Mags

"Gee, thanks," She replied shifting her pack. "Any particular reason why?"

"Huh, nice."

Nera put her sandwich away when she saw other fighters begin to gather near the hall's entrance. Should she introduce herself to them? Surely they'd learn each other's names when the even started.

"That's true . . . but would it be too much to assume that the native people of most planets would refer to their home planet as earth? Where I come from, planets were considered little more the stars. Bright lights that could only be seen, not visited. It seems like common sense to just call it earth if there's only one considered a 'place.'"

"Uhh, the earth? Land?"

"It's like . . . a pretty big island, so there's a lot of good sea food." Aki loves sea food. "I grew up in a sea-side village." He though for a moment. "There's also pretty big mountains, and it's pretty cold in the winter. I've always avoided living deep in the mountains because the snow gets too high for me. Lots of farms. Some bonkers rich people which I suppose are better then the evil rich people we had before. The politicians say we're behind on technology because we isolated for so long, I've no idea if that's true or not though. I've never been to the west."

"Nippon."

Nera pushed her way through the busy market place. It was packed despite the early hour. A man from the south was sitting on one corner, playing an instrument she didn't recognize. The foreign twang of his music blended surprisingly well with the constant chatter and noise of passing people. The soul of the land itself, calling good morning to each of it's children. The morning sun was still rising behind the nearest building, casting a cool purple shadow over the street. It subdued the bright colors around her--the dies and decorations Terjin was famous for. They weren't to her taste. She turned down the next road, leaving the shadow. The sunlight cut through crisp morning air to reach her. She held a hand up to her eyes to protect them from the onslaught of brightness. Fabric merchants had their best yards out on display. A food cart passed her, leaving hot steam in it's wake. A few drunks exited a nearby bar, and Nera wondered if they'd been there all night. She passed a florist who managed to overpower even the street food with it's aroma. It was difficult to shove your way through a crowd when you were only 3 and a half feet tall. She'd never been to a Tall-men city before, and she was starting to realize there was a reason her kind stuck to small country-side villages. At least her small size meant she could slip between stalls most couldn't. It took her the better part of an hour to reach the city hall building, in the dead center of Terjin. When Nera finally reached the pale marble steps, she felt more then a little dizzy. So many people and so much color and so much detail in every nook and cranny was disorienting. She'd almost been hit by a wagon twice, the drivers not seeing her because of her stature. It wasn't their fault halflings weren't common here, she knew that, but it was still frustrating. Nera sat on the steps to catch her breath and re-orient herself. Tall-people of every size, shape, and color passed by in a blur. How did they stop to buy things from the stalls when everyone moved so fast? It must be like trying to cut through a stampeding herd Kows. She pulled open her pack, to double check the flyer she'd picked up last night. ! ! BODYGUARDS WANTED ! ! --For the protection of his Lordship, Duke Ehlu-- (50 silver an hour, non-negotiable) Our dear and precious Lord is in jeopardy! Mysterious vagabonds have tried to steal him from us twice. We don't know where they come from, hence 'mysterious.' It'd suck if we lost our Lord so we'd need some help protecting him. I guess the army battalion stationed at his mansion isn't enough. Those slackers. Lerren you can't write that on the flyer, it's rude-- Master Igeni I can do whatever I damn please. Anyway, meet at the city hall for auditions Auditions? what are they, players?--Master Igeni Whatever I don't know the word. The mayor is gonna sort through ya'll and pick the strongest to protect his lordship. We won't take just anybody of the street--duh. It starts at 9:30, don't be late, or do, I'm just a scribes apprentice I don't actually care. Lerren you know this is unprofessional, you'll have to do it again if you want me to pay you--Master Igeni I was gonna quit anyway. Despite whatever narrative it told, Nera had still gotten it from a stack of advertisements in the she'd stayed in tavern. Perhaps Lerren snuck it in as a joke. Either way, it was hopefully still accurate. She wasn't new to being a mercenary, but most of her previous work was protecting caravans and fighting wild animals for homesteads. This would be a massive step up for her--if she got the job. An opportunity like this would surely help her start to make a name for herself. Still, she couldn't help but be intimidated. What if she wasn't strong enough and got rejected? What if the other candidates were scary? Nera took a deep breath to calm herself. She was grown adult, even if it didn't seem that way to the Tall-men. She could handle herself. Glancing at the sun, she determined that 9:30 was still a good ten minutes away, so she pulled out a home-made sandwich to munch on in the meantime.

July went into his room. He pulled off his apron and flopped into bed. He hated to admit how tired he was. You'd think a job like this would be fairly easy, but it was all new to him. Plus there was Jolane to worry about, and September. He went to sleep quickly, knowing he'd have to wake up early the next day.

July passed her door in the hallway. He thought about knocking and asking if she was okay, but decided against it. She was probably tired. He was tired too, and it's not like she wanted to talk to him in the first place.

August looked unconvinced. "Alright, I suppose that's fair." "If you get to be nosy then I do too--your not from around here, huh?" It was easy enough to tell. "What brings you to these lands?"

"I already told you?" August shook his head, frustrated. "We're childhood friends--and honestly, why is it so important? You met him 2 days ago."

July stood up. Robert was right, it really was getting late. And he had to work tommorrow. "Well, if everything's settled, I'm going to go turn in . . . it's been a long day." July said. August nodded, "Sleep well." He'd have to rent a room for himself, but he didn't feel like sleeping yet. He still had too much pent up energy from rushing here. What to do with himself now? July always had a knack for finding problems they didn't have time to solve. Maybe he could deal with this quickly so they could move on. He traced his gloved finger along a groove in the wooden table. If things went too slowly he could always just take July and run. @The Bookwyrm

Kurtis nodded his agreement. "It was such a strange creature . . . if we're lucky, it was one of kind." They continued to cut through the jungle and such and I'm tired of describing it you get the idea. Sometime in the afternoon, they finally reached something that wasn't annoyingly large plant matter. Kurtis swung at the latest branch in their with his sword. He brought it down, severing the wood, but as it fell the end of his blade CLANGED against something hard in the shrubbery beyond. "What the?" He struggled with the foliage for a bit, but he managed to clear it revealing a stone. Not just a boulder, but a large human-cut brick. Shoving his way through more plants, he stubbled into a clearing-ish. The remains of a few stone buildings covered the small area. Most of them were little more then one or two walls, and the plants had almost completely swallowed them. A large, dark bird sat on the top of the highest crumbling wall, eyeing them as they approached. "Well that's different!" Kurtis exclaimed. "Probably here before the jungle." @Scars of Hathsin @BlueWildRye

Am I the only one who just strongly disliked Raboniel? I feel like people really liked and her I don't get it.

"Alright!" Aki said, and started following him down.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO