Malakaus Ironhide
Another day in the forest, another grove to be cut down. There was good money to be had selling lumber, but only the merchants ever see that gold. For the lumberjacks like Malakaus, they just get paid a few silvers for each log that's been chopped down and cut into manageable pieces. But since he doesn't get money by just cutting down trees, he needs to trim them too, as well as split them in half. That would require an axe (Which he has) and a lumber mill (Which he doesn't have). And it costs a silver to cut each tree down into logs, which in turn cuts his pay. And than he'd need help bringing the logs to the merchants, because he doesn't have a wagon or the raw strength to haul them himself. Depending on who was around to help, either he gets it for free or he has to pay someone another silver. Which leaves him down to one. And he should be so lucky if they don't charge him more, because he would have none to spare.
Being a miner wasn't much better. Turns out bringing over a bag of rocks don't bring much coin, if any. Pay was decided on how the smith used the metal from the ores; if they're just sitting around doing nothing, Malakaus doesn't get any pay for them. He might get a silver or a couple of coppers if someone breaks their shovel and gets it repaired, but that's only if they get it repaired at the same smith he brings his ores to.
Ultimately, he doesn't really make much money. The only reason he does it is because he can't just go around killing all the animals in the forest, or getting into fights at the tavern. At least he's not suppose to.
Boredom was perhaps the most dangerous thing in Malakaus's life, because with boredom he would do just about anything, safety be damned. For instance, instead of relying on his fairly useful axe to cut down trees, he decided for the next while he'd be kicking them down. It was a slow and painful process, but he heard from some traveler that there was a whole temple full of men and women who could clear a forest with nothing more than a kick, the traveler even demonstrated how it was done. Malakaus didn't quite have the form right, but he had the mechanics; lift his leg and bend at the knee, and when he was about to kick, twist and thrust from the waist, extend his leg, and into the target. He's been doing this far the past few days, and despite the massive scars that now adorn his shin, he has managed to cut down at least one tree. Of course this did nothing to bring him more money and it was just a waste of time, as he could have cut down twenty trees by the time he was done kicking down just one. But boredom makes him do some dumb things.
As he was in the process of kicking down a second tree, a loud screeching pierced the forest. He stopped for a moment just to figure out where it was coming from before she smirked and started walking towards the village. "This is going to be fun."
Xia Yang
"Thank you, please see me again next time!" Xia sold another bottle of the Stallion's Potion to an elderly woman, and did her best not to think of what reasons she'd need such a thing. Xia resumed her previous action, which was to mix some poisons for the town's hunters. The poisons wasn't deadly per say, but a mixture that would induce hallucinations and paralysis in the foe. More importantly, it wouldn't spoil the meat once it enters the prey's system, and that was what was the selling point in her poison. Of course she also sold more lethal poisons, but she only sold those to people she could trust to handle them well. Even so much as the fumes making contact with the flesh would cause painful irritation and flesh rot. Not something to be handled by minors, certainly.
After finishing a set, another customer came by. A young man whom she's unfortunately familiar with. He was a nice person, but it was fairly obvious that he was trying to proposition himself to her. She had little interest in romance, not to say that she was a stranger to it. But after the first few proved to be rather unpleasant (At best they allowed her to continue with her business of herbalism), she simply decided that she would chose her own mate when it suits her, not when they chose. The young man spoke sweet nothings to her, kept her company, and was generally pleasant, but Xia kept the relationship consensual and turned down his advances for outings. Honestly, she was starting to grow bored of Halrock herself. It was a nice place to raise a family for sure, but she didn't have any family right now. In fact, she planned to leave to find the last one she thinks is still alive, her father.
It's no secret that Xia's father is gone. Just about everyone who knows Xia knows that her mother is dead and that her father left just a year ago. Most people keep quiet about it, and she's fine with that. She already asked everyone in the village everything she could about what happened to him, but no one really knew. All they could do was extend their hands to help and gave her sympathy, and as grateful as she was, none of that would help her find her father. She wanted answers from him, to scream and yell at him for acting so abruptly, but mostly she just wanted to be with him.
Xia shook these thoughts from her head. They were silly things; childish. She had survived an entire year without him. She could likely live the rest of her life if he never came back. She didn't need him anymore, she just only wished that he at least explained to her why he left. It left a hole in her heart that made it hard for her to move on.
After the young man left, Xia went back to brewing new potions. It was around the right season for fishing, so she prepared some water breathing potions for the fishermen who fall out of their boats. A few healing tonics would also be handy, she imagined. They were always in high demand. And as she worked, screams echoed throughout the village. But it was an inhuman scream like nothing she has ever heard before. Xia gathered her things and quickly closed up shop, knowing that it was about time to leave.