The handsome woman, with her blonde hair tied in a bun, raised an eyebrow at their manner. "_{I'm just the help...}" she muttered. Still, she had been stationed to be there so she wouldn't walk away, at least until she received a 'no' from everyone. The large man and the diminutive Gnome looking over what she assumed was an aclehmist's nightmare unnerved her somewhat, though the Captain seemed suave and refined enough to be within these accommodations, and the shorter woman did not seem too out of place.

Kayden gave Lis a grin. "I admit, it's a tad cliche'." he told her, letting out a chuckle. He called the woman over with a wave of his hand, and then sighed. "Don't take this as an example of my usual manner, but...it is free." He took two wine glasses, and downed one with little effort. The next, he held for later in his left hand, his other hand with its thumb within his belt. Allard's comments drew his attention, and he raised an eyebrow. Inquisitiveness he didn't mind, as long as it disrupted nothing. The serving woman had left by that point. "Just keep mostly to yourselves. It's all about presentation with Nobles. However, I wanted all of you here to hear what this Pembrook had to say."

As if on cue, they suddenly heard the distant 'clack' of something upon the ground, over and over and over. It ominously came closer, as if it was a stalking shark. Closer and closer, yet painfully slow.

Kayden nearly chugged his other glass when he saw the Lord Pembrook, for it had been revealed that the clack was indeed a cane, and the man holding the cane looked almost like a mole. Short, fat, his beard looked more like whiskers, and he seemed to be almost blind. "G-greetings fellow swordsmen!" he called, waving at them with the free hand. He wore fine clothing and many rings on his fingers. "My my, what a large group you have!"

"It's only the four of us, my Lord..." Kayden replied, trying not to offend the old man.

"Four?" He squinted. "Ah yes, those are the chairs. Anyway, yes yes I am quite glad you have deigned to meet with me, yes. I am quite glad indeed. Yes yes, follow me!"

He abruptly turned around, and as painfully slow as he had been before, he began walking away.

Kayden looked like what the kids called 'done.' "_{By the Gods}...Sir, sir please. We're only here to hear what mission you'd give us."

"Ah, but why not speak in the living room?"

"We're fine here, thanks."

Lord Pembrook halted, and turned. "Are you certain?"

"Yes, indeed." Kayden replied, his smooth voice very breathless from the sigh he was making. He decided it was time to down that second glass of wine. As he chugged, the Lord halted and nodded. "Very well. You see, my boy. You see, recently I have come across a proprietor that wishes to buy a trinket I have in my vault, yes. Yes in fact he seemed quite interested."

"Cool."

"Yes, hehe. And Indeed I did not wish to part with it. No, my, I could never! For the Book is quite old, yes. Quite old! Very old, you see."

"I do."

"So! But see, yes. Yes, see. The man seemed very peculiar. Very peculiar. My servants told me as much as well, as did my house priest. We believe he will attempt to take the trinket out of my vault by force, you see."

"Because he was peculiar?"

"Oh, many nasty rumors in town, my good fellow. Many. And one can never be too careful, and so I dearly hope to hire you to be guards for my vault for a few weeks, that is, until things have died down and we can be sure, you see. Indeed, yes."

At the sight of the noble mole-man, Lis' left eyebrow arched in disbelief, lips pursing in a displeased manner. Her look only soured more as the ancient Lord Pembrook began rambling on about nothings; clearly his mind was addled with old age (And alcohol, judging by the redness of his nose and size of his gut), and he still seemed to be living out his younger days in his mind. Although glad Kayden seemed to be dealing with it in a professional manner, part of her wished she'd taken the offer of wine now. If this job was going to be as dreary as it's employer, she was going to need a lot of alcohol to cope.

"We're guarding a dusty old book?!" Her harsh whisper to Kayden was equal parts incredulous and annoyed - this had not been what she was expecting from her first job with this company. She had expected fighting, bloodshed, excitement - even guarding a caravan on the road would prove more entertaining than being locked in this creepy old manor looking after an antique. Eyes darting back to Lord Pembrook, Lis stepped forward slightly to gain his attention; her not-so-quiet whisper to Kayden had gone unnoticed by the elderly man. His misty eyes did turn to her, double-taking and blinking in surprise as he had to look down, rather than up as he had with Kayden. Cheeks flushing red momentarily (Honestly, she wasn't that short - why did people still get surprised by it??), she cleared her throat, arms folded across her bosom in a businesslike manner.

"Surely tracking down and... dissuading this proprietor would prove more fruitful?" She suggested in as neutral a tone she could manage; only just catching herself at the end of her sentence and stepping back slightly to look at Kayden - he was the Captain, and it wasn't her place to decide such things; hopefully he didn't consider this for her to be speaking out of turn... otherwise they'd have some real problems down the road. Lis' opinion enjoyed being expressed.

Allard nodded as he left the book alone and walked over closer to where Lis and Kayden were standing. He had to suppress a chuckle when an old overgrown mole came from the hallway greeting them as "fellow swordsman". Maybe at one point, but the man was definitely lacking something that he used to have had he ever been called a swordsman before. Allard couldn't suppress his smirk that he had, but it didn't take long for it to melt away. The way the man spoke was just a little less than frustrating, and little more than mind numbing. From what he gathered, they were here to protect some old book, that was from Pembrook's own description just a "trinket", from a person who is just vaguely peculiar.

Allard slid his flask from his pocket and threw some back before asking the mole man to attempt speaking any further. He then looked over to Lis and seeing that she looked a fair bit agitated already at the man, he offered her the flask. She may need it to if they were going to make it through this man's explanations. "What is special about this book and, more importantly, exactly what kind of rumors are floating around about this peculiar person?" He then folded his arms as he continued,"Also, it would be nice to have a name or information on whoever it is so we know who to look out for."

When their new employer arrived, Hobnob divided his attention between listening to the discussion and working on his blueprint. When Lord Pembrook asked the mercs to join him in the living room, Hobnob was glad Kayden talked him into staying where they were. At the pace the mole lord was going, it would have taken weeks to get there.

Soon after Pembrook started speaking, Hobnob found himself paying more and more attention to what the lord was saying. Hobnob liked peculiar things. Probably because he was a little peculiar himself. Then Lis suggested simply going after the proprietor. "There's a chance Mr Peculiar might not be that desperate for the book" Hobnob said in response "If we did what you suggested, we might end up beating some random collector senseless for no real reason". It was then that Allard asked his questions. "I was just about to ask the same thing" the gnome said "In what way was this proprietor peculiar?".

Kayden had to agree with Lis on both counts, the grin he was trying to hide showed as much. He knew how to maneuver and keep his cool in many...diplomatic situations, but he had chosen the life of a Mercenary to keep him among more abrupt folk. He placed a hand on her shoulder in thanks that she did her best not to appear rude, and he gave her a wink as he spoke. "I agree with my lady friend here, could we not find this man?"

That question, along with the others on how this stranger was peculiar, had Lord Pembrook holding his hands up to settle the mercenaries down. "Yes, yes, I see you are very eager my friends. But allow me to explain. This man, called Strater from what he claims, was quite interested in one of the many books I procured. When I told him it was not for sale, he looked at me strangely, and for some reason, it took all of my will power to refuse his offer. When I did refuse, you see, I felt as if I was in grave danger. Indeed my priest thought so as well, as did my many guard. For a moment we had a fear the likes of which I had not felt in many years, since I faced the Death Knight Heroglabus in single combat, yes those were the days! Tall I was, and-"

"While that does sound impressive, please go on sir." Kayden said.

"Yes, yes, quite. You see, he told me I had a weeks time to reconsider his offer. That was four days ago, you see. You see if it weren't for my old warrior instincts kicking in, I would not be worried. I am a very wealthy man you see, and would pay you all handsomely, yes, yes. And I have many guards and a strong vault, but there was something about him. Something I could not quite put out of my mind."

The thought of being handsomely paid, as well as this new information, had the young Captain pondering for a moment. Left hand holding his right elbow, his right hand stroked his chin as he gazed inwardly for a moment. Pembrook continued to speak, squinting at Jollan, or so he thought, when in fact he was looking at a vase between Jollan and Hobnob. "As for the book, it's an old Ra'sheek holy book in a language that has been lost in time. A trinket, so I was told. Though does it have vast magic? Many would be daft to say so, but you never do know these days. Now, as for the story of how I procured the book, it was twenty years ago-"

"I am sure it is a lovely story sir," Kayden said, now it being his turn to hold his hands up to halt the Lord Pembrook. "We shall discuss this matter further at our humble hall and get back to you first thing in the morning."

Once they made it outside, they strode along the ornate stone pathway leading out of the estate. Kayden glanced back, and then glanced at Lis, running a hand through his hair. "By the Evergod," he breathed, showing he felt the way she did about that whole affair.

---

It was hours later in the evening, when Nuva, Secret, and Morek had made it back to the Guild Hall, as well as any Gnomes Hobnob needed. Haukford and Jex the Draconic Hunter stayed at Hillcrest, and Virgil stated he would be riding out there in the morning to keep an eye on things. For now however, everyone was in the Meadhall in the Guild. Kayden had gotten everyone drinks, and sat down with them. He reiterated all they had found out, and told them he wanted to accept the offer even if, despite Pembrook's claims, it was probably nothing.

"I admit I'd want a bit more excitement," Kayden sighed to them as they had all sat down upon the center table. He'd just finished regaling the newcomers with the tale. "But sometimes there's nothing better than getting paid to do nothing. I'm sure there will be many contracts within the next few weeks where I'll need my sword, but for now? I say take the job. It'll help keep the Guildhall running if nothing else." His chin rested on as fist, elbow on the table.

---

@MiddleEarthRoze@BCTheEntity@rush99999@Jollan

Hobnob had taken a seat on the opposite side of the table from Kayden. All 9 other members of his crew stood behind their boss with varying degrees of curiosity on their faces. Hobnob had already told them what had been told at the house of their next possible employer. What they heard interested them greatly. Hobnob couldn't say he the prospect of what they were facing didn't intrigue him either.

"From the description of this Strater character that the mole lord gave us, I think it can be safely assumed that if we accepted this contract, we'd be dealing with something incredibly interesting" Hobnob said "Which is excellent, because incredibly interesting is exactly what we signed up for".
Hobnob's crew murmured in agreement.
"Having said that" Hobnob continued "In preparation for the quest that this guild will soon embark upon, I humbly submit a plethora of enchantments and traps devised by my crew and I that we believe will aid in our upcoming endeavor". Behind him, Hobnob's crew produced a wide variety of convoluted blueprints that detailed workings of runes, traps, rune traps, trap runes*, and many other weird and wonderful things.

*Yes, there is a difference between the 2.

Kayden's wink did not go unnoticed; a slight quirk to Lis' hard line of a mouth showing some amusement - at least they could share in the ridiculousness of this task. Glad they were able to stop the old Lord from rambling on too long, Lis breathed a sigh of relief as they exited, even allowing herself an actual smile at Kayden's comment. She didn't think the Evergod was on their side at the moment.

By the time the others had arrived back at the guildhall, Lis had settled in comfortably and had even found some time to relax. Having a lengthy bathing session in a nearby bathhouse, she'd indulged with some of her own soaps and lotions to make the hot water even more comforting. When meeting the others back in the Mead Hall, her blue-black hair - now dry and sweetly scented with lemongrass - hung heavy down her back and around her face, adding a softness to her sharp features that would normally be missed. Even her outfit seemed more casual, with her armour, overcoat and gloves discarded, teal shirt untucked from her trousers and the sleeves rolled up to the elbow; her injury from the day before had healed nicely, and was now just a thin stripe of red on her forearm amidst her tanned skin and older, paler scars.

At first, Lis simply directed herself to whichever chair was closest to her; by the Captains left. She thought nothing of it before hesitating a fraction of a second, wondering if someone as new as herself deserved a seat by the guildmaster's side. But Kayden had seemed unperturbed - amused, even - by her speaking out earlier. It was clear this guild, or at the very least it's leader, didn't care for such trivial matters. So there she sat, enjoying another tankard of Banian ale. However, the taste of the ale grew sour in her mouth and her grip tightened around the tankard in no time; the mission. Of course. Part of her wanting to get out and relax had been because of a worrying thought; the way that Lord Pembrook had described the "Peculiar" fellow, and even his house priest having a negative reaction... it made her think of other-wordly things. Something not natural. And the worst of all these possibilities was that of a Vampire.

Indeed, she couldn't disagree with the her gut feeling, as there were plenty of signs pointing towards it. Either that or it was some fellow versed in dark magical; either way, she wasn't happy. In her time in Bania, the so called "monster-hunters" she had travelled with rarely encountered the likes of vampires, but when they did, they were not prepared. The feral, uncontrollable beasts that could not hide in plain sight like their more intelligent family were difficult to dispatch; it often brought with it several deaths, a large loss of limbs, and even a few mercy killings when some poor souls became infected.

"There's a number of things that his fellow could be. All are dangerous possibilities, but if we're wanting a worst case scenario..." He voice paused, eyes travelling around the table. "Then there is some signs in what Lord Pembrook told us that this may be a vampire; but we'd better hope this isn't the work of one. From the sounds of it, it's intelligent and controlled. And they're the most dangerous." Her tone was grim, eyes hard but now staring quite firmly at the table, not wanting to meet anybody's eyes anymore. "Let's just say I've had some personal experience with the feral ones; they were never good experiences, so I can barely imagine how much harder this task will be." Now looking up and glancing at Kayden, she tapped her fingers lightly against the table.

"However, I'm not one to back down from a fight. I say we take the job; at the very least, I have some experience which may come in useful, if the worst should occur." Her tone was somewhat reluctant, but she wasn't going to let the mercenary group down at the first hurdle. Even if the worst case scenario occurred, the task would prove to be more enthralling than she had first anticipated.

Since his conversation with Secret, and knowing what he did now, Nuva was at least happy that his own interests weren't at risk of being spoiled to anybody. As it happened, only Kayden and Secret herself knew of what he was; as the guild leader, the Captain ought to be considered trustworthy, whilst Secret at least seemed unlikely to talk under Kayden's pay, and considering the protracted extent to which she had gone to find out who, what, and where he was, it was in turn unlikely that anybody else would be interested enough to figure out his identity.

As for how he was valued... he'd been a bit put off by Secret's last words to him in their conversation, but understood her concerns about the subject after some thought, and it seemed like the Captain didn't just consider people to be pawns in a game either. Even so, his own ongoing angsts lingered, as they had done for quite some time, though he did his best to put them off during Kayden's explanation of what he'd learned from the Lord Pembrook, to both himself and much of the rest of the guild, up to and including a new member going by the name of Lis: armed in leather and stout in a way that humans typically weren't, though not short enough to merit being named as a dwarf. She also smelled quite strongly of flowers, even from a ways away. Odd, for a mercenary.

But he was digressing. A contract to simply guard a valuable, potentially-magical book sounded quite reasonable, especially over an untouched glass of wine. To guard it from a man who from the sounds of it had attempted to persuade Pembrook via supernatural, if not blatantly magical means, seemed a bit more dramatic in nature. Hobnob and his band of gnomes offered their services of enchantment, as though they weren't already obliged to do so, whilst Lis speculated on the various possibilities of what this Strater was, citing the worst case as an intelligent and rather powerful vampire. He'd encountered them a few times in the Low-ways, often as either feral opponents or strategic allies to Dorcha of far greater status than he, but they were nonetheless quite rare even in those locations. To have one knocking on the door of a nobleman seemed... not impossible, but somewhat unlikely compared to the alternatives.

'If I may contribute,' he asked politely with hands clasped together once Lis had finished her spiel, 'I wonder if it's not more likely that Strater is simply a mage of some power. It seems more probable, given that vampires aren't usually seen this far north, and may in some ways be the more dangerous option. We can fend off more direct attacks with our own physical ability; on the other hand, a powerful illusion spell may mean we completely fail to notice the caster sneaking in and out with the book. We'll still need to prepare any which way, obviously, but focusing on just one possibility is probably not going to work out so well for us.'

@POOHEAD189@MiddleEarthRoze@rush99999@Jollan

Kayden seemed open to any suggestions that his team had, and to their credit they seemed to have quite a few. Hobnob spoke his piece, the Gnomes among him speaking almost as if they were a hive mind. That would be an odd prospect, Kayden thought. He was glad that wasn't the case. Morek had sat to Kayden's right, chewing on some choice jerky he'd had in his pack. He took a large swig of Ale, and then wiped his mouth with his huge forearm. "Runes?" he asked Hobnob. "That's a hard wrought magic. Where'd you get Rune skills? Do ye mean Glyphs?"

Kayden had to admit he was curious too. He didn't have the knowledge Morek had on Dwarven magic, but he'd heard enough from his powerful companion to be interested in hearing this. He supposed it wasn't impossible, since Gnomes had the closest relationship to Dwarves among the civilized folk. That is, until he heard Lis speak. Something had tingled his nose earlier, and he had not quite picked up on what it was, though it was a familiar scent... He turned to the Half-Dwarf beside him, listening as any competent Captain would, which he tried his best to be. She seemed to have some expertise on what they might be dealing with. Not only that, but she looked quite lovely this evening, he noted. His left hand was idly toying with one of his earrings as he listened to her, something he often did when admiring a pretty girl.

Her Vampire warning brought the Prince to his senses however, clearing his throat. That and Nuva chiming in with his opinion. Kayden knew he must have some...foreign knowledge as well. The fact that he very well might be fighting an Undying soon caused some fear to well up within him. Kayden was more educated than most common folk, from his upbringing. He knew the Vampire was stronger, faster, and far more magically inclined than a normal human. The perfect hunters of man, and quite dangerous to about everyone else.

Kayden pointed to Hobnob. "I don't think Pembrook would appreciate his house being booby trapped, but all in all, you might as well ask him if you're allowed to. Under these circumstances, you might have the reasoning behind him allowing it. Perhaps I can ask him, as long as you don't go too crazy on that. Let's not hang up a dog, if you catch my drift. Also, get that Steam Tank running as soon as you can. When we guard the Safe, you can be outside at the ready with it." he told the Gnome.

The dashing young Captain turned to Secret, but she held up a hand. "I think I get you. I'll look about for any clues."
"Strange disappearances, especially." he said.
"This is an overflowing city in the Borderlands. Strange disappearances are not too strange."
"Some can be." he said. "Perhaps someone with bite marks, or found on an altar, or someone who is normally trustworthy disappearing. Anything."
She raised an eyebrow and cocked her hip. "That's going to cost a bit extra, fearless leader."
Kayden rolled his eyes, but grinned. "Fine. Yoo'll get 20 extra Bronze Bordercoins. Sound good?"
"What would you do without me?"
"Solomon only knows," Kayden muttered, referring to the patron God of knowledge.

Virgil cleared his throat to gain the attention of the others. He looked like an old story teller, his bushy mustache along with his leathery features being illuminated by torchlight. "Ye might need some Silver or Valdium, if it is one of the Undying. Silver's probably easier to come by, though maybe not as weapons. Hell, get priestly items. Those'll help against them and Dark Sorcerers. We had to wear a few blessed cloaks when my regiment fought the Khalahar back in the day. One saved my life from some nasty blood magic. Killed my horse though. Poor thing shriveled up as if its soul had been ripped away."
@BCTheEntity@MiddleEarthRoze@rush99999@Jollan

Allard sat at the middle of the table, concentration evident on his face, as he thought about what the others were discussing. As he sat and listened, thinking of any input he could add to the conversation, he noticed the new people, to him at least, who had met up with them from the mountain keep. He wasn't sure what to think about there being even more gnomes, but as he listened to them he fund them quite entertaining if anything. Nuva was quite a sight, as it wasn't often he saw many people larger than him. If he were to guess, he probably had some giant blood in him. Then there was also Secret, who for the right price seemed to be able to find any information someone could ask for.

Although Allard has heard of vampires, never has he actually seen one before. He wasn't to keen on changing that either if he could help it. There had been many a gruesome tale that surrounds their ilk, and to be quite honest he wouldn't want to become another one of those tales. However, Allard wasn't quite sure if it even could be one. The man could just be off his rocker, which he clearly was, and be weak minded. Not to say that they shouldn't be prepared for the worst, it just seemed extremely uncommon in this area.

When Virgil spoke up he listened intently, more so to the later statement than anything. His eyes never left the old man as he studied him and his grip on his drink tightened. Although the man did speak of fighting against the Khalahar in a dark time of their past, they were still being attacked and sold into slavery to this day. Needless to say, it didn't settle well with him and his usual cheerful demeanor seemed to fade. He didn't blame the old man for anything, but it just brought up memories that he'd rather not think of. he took his eyes off the man and looked down at his drink, relaxing his grip.

Maybe he could actually talk to Virgil about it one day. He obviously wasn't part of the Andred military anymore and may actuallly have information he could use to find the group that attacked his home. If not, maybe Secret could possibly help him as well. Though, from the sound of it, her information didn't come cheap and money was something he didn't have. Allard took a large breath to help calm himself down and started rotating his tankard a bit in his hand.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say it could be a vampire. After all, the man didn't seem to prove to be the most stable of minds. Though, I will say that it would be an error on our part to go in unprepared for the worst."

"Runes?" Hobnob heard Morek ask "That's a hard wrought magic. Where'd you get rune skills? Do ye mean glyphs?".
"No Morek, I mean runes" Hobnob said in response to Morek's question "But now that you've reminded me, we have cooked up a few glyph based home defense contraptions in the past". The table quickly became even more cluttered as a veritable mountain of blueprints was placed on the table by Hobnob's crew. "And in response to your other question" Hobnob continued "We picked up rune skills back in Cutterstone and improved as we went along".

It was then that Lis spoke. "There's a number of things that his fellow could be" Lis said "All are dangerous possibilities, but if we're wanting a worst case scenario..." He voice paused to eye the table before continuing. "Then there is some signs in what Lord Pembrook told us that this may be a vampire".
"V-V-V-V-V-V-V-V-Vampire?!" Tiny exclaimed as Hobnob and his crew became very nervous "She said vampire, Hobnob! We didn't sign up for vampires!".
Calm down! Calm down!" Hobnob said.

"If I may contribute" Nuva asked politely "I wonder if it's not more likely that Strater is simply a mage of some power. It seems more probable, given that vampires aren't usually seen this far north, and may in some ways be the more dangerous option. We can fend off more direct attacks with our own physical ability; on the other hand, a powerful illusion spell may mean we completely fail to notice the caster sneaking in and out with the book. We'll still need to prepare any which way, obviously, but focusing on just one possibility is probably not going to work out so well for us".
"See?" Hobnob said to his crew "There's nothing to worry about. There's no vampire, only a powerful mage who will probably just sneak by us using illusion magic before being caught in 1 of the traps we'll place about the house". It was then that Kayden spoke.

"I don't think Pembrook would appreciate his house being booby trapped" Kayden said "But all in all, you might as well ask him if you're allowed to. Under these circumstances, you might have the reasoning behind him allowing it. Perhaps I can ask him, as long as you don't go too crazy on that. Let's not hang up a dog, if you catch my drift".
"Not hang up a dog?!" Hobnob choked "But the canine counterweight is an integral part of every trap that would be effective against this menace! It's removal would raise the malfunction rate by 60% at best! You need only look at the blueprints to see that my words are true!". Hobnob gestured to the mountain of blueprints that now covered the table and spilled off the side. To anyone who could understand gnomish blueprint, there would be page upon page of logical explanation on why the canine counterweight was necessary. But to those who couldn't understand gnomish blueprint, there would be nothing but page upon page of drawings of trap and dog with the occasional smiley face doodled on the side of the paper.
"Also, get that Steam Tank running as soon as you can" Kayden continued when Hobnob finished speaking "When we guard the Safe, you can be outside at the ready with it".
"It's a Steamroller, Kayden. Not a Steam Tank" Hobnob said for what felt like the 1000th time that week "But either way, we can do that".
Hobnob's crew murmured in agreement. They enjoyed the thought of being in the safety of The Obstacle Flattener Mark 4 rather than outside alone and exposed to possible vampire attacks. "We'll go get it ready now" Hobnob said. Hobnob and his crew then left to go prep The Mark 4. Soon after they left, a glyph on each of the blueprints the gnomes had left behind began to glow. A few seconds later, the blueprints were gone too.

It seemed his opinion had been noted - the old bearded man, who Nuva didn't believe he'd been introduced to quite yet, proposed silver and valdium to handle vampiric threats, and priestly or blessed items regardless of whether the foe was vampire or sorcerer. Of course, valdium was rare, silver was hardly useful in a weapon, and priests were hardly inclined to simply give items away or even sell them to mercenaries. But then, maybe that was just him and the oversized spike on his arm, not that he'd ever needed holy items to fight the undead before. Not that many had considered him for particularly significant positions, in the grand scheme of things.

Now, where'd that train of thought come from? he asked himself, blinking behind his mask to refocus himself on the topic at hand. He wasn't usually in a grand mood, but sudden intrusive thoughts weren't exactly his style... though perhaps the constant prattling on of the gnome Hobnob and his retinue was getting to him, going on about how dangerous vampires were, and how a "canine counterweight" was needed to prevent their traps from malfunctioning- when, realistically, a counterweight as heavy as a dog would probably do just as well- and all the while spilling more and more blueprints on to the table, and was that why they'd been chasing the dog around the other day? He was certain his previous charge, the gnome mage, hadn't been quite this ultra-eccentric. It annoyed him, he decided. Still, he'd admit the gnome was also unusually intelligent: if what he was hearing was accurate, they had access to knowledge generally reserved for dwarves, as well as the capacity to build some form of Steam Tank- pardon, Steam Roller. That was an important distinction, apparently, and it didn't take long for the gnomes to vanish after that, followed shortly by the pile of paperwork they'd strewn across the table.

'Let's hope they don't flatten themselves,' Nuva offered dryly, smirking slightly under the mask but not showing that off in his voice. 'In any case, as... Allard, am I right? ...as Allard suggests, it'd be best to prepare for as many eventualities as possible. For all we know, Strater is a mage and a vampire, and that's a downright lethal combination regardless of any other factors. We can hope that things don't play out that way, but we ought to assume they will, and prepare accordingly. I don't suppose anybody has any other ideas on how he might have attempted to persuade Pembrook to hand the book over?' he asked, meaning to offer what little advice he had that might serve to counteract such possibilities, if anything could be done to counter them in the first place.

@POOHEAD189@MiddleEarthRoze@rush99999@Jollan

"Vampires aren't seen this far south, actually." Lis was swift to correct the large fellow; not in a mean or patronising way, of course - the man may have simply misspoke. But if there there were just about 3 things in this world that Lis knew, it was killing, sailing, and knowing about those monstrous denizens of Bania. While not an expert, Lis had spent over a decade in that land, coming across all manners of beasts and folks to deal with and kill. She'd come to learn of their ways, especially those surrounding Vampires. The group she had hunted with would spend months over one rumour of a vampire, in the slight chance that they could capture and kill it. Even when such endeavours paid off, they didn't always manage to kill the foul thing without losing many of their number alongside it. But as both Nuva and Allard stated, it wasn't necessarily a Vampire - but by no means did that make it less dangerous.

Just about to reply to the others in agreement that it was likely something else, Lis paused as the bickering of the gnomes filled the room. Watching on incredulously, she couldn't believe how blasé Hobnob was being. 'Only a powerful Mage'? That was not something to be relieved over! Her expression soured further as the gnomes continued to chatter over each other, now talking about a dog of all things. Despite their skills in inventing, Lis was finding them incredibly infuriating. Such matters as this one being discussed were not be brushed off lightly; that was how people got killed, or worse.

"Those idiots will be the death of us all." Her tone was scathing; while glad they had left the room, Lis' temper remained prickled. "Do they honestly think one trap would stop a powerful mage? This thing, whatever it is, clearly wants this book. Even if we avoid our worst case scenario, a mage is nothing to be taken lightly. They're capable of getting out of whatever stupid trap that gnome has cooked up, and then turn the world into hell around us. At least we know the strengths and weaknesses of a leech, but mages? Those bastards have access to all manners of dark magics; ones that can twist our minds, make us capable of killing the ones we hold dearest by turning our bodies into puppets. Spells to make your eyes explode and spine to snap..." She paused now, shaking her head slightly. Not just in anger at Hobnob and his lackeys, but memories - bad ones. Bania held more monsters than she cared to think about. "Don't even get me started on the summoning magic they're capable of. Ghosts and demons are harder still to put down; and one small trap set by those fools will not save us from such a fate."

Lis remained silent after this for a few moments as the others spoke; downing the remainder of her tankard and putting it aside. Listening to what Nuva said, Lis sighed with a shrug, still scowling.

"There are plenty of things it could have been. Vampire, mage, conjurer... or it could have been an innocent book collector who gave off creepy vibes to the household." Lis looked now to Virgil and Secret, placing her elbows on the table, hands pressed together. "But we do need to prepare for the worst. While disappearances are best to look at in situations like this, it would be beneficial to look into strange deaths too. Or people having gaps in their memory, acting in ways they normally wouldn't. The best thing to do would be to actually find this Strater, so we can get a good look at him and gauge our own opinions." Probably a fruitless task, but it was worth it. If this was some random book vendor, then he wouldn't be in hiding most likely. If he was harder to find... well, that suggested some kind of foul play. Either way, Hobnob's attitude was off-putting. Waving the serving girl over for another drink, Lis' scowl was firmly fixed on the door the gnomes had left from, eyes glinting at the wood as if it itself had suggested something foolish.

"Those walking tree-stumps wouldn't know danger if it picked them up and ate them." She muttered acidly, nearly snatching the now-full tankard from a somewhat nervous looking wench.

Kayden nodded, listening to the others. He took in all of their opinions. His mind was particularly swift for one so young, and even the times he appeared as if he wasn't paying attention, he was filing the words in the back of his mind. When Nuva asked his question, he shook his head. "None that we know of," he replied. "Now, I say we could all profit from some sleep." He met their gazes. "Tomorrow, I'm going around to find any kind of weapons of any kind that we can use. Whoever wants to go with me is free to. We've a few days before this Strater is supposed to try for the book, so there's a bit of breathing room. Morek?"

The Dwarf raised an eyebrow. Kayden continued. "Go and keep watch around Pembrook's estate. Tell them who you are and that you're from the Guild. They should let you in. Keep that vault secured."
"As long as they serve me food and drink, I'll sit there until the world ends," Morek replied.
"Secret, look for gaps in memory like our new friend here suggested."
Both Kayden and Secret seemed to think that Lis's suggestion of strange gaps in memory would be something key to find, and the Elven rogue agreed. "Not bad thinking," Secret admitted.

---

The next day, it was 9 O'clock in the morning. The Guild had been locked tight, and everyone had a fine night's sleep. Kayden had just washed his hair from the water and lye in his privvy, and made his way downstairs with a more plain outfit on. Merely brown trousers with a black shirt, and of course, his indigo wrappings and bracers on his forearms. He passed by the foyer of the Guild, giving Virgil a greeting as the older gent, now fully outfitted in armor, made his way to the back of the hall, and outside to the fenced in area. Back there, Hobnob's experiments mingled with the very modest stables the Guild had. The elder Knight made his way over to his Charger, but decided to smoke his pipe a bit before taking his trip back to Hillcrest. Secret was long gone on her hunt for information, though she left a note on the door she would be back to grab a bite at noon.

Kayden grabbed a quick bite of ham himself, and then grabbed himself an apple or two before making his way to the front of the Guildhall and opening the door. The sun spilled in, feeling warm and refreshing on his skin, and he waited for whoever decided they wanted to join him. One of the serving women posted a note on the bounty board as well, for those who cared to look. Could be a freelance job for quick money. Or perhaps, a mercenary would have their own agenda to look for in the wide city of Starkvale?
@Jollan@MiddleEarthRoze@rush99999@BCTheEntity

Othiosiya felt the stares of people as he walked along the streets. Each time one of the many passer-bys turned his head to keep track of him with his eyes it was like a small needle inserted into his back. It was so in spite of the fact that the Drabarian was wearing almost his entire armor, the only exception being the helmet which he just found inadequate to wear in the civil public. Still the root cause of his little problem very well could be just that large amount of steel covering his body. While one could hardly consider it unusual to see an armored individual in general, in his case it seemed like it was. It could have something to do with the fact that each of his steps sounded as if a small giant had found his way into Starkvale. Othiosiya tried to keep the clanking to a minimum, but real success with that was nowhere to be heard.

It wasn't surprising then that he caught the attention of one of the city's guards before it had come to his mind to address them by himself. A sternly looking man came towards him and blocked his way, forcing Othiosiya to crane his neck down to his face and answer his questions immediately.
"What are you looking for, Drabarian ?"
Always those ulterior motives. Why didn't the guard directly ask for the pieces of parchment or whatever else was needed here to make clear that his presence wasn't something illegal ? Othiosiya forced himself to remain patient and polite. "I'm looking for the Mercenary Guild. I've been told such a thing exists in this city."
"That's right. Do you want to join or what is the purpose of your desire to go there ?"
"You can consider your first guess to be correct. However I'm wondering why this is of so much concern for you ?" The Drabarian arched an eyebrow, but even his long and sharp teeth failed to make much of an impression.
"Regulations. You can go there, of course. However someone will escort you." The guard gave a sign with is hand, signaling one of his colleagues to take over.

The other man didn't look anywhere less small compared to Othiosiya and one could get the impression that he was keeping a bit of a distance from the wants-to-be mercenary. After all Othiosiya could suffer from a sudden feeling of faintness, fall and bury him beneath his body and hard shell. Or he could just do a wrong move by accident and crush his foot. Moving rather slow it took several more minutes for the guild hall to come in sight. Someone was standing there and appeared to wait for something to happen, but of course the Drabarian had no idea that it was the captain. The guard departed and gave Kayden his salute while leaving Othiosiya to his own intentions. In a somewhat respectful distance, the giant Drabarian waited. He wasn't sure if it could be inadequate for him to come closer to the captain directly.

@Jollan@MiddleEarthRoze@rush99999@BCTheEntity@POOHEAD189

The world rocked in a rhythm under the thunderous patter of hooves in the early morning. A wagon moving large boxes of trade goods and two passengers was being led by a team of horses. One of the passengers was an older man that held the reins. His face became leathery long before his youth had ended him. His eyes were tired, and he was balding. But judging by his clothes, he was definitely a trader.

The other? A Ra’Sheek who was lounging on one of the boxes. Probably the most obvious feature about him was the armor he was wearing, even though he was under no current contract as hired muscle. His eyes had been in the clouds. He watched them scroll on by in their various little cloud shapes. Heck, he even recalled that one sort of vaguely looked like a….. well… a cloud. There was nothing… absolutely… nothing… entertaining about cloud watching it seems.

At least the Ra’Sheek, known as Jackal, had his sanity rescued by the call of the trader’s voice. The voice had pulled him from his stupor of three hours’ worth of cloud gazing to muster up a single thought, and a single word.

Leon turned to look to the man with a dazed expression, and responded with a simple “Huh?”

“I said your stops here, son,” The older man grumbled. He had turned about to look towards the back of his cart. A small frown was visible on his lips when he had found that the man was lounging like a cat on a pile of very pointy boxes. The wagon had stopped sometime prior. “By the divines, I swear young people don’t pay attention these days. Not unless it’s for a coin or some damned prettied up lass on the corner of a street.”

The Ra’Sheek slowly stretched and stood up. “Hey hey hey – old man,” he laughed after hopping off of the wagon. “That’s no no fair. You used to be young yourself. Reckon that you you got some city miles on you.”

“Hah! And I was a fool then,” The old man entered a snicker fit, barely able to keep himself up right and his owns on the man as he laughed. “Boy, I tell you that I couldn’t remember a SINGLE day that I wasn’t concerned with going up to the first nice leg on the street! Three copper coins was all it took for you to have some company that night, and one more to go the full mile! And those lassy's were gorgeous sometimes, and sometimes they looked like d-UWAH!?”

He had cut himself off early to bawk in surprise when he finally looked up to find the man missing. In fact, it didn’t even seem like he had existed. The pile of boxes he had made to make his bedding had been righted back into order. The trash the two had accumulated over their journey had been reduced to just the merchant’s. And, there was naught a foot print.

“Now hold on there…” he said transfixed as he quickly stood up on his wagon and looked around. “Huh… I ain’t old enough to be senile yet. Shooot, young people making you think you’re crazy. Ain’t naw lick of respect for an old man these days…” He mumbled softly to himself before sitting down and riding off.

---

The Jackal prowled the road himself while humming a cheery Ra’Sheekian tune. Even as he walked up right, he stepped like a cat might stalk through the streets. Barely a noise, and always on his toes. Though it’d seem like his heels were making contact with the ground, on closer inspection you could see how the shadow hid under his boots. It was a habbit he picked up in his younger ears with all the sneaking around he had to do. And it seemed like it stuck to him as he grew.
It wasn’t much longer before Jackal reached the walls of the great City of Starkvale. But by then it was about eight in the morning. It seemed business was bustling out here. There was some sort of lockout decree passed as far as Jackal could tell. There were the usual peasants complaining to the guard about having family inside, or that they lived here. Some of whom apparently had left the proper papers inside. And of course… the line. Fortunately it was fairly short. The man assumed it wouldn’t take too long given that there were only five people there. And so he took his spot.

Once it was his turn, he approached the guards and studied each one of them carefully. He was taken aback by what he saw.

It was like something out of a thief’s nightmare. Each one of them looked like hardcases. Except for one, who just looked like he was a hardass the moment left his mama’s womb! None of them were smiling. And not a single one of them looked like they weren’t paying attention to what was going on around him!

Heck, the one guy that any fool may think so with the way he was yawning, was only pretending to be aloof. Oh no, Jackal could see those alert eyes. He wanted some action! He was trying to give a bit of a spark.
They might as well have put all of the cities executioners up here.

“State your business…” The… sergeant grumbled after looking up from his paper work. His eyes definitely had a no nonsense look about them.

“Ahhhhh…” Jackal began as he slowly looked away from the other guards to the sergeant before him. “Lookin lookin for work. Here to to join up with the upstart guild.”

“You and every other sell sword,” The Sergeant grumbled. The man looked the merc up and down with a scowl. Obviously seeing something he doesn’t like. Leave it to the city watch to pick out a possible thief among the mass. “Listen here. I don’t like the look you got on you, but I’m sending you back with an escort anyways. When you get behind that gate, you keep your damned hands to yourself, stay in my men’s line of sight, and cause no trouble. If you get hired in, fine. But if you’re rejected you better come back out here immediate. Do you hear what I am saying?”

“Yes yes yes yes,” The Jackal hummed as he lifted both hands in the air, open palms facing the sergeant. A large grin on his face, and eyes beaming with confidence, despite the bead of sweat running down his brow betraying his nervousness about the situation. “You won’t hear any who-haw about me me being delinquent. You have my word, sir sir!”

The Sergeant mean mugged him for what felt like an eternity. And in turn, Jackal kept his big stupid grin for that eternity. But… eventually the sergeant raised a thumb pointing to the gate. “Get the hell in there and stop holdin up the damned line. And somebody escort him on in!”

@Fetzen@POOHEAD189@BCTheEntity@rush99999

After the meeting, Hobnob and his crew went to their work station at the stables and worked on traps and finishing The Obstacle Flattener for a while. They then went to bed at 10 in the evening, woke up at 8 in the morning, and had breakfast in their work area. They didn't leave before Kayden got up. In fact, they didn't leave at all.

"Alright you lot, fall in. If you've all finished your breakfast, it's time for the roll call!" Hobnob called out to the rest of his crew, who were scattered about the area they had set up shop in after their arrival at the guild hall. Once the crew had fallen in, Hobnob began the roll call. "Tiny" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Tiny called back.
"Dr Diminutive" Hobnob called out.
"Present" Dr Diminutive called back.
"Titch" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Titch called back.
"Shortstack" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Shortstack called back.
"Pint-Sized Pat" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Pint-Sized Pat called back.
"Small Benjamin" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Small Benjamin called back.
"Smaller Benjamin" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Smaller Benjamin called back.
"Smallest Benjamin" Hobnob called out.
"Here" Smallest Benjamin called back.
"Big-As-A-Dwarf Barry" Hobnob called out.
Big-As-A-Dwarf Barry grunted affirmatively in response.
"Alrighty then!" Hobnob said "I gave you all your jobs when we started work yesterday, so let's get back to it!".

Hobnob's crew split up into 3 groups of 3. Small, Smaller, and Smallest Benjamin all set to work on preparing traps for the coming job. Dr Diminutive, Pint-Sized Pat, and Shortstack set about making the necessary defenses against any and all dark magic/vampiric trickery Strater could bring to the table. Tiny, Titch, and Big-As-A-Dwarf Barry worked on The Obstacle Flattener to get it up and running for the job. Hobnob himself sat at a makeshift desk to pour over a large stack of blueprints and occasionally got up to supervise the work done by the rest of his crew.

On the one hand, Nuva found sleeping in full chainmail and leather very uncomfortable, even on the softest of beds. On the other hand, he daren't risk his identity being revealed unintentionally in his sleep before he could move to stop an intruder, even with the door to whatever room he was sleeping in locked. Even locked into the privy, and especially when washing accumulated grime off himself every week or so, he was extremely cautious, ensuring he never moved in sight of a window or keyhole whilst uncloaked even a little bit. It was time-consuming and complicated to achieve in many instances, but so far, the process had served him well.

And so, freshly clean, and rather hungry, though willing to wait to eat until well after others had had their fill, he stepped out into the light of day shortly after Kayden, noting the various presences around the Guild Hall, in particular the arrival of a somewhat larger individual... a Drabarian, by the looks of it. And if they planned to join the guild, another Jex, so to speak. But he couldn't say whether or not they were, because they were just standing in place looking at the damn building like a fool.

Not that this affected Nuva Doer for the moment, of course. If he wanted something that affected him... well, he had been given an idea of sorts for something that might help him hide a little bit better. If he could afford it. And, if he wanted something more immediately helpful, there was a note being put up, perhaps a job listing for the guild that could well make the difference between affordability and... otherwise. And so much the better if he handled it alone, assuming there was a set pot as payment. With that in mind, he marched over to the job board, taking a look at the note to see what it held in store.

@POOHEAD189@Jollan@MiddleEarthRoze@rush99999@Fetzen@Tangletail

When Allard awoke he could hear other people begin to stir. Feeling a bit stiff, he got up and stretched before heading to his wardrobe for his clothes and gear. Fully suited up, he headed down to meet with the others to see Kayden about ready to go to town for supplies. Upon seeing some food however, he didn't give a second thought to passing it up. As it seemed Kayden was already waiting at the door, he grabbed some ham and some bread and put them together to eat and walk. Allard glanced at the new job that was pinned just for a moment before heading out, mostly just noticing that it wasn't there yesterday. Thanking those who prepared of the food, he then walked outside to meet their leader, with half a sandwich still in his hands. "Good morning, Kayden," he said cheerflly, "Mind if I tag along?" Allard never really went to the main shops or in the better parts of town unless he had too, and especially not early morning or mid day. Most people he saw in those areas didn't take too kindly to seeing an armed Khalahar running around and it would be better to avoid open confrontation there versus the slums, but maybe it wouldn't bother too many people if he was traveling with a guild.

Lis' sleep that night was fitful, uneasy. Despite the comfort of an actual bed and fluffy pillows, the young half-dwarf couldn't seem to find rest, no matter how much she chased it. The shadows in her room bent into unnatural shapes before her eyes, and even upon squeezing her lids tightly shut, the images remained in her mind. She knew exactly what was wrong - all of this talk about Vampires, Dark Mages, other various monsters that she'd assumed to have left behind in Bania, the despicable place where they belonged... it had left her shaken, moreso than she would care to admit, especially to the others in the group. The problem with Darkslayers - not that she had ever used the term in regards to herself, as Lis was no expert and disliked pretending to be - was that they knew what these creatures could do. Simply knowing, witnessing the horrors of battling a creature so dark... it left one's very soul feeling dirty. At the very least, she was going into this situation knowing what to do should the worst occur, but it was not something she, nor anyone would wish for. The blase reaction of the gnomes hadn't helped her either, alongside the sheer lack of numbers the mercenary group had. Skill could certainly make up for lack of size, but she had no idea what these people were capable of. Lis was placing her life and trust into what appeared to be nought more than a rag-tag bunch of warriors that got lucky in winning the competition. Or, perhaps she was doing them a disservice. Either way, Lis was unsettled, and no amount of tossing and turning would solve that.

The next morning, Lis awoke feeling particularly un-refreshed. What sleep she had managed had been pitted with nightmares of her time in Bania, forcing her awake with panting breaths and hammering heart, before being followed with an angry grunt as she flung herself back onto her pillow, scowling at being woken up again. Now out of bed, she decided against having a bath, thinking the hot water and soothing scents would just lull her back into a doze again. Making do with a very brusque and rough wash of her body with a scratchy washcloth and very cold water, she dressed herself and made her way downstairs. Despite the dark, puffy circles under her eyes, the cold water had done it's job in waking her up more, and felt much more aware as she met with the others.

Before making her way to the door, Lis' shrewd brown eyes quickly picked up the fresh notice on the bounty board.. and the seemingly interested Nuva. Taking a glance at the notice from behind the towering giant, she kept in mind the details for later. Could prove useful - and it would seem with membership in the guild, she was free to take as many jobs as she wanted, solo or not. "And better for me to take it than this tall bastard; one can't have too much money." Lis thought to herself, backing away from the board and continuing on.

"Kayden. Allard." She nodded to the two men as she reached the door, eyes squinting at the sudden bright light of the sun, nose scrunching up as she did. "Do we have a plan for today, or -" She cut herself off, noticing the Drabarian stood in the middle of the street, looking at the guild-hall uncertainly. A potential new recruit? Lis wasn't complaining - the more people they had, the less likelihood of her dying. Unless they were extremely stupid, which is what she was considering for the Lizardman, still stood silently. "What's the matter with him? A guard kick him too hard in the head?" Leaning against the door beside Allard, Lis stifled a yawn, folding her arms across her chest as she continued to stare down the Drabarian, one eyebrow raised.

@Jollan@BCTheEntity@Fetzen@POOHEAD189