(OPEN) The Soul of a Mage (OPEN)

Walking down the street there was an odd silence; Vlad heard nothing, but the pitter patter of his feet. "Such a desolate place..." Looking down the road he noticed there was very little going on; this place seemed to have little to do; this must be the life of a Guildless mage. "Well, it is a free life. No sort of dedication to any association. No expectations. Nothing, but what I want. I suppose that suits my disposition..." He sighed. He finally heard the light chatter of people, the faint light of souls; there were so many. "Ah, I suppose I could investigate this a bit...."

As he got closer he could smell the faint scent of alcohol; the barley, sugar.... Ah, this was something he enjoyed. "Whiskey.... God, how have I missed you!" He exclaimed, throwing open the door. Walking in, his pride very apparent, he let out a slight chuckle. He simply looked around, this seemed like his type of place. Sitting at the bar he took a moment to look the place over once more. Low lights, a low playing music... It was a relaxing place. Signaling for the bartender he ordered a glass of whisky, no ice. Relaxing a bit he leaned back, taking in the scene.

Since his previous visit to the Soul Bar, Harrigan could see how quickly they'd managed to restore it to it's former state. No longer where there any broken windows and torn apart furniture. No instead everything had been replaced by.. well the same so it seemed. The lack of imagination and taste seemed to reign here, as with the given chance the owner decided to keep everything as familiar as possible. Then again, one couldn't really blame him, after all his target customers weren't the type desired refined taste and riches. No when people came to this bar it was to drink in solitude, to hide away in a dark shadowy corner. Away from society and people. Or how Harrigan would call them, potential assets.

Yet the evening was boring, generally most patrons of the Soul Bar were nothing special. Nor seemed to have any significant power, basically they were nothing more then thugs. Some could probably cast a basic elemental magic. But lacked the skill and the imagination to cultivate their own magic and become something more then what they are.
However just when Harrigan was about to give up with his search for new potential recruits, an unknown faced walked into the bar. One that he hadn't seen before. One that when compared to the rest of the customers seemed to be far more capable.

''And here I thought the remainder of the night would be boring'' Walking out of his own dark corner, the stranger could now see the man clad in a velvet red suit walking up to him. Definitely out of place as his entire garb screamed he preferred the extravagance above the mundane. And if his clothing choice didn't give it away, then it was his face that had curled up his lips into a conceited smile. ''Tell me stranger, what has brought you to such a desolate watering hole''

From the window, once more watching Harrigan closely, was a cat. This was a ginger cat, unlike the previous one which had been black. It seemed to be a bit bigger as well, more of a challenge in an alley cat fight. However, this cat had an edge up its sleeve that it was unlikely most others would have. It was not actually a cat. No, it was the living weapon Rosetta disguised as a cat so she could keep an eye on Harrigan. Her task, as usual in Talonia, was to shadow him and make sure that he got out of here safely. After all, he was a very infamous dark mage and Talonia whilst lawless also contained a lot of bounty hunters. Plenty of people who might want his head for reward money. There were likely others who had been...inconvenienced...by the Savage Skull guild or its leader and might want revenge.

Her HUD system was active with Harrigan as a party member. All of his vital statistics were present. The newcomer was also appearing on her HUD. Like Harrigan she noted that the mage was a bit stronger than those around him. Not ridiculously so, but enough to give him some potential. The whisky he had chosen was also a good one from what her studies had shown. As a gentleman of some class, if a rather evil one, Harrigan appreciated fine wines, but even moreso he appreciated, and would rarely say no to, a decent whisky. All his knowledge had been put into her when she was awakened so she knew all he knew about whisky and other alcohol. As such she could appreciate that the choice he made was good. It was certainly better than most of the other options on offer.

If anything he would be useful as a minor member of the guild and perhaps someone Harrigan could send out to stock up his private reserves of alcohol. Though with luck, for them at least and him as well, he would become a useful asset for the guild. That was...assuming he decided to accept Harrigan's offer or even proved worthy enough to get the offer.

"Oh, you're talking to me! How rude." Vlad chuckled. Looking over the man who had just approached him there were a few things that were noticeable from the very beginning. The first would be his appearance; while many people decide not to embrace the "fashion" that has become a norm to society this was... different, to say the least. "I am Vlad Chao, and who may you be stranger? I will simply say that the only reason I find myself here is because there aren't many place I should be, at the moment. Such is the life of a guildless mage, I suppose." He took a sip of his drink, setting the glass down he offered the male his hand.

"So, I do have a question for you! It is a bit odd." He chuckled, looking over the mans shoulder. "What is that, for lack of a better word--at least for the moment--, cat? It has no soul; it is not a living being..." He hadn't noticed it in the beginning, due to the amount of souls present; with them bleeding into each other it seemed that the cat had one, even if very small. Upon closer inspection this was not true. The cat emitted nothing that could, possibly, be called a soul... at least not living.

While it is true that all living creatures have a soul the same may be said for the inanimate; take, for example, a sword. After countless years the blade gains a sort of, dare we call it, conscience. Being able to comprehend the world around it, to an extent, and realizing what it was being used as. Yes, these souls may turn human... though that took a massive amount of work. These blades are vastly accounted for, though many only remember the famous blades; Excaliber, Gae Bulg, etc. They were vast in number, but often forgotten.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir, how can I help you?" He asked, a bit curious as to why this man would approach him, out of nowhere.

The cat was not the only thing that was interested by the man. A single red-feathered owl perched next to it watching him. This was one of Karina Farrar's, the new queen's, servants of the Lighthouse Bay. It was typical of them to do this on any given day, going out to search for powerful mages Karina should employ. Around it's neck, was a single necklace with a roll of paper inside of it. On the page one would find a message much like people received when they applied to colleges an other such institutes. It was a formal-looking request to join Karina's private army, and to one day bring the world to it's knees. Of course, this wasn't without any incitement after all! Those who aided in bringing the destruction of the current world order would receive a variety of delectable bonuses, such as a monetary fund or other such blessings.

Now, Karina herself was nowhere near all the events, she had gone to the peaceful town of Midi to meditate. She had no idea of the events unfolding before this single owl, but if he could make it back to her after delivering the parchment to who he thought was a powerful mage, Karina could possibly have her hands on a powerful mage. Now, while the owl had it's eyes on the man with raven hair and some sort of affinity for souls, the other one seemed just as interesting. It was entirely possible that the cat he spoke off was interested not in fetching it's daily meal of mice in the darker corridors and less cleaned streets of Talonia, but in watching the other man. Who was he? The owl had never seen hide nor hair of such a man! Only time would tell what it should do.

Gangting walked into the bar and thought to himself, "So this is the place where the guildless go to?". He went to the bar and ordered a pull of mead. He looked around for a place to sit but decided that he would sit at the bar. He took a tug from his mead and stared to the shelves with liquids. "We didn't have so many drinks back then," mumbled Gangting, thinking of his past. He got back to where everything started to fall apart. "I've been an idiot." He took a sip from his mead and shook his head as if that would release his thought from his haunted past.