Within Balrech, a solitary gentleman approached a familiar building. Without a care in the world, though holding a neatly folded letter. Callipho Vitalis strode through the open doors of the Redclouds’ Esharian headquarters with all of the seriousness of a man on an afternoon stroll.
His presence caused barely a stir of any sort as he passed guild members discussing the split of a particular mission or whether or not they had enough party members. He paused next to the job board long enough to rip a particular mission off, which did turn a few heads, and continued along with it in his other hand. When he reached the receptionist’s desk, who usually managed signups for new recruits, distributing rewards for rowdy guild members, and a number of other administrative tasks, she visibly paled and looked to the alchemist with wide eyes. “M-master Callipho! How can we help you today? I wasn’t aware you’d been-”
Callipho held up a hand to stop her, and with a smile he spoke. “Nothing so serious. Today I am here to simply turn in a mission for someone who is presently indisposed. They were so kind as to leave me their report of a scouting mission of platinum priority.”
The receptionist gave a confused look, but accepted the job listing of the forest disturbance that he’d pulled from the board. “Alright then. If I may ask - if they’d written a report for the mission, why not turn it in themselves?”
“A bit of adventure near the mission site, I’d wager.” Callipho replied, then leaned closer to speak quietly “According to their report, a Vudranian ruin was spotted near their quarry. I wager they’re taking care of the disturbance and looking into the ruin as we speak.”
The receptionist’s eyes widened, but she nodded in understanding. “Then I will get someone to record this report in detail. If I might ask, do you have a name for the Redcloud involved so we can assign proper merit, and do you have any idea when they’ll be back?”
Callipho gave a small smile. “Tahir, of silver rank. No last name that I know of, at least not yet. Accompanied by two party members unaffiliated with the Redclouds, one of which is my apprentice.” He started walking away, to find a seat to wait for someone that would hear and record his report. Once he was comfortably seated, he pulled out a mithral plated pocket watch to check the time. “And if my timeline is correct, I believe he should be here some time today.”
###
Tahir, Theo, and Metilia strode into Balrech late in the afternoon. Hiding their newfound items under cloaks and stuffed packs, they walked through the city in relative silence until they finally reached Callipho’s shop. For Tahir, all the time that had passed meant he had less than two weeks until the sponsorship’s deadline, but he’d be taking a couple days of rest before he even thought about qualifying for gold rank at the Redclouds.
Theo unlocked the door to the shop with her key, finding it mostly undisturbed from when they left. “Do you think he made it back?” She whispered. Not that they needed to worry about him turning in the mission, since they made it back with no issues. They pressed on, each of them noting, though not mentioning, the distinct smell of warm tea wafting from the back of the shop.
Heading into the back, the three of them finally spotted Callipho, holding a tea cup in one hand and looking through a small, red book that he held in the other. “Hey master! What’re you up to?” Theo said in greeting.
“Oh nothing, I’m simply looking through my usual suppliers for someone who can get me ten or so bottles of punice oil that I thought I had.” He replied, closing the book and setting it down. He gave a smile as Theo shrank back. “Now now, come and rest your weary selves. I imagine you have quite a story to tell over tea.” He gestured toward the empty seats. “I believe I’m owed that much. Both for the oil and getting you your gold from the Redclouds in advance.” From his coat, he pulled out a sizable pouch that landed on the coffee table with a solid thud.
He waved off Tahir before he could say anything, in response to his surprised look. “Don’t worry about how. Suffice to say I have a bit of history with the guild. Now, help yourself to some tea, and sit.” He made sure he was good and comfortable to listen to their story of the past couple of weeks.
###
“A reemerging ruin and one of the near-mythical erinyes, seeking a lich of all things.” Callipho summarized. To make sure the alchemist was fully appraised, they started from when they left for the first time, before Callipho departed on his own trip. From there, they told him about the encounter with the first tree, the discovery of the ruin and void-corruption, and detailed all of their prep leading up to them going back to challenge the whole ordeal. Tahir didn’t need to explain his spirit magic to him, only the process of visiting the leyline crossing and binding with the Traveler. The animosity toward the mage’s collective wasn’t mentioned either, so Tahir could only assume that he knew about that as well.
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“A very dangerous prospect, but equally rewarding. In a monetary sense, certainly, but from what I can tell it has caused all of you to find a way forward in some way. Theo most of all, but I may be a little biased in that respect.” He looked between all three of them and nodded, confirming something to himself. “Thank you for telling me of your ordeals. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got back in the early morning, and I would like to finally rest for a while. I imagine you have some things to talk about as well.” He stood, beginning to walk off toward the stairs leading to the second floor, but stopped next to a still sitting Tahir. “Ah, one more thing.” He pulled something out of his coat and handed it to Tahir, it looked to be a neatly folded note. “Something that was given during my trip. I haven’t much use for it with my current situation, I believe it’ll be of use to you.”
He walked off after that. Tahir waited until he heard the alchemist reach the top of the stairs to the second floor, and made to unfold the paper, but he decided to set it on the table for later. “So, what happens now?” He asked Metilia and Theo.
The two of them looked between each other. Sharing a glance as they often did, before Theo looked back to Tahir. “How do you mean?” She asked him.
“Well, we all just came out of this with enough gold to retire and live like a wealthy merchant for a few years. Or maybe a king for a couple. Theo, I know you’ll want to get your aura under control, and Metilia, I can’t imagine you’re gonna be working at the mage’s collective with the ruin that we looted from under their noses. For me…the sponsorships at the Redclouds usually happen for a reason. Usually the sponsors want to get a group together for a mission they have down the line. I’m not sure where I’ll be going if I get picked for it, so…” He trailed off, glancing down at the table. After everything he just went through, he didn’t think he’d find the words so hard. A large part of him didn’t want to potentially put them in the amount of danger he did with the ruin again, but an equally large part didn’t want to just part ways with them either. Come on, Tahir. He thought to himself. How hard is it to say ‘what if we stuck together?’
He got so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice a pair of footsteps coming toward him until Theo wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. “Whaddya mean? You’re stuck with us now.” She looked down at a stunned Tahir, who looked back up at her, then at Metilia, who’d gotten out of her chair as well.
“For once, I couldn’t have said it better, Theo.” She gave a similar, though less intense, hug around Tahir’s other side. “We know you’re likely going to nearly get yourself killed without someone aware of your reckless tendencies, and we’ve come to care for you quite a bit. As long as you’re willing, I would like to stay by your side.”
“Yeah, what she said!” Theo added. Tahir didn’t know what to say, and even if he did, he didn’t think he’d be able to get it out without making a fool of himself. He could feel a tear gathering around his eyes before one fell down his cheek. “Are you crying?” Theo asked, looking down at Tahir with concern.
“Tears of joy, I believe. Nothing to worry about.” Metilia pulled away one arm from her hug to run a hand through Tahir’s messy black hair. “You don’t need to say anything. Unless it’s a rejection I suppose.”
Tahir never really had a stable party since he came to Balrech. Sure, he could count on Hurida every few weeks, and he’d taken on a few requests with other groups of bronze or silver ranked Redclouds, but didn’t have anyone that he’d work with daily. A party to watch his back, and other than Theo, he didn’t have much in the way of friends in the city either. He didn’t really think about it all that much. He interacted with people almost every day, caught up with Theo whenever he had something to sell to Callipho, and could immerse himself in reading at the library whenever he felt homesick or bored. He supposed the lack of genuine interaction over the past year - and likely more than he’d care to admit, had gotten to him more than he realized.
They stayed like that for several moments. Tahir let the feeling pass over him and let a few more tears fall without saying anything. Once he felt sure he could speak without the words coming out as a blubbering mess, he took a deep breath and let it out as a deep sigh. “I appreciate that. I can’t tell you enough how much I do. Theo, Metilia - Meti? Can I start calling you that now?” He leaned forward, reaching for the folded paper that Callipho handed to him.
“I’m not opposed.’ Meti looked down at the paper as Tahir moved to open it, her curiosity getting the best of her as well. “Is that what I think it is?”
“No way! Where did master Callipho get this even?” Theo looked down at the paper in shock.
Tahir held it in both hands and he looked over it. It was a drawn map of Itera, fairly accurate to others that he’d seen. This one had a couple notable additions, however. A perfectly drawn circle in black ink. Over a specific space, in the unclaimed lands northwest of Esharia. As well as a line, pointing from that circle to words in handwriting that Tahir didn’t recognize. It wasn’t Callipho’s, and neither Theo nor Meti recognized it either. It was imminently legible, and all three of them could see the words plainly written on the map. ‘Leyline Crossing.’