Spirits are heavy in a Kingdom called Conra. Just two weeks before a celebration meant to usher in a new Winter, the people lost their most beloved. The Queen.

She was found, upon her throne, with a soft smile on her face. The Queen's body was upright in the throne, her hands in her lap, holding her beautiful head, looking up to the heavens through closed eyelids. If not for all the blood, it would have looked as if the Queen had just removed her head with no pain. The peaceful look is what really got to the lead investigator, who was the one who discovered the crime, and is also her son, Crown Prince Ian Conra IV.

The young Prince stood before a gathering of his subjects, telling them of the dire crime that had occured. He named his half brother champion, and asked his brother to retrieve the crown which was stole from their shared mother's corpse. Sir Christopher Conra agreed imediately, swearing vengeance on the one who led to the Queen's demise.

Elsewhere in the land, villages continue to burn and vanish. A darkness was spreading across the land. A darkness, two years in the making. Monsters were appearing closer to civilization and even some towns were threatened. Tensions were high enough before the Queen's murder, now it was near impossible to find travellers willing to brave to roads. If they weren't overrun by monsters, then highwaymen and bandits would get them.

It's now three days before the Winter Festival continues, in honor of the Queen. The Crown Prince insisted that the festival must continue and that his mother would have wished it. Sir Christopher was at the Southern Gate Tap, a tavern that many refugees and travellers would stop at if they were going south to the mountains. Pretty much everyone there was coming in from the South however, as the Winter is especially harsh there.

Christopher was struggling with the words a fortune teller told him. "Seek and embodiment of pure kindness, and you will find your answer. The one who killed your mother... you must seek the east..." He sighed heavily. He refused his brother's troops and was having trouble finding those who would be willing to travel to Ballion's border. Rumors had it that the wilderness at the border has become extremely dangerous. The man tousled his own hair an continued to stare into his drink. It was then he heard something interestng.

"My dear, thank you... I wouldn't have been able to do anything without you... I am sorry I can't help you get to where you are going..." And old woman was speaking to a slender cloaked figure armed with a sword and shoulder bag. The figure continued to assist the woman, them bowed respect Tully before heading toward the exit of the pub. The young figure hovered and the board and pushed back her hood to get a better view of the listings.

Sarah frowned. All of the jobs were relating to getting into the inner city and she didn't want to deal with customs again, especially with her precious cargo that she needed to take back to her hometown. The young woman sighed, ready to give up when she saw a notice from a caravan needing some help packing up to head South. She took the flyer and bolted out the door, saying "Sorry!" To all she passed.

The caravan was posted just outside the city wall, and it appeared only four people were loading cargo. Sarah showed off the flyer and they explained their situation. Sarah's hopes were dashed however when they mentioned having to go West first. Thay old take her farther from he destination. She helped them pack anyway, thanked them for the job and took her reward. She returns to The Southern Gate Tap, taking a previously owned seat. The previous owner had followed her and observed her during her interaction.

Christopher had an idea and left the tavern to find materials to make a job listing.

"Help needed to travel East to find source of Darkness" the flyer read. He would pin these flyers at all of the southern taverns in the city and even had copies entry toward them. He then sat close to a window inside the Southern Gate. He watched people pass by, quietly observing them as they prepared for the winter festival in three days. The streets were packed and the sky was overcast. He was already missing the sun.

Sarah however, scoped the room. She was glad it wasn't that late. Not many people were drinking and she was fine with that. She really needed to find a way out of Conra and she didn't want to travel alone.

Gun'tar just came back to the tavern after a successful hunt. He didn't care about the looks people gave him as he passed. His orc heritage was the only thing that reminded him of home. After a year of wandering this part of the kingdom he was feeling homesick.
He sat at one of the tables , the previous people that stayed there quickly left the table , leaving him alone.
" Woman ! Bring me some ale ! " said Gun'tar in a think accent , he learned the human language from his mother but never used it 'till last year.
Gun'tar was looking for the girl for a few days now. He heard about a woman that can fight and has the same road as he does. Even his orcish might couldn't compare to the monsters numbers and he needed companion for road. Maybe get some things from them , buy them of course , to show his tribe. His tribe always considered humans as inferiors due to their occasionally weak constitution. He learned that it is not so in the last year. He heard the news about the human's Queen , she was killed by an assassin. That was something that he never understood of human culture. If someone wanted to take her place , why wouldn't that person challenge her to combat. Why kill her in from of her subjects to know you are the new leader. It didn't make sense to him all these killings. To kill someone in fair combat was an honor both to the victor and the deceased but to kill someone without issuing a challenge first , that was unthinkable.
The maid brought him his ale and he paid with a silver coin. " Woman , who's that girl with the sword and shoulder bag , right there ? Is she the one that wants to go east ? "
With a shaking voice the maid said " Yes , yes. That's her. Poor girl wants to go east but doesn't find anyone going into that direction. ".
Quickly Gun'tar raised from his table and went to the girl. Inspecting her , he notices that she's still a child. How can she be the warrior he heard of ? How can she hope to travel east ?
" I'm Gun'tar Molokoi of the Morash tribe , son of Galtosh Molokai and Mareea the shaman. I heard you want to travel east " Gun'tar said with a calm voice and a smile on his face.

Azerus Thorn

The bright light of a rising morning pierced the flesh of Azerus's thin eyelids. Groggily he shook his aching head trying to hide from the sun as the cool crisp outside air ran along his skin. It sent a shiver down his spine. Oh damn, he was outside...

It seemed to have gotten much brighter by the time he finally opened his eyes, squinting as he looked around Azerus tried to assess his location and situation. All he could see was bright white, dirt and a wall. By no means was Azerus feeling ok, right now he couldn't consider an occasion were he had woken up feeling worse.

His head was splitting with a pounding headache, he had poor recollection of the night before, the strong residual smell of cheap ale hung on his breath and he had the faint taste of blood on his lips. No there was nothing too unusual here.

Despite all reasonable logic and indicators he still prayed to find himself in a large soft bed with luscious soft white sheets and an exotic strange girl wrapped in his arms.

No such luck.

As his eyes adjusted to and filtered the piercing painful light he quickly looks around and lets out a deep loud long disappointed sigh, reality hit him hard and confirmed the initial thoughts he wanted to hide from. Azerus lay outside amongst a hay heap in a dirty small boar pen.
Surprisingly, even though the odds were against him, he was still both saddened and disappointed by this, as it meant there would be no breakfast or other things he hoped for.

With a groan he picks his battered, bruised and injured body off the floor and recollects the night before as he staggers towards the Southern Gate Tap to collect the belongings he had hid the night before.

---

---

"I will be fine, Willem." Cia replied to the well dressed man next to her, adorned in the usual colors of the Beaumonts. A dark, gold colored robe with emerald green trimmings over a well made light suit, along with comfortable pants and slippers. "I have my training and I'm a grown woman. I can handle myself." She looked up at the cloud filled sky, shivering slightly as a cold wind blew. In the southern lands, winter tended to hit hard, and around Malgrave Castle that was especially true. Nothing she couldn't handle though. She pulled her cloak tighter around her, the thin metal armor she was wearing doing little to keep out the cold by itself.

"I'm not saying you're not, Cia, but...just be careful." The man, Willem said with a sigh, holding a hand to his head, slightly disturbing the dark colored hair. "Normally the things we hunt are easy enough to deal with. A lone rogue wizard...some beast or something that has found its way into town, but recently...well. You've heard." Cia sighed. His concern was touching, but not needed. It was their job - their mission to take care of things like this, and as the only one of age this year it was her sole responsibility.

The older Nobles were all off doing other things, and cleaning up the dark elsewhere.

"Willem, we have been friends since I was little. I am more than capable of handling myself. Be they orc or demonspawn, I shall handle myself with the grace expected of one of our kind." The gate to the castle began to open, the old wooden and iron construct creaking with age as it was raised off the ground. "So please, do not concern yourself. You have your own tasks, and you must see them through to the end."

"I...of course. I just..."

"Willem, hush." She said, mounting the horse that had been given to her for her departure. The steed gave a small whinny of complaint, but it was well trained and did nothing more. "I will return, and then I shall have some stories to tell you instead of you always telling me about your accomplishments." She offered him a small smile, to which he laughed.

"Ahah, I should hope! You've been saying you'll one up me as soon as you left those gates."

"That's a promise I intend to keep," After making sure she had her equipment with her, she turned her head from him to the gate. "Try and keep up, hm?" She joked, before spurring the horse onwards. Willem simply watched, shaking his head with a small sigh. Well, she was right. He had his own work to do. With that, he watched as the gates to the castle close once more before heading back up the steps from the courtyard and into the castle.

---

The travel was...much less glamorous than she had imagined, and she definitely wasn't even expecting much to begin with. The travel further north was easy enough, but the weather wasn't exactly optimal conditions for traveling. Winter was hitting them hard this year, it seemed. Normally she'd be warm and comfortable within the castle, or at least outside training or among the walls near a brazier that was kept alive. Fitting in with refugees as she traveled proved somewhat difficult as well. Mostly due to her mannerisms and appearance, but as long as she kept her head down most overlooked her. Her cloak helped hide her well enough anyways, and most refugees didn't want any trouble so they said nothing.

About a week, she had finally managed to make it to the city. Getting in was simple enough. A small group of refugees she had saved from some dark creature was more than happy to help her. She thanked them of course, with what little money she had and managed to make her way into the city.

It was, well, a first for her and she felt slightly overwhelmed. She had never seen this many people in one place before, and while that made the young noble somewhat uneasy, it made for blending in with the crowd that much easier. Well, the human crowd at least. In her few days there, she had mostly avoided interacting with those of the Orcish, goblin, and other races like theirs. While she was far cry from racist, she simply did not consider them to be very...good conversationalists or partners.

...wait, that was a bit racist, wasn't it? She sighed. Life outside of Malgrave wasn't as simple as she had thought it would. She knew she might face some...rumors and discrimination herself, but learned habits were a bit hard to get rid of. Thankfully, the few days she was there she didn't get into any trouble, and managed to avoid making trouble. She had come here to do something, after all. After having listening to rumors and finding a flyer asking for someone to travel and find the source of darkness, she knew what she was here for.

grabbing the flyer, she rolled the paper up and headed for the Tavern.

The Southern Gate Tap was...interesting to say the least. Several patrons were not human, and there was even an orc. While she made a note not to look at them for too long for fear of offending one, it was clear she was at least not comfortable around them. The smell of cheap alcohol wasn't helping in the slightest either. She wasn't one to avoid drink, but a fine Wine was what she was more into rather than cheap ale. In all, it was not a place she would have normally found herself, but she was willing to make compromises. If it was to find the source of these beasts, then it was what she would have to do.

Her eyes then landed on a girl, a few years younger than she and an orc and overhead what he was saying to her.

"I'm Gun'tar Molokoi of the Morash tribe , son of Galtosh Molokai and Mareea the shaman. I heard you want to travel east"

Normally it would have been rude to interrupt, but this girl must have also been the one she was looking for to travel East. She quietly walked over, boots barely making any noise on the floor as she approached.

"Pardon me miss," She said, lowering the hood covering her head as she did so. "But I couldn't help but overhear the Orc. Are you heading East? If it would not be too much trouble, perhaps I could take this free seat and we can discuss travel plans."

A bare hand reached out to grab an apple off of the display, bringing it to the man's brown eyes that were alight with mischief. They narrowed briefly, inspecting the fruit before letting out an "Eh." noise and placing it back down on the stall. Looking up straight into the stall owner's eyes he picked up yet another apple. "Maybe this one..." he drawled, staring intently at the red skin. The shopkeep's face split into an apprehensive smile, maybe this one would be to the strange tattooed man's liking, unlike the past four.

"Oh no, what's this? It's rotten, and I even see a few worms crawling around in it!" he proclaimed in "horror" (or at least, as best as he could lie), loud enough for the other customers standing around him to hear, and to look accusingly at the quickly angering stall salesman.

The poor fruit in question was batted out of the brown-eyed customer's hands by the shopkeep and quickly replaced by an equally fresh one. Gritting his teeth the salesman did his best to smile at the customer. "What about that one sir, I'm sure it's perfectly fresh! And free of charge too!"

A small smirk appeared on the tattooed man's face, nodding in agreement. "So it would seem. Must have just been a one-off mistake, the quality of these fruits are superb." he noted, biting into it while strolling away from the stand.

Still feeling somewhat hungry after his quick snack, Tarren pulled his hood up before casually walking into a nearby Inn by the name of 'The Southern Gate Tap'. Once at the bar he quickly ordered a bowl of meat soup and some bread, handing the barmaid a few coins as payment he sat down at a nearby table.

Having not forgotten his main goal in coming into the town, the wanderer looked around for any usually interesting looking individuals, and to his surprise he actually found some. Two well-armed women sat at a table alongside a hulking Orc was not a common sight, and he was dying to know just what they were up to.

His musing was cut short by the arrival of his food, which he picked up to take over to the other table, hearing something of "traveling east".

Arriving at their table he spoke up, hoping he wouldn't come off as too rude. Then he realized he was the one that was going to be doing the talking and gave up hope on that.

"Hello there, couldn't help but overhear of your grand adventure that you're planning. I might be interesting in accompanying you if the opportunity is presented." Terran really hoped that introduction sounded proper enough. "Just, uh, carry on with your conversation, I'd just like to listen in."

Cold crystals mounted themselves at the tips of the python tongued steel boots on Archenos’ feet as he walked through the crisp undergrowth. The lightning forked branches above him, spread aside at the centre like veins from the heart, cast strafing shadows across his already shaded face as he took slow and wide steps forward. Frost poured over the earth at his feet as he stepped, the natural spring of the grass withering away. Replaced by the jagged state of glass, each strand of sharp green blades snapped away under his weight.

It had been but a few days since he had come across the Vikon raiders, the last of their blood had finally fallen away from his cold ivory steel breastplate, though he had kept the leader's shriveled heart to use as bait for predators in the abyss of night. He was perhaps a few minutes from the Royal Road, as he had spotted a handful of travellers heading to Conra on hunters paths and farmer routes.

He had kept his distance for the most part, the dim lights of their swaying lanterns not reaching the dark sparkle of his mirrored helm, though his hand never left his endlessly black hilt through cautious instinct. It would take perhaps another few hours on the paved Royal Road to reach the Southern gate, where he would blend in to the masses. He had had enough of his life in the wilderness.

Archenos lusted for the knowledge the Great Library could gift upon him, the millions of pages and incalculable words that he could drain into his wisdom, seep every last drop until his eyes rolled back into an enlightened slumber. It is said there are Tomes older than man himself, written in the bile of ancient dragons, slain by the Mountain Dwarves of the Old East. The pure magic that could be observed, absorbed by his mortal ocular registries, his comparatively insect like imagination could not begin to put together the intelligent structure of the First Ones.

With his wandering feet and pondering mind rolling down the passage of time, Archenos found himself but a few feet from a hanging oil lamp on the Royal Road, the Queen’s Flower stamped into the wood to mourn her passing. With his forked cowl low and his deep blue cloak wrapped around his wide back, the echoing chink of his armor as it rose and settled was the only sound that met his ears as he made his way to the Capital of Man.

---

It was two hours since the first oil lamp passed under Archenos’ notice, and after the fourteenth a hundred yards behind him, he was growing close to the edge of the city. Five groups had passed by him en route, and only one dared to gaze into his empty helm. It was a child and his mother. She had held his soft blonde hair so close to her waist when he passed, she whispered down to him too quietly for Archenos to hear her words, but he stared up at the shadowy figure of armor and blades without fear, despite presumably being advised the opposite.

Others that passed were caravans and travelers, searching for any hope that they could scavenge from the world as it was now. Wealth, stability and safety. Luxuries that are slowly disappearing from these lands, and soon from all lands if the tides of so called evil aren’t stopped. These preachers were boring Archenos, even from afar he grew tired of their theories of mass destruction. He dared not think of the cities sects and chapel fronts, after the Queen’s death, they were sure to be sewing doubt and misery into the populace.

He would soon reach the gates, from there he would make his way to the Great Library, should the heightened security allow it. If not, he would see what there was to do around the city. Maybe a cult or two had fragments of magic that they would part with, willingly or otherwise, Archenos would take them for himself.

Sarah

The young woman sat up with a start. Her face paled slightly but she recovered when she realized the voice that startled her was kindly. An orc, she figured. Her interactions with orcs were extremely limited. She lived on the Ballion border and not many non-humans would risk an encounter with the Ballion Military. She had nothing against them, just no idea how she should address th orc other than as her elder.

Her voice picked up with a slight soprano, but had a firm edge to it. "My name is Sarah, the Smith's Daughter of Levital," she said, gently bowing her head. She the n addressed his question. "Indeed, I seek to travel back home to the east," she gave a sheepish smile to the orc and was about to ask about his travel situation when another stranger approached.

This new stranger appeared as if a noble, catching the village girl off guard. She sat up straighter and her eyes widened. "Indeed madame, I do wish to travel east, however I am not sure for my travel plans as I was hoping to find a company or caravan traveling my direction..." she hesitated to glance at the orc. Who were these people? And just as she was about to politely turn them down when a third soul arrived.

Well if they were all interested... She took a deep breath and started speaking.

"I plan on leaving on the first of Winter. The night of the festival. I chose to travel during the winter to help reduce running into looters and bandits and hopefully avoid troubled roads," she sighed, it wasn't the real reason for her to travel at such a hard time. "I was looking for a group to travel with but haven't had any luck so far," she paused and looked around the small gathering she had. She felt very uneasy, as if something special was expected of her.

Ignoring the third that showed up and rather rudely took a seat, Cia took a seat next to Sarah, deciding that her presence would not be unwelcome. She wasn't hungry, so she ordered no food and merely decided to listen to Sarah. Leaving the first of Winter? On the night of the festival. Cia was somewhat disappointed. She had never been to something like that and would have loved to have see it. A small loss in hindsight though, she had her mission to rid the world of beasts if she could find them. A festival could wait.

"Aha, well, if you do not mind my presence I have been looking for a companion to travel with as well, and it seems we are roughly headed in the same direction." Cia replied to Sarah, giving her a friendly smile. "As someone who has lived in the south all of her life, I can agree that traveling during the Winter is good for avoiding looters and bandits...though it does present its own challenges...namely, winter itself." Winter was good for avoiding other humans except for the most intrepid on the road to be sure, but it was also dangerous. The cold of winter was not to be underestimated, not to mention with the wildlife and beasts the way they were...they might run into some trouble. They would definitely need to be well equipped and make sure to keep warm.

And then she realized she had forgotten to introduce herself.

"Ah! Forgive me," She quickly continued, somewhat flustered. "I am Laurencia. Cia, if you wish. It is a pleasure Miss Sarah." She conveniently left out her Surname for now...hopefully it wouldn't be an issue.

Tarren cared not for the festival, in fact he had almost forgotten about it. Needless to say he wouldn't lose sleep over missing it. He wasn't a huge fan of traveling during the winter, but he was confident he was prepared to deal with it. He couldn't say the same of the others gathered at the table.

Another thing he noticed is that he appearance went completely ignored by the more "proper" looking woman, he figured his entrance wasn't polite enough after all. Oh well, you can't win them all. She'd get over it sooner or later.

Ignoring her in turn, Tarren turned to the younger girl.

With a thoughtful look on his face he spooned a bit of soup into his mouth, swallowing it before smirking at her. "Well kid, looks like your luck has changed. If you'd like to avoid freezing to death halfway before your crazy adventure is even started, I think I can help with that. Been living in the wilds for pretty much all my life, I know a thing or two about that sort of thing if you'll have me, miss...?"

The tattooed man didn't even really know why he was volunteering for this, especially since she hadn't said anything about being paid. But, he could actually get the chance to socialize with some people, do some adventuring, and help some kid get wherever she needed to go alive and well. All with only a mild chance of death. Hooray.

Archenos Pinesorrow

The cityscape had approached Archenos at a steady pace, the glancing lights and stark silhouette of the palace leering closer and closer. The clouds far above him in the sky were slowly shifting, stars leaping through the blackness to wink down upon his armor. It was not often that he felt the nip of the night air as the cold infiltrated the links of his chain, but Archenos was sure he felt a buzz of energy shoot to his arm in a shiver.

Closer still than the vast city itself, a lone guard post lay ahead of him on the road. A wooden tower, perhaps twelve feet high, a single man atop of it. From its side hung a lantern on a long rusted nail, casting a bright light onto the road, bringing Archenos’ figure into a clear perspective. Luckily, the guard was asleep, leaning back on the legs of his chair, iron helm pulled down to hide himself from consciousness. He heard the loud snoring from the other side of the road, but not before he spotted the guards on foot in front of him.

They were heading straight for him, weapons drawn in a casual manner. However Archenos knew better than to think they would look over his armor, weapons and general appearance. In fact, he hoped they would at least give him a second look, he enjoyed the brief awe that most expressed. Archenos double stepped himself to stop that track of thought, he was never modest, a fault derived from his so far lonely lifestyle.

They were but a few feet away from him now and they had spotted his sword and armor, the menacing impression that he left on the pupil reflected on their faces. He held his hilt, the blade of his sword remaining in its sheath, but his arm ready to snap back and brandish Vein Drainer.

Gun'tar smiled as the Sarah spoke. " No need to worry , girl ! I haven't ate a human in a while " laughed Gun'tar but seeing the look on Sarah's face , he quickly added " Just a joke. No worries ! ".

As he said that , a woman came dressed like one of those human leaders. Hmph. What was a human like that doing here in a tavern ?
He sat quietly there letting the woman speak. Adding his own comments as she talked.
" *the orc laughed when he heard the woman say that the winter will prove a challenge* That will not be a problem for me. See ? Me , Ice Orc. As for bandits and looters ? Let them come ! Garam'Dora'Mala hasn't killed anyone in awhile * he takes out his sword and puts it on the table with a load thud * "

And again. A new...human came to the table. This will be a party of humans and he knew it. They are in human lands after all. He notices that way he looks at Sarah and says after letting the others finish their speeches " If you want to mate with the girl , just say so human ! Challenge her already. I'm curious to see how , she , fights ! ".

Gun'tar didn't know half of the human culture or customs. He didn't had time to understand it , in his time he only hunted , fought and drank some part of his money every night.

@Rune_Alchemist@Lady Sven

@Lady Sven

Azerus was out of luck, seemingly he had not hidden his gear as well as he originally thought.
Knowing (planning) that he was going to get heavily drunk he had buried his few possessions behind some small shrubbery not too far from the tavern.
As he stood there in disbelief staring at the patch of up turned dirt he hazily recalled himself shouting of his hidden weapon stash while drunkenly throwing out unwise threats during previous nights messy brawl.
He lazily muttered some insults at his drunken self and cursed his misfortune while shamefully cradling his forehead in his hands.
Someone had obviously taken his supplies as compensation for the trouble he had caused.

Azerus slumped to the floor and was wallowing in self pity when his eye was caught by a familiar looking face. Instantly the misery of his loss subsided as he was easily distracted by his unplaced curiosity. With a groan he cleaned himself off, stood and followed the stranger, fumbling after him through the busy streets. He failed to recognise the man from anywhere but couldn't deny the familiarity. More so than his face Azerus quickly became intrigued by the mans actions and the flyers he was putting up.

~Help needed to travel East to find source of Darkness~

The stranger was sitting silently inside the Southern Gate by the open window, simply watching the many people pass by.
Azerus confidently strode by the man and nonchalantly leant against the solid brick wall beside him.

"Heading east hey, dangerous roads... What's some good help worth to you?" he asks the stranger.

Sarah

The girl was overwhelmed. She looked to each person and then at the table.

"Pay... will be scarce...," she said as firmly as she could. She didn't have too much money to her name, and she wondered if her home town would pay them. If they could pay them. "I will have to use what money I have for supplies. Probably a cart too," she trailed off after mention of a cart. She looked at the ork, whose humor could use some work. "I would prefer not to kill needlessly on my quest, good sir, but it comforts me to have someone of your confidence willing to come along. My town will be able to pay you once we get there," she stated, looking around the table. "All of you."

Sarah opened her pouch and procured a scrap of paper and a writing pencil. She jotted down a few things before showing the paper to the table. It was a simple map of the region with several somewhat messy handwriting marking points of interest. "I plan on taking the route I took to get here, but in reverse. Passing through the town between here and Golfas City," she said trying to sound official. She remembers working for a troop and how their commander talked. It was inspiring and encouraging. She had a feeling that her quiet voice wouldn't have the same punch. She retrieved a fresher piece of paper and lay it flat on the table next to her map. At the top, in very carefully written Common, we're the words: 'Sarah's Saviors - Charter'. She fought embarrassment but the charter also sported an official seal. She could legally run her own Troop without being declared a group of bndits by officials. "Lastly... I wish to temporarily add you to this Charter. By you signing it, we can pass through Golfas as mercenaries and it will also represent my promise to pay you." Sarah gave a soft nod and sat back.

Christopher

Christopher was listening in on Sarah's group. He kept looking out the window but was so focused on listening, most everything else escaped his notice. His concentration was broken at about the time Sarah had brought out her map. The man looked up to who has spoken ready to retort rudely when he realized the person was a non-human. He wasn't sure what he was. Chris was even more turned away from being rude when he realized what the stranger had said.

"Travelling east as well, then? Any help would be nice as I haven't been able to gather much of a company to take east," he said with a firm nod. "I was just thinking of giving up my search and maybe find a group that is going the same way..." Chris hesitated then pointed to the other chair at his table. "Since it's going to be pretty dangerous, I'll pay you 500 gold up front and 2,500 gold to finish the job. And we might have to join up with more humans and non-humans. I may he money but mercenaries with a death wish are hard to come by," he chuckled slightly. He glanced in the direction of Sarah's table.

Gun'tar with a determined face said " Keep your money , girl. Gun'tar of the Morash tribe doesn't need your money. I'll be needing a trinket or something like that from you instead , to bring back to my tribe ! "

What was this paper ? A Charter she said ? Gun'tar never heard of anything like it but if this was needed for him to leave this place and go back to the tribe. So be it.

" Gun'tar will sign. Yes ! " with that said the Orc cut his thumb ( just a small cut ) and put a fingerprint with blood on the paper.

" With that done. It's time to finish the agreement with some drinks. *looking behind him* Barmaid ! Bring us some ale ! And one of your best wines for the lady ! *he points to Cia* She looks like she could use one ! " laughs Gun'tar.

@Lady Sven

So many people seemed interested on this little venture. If she had to be honest, Cia was somewhat intimidated. The chances of something going horribly wrong was quite high, and the chances of one of them possibly taking issue with her origins was also quite high. Urgh, she could really use a drink right now of some sort, but this place smelled of cheap alcohol so she wasn't even going to try. If they even had wine, it'd likely be...well, not so good. And then the Orc had to go and order some for her.

Well, it'd be rude to just turn down a gift like that, but she really didn't want to drink anything.

"Ah...Thank you...Gun'tar, was it?" She began. "But I am fine. I already dined elsewhere before coming here." He hoped he didn't insist. She'd likely be unable to say no if he was persistent enough. That aside though, the talk of payment and some sort of Charter that was signed came up.

"I do not need money, miss Sarah." She replied to the girl. "My aim is to simply hunt the dark things of this world. I require no payment for a chance to do such things." A bit too altruistic? Perhaps, but she could take care of herself and she couldn't ask for money for this. "And if possible...killing humans should only be done if necessary. I would rather not stain my blade with the blood of those who are not in need of mercy from it." Aside from being against everything her family stood for, it was rather distressing to have to kill humans that hadn't fallen to the dark. She knew her families origins very well, and they were always careful to avoid such things.

At any rate, she briefly glanced at the charter. She was going to have to sign that in full name...that was troubling. She was hesitant to do so for a number of reasons, and she really didn't want to. However, lying on such an official document was bad. Lying in general was bad, and...she sighed. She took the pencil from Sarah when she was done with it, and elegantly wrote her full name on the paper. She hoped no one said anything.

She of course, also caught word of what the other man was saying some distance away. She had already signed it, however, and she wasn't going to go back on her word. So she ignored the man, and kept her head down for now.

Gun'tar was...hurt a little. It was not a good sign to start a journey with a proper drink. It was disrespectful too.

" It is not a good sign Laurencia to refuse a drink at the start of a journey. *he turns to the barmaid* Don't listen to her ! Bring her the best wine you got , I don't care if you have to bring it from the other side of the world. Bring it fast.

*he turns his head back to Cia* What was that with mercy ? If a living thing cannot defend himself/herself , why should it be alive in the first place ? I mean...not to attack it outright for no reason but if it attacks then it must be ready a fight. You humans are strange creatures ( as in strange living things I mean " author note " he didn't say this ). " said Gun'tar with a look of confusion on his face. He didn't understood this woman , Laurencia.

@Rune_Alchemist

Pulling back his hood he raised an eyebrow at the hulking Orc, who had just slammed his gigantic weapon on the table, spilling some of his soup on his robe-bottom. He was not going to have fun dealing with this one, that's for sure.

After wiping his clothes dry he looked back up as the Orc began to speak, apparently thinking that Terran had been attempting to flirt with the girl - Sarah was her name - he guessed this 'Gun'tar' fellow just didn't grasp human facial expressions. And he didn't even want to get into the fact that the Orc had wanted him to challenge her to a fight to become Terran's "mate".

Terran was about to open his mouth to tell off Gun'tar before Sarah spoke up again. He listened intently to what she had to say, and the deal sounded good enough for him.

The tattooed man chuckled, "Sarah's Saviors, eh? I suppose it's got a nice ring to it."

So far the worst part of the mission was the fact that he had to sign a document. His handwriting was embarrassingly bad. Though with a reluctant sigh and a grimace he took it once Laurencia was done. "Oh now you're just showing off." he muttered to himself as he saw the girls name elegantly written on the paper.

Printing his own underneath hers, he sighed at the obvious difference in quality, and then sat it back on the table.

"I...really shouldn't." She replied with a sigh, but if he was going to insist, there wasn't much she could do. She just hoped the orc didn't take her not drinking it as rude, since she doubted it would be up with her standard. However, the Orc's next words caused her to frown slightly. She didn't want to think the stories she was told about them were true, but...from his words it seemed like they were possibly just as barbaric as she was told. Not that it was her place to judge such things, but his words were completely wrong.

"I suppose I must make myself clearer. I will, of course defend myself if attacked but only then. My blade exists to bring mercy to those who have been lost to the dark forces of this world. To ease their suffering - which is why I wish to go east. I however, will not be doing any killing of innocent humans unless I absolutely must." And that is about all she had to say on the matter.

"And I apologize, sir." She replied feeling somewhat embarrassed. "That is the only way I was taught to write." Granted, she could have probably written it more like the others, she simply didn't think of it.

@Rune_Alchemist

" That is what I am talking about too. No mercy for those that threaten me or those of my tribe. If , let's say bandits attacked your home , would you let them take all of your valuables, if you have any , or would you show them no mercy ?
I know what you humans think of us orcs. That we are simply mindless beasts , showing no mercy. Some of my kind are like that , true. But at least we know honor. Killing someone without challenging him to a fight is without honor. Your Queen died like that. Do you think that the assassin should deserve mercy too ? Do you think that he has honor ? Most of your kind forget that when it comes to orcs , you can expect us to fight one on one without fear. We honor our opponent. We know if he needs to be killed or not. " Gun'tar said. His voice had a small tint of anger.

@Lady Sven

I need some supplies
1250 upfront, 1250 on completion.
He replies not moving from his spot, not even turning his head to acknowledge the conversation he was in. His words were short and sharp, straight to the point void of any pleasantries.
Overall you save a few pieces of coin and I have more chance to claim my rest on the other side.
He points out matter-of-factly, appearing as a mysterious and wise foreigner. Standing there confidently, silent and still, with all the patience in the world as he stared at the floor in deep calculation and contemplation.

Only the truth was far from that, no thoughts were running though his mind nor was he pondering life's mysteries. He simply struggled to stand upright while battling with the ache in his head, praying the hangover would either end or kill him.