Chapter 1 : Elias
“though most would be disturbed by your mere presence. Elias thought before he continued,
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Perhaps he is just another freeloader. They were common enough, especially on escort requests like these. The employer would report his actions to the guild, and appropriate measures would be taken.
Adventurer’s Guild Request No. 017.214.1305
Request Grade: X
Requester: Lewis DeWitt
Request Type: Escort / Merchant guard***
Request summary: Require guards and escorts for a caravan heading to the Imperial Roman territories city of Sintilla
Request Payment: In addition to the standard Guild rate (Rank and Grade rate) The Requester will pay an additional 5 gold per day of travel, with an additional bonus of 100 gold pieces paid upon approval. Food, Water, and shelter accommodations are also provided if necessary for the Adventurer.
Request Location: All adventurer’s who meet criteria shall go to 1 of the following Muster points for interview / approval by Mr. DeWitt
- Estwind muster field, final call day 32 of Winter
- Ipson muster field, final call day 39 of Winter
-Solen muster field, final call day 47 of Winter
-Cante muster field, final call day 53 of Winter
-Sudderlan muster field, final call day 60 of Winter
*Requester will only accept Adventurers of Rank C Grade 3 and higher
*Adventurers who wish to take this Request must see their guild hall, and receive a copy of this request with the guild’s seal. Any who do not will be rejected without collateral pay
*Requester holds right to reject any adventurer regardless of rank, guild will cover collateral pay in this instance
Signed – Diobella Krent, Guild Master, Solen Hall
nd</sup> Grade Elias of course took up this easy looking request. 5 gold a day plus the standard daily fee, for what would most likely be multi month journey was too much to pass up. It was simple too, a short interview with a guild officer and Elias had his copy of the request. It wasn’t unusual for long term guild partners to get special treatment when putting in requests such as these. The Request grade of X simply meant it was a custom request along those lines.
2 weeks earlier
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“nd</sup> Grade” Elias gave a small bow. He felt it best to try and assuage the worries of the 4 people who were next to Lewis, they had the eyes of desperate people. Desperate people are at their most dangerous Words of his mentor echoed in his mind.
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“Learn this, you are likely to be robbed and left on the side of a road at this rate!. His mentor’s voice rang through his skull.
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“nd</sup> grade huh? Well that makes your standard fair roughly a gold a day, add the additional wage you get 6 a day. I will provide meals, and shelter should you need it. Oh, and here is the first half of your bonus.” Lewis took a medium sized pouch from a chest nearby and handed it to Elias. The pouches weight felt right, though Elias would count it later.
“you, have any questions?” There was a slight smile on the face of Lewis before he answered.
“Ser Elias, I do not. You are free to camp over there, In fact there is a group of adventurers who arrived before you that are camping there. We will be leaving within the next few days.” Lewis gestured to a section of the field that had much higher quality tents among them. Elias nodded and made his way over, taking the time to bring his horse along. He would need the saddlebags to set up his own tent.
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A noble of some sort?
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“my lady.” Elias decided to be cautious, if she was a noble he should use the correct honorific. To his horror, the girl giggled again.
“my lady?, Well then Ser...”she left a space waiting for me to fill it in.
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“ Be ever wary of a pretty girl’s smile, it is their most dangerous weapon! Yet more wise words from his mentor. Recovering himself Elias spoke again.
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Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
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“Ser Elias is being humble, he’s a knight you know.” Erika plopped down next to the duo, her lethal smile in full force. Merrik eyed Elias curiously.
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When you have nothing to say to a pretty girl, sometimes that’s okay! Don’t try to fill the space with something stupid, or you will look just as stupid!. The voice of his mentor again guiding Elias. Seeing him say nothing, once again for just a single fraction of a moment Elias saw what could have almost been irritation in Erika’s features.
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nd</sup> grade he along with 3 others who were of the same rank were chosen by Lewis to organize the gathered adventurers. He and the other B-2’s decided that having 2 of them in the caravan, and 2 leading patrols depending on the trail made the most sense. Lewis had made a point to purchase endurance animals for the carts and wagons. This left many of Lewis’s horses available for the adventurers to use.
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“You must learn to sense a noble, always treat them with courtesy that way you can get the most out of them! The instinct to treat someone perceived as a noble was ingrained into his being. Vlattu was just that noble in her bearing.
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“knew. He knew it as well as he could read and write Kelict the native language of Hartland.
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Later that evening
th</sup> and final member of the B-2 leadership.
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obtain enchanted armor. He just hated the idea of trying to maintain it. One of the many tasks of house Karde was to maintain the enchanted armors of the full knights. While enchanted armor was amazing at protecting you. The maintenance of such armor was both time consuming and difficult. You had to ensure the material kept its magical conductivity, while also ensuring the enchantment hadn’t degraded.
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“Where is she off to? Against his better judgment Elias was already making to follow.
always trust those feelings of yours, your gut is usually smarter than you!. The voice of his mentor was again speaking to him. Elias had learned to hunt while training with house Karde. This had given him some skill in being undetected, stalking prey animals took patience and deliberate effort. These skills had often served him on many requests, and now they were helping him stalk a pretty girl.
What am I doing, she could just be relieving herself, and here I am following her...Elias continued regardless of his thoughts. For some reason he felt compelled to follow Erika. She finally made her way to the copse, not even stopping to look around. If she was doing something suspicious wouldn’t she be worried about being followed? Elias’s heart was starting to race, what he was doing felt both wrong and correct. With his mind telling him that he shouldn’t be doing this, while his gut was saying to follow.
Remember, once you decide to do something, commit! Listening to the voice of his mentor, and of his gut Elias followed. Inside the copse there was a small clearing, what Elias saw caused his heart to race further. In the middle of the clearing there was a pair of children. They were currently sparring, wooden wasters slicing through the air. The one currently on the attack was a boy, he was thin with simple dark clothes. His jet black hair was short, and contrasted with his pale skin.
This is why the etiquette exists! Quickly making his way back to his platform. Elias made an effort to calm himself. Sleep would be hard to come by tonight.