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The woman freezes, then looks Raziel right in the eyes. Something primal stirs in them, something not entirely human. "Ahhh," she hisses, "an attitude." She makes a hand gesture, and a sliding noise, issuing forth from a multitude of unseen entities, filled the great hall reverberating menacingly.

"Come, then, Raziel. Would you tempt fate by releasing your will and seeing the true power that I have in store?" She stares, animal-like, into Raziel's eyes, then moved on. The sliding noise ends abruptly when she breaks eye contact.

She turns to the next adventurer, a tall woman, encased in armor, sporting brilliantly white hair cascading down her back and carrying a long, wicked looking spear. "Child of the Steppe, by what calling do you hail?"

The woman glanced, momentarily shocked, at the woman, then snapped to attention, the obviousness of her military training coming through like a foghorn. "The Steppe's voices call me-" something unpronounceable, "-but the human tongue will call me Aisha."

The woman nods, bows, says, "Then Aisha shall this human tongue hail you by." The odd ceremony complete, she glides swayingly over to the next adventurer.

"Your name."

((next.))

Anger flared in the woman's eyes, then subsided as lazy smile crossed her face. When Zafarek coaxes the weasel out of its hiding place, a hungry look comes over her face, which she quickly masters and hides again. "How cute," she snaps, "the name of your companion. Very well." She bares her teeth back at the weasel, a surprisingly viscious gesture. Itchyfoot squeeks and disappears back into Zafarek's robes, refusing to come out and trembling madly.

The woman laughs, a low, bloodchilling sound, and moves onto the next in the line. "And you, what's your name?" She glances back at the old man, adds, "And the names of any... companions."

The woman raised a critical eyebrow, and nodded at Chand. "Finally, someone who knows how to follow instructions." She smiled, and for once, it wasn't a grimace of anger or reigned in hate. "That's good, it'll carry you far."

"And you?" She asks, turning to the next person in line.

((by arcane might, are you refering to his... modifications?))

The lady looks at him appraisingly, her eyes sharp. "Ah... Another warrior, someone who can take of himself. Well, you'll need it in the near future, Teves."

The questioning process continued, two more adventurers, both armored, gave their names as a snarled "Vartek," and "Pious, if it may please the Light." The last recieved a laughing "Fitting," before moving onto the next adventurer.

"And your name, please, before we all die of old age."

((Vall, get off your rear and post. Lia is ready to rock. And Fig too. No more slacking time to get posting. Get Mord in here, I know his history, so stop mucking around with the story and stats.))

((Oh, ok. Well, thanks for trying at any rate.))

The woman nods, apparently relieved that the last adventurer wasn't going to give her a double portion of lip, then turns away and walks up to the top of the dias. She reaches the top and stretches out a hand, taking something invisible from a similarly invisible entity. As she pulled away, the object became visible once more: an open scroll with ten lines written on it. A murmured word, and she turns back to the assembled ten.

"Thank you all for coming today at such short notice. My name is Shiel. You each have come, in your own ways, for your own reasons, through who knows what hardship. However, said hardship is far from over, and for those of you who have yet to endure, you will wish it to be done far before it will be." She paused, to let the assembly digest that encouraging piece, then moved on.

"As I mentioned before, you have come here in search of adventure or reward by way of finding a certain crystal artifact for me and my... brethren. This artifact lies through a portal located within one of the southern caves. We discovered it, but were unable to retrieve said artifact due to... complications. At any rate, ten people are needed to open the portal, which will be made more clear once you arrive at the location.

"However, it is late, and you will need to prepare yourselves for tomorrow. If you need the services of a healer, we will supply one for you. I want all of you to be at full health by tomorrow morning early."

Shiel gestures towards someone behind a pillar, and an equally graceful woman sweps out, shorter than Shiel, and dressed in a long dark green robe with the hood up. Her face was deeply in shadow, but the outline of a thin face could be seen. Shiel spoke again, saying, "Sareth will show you to your quarters. Meet back here at sunrise. Don't be late."

She finished talking, and Sareth led the adventurers en masse to one of the more prominent underground estates. Lodgings are assigned, and the group beds down for the night.

((Ok, 8 hours later. Casters, list your memorized spells.))

The next day, the party meets up once more in the Great Hall, where they find Shiel waiting for them. Without bothering with greeting preliminaries, Shiel hands Aisha a map of the tunnel system and orders Sareth to lead the party to the entrance to the tunnel.

((Its a bit of a trek, something around a half-hour walk, but not really a point of interest))

Once there, Sareth says, "This is as far as I go. If you follow the map Aisha has, you'll find the portal chamber easily enough. Good luck, all of you." Having finished her little speech, Sareth turns and walks away, leaving the party standing in awkward silence. The tunnel entrance yawns before them and as yet, nobody has made a move to proceed.

Aisha unrolls the map, holding it so the others can see what is written on it. As she does so, an incorporeal voice says, "Remember, you only have twenty four hours once the portal opens to get out again!"

A little unnerved, Aisha finishes unrolling it, and examines the relatively simple layout of the tunnel system. A single long main channel, with minor tributaries leading nowhere in particular, ending in a large circular room. "That must be the portal room."