The sun rose slowly across the sea, golden light shining in through the window of Svaudna’s room. She woke slowly, as the early morning light filled the chamber, and sat up, pushing the covers off. She had returned late and, in the darkness of the night, hadn’t gotten a proper look before passing out, so she took a moment to look around now. The room was comfortably sized, her bed in the center of the right wall, across from a wardrobe and writing desk on the left. Against the far wall from the door was a long chest under a paneled glass window, on top of which now rested her freshly cleaned armor and clothing.

Svaudna swung her feet to the side and hopped out of bed, pulling her clothing on; a long-sleeve, purple button-up she wore under a brown vest and tucked into a pair of tough brown pants held up by a leather belt. She still kept her hammer on her, hung on her right hip, but left her shield resting against the desk. Sliding her feet into her boots, she turned the lowest doorknob, it had two for guests of different heights, and stepped out into the hallway.

The hall was as quiet as it had been the night before, most guests here didn’t awake at the crack of dawn, so Svaudna locked her door and headed down to the front desk. The first floor was mostly empty, one or two patrons were eating quietly, the sounds of their silverware and the crackling of the fireplace the only noise to fill this space. To Svaudna’s surprise, Svish was at one of the tables already, enjoying a small meal.

Behind the counter was the satyr they had seen before, who looked particularly exhausted. An older, plump satyr with her orange hair tied back tapped the younger’s shoulder, gesturing for them to leave. They gratefully hung their apron and left the tavern as Svaudna joined her new friend.

Slowly, the morning wore on, and they were joined by Astrari, Monodris and, finally, Tana. The group shared a quiet morning together, eating and exchanging idle chatter. It wasn’t until just before noon that four members of the guard finally came to fetch them.

The group was escorted through the damaged, quiet city, up to its highest point. A huge stone wall encircled the top of the city, its entryways barred by hefty steel gates. Svish watched with wide eyes as, unbidden, the gates swung slowly open to let them inside.

Unlike the rest of the city, this area was a sort of park, simple cobbled pathways fenced in by hedges ran from the five major gates through flat, grassy ground, where occasionally a tree was allowed to grow more freely than in the city itself. In the center of the park, a huge tower of white stone stretched above the city itself, five massive supports curving down across the garden to keep it steady. The city had been quiet before, but this area was bathed in absolute silence, not even the leaves of the trees dared to rustle.

“Spared no expense round ‘ere,” Svaudna remarked. Her voice crashing out through the park like a wave, the relief of a long withheld exhale through the tension.

“I didn’t know the city even had a park,” Astrari whispered.

“Just fer the council, then?”

“More for everyone working in the tower, I’d say.”

As the group reached the base of the tower, they found there were no stairs or ladders, rather a huge stone slab set in the ground, with an ornate metal railing around its edge. The guards opened a small gate and herded them aboard, stepping on after them.

A circle of runes lit up beneath their feet and the whole slab raised off the ground. Astrari grabbed her hat to keep it from being blown off as they were lifted swiftly up the tower, the ground dropping away beneath them.

“Gods…” Svaudna muttered, gazing at the ground beneath, even as they left it behind.

“No expense,” Astrari teased.

The elevator began to slow as it neared the top, some sixty, seventy feet off the ground. It entered the wide top of the tower, coming to a smooth halt at the end of a small hallway. This area was quiet and dimly lit, comfortable benches to either side. Ahead of them, they could just see the larger council hall and faintly hear the voices of the members within.

The guards led them into the hall, a huge, open space with a gorgeous stained glass ceiling depicting six faceless individuals. Raised against one wall was a long, curved table of white wood, with seven people seated behind it, speaking in quiet tones. At the head of the table was a pale-skinned, blonde elf, sturdy features with a reserved expression. To either side sat another elf, though one possessed blue skin and strange, aquatic features, and the other was a half-elf, curly-haired and dark-skinned. Beside them sat a minotaur, a bull-headed humanoid with a hulking frame like Monodris’, a small, blue-eyed gnome, a fey like Astrari, though they were a bright yellow compared to her orange shades, and a sort of humanoid eagle, sharp yellow eyes observing the group as they entered. Behind them, a long, curved silver mirror stretched to reflect the full council, but its surface was fogged over.

The guards led the group to a raised podium before the council, taking positions on each corner. They tapped their halberds against the hardwood floor, the sound resonating through the chamber, and the council fell quiet. Tana and Monodris shared a look as the council looked down at them, their severe expressions weren’t lost on the pair.

“Greetings, adventurers. I am Erdevan, head of the Telthorian council,” he said. Erdevan was an unusually strongly built elf, whose simple brown hair and eyes paired with a set of brown and white clothing, and whose serious features made him difficult to read, “I understand you stood in defense of our marketplace. For this act of good, and on behalf of the city of Telthoril, the Telthorian council hereby awards you seventy gold pieces each for your service to the city.”

The councilman pushed forward a small metal tray, atop which sat five neatly stacked piles of golden coins. The tray floated through the air down to the dais and Tana’s four arms passed them quickly amongst the group. Astrari quickly ran the coins through her fingers to count them, but Svish stood stock still, staring gormlessly at the pile of money in her hands.

“And we’d like to make a proposition,” Erdevan continued, regaining their attention, “if you’d be so kind as to humor us.”

He turned away from the group, and approached the mirror behind the council, wiping his hand across its foggy surface. The fog stirred and shifted, but didn’t clear, settling again.

“We have concerning evidence that the city of Telthoril is not the only place to have been attacked. This mirror once connected the Telthorian and Dorndulian councils, so we might convene and communicate despite our significant distance. Just before the attack, it became clouded, and all attempts to reestablish the link have failed.”

Astrari’s eyes focused on a mark at the top of the mirror’s frame, a delicately carved symbol of a serpent’s head, split clean in two by a blade. Svaudna caught her eyes darting to the bag hung haphazardly over her shoulder, but the dwarf kept her attention on the council.

“A symbol of the heroes who once saved this nation from ruin. This was crafted by the party’s wizard,” the minotaur explained. They were as massive as Monodris, but dressed in fine purple and gold robes, “it is a powerful artifact combining talents from several schools of magic, not something easily disrupted.”

“Fascinating… divination and evocation, but also…” Astrari muttered.

“That’s well’n good, what’re we doin’ ‘bout it?” Svaudna interrupted, “m’a combat caster, heal’n’hurt, n’she’s… what, conjuration?”

“That’s my specialty, but I’m studied in illusory magic as well, and I have some limited evocation talent,” Astrari nodded, pushing her hat up.

“No one expects you to repair this artifact,” the minotaur held her hand up, smiling softly.

“Indeed,” Erdevan returned to his seat, “we are critically lacking in information. For all its many faults, Dorndulinal was heavily fortified against threats physical and magical, attempts to magically view the city at large are fruitless.”

Svaudna’s eyes narrowed, examining the council. The potential gravity of the situation wasn’t lost on them, she could see the consternation plain as day on each of their faces.

“N’th’other cities?” she asked, “any news from them?”

“Unlike Dorndulinal, we do not have a means of instant communication with the other cities,” Erdevan explained, “we have magically examined the cities from afar and are monitoring their situations as closely as we can,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “since the attack, we have seen a spike in the presence and activities of monsters across the region, but the cities appear to have handled themselves thus far.”

“There’s a dozen towns at least between here and Dorndulinal,” Tana remarked, “the cities might be fine, but what of the rest?”

“There is still much we do not know-”

“If monsters’re gettin’ riled up, they’re in danger,” Svaudna interrupted, “y’don’t need more’n a pound o’ smarts t’figure that out.”

“Indeed,” Erdevan nodded, “but with Telthoril’s position still tenuous after the attack, we cannot risk diverting forces to assist them.”

“They need-”

“We all need many things, what matters is what we are in the position to give,” Erdevan said, “we must reinforce our own position before we can offer aid to others.”

“Folks’ll die if somethin’ ain’t done,” Svaudna objected.

“Then might I suggest doing something?” Erdevan held a hand up, “the council is prepared to offer one hundred gold pieces per member to any party that can bring us information on the state of Dorndulinal.”

“Open contract, then…” Tana narrowed her eyes.

“It will take some time to spread the word,” Erdevan responded, “consider this early notice an extension of the reward. If you choose to sign onto the open contract, you will be amongst the first parties with the ability to act on this goal.”

“Would you give us a moment?” Astrari raised a hand, gesturing for the group to huddle up, “are we an adventuring party now?”

“Could be,” Svaudna nodded, “not against it, anyway.”

“We don’t exactly know each other,” Tana objected.

“Yer travelin’ wit’ me.”

“Traveled, past tense,” Tana corrected, “and only cause we went the same way.”

“We could do one quest together and see how we feel,” Astrari responded.

“You ever even been out of Telthoril?”

“I came to Telthoril from another plane, I’m not opposed to traveling again.”

“Doesn’t matter how you feel, matters how you’d handle it. This job would send us across all of Teltor-Dorndul, that’s two weeks by cart.”

“Oi, she held ‘er own in a fight, she can handle a few weeks on th’road,” Svaudna spoke up in the witch’s defense.

“Thank you, dear,” Astrari nodded, “and I’ve got a cart already.”

“That’s…” Tana sighed, “you, big guy?”

“...I have business in Dorndulinal,” Monodris told her, “with or without this group, I am going.”

“And you’re going,” she looked at Svaudna.

“Dorndulinal’s m’home,” Svaudna nodded, “not fond o’ th’place, but I owe it t’make sure they’re safe. Svish?”

“Going with my new friends!” the goblin agreed, looking up from her armful of gold for the first time.

“That just leaves you, Tana honey,” Astrari smiled.

Tana sighed, looking at her newly weighted coin pouch.

“Already got two hefty paydays,” Svaudna gently punched one of her arms, “hey, how’s about a third?”

“...alright,” Tana took a deep breath, and they turned back to the council together, “we’re in.”

“Very good,” Erdevan laid a piece of paper on the tray and sent it back down to the group. Tana quickly read it over, a simple contract laying out the terms of the quest, with Erdevan’s signature at the bottom. She quickly added her own signature and passed it around the group, “you may keep that copy, your signatures will appear on our own. Once you have information about Dorndulinal, any at all, write on the back of the paper to inform us. Consider the advantage as another boon for your heroic efforts.”

“Handy,” Tana nodded, receiving the paper again. Each of the group had added their signatures, though Svish had just scribbled sharp lines at the bottom, “can’t use this to talk to Dorndulinal?”

“The enchantment must be renewed every month,” Erdevan specified, “if you take more than a month, you’ll have to figure out another way to get the information to us.”

“Gotcha,” Tana tucked the document away in her overflowing bag of paper.

“The guards will see you out.”

The group left the council to their business and descended the tower, escorted quickly to the edge of the park, where the gate slammed shut behind them. The city was getting to be a little livelier now, but a morose energy still hung in the air as the group began to figure out their next steps.

“I should get my cart ready, need to fetch my horses from the stables in the outer city. Though for you we may need to purchase a second cart,” Astrari adjusted her bag, looking up at the towering cyclops, “no offense, dear.”

“I will handle it,” Monodris told her.

“I’ll come with,” Tana offered, “hoping to buy a few things.”

“Need some proper travelin’ supplies too, if we’re headin’ fer Tontara it’s five days travel,” Svaudna added.

“I can help!” Svish offered with a smile.

“Wouldn’t it be better to go to Dumariv?” Astrari wondered, “three days there, we can restock and cross the reservoir. Traveling across too much wilderness could slow us down, if monsters are more active.”

“More’n likely yer right,” Svaudna agreed, “alright, supplies t’reach Dumariv, then we restock in Midvoir on the water and continue t’the forest.”

“Two groups then,” Tana nodded, “meet up outside the North gate in an hour?” she suggested, to general agreement from the group, “it’s official then. We’re a party, at least until this is over.”