Welcome to Tildreth

Conrad Yurievich Kolosov is awoken by a blinding light, quickly subsiding before he opens his eyes.

"What's going on?" A confused man calls out.

"Welcome to hell, population us," another says sarcastically.

"This can't be happening," a woman assures herself.

"Believe it," another guy comments.

"Shut your mouth," another woman scolds.

"So we're not gonna talk about the seance here are we?" The first guy asks. In all the belligerence and confusion, Conrad surveys the surroundings.

The seven people are all forming a circle, with symbols flowing beneath them of varying color. They seem to be in some sort of ritual, as the circle surrounds an altar ordained with candles, incense, and ritualistic decor. Priests stand beside the altar, while a crowd surrounds the circle by a safe distance.

"Greetings travelers," the main priest greets, stepping down from the altar,

"Welcome to Upala, the Fire Nation. The Calamity has arisen, and the gods have blessed us with the Seven Heroes. Please, on behalf of the people of Tildreth, I beg you: defeat the Calamity."

"So just fuck our lives right? It's not like we had a family we were just torn from to save your sorry asses," an irish girl bickers. The newcomers all seem to be in their late teens, the age range being seventeen to twenty.

Armed guards with shields level their spears, pointed at her. She understands and remains silent.

"What do the symbols mean?" A guy asks. Conrad looks below himself, finding a cyan sigil glowing upon the ground he stands on. It depicts a snowflake, having the shape similar to a six sided star, or Star of David.

It is presumably a symbol of ice or cold, given cyan and snowflakes are associated with it.

"Mine's three purple lightning bolts, but like, spiralling into the center," a girl describes.

"A red fire," a guy voices.

"Each of you has been designated an element by the gods. You will use this element to defeat the Calamity," the priest explains. The priest approaches the guy to Conrad's right.

"What is your name?" He asks politely.

"I am Arthur McCoy, eighteen," Arthur introduces.

"Arthur, you have been gifted Fire. Fortunately, Upala is the nation of the fire element," the priest smiles.

"You, young man, what is your name?" He asks Conrad. Conrad is still suspicious of this situation. He heavily considers the knife in his pocket.

"Kolosov," Conrad answers. They stand silent, waiting for him to continue. He does not.

"Erm, Kolosov: you have been gifted with the ice element," the priest accepts. The priest continues with introductions, but Conrad pays no attention. This is all too much in one moment, not to mention the glares he's receiving.

"Some of you may have noticed that the Seven Elements are forming a cycle. This is no coincidence. Moving in a clockwise direction will show what element beats what. Counterclockwise will show you what resists," the priest points out.

Conrad spies the guy to his right smiling at him. Given they are here to defeat something in this irrationally fantasy magic world, keeping your poison at arms length is a good idea. He looks to his left, spotting a girl who immediately glances away; no matter where he is, girls will dislike his presence.

His ice is countered by Arthur's fire, while ice counters the girl's gale. The cycle of elemental trumps and resists are interesting. No, he has to get home and abandon this.

"Each of you will be escorted to their quarters here in the castle. You have a week to find some place to sleep, as we cannot support everyone for long. At your departure, we will grant you five hundred gold to purchase necessary tools and services, more than enough for another week.

The people of Tildreth greatly appreciate your sacrifice to save us."

The priest kneels before the altar, while the crowd kneels before the heroes. Guards allot themselves to each hero, providing everyone with a security detail of three guards. They are much more friendly to other heroes, while Conrad and the Irish girl get more serious attitudes.

"Follow us to the lounge, hero," the guard commands. Conrad remains at his heels as they traverse the castle, before finding himself alone in a lounge. The room itself holds a myriad of furniture, such as couches, tables, chairs, and footrests; it's what you'd imagine a castle lounge to hold.

The guards leave him in the room to his own accord. Conrad notices a sliding door that leads to a balcony. Without haste, he steps upon the balcony, breathing the fresh air while perched high in the starry night.

A bird lands on the guarding stone of the balcony, hopping towards the now still Conrad. He loves animals, most of them anyways. Strange how he got ice when someone else got nature (Chloro they called it).

In the darkness of a full moon, he eyes a red glow in the far distance, far from the city limits. Upon closer inspection, Conrad realizes that the glow is of a volcano. He will take solace in the idea of the volcano being extinct.

"Apparently it erupted a century ago, during a dark age," the Irish girl remarks. Conrad is partly startled by her sudden appearance, but she seems friendly.

"What do they call the current age?" He wonders.

"A Golden Age," she chuckles, "They jump between the two, or so I've heard."

"They're always in a perpetual state of collapse and rebuilding?" Conrad confirms. She joins him in leaning on the balcony guard. The bird flies away at the new company.

"So I've heard," she smiles. She seems comfortable, despite their situation, not to mention her outburst earlier.

The lounge door slams shut behind them. Conrad turns to discover that the five other heroes have arrived.

"What were you, before this?" She wonders.

"A student, barely going to university from a scholarship he worked so damn hard for, just for it all to go to waste," Conrad laughs halfheartedly.

"What kind of scholarship?" She asks.

"Fencing and archery. I was a history nerd for the medieval ages, crusades, and wars," Conrad smiles, "What about you?"

"I barely finished junior year of high school. I was that one quiet girl that some people thought was cute, and invited her into their friend group, only for her to just fade away from shyness," she depicts, "I'm Annie. Annie O'Mullen."

"Conrad Kolosov. You can call me Yuri," Conrad introduces. They shake hands. A silence ensues while they uncomfortably look at each other with dodging gazes.

"I'm headed inside," Conrad decides. Annie follows him as he plops himself onto an unoccupied chair.

"Hey you seem knowledgeable," a guy prompts Conrad, approaching him. Conrad is mildly confused, but nods his head anyways.

"A bastard sword is one handed right?" He asks. It is time for some education.

"An arming sword is designed to be held by one hand so that another tool could be held in your offhand, such as a shield. A bastard sword is considered to be one and a half handed, meaning you could use either one or two hands to hold it and it still be effective. Arming swords were the most forged because they were used by knights, hence the nickname "knight sword", but a majority of armies had foot soldiers with shields and spears."

A few heroes look at Conrad confusedly, though a few others seem to have understood.

"Just remember this: short and arming are one; long is two; bastard is either," Conrad simplifies. He's curious as to how this subject arose.

Time passed and guards entered. They guided the heroes to their quarters and the night gave way to morning. Conrad was not conscious for his morning, being more like a braindead zombie than a human.

He only retains his awareness when he stands before the king of Upala in the Royal Hall, where the king and his queen are seated upon their thrones. A set of large windows to their left shines the horizon sun into the hall as the heroes approach. Conrad notices a large sum of armed citizens standing to the right, who are accompanied by Royal guards.

"Welcome heroes, to Upala. Today begins your training as heroes, and the conjuration of your parties. Before you are the finest adventurers the nation has to offer.

Each has been rooted out by the Adventurers' Guild to prove they are most fit to aid your endeavors, both on and off the battlefield. However, I feel that you all need some understanding of what we have unfortunately pulled you into.

The Calamity is a group of seven deities, who fight the gods in a never ending battle for supremacy. It is our job, as heroes, to defeat the Calamity and save the world from eternal damnation. The Calamity will awake slowly, sending bursts of energy to their spawns in an effort to raise an army. I am sorry to tell you this, but:

This war has no end."