Everything going as planned so far, nobody is detected. This may really work out.

As a member of the thieves guild in Nagaton, formerly known as the capitol of Acoi, it is easier for her to escape sight of guards than maybe for others who joined her on her journy. 10 people on their way to regain their freedom. Who would've thought that a bunch of thieves would set for a journy that would change the world once again.

5 years after the Empire took over the continent it is becoming clearer every day that it can't go on like this. People who think different are shunned, especially those who lived in Nagaton before it burned to ashes during the initial invasion started. Every day some of the few remaining rebellious groups are found so everybody in their little group decided it was time to change something.

None of the leaders were left alive thus it came to her to organize a party to do the job. 10 of the best they had left would set of towards Genesys and try to kill their leaders and overthrow the organization to give everybody else the chance to free themselves. This was a suicide mission and everyone knew it but it is still better than the alternatives. Getting towards the Empire's capitol unnoticed was already hard and they lost 2 people to wild wolves somewhere near what was left of the Genesys forest.

Still those 8 people left somehow managed to sneak into the city and through the sewers into the Genesys tower. So here they are now. Just about to enter the second last step towards their goal. Having to go through the underground city towards the towers exit and then into the Genesys tree where all people of power are gathered.

Every house down there just as nearly every house in the whole capitol is built in a mix of stone and a near complettely white quarz. Furthermore many delicate patterns that seem to go into the walls and ceiling of the huge manmade cave known as Experts city to anyone outside make it into one sight to behold of. But that is of no concern to Karen and her team. The city only has two entrances towards the tower but many connecting it with the other parts of the city.

But since nearly no information about this city is widely spread outside, especially not outside of the capitol in general, this party had no idea and are now facing a dilemma. How to get through there unnoticed.

In the end before they can plan out everything it seems that they are forced to move on because someone may have noticed some vanishing rations and there are more petrols going around this area they decided to hide in. In a twist of fate one of her companions missteps and alerts a guard to their place and everything goes really fast. Karen just manages to seperate from her group and stay in hiding to use this opening to proceed into the tower unnoticed.

Although the information about the experts city is rare, information about everything further is nonexistant. The tower and tree are self-sufficient with even a village producing most important food and supposedly a little mine somewhere on the platforms surrounding the tree.

Thus when Karen steps into the one of the smaller halls of the tower she has to be careful not to scream out loud. Facing her is a statue of a monster spying fire nearly seeming to be alive with green jewels as eyes. It is made out of stone with quarz defining the back. The whole buildings construction is more quarz and less stone than everywhere else with all kinds of gold, black stones defining patterns that go on throughout the building.

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Up ahead there seems to be a way outside as light shines through just as behind the terrifying statue. Her goal though is towards the left into the main hall between three ornate pillars holding an arc that marks this entrance towards the main hall.

The sides of it are full of various platforms on dozens of floors with a giant staircase snaking its way to the top at one end and a little entrance for important people at the other side. At the top of this staircase, where the main tower continues to go on towards the sky, is the way towards the central pillar of the Empire. The Genesys Tree.

There is light shining through various big windows at the front of the hall managing to lighten up the hall for a few hours every day concentrated on a huge glass circle in the middle of the hall with something dark beneath it.

Karen starts to sneak her way towards the staircase preparing to leave towards the entrance with the knowledge of there having to be the side towers somewhere in that area which may contain another way up towards her goal. She already left behind her team, she would have to complete everything on her own now.

Just in this moment the guards behind her come back and a patrol arrives from the upper parts of the stairs. With no other options left the way down at the next corner is her only way to escape. After a few steps down the surroundings change drastically in contrast to everything else she has seen so far. Nearly no white is used anymore, everything is built on various stone bases, mixing all kinds of cheaper stones to what seems to be a guarding floor.

But just under the huge glass circle of the main hall there is a seemingly endless space littering with dozens if not hundreds of floors supporting each other and some natural stone of maybe a cave left at some spaces. Many bridges span over this space and at someplaces patrols can be seen by their torches.

A very big guard house is directly in the way further down and since the upper patrol seems to be heading there Karen has to go through there again because there are not many places to hide if one doesnt count trying to climb over the railing towards the middle in fear of being discovered by other people into it. To her luck the guards don't seem to be very interested in their jobs though and she manages to sneak past them and use the shift change to come out at the other side of the guard house and proceed in the direction of the next tunnel.

Finally having a darker place again she lets the whole day pass by and scream inside at the loss of her comrades. With a new sense of determination she decides to observe for another day and then set of towards her goal again.

This part of the complex uses various kinds of whitish stones and is complettely occupied by guards, may be the main quarters for them. Without anywhere else to go Karen decides to proceed further down into what she deducts to be the mines for the Empire now. On the way she manages to sneak into a room when other people came near and steal a guard uniform there.

Although she still does not feel confident in a direct confrontation this is already leages above the last day of having no cover at all. Sadly she lost a bit of her orientation and decides to go search for the middle part again and then set off towards the towers main floors again. After some time she gets through a line of very alert guards who pester her but for her luck do not question her.

"New ones having to go down there collect their quota, surviving those savages may not be easy for a sprout like her."

"I'm glad I'm over with dat shit, my back still hurts. Why do we need to collect those once again?"

"So that they don't get out, just be glad we give them their food and they rely on us. Don't know what they would do otherwise."

"Be careful down there lad, worst thing that could happen is to return to the roots."

Just ignoring the conversations surrounding her she goes on into one of the smaller tunnels to get her thoughts together once again. That area will probably be hard to get out of again for her and with a seemingly lost direction it may have brought Karen even further down.

After some time she collects herself and wants to start up again using the excuse of being new and have some other guards show her around to her quarters, from there she should be able to get up again. As she is about to step out of the tunnel...

Thud...

And everything goes black