Fossil finding

The next morning I strolled up to the guild board, feeling ready for whatever task they could throw at me.

Several new prospects had opened up to me with my level increase. Far more foreign options were open to me. Anywhere on the continent, paid for by the guild. Anywhere from the frozen north the Swamp of the Everglades were open, but the farther away they were the more the cost and the higher amount of a throw you were expected to bring back. Interesting, but something a bit closer to home would be nice.

What caught my eye was the fossil quest. There were two by the same guy, apparently, he had some new revival tech and wanted some help obtaining the necessary fossils. One was an expedition to the nearby limestone cliffs and the other was to the Dinosaur Park Formation, which was much farther away.. After a little internal debate on my part, I took down the Limestone cliff paper. It had an address, so I began moving my way downtown.

I walked to the more residential side of town and came up with the address. It was a nice little shack, One story tall and painted a bright white, even the roof.

I knocked on the door and heard some banging and clanging, and then a thunderous clash of something metal as the door opened.

A rail-thin man looked down at me, and I mean down at me, he had to be 6.9 if even taller. A pair of thick-looking glasses were perched on his nose, behind a pair of startling eyes, one blue, one green. His hair was a brunette shade and he wore the stereotypical lab coat, although he had a t-shirt and sweat pants on.

“Yes, what do you need," he asked, ruffling the coat.

"I'm. Here for the job you posted." I said raising the flier.

"Oh yes, that, that, I can honestly say I had forgotten, not a lot of ranchers, you see, take none guild sanctioned jobs, too expensive, but the payoff can be worth the risks." He rambled, and I nodded, "well come in, come in, I'll introduce you to my associates."

I walked in and was instantly greeted by a pile of scientific equipment, projects taken apart or put together vials of this and that, and other clutter. It wasn't a mess so much as organized chaos. The next room was much easier to navigate, living space and a kitchen, across from the kitchen was the dining room, and on the chairs sat two individuals. One was dressed in jeans and a western shirt and the other was in a form-fitting shirt and shorts.

"My assoc-"roommates" the one dressed in shorts interjected.

"So the mad doctor finally caught someone," the one dressed in jeans raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," I looked around, that was a concerning bit of dialogue, this part of the house seemed normal.

“So what do you think Hank, “ the scientist looking fellow nodded to the guy in shorts

Hank, as he was called, stood up, and got uncomfortably close , looking me over. The guy in jeans looked over at me.

“How's your Ranch looking kid, You Still look a bit green,” he spoke,

“Uh… it's getting along, I just got the guild to start building the pond, But I'm still trying to figure it out,” I said, now more than a little nervous.

“How's your Anthros doing, they content” He asked

“I think they’re happy enough, though I think my Doe might need a larger herd,” Hank backed up and nodded at the two.

“He’s telling the truth, Aron,” Hank sat back down

“What was that,” I raised my own eyebrows and tried to calm my breathing.

“It’s nothing personal,” Aron Said,” but Frank has invested a lot of money in this, and there are three types of ranchers we tend to deal with, and being the other two means that the investment might flop.

Now my curiosity was full blown. “ What are the three types of ranchers then?”

Aron gave me a look, “ You are green, aren't you kid.”

Hank Spoke up. “You got your type, the ones who prioritize the anthro’s well being, chances are they won't ever sell an anthro, tend to see the tree as it were.” I nodded, “The other two can get iffy depending on the circumstance. The second type tends to over breed anthros in an attempt to get the “perfect” one, they can be kept in good conditions, but it's not likely. The second Just tend to sell everything while mass breeding, again nothing against it”

I nodded as Aron stood up, moving to the door “come on kid, I know where the fossils are,”

I moved to follow him, “If you already know where the fossils are, why do you need me.” He pointed to the very cluttered house,” Ah, Space” We moved out

That was how I Spent about an hour long drive to the Limestone Cliffs to the north of town.
It was silent, hot work Aron not talking at all, and eventually I found a neck vertebrae of some sort. I showed it toAron, and we drove back to the “ lab” to determine what I had found.