Everyone had woken up early to the darkness of winter. Slowly setting about gathering their supplies and equipment.

Mark strapped on the breastplate with help from Francis. From there it was giving his axe a honed edge with a whetstone. The dungeon was probably going to be an enclosed space so he was practising a few short handed choked up swings with his grip up near the head.

Tim had all the camping equipment prepped last night. His time was spent thinking over the spells that were available to him. Paul had mentioned traps as being a staple of dungeons, so [Find Traps] was on there. The other thing was [Detect Magic], which might help them locate the entrance, if it was magical. [Cure Wounds] would probably always be something on the list. [Enhance Ability] did feel useful, [Lesser Restoration] even more so. And finally, [Guiding bolt] for something damaging.

Francis was muttering to himself about what they were going to do. He had kept his hard won knife razor sharp, his clothes had been given a magical wash thanks to Paul, and there wasn’t much left to do other than go collect the food that Greta had prepared for them last night.

Paul had been awake for hours already. He had six different spells prepared. As much as the big flashy damaging spells were, big and flashy, he knew a bit of utility went a long way. Tim had magical detection and traps covered, so he focused on things that would make encounters a breeze. [Sleep], and [Web] were going to be useful in keeping things controlled. [Mage armour] would keep people safe, and [Identify] would probably help in some way. Finally, [Burning Hands] and [Witch Bolt] were the dangerous options. The ‘red eyes’ the hermit spoke of didn’t sound friendly in the slightest.

The four were milling about in the common room. Their backpacks were loaded up and sitting by the door. Equipment was worn, weapons strapped to their bodies, and a certain type of energy was in them. They were about to set out on an adventure once more.

“Look at you lot.” Greta said from the kitchen doorway. “Like a proper group of adventurers you are.”

“We certainly feel like one.” Francis paced back and forth. “Just waiting for our guide to appear.”

Said guide, the hermit, took this opportunity to trudge into the common room. Their fur skin clothes looking no different than the first time they saw him, ruffled and matted. They looked grumpy.

The hermit looked around at the group. “I see you’re all ready to go. Good. Days a wastin’” They pushed past everyone to shove the front door open, dislodging a pile of snow in the process.

“We’ll be back in a week or so.” Francis told Greta as he loaded up his small pack. “Keep the lights on and all that.”

“Stay safe.” Greta gave a small wave as the four followed the hermit out the door.

They all walked through the cold winter morning as a huddled group. Dawn was starting to break over the horizon and light was creeping down the streets giving the snow covered streets a glitter.

“How is it so cold?” Francis chattered. “Feels like ice in my veins.”

Tim didn’t look bothered in the slightest. “You’ll warm up as we keep moving. Look at Paul there, he’s doing just fine.”

“Yeah well he’s got a fur coat.” Francis eyed the gray fur clad elf.

“It’s nice now.” Paul kept their eyes forward. “But come spring it’s going to shed.”

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Arriving at the guild didn’t take much longer. They spotted a warm glow coming from inside through the window. It seems the guild was open early today.

When they stepped inside Francis immediately moved towards the fireplace. Julia was behind the counter while Everett, Nelly, and Gary were sat at their usual table.

“Ah, glad you could finally join us.” Everett spoke with contempt. “I was told we’d be leaving early. I want to get this over with sooner rather than later.”

“Everett you quiet down now!” Julia raised her voice. “We’re already doing you a kindness by allowing you to tag along on this. We could easily have Nelly and Gary do this alone.”

Everett slouched and frowned deeply. Grumbling to himself the whole time.

“Do you all have everything you need?” Mark spoke mostly to Nelly. “This is a bit of a longer trip.”

“We’ll be fine.” Nelly patted her own pack. “The forest provides for the rest.”

“Then I see no reason not to get moving.” Mark gestured back towards the door.

“I’d like to say that staying here to get warm by the fire is a reason to stop moving.” Francis said over their shoulder.

“Catch up when you’re warm enough.” Was all that Mark said, and stepped out into the cold.

They walked.

First through the town towards the north gate.

They walked.

Through the formerly crop filled fields.

They walked.

Deep into the forest with snow covered branches.

There they had their first campsite.

“You know.” Nelly opened up with once they were fully set up. “I’ve been wondering this the past few weeks. Why do you speak differently now Paul?”

Paul choked on the hot drink he was sipping. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“No really, you used to have this really fancy way of speaking.” Nelly cocked her head to the side. “I figured you were one of those noble elf’s or something.”

“Oh that.” Paul brushed some microscopic mote of dust off the front of his robe. “I’ve been hanging around these people.” Gesturing to the three friends of his. “And working with a lot of the townsfolk. So I’ve adjusted how I speak to better fit in.”

“We’ll you’re fitting in just fine I would say.” Nelly poked the fire.

“That’s actually very kind of you to say.” Paul was moved.

“I wouldn’t bother getting friendly with them.” Everett stared past Paul into the forest. “I doubt they’ll come back from the dungeon. Probably get taken or something. What with how they probably cheated the bear. I don’t think they’re actually that strong.”

“God you don’t know when to quit.” Nelly scolded Everett. “This is why you’ve been stuck where you are for years now. And I was THERE you idiot, I SAW how they dealt with the bear, or did you forget that?”

Everett gave a sneer and retreated back to his tent.

Nelly blew air out through pursed lips. “Sorry about him. We’re stuck together for a little while longer. Didn’t use to be this bad, really.”

“So you three have been adventuring together for some time then?” Paul asked as he poured himself another cup of tea.

“Oh I suppose so.” Nelly averted her gaze. “We signed on for one of the extended tours as it were. Head to this little out of the way place, keep up the guild and surrounding area, and we’d get an easy rank up. Not much danger, not much excitement either. We were essentially assigned to each other.”

“Oh so you three didn’t know each other before that?” Paul kept prodding.

“We’ll me and Gary knew each other.” Nelly looked back at Paul. “But an [Archer] and a [Mage] don’t make much of a group. One close up encounter and we’re done for. So we asked for someone to be a front liner and Everett happened to be free at the time and willing to take on the assignment.”

“That’s not so bad I suppose.” Paul absently stroked his chin. “So once the tour is over, where would you go next?”

“Oh I was planning the Gildmoor adventuring academy. It’s up the coast a bit, on the moor’s as the name suggests.” Nelly gestured generally to the east. “You’ve got to have one of the acadamy marks on your plate if you want to take on anything higher than rank two. That’s when you get things like crown quests and that. Can’t have just any fool take those.”

“You know, you’ve given me a lot to think about.” Paul reached over to pat Nelly’s shoulder. “I’ll keep first watch for now. You get some rest. We should reach that Dungeon tomorrow after all.”

Nelly yawned. “You have my thanks.”

“Hey now, I’m the one with the fancy speech.” Paul pointed a finger gun at Nelly.

Nelly waved and turned in for the night within her own tent.

Paul had some thinking to do.