Journey to the Capitol - Part 5 - The Capitol

The 'test' had brought Ahsch a minute's jog away from the group by the time all the flying was done. When he made it back and mounted up on Mahat - who had returned during the flying portion where she couldn't help - he noticed that the knights seemed a little awed, Michlas as neutral-faced as usual, Ariin grinned at him, Kirasiel was scowling, and...

"You want to explain to me what possessed you to fight a feral dragon, young man?"

Ahsch winced at his mother's cool tone. "Ariin mentioned Heart Sight?"

"She did."

"And the dragon knew about Phashak." He considered not mentioning the goddess, but everyone present had heard their conversation, and for all he knew, Michlas and Kirasiel had brought the knights up-to-speed on the events that took place in the Canyon. "Not the sort of think you can guess on the fly."

"Son," Dahil's voice was calm, with only the terse, clipped words giving away her frustration. "A feral. Dragon."

"Who was quite likely Tier Four. As she said, if she wanted me dead, I don't think think we could have stopped her. Same if she was matenapping."

The two hrafthi stared at each other for a long moment before Ahsch sighed. "Mom, I know you're worried. I'm sorry that I didn't take the time to reassure you before hand, but please, trust me." He left out the part that the dragon would be hard-pressed to hurt him - even if he explained Life Resistance, he knew his mother would be quick to think of all the horrible ways he could still be hurt and killed.

Which, to be fair, was something that frequently occupied Ahsch's mind in his darker moments. Still, not something he needed to worry his mother over. In the end, he knew that his mom was simply being a mother, and it was a mother's job to worry about their children.

Dahil sighed. "This conversation isn't over," she said, her voice no longer frosty. The Dominant Mage only smiled as the group resumed their journey, and he tried to ignore the seething... something that simply rolled off Kirasiel. He debated checking with Heart Sight, but decided that continuing his spellcrafting was more important.

And besides, it wasn't like he _really _cared what the royal brat thought at this point. At least, not beyond how it might screw him and those he cared about over. And in this instance, he doubted even little miss bitch wouldn't begrudge him obeying the all-but commands of a dragon.

Thought it frustrated him greatly, Ahsch's recent great successes with creating spells did not extend to combining Edge of Glory with Arsenal of Ecstasy. Even by the time the group actually arrived a the capitol, about a week and a half after the dragon's 'test,' he hadn't managed to achieve a workable spell. Still, with that many days to focus on it, he had made great strides, and could feel that the solution was close.

His thoughts about the spell slowly evaporated as the group neared the Capitol, however. He'd heard descriptions of the city, and the lake it was build within, on, and around, but to see it in person...

Ringed by tall, gleaming white-marble walls, the outer sections of the Capitol were built around a lake that, according to legend, was once a mystical mirror to the night sky, perfectly reflecting the light of the stars and allowing for great works of astromancy. Several small rivers fed into and led away from Star Mirror Lake, providing fresh water to the Capitol's inhabitants.

Despite the relatively narrow band of dry, solid land to work with, the Capitol was far from small - piers and floating platforms stretched out onto the lake itself, with small boats navigating between walkways to deliver goods and people across the city without congesting the narrow paths. One path, however, was far wider than any other, and led out to the center of the lake, where an island housed the seat of the Kingdom of Starlight, R'sath; a tall tower - impossibly tall without magic - the better to see the stars. Long before the Kingdom existed, it was said a great mage lived within the tower, and it was from there that astromancy was born, utilizing the study of stars and their light to work magic.

Further adding to the mystical appearance of R'sath were the numerous expansions to the tower: balconies and platforms and other offshoots that extended elegantly - and impossibly - from the tower, held up by thorough enchantments to the stone.

Passing into the city was a simple affair, after Michlas approached the gate guards, showed them some sort of paper, and the group was waved through without any trouble. The ring of knights drew attention, but no crowd formed to either greet them nor impede their progress, making Ahsch wonder if formations of knights with VIPs were common, or if nobody cared.

The hrafthi boy was quickly distracted from his thoughts by the myriad sights of the city. Sarvas was a relatively small town, and while they saw their fair share of outsiders, the sheer diversity on display on the streets of the Capitol were shocking - even for Mitchel Cohen, who had been to New York City on several occasions. The diversity of humans from Earth was nothing compared to the dozens of races that populated the streets and waters of the Capitol; the familiar bovine, feline, canid, and leporine monsters were quite common, but beyond them were mermaids, naiads, and various other aquatic monsters; centaurs and bison-like monsters of the plains; and he could even spot a few of the more 'aggressive' monsters, including a dragon, a drider, and some lamia.

The group proceeded through the streets, sticking on the main road that led straight out over Star Mirror Lake and to R'sath. As they emerged from the more densely packed outer section of the city, Ahsch once again turned his attention to the tower, and ended up having to lean back as he took in the sheer scale of the thing. That is definitely breaking several material science records, he joked to himself, even as Mage Sight nearly blinded him from the layers upon layers of enchantments upon R'sath and its additions.

Pulling his focus away from the edifice, the hrafthi looked out across the lake. All of the major walkways over the water were raised up high enough for boats to pass beneath, and the street leading to R'sath itself was almost twice as high, which afforded an excellent view of the city. A quick scan suggested that, predictably, the city was layered in such a way that the more wealthy and powerful were closer to R'sath, while the poor were usually out near the wall. An exception existed along the main thoroughfares, especially the road to R'sath, with middle- and upper-class buildings existing upon its length. Though he couldn't see directly behind the tower, from the way that the buildings at the other end of the lake seemed to be more and more run down, Ahsch was willing to guess that the poorest area of the Capitol was opposite from where their group had entered the city.

A little more scrutiny suggested that the poor and lower classes lived on the outer edge of the city, between the wall and the lake shore. The middle and upper classes lived out on the water, while the nobles were slightly more apart from the rest, in a ring around the central isle, though there were no paths to that island aside from the major street - which Ahsch was hoping to learn the name of, assuming it had one.

The separation of the nobles from the commoners led to a small canal that ringed the noble 'quarter,' through which the largest boats conducted their business. It seemed to the Dominant Mage that, much like there was a network of roads and footpaths throughout the city, so too were there explicit 'paths' through the lake for the various watercraft and aquatic monsters.

Eventually, the group reached the island and everyone dismounted. A small army of servants arrived to tend to the mounts, and it took a moment to dissuade one from taking Mahat anywhere. In the meantime, the knights dispersed; Kirasiel stalked off into the tower with a swarm of servant; and Michlas took a moment to direct a handful of servants to take Ahsch, Mahat, Ariin, and Dahil to guest quarters, and reassured them that he would meet with them as soon as he could to schedule Ahsch's reward.

Each of the hrafthi were bustled off to their own neighboring rooms, given a brief tour of their suite, and then left to settle in. Looking around at the almost nauseatingly opulent accommodation, Ahsch sighed, unpacked his belongings, and flopped onto the bed, Mahat slipping in beside him in her humanoid form.