[h3]Chapter 0.5 : A Glowing Crystal[/h3]
[hr]
	The sun crawled over the horizon, its beams of light looming over the sky as it rose to fruition. Soldiers and adventurers awoke from their slumber. Some in a drunken daze while others head to the communal areas to clean themselves or eat. Either way, the atmosphere was quite serious and dense, everyone was leaning towards one singular goal and that was to take over Gabaras from its… mysterious plague.

	Eventually, those enlisted to the quest as adventurers would be gathered northwest to the wide-field. Multiple announcers lining the westward wall and in the middle were multiple esteemed generals, commanders, and the like. A crowd of a few hundred were in the field standing in the morning mist.

	A man walks forward-facing the crowd, garnished in silver pauldrons, gauntlets, greaves, and sabatons. The lengths of black robes lined with white tucked into the bits of armor that he wore. A katana was hoisted to his side, a hand resting on its hilt.  His voice was loud and prominent the announcers from a few hundred feet away began preparing a spell most likely to amplify his voice to different sections of the west-wall gathering.

[hider=Oda Hideyoshi's Speech]
	[I]"Adventurers. I am Oda Hideyoshi, a leading commander in this effort. I'll make this short. Through weeks of study and scouting Gabaras has suddenly gone dark-- initially, the people of Gabaras had gone crazed and attacked outsiders but then they all disappeared. Millions of citizens vanishing from the air until groups of mages had discovered that their mana veins were still active all across the city of Gabaras-- and what could've caused this you asked? We aren't for sure but we know that it all started in the castle walls of Gabaras.

	 Survivors from the very first attack escaped and explained that dark magic was festering within its walls... we can only conclude that these types of magics are of an ancient scale. Warping reality on a fundamental level, displacing living beings across planes of existence, and essentially... fucking them up. As of now, the innards of Gabaras are practically a soup bowl of reality distortions. But with the help of our mages, we can safely enter Gabaras... with these."[/i][/hider]
	
	The commander revealed from the insides of his robes a blue crystal shaped like a pointed diamond. It hovered over his palm, gleaming with a soft light that became even brighter under the sun. Its surface was rigid, roughly cut from an unknown cluster. Hideyoshi raised the crystal to the sky and it let out a soft spread of magic, a calming air releasing from its form as it held steady for a few moments until the commander beckoned the crystal to return to his hands. 

[hider= Hideyoshi Speech]
	[I]"This crystal is the key to our invasion. It will suppress the reality distortions as long as the mage holding its form is alive to see to it. We plan to place a few hundred of these crystals along determined safe points of Gabaras. But there is a catch... when an area of Gabaras is 'cured' from the reality distortions its citizens will appear out of thin air and begin attacking. 

	That is where you adventurers along with the aid of soldiers come in-- you will all be split into groups of fifty each equipped with five crystals. Within your group will be a general and a mage that will tend to the crystal. You-- the adventurers and soldiers will be protecting the chosen mage from any possible attack. And assuming that the millions of citizens are still existing in some other plane... when the crystal is activated, you will be met with extreme force. "[/i][/hider]

A moment of silence passes, followed by crowd chatter as the commander then speaks again.

	[I]"Godspeed to you all-- this is no easy task... we ride at noon and ride straight towards Gabaras-- there you will be split into your groups and be debriefed of the specific nature of your route. "[/i]

	The commander nods and makes his way back into the line with the other generals and respective commanders. They move down the hill and back towards their main camps, this time the voice of multiple announcers overlap. 

[center][b]"ENLISTED! PREPARE ONLY YOUR ESSENTIAL BATTLE BELONGINGS AND MAKE WAY TO THE NORTHEN GATES! "[/b][/center]

	After the crowd disbanded, groups of the enlisted went straight for their camps to prepare for the venture towards Gabaras. Hundreds began the move towards the northern gates following the straight dirt path around the main camp. From behind the main camp revealed another set of even larger gates compared to the entrance that allowed cart and horse travel to enter. 

	Beyond the gates were groups of carts and already the enlisted were being carted out to the direction of Gabaras. Soldiers directed groups of enlisted towards the remaining carts until eventually, the hundreds of enlisted were on their way to the city. It took a handful of hours before Gabaras showed itself in its full scale. 

[hr]

	Tall stone walls edged the skyline, the city itself was so wide from your position you couldn't discern the curve that formed the iconic circular city of Gabaras. The stone walls sported ballistas hanging off their tall edge, and below were empty slits of which you could only assume were unoccupied. 

	The carts dropped off the many adventurers, generals, commanders, soldiers, and shortly was a medium-sized campsite constructed. A rest was in place for an hour and the enlisted rest upon the hilly plains outside of Gabaras. An hour passed and names began being called along with their respective row numbers. Those called were lead into the tents and convened with their group leaders. 

	Your name was called and would be lead into a tent along with a few others. Five nameless generals would come to greet you, all men sporting black and red Kogani colors. The tent would be filled with about fifty other enlisted and once everyone was collected one of the many generals began to speak.

"The task is simple. We follow this map... " A general would reveal a map, lifting it into the air so the fifty enlisted could see its entirety. The map had the beginning layout of the city, a line indicating the start of a trail would begin at the gate of Gabaras and then branch out into five groups. These five would be signified by different colors of lines red, green, purple, and blue. 

"Our task is to cover the first sector of Gabaras. Meaning the area around the gate, this mission should be simple and quick. After the encampments have finished covering the outer layer of Gabaras in crystals we move into the 2nd layer, and then 3rd, and so forth. "

	The nameless general nodded, "Now then. Groupings! Ten of you will be assigned a color. " Yet again another bout of name-calling would be announced. Luckily for you, your mates of Row C and a few others were gathered to a group of ten led by a shorter general with curly black hair and pointed ears. There would also be a female mage beside him, taller and sporting blonde hair dressed in priest robes. If you observed closely you could sense a companionship between the two...

	The general would introduce himself as, A'shtolen and the female mage as, Maria. After the short introductions, he would speak. "Our mission is the same as explained. Protect Maria as she prepares the five crystals and we follow the purple route. We will be covering a residential district-- Maria holds five crystals and each of the five will be placed along the blocks of the district after that we return and wait for a new route. "
	
	A'shtolen nodded affirmingly eyeing his group as he gestures for everyone to follow. He leads the group out of the tent and down an incline towards the gate of Gabaras. Past the stone arch can you see a group of blue crystals clustered together being tended to by a group of mages. Beyond the gate was a stone city- of brick and tile. 

	The city was massive, much larger than Kogani or the Amber Groves. It was sophisticated, you could tell that the citizens of this district lived in formality and comfortability. The path divided into three, one long cobblestone road aiming straight for the castle while the other two followed the walls. In the base of these dividing streets was a cluster of blue crystals protecting the gate from distortions. 

	A'shtolen nods to the passing groups and the collection of guards that protected the gate. The group entered slowly. The general turns and looks to his group while he walks back and gives a deep sigh. [b]"Are we ready?"[/b] he asks with an unsure tone.

[hr]
[hider=Notes!]
The adventurers are lead to the gates of Gabaras and finally face the unknown! Will they complete their mission?

Good luck to everyone! This one took a while for me to edit and properly format but I hope its suitable! The next post will come on Monday or even earlier if everyone gets their post in quick enough![/hider]