The Find 40.

Autumn.

North central Southlands. The Ancient city of Dalphene. Also known as The City of Ruins.
The twin brothers Lolmildíll and Gilvanéllé look at one another. Then they look at Maygam the mercenary captain, and his second in command, Uren.
The two elven brothers from the principality of Alínlae find the two humans looking at them.
Then the four of them look back up into the clear, and sunny afternoon sky above the City of Ruins.
"Huh?" is all Maygam the mercenary captain says as they watch the warship of Jorkamin's plummeting out of the sky.
The vessel which is burning up, almost passes directly over them as it goes basically southwards as it heads towards the ground.
They watch in silence as bits of burning debris falls off the warship as it rapidly drops out of the sky.
After a fair chunk of it's magical keel towards the aft, and it's hull to either side of it is blown apart.
They continue to watch it, as it drops behind one of the nearby ancient towers, and some of the ruins in this part of the pit.
They don't see the burning wreckage smash into the ground, but they definitely hear it.
Then they see bits of burning debris and smoke billowing up into the air from where the warship belonging to Jorkamin the mercenary captain hit the ground.
After a few more moments of silence as they watch the smoke in the distance to the south of them rise up into the air.
Maygam the mercenary captain speaks up again, and says "Well that was certainly unexpected".
The mercenary leader then looks at the elven twins and asks the two of them "Either one of you two?".
Both twins shake their heads no, then Lolmildíll the elven magic user says "Wasn't us".
His twin brother nods his head in agreement, then Gilvanéllé the elven magic user says "Pretty sure a mage did that".
The other brother Lolmildíll, or Lolm as he's more commonly called by the others in the company, slightly nods in agreement with his fellow spellcaster.
"A mage?" says Maygam the mercenary captain with a frown upon his face.
As he's heard of no mage up here to the north of the neutral zone. And only knows of one mage in all of the pit.
A young one with a small group of treasure seekers and adventurers down towards the southern end of that pit, where they're trying to find their fortune.
"A mage" says Gilvanéllé or Gil as he's more commonly called by the others in the company, as they continue to watch the smoke in the distance billowing up into the sky.
"That was definitely a mageglobe i spotted just before that explosion rocked the ship" adds the more angry, and severe looking of the elven twins, who are part of one of the noble families in the principality of Alínlae.
His twin brother Lolmildíll nods in agreement with him, as he too caught a glimpse of the dark red mageglobe before the warship was rocked by the explosion, that sent it tumbling down towards the ground, here in the pit, within which is the ancient city of Dalphene.
"Hmmm i can't disagree with you, since you two know what you're talking about" says the captain of the company, who then quietly adds "But i know of no mage up here in this part of the pit, do you?".
The twins shake their head no, then Lolmildíll in his effete sounding voice says "And that's the problem".
His brother Gilvanéllé, or Gilvan as he tends to call him, nods his head in agreement, then says "I can just sense that young mage near the southern end of the pit".
"Same here" says Lolm as more often than not he's called by the others in the company.
"And he had nothing to do with that" adds Lolmildíll who points towards the rising smoke in the air.
Gil nods, then says "Which is more than a little odd, what with mages being who they are" followed by "If there was one up here, north of the neutral zone, every spellcaster for miles around should be able to sense them".
The angry looking elf with the almost white coloured hair then explains in a dry tone to the mercenary captain and his second in command "Mages aren't exactly known for being the shy and retiring types".
The twin brothers, nobles from the elven principality of Alínlae. Like all spellcasters, even ones as deranged as the two of them, are more than a little cautious around mages.
For though they are quite powerful magic users. They'd still only comparable to a mage with an average amount of power.
There's also the fact that pretty much all mages, tend to blow things up in large explosions, not bothered who or what could be in the vicinity.
Subtlety isn't exactly the trait of the average mage. Who are predictably unpredictable, when it comes to spell casting.
See something, blow it up. Is pretty much the mantra of all mages when it comes to their temperament in dealing with spells.
So that there's one up here north of the neutral zone in the pit, is more than a little bit surprising.
It's bit of a shock really. Especially considering amongst all spellcasters, of any race.
The human mage is the one practitioner of magic that couldn't care less than other spellcasters are able to sense them.
They tend to revel in how powerful they are, and that others know it, and sense it.
So that if one is here, amongst the battle between a number of the mercenary companies in the City of Ruins, who is doing everything to keep themselves hidden.
Is more than a little disconcerting to the elven twins, who are originally from the principality of Alínlae.
"Well, whoever it is, they did us all a favour destroying Jorkamin's ship" says the mercenary leader Maygam.
The captain of one of the mid sized mercenary companies, living and operating down here in the giant hole in the ground, then adds with a slight grin upon his face "That is definitely going to piss off Jorkamin".
"He'll retaliate, that's his way" says Uren the mercenary as they continue to watch the smoke rising up into the air a few hundred yards to the south of them.
"First losing that wyvern, now his warship" adds the second in command of the company, who continues on with "He's going to be royally pissed off".
"Good" mutters Maygam, who is more than a little annoyed with Jorkamin, and his interference in the battle between Hamblett and Jarnok's companies.
Maygam, who had plans to take over one of the nearby dig sites, that was on the edge of where the battle between Hamblett's and Jarnok's companies was taking place.
Until Jorkamin and his company entered the fray yesterday afternoon.
Wrecking Maygam's plans, and separating a fair chunk of his company he had brought up here, to the north of the neutral zone.
"That means he'll be angry" says the mercenary captain, who continues with "And when Jorkamin is angry, he makes mistakes".
Maygam momentarily pauses, before he says "Even Darmos has a difficult time keeping him under control when he's angry".
If there's another mercenary captain that Maygam knows almost as well as his former comrade Hamblett.
It's the mercenary leader Jorkamin, who over the years Maygam has had a number of dealings with.
Sometimes to one of the other mercenary captain's benefit. And in some cases, mutual benefit.
Though on more than one occasion, they're been at odds with one another.
With Maygam, because of the smaller size of his company. Barely surviving with his company after a confrontation with Jorkamin and his company.
The two of them when they've had dealings for financial gain. The deals have been fraught with danger.
Maygam can't actually believed he's survived some of them. And has only done so because of the quick thinking of Uren.
And the twins Lolmildíll and Gilvanéllé, with the total disregard for their own safety at times when they've got Maygam out of trouble.
"More than likely he'll do something stupid cap" says Uren as she nods in agreement with the mercenary leader, in reference to Jorkamin being angry at the destruction of his warship.
"Keep an eye out for Darmos" quietly says Maygam to the elven twins, the mercenary captain then adds "Jorkamin might get that pet wizard of his to do something stupid".
"We will" says Gilvanéllé in his angry sounding voice as they continue to watch the smoke away to the south, as the wreckage of the airship continues to burn.
Switching to the noble elven language, which Maygam, who can speak normal elven, can't speak or understand.
Gilvan quietly says to his twin brother "Lolm keep an eye out for that mage".
"I will" replies the slightly slimmer of the two elven magic users, who after a brief pause adds "It is the oddest thing, a mage hiding".
"I know" says Gilvanéllé in murmured agreement with his twin brother, he continues on with "If this was an ordinary mage, we'd be able to sense him with ease". Lolmildíll the mercenary grunts in agreement with his twin brother.
"And be able to keep clear of him" dryly says Lolm, who like his brother Gilvan, is of the opinion it's best to keep your distance from a mage.
As they're unpredictable in their predictableness. Best to let a mage blow themselves out, so to speak. Than be anywhere around them during a battle.
Switching back to the common language, Gilvanéllé the elven magic user then says "There's Jarnok and his lot too" he continues with "I briefly sensed those two wizards of his a little while ago".
"Where?" asks Maygam the mercenary captain as the smoke from the burning wreckage to the south of them continues to rise up in the afternoon sky.
"Further west" says the more demented of the elven twins from the principality of Alínlae.
"Keep an eye out on that lot too" says the mercenary leader, who then adds "They'll be up to no good as well".
Maygam then looks away from where Jorkamin's airship has crashed, and looks around in the area, then says "In the meantime, let's try and find the rest of the company who are still lost".
Meanwhile, at the very northern end of the giant hole in the ground, within which is the ancient city of Dalphene, or as it's more commonly called, the City of Ruins.
Zam the mercenary turns, and leans back down and stretches out a hand, and helps Melmear the mercenary up the dirt incline, and out of the pit.
The two of them look around as the mercenaries Farnill and Almard continue up the dirt incline, to get out of the pit.
"What is it?" asks Zam the mercenary, as Hilmik the mercenary who was the first one up here, grunts and points away to the south.
"That warship of Jorkamin's" says Hilmik the dwarven warrior, followed by "It crashed" he then adds "See that smoke there".
As first Farnill, then Almard make it up the dirt incline, and out of the pit. Zam sees the smoke in the distance to the south, about three and half to four miles away.
The others see it, when they look that way and Hilmik points it out to them.
"First that wyvern of his taking off" says Almard the mercenary, as they saw one of Jorkamin's wyverns, riderless, heading north a little earlier this afternoon.
"And now his warship going down" adds the mercenary who is the defacto leader of the small group from Maygam's company.
"Seems the battle isn't going his way now" continues Almard, who is the helper of Uren, the second in command of the company.
The others nod in agreement as they look away to the south across the pit, to where black smoke is rising up into the afternoon sky.
Then the young mercenary Zam looks around, and asks "Which way?" pointing to the left, then right he adds "Where basically about halfway i guess".
They look at Almard, who looks first to the east, then the west. And though this is the narrowest part of the entire City of Ruins.
They find themselves about a mile and a bit from both the eastern, and western edge of the pit, now that they're out of the ancient city of Dalphene.
Almard shrugs, then the mercenary originally from the unruled lands near the city-state of Kuradum picks a direction at random, then says "West".
The group starts heading that way as it gets later in the afternoon, on what's been a cold autumn day here in the northern central region of the Southlands, where the City of Ruins is located . . . . . .