For Terri however, life at Gravenhall was still a big step up from the way she had lived as a peasant, which meant she was happy to remain there for as long as necessary. She was about to find out, however, that Aggy had a different plan in mind.

"So you stuck the ridiculously valuable ring back on his finger and then marched out of the graveyard trailing that incredible stink behind you," Aggy finished Terri's tale for her. "And now I suppose your long term plan is to stay at Gravenhall and constantly eat pea soup in an attempt to create a fart loud enough to rival the thunder in the heavens, and foul enough to mimic the stench you picked up from the zombies last night."

"That’s pretty much my plan, well, the staying at Gravenhall part anyway," replied Terri, looking slightly mortified.

"Oh, well in that case I think it might be better if you left these somber lodgings and came to live with me instead."

Terri looked puzzled. "You mean you're not staying at Gravenhall? Where are you going to live?"

Aggy looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, the truth is, lass, I'm not actually quite as poor as the usual Gravenhall initiate. I got paid for my time in the militia and before that I mined iron ore and sometimes gold in the Dragon's Teeth mountains. I'm not rich by any means but I can afford to rent a wee place in Providence for quite a while, and I prefer company to living by myself. You're both welcome to join me until you can afford a place of your own or until I finally get sick of you and kick you out."

Both Terri and Flem gratefully accepted Aggy's offer. Terri was particularly jubilant. "You see Aggy, you hang it on me for following Avandar's teachings but look at the good luck it's brought me. First we get put in the same task group and now I've been set free from the tight spaces and pea based diet of Gravenhall!"

"Well," replied Aggy, "you might actually have me to thank for both of those eventualities rather than Avandar. You see there's a good reason I'm not jumping up and down with the excitement of being grouped up with you, and that is because the news isn't exactly a surprise. A certain female dwarf that you know and love might have found a way to shorten the odds on whether we'd be grouped up together through the judicious application of funds to just the right bureaucrat."

Terri was both flattered and confused. "You bribed the person who assigned the groups to make sure we were put together? But why?"

"Why do you think? There are a lot of dafties running around in every group of initiates and before I started here there was one key piece of advice that I was given. I was told that if I found a good cleric I should hang on to them and that's exactly what I intend to do. I aim to keep you close to my chest lass..........uh, not in a sexy way though, I'm old enough to be your grandmother after all. Anyway, it never works out when dwarves and humans get together like that, too many cross words and broken pelvises."

-----------------------

And so it was that Terri, Aggy and Flem became teammates and flatmates all on the same day. They packed up their Gravenhall rooms and then whiled away the rest of the afternoon at the Drunkard's Cup so that the two friends and the elf could get to know each other better.

Unlike the dwarves or the mysterious lizardpeople, elves were a common sight in Providence. Taller than dwarves but smaller than humans, elves were generally of slender build while being supple, athletic and blessed with a level of dexterity that made them excellent jewellers…...or pickpockets. Apart from their fine features and leaf shaped ears, an elf's primary distinguishing feature was their complete lack of eye colour. Elven irises and even the sclera of their eyes were completely jet black, and this gave them a strange otherworldly look which was often at odds with their much more mundane professions like seamstress or janitor. The average human might have described elves as "Strange looking buggers, but apart from that they're pretty much like us."

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Flemming the elf's reason for coming to Gravenhall was unfortunately a tragic one. He had been born the son of a tailor in Valleros, a town far to the north of Providence. Elves generally make excellent tailors and Flem's father Davaro was no exception. They weren't exactly rich, but they were certainly well off compared to vast swathes of the general populace. Davaro had built his business up from simple patching jobs to outfitting Valleros' rich and famous by spending his profits on ever finer bolts of cloth and thread. Flem had just finished his apprenticeship and was considering moving to another town to open his own shop when they were unexpectedly visited by three thugs demanding protection money.

Davaro had refused to give in, thinking that he could get his wealthy clients to use their influence to make the threats stop. He never got the chance to test his plan however as the very next night the tailor shop was burned to the ground with him inside. Drunkenness and luck were the only things that prevented Flem from sharing his father's fate. He was out on the town with his friends when the attack happened, but not being at home to save his father had left him wracked with guilt. After the fire he no longer had any desire for his own tailor shop and no capital to start one even if he had wanted to; all of the expensive silks and furs had burned up in the fire. So he had made his way like so many others to Gravenhall, and enrolled in the rogues guild with the intent of someday tracking down his father's killers and the people who sent them.

By the time Flem had finished telling his new teammates this story they were all 'fairly deep in the cups' as the saying goes and both Terri and Aggy railed vigorously against the injustice of his situation. It was with a new sense of camaraderie that the three left the common room at ten minutes to five and headed back to the arena for the official 'grouping up' meeting. Truth be told it wasn't so much a meeting as it was an agreed time and place for all of the new groups to find each other rather than having to waste time searching through the wide expanse of Gravenhall.

The list that defined the group members had also included a location in the arena where each group should meet, and the intoxicated trio weaved their way to their allotted space with little time to spare. Minutes ticked by and still there was no sign of the mysterious ‘Thisss’. Aggy began to grow impatient.

"So where is this guy anyway? The meeting was supposed to start at five and look, some of the groups are already leaving."

Aggy was right, some groups had already left and others were drifting out of sight through the arena doors. More minutes passed and the arena became even emptier. Aggy started to hop from foot to foot. "Cmon, let's go back to the Cup. We can track down this laggard tomorrow."

Terri put a settling hand on her friend's shoulder and pointed out across the arena. 'I don't think we're going to have to, Aggs. There's a familiar face coming towards us from over there."

Striding slowly and arrogantly across the arena towards them was a massive lizardperson, undoubtedly the same one they had seen in the common room almost a year before. If anything the creature seemed even bigger than last time and when it reached the group they saw that it stood more than a head taller than Terri, and was twice as wide across the shoulders.

"You are my adventure team," the huge creature hissed. "I shall be your leader. Meet me at the level one task board tomorrow morning at nine."

With that the lizardperson turned away and began stalking back across the arena, but this was all too much for Aggy. "Hang on a minute pal, what makes you think you're the leader here? You can't even turn up on time for a meeting you big ugly salamander."

If Thisss heard Aggy's outburst they showed no sign of it and simply continued walking away towards the far side of the open space.

"Och, they're as deaf as they are stupid," Aggy complained. "Let's go back to the Cup."

Aggy led the way back to the common room which was now in an uproarious state as the groups came together in celebration of their new level one status. In this atmosphere and with the ale flowing freely, Thisss was soon forgotten and the three teammates celebrated far, far into the night.