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Trundling up the stairs, the group enjoyed moving around after breakfast. The platform elevator would have been quicker, but only if the line hadn’t been so long. They only had a few flights up the administrative tower until they reached the Adventurer’s Guild’s floors. The first guild floor housed the reception desks, quest bulletins, and bar. Only members had access to the other floors they occupied.
Upon first impression Cire was struck by the eerie similarity of a Veterans of Foreign Wars Post or Elk’s Club. A hazy cloud of smoke hung in the air and jumbled with the scents of ale, body odor, and boredom. It appeared only a few types of adventurer were in the guild this early in the morning, a lot of them appeared hung over and the ones that didn’t looked quirky, odd, or down right bizarre. Most had their heads down on their tables or were drowsing in the booths, but a few played cards or were conversing with hushed tones.
Not willing to let first impressions dampen his spirits, Cire barreled into the common area and began to peruse the various quest postings. On the back wall towards one side were the receptionists and on the other was the bar. In between were a smattering of tables, chairs, couches, and the aforementioned booths occupied by those in slumber. Cire surreptitiously counted around a dozen presumed adventurers and half that number of staff.
Several sets of eyes appraised their group, Cire hadn’t done a good job hiding his survey of the establishment. There was a chance that they stuck out. The composition of their group; two elves, a fairy, and a gnome, wasn’t exactly common, but it wouldn’t be considered rare either he thought.
Shaking his head, Cire stopped looking at the quest posters. He knew it was futile until they were actually registered. From his conversations with Selene, Fizz, and students in the academy he knew that there was a trial quest to join. You needed to have a class or rare skills, but there was also a level threshold that would allow you to bypass those requirements.
Cire qualified as a class upgraded fighter. Selene was above level fifteen and had the needed skills to boot even if she hadn’t chosen her class yet. He wasn’t sure about Fizz, but considering how fast the gnome had agreed to join up when asked, he guessed that meeting the requirements wouldn’t be an issue. He wondered how they were going to verify the prerequisite.
Approaching an open receptionist desk, Cire’s group formed a half circle around the open window. An elder moon elf with bone white hair and long bushy eyebrows peered at them through half-moon spectacles perched on his sharp nose. His nasally piercing tone disagreeably reproached them as he thrust a parchment into each of their hands.
“Prospective members need to fill out these forms and can only be seen at the first window.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you for letting us know.”
Cire led the group to a section of conveniently placed chairs for groups such as theirs lined up at the first window. There was a small line, but by the time they had filled out the basic intake forms with their identifying information like their names, class, level, and notable guild activity related skills their turn was up.
Beaming with a warm welcoming smile, this wood elf receptionist was an odd polar opposite of the previous. She was young with a bright smile and eagerly took each of their forms. With a supportive and cheery tone, she addressed their next steps.
“Welcome! Welcome to the Tempest Treetops Adventurer’s Guild Headquarters. Truth be told, we don’t really have any other facilities in the town, or the territory for that matter. But, that hardly matters. You all were able to write and fill out the form, wonderful. We will take each of you into the magical attunement room so that we can make an imprint of your mana signature and to prepare all of your badges.
“If you have a basic class then you will be a copper level adventurer. If you don’t have a class then you will simply be an initiate adventurer, unless you are fifty percent above the level and skills requirements for a given stratum. The stratum are copper, silver, gold, adamantine, and mithril. They match up with the class levels; basic, simple, advanced, complex, and intricate. An individual can only take on quests at their tier, but a party can take on quests one stratum higher than the highest level adventurer within the group. There are some exceptions, but no need to go over those today.”
Nodding along in agreement, Cire was pleased that everything he had asked about prior had now been relatively confirmed. So far everything was checking out. Still, he knew that each branch of the guild could deviate from these rules in minor ways. He didn’t want to be caught off guard.
“Will we be expected to swear any oaths? Do we need to be citizens of the Tempest Treetops to sign up at this branch?”
Shaking her head, the receptionists freckled cheeks creased further with her widening smile. “No, no. Well, yes, but not to the guild or the territory. You have to swear an oath that what you reveal is the truth, but nothing binding. We are not a military organization. While individual members may answer their territories or others calls to arms, the guild itself will not act.
“We are of the Ionian League, but we are not bound to any specific territory or house. Hence, whichever branch you take succor in, whether you be citizen, or not, it is of no consequence.”
The other elven clerkfrom before actually interrupted, his penetrating shrill tone cutting in its abrasiveness. “Bah, if your an adventurer here you better take heed when asked. The serpentfolk to our north and the banshee to our south will not differentiate between neutral adventurer or enemy civilian when they come. Skirmishes be one thing, but when it be territory against territory everyone must fight.”
“Do be quiet Gregorios. I am inducting new members into the guild. They can wait to hear your grouchy inane ramblings until afterwards.” The rosy receptionist, who Cire now realized they hadn’t gotten the name of, snapped. Not letting the other clerks dower mood get to her, she plowed ahead. “Now, which one of you wants to go first? Are you going to register everyone as a team immediately or do you need to wait?”
Fizz beat Cire to the front of the line and gave his thigh a light jab while walking through the door to the back. “I’ll go first. Someone has to make sure it doesn’t hurt too bad right? Besides, if I know Cire at all he’s got more questions to ask. And we are going to wait on registering as a team for a bit, we need to scare up another party member or two first.”
With Fizz departing alongside the friendly receptionist, Cire gave the room a quick scan before heading back to the quest posters. He did have more questions to ask, but he could wait for her to get back. Overall, the structure made sense to him. You would want a way to moderate the danger level individuals and parties could take on while encouraging parties of similar power levels to group together.
Currently, their group would be able to take on copper or silver level quests. Based on some of the notices that stuck out to him, and the various levels associated with them, that was an appropriate difficulty level. Even if they managed to wrangle a silver level adventurer into the party he doubted it would be wise to try a gold level quest. Still, there was a tremendous amount of range within each given quest tier.
Guild Quest Title: Bounty – Serpentfolk of Phobos
Condition(s): Slay the serpentfolk from the Jungle of Serpents to the north of the Shadowed Forest. Help defend the borders of the territory by striking back at the eternal aggressors, the followers of Phobos. Collect fangs of the fallen to provide proof of your accomplishment.
Rewards: 1 gold piece per fang, 1 uncommon magical item per 20 fangs, and 1000 experience points per 50 fangs provided by the guild per party. Experience points only provided to silver stratum guild members and below.
Guild Stratum: Silver
Guild Quest Information: Maps, Typical Skills, Common Magic Spells, and additional tactical information provided upon request.
Quest Offered By: The Tempestnight House
Do you Accept? Open Quest, no need to accept.
So, not being a military organization meant that while adventurers wouldn’t be ordered on missions or tasked with patrolling borders. Although, they could be incentivized to help out in a more general sense with an ongoing conflict. It wasn’t too surprising.
Cire didn’t really know enough about the serpentfolk to the north of the territory, but he hadn’t heard good things. Unlike the gnolls where there were some civilized exchanges of prisoners, the serpentfolk had a tendency to eat the satyrs and centaurs they captured. The elves were killed outright. It was hard to engage with a group that viewed you as food at best.
Guild Quest Title: Bounty – Stymphalian Gnolls
Condition(s): Slay the gnolls from the Stymphalian Swamp to the south of the Shadowed Forest. Help defend the borders of the territory by striking back at the eternal aggressors, the banshee’s pack. Collect fangs of the fallen to provide proof of your accomplishment.
Rewards: 1 silver piece per fang, 1 uncommon magical item per 50 fang, and 1000 experience points per 150 fangs provided by the guild per party. Experience points only provided to copper stratum guild members and below.
Guild Stratum: Silver
Guild Quest Information: Maps, Typical Skills, Common Magic Spells, and additional tactical information provided upon request.
Quest Offered By: The Tempestnight House
Do you Accept? Open Quest, no need to accept.
The very gnolls he had engaged with in question. The encounter had felt more unsettling by the day with the benefit of hindsight. Everything he had heard about the gnolls was that there were essentially unending raids into elven territory. However, what if there was more to the conflict? It was easier for the noble families to whitewash the fighting than to explain it in nuance. Cire felt like there was a larger mystery at play, but he didn’t have enough information to put the puzzle pieces together.
With a small chuckle he looked at the next poster and couldn’t help but remember their recent patrol. Honeydrop had been dead set to go and cause some mischief in the myrmekes colony. There was something about insects that bugged fairies and it carried over into their rivalry with pixies. If only the fairy was going to join up with them, this would be perfect.
Quest Title: Bounty – Cull a Myrmekes Colony
Condition(s): A myrmekes mound has been discovered to the west of the Tempest Treetops. Help regulate the numbers of the colony of dog sized ants before they overrun the local area and significantly disrupt the forest. Collect antennae of the fallen to provide proof of your accomplishment.
Rewards: 1 copper piece per antennae, 1 common magical item per 100 antennae, and 1000 experience points per 250 antennae provided by the guild per party. Experience points only provided to copper stratum guild members and below.
Guild Stratum: Copper
Guild Quest Information: Map to the colony and a basic information scroll on the beasts provided upon request.
Quest Offered By: Tempest Treetops’ Territorial Guard
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Do you Accept? Open Quest, no need to accept.
Cire thought that this quest might actually be a good first one to test themselves out with. The myrmekes were generally much lower level than themselves and the threat they presented was that of being a pest rather than an enemy. Depending on how many they could carry back to town, it might be possible to make a fair amount of coin. Gourmet dishes with the meat of the bugs sold for a fair amount at the various bars and restaurants in the Undergrowth.
Overall, these types of quests reminded him over the very first one he had undertaken when arriving in this wondrous, yet dangerous, world. Hunting down the boars and dire boars for Eugene and Stacy had been a strange, but also terribly mundane, way to start his adventuring life. Even if he was signing up now officially with a guild, his heart had always been on the path.
The next poster was interesting, not because Cire had any notions of taking on the quest, but because it spoke to the larger circumstances in the archipelago. Sometimes it paid to be on a backwater island at the fringe of all the action. Theophanes may be bored watching him, but larger threats were not poking around. Some adventure was too great to seek out at this time.
Guild Quest Title: Resist the Raiders
Condition(s): General call to report to an inner island guild hall to be assigned to a specific task. Prepare to resist incursions of the orc clans throughout the Ionian League. Large scale movement has been scouted in at least four of the clans.
Rewards: Variable, based on contribution
Guild Stratum: Copper through Mithril
Guild Quest Information: Adventurers will provide various services while the military troops are away from civilian centers. The orc clans raiding represent an existential threat to the Ionian League as a whole. If necessary, dispensation has been granted by the guild Council for quests involving limited military applications. Please talk with an inner island guild master for additional information.
Quest Offered By: Ionian League Ruling Council and the Ionian League Adventurer’s Guild Council
Do you Accept? Unable to accept at this branch, please inquire for additional information at the reception desks.
The next two quests Cire was interested in because of their connection with the Order of the Unbroken Grove. He had an agreement with Maisy to become a member of the Order of the Unbroken Grove. As an elven lord of a territory he should theoretically be able to petition for membership. However, he would prefer to get to know them before revealing he was the new lord of the Chimera’s Mane. Undertaking a quest in service to their druid sect would provide the perfect inroad.
Guild Quest Title: Curtail the Advancement of the Stymphalian Swamp
Condition(s): Beat back the over abundant blighted swamp growth on the southern border of the Shadowed Forest. Kill the blighted creatures and burn fungal blooms. Use gathering stones to store the blighted essence that is released when the overgrowth is destroyed. Fill five stones worth of essence.
Rewards: 10 gold per filled & returned gathering stone, 1 uncommon magical item per 10 stones filled and returned, and 1 minor blessing for a month with a minimum of 5 filled per party member.
Guild Stratum: Copper through Gold
Guild Quest Information: The local druid grove strives to contain the magically enhanced growth emanating from the Stymphalian Swamp. A particularly invasive fungal blight constantly spreads from the marshy domains. The grove requests assistance in maintaining balance along the territory border. Entry into the swamp is not required.
Quest Offered By: Tempest Treetop’s Druid Circle – Order of the Unbroken Grove
Do you Accept? No limit to the number of adventuring parties, no need to accept. Procure the stones from the guild quartermaster.
Cire liked that the quest did not explicitly require killing, and the animals they would be killing if they needed to were infected by a blight. The same with the next quest. These were the sorts of adventurers he wanted to go on.
Quest Title: Secure Wild Rainbow Asters from the Spine of the Island
Condition(s): Collect 5 or more Wild Rainbow Asters and return them undamaged to the guild.
Rewards: 1 Elixir of Hill Giant Fortitude (+1 to Constitution permanently) per five flowers collected and returned. Extra rewards provided for a flower plant with intact roots and appropriately stored still in good health. 10 gold per party member for per month of searching in the mountains.
Guild Stratum: Silver through Adamantine
Guild Quest Information: These rare flowers grow sporadically throughout the Spine of the Island near the snowline of the mountain chain. They bloom only under starlight during the summer months when fireflies are plentiful. The guild rating is due to the low threat level if harvested cautiously. However, their location, and the travel time to them, presents significant challenges to lower level adventurers. Caution is recommended. Meeting with the quest giver after acceptance required, only 5 parties can be active at any given time.
Quest Offered By: Tempest Treetop’s Druid Circle – Order of the Unbroken Grove Leader, Melany of the Night Oak
Do you Accept? Yes or No
Shaking his head, Cire sighed. There was little chance their newly formed party could attempt to take on the quest to hunt down the Wild Rainbow Asters. It was a large time commitment and it was too risky for them. Over his shoulder he caught sight of his gnome companion returning.
Sauntering back into the common room, Fizz thumbed his long nose and then yanked his hand back over his shoulder. “Chompy, you’re next, or Selene. Either way, I could use a smoke and an ale. Didn’t get much sleep, so I might as well keep the buzz going.”
Cire took a step towards the door that the gnome had just come out of, but he stopped when he felt a tug at the hem of his tunic. Looking back he was a little startled. Either he had been totally engrossed in reading the quest postings or this female satyr had some sort of stealth skill, because she was standing right beside him.
Still gripping the fabric of his shirt, the satyr tilted her head exaggeratedly causing her floppy ears to bounce past her twisting horns. The fur covering her goat legs was jet black, as was her short tail, hooves, and unruly mane of curly hair. A stained black leather top and green cloak covered her upper body. Dangling from one of her horns was a fist sized bulbous spider attached by a thick web only a few inches long. She had large doe like brown eyes, not goat-like at all.
Another tug pulled at his garment and Cire realized they had been staring at each other silently. Fizz, Honeydrop, and Selene all stayed quiet, watching the awkward interaction play out. It was a toss up as to which of the two would speak first, and the tension was building so dramatically that it was palpable. Tug, tug.
Cire couldn’t take it anymore. He realized he had been holding in his breath and he hurriedly let it out. His words came out clipped as he was out of air and speaking after only one rushed inhale. “Can I help you?”
A visible wink from Fizz to Selene showed that he had won the silent bet that had been placed with eye contact alone. Selene got up from her chair and went to the back room to get registered with a sour expression.
The satyr nodded silently and gestured with her head towards a booth. She still hadn’t spoken or let go of Cire’s tunic. It was both terribly creepy and oddly cute at the same time. Cire felt a constant pressure on his clothes as she led him over to the booth and he didn’t resist. His friends cruelly abandoned him to his fate as they went to seek out libations at the bar.
“You are forming a party?”
The words were so quiet that Cire leaned in towards her on reflex. He didn’t see any purpose in subterfuge. It wasn’t like he couldn’t reject her. He hadn’t expected to be approached so quickly though. Especially not by someone so clearly socially introverted. Maybe they stuck out more than he thought.
“That’s right. Came in today to register as adventurers for the first time. We have a few holes in our party composition. Are you looking to join one?”
The satyr nodded shyly and fiddled with a twisted wooden wand with a crystallized purple flower on the end of it.
Cire raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t exactly loquacious, and it was a painful conversation to be sure. However, she had gotten up the nerve to approach him. If he was going to lead an adventuring party then he would need to do his fair share of social heavy lifting. Having someone in the group so sheepish, goatish?, that she was having trouble speaking in relative private to a stranger wouldn’t be so bad. The spider was weird though.
“Hrmmm, okay. Do you have a name that you care to share? I’m Cire and the other two members of our group are Selene and Fizz. The elf and gnome I came in with, respectively.”
The satyr looked down at the table and pulled her cloak tightly around herself. The spider jostled in her horns at the movement, but settled back into a resting spot in her curls.
“Zoe”
Cire supposed that the satyr would largely remain a mystery if she did join up. If the most he could get out of her was one word responses, sometimes non-verbal ones at that, then it was going to be a while before he knew much about her. That didn’t matter too much, if he could count on her in battle then he or Fizz could handle the social scenarios.
“Copper or Silver stratum adventurer Zoe? We will all be coppers as far as I know. What is your class? Your role in a party?”
A small smile darted across Zoe’s expression, then she rifled through a large pouch at her side. She took out a crumpled and creased piece of parchment, and attempted to flatten it out on the table, before sliding it over to him. Cire was impressed that she had thought of a solution and a bit sad that she hadn’t found a party. It wasn’t hard to assume why the awkward, if a bit off, satyr hadn’t found a group yet.
Reading the text on the parchment made it clear that Zoe didn’t have a hard time communicating if given a non-verbal medium and some distance from the actual people she was communicating with.
“Hello! My name is Zoe Darkwine, Copper Adventurer. I am an aspiring druid and follower of Pan. Currently my class is acolyte. I have a small repertoire of Earth, Water, and Life spells. My familiar, Mr. Spooky, is the super cute black spider that is probably with me somewhere. He excels at scouting and stealth.
“We would make a great addition to a team that can keep us safe. We are looking for a party for the summer, or longer, to make coin, get experience, and build up a reputation. We do not have any specific reward or quest objectives.”
Cire couldn’t help but smile at the endearing introduction. It wasn’t how he would go about letting folks know what he brought to the table, but for Zoe it worked. He was completely taken in by her harmless, yet strange vibe. Besides, she would fill one of their needs nicely. Presuming she could provide some healing and supportive magic they only needed a front liner to round out their composition.
“I think we can probably work together Zoe, it’s nice to meet you. Now, let me introduce you to another member of our group, Fizzilius Coppersprocket, or Fizz for short. He’s the gnome over at the bar drinking with the fairy. I have a feeling that I am about to be called back for registration.”
Nodding so fast Mr. Spooky had to cling onto her horn with all of his legs, Zoe kept her eyes averted downwards and snatched the piece of paper off of the table. When they both stood up Cire could feel a tug on the end of his tunic again as the satyr latched on. He was sure at some point the habit would get annoying, but for the moment it was still quite childlike and disarming. After dropping Zoe off with Fizz and Honey, along with a round of introductions, he was indeed called to switch places with Selene.
Cora, the receptionist, was as friendly one on one as she was working with a group. She guided Cire through the process of meeting with a guild officer. The officer was another wood elf. She wasn’t curt, but it was clear she was busy, so the interview was brief and all business.
The officer had Cire swear to Pistis, the goddess of trust, honesty, and good faith, that he would be forthright with his answers. She recorded his class, his four highest skills, and took note of his abilities, both inherent and skill based. Cire wasn’t too sure what would happen if he fudged any details, but he wasn’t about to try. Whatever bane or divine geas that he would be afflicted by certainly wouldn’t be pleasant. If sharing some of his secrets was what it took to join up, he was ready. Besides, the guild needed to know some of these details, otherwise how would they know he qualified for certain quests? Or to sign up at all?
It actually took a bit longer for Cire to go through the process than Fizz and Selene. Primarily this delay was because the system for recording his vampiric and sun elf abilities was a bit more esoteric than the officer was used to. Satyrs, Centaurs, Fairies, Pixies, and other types of elves were common in the Tempest Treetops, but Cire’s odd mix may have never been seen before by the branch.
Cora clucked her tongue as she finished taking down his details and walked him back out to the lobby. “Everything seems pretty straight forward for you. You’re a copper level adventurer, but with your abilities you could probably fight up a level if needed, in single open combatof course. Well, if it’s melee combat. Anyone with range or magic is going to give you a hard time.”
Cire was about to ask how she had such an accurate assessment of his overall talents, but then it occurred to him that she was probably one of the more knowledgeable folks around concerning local adventurers and parties. She most likely had a keen eye, and if she had payed any attention to her job she would know how to asses people well. Correspondingly, she was likely one of the best people around to ask for advice.
“So, Cora, you’ve been in the interviews for each of my party members; Selene and Fizzilius. What do you think of our makeup so far? Anyone around you think we should ask to join up?”
Waving her hand back and forth in a so-so gesture, she stopped walking and paused before the door to the lobby. “You’re all copper level so far, even though Selene doesn’t have a class. She can engage from a distance, Fizzilius is a rogue, and you’re a fighter. You don’t seem like someone who can soak a lot of engagement though. Maybe keep a fair amount of opponents off guard or distracted, but without armor or a shield you’re not going to be blocking many doorways.
Tapping a finger to her lower lip, she puckered her lips in thought and then blew a stray hair out of her eyes. “Why did you sign up with the adventurer’s guild?”
Blinking, Cire realized that he hadn’t been asked that question yet. The guild officer had only taken down details and processed him. It couldn’t really have been called a conversation. He was signing up at entry level, and besides, there would be the auditor who accompanied them on their first trail quest to make sure the accounted for themselves appropriately. Without second guessing himself, he told Cora the truth, even if it was a little embarrassing.
“Recently I was training at the academy and we got a chance to go out on a chaperoned patrol mission with the teachers.” Cora sucked in some air through her teeth, but he kept going. “Sounds like you heard about it. Well, it didn’t exactly go to well. The thing is, it didn’t go too poorly either. It was a battle, and there wasn’t any nuance to it. I still don’t know why it happened except that two groups ran into each other in the forest.
“Anyways, it’s not only that. I want to make choices for myself, not be ordered to perform a task. I want freedom and to help others. From what I know, and from my experiences so far, being an adventurer checks those boxes. If I can make a decent living, advance my levels, and save up for some personal projects all the better.”
Nibbling on her fingernail, Cora listed intently. Then she caught herself and pulled her hand away from her mouth. “Good. You’ll meet all sorts of adventurer’s out there. Some of them really will not fit with your group. They are all about making as much gold as possible, or accruing as much power as they can. It does not matter what type of class the others you find are, or what skills they have, as long as they align with your values as a party.”
Cire was about to respond, and of course ask another question, but Cora pushed the door open and directed him into the lobby with a movement of her arm. He could see Fizz, Selene and Honey at the bar engaging with Zoe, well sitting with her. She appeared to be listening to their conversation, but not participating. Putting an arm around each Fizz and Selene, he gave them both a squeeze.
“So, we are all signed up and you got a chance to meet Zoe. What do you think of signing up for a trial quest as soon as possible? If there is an auditor available I would like to get out there tomorrow, and the four of us should be able to tackle an initiate level quest.”