Project: TheirWorld - Chapter 029 - Part 2

_____________

Strange Fates

_____________

TheirWorld

As it was only ten minutes down the way, she set her mind to do two things: one, build reputation and a relationship with Dawl and the hunters, and two, try to find out more about the corruption that had happened before. Anything at this point was a clue.

While she wasn’t sure what to expect from the guild and this Master Dawl, Guin was ready, to some degree, to give them the benefit of the doubt. Innocent until proven guilty, I suppose. She may have seen guilt on Dawl’s face the night before, but she had also seen shock and pain. If there was more to the story than her interpretation, she had to know what it was before she could make any sort of sound judgement.

However, she had to make whatever she did count. With her work and activities starting up again tomorrow, she shouldn't have a lot of time to actually play for the next few days. She had spent too much time with Alta Noin.

The Hunter’s Guild was apparently a lot busier during the day than it had been at night. It was still quite early in game time, but the area was alive with people working various jobs from weapon upkeep, to the tanning of skin, to the caring of hounds.

Guin’s eyes fell upon the rude jikak man from the previous night and crossed her arms.

“Shall I play with him, Guin?” Liorax appeared, lounging lazily on her shoulder. “It does ever so please me to toy with pigs…”

She watched him as he cared for the hounds. The pig man’s face made her cringe, but the look of mortification on his face made her pity him - and the dogs seemed to love him. “I wish I could say yes,” Guin told the cat on her shoulder. “But I have another job for you.”

Taking to floating in the air uncomfortably close to her face, Liorax’s eyes went wide. “Oh? A job? ...For Death?”

“... Can you actually kill people?” she asked, genuinely uncertain.

“... No,” the cat said in a disappointed voice, then gave a mischievous grin. “Not directly, at any rate.”

Guin shook her head, “Let’s not worry about it for now. What I need you to do is see if you can find the pelt. Don’t touch it, just see if it’s around here somewhere.”

“Snooping, is it?” Liorax did a lazy spin in the air. “An easy task - though a better one for dog, I’d say…”

“Please?” Guin poked his nose. “And if you hear anything relevant, try to get it back to me.”

His tail flipped around. “What do I get out of it?”

“Uh…” Guin paused. She hadn’t thought about that. “A cookie?”

“Oooh,” went the cat. “Very well. I shall accept your offering upon my return. With that, he left in a flash.

Offering, huh? Scanning the area, she found Dawl talking to a group of men dressed all in furs, and began walking through the yard, watching her surroundings as carefully as she could. Surely, the Hunters’ Guild itself wasn’t a bad place; there were plenty of people there who looked quite satisfied with their lots in life, practicing their trades and living peaceful lives. It seemed like a nice community, really.

When Dawl saw her, he sent the men he had been talking to away and approached her with his easy grace. “Hail, little one,” he said with a curt bow. “I fear that we were not properly introduced last night. I am Euen Dawl, Master Hunter of Bade’s Hunters’ Guild. I bid you welcome.”

“I’m Guin Grey,” she told him. “How do you seem to know Pastor Jormund so well?” She played.

He smiled wearily. “That is a long story, and not one for this day,” he said. In her head, Guin tsked as he went on. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, however. If you are here for the pelt, though, I am afraid that I am going to have to disappoint you; no one has yet come forward, and my investigation thus far hasn’t led to anything.”

“I see,” Guin frowned. She did not like his tone, but worse - what he was basically telling her was that she needed to raise her relationship with him to get anywhere. Is this what the main game is going to be like as well? It made her want to tear her hair out. “Then, I have little else to do while I wait,” she began, putting her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels. “You wouldn’t have anything for me to do around here, would you. I can run errands, or if there is something about the pelt I can look in to…”

“For you?” Dawl crossed his arms and stared her down. “Well. We are always in need of hands, I suppose, and mine are tied at the moment. Though I want to stop the corruption before it spreads any further…” He looked around. “Tell you what,” he told her. “We are very busy now because of the town festival soon - ironically,” he began to mutter. “One to pacify the spirits of the forest no one in this bloody town believes in anymore. Nevertheless, there are quite a few mundane tasks to be done on our end. Why don’t you help Garren gather wood in the forest; he can teach you how. You can find him over there,” he pointed to where a muscular man was splitting wood. “If you finish with that, then you can pretty much talk to anyone here and they’ll have something for you to do. A few might even teach you their trade; since it’s just a small town affair, the quality isn’t so important as it is to get things done. In the meantime, perhaps doing these jobs, you can get a few of them to tell you what they know. What say you?” The quest screens popped up, and Guin accepted quickly.

“Then, I’ll go talk to that guy, over there!” she waved in the direction of the wood cutter.

“Off you go, then,” Dawl said with a nod. Not paying him much mind, Guin set off to loosen a few tongues.