Suna Ningham stood deep within one of the three Arboretums which supplied the floating city of Igal with food and a place where beleaguered city officials could come to enjoy an evening off.  Igal was an engineering marvel brought upon by necessity after the cataclysm.  The surviving Ashkarans left the towering structure which had protected them from the Mana Pulse only to find that there was nothing left but rubble of their ancient civilization.  Those who had survived wandered the newly shaped world and gathered every piece of magical technology that they could salvage.  Looking back on those days and remembering how the city looked after its construction, hardly as elegant as it was today, made Suna laugh.<br/><br/>Igal was shaped like the spoke of a wooden Myran wagon wheel, except that it lacked the outer ring and at the end of each spoke were the various districts of the city, each shaped like a giant dinner plate.  There were eight districts in total for the city.  At the center of the city, where the each spoke of the proverbial wagon wheel originated from, was the residential and government district, which itself wrapped around the Mana Crystal which formed the heart of the city.  It was there that each Ashkaran had a spacious home and the small government which led the race made its decisions.  Surrounding the central district where seven more.  Three arboretums, each with its own particular habitats which simulated environments around Caleah and from the planets past.  These three formed a perfect equilateral triangle with the center district at the triangles heart.  To the left of the northern arboretum was the Manufactorum, which was the only place currently where Mana Crafting was practiced.  On the right of the northern arboretum were the Archives, where all the knowledge of the surviving Ashkarans was kept safe.<br/><br/>The hatchery, which was in Suna's opinion the most important district in Igal, was to the right of the arboretum where the First Matriarch relaxed now.  There the care takers kept a constant vigil over the unhatched eggs of the Ashkarans.  To the left of the district where the First Matriarch was lay the last district, the military district.  Despite wishing to keep themselves peaceful, the Ashkarans knew that they needed to have a standing force should their old enemy return or for any other unseen occurrence.<br/><br/>Suna only wished they would not need to act as peace keepers again. "Suna.. You are drifting again."  The First Matriarch snorted as Elena broke her out of her reflection. "Sorry Elena.  I am past overdue to visit the Memory Collectors."  The frills at the side of Elena's head lifted in a startled manner but quickly slipped back down. "Suna, you cant afford to put something like that off.  You know as well as I do what will happen if you do not.  Remember Tak!"  Suna flinched a bit at the name.  Tak had been the first to experience what the Ashkarans called Memory Overabundance.  Due to their artificial immortality the Ashkarans were susceptible to experiencing too much.  Without having their memories periodically extracted their minds would simply lock up and they would be unable to do anything.<br/><br/>"I will go tomorrow Elena.  I promise."  Suna let out a soft purr as she watched a deep blue flower bud under the moonlight.  It began to shine brightly with magically energy.  A fragment of a long gone age now.  One that Suna hoped to bring back.<br/><br/>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br/><br/>Lidai continued to wait in front of the inn, glancing around at her surroundings to pass the time.  The previous night when she had arrived it was quite late and she was very tired and therefore she never realized that the brick faced, three story building had been built quite near to the ocean.  One of her ears fell down against her head as she heard the sound of water crashing down against the shore.  The sea air filled her lungs and she found it quite refreshing comparatively to her home.  Though, she always missed the smell of wet bamboo in the morning after a summer rain.<br/><br/>So entrenched was she in her surroundings that she did not notice the Shaha until the woman had addressed Lidai directly.  She almost jumped in fright but quickly calmed down though her ears both folded down against her head.  She glanced down at the extended hand and it took her a moment to realize what it was for though when she did she took the hand and shook it firmly. "Lidai Lotuswalker.  It is a pleasure to make your acquaintence Kanika!  I myself am not in the business of trade but my sponsors are.  I am sure that they have heard of you."<br/><br/>"We do need protectors on the trip but I hope you have a sense of history and treasure hunting, for this is what the expedition will be comprised of!  At least I hope there will be more takers for my offer."  Her eyes anxiously bounced in all direction around her as she scanned the road and her surroundings for anyone else.