Chapter 2: The House
The human and the half-orc waited for a short time in silence, until they heard footsteps approaching. The door swung open to reveal a burly looking elvish woman with severe features and green hair, almost as tall as Donovan.
“Mornin’,” she said to both of them, “Which one of you’s which?”
“I’m Talon, last name Raid,” Talon replied awkwardly.
“And that makes me Donovan.” The half-orc followed.
“Alright, come on in, the girl’s already here,” she told them, waving them into the house, “My name’s Birel, I’m the one in charge of all three of ya. C’mon then, I’ll show you to your dorms,” She turned and waved forward, prompting the two of them to follow.
Talon quickly jumped into step behind her, Donovan following shortly behind him.
“Dorms? This place looked pretty big, but it didn’t seem like it could hold multiple dorms,” Donovan said from the back of the line.
“It’s smaller outside. This here on the right by the door is the common area, it’s where the big kitchen and such are,” Birel told them as they began to make their way into the house. The halls managed to twist and turn despite always going straight ahead and turning at right angles. They finally came to a stop in front of a door bearing a small, bronze plaque. “This dorm’s up in one of the towers, which one of you wants it?” Birel asked them both.
“You can have it, I prefer to have my feet on the ground,” Donovan said, turning to speak to Talon.
“Uh, yeah, that sounds fine,” Talon replied, “So I guess this is where I get off the tour?”
“Sure, you’ve got all the basic amenities up there, you shouldn’t need any of the stuff outside the common area until we get started training,” Birel said, and unlocked the door with a tap of her finger while producing a physical key from seemingly nowhere and handing it to Talon, “There’s your key, go get settled in, I’ll take the big one over to the ground floor dorm.”
Talon swung the door open inward, revealing a spiral staircase lit by recessed light bulbs. He heard Donovan say “The big one-” in an annoyed tone just before he closed the door, cutting him off into complete silence. Talon sighed, picked up his trunk by the handles on both sides, and began making his way up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs he found a small, one bedroom apartment, simply furnished, with white walls. To the left of the door was an open kitchenette, already equipped with a refrigerator and stove, that led into a combined living/dining space outfitted with a small table that seated four, a brown couch, and a television mounted on the wall. To his right was a door into the single bedroom, which contained, naturally, a bed, dressed in white linens and black quilt for the pillows and comforters. Here he finally dropped his luggage at the foot of the bed with a sigh and got a chance to take in his surroundings. Looking around, Talon noticed that, oddly, a ladder leading to a trapdoor was attached to the wall next to a large picture window. Curious, he grabbed a rung at chest level and pulled a couple of times to confirm it was stable. Satisfied that it was safe, he shrugged and climbed up; the ceiling was only ten feet high, so it only took a few rungs to reach the trapdoor and push it open, allowing him to climb up and out onto one of the deck “battlements” atop the tower.
Talon pulled himself up out of the trapdoor and swung it closed again, leaving him standing on the silent wooden platform. Leaning against the railing, he looked out across the town. He realized that despite having only climbed a few flights of stairs and a ladder, he was very high up, able to see the hills across town. The town was named Silent Valley for them, a flat expanse surrounded by large, steep hills, which had historically made his new career choice a relatively dull one, as in times of war enemy militaries would be spotted and fortifications would appear atop the hills long before they could mount an offensive, and with only a few viable points of entry, trying to march in would only lead to a kill box.
These days, the job was again somewhat dull, but not unnecessary. the heavy military fortifications of less stable times were mostly gone, and while warfare and deliberate attacks were largely a thing of the past, the errant threats of beast and bandit were more than the average citizen could be expected to deal with, and so it was the job of local Militia Teams, three-man teams of powerful mages and fighters, to keep the peace in small towns such as this.
As Talon contemplated his new lot in life, the sound of a guitar reached him from a couple of stories down, distracting him from his reminiscing. He leaned further over the railing, looking for the source, finally finding it on a balcony off of the main house structure. A girl sat there, presumably she was the one the letter and Birel had mentioned. Talon watched her play for a while, intrigued, but ultimately shrugged it off and decided he may as well find Donovan and meet the girl together.
The human and the half-orc waited for a short time in silence, until they heard footsteps approaching. The door swung open to reveal a burly looking elvish woman with severe features and green hair, almost as tall as Donovan.
“Mornin’,” she said to both of them, “Which one of you’s which?”
“I’m Talon, last name Raid,” Talon replied awkwardly.
“And that makes me Donovan.” The half-orc followed.
“Alright, come on in, the girl’s already here,” she told them, waving them into the house, “My name’s Birel, I’m the one in charge of all three of ya. C’mon then, I’ll show you to your dorms,” She turned and waved forward, prompting the two of them to follow.
Talon quickly jumped into step behind her, Donovan following shortly behind him.
“Dorms? This place looked pretty big, but it didn’t seem like it could hold multiple dorms,” Donovan said from the back of the line.
“It’s smaller outside. This here on the right by the door is the common area, it’s where the big kitchen and such are,” Birel told them as they began to make their way into the house. The halls managed to twist and turn despite always going straight ahead and turning at right angles. They finally came to a stop in front of a door bearing a small, bronze plaque. “This dorm’s up in one of the towers, which one of you wants it?” Birel asked them both.
“You can have it, I prefer to have my feet on the ground,” Donovan said, turning to speak to Talon.
“Uh, yeah, that sounds fine,” Talon replied, “So I guess this is where I get off the tour?”
“Sure, you’ve got all the basic amenities up there, you shouldn’t need any of the stuff outside the common area until we get started training,” Birel said, and unlocked the door with a tap of her finger while producing a physical key from seemingly nowhere and handing it to Talon, “There’s your key, go get settled in, I’ll take the big one over to the ground floor dorm.”
Talon swung the door open inward, revealing a spiral staircase lit by recessed light bulbs. He heard Donovan say “The big one-” in an annoyed tone just before he closed the door, cutting him off into complete silence. Talon sighed, picked up his trunk by the handles on both sides, and began making his way up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs he found a small, one bedroom apartment, simply furnished, with white walls. To the left of the door was an open kitchenette, already equipped with a refrigerator and stove, that led into a combined living/dining space outfitted with a small table that seated four, a brown couch, and a television mounted on the wall. To his right was a door into the single bedroom, which contained, naturally, a bed, dressed in white linens and black quilt for the pillows and comforters. Here he finally dropped his luggage at the foot of the bed with a sigh and got a chance to take in his surroundings. Looking around, Talon noticed that, oddly, a ladder leading to a trapdoor was attached to the wall next to a large picture window. Curious, he grabbed a rung at chest level and pulled a couple of times to confirm it was stable. Satisfied that it was safe, he shrugged and climbed up; the ceiling was only ten feet high, so it only took a few rungs to reach the trapdoor and push it open, allowing him to climb up and out onto one of the deck “battlements” atop the tower.
Talon pulled himself up out of the trapdoor and swung it closed again, leaving him standing on the silent wooden platform. Leaning against the railing, he looked out across the town. He realized that despite having only climbed a few flights of stairs and a ladder, he was very high up, able to see the hills across town. The town was named Silent Valley for them, a flat expanse surrounded by large, steep hills, which had historically made his new career choice a relatively dull one, as in times of war enemy militaries would be spotted and fortifications would appear atop the hills long before they could mount an offensive, and with only a few viable points of entry, trying to march in would only lead to a kill box.
These days, the job was again somewhat dull, but not unnecessary. the heavy military fortifications of less stable times were mostly gone, and while warfare and deliberate attacks were largely a thing of the past, the errant threats of beast and bandit were more than the average citizen could be expected to deal with, and so it was the job of local Militia Teams, three-man teams of powerful mages and fighters, to keep the peace in small towns such as this.
As Talon contemplated his new lot in life, the sound of a guitar reached him from a couple of stories down, distracting him from his reminiscing. He leaned further over the railing, looking for the source, finally finding it on a balcony off of the main house structure. A girl sat there, presumably she was the one the letter and Birel had mentioned. Talon watched her play for a while, intrigued, but ultimately shrugged it off and decided he may as well find Donovan and meet the girl together.