At the guild.
"Wolves? We shall skin them one by one"
"Rare herb in the southern hills? This sounds promising"
"Escorting the archeologist? Better pay us handsomely"
The Black Sheep party comes in, they look one by one for a labyrinth exploration quest.
Until…
"Here it is, an old city excavation, the team requires us to survey the location. Deeper we go, the more we can keep. Anything that needs for inspection, they will do it for free of cost and we get to keep it" - Darvic points
"Sounds risky, I want to know if we can get a shiny necklace." - Mawra shines
"It is good to take such a quest. After all, we can retreat anytime soon as long as we don't push too far" - Polwil strokes his chin
"Going deeper is rewarding but can we just not get too greedy and overwork ourselves?" - Tiary tugs Darvic's clothes.
"So be it then, we are going to take the quest" - Polwil snatches the paper
The four walks to the counter
"This one? If you are not back in one piece, we are going to have to deal with your aftermath. Recently, some parties reported that there is a strange creature in that excavation. Be careful, brats!" - The receptionist clenches her fist
"What kind of creature?" - Darvic is raring for battle
"Undead, beast type and some say it is headless" - The receptionist remarks
"Well, that is not good for me" - Darvic sulks
"Well, we have our cleric here to do that job for you, Darvic" - Mawra glances at Tiary
"You guys, better move now before the next wagon moves. That wagon is the supply for that excavation" - The receptionist points to the entrance.
The four rush to the wagon. They hop on to it.
The excavation has tents and people discussing. The supplies have come to them along with a party of four ready to explore and collect items.
"So, you want me to inspect this mace even though knowing that I can't even lift it to further inspect better?" - An appraiser frowns
"I can hold it for you. I really need to know what properties it has. The only remark is that it is heavy for normal people." - Tiary holds the mace
"Interesting. This time, I let the rule slide once. Although, inspecting items outside of this ruin costs you silvers." - As he points to this mace - "That thing can get heavier by consuming something that fits its taste. The heavier it gets, the stronger the blow. That is the principle of the weapon but yet, usually, enchanters like to make weapons easier to use. Sharpening, no maintenance, powerful winds or something burning. The creator must have been a mad person to do such things"
"What else?" - Polwil crosses his arms
"That weapon has a name. But it is an ancient language, I cannot say it due to lack of knowledge. I cannot inspect further beyond. You find out yourself" - The appraiser shrugs
"Rumors have it that we have to watch out a certain headless beast" - Darvic checks his spear
"Of course. You have a white magic user here to defeat that thing." - He points at Tiary - "A cleric can use heal on them to effectively kill them. Previous parties had no white magic user like her"
"We put Tiary at the front with me" - Mawra flips her book
"What? Who is Tiary?" - He flusters
"The cleric you spoke of" - Polwil glances other way
"Then why are you two men staying behind women? Do you have a backbone?" - He clenches his fist
"Said by the one who needs protection" - Mawra continues reading
"But it doesn't mean that the vanguard and the fighter have to stay back like cowards while putting magic users at front" - He pinches his forehead
"I can only command, he is better at healing, the mage has the defense gift, our cleric has the strength gift. Do you even ask why she can carry that mace around?" - Polwil frowns
"That makes sense now" - He frowns - "Your regular torch won't be effective here. We will provide you with storm lanterns. Those things run on mana and better return them to us in one piece. It can cost you a few gold coins but it is preferably you being alive. Dead people cannot reimburse anything"
"Can we have some tools to appraise or inspect items down there?" - Polwil looks serious
"Well… We don't have them here due to our budget. But I suggest that you should grab some pebbles around for traps and strange mechanism" - He shrugs - "Good luck down there. Back in one piece"
The four head to the entrance, each grabs a storm lantern.