Cassius ended up at the door of the Expeditionary Group. He pushed open the door and what greeted him was a large room full of tables. Different groups outfitted in all kinds of armors and clothes discussed future endeavors. Some took serious faces, mapping out plans and discussing roles. Others had a more casual outlook, making jokes to one another. Either way, all groups looked towards Cassius once he walked in, and then upon not recognizing him went back to their own discussions.
Cassius walked up to a booth where a woman was dealing with paperwork. "Hello, I'd like to join the Expeditionary Group." The woman looked up and asked "Proof of combat ability please?" Cassius took out the inscribed clay tablet and handed it to the woman. "Hmm, yes right this way please." Cassius was led to a storage room in the back. "For beginners such as yourself, we loan membership to the Expeditionary Group and a single weapon. If you don't repay the debt of 50 credits however after a week we will repossess the weapon, and you won't be able to apply again for a month." The woman laid out all the terms for joining the Expeditionary Group.
"You will not be under the control of the city, and are free to choose whatever you want to do in the Abyss. However, you will have to pay taxes to the city by staying here monthly."
"Why the charge for membership?" Cassius inquired. "The Expeditionary Group acts as a gateway to forming an expedition and also gives accurate information about the surrounding area. We also buy all goods provided by abyssals, granted it's under market value but most merchants won't buy just any abyssal part."
Cassius rubbed his chin, he would love to go ahead and pay with the monster core he got from the wendigo. However, he thought the core would be better spent on improving his body. "Alright, I agree to the terms, I would like to become a member of the Expeditionary Group."
"Right this way then." Continuing in the storage room they ended up at an area with a sign above it that read 'Weapons'. Cassius followed the woman closely. "You may select any of these heavy weapons, we have battle axes, halberds, great swords, and mauls." Cassius looked upon each and picked up the halberd. It felt good in his hands but not the best. He repeated this process until he narrowed it down to two weapons. One was a large two-handed crescent battle axe with a spike on the end, and the other was a gargantuan great sword that looked more like a block of solid steel than a sword. Both felt great in his hands, however he had to give up on the great sword at least for now, as its weight was far too heavy to wield correctly.
The woman noted this down in her notebook and carried on, "Follow me, I need a signature to process you into our book records." Going back to the booth she signed some papers with a quill before making him sign a paper. Doing so the woman handed him one last thing. It looked to be a crude necklace made of leather with a metal centerpiece. On the metal sheet his name was crudely carved in. "What's this for?"
The woman's cold eyes gleamed, "It's for identifying the dead." Cassius gulped a bit, why exactly was this standard procedure for newbies? Ignoring the fright, he put on the necklace. The woman then pointed at the wall, "If you wish to join an expedition look at the postings on that wall. Be careful though, nameless that specialize in close combat are not in high demand."
Cassius thanked her, before going over to the wall. On it multiple messages were left. 'Looking for a named ranged combatant!', 'We have a party of two named and two nameless, looking for a mystic arts user for support!' Practically none of the postings were looking for someone of Cassius's skill set. After looking a while he finally found something. 'Looking for a melee combatant to explore the upper tunnels with. We are a party of four nameless looking for runes and fortune! If interested, meet us at the Jagged Inn near the cliffside of the ramparts."
This group seemed perfect for Cassius, so he made his way to the inn hoping someone else didn't get there first. He could have sworn he heard some people in the Expeditionary Group scorning him on his way out. Apparently they didn't have high hopes for the little fledgling group he was going to meet up with. [Whatever Cassius, don't take it seriously. Prove them wrong!]
Cassius did not heed their sneers and continued hastily to the meet up location. Walking in, the place was not very busy. Looking around Cassius spotted a group of four. They seemed to have fairly simple weapons on their back, and little to no armor, much like Cassius. They must have gotten to Poplis around the same time Cassius did.
"Hello, were the four of you the ones to put up a group listing?" The four people turned around and looked Cassius up and down. The first one to respond was a blonde and handsome man with shoulder length hair. "Yes we were, I've named myself Blake. I have a combat rune and utility rune, both of which make me somewhat of a scout. I'm the ragtag leader of this group I guess."
Blake had a great amount of charisma, it was no wonder he was the leader of the group. Next to speak was a brunette girl that looked fairly normal, although she did have a muscular build. "The name's Sarina. I have an item rune and a combat rune. I've got an especially strong shield, and my combat rune is focused on taking hits and counter attacking. The man next to her was a bit short and had black hair. He had a bit of a nervous look to him. "I'm Wayne. I have a mystic art that makes me undetectable for a bit, and I've got an item rune that contains some useful tools like throwing knives, traps, and poisons." The last member was a shy girl, although her frail figure and pretty face made her look somewhat like a princess. "I- I call myself Eleanor. All I have is a mystic art that seems to improve others. B-but I'm not too sure of its exact effects…"
Cassius looked at the group, it made sense that they needed a melee combatant. While it seemed they had decent utility, they lacked any hard hitters. Although their nervous demeanor alarmed him a bit. "Hello, my name is Cassius. I have a combat rune that is focused upon heavy weaponry, and a mystic art that seems to alter me or my surroundings. Granted I'm not too sure of the effect either…" Blake's face lit up a bit, "Ahh, perfect! I'm sure with someone using a heavy weapon we can put down a few creatures! We were a bit scared to go without anyone specialized in doing major damage up close, so you're a godsend!"
Wayne furrowed his brows in thought before exclaiming, "Ahh! Cassius, weren't you the one to get into a bar fight last night?" Cassius was a bit embarrassed and somewhat impressed. [I guess news here travels fast.] "Y-Yes, it seems I was a bit too excited about making it to Poplis alive…" The group looked at each other for a bit. "You struggled to make it here? What made it difficult?" Cassius was somewhat confused.
"What do you mean? Did you not fight anything on the way to Poplis?" Blake raised an eyebrow, "No? We were almost immediately found by three scouts. We were only a few hours from Poplis. We just happened to find some runes before meeting each other."
Cassius's eyes twitched a bit. So these buffoons got to goof around, find some runes here and there, and get carried to safety by three scouts? He must have truly been unlucky. Blake then asked, "How exactly did you get here?" Cassius responded with the truth, "Well lets see. I found a rune, killed a huge ant with a rock, and blew up another ant. Then I found a cannibal's camp where I located his last meal and another rune. Then I met a crazy scout who took me to the woods where I had my stomach sliced open and killed a wendigo. Then made my merry way to Poplis where I drank until I fought three guys and got kicked out. Overall, not too eventful." The man remarked sarcastically.
The group looked around in confusion, before bursting into laughter. "Haha, the new guy's great at telling jokes!" Sarina hit the table with her fist. Blake also laughed, "Looks like we can look forward to tall tales on the road haha. A nameless killing a wendigo on his second day, that's too good!" Cassius's eye was now twitching quite a bit. "It wasn't a joke…" Yet no one heard him over the boisterous laughter. After their wheezing settled down Blake reached out a hand, "Well anyways, welcome to our little group of newbies looking to make a name for themselves! Glad to have you Cassius." Cassius hesitated a bit before shaking Blake's hand. Cassius could not help but have the dreadful feeling that this group was woefully unaware of the dangers of the abyss. [I guess I'll have to rely on myself] Thought Cassius as Blake pulled out a piece of parchment with a crudely drawn map on it. "Alright guys, here's the game plan!"