Editing Announcements - 2010/04 - Shedding Skin (section)

== Rollout Article ==
{{Turbine 2008
 |  Link = http://ac.turbine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=557-april-release-fiction&catid=81-2010&Itemid=68
 | Title = April Release Fiction
 |  Text = The scene spread out before him was like something out of a nightmare.  The investigator surveyed how much of the room was destroyed, noting the many things that lay broken as if by explosions or massive impacts, with much of the rest burned to ash.  He wondered how anyone could have managed to survive such destruction. How was he going to find the clues that he would need to piece together the mystery before him?  The attack was brutal and devastating, leaving little to go on.  With a sigh he set to work, even as the Prince burst through the door.


"Sir Alakin, have you found anything yet?" asked the rather strained-looking Prince Borelean Strathelar.  If anyone had a vested interest in this investigation, thought Alakin, it was the Prince.


"Have patience, Your Highness.  I have only just arrived, and there is much that must be carefully gone through before I can un-puzzle this atrocity." Alakim said, in as calming a voice as he could muster under the circumstances. "Allow me time to cast the spells needed to answer the more pressing questions."


Alakim began the magics necessary to get the first answers he sought.  He noted the tension plainly visible on the young Prince's face, and did his best to go as quickly as possible.  Alas, such magics were not easy to rush.


As the magics revealed the first bits of information, Alakim breathed a sigh of relief.  "Your Highness.  The first question I can answer is that, yes, your fiancée is still alive."


The built-up tension in Borelean unwound visibly for a moment, and then some thought made him look even more worried than before.  "Now what?" he asked as he began to pace. "She's not dead. Not at a Lifestone. Not reachable via any magic I know or have access to. Where is she?  What happened to her?"


"I do not yet know, Your Highness.  This will take time. The magical and physical investigations will take time."


"I can't afford to wait." snapped Borelean.


"And would Your Highness risk missing an important clue or destroying evidence due to haste?"


"You are correct. You must proceed with care as not to miss a thing, but I cannot stand here and do nothing," the Prince said exasperated. "Is there some signature you can point me at that I can target with some of my skills or abilities?"


"I can see one trace of her passage.  It is here." Alakim pointed to a spot near the door. "If you'll give me a moment to be sure there is no other..." Alakim was cut short as Borelean shouldered past him, muttering in an Empyrean tongue reserved for magics that Alakim had never understood, even when Lord Asheron himself had tried to show him. The mage shook his head, but he really couldn't blame his Prince. Such a situation would be hard for anyone to deal with even in the best of times, let alone for someone with his Highness's temperament and under the current circumstances.



Alakim waited patiently while Borelean finished his spells.  A look of grim determination came over Borelean as he finally had a place to direct his energies..


"I believe I can use Geomancy to track her, if I can get close to a point they've brought her through recently."


"So it wasn't a full portal?" Alakim asked.


Prince Borelean shook his head. "The signature here is too faint for it to have been a full portal. I'm certain I can rule out any other transport over a great distance as well.  They must've moved her over several smaller hops. Normally, I could track her from here, but there's so much chaotic energy left over from the fight that the signatures here are all jumbled together."


As Borelean started to leave, Alakim stopped him. "Your Highness, if I may make a suggestion?"


"A quick one."


"As you say.  May I suggest that you make some means for people to assist you in this search?  Would it not be better if many people were searching, and not just one?"


"A good point" Borelean said, with some thought.  He turned down a hallway and called out, "Sir Draithon, attend me, if you please."


A man in black Covenant armor moved into view a bit too quickly for the level of dignity he was obviously trying to convey. "Yes, Your Highness?"


"Stay here.  Make sure the investigation is not disturbed.  I will be preparing a number of gems.  Once you've learned what there is to learn here, take the gems and seek adventurers to aid in this search.  We will get Kei back, even if I have to tear down the foundations of Dereth to do so."


"As you wish, Your Highness." Sir Draithon said, with a salute to his Lord Prince.  After being one of Borelean's personal guards for this many years, he was accustomed to the shifts in the Prince's mood. "Is there anything else you would have of me?"


"No, that's all.  I'll make sure the gems are waiting for you by the time the investigation is done here. As soon as they're ready, I'll take the rest of my guard to start searching."


"As you wish." said Sir Draithon, with another salute.  As Borelean headed off down the hallway at speed, the knight turned to the investigator. "Is there anything you need of me, to expedite this investigation?"


"Just patience, Sir Draithon." said Sir Alakim, with a sigh.  With that, he started the investigation properly, hoping all the while Prince Borelean's Geomancy didn't disrupt too many clues.

}}