Zeph leads me through the market streets towards the southern end of the city. The alley Alice and I were based in was a little more toward the northwest from the central plaza, so I haven’t really explored the southern portions of the city that much.
As we walk through the streets I wonder exactly what kind of relationship Zeph expects out of this arrangement. If he expects a mindless slave to do his bidding then it would be best to just stay quiet and follow along. On the other hand, if he’s fine with allowing me to retain my independence then there’s no reason to act meek. Time to test the waters.
“Where are we going?” I ask from behind him.
“We need to make a stop before we head outside the city to my camp.”
“What kind of stop?”
He sighs, “You’ll see when we get there.”
I don’t press the issue and go back to following along in silence. At the very least he hadn’t outright told me to shut up.
We leave the market and go close to the city limits before Zeph stops in front of a large building. It has two doors on the outside, above one a wooden mug hangs from a peg and above the other an ornate shield is hung underneath an alcove. The shield bears a beautiful emblem on the front.
Zeph walks through the door underneath the shield and holds it open for me to follow in behind him.
Through the entrance is a smallish reception room with a desk and several doors leading to other rooms. To the left there is a door with a window in it and looking through I can see a pub area, which I assume connects to the other door on the outside of the building. Through an open doorway to the right I see a room that looks like some kind of work room.
Zeph walks up to the desk and rings a bell. From a door at the back of the room a portly woman who looks like she could be a grandmother comes to answer the call.
It’s evident she knows Zeph because as she walks behind the desk she asks, “Another one? How many is this now?” She takes an actual look at me and frowns, “He’s a little young, isn’t he?”
“He’s got circumstances of his own. It’s not a problem is it?”
“We usually don’t register anyone who’s underage.”
“Whether you register him or not it won’t change what he’ll be doing. I’m just going through the process.”
The lady sighs, “Alright, fair enough.” She brings out a form from a drawer in the desk and turns to me, “What’s your name, hun?”
“Stein.”
She jots it down, “Age?”
“15.”
The lady clicks her tongue, “Well at least you’re a little older than you look. Classification?”
I look to Zeph, having no idea what that means. Zeph answers, “Mage.”
She looks at me expectantly and a moment of awkward silence ensues where something is clearly expected of me but I have no idea what. All I can think to do is put up my index finger and make a little flame on it.
“Good enough.” She continues filling out a few other things on the form and then brings it over to some sort of press behind her. She pulls out some kind of small wooden slab from another drawer and brings them both to the press.
Placing the form on top of the slab she uses the press to smash them together. She holds the press down on them for about ten seconds before she lifts it back up and separates the form and wood.
Walking back to us she slides the slab over the desk towards me and says, “Don’t lose that, it’ll cost you a pretty penny to have it replaced.” Looking over it I can see all the information she had taken from me burned neatly into the wood with metallic silver letters. So it was some form of ID then.
She places the form in an envelope and looks back to Zeph, “Was there anything else for you today?”
“Would you happen to know of any good caravan jobs that have come in recently?”
She points to the open doorway, “Reference handles that.”
“Nothing else then, no. Thank you again.” And he turns to the open doorway. The lady wishes us a nice day then takes the envelope with her back into the room she came from.
I follow Zeph into the next room and find it’s not what I was expecting.
On one wall is a board with an array of wooden plaques, seemingly organized into neat columns. Along another wall is a giant topographic map, littered with tacked-on notes and scribbles. There's another desk in this room as well, the woman behind it currently engaged with somebody.
Zeph walks past the map and goes to the board to look over the plaques. I break off and turn to look at the map in more detail. It shows Hornhaven at it’s center and the surrounding area. Looking at the various scribbles on the map it seems they generally note areas of interest, a cave here, or a ruin over there. The tacked-on notes seem to represent sightings of various creatures. Some of the scribbles had notes tacked on to them, indicating a place that had become a den of this or that creature.
Turning away from the map I study the man currently talking at the counter. His outfit is almost unbelievably rugged and dirty, and he’s got a giant pack on his back that looks like several of the compartments were added on to what was originally a modest size backpack. His belt has various odds and ends attached, including what looks like a wide blade scimitar that's smeared with green. He’s currently showing the reference lady several sheets of paper and pointing out various things.
Zeph picks a plaque out of the ones on the board and I go back to standing with him as we wait behind the rugged fellow. Eventually they finish their conversation and the man folds his papers up before making them disappear into a pocket, then he takes his leave.
Zeph walks up to the counter, “Can you put this one under pending for me?”
The receptionist takes the plaque out of Zeph’s hand and takes a look over it, “May I see your identification?”
“Oh, right.” Zeph reaches into a pocket and pulls out a wooden ID similar to the one I just received.
The other lady recognized him immediately. I guess he hasn’t had reason to come over here as much.
Looking over the ID she gives a little nod, “Alright, we’ll send someone over to confirm the acceptance of the request later. If I recall correctly this client was staying in the inn down the road with the green sign out front.”
“Thank you.”
She wishes him a nice day and we head back out the way we came. Back out on the street, Zeph looks around. Spotting the inn the lady had mentioned, we head towards it.
Inside Zeph talks to the barkeeper and is directed up a set of stairs. In a corridor of doors, he stops before one and gives it a few raps with his knuckle.
“Who is it?” A voice calls from within.
“Here about the guard job.”
I hear the door unlatch and a stout dwarf comes out to stand before us. He looks Zeph over then says, “Can you wait a few minutes? We can talk in the pub below.”
Zeph nods, then gives me a little nudge and we go back the way we came.
The tavern area for this inn seems very small but quaint. Taking note of how clean it is I assume this business is an inn first and a tavern second. Zeph and I take a seat at a table against a wall.
After a few minutes the dwarf joins us, “What kind of outfit do you have?”
“I have 30 men, all mages. We supply ourselves so there’s no need for additional accommodations.”
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I see the dwarf grimace, “All mages? You’re either trying to play me for a fool or about to try and scalp me.”
“Yeah, your price is a little low.”
“How much?”
“I’d say raise the bid by about 40 percent and we have ourselves a deal.” The dwarf scowls, but before he has a chance to say anything Zeph cuts him off, “Your request is almost two weeks old, and it’s a bad area to be going through right now. You’ll lose money by waiting any longer, and I don’t think you’d want to settle for incompetent guards.”
The dwarf considers this and asks, “Your company have a name?”
“Go by One-Eye’s band usually.” He gestures to his eyepatch. “We’re registered with the guild so you’re free to check and confirm.”
The dwarf strokes his beard for a minute then says, “I’ll do a 35 percent increase. I’ve simply lost too much waiting already so it’s as high as I’ll go. I’ll give 30 percent as a down payment and the rest upon the safe arrival of everything.”
“Alright, I can accept those terms.”
“We leave tomorrow, once I confirm with the guild.”
“My band is camped about half a league down the east road, we can meet up as you leave the city.”
“Alright, tomorrow then.” The dwarf extended his hand across the table and Zeph shook it.
Leaving the tavern we started heading south again. We keep heading south along the main road until we hit the city limits, where I see something I hadn’t expected.
On the city’s edge, on the right of the main road, is an open yard, and within it perched on the ground is a ship. I watch as people board via a raised platform off to the ship’s side, then stare in wonder as a weathered woman shouts orders on deck and sails are raised. The ship slowly starts to move forward, the metal keel sliding across the grass. As the ship picks up speed the bow starts to rise into the air and the ship leaves the ground. Soaring through the sky, the ship speeds south, continually gaining elevation.
Zeph, having also stood around to watch the process with me, says, “Those things never cease to amaze me.”
“How does that work? How do they get a ship to fly?” Despite the wonder I felt at the sight, the rational part of my brain was frustrated at the absurdity of a ship flying through the sky. Flying ships might be common in video games but to actually see one in front of you makes you just think it looks kind of wrong.
“They’ve got a crew of mages who make it go. I think they rotate on and off as they run out of mana or get tired, to make sure the thing doesn’t fall out of the sky.”
“Is it common to travel that way?”
Zeph chuckles at me, “To take that thing the same distance we’ll be escorting that caravan would cost about ten times as much as our entire company is getting paid.”
“Damn.”
Zeph laughs, “Yeah, they’re pricey fuckers, those airships. Still… the view as you pass over the land below is unrivaled.”
“You’ve been on one before?”
“Yeah, a long time ago. Come on, we’ve a ways to go before we reach camp.”
Zeph took us on a path along the outskirts of the city as we swung around east. Now that I could actually see the countryside I was relieved to find it was a pretty temperate and lush environment, with plenty of grass and trees. Off in the distance I could see some forested mountains.
“You still haven’t explained what that registration was for, or what this even is,” I say, holding out the wooden ID.
“Sorry, I didn’t think about how you wouldn’t know what the guild is. I think it’s full name is The Free Association of Independent Mercenaries, but everybody just calls it the guild. A lot of common folk think of it as an adventurers guild, but it’s not limited to that.”
“So those plaques on the wall were job requests?”
“Yeah, some are for various jobs like this guard job we’ll be doing, others are for more adventuring type things. Some involve clearing a den of dangerous beasts too close to town, others are for dungeon diving and exploring.”
“So I’m registered as part of it now?”
“Yeah, though you’ll really just be accompanying me on jobs I take. That information you gave is considered public information now, anybody else who’s a registered member can ask to see your information.”
“What? That seems like a breach of privacy.”
“Yeah, but it’s an important measure to maintain the system. People only trust the guild because all of its members can be easily identified.”
“I still don’t like it.”
Zeph gives an exasperated sigh, “Yeah, well I don’t care. That’s the way it is, whether you like it or not.”
“What was with the map?”
“Pretty sure every guild building has one. Did you see the guy in there with us? I’m pretty sure he was a scout. They go around the less explored bits and document what they find, and anything noteworthy gets put on the map. A pack of monsters, an undiscovered ravine, an ancient ruin, whatever. They get paid by the guild for going around mapping and just finding stuff.”
“Do they work in teams or just go around by themselves?”
“Scouts usually operate alone, they usually don’t fit in that well with other people. It's sad really, if you died out there the chances of anybody knowing are slim. Delvers and slayers are the ones that work in teams.”
“Delvers and slayers?”
“Dungeon delvers and monster slayers. Delvers explore ruins looking for treasure and slayers go around hunting monsters for money. Usually when people think of the guild those are the two professions that come to mind, the real adventurers.”
“So what are we considered?”
“Independents. We do any job that offers money first and foremost. Guard duty, sometimes bland normal work, but mostly being warriors. That’s what my company specializes in.”
“If you specialize in warmongering then why are you here, in Hornhaven? So far as I know it's pretty peaceful here.”
“Yeah, it is pretty peaceful here, which is why we’re leaving. We took some losses in our last battle so I wanted to back away for a bit and replenish our manpower.”
“So I’m not the only one you’ve recruited?”
“No, you’re the 13th. You’ll meet the others when we get to camp. Now that we’re moving out you’ll all be getting trained on the road.”
“You said earlier that every member of your company is a mage, is that unusual?”
“Every member of my company is at least a mage. Yeah, this is a group I’ve assembled as a sort of specialist unit.”
I furrow my brows in confusion, “What do you mean, at least a mage? Is there something beyond a mage?”
“Magic is a long and winding road, kid. Being a mage is just the first stop. You’ll be learning as we go, so I don’t feel like going into detail here.”
We continue walking along the outskirts of the city until we reach the eastern road, then follow it for about half an hour before Zeph breaks off and we start walking into the wilderness. After a couple of minutes of walking along a path in the woods, Zeph stops and places a hand on my shoulder to stop me as well.
Zeph brings his fingers to his lips and lets out two sharp whistles. From around a tree on our right I hear a voice call out, “Welcome back, boss.”
The man hidden among the trees didn’t show himself as we continued past, and despite my best attempt I couldn’t even see a trace of him as we passed by. After another minute or so of walking along the path, we finally made it to a camp.
Looking over the encampment I saw tents scattered in what looked like almost random places, and people occupying themselves with various things. At the edge of the camp near a clearing, there was a group of horses tied to makeshift wooden posts. Situated near the center of the camp there were three big wagons filled with various supplies.
Looking at the people of the camp my gaze was immediately drawn to a dwarf craftsman who was hammering away at a weapon next to a furnace. Looking beyond him I saw the camp was situated next to a river, and somebody was fishing along its banks.
There was a pair of men sparring with wooden weapons outside the camp, and watching them was almost mesmerizing. Their movements were so fast and fluid it was hard for me to keep track of them. Both men had intense looks of concentration as they repeatedly struck at each other with what seemed like full force. I briefly wondered if they were actually just sparring or having a real fight, but considering nobody else around the camp seemed to care I just assumed it was normal.
You know for mages they seem pretty damn strong. I guess nothing says you can’t be fit and practice magic at the same time, but still. It’s a bit different than the kind of mages I was expecting.
I follow Zeph over to an elf sitting in a chair talking to another member of the band. Upon seeing Zeph walking over, the elf dismisses the other. Standing up, the elf offers a, “Welcome back, Zeph.”
As I look over the elf I feel my blood run cold. I didn’t recognize him at first since he was dressed differently, but I remember that voice quite vividly.
Oh shit.
“Another one, huh? Surely we must be…” He trails off as he looks at me and recognition flashes in his eyes. His face slowly into an evil, almost maniacal smile. “Oh Zeph, I cannot thank you enou-”
His words get cut off by Zeph slamming the magic book into his stomach. “Here’s the book you lost, Albatos. Do try not to lose it again.”
The Albatos recovers and says, “Right, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. Now, how shall I punish you, you little shit?” His eyebrow is twitching as he smiles sadistically.
“You can’t, he’s the 13th.”
Albatos freezes and looks at Zeph, “What? Him? Why?”
“He’s got talent. No memories though, so you might need to teach him more thoroughly than the others.”
“No memories? You brought on a street urchin who has amnesia? Zeph, no offense but have you lost your mind?”
“That kid not only managed to pull a fast one on you, but also killed a man twice his age in a straight fight just yesterday.”
“But he’s…” Albatos sighs as Zeph stares him down, knowing no amount of protests will change anything. “Fine, Zeph. You’re in charge.”
“Good. We leave tomorrow morning so start their training. I presume the loss of the book didn’t hinder your planning?”
“I’ll start now.”
“Good. I’m going to let everyone know we’ll be heading out.”
“Where are we headed this time?”
“Back east.”
“Not exactly an appealing idea.”
Zeph looked at me and thumbed towards Albatos, indicating I was supposed to follow the elf now. “It’s the only place anything of note is happening,” was the last thing Zeph said as he walked away.