(Awesome Collab between LordZell, DeadBeat, and I)

Unsurprisingly, Stormgully's weather that afternoon was a bitterly cold drizzle. The two lords had abandoned their entourage, who they had sent up to Stonereach alone, while they opted to travel to a small tavern on foot. The City of Stonereach lived up to its reputation; After all, Kenten Cragmore was not known as "The Bandit King" for no reason.

The streets were lined with all manners of filth, piled into deep troughs in the middle of the unpaved roads. The crippled and homeless sat idly against the stoney buildings, holding out their open hands at the air. Whores and their pimps openly advertised from their broken windows, while urchin children ran amok through alleys. The air was thick with the smell of urine, ale, and smoke.

The two lords eventually stopped at a small tavern, with naught but a wooden sign for a name. "The Screaming Goose", Read the sign, accompanied with a crude painting of a goose being decapitated by a butcher. They entered swiftly, closing the door behind them as to not let the bitter damp wind inside.

It was dimly lit by torches and candles, but not so dim that the stains on the tables couldn't be seen, or the topless whores drunkenly screeching in laughter, spread over tables. Men drank ale and cider not from glasses or chalices, but from wooden cups or their hands. Although there was a buzz of activity and conversation, the sounds of a fiddler standing atop a table were not drowned out by any means.

In the corner, the two saw a hooded figure, sitting alone. It was their mark. James pointed at him, and Kenten quickly lowered his hand. "Best not to draw attention in these parts, mate." Quickly, they waded through the crowd, and took their seat across from the hooded man.

A clawed hand reached up from below the table and moved back the dark stained hood ever so slighty, revealing two dark coal eyes and a snarled monsterious face, equipped with tangles of sharp yellowed teeth and matted fur on a tan beastly human like face, "Good day, Gentleman," the Half-Gnoll started.

Kenten was no stranger to curious sights, although he had never seen anything like the man in front of him. He opened his mouth to question his abnormalities, but quickly closed it, deciding his questions were better left unsaid.

Jame's smiled glad to see the letter had reached them. "Ello, I'm sorry I don't have a name. I'm Lord James Conrad and this is Lord Kenten Cragmore."

"Cassewah Jemjo," the Beast snarled, "What do you wish from us, and on what grounds do you demand?" Cassewah was clearly an angry creature, and one eager to kill at the first discomfort. 

"Nice to meet you Cassewah. I called you here because I have a job and from what I know, you gentlemen are the best in the business." James then order some rum for the table and continued "I need you to kill Flint Whiteshorn and Roman Benedikt. If you can perhaps go after Shamgar Paragon too. Oh and Kenten anyone you want dead?" James looked into the beast eyes to see his reaction.

"None." Kenten said, hoping to mask his fear of the half-gnoll. "I'm a man of few wants." He said, forcing a chuckle.

A howling laughter hackled from the monster, "I should suspect you didn't invite me over for some tea," He cleared his throat with a disgusting hack, "what do you offer as payment for two high lords, and a Paragon."
Cassewah grew serious and loudly dropped a long tapered dagger onto the table, his lifeless eyes ate through the two who sat across from him and buried their gaze into the Lords very souls.

James gave a hearty laugh still continuing his intesne stare off with Cassewah. He then spoke "What we offer you is a promise of massive amount of wealth and metals enough to make your group a armored and deadly force. Also should you succeed in your mission and stick with us then lordships of your own eventually. This will also pay I assume your silence should you fail. Though I doubt you will." James gave a look to his friend Kenten then back to Cassewah. "What say you?"

Cassewah nodded respectfully at the offer, giving Kenten and James a twisted smile of yellow teeth. Suddenly he grabbed the dagger and slammed its point deep into the table, leaping to his feet and his smile turned into a disturbed frown, "Gold, you bastard, I'm going to need it upfront," He said in a growl through his gritting teeth, a sickening smile slowly returning to his face as he slumped back into his chaiur, "but other than that, so far so good."

Jame nodded and reached to his pocket pulling out a sack of Tricrowns. He tossed it on the table and said "There and once it's been accomplished you'll get even more." James returned with a smile and said "Excellent. Will that be all?"

Cassewah slinked back, his face sketched out with a devilishly perplexed thought, " Let us recap, you want the heads of Shamgar Paragon, Roman Benedikt, and Flint Whiteshorn, and in return, the Skinless Black Scorpions recieve this sack of tricrowns," He poked the burlap with a clawed finger, "Lordship, and metal?"

"I don't want there heads just there death is enough. To start off with yes this sack of tricorwns, Once they are dead you'll get more gold and metal. Should you stick with us till the war is won then you'll get a lordship." James nodded and took a sip of his beer and waited to hear there concerns.

"Which begs a question," Cassewah continueed, "for the sake of investment, how do you plan on delivering that last, quite lordy, promise?"

"Well with the death of the Lords chaos will ensue. Within that chaos House Conrad and it's allies will climb her ladder. We will climb it to the top till we are the ones who rule. In our victory all mercanaries,thieves and smugglers will be rewarded whether it be with gold or lordships. I can promise you that." Jame's gave way to a smile and looked at Cassewah.

The disfigured monstrosity sat, stroking his own greasy matted black mane on the back of his head, "The Black Scorpions do not swear felity to anyone, other than this, your offer is acceptable," He gave a dashing violent glance at Kenten, "And what do you think, of all this, oh silent one?" He mashed the dark words out of his toothy mouth with the jutting of a pointed finger. 

"I think I'd like it in writing." He said, collecting his composure. "I'm a man who takes a sworn vow seriously, after all." He cleared his throat, and continued. "Aside from signing a contract, I don't suppose any of us would mind losing a drop of blood, eh?" He smirked sinisterly.

"I'm afraid, at the scent of either of you bleeding, I will be forced to void any agreement and proceed to bite off your faces," Cassewah said nanchalantly as he folded his hairy arms across his burly robed chest.

Jame's gave a chuckle and said "I'm gonna like you." he gave a smile to kenten seeing whatelse he had to say.

Kenten shrugged. "The Gods recognize spit as a substitute." He pulled a piece of parchment out from his tunic, along with a crude pencil made from wood and coal. He began to carefully jot down the specifics of the agreement, sounding out his writing every so often.

"Flint Whiteshorn, Roman Benedikt. Shamgar Paragon, dead." He licked the tip of his pencil, and continued, "Lordship, one halfton Stormgully steel. Two chests, gold." He furrowed his brow, trying to make out his own writing in the darkness.

"K-E-N-T-E-N," He spelled out loud, jotting his name down. He hawked up a ball of phlegm, and spat directly under his signature. "Which of you lads is next?"

The devilish black eyes of Cassewah shot back and forth as he read carefully, his throat rumbling in a low growl as he read, with an almost dog-like panter of breath. He looked up at the two Lords, blood lust already in his eyes and painted on his twisted face, "Keep in mind, failure to pay one cent of this is penalized by me cutting off your fingers and forcing you to eat them boiled," a dark smile was stretched on his face and he pointed to the men who sat next to the group.

The men who have been sitting there the entire time came of no notice to the two lords until now, as each of them were face down in a pile of blood laced vomit and wore skin as pale as a soap stone. Their limp bodies were being attacked by hungry flies when Cassewah began again with his snarling voice, "we do not give warnings, death is our game, and we play it well, even if we are half-way across the world when we strike."

James nodded "You have your areas of expertise. Just as I have mine. But do not worry if we succeed then you'll get all that and maybe more. Should we fail we're dead men anyways. Now sign the sheet both of you. and hand it here." James finished waiting till the men sign it.

A roaring laughter erupted from Cassewah as he grabbed the paper brutishly and shoved it in his pocket, "Turns out I don't know how to write, one of your names is on here, good enough for me," He spat as he stood up quickly, throwing the chair out from underneath him, "Good day gentleman."

"Good evening. I'll expect word back as soon as possible. You're also more then welcome to kill that ashtoken man Gori for pay back if you wish." James looked at the man.

"Another name, for another day," Cassewah remarked tiredly, as he was already halfway out the door, "Don't forget your debts," he snarled before heaving a hefty howling spinechilling laughter as he walked out of the tavern door.

Kenten stewed in his anger for a moment, and began to drink James' beer.

James smiled at Kenten and said "I think that went well."

"Hmph." He grumbled. "Would've wanted it in writing. Damn beastling."

As they walk out James tells his men who had been guarding outside kill all those who were in the tavern he didn't want any witnesses. He smiled he son would soon be with him and his enemies soon killed.