NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 827159" data-attributes="member: 5137">Road to KithiosThe second day went much better. Greppa got everyone airborne, despite bitter complaints from the unskilled Arkos and Bellos, and they flew back to the patch of highway where they had spotted the earth elemental. Merideth touched down and stomped around a bit, her hand crackling dangerously green, and then dashed upwards into the air when it surfaced, desperately dodging its grabbing limb.Greppa sent a lantern archon down, and it began to speak with the elemental. Time passed. Then more. Merideth sighed and looked up at the sky, but the sun had not budged much. The light archon and earth elemental spoke for some minutes, and finally the archon zipped up to Greppa.Its voice tiny and sweet compared to the earth-shaking bass of the creature below, it explained what the long conversation was about, "He apologizes. He did not know you were not the other spindly little things that are destroying his protectorate."The heroes glanced at each other, "Other spindly little things? Protectorate? What?"The archon dimmed in brightness, the celestial equivalent to slumping its shoulders, "I'll go ask..." and it zipped down for another long conversation. Merideth floated closer to Greppa, and soto voiced, "I take it the earth tongue is slow?" Greppa just shrugged. Hell if he knew.Although, over the minutes, it became obviously so. Back and forth the archon zipped, passing bits of conversation before diving back in, while Greppa continuously renewed the gate holding the archon in this plane. It was a long process, and by the end of it, the poor little puffball of light looked ready to cry.But duty called. They learned, gradually, that there were other humanoids of a size similar to the young adventurers, who were stealing stones from the road under the cover of a spell which prevented the earth elemental from approaching them. They also determined that the earth elemental had been here, in this spot, guarding this patch of long-forgotten highway, since before Thera had been a gleam in some slave boy's eye. That he was, in fact, a remnant of that ancient civilization, bound by duty and oath to protect the road no longer in use.Greppa was not fond of Kyriotes, finding him an insufferably arrogant man with his dozen apprentices and tens of sub-apprentices, and his grandiose summonings.. but this poor elemental needed help, that Greppa knew he couldn't provide himself. And... it would be nice to have it working for Theralis. While he continued asking questions, Greppa's brain whirled furiously as he planned how to approach Agina to make sure that Kyriotes didn't get all the glory.As they learned what they could, the earth elemental made an offer: essentially, if they could stop the bad spindly ones from stealing his road bit by bit, he would reward them with treasures from his cache... he considered the situation dire enough to part with them, and the military had not needed such things in centuries. It was agreed, and they decided to camp hidden at the edge of the wood.Greppa dismissed the archon to its pleasurably simple existence elsewhere, and Bellos put together a concealing leanto, behind which they hung out, napped, and watched. Finally, Greppa's keen ears caught something moving unstealthily through the woods on the opposite side of the road. Tapping the others to let them know, he soared into the sky for a better look.What he saw were two hooded and robed figures, dressed darkly and keeping themselves covered against sight, and the faint echoes of esper magic... an esper spell of warding, perhaps? he thought as he planned how to approach them. He decided on the bold approach.He summoned daylight.And as they looked up, impossibly long fingers shielding their faces from the glare, he saw too many eyes peeking from behind those fingers, and a small, lipless mouth that brought nightmares screaming back to him.</blockquote>

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