The First Quest

Phoenix, Dovahkiin, Altair, and a new companion set off on their first quest.

The next morning Phoenix woke up before anyone else did. She reluctantly dragged herself out of the comfortable bed that seemed to wrap around her and hold her down among the warm blankets and pillows. She dressed in her usual clothing, a tunic and trousers, before she made her way downstairs to the bar. As tempting as it was to linger in the room and browse through the books left in her room, she knew she had to get ready to leave for the quest. A few early risers and a few drunken stragglers wandered around the now quiet tavern. Taking a seat at a vacant table and yawning, she ordered a bit of breakfast and waited for her companions to join her. A few minutes later, Darius wandered over at the sight of her looking as though he had bad news.

“I have a message for you.” He said, looking a tad bit grim. She looked at him wearily, her eyes still muddled with sleep as she tried to wake up. “Your monk friend, Asur, was called back to the temple. It is just going to be you three.”

“Well, of all the luck.” Phoenix muttered to herself with an unhappy expression. If she had any doubts about their ability to complete this quest the night prior, they were just doubled. “Thank you for informing me, Darius.”

He nodded and walked away, most likely to engage Tabul in a conversation. Phoenix sat back in her chair and thought about what they were going to do on this quest. They were down by one number, and the chances of three inexperienced adventurers getting in and out of this mysterious cave unharmed was very low. She picked at the meal in front of her and let her eyes wander about the sturdy wooden establishment. Mixed with the smell of alcohol and un-bathed men was the smell of oak, a safe a familiar smell. She sighed at a memory that assaulted her and responded to the said memory by attacking her meal more viciously.

“Good morning, Phoenix.”

It was Dovahkiin, woken and refreshed. He sat next to her and proceeded to order breakfast with her. She informed him of the current situation with a frown on her lips. A crease had formed on the dragonborn’s forehead, showing that he was troubled by this as well. What were they going to do? He suggested finding another person to adventure with them, and Phoenix agreed with him. Eventually the thief dragged himself from his room and sleepily made his way down to them with an obvious hangover. They filled him in on what was going on as he sat, drinking a small glass of gin. Phoenix had glared at him when he ordered. Drinking before a quest wasn’t the best course of action, especially if their numbers were limited.

“How are we to find a companion on such short notice?” Altair questioned lazily, leisurely leaning back in his chair. Dovahkiin watch him with the hope that he would tip the chair too far and fall backwards.

Darius seemed to conjure up a solution within a matter of seconds as they began to discuss the matter, returning to the table with a man who was only a few inches shorter than him. A hood shrouded his face from their view as he sat down at the table with them without a word. His broad shoulders almost matched the amount of space that the dragonborn took up.

“This is Thanatos, and he can help you. He is a cleric who has been treating an outbreak of illness near here.” He introduced the man who remained silent. Thanatos was slightly intimidating, kind of brooding and quiet, but in a lesser sense than Dovahkiin was. He had more of an aura of tranquility about him. The man obviously had a bit of elf in him due to the pointed ears he revealed as he let his hood fall back. Emerald eyes took in each one of them as he stared at each of them individually before he began to speak.

“Have you heard about our savior, Taurn?” He finally questioned in a smooth voice. Phoenix couldn’t help but giggle, but had to duck her beneath the table under the pretense that she dropped her fork to regain her composure after she received a very scary look from the cleric. That was certainly not what she expected him to say. Dovahkiin seemed slightly interested while Altair couldn’t care less. Darius patted him on the back with a grin before walking away. Phoenix re-emerged from under the table with red cheeks and a grin of her own.

“So Thanatos. Are you prepared to leave soon?” Dovahkiin asked, resting his arms on the table. Thanatos replied with a nod, letting his eyes slip over to Phoenix. An expression of slight disgust and humor slipped onto his face.

“Woman. What are you still doing here?” He asked. Phoenix looked at him with shock evident in her features. Her grin quickly faded into a look of disgust at his comment, her hand clenching her fork as though she would like very much to drive it into his eye.

“Why would I not be here?” She replied slowly, daring him to say anything further about her gender. Thanatos’ expression remained neutral as he stared at her for a moment, his strong jaw becoming tense for a moment.

“You are a woman. Women do not belong on quests. Go get me another drink, wench.” His expression melted into one of boredom as he said this, eyes lazily wandering from the furious girl’s form back to Dovahkiin. Phoenix immediately stood up and slammed her hands down on the table, one snatching the knife off of the table and pointing it at him.

“I’d recommend you silence yourself before I cut out your tongue.” She snarled with wild fury radiating off of her. Her temper was short and wild, able to be set off by just the right words. His shock at her venom-saturated words was only displayed by a raised eyebrow.

“I refuse to go on a quest with a woman present.”

“You will just have to deal with it.”

“No.”

“We can find someone else just fine.” Phoenix threatened, turning her gaze to Darius who replied with a shrug. “I can’t quest with the likes of him.”

“I’d recommend you show her a bit of respect. She can be quite biting.” Dovahkiin murmured to Thanatos, the memory of the previous night coming to his mind. “I assure you that she can defend herself just fine.”

“Very well, then. I’m not happy about this, but I will not raise the subject again.” The half-elf responded with a blank look, as though he simply did not feel like arguing any further rather than he actually believed she could defend herself. Phoenix turned her fiery glare back to him before sitting down quietly, keeping her gaze firmly on the cleric in front of her. She didn’t feel comfortable putting her trust in any of them, least of all this cleric.

“Shall we leave soon then?” Altair questioned as though the whole ordeal bored him. Dovahkiin nodded. The cleric then had a most peculiar feeling, the feeling of being watched intently. He ignored Phoenix’s continued glare and looked around. His brown orbs landed on a hooded figure that stood a ways away watching them. Casually, he turned back around and mumbled to the group that he would return shortly. He stood up and made his way over to the figure, Phoenix’s eyes following him as he went.

“Have you been watching us, good sir?” He asked the figure, his voice echoing back over to the table.

“You have no idea if I’m a ‘good’ sir or not.” The man chuckled darkly. Thanatos took another look at the man and deduced that he was dressed in the apparel of a thief. Without any further conversation, Thanatos bowed his head and returned to the table.

“Who was he?” Phoenix asked, curiosity burning through her pact of simmering silence. Her curiosity burned far greater than her anger in that moment. The Dovahkiin and Altair were arguing amongst themselves while the two of them looked over at the man. Phoenix’s lips pursed as Thanatos was silent. With a glance of disdain at Phoenix, Thanatos gave her a reply with his eyes wandering back to the man.

“As long as he does not interfere with our quest, it does not matter to me.” Thanatos rumbled, standing up and grabbing the bag off of the back of his chair with a swipe of his large hand. The three others exchanged a glance before standing up as well. “Get your supplies and we will begin our quest.”

---

Six Hours Later

“Large pus-filled sores all along their backs.” Thanatos was explaining as they trudged through the forest. Dovahkiin was listening intently to the half-elven cleric, his confusion evident on his face. The tiefling was moping a good five feet away from the group of three adventurers, his dark pink skin hidden behind his thick cloak. Phoenix was half-listening to Thanatos while her eyes lazily roamed the forest which they walked through. It had been a fairly uneventful day, and her legs were protesting with every step as they made their way deeper into the forest. She was not used to this kind of exercise, as she tended to only stay in shape enough so that she could perform. The most exciting thing was Dovahkiin threatening to shove Altair into a tree stump if he didn’t stop muttering under his breath.

“Do you hear that?” Thanatos suddenly questioned, coming to a sudden stop and gazing around the foliage around them. Phoenix swore under her breath as Dovahkiin also came to a halt, causing her to run into his back. She scowled at him, but found herself looking around with the other three. The adventurers prepared themselves for a fight as their eyes darted around the trees.

There was a beat of silence.

And then an arrow whizzed out of the trees and hit it’s mark in Phoenix’s left shoulder, causing the others to jump. Dovahkiin was the first to react, withdrawing his mighty banana sword and stomping towards the source of the arrow. Five goblins emerged from the trees, crossbows in their withered hands. Thanatos held out one of his hands and blasted a goblin away with a simple spell while Altair chose to instead run for the nearest shrubbery and hide behind it. Phoenix ripped the arrow out of her shoulder with a muffled grunt and pulled her crossbow off of her back. A steady stream of blood began to stain her shirt much to her annoyance as she loaded an arrow. After taking careful aim, she took a shot that unfortunately missed.

Another volley of arrows flew towards the group, none of them reaching their targets. Dovahkiin drew back his sword and cut down one goblin while Altair shot one from his spot in the bushes. Another shot from Phoenix hit one of the two remaining goblins, leaving one standing. It attempted to shoot an arrow at Thanatos, but made a horrified noise as his bowstring snapped. Dovahkiin lumbered over with a laugh and swung his sword at the creature, embarrassingly enough, missing. Thanatos withdrew his own sword and moved forward to attack, but jumped backwards as an arrow flew out of Altair's hiding place and caught it in its chest. There were a few beats of silence as the group processed what had just happened. It was Altair beginning to loot the bodies that drew them out of their reverie and prompted them to begin to congratulate one another. As they joined the thief in looting, each of them gaining a few gold and leaving the cheap weapons with the bodies. Phoenix performed a simple healing spell that she had known for as long as she could remember as they looked around the clearing for any more goblins that might appear.

“That was a brave battle.” Dovahkiin rumbled, his razor sharp teeth showing as he grinned broadly. Thanatos chuckled at him and patted him on the shoulder whilst assuring him that Taurn had blessed them during this fight. Phoenix stood from the body that she had just finished looting, a few gold and bronze coins in her hand, and squinted at the setting sun.

“We need to make camp before dark.” She stated after a few seconds, turning to the men as they began to reenact the fight with their weapons stained with the dark blood of their fallen enemies. The three men paused and looked over at her unamused expression before sheathing their weapons once more and making various signs of agreement.

“We can make camp a good hundred yards in that direction.” Dovahkiin pointed north, his eyes focused on the ground on something that none of the others could see. “There should be a water source over there.”

The three other adventurers shared a look behind the dragonborn’s back before cautiously agreeing with his plan, despite not knowing how he came across this knowledge. They figured that him being a ranger had something to do with his knowledge of the land. So they followed him without complaint until they came across the promised stream. There they began to set up camp, each setting up their respective tent before sharing brief conversation over dinner and retreating to their makeshift rooms to sleep. Throughout the night, nothing disturbed their sleep outside of a rabbit scurrying across their camp late into the night. In the morning, however, the adventurers were in for a surprise.

        Phoenix awoke first, as was becoming tradition, and rubbed her eyes drowsily. She rolled up her sleeping roll before she figured that she should start a fire before the others woke up so it would be ready for them to make breakfast. Yawning, she pushed her way out of the tent, shivering as the morning air caressed her bare legs. Perhaps wearing her silk nightgown while adventuring was impractical, but she would be damned if she didn’t have a little bit of luxury with her.

“You’re a bit far from heaven for an angel.” A strange man purred as Phoenix walked outside of her tent. She blinked for a few seconds, sleepily observing the two men sitting on logs across a crackling campfire, before diving back into her tent with an outraged shriek that woke up Dovahkiin and Altair. Both male adventurers emerged with weapons drawn and aimed at the two newcomers. The two men sitting at the campfire stood up and drew their own weapons. There was a moment of confused shouting before Darius walked into the clearing with an amused look on his face and a bucket of water in his hand.

“Dovahkiin, Altair, calm yourselves. This are Lords Bamf and Damian Vortex. Thanatos was called to another town for his healing capabilities,” The large man explained, stepping between the two groups that now had weapons drawn, “so they will be finishing this quest with you, since it appears you have trouble keeping an adventuring group together. Where is Phoenix?”

“Here.” The bard called, reemerging in her armor instead of her silk nightgown. Her sharp chocolate eyes locked on the one who had referred to her as ‘angel’ with an unsaid promise to cut his most prized parts off if he dared speak to her like that again. The man in question ignored her glare and chose to wink at her, startling blue eyes twinkling with amusement. The situation was once again explained which did little to calm the rage-filled Phoenix, but by the time Darius left they were all on the same page.

“Shall we continue to the cave? Darius informed us that it was just over that ridge.” Lord Bamf said whilst pointing through a seemingly random grove of trees and shrubbery. Everyone nodded in agreement before beginning to pack up their things and following Bamf. It had only been a quarter of an hour when they finally reached the cave.