Private - Smoke Without Fire [WQ, Eldhi, Lucia, Alphabet]

Season 2 World Quest
Participants: @Eldhi , @Alphabet Chocolate , @Lucia Mierz
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O... kay, what was she doing here again? Eldhi wondered with a scratch on her head as she found herself at the edge of a small town, set in a dark desolate mountainous landscape that came out straight from one of those horror stories. "Where am I again? Oh right, Norforva..." More like Edgeville considering how gloomy this region was.

The white-haired girl remembered accepting a job from a Brotherhood that had only a single vowel in their name, something about a Coven who loved blood up to no good in the mountains which were bloody sharp. "Oh yes!" That's right! She agreed to do the quest because they involved investigating an evil cult doing evil things, yep, something Tyl wouldn't stand for. As a Knight of Justice, of course, it was her solemn duty to root out such malice.

Now then, what must she do next? Maybe she could ask around the people in the town, starting from the local chapel. Who knows, if she prayed there, maybe Tyl himself would answer her! With a goal in mind, the petite white-haired swordswoman made her way into the town. On the way, just in case something of interest turned up, she tapped her temple with her index and middle finger, her red eyes glowing slightly as Eldhi activated her investigation mode.

@Lucia Mierz @Alphabet Chocolate

 

Alpha looked around at the desolate landscape of Norforva with a grimace. It wasn't as pretty as she remembered it but this time she remembered to bring Fish along for the snake to navigate. The serpent had been a native resident of the area once and, although she'd prefer her little pets to be safely pocketed away, she knew she'd have to rely on them sometimes. She wasn't the best at reading maps and, within an hour, he had proven his worth as she had reached her destination at record speed. A creepy, abandoned edge of a ghost town that seemed to have been cast as a foreboding and haunting cliff rather than anything else. Just her luck.

Before she resigned herself to a solitary quest, she perked up when she spotted a white-haired figure a short way ahead. Well, if she wasn't wearing creepy garments that looked like it was made from their grandmother's old Gothic curtains then that meant they were probably not some good-for-nothing cultist that decided a hermit's lifestyle of living in dark, dangerous places while practicing Harry Potter magic for a living. She scoffed. It seemed like there were lazy butts all over the place and maybe the quest was a sign for Alpha to whip them into shape and help them become productive citizens who had jobs and the whole shindig.

She grinned at the mental image of cultists running track-and-field in spandex.

"Hey!" she shouted, stretched her hand as far to the sky as she could reach, and waved. As she got closer, she noticed that girl's fingers placed on her temple in a familiar manner. Definitely investigation mode or something (she'd grown used to see players use that mode a lot in major towns and cities; the action being a quick way to distinguish between NPCs and actual players). "Wanna help me on this quest?" she shrieked from the top of her lungs, sending a flock of birds flying out of the thorny bushes.

 

Lucia's preparations for the quest couldn't be considered light. She'd spent a while hunting rogue bandits, a very generic quest for Ylandia and Fareldan after the war, picking off deserters and war criminals who had resorted to thievery. This type of quest unfortunately was slowly becoming the prelude to a lot of her adventures, she simply didn't have the resources yet to summon the Death Knights she needed. Instead, she made due with bandit remains. A pair was carrying a series of bags while the other four were carrying a hastily made gondola like a palanquin, with pairs supporting both sides. The gondola itself was not in any shape or form able to float, let alone take to water as it might have been meant to. It was made by Lucia's six undead bandits sculpted from a tree to serve a purpose other then transport.

As Lucia's small horde of rotting corpses ventured forward, the pair carrying bags would keep them stretched out from their bodies, as if afraid that their rotting flesh might in some way taint the contents. Naturally while they went the 7th corpse was Lucia's normal Thrall of choice, instead choosing to divide her magic among more sources, Sylvanas was not as lively as usual but was doing the job of carrying Lucia's 'gift'. While she wasn't sure how useful it might be, she went through the trouble of acquiring an artistic rendering of the God Tyl in hopes that it might make her prayers a bit more successful. Lucia had only ever met a single Goddess; Synra, who adored the God of Justice and righteousness, she thought that having something to act as bait for the fawning goddess would make negotiations go more smoothly.

She naturally chose a small housing area to set things up, thinking that even if the homes had been abandoned since the blood magic took over, they might have some additional supplies to help make her alter a bit more flashy. Arriving though, she saw Alpha first, then a new person she was unfamiliar with. At first Lucia frowned, Alpha was a nice person... maybe, Lucia had had some doubts ever since the woman had stabbed Sylvanas unprovoked. Still not exactly sure how to take the small Rogue, Lucia wasn't sure if asking for help was a good or bad idea. For a long while, she hesitated before finally gesturing with a hand. The small group of corpses behind her began setting things on the ground as Lucia began closing the Distance to Alpha. This time a little more cautious she made sure her small group of undead Ghouls were ready to deal with any hostile activities this time rather then just being surprised like before. "You guys are pretty far off the map... Is something special going on here?" She couldn't help asking wondering what brought the other two to this particular location, even if they got the quest appearing in the same place was a little coincidental.

 

So far, she found nothing interesting even when focused in investigation mode and it bored the hell out of her. Granted, it had only been five minutes since but that's how boring this place was, all gloom and doom, dumping a rainbow over the whole region would do no harm. Sighing, Eldhi was considering to pick up her pace when a booming high-pitched voice went over her general direction, ringing her artificial eardrums and scaring off poor virtual avians.

"O-... ow...." Recovering from her stupor, red eyes blinked at the petite brunette who was somehow already in front of her. "A... ninja?" Judging from her fashion sense, she looked like one and she was really... short, even shorter than Eldhi in real life. Here she was, thinking her in-game avatar was already short compared to most. Heh... that made her feel better about herself, glad to know she wasn't a pipsqueak. Oh, speaking about the ninja girl, she was clearly a player for obvious reasons.

"Oh, do you have the same quest as I do?" It looked like she was, the quest to root out some crazy cult given by that Ylng-something brotherhood, "Sure! I thought I was going to die of boredom here." Eldhi grinned, chuckling happily, her arrival was like that figurative rainbow dump, "I'm Eldhi! Who are you?" She opened up her palm menu, offering a party invitation to the girl.

"Ah, Alphabet Chocolate... what a fun name~ Hahaha!" She just couldn't resist the urge to pat her head! She was just so... so small and cute! "Okay, let's go! Hmmm... over there!" Eldhi didn't mind too much where she was going, hanging out with Alphabet was enough~ Something interesting ought to happen sooner or later.

---

The duo's short misadventures took them to an abandoned residential area, a small one really considering the town wasn't that big in the first place. "Hmmm..." Eldhi's red eyes went over her surroundings, fingers on her temple, investigating the area for any signs. "Ah?!" There, she found it! A group not too far away from her, a group consisting of a female figure clad in dark robes and her entourage of... of... "Z-z-... zombies!" The paladin went on full alert, she didn't expect to encounter an enemy here! Fine then, her holy light shall purify the necromancer and her foul undead! Alphabet looked skilled, she could sneak around and take care of the necromancer while Eldhi deal with the undeads, win-win!

Oh, before that, a little prayer to Tyl would do, she made one that the Deity would definitely approve! "Oh Tyl, God of Justice and Righteousness, please give this humble mortal a sign!" Yep, done perfectly! Now let's see if the God would give her something, an edge to win the battle!

Unfortunately, in her self-imposed excitement, the self-proclaimed Knight missed Lucia's question... Oh, how would she be sorely disappointed when she found out the supposed 'enemy' was a fellow player.

 

Alpha edged away from the morbid woman with a hesitant smile on her face as she attempted to give the woman a shaky welcome. Her greeting and introduction drowned off, however, as the image of the grotesque Sylvanas fluttered through her head and she flinched. Looking over to her new friend—Eldhi, she reminded herself—and found that the girl had a similar uncertainty to her at their new companion. Lucia by herself was just fine and dandy but Alpha wasn't shy to admit that she had less than amicable feelings towards the undead.

She stood stock still as the paladin braced herself for offensive action, unable to bring herself to intervene in the hostile display. Fear terrorized her and she swore that she could see a dark magic and aura roll off of Lucia's form in waves. She calmed herself and attempted to regain her shaken composure. Her nerves died down. Lucia was just another player, another person just like her. Just because she had a macabre fondness for necromancy didn't mean that she was, in essence, a bad person.

"It's okay, Eldhi!" she interjected, surprising herself by how meek she had sounded. She cleared her throat and once again her words were lifted by a strong confidence. "She's a friend! We went on a few adventures together and I'm pretty sure that, even though she's probably dead inside, she's cool and nice!"

She stretched out her arms and attempted to hang them over both Eldhi and Lucia's necks. "Let's just hug it out and finish this thing!"

@Lucia Mierz @Eldhi

 

Lucia wasn't far enough to miss the 'dead inside' comment. It made her smile a bit bitter, was it really okay to judge her so deeply? Must her actions and thoughts be so dark or vicious in the eyes of others? She identified with the forgotten, the lonely and misunderstood, those left behind, those who faded away. Lucia had found her place where she belonged and could be special in the game, supported by a Goddess who even shared so much in common with her. Undead were that goddess's creation, undead described how she felt in reality so accurately, Lucia couldn't help identifying with them, making an effort to rise them up from their maggot ridden appearances into something better, something 'more' ten just that.

"Saying something so mean while trying to reassure someone else." Lucia couldn't help a bitter chuckle as she turned her gaze away while being hugged by Alpha. It felt like a backhanded compliment, as if she'd said "I like ___ but you're okay" Lucia couldn't help picking up on the subtle negativity. "I was just going to ask Synra if she could support me again like before. If that's too much for you don't push yourself." Lucia couldn't help a dry smile, remembering back to the time when she got her head cut off when the goddess hugged her. Alpha had the most intense reaction to the scene of her being killed. Lucia worried that Alpha would freak out if the Goddess appeared to give her a sign or support like before. Lucia wasn't opposed to dying, not if Synra would continue to support her with every death she racked up, but at the same time, she didn't want to discomfort the girl she was already having doubts about. Holding her at an arm's length seemed like the safest option for the girl's sanity it seemed.

Turning towards the unfamiliar girl, Lucia flashed a gentle smile. Lucia had a gentle atmosphere to her, despite the Necromancy and undead sticking out around her, a soft supportive expression, a welcoming gaze. Combined with her frame and body type that was enchanting and delicate in a black dress, she seemed far from threatening without the undead supporting her. "As for a fight, if it were any other time I wouldn't mind the help training them a little. They're not easy to put down though." Lucia explained knowing holy smiting and illumancy wouldn't do much against her Undead supporters. They were raised through divine power as well after all, it would be the same as striking an angel with holy power.

 

"Ho!" Eldhi finished her little prayer with gusto, standing up, right arm already readying to her back to brandish her trusty longsword, ready to vanquish some undead! It was then that the small plucky brunette stood between them, "Uh...?" the white-haired girl's mouth made an 'O' shape, hand already holding her weapon's grip, frozen in place. Friend...? That dark-haired dark-robed ominous necromancer lady was a friend? So... so did that mean she was a fellow player?! Unbelievable! What kind of sane person would play around with those foul creatures! These kind of players were an offense to Tyl's name!

"Hmmmgh..." Still, morbid fascinations and fashion sense aside, the fact still stood that the dark sorceress was a fellow human behind the avatar, someone who was just like Eldhi, playing the game. Oh well, she guessed she could find other Necromancer hostile NPCs then she'd get a good fight. "Fine..." Eldhi grumbled, her tanned cheek pouting as the shortest female of the trio huggled them both with her short arms.

---

Engh..." Trying her best to ignore the undead groupies around Lucia, Eldhi gathered with the two players. Of course, the woman worshiped Synra, the Goddess of Undeath, surely it couldn't be anything else. She had to admit though, for someone who loved reanimating corpses, the necromancer didn't look half bad... In fact, she was quite the looker. Impossible, this must be the work of foul sorcery!

"Uh... ahem," Eldhi cleared her throat, not aware of the little blush coloring cheeks, there was no way she'd get a crush on this witch, never in eons! "Hmph...! Y-you should be lucky that you are also a player o-or... or I'll smite them where they stand!" Try to boast as she might be, Eldhi knew her chances were (very) slim with what meager masteries her character had... not like she'd admit that! Her pride as a knight depended on it! "A-anyways, let's just do this quest, shall we?"

---

Thus, the trio made their way into the small village not far away from the town, an abandoned ghost of its former self. Scorched ground, destroyed carts, ruined houses, only the most foolhardy or desperate villagers would stay here. Something afoul clearly preyed upon the settlement, "..." Keeping one arm on her weapon, Eldhi observed her surroundings.

"I'll check on the houses over here, Alpha, Miss Lucia." Her little childish animosity to the Necromancer curbed down in favor of the dire situation. Splitting herself from the group, she visited one of the houses where Investigation Mode revealed a small family was huddled in there.

"Excuse me, I am a Knight and faithful of Tyl, here to find the one responsible and bring them to justice." She hung her head down then looked up, burning determination in her red eyes, "I require your assistance in my quest for justice, please, will you help me?" Usually, Eldhi would swoon at how cool she sounded, how chivalric and knightly but now wasn't the time and place.

After a few minutes of hushed whispers, a middle-aged man opened the door then let her inside before locking the door behind him. "Thank the Gods you are here, Sera," The man, likely the head of the family, bowed to her for a moment before taking her to the dining room, it seemed the rest of his family already took shelter upstairs. "Not too long ago, men... men clad in dark robes, wielding foul magicks, came here, Sera. They killed, burned, and pillaged much like rabid wolves. My family and I barely survived and it's not much, but what I could hear from the others is that they were looking for one of our elders, an old woodworker over four hundred seasons old..."

"I see..." Eldhi noted his words, putting them in her player log, "Anything else you can tell me?"

 

Alpha watched as Eldhi slipped away, opting to investigate some rows of houses on her lonesome. A shiver ran down her back at the state of the ruined village. Debris, detritus, and shrapnel protruded from the scorched soil and there was a nasty odor which made Alpha scrunched her nose and gag in distaste. An unpleasant aura surrounded the village which made her own hesitance regarding Lucia look like a child's scuffle in kindergarten.

She walked onward, listening to Lucia's words closely although her demeanor seemed more whimsical than focused. There was no definitive objective for her to fulfill and, although her curiosity urged her to explore, she wasn't about to go meandering around a hellish landscape alone. She may have had the curiosity and lackadaisical nature of a kid but she also held the frights and terrors of one. She wanted nothing more than to curl up under a blanket until the boogeyman left but, unfortunately, her sleeping bag was standard and wasn't that comfortable to sleep under. Also, it was a light pink and the stark contrast between the environment and her encapsulated form would just leave her even more vulnerable than before.

She cursed the logic that came with her Rogue mastery. If she had stayed ignorant of these things then she would've already had peace of mind a long while ago.

"...Synra?" she mumbled, shocked out of her contemplative state when Lucia had muttered the Goddess' name. She, like many other players of Terrasphere, had learned of the Elysid Court a long while ago. The NPCs in the game were not shy about their beliefs and the availability of the information was not restricted by any means.

"The Goddess of Death?" she paled. She wasn't that fond of the topic in general, having experienced the sight of many gruesome ends. Although many revived, some did not. She wasn't that excited about a deity who ruled over such a definitive and morose subject.

Her mouth felt dry and she knew she had to separate herself from her acquaintance to regain her bearings. Tremors wracked her limbs as she shakily departed from the woman; her stealth greatly hindered by the emotions and memories haunting her. Images of Lucia's decapitated head; Aaron's lifeless body; Terry's cold corpse... it was just too much for her at the moment. She preferred playing the game and living in the moment, forgetting all about sins that came with the jewel in Pandora's Box.

As her back was turned, she lifted her hand up in a wave, a faux confidence in her gesture as to not unsettle and worry Lucia. "I'm gonna go see if there's anybody left!" she yelled out as she made her exit, wandering into one of the more sound districts that were surrounded by derelict construction.



"Qora," Alpha responded to the man's question. He was the oldest out of the stock, clocking in at around thirty years at age at most. It filled Alpha's with a bitter melancholy when she realized that she hadn't expected there to be any elders or children or, well, surviving residents since she had arrived here. A small bit of joy, however, also bloomed as the corners of her eyes crinkled in amusement at the sight of the oblivious children playing whilst the adults stood, some huddled, staring at her with wary eyes. "Haha, you guys should move to Astorea! We're still building stuff up but it's a bit nicer than...uh, what's left here!" she said.

Her nonchalant words irked some of them and brought a group into fiery whispering, furrowed eyebrows, and accusing fingers pointed in her direction. For others, however, her lack of aggression had given them some confidence. "Qora is a good god," one man stated. Alpha shrugged and gave a charismatic grin; wondering how Lucia and Eldhi were doing.

@Lucia Mierz

 

Lucia smiled to the pair who seemed either insanely put off or pulled in by her appearance. She couldn't help a sweet melodious chuckle at the girl's comment of smiting her undead. "These perhaps the normal one... But Sylvanas is a Grave Guard, a greater denomination of the ghoul sub-species. She's on the verge of becoming a Death Knight, I don't think you'd have very much luck using holy power to smite a Paladin in training." Lucia explained finding the girl's threats to be cute. The Death Knight was the Undead equivalent of a Paladin, fighting Holy power with holy power would no doubt be a difficult battle, particularly when Lucia's own Illumancy skills weren't necessarily low. Rather then kicking the poor girl while she was down though, Lucia reached out a gentle hand, the soft delicate touch of slender fingertips trying to gently brush the girl's cheek as Lucia whispered to her. "Don't worry though. We all like Tyl very much. Synra adores him after all, if all of his Paladins are as cute as you then I can only think Synra might have good taste." She teased with the sly smile a mature beauty might flash when she has the upper hand. Though when the PAladin girl retreated to the village, Lucia wouldn't stop her, instead only sighing with a warm grin, the ones who blushed easy were always the most fun to chase.

Though turning back to the friend who had once somewhat betrayed her, Lucia couldn't help letting out a small sigh when the girl seemed flustered by talk of Synra. Lucia nodded back reaching out to pat Alpha's head in an attempt to be reassuring. "It's tough losing something important to you. If it wasn't undead though, I'm sure it would have been something else though Alpha. I don't think anyone went into that Raid with any clue about how rough it would be." Lucia tried to comment, feeling like this thorn had been bothering Alpha for far too long. The girl's trauma would just become a crippling fear if it went on much longer. Lucia didn't want anyone to be so devastated by the people she wanted to raise up, at least, not those who were close friends to her. "There are always goods and bads Alpha, in humans, in animals, it's the same with Undead-- You saw the Risen back then too, they suffered a lot, and were forced to fight by those witches. You were there to hear what happened then." Lucia explained trying to make Alpha remember the full story. It was the statues the blood witches used that made things come about this way. Even if the one delivering the blow was an undead, they weren't capable of making their own choices.

Leaning down to look Alpha eye to eye the best she could, Lucia flashed a gentle and even playful smile. Reaching a hand out, she used a gentle finger to tap Alpha's chest as she spoke with a laughing tone. "Think about it. If Sylvanas had a Fish stick, do you think he would have acted the way you are?... If it wouldn't have bothered him, why should it bother you? Let the good ones be good; It won't be too late to stab them when you find out they're bad-- You should be able to manage that as a rogue right? If not, you always have us don't you?" She proposed trying to give the girl a soft pat on the head before turning back to gesture for her ghoul supporters. The undead began trudging by approaching the limits of the town but being careful not to enter as they began setting up their little shrine.

"I'll take the next one." Lucia muttered gesturing to the small line that had been forming in front of her. The shrine had become a small place to welcome people. Lucia stood on the gondola as if the Goddess of death herself, a single ore beside her dug into the earth to keep the small structure stable. From her small platform she offered healing to the locals one at a time with a gentle touch and a read from her Grimoire the shadow tome. Nearby her Undead, dressed in wraps as if burn victims they acted with delicacy mixing a community stew, ladling bowls from Lucia's supplies for the locals. "Though Silent, the Goddess of death comes for us all. The separation might be painful, but is never permanent. Whether in this life of the next you will all meet those lost-- Next please... We must all be sure we can hold our heads high when that time comes. To tell those on the other side 'I fought as hard as I can' to say 'It was hard, but I could push on', to make those who make the journey first proud, to give them peace and carry on in their place." Lucia preached while healing. Disease, illness and injury wasn't much of a big deal for Lucia, particularly illness and disease. As a necromancer, those things were within her wheel house. Dismissing them wasn't as much of an effort as bringing the few on the verge of death from injuries back.

It was during her preaching that some would whisper to the undead from time to time, mistaking them for supporters of the Priestess that was preaching from the palanquin. These undead reacted with gentle nods, some even spoke a few ragged words of sympathy or condolenses. All in all though the one hearing this information was ultimately Lucia who wasn't using much attention preaching. She focused on all of these information sources while musing about the mention of a captive... It was a bizarre story, but at the same time, one that provoked some interest from the woman who wanted a chariot built. Perhaps it would be good for her to look into the occurance.

 

"I see... thank you for receiving me, then I shall take my leave, Tyl's blessings be with you." Walking away from the few surviving homes in the desolate village, Eldhi's mind was full of thoughts regarding the information she had just received.

Unlike typical stories of malevolent cults, these mysterious men were taking away the elderly instead of the young. They chose the seniors instead of young maidens, pretty much the opposite of the stereotypical dragon in medieval tales. Morbid yet curious at the same time, she really must get to the bottom of this, what kind of vile creatures would rob the elderly of what short time they have left in the world?

Furthermore, she wasn't surprised to hear that the perpetrators were merely a small part of a much larger sinister group, they all likely served the same foul master or god, whoever they were. The only clue about their identity was 'Black Star', a name in which she was unfamiliar about. Perhaps Alphabet or Lucia would know more about it.

Speaking of her fellow players, Eldhi met the bubbly Kunoichi, Alphabet, along the way and then arrived at where Lucia set up her services just outside of the village. Was the Necromancer... healing people? Uh, okay, alright, perhaps she was wrong about her. Now she felt ashamed of herself... maybe not all necromancers were bad... but she still frolicked with living corpses! Hmph, well, now wasn't the time for that.

"Alpha, Miss Lucia, here's what I have gathered..." Then the white-haired Knight began divulging what little information she managed to gather, bottom line, the evil cult was kidnapping the elderly for some sinister purpose, "Also, I heard something about 'Black Star', do you two know about them, whatever they are?"

@Alphabet Chocolate @Lucia Mierz

 

Alpha tilted her head, ponderin\g. She had just joined up with Lucia a few moments before Eldhi had and the sudden question greatly confused her. She thought for a few more minutes before Eldhi's words clicked in her brain and recognition flooded her eyes. She grinned, alight with excitement, as she interjected. "Ooh, I know! I know!"

Then her eyes squinted and she bit her lip, deep in thought, as if trying to recall something. It was just on the tip of her tongue! You know those times where you were just about to say something and completely forgot what it was you were going to say? Well, that was what happened to Alpha for a good minute before, once again, her expression shifted into one of serendipity and she yelled out on the top of her lungs: "Black Star!"

Without a pause, she explained. "I remember Merks, she's my old friend-kinda by the way, made a guild called the Black Star or whatever! It was some kind of cult of goth kids or something but they really loved creepy stuff like spiders and dark magic and everything!"

She looked proud at her contribution to the discussion before she fell silent once again, vanishing into her mind to draw out some sort of conclusion or theory based on Eldhi's obtained information. Despite her attempts to form a solid answer to satisfy and impress both Eldhi and Lucia, she fell short.

"Uh, maybe they're trying to build a death machine?" she offered weakly, completely lost as to what to say.

@Lucia Mierz

 

Lucia ran a hand through her hair, sliding off of her gondola-shaped platform. Leavinng the undead to continue the food offering services, that was something Lucia did more out of kindness then to receive anything. Food wasn't necessary for the Necromancer, so all of the supplies she'd often end up with in quests would always be used for something like this. "Mm, Merkaba?" Lucia mused, she didn't know much about the girl, they conflicted on a few key points after all so Lucia hadn't truly invested much time in the girl. The conflict was enough to make it clear that one day they would have ended up on opposite sides of a battlefield over the fate of undead. While Lucia was cordial with the girl, she hadn't ever expected the girl to be on the same side as her despite both being players.

"If it's her, then things are becoming a big clearer. This is no doubt the same thing I'd do if I was to begin building a kingdom or a church. Gather up the old for labor, craftsman for knowledge, though I'd at least wait for them to die naturally." Lucia mused, but that was only one among myriad possibilities. Lucia tried to look at it from a point of 'what I would do' since she already had a vague understanding of the girl's nature. Had their alignments been a bit more similar, then they would no doubt have the same goals. "That said, there are other possibilities, they could be some kind of sacrifice as well, if that's the case then it's no doubt got some darker underlying purpose." Lucia admitted with something of a bitter smile. There were just too many reasons someone like MErkaba's group could use people like this.

With a firm shake of her head though, she tried to push her suspicions away, they could stand around musing for as long as they'd like, but actually doing something about it would be difficult. "In either case, if that's how it happened and why, this was done by players instead of monsters-- This isn't good for us. Merkaba's group must be based somewhere in the region if this is where she comes for these types of activities. We should let people know." Lucia couldn't help frowning, considering what they should do next, staging a daring raid was hard without knowing the destination, at the same time scouting was hard for the same reason. There was just too much they didn't know.