Emperor Quintus Young, second of his name, stood in the ritual chamber of the northern tower of the Church, his gaze, stern in most occasions, now worried as he watched his best wizards preparing to invoke a spell from from the highest tiers of Source magic in the universe. Beads of sweat had already formed on his forehead. He cleared his throat. “Are you sure this will work?” He asked Teclis, his archmage.

“This is what was interpreted from the tomes,” was the reply. “It has to, or we are doomed.”

All wizards stood in place around a tablet in the centre circle of the room. Magical Source started to swirl around the room in all manner of colours while the wizards started to chant in unison. It had begun. The last hopes of the free world perhaps rested on this moment.

There was only a narrow window in the room though it seemed that it was more than enough to let the people inside feel that the wind outside of the tower had picked up. The electricity-like crackling of Source drowned out the chanting nearly every time it made a sound.

“How many of these heroes will be summoned?” The Emperor raised his voice so his archmage could hear him above all the noise.

“Difficult to say...as many as-”

Teclis was cut off when the Source turned dark and malevolent. This was not supposed to happen! The faces of the wizards were strained as their chants and incantations became louder. The air had changed. Dark clouds were forming outside the tower which you could see from the window. Wind blew hard, even inside, making parchments and books fly around. One of the wizards fell, unconscious. Archmage Titus, his voice booming off the walls, led the rest of the wizards with outstretched arms as he wrested with an unseen power. The room started to shake and another wizard dropped to the ground.

“This is not part of the summoning is it? What is happening?” The Emperor implored, his voice barely audible over the noise.

“It's HER! She's attempting to hijack the spell and summon the heroes to her location!”

“By the Quinity, do not let her!”

“We're giving it all we've got, your majesty but this magical energy...If we push it any harder the whole thing might explode!”



Somewhere, hundreds of miles away, in a dark chamber within the half-constucted stone tower of the newly named Azeroth. The Witch Queen laughed as she stood over her scrying pool of water. Singlehandedly she was fighting against the might of Capitol City's finest, realizing that she had become more powerful than she could have ever imagined. Soon she would have her revenge on The Empire. Everything was going to plan. She just had to rid herself of this one problem.

Still, she was not so powerful yet that it was not a struggle and she failed to completely hijack the ritual. It was only disrupted. The summoning of the heroes had been complete but their location was neither Azeroth or Capitol City. She cursed loudly and a flash of light left her hand. A skeleton warrior who had been standing close by, had turned into dust leaving only his sword which fell with a loud clang to the floor. "Where are they?" The Witch Queen snarled and she looked again in her scrying pool to find them...



A yawn escaped from the lips of the soldier standing on top of the wooden palisade that surrounded the small town of Hommas. He had been standing watch since that morning with nothing of interest happening. Sometimes they would face a lone monster like a man-sized spider or ogre that had come wandering out of the forest or a pack of ferocious wolves that were giving the farmers a hard time. For the most part, they could handle it, but slowly their garrison had been whittled away. Hommas' garrison was never large in the first place, so each loss hurt, and now they were a mere sixty-two strong. Sixty-two... to defend a whole town. Fortunately, Hommas was quite out of the way of the major trade routes, so the war would probably stay away from them.

The soldier leaned onto his spear and yawned once more, squinting his eyes, finding it difficult to keep them open.

“Back straight, soldier! By Ares, you're not sleeping on duty are you?”

The soldier jumped up and into attention as he turned his head towards the armoured knight who came up to him. Steel blue eyes in a hardened face, streaks of gray hair in his hair and beard, a long scar running down his right cheek. Their commander was a very intimidating man.

“No sir!” The soldier replied in a high pitched voice.

“Good. Best keep it that way. Eyes front! If something comes through that forest I want you to blow the horn and be ready to defend this town. If I find out that you're not paying attention to the dangers lurking around us, you don't have to be afraid of some monster. I'll gut you myself! Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes s-"

The commander watched his subordinate fall silent, then followed his eyes to the sky behind him and cursed. "By the fucking forked beard of Hades!"

...From the sky they fell. Eight large stone sarcophagi, plummeting to the ground. The first hit the town square with such a crash that it could be heard throughout the town. Five more landed with equal thunder near the first. The seventh smashed through the roof and a wall of some poor sods house, just on the edge of the town square. The eighth landed in the shallows of the river that ran through the town, sending a wave of water flying out in all directions.

Fortunately no one was hurt. Some were a little wet from the splash. The town square was uncracked, in spite of the impact. The poor old sod whose house was obliterated was somehow unharmed while he was bathing, and now watched the eighth coffin from his tub in paralysis. Residents of Hommas were frozen in the fear, some almost having a heart-attack from the sheer shock of it all. Nobody knew what to do.
After a moment, the coffin lids popped open and the people from another world, who were inside, would wake up.

"Well I'll be darned," after coughing and waving a hand to clear the dust as it flew through the air, a broad-shouldered man stepped out from the weird looking coffin he woke up in, dusting off his trousers with a bit of a confused look in his eyes beneath the wide-brimmed straw hat upon his head "This ain't Austin is it?" he looked between the stone sarcophogi then the wide-mouthed expressions on the faces of the people slowly gathering, they sure were dressed oddly.

"This wouldn't be one o'them Renaissance fairs would it?" the southern man asked, hefting the shovel laying next to him over his large shoulders and picking the familiar shape of a bag from the ground with the other. Clive didn't know he'd fallen asleep with his shovel, he guffawed to himself with a shake of his head not believing this all wasn't just some kind of fancy prank being pulled on him.

After all he was just a simple man, last he remembered he was out working the field on a hot day. Heat was dang well sweltering then he just blacked out, it just wasn't adding up.

It was light. Fenna opened her eyes and stared at the sky above her. Had she fainted? She sat up with the creaking of leather armour. With an astonished look she moved her hand over her attire - she had not been dressed like this moments ago - but paused when she noticed what looked to be a crystal on her left hand. She looked around, staring back at the villagers staring at her as she stepped out of the box. From where she stood she saw one house in ruins snd several other boxes. Coffins?

The only one who didn't look like the villagers was a man with a straw hat. She picked up the bow and quiver that had been lying next to her and examined the clothes she wore and the items she carried.

This had to be a dream or something.

She was dead, right? Yeah, she definately died. There was no way she'd survived that plane crash. But then, why was she thinking? How was she thinking? Was this the afterlife?

This train of thought was the spark that restarted MacKensie's five senses. The first thing she was aware of was her heartbeat, which would steadily begin to quicken as her anxiety grew. The air was musty, and above the faint sound of the her own breath, there was a voice coming from... outside? The questions began to pile up on top of the already important conundrum. She moved her hands and reached around to find that she was in an enclosed space, and that's when her eyes shot open in fright to total darkness.

Forgivingly, she wasn't made to panic in the claustrophic environment as the front of the box popped open and the young woman sat up into the open air, rushed to her feet, tripping in her hastiness and sending her tumbling out of the stone coffin, unceremoniously onto the floor with a whiney shriek. The pain from the fall had her fleetingly think that this was absolutely not the afterlife. She looked at her outstretched arms, not recognising her clothes. Her eyes went on to scan the surround, the strangely dressed folk gathering around to stare at her .

She gasped, paling with fear, eyes wide. Who the hell were these people!? And yes, she had indeed just jumped out of a freaking coffin! Butt-scooting backwards to sit against the coffin, MacKensie tried to calm herself.

Deep breaths Mac, she mentally coached herself.

She heard the voice again, much clearer this time, right behind her, and almost jumped out of her skin. A question. Confused tone.
"Renaissance fair?" she echoed quietly as she got up and peeked over the coffin, to see... "More coffins?"

She cautiously rose to her feet and spied a man - the owner of the voice - and another woman. They had clearly just woken up in the situation as her. But what on earth was the situation? She'd died! This could not be the afterlife, could it?

Arthur woke coughing up sea water, the last thing he remembered was that asshat Bill pushing him overboard. He looke down to find he was dressed in his uniform but instead in some sort of leather getup. He was also sitting in a coffin that seemed to be full of salt water and starfish? He poked one of the little critters and saw the crystal embedded in the back of his hand. He started to examine it with a raised brow. "Well it doesn't seem to hurt at least." He said as he finished looking at his new body art and examined his surroundings. There seemed to be quite the crowed around him and a few other coffins, with three othe people who looked just as confused as he felt.

He watched the crowd carefully as he started to stand, thats when he noticed three other things in his makeshift tidal pool. A bag, a set of what looked like black harpoons, and old fashioned anchor and about five foot of chain. He didn't know why but he had a feeling he'd probably should take them and well his gut was usually right. So he grabbed the bag that was somehow still dry and the harpoons and slung them onto his back and grabbed the anchor before stepping out of his soggy coffin and heading towards the others who seemed out of place. "Hey you two wouldn't happen to know what the hells going on would you?" He asked as he cautiously approached the guy with the wide brimmed hat. "Cause I have no clue where I am right now."

The things Adam remembered as he gained consciousness was the pain of getting hit by a snowmobile and sound of said vehicle as it seemed to instantaneously approach him. Not fun. Now he felt like he was slowly being hit with water, as if really slow hoses were running in several different directions all around him. If this is what death was like, it was a strange experience.

Then the coffin lid flipped open, and the man felt water rise up to his waist. Apparently he was in a river…that was right next to a small town…that was filled with people who looked like they came straight out of the Middle Ages. He took a second to examine himself as well; at least his clothing and equipment, even if it had that older style, were things he'd normally use…except for the orb. It was beautiful, containing a rainbow-colored leaf inside. The item explained nothing about what was going on though, but on the plus side it was a small comfort when he heard someone else ask about it:

"Hey you two wouldn't happen to know what the hells going on would you? Cause I have no clue where I am right now."

"You and me both," Adam thought. The question had not been directed at him though, so he didn't respond. That would've been rude. Instead, the man slowly got out of the coffin and walked toward where everyone else who had done the same was gathering. He sat on a wooden bench near a pot of sunflowers, intending to think about what was going on and how likely it was this was some kind of a dream.

"Definitely a dream…" he thought again, raising his right hand to scratch his back…until he noticed that the flowers had risen up with it.

"Bwah!" he exclaimed, jumping up out of shock as he threw the hand forward without conscious thought. And as if he had thrown it himself, the sunflowers and pot thrusted forward, the container breaking with an audible crack as it struck a nearby house.

Adam started breathing rapidly and heavily, his face looking as scared as he felt. This had to be a dream, so why did everything feel so real? The man really hoped he'd wake up soon!

"Ohhh, gods have mercy!"

When the lid popped open, Zell sat up slowly, eyes squint from the light. For a second, he didn't register the cries of anguish coming the old man nearby. He shook his head, trying to shake the cobwebs from his mind, placing a hand on his forehead for comfort. "Ugh. What happened?"

The last thing he could remember was leaving campus to head to the shops. He remembered Alex, his friend, offering to come along. He refused, said it was fine. Then... nothing. Just a complete blank.

Odd.

Palm still on his forehead, he suddenly became aware of his surroundings, his eyes darting left and right. then slowly but surely he turned his head to lock eyes with an old man, naked as the day he was born, staring right back.

"!!!"

"Agh, don't hurt me!" the old man yelled.

"Huh? No, I'm not gonna..." He started to get up, and the old man mirrored him. "Agh! No, don't get up!" he blurted out, not eager to see the junk of an elderly gentlemen. "I errr... you just stay... in there. I'm not going to hurt you, just err... you stay right there, kay."

Stood up, he looked over his shoulder to see the outside world, looked down to see he was stood in some sort of stone coffin, and also realised he waas dressed strangely and even had a sword on him. Before he could even process all of this new information, an old woman appeared in the doorway and started hollering all manner of curse words.

"Why you...! You see what you did to my house, you thrice-cursed adventurer bastard!" she thundered. "You better have gold to pay for this!"

"Lilian, be careful..."

"Shut up, Edric, you big coward," she shot back the man who had to be her husband.

A one sided grin grew on Zell's face as he appraised the spirited old woman, but it disappeared when she brandished a broomstick and charged him. "What the..."

"You self-absorbed, negligent, think-you're-so-special piece of..." she swung at Zell who backed up and fell backwards over and out of the coffin. The old woman did not halt her advance, or her swinging. "I see that source crystal in your hand, think you're so special because you have the gift..."

Zell's agility had him instantly back on his feet, and he backed up further, through the broken wall of the house and out into the square, still having to avoid the attacks. "I don't know what's going on... jeez, lady chill... don't you see a have a fucking sword."

Zell was caught between chuckling, indignation and straight-up confusion, all topped with the heavy dose of what-the-fuck. Finally she stopped, a heavy breath of resignation and a sneer at Zell before she turned about and threw her hands up at her destroyed house. "How in Mytheria do I fix this!?" then she shot a look at the gathering crowd in the square. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?" she screamed, then stormed back through the brand new door of her house to the flustered moaning of her husband. "Shut up Edric!" was the last thing anyone heard.

Zell watched them disappear further into the house. He was left with a tonne of questions, but decided to put them away for now. Then he turned around to see a host of other people next to another half-dozen coffins. He smiled awkwardly, scratching the the back of his head, his other hand gave a wave. "Hi," he greeted. "Ummm, anyone have any idea of what the fuck is going on?"

"Hey you two wouldn't happen to know what the hells going on would you?" When MacKensie caught sight of the giant of a man carrying the ship anchor, her eyebrows shot up. He must've been seven feet tall, the young woman reckoned, only seeming to get taller as he neared the group. "Cause I have no clue where I am right now."

As she was deciding wether to speak up or not, another soaking wet individual drew her attention with an exclaimation and the large cracking sound. Seeing the confusion written all over his face, she realised that he too was one of them. Whatever 'one of them' was. MacKensie was as full of questions as the others were. She looked back at the coffin forebodingly, then had a flashback of her final moments in that plane. All of her friends; the team, the coaches, screaming for their lives on a plane nosediving into the canyon.

The terror. The impact.

MacKensie shivered as she came back to reality. To wallow in such invasive thoughts would cripple her mind right now. Her expression changed when, in the coffin she was looking at, she realised she'd left some things behind. Reaching over and taking out the equipment, she recovered backpack, a weapon belt, a long dagger and a gauntlet.

She fastened the belt around her waist and the sheathed dagger fit nicely on her left hip. The one-handed crossbow clipped onto the belt at the small of her back. The gauntlet was strange. She put it on her left hand and felt some kind of 'chill' up her arm. It wasn't uncomfortable, just noticeable. In fact it was the opposite of uncomfortable, more like a feeling of attunement. She didn't know what the gauntlet did, all she knew was it was special, and it was right at home on her left arm.

In addition to the older woman with the bow, the two muscular men stood together and the young man sat on the bench, MacKensie noticed another had appeared; a stunningly beautiful japanese woman. She found herself staring a little at her, who seemed out of place in her kimono and makeup, even among the entire group who seemed out of place themselves. Unless this was indeed somewhere near Tokyo, where the Olympics were being held. But surely not? This place didn't look like anything one might see in Asia or any continent for that matter. The buildings, the clothing of the people... it was as if they'd travelled through time.

"You self-absorbed, negligent, think-you're-so-special piece of...!"

Mackensie turned around to see a man backing out a house towards them and an old woman attacking him with a broom. The whole scene played out in front of her and it was like a car crash - she simply couldn't turn away. When it was over...

"Hi," the new arrival greeted. MacKensie covered her quiet chuckle with her fingers. The comedic moment certainly lightened the mood. "Ummm, anyone have any idea of what the fuck is going on?"

"I don't think any of us here do," she finally spoke, looking at the group to see if anyone would challenge that notion. It seemed not. "I umm... I woke up here after I..."

I died. It was so difficult to say out loud. How could she have died, it just didn't make sense.

"I was on a plane before I ended up here. But I can't make sense of any of it. Does anyone know what country this is? My team and I were on our way to Japan. For the Olympics."

The first thing that James' newly awakened mind noticed was the cold feeling that permeated his body, the second thing was the memory of the flames and the situation he had found himself in just a moment ago.

'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!' Without thinking it twice he kicked the piece of debris that had fallen above him, just enough to pry it open with his crowbar thankful all the while that it hadn't fallen directly on top of him, what he wasn't expecting however was the lack of burning building or the apparently medieval town he found himself in, looking around all he could see was townfolk(?) and a group of people that seemed as confused and bewildered as he felt.

"What the fuc-"

A bunch of voices interrupted him, some screaming and some barely whispering but it was enough to make his mind refocus on the current situation, on one hand he didn't know where he was and wasn't sure how he arrived here, on the other screams, the heat of the fire and sheer soul-crushing TERROR as a piece of debris headed towards him... yeah maybe it was better to not think about all that right now.

With no other thing to occupy his mind with he looked at his feet earning himself another surprise, he wasn't wearing pajamas anymore now his attire looked something like modified baggy robes of some sort with some kind of prayer-like thing tied around his right hand, his crowbar had become some kind of heavy staff and a strange gem was incrusted on his hand. All in all, he was left with more questions than he started with, looking around again his gaze affixed itself on the group he had noticed before, looking closely he could see that they all wore clothing that was distinctive and they all also possessed the same crystal in a hand.

'Hell why not?' With that last thought he started walking to join the rest of the group, with some luck they would have an answer to whatever was going on.

Commander Vadim Jalmer rushed through the town, gathering guardsmen as he past them.

"You. With me. And you. This way."

By the time he was on Main Street he had a score of men with him. The old and grizzled commander of the guard wasn't sure what to expect, but he was ready for anything. On approach, he saw that residents were gathering at the landing sight of the stone tablets that fell from the sky. That much already told him that whatever was happening was safe. For now.

"Out of the way," he barked, pushing through the crowd with his cohort.

When he got a clear view of the Hommas' town square, his steel-blue eyes scanned the scene. The stone tablets were quite a bit bigger than expected. And it appeared that they had passengers. He approached cautiously, but walked tall, authoratively and unafraid.

"What is the meaning of this!?" he looked upon the group, seeing that they all bore the gift of the Source crystal. Bloody adventurers with their unique brands of trouble making. After seeing one of the houses was half-destroyed, his anger rose. "Speak quickly, or I'll arrest you all this instant!"

He started walking among them, giving each a closer look. His sword arm tingled. He was ready to draw his weapon at a moments notice. Commander Vadim Jalmer was famed in Hommas for his skill and had endured many hardships, defending this backwater town from the fury of the wild. He may or may not be able to match against an adventurer party. Probably not if they were experienced. But he NOT would bow to them, and they WOULD follow the law, Mother Iris be witness.

His men fanned out and drew their weapons. Twenty guardsmen, making a half-circle around the group, ready to rush in and subdue the threat.



"Get your arse up!" one of the guards shouted at Adam, approaching him sternly and waving his weapon to usher him towards the group. "Don't make any sudden moves."

Fenna watched as everyone gathered, still trying to process what had happened. When someone - was he carrying an anchor? - addressed her with the question if she knew what was going on, all she could do was say was that she didn't. They all didn't belong here, that was beyond a doubt. The way the villages gaped at them, some with surprise and others with distrust.

Her attention was caught by the commotion in the destroyed house and she watched the woman with a broom attacking someone. She couldn't really blame the woman, as she had lost her house, but it was not their fault these stone boxes were here. How had she gotten here? She didn't even remember getting into one of these; she had been at home and then here... wherever here was.

A younger woman with a crossbow approached them and she explained she had been on a plane before. The following question was one she couldn't answer. What country was this? What world was this?

She was about to say something when guards approached them and the leader asked what the meaning of this was. How could she even begin to answer that question? As the guardsmen formed a half-circle around them with weapons drawn, she contemplated the best course of action. Would he even believe the truth? It was worth a shot - figuratively speaking, of course, she had no intention to fire her bow, that would only make her actually seem dangerous.
"I don't know what you want to arrest us for, sir,' she said. "I, and I assume the others too, just woke up here. I don't know how I got here."

"Get your arse up! Don't make any sudden moves."

"Well, this is going well," Adam thought. He considered running away from the "arse" guard; the idea of getting stabbed wasn't appealing at all, but maybe that would wake him up, and that definitely was appealing. However, something in Adam's head told him that this still felt all too real, and that thought guided his decision.

"Yes sir" the man responded, still feeling alarmed at the whole situation but grateful that he was able to think somewhat clearly about it all.

"Move!" the guard yelled, pointing at the group of newcomers with one hand while keeping his weapon aimed at Adam with the other. The man obeyed the instruction, reflecting that this authority figure was nothing like the cops back home. This, and curiosity, inspired a slight bit of defiance from Adam; glancing to make sure the "arse" wasn't watching the right area, he moved one of his hands as if he was lifting something up. And as was planned, the sunflowers that were lying against the house stood back up. The man smiled a bit; that felt like the right way to do things, it gave him more insight into whatever was going on here, and it went against whatever authority was in charge here.

As Adam moved towards the rest of the group, he heard a woman speak:

"I don't know what you want to arrest us for, sir. I, and I assume the others too, just woke up here. I don't know how I got here."

She made sense, unlike the guard, so he decided to place himself near her, offering a smile and nod if she looked his way. This lady also had a longbow for some reason, he noticed; this really did feel like the middle ages. Adam hoped either everything would make sense soon or he'd wake up from this dream soon - whatever this was, this was new territory for the man.

Olympics? Aeroplanes? who in sweet Jesus were these people? If this wasn't some kind of weird joke, it weren't getting any funnier that's for sure. Clive shifted his hat a bit revealing a pair of bright sea-green eyes that passed gaze over the other folks in the town square, his attention snapped towards the direction of a growling voice barking for the crowd to disperse.

Clive recognized the kind, authoritative and not too patient probably pissed off most of the time cause they ain't had their morning coffee. The man had a steely-eyed look to him, old and grizzled in his suit of what the southern man could only guess was authentic armor; the kind them medieval folks wore.

Scratching his forehead Clive tipped his hat to the angry looking man "Mister, I ain't even sure where in gods name I am." in earnest he wasn't very sure if any of this was real but he sure felt it was, the air was filled with the strong smell of fish, something like animal shit coming from far off and Clive wondered if maybe he hadn't just blacked out "Listen sir, I ain't nothin' but a simple farm man this is all confusing as...Pardon my language but it's confusing as heck."

A frown pulled at the side of his mouth, scratching the back of his neck with a gloved hand Clive looked a little concerned with the way the commander was standing like he was about to come out swinging with that weapon at his side. Though Clive's attention was drawn to a soft glow in his worn old work gloves that distracted him a moment. Must be the sun, what fried his brain he dismissed the glow as nothing but his imagination for the moment returning his gaze to the man circling the lot of them.

"Now, let's all just get our darn britches untangled for a second here mister. This is most like a big ol' misunderstanding I reckon." trying to be a voice of reason Clive held up a hand for the guard commander to stop, maybe see they were all confused and shocked just as he or the other folk gawking at them were.

Of the group, the one to answer him was a woman that looked about his own age. His brow quirked slightly when she spoke in a French accent, and her response was even more of a mystery. She was on a plane, then blank. And she ended up here. It felt eerily similar to his own experience. Zell sighed, at a loss for words. He looked at the others and saw that no one really had any answers. Not how they got here. Not what country this was. Nada.

Half of the group, including himself, looked like they were dressed for a medieval battlefield. Zell drew the sword off his back. A longsword. Of decent make. He gave it a few swings. Well balanced.

"???" he grunted in confusion.

Wait a minute, he thought to himself. How do I know this stuff? He gave the sword another swing. Somehow he knew that his technique was expertly polished. "Wow," he said breathlessly as he appraised his sword with a trained eye. It was frightning how comfortable he was with all this. He'd never touched a sword in his life!

"What is the meaning of this!?"

Everything was interupted when a squad of police turned up. Trouble. The officer in charge took one look at the smashed up house... Crap! ...and angrily started demanding answers.

One woman spoke up for them, claiming their innocence. She was European too, though not English or French, Zell couldn't quite place her accent. She spoke level-headedly and (hopefully) convincing enough. Zell sheathed his sword and opened his arms to the police surrounding them, then carefully moved in towards the rest of the group, taking up position next to the French girl. Another younger guy was bullied off the bench he was sat on and ushered to the group. Zell felt like they were being rounded up for a slaughter. Funnily enough, he wasn't at all scared. For some reason, he was confident they would all get out of this situation. Even if they had to fight their way out.

Eyes still on the guards, he tilted his head slightly to the left, where the French girl was stood next to him. "Bit of a cutey pie, aren't ya," he said quietly.

"Mister, I ain't even sure where in gods name I am." Well that was an American accent if ever Zell had heard one! Seemed as though there were a bunch of different people gathered here. Curiouser and curiouser. "Listen sir, I ain't nothin' but a simple farm man this is all confusing as...Pardon my language but it's confusing as heck."

"Ha. I like that guy," was another comment from the smart-mouth Undergrad.

The American helped the European woman try to quell the officer's inquiries. Zell decided to stay out of it, partly because he would likely only make things worse, (He didn't get on too well with police,) but partly because he was the one who'd smashed up the house! Hopefully they'd resolve this before Ol' Lilian and Edric came out of the building fingered him for the crime.

'Maybe becoming part of this group was a mistake'

First, there were the guards (fucking cops?) coming to arrest them for doing... something, he still wasn't sure if it was for the smashed house or the disturbance of the peace that the confused and possibly mentally unwell group of people (himself included) had caused. Hell for everything he knew falling from the sky in a stone coffin was illegal or some such in whatever the hell this place was, still he would have complied and tried to get some answers but then they had to draw actual fucking swords at them, the maybe deranged group of people with weapons (and a shovel, and a briefcase, and a fishing pole, an...) which didn't speak for someone that desired a peaceful resolution, made worse by the fact that they were twice as many as his little group. Watching the big guy and the woman with the bow trying to calm down the situation made his nerves settle somewhat, good to know that at least the people he was grouped with were calm and collec-


'Ah fuck'

Okay, scrap that, there was a really good chance the captain or whatever he was decided that it was easier to subdue than to talk with a bunch of people who may very well be actually insane. The seriousness of the situation settled a bit more and more, each second felt like he once again was in over his head and for a second he felt as if he was back in the fire again.

His breath started to get heavy and he felt himself flush, he needed to cool down he didn't want to die!, he needed to remain calm he was burning!, panic wouldn't help his situation anyone! please! HELP!!!, he just needed to endure.

It felt like a dam breaking. The feeling was heavy and freezing but in a pleasant way, like a bath after working out or the feeling of a cold drink on a hot day, it swept and crushed the panic that moments ago was threatening to engulf him leaving behind a dazed clarity and a strange sense that he had never felt before, plus a very clear set of words inscribed themselves on his mind.

Raising the now-comfortable symbol in a two-handed grip he brought it close to his face, less than an inch away from his mouth, and then he prayed in a whispery, almost intimate manner.

"I call to you Lord Undaya, Ruler of the seas and King of the ocean, bestow upon us your blessing, to be as cold and unwavering as you are in the deep below"

He felt several things happen at the same time, first some sort of transparent energy enveloped himself and his allies, in particular it rushed to the one with the anchor in an almost eager fashion, then once the energy settled he felt like a hundred small things that he never noticed stop bothering him and a certainty that his body was simply more resilient for the time being. Then the knowledge of the payment for casting such a thing came to the front of his mind like a sledgehammer and he lost the stunned lucidity that had enveloped him.

"What do you mean 'Go jump in a river'!?"

The sound of crashing waves that almost sounded like laughter was all the answers he got.

It seemed they were all in the same boat, they had no idea what was going on. Aruther looked over the group and then himself as he wondered if maybe he was dreaming? 'No this feels to real to be a dream.' He thought before he noticed a the crowed that had gathered start to part and a group of armed...soldiers..guards...well what ever they were they had sharp pointy swords and looked angry. He tighted his grip on the anchor he held as he watched them encase them in a semi circle. 'There trying to box us in so it's harder for us to run or they don't like our answers. Smart.'

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire." He mumbled to himself as he got ready in case he had to defend himself. The leader of these stated barking at them to explain themselves. This caused Arthur to chuckle. 'Oh I wish I could. Though I guess that does answers what they are.' He thought as the others tried to diffuse the situation. Arthur just stood back and tried his best to look nonthreatening, and probably failing. 'Lets hope they are better at talking than me, otherwise we are so fucked.'

He looked once again at the crystal embedded in the back of his hand and then at all the others then back to the leader of guards and was reminded of one of his a few CO's he'd worked under, the hardass no nonesense kind. 'Let's hope I'm wrong. And there goes the fancy one lying through there teeth. Welp they tried.' He shook his head as the fancy girl winked at them. If they lived through this he was going to strangle the little gremlin.

Commander Vadim walked up to Fenna.

"Once a man tried to claim amnesia when he was caught breaking into a victim's home. Another time, a criminal tried to pretend he had the sleep-walking sickness," he told the woman. "If I had a copper for every time I'd heard a thief claim that 'they didn't know how that stolen item ended up in their home.' The predictability of excuses."

When Clive tried to reason with him, Vadim regarded the man over his shoulder, listening but unmoved.

"A misunderstanding you say. Then how do explain that house!?" he ended his question turning to Clive and pointing back at the destroyed building. "Property damage of that magnitude is no misunderstanding. And comes with a hefty fine, I might add."

"My..my. Is that how you address someone with heavenly mandate and of high-esteemed position of a Noble & what more of an Actress..."

He didn't even let Kyouka finish her flowery soliliquy.

"Quiet! I've heard enough of your excuses!"

Suddenly there was loud shouting coming from the eastern gate, at the end of Main Street. Vadim knew the sounds of his own men. Then the town bell began ringing. It wasn't long before guards from the eastern gate came running.

"Commander!" the guard came through. "A traveller flown in on horseback to report an a raiding force of The Witch Queen heading our way. We see them on the horizon."

Why would she come for us. What strategic importance comes with such a small town so far off the main trade routes. Will she leave no stone unturned? "How many?"

"200 strong, at least. Skeletons, with two ogres in tow."

Our garrsion is worn thin, Vadim thought to himself. They'd been whittled down over the last two months from 140 men to a mere 62. And 20 of them had been loaned to Bridgeton to help with the sudden activity of goblin caves. That left a garrison that could not handle this attack.

"Your orders, Commander."

Vadim could not take any chances with his citizens. He had to protect them above all else. "Order an evacuation of the town. All citizens must leave by the west road and make for Bridgeton."

"But Commander, theres no time. The enemy will catch us on the road."

"Not if we hold the gate. Do not question me, soldier. You have your orders. All citizens are to leave immediately. Harold. Farkner. Take 5 men with you to provide escort, promote any citizen with courage to help. The rest will stay of us will stay and hold off the raiding force."

"Sir."

"Sir."

Vadim turned to the group of adventurers. "However and whyever you are here is no longer of any consequence. The citizens of Hommas need your help. I need your help. Of course, as adventurers, you have no obligation to stay, but I'm asking you... please, take this contract: Hold the gate with our men, so that these folk may live to see another day."

It was a quick and messy contract. Not official - stamped by the Adventurers Guild. There wasn't even a reward worked out. Such a contract would be rejected by most adventurers probably. He looked over all of them as his men rushed off to the gate. There were calls for his attention and so he half-turned away from them. "Follow if you will."

He wouldn't beg. He was too proud. 35 men to hold against 200 skeleton warriors and 2 ogres. It was a death sentence without the adventurers. But if they could just hold long enough then he would happily give his life for that.

Finally he turned his back on them and ran east. When he arrived at the gate, he climbed the palisade and looked to the horizon where he saw the raiding force. He did his best to look stern, to hide his fears, and then started barking orders.

The men closed the flimsy wooden gate. It wouldn't hold long. All those with archery skill stood on the palisade for the time being, but the real fight would be on the ground and they need everyone there when the gate was breached.

Adam listened as the people next to him tried reasoning with the guards, all without success. At least the Japanese woman was somewhat amusing with her attempt. The yelling from the authorities kept unabated until finally something caused it to stop; a reported invasion from creatures straight out of Dungeons and Dragons. The man listened to the "commander" ask for help before he ran off towards his supposed soldiers.

All of this led Adam to be deep in thought. He wanted to run away, get away from these lunatics with swords and help his fellow prisoners of circumstance be free as well. But the man knew well enough from his brother's D&D games that these ogres weren't going to this town to get their swamp back. These were bad creatures, not Shrek, and that made the proper course of action clear as day.

Adam sighed before speaking. "Assuming any of this is real…we should do the right thing and help these people. But we should be alert, and stay close to each other. These guards will probably turn on us once this is done, and we'll need to work together."

Saying this, the man started walking in the direction of the wooden gate, hoping these fellow coffin arrivals would make a good team. Circumstance had brought them together, but whether that was luck or cruel fate was something Adam did not know.