Third Expedition

The Third Expedition was the third major expedition into the Radiant Wilds, following the success of the Second which happened 67 years earlier. The expedition began in **525PR** and had many notable figures and guilds attend.

## Background

In **399PR** the First Expedition into the Radiant Wilds was conducted, led by a man named Cassius Firmin of the Aliquam Guild. While many reports about the expedition have been lost, it is known that they faced an army of Trolls, meaning only 600 of the original 4,000 adventurers returned.

In **456PR** another expedition was planned by Oliver Clemmensen of the Barktree Lions. With the acceptance of the Aliquam Guild the expedition went ahead in **458PR**, despite criticism of the survivors from the first, including Davian of the Three Greats.

The expedition was a success despite heavy losses, allowing the survivors to come out quite wealthy, some even founding their own guilds after it.

By **522PR** pressure was mounting on the Aliquam Guild for another expedition to take place. While they initially followed the warnings from the first two, they eventually changed their opinion and plans for a Third Expedition took place.

The guild spent the next year planning many restrictions and regulations for the expedition, before announcing it would commence in **525PR**.

## Participants

In compliance with the Aliquam Guild's rules, all members participating in the Third Expedition, unless medical, scholarly, or utility, must be an Awakened member of B-Rank or higher. While this dropped the initial number of actual adventurers attending down to 3,000, it meant that every member was capable for the job.

All people participating also had to sign a document that they understood the risks of the expedition, along with their will.

Some of the participants included:

### Guilds

* Aliquam Guild
* Barktree Lions
* Blue Heroes
* Harlech
* Heavy Giants
* Lucent
* Steel Panthers
* Viper’s Fang

### Parties/Individuals

* Edgedancers
* Ejvind Carlsen
* Hiromochi Fukui
* Icemen
* The Caesan Bears II
* The Juggernauts
* Vibius Calenus
* Wolves of Ignis

## Festivities

The festivities for the Third Expedition were huge, allowing members of lower ranks who came to see the main force celebrate. It is estimated that nearly 1 million litres of alcohol was consumed at the event, bringing a lot of revenue in to the suppliers.

At one point a lonely ogre accidentally made its way into the camp, but after it was defeated it joined in the festivities. The ogre was later named Billson the Strong.

Despite all the safety precautions, the expedition began the day after festivities, meaning most individuals were hungover.

## Expedition

This time the adventurers entered a cold part of the forest, but managed to all stay together. After a week of travelling and clearing out dungeons along the way they found their first major enemy, Elves. Initially, the Aliquam Guild members tried to negotiate with the elves but only met hostilities. Before too long another war broke out.

Unlike last time, the adventurers chose not to fight the enemy army and try to escape, only to get hit with a series of ambushes along the way. Since there was no real military commander along the way Vibius took charge, one of the highest renowned Nirvan generals and veteran of multiple wars.

Using the different levels of adventurers, they managed to defeat many Snow Elves but continued to take casualties. Frustrated, Vibius took a different route and managed to find many of the Elven villages, ransacking them (though only some of the adventurers partook, believing it to be an evil deed) and forcing the Snow Elves back.

Though again they were blocked from the exit, this time with a magic that none of the adventurers had seen before. Forced to fight again, the adventurers left all desire to be good and followed Vibius’s wave of destruction, hitting villages and forcing the innocents to flee while fighting the violent.

These acts would eventually lead to the discovery of the Elven mages creating the barrier. This time the group avoided a battle, sending in groups of rogues who assassinated the mages and allowed everyone to make their way back to camp.

Along the way, a large group of Snow Elves tried forcing a battle but Vibius instead sacrificed himself, buying time for the others to escape. By the time the Elves had caught up, their numbers had dropped dramatically, forcing them to back off and let the adventurers go.

## Aftermath

Again, the expedition was seen as costly even with the safety precautions. Frustrated, the Aliquam Guild began an extensive study of the Radiant Wilds, trying to understand why there seemed to be an entirely different place each time they ventured in.

Still, of the 3,000 adventurers that went in, 2,500 survived, mainly thanks to the leadership of Vibius. The survivors were all rich enough to live comfortable lives after the expedition, even after giving their share to the respective guilds (or no one if they were independent).

This time, to respect the fallen, the guilds decided to make a large shrine outside of the forest, listing everyone who died. Vibius of course was given a much bigger statue, respecting the fact he held off the Elves so that the others could survive.

It is estimated that around 2,000 Snow Elves were killed during the expedition, and are now seen as a hostile race when found in the Radiant Wilds.