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The Harpy's Wing guildmistress soared through the air at the speed of a slow pigeon, gliding gracefully over the lake and the buildings at the edge of town on a trajectory straight for the town square. She'd waited as long as she possibly could for Eloise to bring her two A-class mages to the guild hall, but she couldn't afford to wait any longer or she'd be late. She'd waited so long, in fact, that she no longer had time to walk to the town center, and would need to make a more dramatic entrance. Climbing to the top of the Nest, she removed her excess weights and then took a running jump off the highest platform, her well-practiced jump taking her on a perfect trajectory into the square.

As she passed over the far edge of the lake, she could see that Eloise had managed to find both of her quarries, and was on her way back with them. Smiling to herself, Arianna whistled loudly and then called down to them.

[color=8882be]"Hellooo down there my precious children! Make your way to the square or you'll be laaaate~"[/color]

She had no time for any more conversation before her speed took her out of earshot of the group. Turning her face forward once more, she changed her position so her clothes would catch more of the wind, subtly changing her flight path and slowing her down, and a few seconds later she floated gently down from the sky and onto the platform in the middle of the square. Ever one to make use of a good landing, she did a flourish and posed, with a few confused townsfolk applauding and many of the Harpies in the square chuckling at her antics, a couple of them even quickly drawing signs to rate the landing. Taking her assigned place on the stage, she waited for Delsin to turn up so they could commence the proceedings.

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Delsin finished the final form out of his In tray with one last signature, stamping it with the guild seal just as his door flew open and Vega made a sudden entrance. This was no surprise to Delsin, who had felt him coming from ages away through his contact with the building; Vega made such a commotion that he'd known he was here the second he entered the building from the way that people moved out of the way of his footsteps on the stone. Quickly surmising that he must have made an escape from his pursuers somehow to be returning himself, but had enough of an altercation for them to tell him that Delsin needed him, Delsin ignored Vega's questions, rising to his feet as the young man flopped into his visitors chair.

[color=a36209]"I see you managed to escape Angela's clutches, but then decided to come here on your own? Impressive. It'll also save you from the worst of her ire I should think. In any case, walk with me, we need to move or I'll be late."[/color]

Stepping around his desk, Delsin picked up his coat and gear and walked out of the room. Turning his head slightly, he spoke to Vega as he walked.

[color=a36209]"I don't need your approval or happiness when it comes to the S-Class trials, but you most certainly will want the results of them one way or another. S-Class missions will allow you to take your...particular...brand of insanity elsewhere on the continent, where you'll be well outside the prying eyes of your much beloved Angela. You'll hear soon enough what the tasks will entail, but I am telling you in advance that you will only be able to participate if you are able to put together a team, which you have thus far shown absolutely no desire in doing. I am, surprisingly though it might seem, willing to help you out here by designating you as one of the team leaders, but you have to find people to fill your team yourself."[/color]

As he wandered down through the halls on the swiftest route to the town square, Delsin noticed something amiss in the clamor of footsteps on the ground near the bar. Changing course on a brief detour, he pushed open the door onto a thoroughly predictable sight. Damian taking on Jack in a drinking contest? What was the idiot thinking. He didn't even seem to have properly finished more than one proper drink before being apparently drunk out of his mind. Sighing quietly, Delsin shook his head before shouting over the ruckus.

[color=a36209]"Alright you lot, get out of here! The announcement starts the moment I get to the square, and it's a festival day, what the hell are you all doing inside? Come on, clear out, clear out!"[/color]

There was a fair bit of quiet grumbling from the bar regulars, but most of them diligently meandered out the door and off into town. Striding across the room, Delsin put an arm under Damian's to steady him before the young lad fell over. Speaking to Jack over his shoulder, Delsin supported Damian in his efforts to head out into town.

[color=a36209]"I won't say you should know better, since I assume this was at least 50% Damian's fault, but please do try not to kill your fellow guildmates with alcohol poisoning. If you're coming to the announcement, which you should be, your punishment is to take care of this lightweight while he's out and about."[/color]

- - - - - - - - - -

After a quick walk across two blocks, rounding up any straggling Golems on his way, Delsin arrived at the town square just in time to see Ria float serenely out of the sky and land in a crowd-pleasing manner. Being right underneath her path of descent, Delsin blushed slightly and averted his eyes as she passed overhead; he'd often suggested she should avoid dresses if she was planning on hurtling through the air, but she just laughed and made comments about how he didn't understand the importance of controllable flight surfaces (which, to be fair, he didn't).

Climbing the steps to the top of the platform, Delsin smiled at Ria and held up both hands with all fingers outstretched to indicate he thought her landing was a 10/10.

[color=a36209]"Are you ready to begin?"[/color]

[color=8882be]"Whenever you are, Del! Just give the word and we'll begin."[/color]

[color=a36209]"Alright then, let's start."[/color]

With that, a piercing whistle echoed across the square, cutting through all the noise and cluttered activities. Stepping forward to the front of the stage, Arianna amplified her voice so it carried easily to all corners of the square, and down the laneways nearby.

[color=8882be]"Ladies aaaand Gentlemen! May I have your full attention please? The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived, and it's now time to announce the details of this year's S-Class trial! As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, for the first time the Harpy's Wing and Golem's Hand guilds will be joining together to combine their S-Class trials into one large event. There will be two distinct phases in the event: a Qualifying Stage, and a Proving Stage. A quick reminder for those of you unaware, any combat between guild members of either guild not specifically approved as training during the Qualifying Stage will find both participants disqualified from the proceedings, unless blame can very clearly be shown. With that out of the way, I shall now hand over to Delsin to explain the events themselves!"[/color]

[color=a36209]"Most of you who have witnessed our S-Class trials before will have come here expecting a one-day long event. A big fight, or a test of skills. You shall get this, but not today! For this event, Guildmistress Arianna and I have decided to do something a little more adventurous than usual. The first event, henceforth referred to as the Qualifying Stage, will be a group event. Anyone wishing to participate in the Proving Stage which follows it will need to get themselves accepted into a team, led by one of a few approved leaders whose names will be announced at the end of the proceedings. You are, for the purposes of this exercise, not restricted to only joining with groups led by a member of your own guild, though I imagine that the majority will still find yourself in teams comprised entirely of your own guild."

"Once you have been placed in a team, the test will begin. Arianna and I have sought approval for the teams to have a small selection of what were previously S-Class jobs put before them. These will, I remind you, be very dangerous missions, and will not be for the faint of heart. You will be graded on your results in the job, and while failure to complete the job will not necessarily disqualify you from being able to progress to the next stage if you still performed admirably, it will of course look bad on your record. Due to the dangers of these missions, and your collective inexperience in dealing with jobs of this caliber, the teams will be only approved for the missions if they are oversized, so you will certainly be working with people you're not used to dealing with. Finally, it also goes without saying that any profits made on job completion will need to be split evenly among your team if a unilateral decision cannot be agreed upon about how to otherwise split it. Any questions about this event can be individually adressed to myself or Guildmistress Arianna at a later time."[/color]

[color=8882be]"Finally, as Delsin mentioned, the final event will be a tournament. To be set on a date to be announced at a later date, a further festival day - funded and run by both guilds - will be organized, and a series of fights will take place, with public involvement deciding what the matchups will be, and what environmental effects might be in play for each fight. With that sorted, enjoy the rest of the day my darlings! Don't get too out of hand and set the poor mayor's house on fire again like last year, he does such a good job after all, and doesn't deserve this chaos outside his bedroom window every year. Best wishes to you all this year!"[/color]

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[center][color=fff79a][h1]Illedrith Adrasia[/h1][/color][/center]

Oh the sights! The smells and sensations of Luna Crescente's famous festival days! Standing tall among the flowing crowd, Illedrith basked in the gazes thrown her way, her ever-present travelling armor catching the light and making her glow brightly in the wonderful afternoon sun. With her group of precious munchkins dispersing slightly to look at the sights and sounds, Illedrith had just been going along one side of the makeshift market streets, getting more and more excited as she bought more and more of the fantastic looking food and drink that filled the stalls around the outside of the square. This came to a head when Cyril made a suggestion for a certain kind of desert that Illedrith hadn't tried, and in the process of excitedly turning around she almost cleaned up a passerby with her halberd (which she was holding under her arm in order to use it as a plate to hold the three sundaes she'd purchased at the last stall).

Apologizing profusely to the man who was concerned that he almost got bisected by a plate of icecreams, Illedrith wandered over to see what this new delicacy was just as Ria flew overhead. Checking the clock set above the stage, it was clear the announcement would be happening soon.

[color=fff79a]"Alright, gather up my dears, they'll be starting soon. Might as well get front row seats for the announcement. Ceri, you're welcome to get on my shoulders if you want a better view, we wouldn't want you getting trampled in the crowd. And Cyril, if you agree to carry my sundaes and halberd, you can have one of your choice."[/color]