Jesella
Jesella gently scrubbed her soaking wet navy dress against the few rocks in her washing bucket. She sighed, her long ebony hair sticking to the slimy, mossy stones of the alleyway behind her. Careful to make no noise other than the soft slapping of water, Jesella finished up her washing. She wrung out the dress and packed it into her woven basket before stepping out into the cool night air.
In the moonlight, Jesella looked to be about seventeen; but even she didn't know her true age. This fact did not bother her. Jesella was enslaved at a young age and had scars to prove it. Recently she had been allowed more freedoms, but the master could still be harsh...
Her thin frame reached for her basket so she could hurry along the pier. She only took slight notice of the piece of parchment illuminated by a single candle.
Seeking adventures?
See Maike at the tavern
Must have some knowledge
Of wilderness or sailing or
Cooking-and nothing to lose.
Maike
"Look sir, I understand your situation..." Maike began, setting his wooden goblet down on the heavy wooden bar before being interrupted by the maid.
"Sir, more whiskey for ya?" she winked at him, her smile revealing several missing teeth. "You know I only drink water." Maike sat back and stretched against the back of the crude chair, popping his back. The scraggly man Maike was conversing with continued. "Mike, come on, I need this opportunity!" Maike scowled. "It's not 'Mike', it's like 'make'. Now get out."
The shaggy bearded fellow nodded his cap then scooted out the nearest exit. Maike propped his feet up on the table, displaying his leather boots. The barmaid quietly collected the dishes and paused for a moment before whispering, "Where are you going?" Maike laughed, his gold rings and chains clinking on his chest.
He leaned towards her with a gleam in his eyes. "Listen careful now," he whispered, "there is a land far away from here filled with everything you could ever imagine and more. Endless gold. Land fit for kings. Jewels. Diamonds." She looked at him like he had grown a third eye. "Why has no one taken it yet?" He chuckled, his young face crinkling up with some sort of land-lust that would be a challenge to describe had you not felt it. "Dragons protect their gold like mothers protect children. You'd have to be a mad man to take it from them."
The maid collected the dishes. "I think you are the man for the job."
