Chapter 92

The Adventurer Guild branch of Ur was located in the city’s outskirts. The building itself was connected to the exterior wall and situated near the gate leading to the Wilds. It was made of black basalt and had a similar austere appearance as the palace.

The only color to the drab façade was a row of flowers and plants that lined the entrance path, leading to the front entrance where a large sign in gold glowed with strong magic, identifying the building to anyone walking nearby.

The enchantments present on the Guild branch were even stronger than the palace, making it a nearly impenetrable fortress and a safe haven for its members.

The interior of the Guild branch was a well-lit, comfortable, and rustic looking place, equal parts office for Guild staff members, and lounge for the visiting adventures. On one wall, thousands of quests were posted, so numerous that the notices overlapped one another, all organized by difficulty.

The far wall was dominated by long desks, each with a staff member, there for registration of arriving members, or to assist with selecting or rewarding quests.

The rest of the room contained lengthy tables and chairs, filled with groups of adventurers discussing quests or their accomplishments, or groups searching to add members to their parties. Some were just enjoying the company, no matter the time, the room would be busy, and it had the feel of a local tavern, rather than place of business.

Wil and Astrid entered just as the light of Primaris rose to the east, its warm yellow light driving away the darkness of night. They had spent the last seven days attending the festival events, although, thankfully, they were less exciting the first. After a week of good food, dancing and festivities, the city had finally calmed down.

Stepping into the Guild Branch, Wil let the din of yelling and conversations wash over him. The layout was similar to the branch at the foreigner’s port, and Wil spotted the employee counters at the far wall immediately. Gesturing for Astrid to stay close he led the way across the bustling building, weaving his way through the crowd.

Wil, with his high rank, drew eyes as he moved, groups eyeing him speculatively. Any party lucky enough to recruit a high ranker would have a much easier time questing, allowing them all to gain greater rewards.

Astrid, following behind him, was wearing a long, black cloak, with her hood up, in order to remain anonymous while they visited the branch. Having spent the last week together at the festival, it had been Wil’s suggestion. The last thing they needed was more complications from eager young men looking to impress her.

Coming to the long counter, Wil and Astrid waited patiently until a young man, wearing the gold ‘AG’ on his collar and a Guild uniform in black and gold, finished with another member and greeted them.

“Good morning. New to Ur?” the young man asked, already reaching for two blank pages and a long, silver pin.

“Yes, we just arrived after passing the tests.” Astrid responded. The young man nodded his head, handing Astrid a blank page and the pin.

“Knew it, I recognize all our regulars, and you two stand out. Drop of blood, for the registration. We’ll get your information and have you set up in a jiffy.” He said, handing Wil the other blank page.

Astrid was already prodding her finger with the pin, letting a drop of crimson blood hit the page on the countertop. Soon, her information was spreading across the paper, with her name and details. Wil followed, and soon the pair handed back a complete registration form.

The young man looked them both over, raising an eyebrow at Wil’s rank, and his listed mentor, before staring at Astrid. The paper clearly listed her parents, and the young man, as a local, had heard rumors of the city lord’s daughter, running away to join the guild, and returning with a foreign companion.

Clearing his throat, his face turned red as he realized he was staring, the young man stammered out his next question.

“Do you need a rundown of the quests? I can give you a tour as well, if you like.” He asked, focusing on Wil, while still shooting quick glances at Astrid.

“Please.” Wil said, gesturing for the young man to lead the way.

“Alright, we’ll start with the facilities we offer. We have lodgings on site, at a reduced rate for members. If you need a room, just see someone at the counter and we can arrange it. We also have a resident Artificer, Blacksmith and member’s only shop. They’re located in this wing, through that door.” The young man said, leading them through the large hall, gesturing at an exit to the right of the long counter.

“Cafeteria and bar, members only. It’s also a perfect place if you’re looking to join a group, or you need a specialist, like a cleric or mage for a quest. You’ll find many of our regulars like to spend a lot of time here, sharing news and such.” He led them past the common room, nearly full, despite the early hour. Wil could see that many of the members were around Astrid’s rank of 5.

“Finally, over here we have the Quest Board.” He said, stopping next to the thousands of notice parchments.

“They’re arranged from lowest difficulty to the highest.” He said, pointing from left to right. “You can pull as many as you want at a time, just be aware that we do have a time limit on many. See the ones that are red? That means they require travel to the Wilds. It’s a consideration for our members that is unique to our Ur branch.” He said, tapping his finger against an eye catching crimson colored notice.

Wil could see that the red notices were all on the right side of the board and took up nearly half the space there.

“You man select Quests of any difficulty, but, for your awareness, everything will need to be approved through a Guild employee. We have an unwritten rule here, we only allow you to pull quests of the rank of your weakest member.” The young man explained, before pointing to the left side of the wall.

“Meaning, if you two are a pair, you will only be allowed to take quests up to Rank 5. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it’s for our members safety. We estimate the difficulty based on quests of a similar type, knowledge of the area, and Divinations, but it’s still only an estimation.” The young man looked at Wil, almost as if he was expecting him to protest.

“That’s fine. Neither of us have worked for the Guild before, so limiting ourselves to the lower ranked quests is appropriate for our needs.” Wil assured him, looking at the posted notices. His goal here was to find the betrayer through contact with the Guild and its members.

He had also agreed with Astrid’s parents to protect her while she gained experience. Staying under Rank 5 for quests suited him fine, for now. If, after a period of time, he hadn’t made any progress with his hunt, he could always join a higher ranked group temporarily.

“If you have any questions, please come find me.” The young man said with a slight bow, before walking back towards the counter.

“I think we should pick something simple for our first quest. What do you think?” Wil asked, moving towards the far-left side of the Notice Board.

“You don’t want to do a Rank 5 quest?” Astrid asked as Wil walked past that section of the board, stopping at the very end where the easiest quests are.

“You don’t have to worry about me, Wil. I can take care of myself.” Astrid complained, frowning at the thought that she was holding him back.

“I want to learn more about the borderlands, and how the Guild operates, before taking on anything more serious. I don’t doubt we can handle higher ranked quests, but I want to ease into things first. Harder quests probably require more information and cooperation with others, and we’re completely new here. Better to start simple and work our way up.”

“How about this one?” Astrid asked, pulling a quest notice from the board.

Contract: Collect Mosswillow from Ringlan Forest

Suggested Rank: 2, Solo or small party.

Duration: N/A

Reward: 1 Gold Coin per 100 grams.

“Perfect. See if there are any others for Ringlan Forest, we can do them all at the same time. The elemental can probably locate them, as long as we show it a sample. We’ll stop at an apothecary on the way.” Wil said, not really caring about the reward. He wasn’t short of coin at the moment, and he didn’t really need any equipment.

Between what he brought from Illyria, and his earnings from Quentin, he had nearly a thousand gold coins in his bag. Astrid, as the city lord’s daughter, could buy anything she wanted, while her mother had outfitted her with enough items that there was nothing for sale in Ur that equaled what she already possessed.

In only a few minutes, Wil and Astrid had a half dozen quests, all from Ringlan Forest. Showing them to the young man who gave them a tour, they were soon on their way out of the branch. The Guild had a contract with a healer and apothecary, who had stock of all the quest items for them to peruse.

After confirming with the elemental that it could track the quest items in the forest, Wil and Astrid took to the sky, the pair sitting on top of Marali, flying towards the verdant Ringlan forest, located only a few miles outside the city.