Fantasy The White Crown

[v i n e]

The White Crown

After a few hours of trudging through thick foliage, you see the small inn in the distance. It looks to be slightly in disrepair, though it calls to you; it's exactly what you've been looking for. Smoke billows from the weathered brick chimney, and light flickers from inside, casting shadows on the people inside. Kicking various branches and moss out of your way, you finally make it to the front door, and you feel the warm light emanate through the cracks and brush your skin gently. Pushing firmly on the old wood, the brass hinges squeaking and moaning in protest as you enter, making various patrons of the inn turn to look at you and raise an eyebrow. Your hand clutches the advertisement you'd ripped from a tree in a nearby village, and you take a moment to graze the hastily scribbled words once more;

LOOKING FOR SEASONED ADVENTURER TO HELP WITH INSURGENT CAUSE


Please be willing to fight.


Come to the Nine Shrines Inn if interested.


- The White Crown

Scanning the inn, you catch a glimpse of two men seated at the small bar. What little light that makes its way through the leaves and into the dusty windows seems to radiate around them. The pair, a small olive skinned boy and a treelike person, shift positions and swivel around in their seat to face you. The younger raises a cynical eyebrow and smirks. "You'v seen our posters, hav'nt you?" he calls, waving you over. "Well, who are you?" the other inqires.​

​

 

[Gradelwolph]

The Nordan turns in his chair, sword pointed to the floor and looks at the new recruits. His yellow eyes flicker, examining the group. "Four? Not bad." He says standing up. His blackened armor shudders and the floor groans until he stands straight. His jaw and flaming eyes are only seen from under his hood. "By all means sit or get comfortable, we have things to discuss" He says with a tiny bit of enthusiasm in his voice.

 

[v i n e]

Felji's eyes follow his comrade, letting the man next to him speak before adding in his own opinion (as usual). "I thou't there would be more," he whines. "The pain m' hands went through is worth at least a small army." Dismissing himself from such thoughts, he surveys the group in front of him, noting their respective heights. The gnome's eyebrows furrow, debating whether or not to stand up on his seat in an attempt to seem taller.


When his eyes meet the two noblemen, he panics and very visibly leans away from them, his leather armor meeting the table behind him with such force that he almost topples over onto the unswept wood below. Felji's hands fly upwards to try to justify himself, one clutching Wilhelm's faulds, the other pressing deeply into the cheap synthetic velvet on the stool next to him. "A-anyway," he stutters, slightly out of breath. "the whole.. discus'ing thing."

 

[Melon Bomb]

The usual din of a drunkard's haven was instead permeated with a disquieting silence that made one conscious of their own voice. The trees outside the inn swayed to and fro with every breath of the afternoon wind - the windows shuddered and a cold breeze crept through the walls, adding to the feeling of isolation in this deep forest clearing. It was a long walk, but there was little activity in this neck of the woods either way so it didn't matter much. However, this dull reflection of Karina's past few uneventful weeks would hopefully come to an end with the help of a crudely scrawled ad she found hanging on a tree. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded to her, but if there was one thing she wasn't going to do, it was idle. At the bar, she passed a glance toward the two men seated nearby.


"Oh, you aren't talking to me, are you?" she asked with the barest hint of a joke, folding up the tattered poster and using it as a coaster for the drink she'd ordered. Coin parted between hands and Karina lifted the tankard for a quick swig while maintaining eye contact. A wristbow dangled from her other bandaged hand and a set of daggers were visibly tucked into straps around her leg and waist, gleaming faintly under the candle light. She offered a wry smile as she set the mug down.


"Kidding," she added. "What's up?"

 

[Gradelwolph]

The Nordan sits back down to give his attention to his drink. He gulps down the bucket sized mug of ale and puts it down. "Damn Alirema High Court. Hands 'n every pocket and knife at every throat. Not to mention the increased beast activity, Dragons 'n the like". He leans back in his chair, arms behind his head. "Before we start, why come to us, if I can ask?"

 

[Robert]

Chris knew what he was getting himself into, and he was fully prepared to do what was required; but he was unable to shake the gnawling idea in the back of his mind that such a resistance was futile. He was able to trace the death of his comrades back to an order by the royal family; but he still couldn't figure out the essential question, "Why?". Christopher believed that by joining this force he would be able to get revenge for his friends that were like family, and finally give him the peace of mind he needed to move on with his life.


On the way to the establishment in the woods Chris kept to the shadows and avoided all roads; this could have easily been a trap set up by the government to weed out citizens who would turn against him, and Christopher was not about to be careless. He had memorized the area before beginning his trek, so he would not got lost in the surrounding woods, and even brought a small map of the area along with him, as well as his usual gear. Since Chris was being so cautious he was the last to arrive out of the group coming into the building quietly and ordering a mug of milk from the barkeeper.


Christopher sat at a table alone, pulled down the part of his outfit that covered his mouth, and sipped on his beverage until their attention got called. Chris turns his head to the small man as he calls their attention and switches his view to the woman with the silver hair as she begins to speak, his view then going to the Nordian as he begins to speak; listening to everything they say in complete silence.


Once their exchange of words was completed he looked over to the two supposed nobles and rested his hand on the hilt of his shortsword at his side just incase these nobles tried anything.

 

[v i n e]

The younger of the pair shakes his head, turning to his friend with false confidence. "Nobody cares." he laughs, dismissing Wilhelm's question playfully. "I have someth'n that might interest you all." Felji's hands let go of their respective anchors from his previous fumble, and rummage around in his cloak for a moment before supplying a large piece of parchement (that is most likely too large for someone to keep in a cloak without a noticable deformation in the deep green surface). He lays it gingerly on the table, taking a moment to sort out a crumpled corner in the already ragged material before reverseing his previous kindness to the object and hastily spread it out on the rotting bar. It seems to be a map, as several landmass looking depictions can be made out, yet the entire page is crawling with messy handwriting accompaniedby equally as unkempt charts and drawings. "'ere," he says, jabbing a finger at a small dot in the near center of the image. "is Haelinn's main port, just outside the main gate. The place 's bustling with ships and, most import'ntly, Haesa's main supply dealer. A friend of a friend- or, was it their cousin? no matt'r- told me a high noble is goin' to be there to recieve a 'special shipment' in just a fortnig't." He opens his arms wide, gesturing for the others to look closer at his scribbles. "I say we go there, steal everythin', get the noble to tell us how to get all of our new shit into the walls, and-" he pauses. Felji.. hadn't thought the plan out this far yet. "kill Haesa." When he finishes his sentence, it drawls upwards, almost like a question. He may be skippng a few steps, but he'll burn those bridges when he comes across them, for sure.