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The Questing Parties- Chapter 1: Beginnings
🕑 Added 2022-11-15 02:53:47 +0000 UTCA breeze blows down from the snow-capped mountain range, Dagger-Ridge Mountains. At the foot of the mountains was a small village called Canary Town. From the east of those mountains rides a small group of three people, one merchant, and two proud dwarven twin brothers. From the sea’s coast to the west of the mountains, sails a tall, axe carrying, heavily tattooed druid. Marching towards the town from the north, is a centaur with a crossbow, and a dangerous anger in his eyes. Finally, traveling south is a white dragon-born, carrying two weapons, and a heavy burden.
The first of these to arrive in Canary Town were the twin brothers, and the dragon-born. All of them were blades for hire, and they were all looking to answer a call sent out by the town. In recent months, a dragon had made its nest on the highest peak of Dagger-Ridge Mountains, referred to by locals as Blade’s Point, and was disturbing the local ecosystem. As a result, monster attacks had become more frequent, bandits more bold, and the area less habitable due to the magical effect that the dragon was having on the land. When the dragon arrived, winter had stayed around longer than ever before in Canary Town. Even well into spring, the ground was still buried deep beneath a foot of snow and ice.
“My beard’s gunna freeze off.” Rollem Throk, the elder of the dwarven brothers, said. “What I wouldn’t give to know some fire magic, my fingers are freezing.”
“Just wrap your cape around you,” Roklem Throk, Rollem’s younger brother, suggested. Rollem wrapped the end of his cape around his hands, and pulled its top around his shoulders.
“Aren’t you cold?” Rollem asked.
“Sure, but I’m wearing more layers, so its not as bad for me.” Roklem was wearing several layers indeed. His bottom layer was padding, the next was a leather strap with a hidden dagger, and above all of that was chainmail that went past his hips. On his legs were padded boots, and leather armor on his thighs; as well as a pouch filled with coins and tools to maintain his weapons. Strapped to his hip was a longsword, and on his back was a shield. Rollem on the other hand, was dressed far lighter. He wore fanciful white noble’s blouse with a cape, and deep violet pantaloons. On his back was an old lute, a backpack, and a flute.
“So, driver, how much farther until we arrive?” Rollem asked the merchant driving the carriage they were on.
“Ten or so more minutes. Thanks for taking up my request by the way. Having guards has become a necessity these days.” The merchant said.
“It was our pleasure.” Roklem nodded.
“And I have to say, traveling is much more enjoyable with a bard around.” The merchant added.
Rollem smiled, “Then how about one final song before we arrive?” He asked excitedly, then began singing before waiting for an answer. He sung of valor, glory, and victories, as well as of adventure. All things he hoped to experience on this journey with his brother.
Elsewhere, the white dragon-born, Zenith, arrived at the border of Canary Town, and began looking around. He pulled his hood over his head, and began to watch the people of the town go about their day. He was a six-foot tall, white dragon-born, with red eyes, and a long tail. He wore tattered clothes, and a white hood, which only barely concealed his well-kept leather armor and two weapons. On his hip, was a rapier, which was a thin sword meant for parrying, and a short sword meant for counter attacking. On his shoulder was a satchel full of other people’s things, which Zenith had come upon, one way or another, and a great many gold coins. After a while, Zenith grew bored of watching the town’s folk, and headed on his way. He stopped once to ask directions to the local town hall. As he walked, he pulled a piece of paper from his satchel, and looked it over once again. This was an action he had done countless times during his travels. It was a request for aid from the mayor of Canary Town, and an offer of several hundred gold coins to slay the dragon that threatened this region.
“Soon, very soon.” Zenith whispered to himself, with ice water filling his words. A minute later, Zenith walked into a local tavern, and was greeted by the bartender, a short elven woman with long blond hair.
“Hello, welcome to the Ironwood Inn. How can I help you?” She asked happily.
“I’d like a meal, and a drink. I don’t mind whatever they both are, so long as the meal has meat.” Zenith said.
The bartender nodded, “No problem.” Then she walked through a door that led to a kitchen. A moment later, in walked one of the dwarven brothers, Rollem.
“Sorry about that.” He said to someone outside the door. He walked up to the bar and waited until the bartender came back. “Hi! One drink please. Dancha, if you have it.” Zenith, glanced over to the short and hairy dwarf, then went back to his own thoughts. Rollem however, stared openly at the strange white dragon-born, and began asking im question. “Hi. I’m Rollem.”
“I’m Zenith.” He answered, and looked back over at the dwarf.
“You from around here?”
“No.”
“Where you from?”
“The other side of the mountains.” Zenith answered. He didn’t mind talking, but he wasn’t one to just start up a conversation with random people normally. Instead, he answered simply, and kept to himself unless addressed directly.
“I’m from the hills. Actually, my whole clan is. Can’t say I’ve seen too many of your kind before. Dragon-born, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m a dwarf, but you could probably tell that from my beard.” Rollem laughed, heartily; his belly bounced slightly as he did. “You look like a mercenary, am I right?”
“You are. I thought I was being discreate, how did you know?” Zenith asked, surprised that he could tell.
“It’s the look in your eyes. My brother used to be a mercenary, and he had that same look. Like he hated it, but had no choice.”
“Ah, I see.” Zenith said.
“Here’s your food,” The bartender said, and placed meals in front of the two men, followed by cups of dancha for both of them. They thanked the bartender, and began eating. Rollem spent the next few minutes talking with Zenith, or rather, at Zenith, about how he came to this town with his brother, and how they came because of how Roklem’s new “calling” led them here.
Just before Zenith was getting ready to finish eating, Rollem mentioned that he was heading to Canary town’s town hall to talk about taking on a few jobs that the mayor had requested aid for.
“You as well? I saw that same request notice and decided to come too.” Zenith said.
“Well, my brother and I both, really. Actually, I was going to meet him there in just a short while. Do you want to join me?” Rollem offered.
“Alright.” Zenith nodded. They both paid for their meals and left for the town hall. It wasn’t far, and so they arrive quickly, and just in time to see a strange sight; the receptionist was having a conversation with a man hiding behind a door, and refusing to exit.
“I’ll leave this office when that dragon is dead!” A high pitched and scratchy voice exclaimed from the other side of the door.
“Sir, please, there are things in town that need your attention.” The receptionist said, rubbing her temples like she had a headache.
“Just pay someone else to do it! What are all our gold reserves for if not times like this?!” The voice shouted.
“Town repairs, social events, paying off debts.” The receptionist said.
“And keeping job rates up as well, right? So go create some jobs!” The receptionist sighed, and turned around to walk back to her desk, only to just then notice Rollem and Zenith.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Um, welcome. How can I help you?” She asked. Rollem and Zenith glanced at one another awkwardly, before Rollem answered.
“Um, we are here to talk with the mayor about his requests for aid.”
“Ah, yes. One moment please.” She knocked on the door she had been yelling through earlier. “Mr. Ethric, you have two men out here who want to talk to you. They are answering the requests you sent to the nearby towns.”
“Requests? Ah! Yes! Good, bring them to the door.” He said. The receptionist sighed and shook her head, the looked over to the two men and motioned for them to come closer. They did, and Rollem was the first to break their silence.
“Um, Mr. Mayor? It’s nice to meet you.”
“And you as well. I was told there were two men?”
“Um… Yes. I’m Zenith.”
“Excellent! Well then men, which request did you come to fulfill?” Mayor Ethric asked.
“Any that are available for now,” Rollem answered.
“Yes, I’m the same.” Zenith added.
“Good, good. I need a few people to go down into the catacombs and retrieve a small group of people that were sent to do some construction work last week. It isn’t safe down there at the moment due to the dragon stirring up all the monsters in the area. We were worried that some may take shelter in the old catacombs and so we have decided to evacuate it for now. But it isn’t safe to just send one person.” The mayor explained.
“I usually work alo-”
“We’ll do it!” Rollem interrupted Zenith. Zenith looked at him like he was crazy. In his ear, Rollem whispered, “You heard him, he might not give just one of us the job for safety reasons. But if we team up, we can get it done, lickeity split.”
“But what about your brother? Wouldn’t you prefer to go with him?” Zenith asked.
“Is he here? No. It’s just me and you. Besides, he can just catch up with us later. He’ll be coming this way anyway, we can just ask the receptionist to point him in the right direct when he finally shows up. But it will already be too late by then, because we’ll have already finished up.” Rollem explained.
Zenith placed a clawed hand on his chin, and thought for a moment, then nodded once. “Alright. We’ll go.”
“Are you boys still there?” The mayor asked from behind the door.
“Yes sir, we were just discussing the job. We are happy to do it.” Rollem answered.
“Very good then! Delilah, set them up with everything they need.” The mayor said.
“Yes sir.” Delilah said and reached into a filing cabinet. She pulled out some forms and a map.
“The job pays ten gold coins for completion. Good luck boys!” The mayor said.
“Here, please fill these out.” The receptionist said and handed them both some paperwork.
"What are they?" Rollem asked.
“Liability waivers. So that you can’t sue us if you get maimed, or die.” She said.
“Here you go.” Zenith said, handing over the signed paperwork.
“When did you even-? You know what, never mind.” Rollem said. Rollem walked over to the receptionist’s desk and signed the paperwork too. “Alright then, where to?” He asked. The receptionist opened a map of the town, and pointed to the location of the entrance of the catacombs.
“It’s about here. I’d suggest taking a few torches, it gets pretty dark down there.” She said.
“I can see in the dark, so that’s no issue.” Rollem said.
“I can’t, but I do have torches.” Zenith said.
“Be careful, no one has patrolled down there is years. There may be monsters between you and the construction workers, or even with them. Please try to go quickly, but don’t be careless.”
“Your advice is appreciated, but unnecessary. I am a professional after all.” Zenith said.
“I thought as much, but that advice wasn’t for you. It was for the man who is clearly a bard.” She answered.
“How did you know I was a bard?” Rollem asked.
“The lute, I imagine.” Zenith said. “And the clothes.”
Rollem laughed once, and quite loudly, “That’s fair, I suppose.” Rollem looked back at the receptionist, “Ah, that reminds me. My brother will be stopping by in a short while, can you send him to the catacombs as well? He will want to join us. He looks exactly like me, but he’s wearing chainmail.” The receptionist agreed, and with that, the two memorized the location of the catacombs, and started making their way there.
