Downation (TZA)

Downation is the second largest landmass of Fantasy and is home to a myriad of cultures. This region is the most interacted with Earth, having the most Gates.
== Two Visitors ==
In the Far East lay a vast majestic shoreline of golden sands and ivory cliffs, in summer the fields turned gold in the brilliant sun, while silver and purple in night. In a quiet forest filled with flowers alien to Earth, a woman browses through the floral, covered head to toe in black cloth, a large witch's hat, a veil, and mask concealing her face. She works gingerly with black gloves, working to not damage plants needlessly. A movement catches her eye, and she looks up to see a familiar figure traveling through the plains outside the forest grove.
Rene. Was he here on coincidence, or had he intended to cross paths? Rarely eager to let any mystery slide, she finished harvesting the rare herbs and set about approaching him.
"What brings you to the Illusionary Shore, old friend?" She magnifies her voice magically, knowing that he would doubtlessly be too absorbed in his thoughts to notice otherwise.
Rene looks up from the scroll he is reading as he walks, though not in her direction, and stops his onward stroll. She notices that he is not wearing his normal shadowy cloak, his vest & pants combination giving way to his scrawny form. "I seek an object the Lord in Darkaria has obtained." she hears as a curt reply, the voice from no particular direction. "I believe it to be equally beneficial to my studies and dangerous in these lands."
She tilts her head to one side as though pondering, then seemingly skipping forward while making an idle swish of her right hand, she dissolves in black and purple smog and appears in front of him, leaning in and down to look at him from below.
"Hooooo? Your penchant for beating to my own drum is endearing sometimes. It just so happens that your errand overlaps with my own. While it's true that I was restocking some vital herbs... I confess that Adola's whims seem determined to make us cross paths. She wishes to learn of the very same Lord and if he can be of use to the Interna."
She rises to be eye to eye with him, her faintly pink eyes glow brightly for a moment through her mask's eyeholes. "You wouldn't mind... would you...?"
The man's eyes look glossed over as he looks up, seemingly through her to a further point, and then he looks back at the scroll and continues moving, going through her as if she weren't there. "Your path is your own to choose, whether it is with me is not up to me." the voice echoes through the sands. His mouth has been moving, but not with the words she hears.
She straightens and turns to look at him with hands placed on hips. "You can be nice, ya know. Or mayyyybe next time you want a sound night's rest I'll charge you the standard fee I charge patients. Up to you, I'll understand."
Regardless, she follows suit.
She is quiet as she observes the surrounds. Something seems to catch her attention after a while. "...It's quiet. The animals have fallen silent, and the air... it's never been quite this cold or still here."
Just then, Rene speaks directly into her head. "I'm going to use you as bait. Stand still, do not contact me. Trust in the Shadows." The man in black summons his cloak, covering with shadows before disappearing from the area entirely.
She glowers, then sighs, drooping slightly. She then fidgets with her black robes, starting to pull them off. Rene, unseen, immediately feels a psychic sucker punch from the release of her seductive aura as the robes lie parted, revealing her quite liberal outfit beneath. Magnolin Borodina was no mere witch, but the foremost half succubus witch of the Interna Coven, and invisible or no, all gazing upon her at that moment had their retina's seared by her intense aura.
Staring in a particular direction, her now blazing bright eyes glare with annoyance. "Fine. I hope your protective charms have been fully refreshed, I won't apologize if you get bewitched."
Not waiting for a response, she continues on, and after some notable distance, the sky grows darker and darker, and an ominous, foul air begins to settle in. Finally, they arrive under a large floating island, but the scenery is contrary to much of what they were told to expect of the kingdom known as Darkaria. Chains coming from a tear in the sky appear to be embedded into the island, over which hovers an ominous red eclipse that shrouds the whole area in darkness and red light. The very distant din of combat and violence can be heard, and cold like that of winter has set in.
"...Something is wrong. Very wrong." Magnolin's eyes darken to an almost red color. "I can feel it, horrible depravity and suffering is at hand. This is far from any normal attack. Though, I'm not entirely sure what could be responsible for this." She seems conflicted.
"...If we engage this wrong, the Coven will be put needlessly in danger. On the other hand..."
Rene appears beside her, his blackened shadows covering him in entirety. Even her vision strains to find where he is keeping the skeletal frame of human mush that makes up what is left of his form, his cloak taking the form of a long coat covering him neck to shin. "I do believe we have come to what I was hoping for." His smile is slightly visible under a black ravens mask. The shadowed form begins to place notes into a journal.
Her eyebrow raises beneath her mask. "The mask is new. Don't tell me you've been inspired by that old show, 'The Raven Wizards'. That was so 90's."
She takes her mask and veil off, leaving only the witch's hat and revealing her long wavy brunette hair.
"Not that I can complain. I picked up a few bad habits in my stint in Japan myself. Shall we?" Hellish runes flare under her and in a pillar of smoke and flame, she teleports towards the kingdom's edge.
The shadow-engaged man grunts, starting to whisper a few words in a language not of the natural world. Shadows around him enlarge, and he levitates towards his demon companion quickly, landing on a tall tree in the forests surrounding the island's edge. His cloak helps mask his movements from onlookers, but Rene knows if the careful deliberation of his steps stops, he'd be spotted more easily than an elephant in Times Square.
Magnolin looks about, eyes glowing, before setting on a particular course. "Come. I sense individuals in conflict this direction. Mortals... and something else."