The Midnight Sun

"Hmm, maybe not tomorrow night. I don't know how the first day will go but it might be best to keep things to a minimum. The night after we can resume lessons." Alden says after some consideration. He might not have the time if the kids got too excited to sleep.

This prattling had gone on long enough, and the priest rose from his seat, his chair pushed back slightly, yet with enough noise to cut through the ongoing arguments. His dark figure was poised over them for a moment of silence, but then shook his head.

"Your reservations are noted. Whomever does not feel as if they could complete this quest would do well not to sign their contracts. You have been given much leeway, and a promising reward. If that is not enough to entice some modicum of cooperation, you would do well to seek out another trade. Thus far I have been far from impressed. I pray you shall not disappoint, next. I can only hope that you may retrieve my crown after all, but no amount of tomfoolery or arrogance will achieve your goal. If your blades are as sharp as your words for one-another I have nothing to fear."

Misaika was actually slightly impressed with the way Keph came prepared with several notebooks and writing utensils at his disposal - but also a but annoyed that her trickery and drawing didn't hit home. This Keph was an odd one for sure.

Estevano seemed oddly upset at a time where they should be having fun and celebrating the fortune they were going to make. "Drunk? Well... a liiitle tipsy maybe..." Misaika answered and tried to keep a calm expression, though she wasn't very fond of being questioned like this. Her answer didn't seem to satisfy the girl whom she had forgotten the name of and the tall foreigner - whom she had currently also forgotten the name of - and they seemed to be plotting leaving her and Keph out.

"What I bring..?" Misaika asked with a low voice as her eyes fell to the drawing the guy was pointing at. Why couldn't this just be a casual and fun conversation about getting to know each other? At this point Misaika could hardly gather herself around a sales pitch drawing forth her own qualities - something she'd have a hard enough time doing sober anyway. She had abilities, but how they would compare in battle was difficult to say. But of course it was never her intention of joining a suicide mission.

Misaika crossed her arms, this was a rather unfair trial she was given in front of their employer.
"Well who's asking? The 'candy shop' worker?" She said and accentuated the words 'candy shop'. "... or the middle aged guy with the bulk that looks like his clothes came straight from a play ABOUT adventuring?" she asked with a sudden snarly voice. "Besides there isn't many driders in Isra to show my skill on." she said and turned her face away from Estevano. She sure preferred a little less bickering than this.

The mood was tense and it seemed like Alured sensed the same thing. Misaika sighed. Now she was the one feeling unsure about the others. She wasn't a front line fighter and she hardly knew what kind of fighter she was but she was not unreliable and wanted them to know at least that much.
"I'm not cut out for fighting in the front line and you will most likely have to protect me - that probably makes me a liability to you yes." Misaika said and reached inside her hood and and loosed a silver amulet with a cross shaped insignia on it and put it on the table. She then swiftly smacked her hand down on the amulet and the moment she raised her hand a rather bulky and worn looking black grimoire with yellowed pages appeared with the same insignia on the front page that her amulet had carried.

"I have a few spells handy that should be of help, but many of them need concentration and preparation." Misaika explained. Well she hadn't really used any real combat spells yet as she had never had to, but there were other spells to aid ones fortunes she was already accustomed to casting. Well of course this didn't mean she wasn't still nervous about going on such a perilous adventure, but as things stood she seemed forced to make her spells and abilities count in other places that just inside a dark chamber in one of the magical institutions in Isra. At least she was determined to do something besides starving in the streets, and in light of that she was fully determined to sign the contract. 

It seemed that he and Roxanne were on the same page as regarded the antics of the other two, and Estevano nodded to the priest’s words, believing they did not apply to him. The only reservation he had was that realistically they would need more people on this mission than just himself and Roxanne. While she claimed to be a professional monster hunter, and he had no reason to believe she wasn’t, he lacked the experience in such things to really want to go on a dangerous mission with just the two of them. Instead they needed the cooperation of the others, assuming that no one would sign up for a mission if they truly were more of a liability than an asset. His stage whispers had attracted Misaika’s attention at least.

“There’s nothing wrong with starting a new adventure with new clothing,” he replied, smoothing down the front of his tunic. “Perhaps I will take you to my tailor in the morning if you haven’t drunk your way through the entire five hundred gold by then.” In fact, she had hit upon a point. He was indeed rather a novice at the adventuring lark. Although he considered it within his capabilities, he had no real way of telling how well he would do at it. But that was part of the challenge.

He stroked his beard and gave her a shrewd look as his baiting paid off and she began to finally talk about her own abilities. “That’s good. Magic will definitely be useful. What can you do? Illusions? Summoning? Conjuration? I’m sure those less magically gifted can hold the line while you work your spells.”

“Yes, yes,” he replied to Keph’s notebook. So, Keph was the teacher’s pet type. Interesting. Did Estevano doubt the priest’s wisdom at putting out a request anyone could answer and giving them a huge pouch of gold up front? Why yes he did! But he wasn’t about to say so in front of Alured himself. “And you’re some kind of professional monster hunter as well, are you? Just out of interest ... How old are you?” he asked Keph with a slight narrowing of his eyes.

“Now we are taking this seriously,” he said, looking around at each of them in turn, “I suggest we make a list of what we will need for this mission and gather our supplies for tomorrow. My lord priest, do we have any information on where this drider may be found? Perhaps a map or suchlike?”

Roxanne frowned at the drunken woman, who seemed to have suddenly grown hostile. What was up with the fixation on her side job, anyways? Did she have something against candy? Toothaches as a child, perhaps? Maybe a candy shop owner killed her parents. Who knew? Maybe she was just drunk and speaking nonsense, which was also a very distinct possibility. She didn't want to squabble in front of their employer, but she felt compelled to defend her uncle's line of business.

"What's wrong with working at a candy shop, huh? It's just a side job when I'm here and not out killing monsters. I work there for my uncle, because he lets me stay at his house for free. Besides, my job makes people happy! Can you say the same, hmm? I've never seen such smiles on people's faces as when they walk out our doors."

She smiled wistfully, thinking of all the pleased customers she'd seen. Little children eating candy apples, old men sucking on hard toffee, mothers sharing boxes of chocolates with their kids...it really was a very wholesome business, and she enjoyed it. It was good to get away from death and violence sometimes. She glanced down at Keph for a moment, wondering what in the world he was doing, before turning to Estevano. His quip about Misaika's drinking habits made her chuckle, although her employers's apparent annoyance cut it short.

"A list sounds like an excellent idea, Estevano. It wouldn't do to go out unprepared after all. The priest is right though...we should pack light and move fast. If it's as long as he says, I don't want to wear out the horses so much by overloading them with bags and carts. We can get any fancy equipment we need here, but I hardly think there's any need to pack six weeks worth of food and drink."

Besides, she thought, six weeks of drink for Misaika would be enough to drown a dragon.

Kauri had left but Alden had lingered for two reasons. The first was because he still had to pay for their drinks, he could easily get a tab and probably wouldn't have ever had to pay it off but he still paid for things. After all, what else would he do with his money? All his large-scale financials were handled by Naoki's innumerable accountants so what he had in his coin purse was just excess spending money. Might as well do something with it.

The second reason was his determination to finish the wine he'd purchased. Sure it was vile, unpalatable stuff but damn it he'd learn to like it! Most people he knew had a taste for it so he wanted to have something else in common with them. A talking point as well as something that could be commiserated over. He just wished it tasted more like the grape juice he gave to his children instead of the vinegar some people used to flavor food. It was utterly ghastly. Though that may just because of his finely honed instincts to not swallow things that tasted like poison.

There may have also been some slight rumination going on. Thoughts of his past and future but those were rather nebulous. The past haunted him and the future frightened him so he often put those kinds of thoughts to the side, instead focusing on the present. Such as the sound of footsteps approaching his table followed by a female voice that was not his server. The woman was dressed in a robe that does nothing to flatter her figure but a lot to conceal any potential weapons. Which was a confusing combination if she was an assassin, female assassin's that tried a direct approach usually sought to distract. A robe was meant for a more stealthy approach.

"Alden Marshal."

Is his blunt reply to her first question. His expression as he eyes her isn't hostile but it isn't exactly friendly either. More one of midly amused curiosity than anything else. As though she were a child doing something that was faintly amusing and seemingly pointless and he was an outsider observing her antics. Mostly because he was wondering how she would handle his name, there were very few people in Isra who didn't know it after all. Alden Marshal, High Marshal of Isra, leader of the Sun Marshals, Empresses Naoki's right-hand man.

"I believe we are already chatting. I think the question would be if I care to continue."

“I doubt you could pull off such a look,” he replied with a grin to Misaika, as she eyed his clothing, before taking a swig of beer. “You lack the gravitas for it. Maybe something with pink flowers or embroidered ducks on would be more your style.”

The priest's explanation did not exactly fill him with delight, although he was used to travelling about the place, it had formerly been with less grating companionship. “Eight weeks?” Estevano repeated, casting a glance around at his various companions. “Should be interesting.” Maybe they could hire a bard to accompany them part of the way to keep them entertained, or maybe... “You don't have any teleportation spells do you?” he started to ask Misaika, before noticing she had already got up and was approaching a man on the dancefloor. He couldn't help but notice that she was rather a pretty girl once she had taken down the hood of her cloak. After watching for a few moments he turned back to the group, though still keeping an ear open on what was happening in case Misaika got into trouble with her drunken seduction routine.

“Roxanne, do you know any nearby mages who could maybe give us a little speed boost?” He didn't really know any magic users in Isra except the dubious charm and potion shops that were often found on the street corners.

So Keph was more in the more prosaic hunting mode. “Oh?” asked Estevano. “Traps? Bow and arrow? Falcons? Dogs?” he quizzed him wondering if someone to hunt with might pass the time a bit more congenially.

It didn't seem as though there was much left to do. “You two had better go and prepare, and we'll meet back at the church tomorrow to sign the paperwork... I think someone should stick around to make sure our drunken friend doesn't get into too much trouble.” He settled himself in with a general view of the pub, not planning to interfere in whatever she was doing unless he had to pick up her unconscious body from the floor or rescue her from wrong'uns.

Rudiger was a bit... occupied when Khepri called for him. Wearing his traveling clothes, his armor stowed in a canvas bag attached to Bob's saddle, Rudiger had been left outside when she had entered the inn with their gold, leaving him to find quarters for Bob in the stable attached to the side. Leading the tired stallion over there was easy enough, the hard part was finding someone to tell Rudiger where to stall Bob. After standing outside for several moments, Rudiger became rather curious where the stable hand was, and secured Bob by the reins to the stable door.

Walking down the main hall, the only sound heard throughout the building was the occasional stomping of horses and mules, as well as the stomping of the heels on Rudiger's thigh high leather boots, and the jingle of his golden spurs. That was, until about halfway through the building, then he could hear meaty thumps and gasping for breath. Turning into an empty stall, he was greeted by the sight of the attending stable hand being choked out from behind and being punched in the gut repeatedly by two disreputable gentlemen. The man doing the punching grunted between hits, "You should learn to pay your debts."

Rudiger shook his head, knowing that he couldn't leave the stall in good conscience if he didn't step in. Clearing his throat, he asked as all three turned their eyes' on him, "Want to make this a fair fight?" He was greeted by a toothy grin, followed by a wild punch. Khepri's question came at a point where Rudiger had to dip below a jab, and came up with his own.

Several minutes later, Rudiger walked up behind Khepri, absentmindedly wiping some blood off of the corner of his mouth, from where a fist had caused the lip to cut into a tooth. He announced his own presence by a soft, "Sorry I kept you waiting. Some work came up first."

Rudiger was about to count on his fingers the things that could be much, much more important than hanging onto Khepri's every whim and feather, but he bit his tongue. Not literally, because that would cause unnecessary suffering that he was already dealing with physically and mentally, but damn was he tempted. He let out a long breath through his nose as he watched Khepri's sashaying hips as she walked away, before scolding himself that that wasn't very gentlemanly like.

Following Khepri to the bar, Rudiger found it necessary to dodge and lean like he was being assaulted all over again, trying to avoid brushing up against waiters, waitresses, and patrons holding what appeared to be far too expensive alcohol and food. Rudiger's inner penny pincher recoiled in pure fright at the thought of trying to scrounge up the meager amount it would take to get a warm stout of ale that could easily paste for someone's waste, let alone a decent meal and bed. But, he remembered all too well the jingling bag of coins and what caused the jingling... Khepri.

Finally, the managed to get to the bar, which Rudiger had to muscle his way alongside with his broad shoulders, only to left trying to decipher the board behind the bartender. It wasn't that he couldn't read, he knew his basic three r's, it was just that having one eye threw off one's depth perception. And through a mixture of poverty and pride, Rudiger refused to cave to pick up even the cheapest pair of street spectacles. For several long moments, the letters blurred then cleared, then blurred again, repeating until he could finally make out the beginnings of a word and could guess the rest.

Which was the easy part. The hard part would be figuring out what Khepri wanted. He could only guess how discerning her tastes were, considering how discerning she was is in most other things, so he knew that a watered down drink would not be on the order. Perusing for the wine selections, he finally settled on, "I'll take a bottle of Silverleaf, with two glasses!" he shouted over the raucous affair. 

Turning to Khepri, he held out his hand, expecting her to hand him the bags of coin so he could pay the tab they had begun accruing. Leaning over to her so he could be heard without yelling, he asked in her ear, "What looks good to eat?"