Seven years in the future
Ramparts of impressive height curved around around the sprawling streets of a thriving city. Merchants, travelers and wayward souls came and went in mass. This was the city of Barrok, a beacon of trade in the empire. On the far side of the city was its reason for being, a harbour filled with cargo ships. This was no mere cargo either, the majority of those ships held a precious and highly valuable commodity, demon slaves from the forsaken continent of Reliqui.
The city is split into four parts. Near the gates is the mercantile sector, on the other side the harbour holds the majority of the industry in the city. In between the two was the residential areas, the closer to the center, the higher the social rank. Directly in the middle of the city are two huge buildings rising above the rest, one is the dukes palace, the other is the cathedral.
The city had recently acquired four new guests, a step above the common folk in power and presence. They strode through town with just one destination in mind, the adventurers guild deep within the city. They were made up of two men, one woman and one elf. The first man, who led the group, was tall and boasted a brutish strength as he casually sauntered along wearing full plate armour that covered most of his features. The second man wore a rugged brown robe, contrasting his blonde hair. The woman, was clad in thick leather armour and on her back a bow and quiver bounced as she followed along. At the very back of the party walked an elf of indicernible gender, many had tried in the past to work it out, all had somehow failed. The elf wore light cloth and wielded a long staff with a gem embedded in its top.
The time was late afternoon when they arrived at the adventurers guild. The majority of adventurers had returned from their various quests and day work by now and the hall was packed. Conversation could be heard accompanied with clanking tankards bashing against wooden tables. The aroma of freshly cooked meat was wafting around the tables as more was brought out from the kitchen in the back.
The large doors creaked open as the four stepped in, the doors magically closed after them with a slam. The adventurers sitting at the tables surrounding the entrance turned in a haphazard unison. Although it wasn't unusual for newcomers to show up in the guild, what was unusual was for seemingly experienced and well equiped newcomers to appear without anyone knowing who they are.
Every step they took glances were stolen without mercy, some even staring. People of lesser confidence would be cut apart by the sharp eyes but not these four, they were used to the adoration and attention their presence granted them. The plate wearing man caught a familiar sight in the corner of his eye, he directed his party towards it with haste. A large wall of wood stood before them and on it were placed hundreds of pieces of paper, each detail a seperate request. One such paper stood out from the rest as it had four red skulls stamped onto it, as the four read the paper they verified it was indeed what they had come here for.
Monster Slaying : Elder Griffon [RANK SS 3]
(KIll the Elder Griffon locateed in the forest outside of Gehna Village)
The man in full plate armour pulled the piece of paper down from the board. All of the pieces of paper were enchanted to only come down when someones rank or party rank either exceeded or equaled the quests level. In doing so he silenced the room. He walked over to a counter filled with papers and ink jars with a man behind it. He placed the piece of paper on the table weighing it down with a card that had his basic status on it, including name, rank, party and party rank. The man swept up the two objects and looked back at the adventurer, "I have to warn you all before you take this quest. Four parties have already failed and died in completing this quest, do you still wish to accept it?" The man grinned and nodded his head. The clerk put the piece of paper in a filing cabinet and as he did the status card changed to read the quest details on it.
After completing their goal for the day the party left the guild and headed out into the city to search for an Inn for the night. Finding a guard they slipped him a few coppers and he guided them to a high class Inn near the middle of the city. Outside the Inn was a large sign with the name "White Mane Inn". Upon entering the four were hit with a blast of warm air. The building itself was as ornate as they come, marble detailings aswel as thick wooden support beams elegantly carved with shapes of leaves and flowers. Everything about this place screamed high class, exactly what the party had wanted. They had spent far too many of their years together barely getting by and using the cheapest spots and none of them wanted to ever go back to that.
"Greetings sir, we don't get too many adventurers here. That will be four rooms yes? For how long are you with us?" The man in a clean suit held nothing but the best manners and held them perfectly. "Yes four rooms, just for tonight." "I see that will come to 64 silvers Sir." The butler was given the money and proceeded to show them to their rooms, before he left the four informed him that they would be down to the dining room in a few minutes after they changed and to have a table for four ready.
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After helping their leader take his plate armour off the other three left for their rooms, "See you in a bit Brian" the three said as they left the room. Before the elf could leave Brian yelled from across the room, "Going to be wearing the same robe downstairs like you always do Aewyn?" "You know I always do Brian, why must you ask me so much? This robe is fine, it's enchanted to always be clean." Brian furrowed his eyebrows and waved Aewyn off. It had always irked Brian that Aewyn chose to only wear the most basic of clothing, he was sure that Aewyn could afford anything but Aewyn never once bought anything that wasn't a necessity.
Not long later the four of them were all downstairs in fresher clothes, except Aewyn who still wore the same robe as always. The table in front of them had all kinds of meat, slow cooked vegetables and fruit. While eating Brian started the conversation. "This will likely be the hardest monster we've ever faced you know. I doubt the basilisk we fought a month ago even compares. I am thankful for not having to drink any more of that foul anti poison though, what do you think about fighting an elder griffon Amy?" The girl who was delicately eating a stick of meat lifted her head to face the group. "I'm sure we'll be fine, the only thing I'm worried about is it flying away. I think bringing some strong nets might help. I think as long as we have Vackan to heal us we'll be fine." They all nodded to that and went on to discuss strategy for the rest of their meal. After eating they all retreated to their own rooms and slept for the night.
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The next morning the four, all equiped in their combat gear, left the inn. "Amy, you can go get us transport to Gehna, any information on the place you can find would be great. Aewyn, go to the alchemists and mages guild to get us the potions and scrolls we'll need. I'll leave the camping supplies and tools to you Vackan. I'll go to the slave market and get us two slaves for load bearing in the forest. See you all at the gate in two hours."
An hour and a half had passed since they split up and all but Brian had arrived. Vackan had put all of the trips required supplies on a horse cart that Amy had hired to travel to Gehna. Aewyn found the two after getting several healing, mana and stamina regeneration potions along with scrolls of the Advanced tier magic *Full body bind*.
In the other side of town Brian was still negotiating with the slaver he intended to buy from. "No no, that one is too weak, I am looking for someone that will not fall over after a miles walk." The slaver had gone through 6 others prior to this one and only one had Brian deemed fit for use. "Alright then follow me, I have some more in the back." The two walked through dark stone halls with iron doors at the sides, crying and whimpering could be heard from inside the cells. The slaver eventually opened one of the cells and a fairly strong looking demon came into view of the light. "Yes, that one will do." "Good. This one and the one from the front, that'll come to 13 gold and 50 silver."
After finishing the transaction Brian made for his party near the entrance of the city. The four of them left in the horse drawn cart together at around noon. Their destination was the village of Gehna where they intended to slay the elder griffon.
"So Amy, what did you manage to find out?" Brian asked after the four had all got as comfortable as one could on a horse cart travelling on a dirt road. "The mayors name is Ferald, seems like he's the one that put this request in. That griffon has been troubling them for quite a few years, stealing livestock and forcing monsters out of the forest. People say it just came out of no where around six or so years ago. So far it is yet to attack any people directly it seems. The village itself is fairly small too, only around 500 residents in total. The village guard seems to know where the griffon is so I think we should go them first thing."
"Sounds fine, what about this mayor then, think we'll be able to squeze some extra reward out of him?" Brian was ever the businessman. "It might be possible, this griffon has been troubling them for a long time as Amy said. We'll be rich after this anyway regardless" Vackan replied. Aewyn hearing the talk of money gave his opinion, "Yeh, the mana stone out of that thing would be huge. I read about elder griffons in the mages guild today, turns out they are griffons that have lived in magic rich areas like ley lines for hundreds of years. I think the stone by itself will be worth well over 400 gold, but it honestly troubles me as to why this one has chosen such a weird place to nest. Normally their kind only live really far in the wilderness, where the mana is stronger. I think there is an unknown factor at work here."
After a few whistles at the price tag Brian held out the harsh truth to them all. "Alright then, I know getting rich is what we all want but I know something we want more than that. Not dieing. That creature has already felled four other S class parties in the past, they went in thinking the same thing about getting rich and they all died. We will not fall for that mistake and we will not get carried away, at any point if it looks like we will lose the battle we will retreat. Got that?" Variations on "yep" came from the other three as they quieted down for the rest of the journey.