Wayward Painter (open)

The weather was dull and gloomy, with a light drizzle of rain that kept most people off the streets of Mith Silvanus or atleast covered. But no amount of rain could dampen the smile on Umbra's face, as she wondered through the streets of the city she'd been trying to reach for the last few weeks. With blonde hair and honey skin, she practically glowed in the gloom. She had her meeting with Fayla to thank for her good mood, and reaching the city. They'd travelled together for a few days before parting, and Fayla's good cheer was practically infectious. Not that Umbra was normally gloomy.

Even roaming the city like a lost child couldn't ruin her good mood, though it would be nice to have something of a lead on her mark. She asked around in a few taverns for directions, but the people weren't all that welcoming or well informed. In the end, she'd settled on finding a room and simply roaming. She was as curious to see the city as find Rory, and the mindless roaming didn't bother her overly much. She did hope that she might get lucky while in town and meet the girl Fayla was in love with.

At one point Umbra's fruitless roaming led her through a back Alley, where a skinny man with poor posture pulled a knife on her. Umbra's smile didn't so much as flicker as her hand lashed out, a set of golden claws appearing long enough to cut the knife into several clean pieces. She skipped past as the man starred terrified after her. She contemplated gutting him, but decided that random murder in the human kingdom was not a good idea. Leaving the alley, she looked back long enough to see him running, and miss the brown haired girl that she smacked straight into with an oof. "Oof. Ah." the girl said, grabbing Umbra's arm as she bounced off and toppled backwards. "I'm so sorry." She said as she steadied Umbra.

Thanks to some experiments she'd done with Fayla, she was farmiliar with how Lilian looked. As soon as she took a good look at the brown haired girl, she knew exactly who she'd managed to bumb into. It seemed her random act of mercy had paid off, and she smiled back at the girl as she brushed off her sleeve. "Oh, not to worry miss. I wasn't looking where I was going anyway." She said, her eyes examining the metallic arm the girl wore in place of the original. Umbra was mildly fascinated by the limb's intricate design, and realised she was staring as Lilian cleared her throat.

"Are you ok? Can I help you with something?" She asked. Umbra looked up at her. "I think you can. Do you know where I can find Rory Bloomfield?" She asked. "Rory?" Lilian said, puzzled. She watched Umbra for a moment then nodded. "I do.. Are you a friend of his?" Umbra nodded enthusiastically. She thought they were friends. She did try to kidnap him, but she helped get him out of Kyrias so hopefully he'd forgive her. "I'm going to meet him now. You can come along if you like, or I can tell him where to meet you later."

"I'll come! If you don't mind of course. Oh I can't wait to see the look on his face." She said, and started walking with gusto. Lilian cleared her throat slightly. "Its this way." She said. Umbra nodded, spun on her heel and followed after Lilian. They were quiet for a while, then Lilian asked, "So. How do you know Rory?" Umbra smiled. "We met in the freelands. I've always wanted to visit Mith Silvanus and he invited me to come see him sometime."

Lilian accepted the slight lie with a nod. She didn't seem to sure of Umbra, but smiled all the same. After a few turns, they came to an open square with a large fountain in the centre. They crossed the square towards a cafe on the opposite side. Umbra spotted Rory as they crossed. "Wait, I have an idea! Distract him!" Umbra said, and fell back. Lilian looked at her for a moment, then shrugged and kept walking, entering the cafe. As she approached Rory, Umbra slipped around and came up behind him. Slipping her hands over his eyes, she smiled and practically chirped, "Guess who!"

Rory had gotten back from visiting his sister and was meeting Lilian at a cafe. He took sips of his tea as he saw Lil. "HI LIL!" The blond boy waved enthusiastically. Then things went dark, a woman's voice sounding with a question. It was a voice he knew. And made him pale. Swiftly turning around and flailing, he practically yelled at her. "Umbra! What the hell are you doing here?! You can't be here..." It was at this point he actually paid attention to her. Umbra did not look anything like she did. "That...is a very handy ability. Um...join us?"

He sat back down and sipped his tea like a good little boy as the two women sat down and made their orders. So then...comes the explanation. "Lil, this is Umbra. Umbra, this is Lilian Toral, a knight like me, except better. Lil, Umbra is strange...like Vala. Not as strange as Vala, but still pretty strange, and I mean that in a good way. No, this is not what she really looks like, but she helped me like Vala did..." And hopefully Lilian would get the hints that he was making. That Umbra was a Heanta and helped him escape Kyrias. And like Vala, she wasn't a bad person.

Then again, considering Vala, he would hope Lilian would know not to judge her based on race...like what he did to Vala not too long ago like a close minded asshole.

Rory reacted exactly as she expected, flailing in panic. Until he realised she didn't look anything like she had when they first met. She didn't expect him to calm down so quickly, and was slightly surprised that he didn't seem afraid of her. Some part of her had expected him to chase her off, so it was nice when he asked her to join them. Umbra sat down as Rory introduced her to Lilian. "I knew you were the girl Rory mentioned in Kyrias." She said, as Rory explained to Lilian that Umbra was a strange person like Vala. He was really driving at the point, and Umbra watched the other girl waiting for the truth to sink in. It didn't take long. "She's a heanta isn't she?" Lilian asked with a bemused look.

She smiled at Umbra. "It's nice to meet you properly, Umbra. Thank you for saving Rory." She said. Umbra shrugged. "I didn't have much of a choice, Vala wouldn't let me keep him." Lilian frowned and Umbra giggled. "I'm joking. Mostly." She looked at Rory. "It's good to see you're alright. How did getting out of Kyrias go?" Umbra asked as she watched Rory intently.

Rory panicked momentarily when Lilian said it outright, and looked around frantically. No one was giving them any mind, thank goodness. He did kind of gurgle his drink a little bit at the wouldn't let her keep him bit. But still kind of left it be. Joking or not, it was sort of in bad taste. Umbra seemed glad that he was alright though...so that made it mostly better.

"Mostly good? I mean, we had to go through a cave occupied by  a multi-legged alpha predator that was feline, then we got ambushed...I got that hammer guy, by the way...also met Vala's Mother...and took me to a hidden home with some sort of healer that got me mostly good. Then we got in and all...sooooo yeah, nothing real special? Just nerve racking and harrowing for a bit..." He didn't really go into details.

The blond could if he so chose, but why? Right now, he simply hoped Umbra and Lil got along mostly good...

As the drizzle continued on, a man walked through the streets of Mith Sylvanus. He looked like an Eldari, with tanned skin, and golden eyes. There was one defining thing that shattered that illusion. The two red horns on his head. He wore a hood, but it was only up to where his horns were. He got looks as he walked through the city, but it seemed not to bother him. It didn't, in fact, but Solomon Moonfall wouldn't waste time debating his racial looks to the normal humans of this city. There was also something else that drew the eyes, and it was the intricate patterns across both of his arms, and on his hands. 

As he got closer to a cafe, Solomon felt an unease in the air. A sneer came across his face, as he thought of why he was here. Wouldn't a messenger be able to do the same job? He thought to himself, as a man roughly bumped into him. "Oi, watch where yur goin, Heanta filth!" The man loudly said. Solomon simply stared at him, before getting in close. "Or what? You'll risk your short life on an idiotic fight with someone obviously stronger than you?" He moved back. "I can see there isn't anything close to intelligent people here, but maybe make the smart move, and leave this alone." The two stayed still, waiting for the other to make a move.

Umbra watched Rory's face, noticing that he didn't really appreciate the joke. Lilian didn't seem to think it was amusing either, but neither said anything as Rory went over the rest of the return trip. Ok so maybe it wasn't funny, but it was kind of true. She had intended on keeping him but it was mostly to keep him safe. The alternative was torture and death. She wouldn't do that now though. She'd come to understand that humans didn't like being enslaved.

Umbra nodded. "Yeah, Dark Stalkers are scary. They can climb just about anything, so a city wall is nothing to them. If that one scented you it could follow you all the way to Mondolin and-" Lilian coughed. "So, Umbra how did you get here?" Lilian asked cutting her off. She smiled. "Its a long story. I left not long after Rory and Vala, but I got lo-.. Uh, distracted and went to Oleas first, met a nice man, visited Zadartis by choice and not because I was lost, where you'll never guess who I met! Vala's second best friend Fayla. I'm her first." Lilian looked at Rory quickly then back to Umbra. "You met Fayla? You two didn't.."

"What? Well I tried my luck, She's very pretty, but she likes you to much for that." Umbra said. Lilian blushed. "Fight.. I was going to say fight." Umbra smiled coyly. "Why would we fight?" She asked. Lilian didn't answer immediately and Umbra turned her attention back to Rory. "So, since I showed you around Av'Eden, want to return the favor? I'd love a tour of Myth Silvanus."


Lilian watched the girl across from her, and couldn't help but be perplexed. She seemed nice enough, just oblivious. Atleast she was nothing like Korroth, and unlike the heanta she'd met in Karem didn't seem intent on taking every human as a slave. Mostly. She asked Rory to take her on a tour and Lilian gave him an encouraging nod. "That sound's like a good idea." She said, "I've got the entire day-" There was a shout outside and Lilian looked towards the sound. It didn't sound friendly, and Lilian stood up concerned that there was about to be a fight. "Wait here I'm going to see what's going on." She said, walking out of a cafe.

She spotted what she thought at first was an Eldari squaring off with a man in the street. Or more like, the man was squaring off with him. And she quickly noticed the horns that gave away his true race. Lilian heard him question the intelligence of the locals, which she partially agreed with but also took some offence too, before telling the man to back down. The man didn't look like he was going to listen, and as he tensed a fist Lilian stepped between them. "Alright, that's enough." She said calmly. "I don't know how this started, but you both need to walk seperate directions before I call the city guard and have you both brough in." She said. "Wha's it to do wif you girl?." The man said. Lilian shot him a glare. "It's Knight."  She said, showing him the crest identifiying her as a knight of mondolin. "Now move along." The man grumbled, then turned and walked away.

Lilian turned to look at the heanta. "You're not going to be any trouble, right?" Before anymore could be said, she heard Umbra speak, appearing from the Cafe. "Solomon what in Na'Kora's forge are you doing here?" She asked the stranger. Lilian looked at Umbra who smiled. "Don't worry Lilian, he's my brother." She explained. Lilian frowned and looked for Rory. What had they gotten themselves into?

"You're telling me! I'm surprised I didn't mess myself! I'm petrified of anything big and with fangs. And I didn't need to know that..." Thankfully, Lilian had interrupted her, but Rory could tell what she was going to say. Then his friend asked her how she even got here. That was a story he wanted to hear from Umbra. She wasn't exactly subtle. He did kind of blink at her. She was about to say lost. But distracted sounded better. Umbra then mentioned she went to Zadartis, and met Fayla.

Lilian started to say something, but Umbra interrupted, and made Rory redefine shades of bright pink and red. Though he did find it a good point in Fayla's favor that she didn't cheat with Umbra. Despite being a Heanta, she was very pretty. Lilian had blushed, which he did find cute, but finished what she was going to say. He sputtered a bit at the suggestion, but Lilian seemed to be all for it. There was a loud shout, and Lilian went to check it out. She went to check it out while he stayed there.

From where they were sitting, they could semi-see what was going on. A couple of men yelling at someone. Rory's eyes widened when he saw the red horns. Another Heanta. Umbra got up and went over to them. Blinking, he stayed where he was as the waitress handed them some snacks. From what he could hear, that was her brother. And Lilian had looked over to him. Shrugging, he mouthed a "I have no idea" to her. Hopefully all of them could come on back start talking...

Solomon's eyes burned into the man, when a woman stepped in between them. He allowed her to get the man to walk away, before asking him if he would be any trouble. "I don't have a reason to be. I'm only here for-" He was interrupted by Umbra, who asked him why he was there. He frowned, before shaking his head. "I doubt you'll like it, little sister." He whispered, before answering her. "I'm here for a few reasons. One of which I won't elaborate on. The other is something our dear parents wanted to pass along." He scoffed to himself, before continuing. "I guess a messenger isn't good enough for them." 

Solomon crossed his arms. "It seems like the moment has come. The tension is rising, and civil war appears to be the words on everyone lips. We might be needed for it." He waved his arms in a nonchalant kind of way. "I was instructed to come here, and get you to come back. And you know how much those two love to send me after you." He then stretched. "I don't know if I'll make it though. There is so much knowledge here for me to see, after all." He motioned at the table. "Should we have a seat? I believe you should eat before your journey, after all."

Lilian looked between Umbra and the heanta she claimed was her brother. She frowned but nodded, stepping back slightly as Solomon answered his sister's question. Lilian took the chance to examine him, noticing the tatoos on the back of his hands. There was a familiarity to the patterns, as if they were runes rather than simple tattoos. Were they enchantments? She'd have to ask him later, because he seemed like there was something serious to talk about. And annoyed to be here, when a messenger would have sufficed. Umbra was quick to respond to his complaints. "I doubt it, since you can track me by blood." She said.

He then dropped a bomb that had Lilian gasp with surprise. "A civil war! Seriously?" She asked, looking to Umbra who seemed to be oblivious to what that meant. Then he told her they needed to go home, because they might be needed. "I litterally just got here! I'm not going home." Umbra said with a pout. Solomon suggested they go sit down but Umbra had already turned and walked back to the cafe.


Umbra sat down in the chair across from Rory and smiled. "Sorry about that Rory, it's just my idiot brother." She said. Go home, as if. Especially if solomon was going to stay here. Lilian joined them at the table, giving Rory a strange look as Solomon joined them. "Rory, Lilian, this is Solomon. He's a fancy pants magic man. Solomon, this is Rory and Lilian. Rory's the human that I broke out of prison in Kyrias, and Lilian has a metal arm. You two should get on, she enchanted it herself." Umbra said.

"Uh, nice to meet you." Lilian said. "You don't have to be polite to him he's annoying. Anyway Rory, what about that tour? I'm feeling cooped up."

Rory sipped his tea and watched. He nearly sputtered with what he heard. The blonde didn't get that impression yet...but he did feel like there was some...tension. He heard the woman proclaim that she wasn't going home and headed back towards them. Rory attempted to stay calm as Umbra sat down from the chair across from him and smiled. Idiot brother, huh? Guy looked like a scholar of some sort, so he kind of wondered about that.

Lilian soon joined them, giving him a strange look even as Umbra's brother joined them. Solomon, it seemed. And yep, he was a scholar, or mage. "Nice to meet you, too..." Rory sounded very nervous. And that only increased with what Umbra said shortly afterwards. "Uh...are we not going to eat first?" He hated how his nervousness showed through his voice. But it was what it was...hopefully the siblings could get along well enough for this...though news about a potential civil war still kind of piqued his interest. Intelligence after all...

Solomon sighed at Umbra saying he can track her with blood. "Don't remind me. Our dearest parents seem to only need me to track down their precious daughter." He looked at the one who had gasped, boredom evident on Solomon's face. Waving his hand in a dismissive way, he said "Yes yes. A civil war. It'll be incredibly dull as well." He followed Umbra to the table, and sat down next to Umbra, only to annoy her. "Oh well. I guess mother and father will have to send someone who will try harder." 

He shot a dirty look at Umbra when she introduced him to Rory, and Lillian. "Yes. Fancy pants magic man. That's me." He said through gritted teeth. He nodded at Rory when he spoke. "Don't be nervous. I'm not here to do anything but observe." He looked around. "This is my first time here, after all." He looked at Lillian. "Enchanted it yourself? What kind of enchantment?" He reflexively itched the back of his hand, where the tattoo's were visible. "I know a thing or two about enchanting, after all." Solomon nodded at Rory. "We should get food, it was a long time to travel." Solomon picked up a menu, and looked at it, seemingly ignoring everyone in favor of getting something on his stomach.

"Yes. They do seem to love me allot more than you. But I am a miracle baby sooo.." She elbowed her brother playfully. "Don't worry Lilian, the heanta are always fighting. It'll blow over in a few days, if it actually occurs and this isn't a ruse to make me go home." Umbra giggled at Solomon's irritation and nodded in agreement when he told Rory not to be nervous. "Take my word for it, Solomon is more interested in magic than fighting, so he's pretty harmless. Unless you lock me in your basement and torture me." She laughed at her own joke, but her smile wasn't all there.

Solomon took note of Lilian's arm, and asked her about the enchantment on it, before mentioning he too was an enchanter. Lilian's eyes lit up as an enthusiastic smile spread across her face. Umbra took a moment to drink in the expression. No wonder Fayla was in love with this girl, her smile was magnificent. "It's a magical network enchantment that picks up the signals our body sends from our brains to our limbs to make them move, and uses magic to relay that message to the joints and fingers." She raised both hands, moving the one set of fingers in a little wave before copying the action with the other. "It took several iterations before I got it to the point that there is no latency between my thoughts and actions, so it preforms just as well as my original arm would have."

Umbra listened with some interest. She was admittedly more interested in the craftsmanship of the arm, since it was well designed. "What's it made of, and did you design it too?" She asked. "Oh, the arm itself is made mostly of Aurilium, a rare lightweight metal similar to steel. My brother helped me design the actual arm, and did most of the metal work." Lilian replied. Umbra nodded. When she asked about the tour, Rory mentioned that he had though they were getting food. He seemed nervous. Solomon also mentioned he was hungry. Umbra pouted. She really wasn't that hungry. But she quickly got over herself and smiled. "Alright lets get some food. I don't know what I want so order me some tasty human food. Meaty human food."

Despite the assurance, Rory still couldn't help himself. Solomon didn't seem interested at all about bringing his sister back nor about an impending civil war. It was kind of odd...if anyone heard about such a thing, the residents would be picking sides or be super uptight. But not this guy. Solomon was abnormally calm. Rory did get some interesting tidbits of their family dynamics. Umbra was a bit of a miracle baby and a clear favorite. And despite it being a joke...Rory could see that her smile wasn't all there. Suddenly...his heart went out for Umbra.

Then Solomon and Lil started to talk about her arm. That was going to be a long conversation, but he enjoyed the joy that Lil had when bragging about it. The craftsmanship, the enchantments, the design itself. And Lil gave credit where it was due, Lucas having done most of the metal work himself. Luckily, everyone decided to get food. Rory ordered for Umbra, using what she said as a basis for her order, and himself got Karak legs, rice, and mixed vegetables. Since Umbra liked to paint and had shown quite a bit of interest in the subject, the city's art gallery would be the first place to take her.

Solomon rolled his eyes at his sisters words, but said nothing. Solomon listened intently, as Lilian spoke of her arm. Before he could ask, Umbra asked what it was made of, and if Lilian had designed it. Solomon scratched the back of his hand, absently. "I know of Aurilium. Let's just say I have more than a passing knowledge of it." He glanced at Umbra, before looking back at the arm. He seemed like he was going to say something, but shook his head. Not yet. We will see if these people are trustworthy enough to learn of Blackleaf Aurilium. "It is a great design, however. Very well made. And the enchantment is intricate, but strong. Getting something like that to move at the same speed a flesh and bone arm would is a feat in itself. I doubt even Merlin could get something like that to work the way you have it." When Umbra, and Rory's orders were done, Solomon thought for a second, and ordered. "I'll have a salad, thank you." He got a look from the waiter, but Solomon ignored him.

Umbra listened to her brother as he responded to Lilian and praised her arm. She was surprised, he never praised anyone about anything. When he was done, he did mention that he knew of Aurilium but didn't specify how. Maybe he forgot, or purposely decided not to tell Lilian, Umbra wasn't sure, but she decided to tell Lilian for him. Mostly because if he didn't want her to know, it would annoy him. "Silly Solomon did you forget? My Implants are made of Aurilium." She said. She pulled her collar to the side as she looked at Lilian, revealing the gold implanted there "Magic infused Aurilium, to be exact. Solomon calls it gold leaf Aurilium, its similar to what his tattoos are made of."

Lilian looked at her and frowned. Then she looked at Solomon. "You infused metal into flesh, and then enchanted it?" She paused as she seemed to consider something. "How dangerous is the process? It can't be very safe, not to mention you're regeneration would treat it like a scar and try to restore it." Lilian said. Umbra realised she may have made a mistake mentioning it. "Well, first, we do scar. As to why it doesn't remove them, Solomon probably has some mumbo jumbo magic explenation. And also, before you ask, and before you," she pointed at Solomon. "think about doing anything, its extremely painful and dangerous and it will probably kill a human unless they somehow replicated our regeneration."

Lilian looked at Umbra sheepishly. "Of course, I wasn't going to suggest a similar treatment... I'd like to get a closer look at your Implants later though, if that would be possible." Lilian said. Umbra grinned. "That's an odd way of asking me to take my clothes off." Her response got an instant reaction as Lilian blushed deeply and looked away. "Not like that.." Lilian said. Lilian was spared from Umbra when the waiter took their order. Rory ordered her some Karak legs, something she'd never eaten before, Lilian ordered a vegetable dish and Solomon opted for a salad drawing a snort from Umbra. "Solomon, they know we're heanta. A salad isn't going to trick anyone, not to mention it's got zero nutritious value for us." She rolled her eyes.

The food came, and while they were eating Lilian looked over at Rory. "Oh I forgot to ask. How was your trip to the country? Is your sister doing well?" She asked. Umbra listened as she munched away happily, muttering that Karak was tasty and the heanta were missing out by not trading with humans.

Tattoos, huh? Made of Aurilium? He wasn't a mage nor a blacksmith, so it was all things he didn't know about at all. Still, he nearly spat out his drink when Solomon ordered a salad. Really? Even Umbra kind of got onto her brother for that one. And Rory kind of agreed with her. Like, there was no point in him eating a salad. But it was his choice so, Rory let it go. He only really got back into the conversation when Lil asked about his trip. "It went well. Sis is doing splendidly. Still an avid huntress and good gardener. I did come across an odd creature though when I was trying to train a bit...it was able to shapeshift, and seemed to know everything about me...and everyone I've met or heard about. After we fought, it let me go and left. No one's seen it since." It was almost a spooky bedtime story. Even he really couldn't wrap his mind around the encounter. It was like...it was testing him...

Solomon shook his head at Umbra. "I didn't forget. I just don't count your implants as impressive enough to talk about." He said, in a bored voice. When Lilian asked about the process, Solomon was about to speak, when Umbra, again, chimed in. He shook his head again. "You're lucky you even got the treatment." He turned back to Lilian. "She's right though, for how little she understands of it. But, I don't even think most Heanta would survive the ordeal. It almost killed me when I did it to myself." He shot Umbra a look, before continuing. "I will give you a little of the information, but you'll understand if I don't do a tell-all right now. I'm sure, even if I don't say everything, people will try and recreate it. But, I'm the one who created this process. I'd like to keep as much of it under wraps as possible." He thought for a second, before saying "Besides. Merlin himself told me he couldn't recreate my tattoo's. So I don't think anyone else should try." 

Solomon nodded at the waiter when they brought his food over. Receiving some looks, and a remark from Umbra. "Even so, you think, just maybe, I like the taste?" He made a fork with his Runic Projection, and started eating, as Lilian and Rory started talking. What Rory said was interesting, and Solomon made a mental note to research this subject.

Umbra snorted at Solomon's response. "Lies! I heard you saying they were your greatest achievement." She said and stuck her tongue out at him when he said she was lucky she got the treatment. He went into a speil about how he didn't want to give Lilian a full rundown on how his enchantments worked and why they were dangerous blah blah blah. Umbra stopped listening and focused on her food. Lilian asked Rory about his sister and he told them about the strange thing she'd met. Umbra looked up and frowned. "That sounds like the wraith of E'ti Satrila." Umbra said, ripping into a Karak leg.

"An old heanta'n myth, E'ti Satrila was a Eldari Heanta crossbreed who was sacrificed at Na'Kora's forge because well, she was an Eldari Heanta crossbreed. Her wraith returned and killed everyone involved, and now she supposedly roams the wastes hunting those who do wrong. I don't think she's every let anyone go though." Lilian made an odd face at her story. "That story is as horrifying as it is interesting. Why would she be in the middle of mondolin though?" Umbra just shrugged. "Same reason I am? She seen Rory and followed him home?"

So Solomon has met Merlin. That mage was quite the explorer it seemed...the man was also a very famous mage. Still, the procedure seemed to be too dangerous to be used on other species, and even a Heanta was lucky to survive. It made him shudder. Tattoos could be used for some terrifying things it seamed. Umbra had something to say about his encounter with the unknown creature. Wraith of E'ti Satrila? Thankfully she went into details. Which also made him pale. And almost wish she didn't. Though Rory did have a question though. "If that's the case, why? And did she have the power to turn into you? Fayla? Vala? Lilian? Heck, she even turned into who I assume to be Korroth...and myself..." Even though he was very nonchalant about it, his fork was shaking just mentioning the Heanta monster. Now that he had the time to think, it was very possible that was that form. He didn't exactly know of any other Heanta.

Solomon listened as Umbra started talking about the E'ti Satrila. He groaned audibly. "I really doubt the E'ti Satrila, if it's real, would have anything to do with a random human that it barely knows. It always seemed to be more turned towards our own kind." He turned his head to Rory, as the young man asked some follow up questions. "It turned into other beings? The only beings capable of transforming that I know of are Eldross. And I doubt any of them had a reason to attack you." 

Solomon eyes glared into Rory's, though without any ill intent. "I think you ran into something wholly unknown, young man. That's quite an interesting thing. Perhaps, if you ever meet him, you can ask Merlin. I hate to admit to it, but he always seems to know more than he ever lets on. Maybe he will know your mystery creature." With that, Solomon returned to his food. Though, with less of an interest, as he thought about what he had heard.

Both Rory and Solomon questioned why Eti'Satrila would be interested in Rory. "I don't know, maybe she noticed you when you were there." She said. Rory also asked if she could change shapes, and Solomon commented that that sounded more like an Eldross than anything else. Umbra glared at them both. "Seriously, have you both forgotten that I can change shapes?" She said, and with a dramatic wave of her hands she changed her hair grew to the same length as Lilian's, and her hair, skin and eye color changed to match Lilian's perfectly. "Look, we're practically identical." She said, pointing at Lilian. "Well I wouldn't say Identical. Also a little weird." Lilian replied.

"Anyway, I don't know if she can change shapes, but why not, right? There's plenty of strange things in the world, like Solomon for instance. He looks like an Eldari with horns." She gave a high pitched, belittling laugh, covering her mouth. "I'm slightly curious what you're natural form looks like." Lilian said, looking between Umbra and Solomon. "That's rather forward of you." Umbra replied with a coy smile. "Well, this is fun. But also I'm bored, can we go somewhere interesting now?"

Well, that was just wonderful. He found something completely new. Merlin huh...Rory never met the man before, but he's certainly heard of him. It sounded like an Eldross to Solomon, but that just caused him to look at Umbra. After all, she could change shape too. As if to emphasize that very point, and exclaiming it, she grew her hair out longer, and generally just changed to look exactly like Lilian. Looking back and forth between the two, it was surprising how good it was.

After a curious comment from Lilian, Umbra was wanting to go somewhere interesting. Finishing up his food, Rory paid for himself, Umbra, and Lilian. Solomon was on his own unless Lilian wanted to pay for him. Or if Lilian insisted for paying for herself, Rory would offer paying for Solomon then. "I know just the place! An art gallery not far from here." A favorite of his for times when he wanted to be alone and just wanted to think.