“hi! \o”

I look around instinctively, wanting to find the source of the voice, before remembering what Estellda told me about parties and party chat. I’m still not used to having voices in my head, voices that are somehow classified by color. Telepathy is now widespread and common, developed out of necessity in the early days of the Argon war. It made coordinating across races a lot easier without the need for language. It is however not without drawbacks, the new adventurers are a loud and rowdy bunch, the worst of them often speaking without restrain on what is often referred to as “Global”. The topics discussed are often nonsensical and hate driven with an occasional rare gem, hardly anything worth noting most times. It is almost always better to tune that out.

A floating image appears before me, requesting for my permission to be summoned. I look up towards Estellda, she waves and disappears, guess that’s my cue. I accept and in a literal blink of an eye, I am now standing atop a fountain in the middle of a small but busy village. Beside me a pink haired castanic priest stands, she looked surprised, “wow you’re fast. You must have a killer PC” she adds as she lowers her staff. A killer what now? I wondered but kept my queries to myself, taking a mental note to consult Estellda about this at a later time. “I erm... I guess....” replying awkwardly in as generic a manner as I can.

The next couple of seconds felt like an eternity as I waited in silence, awkwardly shuffling my feet in the fountain, kicking up little splashes of water. Finally Estellda appears between me and the priest, a grey silhouette at first, like a living shadow before fading quickly into existence.

“I know the new loading screens are pretty nice to look at but does it really have to take so long...”, Estellda whines as she materializes, directing the rhetoric at the priest while stealing glances at me. She has the playful look in her eyes again, knowing full well I have no idea what she meant by ‘loading screen’. “And Lube Town... Really?! Should I ask what you were doing here?”

I may have been asleep for a long time, but I recognized this village, it’s unmistakable. Feeling confident, I cleared my throat “I believe you mean Lumber town Esty.”

Estellda’s face turned a slight shade of pink as she looked back at me, her eyes darting between my face and the priest’s. With a puzzled look on her face, “uhh I think everyone knows lube town is lumber town.” The priest turns to Estellda, narrowing her eyes, landing a playful punch on Estellda’s arm, “where are you finding these nubs?!”

Estellda bursts out laughing, no longer able to contain her amusement. “oh this never gets old!”. It took a while for her to compose herself but eventually it did happen.

“Thanks for the summon! We were stuck in a spot where unstuck wouldn’t work. Good thing you’re around to bail me out.” She turns to tilts her head in my direction and adds “this is Red, she’s new, sorta, so she’s a lil weird at times but I keep her around for amusement”.

She turns to look at me, grinning. I glare back at her. Amusement? I’ll show you amusement the next time we’re alone. “And Red... Say hello and a thank you to Breeki Mi-OWW!” another punch lands on Estellda’s arm from the priest, there are now 2 castanics glaring at her. “fine fine! Red, meet Bree.”