Adventure Log - June 18, 2024
The Australis Guild
Spider appears in a shower of green sparks. The only addition to their usual outfit is a black bat bag that's been slung over their back. She glances around eager to explore the new place she's found herself in. She finds herself in a neighborhood somewhere in the revived Australis district. Loads of houses line the streets and the weather is around 70F, so a little warm. At one end of this street seems to be a small shopping plaza with stores and restaurants. At the other end, a large single story building with a small crowd people seem to be waiting outside for something. People walk around the neighborhood, but they seem 'normal' even if some are riding broomsticks instead of walking. A couple notice Spider but don't react to her wolf features. Spider grumbles at the temperature, people watching until the gathering catches their eye. Their ear flicks then she starts to make her way towards it.
Getting closer to the crowd, Spider notices the building's title: Austrails District Adventurer's Guild. A sign nearby states that it's been 18 years since Australis had one of these, as the previous iteration was burned down in the Magical Explosion. The crowd appears to be waiting for something to happen in the front, but aside from some murmurs, it doesn't appear to have happened yet.
Spider tilts their head as she reads over the sign, then she walks over to one of the people in the crowd saying, "don't suppose you know what time this is kicking off?"
The person, an older looking woman, looks at their watch on their wrist. Their tone is pleasant, "Should start at any moment. Just waiting for Tina to come out and start the ceremony. I'm so proud of her."
Spider nods as her gaze moves to the building, "Right, and who's Tina again?"
The person just assumes Spider isn't aware and explains the deal, "My daughter. She's our district’s representative. It's something Nova's been working on to allow every district to have a say in things moving forward."
Spider sighs the mention of Nova getting her to think back to the employees at the supermarket, "Sure, if that's what you wanna call it."
At that point, someone walks out of the building wearing a turtleneck sweater, a black polka dotted bow on her head, and light pink hair. At about 5'5" and skinny, Tina Maxwell makes her way to a stage partially obscured by the crowd. Out of nowhere, two large flat screens popup showing Tina in all her glory. She begins to speak, though the voice she has is rather high pitched and squeaky. She is often compared to that of the vtuber Ironmouse in terms of vocal range.
"Welcome one and all, citizens of our lovely district Australis to our new Adventurer's Guild. As you're most likely aware, 18 years ago our fair district was destroyed in the Magical Explosion. As we are moving past our past and into a brighter future, I ask that you all enjoy what we have planned for the city as a whole. We're gonna make it y'all! And I believe in Spark, much like he believes in all of us to do what we can! If you have questions, concerns, or even answers to questions I've asked in the past, please don't be a stranger. As the youngest ADMIN of the Nova Four, I want to help in any way I can. Thank you."
Most of the crowd applauds for her, but some seem wary of putting her in charge of the whole district. Spider winces at the pitch of Tina's voice glancing around at the crowd as she listens. She doesn't feel too great about this considering her experiences with Nova so far.
A lot of the teenage crowd members are cheering for her, some saying that for once they're represented by someone their age. One of the older crowd members say that someone her age should be in school, much less the leader of a whole district. Another one of the teens notices that one person and tells them "What do you mean?? She's 19!!" Which causes the other older male to retort, "Bah! In my days only those who earned it after years and years of hard work would be part of the government. And we didn't complain one bit!" This causes the teen to spit out, "cuz we have actually have THE BALLS to complain!" After some more squabbling, the crowd starts to disperse as the seemingly tense Tina Maxwell watches from her podium.
Spider grumbles in annoyance as the arguing breaks out. After the crowd disperses she pauses then starts trying to make her way over to the stage.
Tina is sitting on the edge of the stage. Aside from the high schoolers that entered the Guild, no one else is around. Upon seeing Spider come up, she smiles brightly, not recognizing her, "hello! I've never seen you around before. Are you new to Australis?" Her tone seems bright and pleasant, nothing remotely sinister about it.
Spider nods plastering a pleasant smile on their face, "am I that obvious? But yeah I was passing by when I saw the crowd. Figured I'd check it out."
Tina claps in excitement. "Okay! So I'm Tina, or if you really wanna call me my admin name, you can call me Cassiopeia, but you don't have to. I ain't like some of the others in the Four," she sighs, shaking her head at their arrogance. "Anyway, welcome! Have you ever used a Guild's services before?"
Spider tilts her head deciding to play dumb for now, "no I haven't. To be honest with you I barely know what this admin stuff is about."
Tina nods in understanding, "Oh that's no problem. You'd be surprised how many people ask me that. In the previous era - what we've called the Sun/Moon era - ADMINs were not much more than major forces in each company, like the lead researcher into something or maybe the head of R&D and that so on. Being an ADMIN back then meant you had a special role, that's it. It was a sticker on your badge stating you were better than others, kind of a load if you ask me. Nova intends to change that. While we have the old type of ADMINs still within our researching and manufacturing divisions, we're also doing the NOVA FOUR. 4 Representatives, 1 from each of Borealis, Australis, Lunar, and Solar Districts. Our task is to look after our respective citizens, lead our Guilds, and report back to Nova Heart with things that they need or want. Nova Heart is all about the family, and they treat everyone in the city as family. Each of us Nova Four Admins are from the different districts! By the way, I never got your name?"
Spider's ear twitches as she listens though they're able to maintain a friendly expression, "It's Spider." They give little nod then add, "so this admin stuff is just a government scheme, that explains the arguments."
Tina smiles gently, "Spider eh? Cool name! And yeah it kind of is. It was specifically requested by the Agency of Arcane Affairs to try and deny any one person from taking over the entire city. I think it's cool, but it's too bad not everyone agrees." She shrugs, honestly seeming unphased by it.
For the sake of not being there all day Spider decides against pointing out the flaws in that system. Instead she responds with, "yeah well you're never gonna please everyone."
"Indeed. Oh well, that's how the cookie crumbles. Anyway, wanna check out the Guild?"
Spider nods, "lead the way." Opening the door inside, Spider sees a rustic foresty lodge. Dark mahogony and oak wood fills the interiors. The lighting is rather dim, though candlelit lanterns give the space some light. Some soft acoustic music adds ambiance to the moody Guild. Different areas exist in this area including a bulletin board with lots of papers requesting tasks, a bar in the back with a pretty woman serving drinks to a few customers, a few rooms here or there for different purposes (each purpose is on a plaque above the door), and a comfortable looking lounge at the far wall with wooden rocking chairs, what seems like a brown bear pelt on the ground, and a roaring fireplace. Above the fireplace are trophies with some strange designs to them.
"So yeah welcome to my Guild. The Australis guild, much like Nova, Lunar, Solar, and Borealis, all have different design choices dependant on the person who runs them. I chose to design mine like the Guilds of the pre-Magical Renaissance, the classic cabin tavern. Comfy ain't it?" Tina has a bright smile on her face and seems proud of the work she’s put into the place.
A genuine smile creeps onto Spider's face as she glances around the tavern. Despite her opinions on Nova a nice aesthetic is a nice aesthetic. After looking around for a bit they look back at Tina replying, "it is yeah."
Tina looks back with a blushy smile, "I'm glad. Lemme show you around." They walk to the bulletin board with probably 10 or 15 different sheets of paper. Each sheet has one to ten stars on it displaying difficulty rating, a name of a task needing to be done, the description of what needs to be done, the person requesting, and the reward. "This is our quest board. Oftentimes, people need things done, and this is how we organize it. These tasks can range from simple mowing of lawns for senior citizens or delivering of supplies to heading into the Outskirts and finding something, and all else in between and further beyond. Any time someone completes it, they return here, " They point to a window where a man wearing rather casual clothing sits at computer, "and get the reward listed. Rewards tend to be proportional to the difficulty level. It's part of Nova's ideal of family helping family. I think it's cool. "
Spider nods as she listens, "so is there a membership or can anyone add to this?"
"Anyone can add to it or complete missions. All five Guilds communicate with one another, so if you got a task from here but submitted it to Lunar's Guild, you would still get the reward."
"Good system then." Spider looks over the room again, the rooms catching her eye, "have I mentioned how big this place is yet?"
Tina giggles at Spider's response. Looking over at her, she mentions, "this is nothing. You should see Nova District's guild. That's the biggest one in the whole city. It's also an EDM club if you're into that."
Spider shakes her head, "you say that but this is more my kind of thing."
Tina has finally noticed the wolfy features on Spider but chooses not to comment, instead saying, "Ah so you're the more outdoorsy type then. I respect that. You're welcome here any time you wanna get away from crap. Technically this is my home as well, well a home away from home anyway.".
Spider pauses thinking something over before she responds, "I'll keep that in mind. And well, it's clear you've put a lot of effort into this place."
"Thank you." She gets a notification on her phone and sighs annoyed, "Oh for the love of the Gods, I'll be right back. Please continue exploring if you wanna Spider. Just need to take care of something." She enters a room labeled "GUILD LEADER - Cassiopeia" and shuts the door.
Spider watches Tina go then sighs. She glances around the guild again then heads to the closest door that isn't Tina's room.
Spider finds herself at a room labeled "Library". Looking through the entrance, it's another room similar to the lounge area, except the slightly musty smell of old books is easily noticeable. The walls are filled with books of all kinds, ranging from simple children's books to books about famous people, and all others in between. A couple people are sitting in lounge chairs studying at wooden desks in the middle of the room. The ambient music is a lot quieter in here compared to the Lounge area, so as to not bother those reading or studying.
Spider hovers at the entrance for a second then decides to check the other rooms out. So she heads to the next door.
The next room is a dining area labeled "Cafe". The inviting scent of coffee and pastries fill the air as many guests are sitting at the tables eating and drinking. Compared to the library, the sounds are much louder, but it's still rather calm. At the far wall, a stage seems to be set up with some acoustic guitars and drums. According to a sign, small concerts are offered on the weekends to patrons. The house band is not one Spider knows.
Spider quickly moves on from this room after looking around as cafes simply aren't that interesting to her. She looks for another room.
The next room she finds is labeled "Australis Memorial". It's a mostly empty room with some plaques. A written dedication is easily found and it seems to be related to the Magical Explosion which destroyed Australis during the Sun and Moon era.
Now this gets Spider's attention, and she enters the room looking at the dedication.
On getting closer to the Memorial, she finds it's written not to the District as a whole but to Tina specifically. Mentions of the city are definitely found though. The author of it seems to be removed, as parts of the memorial are painted over in red paint, redacting parts of it. Perhaps some of it's private? Due to the memorial being encased in glass, it's impossible to tell who wrote this or what was redacted.
It seems like whoever wrote this is apologizing for Tina's family, though what specifically happened to them is a mystery. It also goes into how this could've been prevented had something played out differently, though it's unclear how or what.
Above the memorial are two images: the first one shows the Guild in its original form, a very very small building compared to this one, almost like a ranch-style home. And the other one shows a group of people standing in front of it. A very small pink-haired child with a genuinely bright smile is in front of this group. Looks familiar. A date on this photograph says it was taken on December 31, 2005. Spider sighs as she reads over the memorial and spots the photograph, she stands there for a second rereading it a thoughtful expression on their face. Then she exits the room heading back to the main area.
She's back in the main area. Tina hasn't left her office yet. Curious, Spider walks up to Tina's door and leans on the wall by it. Her ears twitch as she tries to eavesdrop. Spider isn't able to hear much, as the walls are pretty thick, but with her increased hearing sensitivity, she's able to make out "What? But this was their fault!" pretty easily, as Tina shouted that. Nothing else can be made out, though Spider leaning against the wall gets one of the staff member's attention. "What are you doing miss?" they ask her.
Spider jumps, then takes a breath and gestures at the door, "Waiting for Tina."
"ADMIN Cassiopeia has urgent matters to attend to. She will likely not be available for the rest of the day." They say in a tone nowhere near as warm or inviting as Tina's.
Spider barely resists the urge to growl as she responds, "yeah well. That ain't what she said."
"ADMIN Cassiopeia sent us a text message to relay all further inquiries to the staff. It is governmental business." They stand there with their arms crossed.
Spider sighs and gets up off the wall, "fine."
"Thank you." They walk away after Spider complies. There's not much more in the Guild to find. There's a bar in the back, and the lounge. Past that and the library, that's it. Spider grumbles at their back then deciding she's done for today starts making her way to the exit.
She's able to leave without issues. She finds herself back in the greater Australis District. Then she disappears after hiding in a alleyway nearby.