AN: I credit the idea of mercenary bands to my friend 16Doobop13, the idea was all his.
Lore of Yandor #3
Mercenary bands are teams of pokemon that explore mystery dungeons, complete all sorts of missions and reap the rewards from them, and they answer directly to the representative from their province. They can have a total of 16 pokemon on their team. Mercenary bands were established by the Croudor province. After the Second Province War in 500 A, marked the beginning of the Age of Kuroi. Kuroi established a peace treaty, creating the COY, with mercenary bands becoming an essential part of the COY. The very first mercenary band was created in 300 AD in the Age of Rayquaza. You can identify a mercenary by their scarfs which are of a certain color/pattern chosen by the leader. You can also identify the rank of a mercenary band by looking at the symbols on their scarfs. The ranks are E, D, C, B, A, S, H, W, and Royal. All are represented by certain symbols. For example, a scarf with 1 star is E ranked, a scarf with 5 stars, 3 crowns and a COY symbol is Royal rank. Mercenaries also have mercenary badges which they can use to teleport out of a mystery dungeon at any time, allowing for a quick escape. They also have free access to the teleporters in COY halls that can teleport them to just about any city allowing for faster travel. Non-mercenaries can't freely use them since the COY doesn't quite trust them. Mercenaries help any pokemon of any province and they are usually respected by most in Yandor.
Age of Zezula: Year 780: Location: Jono city main gate
"Thank you, you don't know what this means to me. I've never felt so happy before in my life," Sheila said with glee.
"I just felt that I should repay you in some way for saving my life from that feraligatr, plus being a mercenary doesn't sound that bad," Niles explained.
"Well I'm glad you made that decision Niles," she smiled. "Now let's head towards the COY hall of Jono city, it's where we will create our mercenary band."
"I'll follow you then," he said, gesturing his hand towards the main gate.
Age of Zezula: Year 780: Location: Jono city COY hall
Niles looked up at the golden symbol that was protruding above the double doors to a large obsidian building. It was rather stylized, a dragalge formed the outer edges of the top side, encircling the head of a zekrom. The base of the zekrom's neck took up a small portion of the bottom side, accomplishing a full circle in tandem with the dragalge's length. To top it off, the dragalge's head curved underneath the zekrom's, the underside of their chins lining up perfectly. Niles presumed that those two pokemon must be major figures in regards to the mercenary guild.
They entered the large obsidian building's double doors and into a well decorated, big room.
All sorts of pokemon were crowded around in the room, most of which were wearing scarves of many different colors and patterns.
Niles and Sheila walked along the velvet carpet and up to the receptionist desk in the back of the room.
A female druddigon was sitting at the desk with a computer on it.
She noticed Niles and Sheila standing in front of her desk and she looked down at them.
"So what are you two doing here?" she asked them with a friendly look.
Sheila nudged Niles' arm.
"Oh, um… we're here to create a mercenary band," he said with a nervous look.
"Interesting…" she held a claw to her chin then looked under her desk to grab a document and a pen. "Here's the mercenary band sign-up sheet, be sure to answer every question, alright?"
Niles took the sheet and pen.
"Ok, thanks," he said.
He and Sheila walked over to where a wooden table and chairs were. A couple of mercenaries were sitting at the table close to them.
One was a gliscor and the other was a Volcarona. They both were wearing light blue scarves.
"Does a Grass type really think they can make for a good mercenary?" the gliscor grinned with amusement.
"We'll find out when he and that salandit are ever are reported dead," the volcarona said.
"Yeah, like anyone would bother to report the death of a grass type and their worthless partner."
They laughed.
Niles and Sheila glanced over at them.
"Wonder what they find so funny?" Niles asked. "Anyways, let's look at the sign-up sheet."
"So the first question is our team name," Niles told Sheila. "What do you think it should be?"
"You're the one who's leading this team, that choice is yours," Sheila said with a smile.
Niles thought for a bit until he sparked an idea for a name.
"Eternity," he said.
"Eternity… I like it!" she exclaimed, clasping her hand. "I think it shows that our team is going to last generations or something."
Niles gulped, On second thought, that wasn't the best name... I may have just foreshadowed my fate to never return home... A shame that it's too late to change it, now that I got her excited for it and all.
"Ok, next question is what color of scarf we'll have," he looked at Sheila. "And we also have the option of giving it a pattern."
"How aboouuut… maroon?" she said. "No pattern, they're a bit too tacky for my tastes."
"Sure, that works," He wrote down maroon in the blank space.
"Next up is the leader and teammates, which I already know what to put down for," He wrote down his name in the blank space for leader and Sheila in the first spot of 14 possible teammates.
"Wow, mercenary bands can have 16 members?" he gave a surprised look.
"Yeah of course they can, but there aren't many with 16 members, most average 4 to 5 of them," she explained.
"I can see why, that would be a lot of pokemon to deal with if you were the leader," he discerned.
"But with 16 members, a team could do 4 missions at a time, effectively raising their rank all the more quicker than most," she informed him. "It's more of a good thing than a bad thing to have."
"That makes sense…anyways, let's give the form to the receptionist," Niles said as he walked to the desk form in hand.
"Here you go ma'am," he said to her.
"Hold on a moment," she told him as a noivern walked down the stairs behind her.
She turned around to look at him.
"Risha, your daughter is making a fuss up there. Can you handle it? She won't listen to anyone and it's disturbing my work," he asked her.
"Sorry about that Vermex, she gets real fed up sometimes, especially when she has to wait here while I work," she told him. "I'll handle it."
"And I'll temporarily do your job until you come back," he said. "Do make haste though."
She got up and walked up the stairs. Vermex then sat down in the chair and looked at Niles and Sheila.
Sheila had a look of awe plastered on her face.
"No way! I'm actually looking at the Vermex," She said, still flabbergasted.
"Is he like a famous pokemon or something?" Niles questioned.
Everyone who heard him gawked at him, shocked at his lack of rudimentary knowledge.
"Of course he is! He's none other than the Croudor province representative!" Sheila exclaimed, now surprised about how Niles didn't know that already. "As well as a prolific mercenary!"
"Oh I see," he said, flushing with embarrassment. "It's just that I'm from a different land that's not very close to Yandor."
"And where is this supposed land located?" Vermex asked with a curious look. "Furthermore, pray tell me the name of your homeland."
"Um… I... " he was thinking of something to say with the pressure of everyone staring at him. "I would like to keep that private please."
"I see… very well, no need to pressure you on the matter. I acknowledge your request," he nodded his head. "But I would like to know your name, as well as the salandit's."
The other pokemon lost interest in their conversation and went back to doing what they were doing before.
"It's Niles," Niles said.
"Mine's Sheila, and it's amazing to see you in person, sir!" Sheila exclaimed.
"Pleasure to be an acquaintance to you," Vermex gave an elegant bow. "Now, what is your business here?"
Niles handed him the mercenary band sign-up sheet.
"Creating a mercenary band are we?" he said with a grin. "Team Eternity...maroon scarfs...only you and Sheila…"
"Alright, everything checks out. I'll enroll your team in the system," He turned to the computer on the desk and typed away. "You are now an official mercenary band, welcome to the COY. Your scarves and official badges will be delivered to your house later on."
"What? We are in the COY now?" Sheila asked.
Niles had the same question.
"Well, not in the governmental branch but mercenary bands are technically part of the COY," Vermex explained. "Rest assured, you are safe from heaps of paperwork."
"Oh," both Sheila and Niles said in unison.
"The mission bulletin board is over there," he pointed to a bulletin board with mission requests pinned to it on the far left side of the building. "I'm assuming Niles here doesn't know about mission ranks, but Sheila, do you know all of them?"
"Yes, I do, there is rank E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS, H, and W being nearly impossibly difficult," she said proudly.
"At least you did some research," he said. "Go ahead and take a gander."
"I can't wait to find our first mission!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Come one Niles!"
"Actually, I want to speak with Niles upstairs," Vermex told her. "Just to get him properly introduced to Yandor."
"O...k…" she said wondering why in the world he'd want to do that.
Sheila ran over to the bulletin board.
"So, what is this about exactly?" Niles asked.
"Just follow me upstairs and you'll find out," Vermex said.
He and Niles walked upstairs and through a hallway.
Niles saw Risha look at Vermex and nod her head and then head down, assumingly back to her desk. Eventually, Vermex led him to a door to a large office with Vermex in black letters plastered on the window of the door. He opened the door and motioned Niles to come in.
There was a desk made of rich mahogany and a black cushioned chair in front of it and a leather one behind it. Niles noted the presence of large openings in the lower backs of the chairs, most likely to not trouble tailed folks. Although, the chairs did not appear to account for massive pokemon. Perhaps they had some in storage to replace these ones in that situation.
Catching Niles's eye was a violet scarf and a mercenary badge in a glass case sitting on the right side of the desk. It had five stars, three crowns, and a COY logo on it. It looked rather old, evidenced by smudges and a bit of dust buildup upon the glass.
Vermex must not get much time to tidy up.
"Wow, what a nice office," Niles said, not wanting to be rude and point out the dust. Regardless, there was something to admire about the well lit and decorated room.
Vermex went behind his desk and rummaged around underneath it.
"Ah, here it is," he commented as he took out a small painted picture, dusted it off and showed it to Niles. "Can you tell me what this is?"
It appeared to be a very tall, 4 legged structure made of metal, towering over a sprawling city.
"Isn't that the Eiffel tower?" Niles said, very confused and unaware of what he just revealed. He kind of forgot that he was talking to a pokemon and not a human.
Vermex's eyes lit up with intrigue.
"Yes it's the Eiffel tower of… France, if I recall correctly," Vermex said, closing his eyes with a warm smile. "Any pokemon I ask to tell me what it is, they never get it right. You know why?"
Niles now realized what he basically told Vermex.
"U-um... because they aren't from where I'm from," Niles said, still trying to hide the obvious truth.
"Yes, which is a human world," Vermex stated. "You see, this isn't the first time a human has appeared in our world."
"Wait, do you know how I can go back home?" Niles asked with hope in his eyes.
"Sorry to say, but I don't," Vermex said sympathetically.
Niles gave a disappointed sigh.
"Do you at least know why I'm here?" Niles spoke rather quickly.
"I'm afraid that I cannot give an answer to that either," Vermex replied flatly. "As of yet, I do not have even a clear answer for the other human's manner of arrival."
Niles sighed again.
"But, you're totally fine with me being a human?" Niles asked, curious of his seemingly lackadaisical demeanor.
"Of course, and don't worry, I'll keep your secret in the shadows," Vermex assured him. "That being said, I have a sinking suspicion that eventually a certain uh... salandit will find out one way or another. She has a keen eye, that one."
"You're probably right about that... Where did you get that painting from anyways?" Niles questioned.
"An…old friend of mine gave it to me, he told me a human that came to our world painted it," Vermex explained. "Assumingly, it's supposed to be related to their home in the human world."
A French person, hmm? Niles thought.
"Well, I believe we should wrap up this conversation," Vermex said as he quickly put the painting away again. "Be seeing you later, Niles."
"Yeah, see-ya later. Sheila is probably tired of waiting," Niles said as he left the office and went back into the main hall.
Sheila jumped up from her seat and went over to Niles.
"Soooo… what did he want with you?" Sheila asked him.
"Just showing me picture, you wouldn't be that interested in it anyways," Niles told her, hoping she wouldn't ask what the picture was.
"Yeah I'll worry about that later," she said as she pulled out a paper. "I'm more interested in the mission I just took."
She looked at the paper to read the mission request. Niles looked down at it as well.
"It's an E rank rescue mission sent by Naoto the mienshao. It says… I've seemed to have gotten a bit lost per say, I'm only on floor 5," she read aloud. "This pokemon got lost in the Neverdying Swamp in the Tesparia Province."
"And what is the Neverdying Swamp and the Tesparia Province?" Niles questioned.
"I don't know much of what the Neverdying Swamp is, but I do know a bit about the Tesparia Province," she told him. "It's ruled by the Psychic types and the other types that live there are the Fairy, Fighting, and Rock types. It holds some of the most beautiful sights in Yandor."
"Ironically though, I believe that the Neverdying Swamp is the most horrid looking mystery dungeon in Yandor," she said with a grin. "They have tried getting rid of it but everything just comes back again even worse looking than before."
"So it's kind of like an expensive and beautiful looking dress but with a stain on it," Niles discerned. "And we get to see what the stain looks like rather than exploring the more desirable places in Tesparia."
"I know, it's disappointing but I'm sure we'll get to see much more pretty places eventually," she exclaimed. "For now though, let's go complete our first mission."
"I just hope we actually succeed, wouldn't want to f-" Niles was cut off by the shouting of an annoyed looking salazzle that came bursting through the main doors.
"Sheila! I was waiting at home for a long while for you!" the salazzle yelled out looking at Sheila. "Why are you in the COY hall?"
Sheila gave a worried expression towards Niles and then turned to look at her mother.
"I-I was…" Sheila knew lying wouldn't work. "I created a mercenary band."
Her mother had a disappointed look on her face.
"You know what I said about you trying to be a mercenary!" she angrily stated. "Come with me outside, now!"
Sheila glanced at Niles as she was dragged outside by her mother.
"Well someone forgot to ask their parents first," Risha stated.
"I was wondering what her mother would do if she'd become a mercenary," Niles said worriedly. "I just hope she'll be fine."
"Oh and I need to know your address so that we can send you the scarves and badges," Risha said.
Niles scratched the back of his head with a nervous grin on his face.
"Um... we don't have a home," he muttered in shame.
Age of Zezula: Year 780: Location: Outside Jono city COY hall
No one was around besides Sheila and her mother.
"Mom I know you're angry, but I just didn't think that I was a good enough thief," Sheila tried to reason with her mother. "Gary saw me stealing his Arceus statuette, and I couldn't get the verdinia plant."
Her mother was still frowning and crossing her arms, glaring at Sheila as she continued.
"I did get away from Gary and was able to trade the statuette, but that doesn't change the fact that he saw me," Sheila explained.
Her mother sighed.
"And so you decided to become a mercenary without discussing it with me first," she said. "You know that our family legacy hinges on you. I can't live forever, much to my dismay."
"But I'm not a skilled enough thief and I don't think I'll ever be, considering I don't want to be a thief at all! I'd only disappoint our family if I kept going," Sheila exasperated. "I actually want to be a mercenary, and a great one at that."
"Who even created this mercenary band with you?" her mother gave a quizzical look. "Last I checked, you had no one to do so with."
"It was with that treecko I was standing next to, his name is Niles," Sheila informed her. "We managed to defeat a Fireforged together in The Jagged Burrow. If he wasn't there I'd be dead."
Her mother's expression changed to a more surprised look.
"A-a Fireforged, why were they in some petty bandit hideout?" she asked curiously. "And I'm glad that you're ok. I had no idea they, of all of the pokemon, would be there. I certainly wouldn't have sent you there if I did."
"Skorge was there for the verdinia plant as well. I don't know why he needed it though," Sheila said. "He didn't look like he had the enchanted decay."
"I guess that will lie in mystery, back to the matter at hand," her mother stated. "I'm not sure I like the idea of you being a mercenary even if you were able to avoid death from a Fireforged. There are much more dangerous pokemon out there than some raiders."
"As long as my team does missions closer to our rank, we shouldn't encounter anything out of our league. Plus, we might gain powerful allies as well!" Sheila exclaimed, happy that her mother seems to be considering letting her be a mercenary.
"I...I suppose I can allow you to be a mercenary. This is the first time I've seen you so excited over something," her mother said solemnly. "I won't ruin this for you, our family tree needs some 'purity' in it at least."
Sheila smiled with glee. "Thank you so much!, I'll be sure to make you proud of me regardless if I'm a thief or not!" she exclaimed with a grin. "Also, me and Niles don't have a place to stay."
"Well you can't be in our house and you know why, so I guess you'll have to find one yourselves," her mother told her. "I think it's about time I leave, be safe please."
"I will, and thanks truly. I never expected you to allow something like this," Sheila said as she hugged her mom. "And I even get to live in a different house from you."
"Don't expect me to do something like this again though," her mother said as she broke the hug and left. "Goodbye and stay safe. Well...as safe a mercenary can be."
"Goodbye," Sheila said and then walked back inside the COY hall.
Age of Zezula: Year 780: Location: Jono city COY hall
Niles and the druddigon were talking as Sheila walked up to them.
"So we can have your old house for free?" Niles asked, surprised.
"Yes, Vermex seems to like you for some reason and told me to offer you my old home that I've been trying to give away for a while now," the druddigon explained. "For free no less."
"And you're fine with doing so?" he said.
"Look, I'm just tired of trying to offer it, no one I've asked has wanted it," she explained. "Probably because it's very old and dusty, you'll need to clean it out, and it only houses two. Not to mention, that creepy run-down home across from it marking down the value."
"That's fine, although I'm not sure where any of our teammates will stay…" Sheila jumped into the conversation.
"Oh they can stay in this hall, we do have plenty of open rooms currently. It's where any teammates can stay for free," Risha informed them. "I'm sure Vermex won't mind at all. Anyways, here's the address to the house."
Niles took the paper with the address that she slid to him.
"Thanks." Both he and Sheila nodded.
"Hold on you two," Vermex commanded as he came down the stairwell again. "I have your scarves and badges right here. By the way, the gold badge belongs to Niles since he's the leader. The badges are meant to be pinned to your scarves."
He held them out to Niles and Sheila. The gold and silver badges complimented the deep maroon of the scarves well. The badges themselves boasted the same insignia Niles saw above the COY hall entrance. Engraved on the topside was his team's name along with his own. On the bottom side was the words "Croudor Sanctioned."
"They were already made?" Risha said, shocked.
"Yeah I had them make them quickly," Vermex answered with a grin. "Seeing that you probably want and need to do that rescue mission now. I saw no reason for them to wait on it."
Niles and Sheila took the scarves and badges and put them on.
"How do I look," Sheila asked, posing with her hands on her hips.
"Like a mercenary ready for anything," Niles answered.
"Alright, you two should go and do that mission now," Vermex told them. "I do hope you see success."
"We will," Niles said with a smile.
"Let's go step on the warp pad to the capital city of the Tesparia Province. We can check out our home later," Sheila said as she and Niles went towards the teleporter that was in the room.
They stepped in it and they were transported.
Age of Zezula: Year 780: Location: ?
Skorge and Nilsine walked up to a pokemon shrouded in black robes sitting atop a rugged throne in some kind of cavern. There were smoldering ashes floating around in the air from the nearby lava pit.
"Mother, I got the verdinia plant you needed," Skorge told the figure on the throne.
"Very good Skorge, you always pull through for me," the figure said.
"I'll go and prepare this plant for you to take," Nilsine said as she went to a stone table on the right.
"Yet, we still need more verdinia, my disease worsens every passing day and it's the only thing that stops it from doing so..." the figure said, trailing off for a second. "If a cure were possible I could finally leave this blasted place and see how Yandor has changed while I've been down here."
"And we'll keep finding more, mother, you know we will," Skorge was looking down with an angered look. "There were two pokemon that tried to take the verdinia from us, I had Graves stay and fight them. But he hasn't returned yet and I worry that he may have been somehow defeated by them."
"So a couple of pokemon may have hurt or killed him!" the figure angrily stated. "I cannot allow any pokemon to do such a thing to one of my children!"
"Skorge, go back to where you left him and see if he's still alive," the figure demanded as she pointed to the stone archway behind Skorge that was the entrance to the throne room. "And do tell me, who were these two pokemon?"
"I didn't get their names, but it was a treecko and a salandit. I had thought Graves would easily kill them but I guess I was wrong," Skorge informed the figure. "I'll have to punish him for his failure, if he isn't dead."
Nilsine went back over to the figure and held out a cup with the verdinia mixture in it. The figure took the cup.
"I see… if you ever come across them again I want them captured and brought here," the figure gave a sinister grin and drank the mixture in one go. "I have something planned for them as punishment for hurting one of my children."
Skorge snickered to himself. "They won't escape us next time."
He and Nilsine then left the throne room.
AN2: So we will be having OCs introduced in the next chapter (I know I said I was going to introduce one or two this chapter but this chapter was long enough already and I also want to save the first mystery dungeon for the beginning of the next chapter. Although, I did mention an OCs name.
You know what's going to be under this line of text
OC Rules
1. The classic. No Mary or Gary Stues. You can submit some very skilled and/or powerful OCs, but you must give them at least 2 or 3 weaknesses.
2. There's a bar of quality that you must pass in order for your OC to be accepted. This is because I get some OCs here and there that lack any substance at all, and boy is it hard to work with that. Luckily for you guys, the bar isn't that high and you have unlimited attempts anyways (please no spam though).
3. No human turned pokemon OCs.
4. I will not accept incomplete OCs or OCs that just do not fit into the world of Yandor.
5. No main villains/antagonists. I'm very iffy about them in general, as they're hard to fit into the story.
6. PM your OCs please. I'd much rather see reviews in the review section over them. I know this hurts the guests, but it's really not that difficult to set up an account. If you do end up sending one in the reviews for whatever reason, the only way I'll accept them is if you clearly put time and effort into it.
7. Fair warning, no character is safe from death. Since, I roll dice to determine battle and choice outcomes. However, I may overrule the dice on certain occasions. In short, I'll try to do what is best for the story.
OC Form!
Name:
Nickname/alias (If applicable):
Species and gender (You can submit any species including legendaries, besides Arceus. And for genderless pokemon, just tell me what they prefer to be considered):
Estimated Age (Pokemon don't age the same as humans, so I just need you to tell me if they're a child, teen, young adult, adult, or elder):
Role (Teammate to the main character, recurring villain, just some random shopkeeper, another mercenary band leader/teammate, or maybe a pokemon that I can just kill as an example of how shit Yandor can be):
Province (tell me what province they live in, just know that certain types usually live in a certain province, but they can be in any province really (very unlikely). Read the Lore of Yandor in the introductory chapter for info on that. You can ask any question about the provinces if needed and if I can answer it):
Personality (I need decent enough description that'll allow me to get your OC right):
Character Alignment (You can look up the alignments on google or just ask me about it):
Backstory (I won't ask for much here, just give me a backstory that really shows why they are the way they are):
Relationship? (No, this doesn't mean sex scenes are planned. I'm asking whether or not you're fine with your OC having a relationship develop, and their sexuality):
Ability:
Move-set (give me 6 moves):
Fighting Style (Can be as descriptive as you feel it should be):
Quotes (This is so you can give me a general idea of how they act, talk, and how you'd see them being written. A minimum of 4 is required.):
Other things that you must tell me (like if they have anything unique about their appearance, or if they can mega-evolve, stuff like that):
And the form for mercenary bands (Just put this form above the OCs that are in the team)
Name of team:
Scarf color:
Rank (E, D, C, B, A, S, H, W, Royal):
Members:
Why created:
What they've done:
Forms will be on my profile so you can copy it from there.
And that's all, thanks for reading guys, hope you'll be here for the rest of it. ^:^