Khanidi is the northernmost province of the region known as the Droia coast. A rich, fertile land that has been kept separated from the squabbles of the great nations of Ki'afisal by the large mountain ranges of Ki'afisal and Asfeltas. Bordered north by the rock formations known as the Fangs and south by the Dah'kin Kingdom of Skarrad, the Droia coastline is composed by over a dozen city states permanently struggling for control and influnce. They are locked in their little world and have become a melting pot of all cultures and races of Lemire. The perfect place for mercenaries and higher swords to make a quick buck and always be sure a small conflict or war will be right around the corner. Here in Droia, there is always someone willing to pay for a skilled mercenary.
The group found themselves once more in the receiving hall of the of the Freelancer's guild, the comely Rysallean woman was sitting there as usual, but many of the freelancers, warriors and adventurers that were there earlier were gone.
Padma approached the Rysallean lady, not very sure about what was she supposed to say, since this was the first time ever she had been in a guild. "Hello again", she greeted, with a small wave of her hand. "We've returned successfully from our assignment, and the exhorian as been dealt with", she said. "However, there seems to be a nest of those creatures around, and part of our group went to scout the area. Have you heard anything about that?", she asked. Maybe someone had offered a reward for dealing with them. She didn't remember how much the payment was for the quest they had just finished, but hoped the woman would know and give them the money without asking.
Virgil stepped up to the counter, pulling the certificate from his pouch and sliding it onto the desk, unfurled so that the Rysallean could see the signature. She knight stood back from the desk quietly, waiting for this to get sorted out before he asked where there was a healer around.
As the others approached the counter,
Je’retiel sidled up along with them, though at his normal slight, stand-offish distance. He listened carefully as Padma explained the situation regarding their successful mission, and the prospective nest extermination. He shifted his eyes from the shaman to the secretary and watched her unblinkingly while waiting for her response.
Radix entered behind the group, closing the door behind him. He stayed near the entrance, leaning against the wall. As of yet, he wasn't officially part of their group, and thus he wasn't going to intrude on their return. He listened keenly to what Padma said, though. Exhorians certainly wouldn't be easy to take out . . . A slight grin played on Radix' lips, invisible as usual.
The woman absentmindedly grabbed the voucher from Padma's hand and looked it over. Then she wrote down a few things in her ledger, replying somewhat dismissively "I'm sure the town guard will do something about it.... or we'll get a big contract to clear it out." Then the woman produced a large bag of gold. "150 gold pieces, payment for the contract, please do come by when you want to take on a new contract."
‘Thirty apiece for each of us, then,’
Je’retiel spoke for the first time in several minutes, his dark grey eyes closely following the movement of the bag of gold. ‘…and ten pieces a person for membership to the guild,’ he continued with a look to the woman with the ledger, as if double-checkin
g. ‘I wish to pay for Az’rim and myself presently,’ he said, acting all business, though he couldn’t help but sneak a glance at the door after mentioning his sister’s name. He returned his attention to the Rysallean woman and proceeded to remove his black leather gloves, pulling them off one finger at a time.
"Very well then, I'll collect guild dues from all the members of your party at this time." replied the woman turning to Je'retiel, then looking at Virgil again, she added. "Now you're free to use the guild installations if you want, there is a mess hall and a training hall past the door behind me and a library, dormitories and shop in the second floor." She said as she retrieved 50 gold pieces from the reward and distributed the remaining 100 in neat piles of 20 gold pieces.
After running or jogging for most of the trip back, Chese finally reunited with the rest of the group. She was being unusually quiet and took a moment to notice Radix, who seemed to move with the others. However, he was the first issue she noticed, so she turned to the terran and looked at him questioningly. "Uh, hello, who might you be?"
Still curious about Je'retiel, Radix shifted a bit to get a better look of the masked man as he went through his negotiations. He couldn't hear Je'retiel clearly from his distance, and after a moment stopped straining his ears to try. His attention was stolen suddenly when a (mostly) slender Rysallean girl asked him a question, though. Looking down at her, he replied, "I'm formally called Radix. May I have your name?"
Az'rim entered the hall, striding, right after Chese, her hunter physique kept her from being tired from the long run. "Place was crawling with exhorians." she hissed, cursing as she approached the group. "Oh, a replacement, good, we lost the little Lynx one." she added, walking past Jeretiel, brushing the side of his cloak lightly with her arm and hips. "If we are going back there anytime soon we need to go in full force, with better equipment and potions." she added, leaning back against the desk. She did not introduce herself to Radix, he simply tossed a glare of two his way, filled with distrust. Though she was not the most traditional of Dah'kin, years of upbringing were not easy to shake.
"What? You lost the Lynx?" Padma repeated after Az'rim spoke, her eyes wide. She hadn't had much time to know Lilee, but that didn't mean she didn't like her. "What happened?" she asked, alarmed. The girl picked the 20 gold pieces that had been left in a pile for her and saved them in her money pouch, while waiting for Chese or Az'rim to say more about their excursion to the exhorian lair.
"Chese Fenpollen", replied Chese in quite a forlorn tone, though she still managed to sound rather friendly. She would've felt somewhat appalled at Az'rim's cold comment about a replacement, but now she just stared. "We were going to scout the cave when the exhorians came. There were at least eight. Lilee warned us but wouldn't run away... she just ran at them and fought them... Even the three of us couldn't have survived that." Chese then leaned her face on her hand, seemingly calm but feeling shocked. Death was natural, sure, but she was much, much more oriented toward the escape pattern – and Lilee hadn't even tried.
As Chese and Az’rim arrived, Je’retiel was dropping the coins into his purse one at a time; it appeared as if he was counting them in his head. His eyes widened slightly at the news of Lilee’s demise, though more in an oh, do tell… way than out of consternation. Otherwise unstirred by the announcement, he followed suit after his sister grazed by and turned his cheerless attention upon Radix. He forwent any untoward remarks, at least for the time being.
Although Radix was listening to Chese, his eyes followed the distastefully garbed woman who followed in after. She had stopped only to demean him and to give him venomous glares. Her cold black eyes told Radix all he needed to know about the girl. He turned his head from her and curled his lip in disgust. "So you had a sixth member to your group?" He asked, though it was rather obvious.
"Hate to admit it but we probably wouldn't have gotten out of there without the cat's help." spat out Az'rim with a shrug. "There's no way we could have outran those Exhorians unless they were distracted by something." she added. It seemed to her they were wasting more than enough time just standing around. "So what's next? Head back to the Inn and patch our hurt?" she added, turning to Chese, who was the de facto leader of the group.
Padma was appalled at the thought of Lilee being dead, and hoped the Lynx had somehow found a way out the mess Az'rim and Chese had described. "May the spirits guard her", she said softly, and with a sigh she returned her attention to the matters at hand after the Dah'kin woman spoke. "Yes, to the inn. We should check the bulletin board for a new mission... I don't think we can handle that many exhorians yet".
"We did", replied Chese to the terran boy. She wondered whether Az'rim really meant that they couldn't have outran the exhorians. (Detect lies) She then seconded Padma and said: "Yes, the inn... wait, did we get the money?" She looked at Virgil first since she had given him the paper, but then turned to the table where the three piles of 20 gold were and walked over to it. After confirming the amount and looking just a little perplexed, she asked from the other rysallean in a happier tone: "Pardon me, but wasn't it supposed to be 150 gold?"
Chese could really detect no lie in Az'rim's statement, then again, it was obvious for all of them now that they had faced an exhorian, that a soldier of such species could cover more ground than any of them much faster.
In his pallid hands, Je’retiel twisted his gloves, the leather creaking as he gradually increased tension on the material. He turned his antipathic eyes from the pious Padma to Chese, who seemed to have a query about their payment. His jaw visibly set under his balaclava before he shot out, ‘Are we soon done here? I, for one, could use a respite.’ He could have stormed back to their lodgings, but was unsure if they were presently selecting their next venture, or simply returning to the Seaside Den. If the former was the case, he would at least like some say in the matter, so he stuck around. The dah’kin pushed-off from the counter and away from the others, waiting with arms crossed by the exit.
"Some of us already took the money, Chese", said Padma as the rysallean inquired about the amount. The young caerhamian was feeling a bit depressed now after hearing about Lilee, and wasn't in the mood to do much more for the day. Yet, she approached the bulletin board and read the panel where the easy quests had been. It would be better if they could decide on something today, she thought.
"Good to see you again, Chese," Virgil said, walking over to the Rysallean, "It's too bad to hear about such a tragic thing happening to Lilee," the knight added with a forlorn look washing over his face.
"Oh, right", commented Chese after Padma explained why not all the money was there. She still noticed that five times twenty would only be a hundred gold, but managed to deduce that the missing five times ten was their guild fee. She then picked up two of the piles and gave one to Virgil while grabbing for her coin pouch, and then put her gold into it. "Well then, shall we go? It seems some of us are a little anxious." She spoke less sadly again, with a glance over at Az'rim and Je'retiel since they did seem to be in a hurry to leave. She almost forgot about Radix, but it wasn't easy to miss him, so she went to him and spoke: "Sorry, I was sort of lost in my thoughts here. Were you looking for a group to join, or? We could use one more capable person among us."
Radix has been trying to follow the course of the conversation, but had lost interest. The money held no particular concern for him, and neither did the job in question. Instead, he leaned against the wall and lost himself in his thoughts. Chese woke him from that, though, and he stood straight again. "Actually, yes, I was." Radix was pretty certain they had already established this, but then again, Chese hadn't been present at the time. "I'd be glad to assist in whatever job you'll be undertaking."
Padma agreed with the rest that they should get going. As much as she stared at the board with available quests, she didn't seem to be able to focus on it. "Alright, lets get going then", she said with a shrug as Radix agreed to join them, and walked out of the building.
Chese smiled at Radix. "Good, good. Well, we'll head back to the inn. Let's meet in the morning." She turned and walked outside after Padma, saying: "I believe I could use a drink right about now...
Radix had not yet bought a room at the inn, but he followed anyway. He would have to use a bit of the little gold he had left to purchase one.
With his usual, tangible cheerlessness, Je'retiel did not follow the others outside; instead he lingered inconveniently in the doorway, waiting for Az'rim, whom he cast an expectant and somewhat impatient look.
Az'rim, who caught the impatient obedience in her brother's lingering stare, allowed herself an indulgent smirk and walked past him, following the rest at a much slower pace.
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