They accept the job

Again the four leaned closer to each other and started whispering among themselves, discussing the new offer. This time they needed only a minute to reach a decision.

“Very well. We accept.” The first man announced. “But only if the job is as easy as you say.”

“It will be easy… if you do it tomorrow. The day after tomorrow it’ll probably be just as easy, but it is not 100% certain. And even if you leave it for the day after that the job might be easy if you’re lucky. Wait more than that, and it might prove to be quite a challenge. Since I’ll give you 1000 gold coins regardless of when exactly you’ll get the job done the sooner the better, obviously.”

“Obviously.” The first woman agreed. “But you still haven’t told us what the job is.”

“I want you to bring me a certain wooden medallion. I can’t give you a description, but there shouldn’t be that many wooden medallions kept there. In case you find more than one bring me all of them. Anything else you find is yours. And I don’t mean just the items and money, but also any person – be it **** or servant – you want to have. I don’t care in the slightest as long as you bring me the medallion I want.”

“So we need to enter a place that is inhabited.” The other woman noted.

“Indeed. The item I want is inside the ruins of an old mansion. The first floor is intact, as is most of the second. Part of the third is also intact. The mansion – or what’s left of it – is now inhabited by the members of a certain cult. They worship some long-forgotten goddess and are not worth anyone’s attention. How did the medallion end up in their hands I do not know, nor care. Sneak in, find and get the medallion, then get out and bring it to me. That’s all.”

“And why does it matter which day we’ll do the job?” Asked the second man.

“Right now most of the cult’s members are not present. Their leader – who calls herself a sex paladin, whatever that is supposed to mean – took them to the city of Ca’era. They will not return for at least two more days. Thus for the next two days the security will not be as tight. For a single person such a task might prove a bit difficult, but for a group of four it should be easy to overcome the guards and the traps. I was able to obtain a map of the mansion, but I cannot say how accurate it is – the cultists may have made some modifications.” The man took out a folded parchment from somewhere under his cloak and put it on the table. He then took a leather pouch from his belt and left it next to the parchment. “Here – 100 gold coins. You’ll receive the rest when you bring me the medallion. I trust you have no objections?”

“No, we don’t.” The first man answered. “So, how are we supposed to find you after we retrieve the medallion?”

“Just give it to the barkeep here. He will give you the rest of your money.” Their client answered. “Ah, before I forget.” He took out another parchment. “Here’s a map showing where to find the mansion. Now, if there’s nothing else I’ll be going.”

“That would be all, I believe.” The first woman answered. Their client got up and left the tavern without looking at anyone else present there. “We should probably go as well.” The woman said following his departure. After all three of companions agreed they took the two parchments and the pouch with the money, left a few copper coins as payment for the ale they had ordered while waiting for anyone to hire their services, and also left.

When the group returned to the inn where they had rented a room they changed their clothes and sat down to discuss the job they had received.