Inch by Inch

There were a number of ways that an adventuring team could take on a task.

Generally, the easiest method for the adventurer was to be given one by your guild. Most guilds had a dedicated agent who would negotiate directly with customers or the bureau to get them the best and most profitable work. This was why guilds were selective about who they recruited. Most customers would know a guild’s name before that of a team or individual adventurer.

Then there were the best adventurers. At a certain level of fame you would be requested directly, removing a lot of the need for an agent. Tasks at the grandmaster or hero rank were rare, requiring more travel and time, but the rewards increased exponentially. At this level you were playing a different game, and it wasn’t money you were after.

Finally, there was the simplest way. Pick up a task advertised at the local bureau of adventuring. It was the worst method because all the good work was snapped up through the other methods before it made it here. What was left at the bureau was the bottom of the barrel. The easiest tasks, the drudgery, the grimy. Tasks that few wanted to do or just weren’t important or well paying enough to be prioritized. In Lauchia these were hung on a wall off in a deserted side room, and some of them had been hanging there for a looong time.

Like the one Jay was currently looking at. The notice requested an escort to the Wonder of thorns for a company of three masons who were tasked with setting the foundations of the wall around the settlement there. Thornton had been a city for at least a hundred years. At the bottom someone had written that ‘fudgeling of any sort’ would not be tolerated.

“This isn’t paper,” Kane muttered, leaning in so close to a task notice he was practically inhaling it.

“What is it then?” Ana called. Feeling tired after today’s dog track, she had claimed one of the two chairs in the room. It wasn’t as dirty as the ones in the main hall of the bureau, but only because all the filth on these chairs had fossilized long ago. Ana had brushed the seat before sitting down, and half the cushion had disintegrated at the touch.

“Some kind of cloth? It looks like it was written with charcoal.” Kane sniffed, actually inhaling it. “But it doesn’t smell like that.”

“Can we focus on the newer tasks?” Jay asked, chewing his lip. The tasks were organized by age from left to right and bottom to top, placing the oldest tasks the furthest into the room, hanging off the wall at hip level. Organized was not quite the right term though. He could spot fresher paper hanging on the far left and some tasks had been slapped haphazardly onto empty boards by the door.

“How will we know if they’re what we’re looking for?” Kane asked.

It was a good question. “Grab a repeat task before more new Apprentice teams show up” sounded quite simple in Peak yesterday. Mari had either neglected to mention the mess that was the noticeboard, or had never had to deal with it himself. Given that there were enough tasks on the board to take ten guilds a month to even sort out, Jay was wondering how any adventurer could be out of work in the city.

“Apprentice or leather should be written somewhere. And the triquetra or an odd smudge for repeat tasks,” he replied. Some people would have been better off writing ‘repeat’ instead of trying to draw the triquetra or trefoil knot. A blob of ink was also technically infinite like a circle, but it wasn’t the same thing. A proper triquetra looked like a three point star formed from a continuous line of rope.

His eyes lingered on one notice that was in a better state than the others, triquetra and all, but it looked like a prank notice. “Knob hunting - paid by the ear”. This room was clearly not well cared for if anyone could sneak in and post something up on the wall.

There was a thump from the back of the room. Jay spun around, expecting to see a cloud of dust and Ana collapsed in the middle of it.

Ana was in the middle of the mess, but the chair hadn’t collapsed. It’d broken as she attempted to stand up, and she was scrambling to pick half the backrest off the ground. “I barely touched it!”

Jay groaned, looking towards the door. Had anyone seen it happen? Someone must have heard the thump. He moved closer to the door to block the view.

“See if you can put it back,” Kane said distractedly. He had slipped back to the older section of notices while Jay wasn’t looking.

“What do you mean put it back?” Ana hissed. “It’s broken!”

“It thumped.”

“What?” Jay asked. “No- it doesn’t matter. Keep looking for repeat tasks Kane. How much does a chair cost?”

The wood creaked under Ana’s hands. “I know it thumped! I was right beside it.”

“It didn’t crack. It thumped. It was already broken. See if you can do what someone else did.”

Jay couldn’t help but turn to inspect the chair. That... made sense. “Ana?”

“I’m looking,” she hissed, spinning the piece of wood around.

“No, we were looking. You were-” Jay cut himself off. Why was he so on edge? ”Any luck Kane?”

Sticking to the original plan of training for two weeks was looking more appealing by the minute.

“Stone delving? Search the wild for stone deposits, identify quality and report back?”

“No, we don’t know anything about stone, and aren’t ready to go out into the wild.”

“Got it!” Ana cheered.

Jay relaxed and turned away from the doorway. If you knew what to look for, the backrest wasn’t quite right, but the chair had been a heap of shit before they arrived. He hurried back to the board.

“Lost lunch, near Binggen.” No, and that was likely a food stain, not an attempt at an infinite knot.

“Escort to Chelder.” No, they weren’t ready to leave Lauchia.

“Message delivery.” No, it didn’t pay enough for the time it would take them.

“Stone calming - 15 acres.” No. What did that even mean?

“Oddity sighted - Danger unconfirmed.” No, rated for Journeyman, not Apprentice.

“Patrol across Slow-“ No, they weren’t ready–wait.

“Patrol across Slow Keeling. Apprentice level. Two loops, twice daily. Three patrols a week. Reports required. More information available from bureau.“

Taylor did mention patrols when she was listing tasks. A patrol didn’t expect combat. Not at the Apprentice rank, not if it wasn’t too far from the city. So where was Slow Keeling?

“Oddity elimination?” Ana asked, holding a task notice up. “It says tracking is required—Kane your mother’s a hunter, right? Do you know how to do that?”

Kane hummed. He was back in the older task section again. “I should be able to track most creatures.”

Jay placed a hand on the patrol task to keep track of it. “Is it a repeat task? I don’t think we’re ready for combat tasks, but we can look for it again in the future.”

“Yes... but an open repeat? Is that a thing? It says they are a fertile invasive?”

“They’ve been around a while then and the guild has proof that they can reproduce,” Kane said. “It’ll be a repeat task until all the Oddities are dealt with.”

“An open repeat allows multiple teams to take on the task. Put it back and let’s see if we can find it in a week or two.”

“Eh...” Ana looked at the packed board behind her. Her eyes flicked back and forth rapidly. “Should I put it somewhere we can easily find it again?”

“If you can’t remember where you found it, just put it back in the general area,” Jay said tiredly. It wasn’t like the board could get any messier. They could move it into the older sections, where only they would be able to find it easily, but it wouldn’t sit right with him. He turned his attention back to the notice under his thumb. “Do either of you know where Slow Keeling is?”

Two heads shook. He read the notice out loud.

“It could be a good task to ease us in. See the area, learn the schedules and get to know the people. I’m just worried about it being too far out.”

Kane shrugged. “Sounds like the best yet.”

A low rumble filled the room. Jay’s hand fell to his stomach. It could have been any of them. The dog track was hungry work and the smell from the food stalls was wafting into the room. His mouth watered.

“Let’s ask.” Ana said. “Or come back after eating.”

“Yes.”

“Agreed.”

There were four counters open today, though there were only half a dozen people waiting in line. In his time here, the bureau had never had this many desks open, but all the new adventurers and their recruiters had yet to arrive. It was going to get busy soon.

Jay had a choice between the counters, but chose to wait in front of the same scarred clerk who’d registered them. There was something that felt right about accepting their first task from him. While they waited for the adventurer before them to finish up, he examined the counters. The other three all had piles of paper, mementos, and even the odd snack or two on them. Only their clerk’s desk was empty, the single unlit candle sitting alone.

When it was their turn, the clerk’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Yes?”

“We wanted to get some information on a task.” Jay handed over the notice.

“First one?” The clerk asked as he inspected the paper. It wasn’t a friendly question. His tone was challenging.

“Yes.”

The clerk repositioned his candle and leaned back in his chair. He whistled at one of the other clerks, the facial movement and scars distorting his face. “Hey Merjem, independent Apprentice team, first task. Odds on them coming back in one piece?”

The other clerk, a middle-aged woman with a straight, no-nonsense face, finished signing some document, handed it to her client and casually leaned back in her chair too. “Hmm, you know I don’t like to bet, Cole. What’s in it for me?”

Jay’s mouth fell open.

“I’ll buy the first round.”

“First independent task? What is it?”

“Patrol out by Slow Keeping.”

“Hmm. Nonexistent.”

“I’ll allow some scratches and scarring.”

There was no pause in the byplay. No attempt to hide their words from Jay and his team. No attempts to hide it from anyone else waiting in the queue. It was so nonchalant. Indifferent.

“Deal.”

Merjem leaned forward again and called her next client. Cole did the same, pulling open a drawer and reaching inside to grab a small jar. While Jay and his team watched wide-eyed, he opened it and began to spread a cream on the burns that ran down his face and neck.

“Now, what information did you want?”

“Is this a joke to you?” Jay asked. His hand was clenched into a fist. When had that happened?

Cole rubbed harder at the scarring around his mouth. It distorted his voice further as he spoke. “No, it’s a shame. What do you want? Adventurers are waiting.” He indicated his head to the queue behind him.

Jay gritted his teeth. He barely opened them to speak and when he did, it was in short, curt bursts. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to deal with rude people, he’d worked front desk in the shop before, but someone betting on his wellbeing was a new low. “Slow Keeping. Where is it? What’s the patrol route? What’s not on the notice?”

The clerk sighed. “Slow Keeping is a collection of farms to the south of here. The plots were part of a new design by the city where they bunched up all the houses together and trailed the farms out the back. Houses are far enough apart to need their own walls, but close enough to shout about danger. The route- have you a map?”

“No," he growled.

Cole set the small jar of lotion back down on the table with a snap. “Merjem, going to staging. Watch my counter.”

The other clerk snorted, not bothering to look over. “Sure, I’ll make sure no one steals your candle.”

Cole pushed his chair back and walked away from the counters. He didn’t wait for Jay. “Come.”

Jay walked with his head low, still seething. There was a shake in his limbs that was not from the dog track. Kane steered Ana behind him, not a twitch in his calm face. Ana on the other hand, was skittish, almost leaning into Kane as she walked far closer to him than she usually would.

The burnt clerk led them into a room Jay had not been in before and gestured sloppily at the opposing wall. “I give you Lauchia.”

The center of the mural was old. The paint had peeled in places only to be covered by bright, fresh color. A few sections of the city had been entirely redone at times, creating wide areas whose roads didn’t quite match up anymore. Some were mere millimeters apart, but others directed heavy traffic into the sides of buildings.

Outside the city walls was even more disordered. The city’s boundaries had long outgrown its original scale and the map stretched onto the roof and floor. It wasn’t pleasant to look at. Someone had trouble picking which shade of green to use and clearly, having too much time on their hands, used them all. Jagged lines had been drawn to approximate fields with brown splotches for farmhouses. If the map was accurate, every field was a different length and shape. No two were the same size. Occasionally locations had been given names, but just as many were crossed out or overwritten.

Tacks of some kind had been driven all over the map, in a variety of colors that Jay could make no sense of. There were more holes in the plaster than there were tacks. It left everything bitty and uneven.

Jay put his full attention on the map, scanning as much as he could and drinking in all the information.

“Down here.” Cole pointed at a gathering of brown splotches halfway between Lauchia and the floor. “The route goes-” He proceeded to draw out a wide loop made of several distorted 8’s on their side linked together. “The patrol is once in the morning, and once in the evening. It is to be completed before dark. You start tomorrow, and every two days hence, not counting the last day of the week. Any emergencies are to be reported to nearby farmhouses, then the bureau. A general report on the patrol must be submitted within twenty-four hours and before you are paid. There have been no sightings of dangerous oddities, but there are oddities, and there is food. It is an at risk zone, hence the patrol.”

“That route, how do we remember it?”

“Buy a map.”

Kane stepped away from Ana. “You said there are oddities. What kinds?”

“Nothing that has attacked humans before. The locals will have more information. Speaking to them is part of the patrol. Your report will need to include this information.” Cole met each of their eyes. He grimaced. “Anything else?”

Jay couldn’t think of anything.

“No then. Don’t be stupid, and most of all, don’t feed the Oddities. Now come.”

Jay was reluctant to leave the map or staging room so soon, but that had not been a request. Back at the counter, Cole dug a form out of his desk, took their team tag and scribbled a few things down before handing it and a slip of paper back. “Anyone asks for proof of task, show them that. It will need to be returned with your reports if you want to maintain the repeat.”

Jay grunted and took both items. He pointedly did not offer a thanks. The information and staging room had quelled some of his anger, but there was no point in being polite to some people. He matched eyes with Kane and turned to leave.

“Your name is Jiro Tsukain, correct?” Cole called before he could leave.

Jay reluctantly turned back. What was this about? “Yes.”

Cole pulled open a drawer and tossed an envelope on his desk. “For you. From the Pono envoy.”

Jay’s brow wrinkled and his mouth fell open again. Did he hear that right?

“What?”

“Message for you.”

“From who?" he exclaimed, still not understanding.

“I don’t really care who,” Cole snapped. “This is not a messaging service. Take it, leave and try not to get yourself killed.”

Jay snatched the envelope, smacking the table as he did. The thump echoed in the room. He stormed out of the bureau before he lost control of his tongue. The urge didn’t dissipate on the street. A passing group of children shot him strange looks as it all came out as a growling hiss.

He took deep breaths and spun to meet Ana’s understanding eyes and Kane’s unimpressed.

“The nerve! That asshole!”

Neither responded, and he felt the pressure whoosh out of him. It left an ache behind, and his hunger clawed at his throat.

“Do you know the Pono envoy?” Ana asked. She was standing away from Kane again, back to normal with that suspicious slant to her mouth again.

“No,” Jay dismissed, looking down at the scrunched up envelope in his hands again. “Don’t even know their name, if that’s even who this is from.”

Kane raised an eyebrow. “Why would the clerk lie?”

“Clearly he has a grudge against us,” Jay grumbled, but he opened his fist and smoothed out the squashed envelope. Two curious heads followed the movement, leaning closer as the paper tore open.

Jay’s brows furrowed as he read.

“What is it?” Ana asked impatiently.

Jay reread the short slip of paper again. It didn’t make sense.

“It’s an invitation.”

“Really?” Ana asked, hand itching towards the letter.

Jay let his hands drop and she snatched it.

“Why?” Kane asked, lips pursing in contemplation.

“I don’t know,” Jay said tiredly.

Ana finished her study of the letter and regarded him warily.

That was it. Jay was done with this. With it all. The day had just started, but it was already too long.

“Come on. Let’s get something to eat.”