"Well, I suppose Losvar was a friend, once," Raiken replied, frowning. "Things went bad between us some years back when he blamed me for all kinds of stuff, it's a long story. I don't know Vandra personally; they got together after things went sour between us, but she is pretty damn famous in her own right, with an avatar like that." He did not add that he thought she was probably almost as hot IRL given how the game didn't let people use avatars too different from their real appearance. Raiken had had been partners with Aria for some time, so it was possible that Aria might somehow pick up on this unexpressed thought. "I doubt we'll be doing any questing with either of them any time soon."<br/><br/>They left the Guild Hall and made their way to the teleport gates. There was another square in the town of Mathena that had a megalithic circle that marked out a Lunar Gate. There was a smaller standing stone just outside the megaliths marked with runes, and here, Raiken raised Ilvator's Seal and touched it to the rock, sending a small pulse of magical energy through it. The stone began to glow and soon all the megaliths were glowing, and in the centre of the stones, a rectangle of blue light shimmered, about ten feet high and perhaps eight across.<br/><br/>Raiken stepped towards the Gate, motioning for Aria to follow. They emerged on the other side of the Gate inside another similar circle of megaliths, where a young female mage wearing the light blue robes of an apprentice waited. "We had sealed this Gate to all other uses!" she cried, startled at their appearance. "The two of you must be the ones sent by the Archmage! Please, follow me, the Duke has been waiting for you!"<br/><br/>They found that the Gate was inside a walled city, and that soldiers were quickly attempting to dismantle the gate by removing the megaliths one by one. The young mage led them away towards the main gates to the city, and they would see that around them the city was making all kinds of preparations for war. Soldiers and peasants were running to and fro, carrying weapons and supplies, some of them working to build barricades and other defensive emplacements, shoring up inner ramparts as a secondary defence for the city, bringing weaponry to the soldiers at the walls, and so forth. There was an air of tension in the air as though there were a storm that was about to hit.<br/><br/>They went up a stairway to the central gatehouse, and they were led before a tall man with a curly brown beard, dressed in an elaborately embroidered tabard with the coat of arms of the Duchy of Syana over fine chain mail. On top of his coif he had a golden coronet. The young mage bowed before him formally and said: "Your Grace, here are the ones whom the Archmage has seen fit to aid us in the defence of the Duchy."<br/><br/>"Yes, rise my dear, and thank you," the duke said in a deep baritone. "Please proceed with your duties, child." Dismissed, the young woman scurried off. "So, the two of you have been chosen by the Archmage," he said, appraising the two of them.<br/><br/>Raiken inclined his head in a gesture of respect. "Your Grace, I am known as Raiken the Lightning Blade, a Magic Swordsman, and this is my partner, Aria Stormcaller."<br/><br/>"I see. The Archmage must have chosen the two of you to aid our defence for a reason. Can you explain what your abilities are?"<br/><br/>"Sir, as I have mentioned, I am a magic swordsman, and my main attribute is lightning. I specialise in lightning magic and spells that increase my abilities in combat. I will let my partner explain what she can do."