Eastwich

The cave led downwards in a sharp manor, the floor, walls and ceiling all seemingly bored into the huge pile of debris. Initially Ares assumed that the Space Guild was in the pile however as the tunnel led deeper and deeper he frowned to himself.

There was a faint glow deep in the tunnel and Mars made his way towards this.

"When we arrive, you are my only recruit, there will be others but you alone represent me. Do not disappoint me." Mars said slowly.

Ares didn't respond, he instead looked at the rapidly growing light at the end of the tunnel. By this point he was sure they must have descended several hundred metres. As they got to the end of the tunnel there was a thin film like bubble, Ares couldn't see through but it seemed this was where the light originated from. Mars stepped through with a mild pop sounding. Ares too stepped through the bubble.

Instantly he could see a huge cavern beneath him. This cavern must have been several miles long and several hundred metres tall. There were intricate brown buildings carved into the rock throughout but he couldn't see anyone moving throughout, If he didn't know better he would have thought he just entered an underground city.

"This is amazing." Ares commented. Despite the entire area being underground there was a soft glow of light emitted from two huge crystals embedded deeply in the ceiling of the cavern, they gave a feeling of day despite the depth of the guild.

"This is the forgotten borough of Eastwitch- we occupy the west corner of the city; the rest is filled with revenants and the possessed. Never venture into the rest of the city alone lest you suffer a fate worse then death." Mars spoke with grave voice unlike his normal demeanour.

The tunnel behind them had seemingly disappeared, something Ares thought was likely linked to the bubble he had passed through. Mars didn't dawdle for long, after giving his warning to Ares he made his way around a thin path on the edge of the city. The path was halfway up the cavern walls and was really a ledge of sorts around the circumference of the city, there was a vertical drop of fifty or so metres into the city.

"This path leads from the tunnel to the west corner of the city. It's the only safe route." Mars explained as he took the lead and followed the path. As Ares followed in Mars's stead he glanced at the town. It was eerily quiet and there were grey and black figures drifting; they had been almost invisible at first glance but he could see them now.

After only around 10 or so minutes a huge wall came into view. It separated a huge segment of the city from the other parts. There were no doors in the wall and it was made from the same brown as the rest of the city. The path that they were on went over this wall and then seemed to descend into the walled area.

"The walls are the boundary of the west corner. They have been here for eons and provide us with this safe haven." Mars said as he continued to walk.

Descending into the area Ares could see that the west corner wasn't tiny by any means, a good quarter of the large cavern was walled and it seemed to actually be fairly busy inside. He could see traders, mages and soldiers all walking around the streets.

"Why are there so many people?" Ares enquired to Mars.

"The Space guild may be small in the city but it is still a guild. Perhaps you do not understand the role of the guild?"

Ares had to admit his understanding as low, as he understood it it was similar to a boarding school. This seemed to be the wrong assumption.

Seeing Ares didn't respond Mars continued.

"Yeah I thought so." He looked at Ares a condensing expression on his face.

"Guilds have been around for millennium, they are independent organisations who provide a way of life to all their members. The space guild has around 20,000 members today, most of these are relatives or families of current or past magicians. Because of these people the guild does not include only magicians but also craftsmen, soldiers and mercenaries. We are the smallest guild in the third city but we still provide an important function. When there are beast hordes we are tasked with the other guilds to protect the city. We export magical enchanted magical weapons and items selling them to the public. Training mages are also required to complete missions. These range from helping the city, catching criminals, finding resources and exploring the wilds. Admittedly with our members lacking in strength we don't often take dangerous missions. In fact, predominantly our members undertake missions of transportation, our magic of instantaneous transportation makes this job ideal for us."

Ares nodded he understood a little more. By this point they had arrived at the end of the path and were in a circle like courtyard. Ares could see there were around twenty or so other youths all there with different people.

"Ha Mars is this your candidate, looks a little scrappy to be here. How did he afford it?" A smarmy man wearing a green robe came over and spoke to Mars. He was bald with thick wrinkles in his forehead.

"I have a good feeling about this one Julius." Mars said clearly not happy to be engaging with Julius.

"Its been at least five years since your last candidate joined, remind me what happened to him." Julius asked clear provocation in his gaze.

This comment clearly alluded to something happening to his previous candidate but Ares didn't react. Mars grit his teeth and looked menacingly towards Julius. Without saying a word in reply to Julius Mars turned to Ares and bid him goodbye, he then strode out of the courtyard.

Julius too seemed to have lost interest in staying in the area following Mars's retreat. He turned to a well-dressed haughty looking youth and said goodbye following Mars's path. The youth glared at Ares from the other side of the courtyard.