>"Oi said, where'd ya com' from knoif ears. Ain't nine seen your kind round 'ere a'fore."
>Up until that point I had been enjoying my coffee.
>It had been a nice morning, but then these humans, who, at least I'd never seen before decided to make a drink about my ears.
>I took a long sip from my coffee, hoping they'd get bored and pester someone else
>Just before it looked like the leader of the trio was about to sound off again I spoke up.
>"Around, here and there."
>The man shook his head, " nah, I meant here. Earth. Curious on yer story. When the merge all 'appened."
>I arched an eyebrow as this was new. Usually people made my appearance an issue to fight over... Curiosity was new.
>I decided to spin them a yarn.
>I explained, "I have been here long before the merge and that I've seen empires rise and fall.. things you would never believe."
>"But elves.. t'ey weren't here a'fore the merge..."
>I shook my head, and explained "This is just a temporary vessel, my previous was old and feeble, and this one appeared during the merge. I took it."
>The trio seemed satisfied with the implications and warily moved on, eventually taking their breakfast to go.
>A few minutes later my breakfast was interrupted again, this time by the diner owner.
>"Anon... Why do you gotta keep coming up with crazy shit like that instead of telling the truth."
>I apologized, "Sorry Victor, telling the truth means that inevitably they'd want to see Myra, and that always turns into a fight because they start to think I'm keeping her against her will."
>I narrow my eyes and stare at Victor, "that's what you wanted. Me to start a fight and break shit so you get me under your debt again and get a decent cook again."
>Victor shrugs, "Guilty. New guy's trash as a cook but I owe his old man, decent Baker though. How's Myra?"

>"The same as always." I leaned forward slightly as a light green skinned woman manifested behind me out of thin air.
>wild unkept red hair spilled over my sight as she leaned up against my back and rested her chin atop my head and yawned, "G'morning Victor."
>I quietly focused on breakfast as the dryad and diner owner chattered about stuff.
>I finished up my breakfast and was about to pay when Victor dropped a question,
>"Ya'know... Neither of you ever mentioned how you two met.. or how she chose ya to be a host... Till you two came along didn't even think a living person could host a dryad."
>Myra started, "well... We met during the merge, and well it was a choice of convenience at first to use him rather than a tree."
>I followed up with my take on how we met, "I was surveying the scar north of salt lake during the merge, there was no other living thing to use as a host... That said I did shoot her when we first met."
>"No shit? You shot her? Hellova first date."
>Myra nodded, "to be fair, I was shapeshifted into the form of a bear and was going to consume all his life force to sustain myself."
>"So instead, she bound herself to me to sustain herself, and after we recovered from the shock... Well I had two days of hiking before even finding any suitable plantlife that she could move to... So we talked."
>"Argued is a better description."
>I shrugged and finished off counting out bills.
>Victor sits there quietly for a bit before speaking up again, "huh...weird shit... Why the ears though. You're human."
>I shrugged, and so did the dryad, "No idea, think it's my influence turning him into a more suitable host.”
>Victor shakes his head and rubs his temples again muttering "weird shit." As he returns my change and Myra and I take off to check the local guild hall for work.


>The guild hall is a normal guild hall.
>chaotic and full of people scraping out a living doing off jobs, and some people who just… hang out all the time.
>Myra has vanished back into her ethereal space again, the in between that exists between pure magic and our world with me as it's anchor.
>Always feels weird when she does that.
>I browse the jobs board, papers requesting work here or there
> I'd have done it at the hotel on my laptop but some fuckwad put an artillery round through the trunk line severing the internet for the whole state.
>Seriously, what kind of person does that?
>Myra was quietly judging the jobs as I leafed through them.
>Lost dog? 'nope'
>Counsel some orcs about temperence who burned down half the bar? 'nah, it'd be easier and funnier to rewire them into being allergic to beer'
>Herb picking? 'boooring, they just want basic shit, nothing challenging to find.'
>Investigation mission, some thing's hiding out in that old bunker complex? 'I guess... Where are the goblin missions?'
> I shrugged, rumors sounded like some guy in beat up old ass flak gear and an equally beat to shit am had taken them all earlier in the morning.
>Nothing else seemed interesting.. well except the guy looking for volunteers to develop magitech for a space ship, but he's well known to be a lion.
>"Bunker?"
>'Bunker.'
>I nodded to no one in particular and took the job sheet to the guild desk, due to the internet outage the poor clerk was overworked due to volume and it took almost twenty minutes to register my claim on the job.
>"Now remember Anon, this is an investigation not a kill mission."
> I shrugged as I signed the papers, "Not me that needs to be reminded of that"
>Myra manifested and leaned over my shoulder, "I didn't kill him. He resisted."
> The clerk was unphased, "He had a broken ribcage and fractured jaw... Anon why do you keep her around?"
>"I get minimal choice in the matter.. why didn't you tell us our target was a dragon anyway?"
>The clerk backpedels and moves on to the next guild members without an answer, and I shrugged as I was pushed away from the desk.

>I made my way back to the hotel to pick through my kit for what I'd need.
>it was an investigation into a bunker, so flashlight, knife, camera for documenting things, and a shotgun.
>I was proud of having restored my dad's old auto-5 to where it could function.
>it was one of the few things I'd managed to save when Mammoth and Morro rock on the coast had exploded and spewed forth living fire and magma elementals.
>'Thinking about your dad again?'
>I nodded, and loaded the shotgun up with buckshot and swapped the 28 inch barrel out for the shorter barrel I'd had made for it before slinging it across my back.
>Don't plan to use it... buuut it's better just to be safe.
>it wasn't a long hike from town to the bunker, so I only took a light pack with some snacks and water.
>For a while I hiked in silence, though once we were out of town and into the woods proper Myra chose to manifest fully and walk alongside me.
>She'd chosen to mirror my manner of dress today, old wrangler riggs and a T-shirt, beat up work boots, even down to my deer antler necklace.
>For a while she was quiet... I could tell she was thinking on something, but with her manifested and not using our shared thinkspace, I had no idea what it might be.
>"Ever have regrets?"
>All the time. Why?
>"...do you regret letting me bind to you?"
>I considered the question for a while, vaguely wondering what had brought this on.
>Occasionally.
>"Enough to hate me?"
>No.
>Myra went quiet and we walked in silence until we reached the perimeter fence of the bunker.
>the grounds around the bunker complex had seen better days.
>At the start of the merge when things had gone to shit a dragon had tried to turn it into it's home and start a new hoard.
>the US air force obviously disagreed with that and violence ensued.

>The wreckage of armor lay strewn about, and an impressive sized dragon skeleton, almost the size of a Embraer 175, brittle from exposure was mostly intact with the turret from a tank impaled into its chest.
>After the dragon, scavengers had come. First the people from the town below, panicked and afraid seeking shelter and safety.
>Then the goblins.
>So many goblins.
>Finally the blood plague.
>Now, nature reigns for the most part.
>I made my way through the reminders of the past, snapping photos as I did so.
>"Why up here, things are supposed to be in the bunker."
>Being thorough.
>The bunker complex itself was mostly underground.
>Above ground there was only a guard hut at the fence gate, a squat concrete pyramid not even twenty feet tall with a heavy steel door long torn off during the chaos after the merging, the opening the sole entrance into the complex itself
>and a row of rusted shut silo doors.
>Everything looks untouched since the last time we were here... no one's fired the missiles, so we've got that going for us.
>"You've never really... explained what those would do."
>Remember the scar?
>"That ashy lifeless place I tried to eat you in?"
>Imagine that, but planet wide.
>A bit of an overstatement, but it got the point across.
>Myra got quiet again and I continued my photography, leading the way into the bunker itself.
>The halls were cleaned of dust and dirt, indicating something was coming to and fro and was a neat freak.
>There was even an electric hum and active lighting in the hallway.
>To be fair I'd actually lived in here for a while up until someone from the guild had come to investigate my presence.
>I figured it might be something like that this time as well.
>I continued my photo taking and quietly stepped through the bunker, deeper into the second level where the control rooms and barracks were.
>Aside from the unnatural cleanliness, there were no signs of life.

>I tried to shake off the growing sense of unease, but not seeing anything other than cleaned up hallways and rooms had me on edge.
>Another stairway down, now in the maintenance levels where the electrical generator, and silo access was.
>Once again, no one in the halls, no one in the generator room.
>finally I popped one of the row of access hatches and peered into the silo.
>...nothing... well aside from the side panels of a nuclear missile with some corroded panels, and a distinct smell of machine oil... but nothing really out of the ordinary.
>A few more rounds through the bunker and nothing else really was noticeable.
>"Place is just... unnaturally clean..."
>Well... may as well set up nearby and keep watch over it for a while.

>We get set up in a tree near the fence line.
>Make a bitchin hammock about 80 feet up a pondo pine out of interlaced branches.
>One advantage of playing host to a dryad is that I get some manner of influence over plants.
>Myra curls up beside me and we lay there keeping an eye on things down below.
>With nothing happening I take a moment to rest my eyes.
>I guess I fell asleep because the next thing I really remember is it being night time and Myra shaking me awake.
>"Movement."
>I blink the sleep from my eyes and stare down at the compound.
>At first I think it's just a thin fog manifesting in the open air of the bunker, but then it dawns on me that the mist has shape and is moving.
>Down below the smoky outline of soldiers on a work detail milling about.
>Some are pulling weeds from the gravel, others are sweeping dust and dirt off the concrete paths leading from the bunker access to the guard house and silos.
>"Some kind of shade."
>I nodded in agreement.
>Probably the crew that was on station during the merge and the dragon attack.
>"Anything we can do for them?"
>Let the guild know, and they can handle it I guess... Taking a shot in the dark.. either a priest to exorcise them or someone from the airforce will need to issue them their stand down orders.
>We spent the rest of the night observing the bunker complex.
>Nothing really interesting happened, though it looked like a couple of the soldiers were puzzling over what to do with the dragon skeleton and destroyed armored vehicles.
>At dawn their forms disappeared from sight and, after undoing the hammock Myra and I returned to town.

>My report to the guild was pretty straightforward, the strange happenings up at the bunker complex were probably because of the air Force ghosts.
>Most of my photos were overexposed through a error with the digital camera
>though a couple of them however were fine and had what looked like a double exposure with a few different airmen in them.
>We got paid and I wandered down town to Victor's diner to grab a late breakfast while Myra napped.
>"Anon, how ya doing. Thought those boys from yesterday might've dragged you to church or something. They think yer' a demo host or something."
>I chuckled at that.
>Nah, the guild had me go investigate the missile bunker out in the woods.
>"Anything interesting? Also coffee?"
>Yes, and yes.

>By the time I'd finished retelling my investigation of the bunker to Victor my coffee had grown cold and it  was lunch time.
>I spent the rest of the day on restitching my jacket off in the corner of the diner while listening in on the local rumors.
>Mostly it was just townie rumors, the baker's wife is turning tricks, that kind of thing.
>Ultimately I learned nothing actually interesting and after a while I ended up zoning out and reading a book until closing time at the diner.
>It was a little concerning that Myra hadn't seemed to have woken up yet, but that was a question best left to tomorrow's me.


>the walk back to the hotel was a short one from Victor's diner.
>honestly town was pretty small and with how things had shaken up, as long as the residents kept their shit cleaned up and didn't burn the place down the owner was glad to let people, especially guild members, use the place.
>that said, most of the rooms were vacant.
>not a lot of things to be done in a small town off in the woods.
>On my way in I stopped at the office to talk shit with the night desk guy, one of the beastfolk, a fox by the name of Renaldo.
>Nothing really interesting had happened while I was out the night before
>He did give me a heads up that a Kobald had moved into the room next door and that if he was loud or something to let him know.
>I thanked him and headed for my room to crash out for the night.
>Sleeping while sharing your headspace with a fae creature... is well, unique
>actually I'd probably assume sleeping while sharing headspace with anyone else would be strange
>That's because you're having to deal with your and the linked person's subconcious mind intruding into each others.
>Tonight though... was different.
>I fell asleep, while I wasn't alone it was just me and my own thoughts dreams and subconcious urges.
>It had been years since the merge, I'd gotten used to things and, the sudden shift jarred me awake.
>I sat there in the dark for a long time before fatigue finally dragged me to sleep.
>that said it was a restless sleep, as though a part of myself wasn't fully in sync.
>Vaugely I worried I'd done something to piss off Myra and my dreams were tormented with visions of her making good on a nearly forgotten threat of hers to drain me dry of my life essence.
>Come morning though her fammiliar presence was back, curled up beside me in the bed.
>A strange comfort as I woke up.
>"Anon... are you sure you don't hate me?"
>Coffee first, drama second.

>I crawled out of bed and slammed kona blend Java monster.
>no idea how they still get made, I saw Corona California burn to the ground under a tidal wave of living magma.
>They just sort of... show up at convenience stores.
>Now that I at least had a heightened heart rate, if not actually awake I could maybe process things.
>Ok, what is going on. you've been weirder than usual lately.
>"I just... I've been worried I made a mistake staying bound to you once we reached a viable forest instead of splitting off..."
>How so?
>"I don't know, it's just a thing, in the back of my head.. it's been gnawing away after since we fought that dragon. He said things to me."
>What did he say? I don't remember him really talking much after he realized we were from the guild and there to bring him in.
>Myra stayed quiet for a long time before speaking again.
>"That it's my fault that all sorts of bad things will happen to you... that you'll resent me."
>Why would I resent the person that gave me something to actually live for?
>"I don't understand."
>Living on for your sake for the first week... and then after you decided to stick with me, so that you weren't alone?
>Myra, when the merge happened, I was already in a dark place. I was just going through the motions of day to day 'life'... my dad had just died and I was thousands of miles away from home at the time.
>life seemed pointless, even though I was out there contracting for the forest service, doing work to maybe figure out what had caused the scar to form.
>when I saw you charging out of the ash, I very briefly considered letting you maul me.
>"But... what about in thirty years? A hundred?"
>You're talking crazy you said it yourself you'd eventually leech enough of my spirit away in about twenty years... I'm ok with that.
>".... I think I was wrong...none of my kind have ever used a person as a host before, always a long lived tree, or an interconnected wood like aspens.."
>Sooo.... immortality?

>"I don't know... ever since I bound myself to you, you've been changing. You're not human anymore... but not fae either, and not just you I've changed too..."
>So... no idea then?
>"No... not yet anyway."
>I sat there thinking for a bit before shrugging.
>Too much worrying over the big picture keeps you from focusing on today. We'll tackle tomorrow when it gets here together... sound good?
>Myra looks like she was about to start crying as she nodded quietly.
>It was nice to see her show a more tender side.
>Normally she was rough and tumble, show no fear or emotion kind of...
>It's a damn shame my cell phone started ringing right then.
>I flip open the phone and decide to finally hold it to my ear after a couple moments.
>"Mister Anonson..."
>That's my d....was my dad... what does the guild want today Alice.
>"Hmmm...you're in an interesting mood today. Come down to the guild hall when it suits you, we've a task that suits your skills."
>The guild clerk hangs up the phone before I can protest.
>Fiiiiine... I guess.
>"Guild forcing work on us?" Myra seems to have recovered from her near breakdown.
>And here I thought we'd get a slow enough day to work through some of our mutual problems.
>I yawed and combed my fingers through my hair, despite being told to arrive at my leisure, Alice's tone had said 'get your ass down here and be presentable.'
>Considering I only had one set of clothes that wasn't 50% patches I went with that.
>For the uninitiated, guild halls were a strange place.
>Take your average indor recreation center, and stuff half a gym, half a tavern tavern, half an armory and half a job agency into it, and then populate it with the sorts of people you'd see at all four of those places.
>Yeah I know too many halves, but well that's how crowded your average guild hall is, even out in the boonies where not a lot happens.
>today it was extra crowded.
>it didn't take me too long to figure out what was going on with how tall the center of attention was.
>right next to the clerk's desk and swarmed with people asking questions and being an annoyance was a tall man.
>Well man is wrong, an absolute unit of muscle blood and silver scales, a monster of a kobold, easily mistaken for a half dragon.
>For some reason the hero of Moscva had come to this crappy little town in flyover country in north america.
>I quietly stood around, everyone in the crowded guild hall was chattering, and eventually I made my way to the clerk's desk.
>Sooo... you call me down so I could see an actual hero live?
>Alice shook her head, "He has work for you."
>What?

>"Side confrence room, I'll get him in there in a few minutes.... I'll get Hawkins to make a scene or something."
>I shivered at the thought of what kind of scene that goblin hating madman could make and quickly pushed my way through the crowd.
>I popped into the conference room to find it occupied.
>Oh, sorry.
>"Sit, you're the one the guild chose for this job."
>I took at seat at the table and surveyed the room.
>The occupants were all Kobolds, mostly a hair under five foot tall.
>I'd never actually seen a Kobald up close before, they reminded me of Argonians from the elder scrolls, if someone had grafted jar jar binks styled ears that trained down their neck to about their shoulders.
>There were four of them, two were silver scaled like the one out in the main hall, while the third was red scaled. The fourth, and only four and a half feet tall was a dull gray scale in coloration.
Their clothes were modern, if a little tailored to properly fit them, and the two silver scaled kobolds both wore guild patches on their shoulders.
>The silence as we sat was... a little awkward, and only got more so as the shouting and panic as... whatever Hawkins was doing in the main hall had started to break up the mob of sycophants.
>Sooo... what all brings you to this little town?
>The red scales answered, "Your clerk didn't brief you?"
>I shook my head, and they produced a file, and started listing off things. It didn't take long for me to realize it was my file.
>heir voice was raspy, but had a bell like tone to it marking it as a her.

>"Multiple rescues, procurement of 'lost' equipment, capture of a rogue dragon alive while solo, occasional negotiator, former tracker and scout for the Iron Guard, former biologist for your home country's 'forest service', and host to a dryad since the merge. You aren't overly violent, those that have worked with you say you carefully plan your work and almost always have a backup contingency."
>Alice slips into the room unannounced, "My apologies, but Vosk is having too much fun with Hawkins to attend the meeting."
>The red scales nods, "No matter. Why didn't you tell him what I want him for?"
>I arched an eyebrow and Alice just shrugged.
>"Sorry about the deception Fozra but, he'd probably hide if I called and told him that a living hero wanted him to teach his son how to be a guilded adventurer."
>What?
>the red scales accepts that without fuss and returns her attention to me.
>"I'll be blunt, Vosk is almost a god to our firstborn. A good example of what to strive for, but he's incapable of teaching."
>I finally get over my shock and start to actually ask questions.
>So.. your son?
>"Vozra is of age, but not fully grown yet." she points to the shorter Kobold, "He is timid though. The shadow of his father stretches long. It is why were chose this town. It has been long quiet, nothing overly interesting happens here, and you are the highest ranked guild member here."
>I blinked at looked to Alice, When did that happen?
>"You never listen or read the papers you get from us." She turns her attention back to the red scales, Fozra, "I told you to pick someone else. Hawkins, or even Orbeck... Orbec would love a protege. You said your son had aptitude for magic."
>Fozra shakes her head, "Hawkins is too like Vosk, and Orbec would just turn him into a mage. I'd like my son to know more than just magic."
>So that leaves me as the only option then since Victor retired to run the diner full time.
>Fozra nods appreciatively as Alice just fumes

> "A guilded adventurer who seeks neither fame nor glory or insane odds, and yet stumbles into it from time to time while being sharp enough to keep ahead of the worst outcomes, that is the kind of man I'd like my son to become, you are the best example that could be found out here."
>That certainly seems to be my lot...I need to talk this over with Myra first.
>"Naturally.. We can discuss payment for your services after you've come to a decision."
>To the outside world it seems like I'd zoned out fully with my eyes glazed over as I retreated into thought space Myra and I shared.
>So....?
>'I dunno, something about this seems odd.'
>It.. well it seems odd they'd choose me. There's tons of better people to choose, than me. Victor would be much more suited to training the next generation of adventurers than me... I agree on Orbec though and Hawkins just needs to stay away from kids. We don't need more people growing up angry about goblins... I heard about an Oni living the next town over who's been running an adventurer's school.
>'Yeah but the kid of a living hero would get special treatment there.'
>Makes sense I guess... so does the whole coming to another country... I mean here it's only guildies that really know about moscva... no one would be vying for political power by being the one who taught a hero's kid how to adventure, especially out here in a quiet town.
>'.... agree for a couple weeks first... you're not sure about how well you can teach someone, and if either his mother or father aren't happy with the way you train him they can find someone better suited.'
>I nodded and refocused on the rest of the world, the entire conversation having only taken a few moments real time.
>One of those nicer perks of a shared thinkspace.

>Fozra smiled as she noticed my eyes focus up, "Oh, it seems they've come to a decision."
>Alice, and even the two silver kobolds seem caught off guard by this.
>Alice because of the 'they' comment, still forgetting that Myra and I are separate entities
>and the two Kobalds just apparently hadn't been perceptive enough to notice I was 'back'.
>So.. I'll agree, on the condition that we start off with just two weeks of training. That way we can be sure I'm up to the task, and that you and Vosk approve of my teaching methods before any long lasting bad habits get taught.
>"That is... acceptable. How does a bar of platinum per month of teaching sound."
>I just stared, Alice sputtered something about that being far out of line for what had been originally discussed for compensation, even the two Kobolds at flanking ends of the table seemed a little aghast at how much Fozra had just offered to pay for my services, and Myra just cackled in the back of my head at everyone's reactions because despite having a good grasp at small finances, she didn't really have a grasp of just how much money that was.
>Honestly, neither did I.


>I was more than a little in shock over the numbers Fozra had offered for me to teach her son
>thankfully Alice stepped in and took over the negotiations and I just had to sit there and occasionally answer questions while she handled figuring out what my time was worth while I figured out how to properly train a person.
>The day wore on and eventually, Alice was able to negotiate Fozra down to a more reasonable rate.
>Considering how late in the day it had become, Fozra agreed to my terms of starting the training the next day and that Vozra would meet me at the guild hall the next day.
>The next morning, I had my pack ready, and met up with the young Kobold.
>So... they said you were of age, but I don't know what that necessarily means.
>Vozra gives me a look like he's trying to do complex math in his head before shrugging.
>Ok then. Today's lesson is pretty simple. Patience. Not every day of an adventurer's life is full of action and chaos.
>I led him over to the jobs board and leafed through things, and found... unsurprisingly absolutely nothing interesting or worth doing.
>Since there's nothing guild sanctioned for us to do today, we're going to hang out. Got a book?
>The Kobold shook his head. Thankfully I had prepared for this and dug through a side pocket on my day pack and held out a book.
>It was old. Pre-merge and well worn with a mostly faded cover with only parts of words still legible were the letters "y uts f A ric".
>You can read english right?
>He nods.
>Read through this, tell me anything listed off in here you already know how to do.
>The kid takes to the book like I'd just handed him a candy bar and spends the rest of the day busy reading through it.
>A similar scene repeats itself over the course of the week, with each day being a bit of a different lesson.
>Patience, listening, basic first aid, plant identification, some basic wilderness survival.

>I wasn't sure if it was just using my old scout manual as a basis for the lessons, or just that Vozra had a good base to begin with.
>the kid took to all the information like a frog to water so I was at least confident he wouldn't wander into poison oak the first five minutes off trail.
>After the third day Myra decided to help out with plant id by actually manifesting examples of each plant for him to study.
>while I felt it was his father's duty to teach him marksmanship I was, after some creative borrowing and trading, able to secure a beat to shit 10/22 and a stock of .22 and after going over basic firearms safety drills, Vozra got some range time out behind the guild hall.
>At the middle of the week we'd moved over to Victor's diner and it was finally the end of the week when we got a lead for something to do.
>It was simple really. One of the regulars was complaining, rather loudly to Victor about a pack rat that had gotten into his cellar and tore up his vegetables.
>I had Vozra offer to deal with the issue since Alice had finally issued the kid provisional guild credentials that morning and I followed along to supervise.
>A lot of the work had already been done for us as the guy had already figured out where the pack rat den was, all there was for us to do was sit on a rock with a .22 and wait.
>and wait we did.
>A total of four hours through the heat of the day.
>Well to be fair it was early spring/late winter so it only got about 50 degrees.

>Finally though we saw the pack rat start scurrying from it's nest towards the house.
>Vozra took the shot at my urging and missed his first, but caught it on the followup.
>gutshot.
>I congratulated and handed him a knife, only to get a questioning look.
>Gotta confirm the kill and take proof back to the contractor.
>he nods grimly and I shadow him as he approaches the rat.
>Myra laid there on the rock having fallen asleep with a book on her face.
>The rat's struggling, and curled up in a fetal position, squeaking.
>Vozra looks like he's going to be sick, but he quickly stabs it through the heart and takes the rat's ear.
>I bury it and check the nest.
>no other squeaking, no other rats.
>nothing should bother the guys vegetables for the time being.
>Wake Myra up since we're done here.
>Offer a suggestion to the guy to fix his cellar door up to prevent stuff from getting in there, and Vozra gets paid.
>It's not a lot, but it's all his.
>He looks ecstatic at having earned enough silver chits to buy a couple meals.
>".... what should I use it on?"
>I shrug.
>It's your money boy, don't look at me. Personally I would see to my own needs first.
>Myra rattles off my usual list before I get the chance, "Shelter, water, food, clothing, entertainment."
>Yeah, that.
>He hmmms at that and considers things for a bit.
>"A day pack might be good, something to carry my own supplies with... right?"
>If that's you're prerogative.
>We make our way back to the guild hall to report in on the successful contract
>Myra convinces Alice to let the kid have a requisition chit.
>I figure the next lesson will be how to make a basic field kit.
>that can wait till tomorrow since word got around the hall that Vozra made and completed his first contract and a celebration party literally erupted out of nowhere.


>The party rolled on into two days, even after Vozra had gone off to sleep.
>Honestly I think people were just looking for an excuse to party after the spring festival got interrupted by a freak snow storm.
>Over the course of the next two weeks Vozra picked up the parts of a decent work kit and I helped him refine it, mostly be dropping hints and suggestions.
>Honestly the kid's sharp, so after I explained how most everything in his kit is better off if it serves at least two purposes he was able to shave it down to the essentials and a few extraneous bits.
>it mirrored mine fairly well.
>light tarp that could serve as a ground cover, poncho or shelter.
>ferrocerium rod and a waterproofed pack of tinder
>sheath knife and a decent multitool.
>basic first aid kit, and about 200 feet of 440 cord.
>Where the kits diverged though, mine had two 40 oz cans of water compared to the one Vozra carried.
>Something about kobolds needing less water than most humanoids.
>I also had a 1903 where Vozra had a cut down 10/22
>Mine also had a compass and my maps of the area and region.
>I'd encouraged Vozra to start making his own map but he hadn't seen the wisdom in that yet.
>My pack also had a 'foldspace sleeping bag'... literally the only good thing that had come out of Orbec's magitech experiments so far.
>Basically it's a bag of holding with just enough room to contain a full size sleeping bag, a ward powered box fan, a ground pad, and a frame to hang the sleeping bag on
>Keeps the bag at a nice ambient temperature and ready to deploy for the night.
>it was a tad bit expensive, but honest to the /k/ube it was worth it.
>Other than that, our routine of hanging out in the guild hall or Victor's was pretty well established
>Those were the information hotspots in town
>unfortunately, as with most little towns, even with a guild hall... not a lot of stuff actually happens.


>I had taken to leafing through the cold jobs, ones that had either never been completed, or someone had accepted and then vanished.
>Most of them were stuff that had either been forgotten, or resolved themselves before anyone in the guild could actually get involved.
>Honestly I was surprised no one had taken the job when I found it.
>It was old. About ten years or so
>It was an old one, a long forgotten and abandoned search mission.
>No one had actually picked it up, and the house that the person that had issued it had burned down soon after.
>The reward also wasn't that great either, but after a certain amount of time has passed, guild halls usually pay a flat rate to close out a mission contract, which was more than the original reward had been.
>After contemplating things, I decided to accept it, and led Vozra through the steps of snooping.
>We started at the address that had came with the mission.
>True to the clerical notes on the paperwork, the house had burned down and no one had rebuilt.
>Luckily the neighbor's house was brick, and the resident was a kindly old lady who didn't give a damn what her visitors were so long as they were polite.
>It took about four hours of circular talking, stories that went nowhere, and offers of tea, coffeecake and strawberry rhubarb bars before we got the information we were seeking.
>The man that had lived there survived the fire, but chose to move south to a larger city.
>Another thirty minutes of talking got us that his wife had gone missing the week before.
>which probably narrowed down who or what the mission had been about.
>From here on out I let Vozra take the lead on what to do.
>Vozra mulled on the information for the rest of the day, it was while we were at Victors that he decided to discuss things.
>So, we have a name, a direction, and a rough time period.
>"And victor didn't have anything else to add either."
>So that leaves us with.....?
>"We go south to silverton to see what we can find there.... or dig around in the lot where the house was in case someone killed her and buried her in the garden, burned the place down and skipped town."
>That's part of the plot to Rear Window.
>"It's still a possibility."
>I guess we could try and ask Orbec to divine out any skeletons there... So when do we leave?
>"What?"
>I gave you operational command on this one. You're taking the full lead. When do we leave?
>"Umm...ah... check with me tomorrow."
>Good call.
>The next morning I found an exhausted looking Vozra at our usual table in the guild hall.
>Turns out he'd spent the whole night trying to find a group travelling south to Silverton.
>Like I said, he was exhausted, but he had a sucessfull looking smile on his face.
>"Orbec is going to Silverton for some sort of business and said we could accompany him."
>Of all the people, Orbec.
>Myra yawned and piped up in our thinkspace,
>'Wait can't he teleport?... must've taken pity on Vozra... Well can't look a gift horse in the mouth.'
>Yeah... but... ok... still he tried to dissect us.
>'You shot me.'
>You tried to eat me first.
>I could feel her sticking her tongue out at me and I just rolled my eyes.
>Vozra just watched my expressions, "So... who's winning the argument?"
>It's a draw. So tomorrow? Grab some sleep I'll worry about supplies. If things work out I'll be able to get the parts for my truck too and then we won't be stuck with the zapatamobile for work like this.
>".za..pata...mobile?"
>Zapata, it's spanish for shoe.
>It takes him a bit in his sleepy state but he finally gets the joke.

>While Vozra slept I chased down anyone that had things that needed to be sent down to silverton, a list of things to bring back, and enough supplies to make the trip (four days worth), a cart and one of Victor's trained Elk to pull it.
>We also had a couple of people who felt more comfortable making the trip in a group.
>Vozra was a little shocked at what I'd pulled together. That rolled into my lesson on listening.
>while he had been purely focused on anything that could be turned into an adventuring job and ignored anything that was more mundane
>I'd kept a list of small stuff that people needed or wanted, or had vaguely mentioned in my earshot.
>This allowed me to know, generally who needed things taken to or brought from silverton, and most importantly, who was too lazy to make the trip.
>Unfortunately no one had been desperate enough for some supplies to loan out a van or truck, so we had to make due with the cart.
>Incidentally, Alice had handed me several boxes of paperwork to take down to the guild hall in silverton.
>While we waited for Orbec Vozra got his mind in gear and started questioning things where I'd gotten the cart from, could he pet the elk, things mostly like that.
>"So... why can't we use a truck or something for all this stuff?"
>Gas shortage mostly.
>"There's a shortage?"
>Once again I was reminded that Vozra had led a fairly sheltered life.
>Yeah, so long story short some jackwagons decided to get into a magical duel at the cracking plant in salt lake city, and so regionally there's a shortage of gasoline.
>My truck's diesel, but with the fuel pump broke we can't use it, and most everyone else in town uses gasoline, so we'd have only got a car if it was an emergency.
>"Oh... so... do you know who blew up the plant?"
>I shake my head and Orbec finally shows up.
>Get enough sleep?
>Orbec flipped me the bird and took a seat on the back of the cart.
>Great the elf "lord" of Logton is in a mood.

>Honestly he looked like he had a hangover.
>I just rolled my eyes as he pulled his hood down over his face and curled up in the cart.
>Myra just shrugged and started leading the elk while our two tagalongs flanked the cart.
>Vozra and I were in advance of the cart to keep an eye out for anything wonky.
>While it was unlikely this close to town, much less on a relatively well traveled road it was a sensible precaution.
>And other than having to dodge the occasional log truck either headed up to Logton, or down to silverton nothing much happened either day.
>It was midafternoon when Orbec finally sobered up enough to walk and I had Vozra tag along with him.
>Orbec was a high elf, I say was because he'd actually been exiled from high elf society just a bit before the merge, so he was sort of in a state of limbo.
>That said, he was more or less your run of the mill high elf. Stupidly powerful in the arcane, a bit of a superiority complex, knife eared dude with mildly olive skin and a likelihood to laugh like a goose.. well when something made him laugh.
>Unlike most elves high elves his hair was dirt colored and he had no qualms about working with people of other races, with was either a necessity, or had been part of why he'd been exiled in the first place.
>And he was kitted out for travelling another oddity from what I'd heard.
>his gear was noticeably more expensive than everyone else's.
>Name brands that had either survived the merge, or had been established after the merge.
>it was all functional and well broken in, but still a little show offy.
>Weirdly enough he'd shown a bit of a heart lately and was helping Vozra learn magic.
>I can't really complain, anything that isn't plant based magic I don't comprehend, and even that's more an instinctive thing than anything else so it's not easy to teach.
>It took us two days to reach silverton.
>Victor's a god damn saint because it would have taken us longer without the cart and the elk.

>Vozra and the tagalongs helped Myra unload the cart and stable the elk while Orbec and I checked in with the guild.
>For a saturday, in a big town the hall was practically deserted.
>there were only a couple of people passed out in the corners and an agitated clerk sitting at a main counter.
>Orbec said it first though.
>"Something's up. Place should be full."
>Yeah... where the hell is everyone?