Richiro Wichiro held his hands up in the air as their ferry from the Hidden Falls started to make its landing in Eastern La Noscea—the docks, which had been attached to the wooden bridge above them, had quite a few unruly fellows lying in wait. Azlyn mimicked the Lalafellin in her company as their ship was taken under siege.

“Give us all yer money!”

Azlyn gave the bulky bandit a blank stare. “But why?” 

They were being ushered off the boats, held up at dagger point. 

Some of the cutthroats sneered at the side. “Because the boss says so, that’s why!”

Another bandit lifted a dagger up, pressing the edge into the nape of her neck. “Wouldn’t want ta scar a pretty face—now would we?”

Richiro Wichiro looked ready to panic, hopping from one foot to the next. While she had been unarmed, they had unarmed the healer of his staff.

“Are you the ones stealing shipments off this delivery route?” Azlyn looked to the stockpile of goods and crates on the pier. “Seems to me you’ve been collecting quite a bit these days.”

The older bandit laughed—he was at least twice Azlyn’s size. His large axe was propped on his back. “Damn straight! We could make a pretty coin off these items.”

She looked up to the bridge again, and noticed a small marauder fighting a group of people on the bridge. They were moving as quickly as they could, cutting through one bandit after the other. “…Huh? Well I guess this is a bad day.”

The boss chuckled, not understanding what she actually meant. “You betcha it is. Now, drop your money and we might let you live.”

She shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t really carry that much money around anymore.” To prove it she emptied her pockets. The sad thing about her rushing out was that she forgot her satchel back at the house. The only thing she had on her person was the equipment stowed away in the aetherial pocket she magically possessed. But they didn’t need to know that yet.

“Then I guess you’ll just die.” He shrugged at her mockingly. Just as he was about to draw his axe, a panicking bandit from the bridge ran down to the docks.

“Boss! Someone’s cutting through our forces!”

“What?!” The older bandit growled. His attention was drawn up to the ramp off the bridge now as the Lalafellin marauder was cleaving through the groups. “Don’t just stand there you idjit! Git ‘im!”

Azlyn noticed that the one holding a dagger to her had eased up on his hold. She closed her eyes, taking a slow even breath.

“Huh—what are yoAGHHH!” She brought forth her greaves and proceeded to punch and kick him. She had done a series of jabs and blows, before landing a successful uppercut into the guy’s chin—rocketing him up and off the pier. He landed several feet away, with a large splash as the fast current swept him downstream.

Taking this moment of shock in her favor, she dashed over to the stockpile of goods, grabbing Richiro’s staff and tossed it over to him. “Let’s make some magic happen Richi!”

The conjurer caught the staff, shuffling off to the side and away from the Bandit boss and his remaining crony. “What’s this?!”

Azlyn smiled sweetly, before bringing forth her book that allowed her to summon primal egis. “I told you it was a bad day.” She flipped open the book, drawing forth the ancient text of allag and summoned the small egi of Ifrit.

The men all stepped back in shock as her egi rushed to them. “Time for you to take a dip in the river!” She yelled, blasting them both with her Ruin spells. Richiro watched as the smaller version of the primal roared.

The Boss stood his ground against it—his other mate fell into the water dodging her egi’s claws. “What matter of person are you!?” The boss roared, only for their mysterious marauder from the bridge to run up to them. He was a Lalafellin male, dressed in a green tunic and metal chainmail—glasses upon his face, with blonde hair pulled back into a tall ponytail.

“I thank you for your quick-thinking traveler,” The marauder spoke, “Now leave this one to me!”

Azlyn smirked, preparing a heavy dosage of bio and miasma for the boss. “I’ll be glad to second you.”

Richiro Wichiro hollered over to them, as he protectively stood by the goods. “I shall also assist!”

As it was three-against-one, the odds weren’t in the bandit’s favor. After a solid thirty seconds of spell slinging, primal thwacking, axe cleaving, and stone blasting—the boss found himself a one-way ticket floating downstream. Richiro Wichiro celebrated their victory, and Azlyn called off her egi.

The mysterious marauder in green and chainmail smiled to them. “It is good to see you again Richiro Wichiro.”

Azlyn looked to her companion, who happily cheered. “Alka Zolka! I am glad to see you are unharmed!”

The axe wielding Lalafellin rubbed their nose. “These bandits weren’t that much difficult.” He stopped in his conversation to address Azlyn. “You must be Azlyn then—I have heard many of tales about the wandering Bloody Princess—the slayer of Ifrit, and now called Titan’s Bane.” The Lalafellin bowed. “I am Alka Zolka.”

She returned the bow back to him. “Richiro mentioned you were looking for help in deciphering text for magical arts.”

The marauder nodded. “Yes, if you give me a moment—I shall see if the texts are within these crates.” Alka Zolka walked over and started to scour the area—and using a crow bar nearby—opened the sealed crate. Inside happened to be dozens of purple stones emblemed with the same marking—as well as several stone tablets.

He gestured from them to look, plucking one of the stone tablets out to read. “Yes! This is it! A treatise on Nymnian military tactics, just as I had hoped!”

Azlyn reached into the crate, pulling out another of the stone tablets—she quickly glanced over the ancient tongue. “…This is quite the find you have here.” She then reached inside to the tiny gems with the etchings. She wondered how there could have been over a dozen of these soul gems within. “An incredible find—if I do say so myself.”

Richiro ran over to her side. “What is it?” 

She handed the conjurer the soul gem. “That’s a soul gem from the Ancient city of Nym. I’m surprised to see so many here.”

A bright light came forth from the purple stone within Richiro’s hand then—as the aether manifested and shapes a small creature into existence. Azlyn whistled, looking down to her friend. “You could make a decent summoner too if you’re able to summon familiars.”

Alka Zolka lowered the stone tablet he held in shock, his mouth agape at the sight of the floating female fairy…? That was the best way to describe the shimmering, glittery, green and yellow toned silent sylph. Happily, the creature flew around each of them—floating around Azlyn’s hair, and then down to Richiro’s head. The fairy booped his nose before giggling in delight. She had brought her hands up to her face, as she silently laughed.

Azlyn chuckled at the sight. “The scholars in Sharlayan are going to lose their marbles over this one.”

Alka Zolka’s eyes bulged. “W-why are you not surprised?!”

She shrugged, “There were a few talented Scholars in Sharlayan who possessed these soul stones—able to summon creatures like these. Fairies—if I recall.” Azlyn tapped her cheek in thought. “Not that I ever had the chance to see one close in person.” She smiled to the fairy.

Alka Zolka watched as the fairy hovered over to him, to land eloquently upon the top of his stone tablet. She giggled at him as he murmured to it. “…Hello there.”

As soon as he spoke, the fairy burst in aether and disappeared. He jumped back in shock before she reappeared again by the crates, mischievously walking on the wood.

“I think the stone tablets should explain a bit more about the fairy.” Azlyn recommended, as she crossed her arms. She noted that the fairy mimicked her behavior, crossing her arms over her chest just as playfully.

Alka Zolka stared down at his tablet, mumbling in broken Nymian. “The sunlight of Eos doth soothe and shield.” He paused before reading the next line. “The moonlight of Selene doth silence and strengthen.”

At the mention of Selene, the bright fairy Eos twirled in a circle—only to transform into an illuminous purple and yellow fairy—this one was different, as her wispy lochs of hair were pulled up into two buns rather than flowing straight down.

Richiro Wichiro held up the glowing stone in his hand. “I summoned a familiar!?”

Azlyn chuckled, “Yup. Nice job!” She congratulated him with a big smile. “You must be Selene.” She greeted the fairy. “And the other, Eos.”

The two of them watched as the fairy clasped her hands together—and then it felt as if the world stopped. Azlyn and Richiro tensed at the monochromatic shift—looking between each other and back to Selene. She floated over to them.

“Richiro and Azlyn…” The fairy unclasped her hands then, and disappeared into nothing. The both reached out—but found themselves back to the real world.

The world resumed as it should have, the flow of water returned to their senses—as well as an excited Marauder. “By the Twelve, have you any idea what this means?! We have rediscovered the long-lost magical arts of Nymian scholars in Eorzea!”

Richiro Wichiro gave a worried glance up to Azlyn, who had a complicated expression form on her face. That was a unique way of introducing a lost art to a recovering realm.

Alka Zolka didn’t seem to notice their conundrum. “Fairies—Honest to gods fairies—Well, now I’ve seen everything!” He lifted the tablet containing the information from a time long past. “I wish I was more proficient in Nymian—then I could decipher this for everyone now.” He sighed. “It will take sometime but I can…”

Azlyn reached her hand out. “I can translate—I am proficient in the language.”

The marauder widened his eyes. “We are quite fortuitous!” He immediately handed her the text, as she started to scan through the ancient tongue.

She leaned up against a few of the crates before reading aloud. “It appears the crystals from which the fairie sprang forth from is called the Soul of the Scholar. It contains the wisdom of those long-dead Nymian mages.” Azlyn ran her fingers down the texts, trying to pick out the most important parts. “Basically, you can summon the fairie to your side, and bind her to your will.” She browsed before nodding. “I see—I see; primarily the fairies could be used for support, like healing and providing aid.”

Alka Zolka rubbed his chin in thought, walking over to the crate full of soul gems. “There’s quite a cache of the gems here—do you think it possible for the art to revive?”

The girl nodded. “I do believe so—it might be in your best interest to send this over to Interim Guildmaster Thubyrgeim. I’m sure she will know what best to do with these soul gems—or who to trust with such powers.”

“Then I shall do so.” Alka Zolka reached into the box to grab another soul gem—the purple glowed under the morning sun. Smiling he regarded the stone with a look of joy.

Richiro stared down at the soul gem still within his open palm, and then held it out to Alka Zolka. “Here.”

Alka Zolka smiled to the conjurer and pushed the soul gem back to him. “I have little knowledge of arcanima, so unless you have some objections, I would like to entrust you both with the gems.” Then he held out a second gem for the Au Ra to keep.

Azlyn was caught unaware by this statement, as she snapped her attention to him. “Wait—what, why me?”

The marauder smiled. “If the Bloody Princess of the Sea helps to preserve the lost arts of Nym, I’m sure more people will garner interest in it. I hope you don’t mind my selfishness.”

She and Richiro looked down at the gems, and then slowly nodded.

“Excellent. I shall make sure this box gets handed over to Mealvaan’s Gate for proper distribution to the right hands.” Alka Zolka smiled happily. “I hope there is a day when we see adventurers traveling the realm with the fairies alongside.”

Azlyn chuckled, “That’s an admirable goal. Alright—I’ll do the best I can to help.”

“And I shall too!” Richiro vowed, grasping the stone in his palm. “You can count on us!”

With things taken care of in eastern La Noscea, Azlyn and Richiro Wichiro watched as Alba Zolka prepared the ferry ship with the shipments that had been stolen—he would head over to Costa Del Sol, where he would catch another ferry to Limsa Lominsa. There everything would be turned over to the Arcanist’s for approval of goods—and the stolen items returned to their proper owners... given time. 

Richiro placed the purple gem into his pocket for safekeeping, a pep in his step as he thanked her for her help. “I can’t believe that actually happened! To think we’d get involved in all that funny business!” 

Azlyn chuckled, walking up the ramp of the bridge. They would take the eastern path, staying out of the forest and toward the small settlement behind the white walls. Richiro Wichiro beamed as he pointed to the growing grapevines. “They make excellent wine here so I’m told—my parents told me they had their honeymoon here. Sampled the finest wines that they had to offer!” 

She could see why this place had been called Wineport. The humidity was perfect for growing the grapes that would be pressed into a tasty wine years down the road. “Richiro, you love your parents quite a bit—don’t you?” She smiled down to her walking companion. 

“Oh yes! They are the smartest, greatest, fantastic two people in the world!” 

Azlyn nodded. “They are doing well then?” 

He grinned brightly, jumping into the conversation as a fish did with water. “My father works as a Maelstrom officer and my mother works at the Bismarck. My younger siblings help out when I’m not there—taking care of the house while they go through their studies.” 

The Au Ra noted the tones of pride in his voice as he discussed his family. He definitely seemed to be a family guy. “You’re very lucky, and I hope you continue to have strong relations with your family.” 

“Azlyn, why do you look so sad?” He paused in his walk, she continued passed him over into the center of town. It wouldn’t be long before she reached the crystal and attuned to the  Aetheryte. “Azlyn?” He ran up to her side now, concern on his face. 

“Hmm? Nothing, I’m just remembering the past.” She explained, and interlaced her fingers together in front of her chest. “Richiro, promise you won’t take for granted the things you have—and cherish them.” 

Richiro nodded, not quite understanding what she was speaking about. 

“Alright, since I’m attuned to the aetheryte in Wineport, we shouldn’t have any troubles getting here in a pinch!” Azlyn felt the string of exhaustion catch up to her as the pair looked around the town. It wasn’t until a loud scream disrupted the quiet area. 

“Monsters! Get the militia!” A young woman screamed, pointing to the eastern and western gates. 

Azlyn and Richiro widened their eyes as both of them witnessed the people in Wineport running away from the gates—the guards stationed there were already being overrun by a surge of jackals and colibri. “Come on Richiro!!” Azlyn shouted, bringing forth her axe and running to help the defense. 

Richiro was on her tail, stopping short of the gate. “Why are these beasts attacking?” The Lalafellin healer brought out his staff. “They’re all riled up!” He ran over to the guards who were hurting from the jackals bite wounds. 

Azlyn jumped into the fray, helping alleviate the pressure of the beasts from the overwhelmed militia. As she was hacking and slashing through, she noticed a commonality in these beasts—they were frightened into action. The way they were reacting—it was almost as if someone had tried to corral them and failed. Or purposefully wanted to rile them up. 

“Richiro I’m trusting you to cover my back!” Azlyn yelled over her shoulder, hoping to find the cause. She cut through the rush of rampaging monsters, and then sprinted up the path. The Lalafellin conjurer finished casting his mass heal spell to the injured before sprinting after the Au Ra. 

“Wait for me!” 

They didn’t travel far from Wineport to find the distressing source causing the riot of monsters. Azlyn skidded to a halt as she saw a tall, muscular Midlander Hyur—dressed in furs and wraps drenched in blood. His entire body tensed as it sensed someone’s presence. 

“Curious Gorge...?” Azlyn was confused—they looked similar but upon closer inspection of the facial hair upon his face knew that it wasn’t the young warrior down at Hidden Falls. “No—you’re not him.” 

The man turned to her, she noticed his eyes were overcome with a crimson red. His breath haggardly releasing. Richiro took a tentative step back. “Is he the cause of the monsters?” 

Azlyn narrowed her eyes. “Not sur—“ She started only to react in a defensive block. The Au Ra hadn’t taken into account how fast this warrior could move—and struggled under the massive force of his axe. Her knees were buckling, only for him to start bashing and thrashing. 

If she didn’t know any better, she would think he was no better than a rabid beast. She could see a light foam growing at the corners of his snarled lips. 

“Azlyn!” Richiro called out to her, his panicked voice brought her back to the present as she pushed the crazed man off. 

“I’m fine!” She yelled, readying herself for another blitzed strike from the man. 

The attacks were relentless, as Azlyn did her best to keep the man from cleaving her with his broad axe. There was no way to read his attack patterns, as they were driven by no type of rational thinking. She grimaced under the sheer weight of his fury of strikes. 

“Hang on!” Richiro called out to her, “I hear some people coming up the path!”

The girl couldn’t turn to see—after all she had a crazed warrior trying to maim and slay her. She gritted her teeth as she pushed the man away, and flipped backward. She swiftly moved back, until she were ten paces away from him. Only that movement of ten paces decreased back to one as he charged back to her. She cursed as her safety net of distance had been dismissed.

“Why can’t I shake this guy!” She grumbled, and once again was forced to defensively block. 

“Duck Az!” A male’s voice bellowed behind her. She recognized the bass tone of that voice, as she followed the advice. The warrior in front of her swung widely over her hunched self. As the assailant swung, he didn’t have any time to reset—which allowed a Miqo’te male to tackle the frenzied man to the ground.

There was a flurry of activity as the dust kicked up from the path. The two men were now struggling to get on top of the other—a series of punches, kicks, the occasional headbutt. Azlyn struggled backward, as a strong hand reached down to help her off her knees. 

“Curious Gorge?” She looked up to the helmed warrior. He nodded, helping her up. “What’s going on here?” 

The male sighed, “I’ll answer your questions later Azlyn. You should leave with the Lalafellin before you get too caught up in this.” 

Azlyn watched as N’thuzu Tia rolled on top of the frenzied warrior—he raised his clenched fist over his shoulder a split second before pummeling it downward. One second, he was on top of the man, preventing him from attacking, and then the next he’d been clocked and knocked off to the side.

The only good thing that came out of that tussle was N’thuzu Tia disarming him of his weapon. As he was now axe-less, it would be less-life-threatening to deal with.

“I should help.”

“No.” Curious Gorge reached out to stop her. He shook his head. “Like I said before, we have this. Stand back.”

Richiro Wichiro ran over to her just as Curious Gorge stepped up—he glared to the similar looking individual. “Come at me brother—your fight is with me!” He tossed his axe to the side and pounded on his chest. The action caused the other…brother to do the same.

N’thuzu Tia spat the blood from his cracked lip, standing back up to block any attempt at retreat.

Azlyn edged around the two self-proclaimed siblings now, with Richiro following. They made it to the Miqo’te warrior’s side. “What’s going on here…?”

N’thuzu Tia rubbed his face with his hand, smearing the blood. “Remember we were looking for someone—well you found him.”

Azlyn recalled that they were looking for someone. “Right.” She drew her conclusions from the memory. “How’d you know he’d be here?”

The male warrior just gave her a bewildered look before gesturing to all the destruction and carnage. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Touché.”

Richiro pointed up to N’thuzu Tia with his staff, a bit of healing energy wrapped around his body as the elements knitted his wounds closed. “Why is he lashing out this violently?”

“It’s the inner beast.” N’thuzu Tia stoically explained, keeping his eyes on the pseudo-wrestling match in front of them, “He’s stuck in that state of mind and he can’t regain his sense of being. We’re trying to snap him back to reality bu— “

He didn’t finish his sentence as he watched Curious Gorge’s fist collide into the estranged warriors face. The resounding clap of the blow didn’t seem to faze him, in fact, it looked like it enraged him further.

“It’s not going as planned.” Azlyn amended, concerned that this person had been locked in that state of mind for some time. She could register a faint smell of unhygienic circumstances surrounding the fight. “Is there nothing we can do to help?”

N’thuzu Tia shook his head. “Unless you can cure an entire tribe’s madness—this will probably not end well.” The Miqo’te warrior turned his attention back to the pair, as Curious Gorge and his brother were locked palm to palm. The brother was snarling, snapping his jaws like a rabid beast to Curious Gorge.

“Should we go back to Wineport and report the fiends have been taken care of then?” Richiro seemed at a loss for what they could do to help except for that. 

The girl crossed her arms, only to see the fight take a turn to the worst. Curious Gorge got his lights knocked out as the warrior slammed his thick forehead straight into his head. The crack echoed in the valley. She winced at the end of the fight, as the man turned to them. He snarled in their direction. The three of them looked between each other wondering which one of them would have to step up now that Curious Gorge was out. 

Yet before they could make the decision—the universe had made it for them. A loud snapping of a branch took the frenzied warrior’s attention away.

They all turned to the source, and could see a young hume girl with a basket—someone who had been out gathering from the local fauna. She didn’t realize what exactly she walked into as she trembled in fear. She saw the crimson red eyes flare at her. The way his body tensed—they all knew who he was going to attack next.

“Shit.” N’thuzu Tia cursed. Then darted forward. 

Azlyn jumped into action as well, sprinting straight to the young girl just as the frenzied warrior charged. By the time she grabbed the girl to protect her, N’thuzu Tia had shoulder checked the man off the path. The loud crunching and crash sounds of the two tumbling away into the forest remained.

“Hurry now, this way.” Azlyn coaxed the young child up off her feet and called for Richiro Wichiro to follow. With the girl in tow, the three sprinted through the forest, and back to Wineport. The militia were standing by the gates wondering what the loud noises and tremors within the boundaries of the forest.

“—What’s going on out there!”

“More monsters and fiends!?”

Azlyn, the girl, and Richiro jumped out from the bushes—thoroughly dirtied from their journey back. The Au Ra handed the young girl over to the guards. “Sorry, I’d recommend not leaving the town for the time being.”

The young girl still shook in fear, her brown hair had been poking out from her hat. Azlyn tried her best to assuage her. “Hey, it’ll be okay. I promise.” She reached a hand out to her, her pinky extended out. “My friends and I are going to get to the bottom of it. Don’t worry, okay?”

The young girl shakily nodded, reaching out her own pinky to shake Azlyn’s. The Au Ra smiled.

“Azlyn, what should we do?” Richiro worriedly glanced back to the forest. They could hear the fighting from all the way in Wineport. The girl was at a loss herself. She worried that if they went back—it would only make matters worse.

“Let’s wait here—see if any beasts get riled.”

They stood with the guard, watching the surrounding forest for any sign of frenzied creatures or in this case, the guy. After five minutes of continuous rumbles and crashing sounds in the distance, everything went unbelievably quiet. They waited, anticipating a calm before the storm moment, but nothing else happened after that.

Another five minutes went by, before two figures emerged from the forest. Curious Gorge had a beaten N’thuzu Tia supported under his arm. They limped to the gates of Wineport.

“Thuzu!” Azlyn yelled in worry.

Richiro ran forth, with the Au Ra right on his heels. Curious Gorge looked like he’d seen better days—but so did N’thuzu Tia. The conjurer casted a healing spell over them—the magic slowly taking its course on their wounds. The Miqo’te in the Midlander Hyur’s arm stirred. He nursed a black eye and a split lip.

“I got the snot beat out of me.” He murmured as Azlyn brought forth a potion for him to drink.

“I can see that. Drink this.” She handed the black-haired warrior the vial and turned back to Curious Gorge. “You too.” When both had been given the vials, she crossed her arms. “What happened to the one guy?”

N’thuzu Tia and Curious Gorge looked between one another.

“He ran off.” Curious Gorge admitted, shaking his head. “Next time we’ll stop him.”

N’thuzu Tia groaned. “Sorry for the bother.”

Richiro frowned to the two grown men. “I haven’t seen a full-on brawl like that in my lifetime!” He tapped his chin in thought. “You two are really strong!”

The militia captain from Wineport approached them, he looked incredibly worried by their beaten attire. “Come inside, we’ll tend to your wounds instead of out here.”

Curious Gorge smiled to the man, helping N’thuzu Tia walk into Wineport. Azlyn followed shortly after, with Richiro on her trail. The four walked over to the fountain, where Azlyn could see the young girl standing with an older male—perhaps it was her grandfather. She watched as the girl turned to their approach, and upon seeing Curious Gorge, she started to scream loudly.

The piercing cry stopped all of them in their tracks—even the militia captain was caught unawares as the girl shook in fear. She grasped onto her grandfather crying. “He’s scary! Make him go away! He’s a monster!”

Azlyn winced at the way she was yelling, only for the rest of the town’s murmuring to begin. They started to whisper about sightings of a crazed fellow in wraps like his. That he must come from the same ilk.

Before anyone of them could refute their claims, the militia Captain yelled out loudly to the people. “Enough! These people have protected your homes, and this is how you treat them!?”

The only response he received back was silence.

Curious Gorge grunted, withdrawing into himself. He seemed ashamed by being there. “I…I will head down the mountain. Thuzu stay here to get treated.” Then he let the Miqo’te go to leave. The three of them watched his quick retreat, and each had a frown.

“I should—go with him—ow—” N’thuzu Tia winced as Azlyn went to grasp his arm. She shook her head.

“We’ll go down together later—we should get you looked at.”

Richiro waited for the captain to lead them to a quieter location in town, away from prying eyes. There the three of them helped mend the wounds on the warrior. He clicked his tongue in worry. “Thank you. I’m sorry for the bother.”

Azlyn crossed her arms. “You don’t need to apologize Thuzu.”

He sighed. “I still wasn’t strong enough.”

Richiro quirked his head in confusion. “But you endured quite a bit—I don’t think I could handle that much by myself.”

The girl sighed. “Strength isn’t the only thing you need in a fight Thuzu—Twelve Forfend, I’m using the training advice from this morning—anyroad, you protected a little girl from Curious Gorge’s brother. You also protected Richiro and me. Give yourself some credit.” She poked him where his brow was furrowed in his forehead. “You’re going to get permanent frown lines if you do that.”

He lightened up at her touch and leaned back on the bench. “Thanks.”

Richiro began casting another set of healing spells. When each spell finished, he rolled his shoulders. “What’s the deal with Curious Gorge’s family? Does it have to do with the way his eyes were glowing red?”

Azlyn went to sit next to N’thuzu Tia. “The town’s rejection seemed to hit him hard.”

N’thuzu Tia grimaced in between their talk. “Curious Gorge’s tribe—the warriors he comes from—have been heavily shunned by the outside world. When the armies of the City-States studied the mighty prowess of the tribe’s power wielding an axe, these people decided to copy and incorporate their own training regimens using the same techniques. However, they didn’t fully understand the problematic nature of the inner beast.” 

The story brought a bit more understanding to the pair, as they listened to him intent not to interrupt. He looked down upon his palm with worry. 

“The consequences, of course, were dire. Their soldiers became nigh on unstoppable, but they were wholly uncontrollable. Both friend and foe fell prey to the ensuing carnage.” 

Azlyn frowned. “And so the armies sought a scapegoat to place the blame upon Curious Gorge’s tribe.” 

N’thuzu Tia nodded. “When I joined Curious Gorge in his pursuit to revive the way of his people—it was him and his brother. Together they came down the mountain to train.” The Miqo’te shrugged, trying his best to explain it to them. “I was but a scrappy orphan kid, yet the pair of brothers adopted me, took care of me. While training with them, they never once hinted to this dark history—and now...” The male warrior sighed heavily, dropping his arms to his knees. “Curious Gorge is blinded by his pride—he wants to make amends and change how the world views them and their lost arts. His brother, as the Twelve has shown us all, is a slave to the inner beast.  And Curious Gorge became lost as he was someone the only one who could read the ancient tomes.” 

Richiro Wichiro pondered aloud, “I feel like there is a way to master the inner beast though—something that either he or the brother is missing. Azlyn,” The conjurer turned to the girl. “You use the axe? Have you ever succumbed to the inner beast?” 

The girl looked to N’thuzu Tia, and then to the ground. “...Yes. However recently whenever I use my axe, I have the soul gem that anchors me. I also think of my companions. If I can keep a clear mind thinking of them, and how I want them to be safe—I don’t lose control.” 

N’thuzu Tia tapped his knee rapidly, reacting to what she said. “I feel the same.” He nodded. “Whenever I use my axe, I’m always thinking of how best to protect the people I’m with. I’ve never run into the problem that Curious Gorge and his brother had been facing. But after seeing you experience the same thing they had—well it got me thinking.” He then snapped his head up. “Maybe this isn’t just related to his tribe alone... and the answer to the inner beast is something as easy as what we’ve discussed.” 

“So an act of protecting another?” Richiro suggested to the pair. 

“Maybe.” Azlyn surmised. She leaned back to look at the town going back to normal—the people were starting to spread out now as the threat of attacks had been diminished. “Thuzu, are you alright?” 

“Don’t mind me. I can lick my wounds.” He stood up, reaching up to touch his lip. The pain from his split lip long gone after Richiro’s administrations. “You guys don’t have to worry. We’ll take care of Curious Gorge’s brother. Oh, and Azlyn, you still owe me a ravishing tale of how Titan fell.”  

Azlyn chuckled. “I think between the two of us, you would have held your own much better than I. Titan knocked the shit out of me.” 

Richiro widened his eyes. “He did?! How are you not a squished bug?!” 

“Because of my party members.” Azlyn remembered Roll’s continuous spell casting and Nin-Nin’s constant support as back up. Kida held her own against the primal, using her arrows to pin Titan down when she could. 

N’thuzu Tia smirked, his ears flicked at the praise he received from her. “The next time you have a showdown with a primal, I’ll clear my schedule for you.” 

Richiro also jumped up at the thought. “And me too! I want to see the Slayer of Ifrit and Titan’s Bane in action!”

“To be honest I hope I never have to deal with a primal again.” She amended, scratching her cheek. “But if it happens, I’ll let you know. Promise.” She gave both of them a big grin. 

“I should head down the mountain to check on Curious Gorge.” N’thuzu Tia flexed his arms. He looked south following the path of the river. 

Richiro Wichiro raised his arm up to wave goodbye to him. “I know this is our first meeting, but you’re a pretty cool guy! I hope to see you once more!” 

The male smiled down to the Lalafellin. “Likewise.” 

Azlyn shook her head. “Sorry I suck at introducing—you’ll have to come by the house later Thuzu—you can get acquainted when we’re under less extraneous circumstances!” 

“One of these days I will.” N’thuzu Tia smiled, “Alright, see you two later. Be safe on your way home.” 

Azlyn waved. “Tell Curious Gorge thank you—and if you need any assistance, give me a call. I want to help now that I know a bit more.” 

Richiro jumped up at this. “Me too! I want to help too!” 

“I’ll talk with him about it.” He didn’t seem convinced that Curious Gorge would go with the idea though. “Or I’ll try at least.”