Tattia had been looking forward to this day for quite some time now. The day her contract with the house would be up and she could leave if she so chose. Though it's not uncommon for a contract to be re-negotiated, Tattia herself had done so before, this time she wanted to step away from the house and spend some time out in the world.
Tattia had hoped someone else was here with her though. Vaneras, the red-haired warrior whom she had made a connection with during her stay in the house. The woman had promised to see her again after her contract was up. Tattia knew it was foolish to expect Vaneras to be waiting for her when she left but she was still a little disappointed when she stepped out of the front doors and she wasn't there.
Tattia sighed, she knew the life Vaneras led made her go from place to place very frequently. It was dangerous and... No, Tattia didn't want to entertain that thought. That her warrior had been struck down since their last meeting, even though it had been more than a few months since then. But Tattia shook that off and refocused her attention. She'd need somewhere to sleep tonight.
She had little in the way of possessions, a single set of clothes and a small pouch full of several platinum coins. Which, at a glance may not seem like much, but a single platinum was worth a small fortune in gold. It was her back pay during her stay in the house, so money was of no objection. But it also meant that she had to find somewhere to trade the coins in as few places actually accepted platinum. Which meant she'd have to visit the merchant guild.
Tattia figured she might as well get to it and be done with it as she began walking. Her most recent contract was for two years, she still remembered when she first entered the house, the city around it felt so different and yet in other places the same. She saw some vendors and shopkeepers around that she recognized from that time, and others she did not. It was always fascinating to her how things changed over time.
As a half-elf, she was longer lived than others, in fact she was already one hundred and twenty years old. It was why she didn't mind taking longer contracts when she had to. Humans for example, would put much value in the few years she'd have spent in the brothel. Though this was also part of why elves have become less and less interested in interacting with humans. A human lived their entire lives in the time it took for an elf to blink, or so the expression went. It was apparently more eloquent in elvish. But Tattia herself had never actually known elven culture much, outside of what she had heard from others.
She was born to a human mother, and didn't know much about her father. Her mother had said that he was a passerby, that the two had shared a single night together and he had left the next day. It was never intended as anything more serious than that, when Tattia was born her mother did try and track down her father but was unsuccessful. Tattia was not terribly bothered by this, she knew others, especially full human children would. But she had accepted this as the way things were and didn't dwell on it much. Would she have liked to know her father? To know the other half of her culture? Absolutely. But part of her also feared that she'd be rejected by both her father and that culture. Humans were not liked well by elves from what she had heard, she could only imagine how they'd react to a half breed like her. So she also reserved the peace of not knowing, at least for now. Maybe in another hundred years she'd consider seeking him out in earnest. But for now, there was business to do.
The merchant guild organized several banks across the kingdom; most major cities had one. It made it a lot easier to have to deal with large amounts of coin. Simply deposit it at one bank and you'd be given a voucher for your account's worth. You could then travel to any other city and withdraw that amount or a lesser amount if you didn't want to withdraw all of it at once. When Tattia had first entered her contract with the house the bank in the city had only just recently been built. But now it seemed like a mainstay that had always been here.
Tattia entered the building and stepped up to an open counter and was met with a stocky Dwarvish man with a well groomed beard. Tattia could smell the scented oils used to groom it. It distracted her momentarily but the man's voice broke her out of it as he greeted her.
Tattia opened an account and had her coins exchanged for gold and deposited. The Dwarvish man was surprised to see her depositing so much at once but seemed to choose not to ask. Tattia had kept a small amount from her deposit on herself, more than enough for a room at one of the expensive inns in town and a good meal, with some to spare.
She left the bank, happy that bit of business was done. She hadn't even considered how much time it took to set up. The sun was already starting to set beyond the mountains at the far west end of the country. The massive range of mountains could be seen from nearly anywhere within the land. They were noticeable for this as well as one mountain in particular being in the shape of a massive dragon.
The legend said that this was the petrified body of an Old God, Drakkahn. The old destroyer god was supposedly the first dragon whose children were spawned from his flesh so many years ago when the regime of the old gods ended and the new gods took power. As old as Tattia was, she had been hearing these stories since she was small so they were even older than her. She still didn't know if there was any truth to them or not. Supposedly the land around the mountains were cursed by the old god's blood and attracted dangerous monsters. Or perhaps the monsters spawned there... the stories changed every so often. But regardless, no one who's ever been there has come back.
As Tattia walked, intending to find a high end inn to stay in for the night, she happened to pass a smaller tavern and inn, much cheaper and rougher considering the noise coming from inside. It was the kind of place adventurers went for a cheap room and meal for the night, as well as to drink to celebrate their recent victories, or mourn losses. Tattia would have paid it no mind but she couldn't help to think if Vaneras had come to a place like this.
Not that anyone inside would likely know her, she only came by every few months, not enough to make an impression on anyone right?
The inside of the tavern was full of men and women eating, drinking and talking amongst themselves. A bard played at one end of the tavern, singing a rowdy drinking song as he played his lute. Nobody paid Tattia much mind as she entered and made her way to the bar. She sat in one of the open spots as the barkeep approached her.
He was a large man with a round stomach and had a thick black mustache that framed his jaw. "What'll it be?" he asked her, while he did raise an eyebrow at her presence, Tattia didn't exactly look like the rest of the adventurers in the place tonight. "We have roast boar tonight if that's to your fancy."
Tattia placed a few coins on the counter. "Um... Yes, that will do," she said, "I'll take an ale with that as well... and while I have your ear I was wondering if you've seen someone specific here lately."
"Can't make no promises," The man told her. "Lots of folks come and go, and some don't come back if you catch my drift. Can't be asked to remember all of them."
"I know my chances may not be high but her name's Vaneras," Tattia told him.
"What's she look like?" The man asked.
"Uh...well she's tall, wears armor and carries a large sword," Tattia explained.
"You'll probably have to be more specific than that," The man told her.
"She has red hair, like a crimson red and wears an eyepatch," Tattia went on.
That sparked some recognition in the man, "oh... Her," he said. "The one who parties with the Reaper."
"A Reaper?" Tattia asked. She had heard of them but had never seen them. Cloaked figures that work as clerics of the god of death. Most were afraid of them. She also didn't know Vaneras kept a party, Tattia had assumed she traveled alone.
"Always kills business when she comes in here with him," the barkeeper complained. "But they haven't been around here in more than a few months. If they've been in town at all since then, they haven't been here."
"I see," Tattia said, placing an extra coin on the counter, an extra tip for his information. "Thank you anyway."
Tattia couldn't help but feel silly about this whole thing. Of course he wouldn't know much, as he had said, people come and go here every day. But Tattia sighed as she picked up the mug the bartender placed in front of her, drinking from it and letting the ale take some of her woes away.
"Lookin' for somebody?" A woman said as she slid into the seat beside Tattia. Judging from her appearance, she was a witch. Her torso was only covered by a leather corset that tightly hugged her figure, it also accentuated her cleavage that Tattia tried not to stare at. She also wore leather pants with a belt full of pouches and a cape around her shoulders She also had elbow length leather gloves and a very witch-like hat adorned her head, covering most of her short, rust-colored hair. She also wore a pair of spectacles with large round lenses and carried a staff in one hand. It was made of wood and was about as tall as she was, ending in a ring with magic symbols carved into it.
"It sounds like you're very good at eavesdropping," Tattia said, trying not to pay her mind. She was smart enough to not get involved with any old riff raff that approached her. Most rarely had her best interests in mind. She instead turned her attention to the plate of meat the barkeeper had placed on the counter as they spoke.
"Maybe I am," the witch said. She had a noticeable accent, definitely not from around here. "Vaneras, tall, big woman. Armor, red hair, eyepatch. Hangs out with the spooky bloke with the scythe."