In the depth of a low-level dungeon on the outskirts of the village of Emberdale amidst the sounds of steel clattering and bones rattling, a woman’s muffled voice would fill the air. “Jesse!” However, the one it was directed at, her mind was occupied by something completely different than the situation at hand as she was currently busy looking at her status.
“Jesse!” The information screen currently open within her mind’s eye was taking all of her focus, looking over her current well-being… Well, that wasn’t completely true, as she was looking over her current quest’s rewards.
“JESSE, FOR FUCK SAKE!” The high-pitched screech finally sent Jesse Darkin, the level 4 Divine Priestess out of her stupor, closing down the status screen, only to see a plated gauntlet moving straight toward her face... SMACK!
You’ve been hit by a blunt force, suffering 19 damage.
You are unconscious.
The one wearing said glove was her party member, A hulking woman reaching up to 2,10meters in height and 180kilo in weight without any armour, the muscular half-orc, sporting the role of level 6 Berserker, Raina Grimfist. looked down at the now unconscious companion “Fucking useless as always” she’d snarled loudly, baring her teeth before turning around to look at the enemies, that she had just been in combat with.
2 piles of bones littered the floor, scraps of clothing and armour in between the boney mess along with 3 rusty shortswords. The 2 skeletons that Raina had been fighting to keep her healer safe had gotten the better of her when one of them drew its secondary sword and started to dual-wield the shortswords, increasing its rate of attacks significantly.
The Berserker role was a melee-focused one, it particularly focused on sustained damage by brutally battering the enemy with one attack after the other, never giving them a chance to think or recover. They also possessed a large amount of vitality, however, their natural regeneration and armour were pitiful.
The burning rage that boiled in their inner soul, allowed them to fully engross themselves into the whirling tornado of steel and blood that never seemed to slow down despite their wounds, in fact, their focus, strength, and speed increased as their vitality decreased.
Berserkers never allowed their bodies to recuperate and the heavier armour of other melee-oriented roles, such as the Paladin or Knight was simply too restrictive for the reckless berserker’s movements. Only a truly violent persona or raving lunatic with a death wish would choose berserker as their role... But in reality, Raina was both, although the wish wasn’t HER death, but everyone else who stood in her way.
As such the Half-orc berserker was taken by surprise as the undead suddenly gave up all defensive strategy and lunged at the orc with two weapons, pummeling into her towering body.
You’ve been hit by a slashing attack, suffering 23 damage.
You’ve been hit by a slashing attack, suffering 21 damage.
You’ve been stabbed in the back, suffering 43 damage.
The sudden onslaught of attacks allowed the skeletons to surround her and filled her body with wounds which seemed to only anger her further as she began to unleash heaving blows. One after another the blows landed upon the frail skeleton, shattering the magic that bound its skeletal body together with a massive strike of her heavy battle-axe.
You’ve been stabbed in the back, suffering 42 damage.
You’ve been afflicted with Tetanus.
This message caused her to roar out for aid from her healer, who was currently standing in the back of the room with a dumb smile plastered on her lips.
As Raina began to engage the other skeleton who was still only wielding 1 sword, which it occasionally managed to stab and slash the towering brute with, causing yet more damage to her dwindling health pool. Unbeknownst to the dungeon-borne undead, it was only hastening its demise as the berserker’s blows became all the more fierce.
Exactly 12 seconds later, she cleaved the second skeleton through the spine, causing the magical binding to shatter, promptly turning the undead, dead… Letting out a frustrated growl she stashed the axe onto her back and walked toward her backline ‘aid’ and unceremoniously punched her plainly in the face.
However it didn’t last much more than a couple of seconds before Jesse regained consciousness and her eyes shot open again, the growing pain in her forehead causing her to instinctively reach up to hold a palm against her head.
“Awh, fuck sake Raina, Point taken.. alright?” She sat up and performed a quick circular gesture with her hands then raised them into the air and let out a quick mantra “Renewing light!”. As the words were spoken her hands were engulfed in bright light which expanded around Jesse’s body.
You’ve been renewed by divine energy, healing 3.
You’ve been renewed by divine energy, healing 4.
You’ve been renewed by divine energy, healing 4.
You’ve been renewed by divine energy, healing 3.
The healing spell miraculously began to fill the priest’s health pool, but the trickle of red liquid dripping from her nostril had to heal itself over time.
“Are you for real, Jesse?! You barely took any damage! so how about you do your damn job and heal ME before I ditch your sorry ass and find another healer”. The berserker lashed at her, tone full of spite.
Considering her bruised body was leaking blood constantly and she had several deep gashes covering her light-green skin, her health pool was getting relatively low but not quite life-threatening.
Jesse simply rolled her green eyes and performed a similar but vaguely different set of hand gestures before holding it out toward the half-orc “Cleanse! Healing word!” Jesse would let out two spells in rapid succession after performing the necessary gestures.
Your body has been renewed!
You are no longer afflicted by Tetanus
You’ve been renewed by divine energy, healing 120.
The Half-orc let out a sigh of relief as she felt the contagion burn away from her body and her health-pool was back at a respectable level. She’d continue to move down the dungeon’s long corridor, Jesse simply reached down to wrap her fingers around her staff’s handle and stood up, wiping her nose clean of blood and mumbling to none in particular. “Asshole…” then followed the green-skinned brute into the depths of the tomb.
As she followed Raina down the dingy corridor, she remembered why she had grouped up with the moronic meathead of a berserker in the first place.
She absolutely hated the green tower’s arrogant attitude, her temperament, and that infuriating tendency to get herself hurt all the fucking time. It was starting to grate the priestess’ mood, was she trying to get hurt simply to spite her healer?
Back when she originally had picked the Priest role a few weeks back, she was told she would be capable of decimating her enemy with divine flames and holy magic, what the preachy teacher had failed to tell the green-eyed newbie adventurer, was that those spells were not available until the mid-levels of the priestess job.
This was the only reason she was in here with her partner... To get levels, to increase her power to a point where she’d be able to stand on her own without a brutish babysitter.
Speaking of which...
You’ve discovered the Antechamber of the Revenant tomb
You’ve gained 15 Experience.
Congratulations, you’ve reached level 5, Wisdom increased by 2, Intellect increased by 2, constitution increased by 2.
Now that was a pleasant surprise to be sure, it had been several days since she last leveled up, unfortunately, she wouldn’t unlock any new skills or spells til she’d reach level 10, but that was fine, as long as she kept advancing and didn’t end up getting herself killed, she was sure that she’d eventually be able to get to the appropriate level to dish out some divine justice.
“Jesse, up ahead” the hulking half-orc whispered over her shoulder as she reached for the battleaxe clinging to her back, “That right there is the ticket to the quest completion”.
She smiled at the priestess her mood had brightened up significantly considering that combat would be coming up shortly, Jesse looked between the orc and the creatures in the distance.
Two skeletons rattled silently in the open and between them was stood a hooded figure with its back to them, its robe was black with a large crudely drawn skull on it, its frail hands were pale and sickly looking as they were making intricate hand gestures, much like Jesse had been doing earlier but these were very different, that was to be expected of course, as they were using an entirely different school of magic, for this person was a Necromancer.
Looking into her mind’s eye, Jesse confirmed that this was the goal of their quest.
The Revenant Tomb
Difficulty: ⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
Quest issuer: The Ironheart coalition of Emberdale.
Objective: Slay 23/25 undead minions in the Revenant tomb
Slay 0/1 Necromancer in the Revenant tomb
Quest rewards: 25 gold pieces & 50 Experience
The screen of information surging through her head was the bread and butter of an adventurer’s job, Quests.
The concept in itself was relatively straightforward, whenever someone wanted a thing done, be it assassination, gathering supplies, or simply wanting to hire a bodyguard, they’d set up a quest inquiry with a nearby establishment within a city.
This particular quest was picked up by Raina and Jesse in the Ironheart Coalition’s tavern in the city of Emberdale, the difficulty rating was a meager 1 out of 10 stars, meaning it was deemed very easy and suitable for beginner adventurers, such as the two women currently squatting in the dungeon.
Once the quest objective was completed, they’d have to return to the tavern to turn it in with the guild for their reward, but right now they had another matter at hand, as Jesse had now confirmed that this indeed was the target they were here for.
Jesse nodded to the berserker “Let's go get it done then” She smiled as she began to move her hands in a certain circular motion and raised them again, fixating her mind on Raina “Renewing Light!”
The berserker felt the divine energy envelop her body, slowly healing her body over time, The supportive magic came just in time as Raina had just reached the pack of skeletons, who already had raised their rusty weapons into the air, ready to strike at the reckless berserker.
The Necromancer continued his unholy chanting as the deathly minions had both raised their shields to halt the berserker, who had just rushed into their weapons, only for her wounds to instantly mend and close before the skeleton’s non-existent eyes.
These skeletons were out-leveled and hopelessly outmatched on their own against the adventuring party, this was made abundantly clear to them as one of them was struck by the half-orc’s colossal battle-axe, the bone-splinters erupting from the now twice deceased monster, embedding themselves in the half-orc’s flesh.
The truly horrific sight of the blood-drenched berserker smiling despite the pain was both awe-inspiring and sickening.
Jesse raised from her squatting position and performed the routine gestures to complete a healing incantation, her focus directed onto Raina. “Healing wor-..Agh!” she’d scream in pain as a cloud of eldritch energy invaded her mind, causing her spell to fizzle out.
Your mind has been devastated, suffering 51 damage.
You’re stunned for 3 seconds.
The ceaseless torment of having her mind so thoroughly scrambled left her in an incapacitated state, trapped in her own body as it tried to recuperate from the mental assault, the perpetrator of these vile actions against her less-than-pristine mind, was the necromancer who had finished his chanting and turned around to engage the adventurers.
A horrendous being of arcane might, the Necromancer’s face was sickly pale, loose skin dangling from his cheeks as the rotted corpse he occupied was indeed, one of undeath.
His black eyes showed no remorse, his yellowed teeth and beastly fangs on full display as his frail hands moved about with grace and dedication unmatching his decrepit appearance.
“Shadow bolt!” his voice rang out as a solid matter of darkness erupted from his hands, careening toward Jesse’s debilitated head, only to have a mass of green-skinned muscles sidestep into the shadowy mass of darkness.
“ARGGH!” Raina screamed in pain as the dark mass clung to her body before erupting, blasting a chunk of flesh from her stomach.
You’ve been torn apart by eldritch magic, suffering 170 damage.
You’ve been renewed by divine energy, healing 4.
Jesse’s healing magic does little to fix the searing pain in her chest before the remaining skeleton’s rusty sword sinks into her back.
You’ve been stabbed in the back, suffering 41 damage.
This caused Raina´s health pool to get dangerously low, her breathing slowing down somewhat before she let out a primal screech from the bottom of her unbridled soul, her skin glowing with a soft red hue as her wounds closed with frightening speed.
“Second wind!” she’d scream before she hurled her axe through the corridor, pinning the necromancer to the wall, his deathly wail filled the antechamber
Meanwhile, the previously destroyed skeleton’s bones started to shift and shake before reassembling itself, picking up its rusty sword and shield, it began to stagger towards Raina, only to then have its skull unceremoniously grabbed, and ripped from its spinal cord.
Raina hurled it toward its ‘friend’ causing them to drop to the floor. “Jesse, I could use some help here!” she breathed heavily as the defensive effect of the second wind’s short period was running out rapidly.
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“You got it! Keep him locked down!” Jesse who had just returned from the mind-blast-induced coma began to move her hands with practiced accuracy before exclaiming firmly. “Healing word!”
You’ve been renewed by divine energy, healing 129.
As Raina’s body once again swelled with vigor, she’d rush toward the Necromancer who had just removed the axe from his chest and had stood up, and then she struck the necromancer with her bare fist. “UPPERCUT!” She uttered a mantra of her own as her fist glowed with an ominous red light before moving forward in an upward arc with near-blinding speed, colliding with the necromancer’s jaw and sending him flying backward into the altar he was using to practice his rituals.
'Crack!' The Stone altar’s corner snapped off as he was bent backward over it, his spinal column showing obvious signs of trauma, the necrotic energy coursing through his body helped him surpass the bodily restraints of having one's spine snapped as he placed a hand onto the altar and began to push himself back up.
He spat toward Raina, the dark-red globule of blood and spit landing on the ground before he began to cackle, maniacally.
Jesse starred in abject horror at the macabre display of the bloodied, half-rotten man laughing in the face of death, who would willingly and knowingly commit such atrocious acts to their body and soul?
The answer she arrived at was simple, plain, and completely understandable from the perspective of an adventurer; Power.
Whether physical prowess, Mystical might, or political influence, every adventurer, king, and villain sought it, there was of course the complacent farmers and craftsmen, who were content with their daily routine without much change, far away from the glorified hunt of monsters and warring of kingdoms.
However, right now in the Depths of the Revenant tombs, within the antechamber of the Necromancer’s lair, no such people existed... Only adventurers and monsters.
“Gwahaha” the bloodied lips of the necromancer curled up into a devilish smile and he began to chant ominous words, dark energy began to form in the palms of his hands-... Raina swept her leg across his to knock him to the floor, with a wet thud.
The back of his head collided with the stone floor and began to leak the darkened sanguine fluid before Raina’s plated fists began to pummel into his still-laughing face. Over and over... And over.
The Revenant Tomb (Complete)
Difficulty: ⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
Quest issuer: The Ironheart coalition of Emberdale.
Objective: Slay 25/25 undead minions in the Revenant tomb
Slay 1/1 Necromancer in the Revenant tomb
Quest rewards: 25 gold pieces & 50 Experience
The message popped up within Jesse's Mind’s eye, bringing her mind away from the morbid scene before her eyes, her pretty lips curled up into a satisfied smile.
Another quest, another bit of experience, and more loot, all in all, it had been a productive day.
“Raina, The quest is done!” she’d call toward her partner who was still caving the ex-necromancer’s face as if it was a punching bag.
“Alright then, let's get out of here, top me off will you?” She’d look over her shoulder before standing up and going to pick up her battle-axe from the floor.
“Oh, right-... Healing Word!” Jesse once again chanted the mantra, restoring Raina’s body to peak condition before they left the gloomy corridors the way they came from.
The footsteps of the large woman echoing against the stone walls broke the otherwise silent march until Jesse looked up at the Half-orc. “Good job with the Necromancer…” she said timidly and bit her lip.
“Hmm, ye” Raina replied dryly. That was the typical sort of answer Raina gave her when she wasn’t scolding her for ‘Being a bad healer’, this was why Jesse hated to converse with her partner in the first place.
The footstep-filled silence continued for some awkward moments as they retraced their steps back out of the dungeon, Jesse tried once more.
“What are you gonna do with your 12,5 Gold pie-...”
“15” Raina interrupted Jesse.
Jesse opened the quest within her mind’s eye to double check, 25.. yep, It definitely said 25 gold for the quest completion!
Jesse put on her scholarly voice as she attempted to explain the situation to Raina.
“The quest reward is only 25 gold pieces, not 30 So split evenly between us it would be 12,5 to each of us”. The young priestess looked up at Raina with a satisfied smile on her lips.
Raina abruptly stopped up and grabbed the smaller human by her shoulders, lifted her off the ground, and held her against the wall, scowling at her. “You get 10, and I get 15 for carrying your sorry ass through this quest, you’re lucky I even give you ANY reward, seeing as you’ve been slacking throughout this entire ordeal”
Jesse looked into the Half-orcish eyes and went her body stiff, the breath within her lungs grew stale from terror as she began to hyperventilate and then nodded…”Y-Y-Yes, Raina”
‘Thud!’ She’d grunt softly as her plush backside landed on the cold stone floor.
“Ugh..” she stood up and rubbed her rump sorely and began to walk after Raina, who had already started down the corridor. “Fucking asshole” she quietly mumbled as began to internally count the amount of experience she needed before she could ditch Raina and start to adventure on her own.
The echoes of their footsteps resonated through the damp corridors as they made their way back to the dungeon entrance. Jesse's mind wandered, contemplating the events that had just unfolded. Despite her frustrations with Raina's demeanor, she couldn't deny the effectiveness of their partnership in combat. But the constant belittling and unequal treatment grated on her nerves like sandpaper against her skin.
As they emerged from the darkness of the dungeon into the fading light of dusk, Jesse felt a sense of relief wash over her. The open-air was a welcome reprieve from the claustrophobic confines of the underground labyrinth. She took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the crisp evening air, trying to shake off the tension that still lingered within her.
Raina marched ahead, her massive frame cutting through the twilight like a shadowy sentinel. Jesse hurried to catch up, her footsteps quickening as she tried to keep pace with the hulking berserker. She couldn't help but feel a pang of resentment towards her companion, but she knew better than to voice her frustrations aloud.
They walked in silence for a while, the only sound accompanying them the rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze. Jesse stole glances at Raina from the corner of her eye, studying the half-orc's stoic expression. Despite her outward appearance of indifference, Jesse couldn't help but wonder what thoughts lurked behind those piercing green eyes.
As they approached the outskirts of Emberdale, the familiar sight of the village lights twinkling in the distance greeted them. Jesse's heart swelled with a mixture of relief and anticipation. Home was within reach, and with it, the promise of rest and respite from their arduous journey.
But even as they neared the safety of the village walls, Jesse couldn't shake the feeling of unease that gnawed at her insides. The events of their quest replayed in her mind like a haunting melody, each note a reminder of the dangers that lurked in the shadows.
As they finally reached the gates of Emberdale, Jesse let out a sigh of relief. The familiar sight of the village guards standing watch filled her with a sense of security. She exchanged a nod with the guards as they passed through the gates, grateful for their silent vigilance.
As they made their way through the bustling streets of Emberdale, Jesse couldn't help but feel a sense of longing tug at her heart. The warmth of the village fires and the laughter of its inhabitants served as a stark contrast to the cold darkness of the dungeon they had just escaped.
But amidst the hustle and bustle of village life, Jesse couldn't shake the feeling that their journey was far from over. The quest may have been completed, but the uncertainty of her future as an adventurer still loomed large in her mind. And as they disappeared into the winding streets of Emberdale, Jesse couldn't help but wonder what new challenges awaited her.
The sounds of crackling flames emanated from the fireplace within Bounty-commander Delrin Frostbrand’s office as he looked over the two greenhorn adventurers standing on his carpet, with their dirty shoes, for whatever reason adventurers had no decorum regarding public buildings and often just dragged dried monster-blood-encrusted armor and weapons through the building, leaving their muddied footprints for anyone to follow.
He inwardly noted to himself that he needed to hire a new janitor seeing as the last one had gotten himself thrown in jail for causing a drunken ruckus in the tavern next door.
He disregarded the urgency of this so-called meeting and quickly began to jot down some notes, looking them over before nodding to himself, sliding the papers to the side of his desk, intertwining his fingers, and placing them palm down onto the surface of his writing mat and cleared his throat, only then did the rotund dwarf finally begin to speak.
“Well then, what seems to be the nature of this meeting, Miss Darkin and Miss Grimfist?” he looked between the two, raising a hairy eyebrow.
Jesse took a step forward to address the commander. “We’re here in regards to the Revenant Tomb quest, we completed it earlier this morning and would like to have it verified”
Her lips curled up into a somewhat proud smirk, showing off her natural charming smile.
“Is that so?” Delrin seemed unaffected by the charismatic priestess in front of him and pushed away from the desk, dropping down onto the creaking floorboards, and began to make his way toward a cabinet as he mumbled something mostly unintelligible under his breath, something about freckled twigs and frogs fornicating from what Jesse could gather.
He finally reached into the pockets of his thick leather coat, pulled up a bundle of keys, and fiddled with them for a while before he found the correct one.
He inserted it in the keyhole of the cabinet. An audible ‘click!’ could be heard from within the mechanism as the door would spring open.
He’d take a step back from the spring-loaded wooden pane as it opened a mere centimeter from his face… A practiced maneuver if his flat-faced visage was anything to go by.
Within the Cabinet sat a translucent white crystal orb, it was vaguely oval and about 15 centimeters by 10centimeter. A pinkish mist swirled inside, gliding along the inner surface unhindered by friction. The orb sat upon a small pedestal of oak wood and a purple pillow that cradled the orb from all sides.
It was a fascinating object to be sure, but the pedestal was merely a glorified table to make sure the orb didn’t roll around the place.
Both Raina and Jesse had seen the mysterious object several times before.
This was a Quest-tracker, an arcane instrument utilized by adventuring guilds who issued quests to make sure they weren’t scammed out of potential income by clever adventurers.
In essence, the Quest-tracker was a magically constructed item that monitored the incoming quests to the guild it was attuned to. This one, in particular, was attuned to the Ironheart coalition’s branch office within the city of Emberdale.
When an adventurer picked up a quest to pursue, they’d channel a small amount of their mana into the Quest-tracker, or Q-T for short. This linked them with Q-T, and all the needed information about the quest was then transferred directly into their mind’s eye, which would update in real-time as the quest progressed.
Likewise, once the quest was finished, the adventurer in question would have to return to the Q-T to verify the quest, which could only be done if the quest’s objective was fulfilled, the guild that issued the quest then paid the adventurer for the work and sent them on a new quest in much the same manner.
Raina, who had already completed 8 of such quests, reached out to place her large palm on the Q-T before Jesse could even react. “Quest verification!” she stated clearly as the pink mist within the orb began to glow an iridescent purple, it swirled in a rapid spiral within its crystalline prison, and then she felt the experience reward of the quest surge into her mind.
She’d look at her status for a brief moment to make sure everything was in order before removing her hand from the arcane instrument and heading back to the commander’s desk.
Jesse looked at the QT and reached out herself “Quest Verification” she calmly repeated. The mist then began to glow once again, swirling maddeningly and then settled down again, it began to flash red for a few seconds before returning to its causal pink state.
“W-What?” Jesse blurted out dumb-struck. “...Why can’t I verify the quest?”
Before anyone could answer her she looked into her mind’s eye to check up on the quest and was greeted by a familiar but also very unwelcome message.
Quest Tracker:
You’re not currently on any quest. Seek out an Adventuring Guild or Mercenary contract to start a new quest.
“WHAT!” she screamed at the top of her lungs and looked at the commander, then to Raina, who was sporting a smug grin on her lips. “WHAT THE FUCK!?!” Jesse continued to exclaim her displeasure loudly at the towering Half-orc. Delrin stood up and rubbed his temples in frustration.
"Miss Darkin, Your acquaintance here has already claimed the quest as completed, therefore you cannot verify it, should you wish to split the bounty with others in the future, you'll need to verify it together, not one at a time"
Raina’s lips curled up into a toothy smirk and then turned to ignore the raging priestess and faced the Commander.
“About the monetary reward, Delrin, I’ve decided to split some of it with my assistant here”
Delrin had moved back up into his chair and nodded sagely as he began to search through his desk drawer, promptly ignoring the putrid language spewing from Jesse’s mouth at the giant green woman.
He calmly placed a small linen satchel of coins on the desk in front of Raina with a soft clink.
“Do as you see fit, it's your coin. Now get out of my office and take your screeching friend with you”.
He pointed to Jesse and then the door before leaning back into his chair and picking up a book, aptly titled 'Ladies of the Lake; Volume VI' and began to read.
Raina grabbed Jesse by the collar of her robe and dragged her outside the office and into the much-less cozy hallway before closing the door, which would automatically let out a soft click as the warding spell locked it.
Jesse took a deep breath and composed herself before speaking again.
“So let me get this straight, not only are you going to take the majority of the monetary reward… But you’re also gonna take the entirety of the experience reward?”
Despite the words exiting her mouth being somewhat civile, she was fuming and angry enough that there was a non-zero chance of steam erupting from her ears at any moment, although no such vaporous incident occurred at this time.
“That's right. I did most of the work, I get most of the reward, deal with it”
Raina stated matter of factly before she reached into the linen bag, took up a handful of coins, and stuffed them into her belt satchel. She’d look down the hallway to make sure there were no spectators before she bunched up the linen bag and pushed it into Jesse’s mouth to shut up her constant jabbering about ‘fairness’ and ‘teamwork’.
“Hmmpf!?” Jesse’s eyes widened as she felt the rough fabric getting soaked in saliva within her mouth, the weight of the coins rested on her tongue. She looked up at Raina pleadingly, her eyes on the breaking point of tearing up, a mascara-blackened drop of tears running down her cheek, leaving a trail of dusken blackness as she felt the half-orc’s finger start to press upon the linen fabric,
The coarse texture pushing its way down her throat, causing her to gag..
Her arms flailed and pounded at Raina’s thick upper-arms in a vain attempt to stop her, but Jesse’s strength was a shallow puddle next to Raina’s ocean of strength.
“Swallow” Raina menacingly whispered while her eyes bore into Jesse’s. Her muscular hand twisting Jesse’s arm behind her back.
The pinned priestess began to quiver with stressed anxiety as tears began to run down her cheeks as an ebony waterfall… Then she felt Raina’s knee ram up into her abdomen.
You’ve received moderate blunt force trauma, suffering 7 damage.
The sudden jolt of pain caused her to swallow the object lodged in her throat on reflex. ‘Gulp!’..
The weight of the coins wrapped in coarse fabric was like swallowing sand, slowly grinding its way down her throat. It felt like minutes passed before she felt the shifting weight dropped from her esophagus and into her stomach.
Coughing hoarsely as Raina pulled her saliva-coated digits out of Jesse’s mouth, she cleaned them in Jesse’s hair. “Next time, you better pull your fucking weight, healing-whore” the brutish woman said with venom in her voice. She pushed Jesse to the side, dropping her onto the floor, and walked away, down the corridor.
Jesse’s throat hurt, her arm and shoulder hurt, and her abdomen hurt, but perhaps worst of all, her pride… Hurt.
The defeated priestess slumped down onto the floor and reached up to grab her throat, softly massaging it before curling up into a fetal position, feeling the soft vibrations from Raina’s heavy footsteps as she walked down the hallway and finally around the corner, out of sight.
Jesse would roll over onto her back, looking up at the ceiling, her face wet from tears, for a few minutes she’d lay there, thinking about her life choices that led to this moment.
Her hand drifting down to her stomach, pressing down she idly probed for the coins but without luck
Peering around the corridor she notices a door with ‘Janitorial closet’ etched into the wood.
She summons up some of her willpower to stagger to her feet and grabs the handle of the door, opening it and rummages through the closet as quietly as she can until she finds a wooden bucket.
Taking a deep breath she pulls back hair into a ponytail and peers into the bucket. The stench of cleaning supplies burns her nostrils and eyes, Jesse takes a deep breath and forces two fingers into the back of her throat. Her stomach lurches upwards, her innards gurgling loudly as she feels the pressure of her lunch surges up through her throat and into the bucket below… The putrid stench of stomach acid bores into the skull before yet another burst of vomit forcefully ejects into the vessel below.
She pants and sobs, the corridor full of grief and despair, Everything hurt… She opened her eyes and saw no trace of the linen bag, nor her gold.
The distraught woman sat for what seems like an eternity, mixing her blackened tears with the vile mixture in the vessel below
Quietly she pushes the bucket back into the closet and puts a lid on it, taking a cloth and wiping her face before looking down the corridor, away from the office. She mustered enough willpower to stagger downstairs to find a half-empty tavern, looking toward the window the sun was setting over the house next door.
She made her way over to the bar and sat on a stool, laying her hands down onto the counter as a pillow for her head and closed her eyes and let her exhaustion take her to sleep.
Jesse’s eyes narrowly opened as she felt the harsh light of the sunlight from the window pierce the slit between her eyelids, causing her to close them shut on instinct.
Regardless of the mild ocular pain, she raised her head from her hands let out a long-winded yawn then tried to open her eyes again, her vision was somewhat blurry, she’d blinked a few times rapidly before taking a look around her surroundings.
The tavern section of the Ironheart coalition’s branch office in Emberdale was cozy enough in of itself, the walls were yellowing plaster that had once been white, maybe eggshell.
Every couple meters a black stone brick pillar was holding up the structural load of the building, large logs of carved lumber were strewn over the ceiling, and decorating these beams were various trinkets, such as vintage adventuring gear, letter-openers, vanity mugs, and trophies of monsters, even a stuffed animal now and then. The stuffed thrice-tailed amber fox over the chimney was a particular favorite of Jesse’s.
The bar was located in the southern corner of the room and various long tables were strewn across the floor space almost haphazardly, decorated with a green cover, coated in splotched spots of liquids, one could only assume was alcohol, saliva, sweat, or blood, considering the regulars of this tavern were adventurers, a good chance it was a mix of all 4.
The walls were typically lit by sconces with burning candles, although they had been snuffed since the sun was up anyway and natural light was flowing in the windows, looking to her side, she spotted a dwarf. He was idly minding his mug of frothing ale, his scruffy bright orange beard somehow completely dry, despite the large quantity of liquid he was pouring down his gullet.
Typical for a dwarf to not waste a single drop of alcohol, even if it was the watered-down piss they typically served in the outskirts of Cinderton, so far away from the booze capital of the world, Ironheart.
Looking him over, he had a short and bulky physique despite his pot belly, but that was very much the standard when it came to the vertically challenged race of Dwarves, the Dwarves of Ironheart, the continent that is, not to be confused with the Ironheart Coalition which was aptly named after the continent which it originated from, were known for their innate constitution that could rival that of an orc, they seldomly did anything for free and above all else valued good labor. It was these traits that allowed Tharruk Ironheart the Third to expand his kingdom as vast and quickly as he did.
The people of Ironheart wholeheartedly believed that every man, woman, and child should be paid for their work. While owning a slave wasn’t illegal, it was deeply frowned upon by the citizens.
A large part of Sharis’ enlightened races were in fact Dwarves, despite the race being of spliced origin, the result of two pure races, Humans and Gnomes. In actuality the gnomes were vastly outnumbered by their dwarven offspring, seeing as the even more vertically challenged folk had reached a state of near extinction after the Zarifian Collapse, which happened so many years ago.
“Whatchu lookin' at, lass?!” the dwarf who had caught onto her gaze stared daggers at her, he snorted somewhat and wiped his mouth before continuing to berate the newly awoken Jesse.
“What is it you fancy schmancy bint?! Chu wanna tussle?! Is that it?!”
He’d let out with a drunken slur in his tone as he downed the rest of his mug and attempted to throw it at Jesse. An attempt was definitely made, however, the dwarf having to choose between one of the 5 women in his peripheral vision caused the mug to fly right by Jesse's shoulder and smash against the wall with a loud crash.
“BROK!.. OUT!” the bartender shouted from the other side of the inn. “Now! Or I’ll have the authority throw you out posthaste!.. Now get!”
The bartender then waved a tavern-wench over and pointed her toward the smashed mug, before he returned to serving the customers he was already in conversation with, the wench understood well enough to clean up the mess from the lackluster explanation and got to work.
Jesse was awestruck. “W-What the fuck just happened?” she inwardly questioned herself and looked toward the dwarf who was staggeringly making his way out of the inn, letting out a hiccup occasionally.
“Apologies for Grok... “ she heard the voice from behind her, causing her to turn her attention to the wench, “... He recently lost his entire adventuring group in a tragic accident against a Cave troll, and has been drinking himself unconscious ever since”