The Keeper had first observed the colors of the moon changing from his Occulus while studying the night sky with his avatar. Hebheka had always been a time of strange happenings, but this was not something that the God of Magic had anticipated in the least. And he was able to say for certain it was not of his doing, or that of magic in general. A stroll to his Codex had revealed that this in fact had happened once before. The reasoning was sound, but why it was happening again was what he… what they all sought out. Had the cult returned in secret? Had someone angered the great celestial titans again? It was difficult to say. 

The Valley of Vada was a strange place under the light of the violet moons. The crystal trees reflected the strange light, making the shadows run deep and eerie. It seemed even the fae creatures that resided there had made themselves scarce. The air still chimed with the twinkling tinkling crystals, but it was a hallow, almost maddening sound now, hardly musical as it once had been. 

Now, Drae had come up with a theory as to why the Valley seemed to be the central focus. The region was literally referred to as the Throat of the Moon, and was a thoroughfare for the trade routes that ran south to north. There were also ancient ruins, ruins that dated back to the same eras of Asyut and Aestas in the Harena desert. They were more remote though, closer to the mountains, and considered sacred grounds by many of the fae creatures. 

Drae plucked one of the crystal flowers that the Valley was known for and examined it under the purple light of the moons. At its heart was one of the bugs that had been plaguing people with the moonstruck effects that had eventually caused their deaths. Gingerly, he plucked the bug from the flower and deposited it into a jar he had brought along. 

He was far from the only one out in the Valley. He knew many others were there, braving the danger to try and help Nemesis find the reason for all this. 

Cold wind whipped passed the dragon rider as his hands held tightly to the riding straps around the neck of his bonded dragon. He squinted to the land below as swirls of black clung to portions of the valley below. The white dragon and his rider were sent from their clan in look into what was happening in the valley. Normal communication with their trade route to Sularia had gone quiet. From what their intelligence could piece together was that it stemmed from the Valley and the odd insect infestation that had begun to take it over. Naurth dipped his right wing slightly to begin a lazy spiral towards the land below. L’van shifted to the side to look down at those that seemed to be already pulled into the insanity.

’I do not wish to deal with this personally, L’van. This seems to be beyond our range,’ the dragon rumbled through their telepathic bond. His rider shook his head while patting the leather hide of his dragon as the came closer and closer to the world below. ”Unfortunately, we were the ones available for this particular mission. We are faster than the others, so we can get out quickly if needed.” L’van spoke aloud even though it would have been easier to speak between their minds with the wind tossing most of his words.

The white dragon rumbled another sense of disapproval even if he did not argue the point any further. They both knew that when orders were issued there was nothing more to be done about it. The young man focused his sight from beneath his protective goggles at a tall man that was looking at flower. Essence of power seemed to ripple off of him, even if it wasn’t something that was obvious. With a mental nudge, the dragon followed his rider’s direction.

With skilled back wing, Naurth landed rather gently not too far off from Drae. Practiced moves removed the belt that strapped him to the dragon’s neck to allow L’van to jump down to the ground. He removed the goggles from his face to strap them to his belt. ”Greetings, sir. I know this is rather forward…but I was wondering if you had any idea of what was going on. I was sent here from my people to look into this, but I’m rather clueless in all frankness.” He kept a bright yet cautious smile upon his face. There was little that he wanted to do in effort to agitate a new encounter especially if Naurth was beginning to shift no his feet. Something was different about the man, and L’van couldn’t get the dragon to give him a reason as to what it was. ”My name is L’van, and this is my bond dragon Naurth. What may we call you friend?” Presumptive friendship always did well in the way of his luck. Why not continue that streak?

In the distance, a puffy potato shaped person began walking towards the group. It was Attie in her wasp suit. A layer of blankets surrounded her body, with the exception of her head. The second layer consisted of a layer of cotton to add fluff. In between the second and third layers were a few never melting icicles to repel the heat. The forth was a layer of dried wasp/bug repellent leaves and the final layer was made up of leather on the outside as the main protector. Her head was protected by a leather helmet that had her glasses built into it to protect her eyes. The helmet squished her cheeks a bit but otherwise fit well. Two tiny holes, smaller than the size of the wasps, were poked into her helmet to allow breathing. Attie's words would be muffled unless she spoke loudly and clearly as the leather covered every part of her head. Her hands were layered with two clothe gloves and one layer of leather gloves. The boots on her feet where thick and had several layers of socks underneath them.

She looked like a puffy potato with a backpack. Her backpack straps had been adjusted to fit on her larger shoulders. With all of the extra layers, Attie had to use her bear strength in order to keep herself standing. When she walked, she had to waddle slightly due to the padding and her legs made a swishing noise every time she walked. The wasps would have a hard time stinging her but she would have a hard time defending herself from other threats. Knowing this, she decided to approach the person with the dragon and the other person. Attie hadn't a clue of who they were but she wanted to work with them regardless. They had weapons and could move easier than her. 

"Hi!" She said loudly, "What are you doing here?"

Drae looked up as the dragon rider came down to land not too far from him, and a faint smile painted his otherwise grim face. Sure enough such happenings were enough to drag all sorts out of the comfort of their homes to discover what was going on. 

"Well, my friend, I have come to discover that very thing myself. As it happens my own people asked me to come investigate as well. I've only been here a short time though so I haven't discovered much unfortunately," Drae explained, deciding that maybe he would downplay his divinity for the time being. 

"You can call me—" he paused in his introduction after L'van had given his name as a strange looking silhouette appeared not far and approached them. The bear within him caught a whiff of many magical properties, some in direct conflict with each other coming of the strange lumpy individual. As they got closer, Drae realized that it was a person in some sort of armor. The armor he had to guess was something of a home design as he had never seen the like, and he came from a place of walking cities and airships. 
The question that came from the helmet was muffled, but direct and to the point. The Keeper however, was having a very hard time keeping a straight face. 

"I can only guess we are here to investigate everything as you are my dear… though I get the feeling we may have come vastly unprepared in comparison," he said with a smile.