Band of Misfits

CHAPTER 3: HOLE IN THE GROUND

Lyla was the first of her companions to wake up the next morning. She headed downstairs to eat some breakfast but was met with a large, snoring lump of sorts covered with a tablecloth. She uncovered the mass to find Zero, still sleeping on the floor. It seems no one bothered to pick him off the ground. He laid there, with what seemed like a puddle next to his sleeping head. Lyla sneered at the sight, but quickly had an idea. She knelt next to Zero and began rummaging through his pockets. Before she could manage to find anything though, Zero awoke from his slumber, jolted up from the ground, and unsheathed his greatsword.

"What's going on, where am I?" questioned Zero.

"You've been sleeping at the bar all night and I was trying to wake you up," answered Lyla as she was getting up from the ground, "but I guess I probably shouldn't do that anymore if this is how you're going to thank me." Hearing the commotion, the group woke up and also went downstairs.

"What's going on?" asked Alexia as she yawned and stretched the long night away.

"I was trying to wake up Zero, and he goes into a ballistic rage," responded Lyla.

"I'm not surprised."

"Look, I'm sorry Lyla, let me buy you breakfast in return," pleaded Zero. He put away his weapon and rummaged through his money. I could've sworn I had a bit more, he thought to himself. He paid the barkeeper for Lyla's meal.

"That's more like it," said Lyla with a smug smile, "alright Zero, I can forgive you this time."

"I'll take one too please," said Alexia, followed by Sol, Rydel, and Bacchus.

The barkeeper handed them each their plate of food. Bacchus presented a mushroom to the barkeeper in addition to what he had already paid.

"Bacchus would like barkeeper to have this," said Bacchus in orcish. "Mushrooms are big and chewy and you can use in many things." The barkeeper took the mushroom and stared at it as his hand began to fidget.

"Just like mother used to make," replied the barkeeper in orcish as he shed a single tear. The barkeeper and Bacchus embraced each other in open arms as the rest of the group stared at them with blank looks.

The group was silent as they ate. No one seemed particularly interested in talking with one another as they took their time eating. Rydel, however, ate his food rather quickly and jumped from his seat.

"Alright gang, what adventure awaits us today!?" exclaimed Rydel. Lyla and Alexia gave him a puzzled look.

"I'm sorry Rydel, but what do you mean by adventuring?" asked Alexia.

"You know; we do a quest, stop some bad guys, maybe save some people here and there, come back to the bar to celebrate, and overall make the world just that much of a better place," answered Rydel, putting his index finger and thumb slightly apart from each other to show how much of a difference he'd make on the world.

"If you need something to do then there's a job board over there," said the barkeeper, pointing to a board filled with papers on the wall.

Rydel walked to the board and examined it. He saw a poster advertising for new Book Club members, and a wanted poster for a Half-elf that included a sketch of the suspect. The Half-elf had thick, black hair, a large, puffy goatee, and a long, curly mustache.

The barkeeper handed Rydel another flyer from a large stack and said, "This one just came in today. Don't understand why they gave me so many though." 100 gold pieces per Goblin head. 1,000 gold pieces for the return of the family's treasured Moon Rapier. Bring all items to the house of Caliban, read Rydel.