Coldly, you say, "Is that not the favor you asks?"

A dove comes flying into the room, deposits a ruined sheet of scorched stationery into your hands, warbles cheerfully, and flies away.

You read what is written on a ruined sheet of scorched stationery:
You have had the power in your hands, even if you put it back. We want
you to join us. If you want more, and knowledge besides, you will meet
with me. When we summon you, and we will, come alone.
Tell no one you received this letter. If you tell someone, you lose your
chance. Secrecy is required. We can make you strong, stronger than
anyone else. We have the answers. I will explain more in person.

As you unfold the stationery, it self-ignites and begins burning in your hands. With haste, your eyes scan the page as you try to commit the written contents to your memory, and in moments the letter is nothing but a pile of dark brown ash.

You blink.
You blanch suddenly.
You glance askance.
You narrow your eyes to thin slits.

You have emoted: Cheliyi stares at her hands, frowning at the ash. With grim determination, she cleanses her hands and pretends nothing occurred.

An ugly black vulture circles above, looking for carrion.

A halo of celestial light wells about you, the shells upon a shimmering wreath of seashells reflecting it outwards, painting your surroundings in a spray of oceanic hues.

You think to yourself: It must be Summer Heat. I am devoted to my Lady, and will not falter. But I must know.

You touch the Mantle of Starlight and are surrounded by a brilliant white light. The distant song of an angelic choir can be heard as you feel angelic hands lift you up and carry you away.

Near the duck pond.
Pale, watery light floats away from a shield shrine of Carakhan nearby. Thick dreamy cotton clouds are spread across the firmament. The flat, grassy lawn of the city park slopes gently downwards and then drops abruptly to the edge of a shallow pond. Large, tame, white ducks paddle lazily back and forth, occasionally bobbing their heads below the surface. On the south end of the pond, water lilies create a solid blanket of green which barely breaks the surface of the water.
You see exits leading northeast and northwest.

You cup your hands together in offering. Motes of light unfurl to reveal a single star lotus in your palm, lingering there with radiant beauty.

A rush of summer warmth passes through you as you smell grass and flowers and glimpse the limitless blue of a perfectly blue, sunlit sky.

You settle to the ground in a cross-legged position, inhaling deeply. As you bring your hands up to rest open-palmed at either side, you exhale, clearing your mind.

Eyes closing, you murmur, "Ah, my Lady... hope You are doing well in Your travels..."
You grab protectively at Immaculate Prayer Beads of the Empyreal Goddess.

The melodious voice of Tridemon resonates in your mind, "Have fun with the ducks. I'm going to be somewhere in the ocean until there's a mild disaster. Or something else that inexplicably requires me to leave you alone for a certain amount of time for unspecified reasons."

Harmony echoes in your mind as you sing to Tridemon Regalis, Keeper of Pure Waters, "Hehe. Alrights!"

As night snatches away the day, the blare of trumpets resound throughout New Celest from the Auger Spire as if to greet the twinkling stars above with peaceful music.

A stranger bumps into you, strolling by the duck pond. He does not apologise, instead he whispers as he moves to carry on. "The Nerale Mausoleum in Oleanvir Valley. Alone. Tell no one." And then he is gone, vanishing among the park-goers.

You purse your lips pensively, gazing off into the distance as you carefully gather your thoughts.
You have emoted: Cheliyi stands up, dusting off her skirt.

--> nyoom!

Before shell-laden guardians.
It is quite mild. Smooth marble stones have been cut and lain together in the well-trimmed grass, making a simple yet elegant, traditional path from the other mausoleums to this one. Not as large as its approximate neighbor, though roughly as large as the only other mausoleum in the row, the structure's form spreads off westwards, though the entryway most certainly runs to the south. Each of the large steps have been cut into the marble plinth upon which the structure itself is built, two sections framing the ascendance. Upon each side of the stairs rises a statue, both imperial merians, bedecked and jeweled in seashells and sand dollars, their necks bejeweled with the small pukka shells alongside the slightly large whelk shells, both wearing pink-tinged conch shells just above their breast. That statue which stands at the entrance's right holds within his hands an hour glass, one hand flat upon its base while the other is pressed flat upon its top, positioned precisely just above the lowered, inverted triangle held by his feminine counterpart, the tip of the triangle in her slightly cupped left hand, her right pressed against its base.
You see exits leading east and in.

You peer about yourself unscrupulously.

--> in!

Entrance to the Nerale Mausoleum.
The vaulted ceilings of the entry corridor have been mostly obscured by thin, silky curtains which have been draped low, reverently shrouding out the nearby scenes. In each of the walls an alcove has been cut, the sheer curtains only partially veiling the  stone sarcophaguses within, where long dead patriarchs and matriarchs of the Nerale family have long been buried. Above each sarcophagus, the symbol of house Nerale, an hourglass over an inverted triangle, have been placed within the wall in the form of mosaics, the rich purple and black gemstone tiles placed by a skilled master of the art. Atop each tomb the likeness of two elderly merian women have been carved, golden halos having been placed upon their brows and great, feathered wings drawn about their forms, as if cradling them in an eternal slumber. Within the hands of one an hourglass can be seen, carved into the alabaster stone, clutched against her chest - her companion likewise holding an inverted triangle, her hands calmly folded over it. A grand archway opens into the mausoleum at the end of the passage, its keystone emblazoned with the symbol of the house beside the five-pointed star of the Light. Above the keystone, two small sconces flicker as the oil within burns, casting some measure of light upon the rich, dark script that reads, 'Nerale'. This room has been recently swept clean, the marble floors nearly sparkling.
You see exits leading north and out.

You breathe in deeply through a sun-kissed nose, taking in the scent of your surroundings.

Looking around warily, you say, "Where are yous, yes?"

Two small sconces is all that illuminates the mausoleum entrance, their faint light flickering as if spooked.


With an unhurried gait, a hooded dracnari walks in slowly from the north.

Quietly, a hooded dracnari says, "You can follow directions, good."

You have emoted: Cheliyi's eyes glow faintly in the darkness, the mugwump unbothered by the shadows that flicker in the light. "When I wants, yes." She dusts off her sleeve, staring up to a hooded dracnari sternly. "Now whats."

--> look dracnari

Crisp, white robes clad the form of a tall dracnari, numbering him as an ascetic of some sort. At his breast, something has been removed from his robe, only a faint outline left behind. A deep hood disguises his face, baring only the dull brown of the scales of his neck. His physique is entirely obscured underneath the voluminous fabric, leaving his figure entirely to the imagination. His hands, however are slender and delicate, and he moves with a practiced deliberateness.
A hooded dracnari looks to be crushingly strong.

Glint of green visible from beneath a voluminous hood, a hooded dracnari says, "You are interested then, in what we have to offer?"

Her expression grim, you say, "Yes. I want to know about the power, and how you gain it. How I could gain it."
You have emoted: Cheliyi clasps her hands in front of her, waiting patiently for a hooded dracnari's answer.

Intrigued, a hooded dracnari says, "And yet, when you had it in your hand... you returned it back onto the altar. Why?"

A hooded dracnari scratches absently at his forearm, momentarily pushing the sleeve of his pristine robes further up. The spot where he scratches appears to have been scratched many times before, devoid of a scale and reddened.

Dryly, you say, "What use is an objects, if have not the knowledge to wield its? In my hand, it is just a stone. A stone that really does not like existence, it seems."

You think to yourself: **a quiet, still mind. serene as the pond. serene as the lotus.**.

You have emoted: Cheliyi's eyes flick to the scale, and she sighs. "Are Summer Heat? Or are a follower? Cannot tell under that hood of yours."

Raising hands to his hood, a hooded dracnari says, "And so you are here, speaking... to none about it, as was demanded of you. You desire to know more, and more you shall learn then."

Summer Heat, the Firetouched lowers the hood slowly, his intense green eyes glinting in the half-dark.

Crisp, white robes clad the form of a tall dracnari, numbering him as an ascetic of some sort. At his breast, something has been removed from his robe, only a faint outline left behind. His cowl is lowered, baring the dull brown of his scales. His gaze is intense, green eyes frequently focused on the pages of a book. His physique is entirely obscured underneath the voluminous fabric, leaving his figure entirely to the imagination. His hands, however are slender and delicate, and he moves with a practiced deliberateness.
Summer Heat, the Firetouched almost glows with nearly god-like power.
He weighs about 125 pounds.
He has a moderate resistance to fire damage.
He has a moderate weakness to cold damage.
He has a slight resistance to poison damage.
He has a moderate resistance to psychic damage.
You cannot see what Summer Heat, the Firetouched is holding.
It has the following aliases: summer.

You have emoted: Cheliyi waits curiously, her own dull eyes glittering with interest. "What you did to those mummies, it did not look very clean, or safe. Am curious what was actually happening, of course."

Summer Heat, the Firetouched smiles ever so slowly. "Ah, so many questions, but earnest desire to learn is poor replacement for trust."

You have emoted: Cheliyi scoffs quietly, but does not reply.

Holding your gaze, Summer Heat, the Firetouched says, "I have the answers, but first you must prove yourself. To do so, there is a favour we ask of you. If you accept and fulfill it, we will meet again. If you do not, you will have squandered your chance at true power and we will not contact you again. You will receive no answers."

You narrow your eyes to thin slits.

Echoed by rippling waters, you say, "A favor? I will hear it."

Summer Heat, the Firetouched lowers his head and looks up towards you, his intense green eyes agleam in the half-dark of the mausoleum. "Ah a simple favour, I assure you," he replies with a hint of a smirk, "You need only... sabotage one Latifa y'Bolgari in her endeavours."

You have emoted: Cheliyi blinks slowly, her eyes flicking away as she ponders the request.

Summer Heat, the Firetouched scratches at his neck absently and then rubs his lips, as if to check if something is there, but they appear perfectly regular.

Softly, you say, "Is this a test of determination and trust? Or something that truly benefits your cause?"

--> chelp latifa

No match found for "latifa", trying a search...
Search results for "latifa":
  1) File:  darkhonours
     Title: DARK HONOUR QUESTS
     ...esidio of the Damned. Having chosen the viscanti physique as the
     ultimate portrayal of beauty, LATIFA y'Bolgari seeks to
     restore and preserve it at an...

Smiling cryptically, Summer Heat, the Firetouched says, "It is a favour."
Summer Heat, the Firetouched says, "Choose carefully."

Echoed by rippling waters, you say, "... you want me to sabotage her?"

Simply, Summer Heat, the Firetouched says, "Yes."

With a frown, you say, "How? She is the one who wants facial creams, yes?"

Holding your gaze, Summer Heat, the Firetouched says, "Indeed. Offer to aid her, and when the opportunity arises, sabotage her instead."

Echoed by rippling waters, you say, "... I am willing to do this. I have simply never assisted her before, so I am unsure of when to... sabotage."

Tilting his head, Summer Heat, the Firetouched says, "Hesitant. You do not appear as eager as you made it sound."
Summer Heat, the Firetouched says, "Someone will offer you a way along the way. Aid her, and the opportunity will arise."
Summer Heat, the Firetouched says, "She is not beloved among even her own, someone will make the offer."

Coldly, you say, "I speak in my own ways, and to be eager when gaining power is a foolish errand. It must be measured. But I am willing. Is that not the favor you asks?"

A cryptic smile stretching his lips, Summer Heat, the Firetouched says, "We will find you when the favour is done."

Summer Heat, The Firetouched turns and walks leisurely to the out, his lanky tail cutting a path in the air behind him.

You have emoted: Cheliyi huffs softly, her hands brushing against a glass ampoule of bottled starlight.

You have emoted: Cheliyi looks around in the silence of the courtyard, grim and unsettled.

You touch the Mantle of Starlight and are surrounded by a brilliant white light. The distant song of an angelic choir can be heard as you feel angelic hands lift you up and carry you away.