The sun is rising to the east, gilding the lands sloping down away from the mountains looming over Moondale to the west. Bells chime in the morning within the temple of Pelor, heralding the beginning of morning ceremonies there. Otherwise, the only sounds to hear are the intermittent bangings, creakings, poundings, and yells of the city waking up. The predawn mist which had shrouded the streets is rapidly being burned away by the rays of the sun, but a northern chill lingers in the air. The cold brings a curse to the lips of a bronze skinned man locking the door of his inn room. He pockets his key within the folds of his voluminous heavy fur cloak with shaking hands before stomping downstairs to the common room, eager to grab something hot to eat from the pot of hearty stew the innkeeper has left over the roaring fire in the hearth. On his way down the stairs, he pauses to let pass a mighty bull of a man bearing a laden tray on his way up, marvelling at the latter's seeming comfort despite wearing no shirt. The big man, for his part, notices him only in passing, seeing how many layers he's wearing and dismissing him as another foreign merchant passing through from the south.

Careful not to let his chest-length, elaborately braided gray beard dip into the steaming bowl of stew on his tray, the shirtless man turned down the hall at the top of the stairs and made his way to the fourth door on his left. He pauses there, taking a hand off the tray to tap once against the door. Hearing no response, after a moment he eases the door open and steps inside, closing it behind him. The walls of the room bear countless momentos and trophies of a long and exciting life, from an eight-foot long sword hanging next to the door in a sheath covered in scrolling runes to a glowing battleaxe lying near the room's single bed. The big man has eyes only for the bed's small occupant, however, an excessively pale and wan young girl ensconced in blankets, furs, and quilts, apparently sleeping. At the sound of his entrance, however, she opens her eyes, revealing that they share the same bright green color as the big man. He winces upon seeing that he has disturbed her rest, but covers with a broad grin and a few murmured words of greeting, offering the tray to her. As she takes it with a tired mumble, he steps over to the room's curtained window and peers out thoughtfully at the sight of Moondale under the morning sun. As he does so, he spots a nervous looking man with a heavy tome tucked under his arm hurrying along past the inn below him, and curiously watches him until he turns out of sight around the corner of the building.

The nervous looking man runs his free hand through his dark hair as he steps out of the alley behind the inn onto the Preacher's Street, where a few bearded, robed lunatics have already gathered a healthy morning crowd with their disjointed ramblings about dark tidings and ill omens. His lips tic sourly at the sight, but he carries on towards his destination, a plain wooden building at the end of the street, near the city walls, hung with banners depicting a red sword held aloft by a gauntleted hand against a white background. A filthy, ragged man with down-turned features sits against the building's corner, holding out a grubby pot with a few copper and silver coins at its bottom. The dark-haired man stops and rummages in his purse for a moment before coming out with a single golden coin, which he drops into the beggar's pot before moving on to the building's front door on its southward face, not looking back. He lifts a heavy iron key from his belt and unlocks the door, stepping into a room bedecked with all the more impressive odds and ends and detritus of several modestly successful human lifetimes spent adventuring and warmed by a crackling fireplace in the western wall. Apparently waiting for him, standing to his right as he enters, is a slender woman with painfully perfect posture, wearing a plain brown dress which does not manage to detract from her gorgeous features, with long golden hair curled into immaculate ringlets and a distracting dancer's body. Her eyelashes flutter as she welcomes him back, bright blue eyes glancing him over concernedly. He acknowledges her with an abbreviated nod and quickly steps past with his head held high to the large table at the room's center, avoiding having to see her gaze lingering on the frayed edges and faded colors of his once bright and even courtier-worthy clothes. He sets his book down on this table, the legs creaking faintly with its ponderous weight, and casts a look up at the staircase against the room's eastern wall before glancing back at the beautiful woman and asking, "Have they finished eating yet?" Though he makes an effort to hide it, his voice sounds tired and strained.

"I took their food upstairs to the Companions' common room, then I came down to wait for you. Have you been well, Simon? I haven't seen you in days."

Simon glanced at the stairway again before answering, his voice lowered so only she could possibly hear. "I've been having the dreams again, about the Pale Lady. I went to Erevor to see Maitimo again- no, don't give me that look. I know they won't ever let me go back to Gondolin. I just wanted this book." He lapsed into silence with that, staring at the tome, and she could only watch him, biting her lower lip. After what must have been a few minutes, he cleared his throat and asked, "How much longer, do you think, until they're ready to come down?"

Her lips quirked in a smile. "They just had all the friends and family they could get hold of here yesterday to celebrate the passing of the torch, and Branor forced as much dwarven ale as they could take down their throats before he finally wandered off. He was inventing some interesting reasons to toast them by the end. They shouldn't be too much longer, though. I think they're eager to start working, though, and they've already had a few jobs sent their way. I was going to review those for them when they came down."

Simon stared at the stairs a little longer before meeting her gaze, a tinge of trepidation in his voice. "They're just kids, some of them, aren't they?"

"Aleska and Ravn are, but their people raised them to be strong. I don't know about Einsam and Varin, they have some strange powers, sort of like Meryl -remember her? not that they helped her much, poor girl-. Kreven kept asking them about it, things like eldritch energies and psychic potential. The little halfling miss, Lillianna, doesn't seem like she's tough enough for this life at all, but I suppose the old guard knew what they were doing when they asked her to join."

Is it morning already?

Aleska lies on the bed that had been supplied for her, supposedly her new home. If she were in any shape to be thinking about it, it might occur to her that the stories of her progenitor never lived away from home as a member of a mercenary company on a permanent basis like this, but right now, all Aleska can think of is her splitting headache. How much of that dwarf-made ale did she have last night? How late were they up, anyway? Aleska lost count after the first four tankards. All she can remember is that she was flirting with some particularly handsome lad, but she was too drunk to notice if he had even taken any interest in her.

The huntress sits up dizzily, then slaps her hand to her forehead as she is momentarily overcome by her daze. Too much drink, she thinks painfully. Without realizing it, her body flops back down onto the bed. She takes a deep breath. Where am I? Oh, right, the guildhouse. I knew that when I first woke up. Still dizzy, she rolls off of the bed frame and onto the floor, taking her blankets with her. She puts on a straightforward leather outfit and fastens the straps around her young, healthy figure, straightens her hair to be a little bit less tangled, and then walks out into the common room. Bread, meat, and ale have already been set on the table. Aleska closes her eyes and sways dangerously, but then catches herself. No more ale, please!

She kneels down next to the table, still only partially accustomed to such furniture. It still seems awfully large to her, larger than necessary. She reaches out for a piece of salted pork, but upon drawing it to her mouth, she realizes suddenly how thirsty she is. She looks again at the ale. No, she thinks. Water will do. But the water in this stinking city does not come from mountain streams. She'll have to go down and get some, then. Down below, she hears two people talking, but Aleksa is in no condition to be able to pay close attention to what they are saying.

She gets up from the table, and stumbles down the stairs, and observes a strange man she has never met before talking with a woman who has been introduced to Aleska as 'Lys'. Too late! They've noticed her! After drawing a breath, she continues to walk down the stairwell, using the wall to steady herself and unconcerned that she might not be giving the best first impression. She gives the man a customary greeting, but then pauses, uncertain of what to say or do next. Should she go into the kitchen and get some drinking water? But what if this man is a potential client? Or worse, an enemy?

[This message has been edited by Beren V (edited 05-16-2009 @ 05:45 PM).]

Lillianna was coming out of her bedroom just in time to se Aleska disappear down the stairs. She walked unsteadily to the table and sat on chair, with a sigh. Her trusted companion, the wolf Gerre followed close behind her and laid down right behind her chair. He was very reluctant to let her out of sight in this strange place. The wolf was always very protective of her.

Lia looked at the food on the table, not sure she felt like eating anything at all this morning. She had woken up with very heavy head, and very dry mouth. Only after drinking the rest of the water from her water skin had she been able to so much as think about getting into her close and out into common room to join the others… or so she’d thought, but it seemed they’d had the same difficulties as her self getting out of bed this morning, unless they had all decided that they didn’t need breakfast.

What a party it had been last night. She knew that she could not take half the amount of ale that the “bigger ones” could, so she had tried to hold back on it, but it hadn’t been easy with that dwarf constantly bringing out toasts. At least she hadn’t made a complete fool of her self… though she had, come to think of it, been going all sentimental about the old innkeeper Arvin, who had told her all these fascinating stories about his adventures as a companion, before he retired to live a quieter life. She’d been going on about how sad it was that a simple decease had got the old warrior in the end and how nice he and his wife had treated her when her clan had put up camp next to their village. Oh my!! Lia put her head in her hands. She had even told that tall dark haired human Ravn, the story of how Arvin had once rescued her from those human kid bullies, when she was a little girl.
I just should not drink at all, she thought with sigh. She looked over her shoulder at Gerre “why did’t you tell me not to drink so much”, she said to him. The wolf raised his head with a questioning look in his eyes, in responce to the mild reprimand in her voice. “No you did nothing wrong my friend”, she said laughing and extended a hand towards him. He came over to put his head in her lab and let her scratch him behind the ears.
Maggie her tame magpie was of some where on her own. She would likely be back soon pecking on the window to be let in and expecting to have a share of her breakfast, well to day she could have it all.

[This message has been edited by Tilia (edited 05-16-2009 @ 11:13 AM).]

The world's a better place with Varin Apollos in it, were the last words of Varin's four hour long trance, which was really a series of self-induced dreams and visions he had memorized so intensely and vididly that he could invoke the pattern at will and refresh his body and mind for another day.

He had a bit of a headache, he noted--probably the result of drinking the night before. He did it often enough, however, that his tolerance was pretty high, so he was in pretty good shape overall. Speaking of the night before, he paused a moment to reflect on the changes in his life that were underway. He had officially joined the Companions of the Red Sword and had met the night before those that he would travel with--and he had to say, as far as the ladies went, there was a decent pick.

Varin smiled and stood, pulling on his armor and cloak, then being sure to fix his gold sash--his identity, he called it--and pull his green headband around his largely unkempt hair to keep it out of his eyes. Now, what's on the table today?

The question had a double-meaning. He was quite curious to see what would happen over the next several hours--no doubt more things would change and they would embark on perhaps some great mission for the good of Moondale or to serve the grand purposes of Lys and...Simon, was it? He was just as curious, of course, as to what was being served for breakfast, and for now, that mattered the most.

Making sure he grabbed his weapons, the elf left his room and threw his best dashing smile at the obviously hung-over Aleska and a not-as-convincing one at Lilliana--he considered it of poor form to flirt with short folk. They were too easy to lose.

Proceeding to the commons room, Varin took in the aroma of the foods that would break his nightly fast, then shortly approached the table and picked a seat.

[This message has been edited by that one Elf (edited 05-16-2009 @ 05:19 PM).]

OOC: I am going to assume that the “particularly handsome lad” Aleska was flirting with was Ravn (who else would it be?)

IC:
Ravn was still half asleep when a voice inside his head woke him up: Don’t you think it is time for you to get up? It was Black, Ravn’s spirit guide. Ravn sad up quickly and then whished that he had not done so, becouse a head-splitting pain hit him like an axe. Well, that’s what happen when you try to drown yourself in strong ale… was Black’s dry comment.
Oh, shut your face! How could I avoid drinking a lot, when that damn dwarf was toasting all the time? It would have been rather impolite to refuse to drink with the others, now wouldn’t it?

With his spirit guide monumentally silenced, Ravn tried to concentrate on what exactly had happened the day before. He had arrived just in time to join the latest recruits of the companions in the ceremony of “passing of the touch” as it was called. His father and two older brothers had accompanied him and had participated in the celebration afterwards, but they had left early, not wanting to ”pay for a place to sleep in a stinking city” when they could find a nice campsite out in the mountains. This was not Ravn’s first time in Moondale, his people came here to trade often enough, but it was the first time he had slept in the city. Given his current headache, he almost whished that he had left again with his father and brothers.
The really heavy drinking had started after Ravn’s family had left. The Dwarf Branor had been really creative when it came to reasons to toast, and the last thing Ravn could remember was Lia the halfling druid telling him about her childhood and some friendly innkeeper…

Filially surrendering Ravn asked his spirit guide: What happened after that? I take that you don’t remember flirting shamelessly with that red-haired girl from the mountains near Nareva? came the amused answer. Now, of course, Ravn did remember, it was always like that, if he asked Black about something that he had forgotten, the memory would always come back to him with all details!
He had indeed flirted rather shamelessly with that red-haired girl, Aleska was her name, and she had surly responded in kind! Perhaps it was well that they had gotten so drunk in the end that they could barley stand, otherwise Ravn thought that the situation might easily have developed beyond mere flirting, and they might have done something they would have regretted the next day. Of course, Aleska was pretty attractive and normally Ravn wouldn’t mind “a night under the skins” with her, but he was wise enough to realize that such an act done while drunk, probably wasn’t the best way to develop a friendship with a fellow adventure.
Another embarrassing memory came to Ravn. Did I actually crawl up the stairs before going to bed? He asked Black. You sure did! came the response. Damn! was all Ravn had to say to that. He could only hope that Aleska could not remember that detail…

Ravn’s headache had only lessened a little and he felt quite fatigued despite his long sleep, so he decided to “cheat” a little and used a minor cure spell on himself. That took most of his headache and refreshed him quite a lot. Feeling better he suddenly noticed that he was rather thirsty and hungry. He quickly dressed (being somewhat surprised that he had actually remembered to undress the night before) and went to the common room hoping to find something to eat and drink. There he found Varin and Lillianna seated at the table.
”Good Morning!” He said and smiled making his voice sound a lot more cheerful than he actually felt. ”Quite a party last night, don’t you think?” he added, as if such heavy drinking was not something he felt was out of the ordinary.

Ravn started to gather food to his plate then noticed that the only thing there was to drink was ale. At first he found the thought of drinking ale right now rather repulsive, but then he remembered that drinking a little alcohol in the morning was actually quite a good cure against the aftereffects of too much alcohol the night before, so he forced himself to taste the ale. Fortunately he found that this wasn’t the strong stuff they had gotten the night before, but the rather the thin type of ale many city people preferred to drink instead of water. He quickly drained the mug, quenching the worst of his thirst, then filled the mug again and dug into the foot on his plate with healthy appetite…

[This message has been edited by Kris Lighthawk (edited 05-17-2009 @ 12:56 PM).]

Einsam Sorgë awoke with a dull groan. Perhaps a little too much ale, he observed wryly as he rolled from the bed and prepared for the day. Splashing water from a basin into his face, he washed and murmured a few words, an eldritch incantation^* that would aid his already-formidable tongue.

I haven't drunk so much since Glück passed away; mind, I probably still didn't - compared to the stuff at Glück's wake, that ale wasn't much. Still, it tasted better. Einsam thought. But eventually the bottle drowns the drinker. Moderation shall be observed next time. It wasn't a bad introduction for the group - the Companions of the Red Sword! A shiver ran down his spine. The name was famous enough, and now he had a stake in its legacy.

Sorgë spent some time putting on his clothes and armor, and then stuck a dagger in his belt. Leaving his other weapons in his room, Einsam came into the common room, and took a seat next to Varin, flicking his medium-length white hair out the view of his tawny yellow eyes. He clapped a hand to Varin's shoulder, then flinched and took it away - his pale white skin was cool to the touch, and it could take some people by surprise. It wasn't something usually desired after a night of drinking. Einsam filled his plate, then nodded at Lillianna and Ravn and smiled, not showing his teeth. Digging into his food, he asked the three at the table, his gaze noncommittally resting on thin air. "So, comrades, how goes the world?"

*OOC: Casting Beguiling Influence

Varin greeted Ravn with a gesture that was sort of like the second half of a nod--a slight upwards tilting of the head. "I've been to better ones," he said as though still uncertain as to what he thought about the night before. "But it served its purpose."

It was amusing, actually, how it had done so. He assumed its purpose had been to acquaint the Companions with each other, and ale had a way of loosening everyone's tongues. He had remained self-aware enough that he now felt like he had a grip on everyone's backgrounds and perhaps a few things about them that they didn't remember saying. He carefully filed this information away and eventually wrote it down in the notebook he kept in his traveling pack--it would help him achieve his goals later if he did not forget what he had learned about those with which he came into contact.

When the goblin--Einsam--entered, Varin gave him the same half-nod that he had given Ravn. He didn't particularly care for goblins, but he had worked with them from time to time and could appreciate their strengths. He provided no answer to the being's question, however.

Seeing Ravn and the other dig into their food, Varin considered starting to eat himself, but preferred to wait until everyone else had started, so he decided to wait a little longer, despite the fact that he was ravenous.

[This message has been edited by that one Elf (edited 05-17-2009 @ 01:31 PM).]

Lillianna smiled back at Varin, and tried to look less tiered. The elf seemed less affected by last nights drinking than, she was. Well it could be just show. it is hard to tell with elves. Lia smiled at that thought. The last 3 years she had been living in an elven community, while training to become a druid. Some of those elves she considered among her very best friends. She would miss them.

Then the young human Ravn came out of his room and greeted them with a cheerful “good morning”. He too looked surprisingly well, if she remembered correctly he’d had trouble walking strait by the time she went to bed. “Good morning” she answered smiling back at him, “some party, yes” She liked Ravn so fare, he seemed like a nice guy.
Lia wondered at Varins comment. Probably the main purpose of the party had been to let them get to know each-other. In that case he was right.

When the goblin entered, took a seat at the table and acknowledged them with a nod, Lia politly nodded back at him. Eisam?..no Einsam it was. An unfamiliar name, but then she was not really familiar whit goblins. Her clan had always avoided goblin territories. She did not really know what to expect from him, but she would try to be open minded. He’d given her no reason not to like him.
Answering his question she said "The world goes a little slow for me this morning". She put a hand to her head smiling weakly "I’ll sure feel better in few hours…. About what the world is going to bring our way to day, though, I have no idea" she looked around at the others.

Seeing the others eat, made her decide that maybe she should try to eat a little. She grabbed a piece of bread and took a small bite.

OOC: BH has not responded to Aleska's going downstairs, so I am going to assume that she was able to get water and come back up.

IC:

Aleska returns to the upstairs room a few minutes later carrying a full waterskin, having explained to the two people downstairs that the new Companions were not up yet. She still isn't certain who the man was, other than that he is himself one of the Companions, perhaps a former one. She has already had several large gulps of water herself, and already her headache is subsiding; indeed, her usual balance has returned. She is, in fact, dehydrated more than anything else. I'll not do that again! she thinks to herself.

Seeing that the others are up, she puts on her most charming smile she has and waves, before sitting down and setting a large jug of water on the table. "I didn't want any more ale to start out the day," she says, pouring herself a mug. She notes that it has been purified, realizing that adventurers can afford that sort of thing. She takes another long draft, then pulls off one of the pieces of salted meat and begins to eat it. It's awfully tender, she thinks.

She sets it down and listens to the conversation, oblivious to what they had been talking about beforehand. She began looking around at the rest of the people there, remembering the details she learned last night. She didn't know what the strange, little goblin-like creature across the table from her was, and she guessed that it was some kind of magical being, something about which she knew little. Probably the man downstairs - or, for that matter, Ravn - would know more. She guessed that the massive book was the man's. Still, it would be impolite to ask Einsam his lineage just yet, and she had no reason not to trust him. Aleska herself wasn't exactly an unremarkable human as far as that was concerned, although it was less obvious to somebody looking at her. She had to wonder about Ravn, though. She sent a glance his way, smiled, then turned back to the food on the table.

Now that everyone had sat and began eating, Varin finally began to do the same, taking his time to study each of his new companions and refreshing his memory on each of them, his memory aided by the fact that he had written them down almost in the exact words they had used themselves, thanks to his skill in autohypnosis.

The young human (still a teenager, if Varin guessed right--it was always hard to tell with humans) with black hair and black eyes was Ravn, who had some sort of spiritual connection to a being he called Black and envisioned as a raven. He was from the mountains and was on some sort of required pilgrimmage or coming-of-age travel he called a "spirit journey".

Then there was the halfing girl, Lillianna, though she had told him to call her Lia. She was a druidess from a nomadic tribe and was apparently journeying to find a worthy cause or partake in some great world-changing act. She was attractive, but again, Varin didn't really care for short folk. She seemed like she'd be a helpful companion all the same.

Next to Varin was Einsam, the goblin with some apparent affinity for air. Again, Varin didn't care too much for goblins, but not because of whatever stigma surrounded them. He had been on the streets and had his own judgment of them, but Einsam had been so protective of his background even under the influence of stout dwarven ale that unfortunately Varin didn't have anything to go off of except that this paticular goblin was a Companion of the Red Sword, so he couldn't be as shady as many of the goblins he had met.

Finally there was Aleska, who was a beautiful human girl, probably a couple years older than Ravn. Varin had immediately been attracted to her and looked forward to getting to converse with her a little more in the future. She was from a similar tribe to Ravn's, her father had been killed but her mother persisted with six children. She wanted to prove the strength of her tribe and had joined the Companions of the Red Sword when they were passing through.

Yes, Varin thought he had pretty much everything down. Now he would need to start formulating ways to get each of them in the position he wanted them so that he could maximize his status in this new group and further his goals.

When Aleska started gulping down water, Varin allowed his easy laugh to flow. "Water? Why, dear Aleska, water isn't suitable to toast to whatever this day might bring us!"

He looked at his new companions with a sweeping gaze. "As one looks around this table, many would see a gang of uncivilized tribe-folk and orphans. What I see is a group of fresh young adventurers of the stoutest moral constitution and the bravest of hearts, a little hung-over but facing a day that could change the course of our lives!" he said. Then he grabbed a glass of ale and raised it high. "Now I propose one final toast, perhaps the only one that our host did not bid us to drink to last night--one to the unknown, that which lies before us, written only in our destinies!"

Satisfied by his speech, Varin gave everyone another encouraging glance and took a drink himself.

[This message has been edited by that one Elf (edited 05-17-2009 @ 10:41 PM).]

"While that's a handful of flattery that doesn't say much," Einsam Sorgë said with a chuckle, "I'll drink your toast, Apollos." Swallowing from his cup, Einsam glanced at the Gray Elf, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Annoying sort, that one. Makes a speech, appeals to pride... great as the Companions are, we new-made members aren't worthy of some early-morning toast made by a hungover initiate to other hungover initiates. Hrm. Always be wary of a man that talks without saying anything. Shrugging inwardly, Sorgë sipped again from his ale and continued into his meal.

Aleska rolls her eyes in response to Varin's statement. "Yes, they're waiting for us downstairs now," she said, taking a swig from her mug, and this time a piece of the bread. Unexpectedly, the bread is fresh. Aleska is more used to eating hard tack when her family could not get onions or other wild vegetables. She chews a piece and swallows it, then takes another swill of water. "All right, one swig of ale," she says, pouring her mug about half full, then raising it to the others and then drinking it. It's like drinking bread! she thinks when she swallows it. It's actually better ale than the ale last night, more filling and less able to get the drinker to lose her senses. Still, she doesn't want any more. Enough for now.

She looks carefully at the others, once again putting through her mind the story of the adventuring group she was now part of. She still can't help but think tribally, though. They do 'jobs' for hire, she understands that. She knows some of the things that adventuring parties do. But she is a long way from her people, so what stake does she have in all of this? Aleska highly doubts that her own ancestry is going to come into play any time soon, other of course than just making her daring and adventurous, and she obviously isn't even unique among this group by being a woman. She's Corian, so she supposes that she will be working against enemies of Coria, either miscreant bandits, or possibly Axtaucan tyrants. But what motivates the others? Ravn she guesses is probably thinking a lot like she is, unless the spirits are telling him otherwise. Listen to the spirits, something inside of Aleska tells her. That might be a good idea, she realizes. Aleska realizes that she's been looking at Ravn perhaps a little too much. She digs back into the meat. There will be plenty of time to find out if we're really destined for each-other later, she thinks. We're companions for now. Aleska suddenly makes a grunting sound, as she chews and swallows, then smiles, keeping her mouth closed. Not enough gristle, she thinks.

Ravn nodded and smiled to the air goblin when he entered. He then ignored the goblin, apparently fully committing his attention on eating. In reality he had a little discussion in his mind with his spirit guide:
You don’t trust him?
No!
Whey not?
He’s a goblin…
Does that make him bad?
Perhaps not necessarily, but many goblin tribes are evil and frequently raid our people... or try to anyway
True, buy not all are evil, your people even trade with some of the more friendly tribes…
I guess he could be ok, but I still don’t trust him…
Have you considered that the fact that he is a goblin may give you more reason to trust him than any of the others?
what do you mean??
The companions don’t just allow anyone to join, don’t you think they would check out a goblin extra carefully before allowing him to join?
That’s a good point… ok I guess he is probably ok, but we are still going to keep an eye on him until he has proven himself reliable.
Fair enough…

A little later Aleska came up with water she had got in the kitchen. When she send Ravn a smile he returned with a smile of his own, while he wondered how much she could remember from last night…

Then Varin began his little speech ending with his strange toast to the unknown. Ravn responded by lifting his mug of ale and drinking when Varin did, apparently rather absentminded. In reality Ravn had another little discussion with Black:
He wants to be the leader…
That much is obvious…
But is he the right one to lead?
He may well be, there is little doubt that he is older and more experienced than any of the rest of us
That doesn’t necessary make him a good leader…
True...
Buy you are going to let him assume a leading position?
Yes… if he can… it shouldn’t be to hard to pull him down again if he proves to be a bad leader…

Sprite shamans oversee the well being of their tribes, so recognizing and manipulating the social dynamics of a group of people was part of their education. Ravn might be young, but he was a particular gifted sprite shaman, and in many ways he was as wise as people far older then himself.
Being educated in taking care of the social well being of a whole tribe, Ravn was confident that he could easily manage a small adventure party, even one that consisted of very different people...

Varin flashed a smile at Einsam. "Ah, but sometimes the most meaningful thing that can be said is the thing that means the least when you say it," he said. Then, seemingly content to let the goblin ponder that for the time, he turned his attention back to clearing the last of the food off his plate in a quick one or two bites.

No sooner had he finished than he pointed at Aleska in a well-mannered fashion. "She's right. We mustn't keep our hosts waiting--it's of the most base of manners. After politely accepting one toast after another last night, we can't now go and ruin their perception of us," he said, standing as if to further suggest that everyone start heading downstairs.

Aleska puts down her stick of salted meat. "It's Lys, and another former Companion, Simon he told me his name was. No prospective clients, although I get the feeling they may want us down soon anyway..." She eats the rest of the meat she had taken, refills her mug again with water and drinks it, and then leans back, ready to go. By now, she has quaffed at least a quart of water, maybe two...

As Einsam finished breaking his fast, he drained the dregs from his tankard and stood, delicately wiping his hands with a napkin. "Then let us go. Perception is, after all, paramount." This last bit was delivered with a barely audible tinge of sarcasm, and Sorgë winked at Aleska as he said it, his expression utterly deadpan from Varin's point of view. Taking the lead, he began to tread lightly down the stairs.

Oblivious that the goblin's statement was at his expense, Varin nodded in silent agreement as Einsam turned away. The way people see us reflect who we really are, he thought. Anything else is just theoretical mumbo-jumbo about what we think we believe.

The elf followed the goblin towards the stairs, quite ready to see what his new position and status would entail.

Aleska grabs another piece of the dried pork as she gets up and casts a glance at Ravn and then at Lia, and then heads down the stairs. She is finished eating by the time she reaches the bottom, and smiles friendlily at Lys. She then stands to the side, looking intently at Simon, waiting for him to tell her what he wants. Aleska's intuition tells her that it may be something important - she hopes it's not just another round of "good luck" from the old guard to the initiates.

Ravn had already finished eating for some time, so he drank the last bit of ale in his mug and followed the others downstairs…

Upon hearing the whole party trotting down the stairs, Lys and Simon exchange a significant look. Simon seems to take it as a nonverbal cue from her, because he exasperatedly opens the ponderous tome on the table and begins poring over it, sparing a brief nod of greeting to the arriving Companions. Lys clears her throat with a delicate "Ahem" to cover any awkwardness the newcomers might pick up hanging in the air and offers the group a sincere smile before launching into a speech that sounds distinctly practiced. Her gaze flicks over them with experienced diligence as she talks, giving them the clear impression that she is gauging them for something.

"Good morning, Companions. This gentleman here with his nose rudely buried in the book is Simon Silvertongue, singer, scholar, and smooth talker extraordinaire. Say hello, Simon."

Simon runs a hand through his dark hair and his gaze slips away from the party's eyes as he straightens up from the book and mumbles, "Hail. I, uh, well, I could have been one of you. They considered picking me up a year ago, but they turned me down. Or I turned them down, rather. It's complicated. I don't really want to talk about it. Anyway, I've been trying to help out as best I could in my own way, and I'm here offering the same to you, if you were wondering." He glanced up at the party once, blinked, and looked away pleading to Lys. "So... I think she had business for you."

"Yes, I am sure you are eager to get to work, and some offers have already been made for you to consider.

"The first is a public request put out by a gray dwarven merchant named Sargon of Kish who wants an escort for himself and his caravan, including his family, to Erevor. Apparently he encountered some hill dwarves here who scared off his original guards and whom he now fears are lurking just outside the city, waiting to ambush him. He offers five hundred gold as well as a devastating crossbow of his personal design to whichever adventuring party will deliver him, his family, and his goods safe and sound to his destination.

"The second is a private request to you from a friend of Kreven's, a humble baker named Emenis Dar. Emenis has recently had a windfall, it seems, as a wealthy uncle has passed away and left him a fine manor west of the city, nestled in a crag of the mountains. Emenis says there is something strange about the estate, however. Specifically, he believes it is haunted. He would very much appreciate it if you all would delve into the household's history and, if you feel it would be prudent, spend a night there and possibly perform an exorcism. He has nothing to give you except his gratitude, but he is a friend of the Companions, and demonstrating that you will carry on the Companions' tradition of watching out for their allies may reassure some of our other friends who are unsure of your reliability.

"The third is another public job, put up by the city council. Within the last four days, twelve young children have gone missing from their homes throughout the city. During the last three nights, an ethereal sound of children crying has apparently been heard by seemingly random people scattered across the city around midnight. The city watch is stumped, so all adventuring parties have been called to try and help as best they can. A reward of 1,000 gold has been offered for any information that helps lead to the children's safe return.

"The fourth job is private. The wealthy merchant Higeln the Tall, a friend of Branor's, is asking for your help. It seems that Higeln has gotten into trouble with a small tribe of hobgoblins, whose chieftain has kidnapped his first-born son and heir. For a reward, he is offering the hand of his eldest daughter, Ragnhild, in marriage. Ragnhild is said to be good-hearted, kind, and beautiful, and her father's wealth would also mean a very large dowry.

"There are of course other jobs available, but I did not wish to bother you with details of tasks either above or below your capabilities. If you want to hear about those, you need only ask. Regardless, I am sure you have questions, so..." Lys looks at the party expectantly.

Varin Apollos cleared his throat. "As a matter of fact, I do," he said. "You said that Emenis Dar suspects this manor is haunted. Is there any history of haunting in these parts or any similar tales from the manner originating before he inherited it?" That job had immediately caught his attention as a way to gain trust and renown with friends of the Red Sword. It was always extremely useful to have friends and potential allies, especially wealthy ones, and a solid reputation for upholding the Companions' ideals was exactly what a new party needed.

"My other question is about the job offered by Higeln the Tall," he said. This job had caught his attention quite naturally because of the reward. He had been vaguely aware that such things as this happened, but it was never the sort of reward that was given out to just anyone who could fulfill the contractor's request, so he had never been in a position to receive the...benefits before. And, of course, he would likely be the one to receive the reward, since Ravn was so young and Einsam was, well, a goblin. "Do we have any word as to just how many hobgoblins could be in the area, or is that a question for him?" The question had nothing to do with his line of thought, but he was curious anyway.

Even as he asked these questions, he tried to come up with answers of his own from his experiences in the area as he had skifted about. (Knowledge [local]: 19!+8=27) The knowledge was esoteric, but it was just the sort of thing he was curious about, and he thought he remembered hearing something....

[This message has been edited by that one Elf (edited 05-18-2009 @ 11:11 PM).]

Aleska listens carefully to the job postings as they are described. Her tribal instincts immediately lead her to think about helping the retired Companions, although at the same time she realizes the question of expenses, and of course she will not benefit from someone being offered somebody's hand in marriage! She also cannot help but feel something... apprehensive... about that one.

"I would hardly know where to begin in thinking about something haunted," Aleska begins. "Would you know anything of how to appease angry spirits?" she asks Ravn. She then pauses. The bigger question, though, was how they could go about getting knowledge about the mansion. Aleska is not going to be able to help much with that!

There was no doubt in Ravn’s mind what job the party had to chose, and he was rather surprised when Varin and Aleska didn’t even seem to consider it…
Looking at the two of them he spoke up: ”How can you even consider taking one of the other jobs when there are children in need our help? That is an important and urgent matter, while the other jobs are unimportant compared to it and can wait until we have saved these children, or found who is responsible for their deaths if they are no longer alive.
Even if you are cold-hearted enough not to care for the fate of 12 children, think of how good it would be for the our reputation if we solve this problem, and how bad it will look if we refuse to even try….

[This message has been edited by Kris Lighthawk (edited 05-19-2009 @ 08:06 AM).]

Varin looked at Ravn as though mildly offended. "I agree with you--however, the quest seems self-explanatory, so I had no questions," he said nonchalantly. "But I suppose you're right. What use is finding out more about the other jobs when it is clear which one we must pursue?"

He also rather liked the idea of moving after the mystery that had stumped the city guard. They could quickly reinforce their image in a very public way and earn the trust of all the families involved by completing this quest. It did seem like the best one to pursue no matter how one looked at it.

The elf looked at their beautiful host Lys. "If no one has any reason to argue," he said, glancing around at his new companions, "I think that's the one we really want to hear more about."

Although Lia also preferred water this morning, she poured her self half a cup of ale and returned Varins toast whit a mumbled “to the unknown” and drank out. Some speech he delivered there. A bit too grand for this morning perhaps, but surly he meant it well.
So he was trying to assume leadership it seemed, well maybe he was the natural choice for that any way.

When the others started to move downstairs she followed, with Gerre close behind her.

Lillianna listened in silence to the job options and the others comments. She nodded in agreement to Ravn words and was about to say that she agreed with him, when Varin sort of ended the discussion, by expressing his agreement, indicating that he had really been of the same opinion all the time and had only asked his questions about the other jobs out of curiosity. He seemed to assume that there would be no further discussion.
Lia looked at Aleska and Einsam, the goblin had not said anything yet, what did he think?
“I am all for the case with the missing children, too” she said just to make it clear. Well, how could they possibly turn their backs on that one…even if they wanted to, it would really not look good just to leave, when the city they had their house in, had asked for their help. Though, the gods should know, she was not exactly thrilled by the thought of having to stay in the city, but she'd do it for the children...

Aleska sighs. While caring about children, she is even less certain that her group will be of any help. Moreover, these children are likely not related to her, or her party, or any friends of theirs, either. You've got to think like they do, Aleska, she tells herself. They don't live in tribes.

Ravn does, another voice in her mind retorted, resulting in a sort of internal dialogue. Why is Ravn behaving this way? Perhaps he's more familiar with the way that civilized people think than I do. But so many children die young anyway. It's the adolescents and young adults that are the future of the tribe - people.

Finally, Aleska decided to answer Ravn. "I don't think the question is whether we want to help the children. I think the question is how. What options or abilities do we have that the city guard does not that might enable us to succeed where they have failed?"

Einsam frowned. "The young lady Aleska has an excellent point. Without a viable strategy, how can we expect to be of any help at all? Our charm and winning personalities will only get us so far. I imagine we could collect any information available on the disappearances and cross-reference it with possible suspects, but I daresay the city guard has more experience approaching things from that perspective. We should do what we can, and while I cannot be certain we'll help, but I'm rather sure it won't hurt to offer our services, for the good of the city."

Shrugging and nodding simultaneously, Einsam gave his assent to pursue the investigation into the disappearance of the children. "After all, the only thing at stake here is our reputation as new members. And reputation is usually a false imposition of imperfect perspective; gained without merit and lost without reason. I say we should begin our inquiries posthaste."

Ravn found that Aleska’s question was a good one, and he had to think a little before finding what he thought was a good answer.
”While there is little doubt that the city guard is much more experienced in taking care of crimes in a city than any of us, the fact is that they have not been able to get anywhere so far… It may well be that it takes people with a very different view and set of skills than the typical city guard, to solve this mystery, and the five of us are indeed very different, both compared to each other and to the typical city guard. It may well be that one of us, or us all working together, has the skills that it takes to get the job done.
As for how to proceed, I suggest that we talk to the one among the city guard that are responsible for this mystery, and learn exactly what is know about the problem. We could then proceed to speak with families of the disappeared children and hopefully find some clues that way…”

"Well," Aleska says, thinking, "We should then have some questions we should be ready to ask. First, is there any pattern as to who who the children are who are disappearing? I cannot imagine that the guard does not approach things that way, but I am not sure they think of it in the light of anticipating the kidnappers' next targets. If it is random, then there is not much that we can do - or not much that I can do, although since you can talk to spirits you may have information that I do not. If the people who hear the ethereal voices are also random, then the chance that it will be one of us is entirely up to chance, but if we could increase our chances, then that might help us also, again because you can speak with spirits. But Lys implies that they are asking these questions already, and they are clueless."

Varin can't remember hearing anything about those particular issues. Then again, if they are private concerns, they wouldn't exactly be matters known to the public.

Lys politely clears her throat, breaking into the Companions' discussion. "If I may, one of the Crusading Suns has taken charge of the effort to find the missing children. His name is Angonehtar the Tall. He and the city watch captain, Lute, are operating out of the Crusading Suns' barracks. They are being assisted by a visiting pochtecatl. As Angonehtar's people do not require sleep, he may no doubt be found there even this early in the morning. No doubt they would have all the details of what is known and what has been attempted already."