Drake Vance's Story

The man wandered nonchalantly towards the job board. His purse was a little empty and his flask was a little full, but that wouldn't last long and soon he'd need gold again. Unfortunate how that worked out. Free grog would make the world a much better place. But, alas, twas not so. A small elven girl was at the board, well actually she would've been considered tall in comparison to his own height. She might've been cute if she wasn't so disproportionate. Drake preferred his women without back problems. Made the sex less frequent and less fun. She seemed to signing up to join the guild. Slim chance wearing knee high boots and being built front heavy. She seemed more likely to trip in combat than actually do some harm. However he'd wish her luck all the same. Maybe the lass could surprise them.
He made his way up to the board and glance at the bounties. They were his preferred job type. Was easier to have no casualities when your fighting one man than it is when your fighting ten. Simple statistics there. Grabbing up a job hunting down a local horse thief Drake turned the Elf. "Hey, you must be new here. Names Drake. Been a member for almost two years now. Always good to see a new face." He put on his most handsome smile as he offered his hand to shake.

A man walked up to the board and took a job. "Hey, you must be new here. Names Drake. Been a member for almost two years now. Always good to see a new face." he said to me and held out his hand. I studied him carefully, there wasn't lust in his eyes like most men and he had a nice smile. I switched my bow to my left hand and shook his hand cautiously with my right. "Feather." I said softly. I let go of his hand and turned my attention to the guild, in a corner there was a mostly empty table marked 'new recruits'. I guess that's where we sit and wait for the guild master. Other tables covered most of this room, one entire wall was a bar where many people sat drinking. There was also a set of stairs going up to a second floor, probably the guild master's quarters. A door next to the board most likely lead to living quarters for the other members. I looked at anything and everything I could, avoiding looking at the man standing next to me.

Moon quickly pushed open the front door with a loud thud and an ever louder slam of the door. " good day to everyone... Nice to meet yall! " she said with a wave and a big grin, she did not waste much time standing around as everyone starred at her. She made her way to the sign in sheet writing her name in a mess of a quick pace. Her name read Moon Eldercroft. That last name she really hated so much. " hey " she said as she scanned the people near her, now knowing that no real threat could be found she settled at the table marked 'New Recruits'.

Upon setting down, she set her daggers on the table and took a deep breath. Moon was a bit short on cash so she really needed some kind of well paying job to pay the dept that seem to pile up over night. " Let this get over with fast... I have no time for this gathering" she muttered to herself as she began to get annoyed with it all.

"Well good luck." He patted the elf on the back. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Now I got me a horse theif to track." He turned away from girl and towards the exit.
Quiet a few new recruits today. Normally the guild got one every other week or so. Most people weren't fond of the guild's racial acceptance policy. Drake shrugged it off as a coicidence and started off towards the door. He was stopped by a large earth genasi. The elemental looked down on tiny Drake, who looked up and responded with a friendly grin "Hey Gerran."
The elemental reached out and grabbed the bounty from Drake's hand. "You're dealing with the sign-ups today. I'll take care of the horse theif.
Drake let out a small whine. "But I need the money!" He protested. The elemental simply pointed at the new recruit table then walked away. Damn the guild master's little pet. Drake knew he should've bought food with his last job instead of drink. He wandered over to the table. Honestly Drake normally enjoyed newbie duty and he decided not to let this hiccup sour his mood too much. The redhead was currently the only one at table. He flashed his smile. "You happen to see how many others were coming when you were signing up."

Moon came back to the world when the short man began to talk to her. A short yet somewhat charming little man that he seemed to be. Listening to what she had to say, she gave a little thought before she gave her answer. " well I believe that I was the last one to sign that sheet right over there " the pointed over her shoulder " why do you ask? Also how long is the hole ordeal going to take I need money like yesterday " Moon wondered if he was someone important or something.

So that was everyone then. An elf with no self confidence, a nervous cat who talked funny and an incredibly impatient young lass. Saying they survived the first few weeks they'd fit right in. "Well now that we're all gathered I'm Drake and I'll be showing you around. Over there" Drake pointed at the job board. "where you signed up is where we grab jobs. We used to fill out paperwork but nobody bothers with that anymore. Over there" Drake pointed behind him to what looked like a bar "is where we get alcohol and meet clients. Most importantly we get alcohol. Upstairs is optional quarters, in case you can't pay for your own place. They are incredibly cramped and you will have no privacy whatsoever. Downstairs we have trophy cases and sparring rooms. Any questions?" It was probably obvious Drake was rushing through the process. Normally you'd take the recruits downstairs and test their capabilities before you even thought about taking them on a job. But they all looked capable enough, so what was the harm in skipping a step?

I thought carefully before answering Drake's question. Maybe I was over thinking things but this might be a test of intelligence. A stupid question may make it so you aren't accepted. "Um, I know the jobs each guild gets are different so, what kinds of jobs do you get here?" I asked quietly as I fiddled with the arrow missing a feather. I hope my question was good enough, it was something I was curious about. I placed the arrow back in the quiver and waited patiently for Drake's reply.

Her head was tilted to the side slightly, her gaze flickering between the people at the table as they talked, observing them. The three of them seemed nice. Absently, Willow wondered if they would like to be her friends, but pushed that thought to the back of her mind for now as she heard Feather's question and then turned to Drake for his answer. She tilted her head further to the right, her cheek almost brushing her shoulder as she watches him in curiosity.

" I am sorry for being so impatient but can we hurry this up I have thing that NEEEED! to be delt with soon, so If you do not mind can we get a move on.... " Moon really did not want to be so forward but this was taking to long " question... " she sneared "when can we start are first job?" she tapped her fingers on the table trying to hold back the erge just to get up and leave. Moon knew that if she walked out on this day she might not ever join another guild, for who would take in a shape shifter if not this place. This was the only guild that was willing to take a risk an her and she did not want to have it blow up in her face.

Drake normal calm dropped into a death glare at Moon. "I need you to understand something Miss.." Drake looked across the way trying to read the sign-up. It took him a moment to make out the far off writing but Drake had pretty good eyesight. "Eldercroft. If you do not curb your impatience you will die in the field. This isn't sparring. This is combat." He let that sink in a moment before allowing his cheerful expression to return. Addressing Feather's question was a little harder. "Our guild...pretty much takes whatever we can. We are a diverse people, all capable of doing different things. It's the advantage of allowing anyone to join. It also means that we don't get offered as many jobs. The elven lands are more likely to go to an elven guild if they need something. We don't have the luxury of turning down certain types of jobs. This sometimes even means conflicting jobs. Like one member will be protecting a government official while another member takes a job to assassinate that official. In cases like this our only rule is to never kill another member of the guild." He thought for a moment. His answer didn't really feel satisfactory to him but he wasn't sure how else to put it. "Simple answer. Here in Blackfang we take anything we can get our hands on. I think its time for some action." Drake shifted his crossbow a bit and turned to the one who called herself Whiskers. "Why don't you go up to the board and grab a job that looks like it needs four people."

I nodded as I listened to Drake's answer, it made perfect sense. My kind did tend to be a little prideful and only send jobs to elven guilds. I have do admit, I was a little excited to be able to go on a job and show off my skills as a sniper. I get underestimated because of my looks and my shyness, but I'm as good or even better than any other elf. I waited for Whisker to go pick a job, trying to hide my uncharacteristic eagerness.

Willow gave a quick nod before jumping from her chair and going over to the board, weaving past people on the way. Blinking a few times, she allowed her eyes to wander over the requests that were posted on the board, seeing if she could spot one that would take for people. Upon spotting one, she took it from the board before skipping back over to the table and placing the paper in front of Drake to get his approval. The request was to get rid of a small group of bandits that were harassing travelers. "How's this one?"

Drake looked over the paper. Bandit hunt. Drake didn't like bandit hunts. More times than not there was too much bloodshed. But the job was perfect for a group of four and most people didn't have the same qualms as him. "Great job Whiskers. This will work marvelously." Drake looked at the paper more closely. "We'll be hunting a group of bandits that's been terrorizing a nearby village. We do not have a location for the bandit's base of operation so we'll need to come up with a way to track them down." He looked over the newcomers. Whenever working in a group it was good to have a chain of command. Everyone doing their own thing often leads to uncoordinated attacks. It was also an important learning experience for new recruits to have a chance at leadership. But which one? A smirk appeared on his face as his eyes found the shy Feather. "Feather, you'll be leading the operation. You'll need to figure out how to find the bandits and the best way to launch an attack using the skills of your teammates."

"M-me?" Though I was freaking out, my brain started working. "Well, the best place to gather information would be either a tavern or a marketplace. A marketplace would be better but there's almost always a tavern present. We'll need someone with good social skills to gather the information . Even the general area of the hideout would be useful, because I'm a really good tracker. Do we have anyone who's good at stealth? We'll need to find out as much as we can about the bandits, numbers, weapons, who the leader is, things like that. Then, um, I guess the attack with depend in the bandits themselves." I trailed off at the end, realizing that I had caught the attention of quite a few people in the room. I guess they aren't used to a new recruit knowing so much. I looked down at my lap, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. "I'm uh, considered old in human years. I've traveled around a lot a know this sort of thing"

Moon was happy to see that Feather had gotten the task of leader of there rag tag band of misfits. " I have social skills that could best even a lady of the theives guild would be no match for me..... thoe I dont act like it... but they are." she stood up and grabing her daggers and smiled " and I can not do stalth to save my life " Moon laughed a bit out of embarrassment. " the name is Moon, Moon Eldercorft by the way........" Moons face turns a light red color.

The smirk stayed with Drake. He was pretty sure he'd made the right decision there. Forcing Feather out of her comfort zone would be both benficial to the guild and beneficial to Feather. "I can sneak up on an elven seer in broad daylight, can stick a squirrel at a hundred and fifty yards and once tricked a mage into thinking his powers were just a parlour trick." The mercenary boasted when Feather asked about stealth. "If we can figure out where one of the recent attacks took place you and I might be able to follow the tracks back to their camp." He suggested. Villagers were more likely to know where an attack took place than they were to know the actual location of the camp.

First I smiled and adressed Moon. "Moon Eldercroft, that's a very pretty name." Then I spoke to Drake. "That would work as well, but you are underestimating villiagers. They listen at taverns, bandits will go to a tavern in a town they've attacked, one or two at a time, and they have very loose tongues when they are drunk." I looked up from my lap and directly into Drake's eyes. Some of my old personality was coming out again. The way I was before a string of awful events happened and I was forced back into a shell. "You also underestimate me, because I am simply a new recruit. But you forget that I have been doing this longer than you have been alive. I think I know a thing or two about bandits." Then I went back to being the new me, the me that was weak, that was pathetic, the kind of person that the old me hated.

Willow bit her lip nervously for a moment before smiling at the group. "Whisker isn't very good at stealth, but Whisker is a good listener," she blinked a couple of times before looking towards Feather, "Whisker could listen and see what everyone says if you want." A small smile slipped onto her lips, she decided that she liked these three, she just hoped that she didn't start getting clingy while they were taking out the bandits.

Yori had fallen asleep on that hill way too long and had lost track of time.

He ran over to the room where he knew that the new members were recruiting and knocked on the door before coming in.
He yawned, "Sorry I'm so late. I lost track of time." He said as he rubbed his sleepy eyes.

He may have just ran for a good five minutes, but he didn't seem winded at all.

"Honoo kei kougeki jumon no hitotsu. Jimen kara magma wo fuki ageru ." The chanting can be heard. To an experienced mercenary's ears, those are the sounds of a mage casting a spell. However, a VERY experienced mercenary would instantly realize that the speaker is only practicing, as there had not been any passion or seriousness as the incantation had been said. Asher Evans was reading striaght out of a book of spells that were left behind be his foster father- or at least, foster grandfather- who was a poweful mage. Years of training from a young age had allowed Asher to excell in both physical and magical abilities, and now Asher is at least a decent, if not an amazing, Spellsword.

The lone man walked through the streets of a town that has a name of no meaning to him. In a few days, the silver haired Spellsword would leave town once more, as a vagrant would have. However, there was always a longing in his heart.... a longing to be in a family. Asher never had one, not in his early age, and not when the two people had adopted him. The father and son ewre more like teachers and trainers instead of fathers. Asher sighed as his heart ached once more for the absence of a true family.... Until his head ached from slamming into a sign.

Asher shook his head to get out any dizzyness that messed up his vison. He opened his eyes and read the now clear sign. "Blackfang...." Asher muttered the words of the sign. The word was familiar. Many people had been talking about it, but most of them talked about it badly. However, Asher did hear the word "Guild." From his knowledge, Asher knew what a guild was like. A group of people that take in jobs, working hard to live. The members would support each other, and treat each other like a family. Family. That's what Asher needed the most. His heart jumped for joy as he realized that he was in front of the entrance to the guild.

This was it. He had thought. No more living alone. It's time I go into a setting in which people actually care for me like family, not just a student or an apprentice. Without hesitation, and holding back some tears that nearly flooded his eyes out of happiness, Asher opened the doors to the guild. Air of many scents rushed at him as he opened the door, scents that he knew from his travels, and smells of unfamiliar things, places, or people. It wasn't expected, but you know what they say. Always expect the unexpected. Asher entered the room, careful not to bump into the man who had entered a fwe minutes before him. The Spellsword looked around for something, a sheet of paper maybe, but only found a table marked "New Recruits." Asher got a bit nervous, mainly because of the number of people in the table. Taking a second to catch his breath and to build up some courage, Asher walked to the table, and said, "Hey guys. I'm looking to get into this guild... Do you know where and how I can join?" They seemed to talk about something important, most likely battle plans or spying, as far as Asher could tell. He blushed, because he had probably interupted an important meeting. There goes his confidence.