<div class="floatright">(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt183/GhostwheelX/Misc/A06bw400b.jpg)</div>Mid swing, Ren stumbled as she suddenly found herself teleported into a square, the swing that had been meant for a goblin dog missing its mark and clanking dully into the stones beneath her feet. She looked around in confusion before the reason that they had all been teleported became apparent. She half-listened to the GM, noting the story without any real attachment to the words. A small downward turn changed her mouth slightly at the mention of the GM's death, but apart from that she showed little response until their predicament was explained.<br/><br/>A shard of cold seemed to pierce her heart, and a heavy gloom of despair lowered her shoulders. They were... trapped here? With no way out? But what about all the things that these people had, all their responsibilities, all the great and small duties they had to perform? While it was the right of the strong to shepherd the weak and keep them from harm's way, denying them their freedom to ensure that they remained safe as was necessary, this seemed a complete and total abuse of authority. This was not right, not the way. There was no benefit for the people here from these new rules. Only loss of livelihood and their "real" lives.<br/><br/>The coldness in her heart grew deeper and she felt herself become rigid as she understood the full implications of what death meant here in this world. She would die... forever? No, that couldn't be true, could it? Distress welled up within her, and the hands that held her guisarme tightened into fists, hands white beneath the gauntlets she wore. Her breath came hot and quick as she tried to wrestle with what it all meant. No longer was there a margin for error allowed. Now every fight could mean death with no respawn, no coming back to life as she had done time and again during the beta.<br/><br/>At the cries of the crowd she was woken from her reverie and looked up. Since her class wasn't shown on the display of other players no one came to her to beg for help, and she pushed down tears of helplessness. There were so many here who wanted, needed her help. And she could not help even a fraction of them as she was. Resolve began to replace the helplessness. No, this would not stand. If needed she would join a party herself and venture forth to do battle. She began to look around. They would need to hurry, to reach the more advanced monsters and level quickly lest they all be gone.<br/><br/>A boisterous voice called out among the crowd, and she saw the same people that had entered the cellar soon after she had left. One scantily clad woman was shouting declared her intent. Either the woman had will or did not realize precisely what was meant by the GM's decree. Probably a lot of both. They weren't too far away and she began to make her way towards them. The party she teamed up with would need all that will and energy in order to survive the coming battles. She just hoped that it would last.<br/><br/>As she moved closer, she saw the flash of steel heard the deadly words of threat that came from the mouth of one of the humans in the party. Threatening someone helpless and fearful, unable to stand on their own? Right. This is what she had come for. Even if the whole world was arrayed against her the least she could do was to try to keep those who couldn't save themselves safe.<br/><br/>Jonas felt the cold steel of Ren's guisarme against his shoulder, the hook pulling at his clothing, making it substantially harder for him to move freely and attack the half-orc before him if he chose to do so. "There is no honor or rightness in threatening those who do not have the spine to stand on their own," she said forgetting the inability to die in towns, eyes smoldering and voice low. "Lower your weapon, or you'd best be prepared to face the consequences," she said, her eyes now hard. A breath passes for a moment, but once the half-orc scurries away from the man she releases the pent up breath and raises her guisarme, holding it like a staff to one side. "My name is Ren. And if your words were not idle boasts and you truly mean to complete the game then I will join you."<br/><br/>"The local spawn points will soon be farmed out and we won't be able to access them. We should either go there quickly, or move on to the more advanced spawns; with this many people we should be fine," she adds, looking at the varied people in the party. Her gaze rests for a moment on Jonas, but quickly moves on. "Regardless, we should move as quickly as possible," she looks across the crowd still milling, "before people realize what's going on and take the monsters there themselves." Her eyes once more harden as she looks back at the party. "And if you require protection," she hefts her guisarme once more, "I will provide it."