[hr][hr][h1][center][i][color=8493ca]Stone[/color][/i][/center][/h1][hr][hr]
[h3][center][i][color=8493ca]Tolbana Town[/color][/i][/center][/h3]

Upon arriving in Tolbana Town -after he and the others sufficiently healed up- Alek parted ways with his companions for the night.  Rather than going straight to bed, he decided to scope out the town in search of useful gear.  Though not very helpful to him now, Alek figured the more aware he was of his surroundings the better.  His seemingly aimless wandering eventually brought him to the town's central marketplace.  He browsed distantly, not taking a particular interest in anything.  As he neared the end of the plaza, Alek sighed, ready to abandon the effort in defeat.  Right before he turned to head back, he saw a rather large grouping -considering the town's general emptiness- and decided to investigate.  

A shopkeeper stood amidst the crowd.  As Alek approached, he overheard the shop-keep say [color=a2d39c]"Did you hear? There is a guild that they say kills other players. I heard it from a player in The Town of Beginnings when I was there."[/color]  

Dizziness washed over him as Alek stumbled into someone leaving the crowd.  He muttered an apology before slumping down on the wall of a nearby building.  Intense flashes of some source-less light blinded him.  His heart rate spiked violently.  [i]Killer.[/i]  [i]Killer.[/i]  [i]Killer.[/i]  The word resounded in his head over and over. Though this occurrence was nothing new, it had rarely been so strong.  It took no small amount of inner strength to shut out his flashbacks and return his consciousness to the immediate environment.  He had slid down to the ground, the back of his head resting on the cool bricks beneath.  The town square had all but emptied.  Presently Alek stood, brushing dust off of himself.  [i][color=7ea7d8]I guess for some things there are no cure.[/color][/i] he thought to himself as he began the trek back to the inn.  

The pale moon shone brightly down, casting its ever eerie glow.  Despite being used to weather much worse, the coldness of the night made Alek shiver.  Or perhaps, he shivered not from the cold, but from the body's natural response to something evil, something dark.  Some devilish inner desire...

//[i]Day 2[/i]//

Alek sat in the inn's common room with the rest of his companions.  The virtual vodka he casually gulped down burned his throat almost as much as the real stuff.  Alek had found that, since liquor here was as inexpensive as other bits of similar coding, he could quench his thirst without damaging his liver [i]or[/i] his wallet.  From his seat at the bar he heard the others say things, though seemed to have trouble connecting them to any meaning.  As a result, he remained quiet, observant, hoping his input would not be needed.  After several cups had been drained, Alek turned to them.  As he did, the girl -Janelle, maybe?- rushed up the stairs, presumably back to her room.  As of yet, his silence seemed only to be matched by her own.  Of course, he knew the reason for that.  Alek moved his cup towards his mouth, stopping as he saw his face reflected off the liquid.  [i][color=8493ca]Poor girl.[/color][/i]  His cup clinked on the bar top, accompanied by a sloshing sound.  

The event seemed to awake him from his apathy.  He had just began listening as Starkette said something about the floor boss, and a guild.  Regardless of his future actions, Alek thought that forming a guild [i]could[/i] be beneficial, especially since allegiances were hardly set in stone.  [color=8493ca]"So we are.  The first guild to reach Tolbana Town."[/color]