"Kind of? Most of us died before getting here. Some of the officials here think we were summoned from Earth to help them win this war. Which makes sense, because of the Source Mail message, which is basically like email back home. Anyway, we had to do a gold-tier mission from the Adventurer's Guild to access that, but it turns out the Witch Queen hacked the message from the Emperor so we don't know what it said. And she had tried sending a water ninja to kill us, so she clearly wanted us gone. So we know where to go next and why we're here, we just need to know how to get home. That's important, obviously.” Adam explained.
Alison for the first time in a long time, was at a loss for words. Questions overwhelmed her mind as the new information began filtering in from this explanation. As was her trained mind, she immediately tried to categorize and organize them from most to least important. A difficult task, but all of this seemed relevant and important. With a heavy sigh, "water ninja" was placed towards the bottom, a question for another day perhaps.
Either way, this was huge. She now had an idea of what may have been going on. As she had many times before, dots began to connect. There was this existential battle just beyond her view. Summoning people from another world took power and effort, otherwise, there would be far more of them. And they weren't set up to be nobodies. Each of them, whether farmhand, kid, or spook, was given special items and powers far beyond their previous lives. They were brought here to fight, to destroy this threat to this nation in the form of a Witch Queen. Realization further hit Alison as she began to think through the information again.
They were a contingency! The war was not in favor of the nation, that was obvious. The Witch Queen had the upper hand. So they spent some huge cost to bring them here. It had been deliberate too. Adam had said they had all died in some way. Perhaps that's why they were all chosen. Not for skill or ability, but because of their deaths. Someone, or more concerning,
something was being careful in who they removed from the world and dropped into the next. Perhaps their being dead at one point played a bigger part in this "Source" aptitude they all shared. But something went wrong. They were scattered, their communications were disrupted, and left to fend for themselves. A shiver went down Alison's spine. Darkly, she almost admires her newfound foe. The Witch Queen. What had once been a vague name spoken by scared peasants and officials, now was a personal enemy. An enemy that was powerful, competent, and careful. This queen had the advantage, and for the first time in her career, Alison was going to have to play on the back foot.
God what she would give for a pair of MQ-9s and a DELTA team...
As she thought, Adam continued,
“Oh, did you get a special item when you got here, like the rest of us? Like MacKensie's gauntlet, James’ holy symbol, or my orb.” At this, Adam took out his item, showing it to Alison and anyone else who cared to look. The object was a small orb with a rainbow-colored leaf inside. If not for the context, Alison could have easily thought of as some cheap novelty item. “That's one more thing you have in common with us, if so.” he finished, stowing the orb away again.
Alison crossed her arms and leaned back, head tilting to one side. She debated how she should go about it. A demonstration would be impressive, speak for itself, and demonstrate some of her skills, but the limited uses of this ability caused her to hesitate. Finally, she shrugged to herself. It was for the best they knew exactly what they were dealing with if they were going to trust each other, and Alison wanted to get them on her side as soon as possible. She rose from her seat and took one step back.
"Here, be easier if I just showed you," she said before she pulled her hood and veil down. Her face was obscured by the cloth that now covered her face, but otherwise, she seemed fairly unassuming. There was a brief shimmer of light before Alison suddenly was gone from view. Carefully, she softly stepped around the table, each placement of her foot deliberate and chosen to generate the least amount of sound. To those with keen hearing, they may pick up a hint of movement, but otherwise, she remained silent as she moved. A whisp as she glided around the table. After but a moment, she placed herself behind Adam and reappeared as a hand suddenly came down on his shoulder.
Alison pulled back the hood and cloth mask with a smile and a shrug. "This cloak of mine isn't just for fashion. I woke up with it. Seems to bend light in a way to make me as invisible as possible. It's not perfect. I can still make noise and if I move too fast, anyone with a sharp eye will see it distort. That and I can only use it a few times a day, but hey, I'm not complaining."
Moving back to her seat next to MacKensie, Alison took another sip from her mug and leaned back into a comfortable spot. "So, Adam. A lot there to unpack for me. First and foremost, what's this all about fantasy email? I know this world isn't exactly straight Dark Ages, what with the magic and tech, but you're telling me we not only get
magical email but that it can hacked too? Christ, and here I thought cyber warfare could be ignored here... Anyway, is this communication system only accessible through a magic computer or something?"
Alison then realized something and became almost embarrassed. "I uhh, also should mention I haven't worked with the 'Adventure's Guild', so these tiers and ranks are something I've never messed with. As you might imagine, Thieves Guild work isn't nearly as... 'structured' in practice, and I never saw any messaging system like that." she finished. If anything, she had even worked
against their interest a few times. The Thieves Guild was completely opposed to the Witch Queen and her armies, that much was true. Undead are bad for business after all. However, that didn't mean they had to get along with anyone.
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