Chronicles of Ashes

Beginnings

A quick bowshot was fired towards the menace faced by the six adventurers.

The female ranger was quick to aim,yet missed with most of her arrows, while the tired warrior lifted his shield again in a defensive stance yelling : "Hold your ground, do not let it get the advantage over us!"A quick moment passed as the mage whispered a couple of intelligible words, immediatly creating a small fireball, thrown at the direction of the beast, as the crusader was trying to hack off its giant legs.

Instead the spider charged at the priest while she was trying to midigate the damage taken by the warrior in the first skirmish. The rogue was patiently sitting in the nearby bushes waiting for a chance to strike the creature in its weakest spot , the back of its neck. Because of the damage inflicted by the crusader, the spider tripped revealing an opportunity for the thief to finish it.

Dropping to the ground and trembling in fear with the realisation of certain death, the spider relentlessly surrenderd,as violet-green blood slowly painted the earth.

The six companions simultaneously let out a sigh of relief as their first real quest was finally completed.Excited,they all exchanged words of gratitude and praised their teamwork.

-You almost schorched my head off, you fire-throwing lunatic! Scorned the warrior.

-Oh, I thought warriors were supposed to endure any hardships.. said the mage in his non-chalant manner.

-Hmph, at least I actually hit the target right, complained the thief.

-Oh, I suppose you can fight in the front as well as you sulk in the shadows, then,Growld back the crusader.

-Now, now, we just finished our first official assignment, let us try to enjoy our reward, said the priest ,trying to relieve the stress, as the hunter averted her gaze, avoiding any further dialogue.

As the sun was setting in the background, the small party picked up any valuable "belongings" of the dead beast that might be sold for extra coin, and started their way back to the village of Trost.

After turning in the quest, they decided to go out for a well earned drink. They arrived at their special drinking place, a tavern built near the edge of town, where they would usualy recall how they all met and decided to form this current party.

Upon entering the fine drinking establishment filled with the singing bards and penniless locals beggin for ale, the group sat at their usual table, preparing for ordering.

-I wanna drink a beer so hard, I wanna regret pissing it later! exclaimed Catsuke.

-Your mind is as sharp and robust as your sword ,my friend, replied Felaron. Elune chuckled with what seemed to be the first semblenceof a smile ,as the rogue rolled his eyes over his head landing them directly on the nearest female bossom he could catch a glimpse of.

-You seemed to enjoy pissing away at your hearts content the last time we were here as well...I cannot even begin to understand how we are both fellow swordsmen, have some decency. Replied Tetsuya.

As they were eating and drinking, enjoying themselves , the innkeeper was talking with the new worker, summerising each individual adventurer in the group and how they came to be.

-That bunch...they may seem friendly now, but they were at each others throats when they all met.

-How come?

-Well , it all started with those two guys sitting in the corner of the table, the not so big, kind of bulky guy and the one that seems to be wearing a sort of lady-like coat. They knew each other as far as they could remember, and always had a thirst for adventure, coming here every day to see if anyone would want to group up with them and try to take on a real monster slaying request. Sadly, nobody bothered at the beginning, however, one day, by what appeared to be either fate or the so-called "idiots' luck", they encountered a local girl in the nearby forest while she was picking medicinal herbs to help the sick ones stationed at the church.

-Wait...what were the two doing in the forest to begin with?

-Having been turned down by most people they resorted to hunt whatever roamed the forest in order to get by each passing day, when they suddenly heard a loud female screech in the nearby area. Catsuke arrived quickly enough , yet Felaron had a bit of trouble running around with his breeches unbuttoned.

-Was he pissing right then? she asked with a giggle.

-Worse...he was about to unleash a massive shite. Anyway, the wolves were fended off easily enough by Catsuke, while Felaron was still struggling to maintain his pants on, yelling :"Fucking berries!..can't keep my breeches from falling off!". Sitting half scared and half confused on the ground, the young girl told them: "You have my thanks for saving my life, brave warrior and...berry fucker?".Felaron replied while trying to remain composed: "Well...my sexual orientations may not have evolved so much as far as I am aware.", then Catsuke , trying to hold on his laugh, added "He wanted to relief himself after trying to eat some wild berries, but I rushed here without a second thought.". After a couple of laughs and sexual teasing they decided to form a sort of beginners party.

-He seems rather adorable for a fruit molester- said the girl with a small grin followed by a burst of laughter.

-And the next day, the three of them had a quick glance at the quest panel ,when, suddenly, Vanille heard two girls worrying loudly about what they were going to do in order to complete a quest which they've already taken without a full party of six members required. The priest introduced herself and explained that they were in a similar situation, proposing to unite their forces. The small, long-haired girl was rather shy, which was a bit unusual for a hunter, her role revealed by the shortbow and arrow-filled quiver she carried on her back. She was wearing green leather-based armor, as opposed to Vanille, who adonned a white and golden robe, somewhat similar to Felarons' coat, which had an ocean-like color. On the other hand, Tetsuya and Catsuke had similar looking armor, the only difference being that the hammer wealding crusader had a somewhat stylized golden plated attire, more proeminent than Vanilles robe, while Catsuke simply had, worn out grey-scaled mail. After deciding how to approach the quest, the group set out of the tavern, yet, at the same moment, a sinister looking person, leaning on a nearby wall, greeted them with a devilish smile. Without giving the slightest hint of backstory, the man suggested:" I must say, this group is quite well formed, yet I believe you are still missing a rogue". The others looked at one another with concerned faces; after all, rogues were not so popular with the small folk, or people in general. "The name's Felix, I specialize in stealing, stabbing and running off with gorgeous women "; he smiled looking at the crusader, who was retaning herself from sending the man in a world of tears and agony. Regardless, they decided to accept his flamboyant invitation, and thus, their first adventure began, with lots of arguing, hardships and ale to soothe their worries or celebrate success.

- That's quite an interesting story...I wonder what else fate has in mind for them?asked the girl.

- We have yet to found out, replied the innkeeper.