"Fascinating, a mix of Sorcerer and Magus. I've never heard of a skill set such as that."
Tess smiles and shrugs haughtily, saying, "Well with how long elves can tend to live, we happen to master some very potent skill sets." The 5 of them walk up to the front door of the bar and she quickly reigns in her own ego to say, "But I'm sure that you all do fantastic things with your sorcerers too."
Jin grips the door handle and his ears perk up as he begins to say, "Well the only sorcerer we know would be Spar-CODE G.A.!!!" Jin and Leo leap to both sides of the door and Zilo suddenly tackles Tess down to the ground. Maldrek has the slowest reaction time, and just barely has the time to brace himself before the door of the tavern is blasted off with a plume of fire that engulfs Maldrek entirely.
As the flames clears Maldrek stands with his in his guarded stance, his robe falling to ash around him his face goes dour and he says, "Yep, gonna need a new robe." The smoldering tiefling walked into the bar, more thankful than ever that his skin resisted fire.
Upon entering the bar the place was just about closed up, Sparky was out cold on the floor after chugging a whole bottle of grain alcohol. May was brushing some soot from her apron after the aftermath of Sparky's drink. Aria looked to be asleep at the bar and at his stool was Alaroc chatting up the only customer left in the bar.
The customer had shoulder length blonde hair in a tight pony tail and piecing features of a Tower Elf. He wore a flowing green and yellow robe with a mass amount of straps reigning in the robes and keeping a rather large pack secure on his back. The man's face looked kind with a smile that would lighten even the darkest mood and clean blue eyes to assist the smile.
Tess runs over to the elf and speaks, "Zatrian Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine Tessa'ladra. Everyone is fine, our little friend just took to the night with a bit too much vigor."
Alaroc halts his drinking as he points to Zatrian and says, "That's what I was suppose to warn you about, I had this inkling in my neck that I had to say somefin', that was it." Jin lifts the little goblin and begins to cradle him as he and Leo make their way to Alaroc. Zilo walks over to the sleeping Aria.
"Hey Aria, good news, I won." Aria mumbles a bit and replaces her head on the bar top, revealing a small book beneath her, which the robbed man retrieves. The elf looks to the Bard and says, "Oh, I apologize, she seemed very stressed over something, so I helped her relax a little bit."
Tess turns toward Maldrek who has rounded the bar an thrown on a smock to protect his shame as his robe finished falling apart. The maiden speaks, "We both decided to stop by since Zilo tells me you guys are sorta like mercs for hire. Well we happen to need some able sword arms."
Maldrek leans in and asks, "What's the job?"
Tess motions to the robed man and answers, "Well I was tasked by the higher ups back home to escort Zatrian here to go on a trek to the eastern jungles where our Savage Elf cousins."
"Dats a bit harsh, just cause they live in da jungle." Says Jin, inviting a confused look from Tess. Zatrian chimes in for her. "Forgive her, we've had that name for them for millennium, most folks call them Wood Elves. But yes, our voyage down was a bit bumpier than expected."
Tess stares daggers at him and says, "You nearly died." Zatrian shrugs as Tess continues, "We originally had four guards for this, but there was an assassination attempt at sea. The assassin killed our paladin, then threw our cavalier and his elk into the ocean and we lost him. That was about two nights ago."
"Wait you said four." Mentions Leo as he begins walking the drowsy Aria over to the stairs. Tess grabs the nearest mug and angrily drinks it before slamming it down and her face turning red with anger.
"We had a coward of a druid as well. I forced the attacker off our ship, and even had some blood on my blade, so the druid figures he might be able to Scry the blood and learn who the guy is. Then all he does is panic shout a name turn into a dolphin and leap off the ship!"
"Let's be fair to him, apparently this is I' Sereg'wethrin." Many of those at the bar don't understand this, but Maldrek lets out a high whistle. He looks to the others, who wait for him to translate and he speaks up, "It's Elven for 'The Assassin' I've heard of him before, He's an elven killer for higher, and he's pulled some high profile jobs before."
"How you know him?" Asked May. Maldrek motioned for her to wait and returned from his office with some parchment, "After our time in the Stormstate I figured it'd be smart to look into other folks who are assassins. Get an idea for our competition in a new market. I' Sereg'wethrin is top dog in this field."
"BAH!!! How good could he be!?" Shouts Alaroc, swinging his flask across his body dismissively. Maldrek looks to him and says, "That Stormstate job we had, apparently he was both the king's first choice and third choice. He didn't want to be lumped together with him due to his line of work, so he picked us since we have a better public image. But if we couldn't deliver, records in the library say he was gonna pull the trigger on sending I' Sereg'wethrin a letter."
Maldrek turns back to Zatrian and says, "I don't know if I can risk my people on a job like this." Tess reaches into Zatrian's bag and pulls out some kind of scroll, slamming it onto the bar. Maldrek takes a look at the paper and Tess smiles, saying, "back in the Arena, Leo let slip that you guys might be in the market for a new one of these, and since our group ain't a factor any more, would make sense for you to take it as payment."
Maldrek reads over the paper and once he scans a few lines in his eyes bug open and he says, "You'd give us an Elven Ship!? It's hard to get elves to part ways with a blade let alone a ship."
"Most elves don't have their lives on the line when bargaining."
Maldrek rolls up the paper and points to Zatrian with the roll, saying, "A party will be ready by the morning, then you take the cart, he can't stow away in a cart. Jin's your the lead on this, no assassin can sneak around you."
Jin gives a salute with his tail as Maldrek retreats to his office, and Zilo offers to show Zatrain and Tess to some rooms upstairs.
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