Downstairs, the three others had settled at a table. A brief venture to acquire ale ended with the disappointment of slimy tankards and a questionable smell emanating from the contents of the keg, and so they chose to forgo drinks while they waited. They talked business instead, ignoring their gnawing hunger and thirst.

“Have you found anything of interest?" asked Anna.

"Only that very few people aside from us have been interested in taking on this job. Seems a bit out of tune for the Oath, even if the pay is somewhat lacking." Deventh paused as he caught sight of Tatsidi tapping his claws on his bag in the distance. "He also said something about missing his cart out of—"

"HellOOOooo everyone!" A shrill voice tore through the crowd, demanding the attention of everyone present. Like a bolt of lightning, it struck the ears of its victims without mercy, bouncing around the walls. The lively murmur of conversations ceased, and all heads turned to the source of the squall.

At the bottom of the stairs, a high elf leaned on one elbow against the banister, looking down his nose at his bright red, well-manicured nails with his arm curled in an exaggerated pose. In an astonishing contrast to his piercing voice, he was a beautiful and extravagant sight to behold.

Despite the stale, frigid air that hung still over the room, the Gildvar flaunted a luxurious getup that beckoned the beholder half a continent away to the warmth and splendor of Esdarium; A flowing silk tunic, a blinding pure white, was accented by gold lipstick and crimson eyeshadow. His trousers matched the tunic, flaring with frills just below the knees where he sported a pair of golden sandals with straps that crossed up his calves. A voluminous cascade of strawberry blond locks flowed over his shoulders and down to his back.

The silence that his shrills had commanded slipped away in an instant when an orc from Thadagar's table shouted, "Shut the fuck up, Rauleth!" inciting laughter that erupted through the entire hall and returned everyone to their own matters.

"That must be our man," Anna said, raising her voice over the raucous laughter. Motioning to Deventh to join her, Anna pushed herself away from the table, causing her chair to scratch against the floor. Before she stood, she addressed Jessa. "You stay here for now. We'll get the formalities out of the way." The two set off to speak with the Gildvar.

"Good evening, Rauleth,” Deventh greeted him as they approached. “Good to see you again."

A dazzling grin spread across Rauleth's face, revealing two perfectly pearlescent rows of teeth to contrast his golden sun-kissed skin. "Oh, darling, it's you again! You're looking much less scruffy than last we spoke. I just knew you were handsome under all that grease and stubble." He spoke with a smile and energy bubbling in his tone as he lingered on his vowels. Rising and falling in waves, his pitch occasionally ascended into sharp, piercing peaks. “You’ve come rather late for my liking, however.”

"Aye, well, we wanted to meet with you earlier, but we ran into an emergency," said Deventh. "For that, I apologize."

“Now, now, you heard me say I’m an early bird.” He wagged his finger as he scolded them. "Unlike you lot, I can't adjust my schedule willy-nilly. I'm quite the busy bee!" With his last remark, Anna's upper lip twitched in annoyance. Still unbothered, Deventh proceeded.

"Well, we've caught up either way. Has anyone else offered to help?"

"Oh, yes! One fiery little lady, Sheannoran for certain, by the way she speaks." Rauleth said. "Not exactly the brightest candle in the attic, but she does have quite a repertoire of, let's say, street smarts. I agreed to let her help because, well, it seemed as though you and everyone else who signed up had forgotten about poor old Rauleth."

A smug smile appeared as he stood himself upright. At full height, he was close to as tall as Anna, but his lankiness became much more apparent. "But I'm glad I was mistaken! From the looks of you, you couldn't afford to miss out. You don't mind bringing her along, do you?"

"Not at all," Anna said after an extended silence. She found the Gildvar's rudeness to be somehow both flagrant and backhanded at the same time, and paired with his pitchy intonation, he became more grating the more he spoke. While normally calm and collected, Anna found herself clenching her fists. "When will we have the chance to meet this individual?"

"Why, any minute now!" Rauleth said. "Oh, there she is now. HellOOoo, Lydie my sweet fiery imp! We're over here!"

"Call me a fiery imp one more time ya wee cocksucker, and I'll shove me dagger so far up your arse, YOU'LL BE CHOPPIN' VEGETABLES IN YOUR GUTS FOR WEEKS!" The redheaded Nelthrin slammed the front door behind her.

"Now, now, dear, no need to shout," Rauleth chided as Lydie stomped over. "Come now, say hello to your new friends. It turns out they showed up after all! Now you'll have some help on the job."

"Wha—" the young Nelthrin's boisterous shouting was reduced to an embarrassed squeak in an instant; through her rage, she failed to notice Deventh and Anna. Freckled cheeks flushed with embarrassment, she looked to Rauleth after regarding each of them with a nod. "Shite, mate, wish ya'd have told me earlier that we was havin' company. Would've spared ya at least a little embarrassment."

Rauleth broke into a fit of giggles.

"Spared me the embarrassment, yes. Deventh, Anna, this is Lydie, as you might have guessed. Lydie, meet Anna and Deventh!"

"Nice to meet ya," Lydie said, flashing a charming smile with a slight gap between her front teeth. Her warm expression slowly faded as the truth clicked in her head. "Look forward to workin' with—wait a bloody second."

"What is it, dear?" asked Rauleth, concern growing on his face.

"Does this mean we're gonna be sharin' the reward?" the fiery Nelthrin raised a brow and locked her smaragdine gaze on him.

"Well, I mean... Yes," Rauleth said, wincing preemptively. "The contract description specifically states that we were recruiting a team! A single person could never do this all on their own!"

Lydie opened her mouth and clenched her fists, inhaling sharply so as to commence her cries of protest. Before she could unleash her temper, Deventh interjected, hoping to ease the situation.

"I hope it's not too much trouble. It does seem a rather dangerous task for one person alone. Perhaps the arrangement isn't ideal, but I can promise you'll get your fair share."

The fiery young woman slowly unclenched her fists.

"Ugh, quit being so diplo-romantic, ya handsome prick. You're lucky I've got a soft spot for Dronvari men, else I'd be shoutin' and what have ya." She shook her head, sneering at Rauleth. "Fine, I'll do the stupid job even if we've gotta share.”

“Good,” said Anna. “Now that that’s settled, shall we sit and discuss our task?”

“Of course, dear – I thought you’d never ask!” Rauleth’s smile beamed in contrast to Lydie’s deepening sneer. He flicked a stray lock of hair over his shoulder while gesturing for Anna to lead the way, and they returned to the table where they’d left Jessa.

"Have you seen Tatsidi come out of hiding yet?" Deventh asked, and Jessa shook her head. Lydie perked her head up at his question, but she remained silent.

"I suppose we can fill him in later," Anna huffed with slight annoyance. Turning to Rauleth and Lydie, Anna introduced them to Jessa. "Rauleth, Lydie, this is Jessa, our newest member of Valorforge. Our fourth, Tatsidi, is apparently on other business, otherwise I'd introduce him as well."

"Oh, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my darling!" Rauleth said as he bowed at the waist with a flourish.

After settling into her own seat, Anna took a piece of vellum and some charcoal from her pack and set it on the table in front of her.

"Well, now that we're gathered, let's start. What do you know as of now, Rauleth?"

"WE-eeellllllll..." The Gildvar tapped his chin. "Where to begin... Now that I think about it, I did give a bit of information to Deventh prior to this meeting." He turned his head to Deventh, carrying a cordial smile that looked somewhat strained.

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"Aye, I mentioned everything we discussed, which wasn't much so far," said the Dronvar. "Disappearances of small traveling groups along the road from the Merchant's Gate into the city, started a couple of weeks ago, no targeted race, age, or sex... That's about it. Are there any new developments from your end? Have you found any names?"

"No new developments since we last spoke," said Rauleth. "I'm not sure whether that means things have been quiet, or whether that's a sign of more discoveries to come. As for the names of the victims, yes! I spent some time gathering posters of missing individuals throughout the city." He reached into the spacious pocket of his pants and placed a stack of folded posters.

"Interesting," Deventh said, observing the posters as Rauleth spread them out on the table. He examined them in silent contemplation until Anna's curiosity took over.

"What are you thinking?" She could see the gears turning in his head as his analytical gaze hovered over the text and pictures.

"These victims," Deventh muttered, speaking up as he continued, "Rosalie Vaux, Julien Montrose, Cherise DeGrande—there’s a disproportion favoring Nelthrin names, but perhaps not enough to rule out coincidence." He regarded Rauleth with an approving nod while arranging the posters back into a neat stack. "We should talk to their families at some point. For now, there is perhaps a more significant event we encountered on the way to the city."

"Oh?" Rauleth placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin upon his interlaced fingers. "You should have told me that you got a head start on the job! If I knew, I wouldn't have been so rude!" He punctuated his thought with a wink.

"I did mention it was an emergency, but I suppose the details were insufficient. My apologies,” said Deventh. “We happened upon a cart along the road, tipped over, ransacked. Found some corpses, trails of blood. We'd have stuck around to investigate more, but we found an Esdathrin survivor in pretty rough shape. He’s at the healer in town and his condition has improved, but we’ve yet to report the incident to the guard."

Quieted for once, Rauleth responded with little flair. "O-oh." The Gildvar's face grew pallid. "Well, oh dear."

"Yes, the man was lucky we found him when he did," Anna said, her voice grim. "Any longer and I'm sure he would have joined the others in death. We plan on going back to the spot in order to check what might have been hidden by the snow. You're welcome to join us."

"I would love to, dear, but... I’m hardly equipped for investigating in the field. Besides, I'm bogged down with enough paperwork to cramp up my hands twice over," the Gildvar groaned, clutching his wrist and wriggling his fingers.

"Paperwork? What bloody paperwork's an overgrown cockatoo like yourself got to do?" Lydie squawked.

"Of course you wouldn't understand," Rauleth scoffed. "Can't a man be beautiful and clerical?"

Anna was struck with a fit of coughing as if in response to the haughty elf's retort. Rauleth was unfazed by her reaction and returned to the subject at hand.

“I will take the task of reporting the incident to the guard for you, since it sounds as though you’ve had nary a moment to catch your precious little breath,” he said. “As for going back, I’m not sure why you would want to revisit such a sight, if what you say is true. What would happen if whoever attacked those poor individuals went back to the scene of the crime?"

"Then we’ll take it one step at a time," Deventh said, unbothered by the thought. "Your concern is appreciated, though, as is your taking the burden of reporting. Was there anything else we needed to discuss here, or shall we go ahead and start with Anna's suggestion?"

"AC-tually," Rauleth sang, "I almost forgot a small detail. There's a place not too far off the road that might be worth investigating. It's only a little cave, but it might be housing some unsavory individuals—"

"Oi," Lydie interjected. "There's heaps of caves around, I ain't about to go spelunkin' through all of 'em on some wee hunch of yours. Did ya actually see anyone scurryin' in and out of there?"

"Well," Rauleth pursed his lips. "No. But there has been a strange noise coming from the area. The cave is to the southeast, overlooking some cliffs above the main road. The exact distance is unknown to me, but it's less than a quarter of the way between here and Raven Gate. Those are all the details I have."

"It should be enough to get us started, at least,” said Deventh. “We're familiar with the area, seeing as our headquarters is located by the Raven Gate. If we find any such cave, we'll take a look." After concluding that he had no more questions about the location, he moved on to discuss payment. "Now, before we begin anything else, we agreed that our payment would be half now and half on completion."

"Of course I do, dear," Rauleth said, grabbing a leather bag on his waist and pulling from it three shiny metal coins. "Platinum is okay with you, right? Gold is much too heavy. Far too easy to chip a nail while holding it."

"Coin is coin," Deventh said. Rauleth wasted no time responding with a mischievous chortle.

"I'd be careful which parts of town you say that in," he said, winking again. "Unless you would like for me to show them to you."

"Quite the generous offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline," Deventh said, acknowledging Rauleth's banter with a grin. The clinking of the platinum coins was softened by the pat of leather as they landed in the palm of Deventh's glove.

"Suit yourself," Rauleth teased. “I believe this concludes business, then?”

“I believe so,” Anna said, placing her hands flat on the table. “We’ll set out in the morning.” Everyone stood, and Rauleth gave a small curtsey.

"Well, then, it’s settled,” said the Gildvar. “Please enjoy the rest of your evening – I must go and get started on some of that paperwork. Ta-taaaa!"

As he sauntered away, the others fell silent, taking a moment to gather their thoughts.

“I, for one, am starving,” said Anna after a long silence. “Can we grant ourselves the mercy to fill our stomachs now?”

“Aye,” said Deventh. “Now that there’s no more left to do. Did you have anywhere in mind?”

“Yes, actually. Do you remember the hostel where we met? Cheap beds, good food, and not a speck of mold in the ale?”

"Hostel?” asked Deventh. “The one where you nearly murdered a man by throwing a barstool at his head? No, doesn’t ring a bell, but we can pay a visit.”

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about,” Anna said, her lips pursed with a partial smirk. “Will you be joining us, Lydie?”

“Nah,” Lydie answered, twiddling her thumbs.

“Are you sure? It would probably be best for us all to stick together so we can coordinate more easily.”

“Well…” Lydie’s eyes darted around the edges of the room. “I don’t know. Nervous around new people and all that.”

“After that display earlier?” Anna chortled. “Oh, we have a jester in our midst. Come, we should eat and drink together if we’re going to work together.”

Lydie sucked her lips thin. “Fine, let’s go.”

“What about Tatsidi?” asked Jessa, causing Lydie to tense up.

“He’ll catch up,” said Deventh, a striped tail swaying in the corner of his eye from behind a group of barrels. He motioned for everyone to move out, and they started on the path to the hostel.

Lydie struggled to keep up along the way, both lost in her thoughts and drawn in by distractions at every turn – everything from bits and baubles in shop windows to sap oozing from various trees. She did, however, rejoin the others following each incident, thus they moved on at their own pace, trusting that she wasn't too far behind.

Five minutes after they decided to proceed in this fashion, Lydie found herself falling a bit too far behind. After perusing the items in the window at Urak's Liquors, she set her eyes on the alleyway beside it with the intent to cut through. She inspected the alleyway carefully before stepping forward.

From where she stood, it appeared clear, but she still found herself gripping the hilt of her dagger. Her first step found her no trouble, but a faint shadow caught her eye as it fled across the stone bricks, provoking a startled gasp.

“It’s a proper shortcut, you’ve done this heaps of times,” Lydie whispered to herself, convincing no one. “Nothin' to be afraid of, ol' gal.” Shaking off the last of her fear, she pushed forward. At the last step, something stopped her abruptly. A sudden weight on her chest knocked her flat onto her back. Screaming and swearing, she flailed about.

"BASTARD SON OF A BATTERED BLOODY WHORE WHAT THE F—"

"Lydie," a voice growled. Lydie fell still as she locked eyes with her assailant. Though most of his face was hidden by a mask, the way he whipped his striped orange tail behind him was unmistakable.

"Tatsidi."

"You can't be alive," they said in unison.

The two stared at each other in the middle of the darkened alley, both breath and speech evading them. Tatsidi moved from his position on all fours above her and sat on his knees, placing his hands on his lap. Brows furrowed, he caught his breath with a sigh.

"Ya damned oaf!" Lydie shouted as she pushed herself up onto her bottom. "Years I've been lookin' for your stupid arse!" Tears welled in her eyes as a deep red flushed her cheeks and nose. "I thought you were dead! That stupid furry mug of yours—I thought I'd never see it again!"

"And you?!" Tatsidi cried. "After the House's hall was destroyed, I thought you would have headed home! I waited for days for you to show up! I thought you were captured, or killed, or..." He opened his mouth to continue his rant, but he was cut off when Lydie pulled him into a hug, clasping her fingers behind him. The warmth of her embrace was a fleeting refuge from the cold.

"I missed ya, ya stupid idiot," she said, resting her chin on the cat's shoulder. She closed her eyes, basking in the moment a bit more before withdrawing. "Ugh, ya caught me at the worst possible time. I'm fifty arses and a rotten egg behind the others and I really need to find them."

"Yes, I saw you at the Oath hall." Tatsidi stood and offered Lydie a hand. Weakness surged through her legs, causing an awkward wobble as she accepted his hand and pulled herself up. "How did you find yourself in Grimros?"

“Dunno,” Lydie said. “Been tryin’ to survive after everything, been place to place and just ended up here. What about you? You’re a long ways from Uminora too.”

“It is a story longer than I have time to tell on this short walk – but it seems that many who wander end up here in this valley.”

“There ya go with your fancy talk again,” said Lydie, rolling her eyes. “Those idiots we’re workin’ with, ya know them?”

“Yes," Tatsidi answered. “Though they are not idiots. The guild of Valorforge has treated me well.”

"Valorforge? That's what they call themselves? Sounds a wee bit fancy for some fools scraping up public Oath contracts. Hope they at least let you keep your fair share."

"They do," Tatsidi said, "I am fed, and I have a place to sleep. They make sure of that, even if they have little else to boast about."

"More than I can say for myself," Lydie admitted, her all-black ensemble faded, tattered, and sagging from her meager frame. "Gotta admit, I kinda miss bein' able to go home to familiar faces.”

“Yes,” said Tatsidi. "It has been nice to do so again.” For the remainder of the walk, the Apo’na fell into a contemplative silence, content to stand beside his friend once more.