[center][@Zool][@Calle][@Saiyan][@Teyao][@Crusader Lord][@Zapdos][@Eviledd1984][/center] [center][@Crusader Lord][/center] Lucy smiled at Lillianna - partly because the exceptionally pretty woman was so formal and polite, which was adorable, but partly because of the imagery Zell had brought to mind, of a necromancer who needed friends so badly they'd have to raise them from the dead. "Ask away, sweetheart." The first question was quite the surprise. Lucy rubbed her chin. "That would mean that you have an affinty for both [i]Air[/i] and [i]Light Domain[/i] magic. It's quite rare for any mage to be specialize in twin elements. Looks like you've been dealt an extraordinary hand. Kudos to you. You should go to the Academy, if you've not been already. I'll bet they'd love to meet a twin-element mage that's just started her journey as an adventurer. I'm guessing you must be highly intelligent for [i]The Source[/i] to bless you with two Domains, so if you like books, tomes and scrolls, you should do quite well there." At her next question, she shook her head apologetically. Although she was good with faces, such a description would be difficult to pinpoint, but she did try for a moment, if only for how polite Lillianna was. "Hmmmmm... died in the Mazy Hillocks, did he? Not a nice place to meet to your end." She leaned folded arms on the counter and looked to the ceiling for answers. "Halberdier fighters aren't commmon..." In the end she blew out a breath of resignation. "Sorry, I can't think. I'd need a little more, I'm afraid." The fact that Lillianna was talking about the Mazy Hillocks was baffling. Surely that's not how they'd gotten here! That place was a death trap. And Adam had mentioned the giant centaur. Coult it be...? Surely not. [center][@Teyao][/center] When James stepped up, Lucy met his stern eyes. [i]So he's the one they've chosen as leader.[/i] After he scanned his crystal, she glanced at the screen and saw his details. It wasn't everyday you saw Cleric-led parties. But then, it also wasn't everyday you saw a Cleric who wasn't tied to any diety. In fact never in Lucy's life had she ever met a Cleric who wasn't already tied to one or two of the divine. First, a twin-element mage and now this... this party was unique indeed. [i]Could I be seeing historical greatness in it's seedling form?[/i] the long-lived elf thought. A far-fetched prospect, but still - nice to guess about. When he started talking, Lucy got the feeling this would be serious. "Go ahead." As he talked, she easily filled out the registration as she listened, keeping her eyes mostly on him. "Hommas? Sounds familiar." But she did have to pause at the mention of stone coffins from the sky. She wanted to interrupt and clarify - stone coffins!? - but thought better to simply listen. He described the battle, which was nothing new, as were the party member deaths, unfortunately. She wanted to get back to these 'stone coffins in the sky,' but the focus had shifted to this cube. Politely, she stayed on topic. When Fenna handed her the cube, she studied it, turning it in her hands. "Well, what have we here. I've never seen anything like this before." After a moment, she looked at James. "You said it fell out of the undead leader? And then the rest of them fled?" Strange. "Most undead types are pretty stupid. Too stupid to know how to flee a battle." She let slide the swearing, naturally. He wasn't cursing [i]her[/i] out - he'd just been through a lot. By the sounds of things, this party had been in over their head from the start. Ogres with back up? Mazy Hillocks? All in their first day. "I'll be honest, it's a miracle you're all still alive," she said to them all before looking at the cube again. [i]What in Mytheria is this thing?[/i] she wondered. Shaking her head, she handed the cube back to Fenna. "Alright. Alright. This is a lot of information." She'd been a Guildmaster for decades now, but so much of what she'd been told was a complete first. Some of it was so outlandish, it sounded like lies. But when she looked at James and the rest of them, she sensed no deception. "Give me a second." Finishing the regristration of the party, she now had access to more of the Source Code, so she tried to make sense of it. She could see that their journey began just a day ago, which lined up with their story. As did the battles. But what drew her attention was two HUGE notifications. "By the Quinity, am I reading this right!?" she exclaimed. "You [i]did[/i] kill Aurok." She looked at Adam, who was the one who hinted to it earlier. Then peered around the rest of them. Early, unascended adventurers, all of them. "Aurok the Maneater... How!?" [b]And after that was explained, she would tell them that that they were the richest Bronze Tier party in Mytheria. "You've just earned a huge bounty. 35,000 Silver coins. Or [u]350 gold[/u], to make it easier. I'll fetch that for you in a moment.[/b] But, first, there's another matter that needs addressing - Crikey, [i]there's a few[/i] matters - but one at a time..." "It says here that you have mail. There's a message in your [i]Source Comm Inventory[/i]." She shook her head and shrugged. "You probably don't even know what means, do you? Which makes this even more strange. [i]Source Comm[/i] is a magical messenger service for adventurers who have reached Silver Tier and above. But you guys have a message already, and you've only just registered. That never happens. I don't even know how that [i]could[/i] happen. Listen, I am sorry but I'm just as confused as you lot with all this. I've never heard of stone coffins falling out of the sky, harbouring adventurers with amnesia - or whatever's happened to you. I've never heard of a party having Source Comm messages in their inventory when they don't even have access to the service. And I've never heard of a Bronze Tier party coming in to claim a [i]Platinum Tier Bounty[/i]!" Lucy was stumped. At this point, the strange cube was the least of her concerns and had quickly faded out of focus. "I have a funny feeling whatever's on that message in the Source Comm has some kind of answer for you. I'd like to know myself, to be honest. But to open the message, you'll need to rank up to Silver Tier, as a party. The fastest way to do that would be to complete contracts with the guild." She looked through data on another screen whilst continuing. "Two silver contracts ought to do it. But you guys must be a lot stronger than your rank suggests, so I'd say, if you want it done a lot quicker, take a single gold contract." [center][@Zool][@Calle][@Saiyan][@Teyao][@Crusader Lord][@Zapdos][@Eviledd1984][/center] [Center][i][b]And so, Second Chance - The Heroes from the Sky, would get no information about the cube, but it felt like answers about their inception into this world might be close, with the elusive and mysterious Source Comm message. But to get that message would require going down one of three paths: 1. Go out into the wild and hunt down monsters to kill until they'd gained enough Source to rank up to Silver Tier. Random encounters, random difficulty and random cost in time and resources. 2. Take two silver contracts - which might take weeks but would be relatively easy compared with what they'd already faced. 3. Take a single Gold Contract and rank up in the quickest time, but face a tough challenge. 4. Leave and look and look for answers elsewhere, always with the option to come back if they ever changed their mind.[/b][/i][/center]