On the fifth evening over dinner Branik said we would be approaching a town in a couple of days and I might start to see signs of civilization. Land would be cleared and some farms would start to appear, farmed by some of the braver farmers. Actually, retired soldiers and mercenaries would often break in land at the edges of towns as they generally had the skills to defend it. I was not to engage, or even be seen, if possible. I was to keep closer to the road and on the last day keep with the wagons.

The reduced numbers and wagons would be passed off as a monster attack, but having four spare horses with Imperial branding would be a problem. Kopje was going to take them and skirt the town with Masnachwr’s second in command and the horses loaded with some of the more inflammatory goods, just in case they couldn’t avoid a search. Masnachwr thought these goods might make it hard for him to persuade / bribe an unknown guard. I made it a point to watch Masnachwr closely to see if I could work out some of his skills. I know he had a merchant class which gives attributes in the Mental area, but with all my spying, identifying and Hearing Aid, I hadn’t figured out what else he had. He certainly had several Mental based skills along the lines of persuade and deceive, but I suspected he also has some minor illusion type skill to help hide goods. I knew there was an Illusion class which was strongly Mental based, like the Bard class. I had been enthralled by seeing an illusionist in one of my infrequent childhood visits to Freebourne. I can see something similar, but lower key, being useful for a smuggler, or even a less honest merchant.

Branik and Smeška would be in full armour while in town for two reasons. Firstly to give an intimidating presence. Secondly to hide they were Orcs. Normally only Branik wore a full face helmet, but Kopje and Smeška had purchased them for this contract. They had documentation from the Mercenary Guild and the border crossing to be allowed in Imperial territory, but as Branik said, a bit of paper doesn't mean much, especially when your life is on the line. They are often just overlooked as the strong silent mercenary. A lot of store keepers would refuse to trade with them and that is on top of the general distrust of mercenaries. They would be staying one night in town and I would be the front man for them to get resupplied. Branik would also give me my share of the looted coins so I could get anything I needed. I wouldn’t get paid till the end of the contract. We would be staying at the Mercenary Guild accommodation and room and food was covered in the contract. The others would be staying at a nearby Inn. I spent the rest of the evening quizzing them on local goods and expected prices. I really hadn’t used coins, or made any major purchases in my life. Masnachwr wanted to hire some additional guards at the local Mercenary Guild if possible, so Branik would be spending time there. Smeška would accompany me after the wagons were secured in the “secure compound” at the Inn. Smeška didn’t think much of their security, but they didn’t have a say and they were not responsible for security while it was in the Inn’s compound.

I did see signs of civilization and farming the next day. We camped on the edge of a farm and some of them traded with the farmer for some fresh produce. It would take us almost all day to get to the town, called Yelets, so we would actually spend two nights there. Pip disappeared for a while and I think he might have helped himself to the farmer's eggs. I didn’t ask or want to know.

Kopje and the horses left well before dawn. I was to stay with the wagons, so it was a lazy day for me. We approached the town gate mid afternoon. I was positioned at the back of the first wagon and I watched carefully as Masnachwr interacted with the guards. There were definitely skills in play. Truth Sensing was flaring warnings frequently. I caught the gratuity pass hands, but only because I was watching for it and I had reasonable perception. He brought the corporal to the back of each wagon and as he looked in I felt another skill in play. I had the strong impression from Identify that one more point in Spiritual perception would enable a skill to show me more. I had no spare points to allocate. None of my classes had levelled since the quarry, only Skills. I was very disappointed being so close but ending with nothing. I had a quick look at my stat sheet while Masnachwr was paying the regular entrance fee and filling in the paperwork.

Class

Hunt

QW

Spy

Total

Type

Attribute

Level

4

9

4

Constitution

Physical

Strength (PS)

9

10

2

18

1

40

83.0

Agility (PA)

12

3

4

4

23

Poison R +4

Perception (PP)

11

0

8

1

20

Crush R +12

Mental

Strength (MS)

9

11

2

22

56.0

Agility (MA)

12

1

2

4

19

Pain R +9

Perception (MP)

11

0

2

4

15

Spiritual

Strength (SS)

10

1

0

9

20

46.0

Agility (SA)

8

0

2

2

12

Perception (SP)

10

0

0

4

14

Totals

92

26

20 27 20 185

Free points

0

0

Bond: Pip, Desert Viper. Skills: Venom Bite, Quick Strike, Granite Bones, Crushing Resistance +12

Skills:

Novice: Fishing 3, Skinning 4, Cooking 1, Butchering 1, Spear 1, Lock Pick 4, Far Sight 4, Truth Sensing 2, Camouflage 2, Unarmed Combat 4, Granite Bones 2, Throwing Weapons 2

Apprentice: Identify 7, Trapping 8, Hearing Aid 9, Animal Bond 7, Bow 5, Deceive 7, Small Blades 6, Tracking 6,

Journeyman: Stealth 13, Hammer 12

Affinity: Granite

Spiritual Perception was at 14. I had hoped to level the hunter Class with all the scouting, but not yet. Just like Skills the classes needed something extra to move to the next category. Both Hunter and Spy were waiting for that something extra.

We moved the wagons through the town to an Inn called the “Thirsty Traveller”. After securing the Wagons Branik, Smeška and myself walked to the Mercenaries Guild which was a compound near the exit we would take in two days' time. I had never been in a Mercenaries Guild before. Branik wanted me to take the lead here too for now. While the Mercenaries Guild should be accepting of anyone with a membership in good standing, which could be translated to paid the annual fee, they were staffed by local people with the same prejudices as the area they were in. If word got out Orc mercenaries were here it could make the following day more difficult than necessary. At the end of the day they were all mercenaries and if someone was willing to pay for information there would probably be some takers.

Branik got us in with her membership token. We entered into a wide walkway. On the left was the Jobs area with boards up for listings. At the back of the area were counters for completed jobs. Some jobs were contracted totally through the Mercenary Guild, for a fee. These jobs the client paid the mercenary guild upfront and you worked directly for the guild and were paid by the guild. These types of jobs were usually the hands off type for the client. Monster extermination, private courier and deliveries, harvest contracts for crafting ingredients etc. Other jobs were more where the Mercenary Guild facilitated a meeting, and you negotiated with the clients directly. Escort runs, like the Mothers Tusks were currently on, personal and property protection etc. The army sometimes posted scouting or supply line protection jobs. The less legal jobs were usually negotiated directly and quietly through an agent of the client. Assassinations, drugs, smuggling, slavery etc. Some of which might be legal in some parts of the world and illegal in others. It was the Mercenary Guild and if you had the coin there was probably someone to take the job.

Mercenaries usually banded together into groups as you had to be very highly skilled to operate alone. There were some specialist couriers with fast mounts and high riding skills who operated alone, but most jobs needed a group. If you were between groups, joining a contract with a group who needed more people was a good way to increase your reputation and possibly get offered a longer contract. These would be the sort of people we would be looking for, but they came in all sorts of sizes, with all sorts of skills and all sorts of reliability. It would be Branik’s job to pick the suitable ones. She was in charge of security.

We went to the counter to post a job on behalf of Torgovlya Enterprises for escort of wagons to Hrothgar leaving in two days. Interviews would be held in Training Yard 4 at 3pm tomorrow. We paid the fee to post the advert and book the training yard and a small extra for the Guild to get the word out to reliable people who may be available. I did all this with Branik and Smeška acting the strong silent types at my back, still with their helmets on. Branik was planning to be a fully visible Orc tomorrow at the interview to weed out the ones with negative reactions and we were leaving the following morning so it shouldn’t matter with word getting out then. We also booked accommodation and meals for two nights, with room service. I got some local information as well including the location of the communal baths down the street. I was looking forward to that.

Opposite the Jobs hall was a tavern area. The crowd looked rough and unkempt, as you would expect. Spirits seemed high and a lot of laughter was heard. Beyond that I was told there were rooms for games of skill and chance. Private meeting rooms could be booked along with the private training areas. There was a sparring area behind the Tavern for those who got into disagreements. Twice a week there were organised fights there for those who wanted to test their skills against each other. There was a large communal training area, free for members. You could hire training equipment, weapons and trainers. I perked up when I heard about the trainers, but I would not have time here and one lesson is usually not enough. I might still look into it as I need to level Bow. In the building behind the training areas there were Guild craftsmen and a Guild market.

I left Branik and Smeška to head up to their rooms and get their armour off, while I went to find the local baths. I hadn’t been in a town this size since I had been in Freebourne as a kid. Everything was new and different. I was watching everything I could, gawking like a country yokel. But then I was a country yokel. My high perception meant I was aware of things a normal country yokel wasn’t, like the pickpocket across the street, and when they crossed the street obviously heading for the country yokel, I caught and held their eye for a second and they backed off. I was identifying everyone I could. Interestingly, Identify failed to work on the pickpocket. The smartly dressed man at the fruit stall looked at me sharply when I Identified him. It only came back with a vague idea of a merchant, but he obviously had a skill that warned and protected him from my skill. I nodded in apology. I am pretty sure he was committing me to memory.

The Bath House also offered a laundry service which I accepted and paid for. They also offered a “Personal Washing Service.” I could choose from a selection of “Personal Washers” available of either sex. Services to be negotiated at the start. One look at the Personal Washers and I could tell they were slaves. I declined and a lot of the pleasure went out of the bath I had been looking forward to. I did enjoy being clean and a soak, but the realities of being in an Empire town had crashed my party. Pip wasn’t impressed with the bath and the high humidity. He didn’t like it at all. I guess he is a Desert Viper.

I got back to the Guild for dinner and decided to eat in the Tavern rather than my room. Everything was still new, but I was much more subdued and wary. Identify levelled, finally being used. It would be a challenge, but I was hoping to get it to Journeyman level before leaving town.

“Hello, son. Can we join you?” I looked up warily. The speaker was an older man in worn leather with a well used weapon. He was accompanied by a younger level 9 Warrior according to Identify. Identify failed on the older man. The younger man was carrying three flagons.

“Sure,” I said warily. “I am almost finished and you can have the table,” I continued.

“Actually, we would like a chat,” he replied. “We bought a round of drinks,” he said, indicating the three flagons.

“Well, that would depend on what the chat is about,” I replied as they sat down anyway and a flagon was pushed in front of me.

“It is about the Job you posted this afternoon,” he replied. “We are puzzled about some of the details.”

“And who is this “we”?” I asked.

“My apologies,” he said. “I am Adrian Longstrider and this is Warren Carter.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said automatically while my brain whirled at high speed. “More details on the job will need to wait for the interview tomorrow afternoon.”

“Indeed,” he said. “But I find it strange that the job for a respectable company like Torgovlya Enterprises is posted by a Level 9 Quarry Worker, who is not a Guild member and who is reluctant to share his name, and was accompanied by two much higher warriors, after they apparently suffered loss getting here. You can see where the questions might come from can’t you?”

Truth Sensing was dormant. I wouldn’t trust it working on this guy anyway and the younger one was staying quiet. My furiously working brain could only come up with two options here. Either he is interested in the job and the anomalies flagged that things may not be what they seem. Meaning he wants out of the empire (or maybe to get someone out of the empire, perhaps the young fellow?) without too many questions. Or he was an investigator for the Empire here to stomp on irregularities.

“I really am going to have to refer you to either the wagon master, who is staying at the Thirsty Traveller, or wait until the interview time and take it up with the head of security, who will be there.” I deflected.

“Yes,” he said, “I am going to have to do that. It is obvious you are far too intelligent to actually be a level 9 Quarry Worker, and your Mental Strength is way too strong for that. Yet there are gaping holes in your story, it is like this is the first time you have done this.” They got to their feet. “If you are ever interested in levelling your actual skills then look me up sometime. Good evening to you, enjoy the drink.” he said and they walked away.

I sat there silent for quite a while, mulling over that conversation. He had obviously been testing me in some way during the conversation, and had not got past my highest class information. I hadn’t detected anything. I didn’t think he worked for the Empire as they would have just taken me in for questioning if I refused to answer.

I decided some immediate investigation was in order. I slipped out the back of the Tavern and over the wall of the compound and into the night.