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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7041414" data-attributes="member: 143">Thanks, carborundum!Here's some more about our starting pair and their quest. We'll meet the rest of the party on Monday.* * * Chapter 2“Thanks for… you know, back there,” Bredan said, as he and Glori walked along the street that led into the core of Crosspath.The smithy was situated on the edge of town, sharing company with other shops and businesses that produced loud noises or unpleasant smells.  Bredan waved to one of the stablemen at Cody’s Yards as they passed, while Glori wrinkled her nose and looked dubiously at the horses in the paddock that extended back from the road.“Your uncle just wants you to be happy,” Glori said.“I know.  I just don’t want to disappoint him.  Ever since father… he’s been very good to me.”“He was in the king’s army, he saw an awful lot of the world outside Crosspath.”“I know you saw a good part of it too, before your master…”  With a flinch and a glance over at her he quickly snapped his mouth shut.  Her jaw tightened but she let him try again.  “You’ve traveled a lot,” he finally managed.  “But nothing in all the stories you’ve told me has convinced me that people are any different out there than they are here.”She briefly laid a hand on his arm.  “I’ll I’m saying is that he might surprise you.”“Speaking of surprises,” he said, on more certain ground now.  “What’s this visit about, really?”She looked over at him and offered a subtly exaggerated blink.  “What do you mean?  I’m getting a cool drink and maybe a nice sunset walk along the river.”Bredan snorted.  “I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re up to something, especially since that’s usually all the time.”She sniffed.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”“Come on, you’re going to tell me sooner or later, might as well do it now.”She shot him another considering look, then nodded.  “I heard about a job.”“I thought you had a job.”“No, a job for us.”“Glori…”“Are you going to hear me out, or not?”“Fine.”“Do you know Starfinder?”“The wizardess?”“Okay, first off, it’s ‘wizard,’ it’s not a gendered term.  That’s very sexist, and the kind of thing that could get us off on the wrong foot with her.”Bredan rolled his eyes, but he was careful to turn his head away first.  “I’m already not liking this.  What does a wizard need with a smith and a bard?”“Well, hear me out.  There’s something she needs.  From the Dry Hills…”“No,” he said.  “No!” he repeated, holding up a hand when she tried to cut in.  “Aren’t you the one who always says that every story about the Dry Hills begins in two ways: ‘So we were in the Dry Hills and ran into these bandits,’ or ‘So we were in the Dry Hills and ran into this terrible monster?’”“You’re exaggerating.  Besides, from what I just saw, you could handle either, if we got you a real sword.”“My uncle would never allow it.”“That’s odd, I thought you were an adult.”“Make fun, but it’s a terrible idea.  Dangerous, for one.”“She’s offering four hundred.”Bredan nearly tripped, though the road was only a little bit muddy.  “Gold?  Wait, no, I don’t want to know.”“How much do you make working for your uncle again?”Bredan didn’t bother answering the question.  “I’m a smith, not a treasure hunter.  And besides, everyone knows that the ruins in the Dry Hills were all looted.”“Then it will be an easy score.  Starfinder will pay half even if the place is empty.”That’s stupid, Bredan started to say, but he bit the words off before they could escape his mouth.  He didn’t actually know any wizards, but they had strange ways and were different from ordinary folk, everyone knew that.  “It’s still too dangerous for two people,” he said.“Well, as it happens I know a lot of folks,” Glori said.  “I bet I could find a few more people who might be interested.  Or there might be others who respond to the notice, it was posted over at the Tusk where anybody could see it.”“Based on the sort of folks I’ve seen you hang out with, that’s hardly reassuring,” he said.  But when he saw the effect his words had he quickly added, “I’ll think about it, okay?  I will, I promise.  And I’d have to talk to my uncle, my absence from the forge would affect his business.  Especially if I never came back,” he added in an undertone.“That’s very fair,” she said.He started to turn around, and she asked, “Where are you going?”“What?  I thought this was why you came to see me.  I really do have a lot of work to do.”She stood in the road and folded her arms across her chest.  “I believe I was promised a drink, and I intend to collect.”</blockquote>

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