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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Mikol sat with a smirk on his face, eyes betraying any sense of casualness. They followed the money bag around the circle, a small gleam in them as the cloth finally rested in his hand. Ah, the feeling of cold, hard gold. His hand closed around six, and he reluctantly let the last fall from his fingers. It wouldn't do to have them mistrust him. Well, more than they likely already did.

After Endymion finished, Mikol considered. Fifty each was a good haul. But... "What's so bloody important that he needs fifty-rate guards? Could be we'd be guarding--" He stopped. He didn't know these people well, and loose words could alienate them before they started. Best to let the thought lie. "Ah, I'm just uptight 'bout nobles. Bloody folk always poking in where it isn't wanted. Light," he grumbled, "and giving us horses too! That man better be looking after his things, I'd say he has too much money for his own good. But his money is as good as anyone else's, better if there's more of it. I'm in."

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going on a journey through my old claims

Horus nodded, picking up his crossbow. "As am I." He said in his deep voice, the slight northern accent giving it a barbaric air. "I'll scout ahead. Meet you all in the morning. Don't drink to much, and keep your swords near. Nobility are not to be trusted." He warned, then whistled for his horse and swung into the saddle, shifting his crossbow to his opposite hand and riding out along the road.

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Son of Bellatrix

Banner by Pandora

Morvynn let out a small laugh towards Orlan. Out of all of this group of misfits, she was the one Morvynn trusted the most. She never failed to make Morvynn smile with her enthusiasm, vigour and overall love of life.
"Always for you my friend" she smiled.

Eventually the bag made it's way towards Morvynn, and she took it gladly. Taking her fair share of the bounty. There was nothing she needed other than a hot meal and something cold to drink, the rest could be saved for emergencies.

Looking up towards Endymion spoke of the latest venture and listened intently to his words and that of the others.
"I too do not trust this Nobleman" Morvynn echoed Horus and Mikol's suspicions. "However, if he is willing to pay the money. I too, am in."

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She grined back at the woman and gave an overdramatic bow towards Morvynn. "Same goes fo' me to ya," she replied in her strong accent.

Orlan watched closely as the bag was passed, but it was not in the intention of keeping close watch on her comrades, just more of a habit and something to do.

The woman was quickly quiet when Endymion broached the subject of a new mission. Fifty gold pieces was definitely not something she could pass up. It would keep her going for a month or two at the least.

"I'll be joinin' as well, I s'pose. Fifteh pieces is quite a sum - you'd be crazy to pass it up. And I still retain all my wits. As for trustin' the bloke, I wouldn' worry much about tha. He's probably hiring more than 'ee needs - makes him look more importan', see," she explained, rolling her wrist as if the motion kept her thoughts going.

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Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me

Innia slipped into the tavern and after some difficulty peering through the dark, found the circle of colleagues that she was part of. She entered late but rather unnoticed. She took the bag and withdrew her share of the bounty before passing it along while obtaining the gist of what Endymion had said. Guard duty, she frowned at the phrase. She never liked it but whatever she could take.

"I'm in," she declared, not revealing what she actually thought about the job.

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I was cured all right.

Endymion nodded to all in compliance, watching Horus ride away on his horse to scout ahead. Then he turned back to the others around him.

"I admit I don't entirely trust this noble. But as long as she is lining my pockets, I don't care much. We'll split again for now. Get drinks and supplies. It's three days traveling we're guarding this caravan, and I don't think we want to be caught by any bandits unaware. Then we'll all meet on the East edge of town at noon. Be there or be left behind," he said, the now empty money sack coming to him. The swordsman's dark eyes looked at it almost thoughtfully for a moment, before pushing himself off from the wall he was leaning on.

"Noon, East side of town. Now I'm getting myself a drink."

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

"Oh light," Mikol groaned. "Not only a bloody noble, but a female at that! All uptight and looking down her nose at everyone, that's the way those women are. Flithy bleeding bloody.." His voice trailed out of earshot as he moved off toward the tavern. Noblewomen likely objected to ale as well, best to get what he could while he could.

Sitting comfortably with a mug and a plate of hot something that could be called food, Mikol considered the situation. Bloody fool, letting his mouth run off before he thought. No, best to keep his thoughts to himself. He may have an alliance with this crew, but it was an uneasy one. This noblewoman. She had enough money to hire any amount of guards, give them horses and fifty besides. Whatever needed guarding was more valuable than a couple hundred pieces of gold. One would almost think it would be better to be the bandit than the guard - you'd get a better haul. But...more thoughts came to him, and his mouth raised in a half smile.

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going on a journey through my old claims

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Orlan cast a mock glare (it was not especially smart to throw such remarks around Orlan as her hearing was one of her attributes) at Mikol's back and yelled after him "Oi, watch 'er mouth, Mikol. There's some o' us 'ere as be sharin' tha' gender and donnae appreciate such slandah," she said huffily.

The woman threw her nose in the air dramatically while letting her nearly non-existent hips sway in a ridiculous fashion - obviously mocking a gesture for she shared his views when it came to woman of wealth.

"It offends my honah' and is 'orribly distasteful," she finished with a snort before dropping the guise and jogging off to find her a suitable pair of boots - make that two pairs...just in case.

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Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me

Morvynn giggled and shook her head at Orlan's ostentatious display and smiled warmly as she watched her friend hurry off.

"Three days" she mused to herself, "Oh well, gives me plenty of time to practice my staff skills"

"Best be getting some food and something to drink then I suppose" she said aloud to no-one in particular and too headed into the Tavern. Stepping inside she grew a little uncomfortable as some of the more inebriated clientel leered her way. Ignoring there lecherous stares, she walked over to the bar. "I'd like a hot meal and a cold brew please" she spoke up over the babble and banter of the tavern.

"You got money to pays for it blondie?" the barman sneered at her

"If I didn't, I'd not be in here now would I" she smirked back sarcastically.
"I'll be sitting over there" she spoke as she pointed out to a small table for one in a darkened corner of the room and walked over to it and made herself as comfortable as possible and waited on her food and drink.

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"Fantastic," Innia muttered as she retreated inward to the tavern. Until noon. Innia had absolutely no idea what to do until noon. She suppose she could get a drink first. Well, after she did some other things first. She reserved her opinions of the woman they were supposed to guard, which matched neatly with those of her companions. She walked towards the village blacksmith, which she was told was four buildings down.

The morning crowd consisted of people walking about to their jobs or stores, searching for essential tools and food that couldn't wait until market day. Most of the time was spent working for that day where money and items exchanged hands, a rather foreign concept to Innia. While she will among the first to eagerly affirm that mercenary work was indeed hard work, it should be said that her line of work was much more profitable than a farmer's or a craftsman's.

The steady dings of beating metals could be heard a distance away from the smith, even when mingling with the sounds of the streets. Innia stooped under the low-hanging doorway and waited impatiently for the blacksmith to notice her. Finally he halted long enough to see the tall pale figure standing in his doorway. He rubbed his gloves against his dirty apron and asked, "Can I help you, miss?"

"Actually, you can," she replied. She took out the shards of a dagger that broke during her undertaking. "Can you mend this for me, please?"

He chuckled. "What's a pretty lady like yourself doing with a sticker like that?"

"That's none of your concern," she snapped. "Can you mend it?"

The blacksmith nodded and Innia relinquished her weapon to him. "Now, I could also use some refreshments." Upon seeing his disgruntled face, she added, "Of course, I will pay for them as well." His features softened and he retreated into his house, returning a few minutes later with a mug of ale and a plate with some bread and cuts of meat.

"Thank you," she said, sniffing the beer. While the smell was rather distasteful, it was the best available to her and she ate and drank silently as the blacksmith labored over her dagger.

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I was cured all right.

Endymion watched as they seemed to all almost walk off in unison. It almost amused him, but not quite. The mercinary found amusment in very few things due to the hard life of a fighter for hire. But it was the life he had chosen, and there was no going back now.

The streets became more crowded as he made his way to the tanner. The straps that held the holister which kept his swords on his back was starting to stretch and weaken and Endymion didn't want to take the chance of it breaking on him.

The walk to the small building didn't take very long, because even with his slightly short stature, the man had a strange and demanding air that regular folk tended to stray away from. But the unfriendly look on his face most of the time was the main reason for this.

Stepping through the door, the scent of leather and the metal tools that made it wafted up Endymion's nose. He stood for a moment waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark interrior before he saw a very skinny man sorting various leather goods on a table. He seemed nervious almost jittery, when he noticed Endymion.

"C-can I help you sir?" the man asked.
"I need new straps for my weapons," he said, pulling his holster off his shoulder, and holding up the straps so the man could see where the leather was stretching and cracking in places.
"Yes, I have j-just the thing. Um... wait here please," the man scuttled off behind a fernace that kept the room warm. After a moment of hearing clanging and crashing, the man came back out with some leather strapping which he measured and cut to the lengths Endymion gave. "Do you need me to put them onto your... um..." The man eyed the mercinary's weapons.
"No"
"Ok, then it's two copper. One for each strap," he said, seeming happy that he was almost done dealing with this man. Endymion complied and set the two copper on the table before leaving without a word...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

Having finished his drink and food, Mikol set off to replace everything for the new trip. His weapons were still good, though his quiver could use a few more arrows. He had talked to the fletcher earlier, but the man needed to see coin before beginning the tedious work. Striding purposefully to the shop, Mikol shoved a gold piece under the man's nose.

"I've got it, eh? Now, I need as many arrows as you can finish by noon." He picked the fletchings and haggled over price per arrow, then left grumbling at losing his price. From there he sought out new pants and a coat, growing more surly as his purse got lighter. Essentials taken care of, he wondered what else might come in handy. Mikol looked through his pack, carefully examining and calculating what might wear out. Nothing was in immediate need of care, so he tied it all back up and went to the fletchers again. The man was finishing up the last arrow; Mikol paid and was saddling his gelding by a quarter til.

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going on a journey through my old claims

Orlan hurried down the street, she felt that she could possibly be late...but then again she was often wrong about time. She did not have the mind for it at all.

The pack that she always carried was filled to the brim with new clothing - they were desperately needed, her old clothing was becoming indecent it was so worn. Rather like her boots she expected too much from the thin pieces of cloth that covered her.

The pack bounced in time to her running and stopped as she skidded to a halt in front of a food cart. With a grin she set down a copper coin and grabbed a bag of dried apples - her favorite treat - and continued on her way.

Her run carried her through the muddy streets, past a crowded inn and finally to their meeting place. Looking about she grinned, she was early and the first one! She was never the first one there. A small cat with cream smile crawled up her face as she sat down to wait for the rest of the group.

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Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me