Gavin led them up a square staircase which wound its way around the center of the building. Puffing slightly as the stairs ended on the third floor, he led them to the first of the two doors there and motioned to them to follow him in. Like the stairs, it was carpeted with a red repeating flower motif with oak paneling on each wall. The room was perhaps 20 feet by 20 feet, with plenty of room for the large bed, roll-top desk, and large wardrobe. "I could have a second desk brought in, presuming that you wanted to room together to save costs. There is one water closet, that other door that you saw in the hall."
"How much is it?" Ann asked.
"Normally," he said, "I'd charge a gold a day apiece for your own rooms, but seeing as how you want to be mages, I presume you understand an elementary cleaning spell and I won't have to provide laundry services or clean the water closet, and neither of you look like you eat very much. You don't have pets other than any possible familiar you have tucked away, and you're students so you'll be gone during the day and won't make any noise for my neighbors. This semester, I'll charge you both together four silver pieces a day, payable in advance, and that's a lower fee for the two of you together than you'll find in any place that doesn't leak."
"How about three silver pieces a day with an extra coin every week," Ann countered.
He thought about the offer for a moment then shook his head. "The school starts on Merday, so most places are full, which limits your options, but then there aren't many more students who will be coming which limits my options. How about three silver pieces a day with three extra every week, which comes to 78 gold and seven silver."
"That seems fair," Ann said, pulling out her coin bag, "That will take most of what I have, although I plan on getting more by next semester."
Gavin tactfully turned his head as she poured gold coins out on the table and counted out 79. She handed them over and he made them disappear then handed her three silver coins. "I'm sure you'll come to love The Middle Court," he said with a smile, "I'll get that desk up here by tomorrow evening, possibly tonight. Just give me a moment downstairs to get the door key."
"Torin," Gavin puffed out when he reached the bottom level, "If you come back with two quiet men to carry a desk to the third floor, there's a copper in it for each of them and one for you."
Torin nodded his head and asked, pointing to the women, "They'll be here, right?"
"For this semester at least, Torin. Thank you." Gavin held out his hand with a smile and Torin smilingly did a fairly decent job of palming the coin Gavin had been holding.
As Torin turned to go, Ann called out to him. "Torin, for a copper, would you show us the best route to the school in the morning."
"Certainly, milady," he said, bowing. "I can take you there this evening if you'd like, or at morning bells."
"In the morning," she drawled, "But first will you take us to a tavern? Not to drink," she said, turning to Gavin, "But to form an adventuring party."
"It's none of my business," Gavin said, with a shake of his head and a pleasant expression, "But please remember the rules. I'll have that key for you in a moment if you want to take your packs upstairs."
"Certainly," Ann said as Lex nodded and they both bent to pick up their packs.
Their next stop was a tavern, the traditional place to go find a new person to join an adventuring party, or to pick up a quest. Everyone knew that Arrowhead University, like the other two Hero schools, only allowed 20 Heroes to graduate from its walls each year, and that only Heroes, members of the King's Guard, or older influential people who were also able to pay the hefty tax were allowed to gain any levels. Most people didn't even have a level, and anyone else found with a level higher than one was either taken to the King to be forcibly deleveled or branded a villain and hunted down.
Everyone also knew that the members in your registered adventuring party would, at the beginning and end of each semester, apply additional bonuses or penalties to your own grade, so there was always some competition to try to form the "best" party possible with the correct number of friends, three to six in total. There hadn't been anyone else from their small hometown who had been interested in traveling so far and so they hoped to find someone else here that they could group with, someone else that was similarly unattached. The semester was about to start, so most people would be in a group already, but hopefully they could find some good people.
The default meeting place for adventurers was a tavern, particularly dark, smoky taverns. The more foul-looking, the better. Only someone more confident in their skills, or who was looking for someone more confident, would patronize such a place. Naturally Torin took them straight towards where the main ramps from the docks reached the top of the cliff, pointing out landmarks that they could use to get back on their own as he had other errands to run, and they soon arrived at a particularly foul tavern that looked promising. With weapons prominently displayed and their hoods up, the two girls blended right in with the general clientele. The corners were already full when they entered, as usual, so Ann ordered two bowls of soup for them and they joined the crowd at the tables in the middle. Ann then pushed her hood back, exposing her face to view and gave a sharp head nod, letting her red hair flip out from around her shoulder and hang down over the back of her green cloak.
It wasn't too long until a more drunken man wandered over to their table and thumped a hand down on it near Ann. "You outta," he lurched out, reaching for her, only to stop as the sound of least six swords clearing a scabbard rasped out from around the room as several excited young men concluded that this was their opportunity to come to the pretty young woman's rescue. As he slowly looked around him, he carefully pulled his hand off the table and stepped back, saying, "Never, hic, never mind," and wended his way back to the bar where he slumped onto a stool. The young men shamefacedly looked at each other, sheathed their swords, and all but one sat back down, none wanting to be the one to make the first move to approach the woman and face possible rejection in front of the others. The lone man on his feet performed a military about face and walked out of the tavern.
After almost an hour's wait, with everything else in the tavern going on as usual but nobody seeming to want to make the first move to approach their table again, a figure in a hooded red cloak walked up, his face as deeply shrouded in shadow as Lex's. He pulled back a chair and sat down, setting a folding war scythe down on the table in front of him, his hands casually resting on top of it. It seemed from the way his robe fell that he was wearing some sort of armor beneath it. His large hands were paper thin, skin stretched tightly over bone, his knuckles clearly evident. "Students?" he rasped, his voice sounding like a pole being dragged through gravel.
"How much is it?" Ann asked.
"Normally," he said, "I'd charge a gold a day apiece for your own rooms, but seeing as how you want to be mages, I presume you understand an elementary cleaning spell and I won't have to provide laundry services or clean the water closet, and neither of you look like you eat very much. You don't have pets other than any possible familiar you have tucked away, and you're students so you'll be gone during the day and won't make any noise for my neighbors. This semester, I'll charge you both together four silver pieces a day, payable in advance, and that's a lower fee for the two of you together than you'll find in any place that doesn't leak."
"How about three silver pieces a day with an extra coin every week," Ann countered.
He thought about the offer for a moment then shook his head. "The school starts on Merday, so most places are full, which limits your options, but then there aren't many more students who will be coming which limits my options. How about three silver pieces a day with three extra every week, which comes to 78 gold and seven silver."
"That seems fair," Ann said, pulling out her coin bag, "That will take most of what I have, although I plan on getting more by next semester."
Gavin tactfully turned his head as she poured gold coins out on the table and counted out 79. She handed them over and he made them disappear then handed her three silver coins. "I'm sure you'll come to love The Middle Court," he said with a smile, "I'll get that desk up here by tomorrow evening, possibly tonight. Just give me a moment downstairs to get the door key."
"Torin," Gavin puffed out when he reached the bottom level, "If you come back with two quiet men to carry a desk to the third floor, there's a copper in it for each of them and one for you."
Torin nodded his head and asked, pointing to the women, "They'll be here, right?"
"For this semester at least, Torin. Thank you." Gavin held out his hand with a smile and Torin smilingly did a fairly decent job of palming the coin Gavin had been holding.
As Torin turned to go, Ann called out to him. "Torin, for a copper, would you show us the best route to the school in the morning."
"Certainly, milady," he said, bowing. "I can take you there this evening if you'd like, or at morning bells."
"In the morning," she drawled, "But first will you take us to a tavern? Not to drink," she said, turning to Gavin, "But to form an adventuring party."
"It's none of my business," Gavin said, with a shake of his head and a pleasant expression, "But please remember the rules. I'll have that key for you in a moment if you want to take your packs upstairs."
"Certainly," Ann said as Lex nodded and they both bent to pick up their packs.
Their next stop was a tavern, the traditional place to go find a new person to join an adventuring party, or to pick up a quest. Everyone knew that Arrowhead University, like the other two Hero schools, only allowed 20 Heroes to graduate from its walls each year, and that only Heroes, members of the King's Guard, or older influential people who were also able to pay the hefty tax were allowed to gain any levels. Most people didn't even have a level, and anyone else found with a level higher than one was either taken to the King to be forcibly deleveled or branded a villain and hunted down.
Everyone also knew that the members in your registered adventuring party would, at the beginning and end of each semester, apply additional bonuses or penalties to your own grade, so there was always some competition to try to form the "best" party possible with the correct number of friends, three to six in total. There hadn't been anyone else from their small hometown who had been interested in traveling so far and so they hoped to find someone else here that they could group with, someone else that was similarly unattached. The semester was about to start, so most people would be in a group already, but hopefully they could find some good people.
The default meeting place for adventurers was a tavern, particularly dark, smoky taverns. The more foul-looking, the better. Only someone more confident in their skills, or who was looking for someone more confident, would patronize such a place. Naturally Torin took them straight towards where the main ramps from the docks reached the top of the cliff, pointing out landmarks that they could use to get back on their own as he had other errands to run, and they soon arrived at a particularly foul tavern that looked promising. With weapons prominently displayed and their hoods up, the two girls blended right in with the general clientele. The corners were already full when they entered, as usual, so Ann ordered two bowls of soup for them and they joined the crowd at the tables in the middle. Ann then pushed her hood back, exposing her face to view and gave a sharp head nod, letting her red hair flip out from around her shoulder and hang down over the back of her green cloak.
It wasn't too long until a more drunken man wandered over to their table and thumped a hand down on it near Ann. "You outta," he lurched out, reaching for her, only to stop as the sound of least six swords clearing a scabbard rasped out from around the room as several excited young men concluded that this was their opportunity to come to the pretty young woman's rescue. As he slowly looked around him, he carefully pulled his hand off the table and stepped back, saying, "Never, hic, never mind," and wended his way back to the bar where he slumped onto a stool. The young men shamefacedly looked at each other, sheathed their swords, and all but one sat back down, none wanting to be the one to make the first move to approach the woman and face possible rejection in front of the others. The lone man on his feet performed a military about face and walked out of the tavern.
After almost an hour's wait, with everything else in the tavern going on as usual but nobody seeming to want to make the first move to approach their table again, a figure in a hooded red cloak walked up, his face as deeply shrouded in shadow as Lex's. He pulled back a chair and sat down, setting a folding war scythe down on the table in front of him, his hands casually resting on top of it. It seemed from the way his robe fell that he was wearing some sort of armor beneath it. His large hands were paper thin, skin stretched tightly over bone, his knuckles clearly evident. "Students?" he rasped, his voice sounding like a pole being dragged through gravel.
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