Vignette 3 - How One Keeps An Army in the Black

When not on missions that *usually* involved a skirmish of some sort, the people who made up the Askran Order of Heroes could usually be found in and around Askr Castle, engaged in all manner of activities, chores, or the simple pleasure of taking a leisurely stroll throughout the grounds and within the castle itself, whether alone or in a group. Such was the case of the latter as one day found Lyn of Elibe, Hinata of Hoshido, Kris of Altea, and Mareeta of Jugdral walking through the halls, discussing variations of swordplay and comparing notes. A turn into another hall led them by a door they'd somehow managed to overlook in all the time they'd been in Askr; naturally, they wondered what kind of room lay behind it. Thankfully, there was someone who could hopefully answer whatever questions they had, whom they'd spotted at the other end of the hall conversing with a couple of Askran soldiers.

"Excuse me, Commander Anna?" Lyn asked, getting the redhead's attention.

Anna noticed the quartet out of the corner of her eye and excused the two soldiers before she walked towards them. "Something up, folks?"

"We just passed by this door," Kris began to answer, pointing to the door in question with his thumb, "and it occurred to us that, for as long as we've been here, we have no idea what's in that particular room."

"We figured you'd know something," Mareeta added. "So, can you tell us what's in there? What goes on?"

Anna grinned a bit before walking towards the door. "Glad to answer that," she said. "What we do in this particular room is a vital part of the logistics side of the Order of Heroes..." She then opened the door. "Merchandising."

On hearing this, a quizzical look appeared on the faces of each of the four swordfighters.

"...Merchandising?" Hinata asked. "What's that?"

"Merchandising! Come on in, I'll show you," Anna answered as she led them into the room. Once inside, the quartet grew surprised by the sight of an assortment of various tchotchkes, knick-knacks, clothing, and other objects adorned with the iconography of the Order. "Go ahead, take a look! We've put the game's name on everything!" The head general of the Order's forces was now in full-on pitchwoman mode as she continued. "Merchandising, merchandising-where the real money from the game's made!" Some of the objects were then held up by a few assistants as Anna pointed out each one. "Order of Heroes casual shirts! Order of Heroes art booklets! Order of Heroes collectable keychain figurines! Order of Heroes travel bags! Order of Heroes canteens! Order of Heroes replica shields! (The kids love these.)" Anna was then handed one more object, purposefully standing next to a perch with a certain white-feathered creature on it. "And last, but not least, Order of Heroes plush dolls, based on the very face of the Order itself: Feh." The real Feh nodded affirmatively as Anna pressed a little magic charm on the belly of the owl's plush counterpart; this, in turn, made the plush owl appear to utter a few of Feh's usual phrases:

*Flap-flap! Flap-flap-flap! Feeeeehhhh!*

Anna, grin still on her face, held up the plushie as if gauging the four swordfighters' reactions. Feh herself chimed in by giving it two feathers up.

Lyn, Hinata, Kris, and Mareeta gave each other looks of muted astonishment and slight confusion by what they'd just stepped into. "Well, if it keeps this army afloat..." Kris mused.

Moments later, the four were out the door and back on their way, though each with a little 'free sample' for their troubles after listening to Anna's spiel: Lyn with a tapestry, Kris with a hat, Hinata with a limited-edition whetstone, and Mareeta with a Feh plushie. The other three looked at her curiously, nonverbally wondering why she chose that, given her usual attitude.

Mareeta, for the most part, shrugged. "I'll admit...it's a bit adorable."