Third Pick, a Marksman - 2A

Chapter 2 – Putting the Team Together (continued)

He had his answer ready, “A marksman is next. And I know those types of skills also overlap with scouting and ranging, so if they possess those skills too, that’d work well.”

“Indeed.” Guild Master Norrison turned back to relay Kaylen’s requirements in a loud voice, then singled out a few people, and motioned them forward.

“Same deal as before, for those of you who didn’t hear, this mage is assembling an adventuring team. Anyone who is interested in joining can make their case, demonstrate their skills, and Adept Gallowglass will choose who he sees fit.”

The first candidate was a gruff tracker with a week’s beard growth named Garik. Next was Ongrin, a stocky dwarf with a beard long enough to tuck into his belt carrying a crossbow that looked a lot more sophisticated and heavier than was typical, but Kaylen’s interest was mostly taken by the tall silver-haired elven woman, with a composite horn short bow at her side.

The elf, who introduced herself as Talindra, was a ranger who had left her forest home for the first time just a few weeks ago, having then journeyed to the city to seek out an adventuring group.

Kaylen hadn’t known a great many elves in his time. Only one had ever visited the tower where he’d apprenticed, but he’d seen enough to know that, unlike humans, elves of both genders had similar frames and builds, which alongside their keen eyesight and aim made them renowned for their aptitude toward archery. They also were inherently magical, and while their skills tended toward spirit magic rather than the kind he used, Kaylen thought it might make them more accepting of one such as him. It certainly didn’t hurt the archer’s odds that she was very easy on the eyes. Kaylen had never heard of an unattractive elf, though from what he’d seen male elves tended to be a touch feminine compared to many other races.

Kaylen watched the first few volleys hit their marks after being introduced to the elf woman, noting that both the initial candidates had excellent aim with bow and crossbow respectfully. Garik had fired several shots in rapid succession, and only one of the four was outside the center ring of the target. By that point Ongrin had reloaded and fired a second quarrel from his crossbow, hitting the target within a couple inches of his first shot. Then it was Talindra’s turn, and her first arrow was a perfect bullseye, and Kaylen smiled.

The fourth candidate was Grom, a muscular half-orc with an excessively intimidating bow, sporting thick limbs adorned with hook-shaped spikes. He looked sizeable enough to handle a bow twice as powerful as any other man there, but Kaylen doubted the functionality of his weapon’s design.

Kaylen was being introduced to a fifth candidate to take up the final spot in the range when Grom fired his first arrow, the crack of his bowstring snapping forward startling, speaking quite plainly to the power of his shots. His arrow was not quite in the center circle, but it ended up buried almost to the fletching. Kaylen doubted even a suit of full plate armor would stand up to a shot like that. Assuming he could hit with regularity.

The fifth marksman was a horseback archer named Marcus, who had a mount brought out so he could show off his accuracy with his shortbow, which was impressive, but lacked power compared with the other four.

By that point Garik caught Kaylen’s eye, and gestured toward his target, which had a good grouping of arrows to show a solid but not amazing level of accuracy. Kaylen nodded in acknowledgement, and the man moved to the side, to wait for the lane to be clear so he could collect his shots from the painted circles.

Kaylen noted that both Ongrin and Talindra were finishing up, and both had very tight groupings on their targets which he acknowledged as well. Either would make an excellent choice, though the dwarf had the disadvantage in rate of fire as well as attractiveness.

Kaylen called for a pause in the remaining two marksmen, so the first three could collect their ammunition, then as they resumed their demonstrations Kaylen turned to be introduced to another candidate, a barefoot halfling woman who introduced herself as Alayni Swiftfoot, an accomplished outrider for the village where she grew up.

By the time she took her place downrange from an open target, Kaylen had already decided that Talindra was his top candidate. But he made himself watch as the halfling spun a sling then loosed a small lead bullet with surprising speed and ****. It took a moment for him to spot where it had impacted, imbedded about an inch into the exact center of the middle ring. Then the second bullet truly impressed him, for it bounced right off the first bullet, knocking it loose so both fell to the ground after increasing the size of the initial hole. Then a third, and this one ended up completely inside that center hole, deepening it even further. A fourth sling bullet just continued the trend, showing off the uncanny accuracy of the final marksman candidate.

A pony was brought out so the halfling could demonstrate her riding accuracy. The motion of the mount threw off her aim a moderate amount, but not enough to reduce her chances of making the team.

But that left Kaylen torn.

Talindra was tall and lithe, with a slender frame that didn’t quite hide the muscle definition in her arms. She wore her silver hair in a single braid that wrapped around her head with enough tail to brush below her shoulder blades, and her large elven eyes were an alluring emerald shade. Topping that off was her impressive aim with a much longer range weapon than Alayni’s sling. But the halfling’s uncanny accuracy could make up for what she lacked in distance, not that she wasn’t also appealing in the physical sense either.

Alayni Swiftfoot had curves in all the right places, her bust stretching out what could be seen of her leather jerkin through the wide arm openings of her simple breastplate. Her hips were even less disguised, since she wore no leg armor at all, not that she really needed to worry about most enemies targeting her legs with her stature. For a halfling, she wasn’t particularly short, but she was still head and shoulders below Kaylen’s height, with round dimpled cheeks and a cheeky smile beneath dark brown eyes and equally dark hair held back in a messy topknot.

While he was considering, he pointed to the two women, and also to Grom and Marcus. They would both be good candidates, even if he wasn’t planning on picking either of them, and he wanted to seem like he was considering all of them fairly, not just the females. He almost immediately dismissed the idea of picking the two women together, as he wanted to keep his team small and mobile. So it came down to a choice.

Author's Note

Please let me know which of these choices you prefer, either in a comment, or in the forum here: https://forum.chyoa.com/threads/lonely-is-the-mage-without-love.5879/

Please let me know if the edited poll works for you, especially if you've already voted once. Thanks!

Alayni Swiftfoot, Halfling Outrider

or

Talindra aka ”Lynn”, Elven Ranger