Boundless.

Clare followed along silently, keeping half of her attention focused on their surroundings to prevent danger, and the other half on the group, wondering what they would be doing. She was not tired at all and didn't particularly care where they went, within reason of course. She supposed she would have to give her opinion if asked, so she prepared an answer in case it came to that.

Ferren looked to be in thought for a moment as he looked around the city. He had to act like royalty? He doubted word would spread that quickly about who he was pretending to be, but still, it's better to be safe than sorry. He mulled over that for a moment, deciding that they should just get moving for now. He was supposed to find a map and supplies, and Rilk said he knew where to get those.

"Uh, R-Rilk... right?" Ferren turned around to face the group, "Can you show us where to get supplies and things? If we just stand around we'll probably draw attention, I think..."

Rilk clapped his hands together. "Fantastic. Okay, we're on the main road right now, and we should be able to get most of our supplies here. For any basic gear and food, there are several shops, but the best bang for our buck will be at Garen's Go-Round. For any medicine and the likes, Louis's Pharmacy would be the place to go. As for the map, I know a guy named Linebeck who has a small shop on the east end of town that specializes in books and maps. We should be able to find something there. Which of those do you want to go to first?"

Ferren took a moment to silently think it over, before looking back up to Rilk. "Getting a map is mostly why we're here, so... we should do that first, right?" He was just trying to go with his common sense, and his leadership skills (if they could be called that) still made his commands seem more like meek requests.

"Then take us where we need to be, ranger." Cero suddenly spoke up, a slight hint of irritation faint within his words, something that surprised even himself. It's not as if he was starting to dislike Ferren or anything. He simply felt like the pace of the task was too slow. For every moment that passed, he got closer to the grips of death. He could still very well remember the healer's words from months ago, though the words were short, had felt like they contained the world to him. His final limit.

"Right then, follow me." Rilk lead the group through a twist of roads and alleys off the beaten path. Eventually, they came across a tiny, beaten up building. The sign above the door simply read 'books'.
"Er, well, it's a bit more impressive inside," Rilk assured them. He pounded on the door. "Linebeck! You sober in there?"

There was a moment of silence, before heavy footsteps were heard, after a shout of, "Does a dove have scales?!" The wooden door swung open and a middle-aged man with jet black hair and five o' clock shadow peered down upon the group with rust-colored eyes.

"Rilk, eh? You started a family or something?" His words were slightly slurring together, but he still seemed to be at least a little articulate.

"Actually... he's my bodyguard," Ferren managed to speak up, although his gaze was on the man's shoes, "I was told to come here to get a map, you see, and..."

"A map? A map?! You've couldn't have come to a better place, because I sell maps!" Whether Linebeck was being sarcastic, was overly drunk, or a mix of both would be left to interpretation, but he stood back from the door to allow the group to enter. "Feel free to browse, kiddie, just tell your uncles over there not to stab the books, eh?"

"I am not that old looking to appear his uncle, am I? And I will attempt to withold any stabbing urges I have."

He followed the man in and looked around, he didn't think that he would find anything of enough interest for him to buy but he still took a look around. He looked about for books about weapons, blacksmithing, mining, and a few other related categories while waiting for Fherren to be finished with his business. He also decided to have some small talk and attempt to get to know the people he would be working with. He decided to start with the Cero man, glancing over at himw while searching through the books.

"So Mr. Cero, if you would, do tell me a little about yourself. Let's start small shall we? Nothing personal just what skills you got."

« Last edited by nightmare2 on Apr 27th 2012 »

"..." Cero didn't bother answering. It wasn't very smart for fighters to show others their abilities just for the sake of it, but it was even less smarter for Night to go around asking them about it, Cero thought. Perhaps he thinks quite highly of himself? Cero did not know. He merely gazed at Night within a silent epitome and steely lifeless stare that pretty much served as his reply. The usual person might think Cero had a paralyzed face at that time.

"Come now old man it isn't smart for a group to work together and know nothing about their comrades, now is it? It is smarter to know everyone's skills so when, Fherren, is in a dangerous situation we can fight together much more effiecently."

Night didn not wonder if he was paralyzed instead his wondered why the man kept his face so lifeless. However his curiousity was on whether Cero understood what they had been hired for, to protect Fhrerren. And seeing as Cero wasn't the only one hired it was obvious that it was not an inividual task. Well atleast it was obvious to him, maybe not to the old man before him.

"Alright I will start, I am a blacksmith. Simple right? I make weapons, armor, shields, etcetra. I got great social skills, gotta have them if you want to have a business. I can use almost all weapons to some degree. See simple."

"Oi, I have an uncle that's younger than me. My grandpappy was a busy man." Linebeck replied to Night, before busying himself looking through a stack of maps near the front of the store. "What kind of map you looking for, kid?"

"Er, well... as detailed of a map as you can give." Ferren didn't quite know how to tell him they were looking for a mythical labyrinth housing an ancient, magical artifact.

"Detailed, eh? You looking for a map of a certain area, or what?"
"I'm not sure what area, so... something of the whole land will have to do, I guess."
"Not sure what area you're headed? You're a strange kid, kid."

Another moment of shuffling through maps, before Linebeck pulled out a rather large, old parchment and placed it open on the table in front of him.

"This map shows every major landmark between here and the great seas of the north and south. That's a long way, if you didn't know. If you're trying to get somewhere, this will tell you how to get there, I bet."

Ferren eyed the map, but since he was no cartographer, he wasn't sure if it was good or not. That, compounded with the fact that he wouldn't be the one paying for it, caused him to look at his companions with a questioning eye, as if to ask for them to aid with their opinions.

"Well it looks okay to me, you could have gona a bit more specific but I can guess what your thinking on this. Alright Mr. Linebeck how much will this be?"

Night pulled out only a few coins from his bag, careful not to show how much he actually had. Instead making it seem he was more on the poor side. He looked over to Fherren.

"Before we leave is there anything else you think we may need from this place?"

Clare entered the book shop last, looking around behind them to make sure they were not followed. She shut the door and walked quietly over to the table that the owner, Linebeck, had spread the map out on. Glancing at the map, the warrior muddled through her thoughts to access memories of her cartography lessons with her master. From what she could remember, it seemed like a good map, although map-making had not been her favorite skill to learn.

Clare quietly stalked away from the table to look at the books and flashed back to memories of her childhood; rows upon rows of shelves in the local book shop; the smell of the old pages, curled and weathered; the crisp feel of turning the pages and reading away the hours. Of course, those days had been limited, since she had been forced to focus on her warrior's training almost all of the time, and only found time to cozy away with a book late at night, or when she could manage to sneak away during a break and return late.

Snapping back to reality, she walked back over to the table, deciding that her companions would not have noticed her slight disappearance.

// Little info on the monetary system: it's ruled primarily by gold coins with silver as more of "loose change", with different grades of gems being traded for exquisitely expensive things. One gold coin equates to five silver coins, and silver coins are worth something similar to real world US dollars. //

"This map is of superb quality, best one I've got. Won't take less than ten gold for it." Linebeck seemed firm with his prices, and wasn't one to haggle, especially with his finer items. If it really looked okay, Ferren surely wanted it, for he needed an accurate map for his journey. Still, his fascination for books left his eyes wandering around the store.

"Maybe... there's a book about what we're trying to find?" Without another word, Ferren began to head back to the back of the store where shelves housing the older-looking books were. As he was going back, his foot caught a loose plank in the wooden floor and he toppled forward, slamming his forehead against a bookshelf and sending a book from the top falling down on top of his head. It hit the ground and sprawled open, while Ferren had to bite back tears of pain as he rubbed his sore noggin.

He bent down to pick up the book, but the artwork on the page fascinated him. He picked it up tenderly, as it seemed the pages were fragile-- it was a wonder the fall hadn't ripped any of them. Pictures of monsters big and small filled the pages, and nonsensical riddles about how to defeat them were captioned beneath and beside them. It seemed to be an old adventurer's guidebook, and as Ferren skimmed the pages, one especially caught his eye.

It had a hand-drawn picture of the entrance to a grand cave, with another drawing of a scabbard imposed over it. Beneath it read a small poem.

The serpent bites its tail where good shall prevail,
and those that follow do lead.
By day and by night, traveler, you shall need might
for the journey 'cross the river Reed.

In a cave far from here there has been placed
since the first of the first of the first first age,
a blade that never dulls and a path that never ends
'cept for those whose fate and the sword's do blend

Where the snake bites its tail shall be beginning and end
What is old shall return and be made new again
Yes, in the cave where this fabled sword lies
A man finds meaning in the thing called life.

"This has to be related..." Ferren thought to himself, before noting where the page was and closing it. He returned to the front and placed the book in front of Linebeck. "I think I want this, too."

Linebeck studied the book, before rubbing his eyes and looking at it again.
"I've never seen this book before, I don't think. Looks old. Some old codger must have donated it or something. Take it, two gold."

Ferren breathed a sigh of relief that the man new nothing of how important that book could be.

« Last edited by dark_wolf_33 on Apr 28th 2012 »

"Alright so twelve gold... um let's see.."

He reached into his pockets and pulled out 10 silver and 10 gold coins then handed them over to Linebeck.

"Alright pleasure doing business with you and quite the grandfather you got there, must be real proud of him.... Right so where to next Mr. Fherren?"

"2 gold pieces for a book like that... Unbelievable..." Cero thought, wondering how the economy of this town could still sustain itself. Of course, it was easily enough to deduce that Linebeck was taking advantage of Ferren's naivety in monetary dealings, among many other things. He thought about offering the boy some advice on the matter, as he himself didn't realize that he'd become some sort of a wiser in these things, but he pulled back at the thought of it at the end. His wasn't as a role of a guardian to the child, but as his protector from harm, and he was to stick to that. He thought about how the others would suffice in handling such a role, especially the woman who introduced herself as Clare. He wondered for a moment as to where she would've veered off to for a moment back then.

Cero paid no curiosity to the book Ferren had just bought, and it would've been good for him to do otherwise.

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Tayus rolled his eyes and watched as Ferren collected his new map and book. He couldn't really blame him for not wanting to haggle, but it seemed unfair to the entire group if he continued to outlay significant money on items like this from now on.
"Remind me to teach you how to get a better deal next time," Tayus said aloud, "Lesson one: when in a small town like this you don't get too many visitors. Those that do show up are just stopping by and know where their next destination is and how to get there. As a result nobody wants these maps, no demand means you can get these things a lot cheaper. I'd say four gold max for what you've just picked up."

As the group exited the store and Tayus began giving Ferren a lesson, the latter was busied being fixated on the book he had just bought. He couldn't believe it literally just fell on his head. Ferren stopped not far from the store as Tayus was finishing his little lecture, before looking up to him and the rest of the group, extremely elated at what he had found.

"What would you say the things were worth if I told you this book said where the sword was?" Ferren actually let out a smile, as he knew this surely meant the journey was nearing its close. It was only a matter of solving the riddle, going there, then going back home. That's what he thought, at least.

Tayus let out a large grin. "I'd say four gold coins," he said simply. "Because it's not like he knew what you wanted the book for, so he wasn't going to overcharge you for it. He was just happy to get rid of the dusty old thing."

He shook his head a little and let out a chuckle, "But enough of that. What does the book say? Where can we find this sword?"

"Well... it's not really solid directions, but the sword it describes sounds too much like the one we're hunting for to be anything different." Ferren flipped open to the page the poem was written on, before taking a deep breath and reading the thing pretty eloquently for such a youngster.

"... Yes, in the cave where this fabled sword lies, a man finds meaning in the thing called life." Ferren closed the book and held it to his side, as they hadn't picked up any bags or equipment yet. "I think all we have to do is find this river, cross it, and it should be easy from there, right?" Being so naive, he didn't stop to think where the river is, where it should be crossed, or even what side to start from when crossing. He was right on one part, however: what little he had already read of the book gave them a sense of direction, something they didn't have beforehand.

« Last edited by dark_wolf_33 on May 1st 2012 »