Story Line Draft


 * Skrai is summoned at The Tournament by Oda Hideyo, an Altus Agentis. Skrai takes the body of Kariades, a famous warrior of The Tournament. Hideyo leave but he aide, Chou Mai Lu, stays behind.
 * Skrai (Kariades) kills his opponent in the match but a bolt of energy crashes down into the stadium as he does so, displaying some of Skrai's true power. Afterwards he is taken to a cell.
 * Kale Median and Lestus Kyte respond to the emergency at the Amphitheatre Fulminis and try to evacuate people from the stadium. Chou Mai Lu tells them that something happened to Kariades and that he was being taken prisoner. They decide to investigate the matter.
 * Albin Leigh assures them that all is well but Kariades demands to be set free. Leigh asserts that Kariades is his property, his slave, which though common is illegal. Kale and Lestus are threatened to leave.
 * Instead of leaving they sneak into the Amphitheatre Fulminis where they find Skrai and other slaves. The slaves state they they were sold to Albin Leigh by The Rose, a notorious slaver. They are caught and must fight their way out against the thugs of Albin Leigh. Rain, one of the unit, appears to be blown up but the vague image of a firm shape will later reveal she survived. The other unit member does die. One member of the unit is killed outright, while the other is wounded (though appeared dead - she'll come back later in the story). Skrai leads the other slaves out while Kale's unit holds off the thugs.
 * Skrai meets Chou Mai Lu outside who offers to take him to safety and get some answers.
 * Kale and Lestus escape and get to the police HQ where Kale goes to meet with his father, Kale Median Snr. They must leave their weapons at the desk of the HQ (police policy) but Lestus sneaks his pistol into his coat. In the office they find his father is being met by Ursa Tudor of the Premier Tudor Bank. She has already discussed the problem of Kale and Lestus and Median Snr has agreed to fix the problem.
 * What the heroes don't know is that Albin Leigh got Kale Median Snr his job and they worked together in the past. Ursa Tudor also worked with Albin Leigh but she is also the woman that Median Snr cheated with, resulting in the failing marriage between him and Shana Knight. Kale believes that Shana Knight is his mother, but actually it's Ursa Tudor. This is why Knight's relationship with Kale seems to have depleted.
 * Seeing that his father is so corrupt and unwilling to do anything to stop Albin Leigh, Kale is unwilling to forsake his integrity and cover up for Leigh or lie about the incident. Ursa intends to have Kale and Lestus arrested but Kale knows the secret exit to the office. He snatches the ceremonial sword his father keeps on the wall to protect himself. The two of them escape through the secret passage to the sewers.
 * Meanwhile Skrai and Lu Lu have gotten to the gate but the guards stop them, seeing that Skrai (as Kariades) is not an ordinary citizen. They suddenly helped by a stranger, Erronem, a Priest of Brodac, who states that Skrai is his man-servant and helps carry his luggage. Once beyond the walls Erronem leaves them and goes his own way, stating that he intended to go to the Moving City.
 * Kale and Lestus make their way through the sewers until they find the surface. They are met by a mysterious stranger that claims to work for Kale's mother and will guide them out of the city. They are loaded into a lorry, which is outbound. The agent states to the guards that he works for The Rose and pays them a fee to escape, suggesting that Kale's mother (Shana Knight) may be The Rose.
 * Once out of the city and into The Wastes the agent leaves Kale and Lestus at a settlement where they get food and water but the locals state they have little left after the recent bandit raid. The bandits took most of their things and even took several of the women and boys as slaves. They give Lestus a rifle and they take new clothes so they wouldn't be police anymore.
 * They track the bandits to a quarry with a system of caves that act as a home for the bandits. The two of them overrun the bandits and free the slaves. The slaves promise that they'll be given payment for their actions and Lestus suggests that's what they could be doing - mercenary work for the settlements of The Wastes. They take the quarry for themselves.
 * Meanwhile Skrai has reached the Oda Hermitage, guided by Lu Lu, where they meet Oda Hideyo and her apprentice Maruyama Takahiro. Hideyo reveals that she was paid to summon Skrai by Albin Leigh, who claimed that the matter was of great importance to Graal. Skrai learns that he is an Aethereal, one of the ancient native people to the Exterior Plane. The Aethereals had been wiped out a century ago. She tells him that she had learnt the summoning technique from Sair's Peak, named after the long dead Aetheral Sair, and that is where he should go if he wants answers.
 * Lu Lu wants to go with him but Hideyo forbids it as she feels protective over Lu Lu and feels it would be too dangerous. That night she sleeps with her student, Takahiro, and knows what she is doing with him is wrong. She is much older than him and he is her student, under her care. She decides it would be best to send him away - he is to travel with Skrai to Sair's Peak. Next day Lu Lu points out that Takahiro cannot go without an escort because he is too frail, his body is breaking down because he is an Altus Agentis. When her daughter, Oda Yumiko-Ai, offers to go Hideyo refuses (she doesn't want her daughter with Takahiro because she knows she loves him) and relents in letting Lu Lu go instead.
 * Back in The Wastes Shana Knight visits Kale and learns that he's become a mercenary. She says she is pleased that Kale broke away from his father just as she had done. She taught Kale to be a good person and wants him to continue that path. She offers him work - stop the bandits that are raiding the traders. He initially refuses to work for The Rose, who is a known slaver, but she insists she is not The Rose. She just knows a lot about The Rose's operation and is able to masquerade as her. He relents and goes to stop the bandits. The traders reveal, after being saved, that they had come from the Moving City which has stopped nearby for a time. Their goods are highly valuable to certain rich people of the city. Lestus suggests they should steal the valuables for themselves, since the rich people don't deserve them. Kale considers it but ultimately decides it's wrong and lets the traders go about their work.
 * At the Moving City, Erronem meets with Father Phemus Reginald Smyte. They board the city and it starts moving across Ext. Also boarding the city is Lady Bea, an aristocrat that lives in Graal. She's very flamboyant and eager for excitement. The feeling of the scenario would be kind of like the Titanic.
 * The two Priests of Brodac explore the city and come to a bar where Phemus smokes, drinks and flirts with the women while Erronem quietly contemplates. He reveals to Phemus that his memories have been returning more frequently. He remembers his past lives, while Phemus remembers very little of them. The city is bound for The Dark Zone where it will rest in the vicinity of Yensensen Temple.