Tiber, known as the Grand City of the Tiberian Empire was built upon the ruins of the Old Elven Empire, it served at the capital of the Empire. It was a massive sprawling urban center divided into four quarters, the city had long since escaped the origional elven city which now served as Imperial palace and the housing for the twelve High Lords and their families. The city now streched to the ancient elven walls of white crystaline stone which served as a bastion to protect their sacred groves, against the primitive races, groves which were burnt to the ground by the founder Tiberius and his lover the gold dragon Tylathnyr. The city was just inland from the northern sea and served as a trade route to and from the provinces of the jungle laden islands to the west, and to the port towns on nothern continent. The lower quarter housed mainly the lower and working class citizens along with various less savory types, the merchant quarter served mostly to house the various guilds that oversaw various types of trades and commodities and provided an open market for large scale purveyors to purchase bulk goods. The upper quarter served as the hub of the Empire's nobility and housing for many middle and upper class merchants and guild masters, his own house had a small estate for when his father was called by Imperial summons. Finally there was the Mages quarter, it was heavily guarded against ordinary citizens, and surounded by a massive protective barrier to prevent any possible experiments from dammaging the rest of the city. Many different mage Towers reached high into the sky, otherwise invisible from the outside world, no two towers or buildings were alike as mages of different races and cultures gathered enmasse.

Adrian had only been to the capital on one occasion, now as it had been then, the city was a jumbled maze of narrow streets and wider boulevards criss crossed with back alleys. A problem solved by a large number of guard houses where one could easily get maps and ask directions, there were also professional guides that doubled as a body guard service via the Adventurer's Guild head quarters.He couldn't help but smile recalling the wide eyed stare of Annabelle upon reaching the massive white walls of the city, that look of wonder an joy alone made the trip worth while.

Dalmar had taken them through the main gates in order to register their guild plates with the city to allow free entry, and propper passes for the

men-a-arms. A process that took minutes instead of hours thanks to the presence of the Arch Magus, and his own status as the son of a provincial lord. From there they were teleported once more, a dizzying kaleidoscopic sensation best experienced with one's eyes firmly shut. Though this short jaunt was far less disorienting then the one from River's Bend.

At the end of the swirling sensation what awaited them was a room maybe thirty feet across, red velvet drapes and violet carpets stood out against the opalescent black walls that appeared to be sculpted crystal. With out a moment of wasted tim Dalmar took a seat at a table across from them, his silver trimmed silk robe reflecting subtly the arcane glow from arcane lamps. "First before we begin, as you are aware I am the Arch Magus of the Onyx Tower, and ruler of the Council of Magi. As such I have many responsibilities and will not always be available to over see your training. Upon joining the Onyx tower youll be expected to reach the rank of magician before you'll be able to come and go as you please. You'll start out as a novice, during such time you'll be living in the novice quarters. Much of this time will be spent either studying general magic, or performing tasks. Once you become an adept you'll be given private quarters and you'll be allowed to have your personal attendants and servants, till then I'll provide housing for them as my guests, do you understand the terms." Dalmar explained the situation in a way that very much reminded him of his mother during lessons. "How long will it take to reach the rank of magician" Adrian inquired his expression void of emotion. Dalmar tilted his head in thought for a moment, " that depends entirely on you, the shortest length of time I have seen was five years the longest twenty". Adrian mulled it over the information in his head, before nodding in understanding.

Dalmar pushed a flawless clear crystal across the table to Adrian, "this is a crystal that reacts to the presence of various forms of magic, you simply need to hold it and focus your mind, this will help determine what type mage you are". Adrian sighed inwardly taking the egg sized crystal in his hand and focused his mind. Dalmar sat in silent contemplation as the crystal glowed an etheral blue causing him to furrow his brow, a furrow that only grew as the crystal turned black-purple. The color began to flash back and forth whilst Adrian was oblivious to the amount of power he was unintentionally channeling, pouring both Aether and Eldritch energies into the crystal at rate that overwhelmed the enchantment causing it to shatter with a loud sound that snapped him out of the trance.

"I see, you carry both the connection to the Aether making you a wizard and the demonic taint of a warlock, you're lucky to be alive given the nature of your powers. An individual born with two types of magic is almost unheard of, but I've never heard of this as a possible combination" Dalmar spoke aloud as he turned his natural curiosity as a wizard towards the conundrum before him. "I welcome you to the Onyx Tower, novice, is there anything else I can do for you" Dalmar inquired.

Annabelle had thought long and hard about what she would do once she reached this point, with a nod the usually quiet demure blacksmith stepped forward. "L-lord Aldmari, p-please allow this humble maid to make a selfish request" she stuttered. Suprised by the girl who spent her entire time with eyes down cast in his presence he felt inclined to listen, if only to respect the girl's courage. "Speak child" Dalmar stated in an almost fatherly tone. "If possible I'd like to study the art of enchantment while I work on my master smiting certification" Annabelle blurted out in shock at her audacity. "Hold out you hand, close your eyes and focus your mind" Dalmar stated placing a replacement crystal into the girl's palm. Even if the girl possessed no magic she could still learn how to due basic enchantments but she would never progress past the basics.

The room watched in dead silence, the only thing Margitte could hear was the quiet breathing and the hum of the glow laps beyond the realm of human hearing. Dalmar sighed and began to reach for the crystal when it faintly began to glow, slowly but surely a color began to swirl, an electric green color. The girl possessed some form of magic but for the first time in centuries he had no idea what he was looking at, arcane magic drawn from the Aetherium was a pale etheral bule, divine magic produced radiant gold light, black-purple noted the Eldritch energies. He had no idea as to the nature of her magic, "welcome novice" he spoke softly into her ear.

Having completed their duty of safely delivering their young lord to the Onyx Tower Hanz and Karl decided that their new duty was to ready the Black family estate for when their lord would be allowed to come and go freely from the tower. Margitte and Tagrid left to visit the guild, he still needed to be paid for completion of the job, as for the her, bordeom was as good as reason as any. As for their supplies and luggage Dalmar had it delivered to the estate later in the day.

For the companions it was but one more step on their journey to come, each of them looking towards a future of bright possibilities.