A Gathering to the Stars. [CA]

[Hirosame]

Hiro had heard the rumors of some sort of some sages being in the city, involving something rather important. He didn't have the logistics if it all, but he knew enough to be able to tell that something was definitely going to happen, with these sages' arrivals. As much as he wanted to just go about his own day and ignore things, he found the very prospect of doing that as rather impossible. Hiro just wanted to run around and get some groceries for the Palace, since they were starting to run a bit low, but in the end, it turned out that there were too many people in one area to allow him to pass through. Now this place was entirely congested, and he had already been trying to get through them for about half an hour by now. To him, it wouldn't make much of a difference if he tried to leave now, since the mass of people were running around, grouping up together, and shouting, trying to look for this sage. Nobody knew what the sage looked like, so everybody was in a mad panic to find out. This is what usually happens when some kind of patch goes out: Players seeking adventure and rewards flock to important areas to get it done.

The monk let out a bit of a sigh, as he began to turn and walk the other way. The crowd wasn't quite packed together, but it would still take some doing to get out of there without losing his head. Just as he began to think this, he turned to look to his left, and saw a shadowy figure slowly walk into a nearby alleyway. Stopping where he was, he watched the figure continue on. After a few moments, the figure stopped, and turned to look at him. Their head was covered by wraps and garb, and atop was a very wide-brimmed hat. Their one eye that shone through the dark alley stared at him for a good while, until it turned back into the alleyway to continue going. Hiro found himself walking towards the being, without even realizing it. He broke into a small jog, turning the corner that the person had also turned, to find them standing right there, hands atop a cane. This person was rather short, but was a good enough distance away that they wouldn't have to shift their head up or down to look at Hiro. A confused look appeared on his face after a few moments, as nothing was said. But, just as he was about to say something, he felt that something was talking in his mind.

Just then, the world around himself and the person seemed to fade out, and the image of a galaxy appeared from behind them. Hiro looked to it, his gaze fixated upon it in disbelief. "Wh-what!?" He shouted in shock. The galaxy appeared to zoom in, as many worlds and stars flew past him. Eventually, it fixed upon what looked like Earth, then continued from there, further down to a personal level. The image displayed, at a quickly growing rate, Hiro and the person standing there for some reason. It then moved to the person, whose garb flew off and revealed nothing but a bright light. Hiro covered his eyes to keep himself from being blinded, only to watch the being begin to float up into the sky gently. A moment later, it rocketed upward into space! Hiro had no idea what he had seen, but a voice echoed from the being in his mind:

"LOOK YE, UPON THE STARS."

The vision disappeared, and Hiro didn't know what exactly to think of what he had just seen. He found himself standing there, with the being just across from him, still standing there. It held out its hand to him, a menu popped open as this happened. He looked at it, and recognized it as the friend list. He opened his own, and despite every one of his friends being online, he saw that only three names were there. Elliot Grantham, Kaika Kokoro, Sark. Three people he had met on different occasions. Confused, he opened up a conversation window for all of them, and as he was about to make a message, one had already appeared on his screen, and sent before he had a chance to change it. The message they received was "The Stars call out to you. You are destined to answer." After the message, Hiro's current location was input, and the conversation was locked from there. Being beyond confused right now, he found himself just staring at the being before him. Everything finally clicking, he realized: Perhaps this was one of the Sages that people were looking for? But, why would it be moving around in broad daylight, if they're meant to be secretive? This, along with hundreds upon thousands of other questions, circled in his mind, as he would wait for the other three to eventually arrive.

[832 Words]
Tags: Elliot Grantham, Kaika Kokoro, Sark
Notes: This isn't going along with the summary quite yet, but consider this our intro post. We'll get to the summary part soon enough~

[Sark]

1. Find the Messier Sage [Londinium].
- Post a thread within the Londinium subforum, label the thread with the prefix [Celestial Arms Quest].
- Post at least 2 times within the thread (if performing this questline as a group, each member must post 2 times) with a total of 500 or more words
- Adequately cover all of the following information within the summary into the events of your thread.
- Summary: There is widespread news about a circle of Lander Sages uncovering knowledge of an ancient civilization. Join the crowd of curious Adventurers and test the validity of these claims. You hear of one of these individuals, a Sage of the Messier Order, holding a public conference in a large garden square. You have never seen these people before, noticing the unique design of their robes. This particular Sage is wearing a robe that obscures pretty much their entire body, to the point where you can't tell even their gender quite clearly, but it seems to be a thin-framed male from their speech. The robe is made from cloth the color of the night sky. Various dots are inset into the cloth to make it resemble the stars. The Sage explains that they have recently unearthed a peculiar stone tablet, thought to have originated from before the time of the Alvs. However, the tablet is incomplete. Many years of burial at the Thames Coastline has caused bits and pieces to erode away. The Sage asks for your help as Adventurers to uncover the missing fragments. In order to help you find these fragments, the Sage hands to you a Divining Rod. It is supposed to be a wand that will light up curiously with mana as it approaches an ancient artifact of the same signature.
For this event detailed here

stat widget coded by Oxford of ET

HP: 100% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Greatsword (2h) Starter Leather Armour -- SKILLS -- Words: 839 + 40% = 1167 Tags: Kaika Kokoro, Hirosame, Elliot Grantham OOC: I didn't advance the story sorry! I figure we should all gather before getting too far ahead?	Sark pushed his way through the crowd. The crowd seethed and pushed and swayed like an angry tide lashing against a cliffside. It was full of adventurers of heroic girth, merchants trying to sell their wares, and hanger-ons trying to get in closer to the action. Where that action was, no-body seemed to know as the crowd surged first North, then West, then another direction again. He hated crowds. Not because they were noisy, or dangerous, or smelt strongly of BO, but because they were tall. At only 4 foot high Sark had trouble with everyday things like doors and benches, but  this crowd really seemed to magnify his issues. He was crotch height on many people, and his head was already sore from being hit by someone's padded bum, their scabbard, or their plate mail. A headache was blooming, and worst of all there was no end in sight. The short dwarf now regretted trying to join in on his first event. Whenever Londinium had been excited by other events such as cook-offs, exploring new cities or other changes, Sark had been too anxious or apathetic to join. Since he had recovered this had been the first rumour to really shift Londinium, so Sark had run out into the streets to learn what he could. There a sage was going to deliver a speech in a large garden, but no-one seemed to know which garden it was. Without warning, Sark's telechat began to ring. The dwarf jumped at the noise; he had not heard that noise for months, and its sudden xylophone-like clinging had spooked him. He focused for a moment and brought the telechat into view, seeing that the skater-boy was calling. Finding this a little strange, he accepted the call. However, it was not Hiro on the other end of the line. With a voice sounding like Microsoft Sam gone through Auto-tune, a message was sung to him to the tune of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.' The Stars call out to you. You are destined to answer. Come along to the alley There you will find your allies On the corner of James Street, and that little bak-er-y. The telechat promptly closed, and when Sark tried to contact Hiro what in the world that was about, the mechanic did not pick up. Fear flushed Sark, cold and sour in his stomach. This had never happened to him before, and what was new was scary. Panic briefly overwhelmed the youth, before he managed to calm his nerves. While strange, the song had given him clear instructions, and "the stars" sounded a lot like what the rumoured sages were talking about. Rather than some strange omen, it was actually closer to a prophecy, with Sark and his allies, the destined heroes of fate! His excitement was curtained by a tall paladin who, ignorant of his own feet, pushed through the crowd and stepped solidly on Sark's lightly-shod foot. His toes were no match for the 200kg of steel, and Sark whimpered silently as the pain rocketted through him. Following the wave of pain was an even greater wave of anger. "That. Is. Enough!" He screamed to the sky. His patience and his manners were gone. Using his fellow adventurers as handholds Sark clambered onto someone's shoulder, then leapt off them like a naughty house-cat. Relying on his acrobatic training, the samurai bounded from shoulder to helmet to shoulder until he reached an empty space. There he drew his weapon, a 2 handed sword half as tall again as he was. Shouting loudly, Sark ran down the street waving it about his head. The stragglers at the edge of the crowd gave him space, and soon enough Sark was running through empty streets, still shouting incoherent war cries and waving his sword about. After a few minutes his temper cooled, and feeling foolish, the boy sheathed his weapon and made his way more sedately to the meeting spot. He found the bakery on James Street, and ducked into the alley. The alley was cool in the shade, and smelt of stale bread left out for the homeless. It was quiet too, as if a spell had been cast that kept the general murmur of the city far away. Feeling suddenly wary, the samurai quietly drew his sword again and slunk forward, testing each step before letting his weight fall. As he rounded a corner he saw the skater from before speaking with an androgynous robed figure. They had a crooked wand being used as a cane, and a sly look in their eyes. Were they one who had sent the message? Stepping forward, Sark warily greeted the pair. He kept his eyes on Hiro, trying to determine if the fellow was in trouble, but no danger was apparent, so he sheathed his sword once again, feeling suddenly embarrassed. "H-hey! Nice to meet you again! And nice to meet you, robey guy. Your message mentioned allies, but I only see Hiro here. Does that mean there are more to come?"	The Messier Sage
STATUS

template coded by oxford of ET

[Elliot Grantham]

Cool water coursed through the short stubble on Elliot's face as he washed the sleep from his eyes. He knew that he should have gone to bed earlier, but the book which now lay on the nightstand would not allow him to stop reading. Well into the night he had researched, honing his skills that he had learned in the real world. The people of the land were so interesting to him, but it was very hard to find writing on only them. Most books he had found had to do with the arrival of the first adventurers, and it seemed these books simply appeared periodically, making the search for older, less adventurer based books even harder.

"Ugh..." He grunted, the sight of his room looking as if a tornado had swept through the inn causing him to feel, in the words of his friend Amanda, 'all of the shames and the guilts'. "I can't deal with this right now." It was that same sentiment that he was repeating that caused the room to become so filthy in the first place, but try telling that to him. He was turning to grab another book until he felt a tingling pull. He stopped, frozen as the feeling turned to warmth inside him. It was like a tug in his gut toward the heart of Londinium. 

"Not this again!" He hissed, reaching for a glass of water and stumbling to his bed. He flopped down and threw back the glass of water. He had felt the strange tug off and on all night. It was like nothing he had ever felt before, and while it didn't hurt, he certainly didn't like it. He laid back on the bed, the dim flicker of candlelight relaxing him slightly. He was just about to drift back off to sleep when his interface flashed brightly, causing him to hiss once again.

He shook his head and blinked rapidly to make his eyes adjust to the bright green and blues of the menu. Slowly, the luminous blur began to take shape, and the string of indecipherable letter began to make sense. He had received a message? From Hirosame? That was a name he hadn't seen or heard from in a while. He had first met the Monk almost a year ago in the forest after conducting some research. He had kept in contact off and on, but they hadn't met up very much since then. Still a bit confused, he swiped his fingers across the message to open it. It said something about the stars calling out to him and his being destined to answer?

Now he was still confused. He knew the Monk was an idol, but the message didn't sound like something to capture the hearts of the people, or even very entertaining. Honestly, had they been in the real world, Elliot would think Hiro had gotten hacked and his account was sending out spam mail. He looked and saw that the second part of the message held Hiro's current location. The heart of Londinium. He cursed quietly. It appeared he was leaving today after all. Strange gut tugs and equally mysterious messages? Rising from his bed, he threw on his cloak and grabbed his staff. He grabbed an armload of books from the shelf and stuffed them in his magic bag. With the weird message and the feeling in the pit of his stomach, he didn't know when he would be coming back, and one thing he knew was that it was best to be prepared.

His staff made a clacking sound with every step as the tip struck the cobblestones of the street. So far, the only consolations of the weird afternoon were that the weather wasn't awful and that he would get to see Hiro again. Though they were not extremely close, the other fellow was likable enough. As he came to the area about two blocks away from Hiro's sent location, he was forced to slow his pace considerably. Adventurers were crawling like ants around the square. The words 'sage' and 'quest' rang out the loudest and most frequent. The tug in his stomach also intensified. He wondered if it had anything to do with HIS being a sage. If people were looking for a sage, maybe the game was trying to draw out the adventurers who had that class?

As he continued, he noticed that the pull in his stomach was taking him in the same direction as his map with Hiro's location. With this knowledge in his mind, he closed the map and just walked, following his gut feeling. He was about a block away and the feeling was spreading to his whole body. He quickened his pace, weaving in and out of the throng of bodies around him. He caught a few glances, but managed to make his way around a corner. He didn't want anyone following him if they were about to go on some sort of adventure.

As he rounded another corner, he saw a shock of red hair about ten meters in front of him, but he wasn't alone. Standing with the Monk were an extremely short man, who Elliot assumed was a dwarf, and a strange robed figure.. Concentrating on Hiro, he placed his fingers to his ear and spoke, his voice carrying through the game's mechanics as a form communication adventures called telepathy. "Hirosame. What's going on? I've felt strange since last night and now you've sent a freakishly cryptic message?" He continued walking as he spoke to the other until stopping at his side and lowering his hand. They were close enough to speak normally. And he expected that they would. It was strange enough that Hiro had called him, but the dwarf's presence made him suspect that perhaps he was not the only one who had been called. "Greetings. I am Elliot, a Shaman and a Sage. Who might you be?" He asked of the small one as he introduced himself.

Word Count: 1,000
(1,500 with 40% event + 25% mentor bonuses [Capped at 50%])

TAG: Kaika Kokoro && Hirosame && Sark

[Kaika Kokoro]

Kaika Human Monk Lv. 1

HP 100% MP 100%

STATUS: None

---

Kaika tossed and turned in her sleep...

She was lying on a field of grass, staring up at the sky. It was nighttime, and the stars were gliding slowly across the sky above. She watched as galaxies passed by overhead: large, glowing clouds full of twinkling stars. Out of the corner of her eye, a particularly bright star came into her field of view. Kaika found herself mesmerized by this star as it made its way to being directly overhead. And then, the movement in the sky stopped. The other stars faded and blinked out of existence, until she found herself gazing at a single star against a field of utter black. Despite its luminosity, the light from the star felt... cold, and perhaps even alien in a way, like it was never supposed to be in the sky in the first place. Her eyes locked on the star, she squinted as it got brighter and brighter. No, not brighter... closer... She covered her eyes with one arm to shield them from its brilliance, but even with her arm covering her eyes, she could see the star clearly, as if it was shining directly into her mind. Everything turned white. A few moments passed, and the light slowly began to fade. Kaika hesitantly opened her eyes, and sat up. She was in the middle of a large garden. Standing nearby was a cloaked figure, which turned to face her. Its face was obscured by the shadows of the hood it was wearing, but she could feel its gaze on her. It spoke with a voice that reminded her of church bells, and the sound echoed through her head.

"The time has come for all to take a stand
A harbinger awakens, deep below
The time for coalescence is at hand
The parallel will bathe in fiery glow

Seek out the sage by name of Messier
The wisdom of the ancients may you find
The rod of the divine will guide the way
To hear the power, listen with your mind..."

She awoke in a cold sweat, dazed and breathing heavily. The dream was fading quickly. Something about the divine? A particular word stuck in her mind: Messier. She heard the tolling of old bells outside. The sound of the bells gradually got lighter and sharper, until it became the friendly chime of a Telepathy call. '...Hiro? What's he calling about, I wonder? ' Kaika tapped the button to connect the call. The sound she heard, however, was not Hiro's voice, but a dull, garbled static. And then, the call ended. "The stars call out to me. I am destined to answer." She announced to the empty room, then immediately covered her mouth in shock. 'Why did I say that?! My mouth moved on its own! ' She stood and grabbed a coat, before leaving the room.

As she made her way through the streets of downtown Londinium, occasional details from her dream drifted through her mind. 'Seek out the sage. A harbinger awakens. Messier...' Her train of thought ended as she realized she had stopped moving. '...where am I? The last thing I remember was getting a call from Hiro, and...' She looked around slowly. She was standing in an alleyway somewhere. In front of her were four figures, standing nearby. With a bit of effort, she recognized three of them. Hiro, the Monk. Elliot, the Sage. Sark, the Samurai. 'And with Kaika, the gathering is complete.' She thought to herself, and then shook her head. Somehow, that thought hadn't felt like her own. The fourth person, who, from where Kaika was standing, appeared to be a young woman wearing a heavy robe, shifted her position a little and began to speak...

[Word Count: 620]
+40%, Celestial Arms Event
+10%, Mentor Bonus
(Capped to +50%.)

---

Skills Used: n/a

Tags: Hirosame Sark Elliot Grantham

NOTES: I liked the idea that everyone seemed to receive the same "calling" in a different way, so I went with it for Kaika as well.

[Hirosame]

Hiro would have greeted everybody as they had shown up, but to him, it seemed as though he were in an entirely different world at the time. The sage before him wasn't letting his mind escape the new reality that they had created. It was only after everybody had shown up that he was released, but only to be further interrupted by the sage making a motion. They began to pull off their face coverings, to reveal bright blue eyes, and a face that one could consider both male and female. They stared at the group of people, a neutral expression upon their face, for the longest time, before speaking. "You four are among the many others who are destined to see this mission through." Their voice seemed to boarder the masculinity/femininity line as well. "Look out into the plaza nearby, and watch the elder Sage speak. Afterwards, return to me to learn of your mission further." Firmly placing the wrappings over their face again, they raised their hand up to the plaza, before closing their eyes and going into somewhat of a meditative stance, staying calmly and firmly in place, without any sort of further motion.

Hiro was able to be in control of his mind again at this point, as he turned his head to face the other three. Probably just as confused as everybody else, Hiro shook his head. "Well, we might as well go check this out, right?" This was a rare situation, wherein Hiro was actually fairly dumbfounded, and had nothing to really comment on. Taking the lead, he began to walk towards the plaza once more, unsure as to whether or not this Sage was all that they were built up to be. Then again, given the number of people back in the plaza, he figured that this person might actually be rather impressive. Without much room to stand around in, he tried to stay as close to the alleyway as possible, hoping the other three would do the same. Folding his arms, he saw a larger pedestal where the Sage could possibly make their announcement from. "Also, apologies for the lack of introduction, guys." Hiro turned to the group again, assuming they've followed, and gave a warm smile. "It's nice to see everybody once more." His gaze returned to the pedestal. "Hopefully, this'll be something interesting." He wanted to keep things brief, as it seemed like the conference was about to start.

---

A sage, all dressed within robes as dark as the night sky, stepped up to the pedestal. Their cloak was dotted with white specks, as though mimicking the stars. Much like the other Sage from before, Hiro had no idea what their gender was. Perhaps all these sages were ambiguous? Not so much of a big deal, though, as they had just begun to speak. "Brave Adventurers. Bold Expediters. We are the Circle of Sages of the Messier Order. Our existence is not well known, nor have we wanted ourselves to be known. But, we come before you all, bringing a request to be made to you all." The sage lowered their head, and pulled out a scroll of paper, which they unrolled. On the page was the image of some sort of stone tablet. They held it up high for all to see, before continuing. "We have recently unearthed a tablet, which is represented upon this scroll. The tablet was thought to have been created and used during the times of the ancient Alvs, whose existence are no longer present in this world. Normally, such a peculiar find, we would keep to ourselves to study extensively, in order to learn more about our world." The sage lowered the scroll and put it away. "However..."

They looked back to the crowd. "It is incomplete. But a relic of what it used to be." The sage paused for a moment, letting their words sink in. "This item was found upon the sands of the Thames Coastline, eroded by years of wear, and we have yet to find all of the pieces of the tablet yet. There are only a few reminding sections, but in order to obtain those, we need your help." It seemed that the sage was unwilling to really admit this fact, as they clenched their fist. "Due to the increasing numbers of monsters appearing in the area, as well as the sands ever shifting, we need all of you to help us in finding the last pieces." The sage fell to one knee, genuflecting before the audience. "We beg of you... Help us uncover the truths of the Alvs, and we shall see to it you're rewarded for your efforts. This is but all that we can offer you for now..." With having said that, the sage stood back up, and began to walk back away from the pedestal. Immediately, a large flock of adventurers began to head towards them, without giving them so much as a bit of space. Many of the others began to frantically make their way to the outsides, so they could head to the coastline as quick as possible.

---

Hiro couldn't believe his eyes, nor his ears. A Secret from back when the Alvs were alive? "This is some deep shit, isn't it?" He asked to the other three, turning to face them again. He stood back up straight as he addressed them, a smirk of adventurousness filling his face. He was excited for something like this. "I'm definitely into it." He waited for the other three to say their pieces on the matter, and motioned towards the alleyway again. "Let's head back to the alley and see that sage, shall we?" Hiro was anxious to get things started. He walked back into the alley to speak to the sage, but they were no longer there. What they did see was a staff of some sort, sitting on the ground. It seemed to be a rather magical item, and it also looked to be something along the lines of the ancient artifact that the sage in the plaza held up on that scroll of paper. Confused and curious, the monk decided to step forward and look at the item more closely. He knelt down before it, questioningly, wondering what exactly it was. As he thought more about it, his hand instinctively reached out to it, and grabbed a hold of the staff. A sharp, loud pain began to ring in his ears, and presumably everyone else's as well.

"This Divining Rod will help you find
What it is that we, the Sages, seek.
Use its power to locate the artifacts
Whose physical being is so meek.

Once thou hast found the fragments,
Return ye at once to me.
Only then, when the tablet is complete,
Shall you be the ones who shall see."

The loud ringing disappeared from his head, and the voice vanished. It was the same voice as that sage from earlier, the one who had brought the four of them together. Just like that, the pain in his head had vanished. Hiro stood back up, looking at the Divining Rod. Was this really all they needed? He wouldn't know until they had gotten there. Hiro turned to the other three, a solemn look on his face. "If this is what we need to find the pieces, then there's a slim chance that the other adventurers will be able to find them before us. However..." He looked back to the staff, clenching it. "I don't think we should wait at all. We need to find whatever these fragments are. But, if there are indeed enemies there, we'll need to do some fighting." Hiro pondered for a moment, before looking back up, and walking to Elliot. He held the staff out to the Shaman. "You should hold onto this. Once the four of us get to Thames, we'll act as bodyguards to make sure you don't get hurt. With your affinity for magic, you might be able to find the fragments easier than us." Hoping that Elliot had taken the Divining Rod from him, Hiro stepped back, and addressed everybody. "Once you guys are ready to go, let's get a move on. I don't want to wait too long for this." Hiro didn't show it all that much at the moment, but he was genuinely excited. He waited for the others to respond, before he would get moving, himself.

[1407 Words]
Tags: Sark, Elliot Grantham, Kaika Kokoro
Notes: Sorry if this seems a bit rushed, but we only have until like the end of the month to be able to finish all of this. A bit of a long post, yes, but it gets all the major criteria done, so we can move onto the next step after you guys all post. If that's okay with you all, anyways. ^-^;

[Sark]

1. Find the Messier Sage [Londinium].
Done! - Post a thread within the Londinium subforum, label the thread with the prefix [Celestial Arms Quest].
Done! - Post at least 2 times within the thread (if performing this questline as a group, each member must post 2 times) with a total of 500 or more words
Done! - Adequately cover all of the following information within the summary into the events of your thread.
Done! - Summary: There is widespread news about a circle of Lander Sages uncovering knowledge of an ancient civilization.  Join the crowd of curious Adventurers and test the validity of these claims.
Done! - You hear of one of these individuals, a Sage of the Messier Order, holding a public conference in a large garden square. You have never seen these people before, noticing the unique design of their robes. This particular Sage is wearing a robe that obscures pretty much their entire body, to the point where you can't tell even their gender quite clearly, but it seems to be a thin-framed male from their speech. The robe is made from cloth the color of the night sky. Various dots are inset into the cloth to make it resemble the stars.
Done! - The Sage explains that they have recently unearthed a peculiar stone tablet, thought to have originated from before the time of the Alvs. However, the tablet is incomplete. Many years of burial at the Thames Coastline has caused bits and pieces to erode away.
The Sage asks for your help as Adventurers to uncover the missing fragments. In order to help you find these fragments, the Sage hands to you a Divining Rod. It is supposed to be a wand that will light up curiously with mana as it approaches an ancient artifact of the same signature. For this event detailed here

stat widget coded by Oxford of ET

HP: 100% MP: 100% - EQUIPMENT - Starter Greatsword (2h) Starter Leather Armour -- SKILLS -- Words: 882 + 40% = 1192 Tags: Kaika Kokoro, Hirosame, Elliot Grantham OOC: Starting location for next thread perhaps?	Sark waited patiently for Hiro or the robed figure to answer his question, his arm frozen in mid-gesticulation as he waited for the answer. The silence began to stretch, and Sark's arm slowly dropped like a timer. As it sadly clapped against his leg, a frown dropped onto the dwarf's features. Neither Hiro nor the robed figure had moved so much as a muscle. 'How rude, ignore me why don't you...' He thought pettily and selfishly, not noticing the vacant expressions or strange stillness of the two other individuals. Sark may have adjusted into a more active & positive frame of mind, but it had not expanded his worldview into making him a considerate or thoughtful person. A few minutes later, someone stumbled around the corner. They looked like an American quarterback, or the protagonist from a powerful fantasy film. They were strong, athletic and cloaked in a thick chainmail vest that strained at their powerful chest. What truly struck Sark though, was that their face matched this heroic body. It was angular, with a 5 o'clock shadow, a haircut military-sharp, and intense blue eyes. It varied so much from the usual beef-cake-body-with-nerd-herd that Sark had seen since the Catastrophe. This Adonis lifted their hand to their ear, as if speaking into a security-guard earbud, and Sark took an involuntary step back. Was he going to be arrested? Was this guy the Unfounded Kingdom's James Bond? What had Sark done wrong? Panicking slightly, Sark took two more steps back, but his choice to flee was robbed from him when the man (and what a man!) spoke up. "Greetings. I am Elliot, a Shaman and a Sage. Who might you be?" In a complete about-face, Sark's fear dropped from him. "Oh you're a shaman, not a hitman. Well nevermind about then, I wasn't going to tell you my secrets anway, Mr Elliot Shaken-Not-Stirred" He said with a strange amount of snark. "Anyway, I'm Sark, this is Hiro, and this other guy is ignoring me. What a jerk, hey?" Just as he finished his complaint, a familiar face rounded the corner. Sark's face lit up, and a smile blossomed across his face. "Kaika! You're here too!" He rushed over, and reached up to energetically pat her on the back. They had gone boar hunting together, and it had been awesome. It had been his first time hunting since the Catastrophe, and a fond memory already. Their discussion was interrupted by the voice of the Sage, who explained that they - they - were the chosen ones (and other people too, but this didn't change the fact) to see the mission through.  The robed figure told them to learn more from the other sage, before ignoring them again. His friend Hiro accepted these orders and as he moved to the square Sark jogged over to the sage and started to poke them, demanding to know more. No matter how much he poked and proded, the sage remained as still as as the old English Queen's Guard.  With one final half-hearted kick at their shoe, Sark left the alleyway and joined the others to listen to the Messier Sage. Listening to the Messier Sage meant braving the crowd again, and Sark grunted in disappointment. He was short, and slim, and low levelled and with that trifecta he was almost always ignored and shoved around in crowds. Still, sometimes chosen ones had to brave poor odds, so Sark girded his metaphorical loins and stepped into the crowd to listen better. Sark had trouble listening to the sage over the excited murmur of adventurers and townfolk, but was able to get the gist of the matter. Apparently a scroll was shown, but all Sark could see were leather- and chainmail-buttcheeks around him, so presumed it showed a rock with some writing on it. However even with the incomplete speech, Sark was still inspired. He felt lighter, restless and almost giddy. This would be awesome! The speech ended quickly, with Sark's first clue being the sudden surge of adventurers towards the individual. The short samurai was battered and bounced between people, until he was able to make his way back to Hiro & the others looking a little bedraggled, but excitable. "This is some deep shit, isn't it?" Hiro rhetorically noted with a smile on his face. Sark quickly took up the mood, nodding energetically. The group agreed to set out once they visited the sage again, and Sark took the initiative to send out the party requests. If they were going through any more crowds, he wanted to be able to find everyone again. They returned to the alley, to find a strange rod but no sage. 'Just what I'd expect from that jerk' He thought mulishly. Hiro took charge, suggesting a course of action and how to complete it. Sark appreciated having a capable leader in their midst, and quickly agree to the idea. "Okay guys - I have to head back to the inn to get some supplies, so how about we meet at The Gravesend Church and then go down to the Coastline from there?"	The Messier Sage
STATUS

template coded by oxford of ET

[Elliot Grantham]

Elliot's brow rose as when he didn't receive an immediate reply from Hiro. The man almost seemed frozen in place, and the jumpy looking dwarf definitely wasn't helping things to not seem even more bonkers than they usually did. Thankfully, he seemed to calm down when Elliot introduced himself. Perhaps he had thought him a Heretic? He had no way of knowing... for the time being.

A hitman? Elliot chuckled at the thought. He clearly was not in the class of assassin. Such a strange little dwarf. He had not even entertained the class when it came time to choose. Sure, he would have been able to sneak around with ease, but he also wanted to be among the people and learning about them in order to better protect both them and himself. Killing the Landers wasn't exactly studying them very efficiently. No, he had chosen shaman because he was very familiar with the animistic mindset and the class' ability to shield and to protect. He could also bring about a bit of healing, but mostly he could prevent the harm from happening to begin with. He was like a walking good luck charm when you got right down to it.

Sark, as the dwarf had called himself, called out loudly just as Elliot was about to inquire further into the other's comments about martini preparation.

Elliot's head swiveled behind him just in time to see a familiar girl joining them in the alley. 'Kaika is here too? Now I know something is definitely going on.' He looked again upon the other sage and for some reason felt a sense of muddled... kinship? It was then that it hit him. The feeling he had in the pit of his stomach was not unlike when he attempted to sense mana in the nearby environment! Maybe he felt a connection with the robed figure because they were similar in affinity? They were a lander and he an adventurer, but they shared a class and study of a very fluid form of magic. That was bound to create some sort of primal link! Maybe... He would definitely need to look into it some more, maybe even hit up one of the libraries in a nearby town.

However, right now there was more at stake.

As soon as Kaika arrived, it seemed like Hiro snapped out of some sort of trance and was himself again. He began to talk, then the sage began to talk, and they were off! Elliot was almost in a daze as they walked back to the square. The people who they passed were a blur, like his senses were dulled. He couldn't smell anything, could only see enough to make it to the square, and even his body felt like it wasn't even corporeal. His hearing though... he could hear the Sage on the stage as clear as a bell. The same feeling of commonality struck him again and every word the sage spoke seemed to drip with power. It was like he was weaving a web of magic with his words. It was awe inspiring.

And just like that, they were back in the alley. Elliot was sure they had walked, but he didn't remember it, only the words of the sage. The beautiful words. Sure, they had seemed terse and maybe even a bit agitated, but they were powerful. Surely the others had felt it as well?

Elliot tilted his head as he realized that the first sage was no longer in the alley. There was a staff however, the Divining Rod! He didn't know how he knew, but he did. It almost seemed to sing as it waited for someone to take it into their possession. It was entrancing to hear. Elliot shuffled closer. It was so beautiful. He felt a tinge of jealousy as Hiro stepped forward to claim the staff, mentally kicking himself for not moving faster. It could have been his!

The sight of Hiro's hand closing around the staff and pain flashing across his face banished those thoughts however. He didn't understand why he was in pain though. Couldn't he hear the beautiful words? They weren't as powerful as the sage from the square. Perhaps because they were the words of the sage who had initially greeted them? Elliot chased these thoughts out of his head as he watched Hiro come over to him. He talked a bit about fighting and then held the staff out to Elliot! The sage released a breath he didn't know he had been holding and grabbed the staff, storing his old one and equipping the Divining Rod. He felt a flutter in the supply of mana flowing through his body as his power was redirected toward the Thames.

"This is amazing." He whispered, his breath shuddering slightly, half from excitement, half from the strange magics at work in both the square and the alley. "I'm all in for this, Hiro. I've gotten better since the last time we went on an adventure, and I can already feel the magics from the sages and the Divining Rod at work..."

He barely heard Sark mention something about stocking up on supplies, but after a moment, it registered. "Yes... that is a... good... idea.. Yes..." He nodded. He was having trouble focusing on anything other than finding the shards now, the magic from the rod coupling with his own and nearly causing him to immediately head to the Thames.

Word Count: 910 (1,365 with 40% event + 25% mentor bonuses [Capped at 50%])

TAG: Kaika Kokoro && Hirosame && Sark

Note: So sorry about the wait! All of the craps hit the fans! Several assignments, teaching, and meetings this week.

Things will slow down again after the weekend.

[Sark]

For easy reading:
Part 2! Excavation Exploration! [Here]

(PS: Kaika please feel free to join in!)