Jere Locklear was one of the first to sign up- he assumed due to his having slept in the square- although it was more due to the massive and intimidating beast that loomed over his head. Bo's shadow cast over the court official, who's view of the sun was cleanly blocked out by the wolf. Unimpressed, the woman calmly handed him a quill pen, she pointed down at one of the lines,

"State your name here." And she shifted her finger to the next lines on the paper, "Then your hometown. Your class and what you use as a weapon." The elf nodded, signing in his name,

"Garrowtree." He murmurred as he spelled out the common tongue name of his elven home. The village was a several days trek away, nestled deep in a forest and carved into the trees there. He glanced up at the official,

"Hey uh- do I have to sign for-"
"The creatures that you bring with you do not count, no." She cut off, seemingly becoming impatient with all the time it took him fill out a simple form. Jere bowed his head as he filled out the final sections.

"Step aside," she advised, "we will send over group members that best fit with you." She took the pen from him and gestured to an area away from the signing tables.

The beast tamer brushed his hand against Bo's shoulder, guiding the wolf to where they should wait. He wondered who he would be teamed up with. They had no magic or weapons, save for the whip the Jere barely ever used, so most of their attacks were close range. For their team to be successful he'd need someone who could deal with magic and someone else that could deal with heavy blows- or perhaps even someone who could deal with long range attacks.

He scanned those lined up, piecing together from their weapons and outfits who he might end up with. By his side Bo yawned, throaty and loud.

Vance and Eve turned their attention to the town crier when he emerged from the gates to make the announcement, listening to the man as he spoke. When he got to the “Pledge thyself to Maplestead in this task” part, it gave Vance a bad feeling. He didn’t like swearing his allegiance to anyone, or any kingdom, he was only in it for the money, also for the fact that he could help people and perhaps clear his conscience of his own wrongdoings, as if there were some imaginary scorekeeper, and he was in the red, but he was mostly doing this for the money.

Vance approached the line of adventurers, patiently waiting his turn. Eve was on his shoulder, gesturing by moving her arms in a ‘pushing’ motion, thinking that it would make the line move faster somehow.

“Patience is a virtue” he whispered to her.

“Yours maybe!” she snapped back at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

The line was steadily moving, but not fast enough for Eve’s liking.

“Can we cut in line, or something? C’mon, these people don’t stand a chance against what’s out there! Team Eve, and Vance all the way!” she said with a little cheer, raising her small fist into the air victoriously. She also made it a point, when announcing the team name, to put her name first.

Vance sighed. There was nothing that he could do to quiet her, and his conscience wouldn’t let him send her away. Like it, or not, he was stuck with her.

When it was finally Vance’s turn to sign up, he grabbed the pen and started filling out the form. Eve fluttered right above the paper, using this as a chance to get to know her new friend better.

“Name” she said, even though it was plainly written on the form.

“What is your last name anyway?” she asked before he started writing.

“Meridian” he said plainly.

“Oh.. nice name” she said in wonder, trying to figure out it’s origin.

“Home town?” she said, this would obviously be a theme to this part of their day.

“Masa” he said before writing it down.
“Class?.. psst, write down ‘badass demon killer’" she whispered to him, then tried to take the pen from his hand to write it in herself.

“Bad a~…Templar” is what Vance wrote down, after taking control of the pen away from her and making corrections.
“Weapon… Glowing demon obliterating sword of awesome!” she said with excitement.
“Not only that” he said to her in a teaching tone. “I am adept at using shields, too. Also, white magic, as you saw” he said.

“Oh yeah! You killed those demons good with that!” she said, mimicking the motions of him using his sword to banish the demons earlier, she even added some sound effects. “Pssshhhaw BOOM!”

The sound effects, Vance found, were quite embarrassing.

After he was done filling out the form, he stood aside, waiting for the groups to be announced, but not before Eve took the pen that he was using, and scribbled her name onto the form, covering half of his name with hers.

Adrial calmly stood next to the gates that lead to the royal sector and frowned, this was taking too long, Why does he have to wait for these stuck up, selfish simpletons when he can just announce what he can do there and then, folding his arms crossly, he carefully examined each and every potential recruit who had a special glare to them, ignoring all the meat shields that would no doubt just feed the monsters hungers with little to no effort, until he eventually spotted a particular man, alongside a massive beast. He raised an eyebrow inquisitively and carefully analysed its appearance, and the muscles it maintained. But before he could think any further, the sound of myriad trumpets blasting in unison caused him to immediately stand in attentiveness, deciding not to wait at the gate no longer, he grumbled and moved back toward the flock of potentially dead recruits, stood close to them and plugged his nose slightly, ignoring some of their scent.

"Honestly..." He murmured, as he held back his distaste of the unhygienic surroundings, letting the mindless officials walked forward like obedient little puppets, Adrial knew their type, husks in human form, they couldn't even be called alive... Sickening, along with their pet younglings obediently following their mindless example. Adrial forced to listen to their opening speech.

"All those in attendence who wish to take up arms against these horrendous and malevolent evils are called forth by the Queen all Mighty above all Stars to sign up. Pledge thyself to Maplestead in this task and carry it out with full intent to bring peace to our lands and calm to the minds of its people."

Adrial turned his head and grimaced, rolling his eyes in utter discontent, forced to listen to what he could only describe as droll, uninteresting and pure obvious lies. He hated these worthless cowardly types, but he had no choice but to accept the mission... Even if he knew it would only hurt the realm. As if this was for the benefit of Maplestead, perhaps its potentially greedy rulers, but the land? Such lies make me puke... He thought to himself once more, before awaiting his turn to sign the sign up sheet, and when he was ready, he slowly approached the table and folded his arms.

Woman: Sign h-

Hackis snatched a sign up sheet out of her hand surprisingly fast and flicked the quill pen from out of its quill and immediately and silently wrote down the details of who he was, scowling all the while.

Name: Sir Hacul Alludin
Home town: Carnis
Class: Cleric
Weapon and magic specialty: White magic.

He didn't write down his true identy obviously to keep both his home town and himself out of the mind of these droll papers, he couldn't stand the possibility of being recorded by such boring louts, before he slapped the paper back down and walked away, noticing the Beast Tamer Jere Locklear and his pet close by, he proceeded to walk over to him and fold his arms, staring at his beast with curiosity before speaking up, having a slightly deep and intellectual noble like accent.



"You fight alongside this creature? ... And without injury it seems you take care of him or her quite specially... Which means you must be careful. I happen to get along well with people who don't blindly rush on ahead and send themselves into a flurry of arrows...! Pardon my interruption, the name is Lord Adrial Hackis, I'm a Cleric, and a apprentice scholar. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance sir...?

Jere had been so invested in judging the crowd that he had not noticed Adrial approaching him in time- so when the (much, since Jere's like 5'6) taller man approached him, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and snap his head up in surprise. He followed Adrial's gaze to Bo as he spoke, complimenting the care he put into the maintenance of his companion. Jere smiled, swelling with pride as he replied to the stranger,

"Jere of Locklear. And this is Bo of some lupine family, not too sure-" The wolf turned his eyes, red like rust, down on to him in warning. Jere patted the wolf, correcting himself,

"Boreas is his name. But I call him Bo for short-" he cleared his throat here, shifting his tone to a more measured one, "but the pleasure is all mine. I've never met a Cleric before."

He didn't mention that he wasn't exactly the most 'careful' fighter in the ring. In fact his tactics were mostly centered around direct confrontation with the enemy- without his mount he was mostly a hands-on fighter, wrestling or fist-fighting his opponents. Although he was sure there was a major difference between wily bandits and demon spawn. The wolf by his side was the strongest creature he had tamed to date and the only reason that he was not covered in scars was because they had teamed up only a few days before.

The elf leaned against Bo and tried his best not to gawk at Adrials clothing. Even in a city as prosperous as Maplestead the streets still sported some dust and grime to them- so it was beyond Jere as to how this man could have possibly kept his clothes so crisp and clean looking. It made him self-concious of his travel and weather-worn clothes, the miskempt blonde hair on his head, and the scuffed boots. By his side Bo was confused as to the discomfort of his rider, pressing feelings of inquiry to him. The tamer ignored him and instead gestured to the feathers at Adrial's elbows,

"Those are your feathers? I don't mean to be rude- but I've never met an elf with feathers." As a man more familiar with plumage and furs than the next, he could easily tell the difference between the fake and real. Even as he said this, however, he felt like he was disrespecting the cleric- he knew from experience that some people did not like some aspects of themselves to be blatantly pointed out like this. He did not know Adrial nor if he exactly cared about his feathers catching the attention of others.

"Boreas is his name. But I call him Bo for short-" he cleared his throat here, shifting his tone to a more measured one, "but the pleasure is all mine. I've never met a Cleric before."

"Yes, well, Just because I am a Cleric, don't make it your mission to have me stitch up every little cut you endure out on the battlefield... You do not know how much I absolutely despise soldiers who simply believe I exist just to heal up their wounds... So I leave the reckless ones to bleed out. Doesn't matter how much they weep and cry for their mummies, if you purposely get yourself shanked straight through the chest just because you believe the Magic Mage May Majestically Mend your Marrow, I am literally going to just act like you never existed, walk away, and go heal someone who isn't yelling at the top of his lungs mind numbing obscenities and begs the enemy to piss all over them...!

Adrial coughed and fixed the glasses on his face, retaining his composure by letting his arms droop to his side and return to their folded position after he had ranted, gazing with a slight friendly smile toward the shorter elf, not knowing how wrong he would be about his next sentence...

"Oh but i'm sure we won't have that type of relationship, i'm sure you're a very careful man who's smart, tactful and quick to action who won't give me a headache... I'm sure I'l look forward to fighting alongside you! And yes, I am also able to fight, I'm not a defenseless little maiden from some love struck novella...!"

Adrial watched the Beast Tamer a little further before the short elf spoke up again.

"Those are your feathers? I don't mean to be rude- but I've never met an elf with feathers."

Ofcourse he hasn't, Adrial thought to himself, he's a rare breed of elf, and quite a special one at that, though the fact the Tamer noticed and was curious in who he was made the Cleric chuckle gently, his smile brightening more so than he assumed, he was staring to like this man.

"Oh there's no need to think your being rude, I'm more than welcome in answering any questions you see fit to ask me! Yes, i'm what's called an Elvinian. We're a special type of elf, with strong white magic and even have the ability to use white magic in a defensive and offensive form. Though we do have our weaknesses, as does everyone, but i'm very versatile on the field. Sometimes people stare and gawk at them, and it's to be expected, it's like seeing a dragon walk through a street or spotting a pink crocodile...! Albeit slightly less odd, i'd imagine...!"



With quick and fast paced steps, the greatbow wielding human ran as fast as he could through the busy streets of the beautiful city of Maplestead, with agile quickness he zipped and dodged incoming civilians on his way towards the town square, it wasn't until just a few minutes ago after arriving in the glorious and elegant city that he found a note detailing the sign up for a quest that was not only paying handsomely, but was also helping eliminate some of the monsters which had been attacking the populace, and with the money, he could simply give it to those affected by the monster attacks, it was as good as plan as any. The young, flamboyant human male speaking with a hurried tone the quicker he evaded each person he ran past.

"Excuse me! My apologies, ma'am! So sorry, sir, Just a second, my friend...!"

Eventually the male was able to curve past the civilians in his was with his slim figure and reach the bustling and loud town square, his peculiar eyes met the gaze of a plethora of races, warriors wizards and others, a smile rested on his smooth face once met with the meeting of many.

"My word... What a collective of individuals! All taking the same job? I hope these people are doing this for the well being of others... Though that may not be the case for many... No matter, it benefits those who must work in the fields, so it shall bother me, not...! I'm just glad I made it in time!"

Veltis, again, ran and quickly approached the desk where the woman was seated, awaiting his turn in line politely and without pushing on ahead, it taking several minutes for him to get to the table, taking the quill in his hand politely, he took a slightly feminine pose and laid gently against the table with his thighs, one foot crossed over the other and proceeded to write in an elegant and neat fashion.

Name: Veltis Arunda
Hometown: Byron
Class: Archer
Weapon and specialty: Greatbow and Precision.

Once done, Veltis politely handed the parchment back and sat the quill inside before leaning off the table and giving a polite and elegant bow, turning away and heading toward where everyone else was, he looked around, hoping to find someone who he could talk to, putting a hand to his chin to think.

"Hmm... I wonder if there's anyone here I could communicate with who could assist in this quest...!"

As he gazed around, he immediately took notice of @Uruvion Vance and the peculiar glow around him and smiled politely, deciding to approach the man, The greatbow user bowed at him and spoke.

"Pleasure to meet you, Sir! Are you perchance partaking in this quest as well? You seem rather strong! I also couldn't help notice the glow around you... What is that? if you don't mind me asking, of course! It's a rather beautiful light... magic perhaps?"

After wondering around aimlessly, Louis finally found what he was looking for...now if only he knew what that was. As he approached the women with the signup sheets, she asked him "name?"

Louis being Louis, answered in his own special way "I am Louis Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, of the noble house of Vallière. That should be adequate for this form"

"...right...So, just how do you spell that?"

"How...how do you spell that!? Are you not capable of writing and reading!?"

"I am, but that name doesn't sound like a name, it sounds like an address" she stated

By this time, Louis was bright red "an address!!!!? What is wrong with you!?"

'Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing' she thought to herself. "Listen, could you just spell it?"

Louis snatched the paper and quill from her "I shall do it then. Even if I do spell it out for you, you are likely to write it wrong." This exchange repeated itself more or less the same until his form had been filled out

Before long, it was Elisha's turn to sign up. Once she was in front of the table, the woman with the form raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're up for this kid?"

"Do I really look that young?"

Elisha takes a glance at the adventurer next to her who was signing up, and she takes her own turn at raising her eyebrow. This guy looked no less older than her, perhaps by maybe just a few months. But that could be because of his outfit. His flamboyant attitude didn't help though. The girl looks back towards the woman with a firm look on her face.

"Yes, I am."

"Very well." The lady hands her the form and a pen, which Elisha takes.

"Elisha Marluxia. Otonoki. White Mage. Offensive and healing magic."

She hands the paper back after writing, and she was soon redirected to wait to the side. Elisha noticed that the woman who helped her earlier had also signed up for the quest. If they happen to get into the same group, she can hopefully find a chance to formally turn her down. If they are not, then she can simply forget about it. The quest will most likely be a one-time thing only anyways, so she doesn't have to worry about long term commitments.

Vance stood back, and watched as others signed up for the quest. Just by looking at some of them, he knew that they wouldn’t stand a chance against the things that they were up against. There were some formidable looking people that signed up as well.

The young woman who had fallen earlier; She seemed to be doing better now

An angry looking person of elvish descent who was adorned with feathers, writing quickly, and looking annoyed at the whole prospect.

He then saw the feathered one walk over and start talking to a beast tamer, who was with a wolf companion.

A little while after observing a few others, he noticed a quite flamboyant man walk up to the desk. His pose, and mannerisms attracted Eve’s attention, and she piped up immediately.

“OOooh! Look at that one! If he’s on this quest, he could probably charm the monsters to death!” She said excitedly.

When the man turned, and started looking in Vance and Eve’s direction, she started waving to him, stretching her little arm into the air as high as it would go.

The man spoke, as he approached.

"Pleasure to meet you, Sir! Are you perchance partaking in this quest as well? You seem rather strong! I also couldn't help notice the glow around you... What is that? if you don't mind me asking, of course! It's a rather beautiful light... magic perhaps?"

Vance was taken aback by his forwardness in approaching him, but he didn’t let it show.

“I am here for the quest to slay the monsters which have become a nuisance to this town, and the surrounding areas. My name is Van..” he started, but then was interrupted by Eve, who had started quickly talking like an excited fangirl to the man.

“Hi! I’m Eve!” “What’s your name?” “Did you sign up for the quest too?” “Wow, a bow!” “Are you good with it?” “How many monsters have you killed?” “You’re cute!” “I love those shoes!”

Eve could feel Vance’s eyes burning into her and she stopped talking, fluttering back to Vance’s shoulder, as if she were in ‘time out’ for the duration of their conversation.

Vance sighed. “Sorry for the interruption. My name is Vance Meridian. I am a Templar from Masa. I am skilled in the ways of white magic, both to heal, and harm.” He said. “And you are?” he asked, extending his hand.

Jere tensed at all this imagery of leaving wounded men on the battle field. He totally disagreed with the idea- leaving men to die because they cannot mend their wounds? Utterly disgusting, thought the beast tamer as he clenched his teeth, the muscles in his jaw twitching under the skin. Especially given the fact that this person had the ability to help but chose not to. How can he say this so casually, thought the elf with growing uneasiness. It may have been unfortunate that the Cleric's abilities were abused... But to leave men to die?

The beast tamer thought all this as @Happy Go LuckyAdrial explained his race- picking up only a few snippets of information. White magic... Weaknesses... Gawk... pink crocodile. And had he mentioned hoping to fight along side him out on the battlefied? Gods- he'd find out that he was in fact reckless and shun him or worse. He suddenly found himself desperately hoping not to be grouped with the Elvenian. Fancy feathers or no- he still couldn't fight alongside someone with such an attitude.

"Wait a minute- go back to what you said earlier. Do you really leave men to bleed out? That... That's horrible. I mean you have the ability to save lives yet... You choose not to?- Please clear this up for me because it's bothering the hell out of me."

Bo, not exactly understanding the conversation, but clearly sensing his tamers feelings perked his ears up- sensing a strange mixture of emotions. He had promised Jere not to bare his teeth and harm anyone in this town- but his companion was expressing feelings that the wolf could only describe as combative. The beast knew better than to spring up and attack- but he was so eager to sink his teeth into something that he was readily on the alert- awaiting Jere's command.

@snarl

Adrial took notice of the mans tensity and displeasure at what he had to say, his Elvinian eyes took notice of his quivering jaw, the clenching of his teeth along with the silent glare he was given. ((Why the sudden intensity? Didn't you hear what I had to say?)) He thought curiously, until the man spoke.

"Wait a minute- go back to what you said earlier. Do you really leave men to bleed out? That... That's horrible. I mean you have the ability to save lives yet... You choose not to?- Please clear this up for me because it's bothering the hell out of me."

Adrial silently glared back at Jeer, his facial expressions slowly twisted and shaped into a bitter, exasperated scowl, nostrils lightly flared in enmity. His voice changing from calming to more bothered and slightly heated.

"Really? You are asking me... why? Why on earth would I bother saving a bunch of ignorant, selfish and abusive simple minded soldiers who only see me as a tool for their own safety and get themselves hurt on purpose because they believe just because a cleric is by their side that they have every right to be reckless?!

They wouldn't be able to comprehend the sheer amount of concentration, energy and training that is required to bend every single broken blood vessel and vein inside a mans body! Working the flesh until its healed by carefully and swiftly stitching together each bit of bloody tissue by my own mental strength! Do you know what thanks I get for staring deep into the bloody murderous wounds of hundreds of thousands of soldiers who are crying out in agony before me? do you know the sheer horror of having to stare into a mans dying eyes to heal him? Do you know the praise I receive for bringing the many back from the brink of death, at the cost of my own sanity, my own willpower and potentially my own life?!"

Adrial clenched his fists tightly and grimaced, turning his face away, as his expression changed from pure anger to a mix between both hatred and heartache, a slight tear formulating in his eye as he stared away, reflecting on his previous experiences as his eyes met his boots.

"Nothing... You are treated like nothing but a dog... a pet who's only purpose is saving others who don't deserve it. I get no rewards for my actions, no praise, no acceptance. I'm simply a tool to be abused because I can do things others can't. A hundred years. A hundred years... of murder... And my reward was just my life... while many gained medals and were showed in gold and praise... I was granted nothing, not even a simple thank you..."

Adrial's expression soured, twisting his gaze back to jeer, his eyes blazing with hostility and aggressiveness.

"So why bother saving those who just hurt people in the end? Why bother saving the life of someone if they will never thank you, and crush you under their heel when you're done "saving them". Let the brutes and monsters die... And if you're the type of person who willingly rushes out to get hurt... And force me to plunge back into the horrors of that previous, grim reality... I will let you die a horrible, painful and agonising death... I won't let reckless neanderthals plunge me back into the emotionally scarring carnage of those times... I won't allow it."

His last words were bitter and emotionally harsh, the cleric turned quickly, proceeding to stroll away, leaving jeer and his companion to themselves.



“I am here for the quest to slay the monsters which have become a nuisance to this town, and the surrounding areas. My name is Van..”

Veltis calmly listened to the knight, his left hand laid upon his hip whilst he elegantly and nonchalantly brushed his long, flowing white hair in front of his face behind himself, which shun with a elegant glow as the light of the sun rebounded its rays off of the impossibly smooth and silky hairstyle, along with displaying his smooth and soft skin, void of inperfections, definately one to take care of how he looks, if atleast somewhat overcared for...!

What a wonderful thing to hear. He thought. That someone had the same mindset as he did, Perhaps the two would meet again in the near future hopefully wished silently, his smile never once wavering when Vance spoke, not even when a sudden fairy would speak up out of the blue and reveal itself to his eyes.

“Hi! I’m Eve!” “What’s your name?” “Did you sign up for the quest too?” “Wow, a bow!” “Are you good with it?” “How many monsters have you killed?” “You’re cute!” “I love those shoes!”

Veltis, put his right foot back in surprise, but almost instantly relaxed as the adorable fairy spoke, retaining his calm, collected and stylish pose once more, hand on hip, he let the fairy return to what he assumed was a companion of hers.

“Sorry for the interruption. My name is Vance Meridian. I am a Templar from Masa. I am skilled in the ways of white magic, both to heal, and harm.” He said. “And you are?"

Veltis gave his arm a surprisingly strong and friendly handshake, before pulling back and with a slow turn, Veltis put both arms behind his head and turned with his back toward Vance, his body twisting into a rather odd and flamboyant side angle as does his head, so he could just about look behind him to view Vance, thus being able to speak to him, his eyes almost glowed from the suns shine upon him, both his golden and green eye shining and looking with grace to both Vance and Eve. Once he posed, Vance would notice on Veltis' back in all it's glory a large bulky greatbow the size of a man attached to his back, with a large boxed quiver behind it, holding impressive large arrows which would definitely require some strength to pull, which didn't exactly seem possible on Veltis' feminine, slim physique.

"Ah, I happen to be graced with the bow! Greatbow to be precise! A strong weapon with superb firepower, though admittedly slow to fire, I'm much better at working in a team, so should we join arms at one point in our lives, you would find me a compulsory unit to your group!"

Veltis bent his right arm back, and slowly stroked the mithril string of his large bow, pulling and releasing the string gently, which made an echoing reverberation, before the Hero turned fully around to look at Vance with his arms still behind his head, smiling dearly at him.

"I however am just one man. I am no stronger than anyone else who desires to change our realm for the better. I hold no person below me, nor above me, I treat all those who seek to build a better world as my equals, and I thus seek to make sure that those who act in malice are forced to see the error of their ways or are removed from realm, my desires are as simple and plain as that! It would be impossible for me alone to accomplish this, but over the years, I believe this would be possible...!"

Veltis' arms rested at his sides, deciding to politely bow in respect before raising his head up to speak again.

"But where are my manners! My name is Veltis Arunda, no titles, for I do not deserve them! It is truly an honor to meet you, Vance and of course your beautiful companion, eve! 'Tis a pleasure to be graced by two people of, if I may be so bold, unmatched refined elegance!

I would very much enjoy meeting you once again! I pray the quest goes well for both of you! Should I be payed, I plan to give my reward to the beggars of the city, too many are stepped underfoot, and they need the comfort of a warm bed as much as anyone! Farewell, Vance, Lady Eve!"

Veltis once again elegantly bowed and waved gently before proceeding to walk away, to await the groupings.

The woman who had helped her earlier was waving at her with a sincere smile. Elisha found it rude to not wave back, even if she wanted to avoid giving the older woman a misunderstanding. She shyly tries to force a smile, as well as waving back.

One of the other adventurers however bumps into her as they were walking, which causes her to lose some of her balance. Thankfully she was able to catch herself, but not without hitting somebody else. After regaining her footing, Elisha takes a few steps back before bowing as low as she could towards the person she bumped into.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you," she said as sincerely as she could.

Upon lifting her head, she noticed that this was the person who was signing up alongside her at the line. "Louis... Françoise Le Blanc... de La Vallière... was it?" Elisha didn't have the best memory, but extravagant names such as his somehow keep sticking out for her. "It's a lovely name. Just... long."

However, her stomach suddenly makes itself known by growling. "Oh god, why now?! Ssshhhh~!" Blushing madly as well as clutching her stomach, she was hoping that nobody heard the noise it made.

"I-I'm sorry for my rude manners. I-it's just that... I haven't had anything since last night," she continues before she returns to bowing.

As Louis was raised in a very upper-crust home, he was brought up on a very strict code of manners (is that a thing; code of manners? Ah screw it, it is now). There were strict ways to do things, and things that you strictly couldn't do. Bodily noises were one such thing. However, that was normally...urg...gas expelled from either the mouth or rear (gah! Such a ghastly image). The cries of a person's stomach were a little different. First of all, you couldn't tell it was going to make that noise until it actually happened, and even then you couldn't stop it any more then you could stop your own heart from beating though shear force of will. Secondly, it didn't release any offensive gas into the air. While the upper class may be complete snobs, at least they weren't completely unreasonable

With that in mind, Louis opened up his bag and pulled out a gourmet breakfast sandwich, wrapped up in cloth to keep it clean. "You shouldn't embark on such a quest without eating something" he said while holding it out to the girl with the noise stomach. Suddenly, his brain finished processing what his mouth had just said and panicked "d-d-d-d-d-don't misunderstand I'm only doing this so you don't e-e-e-embarrass yourself! As a n-n-n-n-n-noble, it is my duty to fix such obvious mistakes before me if it is within my power to do so" he claimed, his cheeks tomato red "really! It's not because I think you're pretty or anything, that's simply absurd, get such thoughts out of your head!"

Vance and Eve both listened to the man’s philosophy, and way of life, and for the most part, Vance agreed with it.

When Veltis turned around, Vance found himself admiring the bow that was on his back. It was beautifully crafted, and it looked like it could be deadly in the right hands. He imagined Veltis using it with a fusion of both power, and grace. It was an impressive thought, and he hoped that he would get to see it someday.

After a firm handshake, and a nod, Vance spoke. Eve seemed to be smitten with his posture and the way that he spoke.

“There are many evils in the world, and it takes people like us to make sure that peace is preserved in these dark times.” He said. “You’re one of the good ones, Veltis” he added.

Eve had a small blush, and a big smile appear on her face as Veltis referred to her as ‘beautiful’

Vance found even himself admiring Veltis. He was one of the good guys, and he would surely be a powerful ally in the fight for good. He wasn’t too bad on the eyes, either, as Eve pointed out.

As Veltis walked away, Vance watched him, and then looked to others who were around them. He suddenly felt a new sense of purpose in doing this quest. They money was good, but these people, all of them, were worth saving. He truly hoped that he, and Veltis, would cross paths again.

Maplestead was a funny town. It sounded so plain by the name that Tanzin had glanced over it the last time he looked at a map but the promise of a royal award was something Tanzin didn't take lightly. Money was the ultimate motivation, sure, but the promise of creatures too big to handle was something that really appeared to be irresistible. "Ha!" The great ogre of a man shouted, in the tavern he was calling home for the night, slamming his fists onto the table as he just finished his sixth pitcher of mead of the night. "They should have just asked me." He cockily said to his present company, a band of sellswords who were dwarfed by Tanzin's size. Wiping the messy drink from around his mouth, he continued, "Sheep herders and stable boys are all they'll get! Greed promising more than they can handle, all will run at the sight of anything bigger than them!" Again he slammed the table, "I'm off, then!" He said in a haste. It wasn't even the day of and he was already just outside of Maplestead, but he gathered up his things and darted out the door, hooting and a hollering.

Other patrons, including the sellswords, shook their heads and all made comments about that drunkards quest. "It was a fool's errand," they said. The country of Sejan was at risk of being overrun and the those drinking patrons all had their theories about why this quest was happening. "There is no pay, they just bodies to throw at those things to keep them back!" They agreed that not even a man Tanzin's size could fight off the bigger of the creature out there.

-

The next morning, Tanzin was up and ready to go. He thought he was eyeballing the competition but much to his dismay, some of them were going to be his teammates. At least that is what they told him as soon as he signed up, signing just underneath a long-written name. "Hmph!" Tanzin scoffed as he strode past the other signees talking amongst themselves. None of these squishy folk looked at all strong.

Tanzin strolled away, not wanting to socialize with such weaklings, and returned to his massive warhammer resting on the ground. Despite it having quite some value, nobody could lift it aside from Tanzin, himself. He swung that hammer with ease and threw it up on his shoulders, waiting for the call to begin the hunt.

---

Petite and quiet, Elle managed to sneak in behind a rather large man, who could probably give giants a run for their money, and sign her name. There were so far quite a few who signed on and she was satisfied to see that so many people were trying to come to this city's aid. The city of Maplestead had become overly crowded as refugees flocked into the city gates. The sudden influx of horrific demons and creatures drove those that were unable to defend themselves and their property into the city wall.

Elle had been in Maplestead for a few days now, resting as she had grown very ill in the past week. She was just starting to feel better when this royal decree was passed around every town crier inside the city walls. The refugees were the first sign that thing were bad, the decree present the problem a far worse. There are too many for them to handle! Elle thought to herself as she finished signing and looked at the small collection of guardsmen that stood on the other side of the sign-up sheet. They were giving her dirty looks and a muttering caused one of them to snort in laughter. Obviously, Elle had appeared quite intimating following that large man, but she had power that none would believe. It was a shame that it had to be daytime, however. The sun was already starting to beam down, almost blinding the nocturnal Elle.

All of this wasn't her first choice but Elle had a sense Juna was wanting this. Last night's display of Aran's Star becoming eclipsed by a meteor that appeared to be heading right for Maplestead, burned up before it reached the ground. It was a sign that something apocalyptic could be on the rise as Aran was Juna's Child of War and she was the Keeper of Stjarna, an underworld of sorts. Signing up felt like her duty and so she did, despite being ill and likely not at full strength with her sickness and at day. Hopefully this crusade would carry on into the night where Elle was more useful.

For a moment, Elle watched the conversations of the others. She wanted to join as they were likely interesting people and very likely to become her immediate allies but alas, she suddenly felt a wave of heat that threatened to knock her out. Best if she fled to somewhere with water first and she could always meet those of her group later. So she fled the courtyard for a brief moment, fetching some water from a public well.

The silence between them felt unbearable. She has embarrassed herself quite badly already in front of Louis, and this is adding on to the awkwardness. Silence was never a big issue for Elisha, but the current situation's silence isn't exactly pleasant.

Just as she was about to lift her head, Louis breaks the silence as well as handing her a sandwich. "A-are you sure I can have this?" Her left hand let go of her stomach, before slowly trying to reach the piece of food that Louis was offering her. Elisha hesitates however, feeling guilty that she's about to take someone else's food for free.

His follow up however, Elisha found to be quite amusing, and a tad funny. She tried to keep it in, but she couldn't stop giggling a little bit. "He's not so bad either." She couldn't help but smile at his reaction to himself offering her the food. Somehow, she felt more at ease that he wouldn't mind.

"Thank you, Louis." She takes the sandwich from his hands and slowly peels away the cloth that it had been wrapped in. The sandwich itself wasn't very thick, but it had enough meat and vegetables in between that could make it very good breakfast food.

Elisha takes a nibble at one of the exposed corners, and the food's flavor quickly resonated through her taste buds. "This... This is very good!" The softness of the meat, the juiciness of the vegetables, as well as the sweetness of the mayonnaise spread in between made for a delicious sandwich.

"Of course it is. As if a noble like me would waste my energy carrying around sub par food" Louis claimed feeling far more proud then he really should have been. It was only a few seconds later however that he realized that she had been laughing (well, giggling) at him, him of all people. "D-don't laugh!" he tried to command her with his cheeks burning red, but was unable to use his normal fire when doing so, leaving his command sounding more like an indignant demand of s child...which let's be honest, it kind of was.

Lenna breathed deeply. Today would be the day.

This was her moment.

After all this time, she would finally do it.

She would do it.

She had been trying to beat Greg in a fist fight at the Pugilist Gang for a long time. Greg defeated even monks in unarmed combat, and, though he was officially a gladiator, certainly fought like a monk. He was the best fist fighter in the city.

But no more. This was Lenna's moment.

Now.

GO!

It took only minutes for Greg to literally knock Lenna out of the ring finishing the fight with a painful uppercut when she attemped to do a jumping two-legged kick. She spun in the air, before slamming to the ground with a thud.

After a few moments, she heard footsteps approaching. Her vision swam before her. A beautiful blonde woman in a dress loomed above her.

"Lenna?"

Lenna blinked.

"Mom?"

"Did he just uppercut you five feet into the air?"

Lenna smiled, remembering the fight.

"Little bit."

"Huh."

"That was the best I ever did against him. Even better than when I used my beast stone that one time."

"You did what?"

"I mean I would never abuse my powers like that."

Greg pipes up from the ring, "She's lying. She totally abuses it. All the time."

Lenna glared vaguely in his blurry direction. Smug, bald, ridiculously competent bastard.

"Well... I have news and... do you need a moment, dear?" Lenna's mom asked.

"Gods yes I do."

One healing later via the cleric that frequented the place, Lenna addressed her mother.

"So...you know how you started that whole adventuring thingy?" Her mom asked.

"Yeeesss?"

Lenna's mother handed her a newsletter. Lenna read it carefully.

"...seriously?"

"Yes dear. We've arranged transport already."

"You mean I'm not gonna have to sneak off?"

"Just don't disguise your identity this time dear. Wear your name with pride."

Lenna then proceeded to hug her mother. It was adorable.

****

Lenna had signed her papers with all requisite information, and was now waiting. She stood in her adventuring gear, her other clothes sitting in her travel bag on her back. She was always prepared.

She cast a glance about the room, taking in her first impressions of everyone.

She'd overheard tidbits, such as the elvinian's callousness towards the loves of others and the Whisperer's revulsion at that. She'd also noticed the clumsy healer and the awkward woman who was trying to befriend her. There was some noble brat getting overly emotional about giving someone a sandwich over there, and there was a woman with...

By the Gods, that sword was big. Lenna wondered if she herself could even carry it for long before getting tired, and she was in remarkable condition.

She found the Templar with his fairy friend to be quite amusing to watch, and giggled a bit at her antics. By the gods she hoped they stuck together. It was a divine comedy written by the gods.

She wasn't sure exactly what to think of the archer. If his flamboyant attitude was an act, then he could be dangerous. If he was simply being himself, he was probably just quirky and amusing, and, considering just how useful a good archer is, a valuable comrade.

There were others, but Lenna had not really taken in the details for every single possible comrade in the room. Over all, she just hoped she had the elvinian cleric in her team.

The Underwood family was priveledged, and at the same time very charitable. Lenna had learned from a early age that she had unfair advantages in life. Just mentioning her last name would make things happen for her. The clink of gold could handle most other things. But damned if she would keep that privilege to herself. Her mother had always told her to give of herself to those who needed it more. And her father had always told her to defend the defenseless.

So the idea of a cleric letting a charge die when he could save them...infuriated her.

Oh yeah, by the gods she hoped she got the chance to work with him.

After the lines of applicants ended, the crowds of people watched those that had signed up and the court officials. The officials took a few moments and began to group together individuals, writing down the teams on a list. This list was then passed to the crier, who read it thus:

"The first team, who's destination will be the Western Gate, is that of Cecilia of Bamburgh, Elisha of Otonoki,Louis of Tristania, and Lenna of Underwood."

He cleared his throat before continuing,

"The next team will exit Maplestead from the Southern Gate. They are: Adrial of Carnan, Brennen of Warrington, and Alyssa of... yes, Alyssa the spellsword." The crier looked annoyed at the unspecified hometown information.

Once again he cleared his throat, however this time it seemed for to calm himself,

"The third group, who will make their way out by the Eastern Gate, are as follows: Veltis of Byron, Tanzin of..." the crier adjusted his collar, as if it were strangling him,"Dun Gadar.. and Jere of Garrowtree."

"The fourth group will exit by the Northern gate. They are Miercoles of..." he siiiiighed as if to say 'what is up with spellswords and not filling out their information'," Miercoles the spellsword. Vance of Masa and Elle of Asterith."

Near the assembled fighters a young girl and her father stood. She was so tiny that she barely came above his knee. This girl reached up and tugged one of her fathers fingers, so thick that her whole hand could barely wrap itself about it,

"Papa? Why do they list the hometowns of the heroes?" To this girl they were already heroes- for this was the bravest thing she had ever seen anyone do.

Her father, his complexion dark and stoic as he towered over her, looked on at one of the gates leading out of the city,

"They list the hometowns so it is known where to send their bodies- if they die."

The girl fell silent at this information.

And the crier continued like this, listing several other groups before closing the scroll altogether.

The crowds around the players began to cheer, clapping and hollering their thanks. A woman began to cry and pray. A priest walked through the crowd followed by his entourage and blessed them with his prayers.

As the groups headed toward their destinations the town square began to clear. The crier and the court officials returned to the safety of the palace. The towns people to their homes.

~~~~~

All four gates were set to open just as the appointed heroes arrived- promptly at 11 am. They were met by the doormen- whom traded looks of pity mingled with respect.



At the northern gate of Maplestead sat two portly guards- old men with long beards and drink fogged eyes. They stumbled to their feet at the approach of the heroes, checking the placement of the sun in the sky, as if to say 'yep, bout time'. They pulled the heavy doors open and then shut them quickly as the heroes stepped out.

Outside roamed about a dozen scare crow demons, hacking away with their blades at horse carts and other property. Accompanying them was a Tiger bear- eyes glazed over with an unnatural color, a tell-tale sign that the beast was being controlled somehow by the evil aura of the demons.

(Keep in mind that it is not only your group alone there- other people have signed up and are fighting alongside you- these townsfolk will most likely die)

[Kill all of the demons= full reward. Kill all of the demons+bring back the pelt of the Tiger Bear= +bragging rights and admiration by townsfolk (however there are some groups in the city that will react negatively)]



Once the heroes arrived at the Southern Gate they were met by a female soldier, a jagged scar ruining a lovely face. Her companion was a massive War dog- which helped her open the southern gate with a rope tied o one of the door handles. They opened for the heroes,

"May the gods watch over you all." She said before closing the gates behind them.

Prowling about these gates were a handful (5) of scare crow demons and a screecher, which was tearing into the corpse of a horse. It lifted its head and, spotting the heroes, wailed- long and high.

(Keep in mind that it is not only your group alone there- other people have signed up and are fighting alongside you- these townsfolk will most likely die)

[Destroy all scare crow demons= full reward. Due to the difficulty of having a screecher at this gate, if your team manages to kill it= +admiration by townsfolk + recognition by clergy)



By the eastern gate were grouped a handful of young soldiers, all seemingly eager to peek outside,

"We just heard an explosion- must be lava demons." Said one of the soldiers excitedly, his eyes glinting with the desire to see something completely destroyed.

The heroes progressed through the gates and were met with the sight of, indeed, three lava demons. They were accompanied by a Basilisk, which stomped about and shook the earth.

(Keep in mind that it is not only your group alone there- other people have signed up and are fighting alongside you- these townsfolk will most likely die)

[Kill all demons= full reward. Check the Bestiary in the Character sheets section to see how to kill a Basilisk, its rather simple.)



Standing by the Western gate was a tall elf, accompanied by an ogre. They had been chatting jovially before the heroes had arrived- all conversation ceased when they approached. The elf rubbed his nose as he advised the seemingly weak individuals before him, pity clear in his look and tone,

"We peaked outside. A few demons are out there- but mainly there's a bunch of crazed voraptus. Watch out for those vermin birds- they're voracious."

Indeed once the heroes were outside of the safety of the city they were faced with small group of scare crow demons (4) and a group of voraptus birds (3). The scare crows were armed and hacking away at the crops of the local farmers. The birds, noticing people exiting the town, began to chase after them

(Keep in mind that it is not only your group alone there- other people have signed up and are fighting alongside you- these townsfolk will most likely die)

(Kill all of the demons= receive full reward. Kill the bird while they are "crazed", meaning before the demons die= +townsfolk recognition. Kill birds after demons are dead= -recognition. Capture a bird and perhaps you can sell it to a voraptus fighter/enter it into a fight (however keep in mind this is both dangerous and illegal)]