Dawn.
A time of day symbolising the new beginning of yet another day as the first ray of light announces the rising of the sun behind the horizon. A time the people who are fearing the darkness of the night desperately hope for. A time where nightmares are forced to retreat as they were once again unsuccessful in their hunt and their harvest was once again disturbed by the awakening of their victims. At least most of the nightmares are unsuccesful or return as soon as the sun starts to rise. There exist those that seek to slumber for just a little bit longer than the early dawn, the ones which are haunted by nightmares even in the warm light of the sun and the most unfortunate ones whose life itself turned into a nightmare. All of them prove to be a valuable target for the nightmares.
Just like little Violet that just awoke from one of them once again.
With the first ray of light falling through the window Violet arose from her slumber. Clutching her pendant in one hand she slowly sat up and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. The sweat clinging to her made her body glisten in the sunlight while she looked around her room. Her bed, now drenched in sweat, stood in a corner in front of the only window her room had. Right next to it was a small nightstand with her sword leaning to it. On the oppsite side of the window stood a table with two chairs and a small wooden basin. Her armor pieces were still lying on the table after she cleansed them last evening. On the side to the right from the window stood a closet with the few pieces of clothing she had as well as her bag with the rest of her things. Right next to the closet was the door leading to the rest of the inn she currently stays in. Having calmed down enough Violet looked out of the window to take a look at the city. With the rising sun at the horizon and the chirping of birds that made the city their home in the background the people of Elderwoods begun roaming the streets. People running a bakery went ahead and started production for the day, merchants opened their shops and looked at their inventory, restaurant owners and inn workers got ready to make breakfast for their patrons and the guards took over the positions of the night shift allowing them their well earned rest.
Redirecting her gaze back into her room Violet got ready for the day. Washing herself with magically created water and putting on a dark-blue shirt combined with black pants and boots she left her room and entered the reastaurant in the ground floor of the inn. As it was early morning the inn was almost full with guest but there was still an empty table in the corner for her. As she sat down a waitress appeared and brought her the breakfast she ordered last night. Fried egg on bread, some dried meat and a beer. Of course nothing is better than being able to enjoy a good breakfast in the morning while you don’t have to worry about anything.
…But this is a work of fiction so let’s fulfill some cliches. Like having someone disturb our beautiful little heroine first thing in the morning. Something nobody likes before they didn’t have their equivalent of a morning coffee.
„Really now? Already drinking even though it’s only early morning?“
Sitting down on her table was a man with brown hair and blue eyes with a smirk on his lips. He’s dressed in a white shirt combined with a black cloak and pants. In his hand he held a smoking pipe and a walking stick leaned against the table right next to him. „What are you doing here Jones? Don’t you have a shop to open?“ Violet asked while eating.
„You are most certainly correct, my dear Violet, but I heard you are back in town so I would rather greet an old friend and valuable customer than open my shop early.“ Jones put the smoking pipe in his mouth and inhaled some smoke before letting it out. „And I also wanted to ask how it went. Let me guess. Another nightmare and still not a single clue regarding your parents?“
Violet took a sip of her beer before shaking her head „Absolutely nothing. No name, no appearance, no description. Nothing! The elves renowned for their magic are unable to identify my pendant, they even wanted to lock me up like a experiment as it seems like I break every single Rule of magic. The dwarfs and the gnomes were unable to find anything about the methods used to make the pendant. The records of the dragons do not account for the common folk and every important being that is recorderd is either dead or non-human. The spirits do not even care about things happening in our realm. I was even asking for the help of a succubus, a witch and every other dreamwalker or mind goblin available but no one found anything wrong with my memories or was capable of finding something in my dreams.“ Releasing a sigh and she leaned back and stared at the ceiling. „I would now even believe if someone told me I just appeared out of nowhere. I have no idea what I should do now.“ Jones listens intently while he seems to be deep in his thoughts. „i literally tried everything I could think of, Jones. I reached the goddamn dead end of this search and I find it so frustrating. I searched for as long as I am working as an adventurer and that is ten years. Ten long years filled with one failure after another. I have not a single clue that I could follow and I… I…“ Small tears started forming in Violet’s eyes. „I’m frustrated, angry and empty, old friend. So, do excuse my drinking in the morning as this is the only thing calming me down.“ Having finished her breakfast she stood up and put some copper coins on the table. „If you’ll now excuse me I still have a life to live even though there is nothing worth living for.“ With these words she left him alone at the table, went back to her room to put her armor on and took her sword before leaving the inn. „I should probably visit the guild. Some quests to beat up some monsters might help release some frustation.“
With that thought in mind it took only a few minutes before she stood in front of the guild. A moderately big building made completly out of stone. A few pillars made out of marble were partially fused with its walls and banners with the guild logo hung on both sides of the entrance door. Before even entering visitors of the adventurer‘s guild are greeted by the sound of laughter that reached out to the street in front of the building and the sight of groups of armored people of all kinds of races leaving or entering through the front ddoor. Upon entering the lobby of the guild you can make out three different areas filled with people. On the left side of the entrance was the bar of the guild. An area for the adventurers to enjoy some drinks, take a break or sit down with their party and make plans for their respective hunts or quests. In a corner in the right side was the quest area. A board hanging on the wall with various posters with quests written on them and some guild workers who are known as „quest master“ as their job is to help adventurers with finding quests, recommend quests or accept new quests that are then posted on the board. On the wall opposite the entrance is the reception area. Here adventurers can report their success in quests or failure should it happen, receive rewards or a promotion in rank. The reception is also responsible for giving information to everyone that inquires about various subjects or registering new adventurers. Something else that‘s available for members of the guild are training grounds, a library and a dismantling service with a transportation service should you be unable to transport your prey by yourself.
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Upon entering Violet immediatly went to meet a receptionist.
„Ah, miss Violet! It’s a pleasure seeing you again.“
Sitting behind the desk and greeting her with a smile was a young elf. This young woman with her long blond hair, green eyes and always a smile on her face is known as the chief receptionist of the guild. Her job is the supervision of the receptionists, planning their shifts and the recruiting or firing of receptionists among other things. As chief receptionist she has too much work and thus her service for adventurers is restricted to special cases. For example a high ranking adventurer like Violet.
„It’s good to see you again too, Selfiya. And as much as I would like to talk with you I’m here for two things.“
„Ah, of course. So, how can I help you?“
„First, I do not know if you are already informed about this but John got attacked by a juvenile boulder bear in the outskirts of the dark forest. I wanted to inquire about other strange or uncommon encounters that happened. Second, I want a quest to release some frustratrion. Can you recommend some for me?“
Nodding her head Selfiya answered while looking through a pile of papers sitting on her desk.
„Regarding John, I already met him this morning but I didn’t know about the bear. It would explain why he didn’t come to work yet. About your inquiry, there weren’t many entering the dark forest but we have reports of higher monster activity outside the forest and in our surroundings. So, if you really want a quest we would appreciate it if you took a scouting mission to investigate the cause of this.“
Rubbing her forehead with one hand, Violet frowned for a few seconds.
„I’m not really good at scouting but it’s better than nothing so might as well. Can you recommend an area I should look into?“
„Already a step ahead of you.“ Pulling out a map of the city and its surroundings the receptionist laid it out on the table between the two of them. „As you already know, to the north and north-east of the city is the dark forest and behind it the mountains known as the Titan’s crown. But except John’s encounter we do not have any reports from this area so we won’t send you there.“ Pointing on the map Selfiya continues. „Our entire westside is a giant grass land known as the green sea. No trees or mountains but a few hills and a river are the only change in the environment this place has. The road you took to travel back here goes to the north-west of the city and acts as line between the dark forest and the green sea. And direct to the south of the city are a few acres of farmland. But after that we have a mix of forests and swamps. The east is covered by a small mountain range that reaches from the dark forest in the north-east down to the giant lake in the south-west.“ Drawing a line on the map with her finger she finished. „Places with the most reports would be the area around the mines in the mountains to the east. But we also get reports from the green sea or attacks on the road that connects us to the next city a three days trip south from here. So, the choice is yours, Miss Violet.“
Thinking about her choices Violet stares at the map before pointing on an area. „I will go and scout this area. The monsters that live in these kind of places are quite a challenge for lower ranking adventurer, even if they travel in groups. But I still need to prepare some things so if you’ll excuse me I need to go shopping.“
„I wish you a succesful hunt, dear adventurer, and may you find whatever you’re looking for.“
Stepping outside the guild building Violet starts walking back to the inn to get her bag while she makes a mental list of everything she needs to buy. „A small lantern with a chain to bind it to my hip, a flintstone to make fire, a piece of cloth that works as a mask, a few rations to feed myself, a rope for emergencies, an axe might be helpful, something that works as bandages, three healing potions, maybe a few pieces of parchment or paper and something to write. Hmm, did I forget anything? A knife is not needed as I have one and my waterskin just needs to be filled again. Ah, a whetstone! Always prepare for your blade to lose its sharpness“ Mumbling to herself she arrives at the inn, takes her bag with everything she already has for the hunt and walks in direction of the shopping district.
First stop on the list the only shop in town that has everything a alchemist would want. It’s for that reason the shop is called „alchemist’s paradise“. Stepping inside the customer is greeted by a calming smell coming from some herbal tea the owner is always brewing. The shelves on the walls are filled with various herbs stored in glasses, baskets or tied into a bundle and hanging from the ceiling. There are rows of small bottles and vials filled with different colored liquids. Some are red, others blue and some others are a disturbing looking mix of colors wich give of some kind of smoke. Sometimes if you look close enough you can see the smoke forming skulls. Behind the counter of this shop you find a bookshelf filled with knowledge regarding herbs, their uses and how to grow them. Sitting on a chair behind the counter is the owner of this place. An elderly woman drinking some tea.
„Good morning, Martha. I see you still use your little aroma trick on your customers.“
Martha looks up from behind the counter and puts her tea down. „Yes, I do and using hallucinogenic herbs to make people lose some of their decision-making capabilities so that they calm down while in here is my right as the owner, Violet. And it doesn’t matter how often I see them but your eyes always make a cold shiver run down my back. So, what are you here for today?“
Putting a handful of silver coins on the counter Violet asks. „Could you give me three health portions? And do you have bandages or herbs I can use them with?“ Martha walks to shelves on the side of the wall and starts grabing some vials. „No bandages, my dear, but I have some healing paste that you put on the wound before using the bandages. From your purchase I can guess you are about to go out to hunt some monsters so I will give you an antidote in case you meet something.“
Receiving the goods Violet puts them into her back before thanking Martha and hearing towards a blacksmith to buy whetstone and axe before going to her last stop, the adventurer general supply store. It’s range of goods is catering solely to adventurers and has basically everything you might need on a monster hunt or scouting mission. Except of course common sense, a medicine against idiocy, your ideal partner or anything helpful against the scum of humanity. I would like to add to the list a monster girl maid servant but this story takes place in a fantasy world so of course you can buy a monster girl slave and turn her into a maid. Luckily, slavery is allowed but severely restricted and regulated and slaves have several protections in case someone finds a loophole and we all now someone will find one.
Back to Violet who already exited the store while I was talking.
Having now aquired everything she needed she left the city through the gate and started Walking to her destination. Time for some monster hunting in the mines.