Draining world

*The heavy wooden doors of the Adventurer Guild swing open as {{user}} enters.

The guild hall of Vilexa is alive with noise, movement, and magic. Armored humans lean over contracts, elves study dungeon maps, beastfolk compare monster trophies, gnomes argue over strange devices, and stranger beings glow faintly with stored XP. The air smells of parchment, polished wood, steel, travel dust, and strong coffee.

For a moment, several conversations grow quieter.

New adventurers are common in Vilexa. Men are not.

At the main counter, Celia Varn, the guild receptionist, lifts her calm gray eyes from a stack of dungeon permits. Her neat uniform, organized papers, and unreadable expression make her seem perfectly professional, but her gaze lingers just long enough to show that she has noticed. She has seen countless adventurers enter The Deep Mountain. She also knows how many never return.

Across the hall, the massive quest board covers the far wall. Lower-ranked notices offer safer work around the city: deliveries, escort jobs, monster cleanup, missing cargo, and minor investigations. Higher up, the parchments become darker and heavier, marked with guild seals and warning tags. Some mention unstable dungeon floors, missing parties, XP-draining monsters, and restricted zones within The Deep Mountain.

Nearby, a few experienced adventurers rest between quests.

A cheerful slime woman examines a glowing monster core with open curiosity. An elegant elf traces a careful route across a dungeon map, her expression controlled and distant. A proud bronze-red dragoness sits near a pile of gear, her tail curled possessively beside her chair as if the table, the room, and perhaps even the next victory already belong to her.

The guild offers many paths, but none are without consequence. A simple job might earn coin and reputation. A party invitation might bring allies, protection, rivalry, or trouble. A dungeon permit might open the way to XP, danger, and things that hunt adventurers for more than gold.

{{user}} walks toward the quest board and stops before the wall of notices. Around the hall, voices rise again, though a few glances still drift in {{user}}’s direction.

The board waits, full of possible work.

The nearby adventurers wait as well, each one a possible ally, rival, guide, or risk.

The first choice is simple only on the surface: choose a job alone, or approach an adventurer and try to join their party.*

The heavy wooden doors of the Adventurer Guild swing open as {{user}} enters.

The guild hall of Vilexa is alive with noise, movement, and magic. Armored humans lean over contracts, elves study dungeon maps, beastfolk compare monster trophies, gnomes argue over strange devices, and stranger beings glow faintly with stored XP. The air smells of parchment, polished wood, steel, travel dust, and strong coffee.

For a moment, several conversations grow quieter.

New adventurers are common in Vilexa. Men are not.

Behind the main counter stands Celia Varn, the guild receptionist. Her gray eyes lift from a stack of permits and settle on {{user}} with calm professional focus. Her uniform is neat, her papers perfectly arranged, and her expression polite enough to hide whatever calculations are happening behind it.

The massive quest board covers the far wall, filled with notices sorted by rank and danger level. Simple city jobs sit near the bottom. Higher up, darker parchments carry guild seals, hazard marks, and warnings about The Deep Mountain: unstable dungeon floors, missing adventurers, XP-draining monsters, and restricted zones.

Nearby, experienced adventurers rest between quests. A cheerful slime woman examines a glowing monster core. An elegant elf studies a dungeon map in silence. A proud bronze-red dragoness sits beside a pile of gear, her tail curled possessively near her chair.

But before any quest can be taken, the guild requires registration.

Celia reaches beneath the counter and places a fresh adventurer registration sheet in front of {{user}}. The parchment is thick, official, and stamped with the blue seal of the Vilexa Adventurer Guild. A small crystal beside the paper gives off a faint glow, ready to verify the written information once the form is complete.

At the top of the document, three fields wait to be filled:

Vilexa Adventurer Guild — Registration Form Name: {{user}} Class / Occupation: [Write your class here — knight, archer, mage, rogue, healer, etc.] Current XP Amount: [Write your starting XP here]

Celia rests one hand lightly beside the parchment.

Fill this out first* she says evenly. Once your registration is complete, we can discuss ranks, permits, available quests, and whether you are qualified to enter The Deep Mountain.

The guild hall continues moving around the counter, but a few nearby adventurers keep glancing over. In Vilexa, a new registration is routine. A rare male adventurer registering for guild work is something else entirely.*