A Desert Rose Grows [Intro]

Man, these Fioran mages really knew how to do the whole 'extravagance' thing, huh? Normally he'd feel bad thinking something so damningly negative about people he was willing to consider companions. But coming from being a wandering vagrant after leaving a home notorious for poor conditions to..well, this? A walk through a ravine that was flanked on either side with the kind of immensely royal, 'classical' architecture he'd only ever seen on his occasional visits to the capitol cities of each Sultan when turning in one of the more out there bounties was definitely something he'd consider to be a fair bit further down the extravagant side than he was usually used to. It was only his first day as a proper member of this whole guild business. Maybe he'd get more used to it simply by exposure.

Of course, the only thing that even allowed him to get into this ravine in the first place was that mark on his chest. Peeking out from the edge of the coat that draped across his shirtless form were the petals of a white rose that was only outlined in pink. A Desert Rose, in it's unaltered form. A fitting 'brand' for him. Even in what was to be considered a 'safe' area, Faris's eyes kept darting around from behind his sunglasses, his fingers working deftly to twirl his sheathed sword at his side as he moved.

He wasn't quite 'on guard'. In fact, it was the opposite. He didn't even realize he'd pulled the sword and it's equally plain wooden scabbard off of his side. In fact, most of his attention was on the signs in each building. He was looking for something specific. It didn't matter how fancy, how prim and proper a place tried to be. There was always one place in any town where someone from more humble upbringings could be comfortable. And as he finally reached the bottom of the staircase he'd picked as his way down into the ravine proper, he found it. He stopped twirling his sheathed sword, and caught it in the palm of his gloved hand as it rolled over his fingers one last time.

Slipping it into a special loop on his coat, he made his way across one of the many natural stone bridges--which honestly could have done with some handrails, now that he was thinking about it--and pushed the door open. It didn't matter how nice you tried to make the outside. A keen eye would always be able to pick out a bar from any other building. It was the little things. That slight bit of a rougher look to the outside, the lack of windows. There were a million ways to pick out a bar from the rest of the buildings around it. As he found himself surrounded by the familiar scent of stale smoke and liquor, Faris felt a small smirk spread across his lips. The fact that this place even existed in a place so dead set on being decadent and fancy meant a lot to someone like him.

Technically, he was supposed to have gone to the 'official' guild hall for some kind of introduction.  The way it had been laid out for him, someone was going to basically walk him through the ravine and do a lot of talking. But man, had it been a long walk to even get here. The sun had already gone down. Surely whoever had been told to run him around would have had other things to do by this point, right? Yeah. No way they'd just be sitting around the 'proper' guild hall still. With that in mind, Faris plopped down in front of the bar. It was tended by younger individual. A pleasant surprise for him, as he was all too used to bartenders being the old grizzled type who just grunted at you. Unfortunately, the young man wouldn't get much of a chance to ask him that obligatory question, as he would be given his answer right away.

"Evening, my good man! I'll have a Blood and Sand, double served if you don't mind." He said, reaching up to not only tip the man his hat, but remove it from his head, hanging that brick styled 'cowboy' hat off of the chair next to him as he placed a relatively easy order. Of course, he wasn't here just to drink. It didn't really matter if you were much of a drinker or not, a bar invariably held other types of entertainment. From the sounds of it, this particular bar was a karaoke bar, but he could also hear the clattering of pool off in the distance. Relatively standard, he supposed. But he was interested to see what types of people this guild held, now that it was starting to become late enough that most members wouldn't be rushing around to do or find some kind of work. Their goal was a lofty one, for sure. It was why he'd been willing to get their insignia 'branded' to his chest.

He supposed it was time to see what other kinds of people that goal had attracted.

Word Count: 853
Total Word Count: 853
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