Assembly and Assigned

Ash and Dust. When that which consumes were finished, all that remained was ash and dust. Those with the means had hidden in pocket worlds or deep, elusive places.  Those without fell to annihilation.  Existence itself was threatened, and was nearly lost. Powerful magic, weaved by a small enclave of mages, stopped it but not until after the world they knew fell to ruin.  It is said that, as their spells finished their task, that the mages fell into a deep sleep, buried by the sands of time.

* * * * *

30th of Greenrain - Late at Night

"By the gods, are we almost there? I am not sober enough for this ride."

The passenger wagon bounced hard over some unnoticed debris in the road. Sent off-balance by it, the young marleek woman riding comfortably in the wagon fell sideways into her companion. Her thick mane of hair tangled into her passenger mate's horns, tugging the woman with her.

"Victalyassa," the woman grabbed at her horn and yanked hard to detangle it. "If you touch me again, I'll cut that tongue out, so you can never utter another complaint."

"Lighten up Ashara," Victalyassa smirked, reaching down into her bag, "besides, we do have that bottle of Cravaka 10-Year. That'll wet the whistle just fine."

"Isn't that for Drosko?" the third of the four companions, the only man in the back of the passenger wagon tilted his head in disappointment. "Besides, that bottle is valuable. It'd be better to save it in case we need to strike a deal with the gate guards."

"What are you possibly expecting Ish Ma'el? Why wouldn't they let us in?" Embra, the final passenger, turned her head from the passing wilderness to the others.  Ish Ma'el turned toward Ashara, the two sharing a look for a moment, before he shrugged.

"It's already open, I'm taking a drink." Victalyassa reached down, grabbing the bottle and quickly flinging it back for a long drink. Her entire body gave a shiver of delight, the fur that covered her standing up slightly, at the rich taste. She offered the bottle over to Embra, who happily grabbed it, taking a smaller sip than her friend.

"If you two get drunk before we get there, I'll-"

"Cut out our tongue's, so we can never taste our drink again, we get it Ashara," Victalyassa resettled against their bags, the wagon's bounce more tolerable to her with the warm tingle running through her body.

"Then you know I'm not joking. Ish Ma'el has seen me do more over less."

"Ah yes, like how you eviscerated that sailor on the shores-"

"No stories Ish," Embra cut him off, whipping the soft cloth she buffed her nails with towards his face to stop him before returning to her task. "Valtaska's just ahead. We can meet up with Drosko, get to bed, then you can drone on as much as you want in the morning to the General that Drosko has lined up for us."

"But it's a great-"

"Ish Ma'el!" Ashara leaned forward towards him, her cool blue eyes drilling into him. "I'm inclined to agree with Embra here, and do not think I need you to brag for me. My deeds speak for themselves."

Pulling into himself, the half-elven man pulled his buccaneer cap down, accepting that no one wanted to hear him regale them with glories past.  The wagon continued on, the evening turning to night as the wagon pulled to the Valtaskan gates.

* * * * *

With the very first light of the next morning peaking through the window, Ashara sat straight up, a perfect bending at the hips as her body rose up fluid but straight. Her eyes were sharp and focused, prepared for a fight as she looked around.  She was simultaneously pleased and annoyed to see that the only unsightly thing was Ish Ma'El's form sprawled in his bed.

The once-proud pirate laid in a heap, sleeping deep ontop of the covers, with only his boots and hat off. Ashara rose up to leave when he stirred, snorted, and cracked his eyes.

"Ah, surprisingly good sleep despite how still the room is. Ready to head down already?"

"I'm always ready, Ish Ma'El. Collect your bags, as we won't need to return here.  Ish nodded with a hefty yawn as he got up, slowly following in Ashara's steps.

Next door, Embra stood in front of the single, dirty mirror, combing her hair with her old brush, humming quietly to herself as Victalyassa stood in the open window, taking in the city as she sipped from her hip flask.

"Sounds like their up," Victalyassa said, pulling her head in, careful not to catch her horns on the window sill. A moment later, the door was heard to close, and Embra gave a gentle sigh as she put her brush into her bag.

"Must be awful, the hearing you Marleek have.  I couldn't stand hearing everyone."

"Meh, it's good to be aware," Victalyassa grabbed her bag, following behind Embra as they walked out together.

Downstairs, the group found thier guildleader, Drosko, eating a hearty breakfast, with an empy mug next to him and a filled one in hand. Dressed well, if practical, he looked like he could fit equally well in a royal meeting as he could deep in the woods. He sat stiff, but witht he vigor of a dwarf a third his age. He motioned for them to sit down, followed by a gesture for the barman to bring out the remaining food.

"This must be a large job to send for all of us from Manlee's Stop, Drosko." Ashara was the first to sit at the table, but the rest soon join them.  The food was quickly brought out as their guild head struggled to swallow his large bite to respond.

"Yes, yes. General Threev, the High General that is, has a special request. We go back years, did jobs together when we were younger. In the Valtaskan Army I mean, not my more mercurial days.  I'm not entirely sure the details of this job, but it is my understanding that this task is being presented to us early. That is, we are getting a head start on a request by the High King to handle an Alliance wide problem."

"Competition then? That'll weaken our bargaining power." Ish Ma'el began running numbers in his head as he served up his own plate. The girls each grabbed their portions of meals as Drosko continued.

"I believe we are going to going after some new doom-to-you-all group. Probably something they wish to keep under wraps, thus us and not the army."

"Sounds fun, we haven't done a job all together, not the four of us," Embra smiled, looking at the everyone. Only Victalyassa returned the smile as she finished off her morning ale.  Ashara simply shook her head.

"As long as your moral compass doesn't stop me from doing what needs to be done, i'm fine having more weapons on hand. Drosko, let us go now."

Sparing a look at his food, he gave a sigh, then shrugged, getting up.  The group stuffed in their mouths what they could, Victalyassa topping her flask off with the remaining ale from the mugs before catching up.

They left the tavern Drosko had gotten them rooms at and began travelling up the Parade Route toward the Shimmer Castle.  The cities lower districts were all more working-class.  The stone foundations were rougher, the wood less refined.  Though diverse, valtaska made no effort to hide its religious roots, with small shrines and temples scattered within spitting distance of one another.  Within the first fifteen minutes of the hike up the main route, the passed a handful of priests passing in small flocks, performing whatever duties the temple organizations sent them out for.

Far in the distance, growing more visible as they reached closer, the Shimmer Castle sparkled in the morning light.  It sat at the base of a steep face of the mountain, resting at the foot of the royal temple to Holona.  Of the roughly dozen Embodied Gods that controlled the fate of the mortals, each prominently worshipped or appeased in this city, Holona held the highest regard.

The group came under the shadow of her eyes as they reached the gates of the Shimmer Castle.  Drosko directed them to the administrative section where they were to meet the High General. In a hurried fashion from door to seat, they were led to their meeting.