It was a dark, stormy night in the province of Atarium, only contrasted by the soft, warm glow of the lights of Braith. The town was mostly quiet, save the steady sound of rain and the occasional thunder. The streets were empty, except for one lone drow by the name of Reth-Hazul. He calmly walked through the desolate streets, rain falling gently onto his already soaking cloak, until he approached an inn. He walked under the old, swaying sign outside of the door before stopping. He reached into his pouch, retrieving a crumpled up piece of paper. Unfolding it, he read it over once again;

WANTED

Adventurers to retrieve

an ancient artifact.

Any race or specialty

Reward proportional to success

Meet at The Swaggering Stallion

on the night of Nirgiistt 16th

Ask for Alex

Clutching the paper, Reth walked into the old tavern. The noise of the patrons quieted a bit as they got a look at the newcomer. Ignoring the strange looks and glares, Reth removed his hood and walked to the bar.

"What can I get for ya?" the innkeeper asked.

"A bottle of ale," Reth replied curtly

The innkeeper grabbed a bottle from the shelf and handed it to Reth, who, in turn, paid the man. Reth slipped the ale into a pouch on his belt, and looked back at the bartender.

"While I have your attention," Reth said, still staring at the innkeeper, "I'm looking for Alex."

The innkeeper simply pointed to a table in the corner of the room. Reth looked at the small group gathered around it.

"Thanks for the drink," Reth said as he walked towards the table.

He sat in one of the open seats at the far end, assuming the head is where their host would situate themself. He began to analyze his compatriots. Near the head, seated on his side of the table was a dwarf in splinted armor, with his arms crossed. Around his neck hung a silver holy symbol on a chain. Great, a religious fanatic, Reth thought. The dwarf just sat there quietly, apparently taking in his situation. On his immediate right sat a green female dragonborn, who was in the middle of a conversation with the shardmind sitting across from him. Reth only heard bits and pieces of their discussion, as it was of no interest to him. Next to the shardmind, sat a human, Naazian by the look of him, making small talk with the rakshasa on his left. Reth's eyes widened at the sight. He'd never seen such an enormous rakshasa before. The beast was huge, well over 6 ft tall and he must have weighed a few hundred pounds. As Reth took in the sight, a voice from across the table spoke up.

"So, everyone here for Alex?" asked the shardmind in a rough, gravelly voice. The question was mostly met with nods.

"I am Melus," the shardmind stated, "what is everyone else's name?"

"You can call me Rev," replied the dwarf, "and I'm a paladin, in case anyone was wonderin"

"We weren't," said the Naazian, which was greeted by a short glare from the dwarf.

"What about you, desert dweller? Got a name?"

"Fabrizi, not that it'll really matter to you lot."

"It will if the nature of our meeting results in us working together," stated the dragonborn, who then looked back at Melus.

"I am Dryscys Karith, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise," replied Melus

Melus' eyes fell upon Reth, with a look of curiosity on his face.

"You've been quite quiet this entire time," he said, still staring at Reth curiously.

"I can't help that your petty conversations don't interest me," Reth replied.

"Will you grace us with your name at least?"

Reth stared into Melus' cold dark eyes for a moment.

"Reth," he said, "and that's all you need to know"

Reth and Melus stared at each other for a few moments more, before a large thump came from the other end of the table. The rakshasa, who had just slammed his now empty tankard down onto the table, looked at the rest of the group.

"I am Naaj," he exclaimed, "and it's a pleasure to meet you all!"

"A pleasure indeed," a female replied.

All heads turned towards the source of the voice. A woman, clad in black leather armor and a dark green tunic, approached the head of the table. Her hood hid her features fairly well, but Reth could still make out her piercing green eyes and jet black hair that fell down over her forehead. She sat at the head of the table, looking at each of them individually, before addressing the group.

"Well, this is quite the turn out," she said, "I was hoping for a few more people, but this should do just fine." She smirked.

"You're Alex, I take it?" asked Melus

"Gee, what gave it away?"Alex replied sarcastically.

Melus said nothing, he only stared at Alex, who smiled in return. The silence lingered for a few seconds, before Fabrizi spoke up

"So, why are we here?" he asked, reaching for his tankard to take another sip.

"Straight to business then," Alex replied, "Well, you're here because I need people to retrieve a certain artifact for me."

"What will we be retrieveing?" Rev inquired. Alex turned to him.

"A book."

"And where is said book?" asked Reth, now interested in the conversation.

Alex pulled a map from her bag and placed it on the table.

"To the east is the Ruins of Anira, an ancient temple of Asmodeus," she began, pointing to a small "x" on the map.

"The temple is mostly destroyed, save the two underground levels. The book I want is in the artifact room on the second level. The cover has these symbols written on it."

She pulled out a scrap of paper with a series of ancient letters on it. Rev looked at them, before looking back up at Alex.

"What is the book?"

"What?" Alex replied.

"I said, what is the book?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does to me. For all we know, you could be planning to wreak havoc with it."

Alex stared at the dwarf, with a strange look on her face before smiling innocently.

"Do I look like that kind of person?"

"I don't know what kind of person you are. For all I know, you're Asmodeus in disguise."

"I'm not-" Alex began, before Rev's holy symbol was shoved into her face.

"Well, are you?"Rev demanded.

In one fluid motion, Alex knocked Rev's chair over causing the dwarf to fall with it, while drawing a dagger from her hip. Reth watched in amusement as Alex held her dagger to Rev's throat .

"You came here of your own free will, and can leave just as easily," Alex hissed, as she pressed the dagger up against Rev's neck harder. She stared straight into his eyes.

"Now, you can either take the quest or leave, the choice is up to you, but what the book is and what I plan on doing with it is not your concern. If you don't like that, then I suggest you find another table to sit at."

Alex brought her knife away from Rev and slid it back into its sheath. She sat back down as Rev restored his chair to its original position, before silently sitting in it.

"Any more questions?" Alex asked.

Everyone simply stared at Alex, not know what to fully make of the outburst.

"No? Very well. 100 gold is your base pay, with extra proportional to your success. I suggest you get going in the morning. I'm sure the innkeeper will be kind enough to give you all rooms for the night. Meet me back here a day from now for your reward."

With that, Alex stood and left the table. She walked up the stairs and out of view. The group looked at one another. Then, without a word, they all stood and walked to the innkeeper. After paying for their rooms, they silently climbed the stairs and separated to their quarters. As Reth lay down on his bed, hands behind his head, he thought through the events again. He smirked. This should be an interesting trip, he thought before closing his eyes and letting sleep overtake him.

Hi, everyone! Thanks for reading. This story is actually based off of a current campaign my D&D group has going. Anyway, this is my first fanfiction, so I'm really looking for some constructive criticism to tell me how it is and what I can improve. Thanks again!