And with that the day wound down. The gang was again released to go about their business around the city as they pleased, though Cass reasserted that they should keep up a dour front in public, as well as avoid anyone wearing Lord Blackcrest's insignia, lest they get shanked in the street.<br/><br/>For obvious reasons they did not get word from Carmilla and Sera right away. It would be quite the scandal if they were caught fraternizing after the duel. However the next day word finally did come in the form of Carmilla's head butler,<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">J'eves</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/iCG6Tac.jpg)</div></div>. He had personally made the trip out to the city to hand deliver a bank note for the promised 2,000 gold, as well as give them his lady's sincerest thanks for their help. They even got an invitation to the wedding too! Only a few weeks away. For the time being that would be the last contact the gang would have with the Countess and her mouthy fiancé, but they knew well that they had made a powerful new friend, one they might be able to call upon in the future.<br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><strong>QUEST COMPLETE!</strong><br/><br/>While your group may have completely failed your original rescue mission, and had not in fact slayed a vampire, you did manage to pull a fast one on the ill-tempered Lord Blackcrest, freeing his daughter to marry the vampire bride of her dreams. Countess Carmilla Feratti has rewarded you with 2,000 gold for your help, and you now have connections with an influential noble on top of it. The four of you have all been given a share of 250 gold as a reward for your part in the quest, with Cass'andra keeping the remaining 1,000 gold for <del>herself</del> the guild's expense account.</div><br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><strong>ONE....WEEK....LATER....</strong></div><br/><br/>A week has passed since that fateful day in the Grand Arena. In that time the gang hasn't taken on a new job, but that doesn't mean things have been uneventful. Cass'andra had wasted little time in spending the gold they had earned from their last job. The first order of business was getting them the fuck out of that dingy shack. Using a chunk of the reward money as a down payment (and Elenetha as a "negotiator") Cass managed to convince their landlady to drop their lease and move them into one of her other buildings in the city, kicking out the previous residents in the process.<br/><br/>The result was a much nicer<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">new location</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/d92Ct7K.jpg)</div></div>. It was a proper office building, tall and sturdy, nestled deeper within the city's Guild District, no longer lingering on the fringes. The<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">front office</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/fTTFUV4.jpg)</div></div>was spacious and well furnished, making the place actually look like a respectable business. Above there were enough floors for every member to have their<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">own room</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/viBAB67.jpg)</div></div>. There was even a<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">bathroom</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/IW8OSVZ.jpg)</div></div>, with a working tub and everything! They also had a large<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">basement</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/z0r8jy0.jpg)</div></div>that Cass had converted into a "workshop" of sorts, to work on unspecified "necromancer stuff" in. She had asked everyone politely, yet<em>firmly</em>, not to go inside without her express permission. However perhaps the best part was the custom made<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">sign</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/pyLkPKB.jpg)</div></div>that now hung over the front door. For some reason the sign in particular seemed to deeply touch Cass'andra. It was a proper sign for a proper guild, not just some crudely painted plank of wood. It seemed, to her at least, to be a symbol of legitimacy, a mark of pride, proof that they were going to make it, that their hard work was finally paying off. She actually cried when they first hung it up...<br/><br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_u">Location: Second Chance Club front office</span></div><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/fTTFUV4.jpg)</div><div class="floatright">(https://i.imgur.com/PKQgdD8.jpg)</div><br/>It was a bright and cheery morning in Wyrmfell. It had been a rather hectic week for the members of the Second Chance Club. Moves were always a hassle: packing, hauling, unpacking, arranging, rearranging, rearranging again, selling old crap, buying new crap. However last night they finally seemed to get everything in place<em>just</em>how Cass'andra wanted it, and the end result was a pretty damn professional looking guild. The busty little elf let out a content sigh as she plopped down in her cushion lined chair at front desk and looked over her queendom with fresh morning eyes. The usually withdrawn necromancer was positively glowing with satisfaction, she had been for the whole week actually, a beaming smile stuck to her face like glue, "Good morning everyone!" she cooed, giving a little spin in her chair, "I know it's been a busy week, but I can proudly say that today the Second Chance Club officially reopens for business!" she said, popping open a bottle wine, which was perhaps not the best idea given how weak the elf's tolerance for alcohol was.<br/><br/>Just then the door knocked, a delivery boy with a case of bread and pastries from the local bakery. While Cass had initially been hesitant to start frivolously spending their new funds, once she had gotten started she couldn't stop, buying them all sorts of little luxuries. One such expense was having breakfast hand delivered to the office every day, "Mmm..." she hummed in pleasure as she slid a long donut between her lips, slurping out of mouthful of custard from it, all in front of Katra, "awight (lick) first order of business. Allow me to introduce our new crewmates" she declared, going over to the basement door and throwing it open. This would be news to the lot of them, as Cass had never mentioned hiring on new members until now, nor had they noticed her moving any bodies in and out of the building. Though come to think of it she had been out late the past few days....<br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_u">Location: Second Chance Club basement</span></div><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/z0r8jy0.jpg)</div><br/>Death was not a sleep, but an awakening.<br/><br/>For Grella Bonecrusher and Mercedes death had been a<em>rude</em>awakening. Two young women in their prime, a whole lifetime of adventure ahead of them, cut down far too soon. The experience of dying was quite the ride: first fear, then pain, then numbness, then blackness...and out of that blackness emerged a figure, a woman in a dark wedding veil. She had approached them in their dark void, their own personal chunk of nothingness.<br/><br/>When she pulled back the veil they were greeted by the grim visage of<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Madama Muerta</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/eRkqbtO.jpg)</div></div>, the Goddess of Death. Her skeletal face was frightening, yet her presence was strangely calming. She took them in her arms, embraced them, placed a kiss upon their foreheads, and though she seemingly had none, they would feel soft lips upon their skin when she did. From her they felt the purest love, rivaled only by that of their own mothers, or perhaps even surpassing it. She told them the truth, that they were dead, that they had perished in pursuit of goals that would forever go unfulfilled. She shed a golden tear for them both, not for the death itself, but for the pain and anguish they had to suffer to get there, and she gave her sincerest apology that their passing could not have been more gentle.<br/><br/>Madam Death offered them her boney hand, her fingers warm and soft as they closed around their own, and led them through the darkness. And while they walked they filled the silence with conversation. They spoke of many things, of their lives, their experiences, their hopes and dreams, their fears and nightmares, the challenges they overcame and the responsibilities they turned away from. All the while Madama Muerta listened to them with rapt attention, hanging on every detail. She gave no judgement for their deeds, nor advice on how they could have done better, for it was not her place to give either. Those things were behind them now, and her purpose was to see them step forward, not look back.<br/><br/>Eventually Madama Muerta would stop, letting them know they had reached the end of their walk, though their surroundings looked no different from when they had started, for all they knew they hadn't moved at all. She gave them one last hug, one last kiss, then turned them to face their afterlife. She whispered in their ear, telling them not to be afraid, and gave them a gentle push forward...<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Mercy</div><div class="spoiler_body">When Mercy turned she was met by an almost blinding light, and a heat the penetrated deep to the core of her being. From that light descended a winged being, her Goddess <div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Sol</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/99UD1ha.jpg)</div></div>. Her appearance looked nothing like how the church had <div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">depicted her</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/FAw7YEo.png)</div></div>, but Mercy instinctively knew it was her, and that this was her true form, and that her true form was righteous and divine, and that to flinch away from her eldritch beauty was as natural as flinching away from the rays of the sun beaming in one's eyes, and so she would not be judged for it.<br/><br/>The Goddess spoke not. Her voice was not for mortals to hear, and if she was truly devout Mercy would already know what came next. Suddenly Mercedes began to rise, lifting towards the blinding light. The heat grew, becoming sweltering, then suffocating, then burning. The lingering images of her clothes and worldly possessions burned away, stripping her of all but what Ava had given her. As she approached the light her eyes finally adjusted to it, and she realized it was the sun itself, overwhelming in it's vastness. It was the heart of Sol herself, beating with the lifeblood of her followers' souls. The closer she got the hotter she became, soon becoming unbearable. She saw on the surface the forms of other people, other followers like herself. They were all screaming, in pain or pleasure she could not tell, but their screams merged together into a terrifying chorus. Finally she touched the surface, and her own soul was set alight. In that moment she understood why they screamed, the pain unlike anything her mind could have possibly imagined, such a far cry from the blissful pleasure the priests had spoke of. And so Mercy screamed too, joining the writhing choir of burning souls. Yet for as agonizing as it felt, she also felt a strange, rapturous euphoria.</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Grella</div><div class="spoiler_body">When Grella turned she found herself floating through space, surrounded by millions of distant stars. One in particular caught her attention, the gentle green glow of the <div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Emerald Star</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/bB5nwPZ.jpg)</div></div>, the object of her people's worship, the source of her strength as marked by her own green skin. Grella was drawn to the star, like a moth to a flame, and found herself able to move through space towards it, propelled by thought and desire alone. As she traveled towards that distant star she realized she was not entirely alone. Occasionally she would pass by other orcs and elcs that had fallen, all similarly drawn towards that bright star. No one really knew for sure what would happen when they got there, what was waiting for them. Their religion had never said much about the afterlife, too focused on the here and now in the living world. Of course Grella's "here and now" was no longer in the living world, nor was it for the other souls she met. Still, while no one knew for sure, they did still have their theories. Some believed it would be an endless paradise, others believed it would be a battlefield where they could do combat for eternity without care. Some feared there would be a reckoning waiting for them, while others just hoped there would be some elves to fuck. <br/><br/>After what felt like an eternity of flying through space, the star finally started becoming larger, clearer. She was getting closer...closer...until eventually she could make out something on the surface of the star. It was a large black dot. Almost like a...<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">pupil</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/l4rKNo0.png)</div></div>...</div></div><br/><br/>And in a moment their eyes snapped open, and they were awake, no...they were alive. They had awoken in a strange place, a cellar? a dungeon? And over them had stood a strange girl, a pale elf who had introduced herself as Cass'andra Nokstell R. Mannimarco Lestain, White Sheep of the Black Herd, Mistress of Bones, Queen of Souls, Forsaker of Sunlight and Goddess of the Internal Sanctum...or Cass for short. She told them that she was a necromancer, that she had found their bodies, dead and forgotten, and taken them back into town with her. With her magic she brought them back to life, to give them, in her words, a second chance. That second chance came with an offer, an offer to work for her guild, to take on quests and make money so they could not only put their old lives back together, but create an even better one. She said that as long as her resurrection spell affected them they could be brought back time and time again, that they would be free from the fear of death and could live life to the fullest.<br/><br/>That was last night. Cass'andra had told them to give it some time and think it over...before locking them down in the basement overnight. And it was only now in the morning that they heard the tumblers click and the door swing open at the top of the stairs, "....Allow me to introduce our new crewmates"