The group spent the next few days training, primarily to get everyone used to Gloria's Happy aura and to try and come up with uses for Suspend. Okpara, the frog-folk [Disabler], was especially enthusiastic, and his long, strong legs let him use them as a jumping-off point to quickly leap to the side. He also had a pair of Spider's Spats, a sort of bottomless shoe that drastically improved his ability to climb and grip things with his feet. In the right environment, he could use Suspend to quickly get high up a wall, the spats to hold on for a little bit, and attack from above.
The others didn't have much to get used to, hence they hadn't been training much while waiting. Okpara himself had plenty of useful skills when it came to dealing with mechanisms, but nothing that needed coordination. Ji-tae, as a [Combat Medic] was a healer, and though her class did sacrifice skills to deal with disease and other long-term illnesses for improved emergency healing and defensive skills, it was mostly reactive. Luss had several buffing spells, but there wasn't much to practice with them: They happened and that was that. All three had plenty of skills that needed personal practice, just not anything relying on teamwork.
As such, they waited on more structured, full-team training until at last the final member arrived. They were relaxing in the suite in the evening - except for Luss who had gone to the library - when a voice spoke from nowhere.
"Team Suite Nine, your member Thune has arrived. She is in the great hall."
"What was that?", Gloria asked as Ji-tae put down her hand of cards.
"There's some sort of magical communications system. It's mostly to find people without the front desk having to run around I think. I'll go get her."
The three remaining speculated on who the newcomer might be, but they didn't have much to go on. They also didn't need to wait long before the door opened again, revealing Ji-tae followed by someone almost as tall and even broader. She was a droxi, a dragonkin, with deep amber scales covering her long snout and framing her glinting green eyes. They reminded Vittorio a bit of some elves who had eyes that glittered like gems, but Thune's eyes seemed somehow deeper and sharper. She wore loose, dark trousers and a sleeveless grey tunic, both with some travel stains. Instead of nails, she had short, grey claws, and her face, hands, and bare arms were covered in scars. She carried a large pack, a tall shield, and a spear.
"So, Thune, this is most of the rest of the team", Ji-tae said. "Okpara, Vittorio, and Gloria. And this is Thune!"
Vittorio and Gloria gave her a cheery hello and wave. She nodded back. Okpara hopped up and started talking at her but soon stopped as she just looked at him.
"Can I put my stuff somewhere?", Thune asked Ji-tae in a beautiful, strong voice.
"Yes, of course!", Ji-tae said and showed her which rooms were available. She went to the nearest one, but rather than unpacking, she just dropped off her things before rejoining them, dropping into a chair with a sigh.
"So, you all had to deal with possession crap too?" Everyone turned to look at her. Vittorio wondered if anyone else was realizing that they actually hadn't talked about that before, but they all nodded. "Nasty shit. Now, I'm not much of a talker, but long as you pull your weight, I'll pull mine. What're we playing?"
They played Hills & Valleys for over an hour, with even Ji-tae joining in for once, rather than reading. Thune was as laconic as she'd suggested, rarely putting more than two words together and asking no questions.
"How was your journey?"
"Fine."
"Where are you from?"
"The peaks."
"Was it your first time on a ship?"
"Yes."
"Did you see anything interesting?"
"No."
She didn't seem to dislike being asked, exactly. She just didn't offer a single shred of an answer beyond what she needed. But she smiled along with jokes or when she won, grumbled a bit when she lost, and became a silent part of the group. The awkwardness passed once people stopped asking her questions.
Luss arrived and heartily welcomed her. She gave them a nod. While Luss didn't join in with the game, they stayed with the others until they needed to get some sleep. Early the next day, they gathered everyone for a meeting.
"Now that everyone has arrived", they said, "I believe it is time for us to start training. Before that, there are a few things I want to discuss: We will start with our first assignment." That grabbed everyone's attention. "A quest will soon be posted by Haven University. We will interview for it, and I will identify us to the organizer, who is a contact, and we will get the job. This is to serve two purposes: Using Haven's resources for our ends, and to help establish us as a team of interest to patrons. Our overarching objective for now is to gain patronage, which will in turn give us freedom to act with less scrutiny. This may take some time.
"Next, we should, of course, share with our newest arrival our classes and roles." The group went around the table and introduced themselves and what they could do, mostly for Thune's benefit. She herself was an [Acclimator], a class focused on defense and survival which gained stacking bonuses to resist damage, elements, and surroundings. When she was cut, the next slash would deal less damage; when she was cold, she would grow accustomed to it. It had taken her less than a day on a ship before she was as steady as any [Sailor]. The potential of the class was balanced by needing time to build stacks, and she would be vulnerable early in every fight.
"Which is one of the reasons I was delighted to have you join us, Gloria", Luss said. "You and your class fill what would otherwise be a sizeable gap in the groups capabilities. As it is, we still face the issue of two of our numbers needing time. This is something we will need to account for.
"Moving on, my final point of the day: The events that brought us here. I propose that those who are willing to share what happened to them do so. Those who are not do not need to speak. After this is done, we all agree to refrain from any questions on the topic. Is this acceptable?" Everyone agreed.
"I will begin", Luss said. "After gaining my accreditation as a [Runecarver] at the Midnight Monolith, I was hired by a Varizian company who paid for my berth on a ship to join them. After two days, I noticed that the ship was headed north-east, rather than west as it should have. I asked the captain, who told me I was wrong. I asked the navigator, who showed me I was right while telling me I was wrong. His instruments showed that we were headed northeast, yet he insisted they said west. My attempts to convince them grew... desperate, and I was confined to my quarters.
"I spent five days in the cabin before the ship crashed. I was released from my quarters by a bewildered [Sailor] who told me the captain had gone mad. I was inclined to believe her at first, as the captain and navigator both insisted we had safely reached port while the ship lay beached and taking on water. It took another day before they came to their senses. They could not explain what had happened. The navigator claimed he could remember seeing that we were heading for the Shallows but was unable to consider changing course.
"I do not know how long I remained there before I was found, days having ceased to have meaning to me long before, but I do know that I spent almost all of it alone. The ship's stores ran out before long, and most search parties sent to find fresh water never returned. The captain was the first to die, begging our forgiveness as she refused as much as a sip. The navigator was the last, and to his final day, he swore his mind had been affected by something.
"So I remained, alone, kept alive as my people need only light for nourishment, my body too hard for the scavengers to damage, and my runes too intimidating for those that could have hurt me. I was found by a [Fisherman] who was island-hopping along the edge of the Shallows when he spotted the remains of the ship. He helped me back to Ianarion, and in time I learned the cause of our misfortune. I have devoted my life to doing what I can to combat it."
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Luss sat down to a silent group. Vittorio wondered if the others were picturing the horror of possibly years stranded on an island by themselves after watching the others die one by one.
"A girl went missing", Thune said, breaking the silence. "I joined the search party. I found her. A visitor had grabbed her. She was still alive, but the visitor had started to..." She struggled to say it. "eat her. Just tearing off pieces. Damndest thing. Didn't know human teeth could do that. Anyway, it got the attention of a dragon. Said he'd been possessed. Still killed him though."
She'd said it casually, only stumbling a bit once, but the others sat in stunned silence until Ji-tae broke it.
"What happened to the girl?"
"Died."
There wasn't much to say after that, and none of the others wanted to share. The rest of the night was mostly quiet, though Thune seemed in as good of a spirit as usual - which was to say "a bit". The next day they started training and getting used to each others habits in combat, how everyone moved, aiming when in poor situations and so on. Thune, despite her class needing to be hit to activate, actually wore full-plated armour and fought with shield and spear. She said that she'd gain stacks if she needed them, and her level 20 Talent would let it trigger even when taking a blow to her armour.
Quiet, calm, and polite Ji-tae, meanwhile, turned out to be somewhat of a harsh commander when it came to combat, ruthlessly pointing out mistakes and more than once yelling at people. She made it clear that her job was to keep people alive, and she wasn't going to fail because of one of them. It was during one of Ji-tae's frequent 'reviews' that she was interrupted by what they'd been waiting for.
"Attention all teams", a voice said out of nowhere. "A retrieval quest has been posted by Haven. Please note the requirements, Haven is firm on them: Tier 1 team; Minimum one member with minimum 3rd rank accreditation that includes magical theory, higher ranks and Haven accreditation taking priority; Minimum one member with trap-disabling skills. Quest is marked low risk and short to moderate duration. Thank you."
Luss nodded. "We should end for the day and get ready to apply. During the interview, let me speak so that I may identify us."
By the time they'd cleaned up, changed into presentable clothes, and entered the great hall, there was a large crowd around the patron board.
"Keep moving! Take the information and keep moving! Don't just stand around in front of the board!" one of the staff was calling out, but many ignored her. They did not ignore Thune pushing her way through the crowd to read the notice.
"Got it", she said as she returned. "Center of Magical Constructs building, third floor, office of Kawailani Maleko."
"I know where it is", Luss said. "We will take the network."
"Network?", Thune asked as Luss led them away.
"The portal network", Vittorio said. "Didn't you use it to get here?"
Thune shook her head. "I walked. An hour and a half. Good road though."
"Well, the network lets you teleport around. I don't know it very well, but there's a portal right here in the building. You just touch it and you end up at the other end."
"Practical."
Three hops from the Free Company hall took them to the entrance to the university campus, at the north end of the city. It was Vittorio's first look at both the Road to Enlightenment and the Barrier of Knowledge, as the university called its main gates. Both were as impressive as they were audaciously named: The road was perfectly straight going north to south and looked to be as wide enough for two dozen people side by side without being crowded. The Barrier was a pair of enormous gates held open by larger-than-life statues of two of the university's founders, made to look as though they were straining to push them open, and above them an arch bearing the words of one of its founding principles:
Haven
To discover the unknown
To do the unprecedented
As they moved into the campus, a guard asked them their business and let them pass when answered. The buildings within the campus were all large and grandiose, many with odd features like domes - not all on the roof - or other geometric shapes. They passed one building surrounded by a moat fed by a waterfall appearing out of thin air halfway up the wall. The Center of Magical Constructs was especially strange, featuring a sphere attached to one wall, a tall, windowless tower, and a large cube on the roof. They entered and climbed the stairs to the third floor, and found a sign on the door to Kawailani Maleko's office:
> No office hours today.
>
> Applicant adventurers, please write your name on the board to the right and proceed to the waiting room at the end of the hall. You will be called.
"We do need to decide on a name soon", Luss said. "For now, I will write Team Nine as that is our suite number." That said and done, they watched the name fade from the board and headed to the waiting room. It was standing room only for now, as it was crowded with adventuring teams. Most were socializing, but two had bunched up in their own corners and talked quietly while glaring at anyone getting too close. 'Team Nine' took the former approach, though it was mostly Okpara and Gloria. The Sanguine Stalkers and Ravens Call were especially chatty, and though they had to spend a long time waiting as each team had interviews lasting about half an hour, it wasn't too bad. As teams left, others entered, and by the time they'd been there the longest the room was no less full than when they'd arrived.
"Team Nine", a disembodied voice said, and they headed for Kawailani Maleko's office. It was handsomely furnished in pale wood and a lush carpet, with the walls decorated with art, magical diagrams, and a large map of the world - a rare thing. Kawailani himself was a dwarven man with a neatly trimmed beard and oiled hair, dressed in a rather stern-looking black jacket. He sat behind a large desk, part of which was dedicated to what looked to Vittorio to be a magical toolset.
"Have a seat", the dwarf said in a tired voice, nodding at a row of chairs before his desk. "Who knows magical theory?"
"I do", Luss said. "Second rank, Haven."
Kawailani nodded. "Traps?"
Okpara raised a hand. "[Disabler], I have the device tag."
"Good, not all teams have read the requirements. The assignment is straightforward: There is an item we want retrieved, but we do not know its appearance and there is a high likelihood of traps or mechanical dangers, and very low risk of monsters." He pulled out a long stick and pointed at the world map, near the northern edge of the Shallows. "The object is within an abandoned workshop and school belonging to a long-dead paragon. Its location is known and has been surveilled and, to the best of our knowledge, remains sealed. If you are chosen for the assignment, you will be given transport to and from the location, and your job will be to gain access to the compound, find and identify the object, and return. Everything clear?"
"As a blue sky", said Luss.
"No grey stormclouds?"
"A few small white ones perhaps."
Kawailani relaxed. "Ah, good, it's you. Was getting tired or doing the spiel over and over." He reached down below the desk and pulled out a bottle. "Drinks?" He poured for those who wanted, Vittorio included. He didn't know what it was, but he liked it - sweet and a bit spicy. "Right, so all that stuff's true: Go there, grab the thing, bring it back. It's a hand-held temporal anomaly detector, and should be pretty easy to identify - it's a small boxy thing with a couple of metal rods sticking out."
"I thought you didn't know what it looked like?", Vittorio asked.
"That's just to make you sound more competent when you get back. You'll get paid as much as I can get you and I'll write a glowing recommendation, should get you going on finding a patron. You do need a name though, and before you get back! Anyway, getting the detector is just the public part of it - there's a second thing I want and the real reason for this whole thing. I've been looking for it for years and finally tracked it down to the workshop, then got a magitech teacher to request the detector so we have a cover.
"There are a few descriptions of it, but essentially, it's black. As in, completely. It's supposed to be darker than if you cover your eyes at night and shines darkness, so should be easy to identify. It's a bit over 20 centimeters by 10 and should, hopefully, be in a box or some sort of container that makes it safe to move, because - and I need to stress this - it is incredibly dangerous. Do not touch it, no matter what happens. And don't let any of your things touch it. If it's out of its box and you need to get it in, use something that's already there and then leave it behind, okay?"
There was no mistaking how seriously Kawailani meant it, and they all nodded before he made them swear not to touch it.
"Alright then. As for where you're going, it's by all accounts an odd place. The paragon, [[The Tinkerer]], was more than a little crazy and had a weird sense of humour. They also liked to test their students and apprentices with elaborate machines, and it may be necessary for you to get past some as well. The tests shouldn't be dangerous, but previous visitors have called them everything from 'infuriating' to 'maliciously unfair'. Annoyingly, there's nothing about what the tests actually are from what I've found.
"Last thing: The workshop is technically meant to be kept as it is as there are too many things we don't know what they do, so any expedition is supposed to just do exactly what is asked and no more. Truth is, nobody'll know if anything goes missing so take what you want. Just run it by me when you get back if you don't know what it does. Sounds good?"
They all nodded again.
"Good. If anyone asks, we had a long conversation about your adventuring history, your classes, your equipment, and what you can do beyond that. I asked some tricky questions about magical theory and how to handle devices. Overall, I seemed positive about you and we got along okay. I'll send word to the Company that you've got the job in a couple of days, once I've run through all the applicants."