TeyaoI'm not sure you guys know the meaning of 'small post' lol. That was not one.
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Clarissa Shields - Director of Research & Technology at Valhiem's Academy, was stood with her chief staff in the main building hall of campus, discussing Academy matters when they were interrupted by the adventurers. The extravagent dress-sense of the faculty knew no bounds but their rank and status within the university was made clear by the golden trim bordering their robes. Clarissa's robes however, an official higher than anyone bar the President, were adorned with a myriad of golden markings, making her stand out even among the group of four.
She stopped mid-sentence and regarded the woman who spoke, her eyes briefly flicking around the others before going back to Fenna as she listened. When she recieved the letter and saw the seal, she turned to her colleagues.
"We'll continue this later," she said to them and they left. "If you'd like to follow me," she said to the adventurers, then led them to her office.
Her office was more like the lab of a mad inventor. There were all manner of contrpations and expermients dotted about the room, machines quietly chugging away and liquids bubbling in beakers and testtubes. The floor was untidy but remained at least able to navigate, and Clarissa walked across the room as she read the letter, taking a seat on her desktable and crossing her legs while she smiled at the words of Lucinda Bottrill. A light 'hmmm' escaped her lips as she put the letter to one side, then dreamily looked at Fenna as she thought about the guildmaster. After a moment she spoke.
"Clarissa Shields, nice to meet you all. Let's see this mysterious cube then." When she took the cube, her eyes widened. Not with alarm, but excitement. "My-my," she purred. "This is interesting."
The construction was completely foriegn, but the fine lines inscribed in the metal indicated some kind of information-processing technology. She looked for a way to open it - unscrew it, maybe - but it wasn't something she'd achieve with her hands. So she leaned back and twisted around, rather ungracefully and unathletically, to reach one of her deskdrawers. Retrieving a few handtools, she began trying to pry the cube open in a variety of ways, her tongue poking out of one side of her mouth as she concentrated.
"You said you got this from where?" she asked, unsure if they'd already told her. In truth, her ears had stopped working the moment she saw this foreign object. Magic and techonology was her passion, and there was nothing like a new discovery to get her excited. "Any theories as to what it might be?"
Suddenly she froze, thought for a moment, then put her tools down and cast an Identify spell. It looked to the adventurers as if she was casting it on the cube. She wasn't. With expertise and well-practised finesse of her right hand, she used three fingers and some words to cast Identify while using the remaining two fingers to sign a simple Illumination spell on the cube, making it look like the cube was the target of the Idenitfy.
Adam was her true target.
It occured to her that this might be some kind of trap. One of the first things she noticed about the adventurers was Adam's red eyes. Most creatures that had red eyes were demons, demon-related or demon-connected. Clarissa, an adventurer herself, Source Crystal in her left hand, was quite ready to break out into a fight, confident she could handle herself at least until help arrived. But there was no need. As The Source filled her mind with a high-level informative status of Adam, she realised that he was indeed a human, with no obvious connection to any demon. Interesting. She went back to trying to open the cube.
"Were you born with red eyes?" she asked, then looked up from the cube at Adam. In addition to the intrusive question, she gave an unwanted comment. "Not normal in the slightest."
Tom Minshul approached Joji at the guild. The huge adventurer might be the perfect man to help his cause. Someone new to adventuring who wasn't yet caught up in the grind - wasn't yet above the plights of normal poor folk whose problems weren't enough to get the Adventurer's Guild attention. Sure, Valhiem's peasants weren't threatened by monsters, but criminal overlords could be just as threatening, just as monstrous. Something deep in his gut told Tom that Joji was the one who could help his borough, because the city guard were just useless now that The Witch Queen's war was threatening the city.
"You, sir," Tom said, tapping Joji on the back. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but please, I need your help. Many innocent people need your help." He looked around fearfully, knowing he'd be kicked out of the guildhouse as soon as anyone noticed that he didn't have a Source crystal, or any official business here. "Please, I'm so sorry, but hear me out. Just hear me out, that's all I ask."
The tall swordsman must've felt sorry for him, or maybe the Quinity was smiling upon Tom, because for whatever reason, Joji agreed.
"Come. Come," Tom beckoned as other adventurers began to notice the peasant's lack of weapon or appropriate attire. "Let's talk."
Joji let his friends know that he would be back soon, then left with Tom. In the future, this day would be marked as the beginning of the end for Valhiem's mafia and the crime lord known as Fingers.
Hello everyone, just wanted to let you know that I have decided to leave this RP. My reason is that IRL things have hindered my writing skills. I apologies for the inconvenience of leaving, i hope that i will be able to come back in a more relaxed mental state.
As I said in PM's; the door is always open to you, brother. Best of luck with life. Hope to see you again!
Lucy was perfectly patient, nodding and listening as Lillianna went on to redescribe this man from the Mazy Hillocks, virtually the same way but in more words. The poor woman was clearly desperate for any information she could get, and Lucy was annoyed she couldn't be of more use to her, but such a description was tough to pinpoint. The additional particulars about his hair and armour were of no help - in fact, it made things worse, because the armour sounded commonplace, which indicated a probably-weak adventurer, and there were loads of them about. But the gifted sister who was trained by the local church at least gave the guildmaster an out.
"Perhaps you could check in with the Church of Iris on the whereabouts of other churches in villages nearby?" it didn't sound very promising. There were a lot of dieties when you included the smaller gods and goddesses beyond The Quinity - with a lot of churches and temples to worship them. But if the village this man was from was in the immediate region, then the Church of Iris would be aware of it's church. "If you locate the sister, I'm sure she could help you."
She waited for the party to make a decision, cracking a smile at Joji who was talking about Platinum and Diamond contracts. Easy tiger, she thought. Well, they've got front-liners typical of a good party. That much is clear.
"Gold it is," she said to James, then had a look at the second screen, swishing her finger around to navigate the system. "There's only one gold contract available, at the moment. The war has complicated many guild matters. Due to losing too many adventurers, we've postponed any contracts in the far east. But..." she continued as she read. "...if time is of the essence, then you'll be happy to know that your contract will is close by, and won't take more than a week, if you aim to complete it with haste. Of course, dependant on your success."
What the party might describe in their own world as 'a holgraphic screen' appeared behind her. Two pictures were displayed. One was a wide-shot of a stone temple on a hill. The other was a generic image of a Greater Wraith. She turned to them and placed her hands wide on the counter.
"The nearby Temple of Hades has, not for the first time, been taken over by a particularly nasty Wraith. Many of the spirits who make their home there, aswell as slew of it's living worshippers, have been corrupted and are probably preparing for world domination - or whatever evil cults do." The way she said this made clear how cold she was to the concept of death. Decades of service to the guild had made death, destruction, bloodshed and conflict so familiar to her that she could maintain her cheerful tone and disposition even when explaining what was undoubtedly a tragedy unleashed on innocent people. "Your job will be to fight your way in, find the big bad bossy spirit - no doubt, in the main ritual chamber - and send it to hell. That should return everything to normal. Whether it does or doesn't; not your problem. The contract is for the 'head of the snake.'
Kill the Greater Wraith that's taken control of the Temple of Hades."
She double-checked that they did indeed accept the contract, then she assigned it to their party on the system. Then went on.
"Due to the current moon-cycle, the temple is sealed right now. But it will be opening up when the moon becomes full - which is four nights away. The temple itself is less than a day's travel away. Do you have a map?" When Adam gave her the party's map, she checked her screen, then marked their map with the location, just west of Valhiem. "If you set off at lunchtime, you will arrive with plenty of time for nightfall. Leave in four days, complete your task smoothly, you'll be back in Valhiem before you know it."
"Might I suggest The Mended Drum. They've usually got a band playing, the beds are clean and the brandy is top-notch. Here..." she retrieved a half-dozen maps of Valhiem, annotated with many places adventurers might like to know about, then put them on the counter in front of her. "They should get you around the city to where you need to go. The Church of Iris and The Temple of the Quinity is on there too. I think the people there might have quite a bit to say to you, James," she added, giving him a knowing look.
"Lucy! That Aurok bounty?"
Lucy walked over and leaned on the mezzanine rail. When she saw the scene at the bar, she immediately knew what was going on. "Yeah, the gobby swordsman ain't lying," she shouted back, her tone much less service and much more familiar as she spoke to her long-time friend. "Aurok is gone for good."
She chuckled as she went back to the counter. She had a feeling that Second Chance might cause a few ripples, but she hadn't expected it start so soon. After meeting Zell Brooks though, the guildmaster should've known better.
So we are going to wander for the next few days before goinf to the fulfill the contract or we go directly? cuz honestly I got some things I want to do.
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At the mere mention of The Witch Queen, Lucy tensed up a little. James had spoken of an enemy ambush but now Adam was claiming it to be the work of The Witch Queen. Lucy wondered what could have transpired for the him to know Mytheria's greatest threat was behind their attack, but if she tried to question and clarify every tall tale of adventurers, she'd never have a moment's rest, so she let it go.
At his first question, she shrugged. "If I knew what it was, maybe." She could tell it meant a lot to him, so she felt bad. "I'm sorry." His follow-up question sounded like a good idea. "Yeah, I suppose if anyone might be able to help you properly identify it, it would be someone at The Academy." Of all they'd shared with her - the uniqueness of their situation, their cube and the classes - it all told Lucy to try her best to offer them some kind of help, so she stayed on the subject until something came to her.
"I'll tell you what: If you go there, ask for a woman named Clarissa Shields. Tell them you've been sent on Adventurer's Guild's business." She took a small piece of parchment from behind the desk, wrote some words on it, slipped it in an envelope and stamped it with a wax seal and pushed it forward on the counter. "That should get you in the door to someone high enough."
She nodded at Zell. "In ascending order; Bronze, Silver, Gold, then Platinum and finally Diamond." She reassured the others. "I believe, looking at your stats, history and abilities, that you will be able to handle a gold contract. I've been in the Guild for more than while now and seen all kinds of parties. I'm a pretty good judge of these things."
After Zell went downstairs, she addressed the rest. "I warn you though. Ascension and abilities will only get you so far. What seperates the best parties from the rest is teamwork, decision-making and spirit," she lectured them. "Be courageous, be virtuous, be smart. Learn eachother. Trust eachother." She smirked. "Even the idiot."
VOTES ARE TALLIED AND THE WINNING RESULT IS:
NO.3 - A SINGLE GOLD CONTRACT
If you want to vote on Second Chance's next course of action by OOC or by PM, you can do so. Or if you want to write out your vote by way of story in IC, you can do that too. Whatever each of you wants do.
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 Air and Light Domain 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 The Source 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.
When James stepped up, Lucy met his stern eyes. So he's the one they've chosen as leader. 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.
Could I be seeing historical greatness in it's seedling form? 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 her 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. What in Mytheria is this thing? 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 did 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!?"
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 350 gold, to make it easier. I'll fetch that for you in a moment. But, first, there's another matter that needs addressing - Crikey, there's a few matters - but one at a time..."
"It says here that you have mail. There's a message in your Source Comm Inventory." She shook her head and shrugged. "You probably don't even know what means, do you? Which makes this even more strange.
Source Comm 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 could 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 Platinum Tier Bounty!"
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."
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.
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.
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