The king was at the castle courtyard. He wore his usual light gala clothes, letting his little pointy ears show, not covered by his white short hair. All the members of the Council of Six were present. There were multiple adventurers sitting in benches, all with confused and curious looks at the seven high members present. In the afternoon orange sun, the king took a step forward, on an altar that was supposed to be used for his coronation speech, and took one last look at the present members.
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- I thank you all for coming this far. I know you all want to know why you had to go through all that, and I will explain in due time. My name is Aremi and I am the king of Jaghat. Please, refrain from being scared, but you are not in the continent of Ligeia anymore. I welcome you all into the continent of Balazar. As said before, you will receive an inestimable reward for this quest, but we may have different values from Ligeia. We value information as inestimable. So, at the end of your quest, our prophet will give you one absolute answer for anything you wish. If that is not a good enough reward, you are free to leave, and you will be escorted back where we found you.
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Eight people stood up and left. At their backs, the guards closed the courtyard gates.
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- First of all, I would like you all to raise your maps to the air visibly. - Asked Aremi while waving a similar map next to his face.
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All the remaining members raised their maps to the air. It was visible that the maps were somewhat different from each other. Some of them had extra information, tipping an alternative for each obstacle, while some others showed runes for magic words, indicating proficiency with magic.
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- Erfeu, please. - The king said, turning to Erfeu. The old man raised his arm to the air while chanting a few words.
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The maps jumped to the air, assembled themselves and floated to the hands of Erfeu. He slowly went through them, looking at the differences, as if he was studying those maps. He then turned his head to the king and nodded.
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- Very well. Now, we will begin the last stage of the circuit. Up until now, we evaluated your individual survival skills. Now we would like to see how well you fit in a group. We have six members that form the Council, and they all watched your performance so far. We do not expect you all to form balanced groups without knowing each other, so each member of the Council will pick one of you to match your skills. Let us begin with you, Erfeu.
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Erfeu took a step forward. He is an old human. Older than what should be possible. He supported his weight in a big wooden staff, while the other hand often was seen supporting his back. His beard was so long that it touched the floor while he walked and his pace was extremely fast for someone in his condition. His hair, although not plenty, had a perfect bald space for his beret. He wore a long tunic with runes engraved on the sleeves. He lifted his decrepit finger to a man in the front row.
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- Bronn. - The king called after Erfeu's pick.
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Bronn was a vigorous human. He is relatively new in the Council, substituting Teria after his death. He wore a black and white gi without sleeves, letting his bulky body show. His hands and forearms were wrapped in worn linen strings. He stepped forward and raised his finger to an elf in the third row.
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- Haddaro.
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A strangely pale human stepped forward. He was thin, but you could tell he was nimble. He wore black studded leather garments covering all his body. His hands, however, were protected by a black metal gauntlet. He had a wakizashi on both of his sides, and had a belt around his chest with a tanto sword and throwing daggers. He also had his face partially covered with a black cloth. He raised his metallic finger pointing at a member.
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- Mellyana.
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An elven lady stepped forward. She carried a big bow on her back, and let her big pointy ears show, although they were partially covered by her beautiful long wild black hair. Her green eyes had a deepness that could charm men. She wore light clothes in elvish style, with big leather boots. She also had an enormous white tiger sleeping by her side. When she took the step forward, the tiger lifted his ears and raised his head at her. She extended her hand at one member, as if she was delivering a small gift.
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- Luscan.
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He was the one that drew most of the attention out of the Six. A human with thick heavy plated armor that clanked at every single movement he made. His armor had socketed jewels on his chest, helmet and gauntlets. He carried a big greatsword on his back. His helmet was on his hand by his side, while his red cape was wavering with the wind. He raised his finger to a member.
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- Harena.
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Another elf stepped forward. Her long silk white dress made the impression that she was floating. She had a long braid in her golden hair, with a tiara on her forehead. Her pointy tip ears were at show and she had blue eyes deep as the ocean. She carried no weapons and posed no threat. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and when opening, she said: - Jestia.
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One member of the adventurer audience stood up, with a surprised face - What is this? She does not know me! - He screamed back at the king and at her.
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- Calm down - Asked calmly King Aremi - She is our Prophet. She is the one that will give you your answer, should you see this mission through. With her choice makes six. All of those who got picked please gather on the side. Let us start group two, Erfeu.
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That cycle of the Council of Six stepping forward and pointing members repeated for seven more times, forming eight groups of six members each. All members looked a bit confused and hesitant to start a conversation.
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- I will allow you all five minutes to get to know each other, while we finish our preparations. And remember: information is key. - Said King Aremi turning his back to the groups and forming a small circle with the council.
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As soon as his back was visible, you could already listen to the quickest members already speaking, before the murmurs turned into hubbub.
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The six members looked at each other, and the old man started speaking.
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