The Captain nods once, but doesn't look overly pleased. That's what happens when you get talked into paying more for something than you want to - even something virtuous. But lives are on the line, and that's enough to put steel back into his eyes.
"Right. Good. Great. Well, the medical team is mustering, and they'll be moving out in a quarter hour. Be ready by the gate. We can supply travel gear and resupply at North Point, but if you have any special needs, now's the time to sort them out. I'm sending a scout with you - a Mister Black. He's familiar with the terrain, and so he'll be a help ferreting the cadets out from hidey holes they might be shivering in. Light preserve you. And you two - ." He flags back Mor'Lag and Jakk'ari as the group peels away from the table, for a discreet additional exchange...
Spoiler: The discreet, additional exchange for Mor'Lag and Jakk'ari.
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The Captain lowers his voice significantly, and makes an admirable effort at neutralizing his discomfort for the outsiders. "I know you're not Horde. And you wouldn't be here if there was somewhere better for you to be right now.
But if an elf or a human dies in the swamp, and the ogre and troll come back safe, then less reasonable folks than me will be keen to ask questions. I'm sure you've noticed that Theramore is host to... mixed opinions on exactly how peaceful or neutral things should be here. So to cut to the chase, there's an extra five silver coming each of your palms if you make sure the other two get back alive and in good condition. Even with the primary objective being the rescue of the cadets, I know Lady Proudmoore could do with more printable stories of cooperative heroism. It's good for you, and it's good for me. That's all." And with that, he sharply stands up from his chair, and marches off with a true captain's rigidity to make preparations.
...After which, you are left to exchange words with each other as you wish, and expected to be at the gate in fifteen minutes.
------- FOURTEEN MINUTES HENCE -------
Four carts, each drawn by a pair of brawny draft horses, are waiting at the gates. They're open topped of course, each suitable for hauling a half dozen human sized passengers - or one ogre; and each cart is driven by a single human guard from Theramore. Their light chain armor with flared shoulder plates, along with white tabards featuring the golden anchor symbol of Theramore, suggest they are competent enough in matters of defense. The foremost two carts are packed with bundled supplies, and a pair of passengers in each. Gustaf VanHowzen is Theramore's chief trauma surgeon, and he compulsively rubs his bald scalp and fidgets with his chin beard as he mulls over the journey to come. With him are medics Tamberlyn and Helaina, both young women who look pretty enough to endure the cavalcade of flirtations that come from the mangled young warriors they are trying to save, but made of stern enough stuff to be neither captured nor outraged by it. Allen Bright, a priest of the Light and the medics' trainer and immediate superior, is possessed of just the right kind of gallows humor and temperament that he is able to keep up the spirits of men dying of their wounds and the sanity of those tasked to save them. Presently, he goes to some lengths trying to tease and amuse the cart drivers out of their set expressions of determination. He's doing a pretty good job.
He swings his attention down from the cart in which he sits to the rifleman standing beside it. "What do you think, Zachary? Would you rather work a job you love for next to no pay, or get paid ten gold a day to sit silently in an empty room eight hours a day for the rest of your life? No half-way answers."
Spoiler: OOC:
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Zachary Black, that's you already in the scene awaiting the other characters to arrive.
You know they're coming by a vague description with no attached names (Evencane explicitly didn't want to know their names), and you know your job is to accompany them through the swamp to find the missing four cadets.
Everyone else, feel free to rock up and meet the fifth and final party member, and we'll get this show on the road.
Re: World of Warcraft - Interbellum (IC Thread)
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