[center][@Teyao][@AvaP][/center] [Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/dpGJzxD.jpg[/img][/center] New to Alison and familiar to James, the interior of the Adventurer's Guild still looked fairly normal with business as usual happening in the common area. Adventurers were dotted about in ones, two and threes, enjoying some downtime away from the busy industrial, military and magical sectors of Valhiem. No party was whole, such was the demand for Source Crystal manpower in the preparations, and no one was sat in leisure for too long before getting up to leave and return to their work elsewhere in the city. The vast majority of Adventurer parties were Silver and Gold ranked, with the odd Bronze tier here and there. All those Platinum and above had long since left Valhiem to answer the call of [i]Capitol City, The Fortress of Fornost[/i] and other places where military might was needed most. James Sirius drew the attention of a fair few pairs of eyes upon entering, including Terence the barkeep. By now, everyone knew about the party, Second Chance, who came from another world. James and Alison would find Lucy Bottrill, [i]2nd Guildmaster of The Adventurer's Guild: Valhiem Chapter[/i], at her desk up the stairs on the mezzanine floor where she liked to work. [Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/r5h47Ts.jpg[/img][/center] Scribble, Lucy's dog, jumped off the Easterner Elf's shoulder and ran to James to bark at him, but the little dog's yapping shrank away when Alison made it to the top of the stairs. Scribble could sense the presence of Alison's [i]Whispers[/i], whimpered and ran back to Lucy to hide behind the desk. Lucy managed to catch this, but did not let it bother her too much as she got up and placed her hands on the desk. "Hello James," she greeted. She never forgot a face anyway, but she had also been dealing with Second Chance a lot since their arrival in the city. "What can I do for you?" "Hey Guildmaster, this is Alison" He signaled at the woman "Afternoon Alison." She gave Alison a nod and then looked back at James. "I want to register her as another member of Second Chance" "Not a problem. Strength in numbers, I see. Good call," she said before gesturing to the Source Crystal scanner embedded in the desk. "If you'd both like to scan your crystal, I'll get you set up." When she found out that their intention was to use the Source Comm, she first refused and explained that the system had been compromised and shut down. But, understanding that Second Chance were an exceptional cicumstance and potentially highly important, she agreed to let them look at their Comms so long as they did not send any messages out. "Alison Walker," Lucy read on the system, checking a few other details before looking at the woman. "You're not from here," she noted. "Have you been in Valhiem long?" she asked, making small talk while she updated Second Chance's details and finalized the registration. Once it was done, she placed her hands back on the desk. "Alright, you are now officially a member of Second Chance." She rebooted the Source Comm system and left them at the computer terminal to read their messages, then read up information on Alison, her experienced eyes figuring out from the abnormalities in the data that the Rogue was also from another world. Another shocking development. Lucy looked warily at the new woman, wondering how she had only just turned up now. The guildmaster would have to report this as soon as possible. As for the message that James and Alison had come to read... [Center]___________________________________________________________[/center] [quote][i]This is an Imperial Missive from His Majesty, Emperor Quintus Young:[/i] To those who read this message, I hope it has found you well. Please take my words in utmost urgency and with great understanding and patience, for I know that it will likely not have been easy to get this far. You.......... ............ .............. .............. ........... ........... . . [Center]n̸̢̡̪̺͖̫̹̯̜͖͇̜͙̋͂ͅͅë̷͚̳̗͙̝̠̤͚͖́n̸̢̡̪̺͖̫̹̯̜͖͇̜͙̋͂ͅͅt̶̛̬̠̞͇̱͌̈̐͗̀̉̊̿̒͛SoUrCE̶̹͕̤͓̲͌̈͆̿͆ m̷̛͍͂͆̈́́͠l̸̤͈̣̣͓̘̺̞̗̟͌̋̐̿͠͠t̶̛̬̠̞͇̱͌̈̐͗̀̉̊̿̒͛C0DE̶̹͕̤͓̲͌̈͆̿͆ ẖ̷͙̼̭̣̖̥̫̝̜͛̾̍̈̾̊̂͛͘͝ţ̷̰̯̼̖̰̝͍͇̻̣͍̩͌̕m̷̛͍͂͆̈́́͠ -C0RrUpPt̶̛̬̠̞͌ỉ̶̧̨̤͓̙̬̠͐̀̃͂̀̃̊̔̾̈̕D------------ẖ̷͙̼̭̣̖̥̫̝̜͛̾̍̈̾̊̂͛͘͝m̷̛͍͂͆̈́́͠ë̷͚̳̗͙̝̠̤͚͖́g̵̡̜̖͙͍̥̹̟͎͙̱̞̘̈́̀̒̑͋̃̎UnAblE̶̹͕̤͓̲͌̈͆̿͆g̵̡̜̖͙͍̥̹̟͎͙̱̞̘̈́̀̒̑͋̃̎̌̎̐̀͊͑̒̕ẖ̷͙̼̭̣̖̥̫̝̜͛̾̍̈̾̊̂͛͘͝n̸̢̡̪̺͖̫̹̯̜͖͇̜͙̋͂ͅͅ--T0-ë̷͚̳̗͙̝̠̤͚͖́n̸̢̡̪̺͖̫̹̯̜͖͇̜͙̋͂ͅͅt̶̛̬̠̞͇̱͌̈̐͗̀̉̊̿̒͛Pl̸̤͈̣̣͓̘̺̞̗̟͌̋̐̿͠͠rOcEsS-n̸̢̡̪̺͖̫̹̯̜͖͇̜͙̋͂ͅͅë̷͚̳̗͙̝̠̤͚͖́n̸̢̡̪̺͖̫̹̯̜͖͇̜͙̋͂ͅͅt̶̛̬̠̞͇̱͌̈̐͗̀̉̊̿̒͛[/center] . . ........... .............. ............. ............. .............. ............. ............. .......... ............ .......... .......... ........... ........... I see you. You do not belong here. I'm sorry. You should not have been dragged into this. Those who did so are selfish, ignorant, manipulative and unworthy of you. I can send you back. To your world. Where you belong. From where you should not have been stolen. I will return you to your rightful place. Back in your familiar world. Back with your families and friends. I'm sure both miss you very much. Let me help you. Abandon those who are trying to drag you into this war. A war you do not understand. A war that they will show in a light that favors them. Do not listen to the lies of the guilty. Or the lies of brainwashed. They will paint me as the cause of all suffering. Label me, [i]The Evil Witch Queen[/i]. They will paint this world as Black and White - Good and Evil. They will paint the imposter Emperor as the righteous. The only truth they will actually tell you is that I [i]am[/i] the leader of the invading army. I am the aggressor in this war. This much is true, I do not deny it. Nor do I deny using brainless beasts to help me. For the brainless cannot be brainwashed. It is all I have. We have a lot in common, you and I. Having our rightful lives stolen from us. Now being used as political tools for usurpers and traitors to Ileandra Young the Great's ideals and foundations. Let me help you go back home. East. East to Azeroth. The road is dangerous. Wartime cares little for innocent lives, unfortunately. Those who walk in the path of the Warmachine will get trampled. An unfortunate consequence of a much greater cause. East. East to Azeroth, is where you will find me. Is where you will find salvation. Come of your own free will, and the closer you get, the safer the lands will become for you. My power and influence increases the further east you go. The closer you get to Azeroth. I promise that you will be treated kindly. I promise not to use you until your bodies and spirits are dried up, dangling fake promises and platitudes in your face like carrots for horses. [u][i][b]I[/b][/i][/u] was not the one who stole you from your former life. [u][i][b]I[/b][/i][/u] am not the one who seeks to use you a tool for ends you do understand. But [u][i][b]I[/b][/i][/u] [i]can[/i] be the one to save you from your nightmare. [i]Yours faithfully, Melina Rasputia Young, the Rightful Empress of The Free Peoples Empire.[/i][/quote]