Dryad Anon's Adventures

>"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?


manage to not argue about who should ask the questions this time as we finish filing paperwork for our stay in town with the clerk, he for once allows my higher rank to take precedence.
>So, what's with the distinct lack of people here?
>The Clerk, a pixie with cherry red hair matching her wings, eyes, lipstick and nail color, is clearly annoyed at this line of questioning, at least until she glances at the paperwork I'd handed her.
>"Look I'm tired of answering that question, everyone in town should know by n...oh you're from up at logton that explains it."
>And "it" is?
>"Iron guard is rolling through, buncha people are watching them parade down main, one of their officers showed up in in advance last night offering high paying work contacts, some kind of training exercise. Most everyone bronze or above took the work."
>The snaps her gum as she looks over our paperwork, "Two silvers, one Iron, two bronzes and one probie, cart and elk in the stables, plenty of rooms upstairs, I'll have one of our probies look after the elk while you're in town. We have meal service at 0700 1200 and 1700 other than that there's a couple decent places to eat downtown."
>She continues, and I'm pretty sure she didn't take a breath, "So you boys here for work, or this a social call or some kind?"
>Work for my crew, Orbec is down here for... well I don't know why.
>"Personal reasons."
>Before I got a chance to pry Orbec took one of the room keys and made his way upstairs. I shrugged and asked the pixie if she had an idea of where I might find information on anyone that moved into town about ten years prior.
>After thinking a bit she suggested I check with the local council offices since they did a census ever couple years.
>Myra and Vozra joined me inside the hall and I explained the current goings on, and we decided to go wander to the main drag and see the Iron Guard as they rolled through town first since it was late enough in the day that the local council offices would be closed.
>As we walked I made sure to subtly point out cutpurses, and local ruffians for Vozra's benefit.
>While it was unlikely they'd pull anything on anyone with guild patches on their shoulder, I kept a wary eye on them.
>We heard the Iron Guard long before we saw them.
>The sound of heavy equipment, and marching boots was clearly in the air a few blocks from the main drag and as we approached, we could even make out the tune to a marching cadence.
Bullet in the breech and a fire in me, like a cigarette thrown to gasoline,
>As we got nearer, I caught myself humming along, and almost falling into the cadence of the march myself.
if death don't bring you fear I swear you'll fear these marching feet.
>Vozra's repeated question snapped me back to reality, as we took up position behind the main crowd on a pile of crates to watch the procession of armored vehicles and gray clad soldiers march on by.
Come to the nightmare, come to me, deep down in the dark where the devil be,
>"So these guys... who are they?"
in the maw with the jaws and the razor teeth, where the brimstone burns and the angel weeps.
>The iron guard... long story short they were originally national guard and US army remnants that reorganized after the merge. They don't answer to the US government remnants though. Just their code of honor to protect the citizenry that just so happens to live in the geographic confines of what was once the united states.
Call to the gods if I cross your path and my silhouette hangs like a body bag;
>Myra pipes up, "Looks like they've integrated non humans into their ranks since Atlanta."
hope is a moment now long past, the shadow of death is the one I cast.

>I nodded, and tuned the cadence out a bit better as the soldiers started into one of the refrains.
>Some of the units marching past were a mix of humans and orcs, with some of the self propelled artillery being crewed almost exclusively by dwarves.
>The orcs looked professional, honestly a little more professional that most of the huamns marching along.
>considering the fighting that had happened in Atlanta, they had the most to prove, and lose if they couldn't prove their worth.
>I arched an eyebrow as a set of heavily runic enhanced 130mm M36-M2 'Earthshaker' artillery pieces rolled along on extensively hardened tracked crawlers.
>even from where we were sitting on the crates nearly a half block away we could feel the sizzle of the magical wards on the weaponry.
>The Iron Guard doesn't drag out gear like that for training exercises. Something didn't exactly add up.

>the question of just what the Iron Guard was doing moving heavy ordinance east hung in our minds as we returned to the guild hall.
>Frankly it wasn't exactly a question we were sure we wanted answered.
> For now our focus was on getting situated, and continuing Vozra's investigation.
>That said, the plan Vozra had put together was pretty straightforward.
>and we got right to that by going to bed because the local council office was closed until the next morning.
>Honestly it was the first time in a while Myra and I had the opportunity to share a bed and not have thin walls and a shitty mattress
>and so we slept like the dead.
>Breakfast was a tidy affair, pancakes and sausage with dubious smelling fruit salad from the guild hall
>And we immediately set out for the council office.
>The clerk there honestly surprised that anyone had come down to their office and gawked for a good few seconds before remembering his manners.
>"Ah...um... may I help you?"
>I gave Vozra a subtle shove, once again letting him take lead,
>"Yes... we're with the guild and are looking for a person, to complete a cold job."
>he offered up his guild credentials while I took a seat and Myra examined the potted plants the clerk had for company.
>"These seem to be in order, who might you be looking for?"
>The young kobold nervously glanced to me before listing off the details we had gathered so far, "We're looking for a gentleman by the name of Tom Joad, moved here about ten years ago after his wife went missing and his house burned down."
>The clerk nodded an began digging through the filing cabinets of the approximate time period, and after about ten minutes had an address card written down.

>We thanked him and as we left I slipped him a couple silvers for his time.
>Vozra immediately compared the map of town to the address he'd been given and started off in that direction while Myra and I followed along.
>Our destination ended up in a fairly nice neighborhood, and the house we'd wound up at had an elderly man and a.. respectably younger looking woman assisting him.
>The young woman one looked up and noticed us, "May I help you?" her face and body were rather youthful... but her eyes were sharp and full of the wisdom of a crone equally matched in age to the old man beside her.
> Vozra had less lag time before he spoke up this time, "Yes, we're with the guild, following up on an old request for help regarding the disappearance of Tom Joad's wife."
>The old man looked up from his planter, "Did the snake boy just ask for me?"
>The woman somberly nodded, and bit her lip, "Nothing to worry about Tom, just some folks from the guild for a thing I needed."
>"I had a thing once... the guild was supposed to find it for me...no...it..." He sighed and his train of thought derailed.
>"It's nothing to worry about Tom.... if you folks could wait around a while I can speak a bit more candidly... there's... something of a story behind this."
>Vozra seemed about to interject and demand to talk with the old man immediately, but I stepped in first.
>If that's alright with you ma'am we can come back later.
>She nodded and the two of them returned to their gardening.
>Once we were out of earshot Vozra confronted me about my jumping in, "He was right there... as we had to do was ask."
>You saw the old man only, the girl... something about her gives me the shivers, she's older than she looks, and you heard what she said there's a story there.
>He fumed a bit, and I considered that... maybe I should have let him make that mistake as we sat around at a coffee shop for a couple hours before starting on back to the house.

>during the walk I'd had a chat with Vozra about ettiquete,
>The old man seemed to have various issues, hearing, sight and possibly memory
>and the woman, based off her looks she seemed to be around 20 tops
>But the eyes betrayed an older age, and very sharp mind and she seemed to have an idea of why we were there
>rather than alienate a source of information it would be better to follow the terms she had dictated
>Myra was being oddly quiet
>which were come around later.
>And so a bit after noon we returned. The girl was waiting for us on the porch, Tom was inside asleep in front of the TV in an easy chair
>Vozra, once again introduced us as being guild members, and she nodded him through the explanation as we all took at seat on the patio furniture.
>"So to put it bluntly, I am his wife...Anna Joad.. well.. was anyway.."
>I arched an eyebrow, but Vozra just stared in confusion, "I'm sorry... what?"
>She sighed, "It's... a sad story really... you know Mrs. Dinkleberg, right? The old woman who lived next door to Tom."
>Vozra nodded, "Yes, she's the one who gave us the idea to come down this way."
>"She's a witch... I don't mean that figuratively either. She literally is a witch, and she coveted Tom, why, I don't know... but to try and gain him she... cast some form of curse... or spell or something on Tom to make him forget me."
>I nodded taking notes, Vozra was a little too adsorbed in the story to keep them himself.

>"It... well she must've done something wrong, because he.. well her forgot some things about me, but he remembered enough to go to the guild and put out a missing mission for me...I was right there with him when he did it too.. after a week I'd been able to undo most of the curse she'd put on him."
>"I'd never been any real good at casting magic... but I can dispell and counterspell... and well... Missy Dinkleberg must've sense her curse coming to tatters, and she blasted into the house, howling mad intending to get rid of me completely.. I honestly... don't remember all of what happened but when I came to, the house was almost done burning down, I'd lost some 50 years and was basically a kid again..."
>She puts a finger to her lips and bites on it before resuming.
>"Tom... didn't remember me anymore... he had a vauge idea we were related...but nothing else...and Missy... well I found her half buried in the lawn giggling mad and incoherent... I think I counterspelled something and it all went wonky and got all three of us with wild magics... it's the only thing I can think of really."
>And you two moved down here to get away from it all and you've been taking care of him ever since.. that about sum things up?
>She nodded sadly, "Theres... moments where he just about remembers, and even the specialist mages don't know what actually happened.. so all I can do is take care of him and ease him through his golden years and then follow along while he waits on the other side..."
>Vozra was just about crying now, Myra actually was quietly crying at the tale, and I hadn't seen anything that disproved or proved anything one way or another.

>Well.. that's not entirely true, I'd always heard rumors since I'd gotten to Logton that senile old lady dinkleberg was a witch, this pretty much was probably the most solid proof.
>we had some lemonade and biscuits, continued to chat for a while with miss...mrs? Joad who definitely seemed to enjoy the company, and finally bid her adieu around sunset.
>Once back at the guild hall I walked Vozra through filling out the paperwork on a cold job final report and handed him my notes.
>Dinner, was somber, and quiet.
>That night as I was falling asleep I found Myra hugging me tightly from behind, and could feel her crying into my neck.
>What's wrong?
>"Today's job... it was...sadder than than I expected...they're right there...so close.."
>I know.
>I rolled over to face Myra and pulled her close.
>It didn't take long for her to fall asleep which left me alone with my thoughts again.
>The whole situation with Tom and his wife reminded me of the last few years my dad and mom had gone through.
>No magic, but more sickness, a failing body and mind... There'd been a couple times he'd just about begged me to shoot him, put him out of his misery.
>I held Myra close and buried my face in her hair to hold back tears and try and chase off the dark thoughts, memories and regrets with sleep.

>The next morning I woke up feeling like I'd been roughed up
>Or just had a shitty night of sleep
>hard to say, probably just my mind dwelling on shit kept me from properly sleeping.
>That said Myra had left me to sleep in and it was closer to noon when I woke up
>She was not by my side
>The manner of my nightmares threw me into a panic as I realized this and sat up on the edge of the bed to see her back to me.
>Myra was sitting at the desk in the room working on some home industry.
>One of those interesting things about nature magic was that she could refine, pretty much out of thin air, the complex chemical structures of smokeless powder and a few trace elements to make shot and bullets.
>Well the shot and bullets were just stupidly dense carbon with a nitrogen shell to keep it from combusting.
>I was also, albeit slowly, picking up on this skill and could at least make gunpowder, so that kept costs down.
>The fact I could keep up with Myra any time she talked "shop" over what she'd learned leafing through my old organic chem books without my brain overheating meant I hadn't wasted a couple years in college.
>Morning.
>"It's almost noon love."
>I nodded and wished I hadn't as my vision swam and I nearly fell off the bed.
>Was I sleep drinking again?
>"You seemed awake."
>Myra tossed me a bottle of gatorade, and I chugged it, a second one, then a 40 of water.
>So what abomination of psuedomagic have you come up with today?
>"Synthetic dragon's breath."
>....Hold up..you don't like to use the word Synthetic lightly... do tell.
>I could tell Myra was smiling as she listed off what she'd done, involving some kind of chain polymer and waxy lipids to create a double capsule inside a shotshell that would when fired, break and mix,
>This in turn would allow her to use some other weird mix of trace compounds from tap water and air to form a binary compound that was a rough approximation to what a dragon's biological fire breath was like.

>Won't that break immediately on firing though?
>"Probably."
>And you're sure we're not going to slag the shotgun barrel with this one?
>"........."
>Myra, that's my dad's auto-5, I'm not risking damage to it like last time.
>"err...some testing is in order?"
>I don't think the local range would appreciate the fire hazard, or us destroying a rental... even if it is a mossberg clone.
>After thinking about it Myra nodded, "back to the drawing board."
>Myra continued her work, humming away while I eyed the mostly empty bottle of tequila sitting on the floor through my fingers.
>The vague memories of my dreams were tempting me to finish it off but I groaned and instead finished off the rest of the water.
>How's a range day sound?
>"Hmmm?"
>Well, it's not like we have anywhere to be till Orbec finishes his business and the other guys are ready to go back up to logton.
>"Can we test out that paste primer I made for .22?"
>Ask Vozra, I left the .22 up in logton.
>"So shotgun and.... I actually wasn't paying attention what rifle did you bring?"
>The sks and the ar.
>Myra contemplated the question for a bit before nodding again and getting some more clothing on than just a T-shirt.
>Thankfully she didn't fuss over what my dreams had been about and I was eventually able to bury them.
>We found Vozra down in the common area learning how to play darts from a couple of the silverton guildies and after a few more rounds asked if he wanted to join us for a range day.
>"What's so special about a range day and just finding a spot off the road to shoot at cans?"
>Hmmmmm....well it's a bit more regimented,
>"Also there's a rental counter and buffet."
>I'm pretty sure the only range that actually has a buffet was that one in vegas, and you got sick from the crab legs.
>"...yeah. I'm pretty sure those were deep fried scorpion legs anyway."
>Vozra tilted his head in confusion, "I think I might tag along just to see what the hell you're talking about now."
>That's the spirit.

>Thirty minutes later we're at what constitutes as the "range" in Silverton.
>Place is packed, there's an hours wait to just get checked in.
>20 minute queues for a lane.
>A literal eagle headed chimera on duty as the range officer who'd squawk and run over and angrily point at the rules hanging off the rafters above the firing lanes any time someone even set a hair out of line.
>Not to mention a literal gaggle of goblins running around scavenging brass from any lane currently being used.
>And someone had literally set up a buffet of snacks, waters, and some suspicious looking deviled eggs on a row of tables along the back wall.
>The majority of this could be mostly blamed squarely on the Iron Guard.
>as their passage through town, which was still ongoing, had drug out all the camp followers and wannabees who were knocking the rust off their skills in the hope an officer might wander by and be so blinded by their shooting ability as to imminently offer them a general's salary and cushy office job.
>needless to say it was a semi organized shitshow and the three of us ended up just doing a lot of people watching instead of any target shooting.
>The old fudds fudded, scowled at the younger shooters, a gang of pixies rolled through and got into an argument with the brass thieving goblins when the goblins realized the pixies were using steel cased ammo.
>And then a wizard showed up and started rapid firing muskets chasing a good portion of the people away with a literal mad minute of flintlocks.
>Dude had to have either a dimensional pocket full of the things, or some kind of hidden familiar that was reloading, because I counted a good forty shots.
>Myra and I more or less ignored the smoke, and Vozra was more or less at home in the sulfurous clouds, so it didn't take long for us to actually have the range to ourselves for a time.
>Just as sudden as his arrival had been, the wizard vanished.

>Ok, so, recite the four rules, we've probably got ten minutes before the crowd comes back.
>Vozra blinked some of the smoke from his eyes before starting into it, "All guns are always loaded. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. Identify your target, and what is behind it."
>Good.
>behind him I could see the RO nodding appreciatively.
>I quizzed him on a few other forms of gun safety while we set up on an open lane and got about fifteen minutes of target time in before people started filing back into the range and we moved back to near the snack table out out of the way to people watch for a few more hours before dipping out as the black powder wizard from before took up position at the lane again.
>Over all it was a pretty decent day, if a bit crowded.





UPDATE: 4/23/19



>The next week or so consisted of lazing about town, looking for extra work while waiting for everyone who'd come down to finish up their business while a late spring cold snap enveloped the town.
>Also sleeping in tangled up in the sheets with Myra until mid morning every day.
>that was definitely nice.
>It was Thursday.. or maybe Wednesday when, once I made my way down to the continental breakfast. I found Vozra and Orbec chowing down on a late brunch.
>As was a third figure that took me a bit to recognize, as it was just a skeleton with a guild patch taped to its forehead.
>.....something eventualy clicked as I heard him say something about "milk being important for growth of the young and the strength of the old".
>waiiiitaminute...
>YOU!
>I lunged over the table at the skeleton as it fell backwards screaming "MEEEEE?!"
>The first weapon I'd found to grab was a paring knife and I had almost nicked the skeleton's ribs with it.
>Vozra was in shock, Orbec, nonchalantly continued eating his brunch and ignored my and the skeletons shenanigans as I chased it through the dining area.
>"I JUST CAME HERE TO DELIVER THE MILK-"
>YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!
>Somehow the skeleton managed to get a little bit paler.
>"AND A MESSAGE! MILK AND A MESSAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
>The skeleton continued it's flight finally heading for the door after I'd tripped over a chair and headbutted it in the back.
>"The IG STIRRED UP A DRAGON AND ARE IN RETREAT, DRINK YOUR MILK, BUH-BYE!"
>And it was out the door.
>I heard an engine starting up and I rushed out into the street to huck the paring knife into the back of a beat to shit ice cream truck, sticking it into the back door as it drove off right down the road.
>After a few moments I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to face the pixie clerk of the guild hall.
>"...you're going to have to pay for that knife."
>Worth it.

>I returned to the table and Vozra finally found his voice, "What was that about?"
>Orbec shook his head, "Not something you need to get involved in."
>"but.."
>Old grudge. Nothing to worry about. I'm pretty sure I can't kill him anyway.
>Myra burst into the dining area wearing nothing but one of my t-shirts and carrying my shotgun.
>She seems a little let down that she missed whatever fight I'd been in, and after grabbing a couple bagels slinks back to our room after noticing Vozra's somewhat naive stare at her skimpy attire.
>"Sooo...the IG was targeting a feral dragon?"
>Maybe. Too many green recruits in that detachment for that if it was. Some scout probably got too close and alerted it before they'd finished digging in.
>"Think they'll call for us to help clean up the mess."
>Do you think they won't?
Orbec groans and rubs his forehead, "at least my sister's in town and I can beg her for the help."
>Hold the phone... you have a sister?
>".....if it was anyone else I'd mindwipe you for knowing this... yes. I have a sister.... she's literally the only family member who will give me the time of day.... and a feral dragon might be enticing enough to get her help.. rare reagents and all."
>I quietly mused on the new information and got flicked in the forehead by Orbec.
>"Stop imagining me in a dress."
>I'll take that mindwipe spell now, I didn't have that image in my head but now it is.

>It didn't take long for some of the members of the iron guard that had been a bit quicker to retreat to start showing up at the edge of town
>by nightfall, we had a clearer picture of what had happened, had organized the least wounded IG troopers and what remained of their command structure, and had dug in outside of town and prepared a pretty decent kill zone.
>Which I was currently standing in the middle of.
>Alone.
>The plan, was pretty straightforward. Orbec and his sister, Eliina, had loaded me with enough buff spells to the point where I could feel the magic crackling along my bones
>I would be the bait for a feral black scale dragon about the size of a Boeing 757 to lure it in to a designated spot.
>Myra and I would then work our nature magic to entagle it in plant life, and the two elves would hopefully kill the dragon with magic.
>Failing that we had about 200 guardsmen with rifles, two artillery guns, a mauled abrams, and a mortar crew.
>We'd had to guilt them all into manning the line though, in my own words, "they'd for all intents and purposes kicked a hornet's nest, and led the hornets straight back to a preschool."
>I quietly recounted the spells Orbec and his sister had cast on me in the darkening light.
>It had taken a couple year of trial and error that usually put someone in the hospital to figure out the best order for these.
>Greater reinforcement
>Dragon's strength
>Greater Haste
>Greater Dragon's Skin
>Elemental resistance
>Poison immunity
>Acid Immunity
>Detect Life
>Protection against Fear
>Greater intuition
>Greater Dodging
>Tongues: Draconic
>We had considered adding in ability boost, but, the last time we'd mixed that in with 11 other combat buffs, the spell had backfired spectacularly and Orbec had wound up with a concussion.
>aside from that I'd been forced to wear a more complete kit than usual by Myra.
>She seemed... overly nervous about this kind of plan than usual.

>My kit was pretty straightforward, light boots, a pair of wrangler riggs, a t-shirt and stab resistant vest, all topped by a guild duster.
>And a pair of 12-16 shotguns borrowed from the guild armory.
>All of it, except the duster was lightly enchanted. Minor impact diffusion, topped off with acid resistance.
>The guild duster was a different story
>Dusky gray leather with a silvered patch on my shoulder indicating my rank in the guild.
>It was warded for heavy impacts, spell slinging, and was resistant to all elements.
>Honestly I hate the damn thing. it's itchy and doesn't breath well.
>The wind had died down by now as I waved on the last couple of straggling guardsmen that had been playing speedbump for the retreat.
>A squad of orcs.
>They snapped a salute as they ran past, booking it for the lines, one of them shouted "Good luck mate."
>Off in the growing darkness I could make out the violet blur in my vision of the life force of the dragon, slowly stalking towards us all.
>It had stopped, just where the edge of the plain leading into town broke off into a rats nest of box canyons and plateaus.
>Almost like it sensed the trap.
>I sighed quietly
>Maximum effort.
>OI YA LAZY SCALED BASTARD! WHATCHA DOIN? SCAAAAAARED?
>The dragon reared up like a cat that had just been shouted at before it launched into the air, lazily circling above where I stood, answering my challenge.
>"HA!.... I HAD NOT THOUGHT A CREATURE WITH YOUR STATURE WOULD HAVE THE LUNGS TO CHALLENGE ME!"
>oooooooooh shit... this isn't a feral dragon.
>"I WILL ENJOY PLAYING WITH YOU."
>I quietly muttered some prayers as I dodged into a roll just before the dragon swooped past me, its claws raking trenches into the dirt.
>My muttering turned into a shout as Ifinished my roll.
>EIGHTEEN AND A HALF MILIMETERS WIDE,
>I dug my boots into the dirt and spun bringing the first shotgun to bear as the dragon furled its wings and turned, spinning its tail just past my head.

>A SHELL OF 89 MILLIMETERS, TUBE FED TO BRING THE HOLY HAMMER DOWN!
>I fired quickly into the dragon's face, emptying the first tube of the shotgun, as the dragon questioned my speech.
>"WHAT'S THAT LITTLE ONE! YOUR WORDS ARE WE-AAAAHG!"
>The dragon flinched away as a three rounds of buckshot peppered the more tender scales near its eyes and I dove away into one of the gouges.
>"Heh....he HAHAHAHA! ALL THOSE SOLDIERS AND YOU'RE THE FIRST TO STING! HA!"
>The aerial and ground game of cat and mouse continued for nearly ten minutes as I slowly kited the dragon into the area we'd designated as a kill zone.
>I was pretty exhausted and had abandoned both shotguns by that point.
>For a moment, I thought Myra had missed her cue when the dragon landed and charged me again, but he stopped short, and I quickly recovered, drawing on the reserves I had mirrored Myra's life magic to coax the grasses that we'd seeded out earlier in the day into rapidly growing and wrapping around the neck and wings of the dragon while Myra took care of its legs and tail.
>"HMMMMMMM..... LITTLE ONE IT SEEMS YOU HAVE OUT PLAYED ME...PERHAPS A PARLEY IS IN ORDER......PLEASE CALL OFF YOUR PET MAGES."
>I glanced from the struggling dragon towards the crackling miasma of prepared spellcasting that indicated where Orbec and Eliina were.
>I could sense a message spell from from Orbec telling me to move.
>The one good thing about message spells, was they were two way.
>and notably, I knew that they were two way.
>Dragon wants to parley. Says we outplayed him.
>I could feel the confusion from Orbec's side of the spell before it ended as I stood there considering my options.
>"I CAN FEEL THEIR MAGIC LITTLE ONE. I WILL PROBABLY DIE. CHOOSE NOW."

>I considered the dragon's offer for a brief moment.
>After a tense moment, I moved a bit more directly into the line of fire between the dragon and Orbec and Eliina's spellcasting and sat down on one of the larger rocks our fighting had dug up in the plain.
>Alright, let's talk. There clearly has been an issue with communication since the Iron Guard thought you were a feral dragon.
>And so we spoke...
>And so we spoke.
>And I could feel Orbec's ire and impatience growing.
>especially since he kept spamming me with message spells every thirty seconds.
>Once I'd finally gotten the full story, which took a half hour due to Orbec's mental interference, I relayed the short version to Orebec over one of his message spells.
>The dragon here, Irgo the Longtail, killed the feral drake a few days ago, IG got the right place but was late to the party and pissed off the new tenant of the cavern.
>There was a long pause before Orbec apparently fully processed what I'd told him, and his reply was a simple "goddammit.... he'll piss off if we stand down right?"
>Probably.
>Hey, Irgo, one of the elves wants to know if you'll piss off if we stand down. No hard feelings right?
>This got the dragon laughing again, which sounds concerning if you have no context or knowledge of draconic.
>"Hah, you small ones have such a way with words.... yes I think this has been quite the day. Perhaps out next meeting will be under better terms."
>After a couple more sending spells, and conferring with the IG leadership, we unbound the dragon and it began meandering back in the general direction of its lair.
>The story was already growing well out of rational proportion before Myra and I had made it back to the trenches
>we ducked through what was starting to turn into a party to celebrate surviving pantswetting terror and bee-lined it to town.

>Honestly I was exhausted and most of the spell buffs were either in the process of expiring, or were about to start expiring.
>It was a little bit of luck that led to us making it back to the guild hall and to our room before I collapsed, and rolled over to stare at the ceiling as literally every bone and muscle in my body decided to make their protests known.
>Fuuuuuuuuck that hurts...
>".... parley? Seriously."
>can we not.
>"No seriously. Why do you always do something like that."
>.... I guess we're doing this now... wait you know why.
>"I just want to hear you say it again."
>....fiiiiine... because despite being cynical as fuck I still believe deep down that people will be true to their word.
>Myra lightly flopped down beside me and I winced a little from the motion of the bed.
>"Where's it hurt?"
>everywhere.
>A few moments of magic by her and most of my nerves were numbed out enough that blinking was no longer agonizing.
>Sleeping now.
>"...we'll talk more when you wake up. I'll go make sure Vozra doesn't get drank under a table and chat with Orbec's sister."
>I nodded slowly and after a couple more minutes was out like a light.

>I woke with a start.
>It was dark, I had no idea how long I'd been out.
>I was thirsty, and I needed to piss.
>I groaned and crawled out of my bedding unzipped the wall of my tent and, after a moment of contemplation stepped out into the dust of my camp.
>It was on a decent rise and afforded a good view of the area.
>Even with the moon below the horizon it was bright out from the stars above.
>I moved away from my tent and started my piss.
>By this point, I was probably the furthest anyone had ever gone into one of the scars.
>One day they just appeared. Every plant had died and more or less crumbled to ashy dust.
>Well except the trees. just the bark and leaves were affected.
>It was just me, the stars and a slow breeze whistling through the dead skeletons of trees.
>They and their pale bark stripped branches yearning up into the sky were the only indication anything out here had ever been alive.
>I sighed and finished my piss and dug into my pack for my water.
>As I chugged down the water I noticed a rond figure behind my tent.
>time seemed to slow down as I realized that it was a bear and the bear recognized me as a thing.
>It was definitely hungry as tore around my tent as I dropped my water and grabbed the .44 mag that fish and game had issued me for this trip hanging in it's holster strapped to the side of my pack.
>I pulled the revolver and shot right as the bear reared up.
>Rather than swiping at me, the bear howled in pain and fell forward dropping down and pinning me to the ground.
>I groaned from the dazing impact of, my best guess being a 400 pound bear landing on me and tried to push it off.
>I failed, and after a couple more tries started to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

>This is how I die.
>Pinned under a wounded bear.
>I tried to push the bear off me, and proceeded to clock myself with it's snout and passed out.
>When I woke again the sun was out and the weight draped across me was considerably lighter.
>but still there.
>Uhhh...whut?
>I sat up groaning, thinking that maybe the MRE I'd eaten the night before had gone bad.
>Imagine my surprise when the thing laying on me rolled into my lap and I realized it was a naked chick wearing a bearskin with a gunshot wound in the shoulder.
>My thought process went something like this
>Why is there a mostly naked chick laying on me?
>....why is she green?
>Oh shit did I shoot her last night?
>But she's green?
>Fuck, Eddy was right, the scars were caused by aliens.
>....Fuck I shot an alien chick and probably fucked up first contact.
>WHY ARE YOU SITTING THERE MUSING DIPSHIT TREAT HER WOUNDS!
>My mind went into panicked overdrive, and I tore into my pack to grab my med pack.
>it looked like the the shot had been clean through, so I started treating it, cleaning the sticky milky looking blood from the wound and bandaging her up.
>As I finished wrapping up the wound she suddenly sat upright and backed up against my tent staring at me.
>"Apipoulaï...nalifta mino aranouylipot?"
>Oh....wow that's...I've never even heard a language like that.
>She was staring at me, looking equally confused.
>So, we're going to probably have... some kind of communication issues for a while.. but I'm trying to fix where I shot you.
>I motioned to her shoulder and she looked at it then back to me as she crouched.
>"Nalifta?"
>Guessing you can maybe understand me?... that sounded questioning.
>She sat there quietly watching me for quite a while, as I slowly pulled an MRE from my pack and tor it open to offer up one of thee absurdly large saltines out of it to her and pantomimed eating to get the point across when she stared after I said it was food.

>She stared at it for a bit before she bit into it and started to speak again.
>"Awa hany kicktenan givo teno bayaterol... Assta mavano."
>I offered her a bit more MRE food and she spoke again. "Kesben."
>With her busy eating I started making order of my camp to collect my equipment... with someone wounded to care for I had come to the conclusion that I now needed to get them to qualified medical attention.
>turning my back on the weird green woman was a mistake as I felt a sharp pain at the base of my neck and my vision began to swim.
>"Ashan...Aloïlé-ah kese."
>I turned slowly to face her, as my thoughts jumbled up and the ground started to swing up at me, vaugely I was aware of the fact that her arm was... a loooooot longer than it should have been and was wrapped around to the back of my neck.
>And then the ground rusheed up at me and dissipated into smoke.
>leaving me floating in a chalky void.
>"Huh.... so that's how you two met..."
>I looked to the left.
>I looked to the right.
>And sluggishly forced myself to wake up.
>Once again I sat up in bed and pulled the fish and game stamped 44 revolver I keep handy under my pillow, drawing on the first figure I saw standing in the dim room.
>Orbec's sister Eliina was standing there in front of the bed still caught up in some kind of spell and hadn't fully realized I was awake yet.
>Didn't anyone ever teach you to not root through people's memories?
>The spell audibly shattered and she stood there with a visible "oh shit" look on her face as she realized what I had aimed at her head.
>I motioned at the door and after a moment's hesitation she fucked off.
>A moment later I could hear Orbec laughing his ass off at her expense.
>PISS OFF! HOW LONG WAS I OUT?
>"Bout two days." was Orbec's response through his choked laughter, "When you're awake and dressed you have a visitor."
>Visitor?... who the fuck would be out here to see me?

>I groaned, rolled off the bed and checked what I was wearing.
>Cargos, t-shirt and a very wrinkled guild longcoat.
>fuckit, good enough.
>I slammed a gatorade as I walked downstairs
>Orbec took one look at my choice of clothing and fell in behind me.
>Don't you have a sister to talk down from a panic?
>"Oh no, this trainwreck is going to be far more interesting. They're in the conference room waiting for you."
>Most of the main guildhall was packed, guild members and Iron Guardsmen alike were chattering, drinking, and bullshitting.
>I rolled my eyes and popped open the door and poked my head in, and glanced about.
>Myra was seated at the table, across the way were two people.
>On was the pixie clerk for this guild branch.
>The other was the regional commander for the Iron Guard, a bronze skinned 'human' with piercing green eyes and an eerily wide smile by the name of Tor.
>"ANON YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW ARE YOU!"
>I was doing find till I saw your mug Tor. I'm not rejoining the IG.
>"ALWAYS A KIDDER THIS ONE! I'LL GET YOU BACK UNDER MY COMMAND ONE DAY."
>Are you ever going to learn how to talk with an inside voice?
>"NO."
>I groaned, rolled my eyes and took a seat. Orbec hung back by the door, and the desk clerk was staring daggers at him
>"I JUST WANTED TO SEE THAT ONE OF MY BETTER RECON MEN WAS FINE AND YOU ARE. TAKE CARE ANON!"
>Tor stood up and stalked towards the door.... grabbed orbec around the neck and dragged him out.
>The hall erupted into cheers of "TOR!" and it didn't take long for it to sound like a big party was going on.
>The pixie rolled her eyes, "Anon, once again you've proven you're capable of operating well beyond the capacity of a silver ranked adventurer. You'r due for a promotion."
>I kindly decline.
>"....I'll let regional know that. I don't think you're going to get a choice in the matter... but I'll pass it on."
>She flitted off from her chair leaving myself and Myra alone in the room.
>Soo....

>"You'd really skip out on a promotion?...Again?"
>I nodded.
>You know better than anyone that I don't chase after fame and fortune. I prefer a quiet life more than anything else.. this whole week has been exhausting in more ways than just having to fist-fight a dragon.
>"That was pretty cool though. Vozra took video with his cell phone."
>I sighed and shook my head.
>I'll chew him out about that later. If he took it from the trench that was too close. Soo.... back to bed to fuck the day away?
>"Wow... that..was more direct than usual."
>Well I woke up to Orbec's sister digging through memories and I'd like to bury my shooting you with some more tender memories real quick.
>Myra's puzzled look turned into a hungry grin in a moment and we slipped out the door and through the hall.
>We'd almost made it to the residential section of the guild hall when someone grabbed onto me and pulled me into a bear hug.
>"AHA! I FOUND YOU LITTLE ONE!"
>I turned in the hug, confused and looked down to see a raven haired elf girl, looking back up to me.
>I beg your pardon? Do I know you?
>"AWWWW... SO SOON YOU FORGET ME??
>I studied her face for a moment, dusky gray skin, and familiar blue eyes.
>waiiit....I was talking to those eyes... yesterday?... no three days ago if Orbec is to believed.... yesterday by my reckoning anyway.
>She smiled as a look of realization hit my face and an icy chill roiled down my spine.
>Myra looked at us in bemused confusion, "Something you need to tell me anon?"
>Oh no.
>I made one of the classic blunders.
>Only instead of a game of wits with a Sicilian it was the mistake of guessing a dragon's gender based off how bassy their voice was in dragon form.
>Irgo?
>She smiled toothily and buried her face into my chest.
>"YOU REMEMBERED! THIS ONE IS SO HAPPY! THE GUILD CLERK SAID YOU COULD BE MY MENTOR!"
>Oh thank the /k/ube... I was worried I'd accidentally proposed to you on the battlefield.

>Hold up what? Protege?
>I look around for the guild clerk but she's nowhere to be seen.
>....ok...so here's the deal, I didn't agree to this.
>The disguised dragon girl hanging off me looked up at me with sad puppydog eyes.
>Nope. No, that is not going to work.
>"PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?"
>...Look, I already have one trainee that I'm in charge of, I prefer a simple life, and because of that fight the Iron guard dragged all of us into I'm being forced into a promotion I don't want.
>Irgo sighed and after a few more tries with the sad eyes let go of me and wandered off.
>I rubbed the bridge of my nose and started picking my way back through the crowd with Myra and back to our room.
>"Huh... she isn't following us."
>She's a dragon, not a puppy Myra.
>"Seemed fairly young though."
>I shrugged and closed the door to our room, blocking out the noise of the party and flopped onto our bed.
>"Soooo...?"
>Nah that kinda killed the mood.
>Myra nodded and curled up beside me, "And this promotion?"
>Dunno. Worry about that later I guess.... could... I dunno strike off and join a merc company, run ahead of the news. Crimson Caravan's always hiring... or just move cross portal. News moves slow enough on the far side, might be years before it catches up.
>Myra nods and rubs my shoulder, "Just make a decision, none of this indecision that's kept you coasting along in logton."