The sun rises over a city that has seen a massive party the night before. Sweet End has revelers who passed out from exhaustion, intoxication, or both scattered across the streets, most of them wrapped up in heavy blankets courtesy of the kindness of some of the business owners. Most of those now snoozing in the heavy, warm blankets have otherwise been 'Kissed' - their belongings taken and left in a charity box for Charchee to be annoyed by, since she'll be getting visitors looking for their belongings all day now.
Most of the rest of the city is in better shape, with warm houses holding back the winter cold. Even in the Hatchet district of the town, people are well-off today, glutted on donated food and drink, wrapped in fairly new blankets, and in a good mood.
Aneon Kanbe has already been awake for over an hour, his employer and trainer, Flyte Dubois, having woken him up with a bucket of water that he left outside all night dashed right across Aneon's head. It was a rudeness compounded by how late Aneon had stayed up, working on another attempt at crafting a journeyman's tools. The shock is somewhat mitigated by the relatively rich feast Flyte has had brought up from Kir's Bakery, with savory and sweet pastries as well as sweet wine on the table. "Well, lad, it looks like this might finally be the year you improve enough to get out from under my thumb. That hammer you made was well-done, for once. Fix up the rest of a kit as good as it and I'll have to name you a journeyman - and finally teach you the trick you've been after these last few years. Today, though, you should eat up - I'm needing you to run a few bits over to Mylian's office so he can kit some folks out."
Jacinthe jolts awake at the break of dawn, startled by some faint and unfamiliar sound outside the door of the room she's been renting. She's on her feet, rapier drawn and ready, before her mind catches up to her and she realizes that she's threatening a door with a sword. Checking the other side, she finds a tray of meat and bread waiting for her, part of the service paid for with her rental of the room. It's accompanied by a note.
Yel hasn't bothered to sleep. She's spent the night toying with a broken buzzer she scavenged from her mother's junkyard, and she's finally gotten it working after a fashion as the sun crawls above the horizon. Of the five discs she tries to fire, four neatly spit out and chew into her chosen target - an old synth barrel of some kind, wiring visible inside. She knows the thing is dead, since she can't hear anything from it. The fifth disc gets spun off-balance and ricochets through the junkyard, nearly hitting her mother when she steps out to look for Yel. She gives the young woman an irritated glare for the near-miss before waving her over. "I need you to take this to the mayor's office for me, my dear little synth flower. Here's a shin for your trouble - drop past Kir's Bakery and grab yourself something to eat on your way. Wouldn't do for you to fall asleep now that there's something for you to do."
Zith wakes up on the roof of the Downy Dossi, with no memory of how he got up there, although the half-dozen empty tankards around him give some clue as to why he can't recall. He's woken up by someone banging on the roof under him, followed by the voice of Hepter, his erstwhile employer, shouting through the wood and synth barricade. "ZITH! GET UP! You need to get over to Mylian's office as fast as you can, he's inducting some new guards this morning and I want you to be there to record how he does it!" There's a thump as a sack gets flung up onto the roof from below, with a rich, meaty smell wafting out of the sack. Some mouth-watering savory pastries from Kir's Bakery are inside, along with two shins as advance payment on the story.
"Huh?" is Yel's first response to the interruption, as morning proper breaks through her satisfaction at a job well done. Hardly thinking about it, she flips the buzzer's safety on and shoves it through her belt as she walks over to the back porch. It's in deep shadow at this hour, but tone of voice is enough to tell her that Mecky is in an unusually good mood. The girl's only comment is "Yah," and a nod as she accepts the synth-wrapped package. But she keeps stealing glances at it while she puts her tools back in order - she'll have to stick around and see what this one does, after delivery.
When she gets out the door the blue-lit streets are quiet, but signs of life begin to appear as the sun makes its way over the horizon. Rather than the bakery, she stops to buy breakfast from a street vendor. The breaded & fried dossi and mug of khaff - her mug, not theirs - is just what the hour calls for.
This is why I don't try to sleep in. Sprawled cross-legged on the bed, Jacinthe reads and rereads the note, holding it with one hand and picking at breakfast with the other. Tempting. I'm already gorgeous and skillful. This would show responsbility. Security. Public respect. She nods, chewing, eyes focused on nothing as her thoughts roam. I'm not sure what more he would want.
Leaving about half of her breakfast untouched -- gotta keep light on my feet -- she washes up, tying her wet hair into curls to dry while she pulls on the neatly stored clothing and smooths the exquisitely tailored micromesh armor on over her close-fitting undergarments. She tsks at the condition of her rapier's jeweled hilt and spends a bit of time cleaning it with a small brush before rinsing the brush and using it on her teeth. Makeup goes on carefully and precisely, just so, before her hair is released from its bonds. She takes all the time she needs to look as exquisite as she can. Finger-tossing the loose curls, she dons boots, overcoat, and feathered hat, inspecting herself in the hazed mirror and tilting her hat rakishly with a saucy smile.
She surveys the room and opts to leave the scattered belongings in place. I can pack once I find out what the job pays and find a new lodging. She tucks the letter into an inner pocket of the ornate greatcoat, then strides jauntily from the room towards the Midmarket to find Mylian.
How far have I fallen? Not only am I expected to be up and about at the same time as the sun, I'm being presented with honest work.
Zith springs to his feet, bounds from the roof, and drops lightly to the ground, before doubling over and clutching at his temples.
Gah! Whatever was in those tankards, it feels like it's dribbling out my ears.
Zith slumps back back against the wall of the Downy Dossi and waits for the world to stop tilting gradually to the left.
Ok, off to document the induction of the latest round of the mayor's doorholders. The masses can sleep in peace, knowing that various small patches of ground are being restrained from floating away by virtue of the guards' amazing ability to stand and stare blankly.
Zith stumbles to his feet, and groans as he realizes that he left the bag with the food and the shins up on the roof.
"Sure thing! I'll get right that after I eat what this mongrel doesn't manage to steal!" Aneon smiles at his thuman and then pretends to toss it a choice piece, when the ruse is discovered he laughs and then shares the best half with his friend.
After lazily finishing his meal Aneon strolls out the door with Flyte's good and takes the most indirect route he can manage without being too late, stopping to check any bauble catches he see for choice pieces to add to his collection.
Yel, you find yourself with a delicious chunk of breaded meat and a large cup of near-boiling khaff, the package tucked under one arm as you trot through the streets and enjoy the relative peace and quiet. You're near the mayor's office when Zith comes staggering around the corner, his stride slightly unsteady and suggestive that perhaps he enjoyed celebrating the end of the new year.
Jacinthe, you hit the streets just in time to nearly be run over by a thuman - one you instantly recognize as Aneon's, given that it bounces around you, grabs a bauble off the street with its jaws, and promptly drops it at your hand like a present. You spot Aneon in the distance, rummaging around through the scattered drifts of baubles as he moves in the same general direction you'll be going.
Aneon, you look up from the drifts of baubles to see your thuman prancing excitedly around Jacinthe's splendid figure, apparently trying to play fetch with a bauble. The sun's getting a bit above the horizon, you should probably hurry if you want to get to the Mayor's office before it's late enough to be yelled at.
Aneon pockets his latest find and rushes down the street towards Jacinthe and his thuman. I can't let him have all the fun!
"Hello! Wonderful morning isn't it? What are you doing today? Whatever it is I'm sure it is as wonderful as you! I'm to deliver a package to the Mayor's office! I also have something for you!" Aneon grabs the thing he found in rubbish pile into Jacinthe's hands, "Well, I have to hurry or I'll be late! Bye! Come mutt!"
Aneon turns away and dashes off leaving Jacinthe and hoping his thuman finds it's way back to him sometime before lunch is served.
By the time Yel and Zith cross paths, the copper-haired tinkerer is down to half a mug of khaff and nearly finished with the meat - she'd forgotten to eat dinner, as well. She spots the obviously hung-over Zith and starts to wave, but stops in confusion when she realizes that there's a mug in that hand. She has a large bundle under the other arm, and a depleted skewer of something that smells of grease and deliciousness in that hand. After a moment to consciously take inventory, she settles for waving the mug in its correct orientation as a greeting.
Even in his less-than-stellar state, Zith is likely to notice the battered-looking buzzer that now hangs at Yel's right side, the dark circles under her eyes, and of course the package that currently burdens her.
Jacinthe automatically holds out her hand and instantly regrets it as the slimy bauble is dropped into her spotless glove. "Thanks," she tells the thuman unenthusiastically, then hurls the bauble towards a relatively deserted area of the street, hoping the thuman chases it.
She absently rubs at a slobber mark on the palm of one glove as she starts towards Midmarket, when Aneon rushes up with another bauble, pressing it into her hand and babbling. "Thanks, Aneon," she calls after the thuman's master, then, "Hey, I'm going to... never mind," as the man dashes off.
The bauble proves to be round, blue, and glowing. Nightlight? she muses for a second, before stowing it in a belt pouch under her showy coat. With a shrug, she resumes her jaunty walk, whistling and sauntering slowly so all the street folk have an opportunity to admire her splendor. A quick glance at the jeweled rapier hilt reveals that the freshly-scrubbed gems are sparkling nicely in the sun, bringing Jacinthe a warm glow of satisfaction.
Having retrieved his sack from the roof, Zith meanders through town to meet Yel. As he wanders by the mayor's office, he sees Yel waving a mug at him.
"Oh no. I think I may have partaken ... partook ... drank. I drank a bit too enthusiastically last night. I don't need another."
Zith wanders up to Yel, eyeing the package under her arm. He grins happily, and asks,
"Need an extra hand to carry your valuables?"
Aneon is the first to arrive at the mayor's office - quite literally, as he finds the place still locked with no sign of anyone inside. His thuman catches up to him after a few minutes, padding up behind him quietly to curl up against the back of his legs. It takes another five minutes for the mayor himself to show up, a large synth cup of something dark and fizzy in one hand as he fumbles with a keyring with the other hand. When he looks up, there's a flicker of surprise on his face. "Oh. Good morning, happy new year. Is there something you need, young man?"
Jacinthe will note that the bauble is in fairly good condition for the ones lying around on the street, although it remains effectively worthless anywhere in the region. The thuman tries to retrieve the malformed bauble for her again, before it gives up on getting her to play fetch and dashes off after Aneon with a few excited yips.
She finds her way to the office just as the mayor is fumbling with his keychain and saying good morning to Aneon.
Zith looks a bit less haggard once he's had a bite to eat in his hurry through the streets, and the whispers of nausea at the back of his head get pushed back in time for him to be chipper at Yel.
Yel chuckles, using the end of the skewer to pick her teeth to make a show of dismissing Zith's indisposition. "Know a chiurgeon you'd trust to attach one?" she asks with a faint smirk.
She hefts the package a little, still walking along. "Oh, this. Nah. Ain't mine. This's going to the mayor's office. I want to see it get opened - it's mathing something, but I can't figure out what." Yel tilts her head to one side and gives Zith an amused squint against the morning sun. "If you want to do anything with it, you can wait."
"Your lack of curiosity makes me sad. You're really not going to open it and look first?"
Zith's fingers twitch ever so slightly as he stares at the bundle.
Yel makes a little 'snrkf' noise in the back of her throat. "I can hear it well enough. What do I need to look for?"
She rounds the corner into the center of Midmarket, just in time to see the Mayor unlocking Guran's only significant government building. "Come on." She picks up the pace.
Nodding grandly to any hapless passers-by she catches looking at her splendidity, Jacinthe approaches the mayor's office with a mix of chagrin that Aneon arrived first, and relief that they did not arrive together. She gives a slight bow, clicking her heels together. "Mayor Mylian. Happy new year to you, sir. You summoned me?" There's a tiny, smug emphasis on 'summoned' as she glances at Aneon, though her smile is friendly enough.
"Oh! Jacinthe! Yes, yes, my dear. Give me just a moment to unlock this thing." Mylian fumbles with the lock just long enough for Yel and Zith to arrive on the scene, although he takes no note of their arrival while shuffling into the office.
The room is fairly plain, with a window on either side to admit both the morning and afternoon sun. Wood-textured synth covers the walls, although the floor appears to be some kind of metal that radiates a gentle heat - a welcome change from the winter chill outside. A single large desk sits at the back of the room, with a grandly carved chair behind it that has numerous tiny blue baubles worked into the designs to give it a more delicate air.
He seats himself, and beckons for the four to come in and have a seat on the less majestic chairs scattered in front of the desk. "Do have a seat. I must say I wasn't expecting to see any of you this early on the new year, but it's certainly auspicious that you're such early risers." He gives Zith a puzzled look as he says this.
Jacinthe's eyes narrow as Zith and Yel approach together and she can't help a tiny moue of annoyance. She enters as the mayor directs, trying to keep her distance from Yel to avoid annoying the girl. She just didn't need to hear it today.
"Naturally, Mayor, I try to be ready for anything," she answers, laying her handkerchief on the seat of a chair and sitting atop it, so as not to smudge the glory of her coat.
Yel glares at Jacinthe's back for just a moment when she enters the others' zone of static. Then Aneon's thuman growls at her, and she bares her teeth at the little monstrosity.
By the time the mayor actually bothers to look at her, she's managed to get her expression back to one of only minor discomfort. She takes a chair as far from Jacinthe as possible while still being within polite conversation range of the person she's actually here to see. "Delivery for you," she tells Mylian, offering the package to him.
Zith grins and winks at Jacinthe before sprawling into a chair.
"Alas, the demands of my new profession demand that I be up at this inhumane hour. I can only hope that my diligence is rewarded by some kind of excitement. Perhaps there's something of interest in that package?"
Aneon enters the mayor's office and stares at the chair with admiration for awhile ignoring Yel and his thuman's minor spat.
"Mayor! I've finished eating my bite and come from Flyte with a few bit for you to outfit with!" Aneon smiles clearly amused with his simple rhyme s and empties the contents of one of his bags onto Mylian's desk dumping the things he was sent to bring out sending more than a few baubles rolling across the floor.
"...Those erm, weren't supposed to be in that bag..." Aneon throws the now empty bag at his thuman and then starts grabbing the few baubles still spinning about on the desk, "Fill it quick Rhyme!"
Yel's attempt to hand over her package is interrupted by Aneon, as he blithely dumps a large sack out across the mayor's desk. Seeral short swords clatter out, along with synth-and-stonglass badges marking the bearer as a member of the Guran town guard. Mylian says nothing during the ruckus as Aneon scrambles after the baubles, his eyebrows arched well above their usual placid resting place.
Once Aneon has settled back down, the thuman holding the mostly-empty sack of baubles while sitting on the opposite side of Aneon from Yel, Mylian clears his throat. "Ah. Thank you, I think. It's nice to see that you're punctual, even if I could have done without that display."
He nods to Yel. "Just a moment, miss Iandao. I need to speak with Jacinthe briefly." He waits for everyone to settle down before he rises to his feet, selecting one of the larger and shinier badges from the pile Aneon dumped on the table. "Now then, my dear. The guardsmen have all been rather impressed by your abilities at the combat arts. I've been asked to offer you a long-term position here in Guran as part of a new rapid-response team meant to deal with some of the more unfortunate things that come to town and cause trouble. The pay isn't much, but it does come with property here in town, as well as some measure of authority to detain troublemakers and otherwise deal with situations that are of a somewhat delicate nature."
He pauses expectantly, a hopeful look on his aged features.
Jacinthe beams at being addressed first, sags a bit at the pay isn't much, brightens some at property, and beams again at authority.
"Rapid response team? Well gracious, that sounds like me all over," she smiles at Mylian, "But without much pay... may I ask the nature of the property? Is there room for a garden, perchance? I just adore gardens and all of nature's bounty."
Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. She flicks a glance at Zith to see his reaction.
"Oh, certainly, certainly. I didn't know you were a gardener, dear. Have you been to talk to those two lovely folk who tend the rosewall around the Clave? Sarracenians, both of them. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to help a young gardener like you." Mylian's eyebrows are both still raised hopefully at Jacinthe.
"Oh, well then, this sounds like something I should do." She rises and holds out her hand for the badge. "I accept, Mayor Mylian."
Mylian smiles as he places the badge in Jacinthe's hand. "Wonderful! I'm glad you have such a sensible and civic-minded attitude, my dear. So many other young people have absolutely no desire to give back to the community. Now, I'll get you your keys to your new house just as soon as I finish with the others." He shuffles back to the desk, stopping between the desk and Yel. "Now, miss Iandao, you said you had a package for me?"
He absently rearranges the pieces on the desk, moving the weapons and the badges around to clear a space as he waits for Yel's response.
"Mother sent me with this." She hands over the awkward synth-wrapped whatever, moving a little to one side so that she can see what it is when Mylian unwraps it.
Mylian unwraps the package, exposing a device that appears to be made of three loops of silver and synth, each partially embedded in a rectangular block of silver. He fiddles with it until a small piece of metal and glass flips up on one end, causing the three loops to straighten up and begin to rotate.
He smiles like a child at a fairground as he looks through the glass, sighting through the loops at various points around the room. His eyebrows raise slightly again when he sights on Rhyme, but he says nothing until he sets the device down on the table. "Thank you, miss Iandao. And, well, since you're here, it saves me the trouble of having to send someone to find wherever you'd end up today otherwise."
He opens his left hand to reveal a second, slightly smaller and slightly differently-designed badge. "While I'm sure your mother will be horribly upset by the idea, you're old enough to be considered an adult by the standards of the town. Given your unusual knack for understanding how the more esoteric things in the world work and your talent for handling them, I'd like you to join our new rapid-response team, with much the same offer as for Jacinthe - a dwelling of your own, some pay, even if we can't offer you much, and some measure of authority." He pauses, and adds with a wry grin, "And, in your case, I expect the ability to say, 'Mother, I can't, I'm busy with civic duty' may also weigh in." Another brief pause, "And, should you wish, you can certainly clear the garden space for your own workshop, should you desire."
Yel watches the device with fascinated curiosity. She barely registers the mayor's words, even when he's pushing the badge at her. It takes a moment to sink in, then she blinks at him. Opens and closes her mouth a couple of times. Finally she manages to assemble a response: "You have some kind of problem in mind already? Or just 'whatever comes from out there'?" The question is accompanied by a vague hand-wave to indicate space outside the town.
She still looks rather pole-axed by the entire business.
"Oh, there are a couple of things that could do with attending to, once things are settled here - if you accept the offer, of course!" He smiles benignly at Yel, the badge still on offer and unwavering. Yel, in her shock, will note that the badge being offered to her has an intricate pattern of the kind of lines that can occasionally be seen in some of the more complex devices. "I do trust you realize this also serves as the blessing of the city council on some of those more unusual experiments you occasionally do - with the understanding that you're at least technically trying to understand how better to keep Guran's citizenry safer."
"Uh," is all the vocalization Yel is immediately able to summon. She finds herself studying the badge, as a point of familiar and solid context. It's not entirely a conscious decision, to reach out with her mind.
The badge has a faint glimmer of activity to it, some small amount of processing going on inside, as do the two badges remaining on the desk. Yel can't tell what they might be doing, though, but they're not transmitting any signals beyond the usual 'active numenera' tingle.
The tinkerer raises an eyebrow at the badge after her eyes have rested on it for a few moments, and she reaches out to take the odd little thing. Turning it over in her hands, she asks Mylian, "What does it do?"
Mylian's eyebrows seem to be getting stuck in their raised pose. "It marks you as a member of the rapid response team, of course. Ability to detain troublemakers, some legal weight in disputes, and some leeway on the issues the team is going to be meant to deal with. Oh, and it serves as the deed to the property the council wants to give you, of course, should any silly people want to dispute that."
He indicates it, now that Yel has it. "Does this mean you're accepting, then?"
Her voice is distant, as the slice of attention granted to her surroundings gets even smaller. "Yes. But, this." She lifts the badge a tiny amount for emphasis. "It's active. Powered. What does it do?"
"I'm afraid you'd have to ask Flyte." He seems somewhat puzzled by Yel's question, and spreads his hands. "I asked him to make the badges, and he told me he had the perfect idea for something to work with to make them. I'm sure he'll be happy to explain it to you, but for the moment I need to attend to the last couple of details." He offers her a smile as he scoops another badge off the desk.
"Aneon Kanbe, please try to pay attention for a moment. I'm sure you heard some of what I said to these two ladies, and a similar offer goes for you. You have a gift for dealing with the beasts of the world, as this peculiar thuman of yours attests. We'll give you an actual house, rather than you continuing to sleep in the back of Flyte's shop, with room for a garden or workshop of your own should you so desire it." Aneon's badge is slightly different from either of those offered to the others thus far.
Yel nods. "Will do." Having escaped the focus of official attention for a moment, she pockets the badge and turns her attention to the strange thing she delivered this morning.
Aneon scratches at his chin in his most thoughtful manner before responding, "It sounds nice and all, but how will I complete my apprenticeship and work for you? I'm sure this house is big enough for me and Rhyme, but what if I get new friends? Is it somewhere with neighbors that won't mind odd noises in the middle of the night? I hear those sometimes! It is mine forever right? You won't be checking in on me at random will you? Sure, I'll take it!"
Aneon snatches up the badge and looks it over while turning it about he mumbles under his breath about how it could use another bauble or three, then he looks up again suddenly. "Does Rhyme get the last one?"
The mayor chuckles, a bit nervously - this clearly hasn't been going the way he expected it to, after Jacinthe's graceful acceptance of the position. "It's not a [i]constant[/i[ duty, you understand. You'll have ample time to finish your apprenticeship with Flyte in between situations likely to call for your attention. And yes - as long as you intend to remain here in Guran and keep the badge and the duties it carries, the house is yours. As for your neighbors, well..." He glances at Jacinthe and Yel. "I'm sure you can work something out with them about the odd sounds." He seems grateful that Aneon simply plucks up the badge, but freezes up slightly at the question about the last badge being for Rhyme.
"Well - not quite, as I'm sure your badge will be more than ample to grant your pet thuman some measure of leniency in the antics it gets up to. This last badge is actually at the joint suggestion of Hepter and Flyte, as they both feel that sometimes a team meant to respond quickly might need to get into places in a less than directly legitimate fashion." He fixes Zith with a somewhat disapproving look as he collects the last badge and presents it to the rakish young man. "As such, it is the council's request that you join these other upstanding citizens in being a part of Guran's rapid response team, with the same benefits for doing so. I'm sure you'll find a use for the house when you aren't sleeping in one of the beds at the Marchet or the Fishing Hole."
The design and the mayor's reaction to seeing things through it suggests that it might have additional properties beyond a simple rangefinder - perhaps an energy level analysis, which you could see as being useful with him being a retired Aeon Priest.
Which of course begs the question of what it registered when Mylian looked at Rhyme.
Yel's curiosity gets the better of her, and she lifts the device off the table behind the mayor's back. He should be distracted playing 'pin the badge on Zith' for at least a little while.
The first thing she uses it to look at is indeed Rhyme, and the second is her new badge.
Zith musters all of his substantial talents for deception and somehow manages to keep from exploding in laughter.
I wonder what my old colleagues would say if they could see me being offered a guard's badge? Half of them would gut me just on suspicion and the other half would just assume it was part of my latest lift, and would play along until they figured out what they could cut in for.
Zith pulls himself back out of reverie and beams at the mayor.
"Why Mayor Mylian, I'm not sure what you could possibly mean? I would hate to think that some foul slander has found your ears."
Rhyme is glaring at Yel. If you want you can make an opposed perception check to spot her grabbing the device to peep at Rhyme with it.
You can make a perception check, opposed by Yel's stealth check, to see if you spot her faffing about with the mayor's new toy.
Jacinthe, who has been admiring her badge and trying to figure out how to attach it to her person without poking unsightly holes in her elegant attire, looks up in dumb astonishment as Yel receives her own symbol of power and authority and positively sags when Aneon receives his.
When Zith is offered one, she suspects she has misunderstood, well, everything, and seeks to clarify the situation.
"Lord Mayor, are we meant to select and form our own specialized squads? It seems like a very good idea to have a number of rapid response teams, each with its own... er... special... um... thing." She squints curiously at the others in the room, wondering what skills they might possibly have.
Mylian seems taken aback by the wry humor and charm that Zith all but exudes. "I, um, that is... Look. Will you accept this badge and the job it entails, or not?" He's definitely thrown off by the smarmy charm, and is all but thrusting the last badge into the con-man's hands.
He turns to Jacinthe, somewhat harried-looking, and gives her a somewhat apologetic smile that no doubt sends ice water plunging through her veins. "No, my dear. I'm afraid that the plan is that the four of you, together, are going to be the town's quick response team to the more troublesome things that turn up. It's been argued back and forth for the entire last month. You are, for what it's worth, the one unequivocally positive choice by everyone to be a part of this task."
"Wha...?" Jacinthe responds faintly, "But I..." She points at her hat, stroking her finger gently along the magnificent plume, then turns to the others. "But they..." Her finger points out the rumpled and dirtied spots on her companions. "But we... uh..." She turns her palms up, looking appealingly at the mayor, then down at the jeweled hilt of her rapier, the gems looking dim and dingy in the face of this disaster.
She squints again at the badge she has already accepted, then blinks up at the mayor, pointing to her cocked hat once again. "Am I at least to be the captain?" she pleads, looking rather pale.
She pulls out the letter summoning her to the office, pointing to a red wax splotch at the bottom. "I have a seal and everything."
"For day-to-day business and matter of martial or social nature, most certainly. The council did stress that they expect you to defer to the expertise of the others in situations where their skills surpass your own, although I am quite sure you'll handle it all perfectly fine." Mylian huffs, trying to regain some control of the chaotic mess his attempt to formally convene the team has dissolved into. "Now please, all of you, really. There are details that you need to have in order to understand what you need to be doing, and then there's the matter of your new residences."
"Mayor, of course I accept. I'm only too happy to put what meagre skills I have to use while I stay in this fine town."
Zith takes the badge and makes a show of shining it with the edge of his cloak.