Debriefing

Ahsch returned the young woman's glare with an even, unimpressed expression. "Now, I'm sure you're accustomed to everyone you interact with falling over themselves to accommodate any whim of yours. Seeing as we're going into a Tier Three region with, at best..."

He activated Mage Sight, guesstimate his two charges' mana flows to judge their overall Magnitude, and decided, "...a Tier Two... mage knight," the slight snarl that formed on her face gave him a flash of victory at his guess, "and two Tier Ones and a familiar, I will not be doing that; having you go home and complain to mommy and daddy that your guide wasn't slavishly accommodating is better for business - and for Savras' welfare - than sending your corpse home. In the woods, both of you do what I say, when I say it, especially as we go deeper. Failure to follow my instructions will almost certainly lead to grave injury and/or ****. We accomplish these expeditions by being quick, stealthy, and smart; by keeping ourselves informed about the state of the woods, where the most dangerous beasts are, and if any new hazards have appeared.

"The debriefing will give you a modicum of information about the most common things to worry about in general, and the most critical for a given expedition. I am here to know about everything else. In the three hundred years of Sarvas' history, guides on expeditions have died about three dozen times. Their expeditions were wiped out in all but two cases, and both of those had significant casualties.

"This is not a walk in the park. This is not a picnic. This is a dangerous, deadly place, and if you fuck around you will die. If you listen and follow my lead, there will be significantly less danger. Understood?"

Ahsch was laying it on thick, but he could tell from the rebellious, defiant expression of the younger of his two charges that it was necessary. Nothing he had said was technically false, though he went out of his way to make it sound like a single mistake would doom them - it wouldn't, but better that she think it would than constantly test things and eventually land them in trouble.

"Fine," came the brat's snide response, accompanied by a wearied nod from the attendant.

Ahsch had to concentrate to relax his jaw. "Good. Now that we're on the same page, what should I call you?" he glanced between the two.

Before the girl could say anything, her bodyguard stepped forward, almost before the hrafthi was done speaking. "The lady is Miss Kira Starr; I am her attendant, Michlas Belen."

The hrafthi nodded at both of them. "Pleasure." Then he turned to Pyrin. "Anything to note before I debrief them?" he asked.

The elderly receptionist thought for a moment. "There's a new pack of tree wolves near the Canyon, up by the dark ruby cluster."

Ahach winced. That was right where this expedition was planning to go. "Thanks for the info."

"'Course."

Glancing back at his charges, the mage gestured for the two to follow, then led the little group back to one of the small meeting rooms in the back of the building. It was bare aside from a table and chairs, and a set of hooks on the wall for coats and bags.

After the three humanoids had been seated - with Mahat curling up beside Ahsch's chair - the hrafthi opened the expedition folder and pulled out the dozen-odd documents inside.

After quickly glancing over them, he looked up. "Here's the bit where we need so much prep time: do you want them in chronological order, or severity in either ascending or descending order?"

It was Michlas who picked ascending severity - a choice Ahsch suspected was to get across to Kira just how dangerous the woods could be, which the mage approved of - and the debriefing took half-again as long as usual due to how in-depth Ahsch went on every hazard. Once again, he didn't lie, but it could be said he was a little hyperbolic, especially about the lesser threats.

He was rather concerned by how disinterested Kira seemed by the whole meeting, and if he had to guess, he'd say that Michlas had already done his homework, since nothing seemed to surprise the bodyguard, and the man asked some very good questions that Ahsch would have expected that only someone pre-warned would think to ask.

Maybe with two babysitters we'll actually complete the expedition without casualties, Ahsch thought darkly to himself as he pulled one final document from the folder. "All that's left then is for you both to review and sign this disclaimer," he said, sliding the paper across the table along with a quill.

Kira snatched the document up and frowned at it. Then her frown deepened. "This says you and the guild can't be held responsible for anything that happens in the woods!" she accused.

"This is a guide service, Miss Starr, not a Tier Four mercenary outfit. All of the guides are villagers of Sarvas, very few of us are above Tier One, and most of our clients understand that - in fact, as is the case with the four of us here, we often guide clients who are of a higher Tier than we are. In this situation, knowledge is power, and if we have to rely on brute **** or magical prowess, then something has gone wrong.

"To be fair, while I can't be held accountable for any injury or **** that occurs during the expedition, it would... reflect poorly on me as a guide if I simply ran off at the first sign of trouble - and we do have methods of sussing out the truth should such an even occur. It is in my own best interest to see all of us safely back to the village. But should it come down to a choice between getting a few of us out of a bad situation, or making a suicidal attempt to save all of us, I am under no obligation to choose the later option, nor would it negatively affect my future with the guild, assuming the investigation came to the same conclusion I did.

"But that's the whole point of the debriefing, and the guides and expeditions as a whole: to prevent such incidents from occurring. Follow my lead, don't break any rules, and the chances of such a situation happening are diminished into nigh-impossibility. It's the selling point of the Sarvas woods, after all - things are significantly more predictable here than almost anywhere else, so with a little knowledge and planning, there shouldn't be any combat."

Kira maintained her glare for another few seconds, before huffing and neatly signing her name at the bottom of the document. Tossing the paper and quill onto the table carelessly, she crossed her arms, leaned back, and looked away from Ahsch. The hrafthi watched Michlas give a silent sigh as he picked up the discarded items, looked over the disclaimer, and sign as well.

After retrieving the quill and document, and checking that both signatures were all good, Ahsch tucked them away, then stood, casting a glance at the timepiece in the room. "Okay then, we have another half-hour before we're to depart, so I'd advise you to get your gear, eat if you haven't already, and meet out in front of the guild at nine. Any questions."

Rather than answer, Kira abruptly stood with another huff, immediately leaving the room. Michlas said something unpleasant under his breath, standing to hurry after, but paused long enough to give a nod to the mage. "We'll meet you then, Mister Ahsch. Thank you for your patience." The bodyguard then hurried after his charge, leaving the harafthi boy behind, shaking his head.

This seems like it'll be quite the expedition, now won't it, Master?

Ahsch reached down to scratch Mahat's head as she gently rubbed up against his leg.