{Guild Hall — Afternoon — 14:47}
The guild hall was quiet, the kind of quiet that emphasized the squeak of a clerk's pen and the heavy thud of a merit stamp. Sunlight cut through the tall windows, illuminating motes of dust above long, scarred tables…
The Hall was mostly empty with the long wooden tables scattered with only a few stragglers.
There were long empty tables around the place. They were mostly empty except a few individuals who were discussing something with small maps opened in front of them. The clerks present were doing some paper work.
Two individuals stood in front of the guild board which had a few papers wedged on the wooden board. The papers were contracts for jobs.
The guild board had the guild's name on top, called the "The Efficiency Syndicate"
One of them, the boy, seemed to be around 5 '8 with a lean and wiry body, with light-brown messy hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a brown fitted, slightly worn jacket. With short sleeves that reached his elbow. Inside the jacket was a white T-shirt. Black trousers and a pair of simple brown shoes. He had his hand in the pocket of his jacket.
Next to him was a girl around 5 '6 with deep ginger hair tied to a ponytail that reached her upper back and had light yellow eyes. She seemed to be athletic, wearing a simple blue T-Shirt, black trousers with shoes that looked the same as the boy's. She had her arms crossed.
Both of them seemed to be in their early twenties.
Boy: He sighed, "Looks like it got updated, now we'd need three more people."
Girl: Nudged him with her elbow, "You mean to say one, we're already two. We need a minimum of three…"
Boy: Glanced at her, "Y–Yah, that's what I meant."
Girl: "No you didn't!" She glares at him. "Hey, no time to argue and think of what we should do now."
Boy: "First of all, I'm not even raising my voice—" The boy noticed her jaws clinched, he cleared his voice before continuing. "I… yeah so… My dear friend, Shirin. What were you saying?"
Shirin: The girl named Shirin spoke again, "As I was saying we'd need to look for another member to join us, if we need that quest to be done. Get it?"
Boy: The boy stared at her for a moment, maybe a moment too long… "I already knew that…" he muttered loud enough for her to hear.
Shirin: She rubbed her temples. "Yeah, yeah." She sighed, "Now what do we do? We came here running worrying that someone else might take the quest and now here we find out that it's updated."
With her arms on her hips she turned her gaze back on the board. "Let's see, if there are three silver needed, we'd need another silver or a bronze. Atleast… Now what do we do…?"
Boy: "Um, we recruited someone." He said in a sarcastic tone.
Shirin: She turned to him and raised her eyebrows, "And whom do we recruit? Any ideas?"
Boy: "A silver rank—" he said in a sarcastic tone but his words were cut off by Shirin.
Shirin: "—I'll break your jaw…" she clinched her fist. To which the boy raised his hands defensively and took a step back with a smirk on his face.
She clinched her jaw tight, "Listen here Riven, we're doing this for you." When she said that the boy, Riven, his hands got loose and he dropped them. He nodded and let out a low, "I know." Which was barely audible.
Shirin continued, "First of all, we got here late because of you. Second, you were the one who said to rush. And third, we're doing this for you. You need that monster drop, not me."
Riven: Hearing that his shoulder dropped and he turned to look back at the board. His eyes were on a specific contract paper.
CONTRACT UPDATE: GL-447
Job: Get one Gloomspine Lotus (must be intact).
Client:The Syndicate
Pay:6,000 Crowns + 90 Merit Points
New Danger Level: 5 (Increased)
What Changed (The Bad News):
· It's now Sorrowing Mists season in the Gloomwater Shallows.
· The mists cause total blindness most of the day and mess with your mind/maps.
· The Gloomspine Lurker (Alpha) is now more aggressive, has a bigger territory, and hunts with its family.
· The lotus only blooms during the "Quiet Hour"—the brief time the mists thin. This is also the Lurker's main hunting time.
What We Need (The Requirements):
· Minimum Team Rating: 5
· Required Skills: Mist navigation, advanced stealth, mental resistance, fast & precise harvesting.
Bottom Line: Due to the sudden change in season this just got a lot harder. In further notice there may be some changes.
"We just need that flower. Just that and Jude will make the treatment… But we… First we need an additional member…" After saying that a frown appears on his face.
"But who?" Asked Riven.
Shirin: "That's the problem." She follows up with her own words without missing a beat.
Beside the board was a ledger of names. Names of those who were registered in the guild. The ledger had many names with their rank, and their specialty. In the rank were letters, that being: P, G, S and B. And specialty had symbols, of many kinds.
On top of the ledger a short note that talked about the ranks:
Note: "The ranks are based on efficiency and not strength."
Just next to that note were about the ranks, which had points.
Platinum, P: 6
Gold, G: 4
Silver, S: 2
Bronze, B: 1
And among the names in the name list were Riven and Shirin, with silver rank. And in the specialty spot Riven had a sword and a goat's face. While Shirin only had a sword on her.
Shirin sighed. "We won't be able to do anything without a third member. Even one bronze would make it possible."
Riven: He hesitately nodded, then "Ya. A single Bronze. A single point that stands between us and that contract." He lowers his head that looks back up to her.
He cleared his voice. "Actually, that report is just an estimate and we may still be able to take down that monster and—"
Shirin: "Oh, is that so? Well, tell me. Even if we had the capabilities to beat that thing, we'd first need to know where to look for it. And the guild doesn't provide the info, or the location until we qualify."
Riven was again cut off mid sentence and just turned around to face away from her. He nods and mutters a low, "Yea".
Her eyes softened and placed her right hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't lose hope." Though her voice hadn't softened yet had the hint of worry in it. "... Hey, it also said there may be some changes in the future. If we wait, it may be reduced to four. And we'd be able to take the quest."
Riven: Hearing that his shoulder only dropped lower and back slouched as his head lifts up to look at the ceiling of wood.
"I hope it does."
Shirin: "Let's go take a seat."
Shirin grabs his hand and takes him to an empty table. Seated there Riven falls and rests his head on the table and covers his face with his hands. She sighed as she leaned back on the chair.
For the moment it was all silent except the few low voices around them. She didn't pay any attention to them until one. "Rustwood" Someone said that name and it suddenly pulled Shirin's attention.
Rustwood? Have I heard that name before? Who said it?
She wasn't sure who said it, but with a glance to her left and right… There was no one. But when she glanced back she saw two men talking to themselves.
Men1: He had black hair and a beard, wearing a black jacket. He was leaning forward, his eyes were on a notebook, "Hey, you heard that bartender, Rustwood. His daughter may actually retire for real this time."
Men2: The other one with brown hair and no bears and a simple black T-Shirt was leaning back on the chair, "Shut up. Those rumors have been going around for a while and every time we think that she'd retire for good she attends another day."
Back to Shirin she was facing the right front but was listening to their words… While Riven is still resting his head on the table.
Shirin: Rustwood…? Oh, yes. Isn't she a platinum rank? What was her name again…? Calira Rustwood!
Shirin glanced towards the ledger again, and then at Riven, with a smirk on her face.