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It was a day like any other in White Harbor. The sound of sea waves crashing against the dock posts carried throughout the town, the local fishmongers and blacksmiths began to work their trades, filling the air with the rank mix of smelter fire and 'fresh' fish. To the annoyance of some, a group of fishermen had begun to gather up some chickens, geese, and whatever other fowl they could get their hands on in cages in preparation for something. From the looks of the Jewels being piled up in a small safe, it likely involved some kind of gambling.

And moving on from the docks, if not that far, we come across the focus of our tale: The guild Hall of Winter's Blade. Once an ancient mead hall that was said to be crafted by the very first leader to oversee these lands, the newly refurbished building now found itself host to more than just merriment and tavern brawls . . . though that was still to be had in abundance. Even now, as the sun began to make its daily transit across the sky, townsfolk began to trickle into the hall in search of food and drink. While it was a bit early in the day to start hitting the bottle, the return of a local town pest(or pet, if you ask some) has led to a lot of free time for much of the town.



"Why does this place smell like week-old fish. . . "

A sensible complaint spoken to the frigid, uncaring air around her, a young woman pulled her thick designer coat tight around her as she walked up the steps of the guildhall. Her posture was straight as a rod and extremely tense as she felt like she was being stared down from every direction. Claire was no idiot, and new that she stood out like a sore thumb in these parts. Honestly, she probably wanted to leave this place more than the people staring at her did. "Ugh . . . 'big story' my frostbitten ass. No one reader is going to care about this rinky-dink Lil' guild in the middle of nowhere."

With a half-hearted grumble, Claire approached the door with her Lacrima-journal and matching crystalline stylus in hand, already taking notes as she approached the guild. It was a very helpful device that recorded anything written down on it, letting her keep all her notes in one place while being a lot more durable than a regular paper journal. As far as these things went, the lack of any explosions being heard from within meant that she wasn't likely to be dodging fireballs or knives this time. And even had to admit, the rustic grandeur of the hall was certainly noted in the Guild's favor. Even with it being a newly fixed up building, one could feel the age and history that made up the foundations of the place. There were guilds years, if not decades older and more established than Winter's Blade that would kill for a Guild Hall like this.

"I wonder how they even managed to afford to get all this done?" She wondered allowed as she reached for the door, only for the heavy slab of oak to swing inward before she got the chance, revealing a . . . a surprisingly familiar face.

"S-S-Serena?!?!" Claire took a step back in shock as a woman she had thought was very much out of her life seemed to appear before her like a very distracting specter. Claire's cheeks turned crimson as she remembered the circumstances around their last. . . encounter, but she tried her best to push those lurid details out of her mind, clearing her throat with a mild cough as she stepped up to her old academy 'friend'. "I thought you were i-interning in Crocus?"

"And hello to you too Claire, took you long enough to get here." For her part, Serena seemed entertained by the shock she'd given(much to the reporter's irritation), leaning against the doorframe with arms crossed over her chest. "And before I answer that, you want to come inside? Chill seems to have your face all red, it does."

The slight wink Serena gave her as she turned around to lead the reporter into the building only made Claire feel even hotter under the collar. Of all of the people, why did it have to be her?!?! Claire couldn't help but have a small strike of panic run through her until she shook her head, smacking her cheeks to snap her out of this funk. No, come on Claire. That was over a year ago. You're an intern at Sorcerer's Weekly. You've got a job to do, you can handle a little surprise like Serena, no problem. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this . . .

She repeated this mantra in her head over and over as she walked inside, a small sigh escaping her as she felt the temperature instantly shoot up to something more livable. While Serena walked to the bar, where a group of men was shouting at a rather flustered looking woman for some more drinks and meat, Claire took some time to examine the interior of the guild. Because that was her job, of course. Definitely wasn't stalling, or trying to avoid talking to Serena. She could handle her whenever she needed to, so why rush? She was the one asking the questions, she would be the one to set the pace of this interview.

Once she had taken the time to repeat that to herself a few times, Claire found that the inside of the guild was even more impressive than the outside. With a vaulted ceiling hanging high overhead that revealed the supporting structure of rafters that kept the wooden structure upright, she let her gaze trail down the 3 sets of landings that ringed the upper perimeter of the Hall. She could see the doors to rooms, stairways leading deeper into the hall, even what looked to be openings that led to open-air balconies in the higher portions of the guildhall.

At the ground level, a number of long tables were arranged in 3 rows around two raging fires, most filled with a number of townsfolk looking for ways to pass the time, both young and old. The walls were lined with the skulls and stuffed heads of various creatures, some of which she couldn't help but shiver at the sight of. The thought of having to look down any of those things in a fight made her very glad she wasn't doing this whole guild business. Still, as she looked around to see all the people chatting, rough0housing, and generally having a good time. . . she couldn't help but feel a bit cozy. It was foreign, rugged, and more than a little intimidating in it's the decor, but there was just a strange warmth about the place that felt strange after spending damn near 3 days trudging through the surrounding region from Hilsgerd.

"Bjorn, what the hell have I told your drunkard ass?!?! I swear to god, I feed your damn hands to Bessie if you're not going to keep them to yourself."

Claire turned to face the bar, where Serena currently had one of the burly men facedown in a pool of spilled liquor, one foot on his head while she had his arm in both hands and bending in a direction that it really shouldn't be bending, especially from the way that he was shouting. Though rather than defend their companion, the other village men just laughed and jeered the pervert, mentioning how he should've known better than to try anything around Serena.

I . . . should probably wait till that sorts itself out. . . yeah. The reporter took down a few more notes as she walked towards a more secluded section of the hall, wanting to simply observe for the most part. Perhaps even spy the mysterious guild master that seemed to have dragged Serena into coming back home permanently. . . not that she particularly cared. Definitely not. It was just her job. Nothing more. nothing less.

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Mentions: @Asura@Severance@OwO
The Marshlands surrounding the settlement of Bludmach were, for lack of a better term, an utter shit-hole. The few trees that managed to eke out a meager existence in this place were diseased, jagged-looking things with a penchant for carnivorous behavior that had taken more than one curious visitor or rookie Marshrunner by surprise. If the plant life didn't get you, however, then the wildlife would be the next thing to watch out for, since any creature that lived in this toxic swamp was going to be both very aggressive and very, very hungry. Still, for experienced Marshrunners and those in their care, the trek was usually one of practiced ease.

Usually.

As of the last month, however, a new kind of creature seems to have risen from the caustic red sludge of the Bluidmach. Reports of it a few and far between, as the creature manages to remain ever elusive, but its effect on the settlement of Bludmach proper is a devastating one. Food and Water have been stretched to its limits, Tensions are running high, and the production of the Lacrima that keep the town going has slowed to almost nothing as miners, alchemists, shamans, and regular citizens all end up missing. Taken, many say, by the Beast or so the locals have taken to calling it.

And so come in our heroes, brave mages of the newly founded Winter's Blade Guild. . . riding in the back of a rickety wagon along a poorly maintained Runic-enhanced road through the marsh as their driver jumps at every stray shadow and the odd burst of a toxic gas bubble. While not every Marsh Runner believes in the tail of the Beast, many do know that something is killing a lot of the people heading in and out of the Bludmach. So the group, after much haggling and, perhaps a little threatening from Eldrid, managed to rope a somewhat novice Marsh runner to take them through the place to the settlement Though from the way he'd been muttering, praying, and cursing under his breath the entire trip so far, he was far from happy about the situation.

"You've should've just kept to your guns, Malon. 'No way am I going out tin that marsh, it's a fucking death wish.' Well, I guess it was always dangerous work so that kind of excuse would've seemed odd, but they didn't need to know that. Now you're going to die because you're such a wuss. Gods be Damned, Malon, how could you be so stupid. . . and so easily cowed by a girl barely entering adulthood. Even if she does have a very large and scary wolfman behind her. . . and the other strange guy. . . and the whole 'can breathe fire' thing. Uggggh, goddammit Malopn what have you gotten yourself into now."

The foul stench was getting to the sea dog. To a normal person, the stench of rot and bog water could be tolerated or ignored. His large physique could only recoil into itself to avoid the foul air. Seeing his imposing figure curled up and his large, clawed hands holding a much too small, soaked in spirits handkerchief to his nose was a sight to behold. Klaus was having an absolutely miserable time in the swamp on the outskirts of Bludmach. Why did he even come to a place so far away from the sea?

The answer was responsibility. Having someone who—quite literally—joined the guild the previous day take an urgent, high-difficulty mission was a big red flag. Doing such a thing either meant you were sandbagging for most of your life or were an overconfident shmuck. The latter was always more likely. Having one of these types was bad enough, but two of them were bold enough to run headfirst into that four star quest wall. It wasn't like those elusive jobs undertaken by the greatest mages, though. Unless there was something really wrong, there was really nothing to stop people from overextending. Common sense, maybe, but nothing else.

With Eldrid raging against the runner, the sickened Klaus piped up to rebuke her.

"Oi, don't make trouble. Yer part of a guild now. Bein' a knob fucks it up for the rest o'us."

He didn't really acknowledge the fact that his passive bonus to a party's intimidation played a pretty major part in getting the poor marsh runner to cart them in the first place.

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Picking out just the right outfit that wouldn't get in the way and would still offer at least a bit of warmth was difficult. There were plenty that would do one or the other, and in the end, after piling almost all her clothes on her bed in various - seemingly incoherent - piles, Ria finally settled on a pair of skin tight shorts and tank top; no shoes - those would just get in the way. Her usual swimming attire, which she planned to pair with same spells she always cast for negating the cold of the harbor for her swims. But this time wasn't about a swim. The last thing she grabbed before leaving her room was the job flyer.

If it hadn't been so late when she heard there was a job that would let her go swimming again, she would have been out on the bay already. For the past two weeks she'd planned to do just what the rest of the town was doing - waiting to see if Bessie would move back to deeper waters on her own. That wasn't happening, and now she'd get paid to do what she'd been considering. She didn't even care that it was a split between three people.

A slight skip entered her step as she headed down to the ground level. "'Morning, everyone!" She waved at the gathered people at large as she walked over to the counter. "Serena, you made note that Cade and Will and me are going to deal with Bessie, right?" She pulled the flyer from where she'd stuffed it into her top. "They helped me find it yesterday. I figure it shouldn't take me long by myself, so with them helping - we'll have Bessie back out in the ocean by sunset. No problem!"

It would just be a matter of waiting for her shopping buddies to be ready. She didn't want to wait long, but she wasn't about to start the job without them.

Serena

@Sanguine Rose@Hero

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"Yeah, I got it all handled." Serena muttered as she released the drunkard from the painful armbar, though she made sure to give him another kick to the side for good measure before turning to his companions. "Makes sure he makes it home without falling off the docks. The last thing we need to is to give Bessie a new chew toy."

"Aye, we'll do our best to see the lout back to his wife, though I wager he'd have wished to take his chances with ol' Bes once he sobers up. That woman could nag the ear off anything." This got a laugh out of the other men gathered at the bar as they began to make their way out of the Guild Hall, the lead one placing down the payment for the drinks while the rest went to collect their drunk companion. It was only after Serena had made sure they'd all left that she turned to give Ria her full attention, raising an eye at her get-up but choosing not to say anything about it.

"Ria, I think you should probably take ol' Bessie a bit more seriously. She may not have a habit of killing people, but more than a few fishermen here have lost an arm or a leg to her." Giving a nod to the thankful looking barmaid who'd been serving the group of fishermen from before, she walked around the counter to stand behind the bar, reaching up to pull a few bottles down as she continued to speak. "Bessie's a tough gal, and faster than you'd think for something as big as she is. Not only that, but she's pretty damn bull-headed in her own way, so getting her to stay out will likely be a hassle." Serena clicked her tongue as she picked up one of the bottles, shaking it a bit to see if there was anything before chucking it into a nearby trash bin.

"Anyway since you're still waiting for Cade and Will before you go and deal with Bessie, mind being a dear and getting Aiden from his office? Tell him the reporter for Sorcerer's Weekly showed up. We can't have a Guild interview without the Guildmaster around. Oh, and if he's asleep, feel free to wake him up however you see fit as long as you don't mess up any of the paperwork"

Claire, for her part, had gained a much cooler head thanks to the brief respite to get over the shock of seeing her former classmate again. As such, while she thought about walking over to Serena to start the interview on her own terms, she found her attention drawn to a woman standing before the Guild's relatively bare request board. There was something. ..familiar about the woman that she couldn't quite place, but aside from that, she definitely stood out amongst the crowd of rough and rowdy Harborites that filled the Hall. Dressed in clothes that were actually fashionable, for one, as well as lacking the rugged edge that often came with living in a freezing hellscape of an area that seemed determined to be rid of your presence. Having grown bored of watching the locals, she decided it was about time to start asking a few questions and walked over with her lacrima-journal in hand.

"Excuse me, Miss," The reporter started, reaching up to tap them on the shoulder and then reaching out in greeting once she had the other woman's attention. "Claire Hartsfield, a reporter for the Sorcerer's Weekly magazine. I'm doing a bit of an interview on the Winter's Blade guild and I couldn't help but wonder if you were a member? If so, I was hoping I could ask you a question or two?"@Asura@Severance@OwO

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"Heeee!" Malon jumped as Eldrid slammed her foot into the back of his seat, the sudden movement causing the wagon to swerve sharply to the left before he quickly managed to straighten everything out. His passengers, however, would likely find themselves flung into each other, which did little to ease Malon's nerves. "I-I'm sorry ma'am. I'll try my best to keep quiet from now on. As for, uh, how close we are to the encampment, I'd say. . . maybe another 30 minutes. If you want, you can even see the G-Guardian of the valley up ahead."

Truthfully, the Guardian had been visible for quite a while, being a rather gigantic landmark that proved difficult to miss in the mostly flat terrain of the Marshlands. Towering over the whole of the area, its molted coloration would've made it difficult to make out from the dark mountains that surrounded it, if not for the gleaming steel of the gigantic blade that impaled the serpent's head. And beyond the towering corpse of the God serpent, a thick veil of fog hanging over the entrance to the valley of Ancients, hiding who knows what dwelled within.

"Quite a sight, isn't it? I must admit, getting to look at that every so often is part of why Malon learned these routes. Can't even begin to imagine what kind of battle took place that leads to that giant's death, but just thinking about it is enough to really get you hyped, isn't it. . . or at least, it would be if not for the Beast possibly lurking out there in the marshlands. Sneaky bastard, the Beast is from what I've heard. Loves to ambush people from the muck and drag them down to feast on the marrow of their bones. . . or at least, that's what I hear. Can you even imagine, falling into the caustic sludge, some creature on top of you, ripping you to pieces or just holding you down to wait and see which finishes you first, the poison or the lack of air or even worse. . . "

And so Malon would continue for some time, seemingly trapped in his own morbid daydream of all the possible ways he could perish out here. And yet, underneath this muttering of solemn gibberish, a sound could be heard. A slight rustle of the dry grasses a few meters to their south, followed by the loud burst of a gas bubble. Another would soon follow that one, this time from the north, then once more, just a meter or so from the runic-enforced mud road. This seemed enough to snap Malon out of his funk, jumping slightly as he covered his mouth.

"D-Don't worry, there are always a bunch of gas bubbles this close to the road around this section of the trek. Just be careful not to breathe anything in. It's not enough to kill you, but you'll find yourself dizzy and off-balance in moments. A very common way for a lot of trainee Marshrunners to get snatched up by a whipper tree or any of the other viscious beasties that you can find out here."

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The young man jolted upright from his bed in a panic, having awoken from some kind of bad dream. Though he wasn't wearing his eyepatch he still kept his left eye closed, which was also where he moved his left hand to comfort his new headache that started coming on. This was already not a good morning for Cade. What was that? A nightmare? He wondered to himself as he slowly got out of bed, still holding his head as he got to his feet. A new vision? How did I forget so quickly? His gaze ascended from the floor, scanning his room as if there would be hidden details in the real world about his dreams. The lodging was humble, largely undecorated. A basic room given to him by the Winter's Blade for a very good price. Of course he had managed to haggle the price down further but the deal was that he would have to pay the usual price after the first month. In the meantime he avoided personalizing the place on the chance he didn't end up staying. The plain wooden walls and plain wooden floors would do just fine anyways. A rustic look, if anything.

But in the wood there were no answers for him prompting a sigh of defeat as Caderyn walked to his wardrobe. He was gonna need to dress warm today, warmer than usual. That ditzy girl Ria had taken a quest requiring him to go to the harbor. The coldest place in an already cold town. Perfect for catching a cold or pneumonia or hypothermia. The quest reward was a pretty decent size in compensation but the fact that another, Will if Cade remembered correctly, was also joining and would make it difficult to divide the reward in a favorable way. Even still a fair cut is nothing to scoff at. After donning some simple brown fabrics and a pelt overcoat, he finally reached for his eyepatch that was laying on the floor next to his bed. Several in this guild already knew he had some kind of magic with his eye, but he could remember his father's lessons quite clearly. Don't let anybody know that doesn't need to know. The leather patch was clean but the strap was worn from years of use. Perhaps I should get a new one soon before this thing breaks on me, he thought, placing the patch over his closed left eye and looking towards the door.

On his way down to the guild hall he began thinking about the day's plans. The quest was to scare off the big fish that's been screwing over the fisherman at the harbor, or something like that. Surely something that Ria could do by herself, being a famed Dragon Slayer and all that, but her decision to include Cade for a cut of the cash didn't displease him. Truth was she was a naive and seemingly innocent girl, cute in her own way, and for this reason he would never decline an opportunity to make money off her. The girl parts with her money so easily that Cade has wondered if she was doing it on purpose and was just waiting to blackmail him with it. A true con artist wouldn't seem like a con artist after all, but surely just catching him once would've done the trick so Ria must be none the wiser. At least usually, but this Will guy tagging along is a lot more wise to the world. If only a little. Some kind of rich kid that at least had an education, he won't make any mistakes with money so today isn't a day for Cade to try. So the plan was simple: meet with the guildmates, walk to the harbor, let Ria scare Bessie away, collect the reward, go have a nice lunch.

Upon entering the main hall he saw that Ria was already waiting at the bar, talking with Serena. He got close enough just in time to hear Serena asking for Ria to go find the Master so he could conduct some interview. "Sorcerer's Weekly, huh," Cade spoke up from just behind Ria. "Isn't that that one magazine that makes the top ten articles and stuff? Oh yeah, and I'm here." With his introduction he stepped forward to stand next to the purple-haired girl. "I'm ready to go drive that fish off or whatever, I was thinking that perhaps we could all split a lunch in an hour or however long this takes. That deli near the harbor ought to have some good food I heard." It was perhaps clear to Serena that Cade didn't hear what she had just warned Ria about with the dangers of Bessie, but even if he had heard it he likely would've ignored the advice. After all, he didn't plan on going in the water with the fish monster.

CRASH!

That single sound cut through the guild hall's discordant din like a blade through air. The twin doors, oak and heavy, had been cast open as if they were no more than paper in the wind. In the center of the entrance, silhouette framed by the light reflecting off the snow, was that man. Under both arms, he held two large casks, and from his shoulders, an azure cape billowed behind him, brought to life by the chill, northern breeze at his back.

The blond took a single, powerful step forward and opened his mouth:

"Oh! I didn't mean to kick it that hard. Jeez. Hope I didn't damage anything, heh," Arc laughed, stomping snow from his boot. He set the casks on the floor, crouched down, and brushed snow and dirt from the intricate woodwork which he had so deftly kicked. After ensuring that nothing had been permanently damaged, he chirped. "Great! Sorry about that folks, I had my hands full, you see."

Arcturus gently closed the doors and flashed a thumbs up and a smile to the associated guildgoers.

He picked up his casks and headed straight for the bar. "Morning everyone," Arc greeted, setting the two kegs on the table. He turned his attention to Serana, "Worked a late shift at the brewery last night like you wanted me to. It was a little bit longer than I expected..."

Of course, he had neglected to inform them that he should have been back yesterday afternoon rather than this morning, but those were little, unimportant details--especially in the face of free alcohol.

"...but on the plus side, I managed to score these babies right here! And this," he put a hand into his armor and withdrew a small, brown sack of coins, which he dropped on the counter. "Here you go, please enjoy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an announcement to make..."

Arcturus grabbed a cleaning rag from the other side of the bar and leapt up onto an empty table. Usually you weren't supposed to stand on tables, but this was more important than that. Unlike Nia, Arcturus was not aware of the quest posting that had been put up this morning. What he was aware of, however, was the grieving mother who had approached him in the street, begging for his assistance. It was not something he could simply ignore. No, this was something he had to do, something he swore he would do.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!" the mage boomed, striking a power pose, "I'M GONNA NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE! MRS. WHITECLIFFE'S KID IS MISSING! BUT THAT'S OKAY! BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA FIND HIM! IF YOU'RE WITH ME, THEN C'MON OVER! 'Cause I gotta clean this table now. Please don't stand on the tables. Thank you."

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Locals getting roughed up by the guild's manager was nothing new. Ria hadn't even thought twice about it really. The woman wouldn't have just roughed him up for fun, so obviously he had to have done something and whatever it was, Serena had taken care of it.

What had taken some of the wind out of the girl's sails was the way Serena talked about Bessie. She always took the woman's advice to heart even if she learned later that the advice was actually just a joke. But where something might have been emotionally joking, one of the many things she had learned was that she never joked when warning about personal safety. At least, not when it was a serious job. Chasing off Bessie was a serious job. If not for the sake of the fishermen getting back to work, then for the sake of their barmaids not having to put up with daily harassment.

Well that was going to take some thought. A lot more thought than she'd originally given the task. Originally she figured she'd just dive on in and get Bessie to follow her out to the sea, but she hadn't really studied how fast the beast was. If she was as fast as Cormenila, it would certainly take a bit more than she anticipated. Well, that was what Cade and Will were for. She could go in a direction and deal with a problem, but this planning thing was going to take someone that could plan. The whole reason she took it was because she could do the bit in the water and others couldn't. The only way this would have been easier would have been if Klaus hadn't gone to keep an eye on two of the other slayers in the guild on a more fighty job.

The thoughtful look vanished from the young mage's face, quickly chased off by her typical smile, at the request to fetch Aiden. She heard of Sorcerer's Weekly; people talked about it. She opened her mouth to respond but heard Cade speak up from behind her. After a moment to process he'd shown up, the smile was back. "Well, we're just waiting on Will now. Then we have to figure everything out. Bessie may take a bit more than I figured since we just want to chase her off an' not kill 'er. But we'll talk about all that when Will gets here."

Ria pushed off the counter with a bit of a bounce. "Serena asked me to go get Master Aiden, so I'll be right back. 'Kay? Don't go leaving without me!" She turned and bounded off toward the guildmaster's office. Knowing him, if he was doing paperwork like Serena implied, he'd fallen asleep.

That safe assumption was confirmed when she stepped into the office. If it wasn't for the paperwork, he'd get a quick dose of water to get him going. Considering that meant the paperwork Serena didn't want messed with would be soggy at best, she had to decide on something else. Something less...hydrating. After a few moments of scratching her head, she finally shrugged. Tried and true was probably best. So she walked up to the guildmaster and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Master Aiden? Serena said someone from Sorcerer Weekly is here to see you. You gotta get up," she said softly while giving his shoulder a gentle shake.

Kvasir had been busy punching trees outside until his knuckles were raw, but more importantly trying for the last half an hour to catch quite the elusive fly that had been pestering him for the last several days. This however was not guild etiquette especially in display of any onlookers even reporters to say the least. The violent giant still fresh blood to the guild was gently reminded of this by Aiden when he came waltzing outside. The mage full of grace and poise snatched the fly out of the air by its wings before handing it to the savage brute. He crushed it just as quickly as he obtained it leaving nothing more than a litany of body parts. Aiden spoke of a mission to some place called Bludmach, he didn’t really pay much attention besides a few grunts to show he was fine with whatever the guild needed.

The wagon was more or less, broken. It was quite the miracle it was able to house Kvasir, Eldrid who was rivaling his stature for a woman, and the dog that could stand on just his hind legs. Whether it was a party trick or magic, Kvasir couldn’t tell but similarly found it too exciting to care. Bludmach’s decrepit environment had done nothing in the way of alarming Kvasir. He had been used to seeing harsh environments on his way to Winter’s Blade from the countryside. Unfortunately for Klaus, Kvasir’s attention had been on him the entirety of the ride. Kvasir couldn’t help but feel a strange compulsion to comb through the dog’s fur looking for any kind of fleas or ticks.
”Haha silly doggy” he thought until he was violently thrown across the wagon into the fiery red head. Kvasir propped himself up with what appeared to be a hand on Eldrid’s bosom.

@j8cob@Raijinslayer

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The morning sun shined brightly through the boys window warming his body and urging him to wake up. With a restless sigh William rose from his bed rubbing his eyes quickly rising from his bed. Today he and Cade would be assisting Ria with getting rid of Bessie at the harbor, something that surely would keep him occupied and more importantly take his mind off things. White harbors lifestyle was nothing like the previous places he had resided at before.

“I got a feeling it’s going to be one of those days”

William made sure to dress for the occasion, wearing light armor leather armor adorned with fur around his neck to keep him warm. Even as me made his way down to the guild hall he questioned if this would be enough to keep him warm, maybe the sailors will let him borrow something?

Before even heading inside the guild he could already hear how lively it was inside, he let out a small chuckle and sighed as he pushed open the doors. Immediatetly he found Arcturus on a table shouting, energetic as usual. Will then turned and scouted the area for his teammates, quickly he identified Cade as not too many people wore eye patches around here. Caderyn was a interesting guy, its hard to get a read on him as he keeps his wall high making. Despite this William was pretty happy that Cade would assist him and Ria with the mission as he was a very talented wizard. He seemed to be talking to Serena about something. He approached the two with an arm raised.

“Good morning Serena, Goodmorning Cadedyn.” The boy said, he looked around some more noticing that Ria wasn’t around. She was only 2 years years younger than William but in comparison it was easy to tell who was much more mature, even so Attending shopping trips with her was always pretty nice and relaxing she was good company. “I’m assuming Ria will be here soon?”

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Aiden's office was a rather spartan room, lacking in decoration, adornment, and even furnishings aside from the large oaken desk situated towards the back od it. A desk that, at the moment, was completely covered in piles of paperwork stacked so high, it was impossible to tell upon walking in that someone was even sitting in the chair. However, the soft mutterings and slight snores that rung out from behind it was enough to confirm the Guildmaster's presence within.

As Ria walked up to Aiden, she'd find him face down against his desk, a quill still in hand as he seemed to have fallen asleep in the middle of his work. However, as soon as she moved to shake him awake the man would come to consciousness with a start, his head shooting up to scan the room in a slight panic. However, as he turned to see it was only Ria at his side, his features relaxed into a sheepish smile as he pushed himself up off of the desk.

"Oh, it's just you Ria," He chuckles while taking care to peel off the paper that had stuck to his face in his sleep, making a face at the smeared ink as he set down. "Uh, go on and tell Serena I'm on my way. I need to make myself look a tad more. . . presentable."

Making a gesture for the young dragonslayer to leave, Aiden got up and made for a little side door in his office, meaning to clean himself up in the sink and perhaps get a new set of clothes situated.
"Oh hush, Sorcerer's Weekly isn't all fluff. . . and even if it is, they're the most read publication in Fiore so what they say still matters. As for Bessie, some folk around her claim closer to a dragon than a fish, not that I put much stock in it." Serena said with a shake of her head as she watched Ria head off to wake up Aiden, letting her eyes drift across the guildhall in search of Claire. Her brow raised a bit as she saw her engaged with Nia, but after watching the two interact for a bit, she shrugged it off to instead keep talking to Cade. "That said, I hope you aren't planning to sit back and let Ria and Will do all the heavy lifting. If so, I can't imagine the Guildmaster wou-"

Before Serena could continue with her accusation, or what she was getting to with them, the guildhall doors would burst open as one Winter's Blade's more enthusiastic members came in. He was about a whole day late, but the casks of ale and sack of coins the young man brought with him spared him the worst of Serena's ire.

"You're lucky I like you, kid, else I'd run your ass over the coals for staying out all night. I had to calm the guild master down about 50 times, he was so worried about ya." Despite her scolding, Serena kept up a smile as she watched Arc make his pronouncement though it fell a bit as she listens to what he was actually calling for. It was a tragic turn of events, to be certain, and she could only hope that Arc and whoever went with him managed to get the boy back in one piece . . . or at the very least, put Thoronia's worries to rest on the fate of her child. Luckily, Serena was brought out of her small funk by Will's appearance and quickly put on a smile to mask her misgivings. She didn't want to ruin anyone's day with thoughts of grim realities that might not even come to pass.

"Ria actually beat you here, but I sent her off on a little errand to get our illustrious Guild Master ready for an interview. I'm sure she'll be down soon enough and you can all be on your way to giving Bessie the nudge she needs to get out of the bay and back to her mama."

"I can see that." Claire chuckled as she watched the blonde hair boy make his entrance, unsure quite to make of the odd mix of outgoing personality and strangely demure politeness he showed. However, upon hearing the kind of mission that the young man was calling recruits for. . . an idea came to mind for the young reporter. A gleam enters her eye as she tapped her stylus against her Lacrima-journal, seeming to wrestle with the thought of what would be more preferable before settling on her next course of action with a nod. "If you don't mind me asking. . . are you planning to join him on that request? Because I think that, as much as I'd love to sit down and do a few interviews, the best way to get a view of how a guild function is to watch it in action."

Plus, I don't have to worry about Serena trying to mess with my head the whole time to get me to give this place a favorable review.

@pkken@Severance@Hero@j8cob@Grey@Sanguine Rose

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@Raijinslayer@Hero

Truthfully, Lee had been there waiting to grab the job for a while now, but given that despite the child was missing there was no evidence of them being in danger, so he waited to see who else would pick it up. Plus, this meant that somebody else could take the lead, meaning Lee had a lot more time to sleep get ready.

The disheveled man stood, rubbing at his stubble and yawning as he snatched a glass of juice that probably already belonged to somebody, and downed it, placing it down again on the closest surface before jamming his hands in his pockets and taking on his trademark hunched posture. "So I guess that either you or the loud one is the boss on this one? Please tell me it's you." Lee smiled as he approached the two girls. "Sebastian Alexander Lee, at your service... But I much prefer something stupid like Lazy or Lee, less of a mouthful." Lee did his best impression of a sarcastic bow with his hands hidden. Meanwhile, the air around him shimmered slightly, flickers of light just barely visible in the corners of one's eye like some sort of hallucination brought on by lack of sleep danced around him.

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The little girl's lights however, were much less subtle, the two little orbs danced around her head like miniature stars, twinkling just brightly enough to cause somebody to look twice, and then they were gone. She tried her best to sneak around the edges of the guild hall, hoping to take advantage of the annoyingly loud blonde man so that she could get over to her father. The lights around her head, those she cleverly dubbed Pink and Blue, they however seemed to have a different idea in mind. "Blue, over here!" The girl whispered, not quite as quietly as she imagined she was, the pink orb shuddering in annoyance at the pet name the child used. The Blue orb rose a bit higher, dimming as it grew farther away from the girl until it twinkled in surprise and fled downwards back to Violet at the sudden sideways glance from Lee across the room. "Nu uh, he saw you, not me." The little girl seemed to respond to nobody in particular as she continued forwards on her little mission.

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Cade raised an eyebrow as Serena elaborated further on Bessie, largely ignoring what she said about Sorceror's Weekly. His earlier comment on the magazine wasn't out of ignorance after all. Regardless of that he still didn't put much stock into Serena's warnings about the giant fish. "Yeah, I'd figured it was just a big fish anyway. If those two can't make it go away for a while then I'll be there to make sure it goes away for a long time..." he responded, looking over to Arc as Serena had before him. Personally he couldn't stand the guy. Even his name was annoying, Arcturus. A boisterous fool pretending to be noble but Cade was certain that he was hiding an ugly personality underneath the bluster. Nobody behaved like him unless they were trying to hide something after all. "Maybe he could stay gone longer next time," Cade muttered, all the while practically shooting daggers at Arc from across the hall.

He turned back to Serena just as Will approached, only sparing a glance over his shoulder as the wizard greeted him. "Yo." He gave a brief wave to match Will's own greeting. "Out of curiosity, do you happen to have any communication lacrima we can borrow? It'd make my part here a lot easier," Cade posed, mostly to Serena but he wouldn't be bothered if Will would have something for this. It didn't matter either way which one provided. "No big deal if we don't have any, I'm sure I can figure out what's going on underwater just fine." His gaze then turned back to Will, this time looking him up and down as if he was sizing him up. "Hey, if you go out in the water like that and get knocked overboard... Do you have a way out of that problem on your own? I won't be able to help you and if Ria has to it might actually get one or both of you injured..."

Arcturus looked around for the source of the whistling, and spotted Nia in the distance, doing something odd with her hand. After a moment's thought, the young man finally realized what Nia's actions meant. He had seen those repetitive arm curls before.

He began posing.

Serena

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"Give the kid a break, grumpy." Serena rolled her eyes as Caderyn glared down Arc as if he wanted to vaporize him with the strength of his gaze along. "I don't get what you have against the kid. He's a bit loud, sure, but harmless for the most part. . . and makes for good eye candy for a few of the village girls if the rumor mill is anything to go by. Makes good business when they come and try to talk to the dolt."

With that said, the red-haired woman looked over to see that Claire was still talking with Nia, but didn't seem to be taking down any notes like you'd expect an interviewer to do. Taking a sip from one of the glasses in front of her, Serena wondered what the spectacled reported had in mind but decided to leave her to it. She had done her part in setting everything up and telling Aiden that the girl was here, so everything else was up to him.

"Before Ria comes and collects you both, either of you wants this drink? Seems like Nia and Company are stealing our reporter away from us and I'd hate to see it go to waste."

"Glad to see you guys don't lose your sense of humor around here." Claire couldn't help but join Nia in her laughter as the strange blonde started to pose for seemingly no reason. She gave a nod of acknowledgment to Nia and Lee as she followed them over, risking a glance over at Serena as she did so. Seemed like the redhead wasn't moving to intercept her, so she was likely free to proceed with the group on their job. Glancing over at Lee, she couldn't help but notice another figure skulking around along the edges of the guildhall, with little lights that acted in a similar fashion to the stranges. . . illusions she wanted to say that the pale man had around him.

"Uh. . . excuse me for assuming but. . . do you know that little girl over there? The one with the lights popping in and out of sight over her head?"

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For one Trixia Blackfang, the last few days had been. . . less than stellar. Two days of nothing but watching the scenery go by, chilly nights on the roadside, a rather tasteless campfire broth, and similarly unappetizing trail rations. So far, the rest of today seemed likely to just be more of that as she sat on the back of the wagon while the trader that had requested the job managed the oxen pulling them along with nary a word to say. The entire trip he'd been fairly quiet and averse to conversation, speaking only in one or two words responses at best.

"HEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyy Trixie. . . whatcha lookin' at?"

(Un)Fortunately, the man's son, Odin, proved to be much more sociable sort, having poked and prodded at the young girl for details and stories about how the guild was like, about her magic, about her life before the guild, and any other number of topics that a young merchant's son could think of as he tried his best to either get to know or irritate the girl. At present, he was sitting next to his father, turned around to give the young girl one of his beaming over-exuberant smiles.

"I can't wait to show you the sights at Hilsgerd. Most people tend to think it's just a sleepy little town, but I'm telling you that if you know where to look, it can be quiet the fun little destination." He continued without even giving her room to really answer, gesturing to the road ahead where one could just make out the signature Windmill that marked the boundary town. While explicitly on the border between this region and the rest of Fiore proper, it was the first major settlement that people from Fiore are likely to pass through and as a result, often sees quite a bit of trade flowing through it. "There's that one pie shop that mother always loved to visit, the minstrel shows that play around midday, not to mention sneaking up to the old windmill. Oh, and let's not forget. . . "

And so the boy would likely continue, spouting off about all of the mundane little pleasure to be found in the town unless Trixie saw fit to interrupt him.

Bludmach: Outskirts

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As the trio got themselves sorted out after their tumble in the back of the wagon, Klaus and Eldrid both would be made privy to another noise entering the marshlands, if only just so. Hidden in between the bursts of toxic bursts. . . a low grumble that was coming from. . . below. They would have only an instant to react before the entire wagon was suddenly launched skyward, flipping end over end and sending any unable to react in time soaring as well. Where the wagon had been situated, a shadowy creature stood instead, its form flickering as if it was not but a mirage brought on by the toxic swamp gases.

But the strength which had launched the wagon was very much real and so was the toxic muck that some of the crew was about to fall into. Contact with the red mud with any exposed flesh would bring forth an almost searing pain as the caustic stuff began to eat away at their very flesh. Malone, for his part, was already getting ready to break his fall, curling into a ball to disperse as much of the force from landing as he could manage. That, mixed with the soft nature of the soil, made it so the force of the fall would not be too bad for anyone taking similar precautions, though it still knocked the wind out of him upon impact, seemingly unable to get up right away as he tried to catch his breath.

They would be given scarely a moment to breath, however, as the creature continued its assault by tearing a path straight towards the weakest link in the group: Malon.

Taking the sudden shake of the cart very well, the sickly Klaus sat dead still as a Ksavir launched through the air. Like some poorly written romance schlock, his hand had nested itself in a highly unprofessional place. Accidents happen. The sea dog knew that much. Though, if Eldrid had chosen to exact some form of retribution, he wouldn't really interfere. Such was sea law to let such small trifles (hey, it wasn't mutiny) be sort out by those involved.

After they resituated themselves, a new noise made itself apparent. Something below. Oh lord, it wasn't a giant worm, right? Worms were pretty gross. Not that Klaus couldn't stomach them, metaphorically or literally. Their ribbed bodies and weird movement were kind of creepy. He could't warn anyone else before a sudden feeling of weightlessness came over him. The carriage that protected them from the bog had began to spin, something theorized by most as "very bad".

For the first few flips, Klaus stuck inside the carriage, his rear practically glued to the seat. Around the fourth flip, his body was launched out of the carriage in the same position he had spent the entire trip in.

Dogs were not to meant to fly.

Klaus could swim and stay stable on any surface, but flying was out of his wheelhouse. Quickly turning to the advanced art of flailing, the wild dog spent his air time trying to land on his feet. Mud would soften the blow, but it was pretty much fetid shit. Probably had venereal disease in the muck too. But, by some miracle, he landed with enough grace to not get a face full of the toxic goo. His sleeve and pants took the brunt of the caustic mud. Thankfully, what did managed to splash onto his bare body had been rendered mostly null by the layers of fur that he possessed.

But now was not the time to ascertain the damage.

The MASSIVE wo—er, the reasonably sized (from his point of view) beast that caused all of the shit to unfold charged at Malon. It would require quick wit in order to get out of the bog unscathed.

Or plain brute force.

"I got'em! Tuck'n roll, Melon!" He bellowed at the marshrunner.

Without much hesitation, Klaus drew his cutlass in one hand and pointed at Malon with the other. In an instant, the tip of a ghostly brigantine formed around Malon. The ship—its cannons suspiciously missing—erupted from the pressure the mud exerted on it and launched the entire ship directly at the beast. Thank goodness this was a swamp that smelled like liquid ass, Klaus thought for the first and last time in his life. Had it been regular dirt, his boat would have simply been stuck in the ground.

Instead, multiple tons of boat had been turned into a projectile headed directly at the beast. Not the fastest attack, but a big ass boat on a collision course with one's skull was something that couldn't be ignored.