Around a large palace the mist formed, swirling and blanketing the great city that surrounded it in a cold suffocating haze. Thunder rumbled and lightning occasionally lit up the sky as it struck down into the city and onto the palace itself, igniting small fires where it struck. On one of the balconies near the central meeting chamber of the palace a faint glow emerged, followed by two figures stepping out of the mist. They were a straight faced finely dressed young gentleman who was carrying the lantern and a much older woman, dressed in simple clothes walked beside him, her face wrinkled and smiling, who supported herself with a walking stick. “An odd place to find a committed warrior” the younger man remarks somewhat in jest as the two weave between the guards rushing to put out the fire of the latest lightning strike “politicians aren't exactly fighters or driven by any desire strong enough to get them through the tournament. Much to worried about their own well being” “And indeed we are not here for them, but for one of the Adepta Sororitas who are accompanying one of them.” the older woman responded, the guards they walked past seemingly not noticing the pair, yet actively getting out of the way without really knowing why. “She has the motivation, yet she needs the push from her masters to take that first step, so we are here to convince them to send her as a competitor” The guards at the door to the meeting chamber unconsciously stepped aside and were as surprised as those inside when the great wooden doors were flung open [hr] [center][b][h3][color=#ff8566]Sister Sophia[/color][/h3][/b] Meanwhile inside the meeting room [/center] Sophia was bored. So very bored. She was standing behind the the Canoness, head priest and a representative from the ruling council as they argued, debated and negotiated with representatives from several other nearby nations on all the topics of trade, exchanges of hostages, religion and other topics. It was all incredibly dry and she was ignoring it all as she stood guard for the dignitaries. She would much rather be practicing or utilizing her talent as a Seraphim, soaring through the sky on her burning angelic wings, bringing the retribution of the emperor down on the heretics, mutants, witches and xenos. It was unlike anything would happen today though, they were deep in the palace, with hundreds of guards between them and the outside walls, the odds that anyone could make it through all that and come bursting in the door where tiny. At this very moment the doors were flung wide and the glow of the lantern filled the room. Sophia stepped forwards, aiming to put herself in front of her charges, drawing her twin bolt pistols and aiming them at the intruders when the old woman spoke up. “I am Margret and this is my nephew Sylvester. We are of the inquisitional college, so you can all put those guns away” The old woman was smiling, despite the amount of firearms that had been drawn in response to their surprises entrance. She and the young man calmly walked towards the center of the meeting room and for a few moments all that was heard was the clacking of her walking stick against the marble floor. “Margret, it is good to see you again.“ Exclaimed one of the diplomats after the shock of her entrance had subsided “put your weapons away, I have known this woman since before the college was founded and she is no threat to us. Though I must ask how did you get in here without anyone noticing” As the weapons where hesitantly lowered the woman responded. “I have learnt much since we last met, but alas there is little time, the college has made a discovery and we must acquire something from you to complete the experiment. Sylvester if you could explain the specifics?” Sophia now listened intently as the man holding the lantern explained the artifact, the Crucible and the promised wish. Such an artifact sounded far too good to be true, sounded heretical in fact with it required human sacrifices to run and yet something drew her in, made her want to go with them. The rest of the assembly had understandably mixed opinions on the matter. “A wishing machines powered by souls, preposterous” “We agreed to founding the inquisitional college, we should continue to support the initiative even if this sounds unlikely” “Think of the possibilities, so many problems that we could solve with the technology of the lost city” “And what if this infernal contraption is the reason the city is lost!” The old woman let them argue for about a minute before interrupting “We are not here to get your permission, you gave that when you and so many others decided to fund us in the first place, we are here to collect a representative. There is little time, the window for the experiment is short so there is no for more debate” “From use? You want one of us to fight and die for your experiment?” enthusiasm for the project died immediately among the assembly, apart from the most zealous corner where the priest rose from his seat. “The Imperium will not stand by and let you potentially unleash this heretical artifact upon the world, to make more nations disappear or worse. This council is a representative of close to 20% of the world's nations, and you want but 1 competitor from us. Where else are you drawing your sacrifices, what monsters are you giving the chance to fulfill their desires if that is even what this machine does? I propose this council expel these two and send our armies to stop this madness” There were grumbles of agreement with this from the others, non were particularly fond of the religious nutjobs but that was a good point, should they risk what the device might bring? “I remind you that, as you pointed out, you are but 20%, the rest of the world is behind the collage, would you fight them as well? However perhaps you might like to volunteer? To fight for your belief that this should not be done against 31 others” That squelched any agreement with the war tactic. To the surprises of some the Canoness and the priest both rose, drawing a melta pistol and hand flamer respectively before looking at one another. “You are much too old. Leave this to me, you are needed her to guide our faith” “None are ever too old to die for the emperor's glory. Besides you need to stay and lead the sisters in our defense.” The two stared at each other, at which point Sophia stepped forwards, her duty, her desire and the lantern all drawing her forward. [color=#ff8566]“Send me! I shall destroy the artifact and all those that would lay claim to it![/color] The two looked at each other and down below the old woman smiled as they came to an agreement. Sophia was one of the most skilled of the Seraphim, she did not hold a leadership position and she was used to acting on her own, often used as bait for her eccentric singing, in those cases sometimes the trap never had to be sprung. She was perfect for this, skilled yet her absence would not greatly affect the power structure of the Imperium. [hr] After some additional arguing between the representatives, Sophia being blessed by the priest and instructions from the Cannoness to bide her time and hold her holy rage for the right moment, Sophia joined the two as they left. On her hips, along with the two bolt pistols she normally carried where the meta position of the Canoness and hand flamer of the priests that had been given to her to assist in her holy mission. “Now that we have extracted you from the dullard diplomats I think we should talk about what [i]you[/i] want. To see your Imperium return to this world.” The old women remarked as she walked alongside Sophia. Her nephew lead the way, holding the lantern as they walked out through the palace towards the balcony. Outside the storm still raged, lighting regularly cracking the sky. Sophie was rather glad she had not been out flying when the unnatural storm kicked up. [color=#ff8566]“Of course I want that, all of my faith await that holy day when we are reunited with our kin from the stars. Is your knowledge of that supposed to be some kind of revelation?”[/color] Sophia snarks “Ah but unlike some you long for that day, you need it to come in your lifetime. The others are content with their power, their faith but you need to see it come true with your own eyes. The machine can give it to you” [color=#ff8566]“Do not try and tempt me old hag, you're wasting your time.”[/color] Sophia muttered threateningly in response, yet she could not truly deny those words. “I only speak the truth. Anyway, here we are” she says, as they approach the mist flooded balcony. [color=#ff8566]“We are 4 stories up, do you think you can fly or are you expecting a lift all the way there?”[/color] The woman does not respond as the 3 walk into the mist and somehow end up in a large courtyard before a great building. [color=#ff8566]“By the emperor, what witchcraft is this!”[/color] Sophia exclaimed, as she took in her new surroundings. “Heh, better get use to it, time and space are very inconsistent in the city of echoes. Now come, let’s not keep the director waiting” And so the three walked into the foyer, joining the one armed monk, hooded sniper, armored halberdier and the 6 other representatives.