"Fresh fish here! Fresh caught this morning off the Western coast!"... "Rare and unique items from The Native Islands! Get 'em while I got 'em!" ... "This product is said to cure any aliment! Come and get your before they are all gone!" As Lord Valen and the others arrived at the Tradelands main port, they could hear all the sounds of everyone advertising their goods. "We will all go to the Inn first, then meet down at the restaurant to grab some food," Lord Valen. "Let's go Sebastian, I'm claiming you as my roomie!" Amai said with a look of excitement on her face. "Pff, what are you 12 years old?" Mav said as he moved through the crowd to get everyone to the Inn. Amai just rolled her eyes and latched onto Sebastian's arm, Ari and Serena looked at the 2 locked arm in arm and just shook their heads. Once inside, Lord Valen chatted with a hostess in a friendly manner while waiting for their rooms to be cleaned and prepared.
After everyone set their items in the rooms they made their way to the small restaurant/bar on the first floor. They could see a few tables that sat lively people as well as most of the seating at the bar. The hostess wore a plain, tan colored knee length dress with a green apron, ushered them to their seats towards the back of the restaurant. "My Lord isn't that mission board- uh- I thought they were trying to regulate the amount of requests?" Amai asked which caused the others to look back towards the board. Lord Valen looked up from his menu and nodded, then continued browsing, resulting in a slight pout from Amai. "Amai, it's been all of what, 2 months since we, well at least since you've been here? A lot can change in that time. I heard the military isn't offering the citizens nearest the ports as much assistance-Oh! Thank you Miss," Sebastian was interrupted when the hostess brought everyone their drinks. "Anyways, isn't the new "Mr. Large and In charge," pushing to phase out mercenary work and mission boards all in all?" Lord Valen stayed silent while everyone was talking, all the while observing at their surroundings. "Is that not why we are here Bird Brain? We are on this mission to gather intel," Serena said towards Sebastian comment, resulting in a loud laugh from Mav and a sulking Sebastian; Lord Valen chuckled slightly and called the hostess over to take their orders for lunch.
When the hostess left their table, Ari stood up and walked over to the mission board they passed earlier. It was roughly split; one side having mission request which ranged from simple errands to bounties, and the other side had wanted and mission persons posters. She carefully took 2 papers off the board and went back to her seat, then set the papers on the table face up for the others to see. The regulars in the restaurant just ignored her but a new person sitting at the bar began questioning the bar tender about the girl and her party. "What are outsiders doing lookin at them requests?" He said is a sluggish manner, the bartender sighed deeply, "Best to keep yer nose outta others business Jack. I do believe you are one as well," He said in a stern tone as he cleaned a thick glass. The man, Jack, scoffed, and finished the last of his drink, "Psh, nosy brats." The bartender sighed once more and set the glass on the countertop. "You got 1 more time to mention 'em before I kick yer ass outta here," he said in a voice low enough so others couldn't hear, but loud enough to make a point; Jack gulped loudly and remained quiet.
Ari pointed to the first paper, "They are still in search of the mercenary dubbed 'Phantom of the Seas,' to my recollection didn't the military put a stop to anyone searching for this Shadow?" Serena grabbed the paper from Ari and began inspecting it thoroughly, "Wait, what's their name?" Amai asked with a confused look on her face, "Phantom of the Seas, some big shot, bad ass, mercenary that will pretty much take any job involving a fight or anything left on the board for longer than 3 months. They were also on the run from the military right? I'm surprised it wasn't removed before we got here." Mav said while making exaggerated hand movements. "Wait, so no one even knows if 'Phantom' is a man or woman? How can that be? Wouldn't it be, ya know, obvious? " Amai said in an exaggerated manor as she put her hands near her chest to emphasize what she meant. As she was reading the poster she had just taken from Serena's hands her eyes only grew wider in surprise. "They hide their identity well I suppose. They hook up with infamous pirate captains and pretty much lay low until they-" "Sorry to interfere in the talk Darlings, but I have everyone's lunch," the hostess said with a smile and a tray full of food. Everyone quickly cleared the table and began to eat once their plates were settled.
"Ari, why did you grab this one?" Sebastian said as he reached for the other dull colored paper on the table, "Its a missing person's poster, but if you look close at the writing, it seems...different, almost staged. More like a wanted poster. All the names on there are random aliases. 'Kooky Toto, Tota, Pervy Koko..." Ari trailed off leaving the others confused, but they understood why when they saw her eyes seemingly sparkle as she put a piece of sauced meat into her mouth and smiled softly. "Come to think of it, there were other posters as we arrived at the port with similar names and descriptions of this person. I wonder what this person-Amai stop stealing my veggies!" Sebastian said loudly as she happily crunched on the "stolen" vegetables. The poster finally made it over to Lord Valen who barely even glanced at it, as he picked up his cup to drink. "We will have to be quick about heading into town after we eat. Unless something unfortunate happens, we will remain here for 4 days. Spend wisely, the temple will not be covering any additional costs," Lord Valen said to everyone. Most were agreeable, but Sebastian still pouted slightly.
After more banter between the 6 of them, they finishing their food, settled up their checks, grabbed what they needed for the mission, and gathered at the entrance of the port. "Meet back at this spot by the time the port will be closing. Gather as much intel from the people of this area as possible, we will be sharing information with Lady Wren and her team later. Mav, Amai, Serena, split between the ports and the neighboring towns. Try to not draw unnecessary attention to yourselves" they all nodded, "Ari and Sebastian, you both accompany me up the mountain." Ari nodded and Sebastian's face dropped slightly, 'Shit! I shouldn't have ate so much,' he thought to himself. "If you run into any issues, go to the herb shop at the end if this block with a purple store sign, and ask for Tuyen. She will help you." Without waiting, Lord Valen turned to walk away, with Ari and Sebastian following close behind.
As Mav, Amai, and Serena discussed who would go which direction, a young child went over and pulled on Serena's pant leg. "Miss, can you help me?" The young child looked up at her with big puppy dog eyes, "Awh too sweet. Hey baby what is it you need help with? Maybe my friends and I can help together." Amai said as she squatted down to the child's level. "Amai, we need to be-" "Oh buzz off Mav. You take the far end of the ports and Serena and I can spend some time helping the young lad then we will go into the town." Amai said, Mav scoffed and walked away, "Whatever." "M-my puppy...he-he" The young child began to cry, "Amai, I would feel comfortable if you would help the child while I check out something that is bothering me." Serena said before she removed the child's hand from her pant leg and walked off towards the town. Amai sighed then look back at the child who was now drying their tears. "Well clearly that wasn't convincing enough to keep her here. I told you not to go to her directly! Where's your sister? She was supposed to be the one who came up to her you dumbass!" Amai was still at the child's level, but her demeanor changed dramatically; as did the child's. "Shut up you hag! My sister is sick so I was the only one who could do it. I kept my hair down to make me look more close to her. Ugh, just come tell Dad what you need." The young child said as he stormed off in the opposite direction in which Serena just left. "Ugh, what the hell?! Why can't my brother just follow through for once!" Amai said angrily, she then stood up, adjusted her clothes, and followed after the boy.