Time had been lost to the paladin, along with memories of himself. The time after coming to this land was nothing but a vague thought in his mind, and he could remember nothing but of his homeland. It did not help that he had awakened in a dirty alley, his face pressed against the cobblestones as though he had been sleeping there. What city was he in? How had he come to be in this predicament, passed out in an alley like some drunkard? Had he truly lost himself, to the point where he partook in the things he once refused? That was highly unlikely, and he thought there must have to be some other explanation.

He seemed to still have some of his armor on, but pieces of it were missing, and one of his vambrances had a large crack down the side. Had he been in a battle? He didn’t feel injured, only groggy, so that was highly unlikely. Besides, if he had fallen unconscious during a battle, past experiences told him that his enemies were not likely to deposit him in an alley rather than killing him where he fell. But then again… who were his enemies? He couldn’t recall any specifically… he couldn’t recall much of all.

The paladin hoisted himself up into a standing position and got his bearings, walking cautiously towards the light of the street that the alley led to. It was evening, and lamps lit the windows of storefronts and taverns. He could not recognize where he was, no matter how hard he tried. There was no way for him to know whether or not he had been to this place before, not now at least.

The townsfolk that passed him seemed to be of good spirits, dressed in brighter colors and fashionable fabrics. He was clearly somewhere warmer, not somewhere in the north – that much he could figure out. ”Excuse me, miss, could you tell me where I am?” he asked as a woman who looked to be near the same age as him passed by. She looked at him with disapproval in her eyes and her face fell into a frown speckled with annoyance. ”As if you’d know anyway,” she scoffed, clearly mistaking him for a drunkard, and moved on her way. He couldn’t blame her, a strange unknown man asking where he was? Not exactly welcoming.

After a bit of wandering the streets, he found what seemed to be a tavern. He checked the pouch at his side, and sure enough, he did have a bit of coin, most likely enough to secure him a meal at least, he thought as his stomach growled. He pushed his way through the door of the tavern after checking his reflection in one of the cleaner windows. He didn’t look too worse for wear, which was good.

After entering the tavern, he found a place at the bar. The place didn’t seem too lively, with only a few other patrons around. The tavern maid at the bar came to him almost immediately. He made a simple request. ”I’m honestly famished,” he told her. ”Please, bring me whatever dish you would have if you were to eat, along with a large flagon of water, if it’s possible,” he finished. She smiled at him and obliged. She brought him the water first, to which he took a large gulp, before disappearing into the kitchen to assumedly prepare the food he had requested.

With a sigh, Valkoinen took another sip of his water, resting a palm against his forehead, with his elbow on the counter of the bartop. It was frustrating, not knowing where he was, and with any luck, someone would be able to fill him in a bit, and possibly help him figure out what had happened and why he could remember hardly anything other than his name and his long forgotten homeland.

A young man in ornate crimson plate opened the tavern door, and surveyed the scene.  He had raven black hair, with red highlights running through it.  His eyes were a deep sapphire blue.  He had a sword by his side, another ornate piece.  The female bartender greeted him.  He was a regular.

"Welcome back, sugar.  Hard at work, or hardly working?" she asked with a smile.

"Hard at work, of course, gotta rebuild that shop of my old man's.  I'm taking up his trade, so I need to be able to have a shop of my own.  I let his smithy shop go unused for too long.  I've got to repair that whole place to get it clean and ready for business," the man responded, grinning.  He walked up to the tavern and sat down next to a man who seemed rejected or depressed, maybe in deep thought.  The man looked like a knight, or some other soldier, though his armor was in disrepair.  In particular, one of his wrist vambraces had a large crack through it.  It also seemed some pieces one would normally wear were missing.  Was this guy through a rough fight?

"Good evening, Sir Knight.  You seem to be down.  My name is Hiro Kouen, Phoenix Knight, and local blacksmith.  Your armor . . . has been through a lot, hasn't it?  Are you okay?" Hiro looked at him with genuine concern.  A barmaid came around and asked him for his order, while also delivering the other man's meal.  "I'll take a Dragon's Breath, and a good steak, medium rare, please.  You know how I like it.  Thanks."

The man in the crimson armor caught Valkoinen’s eye as he entered the tavern. He certainly looked well-to-do, and for a split second, Valkoinen feared that he had somehow strayed from the path of light and into the darkness. Perhaps this man was searching for him, looking to rid the world of someone who had committed an atrocity… had he committed such an atrocity? The paladin quickly shook the thought from his mind as the man walked to the bar, conversing with the girl tending it.

Relief set in as he came to the conclusion that, no, this man was not here seeking him out. When the young man sat down beside him, Valkoinen didn’t look in his direction, nearly not acknowledging that he had sat down, although he was certainly aware of him. However, when the young knight began to speak to him, it was the true good nature of Valkoinen that required him to respond back.

”Oh, good evening,” he said in a smooth voice, though his tone seemed rather aloof and disconcerting. ”I’m afraid I’ve hit a bit of a rough patch,” he said, sighing somewhat. When the young man mentioned the disrepair his armor had fallen into, he frowned. ”I’m afraid I don’t know what has happened,” he said. Just then, the barmaid brought a plate of assorted meats and cheeses over to him, setting it down in front of him. Valkoinen offered her a soft smile and fished out the required amount of coin, setting it on the counter.

He looked at the food for a moment before turning back to Hiro. ”My name is Valkoinen Ilmari, but I’m honestly afraid that’s all the information I can offer. I don’t even know where I am, if I am to be honest.” He grabbed a hunk of cheese and took a small bite off of it, chewing thoughtfully. ”I don’t know where I am, and I don’t even know how I got here… I don’t know how my armor got damaged… I don’t know much of anything at all,” he admitted, and dropped the cheese back onto the plate.

”You said you’re a blacksmith, aye?” he said, perking up after a second. ”I don’t have a lot of coin left, but perhaps I could see about having you repair my armor? I’m not sure where the rest of it has gone, so what I have for now will have to do,” he said. ”Of course, finish with your meal and all in good time, of course… but maybe, while you eat, we could sup together and you could tell me a bit about where I am and what this place is known for, this region? It might help spark some sort of memory,” he asked, hoping that Hiro, the young man who had so politely struck up conversation with him, would be willing to help him.

Hiro watched the man, as he explained he was having a rough patch.  He didn't know where he was, or how he got here.  The barmaid served him a variety of meat and cheeses, which smelled good.  "A rough patch, eh?  Do tell, maybe I can be of assistance," Hiro said, inviting him to explain his story.  He knew who he was, but he didn't know where he was, or how he got here.  He introduced himself as Valkoinen Ilmari.  He didn't know what kind of skirmish he got into before he got here, he didn't know why his armor was all damaged.  This sounded familiar to the Phoenix Knight.  It was similar to how he felt when he arrived here in Revaliir.

"Ahh, I see, Sir Ilmari.  Sounds a little bit like amnesia, but you know who you are, but not where you are, or how you got here.  That's a familiar story.  My guess, you came from another world, and arrived here with partial amnesia.  It's similar to my story.  I came from another world, and at the time, all I could remember was that my father sent me here to make a name for myself.  It was only later I remembered enough to know how I got here, and why.  By the way, you're in the World of Revaliir, my good friend.  Kind of a place where all kinds of people sometimes end up.  It's not an unfamiliar story.  My original world got destroyed, an apocalypse destroyed it.  The remaining Deities were able to open portals to rescue people, but the travel . . . warps and changes things.  You lose or gain memories, things sometimes change, you end up here, often not knowing how you got here," Hiro explained, his face was completely serious as he explained his own story.  It was a crazy tale, he wasn't sure if Valkoinen would believe it, but it would explain why he came here with no knowledge of the area or culture.

"You're in a Kingdom of Arri, the Desert Rose.  The city is the capital of Sularia.  Arri is a desert that has a large tropical oasis in it, where this city is.  This city is home to a race of people called the Rosenites.  Named after the flower.  They look like humans, but are known for often having greenish eyes, and sun-kissed skin, and they're a distant relative to vampires, they're long lived, but they don't drink blood.  They are run by a matriarchy, and the Goddess of LIfe and Love, Lady Angela, is a Rosenite.  She's like . . . a mother to all who come to her.  She's a wonderful, beautiful person.  There's also many other races, humans, elves of all stripes including dark elves or drow, dwarves, orcs (they're usually nasty), there's vampires, and lycans, people of celestial origin, demonic origin, and so much more, especially when people come from other worlds.  I'm an elemental, a being of the elements.  I can use fire magic, and other elemental magics.  My father was originally a human, who was saved by a phoenix, gained the power of fire and light, was once a fire deity of that world (not of this world though, he fell from divinity, doesn't mean anything here), then eventually came to Revaliir after me, as an elemental.  My mother was once a demon who became a fire elemental through my father's magic.  But I digress, I'm probably boring you with my own story, just wanted to explain as much as I could about this area.  I could probably recommend a few books in my study about the history of Revaliir, the culture, the different continents."  The barmaid showed up and placed down his order, a medium rare steak with mashed potatoes and mixed veggies.

"Thank you!" he said excitedly, delighted to get some food.  He ate slowly, allowing Valkoinen to request his services.  He swallowed what he had in his mouth and spoke once again.  "Sure thing, I'd be a pleasure to help you get your armor fixed.  I won't charge you much, and you can hang out or whatever while I'm fixing it.  I can let you look at a few maps of the area, and you can catch up on some of the geography, and history of this world."

[Seriously was considering putting "the World of Revlaiir (TM)" in there lol]

Valkoinen remained silent as his new acquaintance went on to inform him of where he was, including down to it the very world in which they lived. A small smile did cross his face – he did know that he was in Revaliir, and that he had been catapulted to Revaliir from his home world, which he also knew he was no longer able to access. He knew that in his home world he had been a fairly powerful being at one time, but the only thing he could remember was the pain of having that power ripped away. What he could not remember was what had happened to him once he had arrived in Revaliir, or what the place he was in now was.

Rather than going into that deep of detail with this Hiro Kouen that he had presumably just met, he instead remained politely silent, thankful that this youthful knight was taking the time to speak to him, let alone the effort he was putting into explaining where it was that they were. However, when Hiro mentioned Angela Rose, something clicked in his head, something that seemed to indicate he had heard that name before. For a split second his brow furrowed as he tried to remember, unsuccessfully. How did he know that name? He shook the feeling off after a minute, instead returning his attention to Hiro.

”That is rather helpful, thank you,” he said, when Hiro had finished his detailed explanation. ”Of course, it does not answer all of my questions, but I do not think that you can answer most of them for me,” he added, grinning somewhat as he tried to forget the irksome, partial memories that the name had brought on.

He looked down at his food that had been delivered just as he had begun to talk to Hiro. It was a simple dish, what looked to be a stew comprised of a hearty broth with meat and root vegetables. A hard slice of bread was served along with it, but he was more concerned with taking a large drink of the water that had been delivered to him as well.

”A low charge would be favorable, as I’m a bit low on coin – but I can do odd jobs for you, as well, if you need it. I’m not completely inept, at least,” he added, before taking a large mouthful of the stew he had. ”The maps and geographical information would be great as well,” he continued. ”Let us dine, and then perhaps we can get started on getting this armor fixed… I don’t feel whole without a complete set,” he added, frowning.