"Time for you to wake up."
Furnace woke to the strange melodic sound of chirping.
Kelvin was still asleep next to him so he carefully crawled out of the tent.
He had dreamt that night. Not just words but lights and visions.

"Something big. Something proud."

These words echoed in his mind when he stared into the smouldering remains of the camp fire.
Furnace rubbed his forehead while scanning the tent, Alula was nowhere to be seen.
He wondered why he wondered these things, and why he felt the need to touch his head.

Looking around Furnace also noticed Carver sitting in the grass looking at the bright orb of energy rested on hills in the far distance.
So peaceful the man sat there in silence. Furnace sat down beside him and stared at the sunrise with him.
He'd seen the thing before, high in the sky and falling slowly. Then it would rise again later. Furnace began to assume this always happened.
Furnace liked the idea. To have a ready supply of light and warmth from time to time.
And the waves of energy laced in the rays of light, woven so brilliantly made the source a sight to behold.
He thought back to the energy he'd see wave of Carver some time ago before they had slept.
Looking at the patterns he confirmed his earlier guess that their nature was the same.
Furnace broke the silence.
"It's beautiful isn't it?"

"?!?!"

It took almost all of her self control, not to fling herself up in shock, as Suki woke up. The dream she had during the night was disturbingly vivid. Well, the emotions she felt were vivid, the actual content of the dream somewhat hazy.

Glancing around, she noticed that she was lying down in a tent, with the sun's rays piercing through the thin fabric of the tent. Yawning lightly, she gracefully slipped out, before stretching.

Looking around, it appears they had moved from the ruins of the town, into a hopefully safer clearing. While carefully on guard against anyone, she noticed the gnome nearby. Although it was an amusing idea, she forgone the option of teasing it. She didn't feel up for tempting anyone just yet.

Vis had not slept well and night had turned to day in a disorientating blur of exhaustion and periodic wakings ups in during the night. Though he was sure that he must have gotten at least some sleep because he remembered waking up a lot, and having stage dreams.

He looked like crap. His eyes were bloodshot and his good one turing violet from the redness and it's natural blue and he was slumped over, his eyes only barely open and seemingly unregistering. Vis felt his eyes start to creep shut but he willed them to stay open, 'only a few more minutes and i wake up the paladin' he thought to himself, forgetting he had already woken him up, Vis looking up and grimaced, it was day and he had slept horribly. He sighed and felt Khat stir in her sleep.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up at Vis, she was still asleep on his laps, it appears he hadn't moved all night. Khat wasn't one for good mornings, "Why do you look like shit?" she asked, Vis simply sorted, not even taken aback by the child's foul language. His hands went around his head shakily and tightened his scarf, she mimicked him, "I had a weird dream." Vis didn't registering what she said, "hello?" she asked, waving a hand in his face, he snorted in acknowledgment, "not a morning person..." she mumbled.

Carver awoke from his dream with a start. He rubbed his face, blinked his eyes, confirmed in his mind that he was indeed awake, that yes, this was real and what he'd just seen had been fantasy. There was a picture emblazoned on his arm, a strange symbol he couldn't recognize from any of his learning. That was from the dream, but if that was still there, then...?

There was something else, too, a sensation that had stuck with him. Weightlessness. Alula.

Wherever the girl was, Carver prayed she was safe.

There was a sight he wasn't quite prepared for. There was a child curled up next to him, fast asleep, a small, frail thing who obviously hadn't slept in a bed in a long while. He wondered for a moment where the child had come from, and then concluded that it didn't matter. Perhaps he was another survivor, perhaps he was an urchin. What mattered now was that he was clearly alone, and tired, and had come to Carver seeking protection.

The paladin lifted his blanket and spread it over the child, taking great care not to wake him. When the time came for his watch, Carver stepped outside the tent dressed in the plain linen clothes he'd been wearing under his armor yesterday. He took up position where he could see the sunrise peeking over the horizon, planted his sword at his feet, and spent a time contemplating her wisdom and beauty in silence.

The silence was broken a great while later, when the rest of the party began to awaken. He was content to leave them to their morning rituals until the gnome came to sit next to him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

The knight smiled softly. "She is. She loves each of us, you know. That is why she blesses us with her radiance. We are all children of the sun."

Furnace looked at Carver like he couldn't understand a word he said.
She. Love. Bless. Children. Sun...
"Who is the sun?"

Alula had slept fantastically. It was the gentle sounds of the world around her, as well as the irritating sunlight piercing through her shut eyes, that finally awoke her. She sat up slowly, stretching her arms up above her with a soft grunt. And as she stretched her arms up to the sky the grass she had slept in moved too. She looked around, blinking the sleep out of her hazy eyes.

The events of the previous day were rather unclear to Alula. She remembered joining the group of adventurers, of whom which seemed to have set up camp here. The events of the battle between them and the horde of creatures was nothing more then a hazy feeling, like watching the events unfold from behind dirty glass. The voices filled in the blanks for her, explaining that they eventually had to flee the area. They then tried to bring up the No good dangerous and rotten Paladin but she silently begged them to stick to the facts.

And then there was the coming of the moon. And she had barely gotten away from the group before she changed. Alula found herself exhaling with relief. There had been a group of raiders, whom she was able to cunningly outwit. And from then on she had spent the rest of the evening enjoying the moon and recharging. She confirmed with the voices that this was all they had done in the night, which they confirmed. Good. No one had been hurt.

She looked over to her side, noticing her staff laying out in the grass an arms length away. Well at least they made one thing easy for her, but she was still upset about her hat being lost.

Everyone else was beginning to wake up around her as well. Hopefully everyone else slept well too. She yawned again, stretching out her spine and pulling her staff closer to herself. She could hear her companions having conversations, but they felt so far away despite being so close.

And the sunrise was burning her eyes.

"A celestial body." Arastoph piped up, intervening on the conversation; and hopefully end the religious conversion before it began. Worshiping the light was cute and all, but what kind of man would he be if he let the knight take advantage of a little boy like that? Er-- gnome. How old was the wee guy anyway? Regardless, Arastoph had one thing that the others didn't: a formal education befitting of a noble (perhaps, with time and money, Arastoph could make himself a noble in due time - imagine that!).

"Telescopes, the creation of which prompting due thanks to the world's scientists, can allow you to look at the stars and see they are like that of the sun. Granted, we do not know what they are made of yet, but I doubt their making is magical or divine."

The trader tipped up the wide-brimmed hat he had scavenged last night, revealing his face from the shade it offered. Light bags formed under his eyes. Nothing severe, but he had spent the whole night doing little more than closing his eyes. A man like him can not sleep among strangers, especially as suspicious of him as they were. Granted, he fared it better than most would, but it didn't make the experience any more pleasurable. He found that there were a couple of people that had joined their crew amidst the night. A young boy, and a girl. Assuming that the watchman had not grown lazy and fallen asleep, he had let them in, indicating he recognized them. Their party was larger than Arastoph had first anticipated. With larger groups come greater solidarity and variety of perspectives. A larger group was much more difficult to manipulate, but assuming he can get just a few to trust him, he should be well off. Even if the monkey and pious knight didn't.

"I believe we are better off accepting that there are beneficial consequences of its product, like of the trees, than to humanize it... but that's just my take on it. Decide what you will, wee one."

Suki's attention was perked up by the man who seemed to be wearing a rather familiar hat. Which made little sense, as she did not recognize the man himself. However, a new male, was a new person to tease. Getting into the mood to play around, she walked over, until she was next to the man talking about celestial bodies.

"My, you're quite the knowledgable one aren't you?" Asking in that usual sultry tone of hers. As she was voicing her question, she 'absentmindedly' leaned in, with her cloak opening slightly, allowing a slight view of her bountiful chest.

Celestial body.
The voice had used the word celestial before. To describe frightening creatures from other worlds.
Furnace attempted to follow the man's words, but as many of them were alien he drew some hasty conclusions.
"Good thing there's these telescopes. This place would be dark and cold without those light sources in the sky."
The sleepy girl had awoken and confirmed the man was knowledgeable. So furnace asked his questions.
He pointed at the big orange orb lazily escaping the mountain-peak's grip and slowly ascending.
"The impressive one is the sun? Cause I can see what that's made off."

Carver turned at the survivor's voice and spread his hands wide. "Love the skeptic, for the light needs not thanks to fall upon one's face. You are permitted to your theory, and I to mine." He patted the gnome on the head. "That she is, my friend. She is made of power, bent to noble purpose. And how magnificently she shines!"

He glanced around the camp. It seemed almost everybody was waking now - even the witch was attempting to assert her feminine wiles upon the survivor. The sight interested Carver little, however - he was much more relieved to see Alula, sitting up and rubbing her eyes from the light. He smiled warmly and nodded to her slightly - the two could speak privately later about the symbol, and Carver's obviously mystical dream. The others need not be troubled about it, not yet.

"My friends," he said to the general company, "We have much to discuss. First, know that I received a visitor last night - I woke up to find a child sleeping beside me. I know not where he came from, as I did not wish to disturb him; he slumbers still. Secondly, we must chart a course towards the next town or city, warn someone about the evils we have witnessed. I know little of this land, so I will leave this portion of the plan to you. All voices are welcome, and none need fear to share their opinion."

Arastoph lended the women a courtesy glance and nod, but remained uninterested in the woman's advance. Indeed, his sexuality was that of an odd one, even in his youth, lacking most if not all sexual attraction to the people around him. Howe'er, with his view on mankind as a whole, finding an attraction in others outside of sexual appeal was a futile effort - and neither was he keen on advances upon the beast races. Still, shooing away the woman was hardly worth the effort, and for what gain? He'll let her advance as she pleased, assuming it fell within the realm of his own consent. Contact? Not even close.

"I've obtained a formal education," he answered Suki, "the subject is hardly complex."

The paladin, while not relinquishing his evangelical death grip upon the gnome, was at least willing to let others express their opinions freely. In that, there was some respect to be held, albeit expected from the better of paladins. He still felt the majority of the order was remarkably unintelligent, taking all things into consideration - or unwise, at least.

When Carver broke the news of his visitor that night, Arastoph barely held back a laugh as a snide comment or two came to mind.

"Oh, Carver!" Arastoph bemoaned. "I did not think you to be the type to sleep with children. I suddenly feel less guilty about requesting monetary compensation."

Des walked out of the tent sleepily and overheard a conversation about him. "Well, technically, he didn't sleep with me, I slept with him. He had no idea." Des walked over to the merchant feeling that something wasn't quite right about this one, "Your presence is dark and cold, evil even. Yet there is a fire that begs to be set free. You're the exact opposite of the gnome." He then noticed the hat wrapped around Arastoph's neck. "Hey, your hat matches the pattern of the loud, bickering lady. Are you two together?" Des then looked around for the oracle and spotted her on the ground. "There she is, that one."

Burning. Burning. Why were her eyes burning? She shivered despite the overwhelming heat encompassing her body. All she could see was a white light, searing out her other senses. Was she staring into the sun? She could hear far away voices, like memories lost in time, but they were overshadowed by music. A song so enchanting that she found herself completely dazed. She felt pulled in by its radiance, the sounds of words she could not comprehend and tones that she could never remember.

She blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes, trying to break from its pull. Eventually the light died down, becoming nothing more then sunspots in her vision, but the music remained. It was soft like the final echoes of sound across a lake, but she was still aware of it. Once her vision cleared she noticed she was looking in Carvers direction, and he had smiled and nodded.

Alula sat in silence for a few moments, trying to get her bearings again. Her companions were gathering together, maybe to talk about next plans. And there was another child with them. Voices began to scream, a warning, but she did not heed them. The child mentioned her hat, and then beckoned to another stranger. Her hat was tied around his neck, no doubt. She struggled to her feet, trying to keep weight off of her crippled leg, and with staff in hand began to hobble over towards the group.

She stopped in front of the strange man, paying no heed to the dangerous child next to her, and looked him dead in the eyes. Without her hat it was clear to see her eyes were glowing. Her expression was one of anger, and she opened her mouth to speak words she did not understand, and yet knew more about then anyone.

"Born into this world, pure and yet hated. To atone for crimes never committed. A full life never to live."

Her expression changed, from anger to understanding and then quickly back to her default expressionless. She understood. But he still had her hat. Alula grabbed her coin purse out of her robes, trying to force it into the strange man's hands. She pointed to the hat, struggling to find words.

Separ woke up in a cold sweat as he realized he had just had a nightmare. Try as he might though he couldn't seem to remember anything about the dream at all though. All he could remember was that there was a training dummy he had been practicing on, but what had happened after that? Shaking his head Separ got out of bed to scared to fall back asleep for now, especially since they had been chased by the raiders before. Now was not a time to sleep, but a time to retreat and get away from this area. He quickly packed up his sleeping bag putting it into his tent, but waited to take down his tent for now to see how the others had been faring. Taking a glance around at where everyone was Separ quickly found Carver and strode up to him. "Sleep well last night?" He asked happily, unaware that there was now a new member of the team. Separ's stomach grumbled suddenly however. He had not gotten much of a chance to eat yesterday after the raid occurred, and while Separ felt a little bit better after his rest, he was now hungry and also a bit thirsty. "I don't suppose anyone has managed to procure some food before..." Separ paused for a moment trying to find the right words to say, but ultimately came up short. He instead just glanced to the side avoiding direct eye contact, muttering the name of the town that had just been destroyed instead, the town known as "Ravenwood."

Vis heard the call for food, and staggered to his feet, Khat got up to try and help him but he gestured for her to stay down. He shambled over, exhausted from his on and off sleep and slightly tripping on rocks and roots as he staggered over to the small group. Once among them, he slipped off his pack and opened it up, reveling the stale loaves in the bag. he darted his hand in and broke off a pice for breakfast, "I had inithially boughth enough for our original group, but I'd be glad to share with the new comers form my bread," He broke off a piece from his loaf and presented it to the new comer, the one who had foretold of his turing daughter and in a sharp hiss, he whispered to hm, throwing his voice into the man's ear so only he could here, "You bether noth thake her money, that is her hath and if you do, I'll thake it back and then some." He thrust the bread into the man's hand and staggered off, even more exhausted then before, he returned to Khat and collapsed by her side.

"Did you get me any?"

"You thtill have the chunk from yestherday, finish thath."

Arastoph rolled his eyes at the child. Was the thing brain-damaged? Actively walking up to a group of strangers, and then sleeping next to the largest man there? And then this... this thing, this cretin has the audacity to look at him and trying to decipher meaning of his own existence? Labeling him as evil? Nay, evil was subjective. But even amongst subjectivity, mankind was the true evil of the world. He was just now labeled evil by an ignorant little child, when he was the product shaped by mankind's hand. He pointed out the young girl that had come through last night and asked if they were together (an absurd assumption, obviously, as helmets do not associate knights of the same order). This grabbed the attention of the girl, and she too had approached.

She had marched towards him, her face angry and her eyes were literally glowing. His hand subtlety moved to touch the grip of his stiletto out of suspicion.

"Born into this world, pure and yet hated." She said. Arastoph blinked. The girl continued, "To attune for crimes never committed. A full life never to live."

At this moment, Arastoph was slightly disturbed, and very much irritated. He scolded, "if you wouldn't mind, the both of you can keep the preposterous divinations to yourselves."

The girl, once appearing angry, looked soft. Then subsequently neutral. Surely there was some damage in this one, much as there was in the child. However, she did something unexpected; she motioned towards the hat resting on Arastoph's shoulders, which was kept from falling with a last-minute modification made of a strip of wool. She showed him a coin purse and nudged. Ah, so already there was a business prospect? Interesting.

Unfortunately, there was more than one monkey in the group. Another one, the one with the glowing eye (who Arastoph had assumed had no reason to distrust him, and though he was simply being an ass) approached him with some bread and used a peculiar skill that made his voice sound as though it was right next to his ear. Granted, not expecting the speech impediment present in the half-elf's voice caused the trader to miss most of what he was trying to tell him. But the general message was clear: "don't take the money, or else". Arastoph rolled his eyes. He played out the scenario in his head. This man walks up to a merchant, tells him not to conduct business appropriately as the merchant is wont to do, and threatens the merchant if he does. Arastoph simply laughed to himself softly. He didn't fear a crippled monkey, especially not one so harebrained, and especially not in the presence of the paladin, Carver. While they may have gotten off on the wrong foot, he was sure that Carver wouldn't let anything happen outside of what he deemed moral regardless of who was the victim.

He overheard the girl asking the fool for more bread. An entertaining idea entered his head, that selling the piece of bread offered to him to the girl would be the ultimate dismissal of his threats. That and he didn't trust food handed to him by strangers. Especially by a stranger who had threatened him. If poison were the case, giving it to the girl would sure draw him out on his intentions. But in the case of taking these people's money, Arastoph had no qualms. He didn't identify with them. He wasn't one of them. He was a merchant. One who fabricated a life lost. He didn't owe these people anything. Perhaps he'd sell the bread after he dealt with the girl and the hat.

'Conducting business is how I've lived my life, and that isn't going to change because a jumped-up elf got pissy. These people are as much patrons as anyone else.'

Despite the warning, Arastoph accepted the whole coin purse into his hand, and began counting the pieces. Not too terrible much, but he was surprised to find this kind of pocket money in a group of vagabonds like this one. He counted up a total of a hundred sixty-five pieces. Not bad. The hat may not be worth that much, but none of these people knew that. They couldn't determine the value of an item like he could.

"One hundred and sixty-five pieces?" Arastoph asked, sounding somewhat pleased. "That isn't a bad offer. Though this hat and its craftsmanship does seem rather valuable. I apologize, but I think I could probably fetch a better price someplace else. Perhaps even in the next town over."

Suki wanted to laugh as she saw the interaction between the merchant and the rest. Covering her momentary lapse with a light cough, she set her expression to as neutral of an appearance as possible. Despite her efforts, the corners of her mouth still quirked up slightly.

This merchant was just like the rest of the merchants she 'played' with. Getting everything as cheaply as possible, before burning the other party for as much gold as possible. It was similar to how she easily received 'gifts' from men for doing just a small 'service'.

"She's probably the only one you can try that on."

With a bemused tone, she couldn't help but to comment on the merchant's actions.

Alula twiddled her thumbs anxiously once Arastoph finally took her coin purse. Before the man could acknowledge her money, however, Vis came over. Even with the half-elf attempting to conceal his voice, Alula could hear him. Blame it on her being rather perceptive, or because she is used to hearing whispers in her ears. But Vis had threatened the merchant, much to Alula's dismay. She resisted the urge to glare at the half-elf as he returned over to his tree.

In reality the last thing anyone would want to do it threaten a merchant.

She tried to keep her expression neutral when the man counted out her money, and said it was more expensive then that. It was obvious that Alula was in distress, however. Hazy eyes widened and her hands began to twitch again. She thought quickly about everything she owned. She needed to keep her staff, it was her only way of moving as well as casting. She bent over, slightly awkwardly because of her crippled leg, and took off her sandals. They had tiny pictures of moons and stars stitched into the canvas. They looked well worn, but maybe they would sweeten the deal.

Alula then patted down her sides. She could feel her knife through her robes. She reached into her robes and pulled the knife off of her belt. It was a beautiful dagger, iridescent paint shining in the sun, but she never found herself using it in combat. She knew the knife was important to her, or at least that's what the voices told her, but her hat was more important.

She held the sandals and the dagger out to the merchant, trying to keep the desperation out of her eyes. She got the horrible feeling that this might not be enough either. But that was everything she owned. Alula glanced around at her companions. Most of them were broke already.

Kelvin bolted upright in the tent, looking around hesitantly. Had that been a dream, or reality? He closed his eyes, rehearsing it in his mind a few times so it wouldn’t fade so quickly as dreams normally do. It was strange. Kelvin waved aside the tent flap and glanced out to make sure no one was near before turning away and sliding off his glove. There it was. It made no sense to him though. The engineer examined the writing closely, and flexed his grip. It didn’t seem to make much difference, so he pulled the glove on and gathered his gear, tying the sleeping roll to his pack.

That finished, rolled up the gnome’s sleeping gear as well and hauled it out of the tent after him, turning to repack the tent- the most important part of breaking camp was efficiency. That done, he turned and moved to each of the unoccupied tents, rerolling bedding and taking down tents as he went. He put any misplaced possessions in a small pile next to the other piles, one of tents and one of sleeping gear.

Of course, while he did this, he could see what was going on in the background. The girl was up and flirting. It was like she lived off of it. Though it was entertaining to see the merchant turn her away, with more success than Kelvin managed. The elf looked like he had been dragged through the underworld and back, and acted like it too. Kelvin grimaced and tossed the last sleeping roll he had been working on onto the pile. It would be a shame to make separ carry all of it, though Kelvin did have one sleeping roll on him.

It wasn’t until the fool seer held out her sandals and dagger that Kelvin swept in. A slight grin tugged at the corners of his mouth as he did so though. He hadn’t worked in the merchant sector for a blacksmith and chemist for nothing. Kelvin put a hand over the sandals and knife, pushing the girls hands back towards her. ”Oh, come now, there is no need for that.” He offered a smile the merchant. ”See, we are a bit busy, and don’t have much on us. But we do need our equipment. I see you are a savvy man, so why don’t you join our crew?” Kelvin waved his hand at the other companions. ”None of us are great bargainers, and it would be nice if we had someone who could manage our funds. You can take care of equipment, and we’ll let you handle the trades.” Kelvin shrugged. ”Besides, say you need funds to get back on your feet? Why not earn it from us. I am sure you can turn over plenty of cash if you stick around.” He nodded at the coins in the other man’s hand. ”Consider that a down payment for your services… Though I am sure that both Carver, the elf, and the seer would be appreciative if you gave her hat back as a sign of good will.”

Kelvin hoisted his pack a bit. ”Anyway, with that put to the side, I was wondering if you would be interested in helping me in a more… lucrative business venture? As you can see, I am a bit of a craftsman...” Kelvin raised an eyebrow and twirled a stick of dynamite.

Ah, this was good. She offered her fancy knife and even the shoes off her feet for the hat. Clearly this meant a lot to her. He could probably squeeze some more out of her, but he couldn't just get every drip from a cow and expect it to produce more later. Not in a timely fashion at least. There was also the matter of prying eyes, and he had to keep an impression. He would refuse the sandals, but the dagger was a nice touch. It was quite the pretty one too. He could probably sell that off in the next market for a fat coin purse. Just as he was to accept the bargain, another interruption had occurred

'Gods be damned, they really have it out for me.'

The man insisted that the trade was unnecessary. Insisted that they had little money and equipment. However, Arastoph's eyes narrowed as soon as the man started setting some honey. Praised him. Buttering him up. In a crowd like this one, where every other person seemed to have it out for him, he was naturally skeptical. Then he followed it up with an offer to join the band of dropouts.

He felt tempted to immediately reject the offer. Though being an experienced negotiator, he held his tongue and waited for what else he had to say.

The man continued, "None of us are great bargainers, and it would be nice if we had someone who could manage our funds. You can take care of equipment, and we’ll let you handle the trades."

An interesting prospect, to be sure. Granted, if he were to be this... what, guild? This guild's official fence, then he should be expecting payment. They said they were poor. But at least being their fence would supply them with the money needed to pay him. The idea of working for someone else, though, was uncomfortable.

"Besides, say you need funds to get back on your feet? Why not earn it from us. I am sure you can turn over plenty of cash if you stick around. Consider that a down payment for your services... though I am sure that both Carver, the elf, and the seer would be appreciative if you gave her hat back as a sign of good will."

Earn it from them was the key phrase. He suggested that he worked for them, and Arastoph did not take orders well. The trader sighed at this idea.

Arastoph started, "I do not work for others. I am, however, not opposed to the offer of participating in a business relationship in which we are both separate parties. I can provide my services in exchange for compensation, but I do not take orders. That in mind..." Arastoph shook the coin-purse. "This is a generous down payment. However, you did intrude upon a separate business transaction being made before we've signed our contract and shook on it."

That isn't to say he completely disrespected the man. He followed his offer up with another. Apparently the man was an engineer, and showed him his dynamite. His eyes lit up at the sight of it, and he smirked at the engineer. This would make quite the bang in the black market. He'd have to continue his search for contacts before he started introducing them to the market though.

Arastoph will agree. On the proper terms, of course. The merchant cleared his throat, ready to set the boundaries of their deal being made.

"I will agree upon the following conditions: this arrangement is based upon the mutual understanding that we are two independent and consenting parties, meaning I am under no obligation to follow any order issued by any member of your party. However, failure to uphold my end of the deal, or failure to uphold your end of the deal, will terminate this contract. All major transactions exceeding a twenty-five percent threshold of total monetary savings must consult me with their decision. Income based upon the transaction I, myself, have performed will be divided in a manner where I will receive thirty-five percent of the profit made on behalf of your party, and the rest goes to your party where it will be divided evenly between all members. On top of which, continued services will be maintained by two hundred piece payments monthly.

"We both accept that I will be payed one hundred and sixty-five piece down payment prior to services beginning. I am forbidden to perform trades with members within your party that charges them an amount which exceeds a two hundred percent threshold of the actual value of my product or service. In addition, I am also forbidden to receive greater than thirty-five percent of the profit made during trades on behalf of your party. Business and trades on behalf of my party is unrelated to the business of your party and cannot be held accountable by the bindings of this contract. This contract does not bind other potential contracts made with other members of your party and of my party as long as they are made on an individual basis and does not pertain to the welfare of your party. I will also be given protection. Not just from the members of your party, but also from the hazards that could occur whilst traveling."

Arastoph took a deep breath, and rolled his eyes. He would have to write that down alter. Much of the deal had a lot pertaining to himself and what he would receive. Of course it did. An arrangement like this has much that can be taken advantage of, and he had no intention of being taken advantage of. Granted, there was enough in their favor that hopefully the engineer would see it as fair. A thirty-five percent cut may seem large, but these people haven't seen what he was capable of just yet.

He looked back at the seer girl gave her a sly smile with a twinkle in his eye. "That does mean that the money you give me will go to a different transaction. But given the opportunity offered to me is a fair replacement, the dagger you offer is sufficient. Would you like to continue the trade?"