Recruitment Drive

[MadEmperor]

"Me too, only with the coast," Kah explained.

Thrax appeared thoughtful. "So, what brings you to Ketra? You two look like the adventurer type, am I mistaken?"

[DragonSong]

"You could say that." River let her head bin from side to side. The server reappeared with their drinks, and she gave hers a cautious sniff before taking a tiny sip. "Mm. That's not bad, actually."

[MadEmperor]

Thrax winced sympathetically. "Oh... yeah, that's what you get for not being specific. You get expensive stuff. I hope you didn't spend everything on supplies."

Kah gave Riv a worried look and Thrax laughed. "Oh it's not actually that bad. Its not the really expensive stuff. They only serve that upstairs."

[DragonSong]

River blinked. "What the hells is upstair—ah. Right. Never mind."

She shrugged and gave Kah a vaguely sheepish look. "Well, hopefully we have a pretty decent payoff coming up soon, right?"

[MadEmperor]

Thrax snickered as she figured out his meaning. Then his own drink came, and he was momentarily distracted by the lovely server. Until the subject of a payday caught his attention.

Kahroan shrugged back. "As long as that armor leaves us a little travel money, we should be okay."

Thrax stared at them with a slightly greedy smirk. "A payoff, you say? What's the job, if I may ask?"

[DragonSong]

"A hunt, of sorts." River inclined her head slightly, eyeing him with a certain amount of calculation. "I'm a bounty hunter by trade. Seems there's a bit of a menace on the high road that some folks are willing to pay nicely to see gotten rid of."

[MadEmperor]

"The Validor job? With just the two of you?" He looked at them like they were either the toughest bounty hunters ever or completely insane. "I mean, sure, you've got a dragon, but that bandit's gang has no known name for a reason; everyone who's had the privilege of hearing it is dead."

[DragonSong]

River started to grin. "Scared?" she asked pleasantly, and took another sip of her drink. "We're not suicidal," she continued. "And we've both got good survival skills. If the job's too much, we bail. If not..." She smirked. "That's a hells of a lot of coin."

[MadEmperor]

"Not scared, smart. I wouldn't take that job with any less than three people." Thrax said, unsubtly angling for a share.

Kahroan rolled his eyes as he looked at River. "What do you think, is his bite as big as his bark?"

[DragonSong]

River shrugged, purposefully casual. "He seems to think so," she noted, as though Thrax was not within earshot. "I dunno though. We've yet to actually see him in action. Offstage, I mean."

She sipped at her drink again and quirked one eyebrow meaningfully in the bard's direction.

[MadEmperor]

"Oh? What sort of audition do you have in mind?" Thrax smirked after chugging some ale. "Or is it a reference you seek?"

Kah rumbled thoughtfully. "Perhaps an easy multiple target hunt to observe him in action? Maybe with multiple candidates to get that all done at once?"

[DragonSong]

River nodded thoughtfully. "That could certainly work. We'd need to find more willing candidates." She quirked an eyebrow at Thrax. "Know anyone foolhardy enough to take the job?"

[MadEmperor]

Thrax thought it over with a sly smirk. "I can think of few that might be up to the task."


Kahroan soared through the sky, four figures clinging tightly to the white mane that extended down his back. It was crowded between his wings, but he was just big enough to support them. It wouldn't be long, however, for they could already see the clearing that the wounded bounty hunter recovering in Riverglen had said was near Validor's hideout.

It had taken Thrax a while to get used to the idea of flying. He was from the plains, where heights weren't an issue, and his trek through the Thunderblacks had only prepared him so much. But as they neared the end of the flight, he was grinning like a kid. Riding a dragon was epic!

[DragonSong]

"Ooooooo this is so high," the woman clinging to River's waist enthused, sounding delighted.

"Mhm," the shifter agreed, giving one of their new companions a brief look over her shoulder. She didn't exactly know what to think of the kitsune—or the gnoll or half-elf behind her, to be honest—but there was no doubting they were all competent.

[MadEmperor]

"I know, right?" Thrax grinned excitedly. They were rare in civilization, so it was hard to age a gnoll. But, judging by his behavior, he couldn't be much into his twenties, which made him the youngest on the team.

Kah began his descent, circling towards the clearing. He hoped the bandits weren't looking up. Approaching with the element of surprise was always the best. Eventually, he landed as quietly as a medium-sized dragon possibly could, his large breastplate briefly bumping against the ground.

[DragonSong]

River gave the rest of their team a quick, quieting look, and Hanako subsided in her narration of the earth passing below them.

The wolf shifter quickly dismounted when they touched down, slinging a new hunting bow off her back and testing the draw strength. She preferred to fight as a wolf, but a bow was better for initial stealth, particularly going up against an enemy they didn't know that much about.

[MadEmperor]

When everyone was off, Kahroan attempted to become his half-dragon self. He succeeded with surprising ease, having spent enough time in that shape to visualize it easily. "Good, it worked. This form is better for combat."

Thrax nodded in jealous approval. "Storm. Now I kinda wish I was part dragon."

The older half-elf ranger smirked. "That's... certainly an interesting image."

[DragonSong]

"What? Like this?" Hanako swirled her fingers through the air and created a palm-sized, vaguely transparent illusion of Thrax with dragon wings and horns, snarling impressively.

River huffed and shot her mate a look that said "Why did we bring the children along again?"

[MadEmperor]

"Hells yeah!" Thrax grinned approvingly. "That would kick ass!"

Kahroan shrugged, as if to say, "Because we couldn't find anyone better."

Zeldrinn, the ranger, frowned. "Remind me why I agreed to this?"

[DragonSong]

River and Hanako both shrugged and said "Coin" at the same time, then gave each other slightly startled looks.

"Well." She shifter gave herself a little shake. "We should have a plan before we just rush out there."