<div class="floatleft">(http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u649/wigglebiscuit/Lydia/HumeFemale_zps9b0dc3da.jpg)</div>Lydia endures the inspection with quiet dignity. As a woman, she is used to being poked, prodded, and set on display. She winces as the seal presses into her flesh, but she knows what is coming, and is prepared for the pain. They will be able to track her now, throughout the Dungeon, and manipulate her body in various ways. The seal, she knows, is how they transform the Contestants into soulfruit. It is also rumored that, when a Contestant has been mortally wounded, they use the seal to mercifully end the life of the Contestant. All things told, she'd rather have the seal then not.<br/><br/>Lydia wastes no time at the Æthertube; she spent the majority of the morning, and many quiet evenings before that, working out her strategy. The popular Counselors--the Archion, the Paladin, Father Allgood, Malefactus, and so on--are all placed at the deepest end of the level. The magic compasses she will receive before entering the Dungeon will guide her to the Counselor she chooses. The less-popular Counselors are placed near the middle of the Dungeon. Contestants who pass these Counselors, but fail to reach their desired Counselor, often find themselves doubling back and accepting one of the bottom-tier Counselors.<br/><br/>Lydia has no desire to face the deprivations of the Barbarian, or sell her soul to the Succubus. If she does exceptionally well at the outset, she will proceed directly to one of the top tier Counselors. If not, she'll head straight for the mids. But which one? That is what she needs to find out.<br/><br/>She turns her Æthertube to the first Counselor on her list: the Marchioness.