Welcome to The Ruby Chair," she greeted them formally. "What can I do for you?"
"Ah, hi, Jempta, it's me, Xander. If you happen to remember. I'm looking to get a room for two."
"Mm, yes I do remember," Jempta stated in a way that implied she remembered every customer she'd ever had. "I've space for you and your… companion," she settled on, unsure of how to refer to Valteria's relationship to Xander. Unfortunately, I believe the rest of your team is out at the moment, though I'll be sure to let them know you have arrived, should I happen to see them before you do."
"Oh! Thank you," Xander said, surprised that the woman had not only remembered him and his name, but had also who his teammates were. "That would be lovely."
They settled on the price for the first leg of their stay, Xander deciding to pay for a month's lodging. He didn't dare try to haggle with Jempta, the woman looked like she'd brook no bending of her prices, but she did give a discount for paying for a month up front, which he happily took. He included a small tip for her agreeing to let the team know he was at the inn, and then he and Valteria made their way up the stairs to their room.
It wasn't long before a Xander heard someone knock on his door. He opened it to see a grinning Frazay, who wrapped him into a quick hug with a thump on his back. "Xander!" She exclaimed after the hug, "Finally back! What took you so long?"
"Ah, well, it was a long ways away," Xander explained. "Way up North." He beckoned Frazay inside, offering the single chair that sat in the room.
Frazay accepted the offer, sitting down and leaning back against the chair. Xander moved to sit on the bed next to Valteria. Frazay noticed the smaller figure in the room as he did so, offering a greeting to her as well. "Oh! Hello there Valteria! I hope I'm not... interrupting something?" She asked, looking at Xander with a brow arched in amusement.
"Oh, no," Valteria quickly answered, flushing in embarrassment. "We've only just started to settle in."
"Settling in, hmm? So, you're going to be staying with Xander, then?" Frazay deduced.
"There was... an incident at the shop," Xander told Frazay. Noting her alarmed look, he quickly added, "it's all handled already, don't worry. But, we thought it might be best if Valteria stayed with me for a little while."
"Mmm, I see, I see," Frazay replied. "Well, I shan't intrude into business that isn't mine... though the gossip in me certainly wants me to," she added.
Valteria looked uncomfortable, but remained silent. Xander found her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry about her," he told Valteria. "You don't have to tell her about it right now – she really is just a gossip. But a harmless one," he said.
"I'm anything but 'harmless,'" Frazay protested.
"Okay that's true, but as a gossip you're harmless. You only gossip to the rest of us, after all," Xander said.
"Harumph," Frazay mock pouted.
There was another knock at the door. This time Graffus's voice was heard, slightly muffled through the door. "Xander, are you in there?"
Xander left the bed again to let Graffus in, where he was once more pulled into a brief hug. The rest of the team arrived in similar fashion, first Gabrelle and then Atrax. They sat and stood around in Xander's room, which had become rather cramped with six people in it, catching up with each other. Xander relayed the story, sans some political details, of his prison break to his teammates. In turn, they told Xander what they had been up to while he was away. The rest of the team had taken up a couple of bodyguard contracts that had stayed close to the city. Nothing had come of them, it was simply nobles and the affluent using hired mercs around them to posture, but they had paid well. When it was revealed that the team had been requested for the jobs instead of finding them in the mercenary guild hall, he silently wondered if Brinn Grefelt had played a part in suggesting the team for him. Valteria had begun to relax, finally, as the conversation flowed, and no one pestered her for details on the 'incident' she'd been involved in.
Eventually, it was dinner time, and the six of them moved to a table downstairs for food and drink. There was plenty of both, and the conversation continued. Xander learned that the drake eggs had indeed hatched, and each extra drake had been sold off to a reputable merchant that already had leads on where each drake would go, all to highly professional trainers who were willing to spend the coin to get access to a rare animal. The fledgling drakes had gone for nearly a platinum each, and Xander's share had been dropped off at the bank for his account.
Graffus had continued his fishing hobby, which Xander nearly forgotten about. The dwarf apparently found it very peaceful, almost meditative. Which was good, he said, because he often didn't catch anything.
Frazay had been busy training the drake drake – Trion, she'd named it – who had just recently grown large enough that the innkeeper had insisted that Frazay stable the beast instead of keeping it in her room. Apparently several customers had been badly frightened by seeing a small dragon as they came around the corner of a hallway, and other similar circumstances. Frazay assured Xander that Trion was perfectly harmless – unless commanded otherwise – and was actually shaping up to be quite the playmate for Freyja, who had grown more interested in the drake now that it was larger.
Gabrelle had spent her free time at several of the temples that offered healing services, earning coin for her healing services while also gaining access to a wealth of knowledge about healing both from experience with injured people as well as their stored texts on the arts of healing. Healing things other than cuts or the occasional broken bone had been an enlightening experience for her.
Atrax had continued pursuing his [Scholar of the Ancient] class, spending time in libraries and bookstores throughout the city. Apparently, he'd been studying several old cults that had centered around fire and its inherent power. He assured Xander that he was not interested in the cult-y parts of the cults, but they had deeply researched the nature of magical flames themselves, which Atrax of course had a vested interest in mastering.
As the night grew longer, and drinks continued to be served to them, the conversation finally came to a slow, natural halt as the members of the group began to tire. A unanimous, though silent, decision was made that it was time for rest, and so the laborious process of gathering oneself together to stand up and blearily, and rather drunkenly, make the journey to bed was begun. Xander helped shepherd his groggy friends up the stairs and into their rooms, taking up the rear of the group, Valteria close in front of him.
Valteria had kept her drinking relatively light compared to most of the group, and as such was not quite so unsteady as she and Xander made their way to their own shared room. The two of them entered and began making ready to get into bed.
"I hope the bed matches up to the one you have at home," Xander said. "Yours is pretty comfy."
"Eh," Valteria grunted shrugging her shoulders. "A bed's a bed. They're all more comfortable than a bedroll on the ground.
"Any bed's a lot better with you in it," Xander flirted.
Valteria laughed. "Well, then, consider this the best bed around," she said, patting the bedside next to her.
The next day, the team sat together again for breakfast. Those who had drank more heavily the night before were, perhaps, a bit bleary eyed, but none seemed to be majorly hung over. They ate quietly, filling themselves up on the food that the server had brought them, taking the time to fully wake up. Finally, Frazay broke the spell of silence that had fallen over them.
"So, what's the plan now? I know you just got back, Xander, so perhaps a break might be in order for you, but the rest of us have been languishing here in the city on boring bodyguard contracts," The druid lamented.
"Always ready for the next contract," Graffus quipped. "Though, I suppose it does help keep us well funded."
"I just get so bored," Frazay complained. "I like to be out and about, doing things. Maybe shooting things, too."
"I have to admit that I've been getting restless, too," Atrax said.
Gabrelle nodded in agreement.
Xander looked around at his teammates, who were in turn looking to him, awaiting some kind of response. He shrugged. "I'm up for whatever." He turned to Valteria. "How you feel about coming on a contract with us? We did promise to invite you, and it would be an even better way to lay low, since we'd be out of town."
Valteria's eye rose to the ceiling as she thought the idea over for a few moments. "Mmm. I think I'd like that. It's been a while since I've done a contract. I could use a vacation. Well, maybe vacation isn't the right word. But anyways, yes. If you'll have me," she added, gauging the rest of the teams' reactions to Xander's invitation.
"Of course we'll have you!" Frazay said enthusiastically. "Any friend of Xander is a friend of ours, and besides, we all saw how well you did in the tournament. I have no doubt you'll be able to keep up with us."
"Ooh, do you think we can take that… uhm what did you call it, Xander? The thing you made to travel for your prison break?" Gabrelle asked.
"The APC?" Xander replied.
"Yes! That! Can we take that?" Gabrelle questioned excitedly.
"Sure, I just have to get it from the Governor's estate. I figured I'd get it when I visited next to get paid or whatever." Xander answered.
"They haven't paid you yet?" Frazay's incredulity clear in her voice.
"Lady Grefelt mentioned that since we rescued so many people, there would be extra parties wanting to chip in additional payment and she'd need to organize that. Said she'd send a messenger when everything was ready."
Frazay grunted, mollified. "Well, as long as they do pay. They might be nobles, but the guild doesn't play nice with people who stiff on payment."
"Ya'll got any contracts already scoped out?" Xander asked.
Atrax shook his head. "Not a one."
"Maybe we can go to the guild after breakfast and look?" Valteria ventured.
"That sounds like a good idea to me," Gabrelle responded.
"Then it's settled," Graffus said. "We'll hit the guild after we finish breakfast and see if there's any good contracts."
They walked as a group towards the mercenary guild hall, chatting along the way. They had come to the conclusion that they'd like to take a contract outside the city as they had walked. Something exciting, adventurous. Xander hadn't realized how much being stuck in the city had been wearing on his teammates. For her part, Valteria seemed excited to be a part of the group and was looking forward to an adventure.
The guild hall was as busy as ever, bustling with mercs of every skill level, grizzled veterans rubbing shoulders with starry eyed teens hoping to fill out their joining application. The team waded through the crowd and split up at the contract wall, searching for something interesting. Xander and Valteria perused through the contracts that were neatly pinned in rows on the long wall. There were jobs ranging from picking herbs in nearby forests to clearing out troublesome bandits, to tracking down exotic beasts half a continent away and everything in-between. Xander wasn't sure what he wanted to do, so he contented himself with the idea of going with a contract that someone else in the group pulled. He was still on the lookout for something interesting, though. Just in case. But nothing really stood out to him from the mass of pinned papers.
"What about this one?" Valteria asked, pointing towards one that was lower on the wall.
"Mmm? Let's see," Xander replied, leaning down a bit to see the note better. There was an informational note before the contract description, which he hadn't seen on a contract before.
This contract has been broadened from its local guild hall due to going unfulfilled.
The daughter of the mayor of Breks, Antellina, has been kidnapped by the local village of werewolves. The mayor has put forth funds for the rescue of his daughter. Antre, the mayor, will serve as the liaison for further information on the contract on site.
A handwritten note by one of the clerks followed.
No one from the guild hall nearest Breks has taken this one, could be for a good reason. But the guild gets their contracts done, and we are authorizing additional payment for the completion of this contract before its range is extended again.
"Wait, werewolves are real?" Xander asked, quietly.
"Of course!" Valteria said, incredulous of Xander's lack of knowledge.
"They're… rarer, perhaps, here than over the sea, but as far as I know there are several villages of werewolves just in Sempta. Not sure what the whole kidnapping thing is about, though. It seems… out of character from what I've heard of them."
"Huh. I guess it's not really a surprise they're real here… but they were just a myth back home. They are authorizing extra payment for this one. Wonder why no one took it up closer to home."
"Well, most people don't exactly like to fight werewolves," Valteria explained. "They're fast, they're strong, and unless you're fighting them with silver or fire, their wounds heal extremely quickly. If there aren't any veteran mercs around, I can see why the contract went unfulfilled."
"Ah. Well, that makes sense. Silver and fire, eh? I think we can make that happen if needed." Xander said. Between Atrax's fire abilities and the fact that he could easily coat their weapons in silver, they would be well equipped to go up against any were creature.
The two of them met up with the rest of the team shortly after to look at the contracts that had been pulled. Gabrelle and Graffus came back empty handed, not finding anything that had particularly sparked their interest, Atrax had found a kill contract for a rare beast that lived deep in large forests, and Frazay had brought over a contract on a group of bandits.
They looked over all three contracts, Valteria's werewolf contract raising some eyebrows.
"Werewolves? Kidnapping someone? That doesn't sound like any of the werewolf villages I've ever heard of," Frazay commented.
"Right?" Valteria said.
"I can't say I know much about werewolves," Gabrelle admitted.
"Me either," Xander added.
"Well," Frazay started, "the first thing that's odd about this is that werewolves generally keep to themselves in their enclaves. Sure, they do a bit of trade for tools they can't produce themselves, but generally they are small, self-sufficient communities that are fairly isolationist. Not aggressively so, but you rarely see werewolves outside of their packs. They live the old ways, in harmony with the land they're settled on. So it's… odd, to say the least, that they would have kidnapped someone, especially as a group. I could see maybe a single bad egg doing it and getting the whole group blamed, maybe that's what's happened here."
Graffus nodded along. "Mhhmm. The fact that no one closer to, ah, where was it?" He reread the contract note. "Breks. That's the place. The fact that no one closer to Breks has taken the contract means that either they can't handle it, which is a definite possibility, or that they won't handle it. What I mean to say, is this seems fishy."
"It's certainly intriguing," Axtrax said. "And I think it's something we could handle. Certainly more interesting than the one I found. Valteria's pick has my vote."
The rest of the team piled onto Atrax's vote, and it was quickly decided that they would be taking the kidnapping rescue contract. The team got in line for the next clerk and waited their turn. Once they got to the low counter, Xander gestured for Valteria to take the front, since she still had the contract in hand.