Third Pick, a Marksman - 2B

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.” The guild master relayed Kaylen’s new requirements to the assembled hopefuls, and motioned a few candidates 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 candidates were a gruff tracker with a week’s beard growth named Garik, a stocky dwarf named Ongrin, his beard long enough to tuck into his belt, with a crossbow that looked a lot more sophisticated and heavier than most, and thirdly a surprisingly tall exotic looking elven woman who carried a composite horn short bow.

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

Kaylen had met only few elves in his time. One had visited the tower where he’d apprenticed, but he knew that elves of both genders had similar frames and builds, with little difference in their physical capabilities, so her being female wasn’t necessarily the disadvantage it might have been had she been human. But ultimately, it was her skills as a marksman that would decide her eligibility, and if she happened to have some spirit magic as well, as many elves did, that would further improve her prospects. So he watched her and the dwarf take up positions at the range while the guild master was sorting how who else wanted to volunteer.

Kaylen noted that of the four arrows Garik had fired so far, only one was outside the center ring of the target. Meanwhile Ongrin was just shooting his second quarrel, hitting the target within a couple inches of his first shot. Next, Talindra let fly her first arrow scoring a perfect bullseye, and it was just then Tyrell began to introduce the fourth candidate to take up the next spot in the target range.

It turned out to be a half-orc named Grom, with an excessively intimidating bow, sporting thick limbs adorned with hook-shaped spikes. The man certainly looked sizeable enough to handle a bow twice as powerful as any other candidate there, but Kaylen couldn’t help but feel that his weapon’s form might be somewhat inefficient, and might interfere with its functionality

But he decided he wouldn’t judge too harshly before he saw the man shoot. Maybe his bow was perfectly functional, even if it was over designed. The orc took up position in front of the first target then a small thundercrack tore the air as Grom fired his first arrow. It was flung forward with such speed that it was almost as if it had teleported the intervening distance to bury itself within an inch of the fletching not quite at the center of the innermost circle in the straw backed target. Kaylen wondered if even a full suit of plate armor would stand up to a shot like that.

He frowned, as it occurred to him to wonder if there was maybe more to Grom’s bow that met the eye. A softly whispered spell would grant him the ability to see magical auras and determine if the weapon was enchanted, but just as his vision shifted he noticed Tyrell and Marius both take a step closer to him.

“Please don’t use any magic on anyone here without their permission.” The guild master asked.

“My apologies. I thought maybe Grom’s weapon was enchanted, so I was checking for the presence of a magical aura.” Kaylen replied.

“That’s fine, so long as you get permission first. We have these rules for a reason. And you already seem to be aware that mages aren’t widely trusted. No sense pushing your luck.”

“No, you’re right. That was thoughtless of me.” Kaylen agreed, letting his spell deactivate. Besides which, he’d already seen there was no enchantment on Grom’s bow.

Next up was a horseback archer named Marcus with a shortbow, who had a mount brought out so he could show off his marksmanship from the saddle of a moving horse. He seemed fairly accurate, though not quite as impressive as some of the others.

With all five lanes full up, Kaylen watched for a moment before Garik was able to draw his attention toward the target on his lane, which had a good grouping of arrows to show his accuracy. He nodded to acknowledge he had observed his count, and the archer moved to one side, waiting for the lane to clear.

Both Ongrin and Talindra were about finished by then, and had very tight groupings on their targets, so Kaylen caught their eyes and acknowledged their shots as well. He thought both of them were good candidates, definitely more accurate than Garik, but Talindra did seem to have the advantage when it came to rate of fire, at the very least.

“Let’s have a ceasefire!” He called out once the first three candidates were finished and waiting. “Let the three of them collect their ammunition.” He suggested, and two marksmen nearest Kaylen lowered their weapons so the other three could gather their spent shots from the painted circles at the far end of the lanes.

When they resumed, Kaylen was turned to face another newcomer; a barefoot halfling woman who introduced herself as Alayni Swiftfoot, an accomplished outrider for the village where she’d grown up. He welcomed the diminutive woman and sent her to take up the lane Garik had vacated, but he was starting to feel his attention drifting as he weighed his options between Ongrin, Talindra, and maybe Grom if his accuracy was anywhere close to the power of his weapon, but then Alayni delivered her first shot, her spinning sling releasing a small lead bullet with surprising speed and ****. It took a moment, but Kaylen was able to find the spot where her shot had impacted, imbedded about an inch into the exact center of the middle ring on her target. But by that point she was already releasing her second shot, and quite impressively, it bounced right off the first bullet, knocking it loose so both fell to the ground after expanding the hole. Then the third, and the fourth shots each landed in the same spot, deepening that crater even further.

Kaylen knew she had to be near the top of the list for that uncanny accuracy alone, but she was already having a pony brought out so she could show off some of her accuracy while mounted. Sure enough, while riding threw off her aim to some degree, she was still as sharp a marksman as Kaylen had ever seen. Only her small stature and the range disadvantage her weapon had under a bow kept her from being the immediate victor.

But that left Kaylen torn.

It was clearly going to be Alayni or one of the archers, and while Ongrin was an excellent shot, Kaylen was already leaning toward the elf or the half-orc as the preferable pick due to their substantially higher rates of fire. He pointed to the three of them to step forward as he considered his options. It came down to the power of Grom’s great bow versus the elvish accuracy of Talindra’s long bow.

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 while leaving a tail that brushed past 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.

Grom was intimidating in his size, the reach of his arms and matching draw length of his bow, and of course his thick corded muscles under his green skin shown off with a sleeveless jerkin, his black hair tied back in a ponytail as he held his bow ready, one end lightly resting on the ground.

Alayni Swiftfoot, on the other hand, was a stout but curvy individual, with a leather jerkin under a simple breastplate that spoke to a mature figure hiding under that armor. And with her stature it didn’t matter that she wore no leg armor, as most enemies would have trouble targeting her there even if they were so inclined. While she may have been average, or even on the tall side for a halfling woman, she was still head and shoulders below Kaylen’s height, as she regarded him with a cheeky dimpled smile beneath dark brown eyes and equally dark hair held back in a messy topknot.

It came down to these three.

- - - - - -

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

Grom Blacktooth, Half-orc Bounty Hunter

or

Talindra aka ”Lynn”, Elven Ranger