The four of us had been able to steal away from all the chaos into one of the meeting rooms in the Guild Hall.The room had a long table with eight chairs, Kendra put a pitcher of something on it as the Baron’s son, Orthan, set down tankards for us all to use. As we sat down, I took a little time to really look at my new companions.
All of my new party members were athletic looking. I don’t mean muscles with high definition and ready to walk out into a body builder competition. The best comparison I could do, were the people I used to know who did triathlons and multi-activity sports. No one muscle group was used more than another. There were small differences, which I attributed to whatever training they’d had up to now.
Delava Thrensdotter, Sunsworn of Anderis, was dark haired and dark eyed and dark skinned. At the moment she had a serious face that didn’t quite match the seemingly shy young woman that I’d seen before. Her shoulders were a little more broad, which considering the sword I’d seen her practicing with, might have been expected. When she stood, she was just a tad taller than I was.
The other woman, Kendra, looked to have a little more wiry build. She wasn’t as tall as Delava, maybe a little shorter than me. She wore her coppery hair just long enough to be pulled into a small ponytail in the back. Green eyes went from each of us, and she seemed a little nervous.
Orthan of Acantid, the Baron’s son, didn’t quite match what I’d thought nobles in this kind of world would look like. Oh, he had the looks of a well-bred family, don’t get me wrong. Blonde hair, sky blue, soulful eyes. The clothes he was wearing weren't expensive finery and he wasn’t decked out with outrageous jewels. Rather, he wore plain leathers with good, sturdy looking boots.
No one said anything, and after a bit they were all looking at me. Crap, I barely know anything about this world, what am I supposed… Oh, right. The changes that happened because I came here.
“Uh… So, I guess I should start by telling you guys about the dungeon I was in? Then me and Delava can tell you what happened in the shop center?”
There were nods of agreement, so I started doing exactly that. I got a couple of laughs as I told about my encounters with the giant rats and bats. “How the heck do things grow that big here??”
“Magic!” they all said, almost at the same time and all with a laugh.
Shaking my head, I moved on to explaining the items I’d gotten. It was here that Delava chipped in about how she ended up coming to be here, before we both talked about the shop center and the discussions that had taken place inside. I listened intently when she described what was said between the three older people while I was turning in my tokens.
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“Ophelia mostly gushed about how easy teaching was going to be. New adventurer’s, soldiers, priests… Probably even craftsmen and laborers. Once this new method gets propagated, a lot of the guesswork about getting a class is just going to disappear,” she said.
Kendra spoke up at this point, shaking her head a little as she thought about something. “I don’t know, right now it’s mostly about money or who you know. I can’t see that changing. Apprenticeships will be easier, sure. But it’s still going to be the same.”
The Sunsworn looked down, thinking about that. I looked to Orthan, raising a brow to see if the young noble had an opinion. “Well, I know several people go through trial and error, right?’ he started. “Pick up a sword, go through the motions of attacking something? Won’t people still pick up skills that way?”
None of us had an answer about that. I hadn’t even thought about how other people got their classes and skills. Mine had been kind of hand picked for me, based on things I’d done in my previous life.
“The change from a letter rank, to a numbered level is probably going to cause problems,” Kendra said, tapping a finger on the table. “Anyone in a position of authority that suddenly finds out they aren’t as ‘high-leveled’ as they thought they were…”
Orthan nodded at this one. “Father was saying something like that. A few of the officers he brought with him are lower leveled than the regular soldiers. He’s worried that might cause friction.”
I shrugged, shaking my head a bit. “Eh, that’s about normal though, isn’t it? Don’t they get different training, to be put into the positions they’re in? Or was it meritorious promotions?”
“Mostly meritorious, then came the extra training. But if a regular soldier is higher level, some might think they deserve to be the one in charge,” he responded.
We were all a little surprised at the snort that came from Delava’s direction. She had the grace to blush. She covered it well, with a cough. “Those promotions came from their ability to lead, maybe because they did something extraordinary at one time. I doubt your father would encourage the promotion of anyone that didn’t deserve to be there.”
We were quickly getting off topic, and I thought it time to steer the conversation back to what we were here for. I didn't want to get into political discussions, or try to change thoughts about the world. My just being here had already paved the way for a lot of change.
“Well, that’s something I think above all our pay grades,” I finally said. “Guild Master Pinniard suggested I tell you guys what I think we’ll find inside the dungeon. She told me what this one was like before, and while I think we’ll find some areas like it, the whole is going to be a lot different.”
That brought everyone's attention back to the topic we were supposed to be on, and we talked late into the night as I explained what I thought we’d encounter.