The bright morning sun shone down on the bustling city of Windshield, a port city that sat on the northernmost coast of the kingdom of Vale. Here, people swarmed the streets, looking at the many stalls set up all alongside the main road.
Many were dressed in plain clothes, simply going about their everyday business of preparing dinner or taking the kids shopping. However, that quickly changed as one giant of a man strode through the Main Street, effortlessly clearing a path for himself and the three others who followed behind in his wake.
Unlike the others who gathered, this man was not clad in simple cotton or wool, instead dressed in heavy, scraped metal armor, carrying a massive, two handed battle axe that was strapped to his back with a rucksack slung over his shoulder.
Many people turned to murmurs as he walked past them, not even batting an eye as he reached out, snatching an apple off one the the stands, ignoring the vendor's outrage cry as he pasted letting one of his companions toss a couple of bronze coins onto the the wood where the apple had rested.
They were adventurers, warriors who traveled the world fighting the monstrous creatures who inhabit the land outside the city's walls. Brave, adventurous, and foolish people who sought fortune or fame as they took on dangerous quests for a reward.
Many took money, making themselves rich, assuming they survived long enough to return. Others had stories written after them, something to be remembered by until their great deeds were eventually outshined or forgotten by the hamlets they had helped.
But whatever the reason these people chose to leave the comforts of home behind, one thing about them unanimously was that they were all-.
"So cool!"
Standing atop a nearby roof, a young girl clad in light red armor and a red cloak with the hood up, squealed as she watched the party enter town. From her perch, she could see their weathered weapons and beat up armor, all telling the story of their travels and the things they had faced.
"I wonder what happened to that Monk? He looks like he's blind." The girl wondered out loud, calmly turning down to the sketch book that lay beside her, quickly adding some more detail to her drawing of the party. "Huh, maybe all that inner peace stuff means he doesn't need to see to be able to fight. I'll have to ask if that a thing monks can do, or if he's just special. Either way I'll-."
"Hey!"
The girl broke out of her thoughts as a loud voice rang out from the streets below. Looking down, the girl saw a man in a guard's uniform glaring up at her as he shook his fist.
"Stupid little brat! Get down from there!" He bellowed angrily. "I'll have you know that I've had it up to here with kids using these houses and a jungle gym! And I'm one little girl in red falling and breaking her neck away from just giving up and saying they deserve it! Have a little respect for your elders, brat!"
The girl, without batting an eye, calmly straightened up, looking down at the guard with a cheeky grin as she tucked her sketchbook under her arm.
"But the view's better up here!" She called back childishly. "And besides, have you seen those streets? I won't be able to get a good look at the adventures from down there! And they're just so cool!"
Turning red with irritation, the guard immediately drew his sword and began shaking it toward her, yelling even louder than before.
"I don't care if you can see them or not! It's against the law to scale building or intrude on private property! Get down here right now young lady and I'll let you off with just a warning to your parents!"
Shifting her hood as a breeze blew against it, making the end of her cloak flap gently in the wind. The girl simply bent down and picked up a large object off the ground before rising to her full height again.
"Ok, Mr. Whatever you say!" She called back down before taking a couple steps away from the edge. "Just please move out of the way! I don't want to hurt you when I come down!"
Confused, the guard took a step back, trying to keep the girl in his line of sight. "Hurt me? What do you mean? Surely you aren't about to-?"
But before he could finish his question, he got his answer as the young girl leapt clean off the roof, arms spread wide as she let gravity take her straight toward the hard ground several feet below.
"You idiot!" The guard screamed, frantically racing toward where she'd land, eyes wide as he tried to stop her from becoming a puddle of blood on the stone walkway.
However, before she had even gotten halfway to the ground, the girl calmly whipped out a massive scythe she had been carrying on her back and slammed it into her wall of the building on the other side of the street.
As she and her scythe slid down the wall a bit, slowing herself and changing her trajectory, she turned her momentum sideways instead of down, letting her do a flip in the air as she ripped her weapon free of the wall before letting out a gleeful cry, leaning forward to catch hold of a balcony's railing a bit lower, slowing her descent even more where finally, she lashed out with her weapon, throwing it so the blade into the ground before landing gracefully onto the handle, calmly holding up a piece of paper to the guard.
"Not to brag, but as of two weeks ago, I'm a registered adventurer." She said to the gaping guard as he came to a stop next to her. "So you don't need to worry about me, sir! I can take care of myself."
Puffing out her chest proudly, the girl calmly took a step forward and placed both hands on her hips as she bent her front knee slightly, making a heroic position as she stood atop her weapon. After the trials and training she had endured, the young girl was finally ready to become a hero like in her fairytales and while she may not look the part yet, she fully intended to make her mark by completing her first quest here in this far away city!
"Thanks for your concern, officer. I'll be happy to buy us drinks later." She said confidently. "But first, I need to complete a quest and then we can celebrate it! So until then, continue doing such a remarkable job, Mr…"
Click.
"Eh?"
Opening her eyes, the girl found a pair of irons clapped over one of her wrists, with the other quickly following suit. Then, she was immediately pulled off her weapon and back onto the ground by the guard who she had just witnessed her awesomeness.
"Sorry kid, I think you're going to have a pretty full schedule today. After all, you've just bought yourself a full night in the slammer for that stunt you just pulled." He grunted as he gave her a tug back towards the main road, making her take a staggering step after him as she stared up at him in disbelief.
"But why?!" The girl protested, tugging at her bow chained arms. "All this for just being on one roof?! Weren't you just saying how a bunch of kids do that?! This is law enforcement brutality!"
Eyebrow twitching, the guard pulled the girl to his side before directing her attention to a nearby wall.
"That! is what your being arrested for!" He said, pointing to the large, clean slash in the wall from where the girl had stabbed her weapon into it. Before he moved his finger to the pothole in the ground where the blade of her weapon was still stuck in. "And that, is a couple gold coins worth of damages that I need to call in before a wagon gets stuck inside! And in case you're wondering, yes, this entire area is going to have to be closed off until repairs work is done! Something that, yes, I'm going to have to do!"
"Oh." The girl gulped, looking from one piece of evidence to the other, before turning her attention back to the guard as she began to sweat nervously. "I…umm…sorry?"
Pulling her in close, the man shoved his face into her, eyes narrowed as he let out a breath.
"Oh you will be, Ms. Ruby Rose. You will be."
Oh good! He had read her license. What a wonderful first use that was.
Noon the following day.
Ruby let out a sigh as she left the jailhouse. Fortunately, nobody had been hurt by her stunt and she had avoided having to do time. However, she had been ordered to pay for the damages, something that, even after giving her entry life saving, had only covered about half of the costs for the road. And that was to say nothing about the wall!
"Wait to go, Ruby. First day into your grand adventure and you've already seen the inside of jail and put yourself in debt in a faraway land with no family or friends to help support you." She chastised herself, kicking a rock a little ways down the road as she made her way toward the town guildhall. "How do you plan to pay forty gold coins? That's more than most people make in a year!"
Normally, she would have said something like this would have been no problem for a seasoned adventure. (Not that she was one.) She could just take some of the harder quests and pay them back in a few days. Unfortunately, one of the conditions of her release was that she was required to check in at the guard station every twenty-four hours. Meaning any of the harder quests that took more than a few days was out of the question for her. So she'd be stuck working menial jobs for a fraction of the pay and take even longer than just knocking out a single multi day quest!
"Why do the roads even cost so much anyway? It's just a bunch of rocks." She grumbled as she reached her destination, turning and walking into the guildhall, letting the doors swing shut behind her.
The guildhall was a hub for adventurers everywhere. While they were obviously not unionized or anything, it was a central location where anyone could post a quest and know that someone interested somewhere would see it. As well as a safe space for adventurers to relax and form a party to travel with. A necessity, according to most.
And speaking of which…
"Come on, Ren! Times a wastin!" A small Gnome said happily as she pulled a beautiful dark Elf along behind her. Ruby noticed a comically large hammer strapped to the girl's back making her wonder how if they were brand new adventures like her. She suspected it given they looked only a couple years older. Making her let out a quiet scoff under her breath.
She didn't need a partner! She was Ruby Rose! She was trained by one of the best adventurers in the world and had always been perfectly capable of handling things on her own. It had nothing to do with the fact nobody back home had always laughed and belittled her. Nor how everyone assumed that she lived alone because her mother was a coward who ran away without so much as-!
Shaking these thoughts from her head, Ruby refocused her attention to the large wooden board in front of her. She could revel in her own awesomeness letter. Right now, to quote her mother, she had bills to pay!
Looking over the request on the board, she scanned it for anything that she could take care of in one day, and paid well enough to get her out of debt quickly.
"Let's see. Hunt a dragon that sleeps near the main kingdom. Too far. Investigate a strange, unknown monster. Not enough money. Aaha! Retrieve a relic from an old abandoned temple just outside the city's limits! That'll be quick and painless! Let's see, payout is…FIFTY GOLD COINS!?"
Immediately the girl did a double take. Fifty stinky gold coins for one lousy relic?! That was ridiculous! No way that could be right! There was no way someone was rich enough to part with that much money for such a short quest! There had to be a catch!
Snatching the paper up, she quickly brought it to her face where she began looking for any trick wording in the statement. And upon failing to find any, she began turning it all which way around to see if she could spot any invisible ink or some other form of magic concealment.
But even after several minutes of thorough examination, the only catch she could find was that it would be split evenly between all members of the party. And seeing as she was a party of one that wouldn't be a problem!
"Aww yes! Today's my lucky day!" Ruby spun around happily, holding the quest aloft like it was her baby. "With this load, I'll be able to pay off my debt and have plenty of coin to spare! Thank you Mr…um…"
Coming to a stop, the girl quickly scanned the name and location of the quest giver and found it was posted by one Doc. Alain Bobichy. And the meeting point was scheduled for the Arch Angel clubhouse…in three hours!?
"Oh no no no no! My payday!" The girl screamed, turning on her heel and racing out of the guildhall. Fortunately for her, the quest had a map leading to the clubhouse's location, so everything rested on the girl's incredibly well toned legs.
"Pant, pant. I…made it." Ruby gasped as she rested against the clubhouse that sat just outside the city limits. It was a fancy place, with marble floors and a beautiful white wall adorned with purple and gold banners with a huge fence set up all around the perimeter with a massive garden resting between the building and the fence.
Over all, it was gorgeous, breathtaking even. It was clearly made for the rich of the kingdom and most likely placed her to act as a tourist attraction for the northern kingdom of Atlas. A kingdom where the wealth derived was almost as expansive as their military.
Honestly, Ruby cared very little for the rich. Growing up on a small island with very little difference between the wealthy and the middle class, she had never been around those kinds of people who acted like money determined how you should be treated. As such, her only insight into their world came from her mother, who often told stories about her many adventures across the world, including how she worked for the rich and how stuck up they always were.
But even with that said, leaning against the gate looking in, she could definitely say that if there was one thing the rich did for others, it was make truly beautiful things to look at.
And fortunately for her, it seemed that she'd get a chance to see even more beauty close up as a maid was making her way across the grounds, coming to a stop at the gate where she smiled at the young woman.
"Good morning." She said in a honey sweet tone. "I assumed you are an adventurer here about Mr. Bobichy's quest?" And upon receiving a quick nod from the girl as well as showing her the license, she opened the gate and let the girl in.
"Please follow me to the dining area. The master awaits you there." She said as she closed behind the girl before leading her through the grounds toward the house, smiling as she walked. As for Ruby, she calmly hoisted her scythe a little higher onto her back before following the woman.
Upon entering the building, Ruby once again found herself establishing how beautiful it was. White marble statues of the gods stood proudly on either side of the door, with many famous paintings adorning the walls. A long line of velvet carpet covered the inside floors, making the girl almost feel bad about walking on them with her dirty boots.
Following the maid, the girl found herself walking down corridor after corridor, each one breaking off into two more which lent to the building feeling massive in size and scale. And if that wasn't enough, between each painting or banner sat an oriental door, each one leading to another room which led to who knows what. In all honesty, Ruby couldn't even begin to think of uses for half of them.
"How big is this place?" She asked more to herself than anyone, but prompting an answer from the maid.
"Each room is specially built with a different purpose or to fit a different need." She explained. "The ones in the front are the ones you'd expect. Dining room, game rooms, smoking room, and the like. A bit further back are the more private rooms, such as sleeping chambers, bathhouses, and the latrines. Then, at the very back of the room is the employees sleeping chamber, as well as the pleasure rooms with each one tailored to a specific need. Would you like an example?"
"Nope." Ruby said quickly, very eager to change the subject away from what the rich did in their free time. "But if you don't mind me asking, I thought employees' room were usually in the basement. You know, so it was out of their master's way. No offense."
"None taken." The maid replied evenly. "You are right, the basement is usually where the staff would sleep. And I must say, it's quite impressive to know such a thing. Tell me, did your father work as an architect for the noble class or something? Most common folk have never set foot in a place like this, let alone know the layout so well."
Blushing slightly at the compliment, Ruby turned away as she rubbed the back of her head.
"My mom worked for nobles now and again. She told me all kinds of stories about how they lived and stuff like that. And since they were, you know, kinda my personal stories, I hung onto and memorized every word."
The maid, not even batting an eye at the young girl's comment, simply nodded her head as she came to a stop in front of a large, double door.
"Well, I hope that diligently carries over into your adventuring work." She said, waving the girl over. "But for now, we've reached the dinning room where the master awaits. I suggest you make yourself presentable before you go and meet everyone."
Caught somewhat off guard, Ruby immediately began dusting herself off before she fully comprehended what the woman had said. Her head shooting up upon realization of what the words implied.
"Wait, did you say everyon-?"
Unfortunately, before she could finish, the maid pushed the large doors open, revealing a massive table with four people sitting around it.
"Master and honored guests. The fourth and final member of the party, mistress Ruby Rose, has arrived at least."
Looking up from the table, Ruby found all four sets of eyes fixed on her, each one from a different member of the table, as well as a different species as well.
One, the bored, uninterested gaze of a Dragonborn who had a mane of golden hair sticking out of her scaly head.
The next, a judgy glance from a dark Tabaxi, who's face was covered by a purple mask from the nose down.
Thirdly, a cold, icy gaze of an pale, slender elf, with snow white hair and light blue eyes.
And finally, the gaze of an elderly man dressed in finery with long beard that reached down to his waits braided with jewels, a noticeable bold spot on his head, and kind gray eyes that gave off the air of wisdom and experience.
And while it could have been her imagination, it felt like he was staring at her not with indifference or irritation but rather shock and surprise reflected in his eyes. Almost like he hadn't been expecting to see her here, though she knew she had never seen him before.
But in an instant, it was gone. And as she stood there, staring back at the others sitting in the room, the old man rose with the aid of an unusually looking cane that, upon squeezing a lever, extend the rest of it which he placed between his legs, resting both hands on top of it.
"Well, now that we're all here, shall I begin explaining the quest while you all eat!"