Kyren rode into town, with a handful of units, the fighters of his original troop, Lysalia, Faith, Terra, Michael, Sin, Hannah, Glen and Jaquelin. Although they didn't originally look it, they have achieved an almost war-like appearance, having survived a brutal onslaught, and wore their experience like a proud scar, having new keen instincts that a near-death skirmish had brought upon them.
As they rode into town, Hannah lead them to the new guild, and it was a massive building, taking up every last inch of space that was given. Walking towards it, they could see a training area, with a landscaper seeding it, and watering it, it a little mini courtyard behind the building. The guild was huge, the lot itself looked smaller before it was built, and now, upon its building... it looked absolutely huge.
"The whole town chipped in to build this. It's completely sturdy, efficient, two floors, a mess hall, a corridor of rooms for the mercenaries, the training area... it just has no carpeting, or furniture within it, but I'm sure you don't care." Sartis said, and Kyren nodded. "Yes, I don't mind buying the furnishings and carpeting, as well as wallpaper. But the building itself is extraordinary... how did you manage to build it so quickly?" Kyren asked, and Sartis grinned.
"A workfull day, sleepless night, and a town of work power." He said, with a grin to the townspeople who stopped by. In Alsterea, there were many little towns, and one major city, at the foot of the castle, and by chance, they choose a small one, near the southern gate. "I see, c'mon men... and women, let's take a look." Kyren said, dismounting, and Sartis grinned. "We built a stable, in the side, over here..." He said, taking Kyren's horse's reins, and walking him down a pathway to the side of the large oaken building, where there was a large add-on, a stable which could hold about ten or so horses at once.
"Sartis, I feel like I've cheated you, at least let me pay you little bit more for this... this is exceptional. It's way too good for the paltry sum I gave you..." He said, and Sartis waved away the notion. "Bah, don't worry. This group will be the lifeblood of our little town, as well as the rest of Alsterea, which is slowly falling apart. Even the nobles and lords live in constraints of the needs of money." He said, and Kyren nodded. "I see..." And Kyren turned to Sin. "Go get the others, and return here." He said, and Sin nodded with a mock salute, walking away oh-so-slowly, fading into the crowd.
"Let's look inside, Kyren!" Lysalia said, as she near-dragged Kyren inside, and before he was pulled in, he barked out an order. "Hannah, go check the smiths, see how the weapons and such are coming." He said, and Faith, Glen and Jaquelin walked in, and looked around.
"Wow." Jaquelin said, slamming the flat side of her closed fist against the wall a few times. "Study shit." She said with a laugh, and Glen rand headlong into the main wall on the main hall, and he bounced off, not a dent in the wall. "yup, definitely sturdy!" He said, and Faith laughed. "The ultimate test for walls: to see if Glen can run into them, and not break them." She said, and Jaquelin nodded. "Hell yeah, this wad of plate's gone through lots of em." She said.
Kyren walked around, and looked at the front hall. "Right here, you can hang the emblem of your mercenary band." Sartis said, as he motioned to a large wall at the end of the main hall, where there was a bare spot. The main hall was wide, and empty, and in need of decorations. "Maybe a coat of arms, some display blades... and our own banner would do nicely to decorate this place." Kyren said, and Lysalia nodded. "It'll be a little while, but this place will be better than home, sooner or later." She said, and Kyren nodded.
"Look, there's a second floor, too." Jaquelin said, as she pointed to a flight of stairs. "Yes, upstairs is where the mercenaries bunk. There's a common room with a large fireplace, and there's a system called 'vents' that circulate the heat around the guild, and there's one downstairs as well, and helps keep this place toasty warm." He said, and Kyren nodded. "And in summer?" And Sartis shrugged. "You'll have to live with the heat, or find a nice mage who is partial to the element of ice." Sartis said with a laugh.
"Also, upstairs, there's a handful, about five extra large rooms for superior officers." Sartis said, and he kept going, this building his pride and joy. "There's a room for an armory storage for surplus equipment, and one room where you could start up a shot, where we built especially so you could employ a merchant to sell his wares inside the place, like armor, weapons, food, leisure items, all kinds of stuff." Sartis continued, and he frowned. "There's also a large spare room we havn't come up with a reason for..." He said, and Kyren grinned.
"Why not a classroom where we pay a scholar named Sartis to educate our units." He said, and Sartis blinked. "Are you serious, sir?" And Kyren nodded. "As serious as I always am." He said, and Sartis bowed deeply. "Thank you Sire..." He said, and Kyren waved it off. "How much money have you saved me already? I might as well pay for your livlihood while im at it." Kyren said, and Sartis smiled.
"Is there any other spare rooms? If there's another equipment surplus type room, furnish it yourself, and move into the guild so your workplace is nearby. Do you have a family?" Kyren asked, and Sartis nodded. "Yes, a wife and a little girl!" he said, and Kyren nodded. "Perfect, you'll just need two beds, and a few other things, a range perhaps.. speaking of ranges, what about a kitchen?" Kyren asked, and Lysalia's ears perked up. She liked to cook.
Sartis led them to a big kitchen, with a range, and tables, cabinets for plates, spice racks, utensils, frying pans, as well as all kinds of other things that'd be usefull for cooking. Lysalia began searching around the room, appraising it. "Stained floors... good for spills... easy to clean..." She said, and Kyren scratched the back of his head, as his units looked at his girlfriend, dumbfounded.
"There's still a lot that needs to be added onto this kitchen, but for all of it coming with the guild, it's exceptional." She said, with her nod of approval, and noticed how she had broke out of her usual silent shell in front of the troop. "Heh heh..." She said, as she sidled behind Kyren, embarassed.
"Hm, is ther eanything else I forgot that I should mention...?" Sartis asked, and Lysalia peeped out from behind Kyren. "...Classroom for the mages to further their studies? A library, perhaps? Both?" She asked, and Sartis counted fingers. "... on the opposite side of the bedrooms, there's four empty rooms, about half of the top floor empty and seperated into rooms, so you could probably get those two things you need. Still an empty room, though..." Sartis said.
Kyren rubbed his chin. "What about if we get too many people, and need more space? Will we be able to purchase extra land around here...? I doubt it because of the people who live nearby..." He said, and Sartis thought. "I don't think it'd be possible, but if you can buy their land from them at their price, which I'm sure will be more than enough to sway their land deeds." He said, and Kyren nodded. "But I refuse to buy their homes unless they have a place in advance to buy or live at..." He said, and Sartis nodded. Then, a bell rang, the chime sounding through the house.
"That's the bell I installed for visitors to the guild. They hit a bell with a small wooden hammer, and it resonates throughout the guild." Sartis said, and Kyren nodded. "I'll get it, hah." He said with a bout of laughter, walking from the kitchen to the main hall, and opening the door, where two royal figures stood.
One of the two people had a short neart blonde beard, slicked back blonde hair, and one azure and one emerald eye, wearing a long crimson robe, a golden crown adorning his head. The figure that stood next to him wore full emerald plate armor, with a blazing sun enblazoned on his chest plate, a fully plate armored horse, and and he removed his helm, revealing a face that looked as if carved from stone, and he looked exactly like Kyren, but more aged, grey spotting his hair, and tainting the roots, a scar over his right eye. "...Father?"