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 Freelancer's guild faces the main square of the town, opposite to the main temple to Kwall. To a city like Khanidi, which is involved in a never ending fight with Dophori, the freelancer's guild provides a steady income of mercenaries ready to take to the battlefields. The guild itself is a large stone building, with a courtyard surrounded by a metallic fence. In the center of the courtyard there is a fountain representing the sea god Kwall rising from amongst the waves, with water emerging from the wave formations. Around the fountain, arranged in a semicircle there are four posting boards, where jobs and positions for mercenaries are placed by different people. Past the boards is the entrance of the guild, a hallway which ends in a pair of double oak doors. From there, and perfectly visible from the outer courtyard, is a large, semicircular wooden desk with some people behind it, probably a reception of sorts. Behind the desk, a pair of winding stairs lead up and into the building.
"I've been here before, looking for strong people." said
Lilee to the group following her as she walked in from the town square. "I tried to take on all the jobs at once, but they wouldn't let me." grunted the girl swinging her axe in the direction of the posting boards. "Then I tried looking for strong people, but they were all
We don't have time for arm-wrestling, or
Put down the axe and
Ohu, ohu, that hurts!." she added, apparently hurt by the lack of initiative other warriors had for her quest. "Then I spent a few days in prison, and then I went to the docks!" continued cheerfully the Lynx.
Padma giggled at Lilee's story and approached one of the boards, looking for missions that seemed interesting. "Maybe now we're more we'll have more luck", she said to the Lynx as she examined what had been posted by people.
The board Padma approached had the words, "Rankings and statutes of the Freelancer's guild of Khanidi." under it was a long list of names and positions, with detailed titles. Left of the list, several posting had been made indicating regular guild news and rules.
A glance was all Lilee's story got from
Az'rim as she surveyed the guild from underneath the protection of her cowl. Her silver hair shone amongst all the black material but her face was mostly hidden, as her eyes worked better without so much direct sunlight. Her line of vision, though hidden, watched Padma as she approached a board and she selected the last board of the four, lifting her head a little to see what was posted there.
Az'rim's board, on the other hand, read "Mercenaries are called for the Great Army of Khanidi." on large letters on top. Under it was a signup sheet with several dozen names and next to it, another piece of paper, possibly offering further explanation on the title.
At the clear uselessness of the board she had approached,
Padma proceeded to read the one standing next to it. She saw how Az'rim was doing the same at the last board, and supposed she would call if she found something that could be of interest for their group.
The second board was titled "Low Risk Jobs". And it was covered in posted pieces of paper, cloth with stuff written on it and several other ways of conveying the jobs. Each scrap of paper, parchment or cloth was signed and stamped with a sword and shield logo. With a quick scan, Padma noticed five jobs which could interest the group. "Escaped Exhorian; Rogue exhorian soldier wreaking havoc outside the city", "Bodyguards needed", "Rat infestation near the docks, exterminators needed", "Retrieval required, important object has been lost in the wilderness", "Investigators required for Kidnapping case."
Deciding that it was better
not to read the topic of the 4th board aloud what with the little Lynx girl and her big axe and bigger mouth around,
Az'rim casually mosied towards the third board.
She certainly wasn't going to be caught dead in some human army, nor was she at all interested in fighting for a living. Intending to meet Padma in the middle where they could exchange the information they'd found, the short Dah'kin fixed her eyes on the new board, hoping it would be something more interesting, else they might have to go inside, or talk to someone at the desk.
The third board was titled "High Risk Jobs". On it were a few, formal looking pieces of paper, square parchments with heavily decorated edges, along with a guild stamp and several signatures. A quick scan through it revealed some interesting jobs for Az'rim, but she doubted they were in any condition to actually fulfill them. "The Count of Dophori requires mercenaries to infiltrate the Black Tower", "Murders in the Temple district, city watch offers reward for killer or information." and finally "Family Heirloom lost, to be retrieved from The Fangs."
Following in his sister’s wake,
Je’retiel listened passively to Lilee’s story. He hoped her blatant brashness wouldn’t get them into trouble. Since Az’rim and Padma had already looked over the outermost boards and moved in to peruse the other two, he stood out of the way and assumed his cross-armed, slouched stance. He’d already settled for going along with whatever everyone else agreed on, and did not presently seem to want to become better acquainted with the rest of the group.
Chese looked around self-contented
ly and eyed the people in the courtyard (if there were any). She smiled at Lilee and said merrily: "They were probably worried about what might happen if those important-looking boards came in contact with your axe. Let's see..." Chese then left after Padma to read what it said on all the boards.
Virgil stood back, watching as the group mulled over the boards. He may have grown up in Decima, but he certainly was not well versed in reading. He could speak the language with a silver tongue, but having been raised in a poor family for most of his life, he didn't have the priviledge of being taught too much reading. He could, however, keep a watchful eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
Lilee sat by the fountain while the rest of the party scurried over to the boards, and let her axe wing back and forth like a pendulum. "The second and third board have jobs." she called out to her group. "First is guild business and last is city business." she continued and then began to hum some catfolk tune to keep from getting bored.
"There's some stuff here", announced Padma looking at the jobs posted on the second board. "We can either go hunt for a fugitive Exhorian, investigate a kidnapping, go find a lost something in the woods or kill rats in the docks. I don't like that last one", she said to the group, waiting for their reaction.
Since she and Padma were standing so close now that they'd read all of the boards between the two of them, Az'rim stepped over to stand directly next to the Caerhamian girl and read the board herself. An amused snort shot through her nose as she heard Padma's comment about hunting rats. "I second that," she agreed, as if that were the final ruling on the matter. "With the girl, we could stand a chance against an Exhorian, with Je'retiel's Black Magic as well," she mused, putting her hand on her chin and shifting her weight to one leg as she perused the rest of the board. "The kidnapping sounds interesting. Perhaps it requires stealth," she said to herself.
Chese spoke to herself while walking past the boards, stating "No" when she saw the third and "Definitely not" when seeing the fourth. She then returned to the second board and looked at it over Az'rim's head. "Rats? A person could hope that some mage would've figured out how to find a solution to that kind of problems already!" She eyed the jobs for a while and thought that a kidnapping case could turn out to be ugly and she wasn't too keen on just standing around some snobby noble who would probably do well to get a sense of some more danger. Then again, going to the wild to look for something sounded by far easiest and most relaxing, but she was too reminded of the times when she herself had lost something in the forest and couldn't find it anymore. "I vote we go get that exhorian", she stated.
Virgil tapped his sword against his armor, "Stealth is something I do not do," He said very plainly, "Now, hunting after that exhorian sounds good as well. Someone else to step aside from the law and needing to be brought in by mercenaries? Sounds great to me."
Lilee stood up and looked at the job the others were discussing. Seemed simple enough, taking care of a rampaging exhorian. "If ye wanna take a job then you have to take the posting out and go inside." said the girl as she ripped the piece of paper out of the board. "In there, you gotta get these." she added as she lifter her fur collar to reveal a small badge, which looked like a sword on top of a shield, pinned to her chest wrappings. "Means yer authorized by the guild... and some shit like that. They handle the rewards and give you the info, so no way around it."
When Az’rim spoke his name, Je’retiel glanced up and nodded a bit in recognition that he was listening. Despite his apathetic posturing, he was paying attention. When Virgil spoke, he gave a long, critical look at the knight, from foot to head and back down again. He then looked at Lilee and then her insignia during her explanation. ‘…we all have to go in?’ he inquired in his typical humdrum tone.
"Nope" replied Lilee looking up at the Dah'kin innocently, "I don't, you all do." she added as she approached Je'retiel and sniffed his chest, the girl seemed to have no prejudice against Dah'kin, it would seem. But her behaviour was also daring considering it was the first time she'd met the adept. "You smell of dirt." she concluded nonchalantly.
‘Well, I didn’t thi--.’ Je’retiel started in petty response, but quickly stopped when Lilee came forward to sniff him. It was quite apparent that he did not appreciate that gesture, as he practically stumbled to step back away from her while the lynx girl invaded his personal space.
Nodding, Chese looked as Lilee removed the paper from the board. "I can take the paper", she said carefreely, indicating that Lilee didn't need to bother herself with the bureaucracy since she didn't need to come inside. "Hmm, or do they need to take down the names of all of us?" she wondered, but shrugged then. Chese smirked shortly with half a mouth when Lilee sniffed Je'retiel and caused him to stumble, mostly because the situation looked fairly comical, even though she didn't particularly think so. "Come on, let's go in", she said and headed to the entrance, adding: "It ought to be darker there."
Padma was fine with the task of hunting an exhorian. It was much better than exterminating rats. The girl listened to Lilee and chuckled when she approached to sniff the dah'kin. She had seen some catfolk before, but it was strange to notice how different their behavior was. "Alright then" she said and followed Chese inside the building.
Virgil gave a half-hearted smile and light chuckle watching the dah'kin nearly trip back before he turned and headed for the door with Chese and Padma. On his turn for the door, he resheathed his sword and crossed his arms back over his chest in quiet content. He left Decima looking for adventure, and this was the most he had had since the boat trip this morning, and since he wasn't much of a sailor, this would be far more enjoyable.
Despite the cruelties that she was capable of, Az'rim found nothing funny about the way Virgil a total stranger, seemed to laugh at Je'retiel as he attempted to get away from the Lynx. Besides, she needed her brother on her side if she was ever to hope to pass the two of them off as a team to the rest of the party. She knew what it would look like if the two of them were constantly at each other's throats - they certainly wouldn't look like a team. Even when danger did strike (and she was certain it would if they were hunting an Exhorian) and the two of them banded together like they always had in order to come out on top, seeds of doubt would be planted in the humans' minds. So, instead of indulging in a little chuckle herself, Az'rim calmly stepped over by her brother and placed a hand on his arm. "Let's go," she said, looking up to his masked face before gently pulling his arm a bit to lead him into the building after the others.
The entrance of the building was followed by a large wooden hall, on both the left and right corners opposite to the entrance were curved staircases, convening on the top on a door which probably led to some other facility. In between the stairs was a long counter, shaped like a crescent moon, behind the counter was another large door, which was wide open, past the door, something which seemed like a library could easily be seen. Resting above the door was a round metal shield with a sword on top of it, the crest of the guild. Sitting at the very center of the counter was a comely woman, most likely Rysallean or Lochmorian, she had green eyes and wavy brown hair, tied back in a tight knot.
‘Hmmph’ the dah’kin uttered. Despite being temporary comic relief, it didn’t take anything to convince Je’retiel to enter the building. Chese did have a point, they’d be out of the sun, at least momentarily. His arm yielded easily as Az’rim prompted him along, and he quietly observed the interior architecture after his eyes adjusted appropriately.
Once in the shade of the building, Az'rim pushed back the hood of her cloak and looked around for a moment, learning her surroundings. The library caught her eye but without much interest. As Chese had the only posting, the short Dah'kin looked over her shoulder for the tall Rysallean and stood next to Je'retiel with her arms folded over her chest in a way that pushed her line of cleavage just a little higher. Looking up to her brother, she gave a dry laugh. "Teaming up with humans. What's become of us?" she asked hypothetically. Remembering that she and Je'retiel could still sign up and pay the fees, Az'rim cleared her throat and said, "well let's go get our badges before the rest get in here," and walked up to the woman behind the desk. "Hello," she said dryly. "We would like to sign up for the guild," she informed, nodding her head to indicate Je'retiel was the other part of 'we.'
‘It is currently the most advantageous option,’ Je’retiel very quietly conceded after the ‘humans’ comment, as he walked with Az’rim to the desk. He said nothing else, and was glad to let his sister do the talking with the brunette behind the counter.
"Morning." replied politely the woman, her long neck arching up, making her look somewhat reminiscent of a swann. "Yes yes, the process is relatively easy, you need to pay some guild dues each month, you can pay them at the beginning or end of the month, then you will be able to use guild facilities." said the woman as she pulled out a beautiful, leather bound book. "You sign into the ledger and we take your information." continued the woman, loud enough so the rest of the party could hear. "And you receive a badge which lets you access trainers, lodgings, the cafeteria, etc."
"How costly are the fees?" asked Az'rim as she took a quill from the crescent table's surface and searched about for a moment to locate an ink well. However much they might be, she was relatively certain that Je'retiel would have to pay considering he held the bulk of their funds, unless the fees were reasonable. When she'd spotted the ink bottle, the slim Dah'kin dipped the tip in and gave her information and then stepped aside, handing the quill to her brother so he could do the same.
Padma stood closer to Az'rim and the woman behind the counter in order to hear the details. The benefits didn't sound bad at all, but it all depended of the price.
"10 gold pieces a month per member." replied the Lochmorian woman politely. "You can pay them at anytime during the month, or even have them deducted from reward money from jobs you take from the guild." she continued as she looked at the group. "The freelancer's guild also has a good standing with the Mages Guild of Khanidi." she added after a quick glance at Padma and Je'retiel.
Chese continued to the counter as well while the two dah'kin hurried out of the sun. She then listened to the counter-woman's explanation and figured she would let the others give their information first so they could neatly transition from giving info to signing up for the job.
Je’retiel took the writing implement from Az’rim and was busy setting down his name in an immaculate but spidery script when the Lochmorian woman explained the payment options and made mention of the Guild’s mage. He shifted his attention from the book, to the woman, then to his sister. ‘Shall we pay now or pay later?’ he asked Az’rim. Her certainly had enough to pay now, but if they had the option, it might behoove them to wait until after their first task.
"Later, I think. Deduct the fees from our first task," Az'rim replied, first looking to Je'retiel and then to the woman behind the desk. She realized then that her brother was not about to ask about the Mage's Guild and figured perhaps she should ask for him, especially if there was another way for them to accrue funds. "Tell us about this Mage's Guild," she replied, standing to the side so that anyone else who wanted to sign up could do so, though she kept her black eyes on the Lochmorian woman.
"Will do." continued the woman, and then pulled out a quill and began noting down some things, the ones that were closest could notice she was writing down the characteristics of the party, their races, approximate ages, physical characteristics, etc. While she wrote, she answered Az'rim's inquiry. "The Mages guild is in the market district, three blocks westward from the plaza, opposite the docks." she said without looking up, dunking her quill in the ink once more. "We offer some basic magic training here, but for specialized training, items or jobs relating to magic, it's the place to go. There is also a forester's guild, about three hours down the route to Boro Kwall, why they don't have a chapter in the city, I do not know..." sighed the Lochmorian woman before looking up again. "Your names, please?" she asked everyone.
Virgil remained quiet in the back of the group, vaguely listening to the details of what the woman was saying. He kept arms crossed and watched as everyone else filed up to the desk.
Since Virgil and Padma both stayed quietly behind anyway, Chese went ahead and gave all their names. "Good day! I'm Chese Fenpollen and here are Virgil Argentus and Padma Fatih", she said, indicating the other two. "I think we too will pay later." She gave a short, slightly questioning glance at Virgil and Padma, in case they did want to pay right now.
Padma nodded to Chese in agreement. Hopefully they would complete the task without much trouble. The magic training interested her, and she thought she might pay a visit to the place later.
After writing down the names with incredible speed, the woman pulled out five small copper badges just like the ones Lilee had. "Congratulations, you're all members of the Freelancer's guild now." she said as she placed the badges on the counter, for them to take. "You may begin taking job postings now, only one at a time, though."
Virgil stepped forward and smiled to the lady, giving her a nod as he picked up the badge. He took the badge and pinned it to his armor underneath his sash. He wasn't sure if they needed to be out of sight, but he had remembered that Lilee had hers hidden under her mass of furs.
Casually, Az'rim reached forward and slid two badges off the table and into her ivory grasp. One, she handed immediately to Je'retiel who, as per usual, was shut in his shell a little ways away from the rest of the group. The other, she pinned to the waistband of her baggy trousers after a moment of looking over her person to identify where would be best. She listened as Chese, she learned shortly after, named each of them in turn. Dedicating these names to memory, Az'rim then realized that she was the only one left without introduction. Then, she looked up through a sheet of silver hair to Chese who, the last she knew, had the paper with the job. She then stood next to her brother, trying to think of how exactly they were going to defeat an Exhorian. She knew her brother's arsenal of spells, but Padma had white magic, which would be useful in it's own right, Lilee had an ax and more bravado than the rest of them, and Virgil had an impressive sword. As it seemed, she and Chese were likely to be the two least useful. Her arrows would have difficulty penetrating an Exhorian shell, she figured, and despite her stealth, the Exhorians were a strong race. If she got too close, it could be her end. Still, she maintained a calm visage as she watched the rest of the party pin their badges to themselves.
Je’retiel stepped aside with his sister. He cast her a narrow-eyed glance as she spoke for him, a vague indication of annoyance, but he said or did nothing otherwise. In order to work the mechanism on the pin, he slipped his black leather gloves off before accepting the token from Az’rim, to place it beneath his himation, up by the neck of his tunic.
Padma took the badge and put it on her tunic carefully. "We were interested in a sign that asked for people to hunt an escaped exhorian", she said to the woman, and glanced at Chese, who had taken the piece of paper from the board. "Where can we find more information about this task?"
"Yes", said Chese and put the paper she was holding on the desk. With her hand freed, she took the badge but didn't really know where to attach it, so she put it into her pocket.
The Lochmorian woman took the piece of paper and disappeared under the counter. After a few seconds, she emerged with another piece of paper, much larger. "Let's see... this is a low level job, an rogue exhorian was found south of the main gate earlier this morning, near Kussul farm, the farmers managed to lock it in the barn and called for the town guard. They called the town guard, but they said they would take care of it this afternoon, so the landlord came here instead." she said, reading carefully the details in the piece of parchment. "You are to go there and dispatch the beastie, the reward is 100 gold." she concluded before stamping the piece of paper and handing it to Chese. "Good Luck, Miss Fenpollen." The paper had a detailed map indicating the farm's position and the information the Lochmorian woman had just given them.
Smiling, Chese took the paper and glanced it over. "Thank you. ...We don't need to bring the exhorian's head back as proof, do we?" she added just after thinking of leaving.
Az'rim chuckled to herself at the Rysallean's mention of bringing back the head, a silent expression that she kept to herself. The job sounded easy on paper she thought, though again her mind was drawn back to the tough shell of the beast. Maintaining a calm visage though, Az'rim nodded and then pulled her cowl over her silver hair and turned to stalk back out of the building.
"No need." replied the Lochmorian woman swiftly. "Just have the contractor sign the piece of paper after you've finished the creature off. Any farmer there should do." she continued as she looked at them with a puzzled expression, probably wondering why the rest of the group was so quiet and passive.
"Good, let's find this exhorian", said Padma getting out of the building. She wasn't looking forward to fighting the creature, but figured the sooner they went on their way, the sooner they would be done with the task.
Virgil, who had stood back and stayed quiet shifted his gear slightly before walking out of the building. He was still gauging the three new members of the party and stayed in a quiet contemplation over how this would end. He kept close to Padma now, trying to get a good perspective.
"All right", replied Chese to the woman and folded the paper so that she could fit it in her pocket. She hadn't expected to go on a mission right away, but it seemed like it would need to be done soon and she certainly didn't have anything against going off right away. "We'll be back once we're done!" she said as a goodbye and headed out as well.
Je'retiel headed out along with the others.
AS the group emerged out of the building, Lilee rushed towards them, her tail waving to the sides, making rippling S shapes out of excitement. "Ohu! you're all freelancer's now? What do we kill first?!" she asked the lot.
Chese grinned at Lilee's enthusiasm and said: "An exhorian, surprise!" Her tone was funny since Lilee had after all ripped the paper off the board before Chese took it. "How much does everyone know about exhorians? I guess it's not too dangerous since it was 'low risk', but it never hurts to know if there's some simple way to be more prepared." Having said that, she shrugged and looked around if anyone had any information to share. (Knowledge on exhorians)
Unfortunately for Chese, her life in the forests of Rysallis had kept her away from Exhorians. She did know a few facts, though, they were huge insects that lived in colonies in Asfeltas. Apparently they had made the lives of Dah'kin and Xiadomians very difficult as some point in the past.
Az'rim, on the other hand, knew a bit more, Exhorian colonies were ruled by a Queen, which controlled everything her subjects did, a rogue exhorian was one that had gone feral after being separated from its queen for too long.
Az'rim cleared her throat and turned up her head to look Chese in the eye, saying, "Don't underestimate an Exhorian, particularly a rogue. Without the rule of its Queen, it is practically wild, which could make it far more difficult to dispatch."
Characters
[Ms. Steel] - RoL - Je'retiel Avreh
[Lepellier] - RoL - Virgil Argentus
[Roma] - RoL - Az'rim Avreh
[Sturmi] - RoL - Padma Fatih
[Duredhel] - RoL - Lilee Kahn
[Veltzeh] - RoL - Chese Fenpollen
Back to RoL - Test Party
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