To Utopia, Hell...

[Halbarad]

Clyde took a deep breath and took a look inside the box.

[Dracos]

"The towers..." The creature seemed to ponder.

"Well, the towers originally were only open to the hero...  I don't see...mm, maybe if you had one of the starstones, you could get into one.  There were five of them, as I recall."

Clyde appeared just in time to hear "Five of them, as I recall."

Dracos

[Dracos]

Ryder:

The mists cleared from your mind as you awoke in the desert in a cold sweat, a vague memory of Darx saying he was heading off to explore a couple days ago.  All you can remember at the moment though was that vivid dream of the wolves, chasing, hunting, tearing at you.

Dracos

[Halbarad]

Clyde approached the rest of the group, deciding not to interrupt for the full story until later.

[Carthrat]

"A starstone? What's that?" asks Mei-Ling, putting the book on sewing back and looking for something more interesting.

[RyderHakubi]

Panting heavily, Ryder looks around for signs that the incredibly realistic dream was just that.

"Shit... that scared the fuck out of me..."

[Dracos]

"Well, therein lies a tale.  I don't believe anyone has ever asked me where they came from.  No one is ever really curious." He seemed to smile at that.  "Lightside and Darkside have warred for many ages, and at one time they did so also in physical terms, tearing the land beneath them.  Oceans were formed, mountains smashed flat, the land sliced open down the center, deserts left behind where once life did flourish.  One of these places was a desert that came to be known as the graveyard of time.  Here, the dark one dealt a blow to lightside that for a moment drove it back, sheding five drops of blood.  These drops crystalized the moment they struck the air, forming...the starstones.  These jewels bore great power, and in a way were a symbol of the hero, for much power could be called when they were brought together in that same graveyard."

Dracos

[Dracos]

The desert winds blew cooly in the early morning around her.  The Vault City walls nearby, with her camping in the shadow of it pretty much.

Dracos

[Shukuen]

"Would one of these starstones look something..."

Leets grabbed a scrap of paper, doing a rough sketch of the object he seen weeks ago.

"...like this?" he asked, holding up the drawing to Yomi.

[Dracos]

"Glimmering like the sun a bit?  Yeah, that'd be it."

Dracos

[RyderHakubi]

Ryda smiled as it seemed that her dream was just that, a dream.  Unfortunately for her, this meant that she was still stuck in one hell of a dilemia.  Thanks to her silly mouth and her need to brag to Darx about SOMETHING, she had gotten herself permanently kicked out of Vault City, which is where everyone else in the party just happened to be.

"Fuck..."

They couldn't be too much longer in the city... could they?

[Olvelsper]

"I've seen that stone before, like I've mentioned to Clyde before. When my world went kaput, I saw a lion carrying it."

[Carthrat]

"These stones get around a bit, don't they?" says Mei-Ling, turning to have a look at Leets' drawing.

[Dracos]

Ryder:

It was kind of boring out here.  The size of the city pretty much ensured all the minor dangerous creatures stayed away.  Safe, but not particularly a good place to hang out.

Dracos

[Halbarad]

"Hmm? Oh yes, now I recall," Clyde commented. "I remember it being an odd coincidence because of the lion carving I received on my way here."