Heleion Archives

33rd of November, 112 NDE. Bhikulam Island, North-Eastern Orhmedia.

            The warm wind blew onto her face hidden under guise comprised of numerous dark and red velvet shawls as Tawheeda watched the sun descending below the horizon – painting the vast sea in hues of red and amber. Similarly the busy streets of Bhikulam city – named after the island which itself was a variation of the founder’s name.

Bhikulam Island was a small tropical island a few hundred kilometers to the east of Orhemedia, still part of the new nation formed after the fall of the Sultanate. For a few decades it enjoyed its autonomy before the Arghyrian Republic got into a conflict with its previous tyrannical rulership – according to them at least. They liberated the nation and like any good liberators stayed to maintain peace with a small force comprised of the Eight Republican Legion and the Radiant Daughters of Myelia.

Most of the legionaries and the Radiant Daughters were made up of the locals who got recruited with promises of good pay and seeing the world after a certain years of service. In the latter’s case the promise of beauty also helped a few of the locals to join up the Myelian Order. Even including a few who served in the Arcane Daughters before their dissolution during the Great War.

“Really?” While Tawheeda was surveilling the patrolling legionaries – clad in their ruby red issued velvety jackets with heightened tunic necks, combined with mitlar segmented plates over them – a bird decided to ease itself as it flew over her. Thanks to her enhanced senses she managed to save herself from a fate of being shat on with a needlessly elegant dodge that almost sent her over the edge of the flat roof she watched the street from.

Mitlar – similar to Drauclar was a new invention that slowly replaced the relatively heavier metal armor worn by the legionaries and Radiant Daughters. It was essentially transmuted mithrinite combined with a leathery substance created through alchemy and arcane means. The end result was pieces of armor that at first look appeared to be thick leather plates with luster of mithrinite metal – hued in golden – while on the technical side they had the durability of the latter, the flexibility of the former.

The local buildings followed the southern style – which came to be as a result of southern folks building their structure from transmuted sand. For this reason the once desert like island shifted into a tropical state with even golden greenish grass blanketing the beaches and the forest surrounding the port city on the island. In said forest Golden Birches strived as they sapped the leyline running through the island – with white bark and golden leaves hence their name.

“Better move on. I rather deal with drunken legionaries.” She murmured to herself with a sigh after she gained her balance back. Her arcane points burned up with a pleasant sensation as inscriptions formed in them, then Tawheeda disappeared in a burst of golden shadows and sand dust.

**

“Welcome sister. Hope you haven’t waited too long.” Arsalaan – a tall, slender, graceful and fit man and her elder brother – greeted Tawheeda as soon as he stepped into the small inn room lit by warm candle lights that created tender shadows.

Arsalaan was considered a handsome man by all standards – blessed with perfectly lined features on his gaunt southern face, amber eyes with thin eyebrows above and a sharp nose. His hair lustrous and jet black – which he kept bundled in a hoshigawan samurai-style bun – with only a few streaks of golden.

The floor was covered mostly by an enormous circular carpet of varying hues of golden, mauve and red embroidered with typical southern sun motifs. A short finely crafted wooden table stood over it with cups of warm tea and sweet fruits and bakeries rested atop it.

“Just a little bit more.” Tawheeda who freed her beautiful southern face from the embrace of her makeshift mask greeted her back with an easy smile. Like him, she was blessed with sun-kissed olive hued, smooth complexion, long and thick black hair that fell onto the middle of her back in ringlets. She had full lips covered in mauve lipstick that enhanced their luster and smoothness, while on the height wise, she was two heads shorter than her brother who towered over her even as they faced each other.

“So what’s the job?” Tawheeda asked outright after they embraced each other in a hug.

“Straight to business huh? Guess that curse of yours made you impatient.” He said while sitting down at the table with his legs crossed, the earless’ cup held over his stacked palms as he slowly lifted it closer to his lips.

“With me you never know when the Gods give the local legionaries a ‘divine revelation’.” Tawheeda said with as she spread her athletic legs under the table as she sat down diagonally.

“Maybe they could, but your brother here is quite the sweet-talker you know. Especially when it comes to those Radiant Daughters.” He chuckled softly as they locked their eyes – with Tawheeda raising her left thin eyebrow a little while a smile curved onto her lips.

“But you’re right. Time is of the essence with this job.” Arsalaan sighed as the warmness of the tea eased his tired soul.

“So what do I have to steal? And is it something kept in the ‘fortress’?” Tawheeda asked fully aware of Arsalaan’s associates and what they most definitely want her to retrieve from the clutches of the Arghyrians.

“Well, well it seems like those two had some good influence on you. And yes, you’ll have to infiltrate the ‘Radiant Keep’ and retrieve some letters our insider mentioned. According to them it is kept in the Consul’s office.” Before he spoke, he started funneling his mana into his arcane point residing in his astral bodies’ head. Each word he uttered could not leave the room while at the same time they entrenched into her mind.

“Are you sure I’m the right person for the job?” Tawheeda asked in a tired tone that paired nicely with her husky voice.

“Well, you asking that quite late sis. There is no going back now. But I do believe your curse will come in handy. In the worst case anyways we have our insider the help you out.” Arsalaan said with a half-smile.

“Hope so. But I doubt they could do anything when it comes to the curse of a god.” She muttered the last part while sipping her tea.

**

“It changed more than I remembered.” Tawheeda noted to herself as she hovered high in the night sky – her gaze focused down onto the Radiant Keep. Once a small mansion where the governing family of the island lived – now it was an enormous fortress with the former mansion relegated to be a living quarters for the stationed Radiant Daughters of Myelia.

Even originally it was located a few kilometers away from the city itself in the north-western corner, but now it seemingly connected to the city with three walled districts of its own. The first district closest to the city also housed some of the legionaries alongside the Radiant Daughters with the barracks placed in each corner melded and formed into watchtowers.

The second district served more as a stop point where convoys and various other folks doing business with the Consul were halted and checked before allowed to traverse further in to the last district. For the most part, buildings here were armories and mess halls where both the Radiant Daughters and legionaries ate together. There were even a few living areas, mostly kept for those who were held up for more than a few hours.

And the last district – where her target was located – the third inner district of the fortress. In its center a large structure akin to a palace called the Forum Consulum stood, towering at least three or four floors from what she counted from up in the sky. Like the city the fortress and its district including the inner were built by using Sand Stone, a dry marble so to speak created from the transmutation of the sand of the south.

The Forrum Consulum itself also used arghyrian marble for its interior, giving it a much more refined look. In the front, the entrance was built in their arched style with imposing columns kept the roof from collapsing down. “Probably will be in that one. But getting in will be troublesome.” Tawheeda sighed as she was also well aware of the ward encompassing the whole fortress, stopping her from both entering from the sky, or teleporting onto the rooftop to make this whole ordeal much, much shorter.

“Well, at least now I have an inkling of knowledge on their routes.” She said to herself while watching the Radiant Daughters in the inner district patrol the paved road framed by thick, imported bushes trimmed neatly.

It wasn’t hard to spot them even in the night. Partly thanks to the surroundings lightening the shadows a little thanks to the clear skies allowing the moon to shine cleanly. And partly because their uniforms – unlike the Black Roses – were less mono colored and were designed with brighter, warmer tones.

Most of their single breasted jackets were designed with most of the torso hued in warm gold, the hem, trims and frame hued in ruby red while the metallic buttons hidden under the similarly ruby red stands were pure white alongside the sleeves and shoulder part. Even the utility belt that looped across the center of their torso was hued in pure white while it was framed in golden metal shaped into a laurel design. Their pants and knee-high boots similarly color coded melding the two together almost seamlessly.

The fact that they also made them from their own faux arcane leather, Aqualenaud Leather did help her notice them as the sleek and polished stiff material enhanced the richness and vibrancy of these colors two-fold at least.

But it was still a relatively strong material – not as durable as Dragonid Leather, but it could still withstand the thrust or slash of a mitrhinite weapon or a low or mid-grade spell. Their heads themselves were still vulnerable to an extent as it was only protected by a single golden beret with jet black frames that erected an unseen ward.

“Better to start, I guess. You can do it Taw, not even that pesky curse of yours can stop you.” She murmured to herself as she gulped down her anxiety. Then she teleported away to the edge of the outer district’s wall.

**

“Let’s hope this works brother.” Tawheeda opened the bottle with a glowing violet liquid inside and gulped it down in one go. Her face contorted under her veiled guise while a sensation of her being numbing slowly came over her. Yet her mind could still take control of her limbs, she could still think.

“Okay, then one… two.” And on three she jumped high up after inscription formed in her legs. With another set of inscriptions spread into her palms and foot keeping them stuck to the smooth wall akin to a spider. With careful movements and slow speed, she climbed towards the rail while focusing her attention on what was in front of her. She still enhanced her senses and stopped every six seconds when a patrolling guard passed by.

At the top she stopped for a hot second hearing the soft leathery steps of the patrolling Auxiliary – a native sraudornian to the island with thick chestnut hued long hair tied in a long ponytail. Then after her steps became somewhat distant, silent Tawheeda leapt over and landed gracefully onto her feet.

Just as she turned her head to the right, she noticed the tall Auxiliary looking back at her – as she just stopped at the corner tower to light a cigarette. Her slender, athletic body was clad in the radiantly glamorous aqualenaud jacket with chin high round collars with a single button on the left tip. Under it she wore the issued sidustrian neylon blouse that was quite opaque, possessed a silky texture, metallic smoothness and glamorous sheen. Similarly to their jackets, the blouse followed the Raugustis Color Coding, where most of the blouse was hued in jet black except for the shoulders and the sleeves which were a deep ruby red hue.

Tawheeda sighed then teleported straight at the unfortunate young appearing auxiliary as she elegantly planted her feet into her abdomen, kicking the air out of her as she funneled mana which formed into strength enhancing inscriptions in them. The still not lit cigarette flew out from her smooth, small lips while her jade green eyes rolled back as the world faded into darkness for her.

“Should have not looked back.” Tawheeda murmured as she grabbed the spread out wrists of the auxiliary and dragged her inside the tower’s quite spacious, yet mostly empty interior. As Tawheeda let the unconscious Auxiliary’s wrists go, she quickly became aware of the second auxiliary – this time a dark elf whose dark skin went nicely with their issued blouse that wasn’t visible thanks to the jacket.

“That’s on me.” Tawheeda noted to herself as she teleported behind the burgundy red, long haired dark elven auxiliary – with right hand clamped over her mouth to muffle her yelps while the left arm of hers locked around her neck. With a bit of body enhancing, the dark elf went silent within a few minutes and Tawheeda dragged her down while cursing at herself this time.

She quickly searched through the pockets of the two auxiliaries and after finding dampening cuffs on them, then quickly secured their wrists while used a bit of her own golden sealing tape to bind their ankles. With two wide strips she also gagged them before dropping the two softly mewling auxiliaries inside a nearby empty crate before she moved on.