Explanation of the world and its inhabitants'

Explorers

While explorers can be defined as many things, the simplest explanation of their existence is that they are a form of a registered mercenary. They handle a variety of jobs from the subjugation of monsters to the escorting of caravans.

To call oneself an explorer, you must register with either the explorers' organization or one of the sub guilds within the organization. After registering at a guild, you may take requests either from the sub guild you registered with or from the local branch of the explorers' organization. If you are not registered with a sub-guild, you can only take requests from the local office of the primary organization. Note that the sub guilds will have more specific requests, but the primary organization will have a greater variety for those wishing to test their skills.

All explorers are ranked with a system to keep track of how trustworthy they are as well as what level of request the organization believes they are capable of completing. Each member is given a small card with the information of their rank, completion rate, name, and any additional information they provided during registration.

The ranks are as follows, Red, Brown, Green, Yellow, Blue, Copper, Silver, Gold, and White. This information is displayed via the color of one's card, the border indicating one's accrued trust with the organization. In contrast, the body of the card shows how the organization ranks your capabilities to complete requests. Every new explorer will start with both a green border and body to their card. Failure to complete a request or divulge relevant information can result in your rank falling into brown, and subsequent failure will have you fall into the red. Successful completion of requests will raise one's rank. While more ranks exist, they are restricted to those who specialize in a particular type of request.

I slipped into a small alley away from the eyes of the busy streets. Using the minor imperfections of the brick walls to climb up, I made my way onto the roofs of the buildings. I lept from roof to roof, making my way to what appeared to be a clock tower in the distance.

The city was noisy and chaotic. The sound of the large factory engines, people, and the various familiars and beasts mixed into a cacophony of noise, leaving me slightly bewildered. The cities many avenues of travel were a constant stream of people, and carriages, each dot a person going about a life that no one else truly knew. "So this is what people can become when they are left to grow on there own."

From my vantage point atop the tower, I saw many things, the billowing pillars of smoke that indicated a train coming to the city from some far off local, the small deals made at food stalls for a bit more meat, the seedy back ally gangs eyeing their marks. I took in everything from the training grounds the guard used to the guild houses used by the explorers. I observed the people as they each made choices, some bad, some good. I watched the lively capital for some time just taking in the full extent of the city for the first time since arriving.

I remained on the tower for some time before I returned to the ground. Before I walked back into the crowds of the streets, I took a moment to weave a small portion of my already meager reserve of mana into a small spell formation. The arrow of energy formed by the spell pointed me towards my current objective.

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I arrived in front of a storefront, its windows proudly displaying a variety of creatures, some rare or odd, others just famous. The sign of the store read Fargo's Familiars in clean ornate letters. The walls painted a dull shade of brown, but the creatures themselves a variety of bright colors. The shop wasn't overly large or small, just at the bink of what one man could handle alone. None of the animals on display looked abused or neglected, but none contained the energy of their wild counterparts, most choosing to sleep or groom themselves. I took in the appearance of the shop, then checked the small arrow in my palm to clarify that this was my destination before entering the shop.

Fargo was feeding some of the animals when he heard the bell for the door. Turning to greet, the customer Fargo began his well-practiced introduction. "Hello, dear customer, I am Fargo. How may I be of assis- tance?" Fargo was momentarily stunned by the actions of the cloaked figure.

Most customers spoke with Fargo before browsing the creatures available for purchase, preferring to get expert advice on what familiar would suit them best. While some did have a particular species in mind already, they still spoke with Fargo to get the location of what they desired, not the person who Fargo now followed into the interior of the shop. The individual had completely ignored Fargo and headed further into the shop as if they knew exactly where to find what they wanted.

The cloaked figure stopped in front of a particular cage, then raised one hand to point at the creature inside and another to display a bizarre weave of magic letters to Fargo. "How much for this one?"

Fargo considered the particular cage, seeing a rare subspecies of winged serpent with blue and purple scales, and a small crystal embedded in its forehead. This serpent was one of Fargo's more troublesome critters. Any customer who had ever shown interest in this particular serpent had needed medical attention for the bites and scratches they soon received. Most of the serpents brood mates had already found homes, but this one remained stubborn and uncooperative, leaving Fargo stumped about what to do with him.

"Uhh, dear customer, I cannot in good conscious recommend you purchase this one as a familiar. He is known to be rather aggressive to almost everyone, including me, at times." Fargo said while wringing his hands, remembering the various wounds inflicted by the serpent.

"How much for this one?" The message did not waver, vanish, or change, continuing to display the same thing as before, while the individual in black unwaveringly stared at the serpent.

"Dear customer, I do have one other from his brood. If you would, be so kind as to follow me, I can show yo- WHAT ARE YOU DOING." Fargo had started making his way to another section of the store to show the cloaked individual another creature when the man had opened the cage and reached his arm inside.

Fargo watched in horror as the winged serpent moved faster than he, towards the arm of the figure. Expecting that he would have to give treatment to wounds he had seen a few too many times, Fargo was shocked when the serpent merely crawled up the arm of the figure to rest upon their shoulder.

"How much for this one?" The masked individual finally turned to face Fargo showing the message once more.

"..... 500 trin." Fargo didn't believe his eyes, in all his years owning this shop never once had a creature taken so quickly to a new person, no matter how well suited they were for one another. For one that had been so aggressive to all others to roost on the shoulder of the masked figure willingly was something entirely different.

The masked figure quickly handed over the correct amount and immediately headed for the door, leaving Fargo stunned in front of the now-empty cage.

Shaking away his stupor, Fargo chased after the figure attempting to get their attention before they went too far. "DEAR CUSTOMER, YOU FORGOT THE FAMILIAR CONTRACT," Fargo yelled as he ran out into the street, but Fargo found no sign of the two outside his shop. "Oh, I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the rear," Fargo said, hanging his head.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. I arrived faster than we discussed, and you know it." I wove the words in front of the small creature on my shoulder. "Besides, how was I supposed to know you'd end up at a shop like that?"

The small serpent stared at me with the closest approximation of doubt its face could recreate.

"Alright, I could have arrived faster, but before you get upset at me, I think you need an updated on our current objective."

The small serpent tapped it's tail against my back to show that it was waiting for my explanation, but the look of doubt did not leave its face.

"Well, old friend, let me fill you in while we make way to our new party. You won't believe who the leader is."