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- Jul 25, 2024
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- USA
This is a rough draft, so changes may be made. Please feel free to PM me any questions, comments, or critiques!
Prologue:
Infernos cast lurid shadows against the thatch homes, making the village seem to dance and waver in the hellish light. Screams, sobs, and crying sounded from all around, the clash of metal on metal and metal on flesh a percussion to the screams of the wounded and dying. The smell of smoke hung heavy and acrid in the air, along with the tang of copper from blood spilled.
Amidst the madness, a small family of four moved as quietly and quickly as possible. The father, with brown hair about shoulder length and brown eyes, was at the front, holding a sword loosely. Two young girls clutched to each other in the middle, the older brown-haired, the younger with red hair. Bringing up the rear, the mother, with red hair and green eyes, guarding the rear with a bow, her eyes alert.
“Hush, now, Cara, Raena,” the father whispered, trying to calm the sobbing girls. Looking between the houses where they were stopped, he searched for the safest way to get his family out of the small town, tousling his brown hair as his hands ran through it, showing his pointed elven ears.
The oldest at nineteen summers, Cara had brown hair and brown eyes but with the rounded ears of a human. Raena, at thirteen summers, on the other hand, had distinctively elven ears, fiery hair, and green eyes. Both were sobbing quietly.
“Alryn, we need to move now,” his wife said from the rear. “We have goblins coming up from behind,” she whispered urgently, watching a group of nasty fae approach the family's hiding spot.
“There's too many, Lara; I don't know if we'll make it,” Alryn whispered back, watching the goblins drag another family from a home just down the road.
It happened this way every time with goblins. First, they killed the men. Then, they would take the women, using them for breeding stock. Though not as intelligent as humans, goblins were indeed clever fae capable of banding together into large raiding groups, using tools, and having a primitive society. They weren't as tall as humans but came close. Their green skin seemed almost ebony in the night.
“I need you girls to follow me now; keep your eyes on my back, and don't look anywhere else,” Alryn whispered firmly, stepping into the small side alley. Guiding his family as best he could, to hoped for safety. They just needed to reach the woods on the outskirts of town. A half mile away. A lifetime away.
Guiding his family slowly from house to house, they finally reached the final stretch; the woods were just ahead. Just then, a group of four goblins came around the corner, spotting the family of four; they cried out, calling to other goblins nearby.
“Run,” Alryn whispered harshly to his family, unsteadily readying his sword as the four goblins approached him; he could hear more coming their way. His piercing brown eyes watched intently as the goblins closed in with their crude weapons. Suddenly, an arrow thwacked into the goblin's eye on the far left; his wife Lara had joined the fight. Her long red hair streaming back in the winds created by the fires, she drew her bow again and let loose, downing a second goblin. Her green eyes burning brightly, she knocked another arrow.
As Alryn stepped up to meet the remaining two goblins, he swung the sword wildly before him. The sword he used felt foreign in his hands, being it was his wife's, from her service in the military. The flailing sword took the arm from one goblin and lodged in the throat of the one next to it. Just then, another group of goblins came around the far corner of the house from him, catching sight of him but not yet seeing his family behind him.
Throwing his right hand out, Alryn drew on his elven magic, causing roots to erupt in the middle of the new group of goblins. There looked to be fifteen or twenty of them. He knew his measures were only a stopgap; he could never hope to defeat this group; there were too many for a carpenter who only built furniture. He wasn't war-trained like his wife, and even with her help, they stood no chance. The best they could do would be to slow the goblins down and hope for a quick death so their daughters could escape in the aftermath. It only took a split second for him to realize what he had to do.
He turned to his family behind him, met his wife's eyes, mouthed, “I love you, save the girls,” and charged around the corner, straight into the horde of goblins. Green eyes glistening with tears, Lara turned to her daughters. As quietly as she could, Lara drew them away from where they could now hear the screams of their father.
Lara knew the future looked grim. She didn't know if they could make it to safety. There must have been at least a couple hundred goblins for the town to fall so easily. Thoughts raced through Lara's head as she moved the children through the flickering shadows. Pulling out a knife, Lara held it to her eldest daughter, Cara, while they walked.
“If it seems they will capture you, slit your sister's throat, and then your own, Cara. Promise me,” Lara demanded, shoving the knife into her daughter's trembling hands. Shakily, Cara nodded.
“Follow me and stay close,” Lara told her daughters, moving to the front and leading them toward the woods. Only one more street to pass, and they would be in the woods. Slowly, they made their way forward.
Suddenly, stumbling, she felt a piercing pain in her left calf. Looking down, she saw the crude spear sticking out just as the pain washed over her. Falling, she cried out, refusing to let go of her bow. Looking behind her, she saw a single goblin. She was awkwardly positioned while she knocked her bow, drawing and aiming. She loosed her arrow and watched as it thunked into the creature's upper left chest.
Yanking out the spear, she stood with help from her daughter Cara and began hobbling into the woods. Just as they entered the forests welcoming shadows, a group of goblins appeared behind them, catching sight of the group of three women escaping their clutches. The goblins gave chase, howling loudly.
“Run,” Lara shouted to her daughters, shoving Cara ahead of her with Raena. “I'll hold them off as long as I can, but you need to run now,” she commanded as she took an awkward stance with her bow.
Cara and Raena ran. They could hear their mother's arrow whoosh through the air, the thunk as it hit flesh. The screams and shouts of the goblins chasing the girls made them run faster, hearts racing in fear.
Suddenly, they could hear their mother's screams as the goblins closed in on her. They could hear the sounds of ripping clothing and the thwacks of fists meeting flesh as their mother was pulled down amid the horde. Her screams went from defiant to desperate.
“Nooo, no, no,” Raena and Cara could hear Lara shriek as the goblins tore the clothing from their mother. The sound of fists on flesh dwindled, replaced by a rhythmic thumping and grunting.
Raena and Cara had stopped running and were now surrounded by goblins, goblins that must have come from the woods. Trembling, Cara and Raena clung to each other in fear, Cara still gripping the knife her mother had given her earlier.
“I-I'm s-sorry-y, R-Raena,” a sobbing Cara cried, attempting to slit her sister's throat, but before she could, she was yanked away by her waist and arms. “Nooo,” Cara screamed, fighting and squirming, trying to keep hold of the dagger. She could feel hands grabbing at her clothing and breasts as the goblins pulled her down into their midst.
Raena was frozen in shock and horror, staring at the goblins surrounding her and closing in. She had nowhere to go; she had no weapons. She could hear her sister and mother screaming over and over again. She could hear the excited lustful chatter around her as they reached for her. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Raena could see the dirt under their nail and, the gleam in their eyes and smell their sour breath. Their green skin looking almost black in the night. They stood almost as tall as Raena, at about four and a half feet tall.
Suddenly, she felt a warmth build up in her chest, getting almost painful. Right before the dirty hands could reach her, she started to glow, faintly at first and then brighter. As Raena's glow intensified, the goblins around her recoiled, their black eyes wide with fear. A wave of heat and energy surged from her, incinerating the goblins and everything nearby within a twenty foot radius. Abruptly there was silence.
Astonished, Reana looked around as ash fell slowly all around her in a fog. Nothing was left, not even her mother or sister. Even the trees were gone. The ash fell almost gently, like snow, smoke acrid and hazy in the air. Standing from where she had unknowingly crouched, she stumbled along in a daze, following the road to the next town, three days north. She stayed just off the main road in the forest, making her way slowly to the north. Hiding frequently whenever she heard anything that sounded threatening or humanoid.
When she was finally found, an older grizzled warrior, named Kimmel Anderson took her in. Helping her through her daze and fear, he taught her how to protect herself and use a war bow.
***
Raena Silverthorne
***
Raena awoke in a cold sweat. It was the same nightmare she had been plagued with since she was thirteen and lived through that horrifying event, thirteen summers prior. At twenty-six summers she'd had a difficult life since then. It didn't help that she looked only sixteen summers. After being found, she was taken in by the Adventurer's Guild and Kimmel. She had few friends, as she kept most at a distance.
Rising from her bed, she started dressing. She dressed in brown leather breeches, pulled on a white linen shirt, then donned a muted brown leather vest, and finally she pulled on lightweight, soft-soled, brown leather boots. Made to move silently. She checked her daggers were secure in her boots. She then strapped on a belt with her coin purse. Standing up, she looked around for her long dagger and checked her bow. She left the bow in her room inbetween the wall and wardrobe, with her pack inside the wardrobe. Raena exited her room locking it behind her and putting the key in a pouch at her waist. She looked around the guild hallway and headed for the stairs.
Raena was a pretty young woman with long waist-length bright, fiery red hair, green eyes, and elven ears. A fire mage, she barely had control of her magic; it seemed to come out when she was under duress, like what had happened to her thirteen summers ago. She could call on her power at times but desperately needed a teacher. What she knew now, she had learned from experimenting with it herself. She could conjure a fireball of varying sizes, with concentration, that had varying attributes. One of her favorite spells was a small, dense fireball that had a pocket of air inside. When released, it created a pop sound of varying loudness depending on how big she made it. She couldn't replicate what her magic did when she was under duress, though.
Which brought her to where she was now. At the Adventurer's Guild about to put in a request for a teacher. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long to have her request answered. Taking the parchment, she approached the guild's counter in the hall. This is where jobs were received and turned in.
"Can I help you," a voice asked from behind the counter. The attendant was an attractive blonde woman with blue eyes and a pixie face. She was short but curvy. Raena was at least a head taller. Smiling tentatively, Raena held out the parchment.
"Oh, your first request! A teacher, even," the woman exclaimed excitedly, blue eyes dancing merrily. "I'll post this up immediately, Raena."
"Thanks, Xera," Raena told the perky woman. Looking around the large hall, full of chatter and wood tables. Though it was early morning, she could see members gathered and quietly chatting over their breakfasts. Double staircases were at either end, leading to rooms the guild provided for members, at a discount.
It was a large building, a campus. It even had its own blacksmith, butcher and tailor. The monsters and beasts could be returned and sold to the guild if you took a hunt quest. You received a numbered chit, for the animal and once it was butchered and weighed you could collect the money the guild paid for it. It was the same with gathering quests and ores with the blacksmith. That was if the contract didn't specify what to do with the remains or ores.
Deciding to eat at the Guild this morning, Raena made her way to the food hall serving food, and got in line behind an older, grizzled warrior of about thirty-eight summers.
"Mornin' Raena," he commented, turning around and smiling at her. Grey eyes intent. "How have your jobs been going? You just made Rank E recently, didn't you," the rough baritone voice asked curiously.
"Just last week. I can now do some minor hunt quests," she replied with a smile. "How was the job in Vale? Wasn't it a three-party hunt," Raena queried, looking up at his face, framed by a neat graying black beard and a full head of graying hair. She remembered they went after a large Baskilsk, a creature usually requiring a couple of parties of at least four to defeat it.
"We had a couple of injuries, but no deaths and no one got turned to stone. Though, it was pretty close," Kemmel's deep laugh reverberated out from his broad chest. He was one of the few people Raena considered a friend. He'd been the one to find her all those years ago. He'd brought her back to the Guild, and helped Raena get her bearings. He'd been both, like a father and a brother, to her the last thirteen summers.
He was an intimidatingly large man with gray eyes. A scar ran from the edge of his left lip down his neck to his left shoulder. It was a gift from a Lich. It had died, but had almost taken Kemmel with it, the dagger had got him, but at least a healer had been around to take care of the poison, though he'd been left with the scar. It was far from the only scar he had, but it was the most notable. He wore scuffed up leather and fur armor, with belts across his chest and waist. He had a plethora of weapons. A sword on one hip, a dagger and belt pouch on the other, a longsword in a tooled leather scabbard on his back. An axe behind his back, and many more arrayed on his person. He was proficient in every weapon he had.
"I'm glad things went so well," Raena told him honestly. They moved closer to the serving tables, talking small talk about the quests each had taken the last month. As she was only a Rank E she was regulated to mostly gathering quests and a few easy hunt quests. Nothing that one person couldn't handle. She'd never joined a party, she didn't have enough control of her magic. Hopefully, that would change before too long.
They reached the counters serving food. "What's on the menu today," she asked the them, looking at the pots and pans of varying sizes spread on the counter before them, warming spells on the pots and pans to keep the food hot.
"Scrambled Roc eggs, boar bacon, pancakes, and apple oatmeal," one responded, waving his hand over the ample selections, brown hair falling in his brown eyes.
"I'll take the eggs, bacon, and two pancakes," Reana told him politely, holding a plate she grabbed out. He plopped her selections on the platter.
"Bacon and apple oatmeal for me," Kemmel stated, also holding out a plate. After getting their meal they strolled back out to the tables, searching for an empty one. Towards the back of the room they spotted a few empty tables and made their way over. Sitting down they continued their conversation.
"Did you take my advice and put a request in for a teacher," Kemmel asked Raena, seriously. She nodded, red hair swaying behind her back.
"Just before we met up," she replied around a mouthful of scrambled eggs. Swallowing, she continued, "I gave the request to Xera."
"It shouldn't take too long to get a reply, maybe a week or two at most. Fire mages are pretty common," Kemmel stated matter of factly. The conversation dwindled to comfortable silence while they dug into their breakfasts with gusto.
"Well, I better go look at the board and see what quests are available for today," Raena commented after enough time went by to finish her meal, leaning back in her chair and crossing her hands over her full stomach. Kemmel nodded.
"I should look for my group as well," he said, finishing the last of his oatmeal. He was the leader of Stepping Wolf, a Rank B party. Together, they stood up and brought their plates to the counter for dirty dishes, before heading over the the quest board.
Prologue:
Infernos cast lurid shadows against the thatch homes, making the village seem to dance and waver in the hellish light. Screams, sobs, and crying sounded from all around, the clash of metal on metal and metal on flesh a percussion to the screams of the wounded and dying. The smell of smoke hung heavy and acrid in the air, along with the tang of copper from blood spilled.
Amidst the madness, a small family of four moved as quietly and quickly as possible. The father, with brown hair about shoulder length and brown eyes, was at the front, holding a sword loosely. Two young girls clutched to each other in the middle, the older brown-haired, the younger with red hair. Bringing up the rear, the mother, with red hair and green eyes, guarding the rear with a bow, her eyes alert.
“Hush, now, Cara, Raena,” the father whispered, trying to calm the sobbing girls. Looking between the houses where they were stopped, he searched for the safest way to get his family out of the small town, tousling his brown hair as his hands ran through it, showing his pointed elven ears.
The oldest at nineteen summers, Cara had brown hair and brown eyes but with the rounded ears of a human. Raena, at thirteen summers, on the other hand, had distinctively elven ears, fiery hair, and green eyes. Both were sobbing quietly.
“Alryn, we need to move now,” his wife said from the rear. “We have goblins coming up from behind,” she whispered urgently, watching a group of nasty fae approach the family's hiding spot.
“There's too many, Lara; I don't know if we'll make it,” Alryn whispered back, watching the goblins drag another family from a home just down the road.
It happened this way every time with goblins. First, they killed the men. Then, they would take the women, using them for breeding stock. Though not as intelligent as humans, goblins were indeed clever fae capable of banding together into large raiding groups, using tools, and having a primitive society. They weren't as tall as humans but came close. Their green skin seemed almost ebony in the night.
“I need you girls to follow me now; keep your eyes on my back, and don't look anywhere else,” Alryn whispered firmly, stepping into the small side alley. Guiding his family as best he could, to hoped for safety. They just needed to reach the woods on the outskirts of town. A half mile away. A lifetime away.
Guiding his family slowly from house to house, they finally reached the final stretch; the woods were just ahead. Just then, a group of four goblins came around the corner, spotting the family of four; they cried out, calling to other goblins nearby.
“Run,” Alryn whispered harshly to his family, unsteadily readying his sword as the four goblins approached him; he could hear more coming their way. His piercing brown eyes watched intently as the goblins closed in with their crude weapons. Suddenly, an arrow thwacked into the goblin's eye on the far left; his wife Lara had joined the fight. Her long red hair streaming back in the winds created by the fires, she drew her bow again and let loose, downing a second goblin. Her green eyes burning brightly, she knocked another arrow.
As Alryn stepped up to meet the remaining two goblins, he swung the sword wildly before him. The sword he used felt foreign in his hands, being it was his wife's, from her service in the military. The flailing sword took the arm from one goblin and lodged in the throat of the one next to it. Just then, another group of goblins came around the far corner of the house from him, catching sight of him but not yet seeing his family behind him.
Throwing his right hand out, Alryn drew on his elven magic, causing roots to erupt in the middle of the new group of goblins. There looked to be fifteen or twenty of them. He knew his measures were only a stopgap; he could never hope to defeat this group; there were too many for a carpenter who only built furniture. He wasn't war-trained like his wife, and even with her help, they stood no chance. The best they could do would be to slow the goblins down and hope for a quick death so their daughters could escape in the aftermath. It only took a split second for him to realize what he had to do.
He turned to his family behind him, met his wife's eyes, mouthed, “I love you, save the girls,” and charged around the corner, straight into the horde of goblins. Green eyes glistening with tears, Lara turned to her daughters. As quietly as she could, Lara drew them away from where they could now hear the screams of their father.
Lara knew the future looked grim. She didn't know if they could make it to safety. There must have been at least a couple hundred goblins for the town to fall so easily. Thoughts raced through Lara's head as she moved the children through the flickering shadows. Pulling out a knife, Lara held it to her eldest daughter, Cara, while they walked.
“If it seems they will capture you, slit your sister's throat, and then your own, Cara. Promise me,” Lara demanded, shoving the knife into her daughter's trembling hands. Shakily, Cara nodded.
“Follow me and stay close,” Lara told her daughters, moving to the front and leading them toward the woods. Only one more street to pass, and they would be in the woods. Slowly, they made their way forward.
Suddenly, stumbling, she felt a piercing pain in her left calf. Looking down, she saw the crude spear sticking out just as the pain washed over her. Falling, she cried out, refusing to let go of her bow. Looking behind her, she saw a single goblin. She was awkwardly positioned while she knocked her bow, drawing and aiming. She loosed her arrow and watched as it thunked into the creature's upper left chest.
Yanking out the spear, she stood with help from her daughter Cara and began hobbling into the woods. Just as they entered the forests welcoming shadows, a group of goblins appeared behind them, catching sight of the group of three women escaping their clutches. The goblins gave chase, howling loudly.
“Run,” Lara shouted to her daughters, shoving Cara ahead of her with Raena. “I'll hold them off as long as I can, but you need to run now,” she commanded as she took an awkward stance with her bow.
Cara and Raena ran. They could hear their mother's arrow whoosh through the air, the thunk as it hit flesh. The screams and shouts of the goblins chasing the girls made them run faster, hearts racing in fear.
Suddenly, they could hear their mother's screams as the goblins closed in on her. They could hear the sounds of ripping clothing and the thwacks of fists meeting flesh as their mother was pulled down amid the horde. Her screams went from defiant to desperate.
“Nooo, no, no,” Raena and Cara could hear Lara shriek as the goblins tore the clothing from their mother. The sound of fists on flesh dwindled, replaced by a rhythmic thumping and grunting.
Raena and Cara had stopped running and were now surrounded by goblins, goblins that must have come from the woods. Trembling, Cara and Raena clung to each other in fear, Cara still gripping the knife her mother had given her earlier.
“I-I'm s-sorry-y, R-Raena,” a sobbing Cara cried, attempting to slit her sister's throat, but before she could, she was yanked away by her waist and arms. “Nooo,” Cara screamed, fighting and squirming, trying to keep hold of the dagger. She could feel hands grabbing at her clothing and breasts as the goblins pulled her down into their midst.
Raena was frozen in shock and horror, staring at the goblins surrounding her and closing in. She had nowhere to go; she had no weapons. She could hear her sister and mother screaming over and over again. She could hear the excited lustful chatter around her as they reached for her. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Raena could see the dirt under their nail and, the gleam in their eyes and smell their sour breath. Their green skin looking almost black in the night. They stood almost as tall as Raena, at about four and a half feet tall.
Suddenly, she felt a warmth build up in her chest, getting almost painful. Right before the dirty hands could reach her, she started to glow, faintly at first and then brighter. As Raena's glow intensified, the goblins around her recoiled, their black eyes wide with fear. A wave of heat and energy surged from her, incinerating the goblins and everything nearby within a twenty foot radius. Abruptly there was silence.
Astonished, Reana looked around as ash fell slowly all around her in a fog. Nothing was left, not even her mother or sister. Even the trees were gone. The ash fell almost gently, like snow, smoke acrid and hazy in the air. Standing from where she had unknowingly crouched, she stumbled along in a daze, following the road to the next town, three days north. She stayed just off the main road in the forest, making her way slowly to the north. Hiding frequently whenever she heard anything that sounded threatening or humanoid.
When she was finally found, an older grizzled warrior, named Kimmel Anderson took her in. Helping her through her daze and fear, he taught her how to protect herself and use a war bow.
***
Raena Silverthorne
***
Raena awoke in a cold sweat. It was the same nightmare she had been plagued with since she was thirteen and lived through that horrifying event, thirteen summers prior. At twenty-six summers she'd had a difficult life since then. It didn't help that she looked only sixteen summers. After being found, she was taken in by the Adventurer's Guild and Kimmel. She had few friends, as she kept most at a distance.
Rising from her bed, she started dressing. She dressed in brown leather breeches, pulled on a white linen shirt, then donned a muted brown leather vest, and finally she pulled on lightweight, soft-soled, brown leather boots. Made to move silently. She checked her daggers were secure in her boots. She then strapped on a belt with her coin purse. Standing up, she looked around for her long dagger and checked her bow. She left the bow in her room inbetween the wall and wardrobe, with her pack inside the wardrobe. Raena exited her room locking it behind her and putting the key in a pouch at her waist. She looked around the guild hallway and headed for the stairs.
Raena was a pretty young woman with long waist-length bright, fiery red hair, green eyes, and elven ears. A fire mage, she barely had control of her magic; it seemed to come out when she was under duress, like what had happened to her thirteen summers ago. She could call on her power at times but desperately needed a teacher. What she knew now, she had learned from experimenting with it herself. She could conjure a fireball of varying sizes, with concentration, that had varying attributes. One of her favorite spells was a small, dense fireball that had a pocket of air inside. When released, it created a pop sound of varying loudness depending on how big she made it. She couldn't replicate what her magic did when she was under duress, though.
Which brought her to where she was now. At the Adventurer's Guild about to put in a request for a teacher. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long to have her request answered. Taking the parchment, she approached the guild's counter in the hall. This is where jobs were received and turned in.
"Can I help you," a voice asked from behind the counter. The attendant was an attractive blonde woman with blue eyes and a pixie face. She was short but curvy. Raena was at least a head taller. Smiling tentatively, Raena held out the parchment.
"Oh, your first request! A teacher, even," the woman exclaimed excitedly, blue eyes dancing merrily. "I'll post this up immediately, Raena."
"Thanks, Xera," Raena told the perky woman. Looking around the large hall, full of chatter and wood tables. Though it was early morning, she could see members gathered and quietly chatting over their breakfasts. Double staircases were at either end, leading to rooms the guild provided for members, at a discount.
It was a large building, a campus. It even had its own blacksmith, butcher and tailor. The monsters and beasts could be returned and sold to the guild if you took a hunt quest. You received a numbered chit, for the animal and once it was butchered and weighed you could collect the money the guild paid for it. It was the same with gathering quests and ores with the blacksmith. That was if the contract didn't specify what to do with the remains or ores.
Deciding to eat at the Guild this morning, Raena made her way to the food hall serving food, and got in line behind an older, grizzled warrior of about thirty-eight summers.
"Mornin' Raena," he commented, turning around and smiling at her. Grey eyes intent. "How have your jobs been going? You just made Rank E recently, didn't you," the rough baritone voice asked curiously.
"Just last week. I can now do some minor hunt quests," she replied with a smile. "How was the job in Vale? Wasn't it a three-party hunt," Raena queried, looking up at his face, framed by a neat graying black beard and a full head of graying hair. She remembered they went after a large Baskilsk, a creature usually requiring a couple of parties of at least four to defeat it.
"We had a couple of injuries, but no deaths and no one got turned to stone. Though, it was pretty close," Kemmel's deep laugh reverberated out from his broad chest. He was one of the few people Raena considered a friend. He'd been the one to find her all those years ago. He'd brought her back to the Guild, and helped Raena get her bearings. He'd been both, like a father and a brother, to her the last thirteen summers.
He was an intimidatingly large man with gray eyes. A scar ran from the edge of his left lip down his neck to his left shoulder. It was a gift from a Lich. It had died, but had almost taken Kemmel with it, the dagger had got him, but at least a healer had been around to take care of the poison, though he'd been left with the scar. It was far from the only scar he had, but it was the most notable. He wore scuffed up leather and fur armor, with belts across his chest and waist. He had a plethora of weapons. A sword on one hip, a dagger and belt pouch on the other, a longsword in a tooled leather scabbard on his back. An axe behind his back, and many more arrayed on his person. He was proficient in every weapon he had.
"I'm glad things went so well," Raena told him honestly. They moved closer to the serving tables, talking small talk about the quests each had taken the last month. As she was only a Rank E she was regulated to mostly gathering quests and a few easy hunt quests. Nothing that one person couldn't handle. She'd never joined a party, she didn't have enough control of her magic. Hopefully, that would change before too long.
They reached the counters serving food. "What's on the menu today," she asked the them, looking at the pots and pans of varying sizes spread on the counter before them, warming spells on the pots and pans to keep the food hot.
"Scrambled Roc eggs, boar bacon, pancakes, and apple oatmeal," one responded, waving his hand over the ample selections, brown hair falling in his brown eyes.
"I'll take the eggs, bacon, and two pancakes," Reana told him politely, holding a plate she grabbed out. He plopped her selections on the platter.
"Bacon and apple oatmeal for me," Kemmel stated, also holding out a plate. After getting their meal they strolled back out to the tables, searching for an empty one. Towards the back of the room they spotted a few empty tables and made their way over. Sitting down they continued their conversation.
"Did you take my advice and put a request in for a teacher," Kemmel asked Raena, seriously. She nodded, red hair swaying behind her back.
"Just before we met up," she replied around a mouthful of scrambled eggs. Swallowing, she continued, "I gave the request to Xera."
"It shouldn't take too long to get a reply, maybe a week or two at most. Fire mages are pretty common," Kemmel stated matter of factly. The conversation dwindled to comfortable silence while they dug into their breakfasts with gusto.
"Well, I better go look at the board and see what quests are available for today," Raena commented after enough time went by to finish her meal, leaning back in her chair and crossing her hands over her full stomach. Kemmel nodded.
"I should look for my group as well," he said, finishing the last of his oatmeal. He was the leader of Stepping Wolf, a Rank B party. Together, they stood up and brought their plates to the counter for dirty dishes, before heading over the the quest board.
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