I awoke in the unknown room, immediately on guard at being in a strange room.
Looking around and seeing nothing but the bare necessities, I clamed myself, and remembered what had happened the night before.
I had arrived at the Guild nearing midnight, and had asked for a room, before shortly passing out, probably to the horror of the Clerics on staff.
Considering how I had been tucked in, and my travel cloak was hanging over a nearby chair, a small puddle now formed at is base, and my packs were within arms reach, the Staff hadn’t known what to do with me beyond give me a bed.
Groaning as my body rebelled against my need to start my day, I used a cantrip to dry my cloak, and the puddle that had formed.
Putting my cloak on so it covered me and left me as an amorphous blob of cloth and ensuring my packs were safely put back in place on my body, I opened my door and went down to the front desk.
A Cleric of Diem stood at attention, despite it still being early morning, probably anywhere from 5am to 6am.
“Oh, its good to see that you just needed some sleep, after the Sister dealt with you.” the Cleric noted, their red outfit with a yellow exclamation point of Diem rather clean.
This peaked my interest.
“What Sister? I thought I walked in and passed out?” I asked, slightly concerned but more curious than anything else.
A look that I could not discerned flashed across the Cleric’s face, before an understanding smile replaced it.
“Oh. Any new recruits are required to give an interview with Sister [Redacted] before joining.” The cleric stated, pulling out an official paper which had my name and signature at the bottom.
“Huh.”
Well, She told me I needed to start building Her Influence here, so this worked out.
Returning the paper to the draw they had pulled it from, the Cleric spoke again.
“Now, while its early, I would ask that you go eat some breakfast, and park yourself at a table so we can do Introductions. For You Must Gather Your Party before questing.” The Cleric happily stated.
I sighed, and dejectedly headed over to the bar she had indicated. This was a complication that would’ve been a deal breaker, if he had remembered whatever had happened between him and the ‘Sister’ who had interviewed him.
After ordering some toast and ignoring the slightly baffled look from the Cleric who took my order, and heading to a table in a corner so I had a wall to my back and one of my sides, I began to feel myself over, my cloak hiding the subtle movements as I checked my self.
Hmm, no new injuries, no unexpected soreness, nothing strange leaking from orifices. Guess it was just a normal interview then. But why can’t I remember it?
As I zoned out and dwelt on the matter of my missing memory, other fresh Guild Adventurers started to slowly fill the bar and cafeteria.
……..and I was suddenly joined by three other would be Guild Members.
Looking towards a window, the sun was now brightly acknowledging me through the wet mist that counted as rain this morning.
Oh. Its been an hour or two……….
Thanking whatever force had compelled me to raise my hood so my face could be shrouded in shadows, I took note of the…….unique individuals who had apparently been sharing my table.
To my left was a bald teen with the Mark of Diem floating above her(?) head, similar robes and colour to that of the other Clerics I’d been vaguely interacting with, which probably meant she(?) shared their belief. She was eagerly watching everyone at the table, eyes bouncing between them all.
Despite being androgynous, shes is definitely a she. How the fuck do I know this?
I try to subtle shift myself away from the follower of Diem, before blanching upon seeing another woman sitting across from me, the stench of alcohol forcing itself down my throat.
Damn the Gods, shes that drunk already? How can she function?
Unlike the small and slender Diem follower, this woman was built, muscular and tall, her slouching form still very intimidating. There wasn’t any actual malice emanating from her, but the surly glare aimed in his vague direction meant she was atleast aware enough to know he was there.
Finally, turning to his right, was yet another damnable woman. A blue skinned woman who could easily kick my ass if she wanted, she seemed to share the warrior’s fondness for drink, yet definitely not to the same extent. Her outfit was either reminiscent of a sailor or a pirate, but I just don’t have the knowledge to know the difference, a salt sea foam-esque smell subtly entwining the miasmic alcohol.
Three women. Who did I piss off to have this fate forced upon me?
I don’t hate women, in theory.
But, ever since my recovery from Elder Knot and the harpies who inflicted that torment on me, I can’t help but fear and judge.
But my Beloved has proven those scars aren’t as deep as I feared……
I’ll have to make this work. This guild is run by Clerics of Diem, who are inherently Good-leaning, so by that logic, these three aren’t like……those ones.
“Oi, dark and brooding. I assume you speak, eh?” the drunk warrior tried to say in a menacing way, instead coming across my like a drunk slur.
The silent Diem Follower looked up excitedly at the warrior then at me.
“Like Me?” floated above her head, as the Yellow Exclamation Point of DieM shifted in shape.
The blue woman laughed.
“Nah, lass. He’s probably one of those quiet bookish types whose trying to come across as intimidating without realizing it’ll draw the attention of the sort of people he wants to avoid.”
Damned gods, thats how I come across? I mean, she’s…..not wrong. But Elder Knot was…..that sort of town, so this was kind of the fashion for researchers like myself.
“Slate.”
“HE SPEAKS!” The drunk warrior said excitedly as she tried and failed to stand up, instead awkwardly fumbling so she was more sitting upright.
The silent one had an image of a chalkboard slate, with a question mark next to it.
“……my name. It’s Slate.” I stated gruffly.
Oh fun. We have a loud type.
The blue one gave me a shit eating smirk before asking, “You haven’t been paying attention to anything we’ve been talking about, have you?”
I lowered my hood and kept her gaze as I lied straight to her face.
“I was communing with my Patron, kind of hard to pay attention to this reality when my mind is elsewhere.”
As the quiet one tried to visualize her response via her Mark, the drunk one spoke up.
“Oh, Warlock eh? Should’ve pegged you for that type based on your get-up.”
“……….this was actually the fashion in the last town I lived in. This was the more ‘reserved’ style.” I awkwardly muttered, not happy at how my ‘normal’ outfit was actually a lot less normal than I figured.
“Beloved, nothing about you was ever going to be ‘less normal'”.
A light gray blush spread across my features as I realised She was aware of how inconspicuous I had been during our get away from the potential cult following us.
“Pfffftttt, well, its obviously ain’t here.” the drunk one laughed.
While she had started off looking like a potential threat, it seemed her attitude was more due to an imagined slight of me ignoring her.
“Well, our dark and broody fellow, what is it you did before being forced to interact with us?” The blue one asked playfully, taking a swig of her drink.
“Linguist, and researcher on necromancy and interplanar entities.” I said meekly, not looking them in the eyes.
It was true, I was quite the skilled Linguist, and I am a researcher with interests in necromancy and interplanar entities, but having your ‘teachers’ attempt to forcibly deny you was a wound that lasted a while.
“Ain’t that just a Warlock though?” the drunk one loudly stated again. I blinked in shock at her actually understanding what ‘interplanar entity’ entailed.
Most of the people in Elder Knot had no clue what the term meant, and the town thrived because of people who dealt with those types of beings.
“Well, yes and no. Yes in that most Warlocks are usually knowledgable about necromancy and interplanar entities. No, because The Pact is usually formed first and a smart Warlock realizes they should know what the fuck they’ve signed up for.
I was just already well inclined for that field when my bargain was…..struck.” I started off excitedly, before slowing down as I thought about my Pact.