It wasn't long after the awkward events between the princess and Mimi that the former found herself standing before the massive, gleaming citadel of faith that was the Katedra. One of the two buildings, in a lawless city of legal brigands, that could be seen from any and every vantage point, with the other being the castle of the city lord itself. One would think that this monument to the divines would be highly populated due to its incredulous size, but alas, or perhaps fortunately for our heroine, possessing the power to wield the light of the divine was a rare thing in the world of Aestra, with Zlato itself being no exception.

Paladins, priests, inquisitors; it wasn't only the Inerti that held them in high regard. To be capable of calling upon the power of the Light meant that you are chosen, a person of interest amid the masses, someone marked by the gaze of a divine, the tool of a god. Some fight against their fate, despising the fact that they've been born for greatness, some revel in it, others yet tend to abuse their gifts. Many hold high ranks, preaching virtue and other such well-tested minos excrement in order to sway the people to their own good nature, as if to convince everyone how they won't be the bad guy, despite being given powers directly from a being so grand, most are unable to even imagine it.

It is very easy to preach goodness from a position of power, with their bellies full and their hearts content, with depression kept at bay and jadedness drowned in hedonistic glory. Anne felt herself scowl as she approached the Katedra. This monument of 'faith', such as it was, was drowning in gold, built with marble, so polished, so pristine, that she could feel the debauchery rolling off of it. The black stones that made up its towers glistened so brightly that you could see them clearly, even as midnight devoured the sky above. They could have stopped there, but no, there was magic, a deep-seated arcane power, an enchantment so ancient, echoing from within the stones, reminding her of the infernal glaciers of her home.

Anne took in a deep breath, desiring of the hellish cold of her homeland, and scowled once more, the temperate breath being coughed up as soon as it reached her inoperable, useless lungs. She steeled herself and wandered closer, ever closer. The gates of the building were in plain sight, open wide, almost as if they were inviting anyone who would turn to look at them. The gigantic, oaken doorway was carved with the iconography of a myriad False Gods, some even representing one or two such divines fighting against what seemed to be an army of demons and monsters, both of which bore a striking resemblance to her kind.

The First Princess smiled as she realized that this place must've been built right after a genocidal crusade had run its course. Every so often, the isolationist Inerti declare war upon the entirety of the world, waging a crusade with the intent to eradicate as much sapient life as possible with a span of time, always eventually retreating back to the Empire, to rebuild and replenish their numbers.

There hasn't been a crusade in centuries and it made Anne wonder, speculate with a sadistic smirk, for what if she could rally the Inerti to her own cause, to call upon the crusaders and direct their might towards Ennergres. She shook her head, for such a thing isn't possible... not yet. Domina is the only one with the power to call upon the crusade. Perhaps, she could convince her mother to focus on the humans? No.

No.

That would be far too impersonal and besides, she does not need the might of the entire Empire to slaughter the world of man. What she needs is a power base, a industrial complex to fuel her own agenda, an army of her own. Such thoughts made the princess' smile become ever wider as she walked towards the Katedra, her frame glistening in the moonlight.

Then her mind thought more upon the holy warriors, of those like her, whom possessed the right to inflict and enforce the will of the divines upon this world. All of them were chosen, all of them infused with holy power, with their alignments differing in accordance to the gods they served. When Anne registered with the Adventurer's Guild, the receptionist mentioned how her being an 'evil paladin' would make her the talk of the month, a kind of attention level that Anne wasn't particularly keen on, yet the underlying meaning of the comment did catch her attention. Through her talks with Mimi, she'd been informed that there was a kind of innate, factional civil war between the holy orders, fought between the evil and good gods.

Anne let out a choked laugh. All gods were amoral and evil simply by existing, for they all fed on the same source of energy; souls. Unlike the NAO, who were put there for that exact purpose, to harvest and produce mortal souls for some infallible purpose of the Creator, the False Gods of the mortal races had no such excuse.

A 'False God', such as they are, are beings born of the collective subconsciousness of the species they rule over, likely influenced by a myriad of concepts, ideas and otherwise, but once a god is born, it cannot sustain itself on the faith of its subjects alone. When a member of their faithful dies, their souls are used to perpetuate their divine patron, being completely destroyed in the process. The same does not go for the NAO however, as they instead receive their energies from the Soul Cycles, like the one that happened the first time Anne went to meet her grandfather. During a Soul Cycle, Atlyon distributes a portion of the energy gathered within Anea Sedea, the power of all those processed souls, to the other NAO, even those he dislikes, simply because the father of sleep is deathly afraid of the Creator.

It was a horrid thing to accept, that there was a being present within this world that was more powerful than her grandfather and grandaunt combined, someone that could delete them from existence outright and create a copy of each in a span of time so small, it may as well be considered negative time. Anne shuddered with discomfort as a chill wind passed her by, bringing her attention to where she was; standing at the gates to the Katedra.

She could already feel them.

Like a thousand voices, each toneless and furious, slamming their collective wills against her own. The influence of the False Gods was strong in this place and they were not happy with her being here. "Atlyon, o' father of sleep, shield me from their wretched presence. [Shield]." Anne whispered, unable to help herself from being more than slightly intimidated by the unceasing screams of protest raking against her mind, yet as the Light of her grandfather wove itself through her flesh, she breathed out in pure relief as the oppressive aura all but evaporated. She smirked with clear defiance, her skin shinning with the soft, pale light of death, a holy aura of her own penetrating the thick, almost psychic gravity of the place. They were still trying to push her down, yet she knew they were already beaten.

This was the difference between the NAO and the False Gods. Whereas the former gained more and more power on a regular basis, the others scrambled for souls, forcing wars and conflict for their personal benefit, laughing at their mortal worshippers like the scum that they were, little more than a confluence of ever-thirsting gods. More than anything else however, the NAO have been present for far longer and are known equally to all species, with cults and the like being present everywhere you go. Thing is, mere faith is not the best source of fuel for a god, but fear.

And the NAO are more than simply feared. Naturally, the more strength a god possesses, the more of it they can give to their servants, which is why even the weakest of the NAO's Heralds can easily surpass the power of the greatest False God. Anne silently relished the thought of one day gaining the strength to brutalize these miscreants, these arrogant soul-slaves that thought of themselves as gods.

Looking around, Anne realized that nobody within the Katedra even noticed she was there yet and no matter how much she focused, she couldn't easily find the source of Phexris' signal, though she was sure that it was somewhere inside of here. With a sigh and a nod to herself, the lioness found the nearest unoccupied bench and sat down, closing her eyes and mind to all around her, pushing through the slog of the False Gods as best she could in an effort to discover her next move.

Unfortunately for the First Princess, her presence did not go unnoticed for very long, as a few choice individuals found themselves staring at her with discomfort. Not that she cared to acknowledge their presence, her attention fully occupied with battling their arrogant gods. It was only after she heard the distinct sound of an unsheathing weapon that the lioness opened her eyes.

"Foul beast! Cease your heretical prayers, you and your devils are not wanted here!" An elven priestess, wearing pinkish, purple garments, slammed her rune staff down in apparent fury. Another approached, this time an orc clad in glistening, black plate pushed her behind himself in a protective manner as he finished drawing his longsword and positioning his shield.

"What she said. Now get up and get out so this does not have to get messy." He spoke with trepidation in his tone, but before the lioness could open her mouth to speak, another elf put his staff right under her chin and above her praying hands. His posture and tone radiated arrogance. "Oh come now, Myon'jor. I'm sure the divines wouldn't mind if we exalt their divinity with a few splatters of Inerti blood."

The Princess quirked an eyebrow at them before deciding to ignore everyone present and return to her mental hunt. The False Gods were more frantic now, most seemingly panicking, while the more brave among them continued their psychic assault upon her mind. They were screaming at her in protest, demanding that she leaves or that she bows to their will.

Others, decidedly less loud divines, sent her a form of soft pleading, begging the lioness to leave their children, their worshippers unharmed. It was an almost astonishing medley of contradictions and hypocrisy, completely unlike what she'd felt in the realms of her divine family. It was abhorrent and disgusting.

These 'gods', radiated weakness and low-birth, some of them even bearing those traits like medals. Anne grunted in disgust as she redoubled her efforts; she sought to find the source of her grandaunts callings and she would not be denied, especially not by them or their meagre followers. "Ha! She's so scared she's gone back to praying!" The arrogant elf let out a laugh, his staff lightly hitting Anne's chin in the process.

"Hey! Don't let your gu-?!" The orc began to speak just as the staff connected to Anne's chin, his eyes growing wide as the lioness re-opened her eyes and moved quicker than his could follow. A loud cracking sound erupted throughout the Katedra, disturbing most of those present within and shattering their prayers as their heads turned around to see what was going on.

The Lioness broke the top of the arrogant elfs staff, then twisted it around in her hands, appearing almost as if the broken part was a stake. A stake that she intended to impale the elf with. And before anyone could react, Anne sent the wooden object towards the elf, smiling all the while as another sound of shattering, this time that of stone, echoed loudly.

Everyone blinked in their sudden panic, but by the time their eyes readjusted, it was over and Anne was standing over the arrogant elf, her improvised stake impaled quite firmly into the pillar of stone that he'd been leaning on a few minutes prior to becoming an annoyance. He wasn't hurt, though the lioness thought his expression of pure shock was worth twice the value of all the coin and gold she had in her possession.

Without saying anything, she merely offered him a cold, gentle smile and returned to her seated position, allowing the elf to fall on his ass with trembling knees. "W-wha..?.." He sputtered out, managing to say nothing whilst continuing to twitch uncomfortably, his eyes turning towards his broken staff and then towards the 'stake' impaled into the Katedra's stone.

Wood, enchanted or not, wasn't meant to be able to impale stone. The sheer strength it would take to do this was more than enough to dissuade everyone present from annoying the lioness any further. Her redoubled efforts had not gone to waste, as she pinpointed the signal she'd felt to be deep within the Katedra's basement.

Anne let out a sigh and clicked with her tongue just as the other elf and their orcish companion made their way to the arrogant one, checking his body for any physical damage while the orc attempted to pull the stake out of the pillar, only to instantly stop once the aforementioned pillar shook with stony discomfort. Unwilling to risk bringing a portion of the structure down, the orc just picked his companion up along with what remained of the priests staff before motioning towards the door with his head. "Come on, lets just get out of here."

Wordlessly, his other companion agreed as they made their way out. "Hmm... Myon'jor?" The First Princess thought to herself as she thought of Grunt, the memory of the rather attractive orc bringing a smile to her expression. Perhaps, this orcish paladin and her one-time date had a connection of some kind? Their names were quite similar, after all.

Standing up and dusting herself off for no apparent reason, the Inerti woman closed her eyes once more and calmly walked towards the direction of the signal. In but a few moments, she found herself standing in front of an open stairway leading down into blackened depths, the ancient, stone stairs exposed only due to the dim, but otherwise well-kept candlelight. Not wishing to risk tripping over something and be taken down a literal flight of stairs, Anne reopened her eyes and began to make her way down, just as something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. Her head turned around with lightning speed, effectively spooking out the seemingly human man standing next to her and causing him to fall, much akin to the arrogant elf shed taught a lesson mere minutes earlier.

"A-argh!" The overweight human, who couldn't have been more of a stereotypical, poorly-dressed priest if he tried, grimaced lightly as he picked himself up as quickly as he could, dusting his brownish robes and tightening the black sash around his waist before turning up to look at the lioness with an annoyed expression. "Well, that was most certainly rude."

Anne had to blink in response to that, her confusion and shock causing her to mutter an uncharacteristic apology before she could stop herself. "Uhm.. sorry?"

To her surprise, the priest merely exhaled and shrugged, snorting loudly before replying. "Its not like there's a lot of me to see, anyway." Anne blinked again, then took one look at the man's heavy frame, before forcing herself to stifle a snort. "I-.. I see- pfft!"

He offered her a grin in turn. "You do now, indeed." With another snort given, a far more serious expression formed on him, with his tone becoming fully annoyed. "While its nice to know that you are capable of experiencing positive emotions, I'm afraid that I must inquire as to what exactly you think you're doing and where you're going, miss."

He thought to himself for a moment, then blinked with widening eyes, almost as if he'd suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. You may call me Ivan."

Disbelief and social shock alike ran up and down Anne's spine as she shook her head, placing a hand on her forehead in response to a sudden and apparently powerful headache. The mental assault of the False Gods had stopped a few moments prior, so this, she reasoned, must be from something else. Nevertheless, she eventually gave the man a response. "Name's Anne. I'm going down into the Katedra's depths."

Ivan quirked a curious eyebrow at her, turning towards his side and taking a candle off of the nearby wall, pointing towards the aforementioned depths in the process. "So that's where. Now, why would you be doing this?"

The First Princess hummed to herself at that question, silently looking around herself before motioning with her head downstairs. Seemingly managing to take the hint, the fat priest moved down first, one hand holding the candle while the other helped keep himself stable, pushing against the curving walls. It would seem that this stairway was particularly treacherous for one of his girth, a fact that Anne, for a reason unknown to anyone including herself, did not point out.

Usually, she'd never miss such a delicious chance for bullying. Perhaps, Ivan had managed to worm his way into her heart already? "That's stupid. Screw off, you bloody correction. He has guts, for how he looks, but he's still just another fucking human." She muttered to herself as she silently followed him, all the while trying her best not to direct any hostility at Ivan himself. If the man did feel any of it, he certainly didn't show it on his half-annoyed, half-amused expression.

Once the lights of the upper Katedra failed to reach the duo, Anne began to speak, figuring she may as well tell the truth, if for no other reason, then because she was interested in his reaction. "I'm here because I have been summoned, by Phexris." She quickly added on the last part, causing Ivan to nod.

The preacher let out a sigh as he heard the NAO's name. "I figured as much, considering you went for the one pathway leading to the NAO part of the Katedra."

"I'm surprised you even have a place to worship the NAO at all." Anne exclaimed with no small amount of surprise as Ivan nodded. "Wasn't a popular choice or an easy one... or even an inexpensive one, come to think of it." He let out a heavy sigh as Anne finally managed to hear the slight clicking of coin from somewhere within his robes.

"I'll assume you're this place's treasurer then?" He nodded, but then shook his head in negative, confusing Anne somewhat in the process. "Somewhat. I'm one of the Katedra's keepers. We keep things, one of which happens to be the donations of the faithful."

"Oh? Is that what you got fat off of~?" Anne mused inside of her mind, though she said nothing, continuing their slow, heaving descent into the darkness of the Katedra.

Ivan would soon begin to breathe heavily and deeply, as if he was somehow tired due to the short trek down, yet Anne soon realized the truth; the oppressive aura of the False Gods was gone, the magical power of their myriad idols had gotten out of reach. Now, they were coming closer and closer to another set of powerful, divine auras.

Some of which she recognized; the sterile promise of an ineffable end, the drowning currents of implausible magic, the sickeningly-sweet stench of primordial ooze, the palpable edge of the twisted scale. Atlyon, Phexris, Davith and Lusith, the NAO whom she knew of, two of which she'd met.

But there were others here...

A darkness so vast, it threatened to consume all things.

A dreamer so valiant, he made thousands reach for greatness.

A nihilist, imparting understanding to anyone, but especially to those who do not wish it.

A vixen so fickle, her moods are as varied as the seasons.

A lord with soul of stone and the curiosity of a newborn, ever-seeking, ever-watchful.

A clown so feared, his jokes create laughter in even the most unwilling.

Anne did not know their names.

Anne did not know their purpose.

But regardless upon which monument she looked, all of them inspired within her, a deep-seated fear and terror. An unnatural chill surrounded her body, dwarfing even the infernal glaciers of her homeland and she shook. She shook and began to panic, holding herself close. These were mere statues, monuments of the NAO's power, nothing more than prayer stones, little more than the beads of a necklace.

They were not here.

No one, was looking at her.

Yet, she felt as if she was a peasant, standing beneath a court of kings and queens, each of which would decide her fate on the merest of whimsy.

A poke on her shoulder woke her from her fear as she quickly turned her head around, to the left, to the right, her heart beating faster than all the times she'd experienced near death in her childhood at once. "You alright? Thought you Inerti worshipped the NAO. Figured you'd have experience with this... guess they don't have any mercy on their followers, even if its your kind."

He gently patted her on the back.

Anne stabilized herself as she looked around some more, her mind catching up to the fact that she'd kept on walking forward, despite the atmosphere breathing down her neck to almost the point of breaking. "I-.. we d-do... we- we worship the NAO, b-but only some of t-them." She swallowed down hard, gritting her teeth and shaking herself out of her stupor, forcing herself to walk forward proudly, even if that meant using enough strength to break through the flooring with her foot.

"So the others are pushing down on you, eh?" Ivan nodded to himself, seemingly reminding himself to remember this for later. Anne thought of looking deeper into his soul for a clearer answer, but the thought of gazing into the realm of souls and finding herself standing face to face with a servant of some unknown NAO was far too terrifying of a thought for her to do it.

"Geez... its no wonder that the people around here call them 'devils'..." Anne's thoughts turned inwards once against as she followed Ivan further down the corridor, pondering deeply on the implications of what she was currently experiencing. If this was how the NAO treated those who weren't friends or family, then that more than explained why the world prefers to worship the 'False Gods' rather than them.

Even Anne, being the grandchild of one and grand cousin of another, found herself preferring the remarkably less oppressive mental assault of the gods above. It was in this moment however, that Anne remembered that there was something, someone even above the NAO. Someone whose power, even they feared.

The Creator.

Her ultimate jailer, the origin of the correction raking away at her soul, the mastermind behind her torment, behind her incessantly immovable humanity.

She swallowed down hard as despair assaulted her from seemingly all sides. "Coming here was a bad idea!?" She exclaimed suddenly, startling Ivan enough for him to drop his candle, the flame perishing as it touched the eerily cold flooring. Panic, hate, fear, hope, lust and amusement, she could feel it all, she could feel them all, gazing at her, their hypocritically judgmental stares piercing her skin, tearing through her soul.

She wasn't hallucinating.

Surely.

Anne closed her eyes and held herself tightly, forcibly resuming the thoughts she had moments prior, focusing her mind on the Creator. Perhaps, she thought, he could save her from this? Perhaps, she could pray to him...?

"NO!" She screamed out in rage and fury, her voice becoming almost distorted from the strain her as she tore her own hands off of her chest, forming them into fists and smashing them against the strangely tight walls of this place. The atmosphere was becoming more and more dense, feeling as if thick plumes of gas were forcing themselves down her throat, her vision becoming hazy and strained.

However, the lioness remembered herself, remembered the blood that flowed through her veins. She would not betray her flesh, not for anything but most certainly not due to threats made by a bunch of egoistical, power-addled brats that did not even have the guts to face her directly.

Her foot smashed down, cracking the floor further as the NAO seemingly intensified their presence. With an audible heave and as her feet dug deeper into the earth, Anne forced herself to stand, weathering their ephemeral assault, standing proudly in defiance of her invisible assailants. It was then, that she was saved.

Her grandaunts monument, an edifice of her own grandiose beauty, seemed to glow with power in the distance as the air became thick with magic and unseen energies. The blackened walls around her seemed to take upon a myriad of colours, changing shape and size and form, seemingly at their own free will as the goddess' wrath echoed throughout the hallway, rocking the very earth with furious, elemental power.

Primal magic's tore through her assailants, as they were finally revealed themselves: a group of seemingly immaterial entities surrounding her on all sides. She couldn't see their shapes, as they seemed to be shielded by something her mind failed to comprehend, an oozing shadow cowering the frames of the entities. From their shadows, they seemed to differ in every way and as her grandaunts magic broke through whatever barriers were protecting them, the beings scattered, each using the monument of their respective deity to flee the material realm. With a wave of pure mana washing through her, Anne felt herself be washed clean of their influence, her immaterial wounds healed and her soul mended within an instant.

"Of course..." She muttered through gritted teeth, her anger causing her to draw blood from her own lips. "They wouldn't ever risk their own hides, so they send mere servants instead..." Anne took in an unnecessary breath and steadied herself for the umpteenth time today.

Still, it wasn't like all of the NAO would try to assassinate her like this. Focusing herself, Anne felt the essence, the trails left behind of the phantasmal monstrosities that attacked her for no apparent reason. To her surprise, Davith's monument remained still, untouched by the remaining aura. Of all those present, it was him that she suspected would be an enemy, considering her grandfathers not-so-quaint disposition towards the White Wolf of the Felir.

Lusith's presence was equally missing, though this was no surprise, as Anne figured that the enigmatic Lady Justice thought of her as beneath their notice. "Fucker is probably watching me, though... sipping on tea all high and mighty in his tower of palpable edgelord-ness."

She shook her head again, clutching her forehead in apparent pain as her grandaunts protective magic slowly dispersed and reality began to return to normal. "Austus, Lord of the Sun, I beg of thee!; aid me in banishing this unspeakable evil! [Purification]!" A new voice echoed from behind the duo as Ivan managed to pick himself off of the ground and Anne turned her head around, keeping an eye on the suddenly rapidly retreating primordial magic all around her. Golden, white light eclipsed the tunnel, covering every wall and drowning the monuments of the NAO in itself, seemingly banishing their presence and eradicating the remainder of the her attackers essence.

Anne scowled to herself as she would no longer be able to easily distinguish friend from foe. Nevertheless, the signal she'd felt from her aunt returned in full, eliciting a soft hum within her mind and directing her towards the beautiful statue of her grandaunt at the other end of the hallway.

The Lioness' attention however, was stolen by a stunning array of gold. Full-body plate armour, with royal silken blue adorning his shoulders and the iconography of the sun etched into his well-worn chest plate, an elf with sun-kissed hair, ebony skin and golden eyes approached her, standing slightly taller than Anne, bearing a golden, intricate claymore in one hand, while the other held aloft a lit torch.

"Are you two alright?" The elf spoke with a melodious voice that was remarkably pleasant to the princess, the soothing tone doing more than its part in ridding her of her gnawing headache. "Y-yes, we are.. quite fine." Ivan grumbled with annoyance in his tone, though it was more aggravated than before.

"I'm fine. I was just caught off guard." Anne's teeth were still grit in raw fury, her hands poised as fists, ready to strike at anything and everything, yet the elven man radiated an aura that seemed to soothe her anger to no small degree. The sparkling elf smiled at them both, then took a step back as he placed his torch into a nearby sconce, then bowed in a gentlemanly manner before sheathing his sword. "That is good to hear, milady." He turned his eyes towards Ivan and chuckled at the apparent stink-eye that the heavy human was throwing him. "It is good to see that you are well as well, Ivan."

"Yeah, yeah, nice to see you too, Zharris. We definitely couldn't have dealt with the situation without you." Sarcasm rolled off of Ivan in droves as he rolled his eyes and picked up his fallen candle, setting it alight with a murmured fire spell and moving on. "Come now, the altar of Phexris is close. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can ditch you."

A snicker escaped Anne's frame as she nodded towards Ivan with a knowing smirk. "As you wish." She then began to follow the human, completely ignoring Zharris in the process.

His jaw fell down in shock and disbelief. "A-ah, wa-wait!" He exclaimed and rushed towards the duo, seemingly unburdened by his golden plate armour. "Ivan! Lady Anne! Please! You must explain what just happ-"

"It was a damn Devil's Canter. What the hell is there to explain?" Ivan interrupted him with a groan as they stopped to wait for the overly-shining paladin of the sun. "Devil's Canter?" Anne rose an eyebrow in confusion, causing Ivan to promptly roll his eyes and then proceed to cover them as Zharris' golden armour reflected the low fire-light towards him.

"Its what we call when the NAO decide to induce madness into whomever enters this wretched sanctum." Ivan explained and then sighed, turning back around and moving forward as quickly as his feet would carrying him, reminding Anne of her school days, when her bullying victims would do that laughable, passive-aggressive walk-away thing right after spouting some idealistic, bullshit reason as to why she was wrong and how much better they were than her simply due to them not being a bully.

An amusing memory, one that made her smile. "I see. Do they do this often?"

Zharris nodded and replied faster than Ivan could. "T-they do, yes. Pretty much every time someone they dislike comes around... which is surprising, considering you're an Inerti." He muttered the last parts to himself, before turning towards Ivan with fake shock etched into his expression. "Unless.. Unless! Unless our friend Ivan's finally decided to live a non-decadent, priestly and virtuous life!" He continued on, his apparent shock twisting into a sarcastic smirk that went from ear to ear. "Of course! I always knew you could do it, my friend! The hatred of the NAO is pure proof of your virtues!"

Ivan rolled his eyes, though he did offer the elf a badly-hidden smirk of his own. "Oh, shut it, you damned, knife-eared piece of talkative gild."

Anne offered them a snort of her own as Zharris hummed in thought, throwing a look of respect towards Ivan. "Well, damn. Talkative gild?" He looked over himself, comically snorting towards his own shining, golden armour. "That's a good one."

"Right. Well, anyway..." Ivan placed his candle at the foot of Phexris' statue, the light of the small flame seemingly doing its best to show off the beauty of the NAO goddess. "We're finally here. Now, if you don't mind, I have to go report this to the Head Priest." He turned towards the golden elf with an indignant expression. "Zharris, you stay here and protect the damn lionear lady. With any luck, we might finally get to know why every single fucking monster this side of the continent is gunning for the city..." The fat priest muttered out and wandered off without another word.

With an awkward cough, Zharris turned Anne's attention back on himself, a cheery, shit-eating grin etched into his frame. "So, as I was about to say, I'm Zharris Yncery! High Paladin of the Sun, currently working for the Dragon Prince. Its a pleasure to meet you, madam~."

"Call me 'madam' one more time and I'll introduce your teeth to the gold of your chest plate." Anne returned his smile in equal measure, then continued with another snort. "Anne Sedellean, paladin of death, and likewise."