The peaceful game of chess was interrupted almost as soon as Larteis came to watch. He frowned when Magnus retrieved his amulet- it was making a strange vibration and emanating light. Magnus looked at Larteis, almost as to ask what he thought what was going on, but before either of them could say anything, the piercing ringing began.<br/><br/>The sound was terrible- it felt like it was burrowing inside Larteis’ eardrums to somewhere even more unpleasant. He slammed his hands over his ears, which reduced the immediate sound, but he could still feel the vibration from it. However, the speed of the vibration increased, and just as he began to suspect it didn’t just come from the amulet, the train screamed to a stop, sending him flying to the floor.<br/><br/>After a moment of determining that he was still all right and nothing had been broken, Larteis pulled himself to his feet with the assistance of a nearby table. The ringing in his ears hadn’t subsided. He rose and saw that the rest of the group was staring out the window, now, and he walked over to get a better look at what everyone else was looking at.<br/><br/>Immediately, Larteis recognized the pillar. He’d read about this sort of thing in old religious books, but never expected to actually see it, and most certainly not on this scale. The train began to move under him again, but he barely even registered it as he stared at the glowing light. He had a terrible, unshakable feeling he had seen it before- not just things like it, but exactly it- but he couldn’t think of where, or how.<br/><br/>“Why did we stop?” Bellant’s voice pierced his focus, but he still couldn’t quite stop looking at the pillar. “Why are we all-“ the drake moved closer until he could see what was out the window, and his voice died. After a long pause, he managed, “Good god.”<br/><br/>“I need to sit down,” Larteis mumbled, finding one of the vacant booths and falling into it. Looking at the beam of light made him feel ill.<br/><br/>-<br/><br/>Before Avis could attempt any actual conversation with Anora, the train screeched to  a stop. Quickly, she grabbed the railing, managing to keep from falling down the stairs like a complete imbecile. “Fine,” she managed, in response to Anora’s question. “And you?” She watched as the other woman moved past her down the stairs. She almost went to offer her assistance, before realizing that would do nothing but injure Anora’s pride. Instead, she turned to go down the steps, but was halted by the sight of the glowing pillar of light.<br/><br/>“Anora,” she said, before realizing she was likely already out of earshot. Avis frowned and leaned closer, staring at the mysterious sigils. “I am almost certain that wasn’t there before,” she said drily. After a few more moments of watching the light dance in the sky, she turn and ran down the steps, taking them two at a time until she reached the bottom floor of the train.<br/><br/>She entered the main compartment, finding everyone else similarly absorbed. She listened to Magnus’ explanation of the event and chewed her lip. “Well, I hope no one unpacked,” she joked, and immediately regretted it. No one was interested in levity right now.<br/><br/>-<br/><br/>It wasn’t long until they arrived in Marveila, or at least it didn’t seem long. The group unloaded luggage rather quickly- Avis noted that they seemed to be almost developing a system at this point. It was something she tended to notice when she traveled with people for a long time, so she couldn’t help but smile at it. She stepped away from the train and looked up at the light, placing her hands on her hips. She wanted to be able to enjoy her time in Marveila, but with the pillar being this close, it was hard to think about anything else. Everyone else seemed similarly minded. The platform was quickly deserted by hurrying people, away from the ominous glow on the horizon.<br/><br/>She noticed Larteis standing next to her, looking paler than normal, which was quite a feat. Thinking of it, she remembered that he had seemed this way since the pillar of light appeared, which she couldn’t really blame him for. “Doing all right?” she asked, nudging him slightly in a friendly sort of way.<br/><br/>She had underestimated his body mass, somehow, so he stumbled a bit to the side. The irritating dragon that was always sticking around him glanced up at her in almost warning, but huffed and looked away when Larteis steadied himself.”Fine,” he said. “Just not a fan of.. that.” He nodded towards the light in the sky. “Makes me feel sick to look at.”<br/><br/>Avis didn’t feel that when she looked at it, but she couldn’t really blame him, all the same.<br/><br/>-<br/><br/>“Well, look at that,” Velma said. “How convenient.” She had hoped that this could be avoided but she had doubted it could. It was, at least, nice to be able to fully devote herself to reality instead of a myriad of possibilities. She fell in step with the rest of the group as they hurried along, heading to somehow ‘kill’ a pillar made primarily of spirit power. It was a clumsy, mostly incorrect way to put it, but not worth the argument, so she rolled her eyes and huffed to herself instead.<br/><br/>She appreciated Tarkus slowing down next to her, but his true purpose was quickly made plain. “I’ll be fine,” she said, waving a hand at him. “Besides, you lot will need my help- it wouldn’t be easy to kill a pillar made with spiritual power with just swords and whatever magic this crew has working for them.” Vasma nodded at the motley crew they had acquired walking ahead of them now. She truthfully wasn’t wholly optimistic about this endeavor, but she had a long history of not backing down. She wasn’t going to start now.<br/><br/>Her attention was drawn along with Tarkus to the group of people exiting the train. They all looked so bizarre and distinct, but seemed to somehow be traveling together. She could feel the magic rolling off of them. It could only mean one thing. “Adventurers,” she muttered, with some irritation. “Look alive, Tarkus, this group will probably be sticking their noses in this mess with us."