“I didn’t think anything could be worse than snow...”

Ulmiyda shook the sand from her dress as she walked the streets of Zeinav City, looking towards her retainer with annoyed expression.

“What? You said you wanted me to take you somewhere warm.” Cervayhn replied with a smirk.

“Don’t worry too much, this job will be an easy one. Just a simple investigation into some vandalism. Besides, you’ve got one of the Pale Army’s finest intelligence officers on your side, it should go pretty quick.” He says with an exaggerated sense of pride.

The young girl gives him a look that pierces right through him, she knows that she wouldn’t be here if her retainer was planning on doing any actual work. She had no experience investigating criminal activities and yet here he was putting her in harm's way.

Her expression elicited a laugh from the older dark elf. He placed a hand on her shoulder as he crouched down to meet her eye to eye.

“You’re a smart girl, Ulmiyda, I trust you to solve this mystery. We are in a land known for its heat. Who knows? Maybe the solution to our problem will actually be fire-based for once.”

His words possessed a hint of exaggeration, but he knew it was exactly what he needed to say to get the young girl motivated.

Her eyes widened as her mind raced with inane possibilities for what this quest entailed.

“We’re hunting down fire thieves?” she asked with anxious eyes.

Her attendant looks at her with a brief moment of confusion before nodding his head, knowing that this absurd idea will at least get the girl moving.

“Yep we are after some fire thieves, they are a tough bunch, so we’ll need to hire some help at the local tavern first.”

He knew how stringing the girl along like this could quickly lead to disaster. He’d likely need an extra set of hands to keep her under control.

Her attendant leads her to the nearest tavern, where they he purchases a private table and informs the bartender of their intentions. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the bartender to send an intrepid adventurer their way.

SPOILER: Click to show

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Quest Name: Painting on the wall

Participants: Two or more

Location: Zeinav City

Post Requirements: 4 post per person, 200 words per post

Reward: +1 Renown

Description: A series of vandalisms have taken place across the city, notably targeting important businesses and politicians homes. Different foreboding messages have been written in blood across the fronts of these buildings, as well as many of their windows and doors having been smashed in. We believe the Scorched Ones are responsible, but as of yet have no proof to implicate them, and have yet to identify the source of the blood used in the attacks. Venture to one of these locations, investigate the scene and find any clues to who may be behind this. (Clues can lead to the Scorched Ones as they are responsible)

    Amelia cracked her knuckles, taking a swig of her ale. At least this tavern was more civilized than that other one, where she met Izzy. That was certainly a day, she was slightly annoyed at herself for coming back. But she also had a good experience here, so maybe it was just a 50/50 about what she'd get that day

    Or maybe it wasn't, because for her third trip to the Zeinav city taverns she was approached by the barkeep. Guess she was in trouble. Or not. This place was keeping her guessing, she liked that. The barkeep informed her about some people who had requested assistance, and the barkeep decided she looked good enough.
    
    Who knew she'd be flattered to be called 'good enough'. She sure didn't. What was this, a day of surprises? She took one last swig of her ale, draining the mug in one big chug. Amelia put the drink down, standing up and following the barkeep to the people who had requested some help. 

    They approached the table, the barkeep showing her the way before walking off. She looked at the two people, smiling. "Names Amelia. Heard you needed some help?" She tilted her head ever so slightly to the left, taking the people in. A dark elf sat in one chair, and a smaller girl sat in another. Interesting group, but she wouldn't judge. 

“Cervayhn, she is shorter than me! How will she possibly catch the thieves?” Ulmiyda exclaimed with an annoyed tone as the dwarf joined them at the table.

“Ulmiyda mind your manners, we likely share the same home region. The dwarves of Frost Gale are quite the force to be reckoned with. They are a powerful ally who help to secure our place in Charon. Do not underestimate them due to their height. You don’t like it when people insult your height either, do you? Now apologize.” The young dark elf’s retainer chastised her, not wanting his attendee to make a bad first impression.

“I’m sorry...” The young girl replies in a tone that hinted sadness.

Satisfied with his master’s response, the older Dark elf turned back to the mountain dwarf with a calm but serious expression.

“We are looking for some assistance for our investigation into some vand- fire thieves who have been leaving grotesque paintings throughout the city. These thieves might be quite the handful, so we came to this tavern hoping to find help that won’t cower to the common criminal.”

Cervayhn smiled at his own words, satisfied that he successfully misled both his master and the dwarf in spite of his near slip up.

“My name is Cervayhn, and my young master here is Ulmiyda. I’m escorting her as she journeys across Charon, taking the occasional odd job so that she may learn new skills and the value of a hard day’s work.”

He looks over to his young master expecting her to follow his lead with her childish smile. Instead, he finds the young girl standing up from her chair, staring at the dwarf as she holds her scimitar, a blade half the length of her body.

“You’re from Frost Gale right? What do you think of fire?”

    Nodding along with the dark elf's words, she waited for them to finish talking before she said anything. Then she chuckled, hearing Ulmiyda's question. "Fires are nice for warming up, especially in a place that's cold all the time!" She grinned, looking to the girl. "Although, they are annoyingly dangerous, funny how such a calming thing can be so harmful." 

    She shrugged, looking to both the dark elf and the girl. "Anyway, fire thieves you say? Well, that certainly sounds like a handful to deal with." She absentmindedly cracked her knuckles as she said this, giving a loud snap. Loud enough to be for one to be concerned if she broke them. 

    "Oh right, nice to meet you both!" She smiled, extending a hand for them both to shake. This certainly was something, fire thieves? She hadn't been here very long, and hardly came at all, but she was sure there were no fire thieves. But oh well, whatever they said was probably more correct than her. She wasn't a local, after all. 

    Amelia looked at them both, a bit curiously. What was a young girl even doing out here? Even if she wasn't a local, she certainly knew the girl probably shouldn't be out here, this place was rather dangerous. Were there new accepted things that weren't in her home town? Zeinav never failed to offer her something new. 

Ulmiyda looks at the mountain dwarf as she rubs her chin with her free hand. The dwarf’s comment about the calming nature of fire definitely hit home for the young girl. The warmth of flame was her only refuge from the horrid cold of Frost Gale, she surely would have lost herself with it. On the other hand, her mention about fire being dangerous almost seemed like a personal attack, albeit there was no way the dwarf could know of her obsession already.
She looks over to her retainer with a quizzical expression.

“Okay Cervayhn, she will work. We’ll show them the fury of Frost Gale!” she said as she held her free hand upwards and it clenched into a fist, doing her best to imitate the dwarf’s strength.

The older dark elf gave a sigh of relief at her display. Reading the girl's deranged little mind was an arduous task, especially when her conditions for working with others hinged on whatever bizarre thoughts were constructed from such straightforward statements. He reached over the table to shake the dwarf hand before signaling his young master to do the same.

He signaled the bartender to get the three of them a drink, a simple tea for Ulmiyda and some hard drinks for the adults, he knew they needed it to deal with the insanity surely laid ahead of them.

Turning to face the dwarf once more, he pulled out a simple map of the city as he began to draw a layout of the recent sites of vandalism relative to their position.

“There have been several spots the thieves have struck recently, each time they left some manner of symbol painted in blood supposedly. The best option for us would be the Frost Gale embassy, it was struck several nights ago. The staff there would likely be more willing to allow foreign assistance than the other political sites that were targeted. What do you think?”

    Amelia smiled at the girls cry, exclaiming the wrath of the Frost Gale upon any who dared get in their way. Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it still fit. She slid down into a seat slowly, looking at the map the dark elf had drawn out. Amelia nodded along with his words, listening closely and following where he pointed. "That'll work just fine." She said, replying to the dark elf's question. 

    She smiled, gratefully taking the drink that was given to her. She looked at the map again, seeing how many places had been struck. Quite a lot, must be a big group. Or efficient, or just both. This sandy place sure was, well, very very intriguing. "Well," She started, then paused. "Wheres the first place we'll be looking at?" 

    As she awaited an answer, she took a swig of the drink brought to her. Wow, it was strong. What'd these Zeinavians put in their drinks? Of course, growing up in a tavern made her pretty resistant to hard drinks, so it didn't have much effect. Still quite strong though, she didn't recognize the taste of it. Her yes drifted to the map once more, looking at all the markings on it. 

Cervayhn took a sip from the drink he ordered, only for his eyes to widen at the strength of it. Uhh… he may have overestimated his alcohol tolerance. He might need to rely on this dwarf more than he expected. Putting his drink down, he began to outline the plan while he was still somewhat coherent.

"The embassy would be my choice. I have connections that could get us through any obstructions."

Ulmiyda watched curiously as her retainer outlined their plan.

"Why did they target an embassy of all things? They don't store fire there."

The older dark elf smiled at his young master.

"Our enemy likely disagrees with the Zeinav's current government. Targeting the embassy creates a feeling of unease to foreigners. If other nations citizens don't feel safe, they will take their business elsewhere, thus hurting the Zeinav's economy."

He was happy to see the young girl was taking interest in political matters, perhaps she would yet make a proper noble someday.

"That's silly, people love to gather around bonfires. Setting a building sized fire will only draw in more people."

And his hopes were dashed. He let out a sigh as he placed his now empty glass down and rose to his feet.

"Okay let's get moving while they're still open."

The trio left the tavern with an awkward pace, Ulmiyda ran forward through the crowd while the two adults followed. The girl had an oddly skilled sense of direction, navigating her way to the embassy with only a simple glance of the map. It was a hidden blessing to Cervayhn, who was starting to feel the effects of his drink.

Approaching the embassy, the guards were initially hesitant to the trio's presence, until the older dark pulled some papers from his satchel. One of the guards took the papers inside, only to return shortly later with an approving nod. The guards led them to cordoned off side of the building that faced the sunrise. Plastered across the buildings face was a symbol painted in a deep crimson.

Cervayhn flipped through his notes as he searched for a meaning to this symbol.

"I think it meanss… Scorched?" He commented with a slight slur to his words. "Doess anyone have any ideass?"

    Amelia listened to the two talk for a moment, then got up with them and departed from the tavern. She walked alongside the older dark elf, watching him as he walked. Her eyes also would drift to the girl ahead of them, weaving around the people strolling along. She was noticing a slight stumble the dark elf would give once in a while, clearly the guy was getting drunk. 

    Finally, they came to the embassy. After Ceravyhn showed the guards some papers, they were led to the spot of the vandalism. She looked at the symbol closely, very unsure about its meaning. The older dark elf had a guess though, and seemed happy to share it. His words were slurring slightly, and she turned to him.

    "First thing to do is have you sit down, you look and sound like you'll collapse at any moment." She told the dark elf, frowning sternly. "And then the next thing... I don't recognize this symbol at all, but if you say it means scorched, that'll lead us in the right direction. Probably some sort of group, at least thats my guess." 

    She looked to the girl, her head pointing up with a slight incline. "Well, you have some ideas?" 

Ulmiyda looked at her retainer with a confused expression as he slurred his words.

“Are you sick again? I told you that we should have stopped for lunch.”

She turned to face the dwarf with an expression of embarrassment.

“Sorry, he gets like this sometimes. Usually it’s late at night and at an inn though. He tells me it happens when he drinks more than he eats. His words get all sloshy and his legs get all wobbly.”

At her companion’s suggestion, she looked at the painting as she rubbed her chin quizzically.

“Well the scorch definitely means we are dealing with fire thieves.”

“Asssk the loc-*hic*-local guardsss.” Cervayhn added as he stumbled in place.

Ulymida patted his back as she looked up to him with a concerned expression.

“Let’s get you inside. Give me a hand Ame” as she said as she gestured to the dwarf.

The two guided the drunken dark elf into the embassy’s entrance hall the best they could, seeing as he almost had two feet of height on the both of them. As he laid down atop the nearest bench, his eyes quickly dropped shut as his arm hung limply.

“Keep an eye on him.” Ulymida commanded her companion with previously unseen determination.

The young girl turned and approached the kiosk leading deeper into the building. The window to the guards inside rested just above her eyesight, much to her annoyance. She reached both hands onto the small wooden countertop as she pulled herself into view. The few guards inside were taken aback by the sudden appearance of the young dark elf. The looks of confusion told her that they weren’t used to seeing a child here, much less one in the higher quality grab she normally wore. She put on her most calming smile as she did her best to emulate her mother’s business charisma.

“Excuse me, does the term Scorched mean anything to you folk?”

The guards momentarily looked at each other, still baffled by the child, before the nearest turned back to her.

“The only thing we can think of would be the Scorched Ones. They are a political insurgent group who stand against the sultan.”

“Oh!? Do they use fire?” The young girl asked as her excitement grew.

“Sometimes, but they mostly deal in propaganda. They usually try to leave as big a message as possible, so that the public can’t ignore it.”

“So they may strike their target multiple times if the effect isn’t big enough?” She asked as her legs kicked excitedly while they hovered just above the ground.

“Yes, I guess you could say that.”

“Thank you for your help!” She exclaimed shortly before plopping back to her feet.

She dashed back to the dwarf, excited to tell her their newly found Intel.

“Ame! The thieves are coming back here! We’ll catch them and force them to give up their loot!”

    Amelia nodded, helping the dark elf into the embassy along with the much younger dark elf. She set him down on the closest bench, she sat down as well after the young dark elf left. She watched as Ulmiyda walked towards the kiosk, getting confused looks from the people sitting there. 

    Her eyes went to the drunken dark elf, not out of it but still pretty drunk. She then looked back to the Ulmiyda, who was currently dangling on the counter. The dwarven woman looked back to the drunk Cervahyn, smiling to him before laughing quietly. "Is your tolerance for a good drink that low?" She said, patting him on the should a bit more heartily than needed. 

    She looked up, seeing the kid rushing over and explaining the news. "So they'll be coming back, hm? Makes sense, they'd probably want to strike multiple times. Good job for figuring it out." She paused, smiling to the kid. "They'll probably come back at night, so lets go wander around until its time." 

    She stood, awkwardly helping prop up Cervahyn, looking to Ulmiyda expectantly. "Well, your choice for what we do until its time, what d' ya wanna do?" She questioned, still struggling to get a good hold on the drunken dark elf. 

“D-d-don’t worry about m-me. Keep… keep an eye on Ulmiy- miyda…” Cervayhn muttered to the dwarf as his eyelids collapsed. “W-watch out fffor fi-”
The dark elf didn’t finish his sentence before he passed out against the back of the bench.

The guards in the kiosk looked at the strange trio with confused expressions as the dark elf lost consciousness. The man entered the embassy promising to deal with their vandal problem, only to drunkenly pass out in their lobby. Normally they would expel a vagrant like this, but the orders from their superiors seemed to indicate that he was too important to disturb. Best to leave him in his drunken stupor as long as he wasn’t being a nuisance.

Ulmiyda rests the tip of her blade on the floor and places her chin against it as she contemplates how to spend their remaining time before sundown. This was not her strong suit; having lived her life sheltered by her family, making her own choices often proved difficult, especially when it came to socializing.

Why is this so difficult!? I must have used too much energy on the way here. If only I had some candy to refuel…

Her eyes lit up as her weariness elucidated her solution. She hastily grabbed her satchel and opened it, revealing an obscene amount of solars for someone her age to be holding.

“Ame, let’s go shopping! I need to recharge before we face the fire thieves. You can get yourself something nice too!”

    Amelia blinked as the elf lost consciousness, and sighed. Then, hearing Ulmiydas request, she grinned. "Sounds like a lovely idea, lets head to the market and see what we can get?" She said, suggesting the most obvious place to go to. She then realized she'd probably need to carry Cervayhn for the entire time, and she sighed. Picking him up once more and just kind of tossing him over her shoulder with a grunt, she slowly walked out with Ulmiyda and hoped to not drop the dark elf while they moved. 

    She verrrrry carefully walked to the market, keeping an eye on Ulmiyda at all times. Cervayhns words were slightly worrying her, and although it was hard to make it what he was saying she got the idea. Worry about Ulmiyda. She definitely didn't want anything happening to the young girl while in her care, and she was slightly annoyed that the young girls friend got drunk on them. She could feel some effects herself, of course, because those drinks were rather strong. 

    Making it to the edge of the market, she looked to Ulmiyda, hoping she had something in mind to buy. Amelia was just going to be there to make sure nothing got destroyed in the process of this, pretty much. 

With Amelia’s approval, Ulmiyda bursts out of the embassy with an unfathomable amount of energy, as if she had already acquired her sugary treasures. Thoughts of her retainer were far from her mind as her single-minded focus drove her through the sandy streets, bobbing and weaving through the crowd. Despite her energy, she made sure that Ame was always in her sight range, not trusting the dwarf to have the speed, nor the sense of direction to keep up with her.

Zeinav's market district was the most lively portion of the city she had seen so far. Stalls litter its open center, selling all manner of goods; from clothes and foodstuffs, to tomes and weapons. She eyes a weapon seller with an assortment of exotic blades, something her father would no doubt take interest in. She debates buying a sword for him, but the thought of lugging around yet another large blade gives her too much stress. Her eyes catch a bright stall, clearly decorated to stand out amongst the crowd, a dessert shop. Children around her age encircled the establishment, clearly overwhelming the poor stall worker as he conducted business with their parents.

Ulmiyda waves Ame over as she moves to the stall counter, the crowd thinning around her as they notice the scimitar resting on the young girl's shoulder. She eyes the menu with a contemplative expression, her mood quickly becoming sour as she is unable to decide on a single item. With a grunt of frustration she sets her satchel atop the counter, her grandiose pile of solars on full display. “One of everything please!” She says to the nervous worker. After a brief moment of bewilderment, the worker quickly grabs an assortment of treats. The young girl leaves the stall with a smile, her arms full of rock candies, syrup covered confectionaries, and frozen dairy foods. She approaches Ame with a mouth full of candy. "Seee anmythong youu wunntt?" She asks the dwarf with a stuffed mouth.

As she listens to the dwarf's answer, she spots a hooded figure glancing back and forth as they finish their purchase at a stall. A brief glimmer of glass hits her eyes as they place a vial of dark liquid into their coat, next to an oddly decorated tome. With their items secured, the figure quickly starts walking in the direction Ulmiyda and Ame entered the market from.

Ulmiyda quickly swallows down the shmorgishborg of sugar as she looks to Ame. “That spooky person is headed towards the embassy! Let’s follow!”