"Halkeginian "

'Thoughts'

'Telepathy'

'Spells and the like'

"Common/Dwarven/Elven"

"Speech: Draconic"

"Speech: Abyssal"

Raskreia walked forward destroying the magic circle keeping the succubus imprisoned with her foot.

Xylara smiled in appreciation "I see that you are a reasonable person. I am su-" she couldn't speak any further as Raskreia's clawed hand firmly grabs hold of her throat. before she gets slammed against the wall behind her.

Xylara was about to start struggling, and most probably break free, as Raskreia is not much stronger than she is, however she stilled completely when she laid eyes on what was right in front of her.

An emerald green orb, no bigger than a marble, was pointed directly at her chest. She was no expert on magic, but she knew that getting hit by that would most likely not be good for her continued existence. And then she saw Raskreia's eyes, glowing sapphire orbs of a dragon, and every bit of their attention was currently focused on her.

"Listen, and listen carefully. I don't trust you to be on any sort of decent behaviour. But I do trust your self preservation instinct. If you make me regret letting you out of this prison of yours, I WILL find you. And what I will wreathe upon you then would make you wish that I had ended you here." Xylara did not know whether it was real, or only a panicked fit of imagination, but she was certain the temperature in the room just spiked by a noticeable margin. Not that heat could harm her, but she did not fancy being at the wrong end of a dragon either way. "We clear?"

"Crystal." She shifted uncomfortably in the other woman's grip "Could you let me go now… please? "

For a long few seconds Raskreia scrutinised the succubus in her grip, before slowly letting go and regaining her easygoing expression, and she started walking away towards the defaced corpse in the middle of the room. "Good, glad we got that unpleasant business out of the way." For some reason it unnerved Xylara quite a bit how drastically Raskreia's mood could shift so quickly. In fact, she would almost say it was two different people she had been dealing with.

'No, that probably isn't it. She probably only gets serious when she believes a cause to be important enough to get serious over.' Xylara thought over if she should actually ask her next question or if she would rather not know. In the end however her curiosity won over. "Can I ask what spell you had aimed at me?"

"Oh, that was a disintegrate." Raskreia didn't even turn around to acknowledge the fact that the succubus has paled considerably and sunk down to her knees in terror.

'I'm starting to understand why a balor is following that woman.'

The kids could only look on in bafflement at what was transpiring as they could only understand half of what was being said. All they really caught was that Raskreia threatened the succubus over something, and that it had evidently worked.

"What was that all about?" if Raskreia heard, much less understood, the question being directed at her by Louise she did not show it.

Cathilia still having the translation necklace on her chose to translate for the dragoness "She asked what all that was about."

"Tell her that I am not currently in a talking mood, and that we are leaving now." As she says that she walks up to the strung-up corpse of an unknown man before gently lifting the necklace they have come here to get in the first place.

She the proceeds to use her claws cut the ropes holding up the corpse and catching it before it can hit the ground, lowering it gently to the floor, and not caring about the liberal amount of blood now covering her front.

"May you find peace in the embrace of your god." 'Wall of stone'.After finishingthe short spell chant the remains of the man are encased in a makeshift sarcophagus that has sprung into existence.

After that she turned and left, not saying anything further other than a short spell chant to clean herself.

Later

The journey back to the dryad's grove was an awkward, if silent, affair. The students did not quite know how to start any sort of conversation. And as such all that was left for them to do was to either cast wary glances at the two demons walking along with them, or to try their best to not further annoy Raskreia who was clearly agitating over something.

The half dragon on the other hand did not wish to speak for the time being, even though her necklace had been returned to her in the meantime by Cathilia.

No, she was contemplating what kind of metaphysical road she is currently choosing for herself.

In the span of two days she has freed just as many demons into the world. This is not normal for her, her normal modus operandi for these situations would have been to just kill or banish the demons.

Yet no matter how she twisted or turned the situations in her head she could not come up with a satisfactory resolution to those given problems. And it all boiled down to the fact that the current solution that she took left the least amount of a bitter taste in her mouth.

She spent nearly half an hour mulling this over before letting out a near inaudible sigh.

"Look, I'm sorry for not mentioning that Cathilia was a demon, but be honest. Would it have made anything better?" Raskreia said, finally breaking the silence, and gaining the rapt attention of everyone there, even if some didn't understand what was being said.

It was Louise who answered before anyone else could "Of course it would have, we could have actually been wary of her rather than the was we had been. What if she lashed out or something?!"

"To be honest, being wary in that case would have helped you little, as in the unlikely case that she DID lash out there would be next to nothing you could do against it." She grimaced a bit before continuing "I know that know that that must not fill you with much confidence but there IS a reason why I am as casual about this as I am."

Louise did not look convinced "Oh yeah and what would that be."

She took a moment to come up with the appropriate terms for what she was about to say before taking a deep breath and explaining the events leading up to her coming into contact with Cathilia.

"Now you have to understand in all of this of how much importance the duration of her imprisonment is. She has been in that place for well over ten thousand years, allot of magic from that age has been lost and can no longer be performed. I am not sure about the precise effects this has on her but it is safe to say that it is having an effect on her."

The teens contemplated the new information, and all but one of them decided that Raskreia probably knew more about this kind of stuff than they did, and to put some faith in her decision.

"And how do you know this is having an effect on her at all?" It was Guiche that questioned this. He knew Raskreia by far the least out of the group and as such had not much to base his faith on.

The dragoness gained a sardonic smile before answering the boy "Simple, I would have never returned alive to you to introduce you to Cathilia in the first place. I have no illusions of grandeur to claim that I could best a Balor in single combat. Mind you I might, in the event that I am prepared and surprise one, and even that is a big MIGHT. The situation I found myself in was being locked in an enclosed space with one, a space that also doubled as an anti-magic zone."

"I- I see." Guiche for his part is having a hard time imagining something that could warrant Raskreia to have this oppressive vision of her own mortality.

By this point they were already approaching the entrance of the grove, and lo upon entering the dryad is already waiting for them at her tree.

"You return. And with yet another demon in tow. One might question your integrity, yet I

also see you carry my necklace so think nothing of my earlier comment." Indeed, the Dryads gaze was not on any of them but it was firmly locked onto the piece of jewellery.

"We promised that we would get you your treasure back and we kept it." As Raskreia said this she gently handed the necklace over to the dryad, who took it almost reverently.

"You did promise, and you delivered. I thank you for bringing back the last memento I have of my love. And as promised you may take the metal you desired." The dryad was no longer looking at them, rather she was walking towards her tree and she hung the necklace from the lowest hanging branch, which in turn curled up protectively around the delicate thing, much to the amazement of those who have not seen something like this before.

"Would it be alright if we returned for the ore at a later date? Transporting it at the current moment would be a hassle."

"You may keep it here as long as you desire. It has been in my lake for longer than I have taken residence here, what is more time to it or myself."

Raskreia smiled and nodded at that before speaking once more "Excuse me if I seem rude, but we should probably hit the road now."

"No offence is taken. I bid thee a safe journey. May we meet again, dragon-child."

The next day: route towards Kerse

The rest of the previous day was spent by the group visiting the other places Cathilia has found for them to sightsee. Nothing of particular note happened, though the kids found it nice to see something else for a change, and it helped relax Raskreia.

Now they were only a short way off of Kerse and Raskreia's mind was abuzz with thoughts on how she could actually get her demons into the city.

'Wait. My demons? Did I just think that!? Dear gods, am I getting attached to them?' unknowing of Raskreia's inner monologue the non-natives were eagerly looking on towards the city that they could now see in the distance. The walls were simply massive by their standards, at least judging by how far they think they must still be from the city.

"You can now get your first look at the walls of Kerse. It is one of the bigger centres of trade in the Inner Sea region. Most of the goods produced by the dwarves in the Five Kings Mountains passes through those walls at one point or another. Not only that, but its position allows it access to trade routes connecting it to the countries of Molthune, Nirmathas, Lastwall, Ustalav, Razmiran, and Kyonin." Raskreia took a moment to consider the fact that that information wouldn't mean much to them but decided to continue anyway. "As a result, it is one of the richer cities around. And it is also my place of residence… well sort off."

Louise puffed up her chest as she semi smugly said "Because you decided you would rather stay with me in our world?"

Only for Raskreia to not even blink as she crushed her opinion "Not quite. I consider my stay in your home more of a vacation, maybe an adventure. My home is still this world. But that's not what I meant, what I meant is best seen to be explained. Besides, even if I stayed with you your whole life, it would scarcely be a fraction of my lifetime."

Tabitha and Kirche caught on first to the meaning of the last sentence, Kirche voiced her thoughts however "Wait, your lifespan is something ridiculous as well isn't it? Just how old are you?" Causing the dragoness to chuckle.

"My how forward. Well, yes. I am very likely going to live to see at least a thousand years, some scholars I consulted on my potential lifespan estimate it more along the lines of three thousand though." She then got a bit of a mischievous smirk as she though about the next thing she would say. "And to answer your other question, I am going to be one hundred fifty-one next month, I expect presents." And she got a nice laugh out of their expressions.

"You are old enough to be my great-grandmother!" Guiche exclaimed, whereupon Rask's eyes took on a dangerous glint.

"I look like a granny now, do I?" before easing up after seeing the poor boy start to sweat bullets. "I kid, I kid. That thought isn't quite true, I would be old enough, yes. IF we were talking in human years. Elves on the other hand are only considered adult once they reach a hundred and ten years of age, and we enter our middle age at a hundred and seventy-five. I on the other hand will probably take much longer due to my dragon blood."

The slight tension that was present earlier seems to have dissolved now that they got talking once more. And the rest of the journey was spent with pleasant small talk. Occasionally they would, now that they got to a road, pass by travellers going to or from the city most of them looking on curiously at the spectral chariot and its curious passengers.

As they got closer and closer to the city, one could make out more details. For one it was evident that even the walls of this city must be of sublime quality, they almost seemed to reflect the sunlight off of them. And secondly, the closer they got the more people they would see on the road.

At one-point Raskreia called down Sylphid so that Tabitha can tell her to not fly over or into the city unless told otherwise.

They finally reached the entrance at early noon, and already the line to enter the city was sizable. Peddling merchants were hawking their wares a respectable distance away from the gate to people waiting for entrance to the city.

Once they joined the que, they sunk into the monotony of the wait. Naturally it seemed that the rather colourful group of theirs, sitting in a spectral carriage, pulled by spectral dragon horses was the most interesting think many of these people have seen in a long while.

It came as no surprise that some of the merchants tried to focus their hawking at their group in particular, not that anyone had any interest in buying anything from them.

One thing that made Raskreia nervous was the fact that a number of people were looking apprehensively at Cathilia. Though she supposed that is due to her looking like the textbook definition of a succubus, though admittedly those books were likely written by scholars who have only ever heard about the bewitching seductresses. "Heh, if they knew that their assumption was not as far of the mark as they might think then we wouldn't have to wait in line at least."

Raskreia could already see that the guards at the gate were mostly human, though there was a singular Inevitable Arbiter on watch as well. Raskreia felt sorry for the poor thing, it might short circuit once Cathilia gets into range of it.

And just like predicted as they got within approximately sixty feet of the gate the tiny creature's eye went wide before it fell unceremoniously to the ground from where it was hovering. And there it flapped uselessly for a few seconds to the confusion of the human guards around, before it righted itself once more and darted off, into the city.

Some ten minutes after this event they can see a squad of guards approaching them directly from the side of the line.

Once they were a respectable distance away the apparent leader of the squad stepped forward to speak to their group in general "Good day to you."

Raskreia taking the lead once more for their group turned fully to the man to reply "Good day to you as well. I think I already know what this is about. And I am both willing and able to explain."

Both Raskreia and Cathilia noticed the infinitesimal relaxation in the guard's posture at her words. "Lady, you don't know how glad I am to hear that. I know you; you are that adventurer that lives in the mansion just passed the bard's college. If even half the things I heard about you are true I REALLY don't want to test my luck against you if it came to blows. Now if you could please come with us, I would appreciate it."

This got a chuckle out of Raskreia "Oh joy, rumours and tall tales." Before composing herself once more "I apologize for the difficulty this must cause, but if it could be any less awkward, I would love it to be so."

The guard lead them away from the line and into a side room of the gatehouse.

"So, would you like to explain now why you bring powerful beings of chaos with you?" the guard, now sitting at a table, asked their group in general.

"Its somewhat complicated. The short of it is that I was in a bad situation and the best chance of escape for myself and several captured villagers was to make a deal with this demon. Her freedom and life in exchange for her servitude. And shorty after we cleansed the den of a demonologist where we found the other demon. Struck a similar deal with her because it would have been hypocritical of myself to treat her any different than the other." She sees the guard's eyes widen and knew she revealed something that she should have probably kept for herself.

"Wait, wait. They are actual demons? I had thought them Tieflings in service of some chaotic deity. This complicates things, demon summoning is strictly forbidden in this city."

Before the guard could say any more Raskreia latched on to one particular part of what the man had just said "Demon summoning may be. But as you see I am not summoning anything, and last I checked this city wasn't too picky on who it does commerce either. Are not Ustalav and Ramziran some of this city's biggest commercial partners. I was under the impression that this city welcomed all with the ability to behave and coin in their pockets, and we have both aplenty." Raskreia was hoping that she hadn't let her silver tongue rust too much these past years.

"That may be true and all, but demons are somewhat of a different matter, are they not?" the guards resolve seemed to be wavering slightly, which was good for Rask.

"How so? Is a well-behaved demon much different from a well-behaved man? Had it been a celestial of equal presence as them wanting passage you would have welcomed them with open arms, yet their potential for destruction is equal."

"True, but they are also less likely to pose any danger to the city."

"Are we now judging people based on the possibility that they COULD bring harm? Then you might as well close your gates and let the city rot from the inside. To persecute for crimes not yet done does not make any sense." Not Raskreia's strongest argument ever but it would have to do for now.

The guard audibly sighed before looking right at Raskreia "Alright, I will let you people pass. But only because I honestly doubt that you carry any ill will towards this city, considering that you probably make most of your revenue from this place. Never mind the fact you live here. But if anything happens it will be on your head, got that?"

"Got it. But I would also like to notify you that there will be a juvenile blue dragon flying towards my home, would it be possible for you to notify the other guards so that they do not panic?" Raskreia felt a bit guilty at the guards exasperated expression but here was not much she could do to make this situation go any smoother than it already has.

"Lady, you lead an interesting life. I will notify the guard; heaven knows dragons do whatever they please anyways. No offence." She couldn't but help smile at his resigned attitude.

"None taken. I know we do."

Shortly after

As the group left the stuffy interior of the gatehouse the people who have yet to have seen the interior of the city cannot help but openly gawk at what was at display. Even Cathilia who has undoubtedly seen much in her days had to admit what she saw was impressive.

Every single building that they saw was as though it was a high-ranking noble's manor from back home in Tristain, perhaps even more opulent. The immaculate streets were lined with bronze, silver and gold statues of various figures. The bricks of buildings were flecked with gemstones. And lastly palace upon palace loomed in the distance.

Not only that but the streets were occupied by a wide variety of people, something that was present but less obvious when they were waiting in line for entrance into the city. Though admittedly the populace was mostly human, it was not weird to see an elf or a dwarf walking along the streets.

Raskreia looked on bemusedly as most of her companions looked on dazedly at their surroundings.

Louise was the first to regain her senses before sputtering out the most prominent question in her mind "Raskreia… you live HERE?"

"Like I said, you will see. Anyways, let us continue."

As they walked through the city the teens were looking every which way to memorize as much as they possibly could. At one-point Raskreia told them to wait for a moment at an intersection with a fountain at the middle, and darted off around a corner, before returning about ten minutes later.

"Sorry about that, I needed to take care of something."

For the whole time they walked all everyone could see was a city of bustling commerce and extreme opulence. The standard guard was clad in silvery plate, but those were not the only, or most interesting guards. That would be the winged humanoid and/or mechanical creatures walking and flying about in patrols.

It truly struck home to the Tristainians how they were in a different country and world.

"What are those… people? I mean the ones with wings or made of metal." Guiche couldn't help but ask as once more the walked past a golem like being, shifting gears visible through an open chest-plate.

"Archons and inevitables mostly. They are contracted to keep the peace and order in the city, they are one of the main reasons why the crime rate in this place is as low as it is despite the opulence."

The Teens were about to ask a different question but Raskreia cut them, unknowingly, off. "To our right you will see the bard's college Zarhon opened up. Its basically his pride and joy, too bad he is an atrocious headmaster."

"What does one even have to know about being a bard to require a whole college for it?" Louise was legitimately confused why this needed so much effort? Those few wanting to pursue the path of music could just as well hire a tutor in her mind.

Surprisingly it was Xylara who answered instead of Raskreia "Our definition of bard does not necessarily only include musicians. Bards are scholars, adventurers, storytellers, tricksters, magicians and leaders all wrapped into one package. While most focus on one or two of those walks, its not uncommon for bards to strive for at least proficiency in all. Some even call them jacks of all trades, masters of none."

"They sound like some self-styled heroes from a sort of book."

"In a sense they are, or at least aspire to be."

As the group passes the college, they come to a stop at a large gate preventing access to a mansion sitting at the crest of a hill.

Compared to the surrounding buildings it is rather small, though no less lavishly decorated. The watchman at the gate instantly opened it once he saw Raskreia approach allowing them to proceed unhindered.

Louise was gazing at the mansion a small way away in contemplation "You live there? I must say it is rather impressive."

"Hmmm, it is one of the few places I would consider home, yes."

Once they are half way up the path Sylphid finally caught up with them, landing next to Tabitha. And walking alongside them.

Upon opening the door all but Cathilia and Felniir are struck silent.

The non-locals due to the rather awe-inspiring number of trophies scattered around the foyer. Some of the more impressive ones being the stuffed hydra dripping illusory acid from all seven of its heads, a pair of severed four fingered talons with each claw the length of a human forearm, a rug made from the pelt and stuffed head of a creature which looks like the demented cross of owl and bear.

But the crown jewel of the show, is the massive dragon skull suspended from the ceiling which had an eerie pale blue flame burning within its maw. And instead of sparks this fire let off snowflakes that slowly drifted downwards lightly illuminating the entire room, before fading into nothingness.

Raskreia however is struck silent due to both Thorgal and Kwalin with Zarhon to the side being present, both giving her stern gazes from the other side of the room that she came to associate with her having done something that they do not approve of.

"Hello Raskreia, I see you brought guests. Some more welcome than others." Thorgal said andRaskreia didn't really need to think on who he was referring to.

He was slowly walking towards them, keeping his helmeted gaze at the two demons behind Rask. Kwalin and Zarhon were not far behind either, though the latter of which looked more amused than anything else.

The teens finally noticed the trio coming towards them, and while they had already seen and met one of them, they haven't yet seen the other two. All except Louise, however seeing them from up close was completely different to seeing them from afar in a dream vision, a vision she had forgotten up until she has seen all four of them in one room.

Both Kwalin and Thorgal made for a rather awe-inspiring sight all things considered. Kwalin in his matte plate armor, war hammer and heavy shield in his hands.

Thorgal on the other hand wore his, now staple, silvery green plate armor showing not a single inch of skin, a long ornate cloak billowing behind him from the breeze coming from the door. He was also a veritable walking armory, carrying an earth breaker, tower shield, musket, hatchet, dagger and lastly his longsword.

He came to a stop before the group and entered an intense staring contest with Cathilia, who was now standing protectively in front of Raskreia, something that didn't go unnoticed by Kwalin if the momentary twitch of his beard and widening of eyes was anything to go by.

After a few moments of this Thorgal broke of his stare and gave a nod towards Zarhon who stepped up.

"I am just going to cast a language spell on all of you, so that this becomes easier on all of us, alright?" Hearing no objections, he walked up to one of the teens first and gave a quick chant 'Tongues: Communal' before going around and touching everyone that he knew spoke no common, briefly hesitating at the stare he received from Cathilia, but casting it on her anyways. He was momentarily surprised by the fact that he felt no spell resistance or immense heat from her. Sure, her skin was warmer than would be healthy for a human in any way shape or form, but at least it didn't burn his hand, quite the opposite actually as her skin felt rather nice to the touch.

"Now that everyone can understand me, I would like to know why you deigned to bring not one but two demons with you Raskreia. And why I had to find this out from Zarhon inviting me to a meal." He took a deep breath before continuing on his little rant "Oh but let us not forget the fact that one of those demons is not ONLY a balor lord, but one that you had set free from her prison yourself." At his angry tone Cathilia instinctively growled and moved herself even more between Thorgal and Raskreia, as though to shield her with her body.

Thorgal's gaze once more fell on Cathilia "Oh stop it will you. For one I am not intimidated by you in the slightest. And secondly, I would advise you release my friend from whatever spell you have put on her. I don't believe for one second you would actually care about her enough to shield her with your body so drop the façade."

Cathilia took a step forward, moving her hand towards her hip to grasp a blade that was not there realizing such was the case and clenching her fists instead. "Do not presume, mortal, that you understand my mind or my motives. You do however have some guts trying to intimidate me, I would like to see them first hand once I ripped them out of-."

Cathilia couldn't finish her threat as she was grabbed by the ear and physically dragged back away from the paladin, though it was clear that she felt no pain whatsoever from the action. Raskreia now holding firmly onto a bewildered demoness's ear moved herself in a way that made it quite clear that she didn't need protecting from her three friends.

"Alright that is enough. Cathilia, stop threatening my friends. Thorgal, stop antagonizing a greater demon."

At the rather surreal sight of the demon in question looking like a kicked puppy and Thorgal being caught off guard Zarhon couldn't help it and broke out in laughter "Says the woman quite literally pulling said demon's ear." Even Kwalin couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the irony of it.

Cathilia, with her head tilted sideways to allow Raskreia an easier grip on her ear, removed her gaze from Raskreia and moved it to Thorgal once more. "You see now wretch-" a yank "Mayfly?" another yank "Mortal?" she didn't receive a yank this time so she continued "You see now mortal? I hold not her under my sway, it is quite literally the other way around."

Thorgal looked somewhat bewildered for a moment before letting out a mirthful chuckle "Only you Raskreia, only you would be influencing a balor of all things by pulling her ear." He then let out a long sigh "Look, I am merely worried for you. Look at it from my perspective. You are suddenly in the company of not one, but two, demons. One of which is a balor lord of all things and the other as succubus. Both of whom are notorious for their ability to subjugate other creatures. I just want you to know that I am suspicious for your own wellbeing. We have known each other for too long as for me to allow you to get killed, or worse corrupted by demons."

"If you would properly use those eyes of yours, Thorgal, you would have seen from the moment that she has seen us this demon lass has placed herself protectively in front of Raskreia." Kwalin said as he walked up to more closely examine the two demons now standing in close proximity to him, and for once neither party wanted to kill the other.

"You know what this dwarf thinks? This dwarf thinks that having a greater demon working for one of us carries previously unconsidered tactical advantages. You know well yourself how dangerous these fellas are in combat and out of it. But up until now we have only ever considered that in relation to them being enemies; and for good reason at that." The dwarf says combing his beard in thought. "And I'm not even only thinking about the combat potential this carries. Imagine if we had a inside source of information on the movements of demons pouring out of The Worldwound."

This gave even Thorgal pause for consideration "True, if we knew how and when the demons coming from that place where moving it would be much easier to counter them and save allot of lives in the process. This however means we would have to trust in the reports of a demon to be true in the first place."

"Not to sound uneducated, but what is this Worldwound you speak of?" Surprisingly enough this was Cathilia who asked this.

After a moment of perplexity Raskreia remembered that Cathilia couldn't possibly know about that area of the world as it has only become relevant long after she has been imprisoned. "It is a tear in reality upon this world leading directly into the Abyss with demons pouring through near constantly. It has been open for some twenty years now, give or take."

"And it hasn't been closed yet, in my experience with you mortals, you are rather quick to act when it comes to things like this." She looked contemplative for a moment before continuing "I mean, if you want me to, I can go and kill as many fiends as I can get my hands on before they actually manage to take me down."

"There you go again about devaluing yourself like this. How about appreciating your own life a bit more now that you are out of that cave for the first time in forever. That being said, how about we go to my home now?" The half dragoness said with a hint of exasperation; exasperation shared with her long-time friends but due to different reasons.

Though it seemed that they have cooled down quite a bit now in comparison to what their state was before.

Everyone who didn't know what she meant looked at her in confusion, however instead of explaining what she meant Raskreia merely started walking.

"What do you mean to your home? Isn't this it?" Louise was rather confused, if this wasn't her home why did they come here in the first place?

"Like I keep saying, you will see. Its something that is easier to show than explain."

Thorgal then spoke up once more as they were now making their way to and through the basement; thankfully all the hallways and such were large enough for Sylphid to fit through, if barely. "You do know you could just make a portal for everyone, right?"

"I could, but where is the mystery in that?" Was Raskreia's reply.

As they were passing a forge in the basement they got into an empty room, however before anyone could ask what they were doing here Raskreia waved her hand once at one of the walls causing something to click inside and a staircase to descend in the center of the room leading downward.

"Why do you have a secret staircase in your basement?" Guiche couldn't help but ask.

"Hell, if I know, it was here when we moved in." She answered in an easy voice.

Once at the bottom they are greeted by a well-lit cave with branching paths, not really giving the other paths Raskreia took the first right path leading to a dead end.

She again repeated the same hand motion, and yet another click was heard before part of the cave wall slid into the floor revealing a doorway.

"Okay, what could possibly need to be hidden this well?" Kirche couldn't help but exclaim.

"This used to be the personal library of a necromancer apparently. At least we assume so considering the number of necromantic tomes we found here originally. That and the entrance to my home is down here… one of them."

"… I was about to ask you a question but I realize I will only hear "You will see" as an answer" Xylara spoke for the first time in a long while. "Besides I think I have figured out what you are talking about."

At the end of the dusty room there was a simple, if large, circular wooden door. Raskreia reached for the handle and opened the thing up with a sort of flair of revealing some grand surprise.

And surprise it did, beyond the door lay a sunny meadow with a path leading to a carbon copy of the mansion they were currently in.

Stepping through the portal everyone could feel the change in the air, from dusty cold of a cave to warm and fresh outside air.

It was a very interesting place to be, in the sky hung two "suns" one a normal yellow and the other a deep blood red. To the east lay a small forested area a stream of fresh water flowing out from there and across the entire meadow westward. The stream ended in the west where it almost explosively turned to steam which covered a large portion of the west area in boiling mist; this was caused by the fact that the west area seemed to be an area covered liberally by pools of lava and geysers.

The portal they came through was inlaid in a large wall of black stone, into which there were inlaid three more doors leading to parts unknown. Yet behind said wall was not perhaps more meadow or lakes of lava, no it was an endless abyss leading into absolute nothingness, or so it looked at least with streams of arcane energy interwoven into the unending blackness. In truth it was merely this edge of the, unknown to most, ever expanding demiplane.

"And this is my home" This was said in the cheekiest voice Raskreia could possibly muster.

Those who were not used to such things were looking around rather dazedly, Cathilia on the other hand only had one thing to add to the situation "I am going to relax in the lava area later and you can't stop me." The way that was said it was impossible to tell for Raskreia whether she was serious or not, she wouldn't test it however since she wanted to do basically the same thing anyways.

With a laugh she then broke the children out of their daze then "Sure, but first… Food."

AN: Sorry that is has been… ALMOST (WHOOO!) a year now with no updates on this. However, I have been rather busy most of the time, what with moving to a new country, a new job and an apprenticeship.

But most grueling of all… I don't have any pen and paper games/campaigns going on anymore at the moment, and that makes me just not want to write about pen and paper related things. I felt like I needed to update this somehow at some point so here is this chapter. Maybe just maybe I can actually get myself to more regularly update rather than this stupid shit I'm doing atm.

Anyways… im out.