Getting The Message (Dr. Anna's Message)

After a lengthy walk to Hargeon Town in the company of Quill Scorchwood and Eero Saarinen, Leona entered the home of Doctor N. D. Anna. She was a female archaeologist of some fame who was a rising star in her profession. She had contacted Silver Wolf and asked for a team of mages to come to her home and take a missive to their Guild Master. Being a courier was not the most glamorous job, but it brought in the Jewels. Playing courier now could open other possibilities in the future.

Leona was confronted with a jumbled mess of papers, books, maps, and other items. Maps were posted with thumbtacks on old-fashioned corkboard and hastily drawn sketches of artifacts were often posted beside the maps. One interesting item was a sketch of a bronze box featuring an eagle with outstretched wings perched on each end and poles located on each side of the box. Underneath the sketch was a label that read "The Box Of The Pact." Leona had no idea what that was.

A pair of long wooden desks was shoved together and the left desk featured two stacks of books at least three feet tall piled on top of it. On the other desk was a glimmering topaz skull with two stacks of papers flanking it. Leona was confused. The "office" was a giant mess. How did the doctor find anything in such a cluttered area?

On a wooden table overflowing with papers sat a well-worn giant map of Earthland. It was liberally dotted with squiggles and notes written in small letters. She did not have time to read it because she heard a rustling noise coming from farther within the house. Leona backed away from the table and froze in place. Was Dr. Anna the victim of a burglary and did the mages arrive in time to meet the fleeing culprits? She had no idea.

"Dr. Anna? Is that you?" Leona called out, slowly kneeling down. She was about to draw her knife. Something told her to not draw a weapon just yet. The blonde slowly eased herself into a full standing position.

"Dr. Anna, is that you?" Leona repeated her call.

[Word Count: 365]

With nothing to do but read and do nothing, he had joined some guild mates on a job. He didn't remember what the job was about but he knew it involved someone name Dr.Anna, he guess it was a guarding job. He did remember Dr.Anna was researching something big so he guess that she will need to hire some mages to guard her while she works or something like that. He had taken a rout to a different part of the area they needed to go, like anything, Quill was lost but manage to get his way back to the group. When they reached the Doctor's house it looked like someone had ransack the place looking for something, that or the doctor was really messy and didn't clean her home yet or something like that."Well you guys can look for her in here, i am going to wait outside for something to happen. Don't like being in houses that just got ransacked because a bunch of thugs want something, my theory is that it was probably a normal robbing and they trashed the place because they only found paper." A few minutes later Dr.Anna showed up out of no where and seemed to be very formal for some reason, Quill then asked,"Okay Dr.Anna, my name is Quill, researcher/developer of weapons and armors for Silver Wolf. May I you if you have any research on any ancient weapons/Armors of any kind, to one researcher to another." Quill didn't care if she had any or not he just wanted to get this done so he can get back to working on some mods for his creations. Hopefully no one had touched his stuff while he was gone because everyone likes to mess with his stuff when he is not around for some reason.

(Word count: 301 words) (Total word count: 966 words)

Leona beheld Dr. Anna for the first time. She looked deceptively youthful for someone of her reputation. She had short brown hair and wore glasses. She was also on the short side. All in all Dr. Anna had the look of a scholar.

Leona bared her guild tattoo to show the doctor. Once the doctor nodded in satisfaction, Leona put her shirt sleeve back down. Leona's eyes wandered to a trio of oval-shaped dull yellow stones perched on a filing cabinet. They were all the same height and looked like they were carved from sandstone or some other stone.

"Those? Those are the Stones of Akli. I found them on an expedition I was part of back when I had just earned my degree. I'll have to tell you the story some day." The Doctor remarked. She then had a look of realization, undoubtedly spurred by Quill's statement. She then put up a single finger for "Wait!" and darted back to her office.

Leona heard the gentle rustling of papers being moved and dull thudding sounds like books hitting the floor. It was a wonder Dr. Anna could find anything in her office. It was clear that only she knew where anything was. After a minute or two of waiting the bespectacled scholar reemerged with a manila envelope with an old-fashioned red wax seal on it.

"This is why you three were sent here. Within this envelope is a message for your guild master, Leila Vergious. You are to take it to her WITHOUT reading it. The contents are for her and her alone." Dr. Anna sternly warned them while handing Leona the envelope. Leona was taken aback by the abrupt shift in the doctor's tone of voice. Something serious must be inside the envelope for her to talk like that.

Leona did not need any further explanation. She placed the envelope inside her backpack, closed it securely, and slung it onto her back again. They had gotten what they came for.

"Alright then, that's been settled. I'm busy with research about a legendary mine. It's called the Mine of Saul Oman. It's rumored to contain wealth like the world's never seen. Gold, silver, diamonds... if it's a priceless gem or precious metal, it's probably in there." Dr. Anna mused absentmindedly. She then snapped back to reality. The mages were still standing there.

"I'm a bit busy, but I can spare a moment to talk to budding young archaeologists. Are there any other questions you would like to ask me before you go?" Dr. Anna asked the trio.

[Word Count: 428] [Total Word Count: 1,394]

Quill was just looking at the message that was just handed to them, why was this important not to open and read, something was up. Then the doctor said something the ticked off Quill really badly,"Yes i would love to know why you are lying to us about dragons, for one thing the 'many many' years bit is a sham because it has only been 20 years since the last dragon spotted. Another thing, its people in earthland not the world, the people of earthland just hunted lesser dragons to extinction and just say,'they disappeared without a trace'. I am not from earthland and i know more information about dragons then you lady, so back off with these false facts. How about you get your head out of your ass and leave earthland to study other land dear doctor, god, all the people in this land this is the only land mass on the planet, THERES MORE THEN JUST EARTHLAND !!!" With that Quill in his rage just flips a coffee table and walk out side, the fact that people keep saying 'no one has seen a dragon in many many years' pisses off Quill because his homeland isn't in earthland and yet there are dragons every where and recorded by dragonologist who risk their lives to study these powerful creatures, the Drakma was the home of dragons both lesser and greater, even some royal dragons and the ruins of a dragon god temple. To just say that is very narcissistic of Earthlanders to say that about dragons, not everything revolves around this land, in fact more things happen outside of earthland then the people of earthland thinks. He found it very annoying and narcissistic for people to keep saying this like a fact. Quill then walks out to cool off his head from the massive amount of rage he had unleashed in that on burst, he didn't want to talk to that scientist anymore for still thinking their is only one land in this who world.

(word count: 338) (Total word count: 2105)

Leona was stunned by Quill's palpable irritation with the doctor's response to Eero's question. No, make that anger. She did not know that the subject of dragons was a sensitive one for Quill. There was a lot she did not know about her fellow Silver Wolf members. The blonde silently watched Quill leave the office before turning back to Dr. Anna.

"Sorry about that, Doctor. I don't have any questions, so we'll let you get back to your research." Leona said to their hostess.

"Yes. Yes, my research. The Mine of Saul Oman. Or was it spelled Saul Omun?" Dr. Anna said absentmindedly before spinning around on her heels and walking briskly back to her office. Leona looked at Eero and shrugged her shoulders. The pair had just opened the door to leave when they heard the doctor shout something to them.

"DON'T OPEN THAT ENVELOPE! IT'S FOR LEILA ONLY!" She shouted at them.

"Of course, Dr. Anna!" Leona shouted back. When the door was securely shut, Leona took the envelope out of her backpack. She made sure to reorganize the contents so that the seal would not be accidentally knocked off inside her pack. She then placed the sealed envelope back inside. Quill was waiting for them.

"OK guys, let's take it to the guild hall." Leona suggested to them.

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall-

Leona opened the doors and walked into the guild hall with Eero and Quill at her side. The return journey was long and uneventful. That was never a bad thing. She was worried that one of Dr. Anna's rivals might try to steal the message and discover whatever it was that she wanted to talk about with Leila. Fortunately they did not encounter any shady characters on the way back.

Leona fished out the envelope. It was in pretty good shape and the seal was still intact. The flap with glue was already shut and fastened with the small metal tabs across the hole. Why was a wax seal included? Leona could not think of an answer.

"C'mon guys, we're almost there. Let's give this to Leila." Leona encouraged them. The trio then made their way to Leila's office. This was Leona's first "official" job as a Silver Wolf member and it was about to end in success.

Leona knocked on the door and was granted entry. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She walked calmly inside and handed the message to Leila Vergious.

"We have a message from Dr. N. D. Anna. She said that it was meant for you and you alone. We were emphatically instructed NOT to open it, so we don't know what's inside." Leona explained to the guild master. Dr. Anna was particularly insistent about no one else viewing its contents. Leona hoped that she did not just hand Leila something dangerous like a trigger for a poison cloud spell or an explosive spell. She also hoped that the doctor was not trying to get Silver Wolf involved in any illicit ventures.

[Word Count: 505] [Total Word Count: 2,610]

As they returned to the guild hall, Quill went to his beetle forge to make something like a dagger or something, if someone came up to ask him something he would point at a sign that said,"Personal work in progress. Please leave blacksmith alone until finished." Many people just left him be but the new members always think it is okay to bug the hell out of him, so he threw a hammer at them.

(word count: 75) (total word count=3010)