Milo

He leans down on the counter, his hairy forearm pressing against the wood. He picks them back up, and pulls a splinter free from one of them. He discreetly points to a gray skinned man in the corner.

He stands at I’d estimate nine feet tall, every inch of him was draped in thick chains, with bells, and coins attached throughout. His hair was in dreads, and pulled back behind his ears, where more chains intermingled with them, from where they appeared to be implanted in his skull. He had wide narrow eyes, and a short stubby face, with a long mouth. Every inch of skin not underneath chains, was covered in tattoos depicting violence, torture, war, and a variety of other things. By his side sits a long Halberd almost as long as him, with a wicked top made of black steel.

“That's Tom. His name isn't actually Tom, but none of us can pronounce his real name, and the one time we tried he told us we were calling him slurs.”

I laugh quietly.

“Value wise Tom is great. He's high C ranking, he's cheap, and he’ll do what you tell him. He has good morals, and he's a nice guy who wants to improve himself, and he's competent. Only problem is. Well two actually, he's scary looking aint he, and he's a Feralith, which aint a problem at all. I ain't one of those racist fellas but he has a bad tendency to go overboard with the violence. He doesn't mean to but sometimes he just can't tell how much force is warranted.”

I nod along. “I’ll consider him as an option.”

He points at a human sitting with a group of other humans, they wear matching uniforms, and have matching weapons, being a one handed short sword, and a kite shaped shield beside them. “That's Jim and his gang. He’s everything Tom is not, he is calm, and has a good eye for judging situations, he's only a D ranker, but so is the rest of his gang, and they usually come as a package deal. They are more expensive than Tom though. They have average morales if I had to judge but I don't see them as abusing their power too much. Downsides. He is one of those racist fellas. So I don't know, up to you.”

I sigh, “I see… Could I take both?”

The large man nods, and reaches into a chest below the table with contracts that have filled in the blank spots, asking about, how long the contract lasts for, how much they are getting paid, and what they will be doing, as well as the names of both parties.

First I travel to Tom, who is sitting alone reading a small book, while drinking something.

I sit down across from him at the rough hewn wooden table, and slide the contract across. “Hey Tom.”

He tucks the book away into his variety of hanging chains, and it disappears into some unseen pocket. “Hey.” He shoots me a polite smile, his teeth sharp, and interlocking. “How can I help you?”

I smile. “I'm looking to hire you!”

He nods. “How long, what will I be doing, and what will the pay be like?”

I nod, “Im hoping to at least secure a contract for a year, preferably two years, and i’d possibly like to renew it at the end of the two years.”

His lips tip downwards in the beginning of a frown. “Two years…”

I nod along. “I'm going to be paying you to be doing something akin to guard work, or maybe bodyguard work, depending on the situation, but you're not going to be on a battlefield or anything, most likely fighting criminals, not soldiers.”

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He nods his head. “Ok… I'm assuming Jay told you about my penchant for violence?”

I smirk. “Well, the thing is, I'm the one hiring you, so you don't need to worry about that.”

He sighs. “Whatever. Pay?”

I nod. “How much do you want?”

He quirks his mouth. “A salary of 5 gold a year. Or… About 1 silver, and 40 copper a day. How many days of the week will I be working?”

I nod along. “You will be working pretty sporadic hours so let's go with that, 1 silver, and 40 copper a day.”

He smiles along. “When do I need to be there?”

I quickly respond. “I’ll be leaving again today, I won't be paying you until you arrive, so arrive within the week.”

He stands up, and grips his halberd in one hand. “I’d best get walking.” He turns around, and leaves the tavern.

I smile, and walk back to the counter where I pass the contract to the man working behind the counter.

He smiles, and waves. “Thank you for your purchase. Still looking at Jimmy, and his crew over there?”

I grin, “Yeah.”

I quickly stroll over to Jimmy, and his crew and place the contract down on the table. “Hey, I'm looking to hire you goodfellas.”

Jimmy looks up at me. “Heya buddy, sure, get to the details bud.”

I smile. “I want to hire all of you, for two years, for guard work within a town, with pay negotiable.”

Jimmy smiles. “Two years is a long time, but if you’re playing good, I guess it's fine.”

The six of them at the table pass the contract around, and scribble their names onto it. “Hows the pay?” One of them asks.

I smile, how cheap can I bring these guys… “2 gold a year, for each of you.”

They scoff quickly, and wave their hands. “Nah, we need 5.”

I frown. “2, and a half.”

They wave even more aggressively. “No, no, no. 4 gold, at LEAST.”

I sigh. “3 for each, that's as high as I'm going.”

“Deal,” Jimmy puts his hand out, and we shake. We add that to the contract, as well as the time.

“I'm gonna need you guys in Questford within the week alrighty? I'm not paying you until you get there, and if you go over a week without arriving the contracts off the table.” I add in a clause specifying that.

They nod, and wave me off, so I leave.

I restock my rations, hop onto my horse, and head out back to town. On the way back I pass Tom, and I decide to slow down, and travel with him for safety reasons.

Eli

We stroll through town, Alistair has the contract in his left hand, and a quill loosely in his right hand.

He glances at the note Gertrude gave us, which takes us to some house. We knock on the door, and a child swings the door open, and glares at us. His face, covered in cracked oats. We laugh, and ask him something. “Is Amelia here?”

He frowns, and closes the door. We hear his feet patter off into the loud house, and a minute later a young woman opens the door. “Hey, Benny said you were looking for me?”

Alistair nods, and hands her the contract as well as the note, “A Mrs. Gertrude is working for our boss, and she recommended that he hire you, to negotiate.”

She takes the contract, and reads it over. “Granny…” She mutters. “How long will I be gone, and how much will I be paid?

We nod, and speak. “You will be paid a salary as well as a percentage of the amount of money made during the negotiations.”

She nods. “What are you selling?”

Alistair answers. “Coal.”

Her eyes widen. “The capital… That's a long trip. How much of a salary?”

Alistair steeples his fingers together. “A silver a day.”

She sighs. “A silver, and 20 copper.”

“Deal.” Alistair grins, and drops his hands. “When will you be ready to leave?”

She shrugs, “I’ll be ready by the end of the day.”

Alistair smiles. “We’ll drop by at 7 or so tomorrow morning to pick you up.”