Snippet #2497930

Lord Ackryn set down his snifter on the mantel and put his palms together, fingertips against his lips. "What I'm about to tell you is not well-known. It's been kept a secret because, to be frank, we're worried that it's going to cause panic. Lord Mamelud, the Duchess of Coryx, Lady Selcci and I have met about it several times, and we've agreed that it's better and safer if we hire professionals and get this done right."

The three he named were famous at court, connected to the King. The Duchess of Coryx was the Royal Wizard, Lord Mamelud a well-known strategist that was employed by the King during wars, and Lady Selcci was more or less intimately connected to every power player in the kingdom. If Lord Ackryn was meeting with them about the job he was offering, it was not only serious but had the potential to garner some better clients after this job was done. It was certainly something to add to consideration, but Lord Ackryn was continuing on.

"A dark power was sealed after the last of the Great Wars, centuries ago. It was used to lay waste to the kingdoms in the west, turning them into the deserts they are now. No one knew exactly how the wizards of that time managed to defeat this power and seal it away, but it was done, and for a time the world forgot. But in the last few decades we've been noticing... certain changes. After research and consulting some very advanced wizards, we found that it was being caused by this same dark power, which was sealed into an orb and hidden away."

"We found it, after much expense and time, hidden away in the Caves of Abul Deer. I need to hire the both of you to find this orb and bring it back to us. This power needs to be resealed or many more could die. I'm paying you one hundred bags of gold each, 75 up front. This needs to be done quickly, and further complicating the matter is that, well, I'll be very blunt. The orb is guarded, according to the research we've done, by a hydra. Your reputations were such that we wanted to offer this to the both of you, first. We know that you don't typically work with partners, but this job is complicated, and we wanted to make sure that it would be successful."

Isidore's eyes widened. Hydras were a bit beyond her experience, but they weren't exactly impossible to kill. Just... insanely difficult. "What's the deadline?"

"You would both have until the next full moon." It was a full moon tonight, giving them only a month to get all the way to the caves and back. "I know it's not much time, but it has to be done then." He crossed his arms and looked at the both of them. "So, will you accept this mission?"

Isidore considered it. Dangerous, with a quickly approaching deadline? The money was good, but more importantly, it was a heroic mission, one that was a complete turnaround from the jobs she used to do. What better way to reform than to save the world? "I accept, so long as we are given an additional bag of gold for expenses along the journey."