Seeing the activity within the castle was making her swell with pride, the castle had been cleared out of its old inhabitants and now the new ones had moved in. They were still cleaning out the place of everything they did not need and burning it all but after the three days now they had been here things were really starting to look good for the future. Between herself and Phyxica they had managed to figure out how the gate mechanisms worked so they would have a heavily fortified location should the need arise to fend off an attack. But if they all could keep the word low key in the lands as to the location and purpose of the coven, well, things would run smoothly.

All the current members were here helping in whatever way they could. For her part Lenora was in what would become their war room, rearranging things, and looking over the maps that the old inhabitants had left behind. Some of them were rather detailed and newer updated maps of the lands, providing hidden pathways through the mountains and even the locations of caves in the area. But it was the old maps, the fragile ones, that Lenora was most interested in, as they detailed more long forgotten ruins around the mountains. Perhaps these would contain treasures that they could use to help fund the coven, not that silver was welcome in the walls of the castle, but money talked and having a lot of it let people talk the loudest.

She had found a few chairs that had been broken, so instead of trying to get the repair, Lenora grabbed them and headed outside in the clear night sky. A huge bonfire had been set in the middle of the courtyard to burn anything that was not of value or was broken beyond repair. A fresh start would be best, they could all bring in their own stuff to make things more like home. Lenora tossed the chairs into the fire and watched it become larger as more stuff was thrown into it.

She smiled as she felt something bump into her leg and looked down to see her beagle Zeno wagging his tail and looking up at her with a big doggy grin. ”Come on, boy.” Zeno opened his little leathery bat wings and flapped himself into the air and Lenora caught him and held him close as he licked her face. ”I think this is going to work out for the best, Zeno, I have a good feeling about it all.”

As convenient as city life was, Mezereon was starting to grow tired of the crowds and 'noise' of daily life in Vilpamolan. The black market selection was wonderful, but her relative safety was starting to become an issue. She wasn't physically strong and she made no effort to hide her wealth. Even worse, with Vilpamolan being a port city there always was the chance that–heaven forbid–her family would show up. She had sailed halfway across the world to get away from them, she wasn't going to let her peaceful solitary life be ruined now. It was then that she overheard a few rumors and some choice gossip of a guild for those who needed such solitude. Scrying and divination helped her locate a castle tucked away and out of sight from prying eyes. It was currently being inhabited by those preferred the night, but that was no issue. Mezereon was in need of a new place to live and she had services which they might be interested in. And if that wasn't enough, she had the universal language everyone understood–coin.

Sitting atop the back of a saddled Harenian lizard, the diviner languidly reclined as she pulled the reins. She had spent a few days packing up all that she had in her rented lodgings along with preparing her pets for the long road ahead. And a long road it was, far west past the reaches of civilization. As the castle loomed overhead, the elven deva stopped her mount and whistled for a leashed krampus. The disgruntled, hideous creature walked up to its master, and she handed him a sealed letter. "Hand this to the person at the gate and explain why we are here. Don't come back until they allow us entry. Should you return without obtaining what I asked for, I'll have you divided between Rose and Mary for a late-afternoon snack." Two large Arriese rose hydras were napping at the back of the procession, and the krampus grit his crooked teeth as his eyes glanced in their direction. The horned creature pressed onward towards the gloomy fortress with letter in hand, arriving at the gates of where his mistress planned to reside.

His job was simple: grab hold of one of the residents and convince them to allow his owner and her pets to move in. She was offering her skills as a diviner and a sizable portion of financial support in exchange for enough living room to house her and her possessions. The suggested proposal was a monthly payment along with providing her services to the rest of the bastion's residents. An attractive deal for sure. But would it be attractive enough to catch their fancy? The moment the krampus saw somebody who looked like they lived here come within earshot, he began shouting to get their attention. "…'Ey! You there, I've got something you might like to see. What d'you say if I told you a way to get a nice lump sum of coin along with some benefits?" He held the sealed envelope up, implying there was more to the deal.

There was plenty of work to do, and such little time for the pair after they evicted the old residents. It certainly wasn’t voluntarily, but that made it all the more fun in her eyes. After that was taken care of, they inspected most of the castle grounds from top to bottom. Few places were left untouched such as the catacombs beneath them. From there, they let the rumors of their guild spread in the wind and accepted those that offered their services for a place of solace. One of the spacious rooms was reserved for Phyxica as her private office and it would be there where she could freely concoct her experiments and craft poisons. She already had ties with Kurayo, Vilpamolan, and Nisshoki prior to joining with her friend and co-guild leader, so she could continue her business arrangements and contribute to raising more coin towards the guild this way.

In there, she was still in the process of setting up the room, sorting her various ingredients with care, and already mapped out a few places close by to explore and collect rare flora. She slightly chuckled as she recalled the fact that all of this stemmed from her seeking out the very thing the night she met with Lenora and it altered the course of her fate. Now they were in charge of a guild and having to look out for others. It felt surreal, to say the least, and she was just finishing up placing the last of the vials up when she saw a light from her window. The drow vampire moved over and saw it was a bonfire and swiftly turned on her heels to head out to the outside.

Once she had, she could plainly see who the culprit was and bits of what was burning now. “Clearing out some room, Lenora?”, she asked plainly as she came over to her side. “A lovely blaze to a chilling night” Her hand went to Zeno and patted his little head. He was quickly growing on her, to say the least, and she never thought of herself as a person that liked the company of animals before.

“I’m just about finished with the unpacking, so do you care to join me in a bite to eat in a bit?”, she asked the redhead with a smirk before she picked up on something…odd. Her head turned to the side and saw the oddest of creatures approaching them. She couldn’t fathom to think of what he was, but he wouldn’t be turned down if he was looking for board and room. At least not yet. The prospect of coin and other benefits caught her attention as her eyes shifted to Lenora before she took the envelope present. She held it up from a distance away from her face and opened it. “No means of disrespect, but I specialize in poisons, so think of me as a bit precautious, my friend.” She opened the letter and gave it a little shake just in case before reading it in full and peeking over it to look at the krampus and reread the message. After she was done, she handed the contents to Lenora for her to get filled in on this. “Quite the bargain and it could prove useful to us to have a diviner.” Looking at their little friend again, Phyxica considered the idea that this was an honest and good idea.

“If my partner has no objections, then I’d say we’d be thrilled to meet with this diviner in person”, she spoke with arms crossed. “What do you think, Lenora? It would be a good night to add to our brood.”

When she heard the voice Lenora smiled. ”Might as well, shit’s broken anyway, and, yes, warm indeed, we are finding a lot of old debris to clear out.” She replied as Phyxica patted Zeno’s head who licked at her hand in reply. ”I would like that, I am finding myself hungrier than I had thought I am now that you mention it.” Lenora remarked with a grin. Since breaking away from the Order to then destroy it with Syn’s coven, Lenora’s eating habits had changed. Where before with the Order she had regulated to only drinking animal blood, which, while bland did the job. But, now that she was totally free from them she had been feeding on humans, elves and a variety of other races, tastes she had never had before. Even a lycan, and while that had been dangerous, it had proven that she was, by her nature, immune to the lycanthropy. Their blood tasted amazing to her, and it set her own blood in her veins on fire for a time before her body fully processed the lycan blood. It had been a strange and rather amazing feeling. But even just human blood itself was tantalizing to her taste buds, and gave her a rush that she would never had gotten from animal blood in the past.

That was about when the strange creature approached and was looking for audience. ”The fuck in that thing?” Lenora muttered under her breath as she looked to Phyxica, who looked just as confused. It made a prospect of coin to them and held an envelope, which Phyxica took and Lenora nodded at her words, made sense. Phyxica read it, and then again before handing it to Lenora who read it through twice as well. Interesting, a diviner, if they really could see possible future events, if Lenora’s understanding of such things was correct, that would be unbelievably valuable.

Lenora folded the letter and looked between Phyxica and the krampus and nodded. ”I agree, we would be thrilled to meet this diviner in person, please, bring them here then.”

The krampus gave a twisted grin as his hideous heart was relieved that he would not return to his mistress empty-handed. "Excellent choice, ladies. The mistress will be very pleased to hear you've decided to mull it over." It was clear he was more happy about avoiding the consequences if they had said no, and the horned creature scurried off to inform his owner. Indeed, he was rewarded with a smile of satisfaction from Mezereon. "I believe it is time for us to introduce ourselves to our new landlord. Mary, Rose, Lydie! Wake up sleepyheads, we're almost home~" With the not-so-willing assistance of the krampus, the diviner's menagerie of pets was roused from their slumber before proceeding towards the castle gates. Phyxica and Lenora would see a curious parade march towards them, with several of the unusual creatures laden with luggage and a diminutive blonde woman seated atop a saddled Harenian lizard. The krampus was walking beside his owner at the front, looking less than happy to be here. 

Once she could see the castle's inhabitants, Mezereon gave a wave before motioning for her entourage to stop. She let out a shrill whistle which signaled the hydras to stay put while she was helped down her saddle by her cloven-hoofed servant. For appearance's sake she chose to walk instead of riding on her giant spider Lydie. Putting aside her laziness for a moment would leave a better first impression in bargaining as a prospective tenant. Judging by looks, the diviner was not what most would expect. She had a small stature and was dressed more like a noblewoman than an expert in the divining arts. It would seem unusual for someone like her to be interested in living here, a place so far removed from city life. Even more curious were her reasons for choosing to come here at all. 

"Hello ladies~ I take it that you've had a look at my little proposal? I know my demands might seem a bit much, but I'm always willing to sweeten the deal in case the monthly payment is too low. Tamed rose hydras need their space or they get too territorial." Even with the furniture and luggage, it was clear most of the space was going to her pets than herself. She was half-expecting the two to turn her down after seeing how many of her personal belongings she was bringing in. Though if she played her hand right, she could possibly convince them even if she was refused. Money aside, it was the mention of offering her skill in divination to the castle's occupants at a discounted price that she was betting on. "If you have any doubts on my capability, I'm always willing to prove why I deserve my title." 

Phyxica had stifled a laugh from coming out the moment she heard Lenora’s reaction towards the krampus. It wouldn’t look good for business, after all. Even if the thing looked like he crawled out of Inferos itself.

She gave a look over to Lenora after both had agreed to meet with this creature’s master and he scurried off, likely to retrieve her. In truth, she was still a bit skeptical of the whole thing, but if everything was on the up and up, then they would have access to a fairly good deal of power. That was if the lady wasn’t a rip-off artist trying to get easy room and board. “We shall see. Hopefully, this isn’t some sort of trick…”

Any further doubts about this deal washed away from her as an entourage of beasts started to make their way from the woods nearby. “W..wh..what?” She stared with an open mouth when she recalled the letter mentioning the diviner’s pets being part of the deal. But she wasn’t expecting this at all. If she didn’t feel small before, then this was enough to fully acknowledge it, but Phyixica managed to regain some of her composure once the diviner descended from her mount.

Considering the friends she came with, the drow couldn’t underestimate her or think of this as a ruse like she had a few minutes ago. “Welcome to our little guild, madam. We have read the requests indeed.” She eyed the hydras with care- even with their enormous size, the Fang had more than enough space for them. The stables should suffice for the rest of her pets, she figured. “Much of the land here had been surveyed and no other camps or settlements are around for miles. So you may feel free to let them stake their claim, with the safety of our other members in mind, after all. The castle itself is spacious though we usually just let members have one room. But should your abilities be as you claim, then we can accommodate you with as much space as you need for your own belongings. We can also agree to the discounted prices given to our other members.”

She looked for Lenora for confirmation before she continued. “But why is it that you wish to come to stay here of all places? I’d imagine that a lady of your talents wouldn’t have much trouble finding living arrangements.”