Preparations

Vordea was impressed by Nalaea. She gathered a dozen rangers in less than a year, and stood ready for their first mission. Standing in the nave of the Great Cathedral, Vordea walked between them, her tentacles slithering around them as she did so. They showed no fear despite being in the presence of the traditional enemy of the elves, such was their corruption. Vordea was thrilled.

"The first divine artifact." Vordea said, as she returned to the front, kissing Nalaea on the cheek as she passed her. "This will be a simple test, of how you retrieve something heavier than a planet. My gauntlet."

"From Godsdrink?" Nalaea asked, and Vordea nodded in response. "It didn't look that special to me."

"My armour is the oldest divine artifact, Nala." Vordea explained, snapping her fingers and donning it all, save the right gauntlet. "What I wear is no mere metal. This is the corpse of a universe. My armour is Carcosa."

"Is this even a solvable task?" One of the other Rangers asked, to which several others including Nalaea nodded.

"Your Captain here managed to steal the Book of Fates from Eigengrau, a feat even I never accomplished." Vordea answered, patting Nalaea on the shoulder. "I have great faith in the abilities of my little elf. Now show me what the rest of you can do."

As Vordea turned to leave, one of her tentacles briefly wrapped around Nalaea's waist, but fell away as she walked off. "If you do manage to pick it up." Vordea said, her voice fading away rapidly as the distance grew. "You might be surprised at what you see."

"All of us are going." Nalaea said, after some thought. "It's not that I expect this to be hazardous, but because I want to see how you all deal with a hostile populace."

"Hostile, Ma'am?" One of the Rangers asked.

"I know you've never left the North so this may be a surprise to you, but Dwarves absolutely despise elves." Nalaea started explaining, looking over her Rangers. "The Goddess and High Priest Malloit found me bleeding out in an alley in the Imperial City, a sword through my gut."

"Why were you stabbed?"

"For being an elf." Nalaea stated plainly. "If you're lucky, you'll only be charged extra for accommodation, be interrogated for hours by customs, or be thrown out of Inns. If you're unlucky, you end up like me, murdered in an alley and saved only by chance."

"Should we expect a fight, then?"

"Oh heavens no!" Nalaea answered, bursting out in laughter. "With the appointment of High Priest Malloit, we get to browbeat customs." Nalaea pulled out pieces of black parchment from inside her uniform. "Divine artifacts, designating us as the Military Order of the Vordean Church."

"Oh I get it." One of the female Rangers said, nodding. "Put the fear of the Goddess into them, and scare them into giving us a Catastrophe Class Visa?"

"Something along those lines." Nalaea answered, waving her hand dismissively. "There's no time limit, so let's plan first."