There are apparently Five Classes, five options, into which a Society Member can form-fit their avatar. And these Classes are in accordance with certain sets of strengths and weaknesses. I am unsure at the moment into which Class my avatar, Mys, would belong. Mys is good at piloting spaceships. Mys has, however, been taking lessons in the city of Antemaersa given to her by an avatar named Qinnos primarily on physical strength. I did not get a chance to check the Roster for the Member behind the avatar Qinnos. But regardless, these lessons have proven a unique challenge.
In any case, I have upgraded my spaceship to one of the superior brands. I previously had one of the Tiervox fleet, which was cheap and had relatively decent armor and firepower. However, at Raven's urging, I invested 6000.00 Arturian Credits into the purchase of a superior Platinum Eagle Starship. However, its extensive armor and firepower was worth it. Furthermore, I have resolved to partake on many quests, including ones not involving interglobal travel, in order to receive credits in payment to recover from my purchase.
My first quest since the one with Raven involved me staying on the Original Planet Arturia and venturing into the Northern Territory of the Republic of Cresca, where I arrived to the village of Clane and accepted a job to retrieve a stolen horse. I tracked down the thief involved; and said thief would not go down without a fight. It was a close fight, to say the least, and Mys was close to death at the end. But nonetheless, Mys defeated the man and brought back the horse. Mys returned to the Tavern where they first learned about the gig, and was paid gold coins to be exchanged for 1000.00 Arturian Credits.
I took my Platinum Eagle, afterward, to Cresca Minor I where I partook in a similar quest. After that, I wanted to continue exploring more planets and doing the same, but had to force myself to fulfill an obligation I had tonight to meet roommates Climon and Hogan.
***
"Apparently...," Hogan started, breaking the news to us. "Aldin Blake is a contemporary of Howard North and Kara Martins."
Climon and I were stunned. This made no sense. "Have you confirmed this?" I asked.
"Blake himself told me. So I reached out to Howard North posing as a prospective recruiter. I asked about Blake's background and personality." Hogan pulled out his handheld OCEA console. "And this is what he said."
I looked at the dialogue screen, at the reply from North, part of which read: "Thank you for reaching out. Aldin is whom I would call one of the most reliable colleagues I've had the pleasure to meet. He is currently carrying on at Cabotton University an initiative paramount to our Northmoor Chapter. However, I am sure that he would be more than happy to consider your opportunities afterward."
"So he's not the Master Pagewriter," I blurted out.
"My thoughts exactly," Hogan said. "But then again, he could be and is perhaps coercing North and Martins."
"Maybe North but not Martins," Climon said. "Martins is one who does the swaying, not one who is swayed."
"Just because she's outspoken doesn't mean she isn't swayed," Hogan said. "She could simply be repeating loudly something requested by a soft-spoken beneficiary, for perhaps some form of monetary compensation."
"Blake is not who I would call a soft-spoken beneficiary," Climon argued.
"Wait," I interjected. "I thought the new Chapter Leader got Kindol on friendly terms with Northmoor again, with the North-Martins camp. If Aldin Blake is carrying out his agenda here on behalf of a mandate from Northmoor, or maybe it's that Northmoor approved of him, then why was I not made aware of this connection until tonight? Did either of you know about this before tonight?"
"This is news to both us," Hogan said. Climon nodded in agreement.
"I just had a thought occur to me though," Climon added. "Why don't we make, anonymously, an official complaint to the Bookkeeper against Blake? Maybe even motion for a complete ban? And then we'll gauge how Northmoor responds. Maybe they'll even reach out to us for help if we remain anonymous with the initial reporting. We're certain to have more inside information from them if that is so."
"There are ways for our anonymity to be blown," Hogan argued.
"By what method?" Climon asked.
"If Blake were to become Dungeonmaster, and appoint a new Bookkeeper to release records previously kept confidential...," Hogan reasoned. "Dungeonmasters can make such requests and Bookkeepers can follow through."
"Okay," Climon started. "For one thing, what are the odds-?"
"He's got a larger following than you might be led to believe," Hogan interrupted. "I'm not saying he's got even a fighting chance of winning. And I certainly wouldn't vote him Dungeonmaster even at gunpoint. But I am not willing to even take a small bet against him, given the popularity he has already."
"It's the freshmen here," Climon complained. "They're a bunch of idiots, I've noticed. So complacent."
"The same has been said by every successive seasoned Cabotton student class since the beginning..." Hogan remarked quietly.
"Listen," I interjected. "Bring this up to my boss, Pheleston, and seek his advice."
"Very well," Climon said. "Let's sleep on this."
***
As promised, I sent an OCEA message to Pheleston. Not even five minutes later, I got a message from Kelsey Band, herself, saying that she was superseding communications with me while Pheleston was out on important business.
Kelsey advised me to have us go ahead and make the anonymous report to the Bookkeeper, for the risks were small enough. However, she did make me aware that she heard from other sources of a growing sentiment in Aldin Blake's camp to have a male Member of the Society run for the Dungeonmaster position. Why there is such a big deal over something like the sex or gender of the incumbent, quite frankly, is beyond my guess.
My thoughts are on Pheleston, however. He had been so interested in me up to this point, without ceasing. While I wouldn't say that he was a comfortable colleague, he was, after all, a fellow Guildmember.
Was there something about me, all of a sudden, that compelled him to lose said interest? Or was there, perhaps, some pressing matter to him that perhaps I should be worried about as well?
In any case, Hogan and Climon are in bed, and have been when I got these messages from Kelsey Band. So I will wait until tomorrow morning to tell them her advice.