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Dawn breaks across the horizon, letting a soft glow fall across the city of Eleder. Already many of the citizens are up and getting ready for work, firing up furnaces, starting up spinning wheels for sewing and pottery, and dressing in uniforms to begin their training for the day. The skies are clear, and a crisp, pleasant breeze wafts through the city. All over Eleder, comments are made regarding the pleasant weather, and many people say "Today is going to be a good day."
The merchants start up early today, hawking wares to any passersby in the city's Market Square. Yet despite the pleasant attitude in the air, a very observant citizen of Eleder might notice that there isn't as much being sold in the market as last month, a few of the merchants' stalls having closed down permanently without being replaced. And someone in the know might gossip about the increased demands the Free Captains just sent in; demands that will, inevitably, lead to higher taxes for these merchants, no matter how much the Baron does to lower their prices. Those looking for the signs see a city breaking under financial strain; too few guards, too many unkempt buildings falling to disrepair, too many people and not enough resources.
Yet for most of the citizens, life is as it always was. Living in Sargava is not the easiest life, but it's not the hardest either. And out there, for those willing to risk everything, lies adventure and legend in abundance. So our story begins...
No amount of good weather could brighten Locke's mood. It had been weeks since the deaths of Alorix and the other catfolk; he had recovered from his physical injuries, but he was far from healed.
He'd been traveling from one city to the next--taking on odd jobs along the way-- and had finally arrived at the capital. The first thing he did in the capital was the first thing he did upon entering any other city: located the nearest tavern and prepared to drink copious amounts of alcohol.
He had barely partaken of the poison before Alorix's death, and then it had only been in social situations. The taste revolted him, but he had come to appreciate how it dulled the senses and made him forget.
He ordered a drink and dropped a silver coin on the counter. The bartender snatched it up and walked away, quickly returning with a foaming mug and Locke's change. Locke accepted both and made his way through the crowd until he found an unoccupied table. He sat down heavily and began nursing his ale. The taste made him grimace.
As he drank, he stared off into space, but his ears were hard at work. It never hurt to keep an ear out for possible leads to jobs, but if he was honest with himself, Locke knew that he listened on the off-chance that he would recognize a voice and have a chance for revenge.
Finally, I'm able to go out on an adventure on my own!, Ianaver thought to himself. He had gone through two years of training to be able to use both his weapons and magic together. He knew he had much more to learn about himself and the world, but he also knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere with that without leaving his home city.
I suppose this is as good a place to look for an adventure as any he says to himself, walking into the tavern.
Ianaver asks the bartender, and anyone else willing to talk if they know of a job that needs done that would require someone of his skills.
Most of the conversations Locke picks up are uninteresting, but one of them catches his ears. The people talking are a half-orc priest and a dwarf, who look like they might be adventurers themselves. After listening to their conversation a short while, Locke discerns that they are talking of a blacksmith who runs a local smithy called The Bronze Hammer that's been having troubles with a local gang. Apparently the two conversing about it aren't interested in such a small fry job, as they're off to the interior of the Mwangi Expanse soon.
Ianaver decides to take a more passive approach to it, listening for rumors instead of bugging people with it. He orders a meal and sits at the counter, listening intently to the people around him.
Sardalon begins the day with a hearty breakfast before setting out to find adventure. Now that he'd gotten together all the equipment an adventurer might need for his first day on the job (or at least, he hoped he had everything), he feels confident and capable, eager to test his skill with the blade against a real challenge.
Perhaps coming off a bit too green and eager, Sardalon's questions around town concerning work leave him with nothing. Undaunted, he continues his lines of questions at various locations.
However, by the end of the day he still has no leads on work to be had for adventurers. Perhaps this will be more difficult than I'd imagined Sardalon thinks towards the end of the day, turning in at his living quarters quite tired. He thinks about what he can do tomorrow. Perhaps he could try another method...
Ashlynn woke up to an afternoon breeze and a cracked window in what she considered one of the better kept taverns in the city. Rather late in the day and unbecoming for someone of her upbringing, though it was just about the proper time for someone of her particular talents. A night spent wooing and tricking the poor son of a local grocer into being an effective personal delivery-boy for food certainly doesn't give someone the opportunity to wake up to the sunrise, after all.
She got out of bed and lazily dressed before wandering down to the common room and mingling with customers and employees alike, learning what today's horde is chatting about.
She takes special note of a couple well-armed individuals and spends a fair bit of time staying within earshot of them, especially the man wearing a curved blade on his hip.
Locke smelled an opportunity. Abandoning his unfinished drink, he approached the dwarf and half-orc. "Excuse me," he said. "I overheard your conversation about a smith having trouble with a gang. Could you tell me a little more about that?" He came across as rather blunt. He tried a different tact.
"Where can I find The Bronze Hammer?"
You overhear the white-haired human man ask the pair of adventurers, "I overheard your conversation about a smith having trouble with a gang. Could you tell me a little more about that?" and also "Where can I find The Bronze Hammer?"
The pair turn to you, sizing you up. The half orc laughs and says, rather bluntly, "Yeah, I'd suppose that job'd better fit some'ne like you, eh? Look, that place is just down Carver's Street, across from the butchery. I'd say you should bring a friend though; it's a bunch a ruffians, might be more than just yourself can handle." He doesn't seem to be making fun of you; rather he seems to be seriously sizing up your skills and commenting on the difficulty of what you're getting into. The dwarf nods sagely, as if what the half-orc said is very sound advice.
Chirk wakes up early, as usual, and prepares her spells. Before the sun is even up, she starts her gathering, preparing for a decent breakfast.
She shares a pleasant morning meal with Leap, reclining in her hammock awhile before packing up, riding Leap off to town to find something to do to replenish her stock of supplies. She wanders around, still fairly unused to the hustle and bustle of even a small city such as Eleder. As she reaches the city gates, she dismounts Leap, walking about and using her quarterstaff as a walking stick.
Chirk wanders about, listening to those passing by, occasionally piping up when she hears something interesting that she might be able to assist in.
Locke thanked the pair, and listened intently to their advice. Unfortunately, friends was something he was currently lacking, and he didn't see anyone he'd like to get friendly with in the tavern. Still, he knew from previous experience that he was not yet a match for an entire gang.
He exited the tavern and noted that the morning was waning. There was still time to at least take a look around the capital. If he was lucky, he might run into some adventuresome types whom he could join.
As he wandered aimlessly, Locke noticed a frog chatting with a few strangers. No, wait; that wasn't a frog, but a grippli. And from the sound of it and the look of her equipment, she (if it was a she; Locke wasn't sure how to tell the difference) was also looking for adventure.
"Hello," Locke said to Chirk without preamble, "The local smithy is having trouble with a gang, and I am sure that there will be a reward. Would you like to help me get rid of them?"
Woah, easy! It's almost been 5, maybe 6 minutes now! I can't give up yet! Walking the streets Eleder while balancing a small rock on her head probably wasn't the best idea, but Lulu was close to beating her record. Or at least she assumed she was. She held her arms out as she walked, carefully trying to keep the rock on top of her head. She heard a couple of mutters from around her but paid them no mind. She was determined, letting nothing stop her from concentrating on the small rock. She was hoping to maybe find the marketplace first thing after she woke up. Maybe if she was lucky, she would stumble on it while wandering around with her rock.
Not even 3 minutes later, Lulu was wandering around town, he rock long gone on the trail behind her. While she dd want to try and beat her record, she grew bored of it quickly. She was growing bored of this city as well. Surely there was something around here she could do. Maybe a quick chat with some people around might give her something worthwhile.
Chirk doesn't hear the tall man at first, continuing to go about her business before looking up to see him staring back down. "What? A... gang?" Chirk asks, trying to think of a word in this tongue that meant something similar, before a word clicks. "If that's like a swarm, sure, she says, and then, she adds a tad absent-mindedly, " long as me and Leap get paid," standing on tip-toe to tap the head of her Giant Frog companion.
"Gang trouble, and this man just walks right into the middle of it? Maybe this town will get a little interesting tonight."
Ashlynn tails the pale-haired man, though she's far from proficient at staying out of notice; It's likely that Locke would notice he's being followed by the would-be investigator with simply a glance behind him.
After seeing who the man stops to chat with, the young girls slightly more than a bit taken aback, and her surprise overrides any attempt of stealth.
"Is that a giant frog?!" she exclaimed before clamping a hand over her mouth and trying to duck behind a nearby building.
"Graceful today, aren't we, Ash?"
"I'm sure we will be paid well. We should pay a visit to the smithy. By the way, my name is Locke--"
Locke looked over his shoulder as he was interrupted by the sound of a girl's voice. She tried to hide, but he could still see her. He knew that she'd been behind him on the street for a while, but he'd figured that they had just happened to be going in the same direction. Now he wondered if she'd been tailing him.
"I can see you, you know," he said somewhat irritably. He might have been amused, but he was suspicious of the human-looking girl. "Come out."
Chirk nods as Locke talks to her, occasionally muttering "Sounds good..." or the like.
Frog. Chirk had heard that word more than once before, almost always in reference to herself or Leap. She turned, spotting the girl hiding behind a corner, having not seen her earlier, not paying as much attention as Locke to her surroundings.
"Yes? This is Frog. Leap Frog," she says, patting Leap affectionately on the head. "Who are you?"
She winces as she's caught, though she really should have expected her outburst to be heard, and subsequently steps out from her hiding spot and faces Locke and the frog duo.
"Oh my, there's two of them. You're going to be stew in your own city, Ash, nice job."
She smiles softly, giving a slight bow to the three.
"Nice to meet you....Leap. I'm Leah Corvain, of the Corvain Couriers. I was walking by and was just startled by your companion. It's not often you see such a sight in this city."
"I'll just be off if you don't mind, busy day and all!"
She moves to step past them, the smile from her face melting away and turning into obvious nervousness.
I was walking by and was just startled by your companion.
Gang operation? Drat. Gangs are bad. As a monk, Lulu was always taught to not give into evil doings or help bad people. But.... they were at a bar and grill. A quick rumble in her stomach and drool going down her chin were enough to tell her she was hungry. Maybe going there wouldn't be so bad, but she wasn't going to help any gang peoples though. Excited and eager to get something in her belly, she ran off to try and locate the Leaky Tankard.
--
After a bit of searching and asking, Lulu locates the Leaky Tankard, a sturdily built establishment despite its name. Inside is a fairly standard restaurant style room layout, with tables for four strewn about the large room and a bar against the far wall. The place is fairly busy, with all manner of people coming and going from the bar, tables, and back rooms. Off to one side sits a man who must be the one you're looking for, a well-groomed Chelaxian man with a thin mustache and oiled-back hair. He sits eating a seared steak, with two thuggish looking men sitting and eating with him. Although his outfit and friends seem to peg him as a mafioso type, his manner seems happy and friendly. He jokes with his goons, laughing and jabbing a fork in their direction.
A waitress greets Lulu at the door, a dwarven woman thin for her kind with a red ponytail and a small nose ring. She says invitingly, "Is there anything I can help you with?" Although people have given Lulu trouble in the past for her race, this dwarf at least seems to pretend not to notice the fur coat and tail.
"... All right, Leah," Locke said, watching suspiciously as she left. He saw how nervous she looked as she left them, but he didn't think that she was lying. He let her go. He turned back to Chirk.
"Anyway, as I was saying, my name is Locke." He paused, waiting for Chirk to give her name. He, unlike Ash, had realized that Leap was the name of the druid's frog mount.
Chirk just watches "Leah Corvain" walk past, thinking to herself with a fairly blank face. Once she's gone, she turns back to Locke. "Why would she lie? Very odd. Very odd indeed." she says pretty quickly, but soon she returns to the conversation at hand.
"I'm Chirk. This is Leap," she says, patting the frog's head once more as it croaks, startling a few people around that hadn't seen it.
Lulu was so lost in the smells she didn't notice the dwarf approach her and only noticed her after she spoke. "Hi! I'm Lulu! I'm really hungry. Got any fruits here? Maybe not. Doesn't seem like the place to have any. Maybe some vegetables then. But that would be too plain. I guess some meat as well but not too much, I don't eat much meat. Drinks! Water or juice? Hmmm, too many choices!" Words shot out of her mouth, it seemed, faster than she could think them. Her eyes darted around the room looking for something that seemed appetizing.
-Lulu-
The dwarven woman chuckles a little bit, motioning to a nearby table as she says, "Take a seat, maybe I can get you a menu to make your choices easier." She quickly flits over to the bar, pulling a thin wooden placard from behind the edge of the bar and handing it to you. Etched into the wood is a list of foods and drinks for the restaurant portion of the establishment. The woman adds in, "If you want something from the bar, just tell me what you need." She hustles off to another table, cleaning and taking orders as she goes. She returns in about a minute to see if you have decided on something to order.
Ianaver decides the New Krune might be a decent destination regardless; even if there isn't a vault of magic items, then it will probably be a good place to get some combat practice in. He figures if there really are magical items then there will be some kind of powerful being guarding it, and decides to try to find someone to bring with him.
Ianaver wanders around the city, finding another tavern and hoping he might have some luck there. He goes in and is very surprised to see a monkey-looking person. He decides to ask him(her? it?) about their abilities and willingness to come with him to New Krune.
"Hi there... Uhh... So, what's a monkey-person like you doing in Eleder?"
Lulu eagerly sat down, but wasn't too thrilled at the menu. While she could speak the Common tongue well enough, reading it had always been a challenge for her. She was struggling to read it, even when the dwarf waitress returned. "Ummmm, just a few more minutes, please!"
She was so focused on her reading that she didn't even notice the human approach her. She quickly glanced at him and stared at him silently for a moment. "Hi! Can you help me? I can't read this menu and I'm really hungry!" She handed the wooden menu off to the human, hoping that he would help her.
Chirk looks up at Locke. "So then, you said the smithy? We should go now, I think."
"Right," Locke agreed. "It's called The Bronze Hammer, just across the butchery on Carver Street," he recalled. He hadn't been in town long and didn't quite know where everything was yet, but it wouldn't be difficult to locate; smithies and butcheries were both vital to any town and were bound to be obvious.
After a few minutes of walking with Chirk he spotted a sign stating that they were on Carver Street, and soon they had arrived at the smithy.
Locke opened the door and held it for Chirk and Leap.
The Bronze Hammer looks like a hodgepodge of architectural designs thrown together, each window framed in a different fashion and the support columns placed apparently at random. The front door creaks loudly as you enter, the dim interior temporarily invisible as your eyes adjust from outside. After a few seconds you can make out an impressive amount of steel, iron, and bronze implements, ranging from horseshoes and hammers to greatswords and armors. Back near a large fiery forge stands a strongly built human woman, a bandana covering her face and another her hair. She peers into the fire with a poker in hand, shifting the coals inside. She doesn't seem to notice your entry at first, until you step on a very loud creaky board at the entrance to the shop. She wheels around, squinting as she peers toward you, the hot poker still in the fire.
Ianaver is slightly surprised at being handed off the menu, but figures there's no reason not to help, even if the monkey-person didn't end up going with him to New Krune.
"What kind of food were you interested in?", he asks Lulu.
"Fruits! I love fruits the most! If they don't have those, then maybe some vegetables. If it's something with meat, small amounts of meat. I don't like meat all that much. Kinda icky in my opinion. All sinewy and raw... Bleh!" Lulu made a face that seemed like a 2 year old would make as they were forced to eat something they didn't like.
"You need help dealing with a... a...." Chirk stumbles, having forgotten the word for a moment. "Gang, right?" she asks, looking around warily at a bevy of unfamiliar tools scattered about, and then at the assorted implements, weapons, and armors. She pets Leap, who is altogether significantly less curious about this place wreathed in metal.
"Right," Locke added, "I overheard that you were looking to hire some help to deal with the gang." He glanced around the shop. The blacksmith's wares seemed good quality (though Locke was no expert), despite the shop's run-down appearance.
-Locke & Chirk-
The stern woman's gaze is fixed on the pair of arrivals from between her two bandanas, not moving a muscle for several seconds. Then, she seems to relax, taking the poker out of the fire and hanging it on a hook while sweeping off her face bandana and closing the forge fire's door at the same time. With her bandana off, you can see that she looks to be young for an independant craftsperson, especially a blacksmith. Her skin which was covered by the bandana is a pale Chelish tone, while a narrow band around her eyes is darker from soot. She takes several powerful strides toward the Locke and Chirk, contained energy evident in her movements. She stand a couple inches taller than Locke, and her frame is much heavier.
She walks right up to Locke, uncomfortably close, and reaches behind him. As she closes the door, both Locke and Chirk can easily see how wide around her biceps are. Finally, after a few more moments of looking at both of them, she states with a full south-Sargavan accent (read: Australian), "I don' know who toldya that, 'cause I haven't asked for help with'em. Wha' do you two pipsqueaks thin' you can do to help me?" Her stern gaze goes to both of you, waiting for an answer from either.
-Ianaver & Lulu-
Chirk immediately points upwards at Locke. "He told me," she says, not sparing a moment. "Numbers do much to stave off enemies," she continues, actually answering something the smith had asked, " and eyes seldom show all about someone." She smiles, not a tooth in her mouth, which makes for a bit of an odd sight.
"We can fight," Locke said, straightening his shoulders and looking the smith squarely in the eyes. He wouldn't let her intimidate him; Locke's hand rested lightly on the hilt of one of his blades.
"If you hire us, you won't have to worry about any of those gangsters again," he promised confidently. True, he did not know how strong his little grippli companion was, and he had, in fact, failed miserably the last time he had faced a gang, but he didn't like the smith's attitude. He would prove her wrong, given half a chance.
-Locke & Chirk-
The blacksmith considers both of you for a moment, looking confused by the grippli and unimpressed by the human. She clenches her jaw as she looks at the human's sword hand, saying "Whad'ya think ya gonna do wi' that in here, boy?" She looks to Locke's eye, appraising him intensely.
She backs up a step, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. She sighs, then looks again to you two and stiffly admits, "May not've asked for it, but might be I can use you."
Ianaver looks through the menu and finds something for Lulu to eat, asks for the dwarf lady and orders it.
"Well, you should like that, I suppose. Well, anyways, how would you like to accompany me to a ghost town to go exploring, and maybe find some magic things as well?
Ianaver notices the man talking about him and Lulu, but keeps quiet for now, waiting to see what happens.