19 - Guildmates

The rising sun woke Joe, but this morning he allowed the bed to win for another hour. He let his mind wander and plan, being sure to steer it away from the path of obsessing over Kenda's abrupt departure again. Today, he would follow her advice and train. He also wanted to do a bit of shopping. Among other needs, he was down to one mana elixir.

Later in the evening, the crew of the Tide Dancer was having a blowout before they set sail the next morning. Wakely had made it clear that his and Hah'roo's attendance was not optional. Not that Joe planned to skip out on seeing his friends off. He smiled into his pillow, realizing that even if he did get sidetracked, he was pretty sure the sailors would track him down and drag him to their merry gathering.

Eventually, he pulled himself free from his bedding and cleaned up before heading down for another amazing breakfast. He watched how much he ate. He'd need the fuel for this morning's training, but everything was so good, he had to be careful not to overeat before his workout.

After crossing the main square, he entered the Adventurers Guild. There was someone else manning the front desk. He was an archon, the race most closely aligned to the affinity of {Order}. He had the same metallic, hard-edged appearance as Numat Dhal, the affinities assayer from Peregrine Harbor. With a steely sheen to his skin, his features were so angular that his jawline and cheekbones looked like someone had drawn them with a ruler. Everything about him seemed perfectly in place, from his cropped copper colored hair to his smooth, starched shirt.

Tezeno Rhal: Archon: Sentinel / Justicar 17

"Good morning, Healer Joe," the man stated in the almost robotic voice common to his race. "I read you joined the guild this week. Welcome. It will be nice to have another support class among our tier."

"Our tier?" Joe questioned. He had not heard anyone use that term yet. He had a guess as to what Tezeno meant, but he wanted to make certain.

"It is not an official designation, but around here, bronze tier heroes are those who have not yet broken twenty but are at least a few levels into their second class. The typical range most people recognize for bronze is from twelve to nineteen."

Joe pulled out his adventurer's badge, but before he could even speak, the archon intercepted his thought. "While they are similar in the level awarded, your bronze ranking with the guild is not the same thing. Long before you reach twenty, most of us get a silver badge by helping out around here and questing for the guild," he droned in his monotone manner. "I read you are tackling the badboons that have moved on to the road to Mount Serabuk. That is a great start."

"Thanks. I'm looking forward to trying it again. My first attempt was not well planned out. Between upgrading some skills and finding a partner, I think I should be able to pull it off on my next go round," Joe claimed, stepping up to the counter.

The guilder behind the front desk was very hard to read. His choice of words seemed to convey a welcoming attitude, but the young man's dead flat delivery sounded unfriendly to Joe. Numat had spoken with that same inflectionless voice, so Joe assumed it was a racial trait. Even so, it made it difficult to warm to the man.

"Excellent. Who have you found to partner with?"

"Ah. Ok, I guess I put that wrong. I have to find a partner for next time I go back out there. I have not found one yet."

"Then, may I make a suggestion? Kendell and Myllonell have documented that you have a tanking support build. This suggests you would be well complemented by a striker-style teammate. One such guild member is currently here training, and I know she is looking for a questing partner she can count on. She has had a few unfortunate collaborations recently. From the notes we have on you so far, I think you two would work well together."

"Yeah. Thanks. Who is it?" This is why Joe was really glad he joined the guild. They were crazy helpful. Tezeno was handing him the chance to check off his biggest to-do item of the day: find a teammate for the quest.

"Ranger Earcellwen is at the archery range now. She is of a comparable level to your own."

Joe stepped up to the guild front desk. "What can you tell me about her?"

"I have noted that she does not like to be called 'Ears' as many tend to do," the archon rattled off with his expressionless voice. "Her accuracy scores are well above average for her level. She is from Hart Hold and belongs to one of the highest elven clans in the Kingswald. She left her kin last year on the coming-of-age journey her people make when they achieve their second class. She has completed several guild quests. I have heard no complaints regarding her behavior."

Joe was starting to learn about this world's elves, but in many ways, they seemed similar to those from the lore he was familiar with. One aspect of that worried him. Elves were typically fierce protectors of the woodlands and their woodland creatures.

"My quest is about exterminating ape nests. Do you think she will object to that?"

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"Incorrect, Healer Joe. Your quest is to remove the monsters known as badboons from the Mount Serabuk trail. While badboons are classified as beasts, they are monsters. Ranger Earcellwen will not have a conflict with a guild-approved monster hunt regardless of the creature's classification."

"Good to know. Thanks, Tezeno."

"You are welcome. The fastest route to the archery range is through that door," he stated, pointing at a door across the room. "Turn right when you get outside."

"Yeah. Kenda told me that yesterday. Is she around? I had a couple of questions regarding skills."

"She is not. I believe she is not scheduled to work again until Starsday. She has another job that requires a significant amount of her time. Can I assist you?"

"Ah. That's ok. It can wait." Joe wanted to ask about this other job, but the stiff archon did not seem like the type to gossip. He could wait and ask her the next time they meet up again. "Thanks for the tip on Earcellwen. I'll go and introduce myself now."

"No need to keep thanking me. This is my allotted duty, Healer Joe, but you are welcome all the same."

Joe waved and headed for the archery range. As soon as he opened the door, he could hear someone training inside. The rapid thunking sounds of arrows hitting targets were so close together that whoever was shooting must have had at least two or three arrows in the air at a time.

The young woman shooting was a little over five feet tall with a long, silver braid of hair that hung to her waist. Tezeno had pronounced her name ee-AR-cell-wen. She was an odd mix of willowy-thin and muscular. She looked like a reed, but each time she drew back the bowstring, Joe could see muscles swell under her skin. She did have tall, pointed ears that contained numerous piercings. It was no surprise, between those prominent, well-adorned features and her actual name, that 'Ears' was the nickname she had been given.

Earcellwen Rhuival: Elf: Ranger / Wildbow 12

Joe was a bit surprised to see she was actually a lower level than he was. It seemed as though everyone he had been hanging out with since he had gotten to Illuminaria was over his level. This would be a first for him.

"Hello, Earcellwen," Joe called out, trying to make sure he accentuated the second syllable without overstressing it. "Tezeno Rhal mentioned you were looking for someone to go questing with. I have the quest to clear the badboons off the Mount Serabuk trail. He thought you might like to team up with me."

"You are the new guilder. I saw your name go up on the board the other day." The ranger looked him over, still holding an arrow to her bowstring. "Well met. It was Joe, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," he replied, closing the distance. "So what do you say?"

She looked him over with a quizzical expression. "I considered the [Encroaching Apes] quest, but it was not a good solo quest for me. I would need someone who could anchor the fight. I have to say, you don't look like you are geared to be a front-liner, Joe. A gambeson and no shield?"

"I'm more durable than I look. I'm a healer primarily, but I have just added some ranged skills to that recently."

She tilted her head a bit, replacing the arrows into her quiver from a seemingly endless supply barrel. "That could work. You don't look like you're from the Dunes. My father told me stories of battles he fought alongside the desert healers who live over the Malrenet Mountains. Those are the only battle healers I have heard of."

"Are these the Wehlians?" Joe asked, becoming more and more curious about the people of the Voiceless Dunes.

"Yes. They, like you, don't wear heavy armor, too impractical in the desert heat. They offset the lack of physical defense with magical resistances and strong healing abilities."

"That is pretty much how I work, too. It means taking probably more abuse than a true tank," Joe stated, feeling a bit embarrassed that his combat style was about getting smacked around, "but I can heal a lot of damage and resist or clear many debilitating conditions."

"Alright. Let's try it. I have been just below thirteen for a few months now. I think one more reasonably tough quest should finally level me up."

"Great," he exclaimed. With a thought, Joe extended his willingness to share the quest.

You have shared [ENCROACHING APES] with Earcellwen Rhuival

"We're not going right this minute, are we?" the surprised elf asked.

"Oh, sorry. No. Would tomorrow work for you?"

"Definitely. I mean, I could go today. I just wasn't expecting it," she admitted, looking up at Joe. "As my father says, 'The fed farmer waits not on the first frost.' So I'm prepared to go if you'd rather head out today."

As Joe was about to answer, his words stalled. He found himself looking into a color green he had never encountered before. Her eyes were literally sparkling. They were gemlike. Brighter than emeralds, but a deeper green than garnets. Among the emerald-garnet mix were brightened highlights of peridot. Joe had seen plenty of other elves in this world, but none had eyes like Earcellwen.

"Um. No. Nope. Today is for training," he finally managed to compose. The initial amazement faded quickly, even though he found himself drawn to that insane green hue again and again. "I met with Kendell yesterday, and we upgraded some of my abilities. I need today to train before I put them and us into a combat situation."

"That's a good idea. And thank you. I just tried to run a quest with another archer last week. She had just picked up a brand-new, heavily enhanced bow, but had done no training with it yet." Earcellwen paused and shook her head, clearly recalling a disaster before adding, "It didn't go well. I'm ok if you are trying something new, but to partner on a difficult quest unprepared and not even bring your backup weapon … I mean, who does that? "

Joe could only shrug. They talked for a while longer, and he was happy to find the archer was very easy to get along with. After a few minutes, she resumed her practice, though still companionably chatting with him.

As he watched her shoot, Joe easily understood why Tezeno had pointed out her accuracy. She was hitting moving targets, some she skewered even before Joe had noted their presence.

After they made plans to meet up the next mid-morning, Joe excused himself to head off to his training field. For the next six hours, Joe ran through every skill and combination of skills or items he could think he might need. He was determined not to make a poor showing of himself in front of his new teammate.

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