City of Arcus Tuar...Dawn…
“HHHAAAAAGGGGAAAAAANNNN!!!”
The young city guard found herself jolted away by the bellowing of her district captain, his gruff, furious voice being the last thing she wanted to hear in the morning, but unfortunately today it was the first thing she heard in the morning. Immediately she jumped to her feet, quickly wiping a bit of drool from the side of her mouth, but also accidentally letting her spear fall to the ground with a clatter.
“Sir!” she yelped, giving him a lopsided salute.
It was then that she realized half the guard force was there with the captain, all staring at her with judgemental expressions.
“Uh… hey guys?”
“Tell me, Miss Hagan, did you enjoy your beauty rest?” the captain inquired, his voice dripping in sarcasm.
“Umm… well, not really. I literally
just dozed off, so I can’t say I really got any good rest from it.” the young woman nervously replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
“Oh really? Then I suppose that all happened within the last five minutes?” the captain pointed at something behind her.
She turned around, finding that the door she’d been assigned to guard during the night was wide-open. The storeroom beyond the door, which had been filled with food, supplies and valuables, was completely empty, with only a couple empty barrels and some dusty shelves left to indicate that anything had ever been there in the first place.
“Oh…”
“It’s bad enough that you can’t stay awake on the job, it's even worse that you let the Marquis' entire shipment get stolen, but on top of all that... Lying to
me? You young whippersnappers ain’t got a shred of dignity, much less work ethic, much less discipline!” the captain ranted.
“Um, I’m sorry, sir?”
“Sorry!? Nooooo, sorry only cuts it in namby-pamby land, maggot! I know what you’ve been up to, Miss Hagan! Out adventuring during your off-duty time, getting all tuckered out so that when you come on duty, then falling asleep while on the job!”
“Oh, so you understand th-- GACK!”
The captain promptly grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up to his face, enough that she winced at his acrid breath that smelled of corn pipe smoke.
“Understand? Suuuure… You know, back in my day, we had a little tradition in Guard Force boot camp for adventurers like you!” the captain grinned, dropping her to the ground.
He turned around and snatched a bow from one of the other guards, then an arrow from their quiver, which he promptly notched and began to pull back.
“We called it… AN ARROW IN THE KNEE!”
“NO! NOT THE KNEES!” the woman begged, quickly trying to hide them so the captain couldn’t shoot them.
“Mehehehehe. It’s okay, missy, you don’t need to take the arrow in the knee.” the captain relented after a moment, putting down the bow and arrow and crouching down next to her, “But, you also don’t need that badge anymore.”
He grabbed and tore the guard badge from her leather guard tabard, then stood up and motioned two of the other guardsmen who were standing nearby.
“Take her back to the station and recover anything she possesses that is property of the Guard Force, then kick her back onto the street. As for me, I’ve got a little message to send over to the merchant guild.” the captain stated, then looked back at the woman on the ground, “Good luck finding a real job again anytime soon,
adventurer.”
***
The inn, third level…Evelyn Kyrielight was greeted that morning with a knock at her door, and a familiar face standing just outside her room.