You walk away from the land where the stockades once stood. Dark purple clouds are forming in the distance and a chilly breeze is blowing in from off the river. The new power you possess after escaping the now vanished stockade courses through your veins and you walk with a new sense of confidence and purpose because of it. Once a slave, now you are brimming with power and remembering those days is becoming tougher. You were meek and obedient to your masters. Now you wonder how you ever ended up in bondage.  

You step up to the river to see that the current is flowing much stronger than normal. The purple clouds have made the wind howl and blow quite rapidly. At the small bridge, you feel a strong gust starting to push you around. You brace yourself against a wooden railing to prevent yourself from falling in while the rest of your party bends their knees to give their body more support. The gust stops and you’re able to cross the river, but the city of Sunshire appears to be in a different state. Where before, people were walking the streets, there is no one to be found. Though this is the residential portion of the city, there were still passers-by and travelers roaming from the port. No one is walking through the area and it is incredibly quiet.

You move through the residential portion of the city and make it back to the square to see all of the decorations for the gathering setup, but only the mayor there. He’s leaning against a cart sulking while you walk by. He looks up at you with an angry and hateful expression, though you keep moving. He doesn’t appear friendly like before and talking to him may not end well. You continue past the area to find the next area of Sunshire, the commercial and mercantile sectors, still bustling, though not as busy as before. While entering the area, you turn slightly toward the water to see a small cafe with Papis sitting at a table, sipping from a small brown chalice. The liquid coming from it is steaming and as you walk up, Papis smiles earnestly. “I see the stockades have vanished. The entire city is buzzing about it and the mayor is rather upset that you’ve upstaged his celebration,” Papis says while sipping from his small chalice. He smirks while setting it down and looking across the table at you. “I was right. You are quite gifted.”

He smiles and looks over your shoulder to see a young, blonde haired woman wearing white armor coming up. “Odd,” says Papis as he tilts his head slightly. He looks her over, noticing the insignia on her chest before she approaches you.

“Excuse me,” she says, prompting you to turn around. Chalise, the young woman from the Stockades, is standing behind you, appearing lost and confused. “Something seems quite amiss about this world.”

You look at her with a confused glance while Papis sips from the brown chalice. “The Order of Derrien has only been released from our prison for a few brief moments, but the five of us all feel that something is amiss. The forces of Loccaris are marching upon this land and I feel as if we will not have much time to reacquaint ourselves and potentially fill our ranks.”

“The Order of Derrien hasn’t been around for thousands of years… “ says a surprised Papis.

“And I believe that’s how long we’ve been away from the world,” explains Chlaise. She pauses briefly while looking surprised. “The Order has really gone?”

“There’s no trace of the Order of Derrien on Dun-I right now,” answers Papis. “The old cults are scattered about and lost. You’ll see remnants of some of them, but they are quite few and far between.”

Chalise looks down and sulks. “That’s quite unfortunate,” she says softly. “I suppose then we will have refill our ranks then if we are to stand a chance against the might of Loccaris. Surely, there are some who would be willing to risk their lives for Dun-I.”

“There are that,” replies Papis. “Perhaps it’d be wise for you and your companions to meet Aertis and the Soldiers of Derrien. You share a namesake after all, perhaps you could align yourself with them.”

Chalise nods. “Perhaps,” she states assuredly. “There are still a few other things though that are quite bothersome.”

“Like what?” asks Papis.

“This place was always a contested piece of Dun-I. While on the surface, Sunshire was founded by the Dorveaux family, devout followers of Saeria. Maloris always hand in its foundation. No matter how much of a foothold the Dorveaux’s managed to acquire, Maloris and his priests always seemed to undermine them, even setting up a large temple near here.” Chalise pauses for a moment and reaches across the table, grabbing Papis’s cup and taking a sip from it. Her face brightens up with excitement as she drinks the warm liquid, surprised at how delectable it is. “Culinary creations have really evolved in a few millennia.”

Papis looks at Chalise with a confused and annoyed gaze. “I wouldn’t know,” he says sarcastically while watching the ancient warrior drink from his cup.

Chalise holds onto the cup with two hands and smiles while looking across the table at Papis. She smiles warmly across the table at him before setting the cup down. “Though remarkably cunning and evil, Maloris was the most successful God when it came to undermining the rule of his compatriots. His followers would recruit and sew the seeds of his faith underneath the pillars of the other Gods. His followers would recruit within the ranks of the other Gods, something that angered the others, though there was nothing they could do to stop him.”

“Are you aware of the General Lorian?” asks Papis, realizing that Chalise was someone who could assist with knowledge about their current foe.

Chalise closes her eyes and nods solemnly. “The Order ran into him a few times but I only encountered him once. His past is a mystery, though I’ve heard stories that he was a mercenary prior to joining Maloris. He’s the most gifted swordsman I think I’ve ever seen. The one encounter that I had with him, I watched him slaughter seven of my friends with a single blade. They kept running into the slaughter and he kept striking them down with a smile on his face. Their blood pooled beneath his feet and he danced in it. He reveled in sending their souls to Vesya.”

“So you’re saying that he’s a ruthless and gifted fighter, but is he just as great of a tactician?” queried Papis.

Chalise shrugged her soldiers. “Maloris was never one for open combat. He preferred smaller skirmishes instead of large battles, and Lorian was quite gifted at that. I’ve never seen, or even heard of him involved in a large battle, but I’m sure he’s quite adept at it.”

“But you’re saying that he is untested?” asks Papis.

“As far as I’m aware, yes,” she confirms.

Papis smirks slightly. “That means that there is a chance Werz, and even the whole of Dun-I, could survive this invasion.”

Chalise shrugs her shoulders before leaning back in her chair. “The people of Dun-I in my time were very resilient. I sense that they’ve become oblivious to the evils that lurk beneath the fabric of this world though.”

“Like what?” asks Papis as he leans forward.

Chalise smirks before pointing off into the distance. “That large hill in the distance isn’t just a graveyard,” she says while shaking her head.

Papis squints his eyes and looks at her closely. “What?”

“Beneath that hill, at one time, was rumored to be a labyrinth built for the followers of Maloris. It’s caverns and caves beneath the surface would lead to the large temple built down the river toward the coast,” she explains while leaning back in her chair, speaking casually about things that were at one time presumed as common knowledge. “It’s so tough to find that temple as well, as it only comes out when there is a heavy fog, but the magic of Maloris is something that is quite spectacular, even if it is centered upon corruption.”

Papis nods. “Do you think that temple may still be there?”

“I have no idea. I’ve been in a prison for quite some time,” she replies sarcastically. “There’s honestly only one way to find out.”

Papis turns and looks toward the large hill that she mentioned and chuckles. “That’s the Qirean Graveyard. It’s not a place you want to go to after the sun goes down. Too many things don’t want to stay in the ground.”

Chalise leans forward and grabs the cup again and takes another sip. “That’s what happened before,” she says while sipping from the cup. “Creatures would rise from the ground nightly and the followers of Saeria were forced to combat them routinely.” She pauses while setting the cup back down on the table. “If things are still rising, then the magic may still exist and that temple may still be beneath the surface, though no one ever could find the entrance.”

“We need as much information on the forces of Loccaris as we can get,” continues Papis. “I knew sending you guys into the Stockades would prove fruitful,” he says with a wry smile. “I suppose we must make haste to the graveyard, advenuters. If that temple was really there, maybe there is something there that can give us some info on Lorian and perhaps show us a weakness.” Papis smirks before pushing himself away from the table. “Prepare yourselves. We leave for the Qirean Graveyard shortly.”

Story continues in the Scenaro: Qirean Graveyard