The Sisters of the Open Heart [Open]

[Cebron]

Cebron allowed his men some time without his supervision at towns like this. It was small, which meant if their was trouble he would know almost immediately. In truth, being without the hooligans meant that he was free to attempt to recruit men for any upcoming mission. Did he already have men? Sure. Do men die? Yes. If two of his well trained men were going to die tomorrow, it would be good to get a few green men in today. Their was some necessary rotation in mercenary work, you fought more than soldiers if business was good. He finished describing his needs to the towns clerk, and the man handed him a freshly written announcement. It detailed the work he was asking men to throw their lots in with.

The Long Company - Coin is hard to come by, conflict is not. If you are without experience, or an old dog of war, The Long Company can take you in and treat you like a brother. If you need coin for your family, or need food in your belly, the Long Company provides. Death comes for us all, why not make sure it's with a sword in your hand.

If you look to join, or to hire the brave band of warriors, seek out a man with green hair at the tavern.

Cebron thanked the man and dropped a coin into his palm, he personally pinned the note to the message board outside the town hall. It was a nice little village, he doubted the people there would need any protection, but they intended to stay in town for a few days, why not allow any passers through a chance to hire a superior brand of mercenary.

[Bones]

"Well $@%^", spoke Bones as she walked through the town. Her battle axe hung over her shoulder next to her bag of supplies. Everything went to hell after the sacea mission. Paleface got himself impaled, Josh got eaten by zombies, and everyone else seemed just tired of it all. It was a long and hard trip back to Bern. With the failed raid and the sudden attack of the undead many of the mates began to rethink what they wanted in life. It was not long before to many of them decided to hang up the axe. The ones willing to still kill for coin went there separate ways. To many alphas in one spot it would seem. Even Bones was forced out of the work, though this was due to a lack of members rather than a sudden realization that life is dangerous. The maiden had saw too it that the triplets found a place to stay in some nobles castle. There they could practice there craft and stay out of trouble.

No longer bound to the gang and free for the moment Bones soon started to realize how hard it was to live without simply pillaging people. Her normal spending habits no longer fit as he coin intake went to a flat line zero. Normally she would just find some poor sap and chop his head off and get some extra coin, but without the gang she was as expose as a newborn. She could no longer hide behind the scowl of the organization or the bounty of Paleface the old leader. She was on her own and anything she did would reflect back directly onto her.

"!@#$ it! How does anybody make any real coin around her", she shouted when suddenly a piece of paper flew into her face. It was not the most pleasant experiences, but it was a good sign. Mercenary work was close enough to banditry that Bones would not have a hard time adjusting. At the same time she could keep her axe arm strong and still makes some serious coin. Plus the job was far better than lumberjack by miles.

It did not take long for Bones to find the tavern mention in the note. Walking up to the counter Bones asked the bartender for the location of the "moss head". Immediately the aged man pointed her toward Cebron. "So that is the guy", spoke Bones as she began to walk over to his table.

[Una Stuart]

Una simply dropped down into a seat at the table beside Cebron, tankard of mead held in her hand that she was in the process of emptying into her belly. "You're paying for this" she informed the other briefly between sips as with all the time in the world she leaned back in her seat and rested her feet up on the table comfortably. "I'm joining your little company for the moment, not quite sure for how long and it doesn't matter." Sharp jade eyes caught him in a sideways glance, looking over the man before taking a rather large gulp and a sigh. "You'll have to do."

She had no reason not to lend her services, a nice little traveling company to bide her time in until something larger and more important caught her interest. There could even be one skilled with a bow among them that could teach her something more than what she already had learned, though that was certainly something to doubt. "So then. What sort of jobs does your company take?" The redhead decided upon the next question, not leaving nor caring what the other thought or if he was willing to take her in. In her mind there was no question of it, she had the skills, the experience, what else was there in a mercenary that someone would want other than the ability to do their job and get their coin without complications? "Now assassinations is it? Escorts? Local clean up of the bandit wildlife?"

[Cebron]

A few moments after Cebron had sat down, he was instantly annoyed. Something else had entered the tavern, a presence he'd never felt before. It was the presence of something that immediately perplexed and vexed him all at once. Then she sat down next to him, and it got even worse. "I won't be payin' fer any Elimine damned drink fer ya." Just who in hell did this girl think she was? Was that some new Bern custom, to just make demands out of total strangers? She asked to join his company, actually no, she demanded. "Why in the hell would I ever let a twig like you join my band? I don't need to babysit in the middle of a battle."

He'd have to do? He'd have to do. He could kill this girl in about eight seconds on and off the battlefield, and she pretended she was doing him a favor by worming his way into his ranks. She carried a bow, and while it would be a benefit to him to have another archer, but there was no way for him to know if she was any good with her bow. He took a sip of his own ale, "My company takes whatever job pays, regardless of how it twists the stomach." That wasn't exactly true. He wouldn't let his men go and slaughter a whole town, they weren't a fundable group of brigands. "However the jobs we take're dangerous, and ya definitely don't look like you'd be up fer the challenge." There was only one other warrior in the tavern at present, another young woman, this one seemed well equipped and showed some experience in her walk.

[Bones]

"So you are the moss head hiring people huh", spoke Bones as she walked up to the table. The pink haired brigand looked the armored man up and down. He seemed tough enough, but one could not really tell unless they were on the battlefield. Him and the other woman seemed to be having a conversation. From the tone it was clear that it was not a pleasant one, but to Bones id did not matter. All that matter was her getting signed up and cutting people to little peaces.

"I have decided that I am going to be joining your merry band of cutthroats and sellswords. By the way I would like my drink to be a whiskey. The Western Isles band if they have any." Bones knew the comment would get under the man's skin. That was the very reason she asked it. She wanted to see what he was like when he is angry. If she can take hearing that then she knows she can fight underneath the guy.

"So what kind of missions are we going to be undertaking", spoke Bones as she sat down and leaned back in the chair. The maiden had laid her battle axe next to the chair and put her feet on top of the table. "I hope it is not something too boring. Well let me change that question. What kind of missions have you accepted in the past. Speculation is cheap. Your past work shows your future work and I would like to get to know what I will be getting myself into. Oh and before you ask I don't really care what I kill. Men, women, monsters, it does not matter. As long as it bleeds then I am willing to put my axe in it."

[Yorick]

Yorick read the flyer once more, making sure that it was exactly what she’d made of it the first time.

”Green hair? Got it.”

The Halberdier moved off towards the tavern. There were bunches of men loitering around, a good sign for any reputable mercenary company. A couple of them took the time to catcall her, which she considered an even better sign. They weren’t beaten down and bedraggled, they were vivacious and ready to roll. That boded well.

The one thing she wished was that the flyer had advertised the name of the tavern. It was aggravating, given that there were a few spread out across the town. But that was just another thing to be dealt with, she supposed.

Arriving at the third tavern, Yorick banged the door open impatiently, looked in, and was about to leave with a few pleasant words for whoever had put up the flier when she saw a shock of green hair. Finally.

Yorick moved over, looking at the two sitting there. Both women. Damn. One she knew. Much better.

”Bones. Good to see you.”

The Halberdier nodded to Bones, giving the woman a friendly slap on the back, and then briefly inclined her head to the archer woman sitting there before focusing her attention on the man in charge.

”I am Yorick. I fight with sword, lance, and axe, and I hail from the roiling seas of the Isles. I am dependable, I strike first and ask questions later, and I never leave a job unfinished. If you want my assistance, I’ll gladly provide it, and I don’t give a rat’s ass what I do or who I kill for my money, as long as the pay is fair. No conditions for me. You pay me, my strength is yours. And if you give me one second’s worth of nonsense about how women can’t fight as well as men, I’ll challenge and beat you right here and now.”

The warrior woman flagged the bartender and handed over a small clump of coins. The man returned with a bottle of whiskey, which Yorick opened, drank heartily from, and then passed to Bones.

”Well?”

[Una Stuart]

"I don't look like I'll be up to your challenge?" A brow rose in slight amusement at his seemingly firm rejection, the attitude was rather refreshing. But his doubt of her prowess did not sway her, rather it only moved to make her more interested in seeing what it was he could possibly have to offer. The last band she had joined up with on her journey was led by a nasty little runt, with no knowledge in leadership nor tactics. Suffice to say the few times that they were sent out on jobs it did not end well when he attempted to pitifully take command, and she had not stayed among them for long.

Una took a small sip of her mead, letting the sweet taste rest on her tongue as she took a moment to observe the new additions to the table. Both women who knew their ways around their tools of trade much like herself by the looks of it, this band was turning out to be quite the crops to sow.

"I'm hardly a green one for this life, and I'm not one for pleasantries. My bow is of service, my targets hit, and you're welcome to ask for a demonstration if you find the need for it." She shrugged and took another drink, the confidence she was emitting not bland enough to be mistaken for blind inexperience. Her attention was then taken by the warrior woman, resting against her arm as she watched her with idle curiosity. There was an air about her that she couldn't quite dissect into the usual categories that she came across.

[Cebron]

Cebron was suddenly bombarded with women who wanted to join his force, the pink haired woman who'd been in the tavern for a moment, and a newcomer, a woman with a walk that showed either great strength or skill, Cebron could not tell. Both she, and the pink haired woman who neglected to introduced herself, seemed to believe that they were entitled to a position in his band. Within a span of minutes, three warriors came up to him, a prospective employer, and made demands, not requests, but demands of him, and expected him to simply roll over and accept the hand they attempted to pass off as a flush. He finished his ale, and stood. "Alright, you, and you," the mercenary leader pointed at the pink haired woman and Yorick respectively. "You two can fight for the Long Company on a trial basis. You'll get paid the same as ev'rybody else, and if ya prove to me that you can hold your own on a job or two you'll be made full tahme members." He turned then specifically to the woman with pink hair, "In the past, my band has taken most jobs that could even possibly entail battle. We have fought through wars, and we have protected caravans and farms. If coin is good, we fight. Simple as that."

Then Cebron rose from the table, and finally addressed the young archer, "You, if you wanna fight for me, you're gonna have to follow me outside."[/color] Cebron led the three women outside, and kept moving until he found a tree. he took out his dagger and drew to circles in it. One great big, and at about the girls eye level, and the other smaller than his head, and above his own height. Without a word, he counted twenty-two paces from the tree, and drew an arrow from the quiver he kept on his hip. He looked around, Gunther was usually somewhere close, which was part of why he was quartermaster. Cebron finally saw him, and shouted out, "Hey, Gunther!" The man lifted his head, and came running, holding Cebron's bow and Guisarme. He took the bow from Gunther, and nodded to him in thanks. Turning, without hesitation, he set his arrow on his string, and pulled it back. He fired, and the arrow hit a little off center in the smaller circle. He turned to the young woman who fncied herself an archer. "You hit in that big circle, you're in the Long Company." [/font]

[Bones]

"Yorick", spoke Bones with both surprise and excitement. The two of them had not seen each other in ages, though Bones could have gone without the back slap. Still it was good to see another capable War Maiden. "Pshaw, always had good taste", spoke Bones as she took the bottle from Yorick and took a great gulp herself. There was nothing like the burning sensation one gets from good whiskey.

Finally the moss head opened his mouth to speak. Bones could tell he did not like the push attitude the three women were giving to him. He came off bold, and that was good. If he was soft she was going to leave. There is nothing worse than a soft leader. That kind of person would get you killed in battle. You needed a leader who was not only strong, but smart as well. She was not sure how the moss head faired in the later category, but by the look of him he seemed able enough.

Moss head offered them a square deal and Bones was eager to accept it. "Sounds good to me", spoke Bones. No commitment, but a promise of coin. Bandits and Mercenaries seem to work the same way. Back in the day her father use to pick up freelancers every now and then. They would not be true members, but get a portion of the cut. If they proved themselves worthy, they were in. If they proved themselves unworthy, they were either killed or sent on there way. Most of the time they were sent on there merry way, but a few times her father would kill a guy in anger. Mostly because they would get one of there members killed because of there stupidity.

As the man asked the bow maiden to follow him outside a small blush crossed Bones cheeks. Already asking for that kind of favors, thought Bones to herself. The maiden was smart enough to hold her tong on certain accounts. Instead Bones simply followed behind the archer without saying a word. Maybe her presence will deter him from, whatever he was planning. Once she saw him drawing the circles on the tree she finally understood. "Archers and there archery", spoke Bones as she sat back and watched. The maiden wondered if she could hit the target with her hand axe. Bones had been practicing, but she never really used it on long range targets. She mostly used it to kill rabbits and other small creatures.

[Yorick]

A trial basis, hmm? Yorick could live with that. She knew that any serious employer would have demanded such a period of observation. After all, anyone could wear a weapon… What counted was whether they could use their weapons. It wouldn’t take too long for this man to see her skills. After all, she’d been a fighter since she was a wee lass.

After Bones took her swig, Yorick smiled, downed another draught, and capped the bottle, sliding it into a handy storage slot that only Bones and the archer girl would be familiar with before following everyone outside. As the two bow-wielders prepared, Yorick filled her flask from the bottle, took one more swig, and handed the remaining fifth of the whiskey to Bones.

”Good to see you too, old friend.”

After seeing the trueness of the leader’s shot, Yorick stepped forward, her Hand Axe and Iron Axe out and in her hands, and nodded to the leader.

”I accept your offer.”

Yorick clashed her axes together and then moved out of the way to allow the young archer room to shoot. She was intrigued. But first, she had some catching up to do.

”Bones… What happened to all the others? Paleface? Where are they all? Last I left, you were all going strong… Where’d those three runts go? I liked those twerps, when they weren’t being pains in the rear… What brings you out alone to these parts? I fancied myself the only roving woman around, but it seems you’re as free as I am…”

[Una Stuart]

Una stepped outside after him, rather amused with the whole ordeal of having a test to be admitted entry. It wasn't that they were a group of any renown, she would have known of them if they were, it would be imagined so. She was rather aware of groups other than her own, word traveled rather fast regarding companies of renown, mainly because of the higher class clients they seemed to attend to. Yet a test? It amused her, almost as if half a dozen men had attempted to join and hadn't even known how to string a bow.

The test itself that he presented to her once they were in a more secluded area outside was simply embarrassing, what sort of company was this that presented itself in such a manner? The test offered was so simple, that she had to question if this was all that there was, it only solidified the idea that unskilled and unmotivated bags of flesh had joined in the past. A bow was support, watching the breaks in battle and taking care of allies's blindsides. If they couldn't fend for themselves then they were simply useless and better suited to picking up a hoe to try to tame the soil instead.

A chuckle rose in her throat as she drew her bow and pinched an arrow between her fingertips, fluidly drawing it from the quiver on her side and nocking it to the string in one well practiced movement. Her hands were still, eyes focused on the target, and breaths coming easy and even.

To anyone observing the action there was hardly even a moment pause as she aimed and let the arrow fly with the musical little sound of the bowstring snapping forward. And it flew true, sinking inside the large circle with a well rounded THUNK.

[Cebron]

Ooc: I'm just gonna go ahead and time skip.

Cebron crossed his arms as the arrow thunked against the tree. Cebron blew the right half of his mustache up with a quick exhalation of air from the corner of his mouth. "Well, either you have more skill with that thin than it looks, or you have sheer dumb luck. Truth is, we could use both. So congratulations girl, you're a trial member of the Long Company." Cebron began to turn away, "We leave in two hours, meet me and my commanders by the Eastern stables. We're attacking a small bandit stronghold, and it wouldn't do well for you to be unorganized." Cebron walked back to the pub. After the volley of people who seemed to think they could make demands of him, he needed another drink. A large one.

---------------

Cebron sat atop Starry Morning, his larger Mare, she was black, but had odd white flecks down her neck. Eckhart approached him on his left. He could smell the alcohol on his breath, he said, "Sir, we sent the men back a half hour ago, hopefully it was long enough for them to sober up." Cebron nodded. He would only let about ten men at a time actually enter a smaller village when the company stopped. It kept them from getting too rowdy. When they stopped at larger cities, they could all come in at once. The men always seemed to enjoy how their numbers could intimidate the guards of some great fiefdom or another. He peered around, none of those newcomers, and only Kal from the commanders. He'd have to have a word with Anselm and Nergui about keeping him waiting.

[Bones]

So we stopped, thought Bones to herself. The maiden of the axe did not care for small villages. They were usually targets for people like her and she knew very well how defenseless they were against sudden raids. Some of the guys may desire to go drinking and engaging in the embodiment of spirits. Bones however wanted a clear head. They were not just hunting foxes or some wild beast, they were hunting bandit, and Bones understood just how dangerous they could really be.

The problem with most bandits one runs into is the fact that they are stupid and unorganized. They usually run off a hierarchy created by strength and brain capacity. Bones however grew up in a band that was far more sophisticated. Sure they did have the strongest man as the leader, but in battle there was a order. A command chain that was not simply do as I say or I will kill you. They knew what they were doing and moved to a task. That is what Bones thought of when one says bandit. She does not think of the fool running around with no shirt and just attacking everything that moves. She thinks of the men who will lure you into a cave and then collapse the ceiling on you once your inside.

"So does anybody have any information on who we are fighting", spoke Bones as she sat around with the other mercenaries. The sober ones to be exact. Not the idiots that went and got drunk while they were suppose to be hunting men. The fools.

[Yorick]

Yorick smiled, her weapons softly clinking on her armor as she walked. Soon, she was lost in thought...

Then, she noticed they had stopped. So she moved towards a large group that was sitting around, eventually stopping behind Bones, her old friend. How interesting... Bones and Yorick. Former bandits... Now hunting bandits. What an ironic turn of events. But alas, poor Yorick had no choice. She simply went where the money was. Eventually, she hoped to amass enough to create a nice arsenal of her own. Weapons of silver, armor of glittering steel... Her only goal was to hunt and kill all the types of monsters around. And to do that, she needed good equipment. Silver was supposedly the best for monster hunting, but she didn't have enough laying around to buy sets of silver weapons. She envied those who did.

"All I was told was that they're a group of bandits. And that we're hitting their base. Other than that, I'm about as in-the-dark as you, Bones. Which is a little troubling."

What kind of mercenary company had such murky communication? The Halberdier kept her mind open and tried to reserve judgement - it could be since she and Bones were only 'temporary' or 'trial' members - whatever that meant... But it was dangerous nonetheless. She wanted to know what she was up against before she was thrown in the ring. That saved her many times on the Isles. And she wasn't about to die in some dump after getting all the way here. No, sir.

[Una Stuart]

"We go in, rout them out, and get paid. That's all that we're going to be told regarding it. It's not like we have a map of their base or anything fancy. If it doesn't look like one of us we kill it." Una passed them and took a seat, dropping her pack off to her side as she relaxed for a mere moment, answering their public question with seemingly little interest. "Exceptions are made in the case of villagers and other little pockets of common sense." There was an incident a while ago in one of her prior companies, and it had become a habit to make mention of it.

The redhead drew her knife and a wetstone, sharpening the blade with a well practiced ease while she listened to the idle chatter down around them. "Are you new to mercenary work?" she asked Yorick after listening to her worries with little interest. It wasn't uncommon for Una to prod her head into conversations she had no place in, no reason for silly formalities when she had the answers. "Don't expect to get more information, you do what you're told and you get paid. Not often do you actually receive specific information unless it's relevant to you completing the job. I wouldn't recommend asking either." She set her knife down and raised her arm, rolling it back for a moment for a pop, and then a sigh of relief. "If you can't handle that sort of work then I'd recommend taking for the hills before you're committed."