Chapter 2: Selection
The soldiers, including Cala herself, quickly lined up and stood at attention, and the sounds of the nearby saws rushed in to fill the void the chattering soldiers had left behind at the captain’s words. While the last of the soldiers found their place in the formation, Cala felt the eyes of the middle aged human commander before her tugging at her form fitting leathers, working their way in and under. Her eyes flickered to his face even as her skin crawled from his gaze, in time to see a slight grin flit across his lips while he drank her in. Instantly, Cala knew she had acquired the attention of command in a way she knew meant trouble.
“You lot were the closest, so we thought we'd seek you out first. If you'd please follow me, we'll be climbing to the top of town hill, my colleagues are waiting there to brief you on the current situation.” said the commander, his eyes leaving Cala's body only briefly as he addressed the assembled soldiers.
Cala understood that many human males who visited Castanica emerged with an unquenchable lust for her kind; thin and lean, youthful, but with a severity that spoke volumes of the tumult that the Castanic people have endured for ages. Unfortunately, to those afflicted with 'Horn-Fever', (so dubbed by the ribald in their cups) Cala had no means to turn off her charm. Her traditional Castanic leathers revealed a great deal of her smooth coppery skin, and she had been told hundreds of time that her hair was as fantastic to behold as it was unique in its colouration. Many Castanic women had red hair, the colour of flames or blood. Cala's, however, had ever been a ghostly shade of rose, and even her elders could not recount seeing such hair in their lifetimes. Her strong and unblemished silver horns complemented the colour of her hair, and only added to her desirability. This type of attention, however, was not something she sought.
The exertion of reaching the top of town hill had dwindled a great deal from the first few visits; 4th company had been running the hill for the last several days, when it had become clear that the work would not take as long as they had been billeted for. Lumbertown Hill was the highest point for nearly a hundred kilometres in any direction. From it, one can see the Tuwangi frog-balloons to the south, the red-tile rooftops of Cresentia to the east, the green expanse of the Fey Forest to the north, and the shimmering blue of the Inland-Sea to the west.
At the summit, two more soldiers awaited the troops, and were handing out extendable spyglasses to the soldiers as they arrived. Many were fascinated by these, and had never beheld them before. Those with experience showed the others how to use the spyglasses, and a good deal of folly ensued. Some gasped in amazement and proclaimed they could see The Wheel of Velik from where they stood using the spyglasses, while others claimed they could see the Lumbertown Vanarch's daughter bathing nude in her back yard. As Cala accepted her spyglass, she calmly regained her position in the formation, and awaited instruction.
“OK, I've brought you up here for a reason. About a week ago, as you know, there was a brutal storm that came in from the west off the water. You've been cleaning up the results of it, so you know firsthand that it wasn't a run-of-the-mill hurricane. Oddly enough, Velika Plains received very little of the same storm, and Val Aureum to the south had sunshine. We have had reports from Shara that a few isolated townships were devastated by a storm on the very day this one hit, but again, it seems isolated. There was one other peculiarity. The storm Shara experienced came in from the east.” the commander explained, addressing all assembled, occasionally lifting his chest in a haughty manor as if demonstrating for all to see how concise and expertly he could deliver his orders.
“Shortly after the tempest, our scholars ventured out by boat to study the water temperature changes and tidal fluctuations brought about by the storm. They returned with odd reports... reports of a new land mass in the center of the Inland-Sea.” As the commander said this, several soldiers glanced nervously over their shoulders the west. “We sent 1st Expeditionary Force five days ago by boat to inspect the island, and report back within forty-eight hours. Ladies and gentlemen, those eight soldiers were due to return to port two days ago, and nothing has been heard from soldier or commander since their departure.”
A giant albatross soared low over the hilltop, its massive wings darkening the assembled with shadow as it passed. The silence was tangible as hundreds of different scenarios played themselves out in the minds of the thirty tired and sweaty members of the company.
The commander gave a sign to one of the soldiers who had been waiting for the company at the top of the hill.
“Please look below my feet here, you’ll see a line etched in the soil. Using your spyglass, please look to your west in the direction this line points” said the gaunt human whose robes and scepter identified him as a Mystic.
Cala and the rest of the company did as requested, and suddenly a murmur came over what had been a very quiet crowd. Through the extended copper tube, Cala could see the Inland-Sea glistening in the afternoon sunlight. A sudden shimmer on the horizon made her pause and study the area with care. What she was seeing was not only fascinating, but infinitely beautiful. In the distance, the top of what appeared to be a tree glittered like ephemeral amethysts on the water. She peered over her spyglass with her naked eye at the spot she'd been looking at, but the shimmering tree and the shimmering water all sparkled as one.
"What exactly are we seeing, sir?" asked Captain Fayhee, lowering his own spyglass.
The Mystic raised his voice to address the gathering. "What you are seeing is, for lack of a better word, a tree. We are not certain exactly what it is, but it looks like a tree with lavender crystals for leaves. This, and the fact that there appear to be collections of ruins scattered across the island make it an area which must be protected from would-be pilferers."
Warmark shifted his weight to his other foot, and continued. “Several companies of the VDB have already departed for the Island, several hours ago, in fact, with the intent of setting up a base camp and to protect the island from looters. We are now assembling a 2nd Expeditionary Force to head to this island. We want to know what happened to 1st EF – did they make it to the island, did they encounter trouble at sea - and we want to know what this island is. As you all know, if Arun and Shara are dreaming up new land masses, a new and unpredictable age is dawning. This island is the epicenter of this new dream, and so the scholars have dubbed it 'The Island of Dawn'. We mean to get to the bottom of this. I'm here to hand select 2nd EF. Captain Kotcha, Seargeant Ellismin -” he gestured to the two human soldiers who had handed out the spyglasses - “and myself will make up the main part of the force, but we need five more. Any volunteers?”
At this, a flurry of hands went to the air. Everyone assembled, including Cala, were too intrigued by this mystery to pass up the opportunity to investigate. The fact that Lumbertown promised nothing but boredom for the next couple of days was also expedient to Warmark's cause. The commander rolled his eyes, and pointed to a monstrous Amani with a pair of dirks strapped to his side, a rotund Popori in a robe with a Sorcerer's disk half tucked into his backpack, a quiet blue Baraka with greatsword at his back, and a High-Elf woman Cala had spoken to several times, whose staff, she was told, came from a rare tree near Allemantheia.
Cala saw Warmark searching the crowd of soldiers frantically, desperately, his eyes moving from soldier to soldier, indicating that he was hunting but had not found his prey. Cala knew what prey he sought, and so stepped forward from where she had been hiding in the back row. His eyes fell upon her, and a smile besieged his face. His hand rose and curled into a fist, and his index finger flew out to point at Cala.
“You.”
Archer
and 
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Domineering Rhomb - Increases damage done to small monsters
Dauntless Cabochon - When attacked by medium monsters you have a chance to generate a protective shield.
Acrimonious Cabochon - Increases attack power when attacking medium monsters.
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