Hyseleia
@Raineh Daze@The Otter

---

"Oh now there's two of them." Hyselia huffed, unamused about the rather sudden appearance of Calaphindë. "And one is now trying to be my mother. Hilarious." The lamia frowned lightly as she shifted the coils of her tail, relaxing her grip on Quille. "I assure you, I am not going to get scurvy. Mayon forbid a woman have a little snack. I can assure you sir, I am certainly not picky about my food of choice. Or do you think I got this big by dining on junkfood?"

She'd pull herself up to her full resting height again, just a few inches taller than the elf.

"But if its having trouble finding a job, Quille, you're overthinking things a bit. Observe. Do follow, hm?"

Uncoiling herself fully from Quille, Hyseliea slithered over to the job board, slipping rather easily through the spaces despite her large size. Or...really, it was less slipping through and more like a battering ram.

A scaly, tail shaped battering ram.

"Pardon me, Lamia coming through." The moment she'd get close enough to the board itself, one of the folk would find themselves being wrapped in a scaly prison, and promptly shoved and tossed to the side along with a bunch of other adventurers crowding the board creating a momentary gap, much to the grumbling and chagrin of the others swept aside, likely.

Soruha's lips curled slightly with pride as she pocketed her card. It was clear that her cool idea had worked magnificently as an introduction that maintained her mystery! Maybe her handwriting could use a bit of work, but with literally no other flaw to speak of, she was satisfied. Silently, she listened to the two friends' conversation, her eyes being drawn to the job board's growing rowdiness. ...Yeah, it was inevitable all that would happen. Someone went and tripped, causing a bit of a commotion. And a massive serpent lady was easily winding her way through the bodies that had no choice but to part for her, too.

Yeah, Soruha was really glad not to be caught in the middle of all that.

Well, a few adventurers had managed to snatch some of the jobs at any rate, including that angry little lady, who emerged from the crowd like she just escaped a hellish battlefield. She had several sheets in her hand, and with the board still being picked clean by ravenous adventurers with far too much height, it simply made sense to request any sheets that little giant didn't have need for. Too bad the 'request' part was annoyingly tricky for her.

Fortunately, Eustace seemed to be of similar mind, going by his discussion with Renard. Yeah, asking for some listings was much better than fighting over them, Soruha was in agreement. She nodded at Renard's suggestion, even if unnoticed, the nem already making her way towards the almost-normal sized (to her) knight.

Lisianna Bren

---

Lisianna just stood there, out of the way and looking at the entire crowd of the guild. She noticed a few people. There was this short girl who just grabbed a bunch of papers off the board. Liz thought to say something to the young looking girl, but she noticed something in the background. A familiar sight slithering her way and using her bigger than normal body to push people aside. It was a certain Lamia she remembered from helping her mother at the Academy every now and then. They were not necessarily friends, but they were on speaking terms... Probably?

Liz pushed her way toward the board, using the wake of the Lamia to make her transit a little easier. She passed by that short paladin woman from earlier. And then a noteable Hundi and Human talking to each other with a peculiar Nem nearby. As she pushed past the crowed otherwise, she would give short apologies as she came to standing next to the Lamia. She pondered her words for a few seconds before clearing her throat and donning the more official tone she had used back when she had worked for her father.

"Excuse me, Miss Erenhart? You're not causing any public nuisances today, are you?" Liz teased the snake-like woman as if she were with the watch still. It didn't take long for Lize to break character to giggle. She always found it funny whenever she made a joke like that, even without others reacting to it at all. "All jokes aside, how are you, Hyseleia? It's been a while. I didn't know you took up adventuring, though it does make sense to want to put your studies into practice, doesn't it? Found a good request yet?" She asked, looking at the Lamia with a smile.

@Rune_Alchemist

There.

I'm at an empty table, I don't have to worry about people shoving in any more.

---Tch, except for the ones who followed me. The nem girl isn't being loud and annoying, at least, but still!

"Fine, it's not as if I can stop you from looking. Hmph."

With a huff, I spread the job listings out on the table, scanning them quickly as I do. Since the guild's evaluators are stupid, I can't take anything actually appropriate for my abilities. I'm aware that Iron-rank adventurers can take Steel-rank jobs with a sufficient party and adventurers of a higher rank accompanying them, but annoyingly I can't count on something like that, so I have no real choice but to focus on the Iron-rank listings.

I'm not going to entertain the idea of picking up a copper-rank job. Killing some large rats in someone's basement is not the work of a Paladin of Reon.

"Hmmm..."

I lean over the listings. There's a few here.

My cows keep getting taken by a hungry griffin! Please help! My farm is south of the capital, if I lose any more cows I don't know what I'm going to do! I think it might belong to someone, so I can't have it killed either!

Missing: 1 Gold Wedding Ring with a large diamond. Last seen 50 years ago in the Abandoned Rocksplitter Mine near Haesting. The mine was closed down due to an infestation of great spiders, so it may be dangerous. If found, return to Varoc Helmbreaker.

---50 years?! Seriously?! Damn it, how the blazes is anyone supposed to find something like that?! It's not like he great spiders will be a problem, but finding a ring dropped somewhere in an old mine, what are they thinking?!

From the Venne Mage's College Archaeological Department: We are in search of talented adventurers of Iron Rank or higher to clear the ruins of the Talderian-era Fort Magrial of goblins. The goblins stole equipment and injured several excavation workers, and may be intending to raid nearby towns. Fort Magrial is located North of Walverrest, near the Town of Stonefield.

There have been strange sounds and disturbed earth in the graveyard at Aronsgrove, South of Pelle. We suspect undead may be lurking in one of the mausoleums. Please put these lost dead to rest.

If I could pursue a quest by myself, I would select the last one, certainly. While the goblins are definitely a problem, the disturbances that walking corpses cause are unacceptable. As a Paladin of Reon, it's my duty to put a stop to such things as soon as possible.

---Unfortunately, these quests don't allow solo adventurers of my rank. Hmph.

@SilverPaw@Eisenhorn@RolePlayerRoxas@Coda

---

The various disgruntled adventurers who had been disrupted by the spilled ale had now been even more scattered by Hyseleia using her own body as a battering ram. Still, they weren't about to push the issue, instead trying to get as close as they could around her, some taking down a listing or two to read them over rather then take up more space at the board.

There were still a considerable number of listings for all ranks remaining. For those suited for Iron-ranks, they included:

Lord Alexander Knightstar Lowell of Venne urgently requests the assistance of all adventurers of Iron Rank or higher. The Lord's beloved griffin stallion, Blackbeak, has gone missing. Despite repeated attempts to locate Blackbeak, he has not yet been found, though there have been sightings south of Venne. Please locate and capture Blackbeak unharmed. His favorite treat is beef hearts, so you may be able to lure him safely by using them as bait.

I live outside of Everett, in Greenleaf. There's been strange noises every night, and mysterious lights out in the woods. One of them even tried to lure my daughter away from town. As a representative of the concerned citizens of Greenleaf, I am requesting aid to drive away whatever presence is inhabiting the forest.

@Pyromania99@Rune_Alchemist@Raineh Daze@The Otter

Trailing along behind the lamia was an easy way to get to the board, but that brought about a new problem – there were still plenty of missions up and down the scale (although it now seemed that people were taking a lot of them away to look at… was this really the best system for organising listings?), but she had no idea where her new associate fell. It would be a bit awkward if she turned out to be a gold rank; a lifetime of hunting with no other practical experience wasn't enough to handle that sort of danger.

"So… how difficult are we looking?" the elf asked after a moment, trying to catch a glimpse of Hyseleia's eyes. Hm… she wasn't sure if they were all of a similar difficulty or not, but the region was distinctly lacking in 'please kill this thing', which was a shame. It would have been nice to get started with a familiar task, even if it turned out to be on the easy side.

---

"I suppose I could take a peek, now that the crowd's been disrupted. About high time I got moving again anyways, best pick out a job."

While the others went to the table to follow and get Lady to play nice, especially since it looked like she had grabbed jobs from the group portion of the board, he took the chance to lean around a few shoulders, sneaking a peek at the few jobs that stood out to him. Iron rank work, but given the number of them around at the moment it might be another babysitting job. Something about recapturing a pet griffin, and something about weirdness in the woods. Neither stood out to him as particularly interesting so, not seeing anything else that stood out, made his way over to Lady and the others who were slowly gathering. At least she was not being selfish with trying and hogging the jobs, and he looked over her shoulder to skim them, staying quiet for the moment as he evaluated.

Another griffin mention, this time from some poor farmer down on his luck. Meant two people posting for the same job, that was never a good thing to pursue, turned into a race of who could turn it in first, and the one still on the job board had more useful information anyways. If they had time they could possibly get double pay for the same thing, but he didn't have much interest in griffin wrangling anyways so that was one he put out of his mind for now. Wedding band missing for...fifty years? Why wait that long to post a job for it? Maybe no one had taken the job and it was one of those ones that kept getting reposted in the hopes someone would take it. Wouldn't be the first, sometimes things just fell through the cracks. Unfortunately the next two looked more pressing than a missing wedding band and giant spiders. He didn't like spiders to begin with, webbing got everywhere and was a pain to clean up after, and that was with normal sized ones.

"I'd be wary about the griffin job, there's another one from the likely owner posted up on the board still, so it could turn into a contest of two groups trying to finish it first. Not much else stood out at the glance I took of what was still posted and not taken down yet." Renard was mainly speaking to Rook, though he thought over the next two. Goblins, who had gotten their hands on Mage College archaeological equipment and injured several staff, with a concern that they were going to go raiding from there. Would fit how they worked, and would need sorting out by someone before too long. Last one that Lady had grabbed was something about the undead, and putting them back to rest. Also something that would need sorted out, but part of him suspected that the goblins would prove a more immediate threat than the undead would, all religious consideration aside.

"Goblins are probably the most immediate danger out of this bunch of jobs, though undead can't be left festering either. Either would make for decent work, by my estimate."

@SilverPaw@VitaVitaAR

Hyseleia
@Raineh Daze@The Otter@Pyromania99

---

Slim pickings as far as the requests go. A search for a domesticated griffin and something seemingly like some forest haunting. If she had to pick, she'd probably go with the forest haunting. Still, neither seemed simple, and she much preferred something simple.

"Haaa. Both of these seem annoying." The Lamia complained, flicking her tail and huffing annoyedly. "Neither seem particularly straightforward, hm. At least if we take that job in greenleaf, it might be something interesting other than dealing with a runaway house pet." Her thoughts though, were interrupted by the sound of a slightly familiar voice. She shifted her gaze to the woman who had spoke.

...

What was her name again? She was the daughter of that one extremely naggy teacher, wasn't she?

"Oh, its you." Hyseliea frowned lightly. "I would ask how your mother is doing but I'd rather not invite such a curse into this conversation." She huffed, though her mouth soon turned up until a small smile. "Busy lecturing some innocent serpent on why she shouldn't use magic to pull harmless pranks, hm? Good to see you too, Lisiana."

She'd pull down the two listings.

"Quille and I here were considering which job to take. Care to join us or shall you take your chances with the crowd to find your own?"

---

He squinted at the listings just as the Lamia pulled them down. If he'd even noticed that another person who come up next to him while they were perusing the board, he certainly didn't show it. "Beef hearts seems a bit large for a house pet," he disagreed. Not that he'd had much interaction with the larger griffins, but the sort that could really be described as a "house pet," the Least Griffins, were cat-sized. An entire cow's heart would be half of one's weight.

Not to mention, a nobleman looking for a 'beloved griffin stallion' probably wouldn't have left out pertinent information like it being a miniature.

One ear twitched as he heard the Hundi at the table nearby talking again. Another one about griffins?

He stepped over, looking over the shoulders of those that had congregated around the diminutive woman that had yanked multiple of the listings off the board. "Ah, thank you," he said to none of them in particular, one hand shooting out and scooping up the request from the farmer with cows going missing before returning to the Lamia, Dark Elf, and...tall human.

"Sightings south of Venne, cattle being attacked by a griffin south of the capital...Beasts that are notoriously difficult to tame and even that only really applies to those they trust. Do any of you know a good way to trap one?"

Well, despite the girl's grumpiness, she was at least sharing the listings. With Eustace and Renard soon joining, Soruha choose a seat for herself. With a nimble hop, the nem squatted down on her chair to look the jobs over for herself. Her writing of the language left much to be desired - seriously, how do these people consider such stilted writing to be functional?! - but her literacy was at least passable enough to read listings. Usually.

The hooded nem silently pondered the options, tilting her head slightly. She didn't have a lot of experience fighting the undead yet, it wasn't super pleasant, but Soruha found it unlikely to be too difficult. The listing for the missing ring had caught her eye at first, but the more she considered it, the less likely it seemed to be relevant to her own interests. It wasn't noted to be enchanted, just sentimental - of course, Soruha would like to see it reunited with the owner after such a long time, but she could only muster so much willpower when faced with the prospect of a spider swarm.

The griffin listing... was not worth considering, since someone just went and took it and went on their merry way. Well, that was just how things went sometimes, it wasn't like everyone at this table had laid claim to every sheet of paper upon it. Anyways, the last one of note was this thing with goblins. Between those and the undead, these two jobs seemed the best ones to go for. After a few moments' thought, she answered Eustace's query by tapping her finger on the goblin listing. This one seemed more imminently problematic, as opposed to probable-undead lurking somewhere.

Lisianna Bren

---

Liz smiled at Hyseleia's response. "Well, don't let her hear you say that. I think she was rather fond of you. Something about the easiest Lamia to study at any given time." The human giggled a small bit. "I take it this elf lady here is Quille? Quite the tall one." She then looked at the other elf that had showed up. After a glance at him, he made his way over to where the rather short paladin looking girl was. The human looked between the dark elf and the Lamia before her eyes glanced the dark elf woman up and down, scrutinizing her. Well, she didn't seem hostile. Dangerous? Perhaps. A lot of adventurers ended up looking dangerous. She offered the dark elf woman a confident handshake, "Lisianna Bren. Feel free to just call me Liz."

After the handshake, or lack-thereof, she responded to Hyseleia's question about joining them. "If you'd have me, I'd love to join you. It's not often I get to work with someone who's graduated from the academy. Usually it's just for one. For free at that." The male elf returned, mentioning something about cattle being attacked by a griffin. And then asked if any of them know how to trap one. "Not so much. I can probably give one a bit of a shock but trapping isn't really one of my specialties." Liz mentioned, "Though, from the way the first request is worded, we might be able to lure it in. If it's domesticated perhaps it won't be bothered by us?"

@The Otter@Rune_Alchemist@Raineh Daze

It took a moment before Quille quite grasped the meaning of the offered hand, shaking it tentatively before it was withdrawn. Interesting to meet a human woman with matching hair, though; that was quite the unusual colouration, wasn't it? Hmm… she needed to inspect more humans to see.

"I have never seen a griffin before. Those fly, yes?" the hunter asked, deep in thought. That made her usual tactics a lot more… precarious; the sky didn't really have a limit and she was rather invested in stabbing. Oh, and it was wanted alive, for an extra round of complications. "My speciality lies in killing beasts, not capturing them. It would be an… interesting challenge."

"Could we just… lightly maim it? Would someone be able to heal that?"

Figures.

Handling the undead should be my priority, but the people who've glued themselves to me would rather pursue the goblins instead. I suppose I can see the logic, given the goblins have already caused actual harm to the college's archaeological staff and so far the undead haven't harmed anyone. But, it's only a matter of time, isn't it?

Regardless, it's not as if violent goblins are out of the scope of a paladin's duties. We destroy evil wherever it appears, and evil can come in a variety of different forms.

Still, it's frustrating not being able to choose on my own. If I knew where to find them, I'd give those evaluators a piece of my mind.

"Hmph. I suppose it was my second choice," I say, rising to my feet, watching the nem girl's hand retreat after she pointed to the mission to drive out the goblins. I pause for a moment and glance at those surrounding me. The nem girl, a hundi man, and a fellow human. I don't know what any of them can do, but I suppose that the nem is most likely suited to stealth. She's certainly quiet enough, given I haven't heard her speak a single time.

"And since they won't let me take a solo job, I suppose this saves me some time."

I have no intention of hiding the annoyance in my voice.

Leaving the other listings on the table, I pick up the listing from the college.

"What do you people do, anyway?"

I turn my gaze towards the people who've gathered at my table.

Not that I'll really need to know, given I feel perfectly confident in my ability to handle goblin rabble, but if they're going to insist upon sticking to me like they have so far then I guess I should ask.

I hope this won't take too long.

@SilverPaw@Eisenhorn@RolePlayerRoxas

---

Renard was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth when their half of the griffon job got snagged by a passerby before heading back to his own meanderings. Focusing back to who he happened to be reviewing jobs with at the moment, it seemed like everyone agreed that the Goblins would need sorted out first and foremost. Well, mostly, Lady seemed moody about the matter but, if her demeanor was anything to go by, that was just going to be the usual outlook to deal with. He knew more established groups would take two or three jobs at a time, but given he was not entirely certain how long Lady would put up with anyone accompanying her, well, no sense betting on that and having it fall through.

"Unfortunately not Rook, least nothing that caught my eye. Though that settles that then, Goblin hunting it is. Always next time for cracking some undead skulls Lady."

She did question what they all did, making no effort to hide her annoyance and being rather blunt in the process. Someone was going to be all sunshine and rainbows to have around, Renard mused with full sarcasm, already getting what he considered a reasonable appraisal of the shorter human. Massive ego, probably expected to be handed a high rank on a platter, was currently mad about not getting just that. Probably why she wasn't given a high rank, regardless of potential, a lack of experience would get someone killed alarmingly quickly. Fingers crossed at least some of that shook loose and fell away with a few successful jobs, or maybe some time spent around people that weren't uptight religious sorts might help. They'd find out in due time, but he didn't waste any time speaking up since asked.

"I'm a deft hand with a spear, skirmisher by experience. Move fast, strike, and maneuver. Comes with learning the weapon since I could walk, and using it since I set out on my own. Good in a pitched group fight, and haven't lost an honorable duel yet, so you can rely on me to keep up a good fight. Handy with knives as well, both thrown and not, and I'll be the last to drop if we are worried about a fight running too long. Outside of that, I can hunt, cook, keep things clean, basically survive without any civilized support as long as nature has something to provide. Oh, and since I don't think I introduced myself, name's Renard Benoit, a pleasure."

Renard would extend his hand in greeting, letting Lady make the decision as to whether or not to play nice or ignore it. Wouldn't hurt his feelings either way, but it was another subtle way to gauge just how hostile she was going to be at the outset. Well, hostile wasn't quite right, thorny would be a better way to put it. Downright prickly, even, but nothing like a good fight to get everyone moving on the same rhythm. Or go horribly wrong, but being upbeat wouldn't hurt anyone at this particular moment in time.

@SilverPaw@RolePlayerRoxas@VitaVitaAR

Hyseleia
@Raineh Daze@The Otter@Pyromania99

---

"Oh yes, Lisiana, let us just hope the dangerous supposedly domesticated beast likes having armed strangers around." Hysliea folded her arms under her chest as she'd coil her body under her. "Ugh, are we really going after some overgrown chicken? Of course we get the annoying job...well," Haa, why couldn't they take one much more straight forward? Murder some goblins? Deal with some bandits in a manner that would make them think twice about doing such a thing ever again. If she hadn't already agreed to help Quille...tsk. "I suppose if we fail we'll at least have dinner sorted..." She had to wonder perhaps, if the request to find a missing griffin and the one saying a beast was eating cattle were related in some manner. "If we are going after it, I suppose I could easily restrain it myself with magic or," She'd flick the end of her tail against Lisianna's leg. "Otherwise. After that it wouldn't be hard to tie it as long as we have sturdy rope."

Unlike her current companions, Soruha could not exactly detail her skills and experience in any appreciable manner. Of course, she had her handy little card that was placed on the table to identify herself... but she would have to rely entirely on her unquestionable aura of mystery and skill to convey her nimble style. Or have Eustace put in a good word for her, but the former option would surely be enough to prove Soruha's ability from sight alone!

The nem was not lacking in confidence, but still, hearing Renard so matter-of-factly rattle off his skills... yeah, she might be a super cool and awesome adventurer, but her experience was still incredibly lacking by comparison. Eustace she was much more familiar with, of course. And this little giant... was presumably a front-line fighter of some kind, and with an attitude on top of that. It was hard to imagine goblins being a struggle between the four of them, even in an open field Soruha was confident she could dispatch a group of them with little trouble. This job was bound to be super quick by her estimation!

Lisianna Bren

---

"It says the griffin's favorite treat is beef hearts. If we lure it in with that, perhaps it would be willing to let us approach it?" Lisianna mentioned, thinking of the wording. "Then subdue it somehow and then bring it back it's owner. Maybe I could even ride it back if it has a saddle on it somehow." Liz mentioned, laughing a small bit to herself. "I've rode a horse before. Maybe it's the same experience." This one was most likely a joke, though, given the chance? She'd probably try it. "We can always give it a shot. It's probably the same griffin as the other listing so if we are forced to put the thing down, we can at least complete the other quest, I suppose." She didn't seem fond of putting such a creature down, but what must be done must be done. "Anyway, griffin retrieval sounds like an interesting experience. I'm in."

At least they seem as if they know what they're doing. I haven't been lumped with Adventurers who were stuck at Copper rank or something else equally frustrating.

I guess it's not surprising that the hundi is good with a weapon. Their race almost universally trains with some kind of combat. There's no such thing as a hundi who comes from a family without martial history.

I guess a there's a lot of them in adventurer's guild branches, or something like that. If they're so inclined towards heroics, then it only makes sense.

The other guy sounds like he's at least somewhat capable too, but---

'You'll get there in time'? Hmph. He's already underestimating me, isn't he? Exactly what about me gives him a reason to make a judgement like that, hm? Could he explain it to me? I bet he couldn't. That, or he'd come up with something completely, thoughtlessly insulting that would come tumbling out of his mouth without any brains behind it, because he couldn't think for few moments before speaking. It's not like I'm a child or something, after all!

That's it! He's going to get a piece of my mind. I'm not about to---...

...

Before my eyes is a small piece of stiff paper, displaying the crudely-written word 'Raven' with an even more crudely-written bird beneath it.

The nem, having been the one to produce the paper in the first place, looks far more proud of herself than she should. No-one should be this proud of showing off something like this. Pride in this is like taking pride in falling off a bridge into a pond and getting coated in mud and slime.

What is this even supposed to indicate? She hasn't said anything at all. I can guess by her weapons she's an adventurer, obviously, but...

Ugh, whatever. There's no use in trying to wrap my brain around that nonsense, I just hope she doesn't get herself hurt and drag everyone down.

"I'm Rylia," I say, introducing myself as I rise to my feet, "A paladin of Reon, trained in the ways of her justice and righteousness. I can mend some injuries, but I'm best at smashing right through the enemy."

I fold my arms over my chest.

"Don't get in my way, and I'll show you I'm plenty capable."

That's right. I'll crush the goblins and make him regret telling me that I'd 'get there'. Hmph.

It's time to bring the job to the desk.

---

So this is Fort Magrial.

At least it didn't take very long to get here, even if the it's the edge of sunset. I've never been to it before, but it's not as if I'm some uneducated bumpkin. I learned about Talderia in school, and so I an recognize the circular outer wall, the three-and-two sets of short and tall towers, and the rounded structure of the fort itself in the middle. It's not in the best shape, with the walls collapsed in at least two places visibly, one of the towers having fallen down, and the gate on this side completely gone, but despite that most of the dark stone is still standing and it's easy enough to see that the fort was once quite defensible.

"I don't see any goblins," I comment, "But I guess the college archaeologists didn't see any either."

Come to think of it---

"Aren't most of them magi? How did they miss a bunch of goblins?"

@SilverPaw@Eisenhorn@RolePlayerRoxas