Month: January 2022

The sun had barely started to rise, but the Pavlov household was already in disarray. The mother of the house, Farrah, was busy wrangling in the youngest three children. Triplets, all born together, and all with the same amount of unrestrainable energy. The father, Gavin, was fairing a bit better. He was already outside with the oldest four. While three were busy training, the youngest, Marvin, was twenty minutes into a motivational lecture.

“Now, you young folk may think that it’s easier these days. There’s not many monsters runnin’ into town, which is good. But that kinda naïve bliss will lose you an arm if you ain’t careful!”

He hits the attack dummy next to him with his sword, causing the dozing teen to jump awake. Gavin sighs, continuing.

“When you join that guild, you’re gonna be in the belly of the beast! You need to be ready for that, Marv. We don’t want you coming back in a box.”

“I know dad, I’m not going out there with my head in my rear or anything.”

Marvin stands up, stretching the lingering tiredness away.

“I’ve even been getting better with this thing just so I can head out there like you did.”

He pulls the rapier from his side, posing with it.

”I’m telling ya, I’m taking this seriously.”

Rolling his eyes, Gavin places his hands on his son’s shoulders. Seeing the worry on his face, Marvin pats his father’s hand.

“I promise I’ll be careful. I wouldn’t be a Pavlov otherwise.”

Gavin takes a moment to look over his son. The boy- no, the man before him, had grown so much as the years had gone on. All the struggled he’d had to face from a young age, from being as small as he was compared to even his younger siblings, had already started to show. He pulls his son into a tight hug, gaining an eager, if slightly shaky, hug right back.

“Be safe out there, son. You’ve got a whole house waitin’ for ya, after all.”

“I will dad, I promise.”

Putting his rapier away, Marvin goes back into the house. Having Farrah check over his bag, he soon gives her and the triplets a hug goodbye. He wasn’t sure they’d be nearly this little when he sees them again, so he takes a moment to look them over before heading back outside. His older siblings were waiting right at the door, all of them quickly sweeping him up. His eldest brother was crying too hard to really say much, but he was sure to get a pretty strong hug in there. The younger two were taking turns shoving different extras into his bag, mostly potions and charms. By the time they freed him, it felt like his bag had gotten twice as heavy. Eventually, Marvin could make his way out of the front gate. Waving goodbye to his family, and hearing them yelling back from almost a block away, he makes his way to the carriage station.

Despite taking the dragon-drawn option, the trip to the guild hall was almost an hour long ride. Marvin didn’t mind the time too much though; his bag was in desperate need of reorganizing. It also gave him time to put his rapier away. While he appreciated how much thought his father put into choosing him a sword he could actually lift, it did little to draw him in as much as his true weapons of choice did. First to be brought out was a silver pistol. While seemingly standard gun at a glance, the purple rings coloring the surface told a different tail. Coupled with the LED screen in place of a barrel, one would be hard pressed to find something like this at a regular gunsmith. After a brief reassembly process, the next weapon, a rifle, was now ready as well. The rifle had a very similar design, the purplish gunmetal not being too off in hue compared to the smaller weapon. The two were made to be a pair. Replacing his scabbard for a holster, he attaches the pistol to his hip, while affixing the rifle to the band hanging on his person, flipping it to his back. He settles into his seat fully now. It was easier to relax now that he felt truly armed.

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The hour went by peacefully, and the guild hall was soon coming into view. The striking appearance of the building could draw the eye of even the most well-travelled noble. The brick walls on the outside were a stark white broken apart with bright and warms colors. Some were gems affixed to it by famous mages, other were painted stones offered up by the young children many adventures brought with them. The build itself was also quite unique. Many new rooms and sections had to be added to accommodate the growing amount of members, which lead to many of them being products of the eras they were built in. It was a sight to behold, and a testament to just how important this place was to the people of Kelique. It was weird to imagine himself potentially frequenting this place so often now.

The carriage lands on the streets near the building, the handler letting the passengers out there instead of the station. A quick glance at the packed corral showed the reason why. Marvin takes a minute to stretch, stepping out of the way of the other passengers. While the ride didn’t take much of a toll on him, the stretches were more for calming his nerves. He looks over to the guild hall again. The area in front was packed with adventurers, all clamoring to get a prospective party together. Part of him was confident in his abilities, and that he’d find a decent party to start with. However, he couldn’t help the uncertainty he was feeling. Still, he straightens himself up and starts walking to the crowd. He’s here now, and he was determined to put his best foot forward. Weaving his way through the crowd, he finds a spot near the building entrance that was relatively clear. It’d take some time to find a group to try and enter, so he takes the chance to really look at everyone who came to join. From fresh graduates of the royal academy to elven warriors from the outskirts of town, the people there were as colorful as the guild hall itself.

Marvin felt himself relaxing at the sight; with this many different faces, it couldn’t be hard to find at least a friend, party or not. He pushes off the wall to start conversing with people. It take a bit to get the hang of breaking the ice, but soon he was chattering right along the other prospects. Eventually, he’s somewhat stuck with two people at his hips: a human named Angelica, and a dark elf named Dresden. The three find their way back to the entrance, sitting against the wall to talk more to one another. Angelica was from the northern part of the country, being from a family of swordsmen much like Marvin. Despite being one of only a few women in her family though, she seemed to cherish the blade more than anyone. It shows even as she sits there, absentmindedly cradling her longsword as she speaks to her new companions.

Dresden was from the southern region, not a common homestead for the kind that live in Kelique. After chatting some more, he reveals that he’s actually a only half dark elf. At first they assumed the other half was human, but he further shares that he’s a quarterling. Moment of surprised silence aside, the other two listen to Dresden talk about his home life. Originally traveling alone with his dark elf mother, he found himself some time ago being ushered into a family of halfling nobles when his father found and reconnected with them. Turns out a good old fashioned misunderstanding was what kept them apart for so long, and they have not stopped rekindling that flame for about ten years now. While he was happy for them and loved them both, he wasn’t shy about admitting that joining the guild was more of an escape than anything. Marvin cringed at his parents’ romantic antics occasionally too, so he couldn’t help sympathizing with Dresden’s romcom-centered angst.

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About a half hour passed since the three started talking, and in that time the crowd had gotten less chaotic. It was a lot easier to add members to one’s party based on who they needed now that everyone had groups themselves together by class. Noticing this, Angelica stands up, dusting herself off a bit to start looking for more member for their own group. Three wasn’t going to cut it when they got further into the forests, she explains Before she gets too far, though, an alchemist comes up to her, almost bouncing with each step. Dresden and Marvin stand up as well now, watching their friend talk to the mystery person for a while. Then, Angelica comes back in a bit of a hurry.

“Guys, guys! We have an offer!”

The alchemist approaches them next, offering his hand to Marvin first. He gives it a firm shake as he speaks.

“Hi there! I heard you all were looking for a party?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. We are.”

“Excellent!”

Now shaking Dresden’s hand, the excited man continues.

“I’ve got a three person party right now too. Would you guys wanna put our groups together?”

The two bemused men look over to Angelica briefly, then back to the alchemist. Dresden answers.

“That’s a nice offer, though it’d probably be good to know who we’re partnering with.”

“O-oh! Right, sorry about that. Let me restart.”

The alchemist, straightening himself up, properly introduces himself. His name was Harold Hirai, and he recently moved to Kelique when his father joined the knight’s order, quickly moving up the ranks to become vice captain. Claiming that he admired his father for being able to get to that point with just his strength alone, he wanted to further his own abilities in order to make a name for himself as well. Forming a party was his way of furthering his research, since he would be able to collect more information about the flora and fauna Kelique had to offer.

“You should meet the other two, come on!”

He eagerly leads the way to a spot farther away from the meeting area, with the three companions soon catching sight of two other adventurers sitting on a bench. On the left was Maverick, a human dark mage, and on the right was Faron, a satyr introduced as a “jack-of-all-trades”. The two wave at the new arrivals somewhat awkwardly; they don’t seem nearly as talkative as their de facto leader.

“Alright, now that we’re all acquainted, we should go get added to the registry.”

Harold comes back up to Marvin again, smiling at him.

“I’m really looking forward to working with you guys!”