Crypt Raider

Job Details:

There were few things that displeased Suzhen more than hot weather, and Desierto was probably one of the worst places on Earthland to be, if one despised the heat. She had been drinking a lot of water, and losing much of it via sweat; as a matter of fact, the Dongxian could almost swear that she was exuding water from every single pore of her body. "If I were any more ignorant, I'd have thought I was melting," the Schor thought sourly, adjusting herself for the umpteenth time to see if in vain she could position herself in the way of some welcome draft of refreshingly cool air. Sadly, that wasn't to be. The air seemed oppressively heavy and sweltering, and even though there was a fan overhead, rotating with an awkward squawk at every rotation it completed, the ventilating device seemed to do nothing except blow an impossibly heavy air down onto the heads of those who sat beneath it. Most of the people here seemed not to care; for all intents and purposes, they were used to the weather. Suzhen wasn't. And adding to the fact that she had grown up in much cooler climes was the issue of her unforgivingly high metabolism. The Dongxian groaned and fanned herself with her left hand, a futile gesture, as she tried to ignore the man seated opposite her.

She was sitting in a slightly run-down restaurant, in an almost nondescript Desiertian town, seemingly perched precariously on the knife edge of nowhere, threatening to tip over the edge and fall into oblivion and out of memory, which was quite a veritable threat, thanks to the vicious desert sands, borne on the even more callous winds, which would have swallowed the town into the unrelenting maw of the desert, once human activity ceased to prevent the sands from claiming the place. As long as there were humans living in it, the town would persist, defying the desert, like the stubborn folk that lived in it. But in time, the desert would win. It always did. The man on the other side of the round table cleared his throat noisily, disrupting Suzhen's thoughts of the carnivorous desert, and bringing her green eyes to focus on the man's brown, which were shielded by tinted glasses, most likely to avoid the harsh glare of the sun. "How much longer do I have to wait, Miss Bai?" he asked petulantly, scratching his left temple, which sported a well-receded hairline. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, and he was dressed like some fellow intent on taking a hike through the desert. Suzhen knew, however, that the man would not be the one hiking through the scorching sands.

"Patience, Mr. Zamir," Suzhen said coolly, rolling her eyes slightly. "If you check your timepiece, you'll see that it's not yet time for the meeting. So you may grumble or complain only when the hour strikes, not until then." It wasn't her fault that this fellow had insisted on meeting her long before the time of the meeting, and following her to the venue, as though he was afraid that she would probably run off into the desert and lose herself if he took his eyes off her. It wasn't like she really knew this Zamir fellow. All she knew about him was that he was older than she was, and that he was some sort of artifact curator. Suzhen was sure that she could scry more information from the man just by studying him, but it was difficult to pass the time in such a way, with all the heat and stuffy air about.

Zamir had made a job offer to anyone willing to take it, and Suzhen had made herself available. Apparently, the old man had also employed someone else to work alongside the Dongxian; whoever this fellow was, Suzhen did not know. Still, she hoped said fellow would be more congenial than the grumpy Zamir. It was this work mate that both Suzhen and Zamir currently waited for, although Suzhen was quick to keep reminding Zamir that this person wasn't late; they had all agreed to meet at this restaurant by four on the dot, and it was still some minutes to the hour. Still, deep down, Suzhen hoped this partner would come soon; she was beginning to feel that perhaps moving about outside was better than steaming inside the oven that people called a restaurant.


WC: 742

The heat was probably oppressive to a normal person, but to Takumi it was utterly unbearable. Ice mages just weren’t meant for the desert. He was used to the cold, very well, but the heat here was horrid. The thing that made him the most annoyed, though, was the fact that he couldn’t even use his magic to cool himself down. It would be a simple matter, but he couldn’t waste any magic before this job even began, could he? No, he’d just have to endure the heat. Even with a job partner, it was better to have all of his magic power available just in case.

The town he was in was quite simple as far as towns went. Nothing particularly fancy stood out among the greys and browns of the buildings around him, no real identifying features to the town in his stranger’s eyes. Perhaps to the residents of this place things were more distinct, but to him nothing seemed particularly unusual. It was with this thought in his head that he searched for the restaurant they were to meet at. His movements were perhaps a little sluggish in the intense heat surrounding him, but in the end it wouldn’t matter. So long as he was on time, that was.

With only minutes to spare before the agreed time, he found the restaurant. It was a good thing, too, the sun was beating down upon his head in an utterly relentless manner. Unless the restaurant was better than he thought, it likely wouldn’t have a good cooling system, but the shade it provided would be enough for him. Anything to get out of this horrible, sweltering sun for the moment. That was enough motivation for him to stride into the restaurant, shorter legs carrying him as fast as he dared moving in this heat. If he wasn’t careful he could very well pass out, and that wouldn’t be pleasant for anybody involved. Least of all the man who had hired him, or the second mage that was to be helping on this endeavour.

Despite being just as hot as outside, Takumi sighed with obvious relief as soon as he entered the building. He was still sweating like a pig, but the sun was no longer making him feel the urge to encase himself in a solid block of ice. He savoured that fact for a moment, running one hand through his slightly sweaty blond hair. He’d opted for the shorter hairstyle today, braid nowhere in sight. The heavy thing certainly wouldn’t have helped in this heat, and Takumi wasn’t particularly anxious to get heatstroke. The fact that he likely would get it before the end of this job remained unsaid. After all, he had work to do. His kids wouldn’t forgive him if he came home with his tail between his legs just because it was hot in the desert.

Eventually, he allowed himself to stand and brush some stray traces of sand and dust from his clothes. Turquoise eyes scanned the room, eventually settling on the face of the man who’d hired him, and an unfamiliar woman. Ah, she must be the second mage then. Though he did pause to stare for a moment longer, he ended up walking to join the two at their table. “Mr. Zamir, I presume? And the lady must be the second mage on this job.”

His voice was gentle, but not lacking in strength, and it was clear enough that the pair should easily hear it. He’d learned a long time ago that he didn’t need to be forceful to stand out, and he was applying that knowledge today. Instead, he simply slid into the empty seat, bright eyes seeming to pierce in the natural intensity of their stare.

WC: 628

The old and impatient Zamir had just been about to raise his voice in protest once more, when the leather flap that served as the door to the restaurant swung aside to reveal a newcomer, obviously hurrying to avoid the oppressive desert heat prevalent outside. It was almost certain that this fellow wasn't Desiertian, so there was a very strong possibility that he was the other member of the party, as this out-of-the-way town would hardly have any visitors from other regions, unless said visitors had very particular reasons for being there at the literal edge of civilization, like this crypt raiding mission. The fact that the man had spent a little longer than was normal staring at the two figures seated at the table gave more strength to the suggestion that he was the one for whom they waited. The young Dongxian turned to Zamir with a triumphant expression.

"See, Mr. Zamir?" the Dongxian said in a pleased tone, "I told you he would not be late." The old man scoffed grumpily but made no verbally specific answer. The man drew close and addressed them, certifying his identity as the second mage on the crypt raiding job, before taking a seat on the only empty chair at their table, and waiting with an expectant gleam in his piercing eyes. Suzhen raised an eyebrow, an expression of simple curiosity. He had, by his words, indicated that he was supposed to be here, but the Dongxian had normally assumed that introductions were in proper form when meeting someone with whom one was not acquainted for the first time. But she knew her expectation was textbook Dongxian. The average Dongxian was trained to be polite, even to condescending levels, and rude Dongxians were almost always rude because they wanted to go against cultural expectations, and not because they hadn't been told how to behave. The raised eyebrow expression transformed into a good natured smile.

"Is Fiore a kingdom full of midgets?" the elderly man asked, crossing his arms and looking stonily at the two mages. Suzhen resisted the urge to shake her head and sigh. She knew what was going on. Zamir was probably used to having his employees scared and flustered around him, something that usually happened when all your life you had been raised in, and experienced, privilege. Suzhen knew that her coolness had been irritating the old man, as he was more comfortable with people he considered to be inferior to him being jittery around him. Mentally, he had probably resigned himself to Suzhen's calm responses, expecting that the blond newcomer, who was just about as tall as Suzhen (the Dongxian being considered short, even for a woman), would be timid. But the blue-eyed fellow's voice seemed to carry the presence of some quiet strength, and it had unnerved Zamir. Suzhen had decided long ago, in any case, that she would not rise to Zamir's bait.

"Be a dear, Mr. Zamir," the Dongxian maiden intoned languidly, as she leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table, while intertwining the fingers on both hands together. "I'm sure there's a lot to people than mere physical characteristics. But, of course, I'm certain someone of your distinguished age and cultural status is well aware of this." The old man's expression darkened. "Why do I find your tone insulting, young woman?" There was an innocent wide eyed stare and a shrug in response. "You do know that both of you are on my payroll, so you should behave--"

"Fortunately for us all," Suzhen said with a little more intensity, interrupting Zamir, "neither of us is. You contracted work to us, and we decided, of our own volition, to take it. We will get you your artifact, and you will pay us, as the contractual laws governing matters such as this apply. Else, after retrieving the artifact, I shall sell it on the free market, and share the proceeds with my ally here. I'm sure you wouldn't want that. So--," at this point, her tone and expression became slightly more flippantly jocular, "it's past four, and you've been wasting time criticizing midgets. Can we get to the details of this treasure hunt, if you please?" The patronizing tone had returned, but Zamir was wise to ignore it this time. He pulled out an old map with a scowl on his face.

"This map shows the general location of this area." He stabbed with his index finger at an area marked in green. "This is where we are. The place of interest should be about ten miles due east..." Suzhen interrupted with a surprised exclamation. "Ten what?!" Zamir glared at her, and she offered a lighthearted apologetic smile. "Sorry."

The irascible old man continued, tracing his finger from the green icon on the map to a more ominous symbol to the left of the icon, a large symbol of a red skull and crossbones. "Your job is to find a range of rocky cliffs in the desert, about ten miles from here. There's a mausoleum located among the cliffs. In that mausoleum complex, there should be an interment crypt; I'm sure its design will set it apart from the other structures there, because of its different architectural style; I believe it was built to honor some foreign envoy who died in the land. What I want is in the central burial chamber of the crypt: the Mask of the Regent. If you have questions, feel free to ask, but this is the item that I want." Zamir pulled out another paper, this one a sketch of the mask. It was an elaborate burial mask, if the sketch was done right, with ornate details and Desiertian script all over it. It would be difficult to miss. Suzhen reached for the map, but with a speed which belied his age and shocked the Scholar, the old man snatched the map. "That's mine! You can't have it."

"Not even for directional assistance?" There was a stony silence.


WC: 1000
Personal WC: 1742
Total WC: 2370