Venom awoke to knocking at his door.

He groaned as he rose from the shabby bed the inn had provided him. In the corner of the room sat his pack of assorted gear. Leaning against the creaking wood bedframe was a shortbow and arrows, a curved dagger with a green gem imbedded in the blade, and a bandolier of smaller throwing knives coiled at the foot of the pile of weapons like a leather snake.

Another set of knocks echoed through the small room.

"Gimme a damn minute." He shouted before practically rolling off his bed and kicking his legs to land upright.

Venom walked to a small dresser against the wall across from the bed and opened one of the drawers.

As he dug in the dresser to retrieve a shirt, he glanced at himself in the mirror that sat neatly directly in front of him. It was at a rather irritating position so that whenever someone would sleep in the bed and face towards the room, they could see their sleeping form in the mirror. Nonetheless, Venom silently scanned over himself.

His skin was a pale yellow; a strange mix between the color of sulfur and soot. His skin came to a pale grey below his eyes which had persisted for more time than he cared to remember.

His toned body was painted with several thin lines; wounds that had healed over the ages. He caught a glimpse of one particularly deep scar across his stomach- just before his ribs, as he slipped the shirt over his body.

Another set of knocks.

Venom groaned and stepped towards the door, but not before slipping on his mask that lay on the dresser. The mask was made primarily of metal fangs resembling a snake that lay vertically along the mask's face. Behind it was a thin black cloth that aided slightly in the masks comfort, as well as covering Venom's skin color. As he put the mask over his face it almost seems to gravitate towards the contours of his face, forcing itself in place without the need of straps or a brace.

Finally, Venom grabbed the door knob and flung the door open. "For the love of Jove- WHAT?" He shouted towards the figure in the doorway as they were about to knock.

They wore a set of thin metal plates across their shins and forearms as well as their shoulders. With a small breastplate that stopped just before it reached their stomach. Beneath that seemed like a single large piece of black leather that covered their torso and limbs, only stopping at their neck. The armor was mithral, he could tell due to its very faint blue hue within the metal. They wore a mask of the very same material. It was in the shape of a bird- though which type specifically Venom never cared to ask. On the back of their mithral glove was an emblem of gold. A crescent moon with a sword impaled through it.

The figure spoke in a feminine voice, muffled slightly due to the mask. "Razor requires your audience at noon."

Venom looked at the woman, blinked, and rubbed the fatigue out of his eyes. He glanced back at the window on the far side of the room. Orange light spilled in from the outside. Venom turned back to the woman. "The Atlas is just opening." He groaned. "Do you have to wake me up now?"

"Can't sleep in with jobs like ours. Plus," she reached out and flicked one of Venom's pointed ears before he could swat her hand away. "You Elves hardly sleep anyways."

With that, the woman turned and walked down the hall. Despite the often squeaky floorboards, the woman's footfalls hardly made a sound as she disappeared around a corner.

Venom sighed and shut the door. He grabbed his mask and tossed it on his bed before going back to his dresser and opening up several of the drawers. He took out several plates of leather padding and satchels from the dressers. Once one of the drawers had everything taken from it he unlocked a hinge on a false bottom of the drawer and opened it to a set small vials with a multitude of colored liquid within them; he set the vials on the dresser. He placed the false bottom back on the drawer and faced towards the gear strewn about his dresser and bed.

A few minutes later, Venom left his room, having donned his mask and leather armor across his entire body. A dark green cloak lay over his shoulders; the edges clipped across his neck with a golden emblem of a crescent moon and blade. Across his back was his bow and quiver. In a small sheath at the back of his waist lay the large curved dagger. Across his torso was his bandolier of knifes.

Venom closed and locked his door before walking down the hallway, stepping on a few squeaky boards- then again, he wasn't trying to stay silent.

He came to a set of stairs leading down to the lobby of a rather desolate inn. Only 4 circular tables sat about the lobby dimly lit by torches hanging in their sconces on the wall. One of the tables was occupied by a sleeping Tiefling; ale spilt on the table next to their arm.

A bar and a handful of stools sat across the room from a set of creaking doors. Behind the bar was a wrinkled orc with thin grey hair atop his head.

Venom made his way towards the bar. Many of the steps creaked under his weight. He brushed a hand over the emblem on his chest as it shifted from a shining gold, to a dull silver.

The grizzled orc glanced up from dusting off the bar with a dirty rag. He scanned over the masked figure before gesturing his head to a door behind him. "You know the drill."

Without a word, Venom stepped behind the bar and through the door. Inside was a small room, just large enough so Venom could barely take a step in any direction. On one of the walls was a shelf full of several bottles of cheap ale and wine.

Venom reached out and grasped one of the bottles before twisting it in place.

A half-second passed before space quickly warped around the elf. The next half-second he was no longer in the small storage room, but at the end of a finely lit stone hallway. His hand was outstretched to an unlit torch sconce.

Venom turned around and started down the hall, his leather boots clicking faintly on the stone.

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As he walked, he passed many other corners he paid no mind to. Down one hall he heard the jovial laughter and clattering of a food court he hardly visited. Down another was the distant clanging of blades and sharp whirl of flying arrows of the training grounds.

As he passed another hall, a form emerged from the corner behind him and mirrored his steps as he walked. Nonetheless, Venom saw the shadow of the figure on the wall next to him.

"Need something?" Venom asked, not halting nor turning to meet the figure.

"Nothing at all, Fools Gold."

Venom silently scowled. He knew the mocking name, as well as the voice, regardless of how muffled or warped it would be beneath their mask. "I'm the same rank as you Stiletto. When are you going to outgrow the name calling."

"Oh, sorry," Stiletto's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I keep forgetting, it's only been a passing since you got that rank so I guess you don't quite know how us of the Inner Circle act."

The figure behind Venom sped forward, no longer attempting to sync their steps with his. Venom's body tensed momentarily as they pushed a hand against the back of his ribs where his heart rested within his chest.

The figure brushed dangerously close to his body, seamlessly maneuvering around his form as he walked. Their shining white hair brushed his mask, filling his nose with an excessively thick scent of pollen.

The figure turned to walk backwards in front of Venom, syncing her steps once again.

Her body was slender. The serpent scale armor she wore hugged her body, though due to some hidden pockets at her sides, she looked slightly more curvy than she actually was. Her mask only covered the top half of her face. It was made of ivory with swirling lines of gold around it. Her skin was nearly pitch black, in utter contrast with her hair.

"To the rest of us, you're just a newbie; regardless of the rank. Amateurs have no place here."

As she walked she held up a hand, gently spinning a curved dagger about her hand; Venom's dagger.

Venom rolled his eyes and held a hand out as he walked. "My blade."

Stiletto inspected the dagger as she twirled it about her fingers, always keeping its edge from her skin. "It's a little shabby don't you think? You could use a replacement."

Venom sped his pace, only for Stiletto to match his stride again. "Could say the same about your little knife."

Stiletto scoffed. "Oh quiet. I was drawing blood with that back when you were in diapers. But if it makes you not whine," she stopped abruptly and held out the dagger with its point facing Venom's chest.

The assassin had just enough time to snatch the weapon away as to not get impaled. Though he did bump right against Stiletto in the process.

The woman scoffed and maneuvered around Venom in one fluid motion. "Try not to get too close; I think I'm a bit too old for you." She said with a laugh.

Venom just scowled at her as she left before slipping his blade back into its sheath.

Ultimately, Venom came to a set of large double doors that lacked handles. He unclipped the emblem on his cloak as it shifted back to gold and held it against the door. A second later the doors opened and Venom reattached the emblem to his cloak. He stepped into the room as the doors shut behind him.

The room was dark except for a small red glow of a large crystal hanging from the ceiling. In the room was little more than a large circular table made of dark wood. A large engraving of the same emblem on Venom's cloak lay across the table. Seven chairs lay throughout the perimeter of the table, though all but one were empty.

In the chair directly across from the door was a rather short man clad in small plates of dark armor. His face was covered by a closed helm. On his breastplate over his heart was the same emblem on Venom's cloak, though rather than a shining gold, it was the dull green metal of adamantine. On the table before him were a pile of papers which he had been looking at a moment before.

The man nodded towards the new arrival. "Venom, you're early." His voice was deep and slightly hoarse, though Venom had learned to never tie his voice to him. He always seemed to have a different voice every time they spoke. He nodded towards one of the empty chairs. "Take a seat."

Venom did as he was told. "Falcon had thought it wise to wake me during the opening."

Razor shrugged. "Probably best to get things out of the way quickly." He reached down to a compartment within the table and produced a roll of paper before splaying it out on the table.

Illustrations of 5 land masses coated the parchment, along with 4 other smaller islands on the outskirts and one in the center of them all. The small landmass in the center depicted a large tree the size of the landmass itself with a singular building nestled within its roots. Within the branches of the colossal tree was the Atlas, a celestial structure that cast light across the world. The light of the Atlas periodically opened and closed, turning day to night and vice versa. Additionally, it cast a barrier over the realm of the Jarlends, halting the encroaching mass of darkness: The Void.

The two large landmasses to the north of the tree were opposites. The one to the northeast was a frozen fringed wasteland. Its center was a large grove of icy trees with a mountain to its west. The entire north side of the region seemed to be a massive expanse of mountains made completely of ice; The Cold Wastes.

The northwestern landmass however was primarily a desert with the exception of its eastern coast which were red earthy spires; The Grahas.

The landmass southeast of the gargantuan tree was half Rocky Mountains and half magma. Nearly every mountain within the region was a volcano, though whether they were dormant or ready to burst was often a coin flip; The Crags.

To the Southwest was arguably the most diverse of them. Covering its southeastern quadrant was a forest, in the center of which was a swamp. On the outskirts of the forest were several hills but little else. However its northern coast was lined with rocky mountain; The Rolling Plains.

Razor gestured to the southernmost landmass, one consumed entirely by forests with trees nearly twice the size of anything else in the world somewhere near the center of the forest was the symbol of their guild painted on the parchment; The Wilds. "I'm well aware our contracts are primarily confined to our region, however," he drifted his finger to the Rolling Plains. "A contract came in, requesting an Inner Circle or higher. The Circle of the Plains are all currently occupied with their own contracts. Plus, this one in particular seemed less threatening then most others we get- not to mention the not-so-insignificant sum of platinum they are willing to pay." Razor continued. "The reason I requested this meeting is to offer you this contract." Razor reached to his back pocket and slid a roll of parchment across the table to Venom, who immediately opened it.

In short, it detailed a mission to venture into some old ruins within the heart of the Rolling Plains to retrieve an heirloom of the contractor's family. Venom's eyes widened slightly at the reward. "Five thousand platinum? That's enough for a well sized estate."

Razor nodded. "Each."

Venom tilted his head slightly. "I'm sorry?"

"Five thousand platinum each. Per person." He clarified.

"What do you mean per person? Who else is being sent on this contract?" Venom asked, rolling up the piece of parchment.

Razor shrugged. "No one within the Dark Moon Pact." He said.

Venom squinted his eyes. It wasn't often members of the guild worked with outsiders. Though he supposed it wasn't unheard of.

The leader continued. "All I know is there is one other who have accepted the contract as of now: A gnome from the Plains."

Venom sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to deal with that. Where are we meeting at? And what ruins specifically? The contract never mentioned it."

Razor moved his hand to the southeastern coast where a small illustration of a city was. "You'll meet in the Grove. And from there," he trailed his hand up towards the northwestern shore where the illustration of another city lay at its edge. "You'll go to Nulfgar to meet meet a man named Hollowhorn. He's your ride to the ruins."

Venom scanned over the map once more and committed the route to memory. "When do I set out."

"As soon as possible, but preferably by the closing."

Venom nodded and started out the door, but not before hearing one last message from his leader as he left.

"It's time you truly earn that gold in your chest."