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Fantasy The Blood Price, An Adventurer's Guild

A hit like that would have done significant damage to the young mage, specially since the spell she just casted left her unable to produce any kind of defense. Thankfully for her she wasn't alone, her ‘dear’ teammates provide a meat shield good enough to alter the attack trajectory and leave her unharmed “How kind of them.” Grace thought as a small chuckle left her mouth. It was clear that the attacks from both her and Jin were effective based on the beast movements. The young mage then decided to change positions and started running around the creature. Peri abilities were ranged just like hers but Jin wasn’t so lucky so at the very least she should stand on the opposite side of her teammate to gather some attention away from him. Seconds later she reached her desired spot and began to plan the next move. ‘Shot’ had worked just fine moments before, no reason to just waste time and mana trying something else. She began to cast the spell once again but was interrupted by the golem’s sudden jump. Her eyes as big as they could be while observing it float in the air for mere moments before starting to fall.

“I can’t dodge that.” Were her thoughts as she gave a jump back, looking for anything that could help her avoid the attack. The golem finally reached the ground, unleashing an earth wave attack that would have been amazing for her if it was performed by a magic user but in this situation not so much “Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!” Another jump back was performed in a futile attempt to win more time. In her strategic move to rotate around the monster she had moved too far away from the trees, not that they would completely stop the attack but anything was welcomed at that point. “Alright Willet, I’ll play the same game that you do!” Yelled Grace before she stopped moving, her eyes closed as her staff gathered magic, now covered in a golden shine. She still wasn’t sure if this was a scheme from the dumb witch or if she was listening at all but for now those thoughts would have to come later, now it was time to concentrate on what was in front of her.

“Summon ‘Earth golem’!” Grace said as she hit the ground with the bottom of her staff. In a flash the light in her weapon moved towards the ground before returning; now using the ground and rocks to form a body of its own. The creature that had appeared in front of the mage was similar to the golem they were already fighting, only smaller and with a softer looking body. Grace quickly grabbed on to the back of her familiar and clenched her teeth, not sure if her plan would actually work. The summon was able to cross its arm in front of its chest right before the wave attack hit them. Moments later the young mage opened her eyes and looked around, the attack hit them but besides her cloak she was intact. Quickly she moved to the side and scanned the situation; Peri had somehow been able to avoid the attack but Jin wasn’t so lucky this time either. “Poor guy”

To her surprise the beat down he had received didn’t slow down the man who once again engaged the golem alongside the bard who now changed to what could be described as an ‘offensive melody’. Unsurprisingly to everyone the foreign's strength had faded away at this point and it was unlikely for Peri to beat the beast down herself “Maybe she could throw the doll at it, who knows.” Thought Grace but her state was no better, forcing herself to cast a summon in a rush had left her empty of mana for the moment. Thankfully she was still able to do one thing. Jin’s request reached her ears just as she started her last attack “I’m also empty, you dolt! However, I can still do this!” Screamed Grace from the top of her lungs. Her voice alongside Peri’s song was distracting enough to allow the young mage’s summon to approach its bigger relative. Without wasting a second Grace’s familiar gathered strength before connecting a clear strike into the beast’s body, the sound of stone against stone resonating through the field.
 
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The rock monster’s own attack left it nearly a pile of muddled earth and stone, a shambling resemblance of a fierce creature. Peri’s song had no effect on the monster, the purple aura as harmful as air.

Jin, recovered from the earthen wave, launched a counter attack. His golden projectile, though weaker than before, connected with the monster’s head, blasting a sizable chunk. The monster’s rock vocal chords releasing a groan. The life essence binding the creature was holding on by a thread.

As it tried for a final effort to stand, Grace’s golem launched an attack. The resulting collision of earth and stone created a cacophony of crushed rock.

The energy binding the rock monster was depleted, the rock and earth forming the monster fell to the earth in a pile mixed with Grace’s earth golem, also destroyed.

The site they once called a camp was now a battlefield, trees rooted from the ground, the once flat surface now a plane riddled with debris and piles of earth. What little light remained was dipping down the horizon, casting long shadows -- a curtain fall to the encounter.

Willet, emerging from behind the dimensional curtain scanned the field with nose held high.

“Where is the firewood, food, and water?”

She cast her glance at the battered trio and sighed. “What a sorry lot. Struggling this much against a simple rock golem and still fail to do the simplest tasks.”

Willet waved her hands over the field, restoring things to their proper place. Trees returned to their rooted homes, earth packing into place, the fire pit even restoring to its former glory. The wood, deer, and water collected nowhere to be seen, however.

The witch gave them an incredulous stare. “Well? Why are you standing around with your tongues out like some common dog? Fetch.” She turned back into her room with a hidden smile, different from before, this one less snide with a hint of proud satisfaction.

The party had successfully defeated Willet’s rock monster, though she would never admit that it was her summon. As part of the initiation, the Broker demands every party face a suitable encounter their first day. Different members had different ways of testing their charges. Some examiners would face the initiates in combat, others requiring certain tasks to be completed, but Willet was known as one of the harsher examiners, her initiates success rate below 20%. She was never known to play nice.

The trio would return with their assigned tasks or, as Willet was sure they were certain, would face the appropriate punishment.

Twilight turned to night, the only light source the stars and the half moon. The group returned, battered and bruised as they were, with their bundles in hand. She pointed to a spot on the ground, “Boy, put the wood there. No, not there. There.” She turned to Peri, “Girl, cook food. Other girl, place that water in this basin,.” she said pointing to a spot. Willet flicked her wrist again and a metal basin appeared.

The water that filled it was not as high as Willet would have liked but it was a trivial matter. With another wave of the hand the basin transformed into a lavish tub, ornate with gold feet and pristinely clean amongst the dirt and gravel. The water in the tub magically rose nearly the top, already steaming. She snapped her fingers and a small fire appeared beneath the wash tub, crackling.

Willet removed her robes, her fine flesh bare to the world, unabashed to be naked amongst the company of strangers. Her silhouetted figure was mature, Willet herself endowed more than enough to tame any man’s heart.

She slipped a foot into the tub, then the other, finally sliding all the way to her neck, golden locks floating above the surface. “Ah, bathing under the stars truly is the best” she said to herself musingly.

“Make sure you feed this fire, boy. Do not let the temperature fall,” she said eyes closed. As she shifted in the tub, water spilled over the edges.

With eyes still closed and head rested on the tub she addressed the party, “I will grant you each one question of me while I am in a good mood.” Willet moved her arms to rest on the tub. “Go on, then. Fire ahead or some such saying.”

GM Note Great job on the first encounter! Willet can be such a pain, right? You know the drill: fill in the gaps and respond as you see fit. Make your questions of Willet count. Though with her fickleness, you may not get a satisfactory answer
 
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Peri shielded her face from the wave of dust that resulted from all the falling earth. Once the last of the noise from their battle finished echoing throughout the clearing, she glanced around and realizing that they had done it, she let out a sigh of relief as she ran a hand back through her hair. She then walked back to the other two, clapping her hands, a slightly less sarcastic grin on her face. "See? I knew you two could do it! Nice magic there, kid. Good to see you didn't get your little mage body crushed by any rocks either," she gave Grace a pat on the back, "And you, Fancypants--" she went to give him a pat as well but seeing all the dirst and grime that covered him she retracted her hand, giving him a more awkward thumbs up instead, "You've got one hell of a punch, seriously. I'd give you some kind of pat on the back, but you've got a little something on your....everywhere." she motioned towards all over him with her hand, "Maybe next time try dodging the giant rock wave?"

She turned her head as Willet returned to them through the dimensional curtain. Irritation quickly boiled up within Peri the more the witch talked. Of course it was that damn witch trying to "test" them. Peri could feel her eyebrow starting to twitch a little in annoyance, but she didn't flat out yell at the Willet this time, probably because she was finally starting to learn her lesson. Looking around as the field was returned to its former state, they were forced back onto square one. Peri could feel her teeth start to grind as the three of them were ordered to fulfill their tasks once again.

She let out a grunt as Willet left. But as much as she hated being ordered around by her, Peri was already too exhausted to make any effort to fight back. Her rear had gotten so sore from the trip she knew that she would have trouble sitting down properly for at least a couple of days. The pain of the hit taken from the rock golem during their battle finally started to settle in as the adrenaline in her faded. It felt like at least one of her ribs where broken or fractured as she had basically taken a direct hit from a giant boulder with the monster's first punch. She fought through the pain as she stomped away from the clearing to fulfill her task once again, muttering curses at their guide as she walked away. Her profane vocabulary was probably much wider and more diverse than most after a lifetime of being in taverns surrounded by all sorts of foul-mouthed individuals, so she was able to be very creative with her cursing.

It took her longer than the first time, but she was successfully able to track down and kill another deer with her dart-dagger combo. She struggled a little more to drag the carcass back to camp, and was only more aggravated at being barked out by Willet upon coming back. To the witch Peri rolled her eyes, "Of course, of course. I'll make sure not to dully dolly, or some such saying," She said, mocking Willet's way of speaking with a pretty accurate impression of her despite it being mocking. She moved aside to cut apart the deer with her dagger to remove the meat before going to cook it on the fire Jin had built.

She curiously watched the witch undress rather boldly and get into the tub she had conjured. Peri didn't bother to look away from the robe-less witch, as again, many things happen in the taverns of Avarice. "And here I thought tavern wenches were unafraid to be so showy. But you make those girls look like as meek as priestesses." Peri said as she was still cooking the meat, snickering a little, "Should I throw some coin at you while you put on your show for us as well?"

Then they were offered an answer to one question from the witch and at the offer Peri raised an eyebrow. "Hmph... Well have you always been such a--MMF" she was about to ask sarcastically before Lionel came and grabbed to keep her mouth shut. She gave a surprised and confused look at him, and in return he shook his head at her. He wanted her to take this seriously. Ask a question that really counted. She sighed, moving him away from her mouth. "Alright uh... I don't know, what's so special about this crystal needle we're getting from Ondora? We sewing a diamond blanket with it or something?"
 
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When the last rumble of the battle faded, Jin let out a long, heavy sigh. Adrenaline and anger leaving his body in time with the breath that left him. WIth tension fleeing from his tired form, he was left with acute discoveries of just how sore he was, and which parts of his body needed a good stretch. Before any of that though, he first began to experimentally move his legs, determining just how much room he had to move out from the dirt like prison imposed on them. With a quick huff his arms pushed against the now pacified dirt and earth, pushing himself up and out of the dirt trap he ended up in.

Scowling at the mess on his entire person, he couldn’t help but to childishly flick some of the more liquid-like grime towards Peri when the bard bounded over to share her celebratory mood. “If I continue taking these waves, perhaps one day I can punch through them,” he replied, and it was hard to tell, even for himself, if he actually meant those words. For now though, he settled for flicking another small drop of grime towards their youngest member, Grace. “Better me than the tiny tyke,” he added, and could only imagine that Grace would’ve been six foot under the enormous wave that had rushed forward during the battle.

Jin gave a glance at the destruction and chaos that surrounded them, and was marginally pleased. It served as a nice landmark for the first bout he had in his first journey, something to reminisce on whenever he passed through the forest, he thought. Unfortunately, both his mood and the disorderly battlefield both vaporized instantly the moment the witch made her appearance once again. It was as if they had never touched upon the clearing, the way it was so peaceful and free of signs of carnage.

Dismissed again, Jin did not take long to linger. Even if the witch stirred his peaceful inner calm into chaos, with her revealing of her hand with the golem and subsequent ‘punishment’ of more hard labor. It was chance to properly be rid of all the filthy muck that clung onto him - much like when he first stepped onto the land. Luckily the filth was physical - not like the ocean odor that clung even after multiple baths. Learning from last time, Jin first found a stream quickly and did not take long to place himself onto the water, face first. Comically, should anyone find him they’d likely think he’d drowned, but the man was tired. He was lucky he did not truly bring his fist and feet onto the stone giant, but getting pounded by a stone giant seemed to bring just as many injuries.

After clearing his face, hair and exposed skin of any signs of dirt and grime, he simply allowed the stream to rush through and take away whatever was left on his clothes. The fur was … well, no longer white, but he imagined that when it dried it’d be quite the pattern, with wisps of brown and yellow … maybe he could ask the tiny mage to burn it off at a later date. As he hauled himself from the stream, he only could groan when his back, rear and knees began to protest whenever he reached, or bent to pick up wood. If he wanted to survive another day with the witch and her whims, he’d had to find some way - likely at the bottom of a particular flask - to offset the injuries he had sustained.

Coming back from his gathering, Jin grumbled lightly as he placed the wood as directed, unable to discern the difference in locations. A fire was a fire, was it not? Ah there, a fire at last. Finally done with her order, he thought he’d have the rest of the evening to himself, only to click his tongue loudly when a tub appeared at the snap of her fingers. The rest of them had to tough it out with her wicked creations, he himself had to settle for a some swamp, creek, and the one who hadn’t bothered to lift a finger had access to such a luxury? What the hell did he even need the soak for, he thought as a vein pulsed strongly against his temple. His glaring did come to an end though when the witch unceremoniously disrobed.

Keeping his head down, Jin could only throw smaller sticks at Peri when she continued to needle at the witch. Had the woman no sense of self preservation? Stuck between throwing smaller sticks at Peri while keeping his head between his knees and throwing larger branches at the fire beneath the tub, Jin only turned to Grace at some point - silently questioning the mage before pointing at the fire, begging silently.

Hearing Peri silenced despite the witches invitation, he glanced to the woman who ought to be cooking, pleased to find that her companion had the better wisdom. After Peri asked her question, Jin found himself drawing on a blank. Should the witch answer, questions concerning the job would have been cleared - but what was it that he wanted to know? The witch was wicked and horrible through and through, he did not need - or want - to know how far that particular perk of hers truly ran through. The reward for this job was obvious, and the consequence just as clear …

“Who is your worst enemy?”
 
Grace’s eyes shinned as she observed both Golems break apart and fall into the ground. Maybe for her teammates it was just another battle but for the young mage it was her first victory in a real fight, not against dumb kids or minimum wage guards. Suddenly she heard Peri’s voice as she walked towards her before giving her a pat on her back. There could have been multiple reactions and answers to this but her current mood allowed just one. “For a mage like me this was a walk in the park. However you two were also way greater than what I expected! Good job!” Said Grace cheerfully right before Jin approached the pair. There was no need to rub in the fact that he was practically a meat shield for both of them so the young mage responded to his remark with only a smile.

The mood of her teammates quickly changed the second they recognized another rift appeared. “Oh right, the water…” Thought the small girl trying to remember how she just threw it away the moment the battle started. Willet emerged from the gateway and did what any witch would; be annoying. As the leader kept talking she began casting another spell, one to fix the whole mess left after the battle but this time Grace wasn’t impressed at all. Rifts were a demonstration of magic control only a few could achieve but this was quite simple, it just required massive amounts of mana that the witch most likely had to spare. As suddenly as she arrived she was gone and the trio had to once again split up for their individual tasks.

The girl returned to the same river she had obtained her orb before but this time she had to do something else first. She left her staff resting next to a tree before taking off her cloak, revealing her brown blouse and pants that were a bit too big for her size. Carefully she grabbed the cloak with her right hand and placed it in the water, her grasp as hard as it could be, while using her left hand as an imaginary giant brush with the water surrounding the cloak following her movements. Once most of the dust was gone she removed it from the river before extracting as much water from it as she could. Grace placed the still wet cloak around the back of her neck and began her task, removing a large orb of water that now levitated above her right hand and after taking a hold of her staff with her free hand she began the walk back to the camp.

Upon her return she got reunited with her team and the witch, the later wasting no time before starting her annoying orders. This time Grace paid no attention to the spell and mindlessly placed the water on the basin just created, her mind puzzling together what Willet wanted to do with all the stuff gathered. She wasn’t fool enough to think it would be a normal campfire but a damn bathtub in the middle of nowhere was too much even for a witch. The bard answered to the leader’s order with her usual banter “Of course she would.” while Jin kept his always present pissed off face as he took care of the wood. The young mage maintained a straight expression during all this and while this didn’t change there was no way to hide the blush on her face the moment Willet took off her clothes without any shame before getting inside the tub. Turns out reading all about the human body through anatomy books and watching a mature woman in her birthday suit cause different reactions. Shocking.

Grace kept her head down as she carefully placed her cloak close to the fire, a burned cloak was just as useless as a wet one whoever she was suddenly distracted by the other person in the group who reacted to the sight of the witch’s naked body but not in the same way the small girl had. The bard’s loose tongue couldn’t miss the chance to go wild against the witch and after all that had happened it was clear that bothering the witch wasn’t a wise idea. “Peri, Peri come on.” Said the young mage multiple times in a low tone as she lightly tapped her teammate’s leg with her staff. A quick exchange of looks with the other member of the team revealed that Jin and she were on the same page, the bard’s tongue would be the end of them all. Quite large was her surprise when Willet not only completely ignored Peri’s word but also decided to grant each one of them a question. The bard was about to continue with her show but this time Lionel was wise enough to stop her before she could. “Good job, rag doll!” Thought Grace as she gave the puppet a quick nod.

The blush on the small girl face was still somewhat noticeable as she moved and sat in the space between Peri and Jin, mostly to be ready in case the former decided to keep her jokes going. Grace didn’t need to think much about her question but she felt a bit guilty since the answer would be only useful for her, unlike the ones made by her teammates. She sighed deeply before raising her head, her eyes focused on the witch’s face. “Those rift spells make it clear, you surely are strong. What I want to know is your age and not some random ‘age’ some of you have kept for who knows how many decades.”
 
It appeared that Willet’s lessons were not taking hold in the young bard’s mind. The other two had learned quite quickly to show the witch the respect she so desired. “Maybe she will do better without food,” she thought musingly.

At Peri’s question, Willet turned to face her, a look of disappointment on her face. “For one as traveled as yourself, one would think you would have heard the tales of initiation from other adventurers. No matter. I will answer your simpleton’s question.

All initiates must travel from the capital of Luxa to the magical city Ondora. There, they must acquire the crystal needle, a magical object binding blood to oath. The oath we take bind our life and soul to the Blood Price. And it is more than a simple conscription to a king’s army. We are blood tied to the guild and its causes.”

Willet stood from the tub, water dripping from her naked body. The light from the fire reflected an orange hue against her white skin. On her stomach, just above her navel, was a small tattoo, a drop of blood similar to the pin the Broker wore.

“These are not mere words you can obstruct truth from. You must live and die by this oath, and I do mean die. If, for whatever reason, you break this oath, the Blood Price has the power to terminate your binding, thereby ending your ties and your life.”

Willet said the words approaching Peri. As she walked, steam rose from her body, the water evaporating. Mid-stride, her black robes and hat appeared on her, her hair braiding itself and resting upon her shoulder.

“After hearing all this, do you still feel the desire to adventure?” Her tone was different from her usual flippant and arrogant self. It was serious and had a weight of danger to it.

The fire crackled and the tension broke, Willet flipped her braid to the other shoulder. “Well, it matters not,” she said in her usual tone. “A sorry lot such as yourselves will never make it.”

The group was sitting around the fire and Willet placed herself to complete the circle. She motioned her hand and summoned a suitable seat for herself. It was quite ornate and well-crafted. The mahogany chair was a step below a small throne, inlaid with decorative pictures of warriors battling and mages casting spells.

The meat from the deer was nearly finished cooking, looking crisp and the fat dripping onto the hot coals. Willet motioned for the young initiates to eat. She herself had no desire for lowly food hunted and cooked over fire. One of the initiates divided the available food. As Peri went to take a bite, Willet waved her hand and made Peri’s portion vanish without a trace. Only the bits belonging to Grace and Jin remained.

She went into the next question without skipping a beat.

“Time is the enemy of all scholars, boy,” Willet said reflectively. She seemed to turn into herself for a moment before continuing. “I may be bound to the Blood Price, but all are bound to time; the present is a most formidable opponent.” Willet rebounded into proper form. “As for whom my worst enemy is, there are none,” she said snidely.

Willet stood at Grace’s question in a temper. “I am old enough to know not to ask a lady her age, child.” With that, Willet made her exit. She pushed passed the fire and group and into her dimensional room.

In truth, Willet, despite her appearing in her early thirties, the prime of her youth, she was much, much older. She was old enough to see kings rise and fall, powerful families live out their existence from beginning to end, and old enough to know that the Broker had been around far longer than she.

Willet lit the candles in her dark room revealing a small bed and even smaller wooden desk with which her notes and books were sprawled upon. She sat before them and sighed, turning the pages of the worn book, nose buried deeply into research known only to the witch. Willet would end up spending the night reading and scribbling notes.

Morning arrived far too quickly, the sun peaking over the Eastern horizon, the birds and morning creatures making their presence known. Willet exited her room and removed the rift, creating a vacuum that made a suction noise as it disappeared.
“Wake up you sorry lot. We move.” She gave the nearest huddled mass a stern nudge with her foot then quickly turned, summoned her broom, then mounted it, floating North towards the city of Ondora.

The next four days passed without much excitement. They would travel until night, only stopping for meals, game caught by the initiates themselves. Willet never seemed to eat, or at least in front of the party. The would-be adventurers would rotate camp duties and travelling became routine. Willet continued her tumbling punishment when necessary, but it was less frequent than the first day.

On the fifth day, by mid-afternoon, a small town crested beyond a distant hill. As the group approached, one could make out only a handful of buildings, an inn, a minor market, and a church.

“We stay here tonight,” Willet said. She quickly flew down to the town at a pace the other would have to run to keep up. As they neared the town entrance through the main road, a small sign read “Welcome to Still”.

The lone inn was visible from the town sign. It was called the Fallen Ox, its sign a red ox with its legs stiff in the air. Willet dismounted and unsummoned her broom. She glided into the inn with a grace not seen in these parts. The innkeeper was a bald, sweaty man that more resembled a pig than an ox. He tripped over his own feet as he hurried to greet the witch.

“Grr-greetings, young miss. How may I- err -I mean, we serve you- or one such as you.”

“I desire a room for the night,” Willet tossed the man a single gold coin, more than enough for his best room for a week.

“Of-of course!,” she greedily tucked the coin in his pocket. “What about the other three?”

Willet turned to face them and smiled. “One is a bard. Have her play for a room.” She turned and walked toward and up the stairs without looking back, the greedy innkeeper confused but hurried to keep up with Willet and show her to her room.

A quick scan of the inn revealed only a few patrons: a couple locals having a drink and conversing over local news and their crops, a patron keeping to himself, and a young serving girl being given a hard time by a muscled man. There is also a bit of raised floor that calls itself a stage.

The trio now stands at the entrance to the Fallen Ox, once again left to their own devices.

GM Note Were your questions answered? Maybe, maybe not. I’m sure Willet doesn’t care either way. She was more than kind enough to let you address her, after all.

We have travelled nearly a week to the first stop on the way to Ondora, the town of Still. It features one inn, a small market, and a church. You can find some basic supplies here but nothing of particular interest. You can spend the rest of the afternoon in town, at the inn or at the church. As always, fill in the gaps of time as you see fit.
 
Peri would stare back at Willet as she came forward, not responding as the witch spoke in a more serious manner. Peri was aware of the dangers that came with adventuring. But everyone's story has to end at some point, so death was not something she was never all too worried about. In her opinion living in fear of death would only make any story of you bland after you're gone. She had laughed in the face of dangerous situations a countless numbers of times, and how she spoke to the witch with so little a care as to the punishment of her actions only helped show proof of it. She now only felt the need to prove this witch wrong one day.

Lionel silently snickered when the witch magically took her portion away. "Oh ha ha. Yes, she's very funny." Peri said sarcastically, before taking Lionel off her shoulder and dropping him onto the ground. He made a few gestures back at her, which many would only see as strange hand waving and arm flapping, but Peri somehow understood him completely. She rolled her eyes in response to him. "Am I aware that I deserved it? Yes, of course. But do I regret any of it? Frankly, no." She laid back casually on the ground with her arms resting behind her head, "I wasn't that hungry anyway. Not that I'd want to eat after having to stare at that witch's---" Lionel cut her off again, shaking his head slowly in disappointment as he kept her lips shut. It wasn't difficult to translate what he was trying to say to her: Just stop. You're only going to make things worse for yourself. For all of us too.

For the next few days of travel, Lionel tasked himself with keeping the bard's tongue in check for everyone else's sake as well as (if not more than) hers. With his help, Peri was able to control her words for the most part. But with the sarcastic comments that did manage to escape for her mouth, the rear-reddening consequence was dealt again and any progress made on her bottom's recovery from the first day was reset.

She passed the rest of their time on the road by periodically practicing songs as they walked either on her lute or flute, more out of her own boredom rather than for the entertainment of the others. Whether the others listened or were bothered by it, she couldn't care less. If any one of them asked her to stop at all, she'd cease only for a little bit before continuing. Throughout all their days on the road, not one song was repeated, showing the vast number of songs she really did have memorized, ranging from more simple, well known songs, to ones with finger picking so advanced it sounded like two instruments were playing instead of one.

They at last came to a town after days of walking and camping. Peri let out a small sigh of relief. She inspected the tavern's outside. It was extremely likely that at one point in the past she had set foot in the tavern before after all her past journeying, there were some taverns where she made a good name for herself but at others... not so much.

"Fallen Ox, huh?" She said when they came to the entrance of the tavern. "Wait, was this the place where the whole "flaming cocktail" incident happened or am I getting my taverns mixed up again?" She asked aside to Lionel, who also had to pause for a moment and rub his chin in thought before shaking his head. "Good. Because that stick in the mud barkeep seemed really serious about not coming back to his bar."

"Why the hell does she even bother buying a room? She has her own dimension to bring with her everywhere she goes. And paying a whole gold piece for a room? Now that is unnecessary. Only thing that does is let them know you can afford to pay however much for the dirty water they call a signature drink." She commented as Willet left with the bar owner in toe.

Now left alone to figure out things on their own, Peri turned to the other two. "Well, you two can go exploring around the town if you'd like. I'll be here working my magic if you even feel like joining me. Or you can stop by for the show later. I should be able to get us a room or two, can't promise anything too nice though." She said to them. And with a wink, she turned to head into the tavern.

As she stepped into the room, she took in a deep breath and sighed. To many, taverns only smelled of mustiness and cheap alcohol, but to someone like Peri, it was like home. She glanced around, looking for the owner from before to sort out some rooms in exchange for her services. But then she caught sight of the young bar waitress being bullied by a large man. Things like that weren't uncommon in taverns of course, but it made Peri feel bad for girls like the server who had to deal with such unpleasant drunk men every day. But oh, how Peri loved to show those awful men their place. Plus, with how empty the bar was now, she had time to build up a bit of an audience for tonight.

Finally, Peri approached the table of the muscled man, moving past the server girl with a pat on her shoulder and a wink before casually sitting herself on the edge of the table, coming in between the two with her signature cocky grin on her face. "Sorry to interrupt whatever the hell was going on here, my good man. But I couldn't help but wonder something after seeing all this. I have to ask you; did your mother ever teach you how to treat a lady? Or have you always been such a slow learner?"
 
Jin smartly kept his trap tightly shut as the witch began to actually explain the purpose of their trip. Obvious details sailed by his head, but when the witch began to speak of the needle’s magical properties, he couldn’t help but to let out a small chuckle, his hand coming to wipe his face - of stress perhaps - in the midst of poking at the fire. A blood tie to the guild, its values and what it stood for. Had Jin misinterpreted what the Broker had given earlier in the morning? He had simply written it off as a witty welcome, in the form of a beverage used in bonding ceremonies and celebrations. Perhaps it was supposed to serve as a warning, that his decision to adventure and journey under the name of the guild was a permanent one, and not something he could simply up and leave. Like he had done - however unwillingly - with his own position back in Nobu.

Assuming the witch’s condescending information held nothing but truth, he would need to do some hard and deep thinking. An oath to serve the guild in whatever capacity they could, surely among the hundreds that make up the guild, each had a different oath to it. Did some promise to rain glory in its name, to donate treasures and better the wealth of the guild? What were the oaths that the three legends took? Dammit, that’d be something he had to go and find out, somehow. It was easier now, with this eating at his mind, to tune out the impatience in Willet’s words - after the first question it sounded as if she was tired of speaking altogether.

It was rare for the witch to maliciously send them to the ground for the rest of the journey. Bless Lionel. What made the journey absolutely insufferable was perhaps Peri who insisted on singing the entire way. He wouldn’t have minded on the first, and even the second day. However, five days? Anyone normal would have been sick of the tunes and songs by then, surely. It distracted him, and without the ability to properly consider the only real drop of wisdom and warning of the witch - and inadvertently the Broker - he was left a bit of a empty shell as they traveled. Often zoning in and out, staring ahead but forgetting his train of thought more often than not.

When they eventually reached civilization, he was not impressed. Of course, it was a small town, and it was no Luxa. One look at the inn though, and a frown had sketched itself wonderfully upon his lips. If Peri’s remarks were anything to note, then it truly was something just a step higher than say … a shack, perhaps. “We’ve had five days of your show,” Jin said, “if you aren’t careful, I’m afraid you will exhaust your repertoire, and subject us to repeats,” he rolled his eyes, as if fearful of the possibility. “I’ll be in the markets, surely some kind of treasure will make itself known to me, oh and please don’t start a fight in there,” and with that he took to the quiet streets, following noise and bustling to identify the heart of the market.

To be honest, there wasn’t too much he could do in this small little town. He had very little money left after his initial spree in Luxa, his interest was at an all time low - he was skeptical that this sleepy town could offer anything shinier or noteworthy in comparison to the shops in Luxa. Perhaps he’d look at some medicine, those were often invaluable and tradeable items in the long run. With his mind made up, he turned the corner, where the noise of a crowd was the loudest.
 
Grace remained in silence as the witch began answering their questions one by one. The young mage was a bit surprised about the guild’s blood pact. She had read a little about it before but expected that to be nothing more than the author adding flavor to the stories. A bond that connected your life and soul to the blood Price was beyond magic for sure. Once again, the small girl was forced to lower her gaze as Willet revealed her perfect body without any bit of shame. Despite this the witch last comment resonated in her head, reminding her that blood pact or not she has already made her mind, way before abandoning home.

Thankfully for the young mage the leader finally decided to put her clothes back, allowing her to raise her view away from the ground. Grace had been focused on the witch words until now but it all ended the moment food was put into her hand. The mana usage of the day had left her exhausted and starved so this was heaven on earth right now. The piece of meat made sure that the young mage ignored the second answer completely. Her attention only came back for the third one which made her chuckle a bit. It was such a normal answer considering from who it was coming from “So she has a human side after all” Were Grace words in her head as the witch left around the same time she finished her food.

The rest of the journey continued without any major problems. The bard’s comments kept to a minimum nor any enemies in sight. The only remarkable thing were Peri’s multiple songs and unlike Jin, who looked like he was either going to murder her or rip his ears off, Grace didn’t mind. They weren’t good nor did she like them but she didn’t dislike them either besides listening to the music was a good way to pass the time during those dull days. It felt like years until they could get out of the road and enter a small town; Still. The group walked directly towards the horrible ugly looking inn only to be greeted by an even uglier innkeeper “Thank god it seems only Peri will have to deal with him” Thought Grace as she left a sigh of relief.

With the witch gone and no orders to follow the group quickly spread “Take care, don’t get in too much trouble.” Said the young mage to the foreign as he left the inn and walked towards the market or whatever this sad town would consider a “market”. Grace assumed the bard would head straight to speak her terms with the innkeeper so she didn’t pay attention to her and quickly moved towards the table which had a young man sitting by himself. She left her staff at the side of the table and sat in front of him in a rather unlady-like manner, her arms crossed and her legs open almost as wide as they could be. If she wore a skirt of something of the sort it would leave very little to the imagination. “Hello there, I’m Grace. I have been traveling for days nonstop and I’m sure you can guess this precious and small body can barely handle such a thing so I was wondering if we could make a deal. If you buy me a meal, doesn’t have to be one of the expensive ones don’t worry, I’ll give you the honor of having a conversation with me and watching me eat. Sounds fair, right?” A confident smile covered her face as she waited for the patron’s answer but something else caught her attention. Without looking in that direction, the young mage was able to hear her teammate speaking with one of the other clients in a rather not friendly tone but still way more polite than the things Peri usually said. As she kept her smile on and eyes on the person in front of her Grace softly placed her hands on the table, the right one next to her staff. She wouldn’t mind if Peri were to pick a fight with someone else but in a small town like this it wouldn’t be a surprise if all locals were friends with each other so when it starts the other patrons pile on against her. The young mage didn’t want to look aggressive to the one sharing the table with her but she’d rather be ready if a mess were to suddenly start.
 
The patron sitting alone was a traveller, the dust from the road still fresh on his cloak. When Grace sat down, he was taken aback, especially at how aggressive she was sitting. A wide smile revealing a few missing teeth appeared on his dusty face. He drew the attention of the serving girl now interceded by Peri and looked as if she was happy for the distraction. “A-a small meal for the pretty girl, please,” he said meekly, handing over a silver and receiving a few coppers back. The serving girl swiftly went into the kitchen and returned with a bowl of soup and a hearty slice of bread, placing it before Grace.

The dusty faced traveler smiled again. “Where are you traveling to, young miss?” He slid his hand from under the table and onto Grace’s knee, rubbing it slowly, “Do you have a place to stay tonight?” His toothless grin was as welcoming as his intentions with the young mage.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the inn, the muscular man stood insulted by the bard’s cutting words. “Wha-- I’m not slow!” He was over a head taller than Peri and nearly double her mass. He raised his fist and cocked back, “I’ll teach you somethin--”.

He was cut off by the innkeeper descending the stairs from Willet’s room and shouting. “Don’t you dare start a fight now, you,” sweat perspired from his pig-like forehead. “Don’t make me call the town guard.”

The muscled goon stared down at Peri who appeared calm and confident, before he spat at the ground between them. “I’ll remember you. I’ll be back.” He turned and exited the inn in a huff.

As he walked down the town street in a fume he bumped into a fur clad man. “Watch it,” he said continuing his way pass Jin.

“Pay him no mind, child,” a woman said from before an alleyway. She was old, dressed in a dark shawl and had a large wart on the end of her nose. “Come. Come,” she said beckoning Jin before her dismal market stand, “Come. Come.”

As she drew Jin in, she quickly grabbed his palms, reading them. “Yes. Yes, I see. You stand before a crossroads, child. Family and fate. Yes. Yes.” She looked up at Jin with her one good eye. “I know which one I’d choose, child. Yes. Yes.”

A sinister smile drew across her face showing yellowed teeth, the grip on his hands growing tighter. “You sister draws near, Jin. Yes. Yes.” She let out a cackling laugh, “Tahehehehe! You must choose, child. You must choose!” The hag released the grip on Jin and let him leave her stand, cackling still.
 
Peri had to crane her neck to look up at the man as he stood from his seat, but did not move from her place sitting there on the table. He was significantly larger than her, but that was no real feat. She was well aware of her shorter stature among others and had come to accept that all of her growth spurts had run out. She usually found herself surrounded by the larger men who loved to congregate into taverns, so she was used to being towered over. But she made up for it with her sharp tongue, quick wit, and strong personality, using her less-intimidating demeanor to lower the guard of others.

She didn't even flinch as the offended man drew back his arm to throw a punch. Instead, she sat there even more laid back, looking to him with an even cockier grin on her face. His angry reaction was the response she was expecting and what she was already prepared to deal with. But she also knew there was a fairly large chance that the owner would intervene, not wanting a fight of any kind in his "respectable" establishment. And intervene he did as he came down and stopped the patron from even making his first move, yelling. She casually put her hands up in a defensive manner. "He was making the move first. I just came to ask him a simple question. I wouldn't dream of causing trouble in a tavern as refined as yours..."

She still maintained the same smug look on her face as the buff man spat and laid down his threat. "Well I have been told I am pretty unforgettable. I'll look forward to meeting again," She responded with a widening grin and her signature wink. And with that, he left, Lionel sticking out his tongue (though more mimicking the taunting gesture) to him as he walked out of the bar. She wasn't worried about the threat of him coming back, and upon hearing from the server that Don, as he was named, was also a traveler, it put her more at ease, grateful that she didn't have to deal with the group of local cronies he would have brought had he been from around town. Pleased with at least getting the unpleasant man away from the tavern and the server girl, she went and approached the bar owner to work out a deal.

If there was one type of person that Peri would show any real respect to, it was bar owners. Taverns were where most of her performing took place, meaning the owners were her primary source of income. They were the people who had the power to decide what and how she would be paid. So she knew to be careful towards them. Even though this one was one of the more... unpleasant ones, at least appearance-wise, with all his sweating, they were able to come to an agreement that earned her a meal and night's stay in one of his rooms in exchange for services for the rest of the day. The room seemed like it would be large enough for them to share, but even if it wasn't, Peri knew she could always decide which one of them would be sleeping on the floor. As she made her way to the small stage she glanced around and saw Grace with the formerly alone patron of the tavern, seeing that the young mage had used her "girlish charm" to get the old man to buy her a meal. Her execution was definitely... not as subtle as Peri would have liked, and the target was certainly an interesting one... but still, she would admit she liked Grace's way of thinking. Not bad for a kid...

The tavern was still pretty empty when she started. With it only being around mid-afternoon, not many would stop by for a drink just yet. For a while, Peri would simply play some instrumental pieces to serve more as background music for the few in the bar at the time, maybe singing a song or two. She saw no use in really doing any sort of show then. She waited until late afternoon/early evening, when many would really come after their busy days ready to retire and stop by for a drink. As it began to get dark and the tavern became more populated, Peri started to really perform. She called the attention of those in the room before she started strumming a tune on her lute, and thus began singing a tale of a man known as Garin Strongjaw, a mighty warrior from the early days of Avarice, who made himself known as being one of the first to lead the fight against the beasts of the Darklands. But what he was most notably remembered for was his large cask of a seemingly endless supply of ale he would carry around in his magical bag of holding. His story became an excellent drinking song, with its chorus being remembered by many who would go to taverns regularly. "Sail! Sail and slay the beasts then come home with yer glory, and should ye never come back then find the comfort in yer cup of ale," She sang, letting those who knew the words join in as well.

As the excitement picked up in the room Peri moved from the small stage to jumping onto the bar tables, hopping from one to another with skill. She was light enough so that even worn out tables repeatedly repaired after bar fights would support her, and she was experienced enough to step around everything with little trouble, whether it be stepping over the plates and bowls on the tables or weaving around the frothing cups that were raised up. Her performing in the tavern there seemed to be noticeably different than what had been while they were on the road. Earlier, during their travelling, she was tired and grumpier. Even though she would play songs just as upbeat, she was playing them out of boredom, so there was no real energy behind them. But now there in the tavern was a much better example of her performing. It was not hard to see that she was much more lively and energetic as both she and Lionel leaped from table to table on opposite sides of the room, getting the patrons of the bar excited and engaged as well.
 
When the righteous peasant rudely continued on his way, Jin had just one moment to gather his bitter thoughts concerning the whole ordeal. He was no stranger to crowded streets, but he just couldn’t imagine what could have possibly been important enough to have the lumbering man stomp around in such haste. The man was tangled within the numerous bodies of the crowds now though, there really was no need to go out of his way to create a scene, to approach the man and properly give him the lesson of respect he deserved.

What did stop him from contemplating any further, was a sad, raspy voice on his left. Turning, he first recognized the dark alleyway, one that children were no doubt warned about entering, and the creature seemingly borne from it. A woman with old, weathered skin, things that patterned her nose, and a shawl that illustrated it’s … her unfortunate circumstances. She painted a very ominous picture, her very existence seemed to serve as a foretelling darkness that cause Jin to hesitate acknowledging her in the first place. But alas, he gave into his baser curiosity, despite every warning that he received, and approached the mysterious hag.

Of course, you didn’t need an expert to tell you that he regretted the decision immediately. As soon as he was close enough, the hag’s hands darted forward and had taken ahold of his own. All at once, every hair stood at attention, sweat chilled at the nape of his neck, despite the furs and the sun, his hand, tested and mended by ruthless measures, shook but was unable to heed to his trained responses: to attack, to lash out, to do anything. They were numb, cold, and entirely helpless as her fingers and thumbs, leathery, stiff, worn, and wrinkled slithered across his open, limp palms. Whatever words the hag may have said were nearly entirely lost, drowned in the loud hammering beat of his heart, and audible breaths that he took to steady his fear and panic. Jin could barely think straight, only watching the fingers, twitching and slow, ran over his disobedient palms. Were those hands, flesh and blood, that kept him rooted in place - or were they metal and iron, effectively chaining and taking him prisoner? In his fright and slight panic, he found that he could not tell which had his palms locked in this horrific caress.

Startled by the sudden loud chittering that was her laughter, Jin jumped. Her yellowed teeth and savagely curled smile nipped whatever courage he could have built up to lash out at the hag, and the unexpected tightening grip on his hands cut off his breath entirely. The next words Jin heard very clearly, left him shaking from the weight of it. It was the shaking that served as his escape in the end, leaving him to stumble one, two, then three steps back away from the stand that housed the mad hag.

His sister? Right, he had one. Natsuki. More importantly, who was this hag to pose like she knew of her plans, or of his defiance, his fall from grace. Was this hag an agent, from his sister or from the Broker maybe? There were so many questions - who she was, what she knew of whatever fate was laid out for him, details, details, details. “Who are you?” He would demand, and despite the way his voice wavered, and that a mad cackling was his only answer.

“What do you know, why do you speak of choice like my decision has the power to burn bridges?” He further demanded, and was yet again met with a howling laughter. Seeing that the hag’s hysterics began to attract unsavory glances his way, he quickly gave up and quickly fled as far from the shoddy stand as possible.

-- ][ --​

“Ah, you tha kin’a lad tha’ like some adventure in ye stories?” a gravelly voice asked, and Jin tore his eyes away from the book he had plucked off the shelves and towards an altogether unremarkable man. He was wrapped in a thin cloak, holes and rips littered here and there, a straw hat that sat upon his head was in pieces, held together by thin strings, sandals that were in poor shape like the rest of the things that were on his person. The only thing that wasn’t “in pieces” was the smoking pipe that he held delicately with his one hand. A harmless vendor, nothing more, Jin reassured himself.

“Hardly. Reading someone else’s fantasy is a waste of my time, this,” Jin turned the book for the unnamed man to properly look at, “is different.” The man grunted, almost stubbornly and Jin gave the cover of the book another squint. “Even if it is exaggerated, painted in a glorified fashion, there ought to be some truth to be found, something to answer some of the troubles I find myself facing.”

Inhaling and exhaling loudly, a puff of smoke brushed the side of his cheek and Jin recoiled back, in an almost aggressively defensive action, glaring at the man, who pointed his pipe at him. “If ye wanna find answers from tha dead, methinks yer better off answering yer damn questions yeself,” he grumbled, “ye won’t find anything in tha besides the same tales e’ry kids heard before, word fer word.”

Disgruntled, Jin returned the book back onto the shelf. “Then I suppose I’ll fumble in the dark and bleed myself dry upon the altar when the time comes,” he bitterly snapped, crossing his arms.

“Special kin’ a brat aren’t ye,” the man laughed heartedly. “Really, wha’ kin’a “answer” do you suppose yall fin’ in tha anyway. Ya got one tha died from a good, healthy, long fight, anotha who pro’lly died from curiosity, and tha last one dead when she ain’ fancy all tha blood and death like the rest of ye adventuring brats,” the man shook his head, and the last of his laughter away, “methinks yer lookin’ fer death boy, ain’ nothing to be found from the dead, best to let ‘em rest.”

With a scoff and a nod, just covering polite, he left the stand entirely. Losing his way in the crowds once more. What was wrong with finding … “inspiration” within the grand tales of the legendary Daerlon, Jean and Fae? The way the people spoke of them was enough to stir any adventurous blood within the young, Jin knew, without a doubt, that if he were to read them, all this … uneasiness, from his family, his sister, that ominous old hag, and …

A frustrated sigh broke through. “I’ll have my own perfect ending, old fart, but like hell I’ll admit I need someone to help me with this shitty beginning,” he muttered as he stopped by another stand that had boots, books and a small pile of fruits. He paused, the boots and books he could do without, but the fruit? Willet had already neglected to provide them a room, who knows what else she’d deprive them of. Trading what little money he could he soon found himself the owner of three moderately well kept peaches. Let it be known that his generosity existed.

As the sun made its way down, Jin hurried around the corner, pass the woman who shall not be remembered ever again, and back to the tavern. Upon entering the tavern, or … well, fighting his way around the crowd within, he was not surprised to have found Peri hopping from table to table, and at least one fellow doing his damnedest to join in. “A circus, I’ve walked into a circus,” he muttered to himself and muscled his way to an unoccupied seat by the end of one of the longer tables.

“ANOT’R ONE!” Was yelled loudly, a silver coin sailing through the air along with the declaration towards Peri.

“Oh please no,” he whispered out dreadfully. Five days, and a possible six nights of Peri singing was not what he wanted at all. While he understood that she was ultimately their only way to secure a room for the night, surely there were other ways to quickly scam enough money from the crowd, right? Avoiding a passing drunkard’s overfilled mug from splashing on him, Jin turned his nose up at the passerby, scowling, but silent. If he was to endure for the night, he’d have to save his breath.
 
On normal circumstances Grace would have warned the old man to take his hands off her if he didn’t want to be caught in a building on fire but it seemed like Peri wasn’t looking for trouble after all so the young mage would play her part as well. She giggled innocently as her hands on the table moved towards the middle, away from her staff “My friends and I are going towards Luxa right now. It’s a really long trip specially if you don’t have money like I do.” Answered Grace with a lie since she assumed it wasn’t a good idea to tell people about their mission, much less someone as shady as him. Soon enough the food arrived, a big plate filled with small slices of meat alongside a variety of vegetables but something interrupted her right before she could taste it. The old geezer no longer sat in front of her but slightly to the right, close enough for his hand to reach the young girl’s tights. She froze for a second as a red colored tone started to appear in her cheeks with the idea of just blasting this person and watch him burn alive becoming quite appealing.

“Just don’t be too harsh while I eat, all right?” She said while trying her hardest to not let her voice shake. The old man didn’t pay much attention to her words and picked up the pace with his hands as she began to eat. It looked like her breathing became more agitated with each bite as the man caressed her legs all over. Half way in the plate and he had moved once again, now sitting next to each other. She could feel the old geezer come closer to smell her hair as his hands now moved inside her clothes towards her belly. The young mage heavily regretted her early decisions but it was too late to back down now, she just needed to finish her meal and make up some lie to having him leave without causing a scene. When he asked if she had a place to stay Grace thought that a pleasing answer would calm him down for the moment “If… if you have a good place to stay I could… tell my friends some excuse.” Managed to answer despite her rough breathing. With this she assumed that the old man would calm down until the ‘night they would spend together’ but it was clear that this topic wasn’t her forte as he not only didn’t stop but became more excited and without a second thought his hand went inside her underwear, into her crotch. The rough touch of the man’s skin in her most private part felt agonizing and sure enough she didn’t feel like eating anymore. Grace smiled and gently dragged his hand out of her clothes, almost shivering thanks to his fingers slowly moving through her skin on the way out. The young girl expression didn’t change as she grabbed his head very gently and got close enough to whisper in his ear.

“I want you to get up and leave, now. If you don’t I’ll murder you where you stand and don’t think any of these drunkards will have time to move before you lay death on the floor.” The old man backed down a bit to see her face, to know if this was roleplay of some sort or just a joke. Seconds later he found out it was neither thanks to the girl straight look. She just stared directly at him, not even blinking, for what felt like eons. Only a few seconds later the geezer stood up without saying a word nor looking at her and left the place. The young mage finally left a long sigh out and closed her eyes, that had not gone as she had expected. Thankfully it was likely that he only fell for that threat because of the contrast from how meek she was before. Dealing with a situation without causing a scene wasn’t among her specialties but it was something an adventurer like her had to learn eventually. With her eyes locked on the ceiling and lost in her thoughts it took a bit of time before she noticed Peri had been singing for who knows how long, her usually unimpressive songs now able to calm her down and allow to forget what had just happened. Watching her sing as she gracefully jumped around the tables was a remarkable sight, one that made sure Grace couldn’t stop laughing. Even though she wasn’t drunk unlike most of the people there she cheered for the bard’s songs just as hard, maybe even harder.


“You still hate her songs? They sound quite better in an environment like this.” Were Grace greeting words to Jin. She quickly noticed him by being the only sulking in a sea of laughs and passed out drunks. The young mage pulled a chair close and sat next to her teammate, her staff resting between the two of them “If you want to look for the bright side at least this should get us quite a good room, judging by the public’s reactions.” Said Grace with a little chuckle right as Peri finished another song and the patrons asked her from the top of their lungs to keep going.
 
From outside the inn doors, light, laughter, and illuminating music could be heard from the streets. For the town of Still, this was a feat not often seen. The inn was seeing business usually reserved for holidays and the innkeeper was rubbing his hands greedily with coin. Peri’s music was breathing life into the town one song at a time.

As the joyous sounds of life emanated from the inn, shadowy figures skulked their way towards the party.

“See, I told you she was in there,” said a deep voice. “No mistake about it.”

“The little one, I want her,” said another voice, this one raspy.

“Revenge comes swiftly, boys. Let’s join the party,” said a voice with a strange lisp.

The group of men, five in total, entered the inn, the lisped man at the head, clapping his hands mid-song. “Excellent song, bard. I wonder if you’ll play mine.” His lisp was strange but the gap between his teeth stranger. “Boys, get the girl and her friends.”

The gap-toothed man was known as Gerald, a former companion of the bard. He had traveled north from Luxa on his way to Core and was joined by other unfriendly travelers, the toothless man who had an eye for young girls, the one that laid a hand on Grace, and the muscular slab of meat known as Don.

The toothless man in dust drew a sinister curved blade from his cloak. It was nearly eight inches long and was waved like a snake. He made a direct line for Grace, pushing patrons out of his way, many of whom were already exiting through the back.

“You owe me a nice meal,” he said with a gross smile on his face, drool practically dripping from his maw.

He approached Grace to give her no room to exit, sending her into the corner of the room. As soon as he was in range, he sent a jab with the dagger directed at her midsection.

Don, with his large frame was nearly throwing people from their seats on his way to Peri. He had an axe in his hand with several gnarly chip marks in it, remnants of blood still evident. The innkeeper tried to intercede the muscled goon, “Now-now you leave here or I will alert the guards.”

Don shoved the pig-like innkeeper to the ground and gave him a swift kick.

“We’ve already taken care of the guards, pig,” Don said, a drop of blood falling from his axe and onto the fallen man, his face turning ashen white.

He pointed the axe at Peri and said, “you,” cocking back to swing. But it was a faint, at her reaction he instead kicked the table from underneath her to send her off balance. He then drew back his axe and sent to cleave her in two like a split log.

Gap-toothed Gerald stood by the front door while the other two goons, the ones Peri had met and insulted before, made their way for the fur-clad gentleman, daggers in hand. They approached him both sides to give him no room for escape. “Play with us, pretty boy,” one said. “Or do you not want to ruin your pretty clothes with your blood,” said the other through a stifled laugh.

They circled Jin until they were in position, one in front and one behind. The one behind went for a thrust to his spine while the other slashed down toward Jin’s face.

Don watched the debacle with a smile on his face, a bloody spiked club in his hand. Most of the patrons had fled by now but a few were still trapped in certain places of the room.

“Make sure they’re nice and bloody, boys!” he roared.

GM Note The attack and defense roll of the thugs are both 8
 
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Peri had been doing what she did best, entertaining. She kept the tavern lively and filled with songs, taking requests and coin as patrons threw them at her. The owner seemed as happy if not happier than the crowd, not seeming to mind as she continued her path from table to table.

She spotted her two companions sitting in a corner of the bar and moved over to them as Lionel occupied the rest of the crowd with his tricks, throwing the contents of a mug of ale into the air and catching it all again with only a drop or two flying out. Peri sat herself on the table in front of Grace and Jin, still playing as she spoke to them. "Enjoying the show you two? My, you seem especially excited, Fancypants. I bet you were a riot at all those posh parties you've probably been to." She couldn't help but tease Jin, before continuing, "Well, I managed to get a two bed room from that sweaty owner. So you both can either share or fight for my affection to see who'll have to sleep on the floor."

Then suddenly, she heard a familiar voice behind her. His voice was almost too recognizable, and as she stopped playing, she felt her heart drop a little. Out of all the people to run into again...

“Well shit…” She muttered almost inaudibly under her breath, still faced away from him. She paused for the briefest second before turning to the source of the voice, a grin plastered on her face. There she saw him, Gap-toothed Gerald and his duo of bumbling buffoons again. But what surprised her was that it was not just the three of them this time. The strange old man who sat alone in the tavern before was there with them, along with Don, who did not stop staring daggers straight at her. Double shit… she cursed in her head. “Gerald! Good to see you and your boys again. I see you made a few more additions to your band of idiots. I didn’t know you were travelling with that hulking sack of meat now... Similar minds flock together, I guess. Or- should I say a lack thereof, in your case.”

She stood up on the table again as Gerald ordered his cronies to engage. "You guys seriously need to learn how to take a joke, seriously You guys are acting like I murdered your families or something." She murmured aside to Grace and Jin, who might have been confused about the sudden appearance of the strange men. "So uh, long story short, I've said some things, done a few things to and for a few people in the past, and not a lot of those people really like me for it now. The four big ones are some of the more stubborn ones. I have no clue about this old guy though..." she glanced at the strange old man. "Hope you guys are ready for a tavern brawl..."

She watched as Don was already bulldozing through the bar straight towards her, pushing past even the owner of the tavern. "Me? Aww, so you did manage to remember me after all! Maybe you're not as slow as I thought, Donny-boy." She said in a sarcastic and patronizing fashion.

As he pulled his large axe back she prepared herself for anything. Seeing with how he most likely took out the town guards to get away with his "revenge" she was ready for him play dirty. And that he did as the table flew from under her. But two could play it that game.

As the table flew away from under her, she quickly spun her body to dodge the large blade as it came down. As she did so, she quickly whistled a few notes from her mouth. A glowing purple aura surrounded her hand and just as it was summoned Peri brought her hand down before swiftly back up again, all of this while she was still mid-air. The purple aura shaped into some kind of ethereal fist and drove itself right into Don's crotch from under him.

Peri landed on her feet, taking a few steps away from him. "Never mind, you're even slower than I thought." She couldn't help but taunt him.

Rolls:
Attack: 14
Defense (+1): 10
 
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The idea of sleeping on the floor or sharing a bed was not appealing. “Why am I - we - the ones who has to share a bed?” He raised an eyebrow as he appraised the hollering crowd, quite taken by Lionel and his tricks. “The two of you are more compact, and likely to fit on one bed,” Jin tried to reason to the two females, through deep down he felt and knew that he was fighting a losing battle. That was yet another irritating happenstance to add to the growing list. Already bitter about the prospect of losing some quality sleep, he stubbornly turned his head - as if to ignore whatever horrible plans the two at the table were cooking up - when he saw new arrivals at the door.

It was nearly perfect. He would have told Peri to go on entertaining the growing crowd, and make a run to grab one of the beds. It would have been glorious. Instead, he now had flashes back to the morning where he had told Peri not to cause trouble, because he obviously had not taken the care to hope that trouble would not follow her, instead. Now, judging from the growing tension between the two opposing sides, which he was unwillingly part of, it would seem that trouble was going to spill over them all, regardless of association.

Of course, the whole thing would have been heaps better, “if you just kept your mouth shut … “ Jin trailed off with a light shake of a head and a bitten off sigh. He should be used to it by now, he told himself. “By the way things are going, I reckon you’re the one who’ll have to fight for our affections and forgiveness if you even want a chance of sharing a bed,” Jin remarked as he turned his full attention to the uncultured filth making their way towards them. While two in particular seemed to have chosen their desired victim, Jin was quickly tended to by two undesirables. Probably because I look like someone easy to mug, he supposed.

Before he could properly deliver his key lines to them, his disadvantage shone bright. They had already moved to flank him on both sides. That was an observation though, as was his assessment that they were overly confident with tools in their untrained hands, what truly shook in to his core was their unintentional threat. How were they to know that he took off handed remarks concerning his clothing seriously? Now that they’ve brought his attention to how easily his clothes would be ruined - by himself no less, the horror - his thoughts were running as quick as possible to try to figure how to maneuver himself just to avoid that very reality.

When the two moved, Jin moved as well, his face, still as stone as his decisions took hold. In place of his spine and face, he offered his arms instead. Quickly sliding just the slightest in his seat, and bringing his arms up as if cradling the sides of his head. Gritting his teeth as silver bit down onto flesh, and the sick rip of open skin loudly registered, he allowed an angered, pained, sneer to color his face, but not a sound to slip from his lips. Lodged into one arm, was a dagger, sticking out comedically almost, while the other arm was donating what was likely to be a charitable amount of blood for the floors beneath him.

He would not last long, and Jin knew it. If he were to add up all the beatings his body took and acknowledge that the sleep that had done nothing to bring him back to tip top shape, he’d be as useless in his offense as with his shitty defense. Luckily he had something that could change that.

Quickly pushing himself off from his seat, Jin gave himself enough room to then take a quick one two, hopping from the seat and then onto an adjacent table, his two opponents likely thinking that he was trying to run away. That was far from the truth, however. Pivoting to face the armed thug, Jin pushed himself off the table, jumping high enough to roll up once before finishing with his right leg coming down as he descended from the peak of the jump, his bloody arms crossed over his head for protection. A brutal delivery from the heel of his boots to an unprotected head.

Upon landing, his arms were brought down in a decisive chop motion, revealing that his mouth was wrapped around an open vial, it’s red contents half drained, likely from when he rolled. It seemed like an overkill against these thugs, but Jin would rather seem wasteful or stupid than to find himself on his knees from exertion, against dirty peasants like these. Turning from the now unarmed thug, Jin made sure to kick the dagger far out into the road before addressing the one lodged into his arm. Grunting haughtily, he tore it out and threw it outside for good measure as well. Hopefully the health potion the Broker had gifted him would stop the bleeding from the knives, and take care of the soreness and unattended injures from days ago as well.
 
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“You would have a fine lady like myself sleep on the floor? What a rude think to say.” Said Grace clearly pretending to be offended. She would have preferred a bed for herself but it was fair that the bard got her own since she was the one who got the room in the first place however the young mage was done with sleeping on the floor after so many nights, at the very least she could share a bed because of how small she was. Before things could be discussed further the mood in the inn took a big swing with the arrival of the new “patrons”. Of course almost all of them would be Peri’s friends since it was clear how easy it was for her to make them but Grace managed to recognize one of them as if the bard talent to form bonds of friendship was growing on her.

“Yeah about that… You can blame the old one on me. Should have known better that to deal with people in this rat’s nest of a town.” She explained to her teammates right before Don’s massive charge against Peri managed to split them apart. Grace gave a quick jump towards her left while multiple chairs and tables were pushed around because of the fight going on. Without having a moment to rest she noticed how the old man was already dashing towards her direction with blade in hand and not a friendly expression on his face “Damn He’s fast” Thought the young mage as she gave a quick jump back in an attempt to create distance between them only to hit the inn’s wall. Cornered and not fast enough to make an escape the elementalist saw little options as the dagger got closer but suddenly a plan came to her mind. With her free hand she quickly reached her pocked for something, a small rune with a number one carved on it. Grace waited for the right moment and threw the object very softly just as the old man was about to reach her. Without any warning the rune detonated into a shockwave pushing back anything close to it except one thing, a small one. As the old geezer was thrown back alongside the multiple chairs and tables around them the young mage began casting a spell, clenching her teeth as she used the wall against her to deny the knockback and a orange flow began shining on the weapon in her hands.

The man gave one last roll on the ground before managing to stand up, now even more furious against the girl but before he could raise his head he heard the words “Fireball ‘Rain’.” Grace gave a swing with her staff as multiple small flames were thrown at her opponent. With his speed a normal fireball would be somewhat easy to avoid but the barrage of little ones wouldn’t give him such a chance. The old man tried to jump to the side in an attempt to dodge however it was in vain since it only allowed him to evade a small part of the spell. Multiple flares hit him while he was still in the air giving considerable burns to his hand and face while setting the softer parts of his cloth slightly on fire. The attack threw him back once again into the floor, right behind a lot of tables gathered around. Grace quickly used this opportunity to get out of the corner she was trapped in and gain some free room as she prepared for the next move, the burns would hurt a lot but you had to be a real weakling to be knocked out by them.

“Thank you for coming back and causing a scene on your own! Gave me what I wanted so much; the chance to beat you like the animal that you are!” Boosted the young mage while her opponent still lied unseen on the floor, a grin covering her face until it disappeared when she noticed something important. Watching a small piece of clothing slowly burning on the ground reminded her of where they were; an inn filled with wood and alcohol all over the floor. It seemed like she had been lucky last time as the spell mostly hit the old man and some walls but one error and she could set the whole place on fire. Grace gripped her staff tightly as she realized that in just seconds her options for that fight had been greatly diminished.
 
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The axe had managed to miss Peri, splitting the table in two, as if struck by lightning, splinters flying in a near explosion of brute strength. As Peri flew in the air and delivered her attack, Don fell to his knees after the swift blow to his privates, a spittle of drool falling from his face to the floor. “That bitch,” he mustered between grit teeth. He gathered his strength and stood once more before the nimble foe. Several small fireballs hurled passed Don as he charged for Peri; he did not seem to notice or care, only kicking and shoving furniture away from him, the axe gleaming with blood as he swung as if to split her top from bottom, a feral look in his eyes.

The two men grew sinister grins as their daggers found their mark, blood dripping from their victim. Before they could retrieve their weapons, Jin had maneuvered away from them and onto the table. The nearest foe turned to chase only to see Jin had jumped, flipped, and sent a chopping kick towards him. It was too late to dodge and the full force of the blow was sent down through his head to his toes. The whites of his eyes shone as he collapsed to the floor like a limp noodle.

The other man stood ready, grabbing another dagger from his side when he noticed the red vial at Jin’s lips, now completely empty, its contents fully consumed. The wounds on Jin’s arms vanished, he stood a bit straighter, and it appeared all his fatigue melted away. You wouldn’t be able to see it, but coursing through Jin was a surge of renewed strength, a flow of power and adrenaline reserved for dire situations but felt at this moment. Time would seem to move a bit slower, his thoughts faster, -i it was as if everyone were moving through water and he were flying.

The goon edged back a bit and took a defensive stance, ready for Jin’s counter. The two goons operated mostly as a team and was relatively weaker as a single unit.

The old man attempting to handle Grace writhed on the ground, seared by her attack. He yelled in agony as burns festered on his skin. He managed to roll and smother the fire on his clothes out, however. The look in his eyes was a desperate one, though masked behind blistering skin. He took to his knees and drew back his grotesque blade in an attempt to throw it.

As the blade left his hands, a metal platter crashed over his head from behind, the serving girl from earlier mustering a bit of courage. She also happened to be trapped in the corner when all the commotion went down. The man collapsed unconscious from the hidden blow.

The attack on the old man threw off his aim and the dagger flew wide of Grace, hitting the wall behind her. The wall began to ooze black and dripped a poisonous liquid from where the dagger was placed.

As the serving girl turned to escape, Gerald approached her from behind grabbing her throat. “You silly lout,” he said, drawing a knife to her. He held the girl as a shield for himself against any attack. “Drop your weapon, girl,” he said addressing Grace. “Or do you want to see her blood spew wall to wall?”

Jin was still in battle, Peri managing her own against the muscled Don, Grace the only one appearing exploitable in Gerald’s eyes. “Go on, drop your weapon.” He jabbed the point of the knife into the girl’s neck, a stream of blood flowing down to the top of her blouse.

GM Note Goon 1 is down, The old man is down, Don has taken a single hit to the gonads, Goon 2 stands in a defensive stand, and Gerald has taken a hostage.

Don: Attack = 10 Defense = 8

Goon 2: Did not attack Defense = 12 (defensive stance)

Gerald: Did not attack Defense = 12 to hit him and the hostage is wounded, 17 to hit Gerald only

Gerald’s defense is higher due to the hostage. A 17 or higher guarantees the hostage is safe.

Jin has consumed the health potion with a little extra something from the Broker. Jin now has double actions and movement for one turn! (roll an extra d20 for attacking)
 
Peri had to duck and dodge to avoid the stray fireballs that flew by. “Kid, did you really think it was a good idea to play with fire indoors?! We’re in a fucking tavern-- where’s there’s alcohol everywhere, for fuck’s sake!” She irritably turned to the younger girl and shouted after nearly getting singed, “I thought you mages were supposed to be the smart ones!”

But her yelling to her teammate made her careless, and caused her to lose focus on what was still at hand. It took her a moment too long to notice that Don had recovered from his previous hit to the groin and started to charge at her with one of the most feral and furious looks she had ever seen. She quickly drew her own dagger as he came up to her, put reacted one beat too late. She tried weaving to the side of his axe swing but she couldn’t manage to move in time. His wide swing and the large size of the blade in general made it especially difficult. Realizing she could no longer escape she twisted her body at the last second. The large blade made connection with her body, cutting through her flesh. But instead of slashing straight through her torso, it caught her side and she winced in pain as the axe made a large gash in her side that immediately began seeping with blood.

Peri cursed under her breath and struggled to fight through the intense pain that came from the wound, but did not stop moving. She managed to come around the side of him and as she made her way behind him, she found her opening, and brought in her dagger to deliver a slash to his side. It wasn't as deep as his cut, but was at least some kind of revenge.

She was behind him, now starting to breathe more heavily as she felt the effects of the wound. Don immediately turned around to face her. But just seconds after he turned, however, Lionel came running in and jumped from a nearby table onto Don from behind. The puppet wrapped his legs around the muscled man's throat and his arms around his head, hugging it from behind and covering his eyes. Lionel was too small to be able to do any real damage in fights, so being a distraction and buying time was what he was always best at. Lionel pulled the head back leaving Don's neck now exposed. Peri knew that was her cue. She acted quickly, sheathing her dagger and switching to her blow dart. She took it out and loaded a dart in one swift motion. "How's this for a lullaby?" She muttered through her gritting teeth as she put the pipe to her lips and blew. The dart shot out from it and flew straight into Don's neck. The moment the dart pierced through Lionel let go of the man and hopped down. Peri stumbled a bit and leaned against a nearby table clutching her side. She saw Lionel rush to her. "I'm fine... you know we've been through worse." she managed to give him a smirk through all the pain.

She heard Gerald and his strange list shouting something on the other side of the tavern. When she looked, she saw him holding the young tavern girl hostage, holding a blade to her neck as he ordered Grace to stand down. He knows he can't win, so he takes a hostage? What a fucking coward... she thought to herself, deciding to not yet get involved.

Rolls:
Attack: 11
Defense (+1): 8
 
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Taking a deep breath, Jin did his best to contain his giddiness. It was as if life itself was coursing through his veins. His limbs were light, feather light, and easily succumbed to his demands, no longer weighed by soreness or fatigue. Every obstacle that seemed to stand in his way before, doubts, irritation, limitations … it all simply melted away, and Jin couldn’t help but to wonder if this was the famed balance, calm, oneness, that his mentors and masters had spoke of. Although he achieved the equivalent of it through artificial means, Jin was not about to let this opportunity slip by. He would experience it fully, burning every second of it to memory so that he could hopefully recreate this later in his life.

Spitting out the empty vial, uncaring that it shattered upon hitting the floor, Jin flashed a rather savage smile at the remaining opponent, who put up some feeble form of defense, before he exploded into a flurry of motions. Dashing forward, Jin’s right arm snapped forth, aimed right for the thug’s head. That was not his true intention, but for someone who had already readied their defenses, Jin knew that he had to misdirect them to cover their head while his other arm, shot out just as quickly bury itself just under their lower ribs, effectively breaking through their defense.

It took training for people to make sure that their defenses covered every part of their body, even if the priorities were being shifted around. Like Jin had suspected though, the thug was only some commoner, and felt little remorse when his punch had landed in soft flesh, completely unprepared for an attack of any kind. Pulling back just the slightest, Jin was prepared to declare the thug neutralized when he remembered that this was the one who had stabbed him - and was likely still armed, if the conflicted decision to defend was anything to go by before Jin attacked.

Allowing the thug to try and stand on his own, retracting the fist that was still in the thug’s gut, Jin was quick to follow it up with a bit of pent up frustration. Both arms wrapped around the back of the thug’s neck, pulling him downwards, while he jumped just the slightest - his right knee once again leading. A sharp knee to the thug’s face and Jin was satisfied to finally be done with the skirmish. Though the thug wasn’t exactly at a height where he could actually execute a proper flying knee jump, the damage served just as well.

As soon as the thug fell to the floor, a wave of nausea washed over for the briefest of seconds. Was this the consequence of downing an unknown substance, or perhaps for trying to indulge in his bloodlust whilst coming from the adrenaline spark. Either way, now that his job was taken care of, soreness crept back into his limbs. Though this time the soreness was not from fatigue, but from moving at speeds and using a level of force he was did not regularly reach. It was a good soreness, and recovering from this would only benefit him.

He turned to see if his other companions had finished sorting out the rest of the group, taking note to somehow find a way to get Peri to pay for this.
 
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“This is turning into quite the tavern brawl” Thought Grace as she looked around the inn, her teammates still fighting all over the place. Quickly she decided to help Peri in her fight against that almost hairless orangutan until she was stopped by a metallic object flying close to her and the sound of a plate breaking apart. She glanced towards the sound first and found the old man unconscious on the floor alongside the girl working in the inn holding a small bit of the broken platter. She gave the serving girl a big smile before turning around to now look for the object that went past her moments ago. It didn’t take her long to find an old dagger stuck in the wall behind her as a dark purple substance began emerging from the wood in contact with the blade “Fitting that a scumbag like him would have dagger filled with poison. Things could have turned really bad if I was hit by that.” Spoke the young mage to herself as she watched the wall rot away.

Grace was startled when she heard someone calling to her and turned around to find the serving girl with a blade of her neck as she was held hostage by the man who acted as the leader of the brutes attacking the place. The young mage was about to prepare another spell until the man gave his warning; lay down her staff or watch the girl die. She tried to think different plans, ways to save the girl or at least spare her as many injuries as possible but the little blood already dropping from the hostage’s neck made it clear that Gerald was not going to give her time to do that. Grace began to feel a mix of emotions between panic and frustration thanks to the situation unfolding; gambling with her life was one thing but having someone innocent die because of her actions terrified her. She clenched her teeth and held her weapon with all the strength she could as her legs began to tremble slightly, which was amplified by the loose table she was on top of.

“As you wish.” Said Grace in almost a whisper as she lowered her gaze. Very slowly she released her grasp on the weapon with her left hand and then sighed deeply before doing the same with the right one. The staff began to fall in what felt like years as the young mage observed it with her eyes still looking down “You idiot!” Thought the girl as she quickly moved her right hand to grab the weapon, managing to do so barely before it fell out of her reach. The insult was aimed towards Gerald because of obvious reasons but also to herself because of her recklessness and the idea she just had; that maybe this was what it meant to be an adventurer; to gamble both your life and the others against whatever the future would put in the way. Grace made a swing upwards with her weapon as fast as she could, the usual orange glow being this time only a quick flash of light “Rain!” She screamed as multiple fireballs suddenly appeared and were shot towards Gerald and the girl. The man had seen her using that spell before and tightened his grip on the girl to make sure she took them all in his place. He assumed that the girl expected him to get scared by the sudden attack and release the hostage in an attempt to dodge; rookies like her would always think in those optimistic scenarios. Sadly for him he was the one with false expectations this time.

There was a reason she swinged her staff instead of just pointing with it like she always did. It was something that she had been practicing as of late but not much and with mixed results, however this time it seemed like luck was on her side. The flares didn’t fly straight towards her target but instead moved in an angle from both sides towards it. Thanks to the spell being rushed so much the attack was quite unstable, many of the fireballs simply banished away before even being close to the target, others missed by good amount but the very few that reached its destination were able to avoid the serving girl and go towards Gerald instead. Since the man was using his hostage like a shield his vision of the young mage was blocked and this caused him to not notice the odd path of the flames until they appeared at both his left and right side, unable to dodge them with the little time he was given. One of the flares hit him in the hand, other in the chin, another one in the leg and two more on the back as the last one missed both the man and the girl by a few inches.

Grace wasn’t capable of observing the result of her attack thanks to the way it was used. No preparation, no incantation, odd way of an already altered fireball spell; each one of them consumed extra mana on its own and the three combined had left her completely empty of any strength. The moment after the spell was used the young girl fell back from the table she was standing straight into the floor, the pain of the impact barely noticeable compared to the exhaustion of her body. Now all she could do was gaze into the ceiling of the inn, breathing as if she had run all the way from Luxa to there in one day. Despite her situation she was able to fill her face with a proud grin after hearing Gerald’s howl of pain and the sound of the serving girl’s shoes on the wooden floor as she ran away from him.
 
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Don drew a grin in satisfaction as his axe drew blood. “Stupid nimble wench.” The dagger wound to his side was merely a scratch against his muscled body. As he turned, Lionel found perch on Don as he scrambled his face and neck. With his free hand, Don attempted to rid himself of the pest only to find a dart pierce his exposed neck. His hand instead found the wound, throwing the dart to the ground and trying to keep pressure on the new hole in his neck. Don fell to his knees then to his elbows before falling face down in a pool of his own blood.

On Jin’s side of the room, the thug was faced with a now enhanced martial artist. Jin quickly penetrated his defenses and sent an uppercut straight to his gut causing him to lurch forward. The more experienced Jin saw this weakness and clutched the thug’s neck and delivered a knee to head. The thug fell to the ground unconscious next to his compatriot.

From his blind spots, fireballs bombarded Gerald; the flare hitting his hand caused him to drop the knife against the girl’s throat, the one to his leg sending him to his knees and the damage inflicted to his back causing a surge of pain causing him to pass out.

The serving girl, now removed of courage swiftly escaped from the room and out the back.

Around the inn, all the thugs were passed out on the floor, scorch marks burned the walls and floor, and tables and chairs remained in shambles; the inn essentially in ruin. All the patrons had escaped save the innkeeper nursing a few injuries but was mainly in shock from the laundry list of damage to his establishment.

“My inn…,” he said. “It’ll cost me a fortune to repair this. I knew I shouldn’t have taken in that witch. They’re nothing but trouble. Nothing but trouble.”

He drew a stubby finger at the bard. “You. You’re going to pay for all of this. It is your fault, I know it.”

At that cue, Willet descended the stairs into the main room and surveyed the damage with indifference. The broken furniture, the scorch marks, and her injured initiates seemed to have no affect on her. She sauntered to the disheveled innkeeper and handed him a purse that clinked heavily in his hand; it was quite obvious a large sum of coin was inside. “For your troubles.”

Willet glanced at the group with disappointment but unsurprised that this was the way that the uncivilized handled themselves. “Ensure that those three do not receive a meal or a room here tonight,” she said returning up the stairs.

The innkeeper greedily clung to the purse and followed at Willet’s heels without shame, giving a hateful glance at the party members. The pair turned the stairs and out of sight.

As the events of the night quieted, reserve members of the town guard came to collect Gerald and his crew, ensuring that they would be sent to prison. Don had succumbed to his injuries. The serving girl returned with a bandage around her neck and happily thanked the crew.

“Thank you so much for saving me,” she said, grabbing Grace’s hands within her own. “You are all so wonderful, I don’t know how I could ever repay you.” She made eye contact with Jin and Peri. “Truly, you are amazing!”

The innkeeper’s booming voice was heard calling from over the railing to the second floor. “Kick those hooligans out this instant, Nona!” The serving girl, Nona, flinched at his yell. She smiled meekly and whispered to them. “Meet me at the back door in 20 minutes. Please.” Nona mocked a shooing motion at them for the innkeepers benefit and the party shuffled out the front door.

At the destined time, Nona peeked her head out the back door, a line of light cast upon the ground from inside. “Thank you for coming. Here.” Nona handed Jin a bundle. It contained two large loaves of bread, some butter, and jam. “It was all I could find. Sorry there isn’t more. I’m not supposed to let you in or give you food but you are heroes after all, it just isn’t right.” A sour frown on her face made her appear much older than her actual age of 16. She quickly smiled again. “But we don’t have to tell anyone, right? Anyways, there is a little wooden shelter just 10 minutes north of here. We use it as extra storage over the winter season. If you follow the trail you are sure to find it.”

Another yell came from behind the door inside the inn.

“I’m sorry, I have to go. Thank you again. Please come back sometime.” Nona quickly kissed Peri on the cheek and returned inside with a touch of color on her cheeks.

At the end of the northern trail leading from town, a small shack rested on top of a hill. It was nearly in shambles, with several obvious holes in the wall and slates missing from the roof. Inside, one lantern was hung from the ceiling. Three of the four walls were filled with shelving, an assortment of rusted pieces of equipment and empty sacks call this place home. But for an evening, this would most certainly do. It would be a tight a fit, but three could sleep shoulder to shoulder on the ground.

The next morning, the town of Still was as its namesake implied. The hustle of last night’s events was smothered by this day’s quiet. Willet arose several hours after first light and glided out of the inn without a look back. If she had paid any mind, she would have found the inn was clear of clutter but obviously missing furniture with burn marks on the walls and floor.

As she made her way to gates of Still, she saw the trouble maker trio already awaiting her.

“Let’s go, you sorry lot. Time has no patience for man, or some such saying.” She summoned her broom and began riding northeast towards Ondora, the magical city.

GM Note Good job on the inn fight, everyone. Next stop, Ondora! Let us finish up everything at Still then I will make the next post introducing the magical city.
 
As the action finally died down, Peri collapsed onto one of the few chairs still intact among the bar and let out a long and exhausted sigh. She looked around at all of the collateral damage left behind. They sure did wreck the place... Then she turned to see the now unconscious crew of goons, eyeing Don especially, his tongue coming out of his gaped mouth on the ground. "What a fucking pathetic bunch of pillocks..." she grumbled under her breath.

Lionel promptly began to help her tend to the wound she had been keeping her hand pressed against. Seeing the specially added "benefits" of the health potions given to them by the Broker, Peri decided it was best to use it for a more dire situation later. She wasn't going to waste such a useful gift now, especially on any injury inflicted by people like Don or Gerald. That would be a separate wound to her pride. She knew that when she had the time, she could deal with this wound later. Until then she wrapped the wound with a temporary bandage, still keeping a hand on it as well just to make sure the bleeding would stop.

The barkeep was definitely not happy with the current state of his tavern. Peri heard him mumble something about the witch, but quickly turned once his fat and sweaty finger fell on her. Of course it was obvious, even to her, that she shared some blame for what happened. But shared was the keyword to her. However, she didn't want to admit having any real blame out loud, and stood up defensively, flinching a little at a wave a pain that came from her side because of the sudden movement. "Wait just a second-- You're pinning this all on me?! It was all these bastards' fault, we all know it!" she pointed to the now unconscious bodies on the floor, "And what about that bloody witc--"

And almost like magic, Willet came striding down the stairs just as she was mentioned. She paid the barkeeper a hefty amount of coin to fix his tavern, but at the expense of the three no longer having their room for the night. Peri sighed but, strangely enough, said nothing as the two left back upstairs. Instead, she helped the guards round up the injured delinquents before they were sent off to prison. "And good riddance..." she spat as they were ushered away, the same moment the young serving girl returned to thank them, almost singing their praises. She asked them to meet her in the back of the bar, and once they were officially "shooed" away Peri looked to the others, gave a shrug, and made her way around to the back of the building where they would wait for the young girl.

When the girl finally showed up, Peri smiled gratefully as she gave them food and the information on a place to spend the night. It was evident this serving girl, Nona if she remembered correctly, had a good heart. That was something Peri wished more people had. She was slightly surprised at the parting kiss given to her, but she grinned back at the girl. "Thank you again for everything. Don't worry, I'll be sure to come and play again whenever I find myself back around these parts. Hopefully your boss doesn't remember me then... Even if he does, I'll be back anyway. I always manage to find a way," she gave one last wink to her before they parted ways.

When they came to the run down shed they were to spend the night in, she opened the door and looked inside. "Cozier and smaller than an inn room, but honestly I think the quality's as just as good as the rooms there." She sat herself down on one of the ends of the shed, using an empty sack as some sort of mat, just so at least she wouldn't be sleeping on the bare floor. Then she reached behind her belt and pulled out her flute. Right before she put it to her lips, she glanced at Jin. "Relax Fancypants, I'm not doing this because I want to bother you some more, as tempting as that sounds. Just let me do this and you'll see what's going on." She began playing, this time the song was similar to that of a lullaby; slow, quiet, and soft. A pale pink aura came from the instrument and filled the small shed. As the song progressed Peri felt the wound at her side close up and heal-- not perfectly, but well enough. Any injuries still on her companions would have been taken care of as well, and even if they weren't hurt, the song had a magical effect that calmed down all those in the presence of it. "There we go." she said as she stopped the music and unwrapped the bandage, patting her now cured side. "Man, that feels so much better..."

She quietly sat for a moment with her back against one of the shelves before speaking up again. "So uh... I guess, I should...apologize..? Yeah. Apologize. For, y'know, all the shit that just happened because of me. I think saying I like running into trouble a lot is an understatement but... Usually that was because it was just me who had to deal with the consequences but today... Uh, sorry for throwing us all into that. Thanks though, for fighting like you did... Ahem. Anyway--" She realized how awkward she was getting and how she was beginning to trail off, so she shook herself out of it. She laid down on her side, facing away from the others, "Getting my stomach almost sliced open kind of made me lose my apetite, so you two can do whatever you want with that food. I'm going to bed." She closed her eyes and blocked them out after that, eventually falling asleep with Lionel laying on top of her to save space.

In the morning she waited with the others for Willet at the town gate. Unsurprisingly, she was the latest out of all of them. Peri followed the witch's lead with the others as they finally left Still. For the remainder of the journey to Ondora, she kept to herself mostly, probably to the others' surprise, with her snarky comments at a notable low.
 
Jin gave himself a moment to assess the new decor that was stained onto the floors and walls, courtesy of their efforts. Part of him admired how much it resembled artworks depicting despair or a lost battle, but at the same time it was a mark of savagery. Then again, perhaps that was to be expected when something as uncivil and foul as a brawl broke out in a confined space. Thanks to the vial that the Broker had parted him with though, Jin felt as if the grime and sweat of battle had hardly touched him. Adrenaline and the properties of the vial had long run their course, but Jin felt as if built up stress had all but fled from his person. In all, he was nearly drunk on victory. Naturally, he ought to indulge to celebrate.

Or at least that was the plan, until the innkeeper began to speak. Despite Peri’s passionate defense of … mostly herself and perhaps unintentionally their entire group, a part of him had to agree that Peri had a bigger part in tonight’s entertainment than the rest of them could ever claim to. Oh the look on the innkeepers face was one that Jin recognized easily. When money slipped from your fingers, or in his case, blew up around him, and the intense hate that sprung forth to fuel the spike of loss. Jin wondered if there was any possibility of placating the man, or somehow intimidating him to let the issue go, he did after all, manage to get away with his life.

Before a decision was reached, a heavy looking pouch was in the hands of the grumbling innkeeper. His previous wallowing all but disappeared, comments of how much trouble the witch brought clearly forgotten as he accepted the sum without question or hesitation. “Of course the wench would fuel the hunger of greed,” Jin grumbled, “wasting good coin for a hopeless dead end,” he scoffed in disgust, no longer concerned with the troubles of the innkeeper or whatever hell he wanted to bring down on their heads. Remorse for his losses were also wiped from his guilt ridden mind. Even when the serving girl had made her way over, he had little to offer but an audible grunt. A damsel’s gratitude just didn’t taste as good as … say, a room and a meal for the night.

Jin was not as optimistic about the secret meet up as perhaps his companions, there was just a small bubble of embarrassment about the fact that they had to somehow not look like homeless, poor, hungry freaks while sneaking and hiding around like a band of thieves that tickled him the wrong way. Nonetheless, the fierce scowl he had was quick to change into mute smugness as the bundle of well deserved rations was passed along with information about a possible shelter for the night. “At least someone in this town is worthy of praises and blessings,” he complimented her, however backhanded it was, for he had yet to truly shrug off the odd creepy afternoon of his.

When they reached the poor excuse of a shack, Peri’s comment kept his lid on his temper. It was not as if he had the money to otherwise fix the situation. Seating himself closer to the door, and leaving the remaining space between himself and Peri for Grace, he placed the bundle he had been given across his lap. Just as he were to separate and spread the meal between the three of him, his eyes narrowed down to the bane of his last five days. Peri did keep her promise though, the pale pink aura that spilled forth was definitely something new from their days on the road. As he was mostly unharmed and recovered, it was just pleasant to hear, a stark contrast to the jolly tunes from before, allowing him to keep doing what he needed to while Peri did as she pleased.

“No use in trying to preserve these, bread goes bad fast, and the jam is sweet … it’ll only attract things we don’t need to in the night.” Jin reasoned quietly to Grace as he tore off a sizeable piece, and squished the stick of butter onto the ends of it, smearing as he pleased before he placed it back onto the bundle, passing it along to Grace. It was different from what he would have eaten in Nobu … it was much more dry, even with the butter, but it was food, and one does not complain when they all suffered the lack of a luxurious meal together. Especially when no one else was going to complain about the cobwebs and how it felt as if the whole roof was going to fall on their heads during the night.

After Peri had closed her eyes, Jin scratched the nape of his neck, biting and finishing his portion. The bard was troublesome even when she was trying to fix things up. He figured that his lack of words, anger, and whatever mounted frustration would speak louder than any consoling or untrue comforting. It was nice to know that Peri was not just someone who shrugged off responsibility as well as she shrugged off politeness - there was hope yet for the unruly female.

“Let’s just keep a bit for her. The stupid wench probably would tell us to leave her if she collapses after wheezing out a tune or two. Besides, it might keep her mouth busy,” Jin chuckled at the young witch, as Peri turned to sleep. Whether the witch agreed with him or not, Jin would shake his head when the bundle was to be passed back to him, “I’m good. You should keep that on you, I already have some food packed on me, it’d be a poor decision to keep more food on me if something happens.” With that, he pulled out his blankets and when warm enough, was pulled into a dreamless sleep.

The early sun was what brought him from his sleep. Through the stupid cracks of the shack, it pierced right at his eye. Utterly unpleasant. Recovering as they stood around, like a lost circus for the people of Stills, Jin remembered every little sharp suggestion to properly heckle the poncho wearing witch. Even as they set off, such petty thoughts remained. It was only when Peri did not stoop to such a level, as he would expect, that he too followed in fashion. Only breaking the silence to grab one of the peaches he had bought and feasting on it when he wanted to.
 
Based on the apparent silence that filled the inn one could guess that the fighting was over already however the voice of another man would break that silence. Grace remained on the ground catching her breath while also hiding from the innkeeper’s wrath. Finally Willet decided to come down from her room and with those magical objects called gold fix the problems with the awful looking man however the group was back where they started; with no place to stay the night. It wasn’t long before the guards showed up to gather up the troublemakers and take them away as the young mage wondered if in similar incidents in the past Peri had been among the ones going to prison but there really was no point in asking so she just let that idea fade away.

Suddenly the group was approached by the serving girl of the inn. All Grace could do was smile as she expressed her gratitude “It was nothing, really.” Said the young mage a bit embarrassed until the innkeeper’s complain cut the conversation short. Damn ape. Thankfully for them Nona still wanted to repay their kindness so ten minutes later they found themselves with both something to eat and the direction of a place where they could sleep, Peri having a little kiss added into the mix. “Guess you gain hearts just as easily as you gain enemies” commented Grace, observing the food just obtained as they walked towards the place mentioned by Nona. Thanks to her still weakened body what would normally be a simple walk felt like a march on a desert.

Normally she would have complained about having to stay in such an abandoned shed but it was still much better than all the other nights on their way from Luxa. “You may be right but I do miss a bed every now and then” was her answer to Peri’s comment. After all who knows what kind of room that man was going to give them for what he would call free. Grace left a small chuckle escape as Jin clearly sat away from the bard on purpose as if the spot in the middle would be her designated place from now on, not that it bothered her anyway. It was only a few seconds later that Peri announced the start of another one of her songs causing Grace to try to interrupt her, a tavern song right there would be such a headache but she changed her mind as soon as it started. The young girl closed her eyes as the song went on, a sensation of refreshment filling her entire body. As the melody went on Jin gave her the food to pick her part off, she gave him a quick nod in response to his idea of finishing it quickly and began to eat. Bread covered in jam, relaxing music in the background and silence everywhere else; a perfect situation to recover from the mana outburst back in the inn. The young mage waited for Peri to finish her song before passing on the remaining bread but as soon as the melody ended the bard began her awkward attempt of an explanation and apology.

Grace kept her mouth shut as Peri spoke and offered the bread once she was done but her teammate quickly declined and went to sleep. The young mage face presented a small smile as Peri got confortable in her spot and went to sleep. She understood her feelings to some extent, it was the same than when Gerald held Nona hostage. Putting your life in danger in order to live how you see fit yet it all changes when the result of those actions puts in danger those you care about, even those you don’t know but don’t have anything against either. The two girls had that in common; softies on the inside.

Grace laughed a bit as well when Jin suggested saving some food for the bard despite his words before being the complete opposite. She offered the bread back to Jin to see if he wanted a bit more; it would all be fine as long as they saved a bit for Peri and maybe a man would still be hungry after eating just that but it was refused once again “In fact I think it would be for our best interests to not keep anything important or fragile with you. It seems you will be taking most of the hits for the team. Good luck with that” said Grace jokingly, keeping her laugh low enough to not bother her already sleeping teammate.

The yawn leaving her mouth told her it was time to sleep and so she did. She covered herself almost completely in her own blanket, only leaving the upper side of her head outside and got as comfortable as one could in that old shed before taking a quick glance of Peri. She then turned her eyes towards Jin and spoke in a low voice “I still don’t like that doll of hers”. After that she said goodnight to her teammate and closed her eyes, the fatigue of the fight added to the calm song from before and her belly satisfied taking her to sleep extremely quickly.

The strong sun from the morning worked perfectly to wake them up in time and soon enough they were once again on the road, once again following Willet’s path while careful to not get her on a bad mood for one or other reason. As they walked Grace got closer to the bard and with her eyes still towards the front she began to talk “Don’t think too much about it. That’s just how you are and it’s not like you are going to change now. Besides its all fine as long as you win against whatever problem that attitude of yours brings to the table… and we won, didn’t we? Although you could say we broke and burnt said table”. The young mage finally pointed her eyes towards the bard and gave her a confident smile “Also we saved you the bread left and some of the jam from yesterday in case you get hungry but you should try eating it soon. Aren’t you grateful to have such considerate teammates as us?”

It took her a few seconds to remember the witch in front of her, another quick drop into the ground for only speaking wouldn’t be out of the question for her. Grace quickly returned to the same distance from Peri that she had at the start before looking at her and laughing a little bit. She spent most of the travel left reading, the fight at the inn had brought some things to mind and she wanted to work on them one way or another.
 
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