Yolanda
```RESERVED FOR QUEST ```

The location was a beautiful river, flanked by a green grassy hill and a forest. It seemed that it was a popular spot for fishing! Key word on was. This place was empty, the fish left to fill up the river once again. It would seem that the villagers have stayed in the village for the most part! 

Small animals and critters roamed the hills, while the forest seems to be flourishing once again. In the end, it seems that this place hasn't been touched for at least a month or two. Now, it is the player's turn. How will they arrive to this place? Would they destroy this place too? The village was on it's last limb, starting a desperate defense!
Douglas
*Large, heavy steps would normally be expected from such a large creature, but Idrid's steps weren't that loud. His armor would clink in the daylight, providing a sharp contrast to the bright day, being a dark steel gray. A large circular shield hung on his left arm, while he wielded a wicked mace in his right. A long tail trailed behind him, armored. His build was that of a beast, but there was a dangerous intelligence in his eyes.*
Peter
*The contract of oddly paired steps would make way into the ears of the people there. The sight of a man with no sense of armor cladding his body, rather wearing fur that could easily be seen was hand made from whatever kind of game was used. Shirtless, yet standing at a abnormal 6'9" For a Macen. His dark skin was cladded with even more tribalistic tattoos that angled from his back side, up to around his arms and right back down the front side of his chest. The man seemed like he came from some kinda of human cult, yet the aura that he held was one of something less sinister.

Zenoral would slowly place his fingers against his nose to move his hands in a figgity way, clearing up any kind of pollion or dust in his nose. So that he could soon smell his surroundings with a long inhale from his nose. Picking up Indrids scent was left to discression. But the mans overall goal was to take in the more fresh scene that laid before him. Mother Nature working its magic like always, something that he comes to appreciate since it's somewhat hard to find much tranquility with people alike disturbing the balance. Or that's what he believed at least.*
Anthony
*From the time he departed from Hitoshi to the time he had entered the wilderness once more, Arthur had opened up the letter he had found at the alleyway, knowing beforehand that it was from the Boss once more. The seal, which was a deep, royal blue, had grown familiar with his eye, and he always associated it with the Boss every time he had seen it. When he opened the letter, however, it had a stark contrast compared to the personal-ish letters he had received in the past; in comparison with previous notices, this letter seemed to be written by someone with a knack for professionalism, possibly a new employee that worked for the Boss. He remembered the initials on all of the other letters: "E.O." Whoever this was, they must have grown tired having to write out individual letters for so many people, so it made sense that they would hire someone new to handle the business. The letter had instructed Arthur to meet with his employer at the Dhuw River tomorrow, which would be kind of difficult; he really didn't know where that was. Luckily, while he was on the road, he met a merchant caravan that pointed him in the right direction, and so spending the night wide awake, he made his way over to where his employers specified he should go to begin his job. 

It was a long walk, seeing that he really didn't have anything to pass the time with besides strumming half-heartedly on his lute, eventually putting it back into his backpack, which was still filled with the gold ore from that one job he had to take. He had to sell that soon somewhere; as strong as he was, it definitely would ease the burden a bit to have his backpack weigh about 20 pounds less. The sun was beating down on him, but he was protected due to his cowl shielding his bare skin from the sun, which was setting in the east from what he saw. His sword, Rasmus, was still sheathed within it's scabbard, and it clanked quietly as he walked towards his destination.*

*As he approached a great, flourishing river, his visage was met by a great lizard in heavy armor, accompanied by a fairly tall Macen man. He was surprised at first, but that reaction soon faded as he remembered that he was assigned to many different groups containing different people before; this was no different than other quests he had been on before. Walking to them, he decided to greet himself, seeing that since the boss had asked them out, they could most likely be trusted.*

"I suppose you two are the other teammates the boss assigned me on this mission. What are your names?"
Douglas
"Indeed. I am Idrid. Yours?"

*Studying his two companions, he reasoned that they seemed combat ready. He didn't quite understand why the macen was unarmored -and- unarmed, but he had his reasons. The tattoos could mean that he was a magic practitioner, but his build suggested he had melee capabilities as well. The cowled figure he couldn't see well, but seemed to have a large pack full of something, as well as a longsword by his side. He must have been familiar with the employer, judging from his question.*

*He hefted his heavy mace, resting its heavy head on the ground, placing his hand on the back end. The macen was surprisingly taller than he was, though he suspected that there was something else at play. He towered over the cowled figure, about 9 inches taller.*
Peter
*The macen would only change his glance from that of a man enjoying the situation, to one that was somewhat bothered in his basking. Of course, this was bound to happen at some point, so he fixed his look to that of a more serious, yet judgemental look on his face. Seeing the two come around in this area gave him enough information to know that they also must have a note that he had randomly gotten a few days ago? His supision towards the two was a massive given, since he had 0 idea of who or what they were. But it was quickly shoot down the moment the hooded figure spoke. His more dark bloody red eyes now shifting his gaze from the Cladded Armor Man to the hoodlum who had spoken. Just to have him look back at the man in armor. It was interesting to see that they seemed extremely well off or at least seemed friendly towards one another. But this didn't allow for him to drop his guard at all.

For now, his kept his mouth shut and kept his eyes on the two while they spoke. Accessing the situation more before he did any kind of unnecessary speaking. It was easy to see in his eyes that he was being attentive to the two. But they could see that his gaze changed once he picked up something. Shifting and even walking towards the Lizard Man that he was a bit taller then, he sniffed towards his direction, before pinching and softly moving his hands up to pull his nose along with that to clear up dust. To then give off another, more clear wift. Strange, but he backed off after he picked up the lizard-like reptilian musk.*

`"....Odd... So I wasn't the only one to get this weird note..."`
Anthony
"Yeah, they've been appearing for a good while now. I got my first job about... Four months ago? Around that time, yeah. Since then I've just been taking on similar jobs like this one. They pay well, and give me a good chance to stretch my arms and senses from time to time. It's boring to just laze around and do nothing for weeks upon end, if you catch my drift."

*His eyes shifted over from the tall macen to the reptile once more. The reptile, Idrid, looked to be plenty powerful compared to the other one of his companions, the macen. If you were to ask him about what he had thought of them, he would have said that he wished he had a team that looked a bit more... Classy? Than what he was presented with. They didn't really look to experienced either, and the macen didn't sound like he was well-versed with this kind of thing, judging by his proclamation of the note. He sighed quietly to himself, wishing that he had teammates that were, or at least looked, experienced within this trade. Even Nox, as much as he hated to admit it, was an asset to him; these people, to put it plainly, really didn't look the type.*

*The lizard towered over Arthur, casting a shadow onto the kitsune. Was this reptile trying ot start something? Did it think low of him? If so, then he would be glad to show the lizard how outclassed he was; Arthur hated being looked down upon as if he were inferior. The contrary, though, he didn't mind to a certain extent, ironically. The sound of the mace hitting the floor caused Arthur to snap to attention, instantly taking in his surroundings even more as he himself grew even more attentive to the environment around him. It seemed like this place was safe, but then again, he must be prepared for anything; worse case scenario, one of the people in the group fucks him over, causing him to be captured, sent to prison, blah, blah, blah.*

*Speaking of his group, what was the deal with that macen? Arthur noticed him shoot a glance towards his own figure, causing his hand to slightly shift towards his sword. Those dark red eyes really didn't intimidate him, but rather, they made him slightly wary. From what he's seen, people with eyes like that usually can't be trusted. The reptile seemed dull and headstrong enough; a classic example of a meathead. The macen, though? Arthur could tell there was something off about him. It was probably in his best interests to keep an eye out on that guy, more so than the lizard.*
Peter
`"...I see. It is ones duty as a hunter to never waver in their capabilities. It seems so that some others other than myself would agree to this..."`

*While the macen seemed to give out a complement. It sure as hell didn't sound like one. The way his spoke, the tone in his voice. It was a bit condecending in a sense. Matched with his more seriously carefree expression on his face, the man almost seemed like an asshole by just standing there. Of course, this in reality was far from it. Since in his tribe its accustom to speak in a manner like this to those that you are cautious for in more then one reasons. The Macens intent was to figure out on what else this letter would lead him into, why? Because he simply sees the note as some sort of binding hold of fate. As if it was his destiny to set off towards whatever this letter had lead him into. Maybe it would allow for him to actually hunt for bigger game? His horizon on this fact seemed to be his drive.

Though, he soon placed his hands on his hips. The sun that was beating at his skin didn't seem to effect him all that much, as if he was used to this sorta thing. His attention would move towards the Lizardmen that held his mace more like a cane. The look in his eye holding a tint, if not a sliver of bloodlust. Of course, this would subside almost instantly. Though it was a bit of acknowledgement that the Lizard was something that peaked his interest.*

`"...Speaking of, just call me Zenoral. It's my birth name, but not my true name. As for you, hooded man?..."`
Douglas
"So you have experience. This is merely my second. You must be good if the boss relys on you that much."

*Idrid starts to study the still unnamed man. The reason for wearing a hood may vary, but he seems to have extremely pale skin, even more than normal. He was probably a vampire, meaning that he was probably very strong physically. He wasn't walking without the hood, so probably wasn't an ebony one, and wasn't savage either, so probably not crimson. He didn't seem like a dusk vampire as he probably would have been much stealthier, and his paleness led him to believe he was a vampire of the Ivory Strain, known for intelligence. He seemed a bit fair-faced as well, but he had too little information to determine what race he was. Definitely not an elf though.*

"So, vampire, what is your name? I don't wish to address you by that."
Anthony
*Arthur paused for a moment. How did the lizard know that he was a vampire? Was it the fact that he wore a hood? People wore cloaks and cowls all the time though, so that really couldn't be it, right? Was it his skin? His eyes? The last time he had checked on his own body, he really didn't seem* **THAT** *Pale, unless that was him trying convince himself that he was perfectly fine, skin-tone wise. He ignored what the macen had told the both of them, since his connotation behind what he said came across as condescending and rude. If he were trying to compliment them, it certainly didn't seem like it. Also, what was with his name? Zenoral? How odd... He really hadn't heard of a name like that from anywhere. It was sort of exotic, in an odd sense, but held a slight bit of power within it. Other than that, though, there really didn't seem to be anyhing that outstanding about the macen's general demeanor, so Arthur chose to purposefully tune out his voice, again, ignoring the macen.*

*Though, Idrid seemed to be curious about his name as well. Seeing that he was relatively wanted, Arthur didn't necessarily feel like giving out his name to people he had just met, with the exception of Zed. Supposedly, Zed was Hitoshi's friend, so he could be trusted... Is what he had thought. With these two, however, he didn't completely trust either of them yet. One of them, at least, is wary and calculating; the other figured out his secret almost instantly. Arthur really didn't like that idea, so he decided to go under an alias of sorts for this mission, conjuring one up in his mind all too suddenly.*

"The name's Ar... Toria. Artoria Sendrul. Good to meet you, Zenoral. Idrid."
Douglas
"And to you, Artoria."

*Now, if only he knew what race Artoria was. It's obvious that it wasn't his real name, but since he wasn't comfortable with his real one, that was fine. His shock was also apparent at Idrid's inference. Seems like he didn't expect such careful observation from a beastkin. Not that he cared. Zenoral seemed a bit odd. Probably wasn't a native speaker. He can't get anything from him though.*
John
`that feel when Arthur missed out on calling himself Knight Artorias`
Peter
*Zenoral only blinked at the exchange between the two. He could easily tell from the boys speech patterns that the name was a fake. Even so he didn't pick at the boy on his real name due to the fact that everyone would have their reasons to do such. Keeping his hands on his hips. He only awaited what was to come.*
Yolanda
There was silence after they have stopped talking. Some... Unnatural silence at least. Nothing has changed honestly. Animals still skittled around the place, the wind dancing around their fur. Nothing out of the ordinary. But something felt really off... Was it the serene silence... Or was it just the new group of people? No one would know, as the silence was disrupted by a sudden fwoomph, a hooded person jumping down from a tree. How long have they been there? 

Red eyes shined from under that hood, reflecting what little light reached it. Pretty eyes. Looks very nice! Something like rubies under the sun. But that was all they could see. They also wore a sort of face wrap, only allowing their eyes to be revealed. They were armed too! They had a saber, which resembled a mamluk saber. Quite an attractice device! Brass hilt... Nice ivory handle. 

But anyways, enough exposition! The person took out a roll of paper, holding off from opening it until... They finished talking. They took off their mask, a fair and quite beautiful woman was hidden under that. But for all they know, this could be just some random actor! 

"Hello you all. It seemed that you were all done making yourself acquainted with each other yes? I'll make it simple. You have 3 targets. You don't need to know who they are, just bring them to us. Dead will get you 300s and alive would bring you 600 silver"

She said, opening up the paper roll. It had the faces of their targets. An old man... He had a beard... Meanwhile, their two other targets were younger adults. One of them looked just over 19, while the other was probably around their mid 20s. After showing it to the group, she handed it to Arthur. She was sure that this was the person that has done it numerous times.

They better not disappoint the boss. Assuming how hard it was to detect her... You would be pretty damn sure she eas watching their every step... How else was she able to get these letters to the?
Douglas
"Any information we should know about them? Competent mages, warriors, archers?"

*He doesn't say anything about the sneaky woman. Best not to show weakness. He readies his mace, hefting it on his shoulder.*
Yolanda
"It would seems that the town has taken a full division of the local Militia. They aren't mercenaries, rather real soldiers. From my reconnaissance, they have a few mages, footguards, and archers. Numbers will not be exact"

She said, leaning on one leg, rather alluringly. But of course, she only really does this because men will be men. She reckons that boys tend to fight better when a super attractive woman was watching them. Something to do with ego and stuff.

But the information she was giving them was... Quite bad. Soldiers? She did say a local Militia... But those were trained soldiers. This was bad. All bets were in. It's a final defense. 

"I don't see a good way to enter sneakily, as it is so well fortified and guarded. The best way would be to break through, find the targets, and get out"
Peter
`"So you want us to break in, kill whoever we see while also extracting the people you need? That sounds more then simple enough."`

*Did she hear him right? Soldiers were more then troublesome when it came to work like this, but even so he didn't seem to show much care. Rather, he seemed more interested by the way they could do a mission like this. Sneaking was out of the door already, but will they expect an assault made up of a small squad? Zenoral softly smiled at the thought of having to hunt Macens. He's done this before quite a few times. But the feeling of turmoil that comes with hunting them really did seem to stick with the Oni.*
Anthony
"Got any information on how elite the soldiers are? Even soldiers can be judged by their combative prowess. How good is this one? And do we know how good our targets are at defending themselves?"

*Arthur wasn't too sure he could be this reliant on the woman's information. All his other employers thus far would have given the group information on layout of the village, the exact and accurate gauge and judgement of their combat abilities, etc. An entire militia? What was an entire ass militia doing in a small town like this? Could they really take on that many soldiers? He's taken out quite a few already, what with the prison break, but with a team such as this, he doubted he could pull it off. However, he was much stronger this time, so his anxiousness and confidence balanced eachother out.*
Yolanda
"Well, the entire division seem to be around the same level. They aren't strong one on one, but they are quite... How would I phrase this. Terrifying as a group. They are armed quite well for a militia. Shields, spears, bows, armour, and all. The targets on the other hand, aren't able to protect themselves. If they try to fight, break their arms. I'm sure you'll be able to find them. They should be cowering in one of the farm houses"

She said, stepping her way back into the forest. It seems that there is no more information to hand the group. This is of course, the same village that has been attacked multiple times! 

But they should be anxious, even this lady didn't know what kind of stuff these soldiers are capable of. If anything, they might be the best militia of Salvainia! But one can only speculate. She turned back to the group, saying one last thing.

"Oh and, don't get caught."
Douglas
"Caught as in bound and chained, or caught as in seen? Those are two very different things."

*Idrid's ready for the encounter. What are soldiers going to do? Stab him? Archers and crossbows may be a problem, but the vampire was most likely quick enough to take care of them, as well as the unarmored man.*
Yolanda
"I'm pretty sure you can infer what I mean. You aren't hiding. They are expecting an attack any moment now~"

She said, receding into the forest. Damn woman. She was acting so mysterious. Was she trying to get them killed? No she wasn't. There just wasn't much she could say. The security is extremely tight!
Douglas
"Very well. Let's go. Attack at night when they're tired. It'll also be safer for Artoria."

*Hm. Tight security. Nothing they can't handle. Shields would be futile, lines will be broken. Their combined powers should easily take care of these people.*
Anthony
*The absence of reliable information the woman gave was a bit suspicious. Again, comparing her actions to previous employers of missions and jobs past, this particular person seemed rather uninformative and... Shady. Don't get caught? That was a given, but the connotation and hidden meaning behind those words suggested that this job would be plenty dangerous to the questing party. These three targets, the old man with a beard, and two younger adults, were most likely high ranking officials, like Cornelius. Holding the paper roll, now with the absence of the secretary, he thought about what their next course of action should be before going in. There was still light out, and apparently the guards were prepared for any sort of assault. As common knowledge obviously dictated, vampires fight better in the dark, not the light. It would be a good decision to burst through the doors for a surprise ambush once night fell, rather than attack when their fatigue was low during the day, along with the risk of burning due to sunlight. There was also the matter that their targets weren't the guards themselves; rather, there were the three that were protected by the guards. If it were any other sort of job, it would be great to skip the militia as a whole to kill the targets first, but with how heavily this place was protected, a miracle like that would most likely not grace their paths.*

*He heard Idrid speak about attacking at night as well. This lizard... Was he smarter than Arthur first thought? Or was just attacking at night the most obvious thing to do? Either way, he did agree with this course of action. When the night came, he could go all out in fulfilling his job, something he wasn't able to do for the longest time. It had been weeks now since he had a proper fight, and frankly, his body was growing dull and bored as time passed without any action. Thank the gods that the Boss had finally come out of his long Hiatus; who knows what Arthur would have done without literally anything to do? 

He thought for a moment, trying to gauge the skill of the militia from the woman's words. True, they needed to treat these soldiers like they were the emperor's guard themselves. That was just the obvious and most safe option. There would also be the matter of who to target first when the horde finally was unleashed upon them. The best course of action, in Arthur's opinion, was to start with the backline support, which would probably be made up of archers, mages, and possibly healers. The last part was unlikely, however; healers don't thrive on the battlefield at all. 

He finally turned towards Idrid and Zenoral, his hand coming to his chin in a sort of 'thinking' gesture. He still kept his cloak on, but when they entered the complex, it would most likely be an entirely new ordeal; his goal for taking the Boss's missions, besides trying to find out his motives, was to make sure that New Sunlight became aware of his existence, and to become one of the largest thorns in their sides when the day was over. Rolling the scroll back up, he opened his mouth to speak to his group.*

"I agree. Attacking at night would give us the advantage, most importantly for me. Vampires don't thrive well in the daylight, after all. I'd say we wait until the sun goes down, then try and look around the village's perimeter for an entrance before we actually barge in."