Onward To Fort Constance

The forest grew dark and the trees sickly as the party drew closer and closer to Fort Constance. Weapons at the ready, the crew was as prepared for danger as they could be. Small groups of mobs would occasionally appear from the surrounding, decaying land. Hound Spiders and Sun Scourges not unlike those found around town, though this time, they appeared twisted and diseased. The entire landscape around them was dark. Sticky purple soil blanketed the ground while odd bulbous growths swelled out of dead trees. There was no proper ground cover, and the old cobblestone walkway they traveled along was gradually eroding or being buried by the surrounding soil. Topping things off, the sickly sweet smell of rot hung in the air like a miasma. This was not a place for people to tread.

Still, they pressed on, the forest around them thinning out until they found themselves staring at the decaying stone ruins of an old township, Mobs crawling along the husks of the long abandoned buildings. At the end of it all , was Fort Constance, a crumbled, decaying husk of its former might with a tower built into the center of it. It may not have been large, but the sight of it amidst a clouded purple backdrop made it look like a toxic beast prepared to devour anyone who dared challenge it. Still, everyone knew that it was a challenge they had no choice but to make, for their prize would be knowledge, the knowledge of why they were marked, what being Chosen even meant, and just maybe, how they could all get home.

As they approached the old township surrounding the fort, mutated spiders with venomous fangs, on their knees, and gnashing, toothy maws misplaced on their abdomens lept out, catching the crew by surprise the first time. With seven members to their party however, dealing with them was quick work. Still, they tried to avoid any obvious concentrations of the beasts. The more confrontations they avoided, the better their condition for the upcoming trial would be.

The party walked through the ghost town, cutting down whatever monsters came their way as the fort continued to grow closer. Eventually however, they arrived. Before them was the wide open archway of what used to be a gate, now a beckoning maw ready to devour those unprepared for what lay beyond. The party stared up on it, the ruins of a once mighty military compound awaiting their presence.

“Well, this is it team. Any second thoughts before we barge in there?” Moze asked.

“Pff, I'd say it’s a little late for that. If you had any objections then you shoulda spat them out before we made it all the way to the middle of this cesspit. I say we just go in and get it over with.” Ruori grumbled.

Moze glared at her before looking at the rest of the party. Though Maggie seemed a little nervous, nobody spoke up.

“Alright then, let’s go.” Moze said as he began to lead the way.

As he stepped forward however, he suddenly bounced back, stumbling before catching himself. Before him the party had noticed a ripple as if the place were surrounded by a barrier denying entry. It was at that moment that everyone suddenly received a chime from their Codex. Removing them, the problem was immediately revealed.

“Damn… alright, change of plans. This dungeon is only meant for four people to enter…” Moze noted.

Ruori couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, that was silly, guess we’ve gotta decide who goes and who stays.”

“Yea, you’re right… Well, if we consider this from the perspective of party composition, the standard party consists of a tank, two DPS, and a healer. If we go by that logic, then Maggie and I are a necessary element. That means we need to decide if it’s Thordon, Lian, Ember, Ruori, or Clarissa who fill the final DPS slots.” Moze contemplated.

“Well, I kinda missed out on most of the action yesterday, so I think I’m out based on level alone.” Clarissa noted.

“Yea, I think so too. And we should probably balance it out with a melee and a ranged DPS skillset, leaving either Ember or Ruori to fill the melee role, and either Thordon or Lian to handle range.” Moze explained.

“Hmm… Well, I’m not exactly in the same situation the rest of you are in, but I wonder if it could be handy to have someone on the team who doesn’t feel everything that happens to them.” Thordon suggested.

“Yea, you could have a point there.” Lian replied, a bit of a smile creeping over her face at the thought of avoiding additional pain.

“And as for me, I think I’ll relinquish my spot to Ember. He seems far more eager than me to see this through after all, so why not let him do the honors?” Ruori said, a bit of a grin on her face.

Ember looked her over, trying to figure out if she was playing some sort of angle here, but nevertheless he didn’t disagree. He was ready to see this whole farce come to a screaming end.

“Fine, sounds good to me. Everyone but me, Thordon, Maggie, and Moze, out of the party!” Ember ordered.

There were no objections as the others obliged, leaving only the aforementioned party of four behind, however, as Moze went to pass through the gate once more, he was once again rejected. “Holy crap, what now.” Moze grumbled as he looked at his Codex.

As everyone in the party did the same, they were met with a brand new notification, and what they saw had most of the party in shock

“It says… Party must consist of Chosen…” Ember read.

Moze smirked, looking up at the gate before looking back down to the codex.

“You’re kidding me. So, whatever’s behind all this finally enacted special rules after all.” Moze stated incredulously.

“W-wait, so, what does that mean?” Lian asked.

“It means that we’re being toyed with. Looks like this mark we have was more than just an invitation to this world. There’s intent behind it.” Ruori stated.

“So, what… what do we do now?” Lian asked.

“What can we do? We’ll need to follow the rules I guess and kick Thordon out of the party… Are you okay with that, Lian?” Moze asked.

Thordon looked around to the others and sighed as if the wind had been taken out of his sails. Still, in accordance with the rules, he proceeded to back out of the party, leaving Lian to sit there for a moment before she too let out a sigh.

“Fine, I wasn’t too married to the idea of sitting out anyway. C’mon, let’s go then.” She confirmed.

With Lian now in the party, Moze turned back to the gate, gingerly reaching his hand out only to feel it finally pass through the barrier. Looking at the others, the crew replied with confident grins. They were ready.