Something More Than This

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The streets weaving through the various pens and cages of all manners of various creatures fetched from the world outside their safe walls. Carwen had wished for a long time to leave the confinements of these safe barriers. To venture out there and discover what more there is through the eyes of a scholar, not a thick-headed soldier figure. Alas, she was forbidden. Only those of the proper training and education of a Crusader was sufficient to leave the walls. And as such, adventurers and thrill seekers always have to seek the guidance and permission from the Crusaders to be able to do their little quests. At least if you want to do it legally. Only issue with doing it strictly legally is that most, if not all, findings must be going through quarantine with all three orders before being allowed to be possessed by anyone else. If it is claimed, it might as well be forgotten yet again, because it is just about impossible to gain access to it later if so.

She hated that. How are they meant to progress forward if all finds are taken away from study? All the same, she seems to have a good lead now. A man of the Crusader mantle who had decided to hear her out in her quest nad suggestion. She had a good amount of coin, but not enough to finance an adventuring party, or 'crusade', on her own. Thus she has saught a man who she believes might share her interests in progress.

She walked by an aquarium of vicious sea-creature. How this 'Loa' had managed to acquire such fierce creatures of the ocean was a complete mystery to her, and according to rumors, the other crusaders as well. Coming up to a pen of strange aquatic animals, she was perplexed of their nature. Always had been. So many aspects of it didn't seem to make sense. Turtles, placid in their existense as display animals, feasting on greens, beaks like geese and double-set of beaver tails. It munched on its food, a deeper section of the same pen allowing a visitor to gleam a look of them from beneath to see them swim around. She had loved to see them whenever she came around, freakish as they may be.

And it seems like she is not the only one enraptured by these creatures.

Leaning over a railing and looking them over, stood a man of renown. The man she had aimed to meet with today. The twenty-year-old woman proceeded to approach him, pushing up her glasses to a more appropriate location and carrying her satchel of intel and study-books. This was it. This man would be her ticket outside into the world. One way or another, she would go out there. Approaching him, she held her bag to her right hip, nodding her head to the man. "Sir Lucius Castus, I presume. Thank you for accepting to meet with me."

Lucius' eyes lingered on the hardshelled creature for a few more moments after he'd heard the call of the woman standing at his side. knowing it would be rude to wait any longer he tore himself from the animal and turned to greet her. The man was far from what one might expect of a cursader, lacking in the build and body-type one might think would be needed to traverse the world beyond and come back in open piece. The man looked at her with a small smile on his face, an almost child-like curiosity to both his features and expression. He let out a light chuckle before his smile widened a bit, "You presume correct, what gave me away?" He jested before returning the nod of the woman, "and while the thanks is appreciated I know that you know I'm not considering an expedition beyond the walls out of the kindness of my heart. I read the papers you sent me, the magic of the stars? I can understand why the brass didn't give you the time of day. All the same, I found it interesting. It's good to meet you, Miss Glasc, it's nice to finally put a face to the name." He greeted as he extended his hand to her.

"I should certainly hope you find it interesting. Would be awfuly cruel to play with my heart like that otherwise." She said teasingly as she extended her hand to him and shook it. "I'm glad I could provide you with the face. Now I hope to provide you with even more than that. We are both users of magic of stellar origin. Cosmic Magic, Stardust Magic, it is the same with different aspects and focuses." She said as she gestured for them to get a bit further out of the way while still being in view of the turtles. A precaution as some civilians came within earshot range. She wanted some privacy with this.

Once they had it, she continued. "Now wouldn't it be even more spectacular if we, as a team, could discover what more there is to this magic than what has already been estblished and made? What I seek is not to merely create a new spell or function. Plenty have done that before us and are rarely known or spoken of." She said with a sigh, feeling discontent with the risk of being one of htem herself.

"No. What I want for us to discover is a brand new form of magic. Something that will turn everything upside down with our magic. To create a magical force which has never been seen before, one which will have our names engraved into history for making." She explained with restrained enthusiasm. She pulled out a small journal from her satchel, holding it in the air, but out of grab reach for Lucius. "Some years ago, I bought up this book. A grimoire from beyond the wall. It speaks of the constelations 'speaking to them', having predicted events to come by aligning with those heavenly symbols or grown in power during certain celestial events and weaker during others. We have the opportunity to discover something great. And with you as the sponsor for this crusade, you would obviously share in the wonders of it, and the income which will come from it." She said, certainly not lacking for confidence in her work and what that would lead to.

Listening to the woman speak he wished he could believe everything that she had to say outright, that the discovery of the century if not more was only an adventure away, that a secret of this world could so easily be unlocked. But he'd heard a saying before, 'if it was too good to be true it often was'. All the same, he found himself eyeing the journal she kept out of his reach. "That all sounds incredible, truly it does. I don't care much for the money though mind you, as much as my family wished otherwise. Whether it truly is the discovery of all discoveries or simply another small piece of this grand puzzle we call the world I'm fine with either outcome. At least, that's what'd like to say. After all, it isn't just my and your life we're risking. Nine out of ten times we leave the walls we lose at least a life. Only one if we're lucky." He explained to her, holding up his index finger toward the sky as he spoke.

"There are a lot of people, especially young ones who join up excited to see what lies out there. They say they're willing to give their life for the cause, for the glory of humanity. Fact of the matter is, when they're in the jaws of some monstrosity the likes of which they could have never imagined existing in the darkest nightmares, the only expression besides the horror I can see on their faces in those final moments is regret." He let out a deep sigh before his eyes fell over the journal again. "What makes you think that journal of yours is an actual account of something that happened? I mean, do you have any idea how hard we've had it separating the historical texts from fictional stories whenever we find intact books out there? Stories where people used wands to cast magic long before magic existed in this world, Wars where every nation on this continent fought on land, sea, and sky, people exploring the galaxy. We're still going through the ones we have. So why should we take yours at face value, Carwen?"

Her smile didn't falter. "Because I have tried it already. A mere sample and taste of what it can do, but not enough to be revolutionary." She said, reaching down for her phone. She plucked it up and searched for a video of the event which she had taped a while back. She just had to scroll through the images she had taken of the animals on her way here. Eventually she held it up to him to view. It painted a scene of her on top of a really high building, reaching as far and high as she was legally able to without entering forbidden grounds of the tallest constructions. In the video she took a few steps back, and after announcing some scientific mumbo-jumbo about the attempt and recording of this event, she turned around reached a hand up into the sky. Her magic began to emit around her like an aura, as it tends to does when expelled without using a spell to channel it. The camera caught a view of the stars in clear sight, almost impossible to get on the ground of the city with all the lights going off at night.

It took a few minutes to get going, but then it happened. Her extended right arm began to shift. Or at the very least, the aura around it. It looked as if it manifested in a physical shape, encasing her arm in a muscular sheen of stardust. Then the big thing happened, what she hoped he would accept as something real, despite its fantastical nature. The Ursa Major seemed to do the impossible. All those milions of lightyears away from earth, and they began to flicker, as if hoping in and out of reality. But that seemed impossible. Stars don't stop shining until they die, so flickering like this shouldn't be possible. And even if it was possible, the event should take uncountable ages to reach the eyes of man. So for this to happen so timely would be beyond luck or strokes of fate. Carwen seemed beyond excited as it happened and her sheen disappeared and the stars returned to as they should be. When that happened, she returned to the camera in excitement, but Carwen cut it before she began to geek out. "That is just a taste, I can feel it. The answers to these phenomena lie beyond the walls. This book mentions a place close to a location known as 'Lyon'. If I can get there, I know I can find more answers to this mystery."

Lucius didn't know what to make of the video. A mix of emotions had flowed through him as he watched it, excitement, curiosity, skepticism. He looked to the woman who might very well have showed him the start of something far greater than he could imagine. He studied her face, part of him expecting her to start laughing at him for even thinking she was being serious but when she showed nothing but determination in return of his wary gaze he let out a hardy laugh. A laugh that drew the eyes of some of the other guests as they passed, the man placing a hand on the rail to keep himself up. When the moment passed he cleared his throat, wiping the tears from his eyes as he recomposed himself. "Forgive me, Carwen, I'm not laughing at you at all. It's just, if this is all true, if this idea of harnessing the very stars really is something we can manage... Well, I half expect to be left with more questions than answers."

Letting out a content sigh he nodded his head toward her, "But I suppose that's the nature of discovery. I'll tell you what, Miss Glasc, I'll fund this expedition of yours in full, I'll lead it personally in fact. Now let's discuss exactly what all we're going to need, men, food, other supplies. Exactly how long do you expect this expedition to last? How far away is this place you want to go and what are you expecting to find there?" He asked her, hoping she understood just how much he was placing in her hands, his trust, their lives, and more Lira than the average person would see in their entire lifetime.

She smiled wide. She could almost not believe that she had him on the hook. Now she just had to reel him in. "Depends on how much you are willing and intend to invest in this. It is approximately twohundred hours from the edge of the wall to Lyon, judging from if we take for granted that we walk ten to twelve hours a day to get there, it should take us sixteen days to get there. Alternatively, if we were to acquire vehichles to take us there, it should be roughly a nine to thirteen hour drive, given that we do not face oppositions in either alternative. Which I already assume we might, so for the sake of things, maybe assume another thrity to forty percent longer travel. So at the least, it might take a day or day and a half to get there, or upwards of a month to get there on foot if obstacles come upon us. "

She breathed a happy sigh. "This tome tell of a hidden location beneath the ruins of the eastern edge of Lyon. Apparently they predicted some catastrophy to occur and took shelter there. I can only assume that it was the Cataclysm, if it can be trusted. If it was something else, they should consider themselves lucky all the same. I expect to find star charts and old pagan scriptures to say the least. But I also expect to find further guidelines on how people of the past tried to connect to the constellations and the cosmos." She explained, trying to make it all seem as reasonable things to risk so much to find. "When we find this place, and I trust that we will, I want your permission to study our finds all while your Crusaders investigate the items. You may keep them for the sake of judging lies from truth, but I need to discover both in order to progress this study."

"We'll allow you to study as much as you can while we're there. I'll try to make it so you have access once we're back within the walls but I can't make any promises there. Money and name only has so much influence when it comes to those sorts of things." He explained the situation regarding the research to her, basically that he would do what he could but not to get her hopes up. "That said, if you copy any of the materials we find. Pictures, texts, the like, I'll pretend I didn't see anything. Frankly, I don't care for leaving such important discoveries to the Brass either. The world beyond the walls is our legacy and thus, it is also our birthright." He commented with a playful smile on his face, however, it quickly disappeared as he moved to lean against the railing.

"There's a possibility we could move a certain distance with vehicals but the likelihood of reaching our destination on them is all but zero. That and the noise of them will no doubt attract unwanted attention. Normally, when making deeper expeditions we'll bring carts pulled by donkey to carry supplies. So that means we'll need to pack about month and a half worth of supplies for around thirty crusaders yourself and I included. We've spent the last several years stocking supply outposts out there so we'll rely on that if things become difficult on the return trip." He gave her the run down on the amount, planning to leave the details of what exactly they were bringing out of it until they at least had a date of departure.

Lucius tapped on the metal fence as the creatures below began to let out a hissing quack as they communicated with one another. "I'll speak with those in charge, surely they won't complain if I'm funding this myself but we still need permission to exit all the same. In the meanwhile, I'll start recruiting crusaders to join us." He turned toward her, "Tell me about yourself, Carwen. Can you fight or will you simply be a V.I.P on this adventure? Need to know if I can trust you to watch my back after all. I'd say the same for you but I'd like to think my reputation proceeds me."