"Firstly let me apologize for my husband, the students have been quite... stupid lately" She said poring tea. "The sun can't cook a chicken so stop trying it. Anyways, what brought you here? You certainly don't look like you're from around here."

"Besides the sign that pointed towards a city under quarantine and to here?" They shared a laugh.

"Yes dear, something tells me you have quite the story. Especially since you haven't tried to morph your staff into something a bit more manageable."

"Yeah... I wish I knew what happened when everything went black."

"What about before? Surely something lead to you passing out and waking up in a field half a continent away from home."

"It was... is... not sure how long I was in that field. Anyways it was the day of our tuning, me and my twin brother had never shown any alignment to any of the main strings of power not even any of the minor ones. So it was going to be a big day for us, we'd finally know what we should be studying and practicing so we could have a better idea of where to go in life you know? Everything was going well we were able to guide everyone to the soul pond. I don't know if the soul pond near here is the same but ours only had one place for 'the untuned' to stand, so us being twins had to stand in the grass.

Everything was going so well, as you can see we were lucky enough to be chosen to have an instrument, but I don't know what happened. The instruments were taking shape with orbs of metal and power forming them, we were instructed to look at the high elder by the pond and to keep our gaze there." a brief silence "I feel like it's my fault, I looked past the elder to see our parents. Dad was holding onto mom who was crying, I saw several flashes out of the corner of my eyes. I looked to my left and saw the other elders, they seemed upset and had armed themselves. I turned and looked into my brothers eyes. That's when I heard my mom screaming 'Lord Tarinos! Save them!' I think dad tried to cover her mouth but all I knew was that in and instant everything had gone black. A black so deep I don't think I've ever seen it before. An instant later I woke up in the field and you know the rest."

"hmmm, certainly a story. I think it's best if you get some rest, you'll have a lot to learn in the morning. Starting with your instrument, then my husband will want to test you as a new student, I'll make sure he goes easier on you. You just need a place to stay and center yourself for a bit and you're welcome here. I'm sure you will find out what happened and where your brother is. But for now, one day at a time, and this day is almost over. I'll see you in the morning, good night Viren."