Upon returning to the Drunken Trout Tavern & Inn Adrian was seized by Margitte her wolfish grin made him have the sensations prey must have upon seeing a predator, "now now, my lord, you're in need of a bath" she cooed whilst dragging him towards the wash room. Adrian quirked an eyebrow as he was pushed into a white tiled washroom, inside was a pair of wooden tubs, He thought about it for a moment, if he wanted to instill a sense of loyalty in the men-at-arms under his command that stretched beyond him being the son of their liege lord he would have to make a concerned effort. "Have two more tubs brought up, and ask the proprietor if he'd be willing to have a word with me" Adrian spoke whilst stripping his mail hauberk and gambeson. His armor was coated in dark black bloodstains, if he did not clean and oil his mail it'd soon begin to rust.

After Margitte left there was a sturdy knock on the washroom door, "enter" he spoke in his tone specifically used when he was acting as a member of nobility and not as himself. "My lord, you requested my presence, is everything to your liking" a portly middle aged man inquired trying to hide his obvious discomfort and anxiousness any commoner would have if they though they had displeased a member of the nobility. "You may relax, I'm only the son of the Duke not the Duke himself, I'm in need of your expertise, are there any woman in this town that are not adverse to spending time with a man in return for compensation" Adrian Inquired with a sly smirk. Ever the merchant the Tavern master's eyes lit up and a smile split his face, "and how many of such women is my lord looking for". "Only two, young, attractive, and skilled in the arts of entertainment and bathing, also two bottles of your finest wine, I'm sure that coin purse has enough weight to motivate you" Adrian replied lazily pointing to a small sack of gold coins. "Shall I have them brought through the back, to avoid certain, less savory compromising rumors for my lord" the Tavern Master questioned. Adrian lifted himself from the washtub standing a full head over the portly man, "that won't be nessecary, they are for my men”Adrian replied as he stepped forward. "I wouldn't get any ideas about rumors if I were you, the world of the nobility is a dangerous one indeed" Adrian felt that familiar surge of power from the demonic taint rising up as he directed a cold stern warning to the man letting the slightest amount of demonic essence slip out.

Margitte slipped up beside Annabelle putting her arm around the girl's waist, "shall we" she inquired with a light playful nudge. Annabelle sighed in frustration both thankful to the head maid and also frustrated by her at the same time, she knew some how that Margitte only wanted to help her "to what end" she wondered as they left the tavern.

It was still early in the afternoon and there were two or three places that Margitte had in mind for her new protege, the first being the local guild branch, any member silver or above can choose to mentor an individual negating any examinations upon joining, though it also prevented the individual from taking jobs with out their mentor's presence. While detrimental to a skilled swordsman like Adrian who'd be able to raise his rank fairly quickly, it was the perfect method to train an inexperienced individual into a powerful warrior.

Margitte couldn't help but feel amused as she dragged Annabelle through the double doors of the guild branch's main hall, surrounded by the heads of a great many stuffed beasts the girls expression reminded her of a rabbit trying to flee from a group of predators. "Oh looks like we got ourselves a couple of beauties, hey girl you looking for a night with a real man" a rough and tumble looking man wearing a bronze plate around his neck dressed in a mismatched set of lizard scale and hide armors. Annabelle ducked behind Margitte who stood brazenly with her arms folded across her chest, the man's eyes bulged as he saw the gold colored plate hanging directly above her breasts. "The man turned away only to come face to face with the mountainous form of the guild master, "how many times have I warned you not to harass our female members" Havmal spoke in a cold tone before his fist came crashing down upon the fool's unprotected skull. "Take this idiot out back and throw him in the pond, after he wakes up have him muck the stalls, inventory the supplies, then have him set up a free polishing booth for any one who wants their gear cleaned, ugh right when were preparing for an operation" Havmal finished his barking with a quiet grumble before putting on his best smile.

"What brings the Huntress of the Red Moon to my humble hall” Havmal warmly questioned Margitte offering her and her a seat at the bar. “Master Havmal, I've come to take an apprentice, though I'd prefer if you didn't go announcing that the Huntress of the Red moon is standing in your hall" Margitte quietly intoned in a threatening manner. "You want to take an apprentice, there's a young lord who just joined who'd certainly be worth your attention" Havmal proudly boasted of his newest guild acquisition. "Ahh, you're speaking of my liege, there would be little point taking him as my apprentice, he'd soon overcome me in every way" she replied with a mixture of pride and sullenness. "Eh, your lord, what, the wild wolf has finally been tamed" Havmal eyes widened in shock partly from her words and partly from the stiletto resting against his neck. "I, I see, so who are you taking as your apprentice” he replied in his warm fatherly tone. "This girl, she may not look like much but she's got a body built for being a warrior” Margitte replied. "Interesting the name's Havmal I'm the River's Bend guild master, and you are” he offered out his hand warmly. "Annabelle, I'm a maid of the young Lord' she meekly replied taking the offered handshake, his grip was firm like iron, but a child hood spent swinging hammers made her no slouch. Havmal's grin widened as he applied a bit more pressure to the Annabelle's hand, normally he would not treat a woman to such a manly hand shake, but it was the only way for him to discreetly test the girl's resolve. Annabelle smiled, she was never one to back down to a challenge when it counted, she returned the firm grip baring her strength down on Havmal's knuckles and began to roll them painfully. The pain was not insignificant, but for an aged warrior it was but an annoyance, still he wouldn't destroy what little spine the girl had by overpowering her instead he relaxed his grip, a mistake he wouldn't make twice. Feeling the slightest bit of give she bore down with the full strength she had been holding back causing one of Havmal's knuckles to fracture, were it not for Margitte grabbing Annabelle's wrist and ordering her to stop Havmal might have fractured more then just a knuckle. "My god, what monstrous strength you have girl, what were you before you became a maid" Havmal questioned whilst gently nursing his hand. "My father was a blacksmith, I earned my journeyman certificate under him" she replied holding up the ring on her other hand. "Well teach me not to underestimate any one again, you've got my approval, give your lord my regards" Havmal replied as he handed Annabelle a blank Bronze colored plate, “take this to the receptionist, she'll stamp it for you".

Annabelle idly fingered the bronze plate hanging atop her bosom, whilst strolling beside her master in both the art of servitude and the art of war, "it would be best to keep that hidden once we return to the Tavern, wouldn't want Adrian to worry" Margitte spoke. Their next stop was a guild outfitter, a person specialized in procuring and supplying the arms, armor, and gear a guild member might need regardless of one's rank.

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The outfitter's shop was in a storage house of to the side of the main hall, currently the place was awash with porters carrying supplies to and from the warehouse, it was far more frantic then suspected. "Ah pardon me" Margitte called out to a man dressed in a simple grown robe with a heavy belt of satchel bags around his waist and a pair of silver rimmed half spectacles sitting low on his nose. He lifted himself from inspecting the goods for delivery into the back of two supply wagons. "A gold plate, now, of all times, the guild master must have it in for me “ the man dramatically exclaimed as he slowly made his way over to them through a throng of porters never missing a chance to bark orders to the men. "Claderus Vitious, alchemist, beastiarious, and outfitter of the River's Bend guild, how might I be of service at this most unusual and troubling of times” the man stated with a regal flourished bow. "I didn't expect to see a scholar of the beastly tomes working outside of the Imperial city" Margitte replied with a surprised expression. "Ah, I'm a field researcher, now what can I do for you" he replied holding up a silver plate whilst returning to the topic at hand. "It's my protege's first outfitting" Margitte explained. "Ah, come" Calderus stated as he turned on his heels and led them trough a maze of heavily laden shelves to I private back room.

"I need to take measurements, you needn't worry about undressing as armor is typically worn of thick padded cloth such as gambeson or an arming doublet" he spoke whilst taking measurements at a speed only the most experienced of tailors could preform. "Hmmm I see, you've got a sturdy build, good muscle mass, have you experience with any weapons" he questioned whilst flitting about the room like a squirrel hopped up on caffeine. "I'm used to swinging smiting hammers, everything from a light weight fining hammer up to two handed sledge hammers" Annabelle replied almost dizzied by the man's high energy. "Ah, a blacksmith I see, journeyman too, the only problem with a fitting is the young lady's voluminous chest, luckily I do have something in stock its almost a shame to give it to a bronze plate, still its just gathering dust any way" he sighed in defeat as he slinked off into the warehouse only to returned fast as a barn mouse. He was pushing an armor rack and slung across his shoulders was a gambeson and a pair of leather breeches, "first try these on, Margitte can help you if you're not familiar with how to wear them, afterwards I'll return to fit the armor" He explained before disappearing once more.

"What the hell is he, I've never seen anyone move so erratically, its hard to keep up with him" Annabelle Questioned Margitte as she undressed. "Well aside from being a scholar who studies various the behavior of monsters and beasts, he's also a master alchemist and likely also a minor level magician, his movements are likely from having to constantly move around the battlefield to support wounded allies and throw his concoctions at the perfect time to avoid injuring said allies" Margitte explained casually. "For the eccentric nature, you just get used to dealing with mages, they're all a little knocked in the head one way or another" she sighed.

Calderus was zipping through the isles of the warehouse like a cat chasing its prey, a shield and war-hammer were his prey, his options were plentiful, beaked, axe hammers, even hook hammers, for shields, round, strapped, heater. Finally he settled with a simple combo of a good steel war-hammer with a fierce beak for piercing armor and a heater shield. Like as not the girl would forge her own arms once she had a god supply of materials so he only chose a basic pair, though the armor was something all together different. Female armor was rare and hard to come by as it required more fine tuning and there were few female warriors in general, even fewer still so heavy in the chest, but one such adventurer had retired and left her gear behind, an adamantine plate. The Conquer, Black Rose.

"Good, I wasn't wrong about the gambeson, once you reach a larger guild with a tailor you can get one custom made for your to fit you're tastes, an adventurer needs to look the part if they wish to become successful" Calderus stated with a twisted grin. "Take the Huntress of the Red moon, her stylish armor offers fine protection but with its heavily custom design and unique materials it mark's her out as being better than the rest of the rabble" he spoke as he pulled a breastplate from the rack. It was a black-purple color, elegantly designed with a great many decorative ridges that served to both lighten and strengthen the armor, a full harness from sabatons to helm. She almost wanted to faint, a full plate harness was a piece of battle kit that could only be obtained by high ranked generals' their elite guards, and the Knights in service to the various provincial lords. The standard kit for an imperial soldier was a chain hauberk and brigandine, a considerable investment already but something like a full plate harness was beyond the means but all of the wealthiest of adventures. This suit was far beyond even a harness of a knight, such a thing could only belong to a king or queen Annabelle thought the man was a mad fool to had her such a valuable thing so far beyond her means. "I, I can't afford such A thing" she whimpered stepping back slightly. "It's a waste on a bronze plate but I've failed to find a buyer for the past twenty years, but if it fits you, then that's all that matters, better then gathering dust in my shop, plus this should help you stay alive long enough to be worthy of carrying the armor of the woman who left it here to gather dust in my warehouse" Calderus stated with a mixture of excitement and regret.

After it was all said and done Annabelle stood in front of a mirror of polished silver, from head to toe she was wrapped in glorious black-purple harness, it's delicate pattern of scalloped edges and ridges accented with silver, little black roses embossed here and there covered the overly ornate armor, her only concern was the tightness against her chest. "The suit is surprisingly light, in total it only comes out to about thirty five and a half stones, the second lightest suit in the armory is forty and a half stones, the joints are articulated, it's built for infantry use so it lacks the ability to lock a lance for cavalry charges, the materials include mythril, adamantine, and a lining of unicorn tail weave making it resistant to lightning, it used to be enchanted but it wore off a few years ago, I'd suggest not wearing you're plate with your armor unless you want to draw less savory attention to your self" he explained going over the finer details. "For armaments I chose a beaked war-hammer and a heater shield, also a pack, and three near indestructible vials. Be it an elixir, poultice, corrosive poison, or a strengthening potion it should hold anything, be ware if you loose one, they fifty gold coins a piece. I'll have the rest of your gear sent to you at a time later today" he continued droning on like a lecturer.

Margitte simply stared dumbstruck at the her protege's luck, she would have seduced the Empress her self for such a suit of armor, minus a few pieces to maximize her battlefield mobility. The armor wouldn't restrict or slow a person down pper say, but it would make Margitte's stealthy approaches and ambushes from treetops rather difficult. "Alright, now that that's covered we've only got one more stop to make" she cooed into Annabelle's ear. The poor village girl was still dumbstruck staring at her self.

Tagrid was exactly where she expected to find him, the dwarf was busying himself looking over his own supplies in the storage of the Tavern, "Tagrid" Margitte cooed in her sweetest voice, her full lips pouted slightly. Tagrid sighed as he saw her, he recalled the times his wife gave him sch an expression, she wanted something, and what ever it was he wasn't going to like it. "What do you need she wolf" he replied gruffly. "Pooh, no fun” she pouted before putting on her serious warrior's expression, "I need you to train some one".