Merriheim,

Meiflour Mayor's Home.

Kashi, Syel, and Rider got off their respective horses and made their way towards the mansion. On their way, Rider divulged as much information as possible.

Apparently he needed the Maggots to break some sort of curse that had been placed on him. He wouldn't say how exactly nor did he share what exactly the curse was, just that it could not be broken by his own will. There was some sort of rule limiting the actions he could take, and that's why he needed champions in his stead.

Rider was also over a thousand years old, which would have emphasized the theory that he was a vampire, except that to the daeben's memory, vampires never lived passed a millenni um - one of the traits given to them in the old game. Which meant he was a survivor of the old world like Fladnag.

Now that Kashi thought about it, if the wizard was from the old world, then he must be over a thousand years old - the old coot did not look a day over seven hundred. So he wasn't just a crazy powerful old man with too much spare time; he was a crazy powerful REALLY old man with too much spare time.

Kashi chuckled as they walked past the fountain.

It was not functioning - a fact Kashi noted at the back of his mind as they entered the mansion.

Kira led them to the common hall where a pleasant sight greeted them.

Miote sat with his back to them, immersed in a book he was studying. He nursed a wine glass with his right hand, flipping the pages with his left. A pleasing scent escaped from the embers of a grand fireplace, crackling of wood the only sound in the serene picture.

Kashi however had no time to appreciate the image for too long as -

"Yo," Syel called as he walked toward the chesch. "We meet again."

Miote placed the tome he'd been studying on the armrest as he turned around to look at his visitors. His gaze, distant and hazy travelled from the blood mage to Rider, before resting on the daeben. A smile brightened his features as his eyes sharpened. "Well, took you long enough," he said, both as a reply to Syel, and a greeting to the daeben.

"Well, you know, saving a whole town and all that," Syel countered in jest. "Never mind that. This' a sick place you got. How'd you get enough cash to buy it?"

"Oh, it's not mine. It's his," Miote corrected as he got to his feet.

Syel turned to Kashi. "Well, aren't you a regular old bag of surprises."

"Technically it belongs to my guild," Kashi clarified. "So, have you gleamed anything new from this place?" His question was directed at Miote.

Miote shook his head. "First, introduce your guest. Don't you think that's only proper?"

Kashi blinked twice. He had been trying so hard to get Rider off his mind, that somehow he had succeeded - too well. "My apologies." He said as he turned to Rider. "The gentleman's called Miote. Miote, meet Rider." He waited for both men to exchange pleasantries, then returned to his question. "So, you find anything of value?"

The Chesh's eyes sparkled behind a mischievous grin. "Did I?" He parroted, obviously relishing in the information he had to share but Kashi's impatient scowl urged him on. "Earlier we thought this mansion was guarded because of the mine deeds kept here."

"Yes," Kashi confirmed, a hint of impatient curiosity in his voice. "What of it?"

"Follow," Miote said in reply. He led them out of the mansion to the storehouse that housed the instruments. "You were in a hurry when you left, so you never stopped to consider. Why exactly did they store all these instruments here? They clearly had no intention of using them, so why not just destroy them? And even if not, why here of all places?" He widespread hand, indicated he meant more than just the compound.

Kashi eyed the Chesch. He had wondered the same. Why had they gone through the trouble of building the mansion so far from the town? But he'd been preoccupied with getting to his party on time, so he hadn't given it much thought. "What did you learn?"

Miote chuckled as he led them back into the home. "Well, we have to change our train of thought first. What if this was more than the Mayor's home? What if it was a base of operations of sorts."

Kashi nodded in thought. "That's a possible theory. They did have a major operation in the mines. If they did not want the villagers to know the mine was still functioning they would need a base of operations away from prying eyes."

Miote stopped in his tracks, brows furrowed in mock fright. "You. Are you sure you were not an evil warlord in your past? I only figured that out after exploring."

"No," the elf replied. "I think I'd remember that."

"Nah, nah," Syel interrupted. "He wasn't an evil warlord in his past."

"Than-"

"He's budding impressively into one before our very eyes," Syel pointed out with a grin. "Wouldn't you say so, my dark friend?"

Rider realized he was asking for his opinion, and reluctantly offered it. "From him I sense a maelstrom of darkness, measured, and contained in a mask o-"

"Ugh," Syel groaned. "Basically he's evil right?"

The older man sighed. "Yes, he's evil."

"There, was that so ha-"

"Returning to the matter at hand," Kashi interrupted. "Care to continue?" He asked pointedly to Miote.

"Ah, yes," Miote answered, resuming his tour. "First clue I had of the true nature of this place was its rather unusual basement," he explained as he stopped in front of a door.

"You waiting for us to ask what's unusual?" Syel mocked.

Miote shook his head in disappointment. "C'mon man, I'm trying to make a damned tour interesting."

"Watch it cat, your act's crumbling."

"Well, you'll see what I mean soon enough." WIth that, he opened the door and led them down a flight of stairs, to a sight that made the daeben's eyes widen in pleasant surprise.

The basement was a forge-cum-laboratory. A large stone pit was situated at one end of the room, with several ores and ingots of different materials arranged neatly by it. The pit wasn't lit, but he spotted a vent from which any smoke would be expelled. The rest of large basement housed rows of cupboards and cabinets along its walls, which upon closer inspection held several materials from fauna and trees. Cauldrons, philters and flasks revealed them to be ingredients for alchemical formulae.

However what piqued his interest the most were the round tables with runes etched into them at the centre of the room. He recognized them. There were a few differences, inevitable given how much time had passed, but the structure and runes gave it away for what it was: an Enchanter's Table!

They found several gemstones placed in cabinets carved into the tables. Kashi inspected them, intrigued by the runal markings etched into their sides.

These were new. In Razznik's time, Rune Marking and Enchantments were two completely different fields. Most items with embedded gemstones could not be enhanced with Runes lest risk a high chance of explosion in one's face - something about their energies being contrary to each other or something.

Razznik had been able to successfully crafting a few weapons with both Rune Markings and Embedded Gemstones. Those logic-defying weapons would later become the Demon King's twelve series weapons. At the time the King thought that the pinnacle of magic technology.

The little stone in his hand proved that wrong.

"A millenia's a long time," Kashi murmured to himself. He failed to note Rider's piercing gaze as he continued to study the markings and some journals placed on the table.

Judging from the texts, the Brotherhood had devised a way to etch runes directly onto gemstones to achieve various spectacular effects far superior and specific to a mere spelled gemstone. He was still trying to understand exactly how it worked when Miote tapped his shoulder.

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"Already studied those," Miote informed him. "You'll find a demonstration far more explanatory."

Kashi tore his eyes off the journal long enough to see the merchant holding a blue gemstone with rune markings on both ends. It was the size of an egg, with a smooth, clear surface.

Miote held it up. "Syel, can you please release a gentle breeze into this stone?"

Amused, Syel agreed readily. He manipulated a small gust of wind and fired at the stone with a little more force than 'gentle'.

"You'll regret that," Miote said as he quickly turned the gem around.

BOOM!

Syel was knocked against the wall by a powerful gale released by the stone.

Kashi stared, unable to hide his shock.

"It's quite simple really," remarked Miote with a snide smile. "It absorbs from one end, and releases it with increased force from the other. Beyond that, I don't really understand the intricacies of how exactly it works."

"No surprise there," Kashi commented. "May I?"

"Sure," Miote acquiesced, handing the gem over.

Kashi accepted the stone, noting at the corner of his eye Syel getting awkwardly to his feet, only for a jar of something's innard to fall on him. The daeben paid no heed to the tirade of curses launched thereafter, instead focusing his attention on the gem before him.

He twirled it this way and that, inspecting the runal markings, laid it flat on his palm, then proceeded to blow air onto it. To his amused surprise, it jumped off his palm, propelled by the force exerted from its opposite end. "I recognize some of the markings, though never seen them combined this way - or used like this. Where'd you find this?"

"The fountain," Miote replied.

Kashi's brow rose in surprise. "Why'd you search the fountain?"

"Curiosity," Miote confessed. "Wanted to find out what technology they used to work it."

"Ain't you heard what curiosity does to cats?" Syel interjected, having wrestled the last of the disgusting entrails off himself.

"I like to think of myself as special," Miote countered.

"So does every other cat, the selfish buggers."

"Don't like cats?"

"It's a mutual feeling."

"I can see why that would be. You do resemble a rabid wolf sometimes."

"You-"

"Got it!" Kashi's elated cry interrupted their exchange.

"What?" Syel asked, mildly intrigued by all this nonsense.

Kashi held up two gemstones. "Like Miote said, it's easier to show than explain." He handed one to Syel and held the other one in his hand. "Alright, now inject that stone with minor flame magic."

Syel did as he asked, and subsequently let the molted mass drip to the earth.

"All gemstones need to be enchanted on an enchantment table, else they are ordinary stones and will be destroyed by whatever you are trying to charm them with," Kashi explained. He placed the other stone on the enchantment table and implored Syel to try again.

This Syel did, but this time, small magic circles appeared around the stone, and begun to rapidly spin in place. The stone lit up splendidly, then the light died down, leaving the stone as it once was. "Nothing happened," Syel pointed out, unimpressed.

"That's only how it seems on the surface," Kashi proffered. He picked the stone, then flung it into the forge at the other end of the room. He then flung an arrow soon after which struck the stone right in its middle. A crack appeared, followed soon after by an explosion of flames that lit the forge brilliantly. The stones in the forge oddly released a nice scent as they burned, their cackling the sole sound in the silent room.

"Okay~" Syel whistled. "Bonus marks for presentation, but I'm still lost."

"This is the standard for enchantment of gemstones," Kashi explained. "The table acts a catalyst and facilitator for any enchantments to be made. I never considered it before, but in lieu of Miote's discovery, it is clearly because of the runal markings on the table itself. The reason enchantments and runemarking never mixed well was because of their contrasting energies causing any work bearing both to be destroyed, save a very select few crafted by skilled craftsmen."

"I sense a but," Syel urged.

"But the existence of enchantment tables contradicts that very theory," Kashi pointed out. "These tables facilitate the enchantment of gemstones directly with a ninety three percentage rate of accomplishment. The Brotherhood of Chaos somehow found a way to decipher the runes of the enchantment tables so that they could apply that technology directly to the gemstones for various effects."

"And? How does it work?"

"I recognized the runal markings on the gemstone, and upon closer inspection recognized those on the enchantment table itself. They are actually words and letters from an ancient text, a language most don't even kn-"

"The Aelusian Texts of the Daebens from before their land came to be known as Markoth," Rider who had been silent until then spoke up. "Again elf, you seem privy to information far beyond your means."

"Of this I speak true," Kashi assured him, and took out a huge tome from his inventory. He tossed it to the older man who caught it."I've been researching the Daebens. Their rise from grace to power, and their subsequent fall. I did not wish to be blindsided by hatred of my kind without sufficient knowledge of their exact sins." (especially since he was now following a similar path to theirs.)

"This is the stamp of Rosendun's royal library," Rider observed. "I suppose your claim of friendship with the royal family isn't entirely false, except of course you procured this book through less legal means."

"I assure you I did no such thing," Kashi said. .

"Don't wanna play the ignorant fool," Syel confessed, " but what's so important 'bout this Daebens' language?"

"If you're familiar with this world's history, you'll know that the Daebens ran mad after they began etching runes onto themselves," Kashi started. "What the lore doesn't tell you is that after the Calamity, the continent descended into a state akin to the Stone Age. The soil was barren, the climate harsh, and the weather monstrous. Over half the population perished in the ensuing chaos, and without the gods all imprisoned, dead or in hiding, they could not summon magic to aid their everyday lives. The High Elves, proud of their bond with the magic of the gods, and the wood elves, close to the spirits of the forest fell into despair from having their connections severed at their greatest time of need."

"To sum it up using the words of you Summoned," Rider offered, "We were royally fucked."

"Now that I understand," Syel seconded. "What then?"

"The Daebens, upon finding out their cousins had lost their enchantments frantically searched for a solution," Kashi paused, and placed a hand on the enchantment table. "At the time it was common knowledge items could only be enchanted with the aid of an enchantment table. What very few people realized however, was that there were a specific number of enchantment tables in the continent."

Syel frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You could not craft an enchantment table, only buy it from a store that has it in stock," Kashi explained. "And the tables were not being made anywhere. They were relics unearthed from an ancient civilization, very old and very powerful, but like all ancient powerful civilizations, mysteriously vanished. The Daebens, learning these turned to these tables for an alternate solution."

"Wait a moment," Miote pleaded. "If there was no magic, how did the tables work?"

Kashi took out another gemstone and placed it on the table. He closed his eyes and willed Ferulic's spirit into the stone. The gemstone reacted in a similar manner to the first, but there were no mandalas this time. He handed the stone to Miote who caught it, then proceeded to inspect it.

"Whoa" the Chesh murmured amazed. "I thought only mages could enchant materials."

"A common misconception," Kashi corrected. "Enchantments made on an Enchantment table require only an input of energy. It just so happens that the purity, strength and mass of a mage's mana surpasses any amount of spirit a normal person like you or I could release. Hence it was left solely in the hands of the mages-"

"And with time that became the convention, and less and less people thought such an alternative existed," Miote finished. After a short pause to collect his thoughts, he urged Kashi to continue with his tale.

"The Daebens figured the truth of the enchantment tables, and decided to decipher the runes themselves," Kashi continued. "This they did successfully, then adopted the language and writings as their own once they saw the power it held, lest it become lost in time." He paused for a moment as if trying to recall something. "But that's as far as the history books tell of that age, though it does go on to say the Daebens used this new knowledge to gain unprecedented power and begin their conquest of the continent."

Kashi picked up another stone, and an engraving blade that sat on the table. "I am unsure exactly how exactly they figured it out, but, the Daebens discovered that certain runal markings if used rightly, could enhance the abilities of a gemstone, allowing it to be used even without the continuous input of magic, much like the stone Miote showed us earlier."

"I would think you'd be happy about this," Miote observed. "Why the scowl?"

Kashi shook his head as he began carving something onto the stone. "This means the Brotherhood of Chaos is far more versed in Magitek (magic technology) than the rest of the continent. This is how they were able to create soul stones, probably we haven't met any mages from their guilds either. They don't need magic. It's a helpful tool, but not one they are bound to or rely on like the rest of us." A smile crept up his features as a different possibility took root in his mind. "On the other hand, if this was to be utilized properly, it could unlock possibilities unheard of."

"I assume you have a plan in mind already?" Miote asked, apprehensive of the glint in the daeben's eyes.

An evil grin corrupted the daeben's features as he tossed the newly marked stone up in the air. "Oh, I do," he remarked, watching with glee as the stone stopped mid-air and begun to rotate in place, propelled by gusts of wind released from different parts of its frame. "Oh, I most certainly do."

"See?" Syel remarked with a chuckle. "Classic villain line there."