Absence Makes The Heart Go Yonder
~@13org (BST)~

"Oh, don't be alarmed. I'm not here to judge anyone, nor I will put myself between a man and his happiness."

The man was silent for a moment before turning around. He did not run away though, he seemed more to be thinking about the situation he and you are in. Even Haley was silent, only diligently observing the situation.

Letting out a heavy sigh, the man turned back around. "Yeah, yeah I'm Vincent Gardner. Husband to Rachelle Gardner. Or was." He admitted. "I was pretty lucky, you know? It's not usual for a noble lady to marry a commoner." He then made another sigh. "It's even more unusual for a noble lady to fight so hard to marry a commoner. I mean, she chewed the s*** out of her family when they came together to oppose her desires."

"But... oh gods, I should've realized it sooner..." Vincent muttered. "Listen, I'll... I'll show her my remains. If you know what I mean." He told you. "You're from a guild right? That takes requests? I don't wanna waste any of your time. You should go home. I'll handle this." He said, before quickly adding something. "And if Rache is the one who put it out, rest assured you'll get paid. She's a good woman. A little off, but good."

He then glanced at your feathered companion. "Is she with you?"

-------

~@13org (FYR)~

Both the humans' attention was diverted with your distraction. Thorgar was about to move but Lord Caldeyron stopped him. "The locals have probably noticed us. Let's get out of here." Caldeyron said as he surveyed the surroundings. "Oh, before I forget..." He then finished off the prisoner by violently stabbing the latter in the eye twice.

And with that, the two men hurriedly left the scene, leaving you alone in the quiet forest with a dead body nearby. You could investigate the prisoner who was covered in scars, missing an ear and messily bleeding from one of the eyes but you would only find that he was a middle-aged male who met a gruesome end at the hands of two menacing men. You could try asking around back at the guild for answers for what you had just witnessed.

But other than that, there was nothing more for you here.

---

~@BCTheEntity, @Lady Selune (SZI)~

'It turns out a human had the wrong idea of how monsters work, and promptly decided cannibalising others was an appropriate response. Something about a real man not needing anyone else's help to survive? He's in a cell in Ambran now, if he hasn't been executed already, and his would-be victim is safe and sound.'

"Oh geez. Cannibals." Bart was discomforted at the prospect. "But... yeah, most of the Order's populace don't really know about monsters, only what they're told. I'm kind of impressed that your hometown is open with the knowledge. Impressed and worried."

'Speaking of whom, do you mind if I ask what you've been doing? You weren't around when we first showed up, is all.'

"I was out gathering stuff and requests. I admit, it took a little bit longer than it should." Bart answered.

"I can't believe people already posted requests at day one. I mean, I just announced the opening of the guild yesterday. Oh man, I combed the entire region for requests when I could've just waited." Bart sighed. "Then again, I needed to pick up these stuff..." He motioned to the tents. "It'd be a while before we can use the building properly. But at least we're one step closer to that seeing as you guys have already done some requests. I mean, Magnus already nabbed several chairs for us to use."

And moments later, Neil's group arrived...

---

~@The Irish Tree, @Lady Selune (JEZ)~

"Um...I really, really don't know what happened with them. They just kept arguing and arguing and arguing...and there was no time to waste in getting the job done, so I thought it'd be okay to go take care of it. When i went back to split the reward with them, they were just...gone. I hope they're alright."

"Huh? Really?" Neil replied. "Damn, I really liked them too. Well, maybe not that girl who was a bit... unpleasant. But, I really wish they could've stayed."

"Neil, do you have a brother? The priest that hired us looked just like you. But...blond-er."

"Huh?! Wait, what?!" Neil looked at you in disbelief. "Wait, wait, the unnamed guy looked like me? What's his name? And he's a priest?" Neil panicked a little at your reveal but calmed down after the short outburst. "Just... just... no. No, I don't have a brother." Neil answered properly. "That's impossible. Like, super impossible. Super, one-hundred percent impossible. And I know that better than anyone."

Neil sighed. "But... but if you really saw... a doppelganger of me. Can I ask you a favor?" He requested. "Can you find more about him? Like, whoever he is and stuff." He then whispered something else but it was too quiet for you to hear.

"Anyway, we have enough. Let's get back."

---

~@The Irish Tree, @Lady Selune (JEZ & SZI), @BCTheEntity~

"Hey guys, we're back." Neil greeted Bart's group.

A while later, a modest bonfire roared between the four tents with the guild members present sitting around it. Neil sat beside Jezamine while Bart would be the first to speak again. "So everyone, I'd like to thank you all for answering my invitations. It really means a lot to me. And I thank you all for getting to work immediately. Initiative is definitely something I want to see."

"But before anything else, is there anyone still not here? Mark here said there would be ten of us in total and I see... less. Is someone still out doing quests?"

------

~@Lady Selune (JEZ)~

Meanwhile, you would notice that Neil was not paying much attention to the discussion and he seemed to be fiddling with something. His hands look like they're just together so the others were unlikely to notice but he was beside you and if you shift a bit, you should get a peek at what he was doing.

If you do, you would see Neil moving his thumbs across a rectangular object. There were shapes in the object's surface and they appear to follow the swipes of Neil's thumbs.

'We tell those who are in a position to learn about it because it's the truth, and arguably more compelling a reason to be on guard than being killed,' Mark explained to Bart. And it was, realistically, more appropriate to tell them the truth about the mamono, if only to make it seem as unappealing as possible - better that than the peasantry first being raped, and then realising that the rape's only the half of it, whilst the other half is having their minds warped to want that scenario as a result of the scenario itself. How awful a fate. And what a good reason to fight against it.

'As for the guild's surging popularity... well, when you put it like that, it is a bit surprising. I guess it's due to it being a force that people can go to if they have issues that can't otherwise be dealt with,' Mark pondered. 'No doubt, if it keeps being this successful, we'll be in the building proper in no time.'

With time, the other members of the guild returned - sans Tue and her Living Doll, as Bart pointed out. Had they decided to pursue their goals elsewhere? Mark did have to wonder if he should have at least purified Tue whilst he had the chance, but eventually gave his opinion: 'I think Tue and Bunny might have left us, unfortunately. Alas. They did help us handle a cannibal near Ambran, though.'

Freyr

Freyr watched as both of them appeared to be alarmed by the noise, but to his dismay, things wouldn't go as smoothly as he had planned...

"Oh, before I forget..." Caldeyron said, approaching the prisoner, and violently stabbing him into the eyes, killing him on the spot. It was a cold blooded execution... Even though they already had what they wanted, even after promising to let him alive, they killed him.

He didn't thought that they would react like that. He had made a mistake... They were unknown opponents, he didn't know anything about them, yet he made the mistake of supposing they would react in a predictable way.

"It won't happen again..." Freyr said, grabbing his hunting knife.
Quickly jumping down the tree, he approached the dead body. It was simply impossible to recognize him, his face was so full of scars, so wounded that the only thing that Freyr was able to discern was that he was a middle aged man.

With an agile, precise and experienced hand, he used his hunting knife to take out the man's heart from the dead body. His blood was still
hot. Taking it on his hand, he dug a small hole on the ground with the tip of his knife, gently placing the man's heart there, burying it.

"Everything shall end where it all began." Freyr said, touching the place where he had buried the heart, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

Turning back to the man's body, Freyr put it laying down at the base of the tree and covered it with dead leaves.
"This will have to suffice by now. I'm sorry."

A middle aged man... Maybe that was the man they were searching for. Sadly, Freyr wasn't able to save him, but he still needed to tell Bast and Haley about what he saw.
Sheathing his knife, he started running back, towards the northern part of the forest. For good or for worse, their search had already came to an end.

---

Bast Ragoczy

"Yeah, yeah I'm Vincent Gardner. Husband to Rachelle Gardner. Or was." The man spoke, after a few moments.
"Very well, Mr. Vincent. Lets hear what you have to say.." Bast thought, with a sly smile on his face. Things were indeed starting to get interesting.

Bast heard carefully as the man explained about how Rochelle was a noble and he a commoner, but even though, she still married him. Even with her family opposing to that, she held her ground and kept her word. Those words shed a new light upon the woman called Rochelle.
Either she was a strong woman, with strong opinions, that would not back down, and would do anything to attain her goals, or just a hopelessly romantic woman, who would move mountains for her love.
"Interesting..." He thought to himself, wondering which one of those Rochelle really was.

"Well Mr. Vincent, the heart makes no distinction between rich, poor, young or old. The thing which made her fight so hard, even against her family, to marry you, is called love, Mr Vincent. Emotions in general are frighteningly powerful things... Even capable of driving someone mad... And between all the emotions, Love and Hate are the ones that burn with the brightest and hottest flames." Bast said to the man.

"Listen, I'll... I'll show her my remains. If you know what I mean." Vincent said, after telling them his story.
So It had finally reached that moment. But it was too soon to end it yet... He still was curious... Did Vincent really love her, or he married her because he couldn't reject her? That question would not only give him the answer about Vincent's true feelings, but also about Rochelle's personality as well...

"Don't worry Mr Vincent. I'll make sure to convince your wife that you're dead." Bast said, with a mysterious smile.
"I'm sure that she will be devastated by the loss of her beloved husband, but on the other hand, you will be free to finally be happy yourself, am I right?" Bast asked, with a sly grin.

"Oh, and don't worry about Miss Haley. She came with us only to watch how this story will end." He said, looking to Haley and carefully watching her reactions.
Of course, he didn't know how Haley would react to all that, but Bast loved variables... He loved to have a... wild card, something to make things more... interesting.

"I-I didn't get a name..." Magnus said to Neil, wondering just what had him so bothered about this priest, but finding the good sense to drop it once he said to forget about it. They'd only just met after all...not like he could really give life advice. Especially since the lives of humans were a bit foreign to him. But, Magnus couldn't help but nod at Neil's request, tilting his head and flicking his ears at the whisper that he couldn't hear. Was...something really wrong about this? "I promise." he said adamantly. Carrying his MOUNTAIN of firewood back to the guild hall, Magnus was wondering if maybe that really was a doppelganger...but why would it copy Neil? And be blonde?

Once the fire was going and Magnus set his like...week's worth of firewood aside as it had been far too much, he would relax, shaking the ground a bit as he just dropped on his ass and yawned. "Nnn...the girls that came with me just up and vanished Mr. Bart...I figured they'd be fine on their own though. I-I hope at least...H-How did everyone else's jobs go?" he said, now suddenly worried for the girls that had abandoned him. Siting up after a moment, Magnus' stomach grumbled. "...Err...I should have bought some meat from the market...Does anybody feel like wild boar?" he asked before hefting his axe off of his back, the steel gleaming a bit in the light of the fire.

The dark priest had been eyeing up the minotaur the entire time she had been getting the wood- and even though she had been sure that male mamono hadn't existed before this day, now that she had been proved wrong she was already interested in them, Jezamine taking every opportunity she knew the minotaur wasn't paying attention to her to eye him up.

Now however, she was eyeing someone else up with a lot less lust in her eyes. Whilst she had expected all sorts here, an order priest with a mamono wife was certainly not one of them. The simple fact that those of the Order and those of the Fallen were basically complete opposites was not helping matters, and she could sense something was off with that salamader, although she was acting fairly normally.

Still, when the minotaur offered to go and get some boar, she floated up quickly. "I'll... Come with you. I might not be a fighter, but I can at least keep you some company." She smiled, before turning to the knight and gesturing at her eyes, then at the knight. She was going to keep her eyes on the bastard, although mostly so she didn't find herself with a blade through her chest.

Syszi meanwhile, was clueless of the enmity, and was instead happy to sit by a fire, her own tail half-submerged in the flames. It felt nice, a sort of tingling warmth that spread through her entire tail, and she sighed, satisfied at least for the moment.

Absence Makes The Heart Go Yonder
~@13org (BST & FYR)~

"Don't worry Mr Vincent. I'll make sure to convince your wife that you're dead. I'm sure that she will be devastated by the loss of her beloved husband, but on the other hand, you will be free to finally be happy yourself, am I right?"

Vincent smiled right back at Bast. "Thank you for understanding. Now here..." He then presented a ring. "Give her this. Tell her you found it on an unidentifiable body. A skeleton maybe."

And with that, Bast and Haley made their way back to Mahigan and reuniting with Freyr along the way. Whether or not Freyr revealed what he saw, the trio would reach Mahigan without much incident with the sun out of sight and the night setting in. The trio had no problem finding Rachelle as she was the first to greet them.

After delivering the 'news', Rachelle handed you a heavy pouch with the coins within clinking even with the slightest shake. Haley was impressed and was about to remark but Rachelle broke down into a mess and began walking away, sealing herself off any possible interaction and leaving you with the Siren girl.

"It's stuffed as heck. I'll bet there's several hundred coins in there." Haley remarked. "Anyway,
you sure took care of that smoothly. I mean, the Vincent guy had a solution ready but you know." The Siren sighed. "Well I suppose it's time we part but who know? We might meet again in the future." She winked at you before flying away.

With nothing else to do and the day ending, you head back to the guild and reach it by nightfall. You spot several tents surrounded by a modest bonfire with a large pile of wood lying nearby. You also spot Neil sitting beside the fire with white strings attached to his ears. Once he noticed you, however, he immediately removed them and put them away.

"Welcome back, guys." Neil greeted you. "The request must've been something to take you longer than the others. Then again, it might just have involved a lot of waiting." He continued. "Anyway, the others are already sleeping. I stayed up to wait for you. We should get to sleep soon though. I have a feeling it's going to be busy tomorrow."

---

~@BCTheEntity, @Lady Selune (SZI & JEZ), @The Irish Tree~

'I think Tue and Bunny might have left us, unfortunately. Alas. They did help us handle a cannibal near Ambran, though.'

"Nnn...the girls that came with me just up and vanished Mr. Bart...I figured they'd be fine on their own though. I-I hope at least..."

"Really? That's a shame." Bart said. "But hey, we can't really stop them from leaving, can we? I guess the state of our guild right now isn't very attractive. They must have expected something better."

"...Err...I should have bought some meat from the market...Does anybody feel like wild boar?"

"I'll... Come with you. I might not be a fighter, but I can at least keep you some company."

"Oh don't worry about that, you guys." Bart stopped anyone from leaving. "I've brought some food. A lot of them actually since I thought there's going to be a lot of us. So if anyone wants seconds, feel free." The guild master then unpacked the foodstuffs for everyone present to eat for dinner. The bonfire was enough to cook what needed to be cooked. "We can set aside some of these for breakfast tomorrow but after that, we're gonna need a fresh batch."

After the present group were done, Bart was again the first to speak. "Well then! I suppose our activities today has ended. I thank you again for contributing to the guild very early but we are still far. We should all get some rest for our day tomorrow." He declared.

"Hey Bart, I think some of us are still out so I'm a wait for them, alright?" Neil said.

"Very well, Neil! As for the rest of you, good night!"



~Everyone~

The next morning had arrived and you all wake up to Neil and Bart pinning papers at the request board. "Oh, good morning everyone." Bart greeted all of you.

Meanwhile, Neil put up a weak smile and he looked real tired despite the day barely beginning. "Well, here's what's left of our food. We're gonna have to buy soon."

"A very unfortunate circumstance but something that we can fix by acquiring enough resources to feed ourselves whenever we want to." Bart proudly said. "Say, how much did we earn yesterday?"

{INCOME YESTERDAY}
{@13org: 300 G}
{@The Irish Tree: 150 G}
{@BCTheEntity and @Lady Selune: 300 G}

It was up to the guild members if they wish to share their reward with the guild or keep it for themselves.

"Anyway, Neil and I have put up the requests that I gathered. Come take a look." Bart told everyone.

Freyr

Freyr met with Haley and Bast as they were returning to the city. Apparently, Rochelle's husband was dead, and as a proof of his demise, they brought his ring. That was all the information that Bast and Haley gave him. Arriving on the city, they were paid with a big pouch of coins, given to them by Rochelle, who ran, crying as soon as she delivered the coins to them. It was expected, after all, her beloved husband was dead. Or at least that was what she thought. Haley's words told him otherwise.
'Vincent', was her husband's name. What did Haley meant by 'he had a solution ready'? If Freyr thoughts were correct, the truth about this 'Vincent' was a little different that what Rochelle would ever know...

When they arrived at the Guild, it was already very late, and everyone was sleeping.
For Freyr, night was long... Very long. Freyr couldn't stop thinking about the man he saw being killed by the two others.
"As long as it is not Rochelle's husband, it doesn't really matter to us now, does it?" Bast's words still echoed in his head. What he said, technically was true, but even still, he couldn't help but think about the poor man.

The next day, the group was reunited again, discussing about having to buy some food.
"I... I really don't have much use for money... So if Bast agrees, you can use what we earned for buying some food." He said, after hearing what Bart and Neil were talking.

Getting near the board to see the new requests, one immediately caught his attention.
The Girl Who Cried, it was basically a hunt mission. It was simply perfect for him.
"I guess I'm taking the hunting mission. The one about the girl and the wolf." Freyr said, looking to the group.
"If anyone wants to join me, they're more than welcome."

---

Bast Ragoczy

The quest was easier than he hoped to be. Maybe Bast could have made things a bit more interesting by telling Rochelle where the man was... But past it past. As they got to the city, Rochelle paid them a nice sum of coins, before locking herself in her house, mourning her 'dead' husband.

"Anyway, you sure took care of that smoothly. I mean, the Vincent guy had a solution ready but you know." Haley said, as they were ready to return to the guild.

"Of course, my dear! It is my specialty, after all. Words can be as sharp as any sword." Bast answered, with a smile. The siren was an interesting girl. He didn't thought that she would deal with that situation calmly. She indeed kept her mouth shut about Bast's 'tricks', not telling Rochelle about what happened, and not only that, but she appeared to... enjoy the way that he dealt with the situation.

"Well I suppose it's time we part but who know? We might meet again in the future." Haley said, winking to them before flying away.
"So I hope, Miss Haley. Our paths can cross again at any time, but for now I must bid you farewell, adorable siren." Bast replied, winking back to her.

The next day, the group was all reunited near the board again. There were new requests, very interesting requests. But before he could even go there, Freyr called him, asking if he was ok with giving the money they received for the guild.

"Oh, but of course! Mr. Bart, Mr. Neil, I have no use for money. And buying food is more important than any other thing right now. You may take It for yourselves." Bast said, giving most, but not all of the money they received to Bart and Neil. After all, having a few gold coins in the pocket could prove to be useful in some occasions, and his mansion, where his possessions were, was very, very far away.

"We have many interesting and intriguing new requests here! I may say that I am even a little uncertain about which one to chose!" Bast said, laughing.

"Anyone would like my company?" He asked, with a smile.
"Don't be shy! I won't bite you." Bast said, with a sly smile.

Jez looked at the offers. "Well, this is obvious. I'm going to see this other dark priest. This could be serious, and I'm not passing up an opportunity to meet a male member of our order. I didn't think they could even become part of the preisthood." She dusted her clothes off and retreated back into her bedroom, where the sound of heavy clanking could be heard. After perhaps another fifteen minutes, the dark preistess stepped out again, dressed top-to bottom in dark purple robes and with a set of manacles around her wrists and ankles.

Another one was around her neck, and she tossed her head a little as if it was a necklace, her hood drawn up, covering her eyes. In the darkness that the hood offered, they seemed a lot more inhuman- darkly purple and with a slight glow behind them, her alabaster skin barely visible. "If anyone would like to accompany me to see a brother of the order, I suggest coming with me." She inclined her head ever-so slightly. "I shall be departing after breakfast."

With that, the preistess hovered over to the fire, where she 'sat' down (still hovering in midair,) and waited for the rest to get ready.

~@Norschtalen~

You arrive back at the guild after taking care of something that made you leave for a short while. The place was deserted with only Neil present who emerged from the building.

He immediately spotted you. "Oh, you're... you were present when we all met up." Neil said. "And then you... disappeared? What happened?" He asked about your sudden but brief leave of the guild. "Well anyway, the others have already taken their requests and left while Bart has gone to Ambran to go shopping for supplies." He explained the current situation. "Meanwhile I... well, I just... had something to do... inside the building..."

"So uhh, what do you wanna do?" Neil goes over the request board that was leaning against a broken down wall. "We still have several requests available here. Granted, the others have taken some of them but we can still do them if you want. We'll just have to catch up to the others if that's the case."

See above for the request list

---

~@Lucius Cypher~

You were on the way to the guild when you spot a wagon heading towards you, or at least heading towards your opposite direction. But its driver was a familiar face. "Huh? Is that you Sheolred? Hey!" He recognized you and smiled.

Pulling over the wagon near you, Bart explained the situation. "The guild had started yesterday but don't worry, you're not late for anything." He continued. "The others have already started their requests for the day but there are still some at the guild still available. I gathered up a lot, you know. Meanwhile, I'm just heading to Ambran to buy us some food and stuff. I know this guy who's giving me a discount for the stuff."

"So you can head to the guild and take one of the requests or you can come with me. A show of muscle will help dissuade anyone who's got ideas on our stuff."

"I apologize. I was... Entertaining guests." Anitta said as she tugged on her mask. She had left the day before due to members of her clan having stopped by, but their business was both brief and private. She'd have to address it again at a later date, but for now she was going to focus on her duties here. She went up to the job board and looked for some work to do. "Water and Honesty. Sounds mysterious. I like mystery." Looking at the request, the only thing it mentioned was meeting the contact in Ambran. Anitta figured that they would find her once she arrived. "I'll take this quest and go on ahead. The contact doesn't mention a meeting place, so I imagine he'll find us."

Anitta turned and started walking. She wondered if this was possibly a trap. She was confident in her skills however, confident enough that she knew an ambush may be the only way any foe could take her on. Of course confidence was a slow and insidious killer, so she would need to keep her wits about herself. Still this would be a good opportunity to hone and test her skills. Once Anitta was on the road she shifted her stance and went into a full sprint. She ought to make it to the city soon at the rate she was going.

As morning came and his snores died down, Magnus would stretch and greet the morning sun. Floor was comfy enough for now, but he really hoped they could fix up the beds at some point. Scratching his head and letting out a deep yawn, Magnus left his temporary room and trotted downstairs, his messy hair in a huge disheveled tide down his shoulders. "Mornin'..." he greeted sleepily, just in time to hear Bart ask how much people earned, as well as talking about their larder. A tinge of guilt weighed on Magnus' shoulders, as he was kind of a big guy and as such ate a lot...reaching into the gold pouch he'd received from yesterday, he withdrew a pile of about 100 coins and put them on the table. "I don't really need the gold all that much...b-but maybe I can find some cheap beds at some point too."

With his pouch now at 50 GP, Magnus was left to ponder what job to take for the day. Love your Neighbor was...well, frankly, Magnus felt it was better suited to a more charismatic sort of adventurer. He just wasn't good with people...or fighting them. Humble Beginnings made him think of his job yesterday, pondering if that was the same lady at the port. Had to be. Though, religion wasn't much his business. His father always told him that a man chooses his faith and sticks to it...so Magnus knew he had to be careful getting roped into those matters. Same reason he wouldn't take A Tempest Looms...and Water and Honesty was sketchy and vague.

However...Dragon's Dressmaker...was a loincloth fashionable? No way. But, then he read The Girl Who Cried. An animal was something he could fight without having to hold back! And, it looked like someone was already in on that quest, so they'd be able to take down the beast no problem. It also seemed that he didn't care WHO would come, so...even better! Magnus excitedly followed after Freyr, shouting: "I'll help slay that wolf!" Not only did Freyr seem dependable, he was also a Male Monster, something that Magnus felt was a HUGE point of similarity between them. Maybe they could be friends...he hoped.

The Girl Who Cried
~@13org (FYR), @The Irish Tree~

Please follow the posts of @GoddessOfNature who shall be GMing this quest.

---

Humble Beginnings
~@Lady Selune (JEZ), @13org (BST)~

The two of you reach Boreal Port in several hours and arrive at midday, the smell of seawater immediately filled your noses. The town itself was quite simple and there were no buildings that stood out from the rest except for a large church that appeared to be visible from any point in Boreal port. It was doubtful that it belonged to the Order as the coastal town was definitely accepting of monsters judging from how you have seen some monsters obviously amongst the population.

Since you were looking for a Dark Priest, the church was probably your first destination. There, you spot a woman wearing saintly-looking clothes moving a broom side to side just outside the church. However, her clothes were dark and purple in color. You see a purple tail extending from her backside wrapped in chains and her ears were pointed. It was obvious this woman was not human but her presence in the church's vicinity was quite ironic. Or fitting, depending on the viewpoint.

"Oh hello." She noticed you. "Is there something I can help you with?" The Dark Priest stopped her cleaning to speak properly to you. She did notice Jezamine though. "Oh, greetings sister. What brings you here to Boreal Port?"

---

Water and Honesty
~@Norschtalen~

You make your way to Ambran with Neil, who could barely keep up with the speed of your sprint. Once you reach the the outskirts of the town but before you can enter. A small boy goes up to you. "You're from the guild right?" He said with his small voice. His ragged and unkempt appearance made it probable that he was poor and likely a servant or maybe a street urchin. "Please ma'am, follow me."

"Oh gosh..." Neil muttered, panting and tired but he persevered anyway.

Strangely, the boy leads you away from Ambran and into the woods north of it, Valoras Woods. It took you maybe an hour or so but the boy did not relent. In time, the two of you enter the forest with the boy still leading the way. "We're getting close. Please keep up."

You soon find out where the boy led you. You stood before a rather large encampment of Dwarves, ones that were still unmonsterized yet, to your knowledge, at war with the Order. The Dwarves present all wore light armor and dressed in garbs that had a hood. They seem to be a scouting party. A large scouting party.

"Here boy." A Dwarf gave the boy a pouch of gold. "Run along now." He was the only one among them wearing a complete set of armor with a helmet that sported a pair of impressive avian wings. "We've heard you accomplish requests so I have decided to enlist your services." The Dwarf turned to you also looking up since he was half your size. "We'll reward you handsomely for your services, of course."

Noticing the exhausted Neil, the Dwarf had to ask. "What's up with him?"

Neil answered immediately as he was catching his breath. "I'mfine. Just... carry on. Don'tworryaboutme."

"There is a river near here, you see." The Dwarf started. "The only area that is suitable for construction beside that river has been claimed by a human who has built a cabin there. We want you to make him leave permanently. We would prefer that you do not kill him but if there is no choice..." He explained the request. "I know we could just do that all by ourselves but we do not wish to attract the interest of... the people around here."

"Ha!"

The large, orge woman laughed as the puny human she called a friend greeted her. Walking over to Bart, Sheolred gave the man a solid pat on the back. Even though he sat on a wagon, Sheolred was till tall enough for her to easily reach him. She didn't really know Bart very well, but as far as humans go he wasn't annoying or weak, which for an ogre practically makes him her best friend. She helped herself into the back of his wagon because she's been walking these past few days and could really use a seat. "I was looking for trouble anyways. Knowing you, we'll be attacked by a whole clan of bandits before sundown. Let's get this show on the road! I haven't killed anything in at least four hours." Granted the thing she killed this morning was a rabbit she ate for a snack, so it's not as if she's looking to murder per say... But she'd find it fun.

Anitta looked at the dwarves and counted their numbers. Their garb told her that they were scouts, but their numbers said they were a war party. Perhaps they intend to attack a large fortification later? Their leader was certainly dressed for the part. Anitta did not know many dwarves but has heard much about them, from their skills in battle and war, to their honor and valor, as well as their immortal grudges and ability to excel in court intrigue. Anitta should not underestimate these men, though she was still willing to question them. They wanted her to evict a human who lived near the river here. These dwarves surely had the numbers to do so, but why would they need her if they couldn't do it themselves? And why all the secrecy? Does it have to do with the dwarve's war against the Order? So many questions, so many answers.

"What do you know about this human? And who else but us are here?" Anitta figured that "these people" that the dwarves was referring too weren't the people at the city. They were far too deep into the forest for any screams to reach them or any patrols. Anitta was going to ask more pointed questions like "Are you going to use this place to fight against the Order" or "Why are you all even here", but Anitta doubts that the dwarves would have the patience for such personal questions. Things related to her job would likely be more willingly answered.

@PaulHaynek

Water and Honesty
~@Norschtalen~

"What do you know about this human? And who else but us are here?"

"The Order, manling." The Dwarf replied. Particularly your second question. "The border between the Order and the monsters may be close by but this area is still heavily Order-influenced. Any human we encounter here, besides you, must be treated with caution." He explained. "If this man even whispers about a Dwarf being here then we'd have knights all over us before we could finish a tankard."

"Anyway, we just know that it's an old man. As to why he's living there, we have no idea. We just want him out and it'd be preferable that there is no bloodshed." The Dwarf answered your first question. "Otherwise, someone might go and investigate and that will only lead to more problems. Now go. Neither of us wants to waste time, right?"

And with that, you and Neil were on your way to the cabin by the river. Neil had some things to say to you though. "The uhh, the Dwarves said they didn't want anyone to notice them. I think we should just uhh, omit their presence when we talk. Or you know, we can just outright lie to the guy and say we're here for other things. Oh and by the way, the gold we earned yesterday is with me. If you want to use gold to uhh, you know, sweeten the deal, then you can alright?"

You two reach the cabin in an hour or so in a large clearing along with a decently-sized river. The log structure was quite large and you spot a single old man in plain clothes sweeping the leaves from the grass. He also spotted you but instead of a friendly greeting, he dropped his broom and quickly scrambled inside into his cabin and emerged seconds later with a weapon in his hands. A crossbow pointed at you, its iron bolt ready to pierce flesh.

"You can't rob the old place now, can ya?!" He yelled at you. "Now off with you before this here crossbow be your final sight of your life!"

Shopping!!
~@Lucius Cypher~

"I was looking for trouble anyways. Knowing you, we'll be attacked by a whole clan of bandits before sundown. Let's get this show on the road! I haven't killed anything in at least four hours."

"Hey now, it's not my fault I stand out." Bart retorted. "And we're just going to Ambran for food.
It's doubtful we're gonna get in trouble or anything. Unless you start one... Please don't start one."

A couple of hours passed and you reach the neutral town. The town of Ambran was extravagant, one more boon from becoming a full-fledged city. Wagons hauled cargo to and from the city and lots of stores lined the sides of the streets. It was clear the town was some sort of trading hub. The people were mostly human though there were some who hid in hoods while others simply looked off.

Bart stopped the wagon in front of a general store. "Come on, we've got a lot of people back in the guild so we're going to be carrying a crate or two."

The deal between Bart and the manager was mostly uninteresting, it simply concerned foodstuffs like Bart had said. Soon, the store provided you with two crates of food which you were tasked with carrying to the wagon along with an assistant. However, a slight misstep made you drop the crate which broke open...

...To reveal nothing but rocks.

The assistant behind you was quick to put his down. "Hey listen!" He quickly whispered. "I've got a hundred gold for ya if you didn't see nothing." He offered you. "Come on now, no need to start a ruckus or anything. The gold's all yours, no questions asked."

Bart was still inside the store. So no one would see. No one would hear. No one would know.

The Girl Who Cried
~@13org (FYR), @The Irish Tree~

Please follow the posts of @GoddessOfNature who shall be GMing this quest.

~@13org (FYR), @The Irish Tree~

As the party of Magnus and Freyr would find themselves walking towards Lozagon forest. Upon arrival they would find the forest was quiet and some of the trees were marked with warning signs like "Keep out, wolf inside" and "Leave now. Trouble brews".
Upon the party taking a step closer to the forest a great strong wind would pick up as if you had triggered by their motion and a very odd howl would come from deep within the forest it would seem. This was the parties last chance to back down before they might themselves not leaving for a while.

There seemed to be no sign of humans or much life around the forest. Something was off definitely.

Sheolred spent most of the wagon trip asleep, waking up only to groggily raise her head and see where they were at. It wasn't until they reached the city that she finally managed to stay away, slap some water onto her face, and figured she'd lend Bart a hand. Granted, she was already feeling a bit pissed just by waking up, and having to do manual labor really ticked her off. If she doesn't get into a fight soon to vent, she was going to find the biggest and meanest looking sonavabitch (Or regular bitch) and start throwing punches. Fortunately something interesting happened. As Sheolred was moving boxes with some twerp, some cat darted between her feet. More surprised than concerned Sheolred tried to maneuver around the cat which resulted in her dropping her end of the box, breaking it open. And revealing rocks.

The puny assistant tried to cover up the mistake and bribe Sheolred with a 100 Gold. Now, Sheolred has been in "civilization" for a while, but she still doesn't really understand the price or value of gold. Was 100 Gold a lot? Was it a small amount? What could she buy with 100 Gold? These sort of questions Sheolred had been meaning to ask, but she usually finds that it's much easier just making people give her the things she wanted or taking it herself. Real calmly, almost scarily so considering her size and growing ferocity, Sheolred picked up one of the bigger rocks. It was almost as big as the boy's head, but in Sheolred hand she could easily get her fingers around it.

"I gotta better deal fer ya. You eat dis rock whole, no spittin an no chewin, an I won't say a thing. Gotta make sure someone can eat deez, yar?"

Sheolred loomed over the kid with a sadistic look in her eye. She looked like the type of person who could easily eat this rock, but she knew that this boy wasn't so able. She grabbed the kid by the scuff of his should so he couldn't run as he held the rock in a menacing way. She could either offer it to him or bash his skull with it, and frankly both were very valid options to her. She chuckled darkly as she waited for the boy's decision. "What'll it be? Rock in the gut? Or rock in the skull? Yer choice..."

@PaulHaynek

Freyr

Having another male monster with him was comforting. Magnus seemed to be a very reliable guy, his physical also showed that he knew how to take care of himself, plus, he wasn't as unsettling as that Bast guy... Freyr wasn't able to read that man's actions at all... He was extremely unpredictable.

When Freyr arrived at the forest which the wolf was, he immediately knew something was wrong... The party was greeted with a howl coming from the distance and a very ominous wind. But what caught Freyr's attention wasn't the howl, or the wind... But the fact that the forest was quiet... Far too quiet. No sounds of other animals, not even birds... It was almost like all the other animals were hiding from something. The forest itself was silent. And that was something that disturbed Freyr.

"... Magnus..." Freyr said, with his bow on his hands, looking around as his ears twitched and turned.
"The forest is too silent... This... Is not right... I can't hear any birds, small animals, its almost like the entire forest is hiding from the creature we came to hunt." Freyr said, with a somewhat saddened expression.
"This wolf... I don't think it's a normal animal. We need to kill it." Freyr said with a serious tone, sniffing the air, trying to track the strange wolf.

@GoddessOfNature @The Irish Tree

---

Bast Ragoczy

He had to confess... Bast was never into religions, cults or those type of things. He was always a man of science, so the idea of attending a request from a dark-priestess was somewhat strange to him, but one thing about cults and religions couldn't be denied: they all had very interesting approaches to rituals, magic and spells.
Any priest would probably call Bast a heretic if he heard that, but Bast loved to take all those secrets, decipher and demystify them, to learn exactly how they worked, not as miracles, but as a scientific magic system. After all, all knowledge is knowledge. It doesn't matter from which source it came.

Boreal Port, the city wasn't big thing... It had only a few small buildings other than a large church, which seemed to be visible from any point of the city. It was quite evident that the church was very important around those parts. Getting near said church, they were met by a priestess wearing a dark purple clothes cleaning the church's entrance. Her tail and pointed ears were clear evidence that she wasn't human.

"Good afternoon, sister." Bast said, taking off his hat in an elegant greeting after she talked to them.
"We are from the guild, we are searching for Riñas Chavez." He said, looking to the priestess.
"My name is Bast. Pleased to meet you." He said, waiting for her answer.

@PaulHaynek @Lady Selune

The strong wind nearly knocked the bit of confidence Magnus had out of him, the huge minotaur staring fearfully into the deep end of the woods from the outside. Freyr was right, this was...unnatural. Putting his helmet on to give him a smidgeon more courage than he'd had, Magnus took his axe from his back. "Freyr, w-we need to...to stick together, but you try and sneak. I-I'm big, so I can draw its attention. And my helmet will keep it from...t-t-t-tearing my throat out..." Magnus said, clearly terrified of whatever was so powerful that it imposed such an aura of dread in the very air. But, dad told him that a Berserker never goes back on his word, and especially never backs down from a fight...well, at least he followed that part when it came to anything but people.

Gulping, Magnus took a step forward into the forest, axe at the ready as he picked up a large branch in a vaguely cylindrical shape. To use as a shield, in case the beast came at him from the side. Keeping a firm grip on his axe, Magnus felt his heart nearly pound out of his chest as he skulked forward, greatly wishing that they had more people here...But they had to do this! The client was counting on them, and so was Mr. Bart. And with Freyr here, Magnus knew that he had to stay brave for his new self-appointed bestie's sake as well.

Magnus stepped on a twig and flinched, thinking that it was coming from somewhere else before proceeding. Even though they'd never worked together before, he'd have to trust Freyr to stay out of sight, yet also watch his rear.

@13org@GoddessOfNature