The morning was colder than usual for the season, and a thick mist filled the streets of Valor and the fields around it. Though technically not working in the inn anymore, Anastacia felt like she owed Rosie something and had gotten up early to help the innkeeper with the breakfast preparations. Rosie had told her that she could wait until the next quest before she needed to start paying for the room, so Anastacia could spend her cut of yesterday’s reward on some clothes and gear. Though the shops were probably already open, she didn’t feel like going outside until the mist cleared and chose to stay in the warm kitchen for a while longer.

“Still feeling like you can overcome your fear of blood?” Rosie asked and handed the necromancer a cup of coffee.

Anastacia savored the first sip for a while before answering. “I’m not afraid of it, blood is just really disgusting. I think it’ll just take a while to figure it out; though I’m still going to use necromancy out there, it’s way too useful to just ignore it.”

The innkeeper gave her a pat on the head. “You should still learn how to use a dagger and a bow properly, just enough to at least defend yourself from a sudden attack. Max is probably the person who can help you with that the most.”

Anastacia remembered seeing a pair of daggers on the elf’s hips and peeked into the tavern to see if he was up yet but wasn’t able to see any member of the trio.

“Those three left on a quest yesterday, it’s by the coast so it’ll take a couple of days at least.” Rosie said and tossed some more firewood into the stove. “Something about giant crabs, I think.”

The necromancer sighed and returned to her seat, she couldn’t wait for a proper quest of her own. Something that was actually supposed to be slightly more intense and not just take a turn for the worse. After Gilbert had returned last night, they had agreed that the assets Emilia would bring with her overweighed her annoying, drunken behavior, so she had been accepted into the party. With the three of them, they should be able to take on some intermediate quests without too much trouble.

But first, Anastacia needed some gear, something slightly more protective than a plain dress, even if she wasn’t supposed to be the one to get in harm’s way, something light that could protect her from a stray cut would go a long way. “Where can I get something that looks cool and ideally isn’t black?”

“There’s a small leather workshop on the main street, only a few buildings from the market. You could get a leather vest, better boots that don’t ruin your feet when you need to walk for a few days in a row, a belt that has enough pouches for a few odds and ends and some proper gloves – oh, and a cloak, you should have one before you need to sleep outside when it’s cold for the first time.” Rosie listed and peeked into the tavern to see if it was filling up yet.

“I’m still a bit hazy on the whole money thing, but I think I can get most of that.” Anastacia said while jingling her purse. Her first priority was still getting some regular clothes, as she didn’t have that many to begin with and had already lost some after arriving to Valor.

After finishing her coffee as well as a refill, Anastacia deemed that it was warm enough outside and she should just get the shopping out of the way. She placed her cup into the washing basin and excused herself.

“If you’re on your way out, could you also toss that drunkard out of my inn? She has to rent a room if she wants to sleep here.” Rosie asked and waved to the necromancer.

Emilia was lying down in the corner of the tavern, surrounded by a new set of wine bottles. Though at first glance she looked fine, when she got up to greet Anastacia and emptied one of the bottles next to her, the necromancer started to wonder whether letting the devotee into the party was such a great idea.

“Get up, Rosie says you need to rent a room or leave.” Anastacia said coldly and started arranging the empty bottles on a table.

“How cold of her! But fine, fine, fine, even though the service here leaves something to be desired, I shall rent a room here – as soon as I balance my finances.” The drunken devotee declared and started to look around for something. “Have you seen my mace?”

“Rosie took it last night, after you tried to heal her attitude, we can get it back later.” Anastacia said and felt bad watching Emilia fight the vertigo as she stumbled up. “I know I’m going to regret this, but do you want to go shopping for gear with me?”

Emilia looked delighted to hear that. “Why of course, tiny necromancer! I know quite a bit about quality armor after all!” She exclaimed and forcibly hugged Anastacia.

“Can you not call me that? Just say Anna or Anastacia.” The necromancer sighed and pushed off Emilia, worried that the stench of alcohol would catch on her clothes.

Emilia grabbed a bottle that still had some wine in it from the floor and escorted the necromancer outside. On the way to the workshop, she bombarded Anastacia with annoying questions, almost like she was trying to forcibly befriend the necromancer, all the while sipping from the bottle every now and then.

“Why are you here? I mean in Valor. Is the church trying to spread here?” Anastacia asked, tired of answering the devotee’s questions.

The perpetual smile on Emilia’s face died down. “I have nothing to do with the church anymore, trust me. Those lying heretics have left the light of My Lady Sylvia long ago and now just keep up the act for money and power. Leaving that wretched place allows me to better serve Lady Sylvia.” She explained in a sudden, serious tone. “I chose you because I need a competent party to get on the guild’s good side and maybe one day get the permission for a small temple of my own. One that’s based on joy and helping one another, instead of horrible bigotry and greed.”

Anastacia was surprised by the serious answer, enough for it to improve her opinion of Emilia slightly. She may have been an annoying drunk, but her motives seemed honest and good – not that they would help her when the guards see her walking around with a wine bottle so early in the morning. “And why all the wine?”

“Do you know that small little voice in your head that tells you what’s right or wrong? Well the voice in my head isn’t mine.” Emilia sighed, looked at the sky and emptied her bottle. “The wine silenced it for a while, now it just makes it easier to handle until I figure out what’s true and what isn’t.”

Their new party member hearing voices in her head undid some of the work her earlier answer had done and didn’t exactly instill confidence in the drunken devotee.

“Of course, I can stop if it’s a problem during quests, I think.” Emilia shrugged.

Their awkward conversation ended when Anastacia noticed the shop Rosie had talked about. It was a rather small establishment in the corner of a building. Above the door was a sign that read ‘Green hide’, and the windows had a few sets of leather armor on display.

Emilia pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the window. “Orcish leatherwork, huh? It’s not a bad choice for a low budget. They make their leather simple and sturdy, so don’t expect much in the way of intricate patterns or extra features.” She explained and headed inside with Anastacia.

Inside the shop was a small counter with a gruff looking older orc behind it, working on something. The shopkeeper took one look at Anastacia and returned to his work. “Sorry, child, but I don’t make dresses or the like.” He mumbled.

“That’s alright, I’m here for something that might actually have a chance to save my life.” Anastacia said and looked at the armor on display.

The orc seemed surprised and stopped working. “Really now? I had you pegged as a child, but if it’s armor you’re looking for you’ve come to the right place. I have a decent selection of everything pint-sized, so what can I get you?”

“I need a vest, boots, gloves and a belt.” The necromancer listed.

It didn’t take long for the orc to find the items among the gear on the shelves of the shop, every now and then he glanced at Anastacia to make sure he had the right size and shape picked. He carefully placed them on the counter in front of the girl and gestured for her to take a look.

“You’re a bit lanky, so you can’t wear things meant for dwarven folk, so instead I think the sizes meant for childlings should go well for you.” He explained while Anastacia wiggled the vest on. “It has some steel plating on the shoulders and the collar, not really what people who are expecting to get hit would wear, but it’ll stop your average blade or a set of teeth.”

At first Anastacia had thought that the vest was heavy to carry, but once she had it on, the weight disappeared, and she was able to move around freely. Just like Emilia had said, it was plain looking but felt like it could take a beating, and above all else, it fit perfectly.

“There’s a few dyed versions left if the regular leather color isn’t what you’re looking for. Personally, I think black would match well with your fair complexion.” The shopkeeper said and returned to the shelf he had taken the vest from.

“Actually, I was thinking-“ Anastacia said but was interrupted by the devotee.

“I agree! Black is definitely her color, and it goes well with basically anything you might wear under it!” Emilia said excitedly.

Not feeling like fighting the two about it, Anastacia accepted her fate as a necromancer in ever so stereotypical black attire. “Fine, I’ll take it in black. Can I try the other stuff?” She sighed.

The orc made sure the boots were shiny when he handed them to Anastacia, along with the belt and gloves. Everything fit her perfectly, though they had to punch an extra hole into the belt so it didn’t fall off.

Anastacia walked around for a bit and kicked the air a few times to make sure the boots would stay on. Though it wasn’t much, having some armor made her feel like an actual adventurer, so she decided to take the entire set, though regrettably in all black. The total cost for them was around two thousand gold, which the necromancer could have afforded, but Emilia somehow managed to negotiate the price down by two hundred.

With the remaining money, they were able to buy some basic clothing from one of the stands in the market on their way back to the inn, just so Anastacia could finally toss out her old Mournvalleyan clothing and fit in to Valor properly.

As they were browsing the selection on some of the other stands, they ran into Gilbert, who had been sent out of the inn on some errands by Rosie.

“If you got all the gear you need, we could just go and get us a new quest?” The old adventurer suggested.

Anastacia perked up. “What?! Right now? An actual quest and not something boring?” She asked and grabbed Gilbert’s sleeve.

Gilbert laughed. “Aye, when I went by the guild office last night, there was a quest that caught my eye. Something about a village being attacked by an unknown creature, 3 people dead so far.”

The necromancer’s eyes shined more than ever as she rushed though the crowd to get to the office before the quest would get taken by someone else. Luckily the notice was still up on the wall when she made it there, she had to jump to reach it but managed to pluck it from the wall before Gilbert and Emilia caught up with her. While waiting in line to get to the counter, Anastacia swayed back and forth, unable to stay still for a second.

“Are you here to accept a quest?” The eerily familiar looking, yet slightly different than the previous clerk asked when the party finally reached the front of the line.

Anastacia slammed the notice on the counter in excitement and grinned. “YES! We’d like this one.” She declared grandly and pushed the notice though the slot int the glass panel separating the clerk from the adventurers.

“I see.” The crystal horned official said and glared at Gilbert, clearly suggesting that he needed to calm the necromancer. “The village of Angarast has been under attack and the local governor has asked for the guild’s aid. The reward you receive will be based on your level of success: ten thousand for identifying and locating the threat and additional thirty thousand for stopping the attacks.” She recounted the information on the notice. “Please identify yourself.” The clerk said and pointed at a pearl stand on the counter while sliding a small glass card into a slit on her side of it.

Each of the adventurers popped in their glass pearls and waited for them to flash orange and dim back down again. Once the whole party was done, the clerk took out the glass card and placed it into a drawer behind her, that was already full of them.

“First quest as a party? The guild wishes you luck and expects nothing but success.” The official stated monotonously and bowed. “Be safe and get out of the line to let the next party to the counter.”