[center][h2]Anne Mayer[/h2][h3]Aventon[/h3][/center]
It still felt odd to hear terms like 'magical goods' brought up so casually in conversation, but Anne did her best to play along with the local superstitions. Unfortunately, the merchants didn't know much that could help her identify the contents of her 'gift box,' and she could only glean a little from their vague answers to her inquiries. At least she now knew that such items could be [i]created[/i] with some degree of reliability, a tidbit that immediately filled up her mind with fresh questions and ideas. The moment she found someone more knowledgeable to ask about all this, she was going to drag them aside and either bribe or browbeat them into spilling every detail they knew, until she discovered a way to replicate the process herself.

In the meantime, she quietly set her professional curiosity aside and moved on to the rest of the items. A careful survey found no signs of advanced engineering, but the quantity of food available and the presence of luxuries such as toys indicated that this kingdom was doing pretty well for itself regardless. In fact, the rich variety in local fauna hinted at a thriving biosphere unlike any she'd seen before. The idea of a planet this lush, this peaceful, wholly untouched by the interstellar scourge of the Beasts—Anne could only describe such a place as paradise itself.

[i]Why would humans ever wage war, living in a place like this?[/i] She cast her eyes back towards the freshly repaired village, caught for a moment between wonder and despair. [i]None of them know. None of them understand just how lucky they are.[/i] Even the other strangers, plucked from faraway worlds, seemed to take this peace for granted, as though it were the natural state of things.

For Anne, it had been the ruined and broken village that felt most familiar. These mercenaries, too, who clung to their weapons and inflated martial pride. She wanted to ask about the books, maybe even barter for a couple of them, but her attention soon drifted back to the guards, and the escalating tensions surrounding them.

"Don't mind those girls too much. They like to joke around." With her hands in her coat pockets, the Knight ambled right up to the group of sellswords and addressed them directly. "But you've made me curious now: for your employer to speak of you so highly, you all must have quite the credentials." Maybe they were even strong enough to protect a certain village for a few weeks, while someone else took up their duties guarding the caravan. Already Anne could see the outline of a mutually beneficial exchange—but first she needed to verify that these soldiers of fortune were more than paper tigers.