Rayn strolled into the guild mess, the smile on his face shining brighter than the sun. He almost immediately spotted who he was looking for: a pale, lanky kid in mismatched leather armor twirling a dagger as he picked at what was probably raw potatoes. The mess wasn't known to provide its adventurers with good food, but the poor and hungry fools who came in ate it anyway.

He came up to the [Scout] and clapped him on the shoulder, ignoring the pained wince that came with it. "Vagis, my good man! You up for a new quest?"

Vagis reached up to scratch his head with the hand that was still holding the dagger, noticed his folly, and quickly dropped the weapon before running a hand through his hair. "I dunno, Rayn. The last 'quest' wasn't all that good."

"Okay, so it wasn't actually a Tower and all you found was the misplaced first floor of a minor noble's house! We still got paid and you got to keep the only loot, didn't you?"

The kid tugged at the key hanging on the thin leather cord around his neck. "It's not like it's worth anything, though. The jeweler took one look at and laughed in my face!"

"Listen, buddy," Rayn slid into the chair opposite Vagis, snagging one of the carrots off of his plate. He brushed off some leftover dirt before taking a bite and continued talking with a mouth full of carrot bits. "This one is different! Jan spotted some weird goblin hybrid in the forests and wants somebody to take care of 'em. You're the best tracker I know―"

"I'm the only tracker you know," Vagis corrected, averting his eyes from the older man's mouth. "And could you please chew with your mouth closed?"

Rayn swallowed the last bits of carrot. "Sorry," he mumbled, proceeding to use the young [Scout's] dagger to pick at his teeth. "Anyway, I was figuring you could use your skills to find the freaks and then we'd bring in the bounty. We'd spit it fifty-fifty!"

"I...Look, I'm not really keen on doing any more jobs right now, Rayn..."

The [Warrior] sighed and dropped the dagger, which was immediately snatched back up by its owner. He stood and turned to leave calling back one last goodbye. "Alright then. I guess I'll just find some other [Scout] to split 100 silvers with..."

Vagis looked up from wiping the blade down with a napkin. "Jan would never pay that much!"

"The guild's willing to pay more to get people interested. You know how the monster enthusiasts are."

Vagis nodded. "Always obsessed with cataloging every monster..."

"Yeah," Rayn murmured. "Well, if you're not interested, I'll just be going―"

"Wait! Wait, um, I'll do it."

Rayn turned back to the [Scout] and smiled, holding out his hand. "Let's go find those goblins, then!"

Lavar marched through the guildhall, the scowl on her beautiful Elvin face discouraging any possible suitors. She wasn't in the mood for flirting right now. She'd seen that idiot [Warrior] earlier looking at a quest before he'd scampered off, smiling like the idiot he was. High Ears above, she wanted to smack that handsome grin off his face, preferably while she ran her-.

She cut that train of thought off. She could tame him later; right now, she needed to find those goblins before he did and for that, she needed someone with tracking abilities.

Unfortunately, she couldn't find Vagis, the only [Scout] she was familiar with, anywhere in the hall. She was considering grabbing some random bum hanging around here when a shadow crossed over her.

A duel this early in the morning? Somebody wasn't too happy with their treatment...

Smirking, Lavar spun around, her sword halfway out of its sheath. But it was only Belo. He stared at her, perfectly calm despite the fact that she was seconds away from gutting him.

She huffed and pushed her sword back into its sheath. "You have got to stop doing that, Belo! I was this close to slicing you in half!"

He patted his thick abdomen with a slight smile.

"Just because you think you're too big for Fluffy to go all the way through doesn't mean you are," she muttered.

His smile only widened as he held up a copy of a familiar-looking quest. Lavar grunted as she waved the scroll away.

"Yeah, yeah, I already know about it. I was looking for Vagis, but it seemed like bonehead already got to him..."

Belo frowned and brought one humongous hand to his square chin.

She slumped down onto a nearby bench and ran her fingers through her hair. The normally immaculate blond locks shifted unnaturally at the rough disturbance. "I don't know what I'm gonna do! I don't have any tracking skills and neither do you―wait, do you?"

The giant shook his head. Lavar groaned.

"I don't like the idea of going into the forest blind...But the reward is too big to pass up. 100 silver coins and the chance to snub that fool of a victory? No way would I pass that up..."

Belo tapped his chest with his fist and gave her a questioning look.

"He's cute," Lavar admitted. "But annoying. He needs to be put into place before I can whip him into proper shape." She said that last part with a knowing smirk.

Belo shook his head and waved the paper in front of her face, his free hand holding up four fingers.

She scoffed. "I'm not joining his party. The whole point of this is to win!"

A frown set onto the giant's face as he crossed his arms. Lavar squirmed under his disapproving glare. 

She huffed and stood up. "Ugh! Let's just find some other [Scout] we can take!"

Kevin waltzed through the tower, three of the most gorgeous goblin women he'd ever seen on his arm, fussing over him.

"Jeffrey!" he called, spotting the orb's chauffeur toddling around near the entrance. "I gotta hand it to ya, buddy, you did a wonderful job. You made me a happy man!"

<I'm so glad I managed to meet your expectations,> the orb said dryly. <Anyway, one of my Scouter Gobs reported that it was seen by an older woman somewhere in the forest surrounding the Tower.>

"So?"

<So,> he continued, pulsing a bright yellow, <we're about to get our first visitors!>

Kevin frowned as he shifted away from Kelly who was nipping at his neck a little too aggressively. "Wasn't there that one guy who came in before we made this bakery?"

<This is different!> Jeffrey insisted. <We weren't prepared then. But now...now I think we'll be ready for anything.>

Saira dropped her pack onto the ground and rummaged through it. She pulled out her medkit, slipping a few heal gel tubes into her belt and shoving rolls of bandages into her vest pockets. She kept her ever-helpful antivenom vials in her pockets after double-checking the durability runes on the glass. The antiseptic went into the arm-band sleeve pockets on her right arm and the leeches on the left.

Her trusty cutting knife―a repurposed butcher knife she'd borrowed from the local deli―slid into its sheath and a pack of her feel good herbs went into her left boot. Last but not least, her needles went into the bun she'd precariously made a few minutes earlier.

Satisfied, she shouldered her pack and entered the seventh Tower