[hider=Velles 6th, Roses and Neskals]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/DVjv2A1.png?1[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/PIt6O9j.png[/img][/center]
[hr][color=gold]Location:[/color] A plethora of locations
[hr][hr] 

Ingrid lays down in her bed at Luna’s after a long day. So much stuff had happened that it felt like a blur. Her body was sore but her mind was racing from the spoils of todays event. Ingrid sat up and began to write down her day to catalog her adventures and maybe to put her mind at rest. 
[h3][i]Velles Sixth[/i][/h3]
	I had wanted to prepare a fine breakfast for Ismette’s family and the rest of Vyshta’s Favour but with how early the games were to happen, I had no time to prepare anything more than a meager meal. Nothing like the spread me and Dory made for shortlisted, If I had some of Dorothea’s wonderful pastries than even a simple breakfast would be a delight.

I wasn’t too sure on them from what happened when they raided us, so much was destroyed and Chad’s taunting was irked me I admit but it seems that was fully in the past. I hope.

Although we ended taking top 5 in the tournament, I was worried from the onset. I feel confident in my abilities but the rest of my Zeno Group gives me little faith. Zarra was hard to work with in every regard, honestly that boy wasn’t raised right. Poor Dory was left out to dry in this event. Chemical attacks were strictly against the rules and her Arcane wasn’t directed at Icy walls or illusions of sight. I know she would struggle but maybe she could man a puffer but she was competent in the end. Desmond was well, not able to use his gun and 5 RAS. He was by no means incompetant but I worried he would struggle as people bullied him with their raw power. 
Obviously we handled ourselves fine in retrospect but it was a genuine concern!

I believe all in Snaked and Afraid were aware that we were not the best. So when word got around about the level of Eaiko Teamwork and surprising ability to combo spells, we would be fools to go for them. And we did! And better yet, they were willing to have us. We definitely got the better deal this time around. They were a wonderful bunch, Each one of them was a unique character and very enjoyable. I would love to visit them at their home.

Before anything started, I stumbled upon Shortlisted and Vyshta who seemed to have paired up. I could see them enjoying themselves but I wondered how they would fare in the match. I came over to just talk and explain the rules to our teams former partners but I may have gotten pulled into drinking again. This time I had Penny, Desmond, and Zarina with me. Zarina was acting strange but I didn’t think anything of it at the moment. The talks were simple and pleasant. The drinks were astrigent and awful but the boost they provided was like no other. I was content with 1 shot but as me and Penny kept talking I was convinced to keep drinking. I did my father proud keeping it all down. 

Zarina was something frightful, something was wrong and she looked to be in so much pain. I won’t go into too much detail but I fear that our decisions in the ruins may affect her for a long time. I should’ve listened to her and Jojo. It wasn’t my right to stay neutral in this. I’m sorry Zarina. Penny Knocked her out. Not easily either. With all the RAS that Penny had available to her, it barely was enough.
I looked over Zarina while Desmond ran off to get a Zeno. Zarina had drunk so much I worried she would asphyxiate in her sleep from throwing up. Penny got the conversation going, she was a real fun gal, even if she was the a princess of Perrench. We talked of many things and most of all we kept drinking. I think I may have gotten a good bit past tipsy. Some things were said that I can’t remember… Oh Shune! Why are you letting me recollect me flirting! Why do I suddenly gain enough confidence to flirt with whoever when I drink!

A few of the games were nothing but us getting a rhythm to our play style. Coastal Crusaders were shockingly competent and apparently they served in the military together. They truly got our team to work as a unit instead of 5 stars sharing a stage.

The first time we had quite a challenge was when we fought against Benny’s group! For all my strength I feared Benny and Penny quite a bit. They were strong. One was a princess so it made sense but the other was mysterious and so much more knowledgeable than he gives off. Benny even taught me so easily that I threw my first atomic blast and flew with him. Oh it was so wonderful, I wish he would notice my attempts to get closer just a bit. But anyways, they were strong. 

Not only were they strong, they paired up with the terrifying Covenant team. They were scary. Associated with the church and they torture people. Like are they even in our age range? Eshiran empower me for this fight.

But before that, I decided to search around for a bit. We were in a unique location afterall, I wanted to explore the waters towards the harbor hoping to view some ships. I jumped from the stage and slowed myself down onto an ice slab of my own construction. It was always fun to glide on the water with an ice sheet. But as I moved, a fog bank moved in and I moved towards it, feeling something in it. The fog was dense and obscured my vision but I could sense something colossal, something moving slowly partially above the water. I investigated further and what I found was absolutely amazing

[hider=The ghost ship Herald of Free Enterprise]
The ghost ship Herald of Free Enterprise, believed lost twenty years ago. This magnificent galleon is in somewhat rough shape but somehow still afloat and with much of its cargo intact. (20)

[color=lightgray][i]The ship is in pretty rough shape. Some of the planks are badly rotten and it's taken on some water and a slight but noticeable list. The sails are in tatters and many nails are rusted right into the planks and need to be replaced. The rudder is done for and nothing in the cabins is much good anymore. It's afloat, though, and definitely salvageable: much cheaper than building a new galleon, and especially one of this size At 230 feet in length and 1200 tons, it is one of the largest ships afloat the known world over. Its cargo manifest consists almost entirely of copper and zinc mined in Belzagg: fairly valuable if not especially so, and easily preserved, at least. If the ship is carrying 500 tons of cargo, then it's worth about Ỽ8,000, though it'll likely cost roughly half of that for repairs.[/i][/color][/hider]
The ship was utterly enormous. Much larger than any ship I had seen. It was a Galleon by shape but its size was a league of its own. It made the ship I ordered from Zarra’s family seem modest, even bashfully small. I leaped onto the ship with little care, I knew that it was unmanned by the sorry state it was in. I came to know it Herald of Free Enterprise, a ship I had heard went missing years ago. 

Exploring the glost ship was fun and creepy. I was on edge with every turn and I was loving it! But the ship kept distracting me, reminding me of its beauty and quality at every opportunity. It was a shame that this ship had been loss. I had made my way to the cargo hold and was met with crates and crates of refined metal. It was Bezaggic Copper and Zinc to be more exact. I tested the quality quickly and it was good beside the patina on the copper and the chalky rust on the zinc. Though it is expected that it will rust over a trip across the Ensolian see. I estimated it to be 8,000 to 8,500 Magus. Quite a large load but for what could be held here it was small change. 

I will not lie, I should have taken the material and sent this to be salvaged by Zarra’s family. That amount of Magus could set us cleanly on our goals. It would make sense but I couldn’t. The ship was beautiful. It survived for so long on its own. It had weathered many storms with but  was minor injuries. And it even had brought payment. How could I leave her!

After that I pulled her out of the fog, the spectators were in awe seeing this massive ship come out of nowhere. Now I was quite nervous about pulling this near the island but I had to for now. For our game, it went… Better than well! We achieved a conquest! I couldn’t believe it. Like actually how did we do it. And we seemingly uncovered a secret technique for our Sunblessed. It will be useful for the coming games.

The next match that mattered was against Zarina’s group. Their presence was immense. I think many had power near that of Benny or Jojo. It was bad. Not only that but they had people of then my strength. Terrifying. And do think we were in my home to just get slaughtered. Honestly getting slaughtered by the turned out to not even be my biggest issue.

Some things happened and I may have ‘upset’ the son of the lord. But that doesn’t matter too much. I’m sure that it will not matter at all… Oh god this is going to bite me later. But I did find something.

[hider= Seed from the Tree of Life]

A lockbox containing an original seed of the tree of life from an ambrosia fruit, still able to germinate, 800 years old. (8)

[color=lightgray][i]The wulliweid skeletons stared back at her with their empty eye sockets. There was a strange chill in the air. Reaching out with her magic senses, Ingrid could feel something in the seed that was unlike anything else she had sensed before: not necessarily grander and more powerful. It was merely... different - an entirely new type of energy. She furrowed her brow and thought, still wary in this strange place. It was vaguely familiar - very vaguely. For some reason, it reminded her of something she'd felt around Penny when they'd been drinking with the Hegelans this morning. Ingrid has found the first of the Five Legendary Treasures of Eskand[/i][/color][/hider]

I could not believe it. This seed was legendary was so important and it was locked away and forgotten. Obviously still defended considering the Atomic blast that almost killed me for just touching the box and the poisonous skeletons of the wulliweid that I totally didn’t try to steal. Totally didn’t almost kill myself by grabbing it with my naked hand. Nope. Did not happen… I need to stop grabbing things it keeps nearly killing me.

Still, I have to question if I should have this. I’m no great Eskander, no hefty achievements. Nothing. And even worse I’m trying to take the music box from my own country…

How many Eskandish will die from our actions? How many innocent will peasants in the world will die if I give the box? Am I truly helping or just prolonging a war and abandoning my home? I don’t know and I doubt I will ever truly know. Like so many others, I feel blind to grand outcome of my actions.

Our last fight was with Secto’s group. I was excited about it. Not only would I be facing of against Sven but Niallus as well! I felt our teamwork was getting pretty good and overall I felt this might be a lot more even than some of the other matches. It should be all fun is what I thought at first before Sven used Faceless Thunder! He shouldn’t be able to use that yet! Like what the hell, he was coming to the tutoring thing. I thought he knew less. Why was I tutoring him then! That Scoundrel! Did he just sit there and let me think I was smart? God that is irritating! Did he lie since the start? Does he think I wouldn’t remember? I have half a mind to just cut him out of my life for that. 

Ingrid got out of her chair for a moment to stretch, she had been writing for a little and she could feel it in her shoulders. It was getting later but her mind was still racing now with thoughts on what she needed to do about the Sven thing. Ingrid quietly leaned back and tried thinking of Sven. All the good times and the little bad. Even if he lied, maybe there was a reason. Ingrid hated to be lied to. Her mind would spiral into tangents about every reason he could have and she had to fight it, weighing what she knew about him. Even after connecting so well and trusting him with so many of her resources, enjoying almost every time they met, and thinking about him as something more potentially, Ingrid still found it hard to trust that this was just something small. Something as simple as Sven being awkward. Her nature and nurture told her to just forget Sven.

Memories of Dory forgiving her were coming into her mind. Dory gave Ingrid the benefit of doubt, no, even more than that. Dory had forgiven Ingrid before she even came over but just wanted her to be forward with it like a real friend. Ingrid sighed and got back to writing

Maybe not, I can ignore it for now. But he is on thin ice. What am I kidding? A few hangouts and things should be better. I hope.

Oh yeah, we won by attrition. Take that Sven and sorry Niallus. Also, Niallus and me actually went searching in the swamp. There was a bunch of carts being swallowed up and we decided to explore like we had when we were younger. I have to say, Niallus is the same but now as an adult. Which I’m unsure about, to be honest. Still, he’s pretty sweet so it's nice to have him around. He almost died to a toad dragon and lost his shirt in the process. It seems he still gets into trouble often. Not that I’m much better.

I know our team was doing well but I wasn’t expecting to make it to the finals with how strong other teams were. Either way, I was proud of my team for coming this far. But with how things are going who wouldn’t want to search around some more. I’ve gotten a ship and a legendary treasure. The sewers were always rumored to have things so why wouldn’t I? Niallus wished to come with me and I saw no reason to refuse. Searching for it was not as fun as the other ones. Mostly because of Niallus actually being in danger.

[hider=Magnetic Lamp]

[color=lightgray][i]An old lantern that, when ignited, emits a blue light rather than red/orange/yellow. It appears to be powered by arcane and magnetic magic. The blue light allows for early-age UV lighting that enables one to see things many can't. Due to its middling condition, it has lost quite a bit of its potency. However, with how this light interacts with other forms of light, it grants a 5% resistance to Arcane-based illusions. (11)[/i][/color][/hider]

We went down a ledge to dodge the surge of water that appeared behind us. I still don’t know how that happened. I surprisingly kept on my feet and made it to the small opening. Niallus, for all his athleticism, ate literal sewage and fell down a hole. In retrospect it was funny but at the moment I was wrought with concern. Rumors of abandoned threshers and schlockidillians existing in the sewers had me worrying about what could have happened. I stayed at the opening and yelled out for him. Maybe I should have gone down for him but I didn’t wish to test my luck and eat sewage as well. Luckily Niallus made it back in one piece. At the moment I gave him a hug. I still regret that hug. We then moved through the tunnel and found a lamp. It gave off a peculiar blue light that seemed to make certain things glow in the dark. It revealed secrets that we could read under its light. A mysterious bit of kit. But that was all the time we had left before the game.

Then the final game happened. It was not fun. We weren’t in the center but on the opposite side of who the center was attacking ferociously. Both Secto and Zemana kept us pinned the entire time and when the center was taken by Secto, they both converged on us. We lost horribly, not even putting up much of a fight. I’m still frustrated by it. I decided to go cool off for a bit before going into the sewers once more. There were more secrets there and the lamp would let me find them.
[hider= Zeno’s Keyring]
[color=lightgray][i]A zeno's keyring, tied to a tiny booklet of passphrases and a second with a map of the city's catacombs (19)[/i][/color][/hider]

Niallus caught up to me even though they apparently won the entire event. I must have taken quite some time to myself if he could catch up. We saw some misplaced bricks earlier and decided to go there. Niallus was trying to get me to talk about what I was irritated by and I was just not feeling up to it. He’s sweet but honestly, I didn’t want to talk about Sven to his teammate. It felt wrong to do that. Plus Niallus is awfully clingy since we met back up and I rather not bring up liking Sven to him.

With the power of the lamp, we made it into the catacombs. I didn’t even know these existed. They were awfully creepy and but the contrast of the beautiful Ahn-Eshiran statue gave an eeriness to this place. It was not welcoming in the slightest. We continued to search when we found a dead body. It had been rotting for a while and the stench was putrid. Looking around the room, we uncovered letters on the wall that were spelled out with blood. S-I-E-H

At first, we thought maybe they were trying to spell Eshiran and we said it aloud. The room shook and we could hear things move. So many things are voice activated I swear. It can never just be a lever or something more practical. We rushed down stare to see that the statue had grown wings. I worried that too many wrong guesses and something bad would happen. Me and Niallus wracked our brains and ended up saying Eshi. Things shook again and this time the statue held out a key ring with a map and passcodes for the catacombs. It seems that Niallus and I have some more adventures ahead of us.

We left the catacombs and swore we would explore them together. We met up later that day at the Seoul Sistas concert. Not much to say other than I got wasted, smashed some people in arm wrestling and Dory got a new instrument. It was a great night though. One thing that saddened me was that Dory didn’t want to go to the beer halls together! It’s where she likes to spend her time and I thought going there together would be nice. I know I don’t fit into that crowd but I thought I could at least pass.

Ingrid sat back again, mind finally settling down. So much happened today and she needed to get to sleep. Tomorrow was Thin Air and hopefully, they might finally come first. 

[/hider]