#### **Mages** Quite a group has already gathered in Misala. There were some tensions between strangers, but nothing serious. And then, it happened. With a thundering bang and a flash of light, a cloaked man appeared in the middle of them. A ragged, unassuming cloak to not draw much attention, yet there was something about him. Like a feeling in the back of the head that's someone is near you, even if you can't see or hear them, everyone gathered could simply feel his presence. **"Hmm, a bigger group than I thought. Good. Stand back and give me some time to set up."** From his voice, he sounded quite young. From his large leather pouch, he pulled out a huge book with bright red leather covers. He started flipping through the pages, until he found something he was looking for. **"Hands like this... Place the sigil where you want the table to appear and invoke the spell..."** he quietly murmured under his nose. Putting the book back in it's place, he clasped his hands together. Magical energy started gathering around them, and a strange magical symbol appeared on the ground. **"Raenor's War Table!"** he said firmly, and out of the symbol stone started to rise, eventually forming a large table with seats. **"Now then, take a seat and I shall explain the assignment."** As everyone reluctantly took their seats, he pulled out a large scroll and unfurled it on the middle of the table. It was a map, at least three hundred years old. The majority of locations listed there simply no longer existed. Back then, nearly the entire continent was settled. Cities, roads, fortresses and castles, very little of that remained. It was like looking at a map of a completely different world. With only a small part of eastern coast settled, the society at large was just a mere fragment of what it once was. The Cloaked Man pointed at a fortress at the western part of Altea, not far from the Elven Forests. Strangely enough, the infamous Black Forest was not on the map. **"Weisstraugh Fortress - back in the old days, it was a prestigious place of learning. A magic academy. The best and brightest would hone their skills and knowledge there. Most renowned was the Weisstraugh Archives, a massive library. Every book, every written work deemed worthy of renown was stored there. While copies of course there made, the originals were kept in the archives. The entire combined knowledge of the old world is there. While the academy and fortress itself may be in shambles, the archives were build to weather wars between mages. As you may have figured out by now, your job would be to locate the archives."** After explaining the job, he pulled out two more paper scrolls out of his pouch and a bright red gem. The Cloaked Man unfurled one of the scrolls, placed it on the ground, and said **"Waypoint create!"** The scroll lit itself on fire, and from the embers a smooth stone plate arose, with another strange magical symbol. In the center was a slot for something, like a gem. As the man placed the gem in the slot, the symbols started glowing. Then he put the second scroll on the table. **"Once you locate the archives, you create a waypoint like this and activate it with the locator gem. Once the second waypoint is active, I warp to your location and pay you. You then may browse the archives yourselves or come back here via the waypoint."** The Employer then revealed another large pouch he had, jingling familiarly. **"You would get 25 sovereigns each for this job. You get 5 sovereigns in advance, and the rest upon locating the archives and creating the waypoint. And, so you play nice with each other, you get a bonus for each member of the group who makes it to the archives. Judging from your numbers, if all of you make it to the archives, your pay doubles. If you have any questions, now is the time..."** The man was interrupted by nearby shouting and large amounts of footsteps. The village only had two entrances, and from both of them, a large amount of bandits started appearing. They were surrounded. **"So, there is actually a job. You guys wouldn't mind paying us in advance? Like with everything you got?"** their leader shouted. A grin appeared on the Cloaked Man's faced. **"Perfect timing. Consider this a test and show me what you got. Take out the trash, so to speak."** Without waiting for anything, the elf archer quickly put an arrow through the bandit boss's face, much to the horrifying shock of everyone. **"Hey, don't you have slow and fat merchants to rob? You know, the ones that won't make you go running back to your mommies?"** Eddy taunted them, and it worked. Outnumbered three to one, there was no way to avoid the fight now. ----------- #### **Luminous Knights** The paladins reached the assigned briefing room. After some small reunions, they new captain walked in. Generally unassuming, short black hair, clean shaven, and clad in full plate armor, he didn't look much different from their instructors, except he didn't greet them by shouting **"GOOD MORNING MAGGOTS!"** **"I am captain Bernard Tines, and you folks will be stuck with me for two years. Luckily for you, I didn't draw the short straw when our missions were assigned, so this one will be fun. And dangerous... You may have heard that our frontier outposts are under attack. They are under construction at the moment, so they contain nothing of value. But since they are important to our expansion, we need them up and running. Reports say that a single bandit gang has been attacking them. The very same gang has set up for "toll collection" on one of our roads. Our job is to clear them out, and secure the area for construction. Overlord Levran will be joining up with us later to oversee the construction and security personally. A fake caravan has been created just for us. I will pretend to be a driver, and you will hide in the back of carriage, behind the empty crates. Once they come to me for their safe passage tax, we will give them one. With point ends. And that's it. Make any last minute preparations you need, head for the stables and hide in the back of carriage. We will reach that location within two hours. Dismissed!"** ... The ride was uncomfortable. Cramped hiding behind crates, a bumpy road and a cold evening. Eventually, they could hear shouting and the carriage was coming to a stop. A voice could be hear nearby: **"Your payment in keeping this road safe would appreciated, sir."**, followed by what sounded like a sword being driven through someone's guts. And then there was lots of sounding and unsheathing of weapons. Go time was now. By the time they kicked out the empty dummy crates and rushed outside, their captain had already gotten at least four of them. There was at least forty of them, quite a bit more hiding behind the trees. ... During the battle, the paladins noticed something strange: the bandits were suicidal in their attacks, with no sense of self-preservation. Nor they did seem to show any emotion when their comrades fell. --------- #### Alicia von Eternus After exchanging a few hellos, the briefing started and was quickly concluded. Getting rid of bandits, seemed like a worthy cause. Just a little something for Alicia to have some sense of self-worth. The ride itself was uneventful, uncomfortable and cold. And then they could hear the battle starting. By the time they kicked out the empty dummy crates and rushed outside, their captain had already gotten at least four of them. There was at least forty of them. Most of them possessed basic weapons: daggers, bows, clubs and axes, only very few possessed a sword. The majority of them had makeshift shields, mostly wooden boards with some metal bits strapped on. They had no mages within their ranks, so Luminosity was useless here. Battle - the only place Alicia could forget her misery, even if for just a minute. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she focused. The blank state of mind, devoid of any distraction - Combat Focus. Her actions were already clear. The thugs did not have any martial training, had no clue about such things as a correct stance and technique, or how to use their weapons to their fullest. Rushing ahead and past her teammates, she started her onslaught. When in Combat Focus, it feels like time slows done. For that one minute, Alicia can see the world in slow motion. Clumsy and clueless fell one after another. For the outside observer, Alicia was literally carving the path through the bandit ranks, with them not even being able to react - she was simply too fast. This was Sioretto in action - mesmerizing and beautiful, as long as you are not on the receiving end. After literally clearing a line through their ranks, the bandits,went towards her en-masse. With her Combat Focus finished, Alicia was not in the shape to do anything like that again. Fortunately, her teammates were not simply standing there and watching, and rushed to her assistance. Still dizzy and sick from such mental exhaustion, she sheathed her shorter sword and prepared to defend herself. **"You shouldn't spin around so much Alicia, you always get dizzy afterwards."** Varkasan said to her as he cut down a bandit trying to hit Alicia from her back. She couldn't help but release a small chuckle. But even as the battle raged on and the ones hiding behind trees emerged to help their comrades, one thing was definitely wrong. The bandits were nearly suicidal in their attacks, with no sense of self preservation. It was not like them to fight with such zeal. It was not like them to fight until the last man. -------- #### Eddy An interesting bunch has gathered in Misala. One woman in strange armor attracted Eddy's attention. Seemed fancy. Seemed like something a mage from the old era would wear. She probably had no idea how to use any of it when she found it. Doesn't matter. He's here for a job, not a freak show. And then it happened. A cloaked man simply appeared. Out of thin air. There was something odd about him, like some sort of presence. Eddy couldn't really figure out what was that. The others could also feel the same, considering their expressions. The strange man then conjured a table. A TABLE. Eddy never heard of mages conjuring up tables. Seemed rather useless, except in this situation. Obviously, the red book was a spellbook. Eddy had a small one as well, but could only manage to learn the Fireball. The rest he simply could not learn to use. Of course, he didn't really understand the instructions, trying to guess the process from the pictures. The rest of his spells came to him naturally, probably because the elf liked fire. ... The job was to find an ancient library and create something called a "waypoint". A map like this would already be worth a fortune to the right buyers, but an ancient archive? Curiosity and anticipation overcame his caution - Eddy was taking this job. Payment in advance, bonus for each surviving employee - this guy has thought this through. However, it was also evident that he possessed extreme wealth. He was not from Undercity, that was for sure. And he was a mage, and probably a powerful one. Powerful mages and knowledge don't mix well, Eddy knew that from history. But the pay was simply too good, nor he would care much if Luminous Knights were taken down a notch or two. They were interrupted by a bunch of bandits however, who thought they'll find easy prey here. From their numbers, it seemed like an entire clan was here. The man ordered the group to kill them, it would be a test of sorts. Eddy did not need that encouragement, he was going to do it anyway. Putting an arrow in the head of the loudest one, he knew those thugs were mostly just talk. **"Hey, don't you have slow and fat merchants to rob? You know, the ones that won't make you go running back to your mommies?"** He said. This will piss them off, and pissed off opponents are far less cautious. Even though they were greatly outnumbered, Eddy did not worry. A bunch of crazy, desperate and/or capable mages were here, along with a few skilled non-mage fighters. Bottom-feeding scum like that were no match for them. ... The fighting was underway, with their mysterious employer staying out of it and intently watching. Actually, he was a big target, but he had some sort of force field around him. Nothing could even come close to touching him. A bandit managed to sneak up behind the fancy-gear Mastrix. Luckily, Flame Crash was there to smack the sucker's charred remains back down into the ground. **"Hey, fancy-armor, watch yourself!"** he said to her, only receiving a sneer in return. It was almost like target practice - with the bandits being help busy by others, Eddy was free to shoot arrows with little interruption. It felt like being part of a team again, and it felt good.