At a desk made of black wood with no visible seams or marks of construction, sat an impossible creature wearing loose black and purple robes. It was what seemed to be a bipedal cat from the side profile offered. It shared similarities with a panther in coloration yet there remained the gleam of a sharp wit only found in the elderly. The being had flecks of grey around his muzzle and hands. And yet when he moved to gaze upon the new arrival to his realm, corded muscle in his forearms roiling underneath the fur like a wave on the ocean belied quiet ferocity. He held in his hands what could only be described as a grimoire, it was a functional tome embossed with the symbol of a sword and scythe crossed over an arcane circle. He finished writing a few more lines in his book with a red feather quill that had a golden streak through it, then wiped the excess ink off on an inkwell and stood. The Cat man walked slowly toward the young man collapsed on his floor. The young man wore a torn not so white shirt and bruises could be seen on his throat, lip and eye. The chain attached to his Jean's by the belt loop made a sound as he scrambled away from the terrifying creature.

"Please don't eat me! I don't taste good at all! I never exercise and I'm fatty!" The young man cried, slightly shivering on the cold stone floor.

The creature stopped for a moment before roaring in laughter. After a few moments of getting control of himself, he held a hand out. Still chuckling he replied, " I mean you no harm, child. May I tend to your wounds? Blood tends to find cracks to nestle in and stone is quite difficult to clean it out of.” The young man nodded and the giant cat who must have been at least 7 and a half feet tall knelt down. He held out his hand for a moment and a purple light flared before dying down, revealing the young man completely whole and hale.

"I am known as the War Scholar or Battlemage to those who know of me and I brought you here to my realm. Would you like to remain in those clothes for a while longer or shall I send for some?" The newly named War Scholar held his hand out for him to take.

"My name is Aiden. New clothes would be wonderful, thank you." Aiden bowed his head in thanks. "I have to ask, was that magic? And where in the world am I?" Aiden looked at his surroundings. Shelves filled with books as far as the eye could see, the walls, ceiling and floors all a uniform black stone with golden torch sconces holding globes of gentle golden light.

He nodded. "You are in my personal realm of Alexandria. But that can wait for your new destination after we are finished here. As much as I would enjoy company, there are rules I must abide by and as such you may not stay for long." The scholar snapped his fingers and what looked like a man made from liquid metal approached, his steely hair was spiked up in a style that would not be out of place in an anime and he wore strange robes that were more like a monk's robes than the war scholars', bound at the ankles and wrists with cloth as they were. His robes were earthen brown and his bare feet made no sound upon the stone floor.

"You called, master?" The metal man bowed.

"Please see about getting this young man some travel gear and a few changes of clothes, Mitchell." Mitchell the metal man bowed to the scholar then turned to Aiden, gesturing for him to follow. "Afterwards please ask someone to bring me coffee and our guest's choice of drink." Mitchell nodded and took Aiden through a tall stone hallway.

"Intimidating isn't he?" Mitchell said after a few minutes of silence.

"Hmm, sorry?" Aiden had been staring open mouthed at the architecture and stumbled at the sudden conversation.

"My master, he doesn't mean to be but when you are as accomplished in war as he is, one cannot help but emit such an aura."

"He IS pretty scary. I asked him not to eat me when I first saw him." Aiden nervously chuckled as they entered a scorching room where a silhouette was bent over a forge. As the figure straightened, Aiden gasped. It was a devil straight from the bible, with red skin, flaming eyes and huge curling horns. The figure lifted a glowing red blade from the forge with his bare hands and began beveling the blade with small but strong strikes from his hammer.

"Mitchell, what brings you here? I thought I asked not to be disturbed until I was finished." The man rumbled and Aiden couldn't help but notice how massive he was, he looked like someone had chiseled his muscles from stone. "You also asked me to inform you when the master took a break from his notes, he will be taking coffee with our new guest after I find some clothing to suit him." Mitchell was unfazed.

"Ah, father finally succeeded in summoning someone without the circle? Let me get a good look at him." The red man quenched the blade in a tub of oil and grabbed a rag, wiping his hands off and offering one in a handshake. "First time seeing a Tylark?" The man grinned impishly. "Father tells me this is how people greet others in the Usah."

Aiden swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. He nodded and took the man's hand. "If by Usah you mean the U.S.A, then yes, it's customary to shake their hand and maintain eye contact." Aiden shook his hand and smiled. "What is a Tylark?"

"That's me, buddy. Tylark are demons. You have the honor of addressing Eliarous, lord of the circle of wrath and minor deity of fire." The air grew heavy until the man grinned again. "Or you can just call me Eli. Me and my father don't like titles very much. I won't take up your time though." He patted Aiden's back which sent him stumbling forward. "Go get some clothes on and we will talk when you get back." With that, Aiden was whisked away to get changed.

Before he could get his bearings, he was dragged into a Roman style bathroom, complete with semi-nude statues depicting various male and female creatures in poses ranging from flexing to brandishing weapons. The sound of Mitchell's voice brought Aiden out of his admiration for the statues. "You may remove the blood and filth from yourself here and I will have suitable clothing sent here for you. Do you have any preference as to style?"

"Um, I still don't know why I'm here? He said something about a destination? So whatever you think would be good travel clothes? It's happening so fast and I am feeling pretty lost if I'm being honest." Aiden stripped down and settled into the bath with an audible groan and shaky hands that he used to splash some of the hot water on his face. He heard the soft click of the door close as he was left alone in the room, only the gentle trickle of water to break the sudden silence. "Why? I tried to be a good brother. I was going to give up being the heir, so why would you try and kill me?" If anyone had been there they would have noted the tears falling from the young man's eyes as he wiped away the blood and grime from his body.

Mitchell walked in a short while later to see Aiden asleep. "Please wake up, sir. I have your clothing here." Aiden woke with a start, eyes frantically scanning the room while one hand went to his throat until recognition set in and he relaxed. He took the proffered towel from Mitchell and blushed when the metal man turned away to give him some privacy. He quickly got dressed in soft cloth undergarments and an undershirt that fit well. He slipped on a pair of what looked like leather pants and tunic that felt heavy compared to the clothing he normally wore. Mitchell showed him how to tighten the buckles on the pants and tunic. 'To prevent unnecessary chafing' he explained. After that was a pair of soft socks and a pair of sturdy boots that conformed to his feet and felt very light.

"Come, we have taken long enough to join the master." Mitchell said, not unkindly. They left the bathing room behind and walked down another hallway towards a small study where cabinets full of different wines and assorted alcohols could be seen along the walls. At the far end of the room sat the war scholar and Eliarous drinking coffee and chatting quietly in front of a blazing fireplace shaped like a snarling dragon's mouth.

"Ah, you clean up nicely!" Eliarous boomed. "Finally looking like a warrior! I'd make you some weapons if I could but as I'm not your patron, it would not end well. Don't worry though," he grinned " I'm sure my father has something great in mind. "

"Um, who is your father? I haven't seen anyone looking like you since I got here." Aiden scratched his head and tried to remember.

"That would be me." The scholar said. "He's adopted. Please, sit and be comfortable, we have at least an hour before I am forced to send you away."

"Why do you have to send me away? I've always loved libraries and I could make myself useful. " Aiden asked hopefully.

The scholar shook his head. "That would violate the rules, I'm afraid. As a summoned hero, you must be sent away to grow on your own. You may only have help through your own merits. With little guidance from your patron god."

"Oh, well alright then. So this is a business transaction then. If I'm not receiving guidance then what am I getting?" Finally having something familiar, Aiden settled into the familiar back and forth of business.

"As your patron I will help you begin your journey and grant you a boon when you make your way to one of my shrines. As I do not care for worship you are not required to spread my name, only to never undermine my true followers. My tenets are thus, do not hoard knowledge, do not seek to destroy knowledge. Care for your mind and body. And uplift the weak, so they may lift themselves to stand tall."

Aiden nodded. "Okay and what else? What am I supposed to do?"

"You will assist [unintelligible] in destroying [unintelligible]... you couldn't hear, could you?" Aiden shook his head. "It seems as though fate will be your guide." The scholar sighed. "As you are still unstable due to the summoning, I have the ability to offer you one boon as well as the option to change your race unless you'd like to remain human?"

"What are my options?" Aiden asked. The scholar looked lost in thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. After a few moments a book flew through the doorway and landed in the outstretched hand of the scholar, who handed it to him. The title read, 'The Plane Of Tieral' by Jeerong Greenleaf.

"Thank you." Aiden sat in a chair that he absentmindedly noticed only appeared when he wanted to sit down. As he thumbed through the book, three races stood out to him. The Caneen, Dusk Elf and Fae. He thumbed to the entry about the Caneen.

The Caneen: Massive bipedal wolf humanoids, these apex predators are very secretive and no one living has ever seen one of their cities. Many a historian has lost their lives to catch a glimpse of a Caneen dwelling and due to the lack of information, it seems none have. However I have spoken to one of their warriors and have parsed out that their society is roughly based on tribal and pack based rule. There is a grand Alpha who oversees the individual castes… the book went on detailing the author's thoughts and hypotheses on why the Caneen were so secretive.

"So basically a standard werewolf." Aiden murmured. He heard a cough and looked up to see the scholar projecting a hologram of what he imagined the Caneen looked like.

"I must warn you that when you change your race you cannot change your features. I cannot directly alter you after all and you have no knowledge of flesh sculpting." The scholar said, taking a sip of his coffee. Aiden was in the midst of fighting his jealousy when a cup of coffee was placed on a table next to him along with a dish of cream and sugar cubes. Aiden thanked Mitchell who nodded and stood off to the side. "Are you reading my mind?" The Scholar and Eliarous both chuckled.

"It does seem like that at times, doesn't it? Now hurry, time waits for no one."

"I would like to be a Fae." Aiden nodded his head. "I've always read about them as a kid and I would regret it if I didn't choose them. Am I able to choose my court?" The scholar shook his head.

"And your boon?"

"This is going to sound bad but...blood magic."

"That is quite the request, are you sure? Blood magic is quite widely shunned and using it is rather painful."

"I'm sure." Aiden nodded firmly, finished his drink and stood. "I'm ready to go, sir. Thank you for being patient with me and I will do my best to follow your tenets."

"You are welcome, it was only a short while ago I was in your shoes. Now pay attention as I change you, if you can remember the feeling of the magic it will serve you well." The room darkened. "Hear me now, supplicant. I grant you the boon of blood magic and knowledge in its use. At your request I shall now change you into one of the fae, do you consent?"

"I do." The scholar laid a finger on his forehead as his body erupted in agony. Channels of fire ran through every muscle in his body. After what seemed an eternity of agony that refused to dull, Aiden collapsed to his knees where he stayed, breathing heavily. He groaned and stood up, apparently too much force was used as he sprung a few inches into the air. Looking down, he received another scare. His skin was ash grey and his fingers were slightly longer tipped with short pointed black nails. He ran his fingers through his hair that fell down to his shoulders. There was also a strange feeling inside him, like an engine idling, ready to go but waiting for direction. Aiden concentrated on the feeling and felt his heart pound in his chest. The world slowed down and he felt STRONG, abruptly the feeling faded and he slumped.

"Ah, a prodigy." The scholar chuckled. "It has been a pleasure meeting you Aiden and I wish you all the best. It is time for you to go however." A circle lit up underneath his feet.

"Here kid" Aiden caught an arming sword out of the air. "Couldn't leave you without a weapon now. Good luck!" And suddenly he was gone.

The scholar sighed. "At least he got a warning." He mused, absentmindedly signaling for another cup of coffee. Suddenly overcome with nostalgia, he thought over his own experience with being summoned so many years ago.