Gloria did pick her aura Talent, Fervent Emanation. Avourel congratulated her and left, telling them he'd be back when a decision had been made. Gloria and Vittorio set about having Vittorio practice moving under the effects of her Happy buff, which increased movement speed. It could sometimes be challenging for the Fervent classes to maintain the mood they wanted, but in this case, watching Vittorio stumble around made it easy.

Vittorio had also chosen his major Talent: Enduring Pact, granting him a boon from the entity he was in a pact with that grew stronger the longer the pact remained. He'd mulled it over for days but ultimately decided that it synergized the best with his plan to mainly work with {The Still Wind}. The flexibility of [Pactmaker] was great and he would make use of it, but in a combat situation, he wanted to be skilled at what he did. If that meant possibly limiting him somewhat he could live with it. He'd have to wait to see what boon he was granted though, as the Talent did not work retroactively.

He also had a minor and standard Talent to pick, and his options were somewhat expanded:

Talents Available Minor Generic Improved Aptitude: Improve your natural Trait rating by one step, up to Good. Requires at least Basic rating. Gain Proficiency: Gain Basic rating in the use of a common weapon, language, or simple tool. Tag: Deals Improved Aptitude: Improve your natural Trait rating by two steps, up to Very good. Available Traits: Elocution, Read body language, Trustworthiness. Gain Proficiency: Gain Basic rating in a Trait. Available Traits: Breath control, Knowledge: Oratory, Knowledge: Body language. Tag: Occult Improved Aptitude: Improve your natural Trait rating by two steps, up to Very good. Available Traits: Attention to detail, Coordination, Reasoning, Supernatural Awareness Gain Proficiency: Gain Basic rating in a Trait. Available Traits: Knowledge: Occult, Knowledge: Rituals Occult Initiate II: You gain the ability to learn tier 0 occult spells. Tag: Transformation Improved Aptitude: Improve your natural Trait rating by two steps, up to Very good. Available Traits: Concentration, Knowledge: Biology, Magical attacks: Immediate, Resistance: Physical Gain Proficiency: Gain Basic rating. Available Traits: Knowledge: Magical theory, Knowledge: Monstrous biology Class: Pactmaker Improved Aptitude: Improve your natural Trait rating by two steps, up to Very good. Available Traits: Adaptability, Learning: Experience Pact Aptitude: Improve your natural Trait rating by two steps, up to Very good. This also increases your non-boosted natural rating by two. Available Traits: Concentration, Magical attacks: Ranged, Reactions Price Evaluation II: Gain an increased sense of how much is left to pay. Strengthen Position II: When forming a pact, those in The Place Which Is Not will now engage in more precise negotiations. Skill: Commune with Mortal II: Send a short telepathic message to a creature you can see. They may reply with no more than three words. You may use this skill sometimes. Standard Generic Acceptable Aptitude: Set your natural Trait rating to Adequate. Requires at least Basic rating.

Adopt Ancestry: Gain a lesser version of a racial trait you do not possess. You may choose this Talent only once.

* Anura: Gain increased friction on fingers and toes.

* Dwarf: Gain limited vision in darkness.

* Elf: Gain a limited sense of magical energies.

* Mikhuq: Gain greatly strengthened nails and teeth.

Enchantment: Found: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Found, making you aware of its location while it is within a short distance from you. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment. Enchantment: Repairing: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Repairing, making it slowly self-repair after damage. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment. Tag: Deals Talented Aptitude: Set your natural Trait rating to Good. Available Traits: Elocution, Read body language, Trustworthiness. Notice Discrepancies: When reviewing an agreement or document, discrepancies compared to what you expect are highlighted. Intentional deceptions may be missed. Verbal Escape: Your Deception, Elocution, and Trustworthiness traits are considered one higher when used to escape or avoid danger. Skill: Starting Point: Target person must name a price they would accept from you for an object or service, if possible. You may use this skill every now and then. Skill: Summon Contract: By speaking the terms of an agreement out loud, you manifest a written contract outlining it. The contract duplicates itself when signed by all parties, but ceases to exist after one hour if it is not signed at that point. You may use this skill at any time. Enchantment: Muffle: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Muffle, making your conversations much more difficult to overhear. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment. Enchantment: Stylish: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Stylish, making it appear attractive and appropriate to anyone who sees it. This is a Mental effect. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment. Tag: Occult Talented Aptitude: Set your natural Trait rating to Good. Available Traits: Attention to detail, Coordination, Reasoning, Supernatural Awareness Lingering Hex: The durations of your Occult spells are increased. If a spell is instantaneous, it now has a weak lingering effect. Requires Occult Initiate. Occult Savant: Your Learning traits are considered one higher when learning basic Occult spells. Requires Occult Initiate. Skill: Glimpse of Dread: For a brief moment, foes who look at you instead see their greatest fear. Effects vary. You may use this skill often. Enchantment: Distant Sight: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Distant Sight, granting you the ability to see through it from a short distance. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment. Enchantment: Hexing: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Hexing, causing it to apply a minor hex to any foe who strikes it. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment. Tag: Transformation Talented Aptitude: Set your natural Trait rating to Good. Available Traits: Concentration, Knowledge: Biology, Resistance: Physical Enchantment: Adaptive Form: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Adaptive Form, granting the wielder limited ability to change its appearance and shape. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment. Enchantment: Conform: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Conform, making it adapt to any transformations of the wielder. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment. Class: Pactmaker Classic Aptitude: Set your natural Trait rating to Good. Available Traits: Adaptability, Learning: Experience

Aberrant Sense: Perceive one sense by using another. You can control how strong each individual sense is at any time.

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* Hearing: You can hear smells.

* Sight: You can see flavours.

* Smell: You can smell shapes.

* Taste: You can taste with your skin.

* Touch: You can feel sounds.

Dreams from Beyond: Give those in The Place Which Is Not access to your sleeping mind, allowing them to give you messages or visions while you sleep. Special: This Talent cannot be suppressed or removed by any means. Feel Unseen Eyes: Gain a sense of when the attentions of those in The Place Which Is Not are drawn to you. Skill: Break Pact: Immediately end your current pact. If its price has not yet been fully paid, when next you form a pact with the same being the price will be doubled. The increased price may not be avoided by any means. You may use this skill once per week. Skill: Delay Payment: Choose one unpaid price of a pact: You may pay that price tomorrow instead. You may use this skill once per day. Enchantment: Altered Deal: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Altered Deal, slightly changing the effect of one skill granted by your current pact. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment. {The Still Wind}: Suspend may now be moved after it is formed. If it is, the time until you can use the skill again is increased. Enchantment: Dedication: Gain the ability to enchant a piece of equipment with Dedication, which may be used in negotiations in using Make a Pact. May not function on magical equipment. You may enchant 2 pieces of equipment.

He had chosen to ignore a number of Generic Talents that were of no interest, including Threat Assessment which Gloria had. For his minor Talent he'd settled on Occult Initiate II. His hexes had proved their worth again and again, and even if he would never be able to match a dedicated Occult class he did not doubt it would add considerably to his arsenal. Hopefully, he'd be able to find a tutor, but if not Master Kahe had told him - and he'd confirmed by testing with his current Occult Initiate rank - that occult spells can slowly be discovered on one's own through trial and error. He did consider Transformation Initiate as that worked the same way but left it for the future.

As for his major Talent, he immediately crossed out Dreams from Beyond. He did not want a life of nightmares. Aberrant Senses was also skipped as they all seemed underwhelming. Lingering Hex was undoubtedly the way to go for pure combat effectiveness, but both Distant Sight and Enchantment: Altered Deal offered interesting options: Being able to look around corners or spying on a place were interesting, and maybe being able to move things with Suspend could be incredibly useful. Break Pact also seemed like something he should have but may not be needed just yet.

Ultimately, he picked Lingering Hex. He knew he was going to take it eventually, and if the [Recruiter] did have him join this team they were setting up others in the group may already be able to do what Distant Sight and Altered Deal did.

It took another day and a half before Avourel returned.

"I've received approval", he said shortly after they sat down in a meeting room. "The group will be expanded to include you, Gloria, should you both agree to join."

"We said we would", Gloria said. Vittorio nodded.

"You haven't been told of the practical aspects. If you agree, we will be leaving Pogna, and it is possible you will not return so long as you remain with us. If you have friends or family you want to say goodbye to we can."

"Where will we be going?", Gloria asked.

"Kara."

Vittorio immediately felt Fervent buff switch to Happy. "The Free City!?", Gloria asked. Vittorio couldn't help but share her excitement.

"Yes. I will go with you to the coast and possibly further to help arrange transport. It will be a long journey by ship so make sure you have ways to occupy yourselves. Once in Kara you will meet with an associate of mine - who is not involved in all this, mind you - who will help outfit you with some basic magical equipment. Then you need to register at the Free Company and wait to be contacted.

"As for what's expected of you: You will have a contact. Do what they say, when they say, how they say. It won't always be pleasant, you won't always like it, and you often won't be told why. Don't try to gather information on the organization. If our enemies find out about your group and capture you, you need to know as little as possible to keep the rest of us safe. You will be in great danger, but the organization will do everything it can to keep you safe. We need you, and we're investing a lot of money in you.

"Speaking of which: While I do not expect this to happen, I need to warn you to not take the journey and the equipment and leave. There would be... consequences."

Silence. "Good thing we won't be doing that then", Vittorio said after a few moments.

"Yes. That's not to say this must be for life, but this is expensive and we'll expect something in return."

Vittorio and Gloria looked at each other. "We understand", Gloria said. "It's just the sudden threat, you know?"

"I do, and like I said I don't expect that to happen but it needed to be said."

They spoke some more, agreeing to leave Pogna the next day. Avourel would hire a coach to take them past the village so they could tell Celeste, and then on to Aninosi where they'd take a riverboat down to the coast and look for a ship headed for Kara. They'd spend weeks traveling up the coast before making the dangerous crossing north of the Shallows and finally reaching the greatest city in the world.