Seras Armon's Story

The day was just ending in Vercess, the sun dipping just below the horizon, and the "Come On Inn" was about to receive it's usual load of customers. Being a border town in Legion territory it was a fairly dangerous place to live, but its access to large iron deposits in the nearby mountains made it an important strategic position. The small town with its high stone walls was coming into total night when the first patrons of the evening started to arrive. Most of them were soldiers coming in from patrols, or town guards that just switched out of the watch rotation. A few of the townsfolk also came, but most were in bed resting for another day of work tomorrow.
Seras was sitting next to the fireplace set in the back wall, idly strumming and tuning his lute when a group of soldiers walked up to him. "You going to play us something bard?" One of the soldiers asked with a grin.
"Do you have any requests?"
"Just something uplifting, it's been such a hard day patrolling the local hills" The soldier answered with exaggerated woe, causing a few snickers from his companions.
Seras stood up and started playing a soft, delicate tune, then without warning stamped his foot three times and kicked into a furiously paced folk song about a warrior who beat a small army with only a splintered shield and a broken sword. It was a local favorite and most of the patrons joined in on the chorus. After some time the excitement died down and many of the bar-goers had left or passed out. All except a few...

The day was soon ending as the sun was dipping below the horizon. A young woman with long blue hair was finishing up her patrols near a place called Vercess. The woman known as Serafina was assigned there by some higher ups from the Legion to protect a crucial location which supplied iron to their armies from the Sentrillion Empire. That being said she was sent by herself to assist with the soldiers stationed by the Legion to ensure that this critical location would not fall into enemy hands.

She didint know much about Vercess, and since she didint know the land very well she was about to sleep up in one of the trees until she heard some commotion. Some soldiers or guards were talking about going to some placed called the "Come On Inn" to rest up. She decided to visit the inn and get a room for herself, since it would have been a safer option and no one would see her if she was in a room.

After following the group, she arrived at the inn before entering. Inside the inn was a bunch of people and a man, presumingly a bard who was strumming idly on his lute before the group in front of her asked him if he could play a uplifting song. She soon found herself at the counter and ordered a small glass of wine while listening to the bards music. At first it was soft and delicate until without warning he stamped his foot three times and kicked into a fast paced song and the others joined in.

She didint join the others and instead focused on her glass of wine taking careful sips. After some time the excitement died down and many of the people in the bar either had left or passed out. She was one of the few who remained sober and awake and her cup of wine was almost empty.

Seras sat down at the bar, still perspiring a bit from his performance. Cleaning his bangs out of his eyes he asked the barkeeper for a cup of coffee. Much to his dismay he would have to wait while a fresh pot was put on.

Sighing, he slumped down on to the bar and tapped his fingers, bored now that almost everyone had left. He was feeling much more tired than usual, mostly because it takes a lot of energy to perform for such an excited audience and cast spell songs at the same time. But it was worth it to get such a good reaction out of a crowd. His magic must be improving, he thought to himself, he typically wouldn't be able to influence that many people at once. Whatever improving he had done however, did not over come all of that drain he felt on him right now, if he could just stay awake long enough to get his coffee...

He suddenly became aware of someone sitting a few seats down from him, a girl with long blue hair wearing a Legion uniform and drinking wine. He moved a few seats down to sit closer to her. He offered a handshake and introduced himself.
"Hey, I'm Seras. I don't think I've seen you around before, did you just transfer in with some of the newer Legion troops?"

As Serafina took another small sip of her cup, she noticed the man who played the lite from sitting a few seats away from her. He then moved to sit closer to her. After he took his new seat the man offered his hand for a handshake while introducing himself. He could tell she was was part of the Legion, and he asked if she transferred with the newer Legion troops. She looked at him with a cold glare at first, she didint trust the man since they just met. "Serafina." She replied without shaking his hand.

"I'm going to get straight to the point Seras, I don't trust you and for all I know you could be the enemy. So if you tell me something that a Legion member only knows, I will talk you. But if you lie to me and I will kill you where you sit." She replied bluntly before turning her gaze to her drink before taking a small sip from it. She then turned back to the man to await his reply.

Seras expression soured a little at the crass rebuff of his introduction. He had known some of the higher ups in Legion to have very cold and, for lack of a better word, uptight personalities, but this one was a real ice queen. He recovered his former composure and shrugged before continuing.

"Well I can't tell you anything that only a Legion member would know, since I'm not affiliated with them, but I assure you I'm no enemy to you or any of your friends. If it's any consolation, you can take a look at this:" He handed her a rolled piece of parchment. Drawn on it was an artist depiction of the Bard, as well as a bounty written in Sentrillion font. "I used to do some work I wasn't proud of. So I decided I'd leave, and my employers weren't very happy about that. Like I said I'm not affiliated with Legion, yet, so I don't know anything only they would know, but..." He lead on tapping at his small pack he wore around his hip "I know some things they ought to know."

The bartender set down a pot of coffee and a mug onto the bar next to Seras.

Serifina listened to the mans story about once doing some work for the Sentrillion Empire before deciding to leave it behind, of course his employers didint like him leaving and by the parchment in her hands she concluded they wanted him dead. She gave a small sigh before giving him his parchment back and her cold glare that was fixated on him softened up just a bit. "I'll trust your story Ceras. And for your previous question I was stationed here to protect this area." She replied as she finished the last of her drink.

She decided for now the man was trustworthy since it sounded like he was not against them, her interest piqued however as the man tapped his bag and told her that he knew some things that the legion ought to know. "So you sell information...how much do you sell it for?" She asked curiously as she turned to the bartender and asked him for a refill on her wine. If what the man said was true, that information could be helpful in their war and she could get one step closer to the emperor of the Sentrillion Empire.

Night quickly fell on the inn Glen now found himself. Tucked away in the corner far from any other patrons he found himself carefully watching everyone. He made sure to to to keep his hood over his face, never know who might recognize him. It was difficult being a wanted man and Glen still had trouble adjusting on who to trust and who to avoid. Good thing many don't care for you background as a sell-sword.

A small twitch in his hand alerted him to the fact he needed to take his potion. Reaching down to his belt he unhooked a rather large metal flask and gently unscrewed the cap. The odor that slowly emitted from the opening was reminiscent of two week old sour milk, and the flavor even worse. The moment the first drop touched his tongue his neck slightly stiffened. "Even after all these years I'm still not use to that flavor." He gave the flask a slight shake revealing he only had enough to last him a few days. "I need to find work so I can by more ingredients." After reattaching the the container to his belt he slowly made his way to the bar with his lance in tow. Taking a set as far from the others as he could he steadily began listening to see if he could hear of any opportunities that may require an extra blade.

"The price typically depends on the value of the information, and I have some pretty good recent news about troop movements in Sentrillia that may or may not be beneficial to you. My usual going price is about 100 gold, but seeing as you aren't a usual customer I suppose I can give you discount and sell for say... 75 gold. "

Seras leaned back slightly and waited for her reply. While waiting he refiled his cup with the pot of coffee that had been left. He was still feeling incredibly tired and it was starting to show in his voice, the coffee was helping though as his eyes no longer felt like they were made of lead. As he poured he looked around discretely to make sure no one was listening to them, one person stood out to him, a warrior looking type with a lance. A mercenary maybe? it didn't matter much, if he did overhear anything he could probably just pay some hush money to keep the man quiet.

Serafina guessed that the mans asking price wouldn't be cheap, as as he told her how much it costs she let out a defeated sigh. Even with the mans generous discount, she couldn't afford it. She currently had five pieces of gold and a couple pieces of silver stashed away in her uniforms pockets. She never cared much about money, only carrying enough for food and personal necessities, and when she does get payed she gives most of it away to fellow soldiers or citizens going through hard times and saves the rest in a secret location to rebuild her village once the war was over.

"I don't have enough on me to afford that." She spoke before glancing at her drink and began to think. She could go and ask some of the higher-ups for some gold in case she did see him again. She stopped thinking as she saw the bartender refilling her cup with wine. After he had finished filling it up, she took a small gulp from her cup before setting it down again.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that" Seras replied to the Serafina. Maybe he was pricing these things too high, he thought to himself, the average solider didn't usually have such wealth and would be even more unlikely to carry it around on their person. Still, she could probably go back to some officers who could afford his service. He shook himself mentally, all this shady business wasn't for him but it was what kept him fed when his performances flopped. Speaking of, while everyone seemed to have enjoyed the show, the audience was fairly light on paying. Had he over done it? They had all burned out so fast they didn't have time to pay and he had only made about 2 silver. Well I can't afford a bed tonight, guess I'm sleeping in a tree again.

"If you know anyone else who might find this information useful, be sure to send them my way, I'm going to be in town for about a week then I'll be heading off north." He told her. He hoped that she would be able to find someone, he probably wouldn't make it very far without any money.

Glen listened closely to the two down the bar with a dread filled sigh as he realized they most likely wouldn't have any work for him. Taking a moment to peer into his coin pouch he counted his remaining wealth. "Two gold pieces.....ten short of what I need....." he muttered to himself. Thinking now was a good time to make his leave, he grabbed his lance and headed to the door. Stopping for a moment to pull out a single gold piece and placed it on the counter next to the man who had been performing earlier. "Great performance." Making sure his hood hung over his eyes in hopes of not being recognized by anyone. Quickly making his exit he began his search for shelter for the night.

As Seras told Serafina that he would be in town for a week, a small smile crossed her lips. "Well then, you can expect me to see you plenty of times. But for now we part ways." She replied knowing that her superiors should give her the gold for his information since any sort of Intel would be very helpful. After she finished talking she noticed a a figure which she guessed was a man judging by his physique, wearing a hood and gave Seras a gold coin before quickly making his way to the exit. If that man was trying to avoid suspicion, he was not doing a good job about it. But she couldent talk since she wasn't doing a good job hiding herself since she was making no effort to hide who she was. Regardless, she disregarded the hooded man and turned her attention to the bartender. "Who do I talk to to rent a room? And how much for a room?" She asked before placing her tab on the counter for the drinks she ordered before taking the cup of wine into her hands and chugging it down.

"Well the Come On Inn only charges 15 silver per night madam." The bartender informed Serafina "We have a lot of rooms open if you want one."

Serafina placed a gold coin on the counter. "Keep the change, I just want one room." She then began to wait for the man to give her a key to a room. She didint have enough silver and didint have enough pockets to put all the silver change in.

Seras was very thankful to the man who payed him for his show, it seemed there was in fact some people with a bit of generosity left. Still he decided that he would sleep outside tonight, best to keep the money in case he'd need it more later on. He started to head out as the bartender handed Serafina her room key.

"Goodnight" He called back in to the inn on his way out. The night air was a cold contrast between the warm, hearth like heat of the inns taproom. He pulled his cloak and coat a little more tightly around himself and headed off down the cobbled streets, his boots making a clacking echo against the stillness of the night. He made his way to a small park area and found a suitable tree to rest in for the night. Ever since that time he had meet a dryad and helped her with some goblin problem she was having, trees seemed to be much more cozy for him. Climbing up into the higher branches he sat on a nook between two large branches and started to doze off.

Serafina took the key from the bartender and took a quick at it. The key itself was ordinary but what she wanted to know was what room the key opened. Her eyes soon came across a tag attached to the key which had the number 18 written on it. She got up from her seat at the counter and walked up the wooden stairs to the second floor and after searching for a few seconds found a door with the number 18 on it and opened it up.

When she entered her room, she began to unbutton her uniform before tossing it on a nearby dresser along with her cap, she then leaned her sword on her bed. She enjoyed sleeping without so much clothes on and since it was a cool night it gave her much more of a reason to undress herself. She left her pants on however in case of trouble so she would save some time in trying to put them on. She soon collapse on her bed letting her blue hair scatter all over the bed before closing her eyes to rest.

Seras stretched, yawning. Some what stiff from the cold night spent in the tree. He gathered his things and jumped down from his roost. The streets were still very quiet, and the sun still hadn't risen, but Seras figured it couldn't be too far off. He strode around town aimlessly for some time, more trying to warm himself up with the friction of moving around then get somewhere. He passed a few guards on patrol here and there, waving a brief greeting to them as they passed. He eventually found himself at the town gate, closed and guarded as was the usual standard during the night. He loitered around a bit more and decided to look around for what might be a good street corner to busk on. His musical skills often helped him out in his spy work a lot, he thought to himself, always strange how much people talk when they think no one can hear over a performer.

Seras was sitting cross-legged on a street corner near the market district of town idling strumming and tuning his lute, when a man in Gallian armour strode up to him, and asked that he come to meet with his lord at once. A little hazy still from sleep Seras narrowed his eyes and then opened them again as he realized who that lord was. "I trust your lord his the honourable Fairfax then?" He inquired, less as a question and more of a statement. As he stood up he strapped his lute over his back once again and gestured for the solider to take the lead. He let a few paces get between them and then began to follow. All the while Seras was smiling to himself, it seemed he would get paid after all...

Several Minutes later...

After a few minutes of walking down the desolate streets of Vercess the Paladin and the Mage make it the library just as dawn is seen creeping up off of the peaks of the surrounding hills. "That Bard, Seras and The Merc Glen should be on their way if Croaker got past that fifth drink." Fairfax thought to himself. "Should of sent Strauss, but he insisted on coming with us, he loves any excuse to carry the Standard." Fairfax then stops at the bottom of a set stairs that leads into an old Gothic building where the public library is located. "We just need to wait for some people, it shouldn't be long." he said while then taking a seat on a old creaky bench, staring at the large majestic sunrise.

Elsewhere, Croaker was suffering from massive hangover leading a bard that had some use in his lords plans, he was told to find him and a retired solider named Glen Cormag. While he could not find him he put word out to all the taverns in town and even that old geezer Volger to keep his one good eye out for the boy. A few more weeks of playing errand boy and that promotion was his, he kept thinking to himself.

Seras saw the library at the end of the street, the old solider leading him onward. He noticed that the young women he was speaking to last night was with Lord Fairfax. He patted the solider on the back and told him he could find the rest of the way. His lute still tied to his back, and his sword hanging at his hip he walked up to the heavily armored paladin. He addressed the High lord in a casual manner. "Well Fairfax, how've you been? Keeping everyone marching in line?"