<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/LxmMkqC.png)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Arianna Brightstar (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=334326.msg15915522#msg15915522)<br/><strong>HP:</strong>45/45<br/><strong>AC:</strong>18<br/><strong>EP:</strong>40/40<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Arianna nods to herself, thinking carefully.  Mel Mistshine has...a bit of a strange reputation, to put it delicately.  The Freelancer's Association takes all kinds, of course -- that's part of what she likes about it -- but a habit of getting into adventures with dubious rewards is not the kind of thing that endears anyone to adventurers.<br/><br/>On the other hand, it's been a slow week and she needs to stay in practice.  Might as well at least see what the adventure is about.<br/><br/>The rest of the day passes quickly; Arianna stops by her parents' house to inform her mother that she's probably leaving tonight, leaves notes for a few friends, makes a list of things she'll probably want to requisition for the trip (depending on the details), and polishes and sharpens her rapier.<br/><br/>A few hours later, she's sauntering down Sparrow Lane and counting house numbers, properly dressed in her leathers.  (In the Adventurer's Paradise, armor is always in fashion.)  Up ahead, she spies a nervous-looking redhead, greeting a man in fine robes and a dark-haired young woman in an armored dress.<br/><br/>Arianna raises one hand in a casual wave.  "Good evening," she calls cheerfully.  "Is this where the adventure begins?"  It's halfway a joke, of course, since if she raised her voice a bit more she'd probably be heard by two or three more adventuring parties planning an excursion.  That's just how things are in the Freelance Quarter.  It does mean there's a lot of competition for interesting work, but it also means that the average citizen usually doesn't interpret "adventuring party" as "band of dangerous marauders."