The young elven Luna priestess listened intently to what Malkaus was telling. While she was expecting him to tell the places he had seen and where his next stop would be, she never actually expected him to hand her some crude-looking flyer. She took the flyer from the orcish bard's hands and read the paper.

Her eyes widened the more she read about the quest that was detailed on the letter. He was actually going after the same quest as she did! With a glitter of excitement in her eyes, Illistrianna enthusiastically took hold of the big green man's strong hands.

"C-could you be the sign I was waiting for? I was also led here, to help a group of people in their quest to save this land from the flames of chaos that is to come. But I had no idea where to go, and the guards refused to let me into the city earlier. Our meeting must have been fate!"

Location: At the edge of the capital city || Time: Just before dawn || Interacting With: Nobody

Tai huffed as she was standing at the gateway of the city. She was just arriving at the location of the city and was trying to enter so she could get somethings she needed, but today wasn't her day. Standing front of her were two guards blocking her away. She glared with frustrations in her eyes, it made her eyes look like they were slited a bit. All she wanted to do was get inside and just get some things she needed for the quest.

"Now Why can't you assholes let me through" She asked.

"Because no one is allowed to enter the city at this time" One guard said. Tai's eye began to twitch. She had seen him let some other people in as she was walking up. She was really starting to hate the guards.

"Bullshit now let me through or you will meet your fucking end on my sword" She yelled, her temper beginning to get the best of her. Her scream was loud enough to gather some attention from some of the people inside.

Rem exhaled the breath she was holding when the newest member didn't seem to mind his tail being stroked. Being so antsy was't really like her all that much, she imagined it was the nerves of being with so many people she did not know. The fact that the group was large signified that the task would be more difficult that the letter implied.

"No wonder they're paying so much." Rem muttered under her breath, "there's a possibility some of us might not come back."

Once again there was a sound that rattled her from a distance, causing her canine ear to pop up for a moment, jostling her hood a little.

"Bullshit, now let me through or you will meet your fucking end on my sword!"

Rem's breath hitched in her throat as the movement happened, glad that no one was interested enough in her to be looking her way at the moment. There was a chance someone caught it out of the corner of their eye, but for now there were more pressing matters to attend to. She approached Polaris and tugged on his sleeve, looking up at him.

"Hey, Mr. Boss-Man, there seems to be a disturbance at the gate. Maybe you should check that out?"

Jenso heard Tai's voice as well, and the threat that came with it. His muscles tensed up and he looked a bit more on his guard then he was before, glancing over at Rem and Polaris as he overheard Rem's words. It could have been an empty threat, but he was concerned none the less. "Should I go check it out too? I know it's not part of the mission, but if that person is really going to kill people to get inside then I'm not going to just stand here." Jenso said in a serious tone, a lot more serious then he'd been before.

"Is that so?" Malakaus said, rather surprise. What a small world that they would happen to be on the same quest together. They weren't even near the meeting place! Still, Malakaus wasn't against it. This elf seemed honest enough, which was a nice change of pace compared to the usual aloof personalities he's had with other elves. "Fate or not, I'm glad to see that one of my allies is someone with your strength and passion." Malakaus lightly squeezed Illistrianna hands before he heard some shouting not too far away.

He could see that someone else was trying to get into the city too, but the guards just weren't having it. She started to threaten them which made Malakaus sighed. He wished he had done that yesterday, but alas, cooler heads had to prevail. "It would seem that person over there needs entrance into the city also. I have a gut feeling that she's on our quest too." Slipping out of Illistrianna grasp Malakaus made his way over towards the gate, guards, and the stranger. He called out to them from afar. "Whoa there! Let's not get ahead of ourselves. At least not before I get a chance first." The orcish warrior stood as the tallest of the ones gathered here, even the guardsmen were about a headshorter. Despite being more physically imposing however, he tried not to intimidate anyone. Intentionally.

"I understand your frustration stranger, but let cooler heads prevail. I am Malakaus Ralthavar Vorinclex. May I learn your name?"

@Riffus Maximus@Luna

"It would seem that person over there needs entrance into the city also. I have a gut feeling that she's on our quest too."

Illistrianna nodded in approval, her head turning towards the source of the conflict they have been hearing over by the gates. This one lady seemed to have even less patience than both the Elf and the Orc united. Fearing this would turn into a needless bloodbath, the elven priestess followed Malakaus closely behind. Again, she was surprised by how cool-demeaned the Orc was compared to the tales that has been told about his kind. He had a way to approach people with some smooth and class. The more she was hearing him, the more she believed he could actually be a bard.

While Malakaus was busy being diplomatic with the would-be short-tempered troublemaker, Illistrianna walked to the guards to have a talk with them.

"I apologize for the trouble our friend here have brought you. Could you reconsider letting all of us in? We are in a hurry, for we are heading to join with the rest of our group. Surely you have been warned by your superiors about adventurers coming this morning to help the quest in his time of need, have you not?" the young diplomatic maiden told the guards, handing them Malakaus' flyer that she still held on ever since he gave it to her earlier.

The friendlier of the two guards stepped up to the Moon Elf, leaving his comrade to keep an aye on the other two strangers, and took the flyer from Illistrianna's hand. After examining it for a minute, he glanced back at the blue-skinned lady with a surprised look.

"Well, your paper sure has suffered a lot during your travel, but I can still recognize the Adviser's handwriting. I'm surprised he took the time himself to make something addressed to the public. But I can't understand why you'd want to go inside the city. I was told your meeting point would be at that hill over there." The guard pointed towards the hill, where a rather large group of people had already gathered. In fact, some seemed to have been looking their way, surely attracted by the commotion that had happened.

"I-is that so? I'm sorry, I didn't know the meeting point was there. Thank you for your assistance."

Illistrianna was baffled. She didn't even know she was so close to the group to begin with. As a matter of fact, she had even glanced their ways more than a few times already. This explained why she saw so many people going to the hill this early in the morning. But she wondered why so much people? Did it really required such a large group to find medecine? Perhaps they were meant to be split up in several searching groups. One of them surely knew the details of the mission. Only one way to find out, she figured.

"Let's go meet our new comrades then!" the enthusiastic moon elf priestess exclaimed with excitement.

---

---

Polaris watched the scene involving the newcomer and the guards go down right before his eyes. He did not seem to blink and was generally unaffected by both it and by the tugging. The person who tugged him was the woman who had yet to introduce herself. He noticed the slight urgency in her voice and still remained as stoic as ever. One might have noticed a slight twitch when he was referred to as "Mr. Boss Man" though.

Polaris only took commands, he didn't direct them.

Before Polaris could even react, Jenso jumped in the conversation as well expressing the same sense of urgency. What? Had these people never gone to a city before? These threats were commonplace by far and were usually empty and without merit. "There is very little chance she will act upon these threats and even if she were to do so, the guards are perfectly capable of holding their own. Else-wise, they wouldn't have the position that they have."

Out of the corner of his eye, Polaris could see a brute of a man and his feminine companion approach the woman causing the scene at the gates. "Looks like they may be taking care of it anyway. Likely traveling together." Okay. That was a bit of a problem. If the three of them were to act on the threat, it could become a needless bloodbath.

Polaris found himself watching a bit more cautiously now and he saw the point towards the hill. It was at that very moment that the situation clicked in his mind: those three were to be their comrades on this quest. ". . Or they're with us."

Astiroth heard Josephine's comment about the repsonse his people took to burning their home to stop the plague. When she turned her attention to another, Astiroth did the same. Astiroth looked at Polaris and read him like a book. Astiroth approach Polaris with a calm demeanor. "Your tone and appearance is one that shows loss." Astiroth then sat down close to where Polaris was standing. "Take it from a demon who watxhed hos race be destroyed. While I don't know what you have been through, many of us held the same expression you carry now." Astiroth decided to stand back up, not really knowing why he sat to begin with. "I was able to tell ratger easily bit I won't pester you about it. The others may not be so accepting of your privacy. Smile once in awhile. Atleadt make yourself not look like you hate your life. It's easy once you pretend to like your life when you have done it for awhile." Astiroth walked off toward the edge of the hill and sat down. He was simply waitong for the journey to begin.

Money, she thought with a shrug at Josephine's comment.

A thief was always known to want money and used all their force to gain it. For part of her life that was true, taking what she needed and living off of it. Now, it was less convincing if she still followed behind that expectation. Perhaps it was the new way of living that now provided her next week's food or if anything, stealing was another one of her "games". Rather than reward money, a rare hunting bird or a lifetime free supply of apples from any shop or trade seemed better to Artemis. But it didn't make a difference either way.

"They are probably desperate with the sending of this many people," Artemis commented.

While in the pits of her mind, it seemed as though the others attention had been drawn to a problem at the gate. Artemis turned to look as she saw a woman acting in a threatening manner to the guards while two other strangers, opposite in most traits, approach her. The woman reminded her when she was at a more rebellious age. Its possible they were the last of the the group with their slightly striking appearances. Compared to them, it was only how Artemis was dressed that made her somewhat stand out. As she saw them point to the hill the group was upon, she couldn't help but smirk a little. Called it

"There is very little chance she will act upon these threats and even if she were to do so, the guards are perfectly capable of holding their own. Else-wise, they wouldn't have the position that they have."

Yep, most defiantly some sort of knight. He looked a bit irritated with the situation until it seemed he had reached the same conclusion as her. "Deer-duke" mentioned he could see through Polaris's behavior with his personal experiences, claiming the "if you believe, it might just come true," saying. Why not just kick him around a little? she concluded. It was probably just her who thought this. Maybe loosen him up a bit, better then a comment like that. With the thought in mind, this journey seemed more enjoyable than before.

---

---

Polaris was more focused on the trio that would soon be heading their way. Why hadn't they begun heading their way yet? Perhaps Polaris was wrong with his assumption and they wouldn't be traveling with them after all. Maybe that was for the better. He wasn't sure if he was capable of traveling with someone so hot-headed. Or this many people in general.

While he was observing the trio, he heard the demon speak. It was most certainly directed at him, but that didn't change his concern for the conversation in the slightest. How could he when there there was some nonsensical comments about loss and Polaris almost felt the urge to laugh? He might've done so if his laugh wasn't so ugly. Along with the smile, of course. Another nonsensical comment. To any onlooker, it was quite obvious that Polaris didn't hate his life. He only. . mildly had a problem with it at the moment and that was because of the fact that he would be traveling with twelve others. And what was that about loss again? In order for Polaris to feel loss, that would to have implied that he ever cared in the first place.

That is quite a stretch, Lord Astiroth.

Polaris didn't bother to respond to the demon and just watched him stalk off. What a fun journey this would be.

Cassius merely blinked at what was going on around him, he sighed at the bad puns, the horrible tempers, and it was just going to be a really long day even before the adventure began. But, at the very least Polaris was a man of honor. Weather he liked to be questioned or not was neither here, nor there for it did not matter, results were the most important thing in mind, any form of relationship was secondary.

"I'm curious..." Cassius looked to Polaris. "Might I pose thee a question aside from the one being asked if I may pose one?" Cassius may have just ran a circle around his head just now. But he did have a meaningful logic behind it. "How did the King exactly get ill? Was it sickness...? A Poison designed to look like a sickness...? Hmm... I suppose no one would know how to identify that last one... But this will need to be a quick journey either way. Not the fun kind." Cassius placed his helmet back on.

Location: At the edge of the capital city || Time: Just before dawn || Interacting With: @Lucius Cypher

Tai turned to the new person arriving at the scene and saw it was a orc like guy. She narrowed eyes as the guards just kept in her away having their swords out thanks to her little threat to their lives. They obviously didn't know she was joking, but hey she really couldn't less weather they thought she was serious or not. She held out a hand to Malakaus.

"My name is Taimane Hoshi. Nice to meet you sir" She said shaking his hand firmly. She made sure to keep her strength on the minimum since she just looked like a normal human mercenary and she didn't want anyone to know her secret.

"I take it that you are also on this quest by the king"She said

Shaking the girl’s hand Malakaus smiled. ”Not often I see someone with fire in their hearts like you. Are you also here for the king’s quest? If so, my friend and I were about to head to the meeting place. I understand you may have business in the city, I do as well, but we shouldn't miss the meeting before it’s too late.” Malakaus spoke slow and deliberately, trying his best not to slip into his accent again.

Illistrianna was already eager to meet her potential teammates, and Malakaus wouldn't mind meet them either. ”Taimane, correct? Let's go meet the team.” Malakaus headed towards the hill that the guard told Illistrianna about. He could see a large group of people, roughly ten, who have gathered for today's quest. This was large for a party. Perhaps this quest was more dangerous than he thought, or perhaps the group would be split into teams. No matter. Introductions are in order. Malakaus walk up to the group, his cloak around his body and flowing slightly by the wind as he moved.

”Good morning. My name is Malakaus Ralthavar Vorinclex. A pleasure to meet you.”

@Luna@Riffus Maximus

When Malakaus was finished speaking with the stranger who called herself Taimane, he was heading towards the group at the hill. Illistrianna cheerfully walked beside him, but she stopped for a minute when something in the corner of her eyes caught her attention. It was her silver bracelets she was wearing around her wrists. One was a chain with a full moon hanging loosely; the other was a band made of silver with the symbol of a crescent moon engraved on it. They were glowing faintly with the color of a pale moon light. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw this. Her jewelry that were in fact her weapons in sealed form would only glow this way if there were any kind of Lycanthropic creature in the area. Her eyes scanned the area for any sighting of such a creature, but she could see none. Was it hiding somewhere?

The elven priestess shook her head. No, she couldn’t afford to be distracted right now. She had to meet up with the group first. With a slow pace, she joined up behind her newly-made Orc friend just as he had finished introducing himself.

Illistrianna was impressed by the number of people that had gathered for what would have first seemed to be a rather simple quest. Things are not what they seem to be… she recalled in her head a familiar voice that often repeated this sentence, in her dreams.

The first person she had set her sights on was the strange man that had been sitting on the hill just as they arrived. A giant of a man, even taller that Malakaus, with red skin and long black hair. The most striking feature beside his skin was the antlers he had on his head. Illistrianna had never met such a person before; she wondered what race he could be. Something about him bothered her though. A strange, dark and sad aura she could feel emanating from him. She was definitively at unease when she gazed upon him.
@BKBurke

Next was one of the three who were standing at the edge of the hill, who have seemed to be looking at them as the odd trio approached the group. A rather plain-looking hunter who had them been watching with cold and dispassionate eyes. The elven maiden wondered if he was just in a bad mood.
@Cynder

Next to the insensitive-looking human was another one, this one however looked to be the complete opposite. A man of bright appearance, the fire of a burning passion in his eyes and an aura that exuded kindness. The Moon Elf could definitively see herself being on good terms with someone like that.
@Jensoman

The third person to have been on looking on the hill was a rather normal, albeit short, looking woman. She had the allure of a wandering mercenary, but there was something a bit off coming from her. Illistrianna couldn’t exactly put a finger on exactly what it was.
@LissaLu

There were plenty of other adventurers standing on the hill, but the four already at the edge of the hill, plus Malakaus standing tall as well, made it difficult to see who they were. It didn’t matter much for now, what was important was to introduce herself to the others, Illistrianna figured. There will be plenty of time from now on to get acquainted with the others.

“And I am Illistrianna Alderine. I am delighted to finally meet you all.” The priestess cheerfully added to Malakaus’ introduction.

Jenso sighed in relief as the situation near the gates seemed to have calmed down, and two of the three people headed up the hill. It seemed that they were indeed here for the king's quest, as well. His eyes widened as he looked at Malakaus and Illistrianna. The orc looked quite impressive in height and muscle, something that Jenso could respect, despite that the demon that was already in their midst was taller. "Wow! You look badass, dude!" Jenso complimented. He paused for a moment and blinked at the two. "Uh, I mean...Nice to meet you too! I'm Jenso!" He said in an excited tone, with a wide grin on his face. It was clear that being polite wasn't Jenso's strongest suit, but he did try to leave a good impression on everyone.

Vauldis' interest in the new arrivals was incredibly low, amusing himself by creating small shadow balls in his hands and attempting to shape them. His efforts were in vain as the balls seemed to move back to their original shape soon after being moulded.
The lycan immediately stopped after noticing the elf approach. Dissipating the dark spheres, he grinned and approached the elf "An elf?" Noticing her glowing weaponry he faltered for a moment before his toothy grin returned "A priestess no less,aren't you a little far from your temple?" While Vauldis had no personal experience with the elves, stories and legends of them and their werewolf slaying weapons were still told among the tribes to this day. However the weapon seemed to shine a little to much, after all, he wasn't a true werewolf Perhaps their weapons have became more sensitive over time.. The lycan then turned to Malakaus , he inspected him for a moment before turning back to the elf, waiting for a response.

Just as Illistrianna had finished introducing herself, the flamboyant man had come to greet them in a rather straight-forward manner. His pure honesty when speaking made the Elf giggle lightly. Her face would change rather abruptly as soon as she saw the ominous shadow that crept from behind the others and approached the Moon Elf specifically. Her usual smile turned into a frown when her eyes were laid upon the one who spoke to her.

There was no mistaking it; that humanoid wolf, standing in broad daylight could be none other than a Lycan, descendant from Werewolves. Compared to the Werewolves, who used to simply be accursed creatures who transformed at night and hunted down other people for feeding, Lycans grew to be more intelligent, albeit less stronger, and they often manifested their better intellect with dark and cruel designs. Enslaving and torturing Elves whenever they could had become a problem to elvenkind, which is why Lycans had become a mortal ennemy to the Elves, especially the Moon Elves, who were the ones to hunt the Werewolves.

His tone of voice was unpleasant, and the way he was scanning her left a chill to her spine. Still, she swallowed her hate for the Lycans and replied with a fake smile "The call for help has reached many, however far they are. That explains why so large and diverse the group seems to be."

The blue Elf could not allow her own disliking of the kin she used to hunt back in the days to ruin the possible harmony between the group. She could only but hide her feelings, and not play the Lycan's game of provocation.

Location: At the edge of the capital city || Time: Just before dawn || Interacting With: @Lucius Cypher@Riffus Maximus

Taimane watched him and then nodded. She then followed after the orc. She looked at the other person that was with them and took notice of the jewelry she had on. She had no idea what it was and was a little unnerved when the bracelet was glowing, but she didn't want to do something that could gain her attention.

"What is that bracelet used for" She asked as she heard with her sharp hearing, Malakus was introducing himself to everyone else in the group.

Just as Polaris had said, the group that had congregated at the gate slowly began making their way up the hill to greet them. rem pondered for a moment, there were a lot of them...they were looking less like a party and more like a company of sorts. There was no way that all of them would fit into a cart, meaning they would travel by foot; hopefully their walking speed and stamina would all line up, or it could cause conflict like it had in other parties she had traveled with.

Rem now took the opportunity to take a good look at the newest members of the company:

The first she locked onto was the spitfire girl who had caused the commotion at the gate...which thinking upon it now was quite silly since she was meeting up with a group that was outside of town. As she closed the distance, Rem could smell the wolf on her. Now, the girl wasn't holding up and illusionary spell that she could see through, kitsune have a way of identifying other shape-shifters as a self-defense mechanism, and since the girl smelled of a wolf...well, she could only assume the girl was a werewolf.

The second traveler Rem payed notice to was a large half-orc man, he looked a little different from other half-orcs she had seen, but she couldn't quite place her finger on why. He looked quite compitent, however, and she supposed that was all that mattered.

Rem finally allowed her eyes to settle on the last person, whose appearance had caught her off guard, if only slightly. The woman was an elf, which wasn't odd in itself, but her skin was a very beautiful shade of blue. Rem thought on it and realized that she had heard of elves that were blue, they were called Moon Elves, she believed? Though she had been told that they lived in isolated communities, so to see one in such an urban area, much less outside of their forest was quite astonishing. The woman initially gave off a chipper demeanor as she introduced herself, but it changed into something more guarded once she saw the lycan man in the back.

Rem decided that this might lead towards conflict in the party which made her more uncomfortable, so she figured the best thing to do was to distract the elven woman and derail her thoughts. Rem approached Illistrianna with a smile and held her hand out.

"It's nice to meet'cha, my names Rem." She than paused and scratched the back of her head, "gosh, with a beautiful woman like you around, it makes a simple country gal like me feel kinda plain..."

Her last statement was both true and a pure distraction tactic.

Just as she had finished speaking with the Lycan, others seemed to have taken an interest in meeting with the Lunaris, much to Illistrianna’s relief. At first, she was greeted by one of the people she first saw as she climbed the hill up, Rem as she called herself. While she was indeed shorter than average and modest-looking compared to the others, Illistrianna’s beliefs always told her to not overlook someone simply for what they look like.

Reaching out for Rem’s extended gesture of greetings, the elven priestess gently took it into her hands; the stern look she was bearing for the Lycan faded into her more natural smile and even allowed a giggle of glee to escape her lips “Thank you! But as our kin says, it is often in the most modest of flowers that lies its true hidden beauty. You seem to be far more experienced at this than some of us, even though seeming so young.”

Illistrianna turned to face the red-hooded woman that Malakaus and she had intercepted at the gates. It looked like she was curious about her glowing jewelry. “These are my weapons, or rather their sealed forms. They can become quite a handful when traveling, especially this one.” Illistrianna answered, letting go of Rem’s hand to show the hooded girl her moon-engraved silver bracer.

“I’m sorry if the glow is distracting, they usually only react this way when they sense creatures of the night, such as Werewolves or Vampires. Normally, the weapons of a Lunaris Priestess were made to hunt those.” the blue Elf added, taking a glance back at the Lycan in their group. "However, my days as a huntress are long over from the moment I left the Order. Now, these blades only serve to protect those who are preyed upon in the night. Which is why I promise I won't cause unprovocated issues to our group, as long as we are not doing any wrong-doing."