Small Town, Adtriyn

"Taxes?" They were a mostly foreign concept to Bryn, and so she couldn't understand Fel's concern about them being raised. Nevertheless she indulged his thought, humming to herself as she forced the rusty gears in her head to start turning. "Well, if it ain't a common thing to change, then it's gotta be a response to something, yeah? Though the only thing I know of are the rumours about the Empire. Maybe the Mayor's tryna line their coffers for the oncoming storm? Or it's even His Kingliness that's putting pressure on Leif officials..."

Hm. That boy's a bit excitable, isn't he? Adia thinks to herself as Matthew runs off to help what seemed to be a crying girl. Hoping no one immediately chases her out, she approaches the gathered group and watches from the edges. She wasn't a fan of dealing with children, but it's not like she was incapable of feeling concern. And with all the excitement going on, it'd probably be a better idea to wait to bring up more business dealings.

Alessa's discerning eye found no hidden bandits waiting to ambush them after they brought the kid in - though that didn't necessarily mean there weren't any, just that they weren't nearby. Still though, her production of a dragonstone from under her cloak convinced Alessa well enough, especially combined with a lack of immediate suspicion from their manakete. Such items were rare and powerful, and if the bandits had gotten their hands on one to sell their ruse, then they wouldn't need to bother them, the dragonstone would've sold for more than every one of their belongings here combined, and probably more than that plus the ransom from all of the nobles in the company.

Instead, her gaze fell upon the travelling merchant that Matthew had bought the coffee from. She seemed to be approaching the group gathered around the manakete girl, perhaps wishing to talk more business. Satisfied that the others had the girl well in hand, Alessa walked over to the merchant. "Can we help you?"

Coffee was easy to handle but Hadri hated that appearances demanded she take it like this. The beans and grounds were goddamn delicious on their own though, why would you ever wait for it to get filtered into water? She poured the coffee into two mugs, one for herself and one for Alessa, kept the pot over some low coals, and walked out to greet her coworker.

"Don't mean to interrupt, just bringing the coffee by." She said, holding the mugs up to be grabbed when needed. "Thank you for your help by the way." She would have taken the opportunity to take the merchant's hand or something normally but she saw how guarded Alessa was being, this was clearly a security situation.

Small Town, Adtriyn

Fel couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Granted, he hadn't had to worry about such a thing himself for last year or so, but to have never heard of them? ...Best not to dwell on it.

"Right on the mark. Perhaps the Mayor IS afraid of the Empire and the King might abandon 'em if it comes to that. Or he's hopin' to placate some less savory sorts instead. A bit hard to tell considerin' from what I've been hearing, the Mayor's typically the cowardly sort and just people around here have been sayin'."

The young man took another a bite out of his apple.

"...But I suppose that ain't a problem I gotta worry about. Hopefully I'm gettin' out of here long before sunset."

Nyx wanders out of her tent as Alessa approaches the merchant. Nyx hangs back, a hand on her sword hilt and the other holding a flask she sips from.

"Quite lively today."

There's a bit of delay as Adia processes that she was being spoken to, before she whips around to face Alessa and claps her hands together.

"Um, ah, yes! As you probably know already, I am a merchant. I approached your camp today to offer my services to your company. In exchange for letting me travel with you I will provide my abilities in procuring necessary supplies!"

She's smiling, but it's a nervous smile. At Hadri's entrance she gives her an awkward thumbs up.

"Also I can protect myself so I can ensure I'm not dead weight"

Small Town, Adtriyn

Bryn was conflicted. On one hand, she'd always operated under the creed of minding one's own business, not getting involved with others unless necessary. The same attitude that Fel was displaying now, and only a month ago she would've nodded along with him and discarded any more thoughts about the Mayor.

But then, she'd set out from home exactly to change that attitude. What if her calling didn't lie with the mercenaries, but with the troubles around Adtriyn?

It was a dilemma above her usual paygrade, and it didn't help that, as Fel dug into his recently purchased fruit, Bryn realised that she was thinking on a stomach that was empty aside from any lingering dregs of alcohol. "Hey, you said you had a couple more supplies to pick up, right? What say we dig into some grub after that, if the others ain't shown up by then?" She thumped a fist against her chest energetically. "My treat!"

Small Town, Adtriyn

...Damnit. He'd unintentionally gotten himself stuck with his technical half-truths. Buying more supplies than he'd actually need would give the game away. Doing the opposite would likely...upset some of those in the company. Probably. But considering she kept thinking he was from the mercs...

I either buy the rest if they get here. ...Or am I remembering wrong and have to get to them...ugh, wish I'd taken that down as note.

"The offer's nice, but I ain't terribly hungry, to tell ya the truth. 'Sides...uh, I mean, sure, I appreciate the help in the meantime, though, but it ain't much. Got water, got food, maybe some rope if I need to get down from high places...torches and maybe three or four Vulneraries..."

Edited by TheRealWren on Feb 3rd 2020 at 10:04:20 PM

Hm. Well, considering the current state of their logistics, having someone managing their supply chain could work well, but then again, they had no way of knowing if her offer was genuine. Then again, she was like that with everyone. It wouldn't be right to call her paranoid - she wasn't. But she was probably more cautious and guarded than she needed to be. Old habits, she supposed. This wasn't the Imperial Court. Everyone around her wasn't basically guaranteed to be spying for some other noble, or merely collecting secrets to sell to the highest bidder.

Alessa gave a long exhale, taking the coffee with an appreciative nod and a mumbled 'thanks'. Taking a drink, she once more looked the travelling merchant up and down. "So. You think you have what it takes to be a mercenary?" She glanced at Hadri, attempting to gauge her reaction to the proposal.

"Oh, yeah, I know those! Don't worry I'm... not myself when I use mine either."

He looks over to the others.

"Seems they've found their coffee... Wanna go over there?"

"Coh-fee? I, uh, don't know what that is, but... I can join you, yes. M-my name is Glaci, by the way. Again, sorry, s-should've mentioned it sooner..."

She puts the stone away, tucking it safely in a hidden pocket, staying oddly close to the other manakete. Even if she doesn't entirely know who this is, the fact that there's another manakete at all with this group is comforting to her on some level, especially amidst the talk of fighting.

Hadri gave Alessa an encouraging nod. This was absolutely an opportunity here. Their little crew had practically no professional logistics and having a dedicated member would certainly be preferable to going into town for repair and resupply. More importantly this was a chance for Alessa to shine, see what she had going on. What was really interesting was that she was a fully independent traveling merchant here. That either meant she was talented or she was sketch.

"Greetings, my name is Hadri Arath." She said, trying to maintain the business angle here. "I'd specifically like to ask for credentials, if you have them. Noble endorsements, diplomas, lines of credit, or former employers. With Alessa's approval of course."

Small Town, Adtriyn

"C'mon, you look like you could use a little more meat on your bones." Bryn accompanied the tease with a flex of her own bicep, even though comparing the two of them was as sensical as comparing a sword to a knife. Different strokes, different purposes. Still, she didn't goad him further than that, merely nodding along with his list as she kept half an eye out for any promising food sellers they may pass.

"You got all you need to handle the weather? Winter's coming and the chill will be nasty, especially if you're planning to head north."

Small Town, Adtriyn

"...Ya think? ...Nah, I don't think I could make the muscular look work. And again I appreciate the offer, just kinda surprised you're bein' that generous to offer to buy food some aimless traveler you only recently met."

The selection of goods did seem to be somewhat better than earlier as a few more of the townsfolk had set up shop. Between cured meat consisting of beef and mutton with the occasional chicken, yet not as much fruit and vegetables. The only other thing note in terms of food was a few small cakes.

"...Pretty sure I've got stuff for the weather covered. And I 'spose I could keep goin' West." Fel replied, paying for two Vulneraries and torches before putting them in his bag.

Woof. Okay. Now it's time to explain her situation as.. professionally as possible. She couldn't exactly say 'I was found passed out in the woods and the person who found me decided seemingly on a whim that teaching me how to be a merchant was a good idea'.

"My name is Adia. I'll admit I'm a bit of an up and comer, so I don't have much in the way of former employers or noble connections. I do, however, have a recommendation from the person who trained me- Anna. I'm assuming that name is familiar, given how many of her sisters are around?"

Small Town, Adtriyn

"Ahh, you'd rather stay a pretty boy, huh?" Bryn's elbow came out to nudge Fel, though as before her teasing was in good nature. "But anyway, place I grew up was a real community. Food, clothes, money- you name it, it got passed around. 'If you can spare it, you can share it': that's what us kids were taught. So if I've got the coin, I'd rather pay it forward than have it gatherin' dust in my pouch, y'know?"

Said pouch was relieved of some of its change as Bryn darted off to one of the food vendors- conveniently allowing her to leave out the less savoury parts of her upbringing. How their 'Share it, don't spare it' motto had been their justification for pilfering from travellers, or how inter-community sharing had sometimes been the only way to survive the harsh winters. The memories rattled in her mind as she returned to Fel, though it was difficult to discern with the slice of cured mutton she'd already jammed into her mouth. She held numerous other slices in one hand, while the other nursed one of the small cakes that'd been on display.

"Westward..." She mumbled the word as she chewed on her meat, recalling what she knew of the world's geography. If she wasn't getting her directions messed up (and it was entirely likely that she was), then nothing lay to the west beyond the Burning Sea. She swallowed down the mutton before she continued. "You plannin' to hit the coast?"

Camp

After cooking for an... extended period of time, Kokoro stood up and walked around which might bring her in contact with the other group currently talking in the camp.

Sigmund attempts to lead the small child over to where the others are. Key word being attempt.

Small town, Adtriyn

No-Gae flew atop her pegasus, Sin Rip. The two slowly made a landing at the gate of the town.

No-Gae dismounted and led Sin-IP into the town. She paid close attention to the townsfolk gossip.

Camp

-Nyx nods to Kokoro.-

Nyx: "Koko."

Glaci overhears the nearby conversation and opts to chime in on it.

"An-na... O-oh, I know! She and her sisters, they sell things. I think we used to get visits from one, actually. Or, wait, was that someone else? Uh..."

Glaci tries to remember something, but just ends up getting a headache instead.

"Ow..."

Camp

"I'm pretty sure the Anna you knew is maybe the great-grandmother of the Anna we know," Cyric says turning to the young? manakete girl and turning halfway towards the camp he says, "Now that we've all been introduced to each other, how would you like to join us for breakfast, maybe we could work out a way for you to pay us for helping find your family or at least clues to where they went while doing so?"

Camp

"Uhp uhp uhp." Hadri held up a hand at Cyric. Who the heck did this guy think he was, just coming up on them in the middle of a conversation? She very nearly said hell, and even internally it was inexcusable for nobility. "We are still conducting the interview. Important things for the company, and if I give you all my Lordly endorsement I want to know who you are at least a little. Alessa here's got the expertise to conduct the investigation and I'm interested in it myself as stated."

Edited by Taco on Feb 5th 2020 at 5:24:30 AM

"This ought to be interesting..." Matthew mused.