1450 TH

Early one morning...

Navic sighed and stretched, his aging body protesting with pops and snaps as he rose from his bed. It was a luxurious bed by any standard, threads of elemental earth and fire woven into it's pattern to make it more comfortable, to ensure it was always warm. But even this luxurious comfort could only do so much for his aging and arthritic bones. Rubbing a particularly sore spot in his lower back he reached over to his nightstand, ornately carved into the wall itself, and took the jug. Pouring water into his glass he stood and begun to dress. He had barely pulled on his undergarments when the curtain to his chamber burst open. Before Navic could protest this outrage the young man interrupted him.

"I am sorry to disturb your rest Elder, but your presence is required immediately at the Gate!" The boy was quivering with excitement, and it was the emphasis he placed on that last word that caught Navic's ear. The Gate? Had their been a breach? An accident? Had some horror broken loose into their home? It never crossed his mind that it could be something else, and quickly gathered up his staff, and the supplies he might need to cast his magics.

Hurrying through the chambers that separated his own quarters from those of his families, he ran towards the Great Square. As he hurried his breath shortened slightly, and he could feel his heart racing. His throat was strangely dry as he burst forth from the residential quarters into the Public Square. Navic grasped the younger mans shoulder, and carefully made his way through the crowd.

When Navic arrived at the main gate to the Kaer he saw several things that caught his attention all at once, and he a hard time sorting out which should be the most important. A band of dwarves stood just inside the main gate, their strange attire and weapons made it obvious that they were from outside the Kaer, a fact that made his heart race even faster. The seal to the main gate had obviously been broken, but how? And by whom? The dwarves? Surely it had to have been them, because no one member of this Kaer knew all of the rituals of opening.

The Dwarves were gathered in a small, but tight group-their faces a mixture of relief, and concern. The area surrounding them was chaos, of a type that  the small guard was completely unprepared for. If he didn't do something quickly it was possible that things could spiral out of control Noticing several other members of the Council of Peers had arrived before him, Navic began to signal the guards. It was time to slow things down, and sort all of this out.

It had taken Navic and the Kaer Guard several hours to calm and quell the crowd. In the end they had to allow the crowd to watch as they had the dwarves perform the rites of entrance, and as they were tested for Horror Marks. It had been a long, and drawn out process-although informative, and admittedly entertaining in parts. The dwarves were a small part of a larger band, who were lying in wait outside of the Kaer. Now that the rituals were over it was time for a brief respite-in which they'd display both the generosity of his people, and their creative skills, and then the serious business would begin.

As the crowd disperses throughout the kaer bringing news of the event, Coaul's brow raises as he overhears the new development. Though he remaims visibly stoic, inwardly Caoul is nervous.

"Let me through. Move it kids. Hey you, shoo!" Isil waves off the last of a band of children gathered to see the dwarves, and walks up behind Navic's shoulder, keeping some of the wizard between him and the dwarves.

"Elder, have we figured out how they got through the wards?" He leans in and asks Navic quietly, suspiciously sizing up the newcomers.

Navic looked at Isil with a wary smile, which he hoped was reassuring, and spoke softly-just loud enough for Isil to hear him. "That is truly an interesting question Isil, one I intend to figure out." Navic clasped the younger man on his shoulder, and turned to try and organize this chaos.

Caoul turns to his father and, noticing that the old man is engaged in pleasant conversation, quickly finishes his current task and moves to investigate the ongoing commotion. Eventually, spotting Isil, he blurts out to the young wizard, "Isil! What is going on? Is it true that dwarves have breached the kaer wards?"

Quote from: DeadUematsu;263067Caoul turns to his father and, noticing that the old man is engaged in pleasant conversation, quickly finishes his current task and moves to investigate the ongoing commotion. Eventually, spotting Isil, he blurts out to the young wizard, "Isil! What is going on? Is it true that dwarves have breached the kaer wards?"

Isil takes a step or two back from Navic towards Caoul and thumbs back over his shoulder at the dwarves to point them out. "They're inside, at any rate. We're still trying to figure out how they got in. Or why they even braved the Horrors to come here in the first place."

Freed momentarily from his duties, Garon wove his way through the crowd toward Caoul and Isil. Years of experience with his mass and bulk led the crowd to quickly part for the immense guardsman; even for a troll, Garon was large, his shoulders broad and square, his muscles like tightly-bound bundles of power. His unlined face was strangely flat, wide and somehow ponderous. He spoke slowly, carefully choosing his words, as if the process were difficult for him in a way that movement and action never were. "They say they disabled the traps. Opened the ward. They say it is safe." His voice held a mixture of disbelief and hope; long had he dreamed of a world beyond these walls, and here were strangers, none possessed by Horrors, who spoke words of safety and possibility.

He removed his helm and shook the sweat from his fringe of hair, causing consternation with those nearby. Though it had never known battle, it had known generations of guardsmen, and it was battered and scarred from recklessness and overactive training. He unconsciously ran his thumb over the maker's stamp, his father's father's, and said quietly, "Minas will raise his voice soon, mark my words."

"Safe outside, you say, Garon? Well, if that isn't...interesting." Caoul says coolly, his nervousness slowly being replaced by a blossoming curiosity. "Maybe someone should have a look."

Garon's expression was clouded, but he was unschooled at containing his emotions; his excitement was palpable, as well. "Someone will," he said, thinking back to the conversations he'd had with Kalf over the past few months. He looked at his two companions, something besides anxiousness on his face, something which looked out-of-place on a face usually restrained to a sort of carefree intensity. "Just...stay close. Don't make plans. Be ready."

"Um, okay." Caoul's eyes begin to shift to and fro, his curiosity is cowed by the troll's visible anxiety, "I'll keep alert."

Navic ushered the dwarves out of the public square, escorted at a short distance by the Kaer Guardsmen, Garon one of those few hand picked by Navic and the other elders, and into the Temple. Garon was disappointed to be left outside the stone doors to the temple-one of the few actual sealing doors in the Kaer-which was partly a security feature, and in part a feature of privacy.

Garon had been standing outside the door for a mere few moments when Isil and Caoul arrived. The youth's said little, their excitement barely contained-what was happening inside those doors? What decisions were being made? Was it really true that the Scourge had ended? The minds raced with the possibilities.

Nearly four hours had passed, and the youths were just about ready to explode with curiosity when suddenly they heard the doors opening. Minas Harker stood at the door his face a stony mask.  He motioned to someone behind him, and then spoke.

"Caoul. Garon. Isil. The council wishes to speak with you."