Style Quest: The Lost Kingdom

Wedding planning was starting to drive Varick up a wall. Between picking out flowers, table dressings, and trying fifty different cakes that all taste the same, the mahogany Clydesdale was on the fast track for a breakdown. Varick needed a break, and the opportunity presented itself when a new portal appeared in the network. With blessings from Raine, he left them in charge of wedding preparation and departed through the new portal dressed in a red and black flannel shirt and jeans.

 

The sight of stone buildings rising from a cold jungle landscape greeted Varick as he emerged from the portal. The guild must be waiting to set up an entire outpost here. A loud noise in the distant town intrigued the blonde horse enough to continue. Eventually, the jungle opened up into an old city made of aging stone buildings. Vines crept over the structures as parts of them appeared to have crumbled away. Varick was getting a little nervous about the abandoned streets when he reached the town square to find a full-on celebration. People made of a strange glowing stone were having a party around great burning braziers. 

 

"Hello, stranger. Are you here to celebrate Elumis with us, and what are these wonderful clothes you are wearing," one of the stone people asked as he stopped to touch Varick's shirt.

 

"It's flannel, and what is Elumis," the equine tailor answered and asked. Luckily, the stone person was nice enough to explain everything. The Goa, as they called themselves, were made from a unique stone called eirshale in ancient times before the kingdom fell. Each year, during the winter months, they all gather to celebrate the Elumis Festival. Eirshale glowed brightly during the celebrations for an unknown reason. Some believed it to have ties back to the first Goas. Now, the fires and the many braziers represent their gods of Light and Community. While the stone man explained everything, many others stopped and petted Varick's flannel shirt, remarking about how nice of a fabric it was.

 

"If I make flannel clothes for everyone, could you all stop petting me," the brown Clydesdale requested, a bit annoyed but spotting a business opportunity. A murmur went across the crowd before reaching a unanimous agreement. "I'll need a day to get supplies but we can get everyone measured and outfits picked out." Until long after the sun fell from the sky, Varick measured Goa and took orders. With that job finished, the excited stone people showed Varick to a place where he could sleep for the night. Before passing out, the tailor sent a raven to Raine with a letter requesting all the flannel they could find.

 

"Wake up," Raine demanded as they lightly shook the blonde horse. "I brought every bolt, piece, and scrap of flannel I could find." Varick sat up and saw several Goa carrying boxes of supplies into the room. Light from outside made the Raine's blue and green spots sparkle as the snow leopard tried to direct the flow of goods.

 

"Perfect," Varick exclaimed as he leaped up and hugged his fiancee. "If this deal goes through, we can have whatever kind of wedding we want. Do you want that two-story cake? We can have three!" Raine started involuntarily purring at the promise of massive amounts of sugar. 

 

"Then get sewing! I have large plans for that cake," the feline started drooling a bit, thinking about massive wedding cakes. Working as a team, the two got orders out rapidly. Varick did all the cutting, sewing, and enchanting while Raine took care of delivery and collecting payment. In under three weeks, all the Goa in the local area were wearing new flannel clothes. Several times, the flannel supply ran out and needed restocking, and in the end, there wasn't a scrap of flannel to be found anywhere in the three realms.

 

Tired of sewing with all the orders complete, Varick and Raine went for a walk to explore this new world. While most of the building wore their age on the outside, the insides were gorgeous. Rainbows of color decorated the painted stone walls, accompanying beautiful hand-woven rugs and tapestries. The Goa weren't a private people and welcomed the couple wherever they wanted to go without hesitation.

 

Outside the main settlements, the untamed jungle reached far till the next settlement. Crumbling monuments and remnants of old roads were occasionally spotted amongst the trees, hinting at an ancient lost history. On the horizon, the lost city of Eir looms like a giant over the trees. 

 

"You want to go diving into some likely dangerous ruins in search of ancient artifacts that should be in a museum somewhere," Varick sarcastically asked Raine as they surveyed the city from a distance. The Clydesdale knew there was no way his fiancee was interested in doing that but liked to poke them occasionally.

 

"Or, and hear me out, we don't do that," the snow leopard proposed. "Instead, we go back to the hostel, open a bottle of wine, and you send out a raven reserving my wedding cakes." Varick laughed as he knew Raine would be stuck on that single-thought train for a while. Back in their room, an hour later, the wine flowed as the snow leopard started drawing up plans for three different wedding cakes, all of which would end up being twenty-eight feet of sugar and frosting wrapped around cake, lots and lots of cake.

 

"So, did we decide on dual tuxedos, or did you want a dress," Varick inquired as he worked on a sketch of his suit. A look from Raine told him all he needed to know. They would need a tux that could turn into a dress. Something that could transform as elegantly as the feline could. Wedding planning went on into the night until all the wine was gone and the couple had passed out. This trip to The Ruined Kingdom was a financial and personal success. Varick and Raine now could have whatever wedding they wanted without parental interference.