Dax sat at his normal spot in the large creaky building. He gingerly nursed his morning mead as he idly rolled through his to do list. The mead was not the best, but it was good, and he liked it enough. It was going to be another normal day. With a small sip he glanced around the room, his spot was in a corner next to both the bar and the clerk’s desk giving him a great view of the large room. The usual patrons were all here, most were in small groups with the larger tables being occupied by all sorts of arms and armor. The other patrons were truly an eclectic mix. The casual conversation and the overheard exaggerated stories were always good entertainment in the morning.
Well as long as they don’t start hammering out dents again in here. He cast a cursory glance over at the job wall, a few people reading over the papers on it. From 30 feet away Dax could make out even the smallest script. Of course, he had already grabbed the jobs he wanted for the day. It really paid to be an early riser; a concept most did not realize it seemed. Dax let out a low chuckle, it was still fun putting bets on who would bite off more than they could chew. People watching was one of Dax’s favorite hobbies after all.
The papers in front of him were laid out in a haphazard line, setting down the stone mug carefully he looked back down at them. The seven jobs he had picked were all well within his capabilities, but it was a lot even for him. One thing Dax knew though was that planning was the most important thing in his line of work. No one would get far here if they just rushed into things. That is how people died.
In his mind he mapped the locations he would have to go to complete the requirements of each job. It looked like he could probably complete all of these if he left in a few hours. He nodded to himself and organized the paper in the order he was going to complete them then slipped them into a pocket in his vest. Dax reached for the mug when the room suddenly quieted down a fair bit. Resuming his motion, he quickly surveyed the room.
“Ahh what in bottomless hells is this” Dax heard from his left. He nodded his head in agreement taking a quick sip. The voice had come from the clerk on duty. All the patrons had looked up to see what had caused the sudden quiet.
Seven children had walked into the Adventurers Guild. Today wasn’t going to be another normal day.
Dax lowered his mug and examined the children. Conversation started to pick backup as the kids made their way to the clerk’s desk. The kids looked like they were in rough shape. Their clothes were badly ripped in several places; their faces were covered in dirt and their hair was tangled. Their eyes though locked onto the plates of food as they walked past tables. Dax’s mind floated into his past and he turned back around to the bar taking a very large pull from the stone mug. Even with unpleasant thoughts he could prevent himself from falling into the bottle, he would finish this mug faster than he had planned, however.
From Dax’s peripheral vision he could see one of the boys had stepped up to the clerk’s desk, turning his head just a little bit, he saw that the lower half of his face was covered with what might be called a bandanna. The boy wore brown rough spun clothing that had seen far better days, and clearly was a size too large. On his left shoulder it looked like a large piece of fabric had been cut off, maybe a patch or an insignia? The boy also had a utility belt with exactly one utility item. A small dagger just a few inches long. What surprised him was the massive book on his back and the fact that it to be held in place by two large chains.
While children were not barred from joining the guild, it was generally known that the younger the member the lower their chances were at surviving quests. No child with parents or a guardian of some sort would even let them into the place. The guild couldn’t say no to memberships, even from kids, but this branch in particular had been known as the Bloody Orphanage at one point. It was a time that Dax would do his best to avoid again. This branch needed more adventurers though, the fact that their quest board had grown into a quest wall and was beginning to creep around the nearest corner, was proof enough.
Willing himself back into the moment he heard coins being passed around, no doubt casting bets against the children. Come on guys they aren’t even in the guild yet. Dax drained the rest of his mug, pushing it forward. He made a slashing gesture with two fingers on the rough wooden bar, a symbol to stop. The mug was quickly retrieved. Dax remined seated however waiting to see what would happen.
“Good morning, my friends and I would like to join this guild” the boy said in a much older sounding voice, Dax turned his head now blatantly watching the exchange, he was far from the only person. Under the collective gazes the children had melted in and around each other.
“Uhh,” the clerk cleared her throat “Yes that is allowed, do you know what an Adventurers Guild does?” The clerk was squirming but did her best to remain professional and respectful. She straightened her posture and her attempted to eliminate nonexistent folds in the green tunic.
“Yes, we understand that the Adventurers Guild is an organization that adventurers can join to get quests.” The boy said not moving. Dax raised an eyebrow and continued watching closely.
The clerk nodded, her eyes flicking between the children. “Yes, you are correct, give me just a moment to get the forms together.” The clerk reached beneath her desk and grabbed several sheets of paper, once the forms were in order, she grabbed a wooden quill and tapped the top. A dull blue light appeared at the metal tip of the implement.
One of the other children spoke in a hushed voice to the others. Dax’s ears easily picked up the sound, “Vey sina pella macinia?” One of the other kicked him in the leg and he covered his mouth with a squeak. Dax idly began to rub his chin in thought, now this was interesting.
“All right, if you are ready, I will begin.” The clerk looked at each of the children again, she gave a nod and an attempted smile.
“We are ready.” The boy said quickly, Dax noticed again that the bandana had not moved.
“Okay then. My name is Laurel Treyl, I will be your designated guild representative. I am a bronze level clerk with the Protectorate of Arcinnian Adventurers Guild. Your registration location will be noted as the Azul Falls branch guild.” She nodded as she recorded the information then hovered her hand over the paper. A mark appeared at the bottom of the first page, then in a smooth motion she circled her hand over the page and tapped the rest. The blue glow spread to the 6 other sheets of paper copying the information. “Now, I am going to need your names, ages, race, as well as your level. If you don’t mind sharing your class, give me that as well.” Laurel idly tapped the back of her wooden quill against the counter.
Dax straightened up a bit, now this would be good. Most onlookers also had similar reactions. The kids noticed and did their absolute best not to look directly at anyone. Suddenly, the ceiling and floor were interesting to them.
The boy with the book pointed to himself and said “Regal, 13, human, Level 2, Chronicler.” Laurel dutifully scribed what he had said, a confused look crossing her face for just a second.
Dax could understand why, level two was low, even for a 13-year-old. Plus, he had a true support-class. While classes were not permanent, your class could not be changed until you were level 10. Your first class was a best guess by the world at what you would be best at. If the world was saying this kid would be best at being a Chronicler that was weird, thinking about it, Dax had never heard about someone being a Chronicler for their world-class.
Laurel finished writing down his information and slipped a smaller plate out from under the first, it was a small piece of plain slate. She tapped it with the tip of her pen and a similar sign appeared in the top right corner. Dax activated a skill to take mental copy of the card.
Adventurer Guild Card
Rank:
Slate-2
Mark of Laurel Treyl
Name:
Regal
Completed Quests:
None
Class:
Chronicler
Active Quests:
None
Race:
Human
Attributes:
Unknown
Age:
13
Skills:
Unknown
Not too bad, hopefully the others will have a higher level. Considering how long this would take he tapped the bar twice with two fingers and another stone mug was placed in front of him. He took a sip and kept watching. It was a good thing that he was being put as the lowest rank possible in the guild. With a Slate-rank they would not be allowed to take any quests that would put them in danger. Those quests were incredibly boring and the payouts in experience and coin were almost nothing, but it was a safe start for these kids.
“Okay Regal I have that written down. I am ready for the next one.” Laurel said as she set Regal’s guild membership form aside and got ready for the next one.
After a few second delay and a nod, the boy, Regal, spoke pointing at the tallest girl in the group. Just a few inches taller than Regal, she was incredibly tanned and had a tightly wound braid of black hair. Her clothes were in the same state as Regals, except she had a sheath, but the knife was missing. Strangely both of her hands were tightly bound with what looked like crude bandages. “Belladonna, 13, human, Level 2, Witch-Striker.” A quick series of scrawling from Laurel and another look of confusion as well. Laurel spoke up after she finished the sheet and the card, “I don’t think I have ever heard of a Witch-Striker before?” Dax had not either, he had heard about witch world-classes before or even a striker class once, but hybrid world classes were always weird. He shook his head as he copied her card as well.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Adventurer Guild Card
Rank:
Slate-2
Mark of Laurel Treyl
Name:
Belladonna
Completed Quests:
None
Class:
Witch-Striker
Active Quests:
None
Race:
Human
Attributes:
Unknown
Age:
13
Skills:
Unknown
Regal canted his head for a moment then nodded, he then pointed at another member of the group this time it was at one of the other boys. The tallest in the group by a few inches, with clothes identical to Regals as well as the same knife. He had an unruly mop of sandy brown hair and a big grin on his face. He even gave Laurel a wave. “Berwick, 12, human, Level 2, Bastion.” Dax decided to stop shaking his head every time the kid said something weird. This was another class that he remembered hearing about but had never seen one. Laurel just shook her head seemingly coming to the same conclusion, she set aside Berwick’s paperwork and Dax was just able to copy it as well.
Adventurer Guild Card
Rank:
Slate-2
Mark of Laurel Treyl
Name:
Berwick
Completed Quests:
None
Class:
Bastion
Active Quests:
None
Race:
Human
Attributes:
Unknown
Age:
12
Skills:
Unknown
Regal saw that she was done and pointed at another girl, “Mia, 11, human, Level 1, Rouge.” Mia and the boy next to her were obviously related if not twins, both had skin a few shades darker than Belladonnas. The siblings had long silver hair that had been tightly braided in the same style as Belladonna. Dax caught Mia’s eyes for just one second and saw that they were bright gray, nearly the same color as her hair. Not wanting to be rude he quickly looked away, knowing that everyone else was looking also. Laurel dutifully scribed Mia’s information and nodded to Regal.
Dax was getting a funny feeling that these kids didn’t know the language though, sure lots of people spoke lots of different things here, but everyone was supposed to know Common. Very strange, Dax had lost himself in thought and had missed Mia’s card. Laurel had leaned onto the counter while she filed out the paperwork. Her blonde hair moved showing her slightly pointed ears. Berwick saw them and went to nudge the other large boy next to him to get his attention, but apparently thought better of it. Dax would make sure to copy it when Laurel went to move to the next set of documents.
Regal nodded back to her and moved his hand very slightly to point to the other large boy who had to be Mia’s brother, “Eli, 11, human, Level 2, Fighter.” Laurel was getting through these quick, normally registrations took a lot longer, Dax couldn’t remember the last time he saw a Slate-1 plate handed out. Dax gave a mental nod; a rouge and a fighter were easy world-classes. Those two would help a lot if they could get their level up. This was forming up to be one strange group, he also had noticed that none of the kids had family names. Sure, a decent number of Adventurers did not have a family name, but at least one of these kids should. In between the various questions Dax managed to snag copies of their cards as well.
Adventurer Guild Card
Rank:
Slate-1
Mark of Laurel Treyl
Name:
Mia
Completed Quests:
None
Class:
Rouge
Active Quests:
None
Race:
Human
Attributes:
Unknown
Age:
11
Skills:
Unknown
Adventurer Guild Card
Rank:
Slate-2
Mark of Laurel Treyl
Name:
Eli
Completed Quests:
None
Class:
Fighter
Active Quests:
None
Race:
Human
Attributes:
Unknown
Age:
11
Skills:
Unknown
Switching to his other arm. Regal pointed at the last unnamed boy, “Erebus, 10, human, Level 1, Druid.” Erebus was shorter than Regal and much skinnier. Almost ghoulish when you combined it with his abnormally pale skin and his short blonde hair. His clothes were less destroyed than the rest but had a similar spot where something had been cut off the left shoulder. The kid also had another weird world-class. Dax had met a Druid before, but that adventurer had been nearly level 30. He had switched to it after starting as a basic Mage. Once again it could be good if he can get more levels. Dax had copied all their cards so why stop now.
Adventurer Guild Card
Rank:
Slate-1
Mark of Laurel Treyl
Name:
Erebus
Completed Quests:
None
Class:
Druid
Active Quests:
None
Race:
Human
Attributes:
Unknown
Age:
10
Skills:
Unknown
Laurel set aside Erebus’s registration and moved to the last blank paper. She gave a shake of her head then looked for the last person in their group. “Where did the little one go?” Regal looked at Laurel for a second, then nodded and turned to look for the smallest member of their group. Berwick looked back at Regal and gave a quick flick of his head. After a few moments Regal nodded to Berwick and moved over to Berwick and pulled the little girl out from behind the much larger boy. The small girl was the smallest of the group. Her hair was tied up into a messy bun and had a few flowers in it. Her clothes followed the same trend as the rest. All of them being the same shade of brown rough spun. Dax could feel nothing but pity for the girl, she was obviously terrified. All of the kids seemed to be nervous he noticed.
Regal dutifully relayed the information to Laurel, “Meenah, 9, human, Level 1, Mage.” Laurel nodded with a small look of concern. She finished the information and separated the cards and the sheets of papers into piles. Laurel left Meenah’s card on top, and Dax was able to take that moment to copy it.
Adventurer Guild Card
Rank:
Slate-1
Mark of Laurel Treyl
Name:
Meenah
Completed Quests:
None
Class:
Mage
Active Quests:
None
Race:
Human
Attributes:
Unknown
Age:
9
Skills:
Unknown
There was a lot to unpack with this group. First off why is their highest level 2, he had known 10-year old’s that were level 5? Also how does someone get Chronicler as their world-class, much less the others?
With everything in neat piles Laurel only had the registration fee to collect, “Alright thank you for all of that information Regal. The registration fee for new slate ranked adventurers is 1 gold coin. For all seven of you that will be seven gold please.” Regal turned his head once again after a few seconds Dax could swear that he saw a concerned look cross the boys face.
“What do you mean 1 gold coin per registration, and I thought the lowest guild rank was stone?” Regal said his head staying at the slight angle looking at Laurel. Dax decided that if it was Regal talking that it was a real feat, Regal’s bandana had not moved while talking at all.
Laurel slightly slouched looking into the distance, “Yes normally the lowest rank would be stone, however this branch guild has a lower rank, Slate. Also, the fees for Slate are higher.” Laurel looked back at Regal, the same look of concern now passing to confusion on the boy’s face. Dax knew that charging more for a lower rank was wrong, but it would make sure the Slate adventures were serious and a kid wouldn’t just join on impulse because he saw an adventurer once or killed a slime while picking flowers or whatever kids do.
“Okay then why are we slate?” Regal asked in response. Dax looked at the other kids as Regal spoke, it definitely was not one of the others.
“Well, due to previous events this guild has decided that a special rank for our applicants that are both young for their race and are at low levels would have a learning rank. Once you are 15-years old for humans or are level 10 I unfortunately cannot register you as anything higher.” Regal just stood with the same pose and look. Laurel was squirming again. Dax really thought that she should have led with the cost, she was probably just curious what level the children were. These kids did not look like they even had 1 gold between them. Dax sighed internally, by all the bottomless hells.
Several short moments passed before Regal turned to the group and said, “Relis?” Dax at least thought it was a question with the inflection he put on the word. At that all the children began searching through tattered pockets handing Regal coins. Berwick even reached into one of his torn boots and pulled a few coins out. Regal himself pulled out several coins. With a loud clattering he dropped them all on the counter. A brief look of surprise, accompanied by a very high-pitch squeak escaped Laurel as she looked at the coins.
Huh, the kids might have enough coin.
Laurel began to move coins into groups then shook her head sadly. “This comes out to a little under 8 silver coins. Unfortunately, I cannot let you register unless you can pay the fee.” Laurel stepped back from the counter. “I can hold onto your registration forms until you can pay it, you will just need to update them when you come back.” Regal had that same look as before with his head twisted slightly to the side.
“Ahh, you hate to see it,” a person behind Dax said letting out a loud laugh. Other adventurers chimed in smart remarks. Dax turned and stared the man down hard. He could feel his anger rising, he even felt his eyes change. The offender, Kurtis melted into his chair and avoided Dax’s gaze. The damage had been done though, the joking and laughing passed through the guild house like a fire in dry hay.
Dax thought about paying their fee but decided against it. They honestly were just too low of a level to make it. He knew that it would help the kids in the long run to just let them go and find real jobs in the town.
The kids looked around clearly not understanding what was happening, the big one, Berwick figured it out first. He said something to the others but even Dax couldn’t make out the words. The kids almost turned red. Dax could even swear some of them teared up at the raucous laughing and pointing in their direction. Dax shook his head; most adventures were real asses. He turned back to his almost empty mug and tapped his fingers on the bar twice. An identical stone mug appeared seconds later.
In a stern voice that did not match the kid’s facial expressions, “Keep the money, we will be back to pay the rest.” Regal nodded and said some short syllables to others and led them out of the guild hall.
Dax just dropped his head, that had turned out bad for them. Looking down he saw that one of the kid’s coins had rolled all the way over under his chair. Dax bent down and picked up the small coin. He held it up to get a better look. “Bottomless hells” he said as he dropped it right into his new mug.
It was a new Imperium copper. The border with the Imperium was closed a very long time ago. Dax just looked at the door losing himself in thought.