Morning of the next day

Yesterday Grogar explained to Faust what the Tree of Harmony as well as the Elements of Harmony were and if his theory was right they wouldn't be able to revive Lady Bonnie, for now, so they would have to wait. Today he had breakfast much like yesterday, later he was informed that at least one member of the council wished to accompany him on one of his visits to different locations on Tambelon and he agreed not seeing a problem.

Grogar and Faust were prepared to leave the capital, so they were on the city square because Grogar wanted to see the city before leaving and now they were waiting for the one that will be accompanying them. Grogar was wearing his black pants and the cloak of shadows over himself while Faust was wearing dark green long pants, a light blue long-sleeved shirt and boots made for her hooves, clothes much more suited for traveling.

As they waited Grogar decided to tell stories about the many worlds he knew, both the ones that he knew as fiction as a human and the ones that Old Grogar visited in his search. That naturally attracted the attention of many children on the park so now he was telling them about one of his favorites shounen manga Toriko.

“...then found a garden above the clouds with many giant ingredients,” said Grogar to the children that gather around him while he sat on the grass.

“Wow…” was the collective answer as they heard his stories.

It wasn't long after that the third member of their party arrived, it was Hard Rime the white gryphoness and she was accompanied by a tall anthro pony like being and a small anthro rabbit like being.

The pony like being was female, she was 6ft 5ft tall, she had light blue fur, orange mane and tail, green eyes, her arms ended in a 5 finger hand with a claw in the end of each finger, from her hand to her elbow the arm was covered in scales before fading into blue fur a shade darker, the same applied to her saurian legs with three talons on the front, her legs had a digitigrade configuration, she had a muscular but modest figure, she was wearing light armor of brown leather with runes and she also carried a sword on her left hip attached to her belt. She was a qilin, more specific a tianma, a type of qilin with earth pony and dragon heritage, noted by the absence of horns and wings of any type.

The small rabbit had child-like proportions, because of that and the thick robes it was difficult to tell if it was male or female, only the plantigrade feet that were without shoes, cute rabbit-like face and long ears covered in brown fur were visible as well as its purple eyes. It was a beast folk of the rabbit variety but Grogar couldn't tell the species because of the robe.

“I apologize for the delay My Emperor,” said Rime as she bowed.

“It's of no consequence,” said Grogar as he got up. He was in no hurry to finish this particular mission.

“And who would be these two?” asked Faust as she stood beside Grogar.

“These are our guides. The qilin is from the Warriors' Guild, her name is Agate and the yuètù is from the Mages’ Guild, his name is Cheng,” said Rime introducing the new party members.

“It’s an honor to meet you, My Emperor,” said Cheng and Agate, both of them had strong but youthful voices as bowed.

“Very well, now all that is left is to chose which of the three major cities we are going to visit first. I want to make sure news of my return spread from there, besides I want to see how my garden has flourished,” said Grogar explaining the purpose of this trip. Ironically those cities are named Zerzura, Agartha and Atlantis, maybe this was one of those strange coincidences in the multiverse since it was infinite.

Zerzura was a city that floated above the peak of a mountain and was inhabited mostly by flyers and mages. Agartha was a city located below the surface near a volcano and was inhabited by beings that had a deep connection to the earth. And Atlantis was unsurprisingly an underwater city located a few miles off of the coast of the continent and was the hub for many aquatic races.

Those were by no means the only cities outside of Tambelon, they were just the biggest and most important outside of the capital. Besides Grogar, both Old and New never had an opportunity to see those cities since they were built after his death.

“Yes sir,” responded the two guides that were hired by Rime.

“Sorry children, but it's time for us to go,” said Grogar to the children.

“Aw,” responded the children.

Grogar then left with Faust, Rime, Cheng and Agate. While walking through the Capital's market Grogar wondered which city they should visit first. They passed through the section where slaves were being sold, as a human he knew that slavery was morally wrong, by most culture standards anyway, but now as Grogar he simply didn't care about his old cultural norms. In the end, it didn't make a difference, slave or not, all of them lived under his rule.

Of note was the fact that some slaves were quadrupeds, the ability to shift between a mostly quadruped form and a biped form was originally from the dragons, but over the years many mages managed to give this ability to slaves for them to serve as beasts of burden and mounts. These days this ability was very widespread and helped to shape much of the diversity of Tambelon's cultures.

“Which of the Three Great Cities we should visit first?” asked Grogar to the other party members.

“It makes no difference to me. I never went to any of them before,” said Faust not long after. It was actually sad if you think about it, she spent centuries in this part of the continent and never ventured further as she waited for Grogar to wake up.

“I wouldn't mind visiting my family on the way to either Zerzura or Agartha in the east,” said Cheng referring to the fact that the Capital is located in the center of the Western half of the continent while the two cities mentioned were on the north and south parts of the eastern half.

“Agreed with you, besides my family lives on Zerzura, so that would be my first choice,” said Rime before she and the rest of the group looked at Agate, the only one that didn't express her opinion yet.

“Um, well it doesn't matter which we go first,” said Agate nervously.

“So Zerzura then,” said Grogar as he directed the group to the East gate.

When they arrived at the East gate of the city, the guards posted on each side of the exit saluted. The one on the right was a female brown diamond dog with armor and the one of the left was a male changeling. The party kept walking past the exit and they saw farms and a bit of grassland. So they kept walking on the road until they reached a crossroad that was at the limits of the Capital.

“From here on out it will be many days of walking until we reach Zerzura, my Emperor,” said Rime.

“My home village is on the way we should reach it before entering the mountain range where Zerzura is located,” said Cheng as he lifted his hands, showing that he was wearing gloves over his four fingers, and they glowed yellow form a moment.

The glow was a quick spell that made a map appear in his hands. On the map was depicted the capital and the surrounding region. Cheng showed the map to the other as he pointed to the crossroad they just passed through.

“My village is right here,” said as Cheng as pointed to a small mark on the edge of the map.

“Your village is quite a distance from the Capital, Sir Cheng,” commented Faust as she looked at the map.

“Lady Faust, there is no need to call me Sir, I’m but a simple mage. I just came to the Capital and joined Mages’ Guild to finish my studies,” said Cheng to Faust.

“Don't sell yourself short, by the robes you wear you are quite an accomplished mage. This must be the reason Lady Rime hired you for this mission,” said Faust.

“I’m unworthy of your praise, Lady Faust. Besides Rime is a friend, she came asking for a favor and I couldn't refuse the chance to help our Emperor,” said Cheng as he stored the map back in the storage rune on his gloves.

“There is no need be so formal with me during the travel, you may call me just Faust,” said Faust to Cheng but made sure to be heard by the others.

After that Faust, Rime and Cheng kept chatting while they travel, Agate, on the other hand, remained in silence as she followed Grogar. She would occasionally glance at him, she grew up hearing the legends about His Imperial Majesty, about how he created Tambelon and gave their ancestors a place where they could live without fear of being hunted or rejected by the main species on Mundus.

Agate was inspired to be a warrior by hearing the tales of the dragons that fought against the last alicorn of the Old World, Faust the goddess that was defeated and bound to His Majesty's services. She remembered hearing that it took ten dragons to hold her on one occasion and her great-great-grandfather was part of that battle. She didn't hate Faust for that, in fact, she respected the goddess for her strength. The tale of the final battle was passed through the generations especially to her family because her great-great-grandfather was one of the witnesses of the event.

To Agate Faust was an inspiration, a warrior goddess, but as Grogar the one who defeated her was the ultimate symbol of power. Now she was in his presence and she didn't know what to say, but regardless of her nervousness she still had a mission to accomplish.

“Is something wrong? You have been very quiet since we left the Capital,” asked Grogar as he looked at the blue qilin, who was staring at him for a while now.

“No, nothing is wrong my lord, it’s just…” started Agate but she trailed off feeling embarrassed that her Emperor caught her staring at him, she thanked the fact that her dark fur hid her blush from Lord Grogar, who waited patiently as Agate fumbled for the right words, which only embarrassed her further. Eventually, she just relented and said shyly, “I kinda had a crush on you growing up.”

Grogar just raised an eyebrow but didn't comment as he simply continued to walk in silence. The silence was somewhat awkward but he just didn't know what to say in this situation so he remained in silence.

“Don't worry dear, he isn't mad at you,” said Faust as she reassured the qilin.

Agate might he a capable warrior and had no problem in dealing with a client but that was the first time she was in the presence of both of her idols so she just didn't know how to proceed. So she accepted the goddess’ words and decided to focus on her mission for now.

The silence remained until the twin suns started to set and the moons started to appear.

“We better set up camp for the night,” suggested Cheng as he felt tired from walking all day.

Rime and Agate weren't as tired because of their extensive combat training plus their own reserves of magic that were quite impressive. Faust and Grogar, on the other hand, didn't felt any different at all, they could walk for weeks before starting to feel tired and sometimes they forget the difference between mortal and gods after so long.

“Very well,” said Grogar because he wasn't in a hurry and it has been ages since he had the opportunity to camp with others.

The group found a clearing not far from the road, where they set up camp. Cheng summoned the camping supplies he was carrying from one of the runes on his gloves while Rime and Agate were making a campfire with a rune stone in the center that would burst into flames. Once the campfire was ready Grogar did a simple fire spell to light the campfire.

After that Faust insisted on cooking while Rime, Agate and Cheng said she didn't need to do this, but Faust said that she wanted to and that it was a while since she cooked. And so they settled around the campfire while they waited for the food.

“So how about some stories?” asked Grogar much to everyone's surprise.

“Well most of the campfire stories that I know are for children,” said Rime as she thought about her children and grandchildren.

“I don't know any campfire story,” said Cheng feeling a little embarrassed that he didn't have any campfire stories to share, he might be a good mage but he could be considered a bookworm and he socialized mostly with his fellow mages.

“I have a few but most of them are legends about you, my lord,” said Agate and she doubted that Grogar wanted to hear about himself.

“What a shame, a campfire without campfire stories,” said Grogar disappointedly.

“How about we get to know each other better? We could talk about ourselves for a bit,” suggested Faust as she sat beside Grogar and let the pot above the fire for a while.

“Um, sure. I don't see the problem,” said Grogar casually, much to the surprise of the others, they never thought that they would hear the true story of their ruler. All they know is the legends from before the exodus to Tambelon, many of which became even more distorted over the millennium after Old Grogar's death.

“Are you sure, Lord Grogar?,” asked Rime since most beings in power were not known for their willingness to talk about their past.

“Yes, I’m sure. I see no problem since we will be traveling together for a while,” said Grogar with a smile.

“Who should go first?” asked Cheng, his researcher mentality getting the better of him when he was presented with this unique opportunity.

“Since you asked why don't you go first?” asked Grogar with a smirk when he saw the curiosity in the mage’s eyes.

Then all the occupants around the campfire looked at the yuètù, who while nervous because of the attention he was receiving took a deep breath to calm down.

“Ok, I’m Jiahao Cheng and as you know I’m a yuètù or more commonly known as moon rabbits/hares. My kind is usually known for it's connection to the earth and the moons because of that most of us tend to be farmers, herbalists, fortune tellers or something similar,” explained Cheng since he knew that Grogar died on Mundus before his race came into existence on Tambelon, even though Grogar already knew about them he wanted to hear from Cheng himself, after all how one perceived his/her own race can be vastly different from how others –members of other races– perceived them.

“And yet you chose to become a mage,” said Grogar curiously while pointed out this uncommon fact.

Cheng nervously moved his right hand over his long ears like one would do on a long hair, but otherwise just nodded and answered, “Yeah, it’s unusual for one of my kind to be a mage in big cities and extremely rare in rural areas like my home village, although it is a small town by now since it became more well known after I became a high ranking mage in the guild.”

“I see. I apologize for the interruption, please continue your story,” said Grogar, he might be a ruler but he could still be polite. Faust nodded, Rime didn't show any reaction and Agate just shrugged before reaching for the canteen she was carrying since she was a bit thirsty.

“There is no need to apologize, My Emperor,” said Cheng humbly before he continued his extended introduction/story, “Anyway, I’m just one among two hundred forty-three siblings an–”

*Cough* *cough*

Cheng was interrupted by Agate, who choked on the water she was drinking. She knew that all rabbit/hare folks were very fertile and bred fast because of their short lifespan, but it was still quite a shock to hear about someone having so many siblings.

“Sorry, keep going,” said Agate after she recovered.

“As I was saying, I’m one among two hundred forty-three siblings, in fact, I am the youngest of my litter. With the exception to few that decided to leave, most remained on the village and I had a somewhat peaceful childhood, but just after my 8th birthday, a very large group of bandits was spotted near the village. The mayor managed to gather enough money to hire a mage or a warrior from one of the guilds, my father and a friend of his went to the Capital, but his friend ended up being attacked by a feral manticore,” narrated Cheng before he took a sip from his own canteen and Faust took this opportunity to check on the soup.

After making sure that the vegetable soup wasn't overcooked she sat beside Grogar once again to hear the story. This occasion reminded her of her teenage years when she would camp with some friends she made, occasionally with one or two lovers, before she was worshiped by the three tribes and other equine races.

“Luckily dad's friend survived but had to remain in the city for treatment, he ended up meeting a nice minotauress, fell in love and never left the Capital, nowadays he is a successful apothecary. My dad managed to hire a mage and with his help both of them arrived safely on the village and the mage dealt with the bandits. After that the mage noted that I had an unusually high reserve of magic, so he gave me the chance to be his apprentice,” Cheng continued to narrate until steam started to come out of the pot.

Faust floated the pot from the fire to a small table that was previously set up to let it cool a little bit.

“After arguing about it with my parents they ended up accepting and the mage became my master. Then I spent the next twenty years studying and doing jobs for the guild after I became a full-fledged mage, but I would visit my hometown two or three times a year, and here I am,” Cheng finished narrating just as Faust gave everyone a bowl of soup.

“Sorry, I didn't pack any meat,” said Cheng to Agate.

“It's all right, I just eat meat once every two weeks anyway,” said Agate to Cheng.

“At least now I know how you became a mage,” said Rime since it was the first time she heard this story, granted she never asked but still it was nice to know a bit more about her friends.

“Are you happy?” asked Grogar after finished his bowl.

“Yes my lord, I have always been a curious bunny, so studying the arcane was a dream coming true for me, there is always something to discover,” said Cheng excitedly, which cause Rime to smile at her friend antic.

“I see,” said Grogar with a thoughtful look on his face as he remembered the dreams he had both on Earth and the almost forgotten dreams of Old Grogar from before the death of his family.

After that, they ate mostly in silence, but occasionally talked about something simple and not long after everyone was fed. After that Rime did a quick spell to clean the pot and bowls.

“So who is next?” asked Agate curious to hear another story, but this caused the other to focus on her.

“Since you asked…” Rime trailed off and Agate sighed, she should have stayed quiet.

“Alright. My name is Agate Niaruuthli and I’m a first generation tianma qilin, my father is a fire dragon and my mother was a unicorn with earth pony heritage, which I inherited. I spent most of my life in the Capital, where my mother taught me magic and my father trained me to be a warrior. When I became old enough I joined the Warriors’ Guild. That was around a century ago and I have been doing missions ever since. Nowadays I only have my father, who is part of the council,” narrated Agate, she might be “old” by most races standards, but for dragons, she was still considered young. While her life was somewhat long she considered it to be rather uneventful.

“Father?” asked Grogar with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, my fellow councilman Ixen Jeski. That's his daughter,” clarified Rime referring to the red dragon that is part of the Regent Council.

Then Grogar looked at Agate beyond the physical plane and noted that her magic was similar to Ixen’s. If you tried to just look at both of them you might think they are not related, she must have inherited most of her looks and magical affinity from her mother.

“It’s getting late, we probably have enough time for one more story. How about I tell mine? We can continue tomorrow night,” suggested Rime and the others nodded so she started her story, “Well, my name is Hard Rime and I was born in Zerzura. I’m a standard gryphoness, but most people think I’m an axex gryphoness because of my feathers and fur blending so well and my affinity for magic, although some of my grandchildren are axex gryphons.”

“You have grandchildren?” asked Agate while Cheng had a thoughtful look since he assumed Rime was an axex gryphoness. But as he thought about it now there was a small discrepancy, her black stripes from her white tiger half ended in the middle of her back –he saw her back when she was sparring with Agate.

Axex gryphons were similar to the traditional gryphons but their fur and feather blend so well that was impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins, if she was one then her stripes would continue even on her feathers. Also generally axex gryphons were more often than not more magically inclined.

“We know each other for a century and you never asked me if I had children,” said Rime to Agate in a theatrical manner, both of them unaware of Cheng’s introspection and the rather amusing banter they were providing for the rest of the party.

“To be fair a century is not that long for a dragon or most dragon offshoots like qilins, most of us only think about having a family when we are around three centuries old or older,” said Agate to Rime in a matter of fact tone not at all concern with her friends' antics.

“This coming from a two and a half century qilin,” said Rime in an almost childish manner before she looked at the rest of the group that was just looking at the interaction between the gryphoness and the qilin. So she decided to continue her story, “Anyway, my family has a long history that goes back to the founding of the Floating City of Zerzura, so it was no surprise that I became involved in its politics. I much like Cheng had an unusual large reserve of magic so my mother asked for a friend to teach me magic and by the time I became the head of the family I was part of the council on Zerzura and an accomplished mage.”

“I never liked politics, too much backstabbing,” commented Agate.

“Indeed, I too never like politics, but it was hard to backstab me since I was very hard to kill, besides I was more like a figurehead than anything else back then. I had no problems in letting the nobles and my daughters rule as they pleased,” said Faust much to the surprise of those present with the exception of Grogar, to him it wasn't unexpected since she was very free-spirited even as a child, to her being a queen must have felt like being in a cage. After that, it took a few seconds for the group to recover from that revelation and Rime continued.

“After that, I remained there for about two decades before an opportunity to become a member of the Regent Council appeared, so I retired as the head of the family and gave the position to my oldest son while his mate took my place on Zerzura's council before moving to the Capital. There I met Agate, her father and the rest of the Regent Council, then we became friends. It was such a relief that the Regent Council wasn't found of backstabbing each other, in fact, we have to take an oath before becoming part of the Council. Old Minos and Kyron say that it's to avoid meaningless infighting and that we all should do our best to serve the true ruler of Tambelon. Then a century later you returned,” Rime finished her tale and by now the biggest moon was on the center of the sky.

After they extinguished the fire and collected the rune stone before entering the tent –thanks to advanced magic it was bigger on the inside. The interior looked like a small hallway with four doors, each door led to a room.

“We only have four rooms and there is five of us,” pointed out Cheng.

“It’s no problem, I will share a room with my master,” said Faust as she chose the first door on the right.

“Well, I was thinking in sharing a room with Rime here anyway,” said Agate and Rime nodded while she chose the first room on the left.

“Well, at least we have an extra room,” said Cheng as he went to the second door on the left. Then he entered the room after he said, “See you all tomorrow. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” said Rime and Agate at the same time before entering their room.

“Goodnight,” said Faust as she opened the door to her room.

“Until tomorrow then,” said Grogar as he entered his room after Faust.

Author's Note

Sorry if for the shorter chapter, but I had less time to write this last month.

Anyway for the inspirations:

The moon/jade rabbit/hare is a asian legend. Yuètù is its the chinese name. The same applies to qilin/kirin.

Agate's second name means "teal" in draconic from D&D.

Jiahao Cheng – Jiahao is from Chinese 家 (jiā) meaning "home, family" combined with 豪 (háo) meaning "brave, heroic, chivalrous". While Cheng is 成 (chéng) meaning "completed, finished, succeeded" or 诚 (chéng) meaning "sincere, honest, true".

For the difference between some of the types of gryphons I will be using. Anthro versions of the ones below and more, except for the Minoan gryphon.

Zerzura–was long rumored to have existed deep in the desert west of the Nile River in Egypt or Libya. It is also know as "The Oasis of Birds".

Agartha–was a legendary city that is said to be located near or in the Earth's core. is frequently associated or confused with Shambhala.

Atlantis– the most well know lost city. It's already used as a underwater city in many works of fiction, so why not?