Business in Selevea

[Hyacinthus]

"...And blonde hair. Have you seen anyone matching that description?"

"Hm? No, I'm afraid not, but while you're here, how about having a gander at my--"

"No."

Whitesands's 'humble' end of the trade city was always so filled with white noise, no pun intended. In fact, the city as a whole by sheer nature best described by any passer through or passerby as 'easy to get lost in'... Which made Mollia's current circumstances feel all the more hopelessly annoying, and somehow dampened her mood further than it already was.

She'd taken on a job at the Selevea Whitesands's adventurer's guild earlier in the day-- one that would have her pair up with a partner, she later came to realize. Though she typically worked alone, the woman had no particular qualms about hunting in groups, as such was rather common in areas such as Adela and Serendipity. She could recall the last job she took on-- tracking down a dragon that'd been spotted precariously close Ravensway-- and the group of fools she'd been paired with by the guild's request... They were a roudy lot, but they ultimately didn't get too much in her way. In the end, they never actually 'caught' the dragon-- or at least, that was what Mollia reported, given the fact that her 'partners' fumbled about the woods for nigh on hours while she dealt wit the actual issue. Since that day, she'd spent a good chunk of her time in the guild, taking odd jobs here and there to build up enough coin to fund a trip further south.

The problem, however, was that the guild was absolutely brimming with folk. Adventurers, workers, would-be heroes, even merchants plying their trade. You could stumble over three people moving from the front door to the reception desk, it was so busy. And as such, finding and coordinating with one's partners on a given job tended to be... frustrating, at best, for someone like her. With little more patience to waste on playing 'Where's Wilma' in the crowd of rambunctious folk, Mollia decided to instead wait for the guild to die down a bit-- these were high-noon hours, after all-- and see if she could spot this 'snowy-skinned lass from the North', as the description she was given implied.

In the meantime, she made her way towards the (relatively) quieter back corner of the guild's waiting tables, and found a small table for two, unoccupied, that she could rest at. The passive, death-like thousand-yard stare in her eyes as she took the time to, if only for a moment, stop thinking kept the table vacated-- And who could blame the folks that avoided it? Mollia was hardly the welcoming sight to anyone, anywhere. Between the faint scent of death on her clothes and the way her left hand, ever so casually, rested on her axe even now, one would have to be rather brave, or clueless, to even want to approach her-- something she relied on, in truth.

[Orion]

The din of the Guild Hall could be heard from blocks away as Karina meandered down the street, her heart racing. She'd come down to the Guild Hall a fortnight prior to arrange her membership, and to apply for her first assignment. "We'll be sending you with another adventurer for a time so that you'll be familiarized with our procedures, but rest assured you'll soon be running about on your own!" She recalled the Guild Porter saying to her as she toured the Hall, staff in hand. He'd seemed such a nice man, although he'd smelled of ham, and had showed her the kindness of a doting parent. A parent that sent their kids on dangerous, life threatening missions, but a parent none the less.

Now, as she stood at the doors, she couldn't help but grin and with a grunt she went to throw the doors open.

Thud.

Stumbling back clutching her jaw, Karina cursed at the heavy oak door, "Why isn't there a sign if it's a pull door."

She started jerking on the handle on one side unsuccessfully as it was indeed locked.  Suddenly, the right door opened and a small group of adventurers stepped out giving her a strange, confused look, but she just grinned sheepishly and darted inside before the door closed again. Immediately the sounds and smells of the fully filled Guild Hall assaulted her senses, and she began to giggle to herself. There were warriors in armor, grizzled veterans with blades and axes, and enchantresses with staves similar to her own, in fine silken robes. There were new recruits here, fresh green boys and girls with big dreams in her eyes, and as she meandered into the room looking all about she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and incredibly excited all at once.

"Hey, watch it!" A large man yelled, turning around to tower over her. As she moved around, looking all about, her staff had smacked the back of his knees, nearly causing him to buckle and fall over.

Karina turned quickly to face him, her staff whirling about, and she clocked him in the chin. The big man fell back into his chair, dazed.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry," she replied quickly as she moved over to him.

In the excitement she stumbled, and stomped his foot with her boot. Balance gone, she fell into him, her elbow slamming into his solar plexus, and he yelped loudly as the wind was knocked out of him.

"It's fine!" He heaved, "I'm fine..."

"Oh my, please, I can help, this was entirely an accident!" She scrambled to her feet, but before she could do any more his two companions grabbed her arm on either side and led her away from the large man.

"It's ok, we've got him," they said.

Karina looked around as they stood her off to the side of the room, and saw that dozens were staring at the commotion, eyes wide. Feeling confused at what had just happened, Karina just shrugged and turned around, and all at once her eyes fell on the brooding warrior off on her own who she'd been instructed to meet up with. Once again, her the voice of the Guild Porter echoed in her mind, "Mollia is a bit... severe. She's a fantastic warrior, but don't expect much humor from her."

She moved over to sit down next to her, and with a broad smile on her face she said, "Hi!"

[Hyacinthus]

The chaos beset upon the guild in a matter of moments did not go unnoticed by the fur-garbed huntress, whose expression shifted from a blank, thoughtless stare to a much more aware, much less at-peace grimace. She could only barely make out what looked like blonde tresses at first-- amongst the disruption at least-- before dread began to boil up in her chest like so much pungent bile. In the midst of the confusion, she debated standing to get a better look, mostly for the sake of her own conscience, before ultimately deciding not to, and simply praying quietly to herself instead:

"...No. No, no, no, no, no... Please, no."

Mollia, by nature, was no stranger to the many sorts of folk who frequented the adventurer's guild. There were some who kept mostly to themselves, taking the occasional job here or there, never anything too ambitious, and living off the money they earned doing honest work. There were groups of like-minded individuals who formed their parties, companies even, and used the guild between tasks and the like to share tales and dreams of the future. There were a few shadier sorts, who oft left with others on some job or another, and just as often returned alone... And then there were the 'journeymen', as she liked to describe them. Youthful spirits, with bright eyes and brighter souls, dreams of grandeur and glory, and about as much experience as a mouse freshly dropped into a maze.

Mice were... fun to watch, but very, very difficult to care for. And so, as the bright-eyed, bright-haired lass excused herself from her 'new friends' to begin making her way toward Mollia's table, the raven-haired woman could instantly feel the onset of similar-such exhaustion filling her soul. So this was what the Guild Porter meant by 'a new face to the city'...

"...Karina, I take it?" She responded with as much enthusiasm as she could muster-- which was none, but the effort was there all the same. The girl wasn't going away, after all-- Might as well try to make the most of the situation.

[Orion]

The excitement on Karina's face was palpable. She was so excited to be sitting here at that very moment, and her attention was entirely directed at Mollia. As she spoke, Karina took a deep breath, and nodded excitedly. "Yep, that's me. I am Karina, nice to meet you," she enunciated well, but her speech was fast as if she was trying to get out the entire sentence before running out of air, "I just can't tell you how excited I am. I mean, this is just amazing. I always love to meet new people, and I've heard a lot about you. You. Sound. Awesome. I really can't wait to see you in action.

She mimed slashing with an axe, except her staff was still in her hand, and she flourished it out to her side nearly hitting another adventurer that was passing by. "Sorry!" she shouted after him as he cursed. Karina turned sheepishly back to the Huntress and giggled, embarrassed. She turned and leaned her staff against the wall. She started to turn away and it began to fall, but to her credit, she grabbed it. Then, carefully, she propped it back up. Giving it a moment this time, Karina starred in silence, breath held. It slipped again, this time she corrected it with haste before it could move more than a few inches. A third time, chewing her bottom lip as she stared intently, it finally held firm, and she turned her attention back to Mollia with a grin as if to say, 'I won.'

Karina had a sweet face with perfectly proportioned features. Her hair was pulled back, nearly save for a few tresses that hung about her face and was braided into a long single lock that fell over her left shoulder. She was wearing a simple dark blue tunic with a corset strapped around her waist. Her sleeves were rolled up, and she wore a pair of simple trousers and riding boots. She had a cloak, but suddenly couldn't remember where she had put it, perhaps at the door when she walked in, and scattered all about her waist were a series of belts and pouches with all manner of trinkets. She also had several leather tubes belted to her waist – scroll cases, it would seem, and at least two strapped to the side of her pack that she'd sat next to her staff on the floor.

"To be honest with you I really wasn't told what exactly we were going to do, but I'm here for it. I am an excellent navigator, I have spent a lot of time in the wilds, and I'm even a fair shake when it comes to magic if I do say so myself. Hopefully I can impress you and you can put in a good word with me with the rest of the guild," she finished with a smile, hands clasped together sitting on the edge of the table. It was clear she was brimming with energy, almost to the point of shaking with excitement, but not with the anxiety associated with someone new to the job. Karina had a look of confidence on her face – whether it was well earned or simply youthful determination was yet to be seen.

[Hyacinthus]

There was a moment of seemingly audible silence that emanated from Mollia as Karina, so spry and full of life as she was, proved her earlier series of unfortunate events was not some stroke of poor luck wrought upon her at an inopportune time-- it was simply who she was. Coincidences were a myth-- the shadowy huntress could see the quickly forming trends in her behavior were concerning at best. Absentmindedly she allowed her right hand, sprawled across her side of the table, to rhythmically tap the wood supporting it finger by finger, as if unconsciously calming herself of her internalized dread in repeating waves by doing so, before she found it within herself to speak up again.

"...Excited as you are, let's not get ahead of ourselves. You're accompanying me on a short, simple hunt-- Nothing that should require..." She began, before frowning somewhat as her eyes slowly drifted towards the retreating adventurer that she'd whacked accidentally moments earlier, "...Excessive action." Her dull, onyx eyes slowly rolled back over onto Karina as she finished her thought, before they began a slow, almost languid descent down the length of her figure, from her eyes onward.

She could, in the few moments that passed quietly as she examined the girl, infer a few things. The first, and arguably more surprising note she made, was the tautness of her skin, and the slightest of wrinkles beneath her eyes. There was experience there, and more importantly, age-- that of a woman near her own years, if a little younger, she had to guess, which by itself immediately required Mollia to compartmentalize and lock away the questions that raised in her head for another time. She'd mentioned moments earlier that she was versed in spellcraft-- of what sort, the raven-haired woman couldn't guess, but likely not the sort of dark or arcane business that her own family practiced. Primal magics, perhaps... or something more akin to healing.

Mollia closed her eyes on that note, bringing her right hand to cover her mouth as she retreated into her mind to think. She wasn't a fan of mages, in spite of being one herself. Life magic, though... The idea was oddly fitting, and surprisingly comforting to her, given what she'd seen of her.

Before long, her eyes opened once more-- and slight as it was, within that coal-like gaze of hers was a very, very faint glimmer of... something. "...Right, no point in delaying any further. You've brought your adventurer's permit, I presume? You're not taking on any requests without it, and you're not getting paid for any either." She started, bringing her hands into a fold on the table as she began verbally walking through the start of a series of standards she'd ingrained into her own mind some time ago now. Better to figure out step-by-step what sort of day they were going to have now, rather than assume the best. "Do you have a journal, to record your work? Did you bring a map with you, of the city and the surrounding forest? Do you have any rations, or medicines you need to keep track of?" Mundane questions, to be sure, but Mollia was a creature of habits and rituals-- preparedness was very, very seldom her weakness in a dire situation.