PM to join [various] First day on the job

[Ashe]

3rd day of fall 515 8th bell The great Bazaar Ashe stood scowling at letters written in mundane ink on a piece of parchment held above her head by her own fingertips. It was a plea for help from a simple merchant to a prospective mercenary looking for miza to actually make a living and this request is a simple delivery mission. The young woman believed that this was going to be simple when she had approached the bulletin board found in the eastern most part of the strange city. However she had mistaken, as the young woman surrounded herself with merchants sitting behind various tables, carpets, and even separate rooms calling them shops. Ashe looked at each one of them getting a little distracted with their wares trying to piece together a way to deduce the correct stall mentioned on the parchment by the merchandise that laid sprawled about the table. After a few ticks of a bell she looked at the note again, Lloyd's Isurian weaponry, and turned her attention back to the merchants' wares. Each of the stalls around them complemented the goods sitting on top of them but most of them were either filled with soap or kitchenware. None of them were an acceptable form of weaponry, unless someone was really trying to give someone else a bath, or beat someone over the head with a cauldron but regardless not a weapon. At the moment of realization the young woman sighed as she started to walk about the bazaar with her backpack still strapped to her back and hands drooping to her side to the point of almost dropping the parchment. Ashe really wanted to find work today because of the impending winter and she hasn't done anything to prepare for nature's yearly brutality. For a few more chimes the young woman walked until she had found a weapons stall surrounded by people drawing miza from their coin purse and handing it to a bearded man with long dreadlocks just as tall as she is working behind the stall. Perhaps he is the man Ashe was looking for and the young woman quickly made her way next to the stall watching the crowd disperse with the weapons that once laid on the stall. The young woman soon looked up from the weapons when the man asked “Now what brings such an enchanting young lady to my stall? May I interest you with a better made staff than the one you have strapped to you pack?” The first question made Ashe smile at the short man but mentioning a better forged iron staff than the one given to her many years ago at no cost to her did little to impress and she answered “I am lookin' for a stall owner named Lloyd, he also does weapons.” The young woman watched the man scratch his beard and close his eyes in silence for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Ah! Lloyd's Isurian weaponry” He exclaimed before pointing further down the underground hallway and added “He's some ways down there. He's a decent man last I've seen him while dealing with the information booth and he's got a good sense of humor too. May I ask what business you have with him?” The short bearded man with dreadlocks seemed friendly and so Ashe answered not suspecting that he may borrow the idea of using a mercenary to conduct business. “He's looking for help delivering his goods to people in the city so I came lookin' to help for a small fee” said the young woman with a slight twinkle to her eyes “Ah how fascinating, now there he will be have a good day to ya” Said the man as Ashe walked further down the hallway.

[Ashe]

The hallway was filled with different goods sitting on top of stalls manned by some form of merchant and even more patrons looking to purchase said goods. Ashe found it interesting that she had yet to find a single pickpocket taking advantage of the number of people in such a confined space regardless of how mighty the presence of armed guards of slight variation of armor bestowed on the area. Where were all the theives and murderers? Other than the bazaar in the Baroque bay this place would be yet another prime example of a perfect hunting ground despite the fact that there would be a force to be reckoned with, known to her as the knights, and even still she barely knew what this law was. Perhaps it could be touched, picked up, and thrown around a person's head like a sling with a stone held tightly in it's sack. Or it could be an abstract feeling, like blind devotion to one's city, and a desire to see the populace grow in vast numbers. The young woman fiddled with the parchment while casually thinking about the subject of law, while rolling the flat surface of the note into a scroll and unrolling it to read like a page neatly torn from a book. It wasn't long until the young woman heard a 'psst' sound and Ashe quietly stopped in her tracks to look around at the passing crowd around her. What was the source of the sound? Could it be a snake, let loose from it's cage to wreak havoc in the bazaar? If so there would be screaming on top of a stampede of frightened women and weak willed men. After a couple chimes of looking around she noticed a strange dark colored limb waving across the air and a "Hey" coming from another strange man. This man was again a little shorter than her but giving the young woman the impression that he is very muscular underneath the long, dull gray tunic draped around him. She would eagerly meeting with him if it weren't for the strange colored arm and skin but it would be rude to admit it so instead of ignoring him Ashe approached the strange man. "Hello? Are you Lloyd?" Ashe inquired showing the man the parchment, all folded into a scroll, and the young woman was met by a hearty laugh. "Of course, judging by the way you are holding that piece of parchment you have come to rescue me from having to delivery?" The isuran asked with a light tone of voice, Ashe couldn't help but to smile at the way the man put the phrase and she nodded because it was true, She needed the miza to stay comfortable. "Thank you, Madam, I have an order to be delivered to a travelling mercenary man named Veridan in the traveler's row and we believe he will be found in his room in the evening I will have written details about it with the package, and also I will being paying you part of the reward and Veridan will be giving you the other half. Sound good?" The Isuran asked pulling a dark wooden box from within the market stall and passed another piece of parchment with "room 8" engraved on it with the name of the client. The answer to the merchant's question was obvious, Ashe wanted miza and she would do just about anything short of life changing. Like selling herself into slavery even if it's pleasure slavery or becoming a 'companion' during the evening hours which the young woman might actually consider if lust wasn't involved. And so the young woman said "Yes" before placing a few golden rimmed mizas into her coin purse then jogged off with a locked dark wooden box.

[Ashe]

The gates to stormhold castle What could be inside the box? To warrant a delivery by a mercenary whom could be better off dealing with bandits or people who clearly have a bounty for their heads. The question briefly came to her mind and she soon brushed the thought away focusing on the task at hand. However the thought came back in a way that drew her curiosity later. At least until she passed the set of metal gates leaving the castle and filing into the rest of the city. Ashe averted her gaze into the sky to see syna's light looming above then the young woman wandered past the open portcullis and found a section of wall next to the gate. The merchant said nothing about a time to complete the delivery so Ashe slung her backpack to one arm and drew closer to the wall before sitting down against the bricks. The young woman took a deep breath, looking up at the cloud filled sky, and she closed her eyes. It was a beautiful day, compared to the summer season in Sunberth, and she barely missed the heat that came with the anarchic city. It was not long 'till her thoughts swayed to the strange people she found here, more specifically the Isur, and Ashe couldn't figure out what to make of the strange people. They make promises that no harm will come to her but the men look so different than the other blacksmiths she met before leaving Sunberth and each time it became a subject Ashe felt comfortable. At least until she realizes that it is still dangerous outside the walls of each building, even if these knights walk around in their heavy armor, and shiny swords. There will still be violence and the young woman grew up with that concept in mind. For half a bell, Ashe sat against the mortar thinking about the strange being and she came to the conclusion that they are generally really strong if they are a blacksmith. Ashe soon turned her attention to the black box in her lap, it felt heavy for such a small box, and she soon picked it up to hold it next to her ear to hear nothing. She even gave it a shake from side to side and still heard nothing. What secret could be stowed away in that black box that made the package so heavy?

[Ashe]

The mystery of what could be inside made the lock built into the container even more intriguing as she once again peeked into keyhole to find nothing but the darkness created by her head blocking out the sunlight. This frustrated her, how is she going to find out what is inside the box if the container is locked, and so with a frustrated 'hmpfh' the young woman placed the box down next to her then she folded her arms. Pulse angrily raising and eyebrow slightly twitching, Ashe decided to take a moment to think of a calm way to figure out her problem. She could go find a locksmith perhaps away from the great bazaar and politely ask him or her to open the box. But that would present the problem of someone knowing that the lock has been tampered with and also the young woman would have to commission the locksmith to work on the lock. So with that thought she furrowed her eyebrows and closed her eyes pushing away the thought in the process. Perhaps Ashe could find this Veridan and ask him to open the lock so that her curiosity would be sated. At least the young woman would also get paid to actually do the basic job a mercenary could cover and she loosened her eyebrows thinking about it. Perhaps it's a very valuable piece of metal or perhaps a huge amount of golden rimmed miza wrapped unto several packed bundles of so many coins? It made sense, just about any kind of metal and miza are very valuable, At least in her mind. Maybe she'd get lucky and some of those coins could be put towards her living in the city. She'd have to ask very nicely though and even then, she got paid for the first half of the day. The thought of actually thriving in a new, perhaps even more troublesome environment made Ashe smile, and she stood up from her seat against the brick wall then continued to walk towards the entrance of the fortress city.