Short story#1

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"After hours of travelling and asking for rumours in taverns, after almost getting devoured by Jabal spiders, and after sweeping the grasslands and hills clean of the bandits and traps, we get a small bag of gold and some hard tacks for hunting down a low-ranked legion deserter?"

"Seems like it," Hirge glanced at their 'rewards', "Mercians do have a peculiar way of thanking adventurers." She then glanced apologetically at the warrior who sat beside her.

The party decided to rest at the encampment at South Jabal Hills -Centurion Kanum already warned them of the dangers of staying there as spiders occasionally came to attack the camp-.

Grissenda, Adaon, and Hirge sat at one side where they won't bother the guards with their presences -seemingly that they had watched the horizon without even blinking since the last hour, noted Hirge- while Anon- the player, who is a warrior -is currently having a chat with Centurion Kanum, presumably trying to get some news or rumours from the camp.

Since the camp is already low on food and currently waiting for supplies and reinforcements from the capital, the three adventurers decided to have their hardtack rewards as dinner for the evening, occasionally offering some to passing soldiers despite Adaon's protests.

"Soldiers are nothing without food," Grissenda hitted the rogue, the metal gauntlet of hers is more than enough to deliver a handful of pain. "What's a warrior with an empty stomach? Let me tell you from experience, they can't even move with their armour on."

He groaned, clutching his throbbing head while checking for traces of blood on his head, "It's not like you're managing with the food yourself either. I saw that whenever you took a bite, your whole face is red and a vein appeared in your temple."

It is true, Grissenda had to put a ton of force into biting the biscuit to even make a crack on it. Although, he was sure that it was her jaw that cracked.

"Sometimes, we have to be grateful with what we have now. It is better than having nothing to eat. Tell me, do you have any suggestion on getting better food other than eating the poisonous spiders here?"

"We could steal some when we're at the capital. It won't hurt to do it once in a while.." the rogue muttered. Unfortunately, the redheaded warrior heard him and got a threateningly "What was that?" from her.

Ignoring the pair's banter, Hirge silently observed the foliage near the camp, seeing some promising bushes that she recognized after her many travels in the past prior of meeting Anon. She rummaged through their bags, silently cursing at the lack of organisation as she found a sword and a skull in a bag that was supposed to contain their cutlery and dishwares.

She finally found a wooden bowl without harming herself with the various weapons that she found inside and whispered prayers of gratitude to the gods. She then headed to the gate and kindly asked for the permission of the guards to let her pass.

Anon adviced her to return as soon as possible when she walked near the two men, ruffling her hair when she's at his arms' reach. The gesture made the young cleric flustered, "Being a commander for various missions and crusades and still treated like a child."

Hirge came back to the camp minutes later as promised, the wooden bowl in her hand now filled with berries she had gathered from the bushes. When she walked through the makeshift gate, guards were baffled that she even managed to return without any scratch. Anon took some from her when she's close to him again, thanking her before popping the fruits into his mouth.

She made her way to their little corner, only to find Grissenda and Adaon still having their arguement, somehow revolving around resources and the connection it has to the strength of each kingdoms' armies.

Hirge sighed, grabbing a wooden spoon from one of their bags and begin her work. She crushed the berries silently while listening to the rogue and the warrior's debate.

It was mostly harmless at first until..

"Do you know why the roads of Illmara were threatened by wild beasts and savage creatures? It's because they cared too much of helping other kingdoms and their religion that they forgot to take care of their own kingdom. What a ruler they have there."

The cleric threw the spoon at Adaon for his oh so-clever words. He yelped at the impact on his forehead and neither she or Grissenda showed any genuine mercy at his unfortunate state.


"Ouch, for a young priest, you hit pretty hard!" Adaon rubbed his forehead, checking for any bruise while cursing loudly. Some heads turned towards their direction, alarmed by the rogue's voice.

If only Grissenda can facepalm harder than a minotaur.

"I didn't mean offense to the Holy Queen herself. I'm just saying that Ilmaran cared too much of their surrounding that the queen may forgot to take care of her own family first. I won't mind if Her Majesty wanted a man other than Her husband, I'll be the first to spend the night with her. "

Hirge swore that the Sacred Fires are sparking in her hands.

"Speaking of the royal family, does the Queen have a daughter? If so, I'd gladly ask for her hand in marriage, if I'm not too late, that is. I wonder if the princess ever feel lonely, for I'll be the man who'll make her feel accompanied day and night." Adaon looked up into the sky where some stars started to appear in the darkening dusk, "I can tell that the Princess is a beautiful girl, and that whenever I looked at the stars, it felt like she was here with me."

Grissenda shooked her head, "You never ceased to prove yourself as the ladies' man, don't you Adaon? Why don't you just chase down girls in taverns instead? Some woman are just too far out for you, you know?"

"Lady, no need to be jealous," he put his hands up in a mock defense, "Don't hesitate to speak your love to me, for I have more to give to you." Adaon grinned cheekily.

Hirge sighed, muttering prayers to the Three to keep herself calm. She doesn't want to accidentally call upon the might of Arbenos in blind rage, because that would taint the holy name of The Three with filth. She vowed to never be a follower like that.

If only she could drag the rogue all the way to Nivarian and get him in a trial for badmouthing the Queen of Ilmara and the actions of the Holy Council, not to mention disrespecting the Royal Family of the queen. "Blessed be her."

The priestess poured some water from her own canteen into the bowl, just enough so the content wouldn't be too thick. With a few stir using a hardtack as a replacement for the thrown spoon, Hirge make sure that everything mixed well before trying her mixture herself and confirmed that the biscuit now can be eaten without having a chance of her teeth broken in addition of having an extra flavour. "'It's not much but at least we can eat it easier now." the blonde thought to herself.

She offered Grissenda the dipping, which the female warrior gladly accepts. When Grissenda took a bite, the cleric felt relieved that no more veins appeared on the warrior's temples whenever she chewed.

Together, they ate in silence before Adaon joined them along with Anon. The day is getting darker but they had lit a campfire to keep warm. Adaon protested when Anon invited the guards to sit with them but a glare from Grissenda stopped the rogue from saying more.

Moments later, chatterings can be heard around as the watchers rested and eat with the party. Some of them had to return to their guard duty but at least, they didn't look as tired as before.

In the midst of conversations, Hirge must've noticed the older woman staring at her, for Grissenda didn't take a bite on her food since the last minute.

"May I ask what's on your mind?" The question brought the female warrior back from her trance.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself here in Mercian grounds." Grissenda teased the cleric which the only response she got is a huff.

"And I didn't know that you have a liking towards sweetness." She teased further, pinching the Ilmaran's pale cheek and then released.

"So does everyone." The younger woman replied nonchalantly with a slight frown, rubbing her cheek in an attempt to make the pain subside. Somehow, it made Grissenda chuckled. Hirge can't help but feel slightly flustered at the reaction, "Did I just made fun of myself?"

"What is it that's so funny about the statement? Did I say it wrong?"

"Oh, no. It's not that, sister Hirge" Grissenda waved a hand, "It's just that.. you reminded me a little of my sister whenever she tried to look tough." She smiled at the cleric, before taking a bite from her dipped hardtack and gazed at the horizon silently.

Hirge blinked curiously.

"Would you like to join me meditating later?"

The cleric nodded silently.

-----------
Wordcount: Somewhere around 1270-ish

Author's note:
I've been trying to find a topic or a small plot and I ended up writing this.

For the main character, I'll be referring him/her as 'Anon', as in anonymous. Anon's personality varies with the class as every Anon will interact somewhat differently with each of his/her party. In this story, I used the warrior Anon.

Hopefully, my English will improve soon as it's not my first language. I've set a duedate for myself so some mistakes may go unnoticed.

By the way, some lores may differ from others' opinions because I put my own interpretations into my stories. Everyone have different opinions and interpretations.

Edit#1: Changed some dialogues
Mod Note: It's a very long post (~1,300 words) so placed inside spoiler tags to make navigating the thread a little easier.
 

VDX_360

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Not too shabby.

Placed the post inside spoiler tags for navigation purposes.
 

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