An Unfortunate Line of Work (Syana/Open)

[Aleth]

Aleth grimaced, tugging at her tattered cloak to get what warmth she could from it. Ilia was freezing especially without the proper coating and layering. It sucked to be poor and no matter how hard she tried she always seem to be strapped for money. It wasn't like thieves steal from her either, there was simply nothing for them to take, but the clothes on her back or her weapons.

Her left hand touched where her right arm should have been. Everything from the elbows down was missing at this point. It must be shameful for someone so tediously trained from this land. When her parents met her, she had the crap beaten out of her for making what they considered to be a simple mistake. At the thought she gritted her teeth, anger sure helped heat up her body. It wouldn't be so easy next time, she thought rather begrudgingly. Even missing an arm, she managed to strap a decent sized shield to what was left of her arm. She might not have the maneuverability with it as someone with a whole arm, but it would be enough to block blows.

This was almost comical as she was doing the same the thing again as in the past. She sat at the corner of the street, a sign leaning against her legs. At this point she was willing to work for food again. It wasn't a bad deal if people wanted a sellsword, but what they had in mind was less reputable reasons. What resulted was quite a few men getting beaten up for their mistake. She had her eyes and ears open, scanning for possible employers. It would be nice to attach herself to a new group.

[Syana Flamberge]

Syana walked slowly down the street, her cloak whipping in the wind around her. She tried to lean heavily on her left leg, testing it out to see if it really was back to full strength. It had been so frustrating when she had broken it, mostly because it left her laid up for months. She was not one who cared for idleness. Just sitting around had nearly driven her crazy. That, plus learning of the death of one of her brothers hadn't help either. But time had passed. She was healed up, or at least she felt like she was. But that's what this was about. She was here to try and find a job to take, to see if she really was up to her old level. If not... Well, maybe she could still make it home before dinner got cold.

She paused for a second, holding her hood back a little bit to get a better view of her surroundings. There were quite a few people out today, despite the cold. She smirked to herself. In pretty much any other country, most people would have refused to leave their homes on a day like this. But not in Ilia. Here, people acted like it was a day like any other. They were a tough bunch. She scanned the road, trying to notice anyone who might have a job they need done. People like that usual stand out in a crowd. Unfortunately, she didn't see anyone like that. What she did spot, however, a girl who seemed to be about her age sitting on the street corner. The girl had a sign saying that she would work for food and seemed to be in a rough spot. But what Syana focused on what the girl's tattered cloak. On a day like today, that wouldn't be providing much warmth, especially to someone sitting on the ground like her. Making up her mind, Syana strode over to the girl and pulled off her cloak. "Here, you could use it more than me," she said, holding the cloak out to the girl.

[Aleth]

It seemed to be a slow day as usual, nobody seemed to need a hired arm around here. The sad thing was, she didn't have the money to leave and go somewhere which would. There had to be some way to hold out until somebody could use her skills. It was a shame to discounted just because she had one missing arm. That appeared to be the honest truth of the world. Even when she offered to prove herself, they would simply dismiss her and ask her to keep looking. If only people would give her a chance.

At least not everyone was cold-hearted. There were still a few people that would give her simple jobs to get by or provide lodging for doing little odd jobs. Even now there was someone that offered her their own cloak. Whenever other people showed her kindness, it always made her tear up. This was perhaps where her own charitable nature came from, since she had done the same at times. She Held the cloak in her hands and got up.

"Thank you," she practically beamed, she was quick to remember what she had to do out of her virtue.

"I don't have any money, but if you'll allow it I can help out in anyway I can in return for this cloak," she said, it was hardly an offer and more of her wanting desperately to pay back the kindness. To some extent it was almost as though she was begging to help the other woman out.

[Syana Flamberge]

Syana couldn't help but smile. It was always nice when you see someone react with such genuine emotion. You could tell that while it was only a cloak to her, it meant so much more to this girl. "You're more than welcome." She said, smiling back at the girl. She wanted to shoot down the offer of some kind of payment because she didn't do it for anything in return. But out of the corner of her eye she saw the girl's sign once again and came with up an idea.

"I'll tell you what. I'm actually here looking for some work, and I can tell by your sign that you are too. Why don't you come with me, and we'll see if we can find something together." Truth was, she missed traveling with people. Not that she had been alone, as she had been with her family, but she had done enough jobs on her lonesome that she knew she preferred to travel with at least one other person. If she knew where he was, she would have tried to first find Saturos, but as it was she had no idea where he would be. So why not travel with this girl for a bit? She seemed nice enough.

The other thing was that while for some people only want to hire a single person to preform a mission for them, a good amount preferred to have multiple people. So the two of them traveling together might make it easier on both of them. She surveyed the girl over. She was very good looking for someone who was seemingly living out on the streets. She exuded excitement and kindness, something Syana took a liking to immediately. It was a bit of a gutshot when she noticed that a good part of her right arm was missing. Clearly, something terrible had happened to this girl, but she still managed to seem, on the surface at least, to keep positive. That more than anything confirmed that this was someone Syana wanted to travel with. Keeping this in mind, she reached out her left hand towards the girl. "I'm Syana, nice to meet you."

[Aleth]

Aleth was glad that the other woman wasn't willing to turn her offer away. It would have done quite a bit of damage on her pride if she just accepted the cloak without paying her back in some way. What she didn't expect was that she was willing to offer much more than a simple task. She was offering to find a job together. It has been quite some time since she traveled with another a person and that meant quite a deal more than just a cloak. She wrapped the extra piece of cloth over her tattered one, find the warmth a hell of lot more pleasant than before.

"Yes, I would love to come along if you'll have me," she remarked, taking hold of the other's hand and giving her a firm shake. Of course the only thing she ever learned from her parents was everything, but how to properly make and maintain money. She can contend with some of the better mercenaries, but she could never seem to keep hold of her livelihood.

"My name is Aleth, it's nice to meet you too," she introduced giving the best smile she could produce. It didn't take her long to notice that the woman probably realized that she was missing an appendage or two. She flushed for a moment, before recomposing herself.

"I can guarantee that I am capable of doing anything pretty much anything a two handed person can do," she stated, giving her best thumbs up with her left hand.

[Syana Flamberge]

Syana couldn't help but grin. "I'm sure you're better than a lot of two handed people, Aleth." She liked this girl already. She had a good feeling that they two of them would become very good friends, assuming they stayed together long enough. She had traveled with enough people to know you don't always get to stay with them as much as you'd like, so you had to make due with the time you get. Before she could open her mouth to ask the question on her mind, a wind rolled down the street and chilled her to the bone. It was still Ilia, after all, and she had also just given up her cloak. She gave a little shiver and grimaced, but she shrugged it off. Aleth needed that cloak more than she did. She was just glad she had decided to wear long sleeves today.

Recovering herself, she looked up and down the street before turning back to Aleth. "So, is there a certain type of job you would like to look for more than any other?" She knew some people had their own preferences and she didn't want to make the girl go out of her comfort zone. "And, uh... I only just got into this town, so I have no idea where the best place to look for a job would be, besides just walking around and talking to people. Any ideas?" She hoped Aleth wouldn't be upset by her last question, since she had just been sitting on the street looking for jobs, maybe it wasn't as easy as Syana might have hoped it would be. Regardless, she knew that they would find something. It was just a matter of how long it took.

[Aleth]

Aleth had to think on the idea of getting a job. There was a few offers she wanted to take, but she was declined since it was meant for more than one. If that person was still around, then they should be able to make a decent amount of money. Hopefully it won't be too dangerous, it seemed the standard job.

"I don't have a real preference in jobs as long as it doesn't involve killing people that can't fend for themselves or raiding villages," she answered. It was a standard practice and she was never desperate enough to try to join the likes of brigands. Those lives definitely lived well from what she heard, but their values clashed horribly with her own.

"I think I might know a job we can take, if the person is still there," she began, as she headed over to the local tavern. Of course it was the liveliest part of town and even as she peaked in there was the constant bustle of the poor staffer moving to refill drunken fools with too much money on hand. She did manage to find the person she was looking for sitting close to the exit.

The man was obviously fidgety, his hands were wrapped together, thumbs twirling and eyes constantly looking. When his eyes met hers, he let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I need at least two people to do this job," he stated, but he was agape when he saw the other woman.

"I apologize, I didn't realize you did have a partner," he said, startled by Syana's appearance. They were definitely contrasts in color if there was any.

So he began his explanation of his so called job. His wagon was attacked not too long ago from town by bandits. All his wares were stolen, but most importantly his family heirloom. He had managed to hire someone to find the location of the bandits, but needed someone to retrieve the item. A two man team would be required as he didn't like the idea of one person going in and getting killed. If two people went into the mess, hopefully one can escape and give him an update on what they might be facing in the bandit's lair. He was willing to pay for supplies up front, but the rest of the payments will be given at the retrieval of his family emblem. A bonus will be added for bringing the head of the leader that had socked him in the face. The final warning he could give was that he had already hired two other sets of adventurers and the full payment will be on a first come first serve basis.

[Syana Flamberge]

It gave Syana a lot of pleasure to step up behind Aleth just as the guy tried to tell her that she couldn't take the job. Sometimes, it was awesome to just shut down idiots. She smirked in a self-satisfied way as the guy started to describe the job. Didn't seem like too hard a task. Go, take out some bandits, retrieve some heirloom. Maybe take some guys head off if the chance presented itself. She was confident that they would be able to pull this off, even if she had yet to see Aleth fight. She knew her new friend would come through.

The only part that gave her slight hesitation was the fact that this idiot had already hired other pairs to complete the job too. Great. Now the pressure was on. But hey, that's how these things work sometimes. She took a step forward. "We accept. Be ready with the money for when we get back. Because we WILL be back first." Sure, they might not be, but you have to show confidence, especially in front of an employer. Otherwise, there might be even more pairs coming behind them to try and take their pay. And she would not have that.

She stepped back and turned to Aleth. She leaned close so the guy couldn't hear her. "I'm all set with supplies. If you need anything, food, new clothes, another weapon, go for it." She smirked. "Might as well take advantage of free stuff while you can." She straightened up and locked eyes with the guy one last time, trying her best to psych him out. She then cracked her neck and her knuckles and then smirked again. She was gonna enjoy this.

[Aleth]

Aleth looked at the more positive side of the man's offer on the supplies. While Syana might have money to spare, she could use the costs to get some rations and a cloak of her own instead of having to use hers. When it comes down to her weapons, they were at least still well maintained since she had all the time in the world up to this point. The man was quick to throw her a small bag of coins for her supply costs and she thanked him even with his disgruntled attitude.

"I'll just need to pick up a cloak, I think we both need one, as well as some rations, a few equipment," she said, giving her partner a light pat on the shoulders. As they left the man felt as though he should warn them something. It wasn't until they were long gone that he had failed to mention that the others he hired hadn't returned for more than a week.

The acquisition of another cloak was a simple thing, some flint, a lantern, and a bit of extra oil can go a long way, especially if they had to wander around at night. When she was satisfied that they were as prepared as can be, she looked to Syana.

"It doesn't seem too long of a trek, by what he said, it seems to be a day's march to the lair," she stated, it was a relatively straightforward path. There was a sense of uneasiness she felt about it all. The town generally had nothing to worry about as they could see the bandit approaching a ways off and one day from a lair was a decent distance to go. She just had a deep sinking feeling in her gut, but the job was simple and the pay well. What could go wrong?

[Syana Flamberge]

Syana pulled her cloak back over her, opting to let Aleth have the new one. Feeling warmer, she looked over the supplies that her friend had gotten. Girl had done a darn good job. She looked up with a smile on her face, knowing that this was going to be a good partnership. Especially the way that Aleth had calmly handled their employer. Syana knew that, had she been alone, she would not have been so kind to him, so they were a good pair.

"Let's get going then." She said, starting off down the street. As they walked, something felt unsettled in her mind. She couldn't put her finger on it, but just something didn't feel right. Not that it scared her, she had been employed by people who had hoped to screw her over in the past. She knew that the two of them would be able to handle whatever was coming there way. Hopefully, it was nothing, but she knew they needed to be on guard at all times just in case.

As the two left the town, she turned and looked behind her. Seeing no one following them, she turned back to Aleth. "It it just me, or does something about this whole thing seem... not right?" She rested her hand on the hilt of her sword, almost as if she expected someone to jump out at them at any time. "It seems way too straight forward. And from my experience, something like this is never this easy."

[Borgus]

Contacts, if there was ever anything in this world of equal value Borgus would have stuck his claws in it by now. For a man trying to run a underworld in Bern information was critical. The Brotherhood had made several contacts all around Elibi and each one of them would feed them rumors and information from different parts of the world One part in particular they liked to focus on was Ilia. Ilia had great sway over Bern, even with this rebellion going on. What was rumored in Ilia soon became law in Bern. The Brotherhood would be mad to simply ignore this information, and unfortunately one of these contacts went dark. A certain gang use to pass one of Borgus outpost information along for coin, but suddenly and without any signs of official response there information stopped coming. As a result the Brotherhood sent somebody to investigate and this somebody was Borgus.

"Excuse me ladies", spoke the Burly man as he walked out into the street. The day was cold, like it always was in Ilia. As a result the burly man was wearing a thick black coat made from wolf pelts to compensate for the change in tempeture. However as a result it made the already shady Borgus seem even more shady. So the acolyte had to be on his best behavior not to attract to much attention. Walking up to the two women the acolyte reached into his pocket and pulled out his light tome. People seemed to trust people who carried this kind of tome and Borgus was going to use it to his advantage.

"Excuse me, but I heard you both are going to take out a group of bandits wondering in these parts. Well you see I too am interested and seeing these bandits removed. As a humble acolyte it is my job to purge evil from this world. However I do not have the man power to do so myself. I was wondering if you two would not mind partnering up with me in order to achieve this goal."

Borgus was smart. He knew of where the base was, but not exactly where it was. Wondering around trying to find it on his own would more than likely end up with him lost out in the snow. There also was a possibility that these two might have the skill to actually clear out the bandits. Thought they were not giving the Brotherhood the information they wanted they could still be useful to there cause. Rather than try to ambush these two on the road and get into a two on one duel Borgus would simply wait for them to get into the heart of the bandit gang's base and then turn on them. There he could quickly eliminate them and then talk to the boss of the gang. Something was going on here and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

[Elisabeth]

So what was people's fascination with hiring 'pairs of mercenaries' the whole thing was a pain. It wasn't the first time she was denied a job because 'oh you're only one person dur you can't have this job it's too dangerous tee-hee' UGH it made her mad to think about. Then again most things made her mad to think about, this was just the current topic of Lisa's disdain. She had enough of it, if she wanted to go and get herself potentially killed then they should LET her. It's none of their business if she had a partner! Why would she want to work with someone else anyways? People sucked, she knew, she was a people. Ugh, it was enough to make her just give up some times. Still Lisa was nothing if not stubborn, it was her best quality, and she would also say it was her worst but let's be honest she had so many worse qualities then being stubborn. Like the whole explosive temper thing.

So she sucked up what was left of her pride, wasn't much, and she picked up a random merc in the tavern to do this quest with her. She knew nothing about the guy except he looked like a dork, his name was Remember something, Remmy would have to do. He was old, like her dad old, but if he was an old mercenary that usually meant he was good. Young mercenaries who were crap don't generally live to be old ones. Really she just needed a job, but it was tough out here in Ilia sometimes. People didn't want single mercs, they wanted groups and organizations. They wanted guilds, not single mercs. She wouldn't join one of those dumb guilds either, just soldiers with a different name, and she's had enough of soldiers.

Remmy seemed to let her join him as well, apparently he was looking for a job but ran into the same 'oh no you need at least two people to get information on my job~' coy bullcrap she did. It was a bit weird to see an older merc without guild affiliation, but whatever she preferred it that way. She was a pegasus knight, and even if she wasn't the greatest thing since baked bread, they garnered respect here in Ilia. Maybe undue respect, but still anyone with a pegasus was considered a good fighter in Ilia. It was a kind of bias, but beneficial for her. Goodness knows she preferred that to 'if you ride a horse you're a traitor and a coward, wyverns for life' Bern she's been in for the last few weeks.

She got outta that place once the monsters starting showing though, you couldn't pay her enough to deal with those. Ugh. Upon Orcleous' suggestion she went back to Ilia, at least when she was denied work it wasn't because she was Ilian. She wasn't particularly eager to fight them monsters either, and according to the latest information source she had, namely one dork on a farm, they weren't crawling all around Ilia like they did other places. So she took this bandit job instead, good, she liked killing bandits. Made her feel good, bandits were basically the worst thing ever. Why she needed a partner for something so boring as getting an heirloom back was beyond her, well actually it made sense since she sincerely doubted she could kill a clan of bandits solo. Still it was infuriating that he couldn't have just TOLD her that instead of holding the information ransom like he was getting some kind of twisted kick turning people away and making them jump through hoops just to get some dumb info.

She groaned and dropped her head in a sort of grumpy pout of sorts. They already left the town by then, apparently they were the second group hire for this mission. Meaning they should probably book it if they wanted that money, and really she could use some money. She hadn't had a paying job in weeks, she mostly survived on spite. She was lucky that guy paid them the little he did up front, she was basically starving by that point. She sat atop her pegasus, ready to take off at a moment's notice, and was noticeably surly. Well more then usual. Medusa lifted her head at her grumpy owner, nickering as if in questioning. She sighed and simply chuckled. "Yeah, I'm alright May, don't worry." She told her horse in a kind voice, patting it on the head. "Hey man, you ready?" The kindness vanished in an instant as her voice took an irritated edge as she turned her head back at Remmy.

[Aleth]

Aleth frowned, she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong, until she looked back on the conversation the two had with their employer. He said that he had already hired two other sets of mercenaries to do the job, but he never said when. Shaking her head, she might have been thinking to much into it. There were less reputable mercs out there that would take a little supply stipend and skip town. Perhaps they simply did not want to complete the job or they were slain by the bandits. However two groups ahead was what troubled her. Well maybe the second group only left recently then they should hurry up and catch up to their prize. Before she could state any of her thoughts, they were approached by a rather burly and menacing man from what she could tell. She rested her hand on the closest weapon in her reach, which happened to be her axe. It was only when he approached offering to join to wipe out the bandits. Wiping out the bandits, yeah, like she felt ready for that kind of job with two people.

"Sorry, we weren't hired to wipe out the bandits, we're just going to get something back and maybe the leader if he is convenient," Aleth responded, still lightly touching the handle of her weapon. Having more people would be useful, but she wasn't sure about how well it translated to sneaking around a bandit lair. Actually three wouldn't be a hindrance at all and a magic user is always useful.

"If you want to purge all evil then hire a mercenary caravan, but if you want to scout out the lair beforehand, I wouldn't mind you tagging along," she offered a compromise before looking to Syana.

"We better get going, if there are two groups ahead, we have to hustle to the treasure," she smiled, before turning back towards the rode and beginning to move forward. Off in the distance, she could have sworn she might see the second group ahead. It wouldn't hurt to investigate, so she let out a shout forward, waving her arms as she ran forward.

"Hey you guys, sorry, but can I ask you a question," she implored, hoping that not all her sound wasn't buried by the snow.

[Syana Flamberge]

Huh. Well, that was one way to make this a little less straight forward. First, the biggest acolyte she had ever seen had walked up to them and asked to help them take out all the bandits. Syana's hand immediately had gone to her sword handle when the strange man had approached, and she had noticed that Aleth had done the same with her axe. She knew she liked this girl. Before Syana could reply the the man, Aleth took the lead and told him that their job wasn't to wipe out all the bandits. Which was true. They didn't have the time to wipe out the entire group. Heck, they might not even have time to kill their leader.

She then heard Aleth shouting to... someone. Or something. It took a second for Syana to see that she was actually yelling to a pair of people up ahead. Then it clicked. That could be another one of the groups that was hired before them. If that was true, it presented them an interesting problem. Do they try to team up with both these people, as well as Mr. Kill All Evil over here, and hopefully it would make it easy to complete the mission, but would lead to a lesser reward? Or do they try to take out that team, hope it doesn't screw them over later on the mission and get a better payment. Well, no need to pick right now. They might not even be the previous group. Might as well wait and see what they have to say. What's the worst that could happen?

[Borgus]

"Very well then those terms are acceptable", spoke Borgus coming to an agreement with Aleth. "However I will return to finish the job at a later date. Perhaps then you might be willing to aid me for a price", spoke the burly man. To be truthful Borgus had no intentions of killing off the bandits. He just said all of that to stay in character. Nothing gets one killed quicker then getting out of character and accepting something you should not have. Borgus played the role of the over zealous acolyte who purges evil from the world. If he suddenly said okay without giving his intentions to come back he would be out of place. The only reason they trust him now is because of the tome he carries. Which most people still question till they see him use it. Borgus was keen on keeping his muscle mass up, which was useful for intimidation and fighting, but broke his acolyte disguise. The only way to clear that up was to add Zealousness to it. People seem to think a zealous acolyte would be buff. It was more believable than the burly acolyte who just so happen to be in the area.

"Oh so there is a second group", spoke Borgus as he stared on ahead. Normally he would council them all to simply kill them or remove them from the competition. That way he could get rid of two more potential problems along the way. However his role would not allow it. The acolyte role was always a pain to play, but it had its usefulness. "I know I am not the one to speak of fortune and gold, but I think it would be advantageous if we linked up together to accomplish the task. Believe it or not a din of Bandits is not something you walk in with three people, even if you have the power of light on your side. You never know of the enemy defenses or there number. Stealth is good, but it is better to have some muscle at your back."

Hopefully they would deny Borgus offer and instead suggest removing them from the competition. Borgus could they say something something righteousness and don't kill, then move on. He would just come back and finish them off at a later date. More thank likely right after the brigands kill these two fools off.