text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy]
  
  "Sorry, must've slipped my mouth. I'm new here."
  
  "New here, eh? Would this happen to be the old stuff you were talking about?"
  
  He slides a drink over, and you pretend to peer inside curiously.
  
  "No, but I'll be glad to try," you squeeze out a smile.
  
  Chuckling, he holds out his hand to stop you as you turn around to go grab a seat.
  
  "Pay first, new guy," he says, showing his yellow, crooked teeth.
  
  You reach into your pouch, only to find it empty. Remembering that you spent the rest of your gold buying supplies to get back into the forest, you smile awkwardly.
  
  "I seem to have run out, do you know any way I could pay for this other than currency?"
  
  "Well, there's a miller down the street who is in need of a few more hands, I suggest you head over there. If you don't want to, it never hurts to have another bartender."
  
  > Bartender
  You reckon that having been a frequent guest at this bar would help you more than going to the miller's who you knew was not a likable fellow. The terms were agreed, you were provided a meal, basic lodging, and payment in the form of silver for 8 hours of work a day. That leaves you with a few hours to spend by yourself.
  
  Months pass rapidly with you working diligently, using your knowledge about the various drinks of the bar to fulfill your customer's needs. However, you knew that you aspired for more than just a life as a bartender. You started taking interest at the request board hanging in the townsquare.
  
  There always will be a few people who need some services, whether it is to deliver a message, find a lost object, or to help with various daily tasks. They never caught your eye due to the low pay and how time consuming they were, but today was different. Positioned at the center of the board was a piece of high quality parchment, the type used in major cities and the wealthy's household, red words were written neat and eloquently at the center.
  
  Below is a stamp from the town mayor. The onlookers curiously mumbles to themselves, each urging the other to go up and take the request. There were already some men who looked confident in themselves that were led away by volunteer townsguards. You yourself are very tempted to join in as well.
  
  > join the mission
  You stepped up, and accepted the mission.
  
  Entering the town hall, you see a crowd of men, jabbering to and fro. An "Ahem" rings through the hall, and all your eyes turn to the stage where the mayor stood. He tells the crowd to go up on the stage one by one, where they have a rack of weapons and training dummies. Each will be given 5 minutes to demonstrate their skill and strength, then they will be hand picked by the captain of the guard, to meet the Mayor.
  
  Feeling confident, you perform relatively earlier. It's been a while, but Hart's lessons were firmly etched in your heart. The audience claps at your spectacular display of swordsmanship, and you were led to one of the front seats.
  
  You, along with 9 other well performing people, were taken to a basement where you see the mayor sitting, fiddling with his fingers.
  
  "Sit, gentlemen. We have a tricky situation at hand," he gestures to a row of seats. "There have been a few cases of missing people, and they have all been last seen near Dave's mill. Normally, I would just send the guardsmen to investigate, but more detailed reports have shown a few more disturbing things. All of the people gone missing are young women, in their 20's. They were last seen with a group of black clothed people, with weapons. I doubt Dave Hillman has any good intentions toward these women, but from the looks of things, there are private soldiers of sorts working for him."
  
  At this point, a couple people sitting by you shuffled uncomfortably, each looking towards one another.
  
  "We're going to have to go through the mill. The captain is going to lead you bunch, I trust that you all are good fellows, be cautious," he concludes, tone heavy.
  
  The captain walks out from behind, and lays a map on the table of your town and the surrounding forests.
  
  "Here," he states gruffly, pointing at a section of the forest circled in red. "We're staying here. There's an old path made from animals and foolhardy travelers running past our campsite, we'll see if we can spot anything, then we go to the mill."
  
  > Time passes...
  Over the course of the past month, you and your men camped near the trail have seen some movement, always at night, shrouded figures being ushered along. This basically confirms the suspicions that they are meddling in the slave trade.
  
  The next step would be to search the area near the mill and inside itself, which there were two proposed ways.
  
  The majority of the men seemed to want to forcefully search the entire mill during the slave transport, which means there will be less people at the mill to defend.
  
  There will have to be a force to take out the transport group, though.
  
  > attack the Mill
  You figured that the Mill Group needs more hands than the other. You step into the line at the left, and the planning concludes.
  
  3 days later...
  
  Under the cover from darkness, you, along with a few others, arrived at the door, seeing that lights were still on inside. Leading the charge, sword drawn, you kick open the door, and slash at the first figure you see. Screaming, a young girl falls to the floor. Not sparing her another glance, you and your people move on.
  
  Emboldened by your show of aggression, or perhaps just bloodthirsty, the men slaughtered most of the people left in the mill. The office, however, was empty. Overturning cabinets, prying open floorboards, and breaking walls, you stumble upon a secret door in the wall. Cautiously, all of you descend into the darkness.
  
  Arriving in a dimly lit room, you were welcomed by a chorus of screams and shouts. Bewildered, you and your men blanked out for a second. That is, until a crunch sound jarred you back into the present. You turn to see one of your men falling to a giant figure, holding a club of sorts. It turns to face you, and the last thing you see is an inhuman face, distorted into a grin.