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    A Flute And A Spell; Quest [Ask First]

    Lilac
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:37 am

    This was exactly the kind of lead Aspen had been looking for. The Kargdan was a special kind of corrupted beast. There weren't many like it and it never settled for one place. It's horn sold at a valuable price not just because it was ivory, but of its efficiency as a Carta medium. She had seen the job post on one of the boards in an inn. True, the offer in itself was sketchy, but if a person knew the whereabouts of a Kargdan, then it was definitely worth it. Besides, if they didn't cough up the dough, she'd keep the thing for herself. There were rumors one could carve a flute out of it and her old wooden flute was giving way.


    The Clockwork was situated in Marden, a town surrounded by meadows, hills and woods. There was a mix of laborers and bourgeoisie classes here. A few finely dressed woman arched an eyebrow at Aspen. She didn't blame them. The young woman dark-haired woman was dressed in a violet tunic, pants and leather boots that reached her thighs. Were it not for the fact her attire showed off her slender but curvy figure, she could pass off as a boy. She was certain her black tie-on mask made her look suspicious, too. Not that it mattered. She walked past them, drawing her cloak in order to cover her body more and continued.

    The shop in question was nestled in between several other boutiques, but stuck out like a sore thumb. Where others had fresh coats of paint and were filled with people, The Clockwork looked completely neglected. The fact that it was close to empty, had no lights on and a display window that needed serious dusting worried her. The place definitely didn't look like it could afford to pay "handsomely". On the other hand, if it was empty, it meant she had no competition for the job, and that meant keeping either horn or money for herself.
    Lilac
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:37 am

    "Pardon me, on your left, then~!"

    It was a chipper, almost melodic request, spoken off by a deep voice with a strange, scratchy quality to it. It's owner was a slim man in greens and browns and grays who had a big smile and the hood of his green cloak thrown over his head.

    He took a look at the place and shrugged. "Not too professional-looking, but all that matters is if they can cover the denars, aye?" Without further ado, he proceeded to slip past Aspen and reach for the handle at the front door of the Clockwork.
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:38 am

    Aspen, who had been in deep thought, started at the voice and quickly turned around.

    Augh, drat, she thought.

    There was another person and, judging by his attire, he didn't look like a customer. His remark only affirmed this and she scowled as he got to the door first. Aspen tossed her hair back and sighed.

    "Aye," she said rather dryly as she examined the person from top to bottom.

    He wasn't so young as to be around Aspen's age, but he wasn't old either. Decent build, attire that seemed sturdy and flexible, a...utility belt of some sort with thingmajigs Aspen couldn't readily identify save for his sword. Whatever the case, he didn't looked inept, which might make competition hard for her.

    "And if ever they can't cough up the denars, the loot can always be sold off elsewhere," she said.

    She went through the door, not bothering to thank the man for holding it open (or was he heading in first?).

    As expected, the interior was dark. Sparse rays of light came from the display window and made quite apparent the dust particles spiraling in the air Aspen was breathing. There was on old, musty smell to the place like damp wood or old books. All around were shelves and tables full of trinkets of all sorts. Figurines, music boxes, wooden toys and pottery...

    A small counter at the very corner of the store had a dimly lit candle where an old man. A very old man. He sat at the counter with his back hunched as he read a book. His skin sagged from his face. His black beady eyes sunk into their sockets like someone had pushed two currents too far into dough. From his crooked nose hung a set small, round glasses.

    "Oh, it seems we have company, Diane," the man murmured, a moment after Heinrich opened the door.

    Aspen arched her eyebrow. She saw no one else inside the room save for her and Heinrich.

    The man craned his neck, where more skin hung from and showed a prominent adam's apple.

    "May I help you?" he asked.
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:38 am

    Chivalry was dead long before Heinrich Mills came along. The older Hunter stepped right in without a glance back, at least he left the door open for her instead of closing it behind himself.

    "Countin' our chickens before we hatch, are we? Still gotta catch the thing, and not the other way around~"

    Right, so they had an dusty place, and an even dustier old-timer. He put one hand on his hip and leaned forward.

    "Pardon me, geezer. You know who posted for the hunt? Kargen? Ring any bells?" He spoke a little bit louder as he addressed him, as if taking that he was hard of hearing as a given. Perhaps there was another place named Clockwork in town?
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:38 am

    Aspen's nose wrinkled at Heinrich's remark, but she really didn't want to exhaust her energy on him as much as she already was. She snorted.

    "Kargdan, actually," Aspen told the old man. "There was a job post asking to retrieve a Kargdan horn and to ask for more details here."

    The old man's face lit up and he smiled.

    "Ah, yes, the person who posted it would be me," he said. He adjusted his glasses. "It must be obvious to the both of you: this place is a mess. The shop's not doing well and I'm thinking of selling the place off. However, before I do and set off to Estermount with my family, I'd really like to get my hands on a Kargdan horn. I've had a source tell me it's in the woods nearby and I'd like you two to find it. You don't have to worry about me not paying you both. I'm offering 3000 denars to the person who can bring it here. You can split it amongst yourselves. A Kargdan is no small task."

    Aspen crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

    "I've handled worse," she said. "I also know the layout more or less of the woods, so it should be simple enough to corner it and take it down. I don't know what pops here can do, though."

    She said the last part jerking her head towards Heinrich and squinting at him.
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:39 am

    "Oh, I bet you were a real teacher's pet as a child." He said with a broad smile at the correction. It was a bit of a surprising mix-up on his part, but he wasn't going to let it bother him.

    Back to grandad! His brows raised a bit when it seemed that evidently the old codger was the one who set up the contract. "Well, then, I trust you're able to pay, and if not no hard feelings if that horn winds up on the local market, yet?

    You're hardly the only one who'd pay top denar for the horn of a Karg.dan."

    He smiled and turned back to Aspen, making eye contact as he over-enunciated every word. But back to the old man. "But, I am at least a professional. I will hunt this with the understanding that you can pay. Regardless of who offers me more for that horn, so long as you can pay the agreed upon sum, its as good as yours once it's felled."

    As for actually catching it. "Kargdan's are illusive beasts. Either we kill it outright in our first encounter, or we ensure there's a second. I might just have the capability of making sure both those options can succeed." An bolt from a powerful crossbow that was both coated with a debilitating and deadly poison and tipped with a potent alchemical lodestone that would be drawn to its mate in his possession sounds like it would do nicely to simply both problems to actually scoring a real shot.

    All that left was making sure that precious horn didn't wind up getting rammed straight though his soft, squishy internal organs while it was still attached to the beast.

    He gave the girl a big smile and offered his hand out for a respectful handshake.

    "Now then! Shall we get to work? I'm Heinrich Mills, by the way, pleasure working with ya!" One of the biggest advantages humans still had over most beasts was the capacity to cooperate. If the little miss was so capable then surely she wouldn't mind proving it by working with an old broken down 'pops' like him, aye?

    OOC:
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:40 am

    Aspen tried to refrain from gritting her teeth and showing her annoyance. Instead, she huffed and shook his hand firmly with her gloved one.

    "Aspen. That's all you need to address me by," she said.

    The huntress would turn back to the old man and cross her arms.

    "We'll try to get back as soon as possible," she said. "I'm sure with two of us, it won't be hard cornering it."

    The old man grinned.

    "That would be appreciated," he said. "I'll have your pay waiting once you have it."

    Aspen adjusted the strap of her quiver and started out the door. The woods laid just out of town and wouldn't take long to get to.

    "So, you hunt a lot mister?" she'd ask Heinrich as they left.
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:40 am

    Ahaha. Wasn't that just a delightful little nome de gurre? And how fitting such a stiff and wooden personality introduced herself as a tree!

    Of course, for the sake of their temporary working relationship, he kept that to himself. He did seem to smile a little bit broader when she gave her curt introduction, it was too amusing not to.

    But it was gone in a moment as put his hands on his hips and was deep in thought as he followed her out. Kargdan's were, to most sage's best estimate, some exotic far-off animal called a 'rhinoceros' before some Incatus warped them into that. Bigger, meaner, and now that thick hide they had might as well have been heavy army. To top it off they could make fissures in the ground and breathed fire.

    Of course they did. Many corrupted beasts did. For whatever reason he kept at least a few vials of a heat and flame resistant oil to soak his cloak and a sturdy wooded shield in just for that purpose.

    "Mmm? Oh yes, I dabble." There was no sardonics with his voice as he caught her question, he seemed too lost in thought to be irritatingly glib. "I actually have something of a mobile base, we can better plan our attack from there. If you'll come with me Lady Aspen…"

    He pointed in the direction he was going to go once they were out of the clockwork, then he walked along and scratched his chin. The dumb brute loved to charge. Normally, he'd set up something like a spring-loaded pike wall, but it's armor would probably protect it from it, there was no guarantee even poisoning them would do much good if they can't penetrate deep enough.

    A bomb, then? No, good, what if the horn was damaged, that was specifically what the client was asking for. For that same reason, potent corrosives were likewise out. Mmm, a tough nut to crack, as it were.

    "I know my traps, and I'm something of an alchemist. What can you do, Aspen?"

    No sense overthinking it. He made sure to put a bit of a point in that question. She seemed easy to annoy, and if he changed his demeanor too much, well he'd have lost that reputation he worked so hard to build up!
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:40 am

    At the mention of the word "lady", Aspen raised her hand.

    "Egh, no need to address me that way," she said. "I'll feel like my mother. Anyways, if you have a base then, no, I don't mind planning from there."

    The man seemed happy enough to talk about himself which, while it annoyed Aspen, was better than her doing the talking.

    At least we're discussing business, she thought to herself.

    Heinrich listed his skills as trapping and alchemy. It made sense enough, though it seemed he wasn't a magic user. She momentarily thought if this was a handicap on his part, but seeing how confident he was in his skills and he wasn't dead from doing other feats, it probably wasn't. Heinrich then asked about her. Aspen did her best to hide a scowl.

    "Archery, charms, familiars," she said plainly. "I make traps now and then, but I usually like to chase things down than wait for them. I suppose you could call me impatient, that way. I'll have to give you credit for traps. I rely a bit on magic, but it doesn't mean I can't handle a weapon."

    As the two got farther away from The Clockwork, she glanced around.

    "So...which way to your place?"
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    Post by Lilac Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:40 am

    "Kargan probably won't run away from you. It'll charge right at you. About as well defended as a fortress on all sides but its underbelly and despite wrecking everything in its path it's extraordinarily hard to find if you ever lose sight of it."

    He looked over his shoulder again, once more he'd grown more serious. "So, We may or may not get one shot at this. We should do everything in our power to make sure we'd only need one shot, yeah?"

    He never parked the sleeper too far from town square, or out of the way places, the simple, single-roofed, mule pulled cart was within sight in about five minutes of walking from the Clockwork as he guided Aspen though to turns.. The wagon itself was simple, but the wicked looking weapons and sharp implements hanging from it often deterred being bothered.

    If we can coax it into a pitfall this would be a fairly simple affair, wouldn't it?"

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