[Exam] The Qitana Ravel

The lance and pouches were securely tied to Thane's body, as he walked along a road. A travelled passed him by every now and then, but he never asked if they could take him with them for a ride. The recent experience of being tossed out still annoyed him. The day was in full swing when he came across a fork in the road with a small signpost. That seemed awfully familiar. Except that this time there was no strange gate hovering over the ground. The man shook his head as he thought about the bizarre experience.

However, instead of a floating gate, there were two men standing near the road, looking around, as if they were searching for somebody. Thane didn't think that he could help them, so he wanted to just pass by them, but as soon as they noticed him, they waved at him. "Hello mister! Yes, you! Are you perchance a mage?" The younger looking man called out and Thane nodded. Even though he hadn't found his magical spark yet, he knew that there was something else coursing through his veins, other than just the strength of his kin. "Is there something I can help with?" The Au Ra approached the two men and the one who called out to him started explaining. "There is! But let me introduce myself first. I am Jonas and this is Mateus." Jonas would point to himself and then motion towards his colleague. "We are archaeologists at a relatively nearby dig at the Desert Village, south east of here." Thane nodded, letting Jonas continue.

"The dig site is located in a large cave system and we found an underground temple, of all things. So we are looking for a capable mage to help us to traverse the place while we map the area." The young man said, his eyes filled with expectation. They probably weren't planning on Thane declining the opportunity. And he wouldn't. "I will help you out." The man would agree and the two archaeologists seemed really glad. "My name is Thane, by the way."

Soon enough, the trio arrived at the Desert Village where they picked up extra supplies, like water and fuel for lamps. They rode a little cart that the archaeologists had stashed near the fork in the road. Along the way they chatted a bit and exchanged some information. It seemed that the temple housed some powerful, ancient magics, so they were worried that it may be more protected than they were able to handle. Hence the reason to turn to a full fledged mage. Thane was still unsure about the decision, but there was a little voice in the back of his head that told him to push forward.

The dig site was near the village and after they entered the cave system, the temperature became much more bearable. Thane took off his metal circlet for a moment to wipe off some of the stubborn sweat and put it back into its place. He was used to high temperatures, but he wasn't the greatest fan of them. The caves were surprisingly spacious and the archaeologists who investigated them made use of it. There were many a working stations, some of them occupied, some of them absolutely messy. A couple of Jonas' and Mateus' colleagues nodded at Thane, aware of why he, as a stranger, was present. Eventually they reached a pair of women, who were discussing something with great fervour. "Hello Marie and Tynia! We got ourselves a mage to help us explore!" Jonas greeted the two ladies, who promptly stopped their discussion and turned to face the arriving trio. "Thane, meet Marie and Tynia. Us four will be the ones mapping the temple." Jonas introduced Thane to more of his colleagues who greeted him back.

There seemed to be no time to lose, as the group of archaeologists prepared themselves with surprising swiftness. They divided the supplies among themselves and Thane. "All set to go! Are you ready, Thane?" The archaeologist named Marie asked the hired mage. "As ready as I will ever be." He would reply and light the lamp he was given. He was supposed to go in front, while the rest of the group goes after him and sketches out the pathways. And thus they were off.

Thankfully for the tall Au Ra, the ceilings were fairly high up. There was no need for him to bend or duck, this time. The group walked around a few of the cave corridors, until they came upon a particular tunnel. The stone had strange scribbles over it. There was no wonder why an archaeologist would be drawn towards them, further into the tunnel. As soon as they came out of the tunnel, they were met with a surprisingly large empty space that housed a myriad of pillars, supporting the ceiling and preventing it from caving in. In the centre was an overgrown altar and behind it a building, which was barely standing and a fallen statue that was equally overgrown as the altar. The ground was soaked, mostly tiled with large blocks of rocks. Thane made a few steps forward, until he realised that he didn't hear anybody behind him. He turned around to see the archaeologists just standing there, their eyes and mouth open agape in awe. "Hello?" Thane attempted to bring them back, but only Jonas seemed to respond. "Oh. Yes, yes, we are professionals. Let's keep going, guys." He cleared his throat and motioned to Thane to keep going. The Au Ra amusedly shook his head and kept walking.

Needless to say, Thane was also quite taken by the sight. And just as Jonas had said before, the air was thick with old, ancient magic. It almost felt like it was originating from somewhere, but Thane couldn't tell. The man stepped forward with care, making sure that every piece of stone was safe, before he let the rest of the group continue. Behind him he could hear excited murmurs and sounds of numerous scribbling, most likely taking notes of anything and everything. The lamp didn't illuminate a whole lot of area around them, but there were raw, unrefined lacrima crystals in the surrounding stone that gave off eerie glow. And thanks to that eerie glow Thane noticed a slight discoloration of one of the stone tiles ahead of them.

The Au Ra made a sudden stop and the rest of the group bumped into the tall mage, evidently not paying attention to what was happening in front of them. There was an audible collective 'ow' and a brief moment of confusion, before Marie piped up. "What's going on?" Thane bent down and picked up a wet rock. "There's a discolored tile ahead. Could be just because of time, or because it had been enchanted." Once the group realised that it was a trap test, they took a few cautious steps back. Thane tossed the rock onto the tile, but nothing happened. "Well, it's not triggered by movement." Thane concluded and the group stood still. The man sighed and stepped onto the tile. Marie and Tynia yelled, realising what Thane was testing. He stepped onto the tile, but nothing happened. "Doesn't seem to be triggered by weight, either." The man said, as the archaeologists rushed to his side. "Don't do that again!" Tynia reprimanded the mage and the others joined in.

The discoloration was a fluke, but it was probably for the better that nothing had actually happened. The group cautiously approached the altar. The four archaeologists got to work sketching the piece, as Thane left them his lamp and attempted to pinpoint the origin of the magic. If he had to guess, it was in the building, right ahead of them. There didn't seem to be anything posing immediate danger. The man only hoped that he wouldn't regret leaving the group for a few moments.

Thane disappeared into the ruined building. The feeling he had experienced before, at the fork in the road, returned. It nagged him to go forward. He walked carefully, step by step. As soon as his foot touched one of the ground tiles, a mechanism could be heard nearby, making Thane jump a little. Even if he stepped carefully, his guard was still a bit too low. However, there was a hole in the ground that he had not noticed before. Was it the mechanism he had just heard or was there something else at work? At any rate, he could feel that the origin point was down there.

The Au Ra descended the stone stairs, deeply regretting leaving the lamp behind. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, but only to a certain distance. Thankfully he could make out outlines of two statues, vaguely shaped like fat birds. Thane laid his hand upon one of them, to keep himself anchored to some part of the basement. As soon as his hand made contact with the statue, it faintly lit up. The man had to blink a few times, his eyes having to readjust again. In the pale light he noticed that it was an owl of some kind, not just a fat bird. Next to it was an identical statue. The magic was almost palpable near the statues, especially the one that had been activated. "What kind of magic is this...?" Thane quietly murmured under his breath as he touched the other statue. It lit up, but in a vastly darker light. Light and dark? Was there a link between them? After both of statues were activated, a small pedestal rose up from the ground in front of them.

Thane could barely believe his eyes. On the pedestal sat a red crystal, shaped like a tear and a mysterious symbol in the middle of it. Mesmerised, he reached out to it and picked it up. It had the feeling the Dragoon Soulstone had. Was this tear a Soulstone aswell? Thane gently rubbed the crystal with his thumb, his head spinning various theories. It meant that the Soulstones could be hidden just about anywhere in the world. As he thought about all of the implications, aether started flowing out of the crystal and into Thane. He took a surprised step back, as he his mind was filled with countless memories, experiences and knowledge that wasn't his. A weapon slowly formed in the air between the statues - a red rapier with an equally red crystal that floated beside it. Thane knew that the Soulstones held some sort of knowledge, but.. Did that mean that he inherited what was inside this one? Dumbfounded, he reached out for the rapier and the hilt fit perfectly into his hand. Almost as if it was created specifically for him. He sifted through the new memories and knowledge, seeing that the rapier was the conduit for the techniques that the, now confirmed, Soulstone bestowed upon him. A Soulstone of a Red Mage.

As wonderful as the discovery was, Thane felt conflicted. Should he keep this discovery to himself? Or should he share the news? Would the archaeologists try to take the Soulstone for themselves as it was part of the dig site? The Au Ra let out a heavy sigh as he left the illuminated basement. The rapier dissolved into aether, ready to be called upon whenever he needed.

The group seemed to be still investigating the altar, but Jonas was walking around, impatiently. As soon as he spotted Thane, he ran towards him. "Thane! I was looking for you! Where have you gone?" The young man inquired and the rest of the group abandoned their work on the altar and gathered around the mage. He pondered for a moment, but ultimately decided to tell them the truth. How he found the Soulstone and what it could possibly mean.

They listened to his story, swallowing every word he said. After he finished talking, the air was filled with awkward silence. Thane didn't want to break it, as he felt like it wasn't up to him to do it. "So this Soulstone gave you knowledge? So... It chose you, in a sense?" Jonas was the one to break the deafening silence. "I want to say yes, but I don't know." The man admitted and his statement was followed by more silence. "Then how about you keep the Soulstone? You said you are doing research on them. I don't see why we shouldn't let you keep it." Mateus spoke up, providing a bit of hope for Thane's predicament. Then the group laughed. Thane jumped a little at their reaction. "You're not only a mage, but a fellow scholar aswell! Of course we will let you continue your research." Tynia said and was joined by Marie. "What Tynia and Mateus said. Besides, maybe we could help you out, if we ever find or learn anything interesting." Jonas would offer his help aswell. "I have to agree with the rest of my colleagues, here. You are more than welcome to keep your discovery. Just make sure you let us know if you find out something interesting and we will also let you know if we find anything of use." The archaeologists beamed up at the tall Au Ra, who had a look of disbelief on his face. "Thank you. I'll make sure to let you know." He finally let go of the breath he had been holding.

"We should also name this place." Mateus poked at an interesting topic, which made the whole group think. "Oooh, I know!" Tynia exclaimed. "How about we let Thane decide?" The archaeologists stopped thinking for a second and then agreed with Tynia. "The honour's all yours! So what'll it be?" Marie asked, pressuring Thane's brain cells a little bit. The man thought about a suitable name for a couple of minutes, until he got a one that he was satisfied with.

"The Qitana Ravel."