Another stepping stone in Erik's journey through Ardian history. The quaint little village of Estolad, a small, unassuming village. Even though it had seen many a rough time in it's days, Estolad always remained the horse-loving people. They also had a niche for neat magic tricks, as did any civilization in the Realm. Erik wanted to take advantage of this, in order to establish himself even more as one of the greatest illusionists to cross the Realm. Here, he would meet a man who would in the future prove to be a loyal freind.

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The audience clapped and laughed as they stood in a rough semi-circle and enjoyed the spectacle before them. A dazed and confused man was tricked by Erik into doing many an embarassing thing. Good for the man that he wouldn't remember any of it. The poor fellow finally tripped over an out of place barrel and then stumbled away into the next alleyway. He had challenged Erik's ability, so, it was suitable of him to be made humble in such a manner anyhow. Erik smiled widely, and his pearly whites reflected the afternoon sun. It was a clear and welcoming day, although just a bit chilly. It didn't bother Erik too much, as his light brown cloak was enough to stave off the cold.

"Would anyone in the audience have a request, perhaps? Be inventive, mind you. We wouldn't want to have a boring show on our hands now would we?" asked Erik slyly, and the crowd roared with approval and then ideas. The most prominent of which was, "Disapear! Disapear!" and of course, the ever coveted 'float about'. Both were rather popular, but, Erik saw them as boring and usual. People had floated about for ages, and disapearing was no hard task either. He needed a challenge. Looking over the crowd, there was a small hand flitting about. Moving wildly, it clearly belonged to a short arm attached to a relatively short person. "Yes! You in the back! Lets hear it!" shouted Erik.

The crowd spread apart to reveal the short, but attractive woman. Her green eyes peirced the air inbetween Erik and herself, and her red hair floated on a light breeze. Erik was in heaven. He had a thing for red-heads. "Make me disapear!" she shouted, and then giggled. She didn't even give Erik a chance to say no, and ran to his side with both hands gripping each other in front of her chest. She bounced up and down idly excited. Erik was excited too. "Most certaintly..." replied Erik.

Reaching an his right arm around her shoulders, she stopped her quaking and settled down. Suddenly filled with suspense, Erik could read her surface thoughts. She was excited and afraid at the same time, and so was the crowd. "Ready?" asked Erik. "Yeah..." replied the woman, now unsure. "See ya later folks! I got a date." said Erik to the crowd, and with a goodbye wave he used the Improved Invisibility spell. Both Erik and the young woman disapeared, seeming to leave only empty air behind. The crowd roared with praise and applause, and then disperesed after a moment. One person remained standing however...

Rayn al Boha walked out of the Inn with a nice cold mug of ale. The warm wind hit him in the face and a bead of sweat dripped down. Rayn walked along the wooden floor outside the Inn. He passed the window and noticed his reflection. Rayn stood wearing black leather armour. His hair was dark and curly and his beard neatly trimmed. A long holy broadsword hung from his belt. If it wasn't for the sword Rayn would look like a common bandit. He looked around his middle twentys even though he was only nineteen.

As Rayn rounded the corner just past the Inn he noticed a small audience stood around a man in a rough semi-circle. Rayn smiled Looks like he is magician... Rayn thought. He felt himself boiling under the black leather. I shouldn't be wearing something this hot on a day like this! Rayn thought gritting his teeth. Rayn stood at the back of the audience so he couldn't see very well.

It was then that he noticed a man moving among the audience slipping his hand in and out of pockets taking coins and other small things. Rayn raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect a professional thief to be in such a small village. Rayn moved silently towards the pickpocket. Rayn hadn't gained the name "Rayn The Rat" for nothing. His own hand moved in a flash and went in and out of the pickpockets own pocket taking what he had stolen. Rayn spun on his heel and did his own Disapearing trick.

It was then that Rayn noticed a small women next to him shout "Make me disapear!" she shouted, and then giggled. She didn't even give the magician a chance to say no, and ran to his side with both hands gripping each other in front of her chest. She bounced up and down idly excited. The magician looked excited too. "Most certaintly..." he replied. Rayn grinned Yeah he will hide her under his coat and run. As if a street magician could make someone disapear! Rayn thought.

Reaching an his right arm around her shoulders, she stopped her quaking and settled down. "Ready?" asked the Magician. "Yeah..." replied the woman, now unsure. "See ya later folks! I got a date." he said to the crowd, and with a goodbye wave he used the Improved Invisibility spell. Both the magican and the young woman disapeared, seeming to leave only empty air behind. The crowd roared with praise and applause, and then disperesed after a moment.

Rayn al Boha stood rooted on the spot. Where on earth have they gone... I don't believe that can just happen... It must be real magic... Rayn thought and wandered over to where the magican and the girl had been moments before...

The Illusionist smiled with satisfaction. However, one man was not satisfied. He was the same height as Erik, and two saw eye-to-eye. Or, Erik saw to his eyes. HE and the young woman were still invisible. She was absolutely giddy too, and giggled emphatically. "Shh!" Erik insisted. Hopefully their inspector did not notice the noise, although he likely would. By the gods what a stupid broad! Nevermind the date, she was simply intoxicated with the fact that a mildly famous person had his arm around her shoulders. If she didn't shutup, he felt they would soon be around her throat.

Erik released her, and she became visible again. This would serve to confuse the man, and Erik would be able to make an escape if necesary. The young woman did not realize that she was now visible, and began to make rude faces at Rayn. Some people were just oblivious to themselves and their surroundings. A problem most often experienced with the human race, actually. Lucky thing they all reproduced like rabbits, if not, they might have been extinct some time ago.

Well, it was all rather ruined anyhow. Erik walked carefully so as to not make much noise, and stood at an arms length away infront of Rayn. He took a mild breath, and then stopped the invisibility spell. Erik soon filled in the seemingly empty space. "Hell sir, I am Erik Browden. Don't mind the broad, who might you be?"

"Hey!" protested the young woman, and she ran off with a hissy fit to tell her girlfriends about the cute magician that was rude. Erik laughed.

Rayn stayed there for a few moments. Suddenly the young women appeared out of the blue. She was pulling rather rude faces at Rayn. Rayn jumped back a little and then laughed. He looked around for the magician but couldn't see him. Hmm so he has shown the girl... but not him self... Rayn thought wondering to himself.

"Hello sir, I am Erik Browden. Don't mind the broad, who might you be?" The magician said as he suddenly appeared infront of Rayn. Rayn's eyes widened but that was his only reaction this time. Rayn bowed his head slightly. "Hello master magician... I am Rayn al Boha, a sort of Holy Knight... But not at the same time..." Rayn said and paused. "Are you a man of simple tricks... Or a real magician?" Rayn asked with a small smile.

Rayn wanted to find someone who could actually do real magic. He figured that if he could be taught magic, then he would have a major advantage over his Chaos enemys.

"Hello master magician... I am Rayn al Boha, a sort of Holy Knight... But not at the same time..." Rayn said and paused. "Are you a man of simple tricks... Or a real magician?"

Ah, how Erik loved it when people asked him that question. It meant giving one of his favorite lectures! Erik cleared his throat breifly, and then shifted his weight in preparation for the lengthy speech. It was also a sort of warning via body language as well, for those who really didn't want to know or pay attention long enough. Erik waited , took a breath, opened his mouth, and then the words gushed out:

"Well, it all depends on what you beleive magic to be. Magic is all sorts of things. Magic is a noun, a verb, and an adjective for one. Verbs being actions described in a word, nouns being objects described in a word, and adjectives being words that describe words, which describe either actions or objects in real time and space. Magic is unique in that, it defies this real time and space law. There are several Magics, Magic spells, and Magical things that are able to alter reality in any way, so long as the alterer is skilled enough and has the power to alter the alteree..." Erik paused breifly, and held back his laughter. Taking in another deep breath, he continued on

"Now you might imagine that Magic and Tricks are different, and to a certain degree you are right. Ultimately however, Magic is the Trick. Simple illusions such as having a dove removed from an audiences sight can be accomplished through several simple means, all creating a complex solution. Similar to the relationship between simple machines. Magic however is the stuff that truly makes the dove disapear. Invisible. No longer in the visible spectrum, as if it was never there. By means of simple illusion, the dove still exists in the visible. There is one big difference between Illusion and Magic..." Again, Erik paused and waited a breif minute to allow it all to sink in. "You follow?" he asked rehtorically, and without allowing Rayn to reply, continued on.

"Again, Magic breaks this law because Magic can be the cause of an Illusion. Magic can create Illusion, although the two seem to be entirely unrelated they are inherintley the same thing. THey simply employ different means to acheive an end. And this leads us to the ultimate question of any magician these days: Illusion or Magic?"

With this lecture, Erik served to confuse, make people think they had the answer, and discourage other magicians from attempting to pry his secrets from him. It usually worked on everyone except for the most persistent of people, and Rayn didn't seem interested enough to take that answer and pursue Erik with it. But, surprises did happen before. "So Rayn, do you seek to learn magic?" asked Erik. This time the Illusionist and Magician would give Rayn a chance to answer. Reading the surface thoughts of Rayn's mind, Erik learned that this man did indeed want to learn something, if only for his own selfish motives.

"So Rayn, do you seek to learn magic?" The Erik said finally.

Rayn's eyes widened. He really didn't understand hardly anything which the young magician had said. But he understood the last question. Well that wasn't very clear... I mean he didn't even answer my question... Why couldn't he just say yes or no... I mean I never thought I could learn magic, it would prove extreamly useful... I mean if I could heal people... Maybe there are certain spells which would work against evil... Rayn thought.

Rayn paused and looked at Erik. "I guess so. Or just maybe... a little bit... I mean I don't want to be a master of the art or anything, but i imagine it can come in handy every now and then." Rayn said with a grin. A drop of rain hit Rayn on the head. He looked up at the sky and his face became pelted with rain. "Curse the luck!" Rayn said rolling his eyes. He pulled his hood up over his head. The wind had also picked up. Rayn scanned the area quickly and noticed they were the only people around.

Rayn looked at Erik. "Lets go to the Inn. I will buy you a drink and we can sit and talk in the dry." Rayn said with a warm smile. Rayn spun on his heel and stepped forward making a splash in a puddle. A flash of lightning lit up the sky. "Follow me if you want to carry on our convosation." Rayn said shouting over his shoulder. Rayn quickly jumped up the steps and dashed through the door into the warm Inn.

Ah yes, what a skilled linguist Erik was. A skill that would save his life in a few encounters to come, for sure. But, as the weather seems to disagree with Erik's own pride in himself, it begins to rain. The pair soon find themselves talking over a drink inside the bar...


A lightning bolt heralded the coming of a storm. It was not uncommon for an occasional rain storm to float across the plains and pass through quaint Estolad. Every time Erik was in a storm, he imagined the rain to be the tears of those slain in Lomedor that fateful day. And with every thundeclap, he renewed his vows for vengeance upon those responsible. Who were still alive, anyhow. "I hope the bartender has some good vodka someplace. I could use a strong drink anyway." replied Erik. A free drink was a courtesy that Erik never passed up. Although he never drunk too heavily, he did enjoy some vodka or a shot of ligquor from time to time. Erik had never gotten drunk in his life, a testimony to his strong sense of self.

Seating himself at the bar, Erik waved over the bartender. "An what will ye be havin eh?" asked the man. The bartender was slightly taller than Erik, and had a noticable beer belly to boot. His rough hands gripped a small washrag, which was polishing a fresh mug to a near mirror sheen. It seemed as if the man never poured a drink into the mug, but merely kept it around to busy his hands. "Two shots of your strongest vodka please. Oh, and some peanuts too. Thank you." replied Erik. The bartender nodded and pulled to shot glasses out from under the counter, and then produced a bottle of clear liquid. He opened the cap on it, and the strong smell of alcohol soon found it's way out. Pouring each glass to the rim, the tender put the bottle away and pushed the shot glasses forward. Turning around, the bartender opened a cupboard at above him and pulled out a small sackloth bag. He set it on the table next to the two drinks.

"Will ye be havin anything else at the moment?" said the bartender. Erik looked to Rayn with a patient gaze, indicating it was his turn to order.

Rayn walked into the Inn, he was greeted by the smell of Ale and smoke from men's pipe. Rayn hung up his dripping cloak and shook his black curly hair. He scanned the Inn. A group of men where sitting in a corner playing with some dice. Four soldiers sat at a table with what looked like their officer. The soldiers watched Rayn and Erik as they entered. Rayn shrugged, he did sort of look a little bit banditish... But other then that there only some local farmers.

Rayn followed Erik to the bar. Erik ordered vodka and some peanuts. "Will ye be havin anything else at the moment?" The barman said. Rayn smiled "just a pint of ale for me please, dragon slayer ale." He said laughing a little bit. Rayn took his ale and had his first sip. "Mmm nothing better." He said with a small smile. "So do you make your living doing little magic shows for villagers then?" Rayn asked Erik.