...you meet up with Samanza and Grigor.

The day dawns fine and sunny; an auspicious day to start your new life in The Sentries of Steel. You dress, splash some water on your face, and head out to meet the day.

Murchen is a small town, but by day it gets pretty busy as it serves as the marketplace for the rural area for miles around it. You walk briskly down the street toward the center of town, occasionally nodding to townspeople that you know. {if Whore = True}One man you've served before ambles up to you, still clearly slightly drunks from the night before, and paws at your ass, but a freezing look sends him packing. {endif}{if Womanizer = True}You see two women you know talking at a window and wave to them, but they give you a distressingly dual-pointed glare. Uh-oh. Seems like they've discovered you were bedding them at the same time. You quicken your pace. {endif}Your destination comes into view as you enter the market square: the Black Tabard, a seedy bar that's open even this early in the day.

Descending the three steps to its sunken common room, you duck your head under the lintel of the door and enter the smoky, low-ceilinged taproom. There aren't many people in here this early in the day; a few sad drunks, and one rough-looking fellow who's got a whore {if Whore = True}you know, Janiah, {endif}under the table sucking him off. She's being relatively discrete, but not that much, and her night's apparently been long - her makeup's run. The bartender is pointedly ignoring her.{if Whore = True} Janiah always did talk about giving Reg a cut if he'd let her work in here...maybe he finally took her up on it.{endif}

"Oy, Alex!" Samanza's call draws your attention away from the off-menu services and over to the one table near anything resembling a (filthy) window. You smile as you go over to join your friend and her new acquaintance. Samanza is a tall, athletic woman with wide shoulders, deep brown skin, and an easy grin. You've known her for long enough now that you've decided you definitely like her; she's boisterous and easy to get along with. Knows her way around that big hammer she carries with her, too, which is a plus for the venture you're about to embark on.

Sitting next to her is a man you assume must be Grigor. In contrast to Samanza, he's lean, lanky, and pale, though you suspect from his look that he's got a fair bit of corded muscle hiding under his voluminous cloak. The hood of that cloak is currently pulled up over his head, which seems a bit excessive given that you're all indoors. Still, he gives you a civil enough nod as you sit down at the table with the two of them. He's got an angular face with short-cropped sandy hair and a patchy beard.

"Glad you made it. And, uh, sorry about Janiah over there," Sam says. "As I was telling Grigor, I wasn't aware she was allowed to work in the common room these days..."

You shrug. "Girl's got to earn a living."

Sam chuckles. "I suppose so. {if Whore = True}You'd know something about that, eh?" You blush - Sam's one of relatively few people who aren't your former clients to know about your past. You glare at her, but she just breezes on: "{endif}Anyway, let's get down to business. Alex, this is Grigor. Grigor, Alex. Grigor's a woodsman lately come to Murchen, knows his shit from what I've seen. Alex is{if Fighter=True} a pretty capable swords{if Woman=True}wo{endif}man.{endif}{if Mage=True} a powerful - well, alright, a competent - mage.{endif}{if Thief=True} pretty good with locks, traps, getting around places unnoticed...you get the drift. Don't ask too many questions.{endif}{if Healer=True} one of the blessed of Ailunwe, and a pretty good mundane healer too.{endif}{if Bard=True}...well, {if Woman=True}s{endif}he does a lot of different things. A sort of jack-of-all-trades.{endif} There, now you know each other. Welcome to the The Sentries of Steel, everyone! I've already got a job lined up for us." There's a gleam in Samanza's eye.

"So tell," Grigor says softly. He nodded to you again when Sam introduced you, but otherwise he's just watched her steadily, eyes slightly narrowed.

"All right, now listen: it's not flashy, but it's simple and the pay is good." Samanza spreads a map on the table. "I grew up in this area, so I know a few people around town. One of those is Old Lady Brithen, who owns all of the mines out in the hills to the west of town." You nod - you've heard a fair bit about the mines since you came to Murchen. "Well, she tells me that she recently became aware of a new, untapped cave system in the hills. She showed me where it is on the map, and she wants us to go explore it, map it, and report back if we find any evidence of valuable ores there. She wants it done soon, of course - before anyone else gets wind of it. For our trouble, she's willing to pay us 60 gold marks, so that's 20 apiece. Not bad for a group with no name to speak of yet, eh?"

You shrug. "I suppose not. And it doesn't sound...hard. Unless the caves turn out to be much bigger than expected."

Samanza nods. "Yeah, she said if they turn out to go really deep we should pull out and report back to her - she'll figure out how to proceed from there. But all told we should be able to finish up what she expects of us in just a day or two."

You glance between them. "Either of you have any experience spelunking?"

Sam shakes her head. Grigor wiggles a hand back and forth in the air. "Enough," he says quietly. "Nothing extensive, but I know how to avoid getting trapped or losing my way."

"Sounds like a plan to me, then," you say eagerly. 20 marks isn't much...but it's high pay for just a few days' work. "When do we set out?"

"In a few hours?" Sam shrugs. "Should be able to get there before nightfall if we leave well before noon. Might take a bit to find the entrance, but Brithen gave me a clear description of it."

"I'm ready to head out," Grigor says.

"What about you, Alex?"