The evening was peaceful, with not a cloud in the sky. The stars were starting to come out, and the moon beginning to rise. It was the perfect kind of night to camp out under the stars. Or at least, that was what Althaea thought, or would have thought, if she wasn't camping with people who were essentially strangers.
The elven woman stood by the two horses, rubbing their noses. There were only two, one to pull a cart, the other was ridden by the captain. She glanced over towards the fire where several other figures stood around. Only one of them she knew the name of; a small rogue man name Orel. They had met some time ago. The others she knew less of, and some of them trusted far less.
The cart and its horse belonged specifically to a burly man who always seemed to have a bottle of alcohol in his hand, and a dog at his heels. He seemed alright, since they shared an interest in the intoxicating drink, and he was good with animals. Animals were always a better judge of character than people.
Then there was the dragonborn, a strange creature half way between a dragon and a human. Scaley hide and horns, he sat quietly by the fire, contemplation in his eyes.
There was also the strange aquatic creature. The Trident. He was small, barely up to her chest in height, but always made his presence known, especially when he spoke in his loud, and surprisingly booming voice. He also wielded a trident, which he was currently leaning against, staring down at a nearby pond.
Finally was the one she trusted the least. He shared her pointed ears and long flowing hair. But the similarities stopped there. Instead of pale skin, his was dark. In fact, his skin was barely visible in the dying light. His white hair gave his position away, hidden partially by a deep hood. Althaea had almost walked away as soon as she laid eyes on her new would-be companion. If it wasn't for Orel insisting that it would be alright, she would have been long gone by now.
Of course, it hadn't help that the recruiter, who was also the captain of the group, was nothing short of a demon spawn. A teifling. Who wore giant armor, and brandished a broad sword. He had come across Orel and Althaea as they fought off wolves. Impressed, he recruited them into his mercenary band, the Rising Phoenix. It didn't help that Althaea didn't have anywhere else to go, and that Orel jumped at the idea to join.
But now here she was, part of a group of strange people, banded together for some kind of common cause.
"In all my years, I have never been part of such strange company," she sighed, turning back to the horses. She had stopped stroking their noses, and one of them had nuzzled her to keep going. They were both unsaddled and tethered to a post with enough slack to graze, but they had been enjoying the elf's attention.
"Alright, gather up!" Came a loud voice. The captain stepped into the firelight, eyeing everyone. "Line up!"
Althaea sighed and left the horses. She lined up beside Orel, the trident creature come to stand behind her. The captain looked them over, walking up and down the line for a minute.
"Alright recruits, you lot have been teamed together as recruits so we can test your mettle. Rising Phoenix is an elite mercenary group who will only keep the best. Show yourself worthy and you will very quickly become a regular member. Fail, and that may mean death in battle," he said loudly, then stopped at the middle of the line and turned to face and address all of them.
"Being a team, it's best that you learn to trust and work together. Let's start by introducing yourselves. Down the line, say your names, starting at this end," he pointed to his left where the line started with the dragonborn.
"What, with me?" Came the dragonborn's rough voice.
"Yes, you!" The captain was audibly irritated.
"Right, well, my name is Gonard. I'm a dragonborn, obviously. I'm also a druid, though I don't have much experience yet. I'm here partly to learn, I guess," he said with a slight shrug and watched for the captain's reaction. The tiefling's face was blank. He only motioned for the next person to start. The drow.
"My name is Veras Horlbar. My specialties are in stealth, and that's all I'd like to say about that. I know most here won't trust me because of... what I am. But know, that I am not like my kin. I don't share their ideals. That's why I left, to find my way in the world beyond that of my closed mind kin. I hope I can eventually earn your trust, and you will consider me differently than most drow, and not judge me by my race," the drow's deep voice was genuine. He bowed his head slightly, notifying that he was done. The drunkard took up his que.
"Well, I'm Tzedkiel, but you can just call me Tzed. I am a cleric of the god Telsius, god of justice, and sometimes god of death," the bearded man said, patting his dog on the head.
"I thought Telsius was a strict god," the captain said off-handedly, motioning to the bottle in Tzed's hand.
"Ah, yes, well, as a strong cleric, I am allowed some leeway. He is not that strict of a god. I mean, he still allows his followers to enjoy the good things in life," Tzed replied with a smile and wink. The captain shook his head and motioned for the next person to speak.
"My name is Orel, but a lot of people call me Cat. I'm a bit of a rogue, my style being quick and sneaky in battle. I was born in a nearby city, grew up on the streets. Not exactly an honest living, but I decided to leave all that and try and find a better -and perhaps a bit more honest- life."
No response from the captain, he nodded towards Althaea. Her voice was soft as she spoke, almost a whisper. Some of them leaned to hear her better.
"I am Althaea Galanodel -that means moon whisperer. I prefer not to say where I'm from, or why I am here. Just know that my skills are in the woods. I hunt, track, and fight mainly with a bow. Though I do have dual short swords at need," she said. "That is all I have to say."
"Alright, last but not least," the captain nodded to the small trident, who cleared his throat and boomed out.
"I be Corus Vlux. I hail from a plethora amount away. Thine ability lieth in whimsical arts of exuberant power. It be thine pleasure to fight aggressively in countenance with all thee about. I obscurely seek forward to battle with thee. Thou canst believeth in thy battle prowess," he said confidently. Althaea flinched back a little, while the others started at him, confused.
"Er, where did you learn common?" The cleric asked, his voice slurred.
"Ah, yes, thou hast knowledge the linguistics of thine company through olden book, yonder years ago. I hath also learnt the speaking of Primordial. Dost thou speakers Primordial?"
Everyone shook their head no.
"Alas! It be a exuberant linguistic. If thou carest to listen-"
"I think we've heard enough, good trident," the captain said. If a headache had an expression, the tiefling was wearing it in that moment. "With that being the rest of you, let me properly introduce myself. I am Captain Kazuki, your assigned leader. I am not here to hold your hand, or tell you what to do or not do. I am here to simply point you in the right direction to carry out orders. You are free men -and women- and are not upheld to too great a standard.
"But Rising Phoenix is still a group that works for the good of the people, and I trust you will keep that in mind with your future doings with those you come across and work for."
He paused and stared at each person in the eyes, looking for weak wills, but they all stared back determinedly.
"Alright, I already have your first assignment. It should be easy enough for you lot. It's to test your mettle.
"A nearby town has been suffering from goblin attacks lately. It is a small town, so they can't afford better. Details are with the mayor. The town lies a day's march just west of here. I will accompany you as far as the town, and then I will take my leave. Are there any questions?"
No one said anything.
"Good. You are dismissed. Camp and rest as you may, we leave at the break of dawn. Be ready to go."
The next day dawned, and they were packed and on the road before the sun had fully lifted from the horizon. They moved quickly, but remained alert. Around noon they heard a crashing sound in the brush to their right.
Pausing, they spotted a brown bear ambling out of the brush a good twenty yards away. They all hesitated, wondering if the bear was hungry and would try to attack them.
"Wait, I can handle this," Gonard the dragonborn said, stepping away from the path. The bear was ambling closer, though it didn't seem to have noticed them yet. Suddenly Gonard gave a strange guttural growl, causing the bear to look up at him. It stood on it's back legs, tilting its head as Gonard continued the strange noise.
When Gonard grew silent, the bear returned the noises in an almost conversational manner. They went back and forth for a minute until finally the bear fell back to all fours and began ambling away.
"What was that about?" Tzed asked from his seat on the wagon, shaking the bottle of liquor that was in his hand towards the bear.
"As a druid, I can speak to animals," Gonard explained. "I told him we don't want to fight, but would like some help. I asked if he had seen any strange people moving through the woods."
"And what did he say?" Asked Orel, standing beside the wagon.
"He said that he had. Us. He said we were strange people walking through the woods. I specified if he'd seen goblins, and he said he hadn't, but he smelt faint traces of some in the direction we were headed."
"And what was the point of that?" Captain Kazuki asked from atop his horse.
"Well, I figured it would be better to know if there were goblins nearby that might ambush us or not," Gonard said with a shrug, and started walking up the trail. That was a good enough answer for the rest as they continued on their way.
By early evening the town was in sight. If you could call it a town. Dirt roads, buildings thrown together with logs that hadn't even been trimmed up. It was only a handful of buildings, really. As the group made their way into the town, they paused in the market place, or their version of a market. It was only a couple of stalls, and two other shops. One had a bow on the sign over the door, the others had a potion bottle.
Suddenly a fish went flying across the road in front of them. A piece of fruit went flying the other way. Next thing they knew, a full fight had started between two of the booths. Gonard, Orel, and Corus were suddenly in the midst of the fight, having been walking in front of the rest. Gonard got knocked out when an especially large fish slammed into the back of his head. Orel, on the other hand, took advantage of the chaos and started picking pockets.
The others watched in confusion, but Althaea's sharp elven ears picked up some of the townspeople talking to each other.
"There they go, at it again," someone said.
"Yep, it looks like the yearly fight has begun."
"I wonder who will win this time?"
"Hard to tell with those strangers stuck in the middle of it."
Althaea couldn't help but smirk. She turned to Tzed, who she had been riding beside on the cart.
"Looks like this fight is a regular thing, and nothing to worry about it. Seems it's all in good fun," she told him, causing the cleric to chuckle.
"Tell that to our dragonborn friend," he said, gesturing with his liquor bottle towards the fight. Althaea shook her head, watching with amusement.
Once the fight had settled down, the group collected their companions. Tzed had to get off the cart, and with the help of the drow, they had to lift up their dragonborn companion until he slowly came awake and was able to walk on his own.
When they were far enough, Orel pulled out of his pouch what he had managed to pick pocket, taking note of it all. He got some coins, and an unused bar of soap with someone's initials written on the paper wrapping. An unused bar of soap was quite the commodity, especially in such a poor town like this. Orel was pleased with his winnings and stashed them away in his bag.
The group made it to the tavern. Due to lack of staff, mostly because of its small size, they had to take care of the cart and horses themselves before going inside. There Captain Kazuki led them through the main room to a large back room. There was a table in the center with chairs around it. The walls were lined with simple weapons and ammo.
"Welcome to the town's hunter lodge. I have already arranged that we have free use of this room and all of its provisions. All drink and food during this stay is already taken care of by Rising Phoenix," he explained, as they all took their seats. They were starving and were quickly ordering as soon as a barmaid entered.
"So we can drink all the wine we want?" Althaea asked excitedly. Kazuki nodded, causing the elf to smile a wide smile.
"The mayor has also invited you to visit him at the town center. He will fill you in on details about the mission, as well as explain your reward. I would suggest visiting him sometime tonight," the captain said, and waited for the group to finish ordering as they were getting rambunctious and excited about food and drink and were barely listening.
When the barmaid had received their orders and left, Kazuki continued.
"Anyway, you are on your own with this endeavor, for now. I have a mission of my own that I must embark upon, so shall leave you here. I expect good news when I come back in a few days."
"Thou shalt not even stayeth through nightfall?" Crux inquired. Kazuki shook his head.
"I must leave immediately. Like I said, I shall be back in a few days. You lot had better have good news for me," he said, before turning and leaving.
The group sat at the table in silence for awhile, each lost in their own thoughts. Food was brought, and they ate quickly.
When they were done, Vera's stood up. "Well, I'm going to speak to our employer the mayor about what is going on."
"I'll come, too," Orel said, also standing.
"I shalt disincline such action. Instead, thou shalt carouse the town," Corus said, leaving the room before the rest of them.
"I think I'll stay and drink," Althaea said. The cleric's dog was sitting next to her. One of her hands was petting its head affectionately.
"I second that," Tzed said, raising his mug of ale.
"Yeah, I'm staying here," the dragonborn agreed, leaving his elbows on the table and holding his mug with both hands.
"We'll be back soon, then," Veras said. Him and Orel left. Once they were out of the tavern and on the street, he leaned over to whisper to Orel.
"Thank you for coming with me. I was not sure how well I would have been welcomed had I come by myself, considering my heritage," the drow said. Orel nodded.
"Think nothing of it. I want all the information I can get, anyway. And this will be the best way to get it."