On a cool spring morning in the town of Picket, the frost still clung to the tops of the newly growing grass. The sun, newly risen had yet to be much warmth to anything, but there was a promised bright and clear day from the cloudless sky. Picket, as it was near the forest had its own morning alarm system through the number of birds that migrated through the area heading to their summer roosts.
The Gild house was abuzz with activity as well. This mandatory meeting for all who wished to be a part of the guild was about to come to order. Gerad, the former president, was leaving for the city the very next day and had done some heavy recruiting the few days before for this meeting. Even the Gild was known to snub members they felt were too young, their numbers had dwindled since it's founding and would be on the verge of collapse had it not been for this very meeting.
There was a crate near the fireplace which was lit but not roaring, on it's side with an arrow pointing to the door that said "This end up". As per Gild tradition, Gerad called the meeting to order by slamming the heel of a boot on the crate that had been pulled out of the river some years ago.
"Hear ye, hear ye. This meetin' has come into order." He shouts at near the top of his lungs, his face turning red from the strain to be heard over the gaggle of excitement from the new recruits, but after things settle a bit, he resumes a more normal tone. "As you may know, the Gild has been losin' members due to age as of late, and you sorry lot are the replacements. But just like it happen to us, it will happen to you. The way we learn to swim is be thrown in the pond. I have it on my word that you will be gettin' two requests today so you will have to man the chair and make sure thems are satisfied or you won't be gettin' much more afta that." With that he pointed at a three legged stool near the door which had a makeshift desk made from two sawhorses and a wooden plank that had a bit of a warp to it that made it unusable for any other purpose and barely usable for this one.
He took a stride toward the door and tossed the boot unceremonially over his shoulder and took big important strides toward the door. As he grabbed the knob he turned back toward the group and said, "You lot are in charge now, figure it out. And remember the Gild motto, 'No job too small'. They often get bigga than you 'spect."
And with that he was gone, it was time to start swimming.
Tomid, sitting on the floor holding his knees seems impossibly small. He looks around at the other kids in the house. Not wanting to seem surprised at what just happened, he quickly grabs the boot that had landed near him and stands up. Some of the gathered kids are taller than Tomid sitting down. He is a little scared but refuses to show it as he speaks.
I got the boot, so I getta talk, and use all gotta listen. I know we all knows each other, at least a little, but now we is gild brothers and sisters so we alt to tell each other 'bout ourselfs. I'm Tomid and me mum works cookin and servin at the Inn where we live. I'm little but that don't mean I aint tough. He gives everyone gathered a mean look. And bein little means folks sometimes don't see me. I bet I 'm the quietest here so I am namin myself in charge of sneakin. I'm pretty good at rock throwin too. And sometimes I can get inta places that are all locked up. Well thats all about me. He looks looks satisfied with himself and glances around to find the person who most looks ready to talk and tosses the boot to them.
Fred'ick fidgets for most of Gerad's speech. He nods when Tomid introduces himself. He'd seen the tiny Halfling a few times when his Da brought him along to the Inn.
When Tomid tosses it Fred'ick snatches the boot out of the air and moves up beside the crate. "Name's Fred'ick, but I think y'all knew that. I live in that house out by th' woods. I know 'em pretty well. The woods that is. I'm good at spottin' things an' stuff. Knowin' when people's lyin'. I'm also a good shot wif my bow... when da lets me take it."
He appears to have said everything he thinks he ought and quietly sets the boot down on the crate.
Jaeryll happily stands and takes the book. "Hello. I think I've met all of you, but just in case, I'm Jaeryll Poulain. I have the amazing abilities of proper speech and grammar, and my BRAIN is MIGHTY!"
Jerrie takes the boot next.
"Name's Jerrie. I don't hafta do chores, so I got a lot of free time. Spend it either watching people to see who does bad stuff or up in a tree. I might be as quiet as Tomid, but I can be pretty sneaky if I have to."
He hands the boot off to the next kid before he sits back down.
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Arkus receives the boot, standing a bit taller then most of the crowd.
"Um, I'm Arkus Balin. My dad's the blacksmith, and he's teachin' me stuff about smithing, and my mom showed me a thing or two about takin' care of cuts and bruises and stuff, so I can help if anybody gets hurt. I'm learning how to fight pretty well, so I can watch out for everybody if things get rough or something. Umm, I guess that's it. I just hope we all get to do some great things and have some fun."
Arkus sets the boot down on a nearby crate and takes a spot sitting near a wall to watch.
Tomid stands back up and moves over to the desk to see what Gerad might have left form the Gild. He climbs up on the stool and standing on it hops over to the plank that serves as the desk.
There is sheet of paper on the desk as well as a feather pen and an ink vial. The sheet of paper is a simple chart with columns of Date, Client, Request, Payment, and Deadline. The sheet seems old, but unused.
There is sheet of paper on the desk as well as a feather pen and an ink vial. The sheet of paper is a simple chart with columns of Date, Client, Request, Payment, and Deadline. The sheet seems old, but unused.
Fred'ick keeps glancing nervously at the door, waiting for that first 'dventure to come strolling in. He's betting on some old greybeard wizard.
Jerrie follows Fred'ick's glance at the door once before settling in. If all they had to do was wait, why worry? He kept himself busy thinking about a few people he'd seen doing bad lately, and thinking up ways to get them back. Not like he had much else to do...
After about ten minutes of relative quiet and confusion, there is a knock at the door. There stands a short girl of about seventeen with long blonde hair in a thick braid and bright blue eyes. She is wearing a drab gray dress, but makes it look fantastic. Also, she is at least six months pregnant.
"Gerad ran off on you did he? That's just like him. He didn't tell you to pick officers or work out a schedule of manning the chair so you don't miss any jobs, did he? Well, if you have any questions, you can ask me, I don't mind." She looks about the room at each of you, measuring you. Then she brightens. "I've a job for you that I think you will all enjoy. I want you all to help me pull a prank on Gerad."
Standing on the desk Tomid salutes to Joanne and says Yes Ma'am. No job too small! And we will get rite to lectin offsirs strait away. Uh, I dun lected myself in charge of sneakin. What other offsirs do we need?
Joanne looks at Tomid in the eye, as the desk evens them out pretty good. "Charge of Sneakin' huh?" She smiled a dazzling smile.
"Well, you can feel free to make up your own titles, but you need someone to take responsibility. It means that you are in charge, but it also means you get the blame if things go bad. It's a tough position, but someone has to take it or nothing will get done. We called it President, but you can call it whatever.
"Then you need a person who is charge of writing. If you don't have records, you don't know what you did. Also, keepin track of things can help with future jobs. If you get stuck, you should read the Gild List of Mighty Deeds. It's in the loft, along with the chest.
"Then you need someone in charge of the chair. They need to talk to people when they give you a quest. They negotiate a reward and get as much information as they can get from them. You also need a Treasurer, who keeps the keys to the loot box and has to be trustworthy and fair and good with numbers, and you might need to make up a few more titles too.
"The point of all this is that grown ups tend to be more impressed by titles and will generally treat you better if you have them. Gerad was our last president, although he used to be Treasurer. I'm sure that he cleaned out the loot box before you got here. It is fine, the treasure wasn't yours anyway, but he could have been nicer.
With that she turned to face Arkus, who seemed just as tall as she was, if not taller. "That's why I want to pull a prank on him. He hasn't always been nice to people in the guild, and he would often pull pranks on us. It's all good natured for the most part, but I wanna get in one more dig at him before he leaves for the city.
"I figured you would want it too, since he is probably laughing at your expense right now thinking the whole thing to be funny. I am also willing to pay, but I need to talk to your Chair-man to negotiate a price. I wonder if it is going to be you." She says with a wink to Argus.
Not It!Tomid quickly yells. I dun ready got lots of chores.
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Arkus glances around the room doubtfully, but stands and dusts himself off.
"Well, I guess we can always change titles later if people want. I'll give chairman a try, but we might have to have more than one. Dad already has me doing some chores at the forge and mom makes sure I practice my first aid lessons, and I try to keep up my sword practice too when I can." Arkus scratches his head thoughtfully.
"Ok, so you said you're willing to pay, how much? Oh and you still didn't say what kinda prank you want to pull."
Jaeryll brightens. "Ahhh, a prank. The gift of humility as wrought through humor! The thorn that makes an equal of the lion and the mouse! The implement of wit onto the life of a companion in need of it! The bringing low of the mighty to impart wisdom! And the hilarity of humiliating a companion! I'm so in."
"And Joanne, please allow me to say you look simply glowing. I know some of the girls in town thought you lucked out with that hunk of a husband, but in truth he is the lucky one. Our incarnation of the Guild will surely prosper with you as our first client. It just seems right, doesn't it? Cyclical, if you will."
An you smell gooder than soap before bath night. Tomid smiles shyly.
Fred'ick stood in awe for quite a few seconds before coming to. They actually had a 'dventure. "Wait, whadya wan' us t' do? I mean there's pranks an' then dere's Pranks."
Fred'ick looks Joanne the once over as he waits for her to answer. He wondered, as usual, if an older person wasn't being entirely straight-forward.
He wasn't about to step forward for any of the positions. They all seemed to involve knowin' things.
"I get in trouble a bit more than most, so being Presdent might not be good for the Gild. Got a 'rep-u-ta-shin' the grown-ups say."
"Whaddya need?" Jerrie asks the former Gild member. "Mouse in his boot, frog in his bed, pond slime in a bucket over his head?"
Joanne seems touched by your compliments. "Aww, you guys are cute! Don't you worry, I will help you out when I can. Feel free to drop by the farm anytime!"
Her face then becomes serious, and crossed her arms to over state her seriousness in a playful way. "Now to business. Gerad only fears one thing: centipedes! We had a bad experience on one of our gild outings and he has been afraid of them ever since.
"I am willing to give the Gild five silver pieces for every live centipede you can sneak into his luggage before he leaves tomorrow. None of the little ones will do the trick, they have to be pretty large. We're talking one to two feet long, big enough to bite you. Where you find them and how you do it is your problem. If you get caught, or if you don't he will know it was me, so you only get paid for the ones you get in there." She uncrosses her arms now that she is done with her pitch.
"Well, what do you think?"
I ain't never seen a bug that big. Thats big as me! Tomid says with a worried look. How do ya catch um? Wrastle um?
"Tha's huge..." Fred'ick chimes in almost on top of Tomid's words.
"Where'd ya fine one?"
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"hmm...big enough to bite? you're not worried about them hurting him? That's gonna be a weird first job, but with all of us, I'll bet finding em's gonna be tougher than catching 'em."
"Wait a second. if we can't catch any big ones, wouldn't a whole bunch of little ones do it too? I mean, anything's pretty scary when there's like a hundred of em in your bags."
"He's afraid of House Centipedes?" Jaeryll snickers disdainfully.
So, um, maybe there are some right here, in this house?!? Tomid says looking around nervously. He takes jumps back to the stool and takes a glance under the desk.
"If I told you everything about catching them, I would have to charge you for the information. This is a business deal after all. If I did all the work, why would I need to pay you? " She winked at Tomid and Fred'ick and their questions. "Being that this is your first mission, I will give you an offer of 5 silver pieces per centipede you sneak into his luggage. That way, the more you do the better payment you get.
She smiled at Jaeryll and Argus as well. "I'm afraid that little ones won't do, he is only frightened of the big ones. Besides, catching that many little ones would be harder I think, and less worth it."
"Well, I tink it's fair. What 'bout you guys?"
I can do the sneakin part. We need us a big bag or a jug or somethin to put um in. Hmm. I wonder if we can use bait or somethin to lure um into a trap. Tomid schemes.
Well, we gotta have somethin to put um in once we catched um. Maybe a big sack? Any ideas? Suddenly grin spreads across Tomid's small features. Hey. These is house centerpedes, right? If they is in peoples houses then maybe peoples will pay us to to get um out of their houses...
He'd know how dune it for sure, but maybe not affor hand. He might even hire us since he's frade of centerpedes. Tomid looks a little worried for a moment. How bad to they bite?
Joanne smiles radiantly at the plans being made and the acceptance of her offer. "Well, it sounds like you have some good ideas there. Go and try them out. I will be waiting for confirmation of the centipedes before I give you your money. Have a good time and do our Gild proud."
She turns her belly around and waddles out the front door leaving you to your plans but shouts over her shoulder as she leaves. "You come see me if you have too much trouble, but my help will hurt your reward. I will be at the farm if you need me."
Tomid hops down to the floor and begins to look under things. Hmm. This is a house. Might be centerpedes here somewhere.
Jerrie stands up and helps Tomid search.
"Can't hurt to check. Course, maybe they got gotten rid of."
So, where do we look? Hey the Inn had a creepy cellar thats bound to have bunches of centerpedes. I can get us down there. Bestest time is after cleanin up for breakfast. So if you all will come tomorrow rite at 9:00 you can help me with my chores and then we can go down to the cellar...
"That won't work. The guy leaves tomorrow, 'member?"
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"Yeah, we should try to get as many as we can tonight, so we have time to put them in Gerad's stuff before he leaves. if we wait till morning, we won't have much time. I think we all need to get to our homes in teams maybe, and try to grab any ones we find there. we'll be cleanin our houses of pests, gettin to know each other's parents, and gettin paid for our time! Plus, if we get stuck doin chores instead, two can do it faster together!"