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[AzyWng]

Johan mentally split up the payment equally and tried to calculate what he could buy with his share.

[_DivideByZero_]

Johan mentally split up the payment equally and tried to calculate what he could buy with his share.

His share would be 7-8 coppers. Common-tier artifacts sell for around a copper each, but could also buy you an apartment in a major city for a month.

[AzyWng]

Though he doubted he'd actually get a single copper due to his inability to contribute, Johan did nod, and looked to the others for their opinions.

[Caellath]

"That sounds reasonable, and we can share just fine." Gilles gestured to a waiter, asking for a portion of warm food and some water. "Anything else important you want us to know related to the job?"

[Egan_BW]

"Hmm hmm hmm, hm hmm hmmm. Hm hm hmm."

Idly take notes.

[_DivideByZero_]

(Time to get back into the habit of updating...)

Though he doubted he'd actually get a single copper due to his inability to contribute, Johan did nod, and looked to the others for their opinions.

William watchs Johan intently, as he talks. As Johan noticed his gaze, though, he averts his eyes.

"That sounds reasonable, and we can share just fine." Gilles gestured to a waiter, asking for a portion of warm food and some water. "Anything else important you want us to know related to the job?"

"I'm grateful that the nobles are taking this problem seriously. Our last mission was completed just seven days before the projected time to a Gilgamesh-class disaster. It was last month, actually, on the 32nd when we finished him off."
"Nobody wants to stop the end of the world. That's just uncool." William adds.

"To tell you the truth, we only added Lulu to the team recently. Before then we never made a habit of investigating before an operation, because we didn't really have the means to.

If I use my magic, I'll just reveal myself to the spirit and compromise the mission. Lulu's birds on the other hand--"
"It's true! No-one can detect them because they don't think. But they use mage power to float, I think Lucie said."
"It's actually not mage power, but it's an amulet. The specifics are complicated."

After the pre-mission dialogue, the food arrives: some warm soup, meat dumplings, Millenus' steaks (he seems to be taking advantage of the offer), and a healthy assortment of foods from across the Trench. This is, after all, the centerpoint of human civilization; none of the sister trenches surpass Marianas in its full glory.

"Hmm hmm hmm, hm hmm hmmm. Hm hm hmm."

Idly take notes.

Solj plays some dubstep while listening to the conversation.


After some time it seems apparent that the party should move. They could either leave during the night, or wait until morning and get some good sleep. One would assume they're already tired of walking in the cramped spaces of the labyrinth, and Johan really deserves a chance to get the slime off his hair.

[Egan_BW]

I do not sleep.

[Caellath]

"Let's sleep before leaving." Gilles wanted some rest after a day filled with excitement.

[WunderKatze]

But Raioyris was already asleep.

[AzyWng]

Johan took one look in the mirror and immediately tried to get his hair clean before going to bed.

[_DivideByZero_]

The next morning saw a fresh blanket of sand covering the ground. A thin mist fell from the sky. Within hours, the sand would become mud and the streets turn into a rancid mess. It would be prudent to leave before that happens.

A gauntleted hand knocks on the door to Raioyris' room, but it's not certain whether someone would answer the door. But the thud would be enough to wake up everyone else, and so today's journey begins.

(Report's due tomorrow. That's the last thing in the meantime, so I shouldn't be so busy anymore afterward.)

[Caellath]

Gilles woke up early like he usually did and was already ready to go.

[AzyWng]

Johan, still somewhat sleepy, crawled out of bed.

"Huh? What? Who's there?"

[_DivideByZero_]

Johan, still somewhat sleepy, crawled out of bed.

"Huh? What? Who's there?"

Gilles woke up early like he usually did and was already ready to go.

Lucia's in the hall.
"The others are waiting. Come on!"

With that, she facilitates dragging everyone else out of bed and soon the party is on its way past the rows of shacks in the village border and onward toward the mountain.


The horizon fades into pale swirls up ahead as the storm picks up. The sandstorm has followed the party, but independently of that, a trickle of snow is starting to fall from the sky. The temperature is still above freezing, so the ground is still bare yet moist.
The result is a vivid, yet barrel landscape. Dozens of flat rocks cover the earth, with flecks of grass poking out from underneath. Sometimes a rock will twitch as the party steps past, thanks to an animal retreating under its rocky burrow. Other times the wind will blow, and a dusting of snow mixed with sand settles on and mixes with clothes, visors, and equipment.

Millenus seems to have lost his nostrils, and is now breathing from gill-slits inside his neck.

...

As the storm thickens, it becomes difficult to see through the swirling mess of sand and snow. The temperature has dropped below freezing, and a thin crust of dirty snow crunches underfoot as the party continues.

Lucene holds up an arm, signaling for the party to stop. She then crouches down and puts a hand close to the ground.
"It's as if the spirits conspire against us. Perhaps the Count will be their champion among men."
She draws a staff out of the earth, a stone rod capped with a jet crow, black like opal. Twirling it in hand, she jabs it into the ground, and a crack opens up in the earth, splitting in two and creating a pathway ahead.
"Let's hurry," she shouts over the wind, arm extended toward the clear path up ahead. Sand and snow parts above the path to form a tunnel in the storm.

And then thunder strikes, painting the edge of the mountain against the momentarily blazing sky. And additionally: a gothic spire, standing against the horizon, a structure built long ago, but perhaps still inhabited.
Lightning strikes a second time, and this time with all eyes focused toward the castle, they see an additional figure at the base of the structure: a horse and rider.

(HighEndNoob is in)

[AzyWng]

Johan points out the rider and horse, then says, trying to be heard over the sandstorm, "Oh hey, a welcoming committee!"