For a moment it seemed as though a wave of seriousness washed through Darius’ otherwise jovial features. Shifting away from the table, the man stood and took in each person – those who were peeking in the doorway and considering applying, as well as those around the table, situated in such a way that let him know they were, indeed, interested.<br/><br/>Speaking low, so as not to alert the entire room of his plans, Darius lay out several maps on the table top. With each one, he tapped his finger once, igniting an emerald puff below his finger like some theatric demarcation of truth.<br/><br/>At the<strong>first</strong>, he said, “Abandoned Dwarven mine. Said to have ancient riches. Artifacts for digging, sculpting stone and probably a few golems. Seemed easy pickings, but we never know about these things. All spoils, no reward.”<br/><br/>At the<strong>second</strong>, he said, “Elves are having problems with pixies. Apparently, they’ve gone punch mad and gotten into the…” he glanced down, just to make sure his lettering was square – it was – “Cat nip. They are enchanting anyone who comes within their realm and driving them mad with desire, or laughter, or both.” He glanced up at the mage, and over at Venus, “It could be poison, it could be magic – but our party seems diverse enough to address it. This map is copied from a posting they put up in the capital city – we might have competitors. Two hundred gold and a promise of some very potent potions of regeneration – one for each of us.”<br/><br/>At the<strong>third</strong>, he said, “A real villain here. Seems like some underground abandoned hideout has recently become active. People are vanishing into it. There’s a town nearby willing to pay three-hundred gold for a cure, along with spoils. I took this map from the mayor himself; it is unlikely anyone else will head that direction”<br/><br/>He paused over the other maps but quickly folded them away; three was more than enough to test this group’s mettle. Dark hair framing his aquiline, predatory features, Darius addressed the group directly, “I’ll go on any of these three with you all. Just to test us out – see how we work together and what we’re capable of. If you’re not interested in these, I suggest you pull out for now and come back at another time. If you are – I suggest we majority vote on one.”<br/><br/>Sitting back down, he took a long pull of his hard, tasteless ale, “And I’ll vote last.”<br/>