Scanning the ostentatious hall, I note the conspicuous absence of Grand and Horizon. Noticing my confusion, Jupiter clears his throat, "They went outside a moment ago. Doubt they'll have wandered far, at that."

"Hm. Would have thought they'd take longer to look around," Windy mutters, "Well, the longer we leave them alone, the more likely J- Horizon is to meander, I guess. And Grand will definitely follow her wherever."

"Not like there's much in here to look at. Seen one Catholic-inspired Cathedral, seen 'em all, pretty much," Jupiter shrugs, leading the way out, "There's committing to a brand and then there's just blatantly copy-pasting ideas. It's like we can't imagine 'urban place of worship' as being anything else. There's all sorts of different architectural styles for religions - I mean, have you seen some of the shit ancient Hindus built? They were fucking extra strength nuts."

"Are you referring to the temples covered in colourful paints and statues?" I question, somewhat aware of what he's rambling about for once.

"Mhm. Want to go someday, but with the Malaria scare in India right now it won't be any time soon," Jupiter smiles sadly, "I mean, not that I can really afford it regardless, but I was planning on taking a GAP year after my first year of college to go travelling across India before the news broke."

"How's your Hindi?" Angelus asks, arm shielding his eyes as we leave the relatively dimmer interior of the Cathedral. I spot our errant couple taking in the vista from the railing at the edge of the courtyard, Horizon rubbing her head while her boyfriend fusses over her.

"Non-existent, to be honest," Jupiter coughs, embarrassed, "Figured that since most of the world speaks English I could make do if I stuck to major settlements and so on. Not about to go hitchhiking in the wilderness, I'm not feeling quite that adventurous with my safety."

"Fair," the healer tilts his head, "Can't say the thought of going travelling hasn't crossed my mind, but if I did I'd probably start in Europe and travel across the continent for a month. Not that I'm not interested in places further afield from what I know - I would definitely like to visit a few places in the Chinese Federation - but it's more relevant to my job that way, so I could write it off as a work expense for research purposes."

"If you stop by Paris, I can point you to some decent bars," Jade offers, "No charge."

"Going out to drink isn't really my preference. I'd rather stay home with a bottle of wine," Angelus demurs, "Thanks for the offer though."

"I getcha," Jade nods in understanding, then raises her voice to address Horizon and Grand, "Hey, you two. Don't leave without us, yeah?"

Grand smiles apologetically, "Sorry, Horizon just rushed straight out when I stopped to look at a mural."

The Panoplast woman sighs, massaging her temple, "Needed some air. Stinks of incense in there. It's like walking into the alley at work and finding like, three stoners smoking weed. Gave me a headache."

"Hear that," Jade concurs, wrinkling her nose, "The downside of racial bonuses. I can perpetually smell the funk on everyone here."

Jupiter sniffs his arm, "Mm. Guilty, I guess. Haven't had a proper shower...or bath since I started playing. Kinda figured it'd take care of itself. At least I don't have to worry about ol' Mother Nature callin'."

"Eh, had to wash off the sewer smell yesterday," Windy adds, defensive, "I mean, not like a cloth and a bucket of water is a real substitute for a hot bath and soap, but still. I am kind of clean."

"Win, really?" Horizon quirks a brow, rubbing a sniffling nose, "You're positively ripe. How do you not smell that?"

"I'm just a regular human with a regular human sense of smell, get off my case, Ji-" Windy coughs, "Horizon. Christ, why'd you change your handle, it's going to take forever to get used to."

"Why not?" Horizon shrugs, "But really, please, all of you. Soap. I beg you."

"Take it up with the boss, he's the one with our money," Windy throws responsibility my way.

"Soap is about a Stone Silver for low-quality tallow-based bars if I'm remembering correctly," I muse, "Small bars at that. Anything better than that is pushing 10 Stone Silver minimum. You want it perfumed, around a Stone Gold, easily."

"Really?" she baulks, "Why the hell's it so expensive?"

"Alchemists are the ones making it, and they pushed up prices to fuel their other projects with the profits," I speculate, "If I had to guess. It's a consistent sales item, and advancing in the field gets very expensive, very quickly thanks to rare ingredients, failures and experimentation. In contrast, you can make soap and other daily commodities such as leavening agents for cheap, sell at a premium, and most people won't question you on it because the alternative is not having them in the first place."

"Ah, market monopolies. My favourite," Angelus rolls his eyes, scathingly sarcastic.

"Probably government-sponsored at that," I warn him, "So if you're thinking of trying to compete, be careful it doesn't backfire."

"Fun," Angelus turns away, thoughtful.

"So, what's the word on the bathing situation?" Grand asks, bringing us back to the original topic.

"Unless you want to pay for it with your own money, the Guild's coffers won't be opening right this second," sighing, I raise my arms apologetically, "We don't have a whole lot left to spare at the moment. Part of the reason for today's expedition is to relieve the short-term strain. We can see about sorting out some soap after, if it's bad enough, but it rather depends on what's being sold by the travelling merchants. Linen detergents will be easy enough to find, I expect, but more luxury goods will be harder to come by."

"I see," he glances at Horizon, anxious, "Sounds like you'll just have to put up with it for now."

"So be it. So be it..." Horizon concedes grumpily, "Is there anything we need to take care of on the way?"

"Not especially," I shake my head, "Although, I am curious as to what Guidance, if any, you received."

Horizon fishes in her pants pocket, and pulls out a strange-shaped rock which, going off experience, I expect is some manner of key, "They gave me this, said it was an 'incentive'. Whatever that means."

"Interesting," I rub my chin, "Would you mind if I took a closer look?"

Reluctant, Horizon hands it over to me, Jupiter and Jade crowd in closer on either side of me to look as well. It's definitely weightier than it's size suggests, I'd estimate about 30-50kg, and absent any obvious tool marks. Attempting a Lesser Item Appraisal draws a complete failure as well, so I can't see any information on it. Design-wise, I'd say it's definitely not from the current Astral Era either, but I'm not much of a Scholar, so dating it accurately is difficult.

Satisfied, if still curious, I hand it back over, "You should keep it's existence a secret for now. Take the time to do some research on it somewhere down the line."

"I can handle that," Grand offers to her as she puts it away.

"Knock yourself out, love," Horizon smiles sweetly at him, "Your turn though."

He clears his throat, "Behold, I, Grand Arcanist, received...absolutely nothing. Cranky old elf woman with greying skin told me, and I quote, 'be happy I'm deigning to even allow you in my presence as ought more than a corpse'."

I wince. It sounds like he drew the short straw between them, but at the very least his Guide, whomsoever that is, wasn't so offended that she slapped a curse or the like on him for asking. Or perhaps she's the type to not think highly of fresh Newborn and shower the 'worthy' in lucrative opportunities and divine inspiration, a little like how Lady Jannis tends to operate. I had to hit Level 150 and evolve my class from Knightwarden to Crimson Duellist before I heard from her again, the first time through, and speaking honestly, I was nowhere near as self-assured back then as I am today, so even if the idea had occured to me, I'd never have been able to have piqued her interest when we first met at Launch.

"So, what's the deal with this forest we're going to..?" Grand continues on as we start our downhill journey.

Temporary Marketplace, Boulder Gate, Meteo City

As it was yesterday, the large, unnamed plaza extant to Boulder Gate is covered in market stalls, formed into long rows and presided over by a mixture of travelling merchants and local businessmen whose premises were...unfortunately demolished...during the Event, pending reconstruction by a small dedicated force of Newborn numbering about 30-ish and about a dozen NPC contractors, including the Mentor.

The stock on offer is rather eclectic, ranging from bulk-ordered supplies of grain and clay to random junk that was probably left in the corner of their storerooms and forgotten about years ago until they found they had nought else to sell that would recoup their losses. I even spy a few possible antiques mixed in here and there, but the prices on pretty much all of the goods on offer here are, as one might expect, far in excess of the normal market value. I'm not too interested in a rather gauche example of Triumph sculpture from the 17th Astral Era on the best of days, never mind for double what would be expected of a bottle of 7-year Viridian-Seal Maomanuan Rum.

Who the hell would even be interested in that overpriced tat? Honestly.

Unfortunately, some concessions do need to be made here and there. Thus, I stock up on some slightly stale sawmill bread rolls (Nicknamed for the prevailing belief that the flour is cut with sawdust to lower costs) and buy Jade and her fellow archer several bundles of cheap arrows. As far as Jade is concerned, she'll be able to make do with them up until around 18-20, depending on her luck with weapon finds, before pricier ammo needs to be considered in order to compensate.

Same for Horizon, but by the time she catches up, there's a chance she'll be able to make use of Jade's hand-me-downs, as will Grand with Jupiter's, to some extent, though getting mage gear that's worth a damn for our current level range in Meteo City promises to be a pain in the ass, since Geronil's pet crafters aren't all created equal, and the Tailor is only a 2-Star Basic who's more concerned with making and mending tents, blankets as well as other non-combat items; since magic users aren't exactly a common sight in the area, and those that are here either don't need his services or aren't about to linger.

Once again, I'm struck by the need for additional frontliners, even as we still need Wizards and the like for AoE damage. At the very least, those we can accommodate between me, Henna, and the two Blacksmiths at the Alliance, as soon as they stop being obstinate elitist pricks, which will be around about the time the new Administrator shows up.

"Is that a painting of a nude pregnant chick, or am I imagining this?" Grand mutters, drawing the group's attention to another weird stall.

"Yeah, seems like it. Not a very flattering one either," Jupiter nods, "She just looks fat. Very, very fat."

"I don't know, I appreciate the honesty from the artist, subjects usually ask to be touched up a bit when they're put to canvas," My fellow artist speaks up, "Then again, if it's on sale in this place, maybe they weren't too happy about that."

"Admiring some artwork?" the even-toned voice of Mr Fathom cuts in, "Can't say I see the appeal, but it's definitely a conversation starter. Perhaps for all the wrong reasons, however."

"Yeah, like 'Why?' and 'What made you think hanging this up front-and-centre in your front lobby was a good idea?!'" Jupiter jokes back, "Also, hello. Fancy meeting you here."

Mr Fathom, now wearing a couple pieces of Vacantsoul, smiles slightly, "I thought I was running late myself, so let's call this as both of us being exactly on time."

"Serendipitous," Windy remarks, smirking, "Hello."

"Greetings," Mr Fathom looks at us each in turn, stopping upon Grand and Horizon, holding hands, "New faces, I see?"

"Hey, Grand Arcanist."

"Horizon Chaser. And you are..?"

"Jericho Fathom, Hunt Leader of Wolf Hunt," the Quirstic proffers his hand to shake, "Heard there'd be a couple new members of Truthseekers along for the ride."

"That's us," Grand glances at the gloves he's wearing, "You a mage as well?"

"Something like that," Mr Fathom chuckles, "It's a bit of an odd Class. Ward Mage."

"Ah, you reached Level 10, then?" Angelus perks up, "A, what was it called, Magic Trapper?"

"Mm, after our previous expedition, we gained the confidence to take another crack at killing a few Goldmoss Shamblers," Mr Fathom admits candidly, "It lets me set temporary wards on targets, that trigger effects when the condition is met, but unfortunately, I can't actually do anything for the time being as I lack the relevant Spells."

"I feel your pain in that regard," Angelus sighs, "I was just barely able to beg a second Spell from the Rejuvenator in the Sheveret Troop's First Aid tent."

"Playing a caster in Meteo City is just harder than it needs to be in general," I sympathise, "There's plenty of opportunity for Fighters and Scouts, but Hedge Mages and their successive Classes have it harder, despite being able to do more in the local dungeons."

"Balance choice, perhaps, to keep both relevant?" Angelus speculates.

"Could be," I raise my arm helplessly, "We'll never know. Any other familiar faces joining us, Mr Fathom?"

"Jericho, please. And yes, Reit will be joining us again," Mr Fathom gestures for us to follow along.

"The crossbow elf dude who was flirting with the axe dwarf, yeah?" Jade squints, trying to recall."

"More or less correct," he laughs, "Much as he'd deny it. He's waiting just outside the city with the rest, I expect."

"Cool."

"I take it you've already got a route in mind for today?" I ask, wanting to be sure.

"I'm told as much," Mr Fathom confirms, "We'll be spending a fair amount of time in Dire Straight to maximise encounters. Should be able to get two or three levels in about an hour. More for the lower levelled amongst us, of course."

"Dire Straight?" Windy touches her temple, "Uhhh...that was around the middle area, right, the one supposedly full of Dire Wolf patrols?"

"Yes, the same," Mr Fathom looks back over his shoulder, "We'll be moving in a more or less straight line through the centre, then going back the same way. From our observations, they tend to avoid the clearing in the middle of the forest, so we can take a break there both ways."

"Sounds perfect," I approve, "How many combatants do we have contributing?"

"8, not including myself, as I've already explained," he says guiltily, "I'll be relying on being carried for the foreseeable future."

"If you get the chance, I'd recommend going Northeast to the Kingdom of Scrollwork," I suggest, "They'll have what you need if you can't find anything locally."

"I'll take it under advisement," Mr Fathom accepts it, as we move through the gatehouse, "Thank you."

"Nothing you couldn't find out on your own, don't worry about it," I smile politely, "Ah, I think I see them up ahead."

Last chance to gain strength before tomorrow's confrontation. Here's hoping all goes well, and that I didn't just jinx us.

IdleFancy

My worldbuilding addiction is fighting with Risk of Rain 2 for my time. Send assistance.