Port Luneth

Erika stands there, breathing heavily. "...Is it over?" She straightens up and places her rapier away. "That was close. Hey, I just wanted to thank you guys for-" She turns to see that both Yorric and Sam are gone. "Um...Thank you for...Where did you go...?"

"Oh, Erika! Thank Luneth you're okay!" Coming running for her daughter, the Water Maiden, Violet wraps Erika in a hug. "What was that horrible monster?"

"Um...I don't really know." Erika looks around, still confused about everything that happened. "It was just this weird thing that kept saying uh..."la"...?"

Violet gives her a concerned look. "Are you sure you're feeling alright, dear? Perhaps you need some rest. I told you not to wander too far from the palace grounds."

"Mom, seriously? I can't even explore my own town? You don't have to be so protective of me."

Violet sighs. "You were nearly murdered by a boss monster. Of course I need to be protective of you! And within my own walls no less."

"It's fine. I handled it, didn't I?"

"You're not fine at all! Look at that wound! No, this won't do at all. Come with me, we're heading straight to the palace to get that healed. And then we're going to talk about getting you a bodyguard." Violet drags Erika off toward the palace while Yorric watches, sitting atop a nearby building.

"Interesting. Very interesting. It looks like a certain series of events has just been started. Heheheh..."

Sheean arrives in the beautiful port city of Luneth, passing by the knights guarding the entrance on his way in. This place really is fascinating. Canals and water fountains can be seen all throughout the city.

"Hello there." Yorric suddenly flips down from above, landing in front of Sheean. "You seem interesting." He grins and holds out a scaly hand for a handshake. "Yorric Night. Traveling Jester. And you?"

Meanwhile, in the Palace...

Erika takes out an old looking book within the library. "It's probably somewhere in here..." She slams the book down on a nearby table and begins to quickly flip through the pages. She then stops on one of the pages. "Ah HA!" She points to it enthusiastically. "Right there! This looks vaguely like that thing I encountered the other day."

Leaning back against a shelf with his arms crossed, Vaurn glances at the page. "A shining swordsman?"

She turns. "Whoa, you talked!"

"..." He stares at her.

"...Right. Uh. Well, this is the thing that attacked the town the other day. It's this weird thing. It just kept making this "la" sound. And I want to find out more about it. Like...why did it attack? How did it even get here?" She flips through the pages a bit more. "Uh huh...Okay. So it looks like I can find out more about this thing by going to those abandoned mines way up north in the mountains."

"...In the Northern Region?"

"Yep, yep. The Hello Mines! I have no idea why it's called that."

"I was ordered to protect you."

She turns and looks at him. "What, you can't come with me? I'm pretty sure you can follow along and protect me inside the mine. It's not that hard."

"...Hm. Very well. I suppose my only order was to protect you. And I'm not opposed to exploring dungeons..."

"Great!" She slams the book shut. "Let's work on sneaking out of here without anyone seeing!" She happily marches out of the room. Vaurn lingers a bit before following after at a distance.

"Hmm. A vacation, you say?" Yorric gives Sheean a curious look. "Well, have fun. I get the feeling something interesting might happen with you." Yorric walks off down the street.

Shortly after, Sam walks past and takes a seat by the port. He lets out a sigh of relief. "That's enough for now, I think. Should probably head back soon..." He looks out at the water.

"Hm?" Sam looks up at Sheean. "I suppose so. I'm just taking a break before I head back home to Whitefrost. Nobles are a lot of work." Sam chuckles a bit to himself. "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Samuel. I work as a Medic in Whitefrost, but every now and then I'll get called to other towns. Usually by the wealthy since they can afford such long distance services. You must be from Eophans. Those robes really give it away."

"A pleasure meeting you as well." Sam thinks a moment. "So what are you doing in Port Luneth? I'm assuming a pilgrimage to become the next Great Sage requires more than just a quick visit to a bunch of towns."

"So it's more of a deal of deciding if you want to return home or stay in one of the places you've traveled to?"