwark and the man on her hitlist.