Mildred
***The summit of Sol's Embrace, overlooking the entirety of the First Floor of the Vektet.***

A wide, open and cylindrical space, positioned vertically enough within the First Floor that it nearly brushes against the false, green sky that overhangs the entirety of the artificial, internal ecosystem that carpets the floor of the superstructure. The natural flora of  can be seen, yet also due to its extreme height, what is *Beyond* The cobbled wall can be seen, as well. A moderately-sized village encompassing the entirety of the remaining ground-space of the First Floor stretches some distance beyond the expanse of the tall cobbled wall, the village surrounding a central object: yet another great-tower, overgrown with tendril-like, glowing blue roots. The tower is directly opposite the Embrace of Sol itself, yet extends much further in height, seemingly ascending above and beyond the false green sky.

Reaching the summit of the tower, Gaige would be met with the incredible sight that its summit offered. The second great-tower, quite some distance away from him, and overgrown with the familiar sight of the glowing blue root, would likely be his final destination on the First Floor of the Vektet, considering their goal was to, essentially, ascend the superstructure.

More immediately relevant, perhaps, would be the sight of a **Large, stone statue, positioned at the center of the overlook, its visage facing the second great-tower off in the distance.** The statue seems to represent a massive (~335cm), armored man. Both of its hands clutch a distinctly **Metallic hilt-half of a rusty, shattered straightsword,** Separate from the statue itself.

At the foot of the statue, yet another tablet of stone, inscribed similarly to the last, was present. Upon further analysis, it would describe the nature of the statue:
_ _

```fix
An image representative of the Solar Guardian, who, from his tower of sanctity, gazed upon the floor of his domain in languish. Its skies of dim green were wanting of the fervor of the sun, and its corrupted ground remained in contemptible impurity. Consoled by his brother, the Eclipse Guardian Ukue, the two conspired in order to bring the glory of Sol to the First Floor.

The twin instruments representative of the Uezer Eikokue's inherited blood were to be conjoined upon the face of the Eclipse Guardian's altar, and the age of Impurity's Abolishment would be beckoned forth.

Alas, the Solar Guardian, caught in unseen heresy, was branded by our lord the Ezer, and thrust from knighthood. Thus was his instrument of holy blood sealed away, in the dutiful hands of this languished image.

One day, when the Sun of Reversion shines on the visage of this languished image, the defiled blade Eezero will be wrested from its grip. It is an instrument of ambition, and one that will see the either the aspirations of the Solar Guardian or the heretic Aazkue fulfilled to the bitter end.```
Mary
Free from the piercing red light of the prayer room, Gaige had reached the summit of the tower. The veneer of the ceiling now particularly stood out, Gaige almost able to run his hand across it. The first thing that stood out to him was no doubt the massive statue within the center of the summit. The hero approached the enormous sculpture which depicted a hardened warrior, clad in armor with a shattered blade in their hands. Reading the stone tablet which rested at the feet of the icon, Gaige began his reflection upon it. Many of the names involved in the scripture he had already known, Aazkue, Ukue, and the Ezer being familiar to him. However, the _Uezer Eikokue_ was a foreign concept to the hero. Unfortunately, the tablet elaborated on it not, the only words of importance being 'inherited blood'.

From reading the rest of the tablet, Gaige ascertained a deal of knowledge towards the concepts of this world. The two brothers had sought to usher this land into the age of _Impurity's Abolishment_—together. Yet Aazkue was branded a traitor by their lord and had their _instrument of holy blood_ sealed away. Gaige could only assume the instrument referred to the sword within the statue's grasp. Of course—the hero had no clue what the age of _Impurity's Abolishment_ exactly was, but perhaps he'd learn eventually. One thing remained clear: from what he knew, the only two individuals who could take possession of the blade within the statue were Ukue, and himself. As far as he knew, no other users of the _Sun of Reversion_ existed in this land.

_ _
With this, the hero would open his satchel, his hands digging through the three papers and journal before pulling out a specific page: the third note from the rusted door. He read it over again, eyes locking onto a peculiar set of words: '_I will return, one day, to the First Floor, with greater understanding of the Sun of Reversion._' Could this blade be why Ukue desired greater insight into the prayer? Though, if that were true... Would he himself be able to remove the sword from the statue with his power? He would have to make an attempt to retrieve the broken sword from its resting place.

Though—the tablet does not mention strength; perhaps simply showcasing the _Sun of Reversion_ would suffice? The hero held his hand out towards the statue, reciting the prayer, "_Qoqqeivue Ezuek._" An ephemeral, holy light was emitted from his hand—the prayer being cast with only a diminutive amount of mana allotted towards it.
Mildred
*The image of the Solar Guardian rumbles.*

As the light of the Sun of Reversion — regardless of its strength — illumined the hands of the dutiful, languished image, the stone begins to shift, in a deep, rumbling reverberation. In direct reaction to the nature of the spell, runes glow across the surface of the image, which were, most likely, seals, and its **Grip loosens, releasing the rusted, shattered form of the blade it once gripped.**

The blade loosed from its hands, and clattered against the ground before Gaige.
Mary
The hero lowers his hand, watching as the icon began to rumble. Seems like the strength of the prayer mattered not, the man grasping the broken sword from the pedestal of the statue. He analyzed the blade, an overwhelming energy surging through it; the power emanating off this blade was greater than that of _Okaarum_, but it seemed to be impossible to draw out. With his examination of the broken sword complete, he released his grip upon it; the sword was suspended in midair, soon rising 30 cm to the left of Gaige's head, the man carrying it with telekinesis.

Afterwards, he gazed out into the distance towards the village and the tower. Etra had mentioned a second tower existed—the tower in the distance likely being what he had meant. The masked man also warned Gaige of an immense presence which loomed close to the tower—one strong enough to alarm him. With the cat who was behind him, Gaige came to a conclusion that heading straight to the structure would be a lapse in judgement with the cat pounding at his shield. The rest of the mercenaries likely are on their way to the tower already as well.

With this resolution, Gaige approached the edge of the tower to the right of the Aazkue sculpture. "_Okaarum_, return." The hero called forth the massive dragon bone, the top of it hovering level with the summit. Placing both feet upon it, he released the _Solar Aegis_ which blocked Tabby, Gaige rapidly descending into the forest below.

The _Solar Aegis_ which hindered Tabby's progression through the tower was released, the rock colliding against the staircase and the punch of the defender striking nullity.

_ _
The hero eventually reached the bottom of the enormous tower, hopping off the pillar and accelerating with incredible speed towards the cobblestone wall. The wall—only being around 100 feet away—was reached in record time, the hero looking up at the merely ten~ foot wall. Mana converged at his feet as he kicked off the ground, grasping the edge of the wall and pulling himself over. Yet again, he landed on _Okaarum_, allowing a safe descent from the wall. Brushing past the dense foliage of the flora, Gaige had found himself in a deep, expansive forest.

Trees covered the false sky, the hero now enveloped by the topiary figures. For now, the hero began to waltz through the forest—his aim foreign. Telling direction within the maze was nigh-impossible, the hero using uniquely shaped timber as a guide. Never before seen fauna roamed the forest as well, but were not hostile to the hero luckily. He dared not interact with them up close of course, not wishing to create unnecessary danger. Although, **Hunger** Was starting to set in as time went on. His aimless wandering eventually bore fruit however, the familiar blue glow of the roots appearing in the distance. As he approached, it became clear he had come to a middle section of the root, creating difficulty in locating its origin. Having a general sense of direction using specific trees and habitats as landmarks, he followed the root in what he believed **Led deeper into the forest**.
Donna
Of course, with nothing left to block her way, Tabby surges forward, reading first the tablet in the prayer-room only partially before zooming on up the stairs. Someone's gonna die today. Upon reaching the summit of the tower, she scans the room for anything that might indicate an invisibility spell, yet, nothing sticks out. The hunter sniffs the air, trying to catch a whiff of Gaige's scent with her sharp nose. She growls and grumbles as she catches *Absolutely nothing* To indicate if he's hiding somewhere invisible to her eye. Guess there's only really one way he could've gone, assuming, of course...

She glances upwards, just to be extra extra sure he wasn't floating above to psyche her out, before.. *Yeah, I don't think he's up there... If anything, he's...* She peers over the side of the tower, trying to spot him by eye. From so high up, of course that would be nigh impossible to do, so the only thing this cat can do is to pack up and get down there on foot.

Of course, defenders don't exactly need to breathe, so... There is nothing to worry about in regards to suffocation. She attaches both bags onto their proper loops on her belt, casting *Ashardalon's Stride* At 3rd level and quite literally ZIPPING back down the stairs, wall-running across the parts where the floor is caved in in tandem with her Feline Agility trait, dashing at a staggering **2**00ft per (~)6 seconds, repeatedly, after the stupid mercenary with his stupid magic. No match, of course, for Gaige himself, but it's still far faster than the average human can do.

_ _
In what *Would* Be record time if the man of the hour wasn't so fast, Tabby reaches the bottom and begins sniffing around to make an educated guess of where to try. To aid herself in that end, she follows the smell in one direction until it peters out

Casting the cantrip *Thaumaturgy*, Tabby's voice booms throughout the forest at 3x its normal volume. "COME OUT, COME OUT!" She taunts, screeching at the top of her growly, lispy voice, still sniffing for the 'hero' at the bottom of the tower before catching a lead, running through the forest towards a big wall. The tabaxi steps back a couple paces upon viewing it to just judge it, seeing it as nothing more than just another obstacle. She does a quick stretch of the old paws, because casting *Spider Climb* In tandem with *Feline Agility* & her innate climbing speed, scaling the wall in a rather quick time (~100ft/6s) and kicking off again, sliding down with the same usage that she did to climb it. She continues to hold her concentration for the next bit, as who knows when someone will need to make a tactical retreat up a nearby tree if things go wrong?

Like Gaige before her, the cat also feels slightly hungry, yet now is no time for a snack break. There's a reckoning to be had.