"Good good." The magistrate says in accented common while sweeping the gold into a bag that he tied back up and slipped into a drawer that he closed and locked. "No no it's only ten gold per charter per group as explained in the notices that were handed around the realm. Now who shall I write in the record and what does your merry band call itself?" he re-inked the quill before going back to the large ledger and looking between Shalira and Reknar. "You do have a name for your group, yes?"
"A name?" she wondered. "We... haven't thought about that. Erm... Are you guys ok with 'The Golden Harpers'? No, wait, that sounds like Golden Hamsters. We might as well call ourselves purple squirrels. Erm. The Harpers? Does anyone play a harp...? The Goldilocks? Well, that would only apply to myself. What do you think? Maybe puzzle up something out of our first names... Aarsharekhaildi... Alaarhail Sharek... Mikalaar Sharek... Or just the first letter... S-R-A-A-M. Hm. Aarms? Well, if we took the 'l' from Aleidi we might call ourselves 'The Alarms'"
"Well," Aarya replied with a smirk, "I somehow don't think that 'Arshea's Faithful' will tempt you lot." Pausing, pondering, the Paladin considered. They needed something that would represent them as a group. Names had power, after all, and if they were succesful this name would have more power than many. Maybe enough ti find a place in myth and be told in legend...
"How about 'Anima Libera'?" the Paladin asked. "I forget the toungue, but the meaning is 'Free Soul' or 'Soul of Freedom', perhaps. Such things are important to me."
"Not bad... to the bandits down there it would sound rather cynical. They have more freedom than is good for them and the rest of the world. What we bring is order... Erm, and a clear 'no' to Arshea's Faithful"
she added with a wink.
Aarya made a face. "They have no idea what freedom means. How many of them could leave, just up and walk away, without there 'friends' of the leader of the band they're with planting a knife in there ribs? How many of those leaders could walk away without there own people turning on them like a pack of dogs smelling weakness?" With a shake of the head the Paladin dismissed it. "They are slaves to there own greed, bound by chains they cannot see. I would free them, too, if any can be redeemed." And if they could not...the judgement of the next life would be theirs.
Shalira opened her mouth and closed it again. That outburst was somewhat surprising. As far as she was concerned most bandits were probably simply desperate - desperate people do desperate things. Sure, many were greedy, opportunistic bastards, but the lot of them? She doubted it.
"Erm, well... 'Soul of Freedom'." Not her first choice but if they were to find a perfect name they'd be still standing here tomorrow. If she was to make up something in a similar fashion of her own faith it would be something like 'Keepers of Harmony', but she didn't even need to suggest that, because she didn't really think the others would like that - didn't sound really strong. "Can we agree on that? Any other good ideas? Could we compromise to something less assuming, say 'Wardens-', 'Defenders-' or 'Guardians of Freedom' or so... Ultimately I'd find 'Soul of Freedom' acceptable, though."
Aleidi had been silent for several moments thinking. "What about 'The Spirits of Change'?"
"Aren't we being just a tad pretensious here?" - Reknar pipes in - "I mean, sure, I like most of those names but I guess if I really had to chose one for us it would be more along the lines of "The unlikely bunch" or something of the sort - maybe "Band of Strangers"? - he smiles.
Then, throwing his hands up as if in surrender, he continues - "But ok, I understand we want some denomination that will somehow transmit our goal right? Which is complicated because we don't have a common one yet"
Scratching his chin, he seems to ponder the issue for a few moments - "What about... "The Wayfinders"? Or... "The Wild Wardens"? I really don't know. In the end, I admit it is really not that important to me so I won't make a big deal out of it"
"We could always be the Bad Luck Bunch." Aleidi giggled. After taking a moment of thought, "Though I do like 'The Wayfinders' or 'The Wild Wardens'. Really not a bit fan of 'Anima Libera'. Though I think 'The Wild Wardens' is my favorite of those mentioned so far. Though the thought of us being called 'The Purple Squirrels' does make me laugh. "
"I really like the sound of 'The Wild Wardens' - the best idea not counting my own so far. But I do like 'The Purple Squirrels', too." She smirked. "As far as I am concerned the name doesn't really have to mean anything. That's why I suggested making something up out of our first names or the place where we met..."
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Much of the public interactions had seen Mikhail silent towards the back of the group assembled before the magistrate. The grizzled soldier seems ill-quipped or ill-tempered for handling these sorts of delicate matters of politics. Not once does his "slightly damaged" copy of one of the charters come up, and likely for good reason. With that odd bit of documentation stuffed away and out of sight, Mikhail has been content to let the others suss out the details.
That is until the indecision about the name of the group came up. Shalira's multiple options amid the other contentious offerings elicits a twitch of one of Mikhail's brows. A few more back-and-forth exchanges and the bearded knight looks likely to crawl out of his own skin.
"The Red," comes from the back of the room, voiced more like a decision than a suggestion. Mikhail's first and only real words offered during the exchange comes with a mild look of exasperation, and even he seems surprised that he spoke up.
For a moment, it looks like the knight would elaborate on the suggestion, mouth open and the croak of partially formed words at the back of his throat. Then, ultimately, he decides against it and lets the simple name stand on its own. Let whoever hears it read whatever they want into it.
Shalira was a bit startled as she spoke the dark warrior suddenly speak up. She turned to the the gnome behind the desk and made an excusing gesture. "I am sorry, magister. Just another moment."
She reached for her forehead and covered her eye for a moment, lost in thought for a few heartbeats. She had seriously hoped that Mikhail would comment on the existing suggestions in the room. The new suggestion now made it only more difficult. "How about... everyone makes one suggestion and casts one vote, for any but their respective own suggestion. If that doesn't help we'll have to make a lottery..."
"So unless you wanna change it..." she looked to Mikhail, "The Red", to Aarya, "Anima Libera. And I myself say." She paused briefly and sighed. "The Band of the Golden Harp."
She paused and waited how the others would react and what Aleidi and Reknar would say.
Reknar looked at Mikhail and smiled with a nod, as the man offered his suggestion - "We should be able to come to an agreement, but then again we have just met. A vote it is then! Mine goes to "The Wild Wardens"
Seeing that all this could take longer than he had expected, Reknar rests both his polearms against the wall, and looks intently at the others.
"'The Purple Squirrels' shall be my suggestion because the name entertains me, though I vote for "The Wild Wardens'"
Shalira hesitated briefly. Aleidi's vote somewhat surprised her, since she had said earlier that she prefered 'Anima Libera' over 'The Wild Wardens'. Nevertheless, Shalira liked it. She really liked the purple squirrel idea, because she liked a bit of understatement and preferred to not take oneself too seriously. Let their enemies run from a band of squirrels and the actions of their group speak for themselves...
Unfortunately she doubted that would find a majority. "I vote 'The Wild Wardens', too."
That made two out of five. She hoped that even if two others voted on the same option other than "The Wild Wardens" the fifth would have the sense to choose between those to options to prevent a tie.
Magistate Phillips drummed his fingers on the desk while waiting patiently with pen hanging over the ledger. The daily activities of the Town Hall continued without interuption as people moved around the group, some leaving to other parts of the city and others stepping through the waist high gate of the rail and climbing the steps to visit other offices up on a second level, this one guarded with more soldiers in chainmail and swords. A black cat mrowed as it appeared from under the desk and jumped up. It sat down and stared at the group with same purple colored eyes the gnome had. The gnome frowned at the cat but it ignored him and continued to study the group with the unnatural stillness that all cats had.
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"I do not see the reason behind this," Mikhail grouses, motioning to the others with a wave of one hand. "We will accomplish nothing like this. We appoint a leader who will make the decisions and be held accountable for them, this's all we need." There's a brief look shot to the magistrate, as if assessing his remaining patience, before Mikhail turns back to Shalira, one brow raised.
"I appoint you." Mikhail notes hastily to the half-elf, "Now, vote for yourself and we will likely have majority and end this ridiculous debate."
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"Leaders are not appointed my friend" - Reknar is not smiling anymore - "An appointed responsible may be a leader by coincidence, but it is just that, a coincidence"
"And how can you cast a vote on a leader amongst people you have met one hour ago - heck, I know I could not. If you wanted expediency, you could have just stated a name for the charter, or abstain - that would have been fast" - he shrugs.
Shalira held Mikhails gaze on his outburst but obviously didn't feel quite comfortable. Being born into a noble family she had tried to avoid the impression that she was claiming some kind of birthright, even though this discussion had strained her nerves seriously as well. Why was it so difficulty to just... agree on something - it wasn't like it was particularly important. She simply nodded and mumbled "You're right." She focused on the matter at hand.
She turned back to the desk: "The name of our group is 'The Wild Wardens'. I am sorry about the delay, Magistrate. Any further questions, or can we go to the details and the implications of the charter?"
She glanced over to the little cat. An amazing beast. She liked animals, they could be so much simpler and more honest than civilized creatures. She smiled at it and whispered "Hello, little hunter" to it, offering a hand to sniff on while she remained focused on the Magistrate.
"No!" - Reknar interjected - "I want to hear everyone's opinion" - he then turns to Aarya.
"Could we, please discuss this later, Reknar?" she looked imploringly at him. "I can't speak for Aarya, but we do have a simple majority here if both you and Mikhail cease to vote... and I didn't have the impression it was something she couldn't live with so far. We simply need to make a choice and it's not horribly important anyway."
She hoped that Aarya would back her up on this, but tried to remain focused on the Magistrate.
The cat purrs and rubs it's face against Shalira's hand once before settling back down to stare at the group. The gnome arched an eyebrow at Shalira. "Interesting. She likes you. Now back to business please. While any other day I would find this witty banter fascinating I really am quite-" the magistrate broke off for a second, his eyes shifting to something else before regaining a hint of irritation and moving back to the group. "I am quite busy tallying the summer harvests for the city stores. The Wild Wardens of the Stolen Lands you shall be." he said while writing in the ledger. "Now if you will, I need all of your names."
Aleidi let a small giggle escape her apparently entertained by the happenings. She was fine with The Wild Wardens or she wouldn't have cast her vote upon it. This whole situation between all of them was growing more and more interesting.
Hearing the noise behind her, Aleidi turned around to face the newcomer. "Hello. Come to join the fun?"
She wasn't in a rush to give her name. The others could go first. She wanted to see Shalira's reaction anyway.
'Alright... let's make it quick and painless.' She tried to remain as nonchalant as it was possible when she said. "I am Shalira Lebeda." She took a little step back to make room for the next and used the opportunity to look over her shoulder, squinting through her blonde mane.
Aleidi: When you turn around you see a slim human woman of middle years standing behind you in the middle of the room and scanning each of you. She was built like a dancer and had an oddly curved blade sheathed at her waist. The muscles in her exposed forearms and the shine of worn leather on the hilt of the blade revealed her to be an experienced warrior. She stood just under six feet and had long brown hair tied into a long, thick braid. She was dressed in form fitting leather pants and boots and a blue silk shirt tucked into the pants and tied at the elbows. She had warm brown eyes that lock onto you as you speak. "Not really, no." she deadpans with an accent you've only heard from so called 'nobles'. Despite her tone of voice you can detect the smile she was trying to hide while watching the group go back and forth and the stuffy clerk reacting.
'Must live at her family main house.'
"Well you are missing out." With a mischievous smirk and that twinkle in her eye that she let the woman see, Aleidi turned and approached the Magistrate.
"Aleidi Medvyed."
She says her last name like it is no big deal before glancing to Shalira, eyes and face full of unvocalized laughter. She wanted to see her reaction. 'And she was concerned about her last name.'
"You little sl.." Shalira whispered. Her ears went blazing red again and she had to cover her mouth to hide a smirk and swallow a giggle. She couldn't help it, she liked Aleidi.
"Reknar Greymoor" - the man pipes in as he turns around to look at the woman.
Having watched the gnome clerk taking notice of her, he glances back at the small one, and again at the woman.
"Whatever" - he grumbles while grabbing his weapon, which was leaning against the wall, just in case.
Addressing the gnome, he asks - "Are we done? Is the most complicated document ever finished at last?" - offering a good natured laugh.
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Hearing Aleidi's name, Reknar looks first at her with a huge smile, then at Shalira to gauge her reaction, almost unable to stifle a raucous laughter.
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Rolling his tongue over the inside of his cheek, Mikhail watches Aleidi the way a city guard might watch a scruffy hoodlum. After a moment he steps to the side, looks back towards the woman Aleidi addressed, then turns and approaches the magistrate. "Mikhail... of no named house," he intones quietly before offering the magistrate one look to ensure there's no further inquiry before stepping back a few paces.
"Mmmm?" Aarya looked around, blinking. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." To anything here, anyway...there had been something. Something just at the edge of her vision, a whisper in her ear. Warmth and life and love had flowed from it. It was like an echo of when she had received her calling....
Thinking back on what had been said, Aarya confirmed, "Wild Wardens will be just fine. And I am Aarya, servant of Arshea. No house or family name." The Paladin had no idea what Mother and Father thought of Aarya now, but it was still difficult to admit that those ties were severed. But Aarya wouldn't take a family name of those who couldn't her true self.
Glancing at the other chuckling, Aarya added, "I think I missed a good joke here."
Aleidi proceeded to walk back over to the woman who had entered before, "See, missing all the fun."
Shalira stepped back closer to the desk as soon as everyone had given their names. She left Aarya's remark uncommented - explaining that would be 'Lady Aleidi's' choice. Not that she wished to leave Aarya in the dark but this wasn't the place to discuss the noble houses of Brevoy. And the woman behind them, as interesting as she may appear, seemed to prefer to be left alone.
'Just don't do anything that might distract us any further from the problem at hand.' Shalira told herself.
Aleidi would explain to Aarya later, though it would not be as funny then. For now though the look on Shalira's face had been worth every second of it. Plus, it seemed Reknar had found it entertaining as well. That was a bonus.
For the most part she ignored Mikhail's look, more than used to receiving such looks back home. She had more interesting things to give her attention.
The woman who had entered before had caught her interest. And seeing as most of the legalistic things were taken care of by the others, she let her attention focus on her. A smirky grin still on her face.
With a shrug, Aarya added, "It matters not one whit. I just like good jokes. I'll have to tell you all the one about the Paladin who corrupted a Succubus. Although I suggest it not be shared with anyone less than two decades old, for fear that all the blood rushing to there face causes them to pass out."
The Paladin glanced around at the officials. "Do we need any more details?" Considering, Aarya clarified, "About us. The joke rather speaks for itself."
At Shalira's and Aleidi's names the magistrates bright green eyebrows blimb up to his hairline but he says nothing as he writes all of the names into the ledger. From a locked drawer he pulls out a sheet of paper identical to the travel stained version that Mikhail had displayed at the inn. He writes the name of the group on the proclamation before stamping a seal on the top. Raising his head he looks past the group to the woman who had entered. "Lady Iamandi, if you would sign on behalf of your father please?"
The woman looks past Aleidi and nods at the gnome. "A moment Delroy." she says before looking back at Aleidi. "My dear fun is such a subjective word. So the Wild Wardens are brave enough to tame the Stolen Lands? Those lands have remained untameable for hundreds of years. Do you truly believe that you will succeed where hundreds before you have failed?"
Reknar cannot help but laugh out loud at Aarya's words - "You just keep on surprising me - a Paladin seducing a Succubus you say? I will want to hear that one"
As the woman addresses Aleidi about the Wild Wardens, he stops laughing and raises an eyebrow, commenting to the others - "Wow, news travel FAST around this place" - and then to the clerk - "What exactly are we waiting for here, my friend?"
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Mikhail watches the woman in silence, gauntleted hands on his hips, posture slacked and relaxed against the weight of his armor. Looking to Reknar, Mikhail furrows his brows in consideration for a moment, then regards the woman again with a more scrutinizing stare. Awkwardly swallowing, Mikhail shifts his weight to one foot and asks to no one in particular. "Are we done here?"
The last thing he seems to want is to be drawn into a protracted conversation with a stranger before they can get this finalized.
___
The laughing look disappeared from Aleidi's face as she took on a more serious look. She thought on her words for a moment before she spoke.
"There are some things that can never be tamed, only guided and made more approachable. Some things will always hold to their wild past. And while many have failed, what reason is there to stop trying? Perhaps this is the time that it ends. If not, then perhaps the way will be easier for another group to follow. To stop trying is to give up.
"As for us, you could say we were guided here, for it seems something pulls us all south. In different ways certainly, but guided and pulled none the less. Be it by mentors, deities, or even purple squirrels. Who's to say we know at all. It really matters in the end. We may be an eclectic bunch, but we've managed to come together so far. What's to say we won't be successful? Even if the odds are against us? Why should we not even try?"
Aleidi continued to look at the woman, her face still more serious than it had been since she had met up with the party. She let her questions hang.
'Doesn't mean it still can't be fun.'
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Mikhail quietly covers his face with one gauntleted hand and breathes out a heavy sigh into his palm. As his hand wipes down his face and eventually falls away from his bearded mouth, he glances at Reknar and then over to Aleidi and back again with one brow raised as if to ask, does she always talk this much?
Aleidi's answer to the question wasn't bad, not at all, though a little defensive on the second half. Her own answer would have been shorter. She would have simply said 'Yes.' Nevertheless, she stood by Aleidi to make sure everyone realized that she sided with her on this.
Softly and with a nod to Phillips she turned the charter around on the desk and took the feather from him, given his agreement. She dipped the into the ink, let the superfluous ink run off and reached it to the young woman.
"If you would?"
"The past is not us," Aarya added, "And we are not the past. How many things are thought to be impossible until someone learns to do them? I am told there was a time when fire was barely in mortals control and tools were made of wood, bone and stone. The armour I wear and the weapon I carry would be impossible to them."
Smiling, Aarya added, "Fortune favours the bold."
Aleidi gave a small smile as Aarya and Shalira supported her. All that was left, or so it seemed, was for Lady Iamandi to sign the charter. Then they could go explore town.
The noble lady suddenly laughed and moved past the group. She took the pen from Shalira and went around the gnome's desk. She read the proclamation for a minute before signing her name in a beautiful flowing script. Next she pulled a necklace from within her shirt that had a heavy mithril ring hanging from it. She handed the necklace to Phillips who produced a strange device from under his desk. It had a long arm attached to a locking device of some sort and a broad base. He placed the signed proclomation into a slot on the base and loaded the ring into a socket on the underside of the long arm. With a grunt he pulled the arm down which pressed the surface of the ring to the paper with extreme pressure.
When he lifted the arm back up the paper had been deformed and now a symbol stood out in bas-relief next to Iamandi's signature. He handed the ring back to the noble who slipped the necklace back under shirt. Phillips lifted the paper and eyed it critically before holding it up to the group. "Whatever you do, try not to lose this. Once you leave the city it's the only proof abroad that you are agents of Brevoy. The original will be kept here so should you lose this one one of the founding members of your group will have to travel back here for another copy. Should you wish to add or remove names to the charter once again that will have to be done in person. Do you have any other questions?"