Adventurers' Guild Team Cougar IC

[Bonecrusher Doc]

The mists of a cool morning in early spring burn away as the bright southern sun rises over the towers and minarets of East Bridgeport. Every day is Market Day in this thriving city, and a myriad of sights, sounds, and smells delight the senses. The smells of fresh bread and today's catch of fish mingle pleasantly. Merchants in booths sell olive oil, wine, cloth, and spices, while farmers sell produce out of their carts as their oxen stand patiently, chewing their cud. A young halfling goes from door to door, struggling with his wheelbarrow piled high with squares of peat, but smiling as coins from each door clink into his purse. At one corner, a street vendor shaves the first savory slices of meat from a kebab for a group of dwarven lumberjacks who are too hungry to pay any mind to the playful catcalls from a pair of gnome sailors. A few tall soldiers patrol the streets, watchful but still relaxed, as there is rarely trouble in this part of town. Always, there is the cry of the gulls and, if one listens carefully, the soft sound of the waves in the harbor.
The cobblestone streets are busy, as is the huge bridge that spans the Timber River over to West Bridgeport, the less affluent but older side of town known especially for the rich culture of the many halflings who have lived there for centuries. A few young boys fish from the bank next to the small piers where shirtless laborers hustle dwarven goods off of river barges. Curiously, a motley group of five adults (you) are standing on the riverbank beneath the overhang of the great bridge, somewhat awkwardly making small talk or absent-mindedly skipping stones, as if they are waiting for something.
A few minutes pass, then a wizened halfling can be seen gingerly making his way down to the riverbank where the five stand. He is clothed in religious-looking robes and wears a silver medallion that appears to be in the form of a horse rampant on his chest. His eyes sparkle beneath bushy eyebrows as his face wrinkles into a broad smile.

Eldon
"Ah, excellent! I see the bards have spread the word of our little venture far and wide indeed! I am Father Eldon Highburrow, one of the founding members of the Adventurers' Guild. Please, follow me -- we can talk as we go, but all your questions will be answered once we arrive at our Guildhall."

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I suggest roleplaying following him through a maze of streets on the way to the guildhall, and take this time for the characters to get to know each other, because we'll talk all about the guild once you get there. Feel free to be creative if you want to describe the area you're walking through; if something is completely out of line with the idea I have of this city we can always edit it. I think I mentioned before, Istanbul is one of my inspirations for Bridgeport.

[Jensik]

Sharn Vankessel

"Once more unto the breach..."

Words half whispered as he followed the halfling. Not once did he shift his stoic gaze downward, yet he kept pace and direction with him none the less. There was something definitely off about the man who, up until now, had spoken only his name.

Now amongst daylight, he pulls the hood from his cloak over his head to shield his eyes. He wears a pristinely polished set of scale armor and carries with him a large wooden shield. A large mace hangs from the left side of his belt. On the opposite side, a small crossbow and a miniature quiver that holds it's ammunition.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela

With a hefty sigh and a grunt of effort, a young, redheaded girl takes a quick sip of the waterskin dangling above her sword-hilt shortly before hefting a rather heavy-seeming haversack onto both shoulders and flipping a small wooden spiked wall onto her arm.

She moves with a practised grace through the crowd, although the sharp protrusions on her arm my aid in the endeavor. Nobody wants to get stabbed on their way to the market, and nobody wants it to be primarily their fault. The woman, seemingly callously made no attempt to avoid people, figuring indeed that any attempts to do so would only increase the possibility of an injury to occur.

The biggest problem was that halfling. Such a small creature got lost in the corwds easily, even from Shiela's own short height.
"Pershaps, Sir," Shiela spoke calmly, although her tone was tinted with a bit of haste "You can simply begin giving us a summary now - rarely is anything more private than when thrust in the public's eye."

[Karaswanton]

Balthazar

The dour looking dwarf followed on after. His face looked serious, and somewhat grim. He was focused on finding out more about the mission, but also took pains to observe everything around him.

The city was much different from the dwarven cities he was used to--it was noisy, aboveground, and full of mixed races instead of a homogenous dwarf population. Even the arctitecture was different. Gone were the step-pyramids of his homeland, instead everywhere there were buildings with roofs shaped like onions.

The dwarf follows on, saying nothing, but listening intently to what others say.

[Bayar]

Jeff

While keeping up with the group, Jeff examines the locals, making mental reminders of where he could come back later, if he has some free time.He has spent most of his life in the wilderness, making short trips into towns whenever he needed supplies, sell some skins of wild beasts or just hang out in a pub.

While I agree with your statement, we should wait until we get to the guildhall. People should not overhear things that are suposed to be private...

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Eldon
"Ah, here we are!" Eldon stops at an iron gate and opens it. A flagstone path of about a hundred feet cuts through an overgrown garden of bushes and small trees to the entry of a large house, which looks as though it could have once belonged to a very wealthy family, but where fine roof tiles and intricately carved shutters are missing, they have been replaced by mismatching cheap substitutes. Eldon opens the double doors. "Please, come in."

You step into a foyer that stretches across the front of the house. There is a stairway going up on each end, and to your front you are separated from another room by strings of glass beads hanging from a wide double doorway. From the other doorway in the foyer, next to the staircase on the right, comes a large, well-muscled man, followed by a frowning, middle-aged gnome with spectacles pushed down on his nose. A stout human woman and a wide-eyed boy who looks to be about nine stand on the stairs to the right.

Bruce
"Well met, well met!" booms the man jovially. He has lost most of his hair, and his right eye socket is scarred shut. He is wearing riding boots and breeches with a loose, embroidered shirt, and has a short sword on his belt. "Welcome to the Adventurers' Guildhall. I am the so-called 'guildmaster,' but please call me Bruce. Eldon and I founded this guild along with Lankin here, who knows a good business opportunity when he sees one! Lankin is our quartermaster - he has made agreements with several merchants in town to give us discount prices, provided you adventurers go through him for all your equipment needs." Lankin nods in agreement. The woman on the steps coughs. "Oh, and of course," says Bruce, "this is my wife Elga and our son Brelgan. The three of us live upstairs on this side of the house, so I'd appreciate it if you will respect our privacy. You are of course welcome to use the Library behind me. Now, let me show you where you'll be staying."

Up the stairs on the left side of the house is a large room, the ceiling slanted to the pitch of the roof, with narrow windows. The room is jammed full of bunkbeds and wooden chests. A few of the beds have bedrolls on them with the closest chests closed and locked. Under each bunkbed is a battered tin chamberpot. A curtain is pulled across the end of the room closest to the street, hiding a few of the bunkbeds from view. On the opposite wall is a fireplace, presumably sharing a chimney with the fireplace in the common room below. A smallish man who looks to be in his thirties is snoring on the bottom bunk closest to the unlit fireplace, a heavy crossbow next to his chamberpot. "This is where you'll be staying, unless you have a home in Bridgeport and you'd rather stay there, as Eldon and Lankin do," says Bruce in hushed tones. "We have a few other Adventurers who live here, but I doubt you'll see any of them for a few days. Bil here is our night guard. Dependable as a rock, but not very sociable. I suppose the job suits him well." He leads you back down to the foyer.

Bruce then pushes through the strings of beads opposite the main entrance and leads you into the largest room in the house. There is a fireplace at the far end, a bar to the left with barstools, and behind the bar is a large dumbwaiter and a door to the back of the property. A few pathetic-looking hunting trophies and unimpressive weapons are mounted high on the walls. A comely young woman with dark hair and well-toned arms, wearing a simple undyed woolen dress, is taking chairs down from atop the several tables in the room. "This is our Common Room," says Bruce. The kitchen and storage rooms are below us, but the stairs down to them are just outside. Ana is here during the days and evenings, but she lives with her brother and his wife just a block away. She does not speak, but she listens well, and that's a good quality in a barmaid in my book!" Ana smiles prettily, then Bruce leads you outside, quietly muttering, "A good quality in any woman, for that matter..." Ana raises an eyebrow as evidence that she has a keen ear indeed.

In the back yard there is a stone patio, and cellar doors that are unlocked and open, revealing brown-stained stone steps leading under the house. Stacks of firewood, a well, and a small stable are closeby. The iron fence that runs around the property has a small gate in the back that opens to an alley, with a large stone jar sitting outside the gate. A cart drawn by a mule stops at the gate, and a miserable-looking teenage boy hops from the back. He swaps the jar with an identical one from the cart and climbs back in. The driver of the cart is an older man smoking a pipe. Bruce cries, "Hallo, Merrill!" The man turns to face you and bows his head, removes his soft leather cap and waves it with a flourish, as if he were a courtier saluting his king. He then gives a shake to the reins and the mule plods forward to the next house.

As you turn back to face Bruce, Lankin comes up the steps with padlocks and keys and begins to silently hand one to each of you. The padlocks match those that were on some of the chests in the Bunkroom upstairs.

"Merrill is a fellow guildmaster, believe it or not," says Bruce. He got fed up with some of the Council's decisions a few months ago, and stopped dung collection throughout Bridgeport until he got his own guild! My, that was a smelly three weeks! I know it sounds ridiculous, but the Doge, the Marshal, and many of the priests supported him, what with the way some of the guilds have been behaving. Turned out well for us, because you can thank Merill for our own guild status - his was the deciding vote! I don't need to tell you that the idea of an Adventurer's Guild was not a popular one, but you know what they say: Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity. And politicians desperate for a shift in the balance of power created the perfect opportunity for me to spend my pension on this little venture. Oh, that boy on the cart is Quinn - I'm afraid he's a bit of a delinquent, but ever since they put him in Merrill's charge he seems to have mended his ways."

"Well, like I said, down those steps are the kitchen and stores, and that's about it. I'm going to go help Eldon finish drawing up your contracts. In case the bards didn't mention it - they usually gloss over details like this - we'll provide your room and board, ammunition and a few other supplies, stabling for your animals, and all the ale you care to drink! In return we ask that you not do anything to give the guild a bad reputation - we've enough enemies as it is - and we'll need fifty percent of your profits until we recover our start-up costs, at which time we can renegotiate your contracts. Oh, and Father Eldon will provide his services free of charge whenever he's at the guildhall, which is most days. Take some time to explore, get settled in if you'll be staying with us, and ask anyone any questions you have. Ana has some eggs and salted pork - and ale if you want it this early - waiting for you in the Common Room."

[Karaswanton]

Balthazar, LN Dwarf Wizard

The dwarf raises one bushy eyebrow, and laughs a quiet, wheezy laugh.
Then he begins to speak for the first time. His voice is loud and booming, but muted--as though he is trying to be quiet but somewhat failing at it.

All the ale we can drink, eh? Not the sort of promise I'd make around dwarves if I were you, Bruce. It's been a long ride for me, I think I'll take you up on that salted pork--and I would like some ale this early! Of course that will be after I get my things settled in."

Apparently self-satisfied with his "joke", the dwarf walks into the Guild, attempts to find his quarters, and then heads in to drop off his things in his quarters (and attempts not to wake up Bill in the process).

He'll try to drink the drink the ale slowly, in order to appear polite. He isn't sure how much humans drink in one sitting, but he is sure it is less than dwarves and he doesn't want to make himself look like a pig.

Also, being used to fine dwarven ale, he will try to be polite about he quality of the ale. Chances are, the quality of the ale will surprise him, as he expects all non-dwarven ale to be swill. So, if the ale is good, it will be a happy surprise and if the ale is bad it merely confirms his pre-conceived notions.

He's also a little confused about what to do with Ana, who is mute. Is it rude to talk to her since she can't respond? Is it rude not to talk to her, because it would be treating her differently? The end result is an awkward attempt at small-talk.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

The ale is not good, but it is palatable. Ana expertly serves food and drinks, and is polite in nodding yes or shaking her head no, but her response to anything that would require more than a simple yes or no is to smile and shrug her shoulders. If she is offended in any way, she gives no sign of it.

[Bayar]

Jeff, CN ranger
Nice place you have here, Bruce. Will catch up with you in the Common room.As he is walking towards the quarters, he mutters to himself:Damn, there are alot of people here...how can I remember all their names? In the forests the only things you could name were wild animals...I miss Fluffy the bunny, Nuts the squirrel and Stopbitingme the wolf...ah well, at least they turned out into some finely crafted gloves, hat and cloak .

He reaches the quarters, finds his chest and puts his Longsword and bow and arrows in the chest, keeping the shortsword for a "just-in-case".He then locks the chest with the padlock.He looks at Bill and sees that he is sleeping.He takes out his shortsword and scratches the surface of the chest so that it reads: Touch and die! , while making sure he doesnt make a lot of noise.

Reaching the Common Room, hestarts to examine the trophies and weapons on the wall.If you want some new ones, I'll try to kill some beasts while adventuring.Then to Ana Some salted pork, please. And with that, he takes a seat.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela Tailor, CG Fighter

A bit upset at the mage's Psuedo-rebuke earlier, she soon found the point to be moot. No sense in giving prospective employees information as to what they were signing up for without drawing up some CONTRACTs, first. By the Lady, no, that would be a horrible idea.
She is not visibly miffed about Bruce's "Women should be silent remark".

That is how it came to be that a silent and visibly fuming Shiela angrily accepted the key and padlock before returing up the stairs with whomever else decided to do so.

After choosing the bottom bunk of any rack ((Author's note: "Rack" is nautical terminology for "bed")) near a wall, the young girl gingerly placed her pack, and shiled inside before sotting on the lid to carefully remove her armor. It was probably going to be a long stay, and while the suit wasn't particulalrly heavy, it did get in the way for some things, and started to get heavy after a while.

After doffing the armor and placing it inside the chest, Shiela also removed her belt so as to neatly place the belt pouches and her stiletto inside. She balks at removing her scimitar, weighing the consequences of openly carrying the weapon verusus not being prepared. In the end, she decides to leave remove the dirk in her boot, placing it inside the chest and procuring her red cloak from her pack, wearing it open, as it wasn't particulalrly cold inside.

With this, noted that the chest seemed somewhat crowded and so, removed and leaned her shield against the nearby wall, spikes pointing towards said wall. She then locks the chest, streaches and proceeds to head down the stairs into the common area for some food.

Sheila finds herself arriving pretty late to the parthy downstairs and slides into a chair near those who signed up with her, asking for pork and eggs from Ana with a smile (after all, shes not upset at her), and proceeds to speak with Jeff (Pointedly ignoring any conversational advances from that "Rude Dwarf")
"M'name is Shiela," she says, loudly enough so that everyone else in the otherwise quiet room so can hear her, but quietly enough so as to not disturb anyone. Its their collective faults its quiet, anyway. "What canneye call you?"

[Bayar]

Jeff, CN Ranger

Sheila, that is a preety name. My name is Jeff. So, what made you join the Adventurers Guild? I joined mainly because it would give me an opportunity to explore new places.

[Jensik]

Sharn

Sharn takes the lock and key from Lankin and inspects them thoroughly. Not finding what he was looking for he finds the first seemingly unclaimed bed he finds and carefully arranges his possessions on the bed itself. On the far left he carefully placed his backpack, next to that his crossbow and bolts, then his shield, leaving his mace on his belt and his armor on his back. He places the lock and key inside the chest and heads toward the common room.

Once there he will give a polite nod to those already assembled and quietly asks Ana to bring "a morsel" to the library if such a thing is allowed. Whether or not she actually brings it to him he will spend his free time not actually reading any books but trying to memorize the library's stock and organization system and measuring the possibilities for improvement.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela

The red-haired fighter hurrumphs slightly.
"Flirting will get you nowhere with me, Jeff. I joined so I can get out of this town - and so I could stop burdening my pa."

[Karaswanton]

Balthazar, Dwarven Wizard


Oh come on, ma'am. You can't have been that mush trouble. Hm. I'm drunker than I thought I would be at this point. This is human-made ale, not dwarven-made--I thought the alcohol content would be lower. Dwarves invented ale you know, a few thousand years ago. It was invented totally by accident....

He then falls asleep on the barstool. It's been a long day for Balthazar, and he hasn't slept much lately.

OOC:I'm playing this character a lot more weird than I expected.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela
As Promised, Shiela rather rudely ignores the rude, drinking dwarf.

[Trulhammaren]

Iva, GG Human Bard

Iva kept pretty much to herself thus far, it had been a long, fruitless night and she wasn't much in a talkative mood. Besides, there were more men than women and even though the younger girl looked like she could easily fend for herself Iva didn't much like the odds. She was pleased to see that of the three men in the group one was a dwarf, Better be safe than sorry though. She hadn't much contact with many people outside of the traveling circus she had been apart of for so many years, but dwarven men seemed to be a bit more trustworthy as a whole than most other races; so long as they were sober in any case.

She followed the entourage through the city and into the guildhall, staying to the back and keeping her cloak closed with the hood up. She listened as the proprietors of the guildhall spoke their spiel, Bruce's comment about women just about made Iva leave right then and there, but she needed to money and now she knew at least one person likely to cause her problems. Better to have knowledge than to face the unknown.

Taking her key and padlock to her room to stash her bag away she hesitated to remove her cloak and stow it away as well. I might as well deal with all the sneers and cat calls now, since I kinda know what to expect. Leaving her cloak and veil in the trunk as well she headed back down to the common room, checking the whip hanging from her side as well as her flute case to make sure it was in working order, one never knew when a good song could change the mood of any tavern.

Iva reaches the bottom of the stairwell, just in time to hear the other red head announce her name. Iva not really caring much about what the fellow that was sitting across from her said, paid no attention to Jeff as he introduced himself.

Could you possible bring out some eggs and mayhaps a small portion of ale hun? Thanks." Iva said to Ann. Iva wasn't much of a drinker, but she learned a long time ago that having a glass of something to drink was an easy way to avoid answering questions she didn't want to. Walking over to the table where the others of her group were sitting, Iva took note of the layout of the common room and noticed that there really wasn't a proper place to sit and play without taking up table space.

[color="Purple"]"Mind if I sit here hun?" Iva directed at Shiela as she took a seat next to the younger girl. Her question wasn't so much a question as it was just being polite as there wasn't really anywhere else to sit as it were.

I'm Iva by the way.

((OOC: Sorry for my late appearance, I have kinda been hibernating the last couple of days.))

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela

With a broad smile, the young redhead waves towards the empty chair, aware that Iva's question was more a statement than a question.
"Please, be my guest - we were just discussing our varied - motivations, you might say - care to chip a copper in the pot?"

When the lady bard takes her seat and names hershelf, Shiela offers up her given name in return.

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OOC>
Wow, I'm playing a charecter thats actually personable for once! Also, I imagine the seating arrangement like so:

----JSI---
========
-----B----

Any objections/differing viewpoints?

[Trulhammaren]

Iva, CG Human Bard

"Well, I'm a traveling entertainer...so I travel quite a bit and it gets mighty lonely, and awfully boring, traveling by ones self. Besides, there is supposed to be a good deal of cash in this adventuring business, so I figured why not."

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela Tailor, CG Female Sword-and-Board Fighter (Because I feel like it)
"And you prefer the company of the heavily armed to your performing kin?" Shiela asked incredously, then shrugged her shoulders, "I guess there is less petty rivalry and more protection that way."

[Trulhammaren]

Iva

"Well.... let's just say I have a pretty unique act that doesn't mesh well with other acts. Iva states trying her best to avoid dealing with her past with 'Jargon's Traveling Show of Wonders'. Suddenly remembering that just across the table was a very....not-awake dwarf.

"So what is his story, I have yet to meet a dwarf that can't hold his liquor."

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela

"Well, he is as rude and brash as other dwarves" Shiela says, making no effort to mask her contempt for the minor slight he delivered earlier. "As far as his story, he went to the Land of Infinite Beersteins -the drunk- right after he said I 'Couldn't be that much of a burden' and ranting about how his -poorly groomed- race invented ale."

After a moment, her voice raises slightly, as if struck with an ephinony. "No, no, thats not right, I shouldn't base my opinions on dwarves just from him. And I shouldn't form opinions of him from that one remark, either... Okay, I don't know his story at all."

[Jensik]

Sharn

The armor clad man walks stiffly back into the common room at this time and takes a seat at the table, though not too close to anyone in particular. For a moment he just stares straight ahead, then he looks at the dwarf with a raised eyebrow.

"Just how long was I gone?"

[Karaswanton]

After murmuring strange things in his slumber, the dwarf snaps awake.
At first he is wild-eyed and confused, but only for a moment.
He seems to understand the situation quickly.

Ah. I must have fallen asleep. I bet you think I can't hold my liquor, but to tell you the truth I was close to falling asleep anyway. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in several weeks, and none in a proper bed either. I think I'll take the hint my body is giving me and get to sleep--and in a real bed for once!

And with that the dwarf walks upstairs. His walk betrays none of the ale he's had to drink.



OOC: Yeah, he's still sober. What with 17 Con, and a +2 racial bonus against poison. lol

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Bruce (entering the common room)
"Your contracts are prepared, bold adventurers, and if you will all make your way into the library Eldon will help you sign them, then he will enter your names in the Roll at the Council Chambers when they open in an hour. So please, finish your food and drink, but it would be helpful if Eldon could be on his way before the Chambers get too busy, or the good Father will be there all day. Oh, and once you sign you may take your insignia, and also Lankin has some small welcome gifts for you down in the stores."

(Should you go into the library, this is what you will see.)

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The library is decorated in an odd assortment of styles. A map, which appears to be fairly new, adorns one wall, with a worn spot over the city of Bridgeport. A few shelves have books and scrolls on them, but most are empty. The table appears to have been fashioned from a large wooden door, and there are two rough-hewn benches about six feet long, one on either side of the table. On the table are pen, ink, and sheets of parchment (the contracts). Also on the table are several small silver brooches, in the form of three intersecting lines: a winding road, or perhaps a river, overlaid with a crossed sword and a staff. A narrow window opening onto the back yard allows some light into the room, but there is also a candelabra on the table and a torch in a bracket on the wall.

(If you are literate in Common, this is what the Contracts say - Eldon will read it accurately to you if you request it.)

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CONTRACT
Let it be known that the signer of this contract is a full member of the Adventurer's Guild of the Fair City of Bridgeport, having agreed to the following expectations and benefits:

Expectations: Member is expected to spend most of his or her days actively seeking opportunities for experience, glory, and profit. Member will contribute his or her talents to support other members and the Guild as a whole in pursuance of the same. Member will exercise reasonable discretion in these activities, especially when conducted within the city and surrounding area of Bridgeport. Member will endeavor at all times to prevent the Guild from dishonor or excessive financial loss. Member will contribute 50% of monies earned through any activity to the care of the guild treasurer, until such time that the value of 1000 gp have been contributed. Thenceforth, member need only contribute a tithe of 10%. Should a member experience material gain in a form other than coinage, a reasonable contribution to the guild is expected.
Failure to follow these expectations may result in temporary or permanent forfeiture of your benefits, and a guild officer may ultimately request the Council of Guilds expel you from the Roll of Members.

Benefits: Member shall enjoy free room, board, stabling, and drink at the Adventurers' Guildhall. This privilege shall not be extended to family or guests without the approval of a guild officer. Members are free to go where they please and do as they please, provided activities meet the above expectations. The member shall enjoy the physical sanctuary of the guildhall and representation by the Guildmaster in the Council of Guilds. Requests for loans or grants of monies or equipment, when necessary for a highly profitable adventure or in situations of dire need, may be granted by a majority of guild officers. Should a member be wounded or fall ill while conducting legitimate guild activities and return to the guildhall alive, his healing shall be provided for with guild resources. After ten years of active adventuring, member shall enjoy guild benefits for life, as long as his or her conduct remains good (as determined by a majority of guild officers), whether or not he or she continues to seek adventure.

The new member shall proudly wear the insignia of Adventurers, and a guild officer shall enter the new member's name into the Roll of Members of the Council of Guilds at the first possible opportunity. This contract shall not expire until such time as the new member should resign his membership, or such time as the Council of Guilds decides his membership must be revoked, in accordance with the laws of Bridgeport.

______________, New Member
Bruce Wrightson, Guildmaster
Eldon Highburrow, 2nd Adventurer
Lankin Copperbags, Guild Treasurer

(If you go down to the kitchen and stores, this is what you see.)

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It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the dim light in the cool basement of the guildhall. Two fireplaces share their chimneys with those of the rooms above. There are three spits for roasting meat, cauldrons on hooks that can swivel in and out of the fireplace, and various other cooking accoutrements. A block of kitchen knives, a mortar and pestle, and a small supply of herbs and raw vegetables sit on one side of a table identical to the one in the library. Wooden buckets, sealed with pitch, are in one corner, along with some cleaning supplies. A calico cat, not fully grown but missing part of one ear, yowls at you and skitters behind some wooden pallets, on which are stacked sacks of grain or flour. Some casks and bottles are stored next to the dumbwaiter which may convey them to the bar above.
Walls made of large bricks separate the half of the room that is furthest from the door (and closest to the main street) into three smaller rooms. Two of the rooms have no doors, and you can see they are each lit with dim, slow-burning torches. You can see smoked and salted meats hanging in one room, while the other is crowded with various adventuring equipment. The third room has a sturdy door, locked with two large padlocks.
Lankin sits on a stool outside the equipment room. He hands you a sack with five days' trail rations, five torches, and a standard bundle of ammunition for your ranged weapon (slings and bullets are available for those without a ranged weapon). He then solemnly counts out ten gp worth of coins to any character who answers that he or she lacks this amount (any combination of gold, silver, and copper that you want), explaining that it should be used as your expense account for guild purposes.

[Karaswanton]

On his way up the stairs (which were not built with dwarves in mind) Balthazar happens to hear Eldon's announcement, and decides to reserve his nap for later on that day.

Balthazar heads for the library, looks over the contract carefully, signs it and attaches the brooch to his robes in a prominent spot. Next he heads down to the stores. When Lankin offers 10 gp to those without any funds, Balthazar says nothing and waits for the others to leave the room, or at least pay attention to something else.

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He whispers to Lankin
Pardon me friend..I'm in need of a few gold myself. I was a bit embarrassed to ask in front of everyone. Who ever heard of a dwarf without gold?

[Bayar]

Jeff

Gotta love bureaucracy...says Jeffon his way towards the Library.Signing the contract, he takes the brooch, and pins it near his heart. After this, he goes towards the stores. Supplies, eh...well thank you Lankin...they will come in handy.He takes the sack.By the way, is that the guildhouse cat? is it friendly, does it have a name? I just love cats...

[Jensik]

Sharn

"Master Eldon was in the library? I didn't see him there... of course that doesn't mean he wasn't. Absence of proof is not disproof. Maybe he was there but I did not wish to see him there? Contracts, that sounds important. Best to hop to it then... regulations. Thank you Master Bruce."

Sharn marches (literally) back to the library with a haste he has yet to show today. Before signing the contract, he takes the time to read over it several times and commit the more important parts to memory. (more specifically, conditions for discharge)

He takes his Guild Symbol and heads to the store room, graciously accepting the provisions, but asking for only half the offered amount in gold. After thanking Lankin, Sharn heads back upstairs and sits on his chosen bed to inspect his newly acquired insignia.

It shouldn't be a problem to add this to my uniform. The dilemma is finding a place to openly display the insignia without depreciating the importance of my Lady's crest. Vexing...

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Down in the kitchen, young Brelgan crawls out from an almost impossibly narrow space behind the grain sacks, holding the cat in one hand.

Brelgan (to Jeff)
"Yeah, he lives here and he's friendly. He just doesn't like strangers much. My mom likes him because he keeps mice away."

The cat escapes from Brelgan and runs up the cellar steps. Brelgan scampers after it, and Jeff follows him up, leaving Balthazar alone with Lankin. After listening to Balthazar's whisper, Lankin rolls his eyes and discreetly complies with Balthazar's request.

[Bayar]

Jeff, CN human ranger

Following Breglan, Jeff asks:But does it have a name?

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Brelgan (to Jeff)
"His name is Patches."