The Path of Knowledge - part 1 of the Guild Event

With his hands behind his back, Harrigan patiently stared at the giant yellow transparent globe. That was slowly rotating on it's own axis. Small lines formed together to single out countries and certain areas, while small holographic represented some of the major cities of Earthland. Around the globe were yellow rectangled shaped screens, that swiftly moved around the representation of earth land. Some of the screens rapidly showed masses of text and figures, while other switched between different portraits of sceneries and cities.

Yet the most interesting part were the five red arrow like dots, that were casually rotating with the globe, while hanging above the same spot the entire time. It was something that only appeared just now, after full week of research and active searching through the Archive network. And all that for a piece of peculiar booklet that Sinali and her Pillar brought back.

The reason why she did that was still unknown to Harrigan, and when he inquired her she only gave him a vague answer 'It's what Harland remembered mister Harrigan'. After which she casually skipped off, as if handing the booklet over to Harrigan was some sort of childish game.
Off course interested as Harrigan was he immediately started to read the contents of the small hard covered journal. Yet upon skipping through the pages he came to the conclusion, that in what ever language this was written he couldn't read it. Which already was a rare occasion, because since he was a child he was schooled in many of the known languages of earth land, and when he was older and worked for the magic department of the Magic Council he had studied a lot of more peculiar and ancient tongues. But when he opened the booklet he was staring at symbols and letters that he'd never seen before. And it was not just that, most languages, no matter how old had some sort of connection with each other. Like the common tongue of the country Iceberg still had traces of the ancient language of the Gael among it. Or the writings of the most of the Assassin clans was a more evolved version of the raw symbols they used in the past. No but this time Harrigan couldn't find even one, link to some other writing.

Knowing that this was almost impossible he started to use Archive to scan through the pages of the book, hoping that this strange magic of information and data could decipher what was written. Yet to Harrigan's dismay, and frustration even Archive failed to find a translation. Until something else popped up, a location. A location that was pinpointed through all known information about writings like these. And upon further research Harrigan learned that throughout history similar texts were found. And none of them ever were translated.
That moment he felt it, he felt the wheels of fate turn. The dice that were being casted, he felt it to the core of his very being that what ever he found was important. So important that it could have a severe impact of the way of living we have known for so many years.

And now that the fifth and last location was pinpointed on the globe it was time to get into action, it was time to assemble his members. The most vilest and darkest mages of Fiore, some of them were just plain insane. Others had an unsatisfying bloodlust and some of them just didn't care at all. It was time to assemble every mage of Savage Skull and start walking down the path destiny had laid out for them.

So the moment the last dot had appeared, Harrigan had touched his guild isignia on his hand. Which started to glow a purple eerie color, in response to this. All other Savage Skull emblems would start to glow too, letting it's mages know that their Guild Master called for them.

"Re...re... re...rec...ress?...rek?...sippies?" read Kaseki as he held an open book in his hands. He was wandering down the halls attempting to read for the first time in his life. He had learned the structure of letters and so forth just by asking a few people to read signs. He knew the sounds the letters made together, but never actually put them together. "Co... Cu...Cooo...Coo...Keys?" He struggled at an attempt to read the cook book with the bright colors that he took from the grand library. He was the last of the Pillar of Decay to arrive back to Savage Skull, for he was learning english.

Just then a bright violet light started to emit from under his cloak, to what seemed like his neck. Kaseki panicked and tried to swat at it. He figured it was another firefly in his cloak, and he hated anything with the word "fire". He dropped the book as he slapped his own neck and face trying to kill the bug. His cloak got caught under his foot and he fell like a dying tree onto the ground. He landed face first, his nose being the first to touch the ground.

He stumbled up to a sitting position to find that his engraving of Savage Skull was glowing. He held his nose with his other hand as his free hand reached for the book in the darkness of the hall. He found it rather convenient. He had tripped the first time he walked past Harrigan's office.

He whispered into the darkness, "Da...Da...Dadd... Daddy Harrigan... Do you... Do you have a bandage? I... I think I broke something..." Kaseki said with a salty tear in his eye.

Za'cha was reclining in a chair in his room he had managed to swipe from one of the farmers when he'd done that raid with Nakiya. It was actually quite a comfortable leather recliner, no doubt having once been that farmer's pride and joy in furniture. In his hands was a tome that Pride had recommended as something worthwhile to read, and if there was one thing the forcibly conjoined pair agreed on, was a good book.

He had been taking his time with the novel, a gripping tale of political intrigue, dark schemes, blood letting, and it had many different twists. "Heh," he said as he turned the page, "thought that one would at least make it to the next chapter." said the human, briefly turning his attention to the Dark Spirit reading alongside him. "Who'd you say wrote this again? Names a bit faded on the spine."

"It was a human some two centuries ago by the name of Gregory DD Marlen. A pseudonym of course. Gregory was in fact a Georgina. Quite an accomplished writer I must say. Fed me quite well with all her works." said Pride, as Za'cha chuckled. "Makes sense now... only the female mind could come up with this many different plots and keep them straight in their own head whilst making it so damned complex for the reader till the very last moment. Oh now come on!" he cried out before sighing. "I liked that one too..." he said before raising an eyebrow as his chest began to flash.

He looked over at Pride who turned to look at the source of the glow. "Interesting feature for a guild crest... I can only presume it means you are being summoned." said the Dark Spirit, causing Za'cha to look down at his book for a moment, before sighing and placing a well worn bookmark in position to hold his place. "Just when it was getting good as well..." sighed the human as he donned his robe and left his room. "Any idea where to go for this little meeting?" he asked Pride. The Dark Spirit just shot him a look that made him roll his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, stupid question... better question then, where's Nakiya? Princess ought to know where to go." he said. Pride took over his body and began to walk in the direction of where he could sense Wrath's Key. "Couldn't just give directions could you?" frowned Za'cha as he floated beside Pride.

Nakiya found herself outside the guild hall, sitting cross legged in the thick forest that hid the guild hall from view. She wasn't alone, walking around her was a man dressed in a white and red Kimono, the white hair on his head styled in such a fashion that fox like ears stood on his head. Every odd step, you could hear a bell ring as Vulpix walked around the red headed woman.

Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and deep as she concentrated on the Celestial Magic within her own body. She needed to be able to increase her Spiritual strength, to be able to summon more than just one spirit at a time, and Vulpeca was there to make sure she stayed on track.

"Mistress, forgive me but you aren't concentrating on the task at hand. You are simply attempting to think of nothing, not clearing your mind."
The white haired fox spirit stated as the bell rang again, indicating another step from Vulpix. A growl escaped Nakiya's lips as she peeked an eye open, glaring at the spirit that watched over her.

"You make it sound so damn easy. It's not you know."
With that, she started closing her yes again, when a light began to glow from the guild tattoo located on her chest.

"Hunh?"
She looked down at the glow, shifting out of her position and pushing herself up to her feet.

"Something must be going on... Vulpix, come on."
She ordered the spirit simply. The fox sighed loudly before falling into step behind his master as they made their way back into the guild hall.

Sin could smell the doom already. The sweet aroma of impending death assuring the abomination that today was going to be an utterly fantastic day. He would be found in his own room looking at a map board criss-crossed with strings and pins with a small book in his right hand. The little piece of literature was his prize from the Era infiltration. But it was child's play to the nasty thing Sinali had retrieved so when he saw his emblem glowing calling him to Harrigan he instantly put down his small project and left his room with a smile on his face. Descending down a stair case into the main hall his foot steps were echoing lightly as he made his decent. Within him the different facets of his mind bickered and bantered over their next course of action.

While he approached Harrigan and his fancy glow globe without a word inside he was in chaos. Greed and Sloth were as always defending the "stay in Savage Skull" plan, Wrath and Pride were still strong supports of the kill everyone plan, Envy wanted to usurp Harrigan, Lust wanted Harrigan, and Gluttony wanted pudding. So the only decision being made was to ignore Lust and get pudding. It was always bad to leave Gluttony waiting. With the government shut down Original Sin was left to act as he pleased. Which at the moment meant to continue forwarding the plan to unleash the weapon. At least that meant killing innocent bystanders on the way which served to appease the voices in his head who were always pleased by blood shed.

He passed lawnhead on his way down the hall and knocked him upside the head with the back of his head. "On your feet you idiot plant. The Pillar of Decay started this mission and we are going to finish it. With dignity." He growled at the hooded mage and get walking. Honestly for someone who looked like the grim reaper he wasn't exactly the perfect icon of evil. It was a bit of a disappointment really. The abhorrent entity hoped and prayed Harrigan really had something good to say. If not Wrath was probably going to be sent on a rampage. Sin doubted anyone was going to try to stop him, definitely not Sloth. Finally the "man" clad in his white suit made it to Harrigan and his shiny magic map "Do tell me that book finally provided some worthwhile information. I don't like wasted effort. It would be bad if it was a dead end, especially so for anyone within sword striking distance of me." Masked threat or dark humored banter? You be the judge.

Sinali had been in her room at the time hanging upside down as she worked on a particularly rare type of lacrima. On the way back from the archive she had managed to secure some of the material she called lacrimite. This particular lacrima would allow her to advance her magic further if she could get it to work. It was a blood storage lacrima and thus a strange item. It converted blood into magic. That itself was a complex process, but the trick was to make it so that it would absorb blood other than her own unless she willed it. That was very difficult. Why was she doing this exactly? Well, she had from the stolen books discovered at last why she possessed such great physical strength yet moved slowly. She had discovered lineages. It seemed every mage in one way or another was descended from a powerful being of some kind, or a being who had become powerful. With this lacrima and her magic she hoped to be able to exchange her blood with one stored in the lacrima and thus gain access to another mage's lineage for a short while. It would mean collecting blood from said people, but that wasn't too difficult for her.

It was as she was putting the final touched to it that her guild crest glowed. She had been focusing magic at the time and thus when the guild crest upon her eye activated it triggered one of her spells, the Skull Signal. Thus a laser was fired hitting the lacrima and shattering it into pieces. She stared at it for a moment and then dropped down and landed on her hands before flipping to her feet. Once more she stared at it and shook her head. Fortunately, she had more lacrimite, but it was annoying to have her work undone like this. It might not have worked as she intended. It would need to have been tested, but still. An annoyance. She beckoned to Perry and the two went down stairs to attend the meeting.

As they approached she saw Sin strike the one she called lawnhead. Of her pillar lawnhead was probably her favourite. He was obedient and didn't seem human in any way. Plus he was loyal. Perhaps more so to her then to the guild master. A useful tool. She walked over to him. "Ignore Sin. He isn't very good at playing with others." That was something she had learned. She too didn't like to work with others, particularly the living, but when she did she worked well with them. Sin on the other hand seemed very much a lone wolf. She noted the book that Lawnhead was carrying. It was a cook book and she considered whether her meals woudl taste better cooked. "Let's read that later." she said hungrily. It was as much a reward to him as it was a sate to her curiosity. She didn't need food, but she enjoyed it particularly human flesh. Strange that a cookbook would be in the archive. Perhaps it contained information on forbidden recipes? Curious. However, she did not stop to ponder this. No, instead she walked into the room and once more had reason to be annoyed at Sin. He was doubting the book she had found?

"Fool." That would be her name now for Sin. He might get annoyed at her for it, but so much of what he did seemed foolish. He may get another name in the future, but he would have to earn it. "He would not have invited us if he didn't have a game to play right Mr H? Nor would I have gone to get a worthless toy. I would of sent you instead" This was not a compliment. The thought of him being captured and imprisoned by the rune knights was strangely pleasing. Or maybe he'd die in the attempt. She paused wondering if that could be a way to get rid of people in the guild she didn't see as worthy of surviving. "So Mr.H do we wait for the others?" She asked as glanced around noting those who had arrived. Not everyone was here yet. The other pillar heads were not here that she could see. Interesting. Had her pillar arrived first?

Kyle came out of a shadow eating a hoagie. He looked over at Sin, "Hmm... Looks like you guys have been busy while I was gone," he said with a grin. He looked over at Sinali and then put a hand in his pocket. "Sinali, since I'm limited on where my money goes I had to derive to petty theft, but I got you a souvenir while I was out." He pulled out a doll with a shrunken human head holding a toy dagger. The hair on the doll spiked out like a messed up broom. "The witch doctor said it was this was their first chief." Kyle placed the doll in Sinali's hands and then looked up at the globe. "So what is going on here." He watched the globe spin and saw a dot on his home country, no his home temple. "Looks like I'm headed back to Midi after all. Where are my lackeys."

He gripped his fist. Of course he would have to take care of Dewei later. He won't be able to handle his mentor on his own. This was going to be one of those quiet missions. Something that will have to be carefully planned out.

They came from dark corner of the guild, heeding their master's call. All brought together through the radiant light that their emblems suddenly started to emit. And now most of them were standing in the main hall itself. Each and every one of them staring at Harrigan and the giant transparent orb that floated in front of him.

When Sin remarked in his usual attitude Harrigan only turned his face a bit towards him, revealing a joker like smile. Insinuating that he might be to most insane mage in here. However the crimson smile quickly disappeared and made place for the usual gloating and smug face that Harrigan normal had. So only Sin would've probably caught a glimpse of the insanity that was hiding behind the man's arrogance.

'Off course it did Sin' replied Harrigan to the abomination in human form. 'I wouldn't have called you out here if it wouldn't.'

Harrigan turned around completely, only to face the mages that have gathered in the main hall, there he slowly observed everyone of them. And then with a snap of his fingers, five rectangular yellow screens would float away from their orbiting lane around the orb. Only to position themselves right above Harrigan, so that every mage in the hall could see what was on them.
Each of the screens was showing a particular location on the continent, a building or an area. And without even telling them the mages would've probably guessed that these places was going to be their next destination.

'My dear mages of Savage Skull, as some of you know Sinali and her mages have retrieved something that might be of incredible value. A small booklet, journal of the sorts. That contained strange and unknown symbols in it. Now you may think that something as that is nothing more then gibberish, a useless waste of paper and time. But nothing is less true, after researching it, it has come to my attention that the pages in this journal are hiding something big, something secret that has remained hidden through the ages... until now that is. However, only this booklet is not enough to understand the contexts of this singularity. So after using all the cross-references it could find, my Archive has located five more of these journals'

The moment Harrigan said that, four of the five floating panels moved towards several members that had gathered in the hall. One moved towards Kyle Vay and positioned itself right in front of his face, showing the man a rather familiar sight of a traditional japanese looking shrine. Hidding away in the country of Midi. Another one moved straight towards Indar who was casually leaning against the wall until now. To him it revealed an entrance right under the Lamia Scale guild hall, the guild that was being lead by the peculiar guild master Zuo Cii who held his own library under Hargeon Town. For Sinali an entirely different location was being shown, a grand mansion who's outside garden had completely taken over by nature itself. Plants and bushes that have grown rampant after years of negligence. And the screen that floated besides Janneline revealed the royal castle of Crocus itself. One of the more secure locations that Fiore had to offer.
The last of the five screens kept floating above Harrigan, insinuating that he'd would probably go there by himself.

'Each and everyone of the pillars have gained a screen, with on it the needed information of their location and the assumed enemies in that direct area. I want you to take your mages and travel towards whatever designation I have given you, and bring back the journals for me. So that we can finish whatever we are chasing'
Harrigan stared into the group of mages and realized that it must sound vague, chasing after something didn't give them a clear goal. Just some small book with pages that contained a symbolic text that no one could read.
'I know this might come over as vague, and maybe even strange. But I can assure you whatever the contexts of these pages will reveal, will be changing our lives as we know it. I can feel it in every fiber of my body, with this our destiny... Savage Skull's destiny!! Will be on the road of imminent power, it will engrave our names in history and our deeds will be heard throughout the ages yet to come!.'

Za'cha and Pride found Nakiya along with her Fox Spirit, then spotted several mages heading for a singular location. It was the main hall of the guild. "Well... now I feel stupid." muttered Za'cha before regaining control of his body. He stood there listening to what Harrigan had to say, not bothering to pay attention to the others with him. The human was intrigued by this talk of journals and ancient languages. He found himself genuinely smiling at the prospect of uncovering whatever ancient power this may lead to.

"This should definitely be interesting." said Za'cha as he looked over at the screen, trying to get an idea of where it was that he would be going. He looked over at Nakiya. "Shame we're different Pillars princess." he said, a smirk on his face as he found himself itching to go. He cracked his knuckles and looked back in the direction of the guild master and the floating screens.

The human couldn't resist what he was about to do next. After Harrigan had finished his speech, Za'cha waited approximately ten seconds before yelling out, "One question! When do we get started?"

Kaseki felt the hard hand of the man called Sin. Just when he had grabbed the book, the man struck him to make him drop the pages again. "I... I just wanted to learn how to read..." Kaseki thought. Reaching to find the book again. Just then his master appeared, Sinali. "Ignore Sin. He isn't very good at playing with others." she had said. Kaseki was years upon years older than she, yet he found her wise. It was odd if you knew Kaseki, something about Savage Skull turned him into the worm he once was... before meeting Kodai. It was like that simple guildhall in the middle of Spooky Forest suppressed not his past... but his future. "Let's read that later." the little girl said. It made Kaseki smile. After all of these long years... Kaseki would learn to read.

But a rush of the other members began to flow into the office. The lights from the tattoos lit the hallway. He watched as he looked upon the open pages of the book. He saw drawings, something out of place in the book, of what looked like a man throwing lightning. Below him was another figure casting fire. Then below the two, a man casting both elements. Then the picture... he remembered.

It was his favorite shape, the circle. It was nothing more than a cookie recipe on that page. But not any recipe... The recipe that the master of Nox Animus' Sacred recipe, Zenneth's Cookies. Kaseki smiled at the thought. That recipe would unlock the key to controlling fire, or at least Kaseki thought so. And if the pictures meant anything... maybe he could cast lightning too. He grabbed the book and leaned against the wall of the hallway, away from the "family" of Savage Skull. He had something to learn.

And Sinali would teach him.

Kyle looked at the screen then flashed back to a memory he had about that exact shrine. [color=yellow]So we are going to have to make this a quiet steal. Other wise, we are going to wind up fighting an unneeded battle. He thought. He looked at his guild master after seeing the shrine. "So that's why it was protected," Kyle said with a smirk. "I was always curious about that scroll. I thought it was a history of the clan. I guess there are things that they hide from me anyway." He crossed his arms and nodded. "I'm going to need a more strategic approach to this area. It's well guarded. Meaning that we are going to have to slit some throats for this scroll." As Kyle spoke, his mind flashed to his sister dying in front of him and his mentor, his own father, leering down at him demanding that she meet her fate even though she was able to be saved. Kyle had no qualms with taking down members of that clan.

"A quiet mission?"
Nakiya sighed, reluctant to agree with Kyle. Yet again, she'd have to sneak around instead of relying on what most of her spirits had, brute strength. It was a constant learning experience, to try and be stealthy instead of standing out in the open... However... this  mission sounded intriguing to her... she was curious about what sort of power these books could bring... how exactly would this be Savage skulls destiny? She pondered all of this quietly as she glanced over to Za'cha, shrugging slightly at the wizard. Sure they were part of a team, but they were from different pillars, so it might do them both some good to learn more about their respective pillars.

Finally she turned back to look at Kyle. After the events of their last encounter and his attitude towards her, she had begun to warm up to him once she sobered up. In fact, she didn't think she minded following a mage as cute as this one.

"You sure we can't just blast the place to pieces? I'm sure a book like that must have some sort of protection spell on it. Right?"
As much as she would of liked that plan, she knew it was out of the question and so, she wouldn't push it further.

Kyle looked over at the red head who walked in. He smirked. "Blowing up this place is not an option, this place is not worth the time," he sighed and looked at the screen. "If you look closely, the scroll is no surrounded by a barrier, but it's guarded heavily." He then pointed at what looked like blurs in the screen. "Those blurs are what's guarding it." He looked over at Nakiya and gave the same smirk. "Outside of the shrine are a few guards. I did not say we weren't killing anyone. All you need to do with these guys is simply slit their throats or have your little Wrath EAT them. However, I'm going to be your ticket actually getting IN to this complex." Kyle said and his grin began to show that he was plotting something in his mind.

Sinali observed the screen. It was an interesting one all things considered. An overgrown mansion. "Looks like you'll be right at home here Lawnhead." Sinali said with a chuckle and then looked over at Harrigan, the one she called Mr. H. "WHen does the game begin Mister H?" she asked tilted her head. She wondered if it was soon or if they would wait a while. It would take a while to get to this location if she was any judge. She looked about for Sin to see his reaction. She wondered, also if transport would be provided. She did not know, but she doubted it.

Ooh now things were sounding fun. Harrigan had allowed Sin a glimpse of what he was like under his emotional mask and it was a nice little sight to see. He was in a pretty good mood now especially seeing they were finally going to be able to advance the nasty little booklet along it's dark destiny. "Well this sounds like it will be some swell fun. I believe I will most enjoy this." The voices in his head had seemed to reach the agreement that this would be worth their trouble. Anything that enabled the various madmen of Savage Skull to do what they want was always a great step towards Sin's personal ambitions. He eagerly awaited the "go" signal.

Za'cha looks over at the view screen that had floated over towards Jannali, figuring that he'd at least know where it was that he was going. "Crocus huh?" he mused before smirking. "Oh now this should be fun... always did want to visit the Royal Library." said the Ex-Quip mage before getting a mental slap from Pride. "What was that for?" he snarled. "Just a reminder to stay on track." he said to the human who rolled his eyes and then looked back towards the Pillar Leaders and the Guild Leader. "So... when do we get this treasure hunt started eh? Knowledge ain't gonna just go grab itself."