She was in the common room of the adventurer’s guild, along with a couple of others who seemed to be adventurers themselves, and a young man sitting behind the counter.
The difference between her and them was that they hadn’t just been quietly snoring with a line of drool coming out the side of their mouth, and they probably didn’t have the devil’s own hangover.
She made a mental note to eat more substantial meals if she went out with the Spellswords again.
Marie shut her eyes against the glare of natural light filtering in through high windows for a moment longer.
Anything to reduce the pounding headache and line of fire that seemed to be running between her temples.
She’d moved out of the uncomfortable side room and onto one of the plush chairs in the early hours of the morning to keep reading after her back had begun to hurt. She’d picked one in the corner, next to her gear, but she hadn’t managed to finish the texts.
Not fully.
But though she’d made good progress, she was struggling to remember it all now.
When she opened her eyes again, she flinched. Or she would have if she could have summoned up the energy.
A young woman was standing in front of her, face inches from her own. Staring.
“Oh good - you’re awake.”
Marie reached for her glasses and fumbled them onto her face, and almost flinched again.
The woman wasn’t human.
Well, she was humanoid, but definitely not human.
She’s one of those… what were they? In the tavern last night. There was a man…
It looked like the woman had the most extreme fungal infection known to mankind. She had mushrooms growing out of her - mostly around her head and neck. Her feet too; she wasn’t wearing shoes. She’d seen pictures of people with a disease that looked similar - that made their skin turn to wood - but this looked more…alive?
It was a little unnerving, but on the other hand…
…Marie took the glass of water she was holding out and downed it in one. The blessedly cool liquid was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. She handed the empty glass back.
“I apologise - I was doing some research and…”
“No need to explain.” The side of the woman’s mouth twitched up, but more as though it were a nervous tic than a conscious smile. “You wouldn’t be the first, and you won’t be the last. Breakfast?”
There was little Marie wanted more right now, apart from a miracle hangover cure, but bits of the guild codes had stuck in her head from the nighttime study.
“I am afraid that I am not an adventurer, miss-”
“Greeleena.”
“-miss Greeleena. I’m planning on joining, but until then…”
The woman straightened up with a jerky movement. At her full height she was only about… only exactly four foot nine and a quarter inches tall. She was emaciated, though the clothes hid the worst of it.
An eating disorder?
No. It was hazy, but the person like Greeleena she’d been introduced to had been a different species…
“So, do you want to sign up and have breakfast?”
“S-sure. That would be great.”
She followed the diminutive woman to the reception desk as she chatted away; Marie didn’t pick up most of it. There was a dull throbbing in her ears, and besides, it wasn’t often she got to feel tall, and that situation took a lot of her processing power at the moment.
Around the other side, Greeleena reached down with awkward motions and heaved a book out onto the counter top. The younger man half way down glanced over but continued his own work. As the guild employee pulled out a quill she looked up with a wide smile.
“Name, relevant class, level.”
Marie cleared her throat.
“Maire Dubois. Level 17 Scout - and level 13 Ruins Delver.” She paused as an appreciative mutter came from Greeleena as she noted it down. Before she could go into her Skills or experience or provide any references the smaller woman produced a shaker - of sand? - and sprinkled it over the page, and pushed the book to one side.
“Right, let’s get you fed. Be right back.”
“Wait - that is it?”
Greeleena looked back from the door she was going through.
“Sure. Covers the essentials for now. You’re in the book and if you’re as hungry as me the rest can wait for later. Grab a seat and I’ll be out in a minute. Do you need anything for him?” She nodded over to Napoleon who was still curled up by her chair.
“No - he doesn’t eat much.”
Marie had barely stumbled back to her seat before the kitchen door (if the scent that wafted out was anything to go by) banged open and shut and Greeleena was returning with a tray covered with two plates, a couple of cups, a pitcher of water and empty glasses.
Her mouth began to water before the tray was even deposited on the table but Marie waited patiently as Greeleena set the food and drinks out and took a seat herself. The plate of meat, eggs, cheese and fruit with a hunk of bread in front of her was wildly different to the bowl of porridge the guild worker had, but she didn’t seem to mind as she raised it to her lips and began to drink it down. As soon as her host had begun, Marie tucked into her own meal with gusto. Napoleon rose and began sniffing around - particularly enamored with Greeleena’s leg - but both were too busy eating to pay him much attention.
“I hope this isn’t rude,” Marie said once the first few hot mouthfuls had gone down, “but can I ask what you are?”
She was worried the woman would drop her bowl as she twitched in surprise but she recovered and steadied it before more than a drop spilled.
“I am so sorry, miss Doobwa-”
“Marie is fine.”
“Miss Marie - I should have introduced myself properly. I’m a [Guild Clerk], level 12, and a [Cook], level 7.”
Marie felt a flush come to her cheeks.
“Nice to make your acquaintance, but I was wondering more about your… people. I’m not familiar with them.”
“Oh!” Greeleena didn’t seem the least bit perturbed. “Do you not have many myconids where you come from?”
That was it - myconid!
“No. You’re only the second I have met.” She desperately tried to recall what she’d heard about them the previous night. “You’re… fungal people?”
“That’s right.” The woman gave a bright smile and gestured to the growths that started on her head and spread down to her shoulders and arms. “This is me, really. All the rest of this,” an arm swept out to encompass the rest of the body sitting across from Marie, “is the host I’ve taken.” She frowned. “Though I’ll need a new one soon. This one is wearing thin.”
It was, if Marie was being honest, a little creepy., and she didn’t have a response to such a statement. But Greeleena was such pleasant company it was impossible to dwell on it.
Instead, Marie picked up her notebook and pen from where they’d fallen on the floor in the night, startling Napoleon in the process.
“Would you mind if I checked some things with you, Greeleena? Whilst we eat?”
The myconid shrugged.
“Go ahead. We’re not busy yet. I’ve got time.” She pulled out a spoon and began to scrape her bowl.
“Thanks.”
Marie looked down at her last pages of notes and blanched at the state of the handwriting and spelling. She really had been drunk. It was just about legible, and she reviewed the list she’d made.
Guild:
-
Guildmaster/representativ is in charge. He’s god in the guild. Gets reviewed yearly. (NB: leverag somhow???)
-
Guild takes cut of what adventures make. Probly 10% but maybe up to 20.
-
~~Prom~~ ~~Pru~~ Provides basic tool and equipmnt for nw adventures IF REQUESTED.
-
Can be ask to sell/buy on behalf of adventures but has to acept giuld price.
-
Duty to mantain and update quest list (the board??) and check done properley if in doubt (truth Skill/spell?).
-
Duty to test for ranks and prommot adventure/grp if they pass. Only if asked.
-
Ressolv issue that needs interm.. into.. intervention BUT ONLY IF ADVENTURE NOT DO THEMSELF.
She shook her head at this point. If she’d left it alone yesterday the guildmaster would have been required to intervene, and in a more productive way than he had for sure. She might still have gotten a cut of the money.
Just goes to show: knowledge is power.
She carried on reading.
-
If healers, giuld can offer healing in exchang for bigger cut.
-
In exten... catas.. disaster, guild must defend and cooordinate defensce of local area: including dungon out breaks, raids or monster atacks.
Why did I underline that?
-
Dutey to oversee collect and confisate/destroy/catar.. note any dangrous items/ppl/monster/loot etc. & also any valuabil/rare things hav to be reports.
She hadn’t made a physical note of the free breakfasts, but she remembered wishing she’d had a grec or some frites.
“Hey, Greeleena, the guild book says I can ask for some tools and equipment when I start - do you know what that includes?”
The myconid looked up and her eyes blinked one at a time.
“Huh?”
Marie found the relevant page and spun the guild codes round to show her. The [Guild Clerk] looked and gave a small grunt of surprise.
“In two years, no one has ever asked. I’d have to look and see what there is.”
Well that answers one question; the guildmaster isn’t exactly helping new people.
Breezing in through the front door, failing to notice her tucked away in the corner with Greeleena, Sirrochon Brightfeather marched half way up the right-hand side of the room to where the young man was working at the counter and leaned over and began gesturing animatedly.
“What about my rank? What does the test entail, and who carries it out?”
The myconid was looking over to the counter with a faint frown but turned back.
“Hmmm? Oh. That’d be Guildmaster Thror. He leaves a lot of the day-to-day up to us but the one thing he insists on doing is the testing. It’s basically a sparring match. Don’t worry though - you don’t have to beat him! You’re level 17 [Scout] so unless you’ve got some impressive Skills and gear you’ll probably start at Bronze rank. Most people do.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
That was more or less what she’d been expecting.
“And if I wanted the guild to examine and maybe sell some items I’d found?”
For the second time, Greeleena looked at her with a blank expression.
“Why wouldn’t you want to do that yourself?”
A realisation came over Marie as an irate Sirrochon began to storm out, saw her, regained his composure, and angled in her direction. At the same time, she sensed a now-familiar taste in her breakfast.
She knew what he was going to say before he sat down, though he didn’t anticipate him shooing Greeleena off. The myconid raised an eyebrow but took her plate and went over to the counter.
“They’ve not done anything with it!”
Marie nodded at the [Verseblade], who was trying to come off as astounded more than irritated but failing to hide the rancour underneath.
“Good morning to you too. How are you feeling today?”
A chastened grin swiftly followed as Sirro raised a hand to his chest and apologised.
“Forgive me, Marie. I was simply shocked. I know the Spellswords have not been here long, but in the cities… I am well thank you. A rather fun night, I thought. A pity you missed out the gathering back at our place. How are you?”
She grunted.
“I feel a lot worse than you look. What is your secret?”
He winked.
“[Carouser] Skills come with certain benefits.”
That felt like it was cheating.
“Lucky for some. As to your issue with the guild - I take it the carts of meat have not been dealt with?”
“No!” Sirro frowned and glanced over towards the counter where Greeleena was finishing her leisurely breakfast and the young man was making some notes. “I mean - it’ll keep for a little while; the carts have a weak preservation enchantment on them, but it won’t last forever.” He harrumphed. “It seems it is not common practice here for the guild to take over the cargo when we bring in a haul. They just moved it round the back. They expect us to sell it. As if adventurers would know the local butchers and prices. It’ll take me all day, and I was meant to be preparing to leave for a raid on those [Bandits] first thing tomorrow - if we don’t get it done soon we’ll have to wait half a week or more!”
Marie flicked her notes to another page as she finished up her breakfast. It touched on another book she’d been reading and was no better spelled or written. She glanced up at the [Verseblade].
“What would you normally expect them to do? I’ve signed up but I’m new - I don’t know what is standard.”
“That’s great news!” Sirro beamed at her. “The signing on that is. It’s not usually like this in terms of the running of the guild. In a bigger town or city we’d roll in at the end of a quest with our loot or spoils or bounty and drop it off. They’d catalogue it and sell the basic stuff and report back on anything more valuable when we went to pick up our reward. The best places have it all done by the next day; one up in Halverwick even provided an itemised list of every magical or alchemical good and explained what their properties were - then they’d offer it to us, or buy it off us to sell to other adventurers. They didn’t expect us to traipse round markets and search out buyers and gauge prices. In fact-”
Maire kept nodding but tuned him out as he went on a mini-rant about the failings of backwater guilds. There had been others, but this was particularly egregious - for some reason. Bits and pieces popped through: the lack of basic supplies in the guild, the poor quality of healing potions they’d found, arguments with Lord Entoll…
What she really focused on was her notes.
Advnturers:
-
Swear oath an keep it.
-
Honour Code (no lies/steal/cheet clients)
-
PAY GUILD TAXES or they throwout an in prison.
That one seemed pretty vital. If she remembered correctly it’d been reiterated three or four times in the adventurer’s handbook.
-
If take mission/quest, must do to best of abilities.
-
Defend weak/inocnt wher possible.
-
Loyal 2 giuld + other teams. Argue = ok. Fight = bad. Kill = truble.
-
Obey GM.
-
No politics or destroy stuff unlss GM says ok.
-
Tell on ppl breaking rules.
-
If take brake from giuld, must let GM know + swear oath not to use knoledge/contact to get work. (Go somwher else?)
She rubbed at the page where a stain suggested she might have drooled in the night as Sirro complained about the lack of good healers in the area. At least, she hoped it was drool. The last note was underlined and circled twice.
-
Issues + reqests can be made of giuld but GM has final say!
If she wanted to get things done, she had to get the intimidating tabaxi guildmaster on her side.
“Hey Sirro,” she interrupted him mid-flow, “if you could get the guild to do one thing that would be good for your team, what would it be?”
To his credit, he actually paused and thought about her question for a few moments.
“Healing potions. Or an in-house [Herbalist] or [Hedge Witch] or [Healer] of some kind. Probably not a [Druid] given all the hunting... having to sort out the spoils will be a ballache but healing is the one thing both the Spellswords and Evermore’s are lacking.”
“Thanks.” She nodded. “It’s good to know what I need to look out for as an adventurer.”
He picked at some fruits she’d left on the side of her plate. Napoleon got up to sniff at his shoes and over by the counter the young man disappeared into a back room.
“Any time - the Spellswords can give you advice if you need it. Also, if you’re looking for supplies, Dap wanted me to tell you that she’s going shopping with Brunalda later. You’re welcome to join them. We may be new to the area but we at least know a bit of it.”
“I’d love to if I am free. I have a meeting with the Guildmaster to gauge my ranking and I need to arrange some gear.”
“Best of luck with that. I’m sure you’ll be granted Bronze - I saw you fight a little; you’ve got some useful Skills. Speaking of which, if you want in on the [Bandit] raid just say the word. I was talking to the others last night and we all agreed a [Scout] would be useful. We’d keep you back if it got too dangerous of course, but even just for tracking and getting a better idea of numbers and where their camps are we’d be happy to cut you in on a portion of the bounty…”
Marie bowed her head and reached down to scratch Boney’s skull as he returned to her side.
“That is a generous offer and I will think on it, but I have a lot to get done today I think, and I still need to recover from last night.”
“Of course.” Sirro stood and held out a hand, which she shook. “The girls are going shopping after lunch if you decide to join them - they’ll be leaving from the house. If you want to jump in on the [Bandit] action just let one of us know. Leam is visiting some cousin or other, and Quartz is… well, who knows where Quartz is. Probably at a pub. But I’ll be busy planning with Eldun - either at the house or here. If not - no worries!”
—
Two hours later, Marie wasn’t feeling much better as she waited in a dusty practice yard in a walled-off area between the guild and the adjoining tavern that was the cause of most of her current stomach-churning condition. The rest of it…
It was a warm enough day that she’d shrugged out of her jacket to stretch.
To stretch?
That seemed like the thing to do before a fight.
Almost twenty four years and she’d never had a fight. Not unless you counted pulling Mathilde Rousseau’s pigtails in CM1.
And now she was preparing to go toe-to-toe against a six-foot tall, two-hundred and fifty pound cat-man who made people that killed giant crocodiles nervous.
Mais c’est quoi ce délire?
Greeleena held out a coil of rope.
“Are you sure this is enough? I really don’t know what you need - please ask for more if you think you might want it. I asked Grandmaster Thror and he told me to deal with it. It doesn’t seem like much… or anything really.”
Marie looked down at the bits and pieces she’d donned. She looked more like a servant than a warrior, but she had to play to her Skills.
A coil of rope, a pouch of rocks that were actually old whetstones, a frying pan (she’d seen Tangled), and a tankard with a handy clip to attach it to her belt. They joined her trusty spade, and of course, Napoleon. And the shortsword buckled at her waist.
“It will do I think. It is more than I had out in the wilds.”
Greeleena’s response was a skeptical look but she reached up and gave Maire a pat on the shoulder for encouragement and retired to a long awning that covered the south of the courtyard to sit on a bench and watch. She would be the one recording the official result when t-
Guildmaster Thror stalked out of the door from the main hall. That was the only word for it. Stalked. It was like he intended to hunt her.
Was this going to be painful? At least her hand and her shoulder had fully healed...
He was still clad mostly in robes, though pieces of armour showed beneath. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a longsword had replaced the morningstar that he’d carried before, and beyond that he carried no obvious weapons.
Besides the inches-long razor-sharp claws on his hand, and jaws that could probably crush her skull.
The hulking tabaxi nodded over to Greeleena.
“Guildmaster Thunderous Roar undertaking initial testing of applicant ‘Marie’ on the 19th of Attreman, Age of Recovery year 1182.”
More formal than she was expecting, but at least it all seemed official.
Taking a position opposite her a dozen paces off, the lion-like guildmaster looked her up and down.
“Not exactly standard setup for an adventurer. Some unusual Skills I take it?”
She must have looked like a lost child carrying an adult's gear with frying pan in one hand and spade in the other. Only the presence of Napoleon at her feet would have made her seem at all threatening.
Marie nodded, not trusting her voice.
“No matter. Your equipment is not what makes you, and in fact, not relying on gear can be beneficial in many ways, though not others.” He took a stance. “Begin.”
He didn’t waste any time, and as he said it Guildmaster Thror lunged at her, drawing his sword so fast she didn’t register it.
Fortunately, one of her Skills seemed to be able to activate on its own as alarm bells started going off in her head.
[Evasive Roll].
She came up a couple of yards to the side as the huge guildmaster landed where she had been and spun to face her. Her spade and frying pan were held like actual weapons now, as her [Proficiency: Improvised Weapons] triggered.
That wasn’t the only thing that seemed triggered. Napoleon leapt up from the ground in a silent snarl and dove directly at the guildmaster’s leg. The tabaxi pulled it back before the hound could make contact and spun, sending the undead dog flying with a swift kick.
Heart in her mouth, Marie silently screamed as her faithful companion flew across the yard, and darted in to jab at his head with her spade-spear.
The guildmaster swayed to the side without even looking, and turned the motion into a pirouette as he brought his sword round at knee height, though even at the speed he swung she could see he was turning the flat of the blade to her.
As soon as she saw it coming, she willed her [Adrenaline Surge] to activate and screamed “[Mighty Leap]!” and launched herself halfway across the courtyard, closer to where Napoleon had landed.
She took a second to check he wasn’t permanently damaged as she stumbled to her feet, and faced the guildmaster as he charged back towards her. He was quick, but as he rushed in she dragged the head of her spade across the dry ground and sent a spray of dust and sand flying towards his face.
He swerved at the last moment, bringing his sword round in a “[Quick Strike]” that she raised her [Improvised Shield] frying pan to-
CLANG
The frying pan was sent flying from her hand as a shock ran up her arm and she couldn’t help but curse as she staggered back from the force of the blow.
“Putain!”
She didn’t even see the next blow coming, and she only knew she’d escaped it when she heard the [Dangersense] explode and felt her [Lucky Dodge (Once per Day)] flare and fade.
Rolling back, reaching for the rope at her side, she cracked it a couple of times to try and force the guildmaster back for a moment as she scuffed up as much dust as she could to buy herself some time to think.
“Good!” came the voice of Guildmaster Thror. “[Thunderous Roar].”
For a split second, she thought he was saying his own name, and then a full-throated lion’s roar washed over the training grounds in a shockwave that blasted the dirt and dust from the air and almost blew out one of her eardrums.
Her vision shook in the aftermath and it was only Napoleon running back in to harry the guildmaster that brought her time to recover. That and the fact that she suspected he was compensating for her low level.
For some reason, that made her unreasonably angry, and she made an immediate decision.
“[Whipbind Pull].” She saw the tabaxi begin to smile as she flicked out with her improvised whip, presumably to try and disarm him of his sword. The smile flickered as the end of the whip lashed round his forearm and began to pull her towards him. “[Bonebreaker Charge]!”
The guildmaster’s eyes widened as she used the extra boost from the whip pull to accelerate her charge towards him, and he dropped his sword as he moved to catch her.
It was only then that she realised sending herself flying at a figure that much larger and heavier and presumably much more solid under the robe, might have been a bad idea.
Napoleon lunged for the guildmaster’s ankle as he cupped his arms to cushion her impact, but the tabaxi ignored the skeletal teeth digging into his flesh.
At the last moment, Marie shouted “[Quick Blow]!” and lashed out with the spade at the man’s knee. It connected just as she hit him bodily - or rather - he caught her, and though he only grunted, he did stumble.
A second later, she was back on her feet as he deposited her in front of him and held up a hand.
“Very good, Marie, though I’d urge you not to try that on anyone bigger or heavier than you are… unless you have something like [Stoneskin]?”
Dizzy, she swayed a moment as she reached for a reply and the guildmaster picked up Napoleon from unsuccessfully savaging his leg and set him down next to her.
“Erm, no Sir. I have [Thick Skin] and [Lesser Toughness].” She shook her head to clear it. “Oh, and [Minor Elemental Resistance]. Napoleon, sit.”
The undead hound left off trying to attack the guildmaster with a regretful glance in her direction. The huge tabaxi nodded.
“Those are some good defensive Skills. And a couple of evasive ones I think you used. Improvised weapons are unusual and you may want to train with standard ones to supplement your approach, but as I said earlier - there are benefits.” He gestured towards Greeleena and followed as she made her - slightly unsteady - way over to the myconid. “The only real criticism I otherwise have is your control over your pet: focus on training it if you do not wish for it to be destroyed in the first significant combat you encounter.”
Marie thought back to the mansion in the undead city. Napoleon was still missing a couple of ribs.
“Even if it is not alive, it still needs to know how to follow commands, else it will just get in the way of you or others. Now, what was your Class? Certainly not a Necromancer.”
“[Scout] and [Ruins Delver], Sir.”
“Hmm. Above level ten but below twenty in both?”
“Y-yes, Sir.”
“Very good.” He turned to the myconid [Guild Clerk] as Marie reached for a pair of books she’d brought out with her. “Greeleena, enter Miss Marie as a Bronze rank adventurer. Solid potential, particularly from that [Whipbind Pull] and what I suspect was [Adrenaline Rush]. Likely closer to Silver for missions or quests in ruins with her [Ruins Delver] Class, although clearing out monster lairs or bandit camps will be harder, and she lacks any magical items beyond…”
Marie had turned back round as he trailed off and she saw he was staring at her waist.
“...that’s one of our blades. Why do you have it?”
Looking down, Marie realised he was referring to the short sword. She swallowed as part of her plan came into effect and she hoped she hadn’t made a mistake.
“Oh, this was given to me as part of the equipment I requested from the guild.”
She clutched the books she held to her chest - holding the Guild Codes on top as if they were a new [Improvised Shield]... just in case.
There was a long pause as the tabaxi considered it. She could feel the sweat from the brief exertion building on her back, and taste particles of dust still floating around in the silent air.
After what seemed like an age, the guildmaster spoke.
“That is not an appropriate piece to give out to a new adventurer, and it fits ill with your current Skillset. What else were you given.”
Giving a silent prayer of thanks that he hadn’t immediately laid into Greeleena, Marie began pointing out the rather mundane items she’d requested and been kitted out with. In truth, she hadn’t asked for much; she already had her tent and other bits and pieces. Most of the stuff she’d been given was on her person.
Eventually the guildmaster nodded.
“I will need you to return the sword, but there is no issue with the rest.”
He turned to go but Marie cleared her throat. He stopped, as did Greeleena, who had started to pack up her writing implements.
“I’ll return the sword, Sir, of course. I do actually have something I think may be valuable but I need to investigate it further.”
“The chest, you mean?”
Marie felt her eyebrows raise and he snorted.
“I do not miss much that happens in my guild, [Scout] Marie. If you find a [Rogue] type around - ask them to open it. I’d offer myself but it’d be likely to destroy the chest and whatever is in it.”
“Ah - yes, Sir. I’ll do that. But I was hoping to talk to you about some of the requests I had for the guild.”
The tabaxi frowned and glanced up at the sun.
“I am quite busy today. You can run them past Greeleena or one of the [Secretaries].”
Greeleena had actually been incredibly helpful up to now, but Marie needed his approval.
He was stopped in his attempt to walk off when she spoke up again.
“I think the ideas might be something you want to consider yourself, Guildmaster Thror. I wouldn’t like to make a mistake with the running of the guild -” and here came the hook “-when there was already a misunderstanding over the equipment.”
He stood in one spot for a long moment, and she swore she heard him sigh.
“You really have a list of proposals already?”
“Yes Sir. I looked through the books last night and this morning and I had some suggestions.”
Greeleena’s eyes flickered between them, trying to gauge what the discussion would entail.
Finally he did let out a sigh, and waved a hand.
“Very well. Come to my office and we will discuss it. Briefly.”
The look on Greeleena’s face as Marie looked over was either surprised or worried, but Marie was too relieved to tell.
The first step had been a success.
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