1

Thirteen years earlier

Floating in the middle of a bay formed by the near-by Zla'n mountains, the College of the Twelve Magics was truly a sight to behold. Devoted to the study of the arts of Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Nature, Necromancy, Physical, Spirit, Light, Darkness, Runes and Gravatonic magic. The calm waters surrounding the college were a deep, crystaline blue that reflected back the orange light of the mid-day sun, while the twin moons, Ka'il and Fe'il continued in their eternal dance around each other. The college itself was set upon a massive dais of light pink marble, that measured about two kilometers in diameter. The first, and most noticeable feature of the college was the Port of Sa'lin situated on the North West side of the island, facing the mainland. Everyday, dozens of ships would come and go from the island, to the mainland of So'gurn or onto one of the plethora of other port cities dotting the coast.

The port was, without a doubt, one of the finest in the world. Long, well treated docks lead to a large, open air market, where a wide variety of goods, ranging from small baubles to the deed of a ship and every thing in between, could be purchased. Off to the side of this melting pot of a market, there was a large currency exchange, so that everyone could be paid in the coin of their own country. The remainder of the port was given over to housing for the faculty of the College, as well as a few taverns.

While impressive, the docks were overshadowed by the college proper. A small part of the northern side of the island was devoted to the women’s dorms. The building was done in a stunning white marble, the same shade as a lone cloud on a spring afternoon. Standing three stories tall, the wide based building had a well tended garden on both sides of the large path that lead to the main entrance of the building. The back of the building was pushed up against the tidal wall of the island where the two different colors of marble contrasted beautifully with each other.

Directly across from the women’s dorm was the men's dorm. This dormitory was done in light granite and as wide as the women's dorms, but standing only two stories tall. Instead of the large gardens that framed the women's dorm, the men's dorm had a large open field, usually in use for impromptu field games. The marble path branching down and around the side to the south, and forking between the neighboring building and the men's dorms, instead of down the middle of the field.

Next to the men's dorm was the School of Offensive Magic, a building made of magically reinforced stone. Here the faculty endeavored to impart their students with the knowledge to control their magics, and the skills to employ them. The building was originally made out of the same marble as the foundation of the school, but, because of the expected issues with teaching people to use magic as a weapon, the Headmaster had decided to just rebuild it with stone after the third time the roof had been removed.

On the South East side of the island, directly across from the port, was the college cafeteria, one of the two original buildings that were still standing. Carved directly from the pink marble, the building could only truly be described as functional. The carving was crude, but rounded from the years of wearing by the weather. The kitchens were in the back of the building, near the sea wall, where water could be pulled in. Purifying the water was an essential duty, and those with power over water were generally scheduled to rotate through the duty.

Next to the cafeteria was the library, where tomes on magic had been stored since the founding of the College. The library was made by magic instead of carved from the stone, resulting in one of the most intriguing phenomenon. The marble would rotate through a variety of colors, anything from a light blue, to a deep crimson. Not only that, the college contained information on every known land, shipping records for the Port of Sal'in, and the pedigree of all of the notable royal families, making it one of the biggest draws of attention in the known world by scholars of magic and historians alike.

The final building on the island was the school of defensive magic. In appearance it mirrored the School of Offensive magic, in that it was a patchwork of enchantments and various pieces of random stone, either the cheapest that could be imported, or left over after the detonation that had caused the hole in the first place. While it was named for its focus on protection, this school also taught its students how to use their powers to build barriers, heal wounds, make crops grow faster, and in general improve the quality of life for their family.

In the middle of this was an elemental grove, where four Elementals of the Prime Elements, namely Fire, Water. Air, and Earth. Together these four elementals maintained the balance of the College that was build around them. Occasionally they would leave the grove, either to visit one of the schools, or would simply vanish to another grove somewhere else around the world entirely. Many sailors would come, attempting to win a blessing from one of the four for fair weather, safe travel, and the occasional one would request good luck.

In fact there was a delegation from the island country of Zear leaving the grove after making a request for profitable endeavors, when a loud crash was heard from the direction the women's dorms, followed by the roar of a large flame, and a string of profanity that drown out the rapid foot falls of someone running. The leader of the delegation turned its head looking at the fuss, and was throughly surprised to see a young man come crashing into her, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.

“Awww fech.” the runner muttered, looking at who he had collided with, the Delegates escorts may have been speaking in their native tongue but the way they were fumbling to pull their over ornamented swords out of their ridiculously heavy cloaks was a pretty good indication of what their meaning was. Just to make matters worse a bolt of lightning slammed into the marble a few inches away from his legs. With another string of profanity he bounced to his feet, the panties he had been holding falling to the ground next to the Zearian delegate, as he took off towards the docks.

With a cry of outrage, that could have come from either the Zearians or the pack of women, (honestly it was hard to be sure who was more offended at this stage) both groups took off after him as he charged past the main gate of the college into the harbor proper. Switching from the smooth, solid marble to the worn, water-stained, wood planks always lifted his spirits, reminding him of his child hood. The gust of seemingly furious air the caused him to stumble a moment later, reminded him that he had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment, and he resumed running, making a quick left down an alley.

The alley was ended about fifteen feet later, with solid, two level high walls on all three sides. “Oh for the love of..” the runner muttered, before launching into an archaic chant under his breath, his back on the back wall as he turned to see both groups come walking into the alley behind him, hemming him in. With a gulp he began to chant faster, his eyes flicking back and forth over the angry group in front of him.

“Oh will you give it up already Gi? There's no why you're getting out this time.” One of the girls said, water floating up around her in perfect identical sliveres that proceeded to freeze, becoming foot long spikes of ice with tips that looked uncomfortably sharp, all pointed at him.

“Now Monica, I'm sure we talk about this..” Gi said slowly and not believing a word of it himself. His decision to try to steal a pair of her underwear had not been the brightest idea he had ever had, but the thought of messing with the campus' frost queen had been too big an opportunity to pass up.

“Oh, save your breath Geek. I am going to enjoy giving you exactly what you deserve.” she promised, one of the icy spears imbedding itself in the wall between his legs. As one the two groups took another step forward, though more than a few of the Zearians were keeping their distance from Monica now.

“But you forgot one thing Monica.” Gi shouted, trying to buy a few more seconds.

“And what is that Geek?” She looked at him, like a cat looks at a cornered mouse, another sliver of ice imbedding its self on the outside of his leg as she takes another step forward.

“Intangible!” he shouted, imposing his will on the wall behind him. A wave of purple runes ran over the wall for a second, stunning the group infront of him as he turned and ran straight through the wall, and releasing his control over it as soon as he stepped through the faded paint of the tan, stone wall. All along the wall he had stepped through, pictures and shelves had fallen a little, suddenly denied the support that had allowed their placement. After a moment of getting his bearings, he turned towards the nearest door and resumed running.

If the roar of anger and chain of profanity was any indication, this chase was not over quite yet, and he needed to be long gone by the time Monica realized he could not have gone too far. His best chance would be to head over to the Hounded Hound tavern on the southern side of 'Lin. The barkeep owed him a favor or two, and after a day like this one, it was going to take a drink or two to brighten his mood.

As he turned onto the street, he found himself on the main boardwalk, where dozens of stalls lined the mixture of stone and wood buildings, all done in the same style as the one he had so rudely just ran through. As always the sea here was calm, and the wind carried the scent of oranges from the mainland. Slowing himself to a more sedate pace, he began walking in among the melting pot of a seaside market. The best way to lose the angry mob hunting him would be to hide amongst the crowd, and hope they did not look too hard.

Though fortunately, his luck decided to hold a little longer, and as he stopped to look at what appeared to be expensive, Etarian jewelery from a shady and somewhat nervous looking man in a tricorne that was about three sizes too big for him, when the sound of a Monica throwing a childish tantrum came from the crowd behind him. Turning around slowly, he watched the spectacle as a clearly, out-of-his-depth member of the port authority attempted to ask her to release her power, as it was currently soaking everyone and everything around her.

With a snicker Gi turned away, tossing the vendor a silver coin and picking up one of the pieces, before walking south. Belatedly he wondered what happened to the Zearian group, but wrote it off as they were more afraid of Monica than angry at him, and had left once he had hopped through the wall.

So it was with something approaching good humor that he arrived at the Hounded Hound. The building was built with some exotic wood that his uncle Varen, the properitor of the Hounded Hound, had told him was some form of Rosewood, that Gi's father had provided, as well as paying for the plot on the Isle as well. It did not have glass windows but instead had clear crystal windows that created a rainbow effect in the light of the setting sun.

The port officials had been a bit hesitant to do business with a known pirate, royally endorsed or not, but when he had offered triple the going rate and that he would supply his own building materials and labor, they had caved. All of this lead to the single most unique building that wasn't part of the college on the island. At the southern most point of the docks, the Hounded Hound boasted one of, if not the best, view of the docks.

As he stepped through the door way, he was greeted first by the cheery site of the main dining area of the tavern, a large open space littered with a variety of mismatched tables and chairs, for the most part filled with people as varied as the funiture. Along the far wall a dark, laqured stair case lead up to the rooms that could be rented out for a modest price, espically considering how luxurious they were.

Below the stair case set a bar that proudly wore a large, slightly rusted, name plate that read “The Resk,” The name of Gi's father's first ship. The bar itself was actually part of the ship that had run aground a few years before Gi was born. Behind the bar was the scared and worn face of Varen, the ridiculous hot pink bandana he typically wore currently being used as a hand towel. Seated across from him was a small, but musculuar girl, who wore her platinum blond hair in a pony tail. Her skin was so white that Gi suspected that she never went out uncovered.

He walked across the crowded room, staying away from some of the more boisterous groups for the time being. There would be plenty of time to play them out of their money later, for now, he wanted to met the newcomer that his his uncle so engaged. As he approached Varen through his head back in a full belly laugh, that echoed pleasantly around the room, turning a few heads.

Now that he was closer to the woman, he could tell that she very subtle green streaks in her hair, that drew the eye down a very pleasant to look at backside. Just as he was about to sit down, Varen motioned him over, a smile playing at his lips. “Gilrend, I would like to introduce you to this young lady. Says she's from Zear, of all places.!” Varen began.

What ever his uncle may have said was drowned out as the lady turned to him, recognition flashing across her face as she stood up rapidly, her hand going to a sword that wasn't on her belt, a single word on her lips. “You?”