Tarri slowly closed the front door, wincing as the creaking hinges threatened to reveal her. She paused for a few moments before turning around and taking a deep breath of the salty air. It’s now or never, she thought, tightening the straps on her pack and slinking down the sandy streets towards the dock.
Upon arrival, she located a small fishing boat and tossed her pack inside. As she was untying the ropes, she noticed another figure standing at the docks. Tarri stopped. “Mother….”
“I know,” her mother said. She walked over and gave her a hug. “I wish you luck.”
Tarri held the embrace for a few seconds before stepping back. A tear fell down her cheek that she quickly wiped away. “Please ask Father not to be angry with me.”
Her mother nodded. Tarri finished untying the ropes and hopped in the boat. She pushed herself off the docks with an oar, and waved at her mother, who waved back. She smiled and began paddling. The journey to Nofronio was long, and she wanted to arrive as soon as possible.
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The first thing Tarri noticed as she pulled into the docks was the smell. Pulling into the docks, she immediately noticed that the smell was like her hometown - salty, but mixed in with all the funk of the urban port. She moored her boat to a wooden post and clambered onto the docks. Despite it being just after sunrise, the area was bustling with people. She poked her head up over the crowd to see where she needed to go, but there wasn’t any visible signage. She stretched, sighed, and strode into the city.
Nofronio, Tarri noticed, was quite the melting pot. She passed by several bakeries, each one smelling completely different. Elvish flatbread, dwarven seed loaf, gnomish pastries. She stopped at the window of a jewelry shop, a certain necklace catching her eye. She could tell that a human made the chain, based on the way the links were connected, but the main feature, a silver pendant with a large sapphire embedded in the center, had been made by her father, Yital. Their family brand had been intricately woven into the design. She somewhat regretted not saying goodbye to her father directly. It would be a very awkward reunion, should her aspirations fail.
Tarri moved on from the jewelry store and explored the city a bit more. She stumbled into the main plaza, in the center of which was a large fountain, with three stone dolphins swimming around each other, spurting water out into the pool below. Walking towards the fountain, she noticed a mosaic pattern on the ground; a compass rose, from what she could tell. Looking into the pool, she noticed several gold coins scattered across the bottom. She reached into her pouch, took out a gold coin of her own, and closed her eyes. She was about to throw it in when she paused, remembering she didn’t have that much. Putting the coin back in her pouch, she walked away from the fountain and looked up at the sky; the sun sitting directly above her. Noon already. Great.
Tarri asked around for directions and eventually weaved her way through the urban scrawl to her destination. She looked up at the big sign reading “Nofronio Adventurer’s Guild” and smiled. Finally. Walking inside, she noted she had never seen so many people gathered under one roof before. Her head throbbed from the cacophony of voices. She weaved her way through the crowded lobby and made it to the reception desk, where a small red-haired dwarf was sitting. Behind her was a large board with various papers pinned to it.
“Name?” the dwarf asked as Tarri approached.
“Tarri Phosh.”
The dwarf skimmed through a few binders. “You new?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Which company are you with?”
“Company? I’m not in a company yet.”
The dwarf raised her eyebrows. “Then why are you here?”
“For a job, obviously. Isn’t that what the adventurer’s guild is supposed to do, give jobs to adventurers?”
“To registered adventurers. And seeing as how you’re not registered, you’re not getting a job.”
“Well,” Tarri paused. “Fine then. How do I register as an adventurer?”
“You need to become a member of a company?”
“And how do I do that?”
“You don’t.”
“What?”
The dwarf sighed. “None of the companies are currently open to new members. You’re just going to have to come back later when there’s an opening and hope you can snag it before someone else does. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have others that need attending to.”
Tarri turned and saw a line of people forming behind her. After taking a few steps, she stopped and turned back around. “How do I start my own adventuring company?”
The dwarf stared at her. “What?”
Tarri rushed back up to the reception desk. “You said I need to be a part of a company to accept jobs, right? Well, if I start my own company, I would become recognized as a registered adventurer. So how do I start a company?”
The dwarf shook her head. “You're being absurd! You can’t just waltz in here and start a company! There’s a bunch of paperwork and fees and—”
“Is there a problem?” A man wearing a fancy robe said, suddenly appearing behind the dwarf.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
She turned around. “Ah, M-M-M-Mr. Cordell, what a surprise! I thought you had a meeting with the Archmage.”
“I did, but we finished up early.” He turned to look at Tarri and smiled. “Well, I’ll be! A Phosh, in my fine establishment.”
“You know I’m a Phosh? How?”
“The ears, lass. One is slightly more pointy than the other, a rather unique kind of birthmark.” He reached out a hand. “Jamison Marius Cordell, founder of the Nofronio Adventurer’s Guild, at yer service.”
“Tarri.” She shook his hand.
He nodded and glared at the dwarf, who sheepishly got off the chair. “Now, what can I help you with?” he asked as he sat down.
“I want to start my own adventuring company..”
“I see.” Mr. Cordell opened up a drawer and flipped through some folders. “You have any other members in mind for yer little company?”
“Umm…not yet.”
“I reckoned so.” He pulled out a file and placed it on the desk. The dwarven receptionist walked over to read the file and gasped.
“Mr. Cordell! That job is practically sui—”
He raised his hand, and she stopped. “Torgärd, if you'd kindly fetch the small chest in my office, that would be swell.”
“Y-y-yes sir, Mr. Cordell.” She hurried into his office.
“Now Tarri,” he said, “normally, a company needs at least three co-signers in order for it to be official. However, given yer family’s reputation, I’m willing to make an exception.” He pushed the file on the desk towards her. “This job is meant for a solid party of adventurers. If you can successfully complete it, you’ll be the proud owner of an officially registered adventurin’ company.”
Tarri looked down at the file. The faded writing on it was of a language unfamiliar to her. “I just have to complete this job? That’s it?”
“That’s it,” he said. Torgärd came back out of Mr. Cordell’s office, carrying a small chest, and heaved it onto the desk. He opened the chest and shuffled around inside, pulling out two small pouches, tossing one to the dwarf. “Yer free for the rest of the day. Tell the kiddos I said hello.”
“Ah, thank you, sir.” Torgärd took the pouch and fled out a back door.
“And for you,” said Mr. Cordell as he handed Tarri the other pouch. She looked inside and saw a decent amount of gold coins. “For anythin’ you might need to help you with yer job. Take this as well.” He said, pulling out a sleek-looking card, upon which was painted a series of concentric circles. “My personal card, use it only as a last resort, please.”
Tarri nodded. “It seems like you’re bending a lot of rules just to help me out.”
“Like I said, I trust in your family’s reputation.” He smiled. Tarri frowned, then left with the file and card. She only got halfway across the room when Mr. Cordell shouted, “Oh, one more thing!” She turned around. “I’ll need proof of completion, so yer gonna need to bring back some part of the creature, the head preferably. Best of luck!”
Tarri sighed and waved, then headed out of the building. She glanced at the file and card in her hand. Well, I guess I got what I wanted. It's time to find out what I've gotten myself into.
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Yellowed papers covered the table at the back corner of the Bird's Nest. Tarri leaned back in the booth, stretching her legs. It had been several hours of sorting through it all, barely finding anything readable, but she pieced together what the problem was. A husk, and a pretty old one at that. She had dealt with some husks before, but none as old as this. Why hasn’t anyone else taken care of this one yet? Surely someone else would’ve found it and reported it or killed it by now…
She shook her head. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter to her now. All that mattered was getting rid of it so she could start making a living as an official adventurer. Tarri took out her weapons and inspected them. A long curved sword and a small dagger, both of which she had forged herself out of Myconian silver, one of the strongest varieties out there. The overall quality of them wasn’t as good as her father could’ve done, but they were her first real successes she had in the forge.. She had decided to not use her family crest as a brand and created her own, a series of interlocking loops arranged in a circle, with three tiny heptagrams aligned vertically in the center. Tarri sighed, sheathed her weapons, and gathered up all the papers, putting them back in the file. She stuffed it into her backpack and exited the tavern.
It was time to kill the husk.
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Tarri wasn’t sure how long she had been traveling, but it was roughly midnight by the time she reached her destination, an abandoned house in the middle of the forest. The house would have looked nice if the wood hadn't rotted and moss hadn't covered it. Tarri carefully approached the house, readying her weapons, her hands shivering. She glanced quickly to her left and right twice, in case the house was a decoy and the husk would launch a sneak attack from the shadows of the forest.
She had barely refocused on the house itself, however, when the front door came flying at her with alarming speed. Her body seemed to move on its own, attempting to throw herself out of the way, but she wasn’t quick enough. The lower portion of the door clipped her left leg, sending her spinning to the ground. Tarri attempted to stand up, but winced when she put her weight on it. She looked up and saw a massive humanoid silhouette standing in the doorway, its eyes a blazing red. Her eyes widened, her breathing rapid. She attempted to compose herself and stand up again, but she stumbled back down to the ground.
Tarri heard footsteps slowly approaching. Each one felt like it shook the ground beneath her like a minor earthquake. Move, damnit. Move! She pushed herself up with all her might, screaming in pain, launching herself up, teetering slightly backwards. As she got herself in some manner of battle stance, she looked at the husk and got a clearer view of the monster. An impossibly muscular giant, draped in what remained of a set of heavy armor. Long gray hair flowed freely in the chilly wind, his body and face covered in scars. Every fiber of her being was telling her to run, but she remained as the husk moved closer and closer. Waiting for him to get close enough, she bent her legs, trying to not focus on the pain in her left one. She adjusted the grip on her weapons, her hands damp with sweat. She was going to go straight for the heart. One powerful stab. It was her best plan, and she hoped it would suffice.
The husk took one more step, and Tarri launched herself forward, aiming the tips of her weapons directly at the chest. The monster held its right hand up, letting it get stabbed by the weapons. He then closed his fist and flung his arm around, causing Tarri to lose her grip and fly into the forest. Her body hit a tree with such force it left a small dent in the wood and knocked the wind out of her. She turned her head to the side painfully and locked eyes with the husk as it approached her once again, her weapons still embedded in his hand. Frantically, she rolled off her backpack and rummaged through it to find something she could use. Gold, no. Files, no. Fuck! She remembered the other item Mr. Cordell gave her. She renewed her search with fervor as the husk lumbered ever closer. After a few moments, she finally found it. Please do something, anything!
Tarri held up the sleek-looking card, and it illuminated a blinding light. She covered her eyes with her other hand as the light enveloped everything around her. The husk shielded his eyes as well. Suddenly, the light dissipated, and she was gone.