Somewhere Someplace

The sun was rising upon a new day; it was very early in the morning, denizens only just awakening to do their many doings.

The foreigner, however, had awoken well before the rest of this settlement, having gotten out of bed during the twilight of morning; though, ‘awoken’ was perhaps…a disingenuous descriptor, as such implied that the foreigner had actually…slept properly, which she absolutely had not.

So strange, it was, for the first time since she had become…more properly…accustomed to this ‘sleeping routine’…she struggled to fall asleep the night prior.

Not because of a relapse to her prior habituated state of existence, no…she had felt tired and there had been a desire to sleep, yet…her mind…had refused to do so; preoccupied…her mind had been so very preoccupied. So many cogitations had been…running along in that head of hers throughout the night, denying her the ability to fall asleep completely.

Though, despite that, she still felt rather…functional; for whatever reason, being unable to sleep felt…better than…sleeping incompletely. By the time all of the other denizens had begun to do their many doings, she was already well prepared for the day ahead.

Dressed, tidied up, all readied for immediate departing without any delay, which she did so promptly as soon as she had heard the first denizens departing from their own neighboring housing units, and made way for the Guild hall…which…hopefully was open at this early hour—or at least…hopefully by the time she actually got there…for, again, it was rather the walk.

-||-

“Oh hey! Hello you! Wow…you sure are here…early” so greeted and remarked the same receptionist from the day before…observing the foreigner stumble on in so very early in the day, before any other adventurer had even arrived…or even…other receptionists for that matter.

“…hello! I greet you all” so greeted the foreigner with a charm as she walked in, waving somewhat, the entry door shutting from behind.

The foreigner looked around…it was rather dark, for not all of the lamps had been lit, and it was also rather empty…almost eerily so. The only receptionists present were the two main counter receptionists and that one social hub receptionist—napping away upon her very station, seemingly. The rest were either absent or were in other areas within this large Guild hall facility.

“…did I perhaps…arrive too early?” the foreigner inquired…donning somewhat embarrassed affect.

Although the receptionist had said the day prior that…her Guild badge would likely be ready by today…that did not necessarily mean it would be ready literally by the dawn of this new today. Though, if such turned out to be the case…she was more than willing to simply wait; after all, such was, in effect, what she had been doing the many…many hours prior.

The receptionist’s head shook in a “No no” thus she began to say, “I mean…well…yes, but…you are with Fortune’s luck! We got everything sorted for you by last night!” she replied with a cheer; “It…helps—and to say again—that you were the only new Copper…we had to worry about…” she remarked with somewhat…more dampened affect.

The receptionist then promptly turned to her peer standing near, “…well, I have to handle this so…you might have to—” she began to say. Yet, her peer simply stared and peered; “Yeah yeah, I’ve been at this job a lot longer than you, I can manage on my own—besides, I can always just conscript a few lower gals upstairs to…help…hehe” her peer interjected, giggling mischievously somewhat.

The foreigner, by this point, was now before the counter…staring and waiting patiently as the two seemingly whispered away.

“Well then, I’m off to the quest department, you two get along now” the receptionist’s peer stated with somewhat a louder voice, waving a goodbye as she wandered off through one of the many doors flanking behind the main counter, off to do whatever early morning tasks needing to be done.

The receptionist, waving a faint goodbye to her departing peer, returned her attention to the waiting foreigner, yawning as she did so…which caused the…foreigner to…yawn in kind…ugh. The receptionist’s eyes were somewhat bagged, her mind still ‘booting-up’…so to speak.

“Sorry about…that, although we are technically open at this hour…uhm…most adventurers do not truly start appearing until…later in the morning, when the sun is midway before noon…so we use the extra time to…actually prepare” she apologized and remarked.

“I see, I will hold that new whisper in mind…” the foreigner replied cordially, before leaning in somewhat closer with a slight tilt to her head; “…so…you said earlier that the…hehm…‘badge’ of me is…ready…now, no?”

The receptionist smiled; “Yes yes, and not just that…but your Guild card also…I processed that one myself actually…but yes, give me a moment to fetch them” she replied.

Immediately, the receptionist took out a small shiny key of sorts and unlocked a special designated cabinet, opening it. She took out a…thing…wrapped within a soft and tender protective cloth of sorts, placing it on the counter as she, in very quick succession, reclosed and relocked that same special cabinet.

“And here is your very own freshly engraved Copper-rank Guild badge” she said with rather the apparent cheer, before unlocking with a different key a different drawer, out from which she took a rather aesthetically Guild-appropriate ‘card’ of sorts. “And here is your very own Guild card! Congratulations you are now officially a registered and active Copper-rank adventurer of this Guild branch!” she said with rather the cheer, placing the card onto the counter and sliding it to the foreigner.

The paper material from which it was made was rather thick, stiff, and hard, the card itself being…rather big for the standards of usually defined a ‘card’.

“I give…thanks” the foreigner replied graciously, gently placing her held handbag onto the ground as she accepted both in hand.

She evaluated the card first…which seemed to have…all the essential details and specifics surrounding her identity as a registered adventurer, in addition to the specific Guild hall and branch with which she was associated. Indeed, for such a small document of a card…it was rather information dense.

She placed the card back onto the counter before she unfolded the cloth, revealing her newly acquired Copper-rank adventurer badge; her registered Guild name had been engraved neatly and thoroughly onto it with great care and precision, almost as if a laser had done it.

The foreigner evaluated this Guild badge of hers as she took it in hand, feeling it with her fingers. It was rather the shiny, elaborate, and very much aesthetically Guild-looking thing, yet…compared to the other badges she had seen…it was very much dull, stale, and rather bland. Truly, it was a badge most befitting of the lowest of all Guild ranks.

The metallic compound which composed the base of the badge was colored in a copper-like fashion, but it was…not at all copper. All Guild badges were uniform and standardized in this regard…all being composed of largely the same Guild-exclusive metallic material, varying only in color, shininess, and some degrees of design elaborateness, dependent on the rank which the badge designated.

“Now then…” the receptionist began to say as the foreigner inspected her badge, whose mask-obscured eyes immediately shifted their attention back to her; “you need to keep both that badge and card on you at all times when acting as an adventurer; this is both Guild policy and…the laws and ordinances of most the realms that still…recognize us and allow us to operate” thus she began to explain.

“The Guild card must be kept in a dedicated, secure, and easy-to-access satchel or related mode of carrying, and although it is not…mandatory, it is highly encouraged that you wear that badge on your figure directly…either by pinning it to your attire or armor if you can or…wearing it around your neck by attaching a necklace string—the badge was designed with both methods in mind” she explained; “if you are unable to do so, then…you must keep that badge in the same place alongside your Guild card—but…you should only do that if you absolutely cannot wear that badge…you know because of full-armor constraints and other whatnots; since again, it is highly recommended that you keep that badge visible to others” she explained further, reiterating her point.

“I see…goodly noted, I will…wear the badge then…” the foreigner replied, promptly pinning the badge onto her soft tavern attire, it being rather firmly and thoroughly pinned to her chest area…approximately near and around where her heart was located, since…such was the spot which came most naturally to her for such an apparently important identifier.

Likewise, she then took and placed her Guild card into her small personal waist-satchel, the card fitting properly without any denting to its corners…though perhaps only barely; she may have to…invest in a new, more adequate, carry satchel.

“Ahem well anyway…that is that! With all that done…you are now free to go on and select your first quest from the board and well before anyone else arrives to hog the board or scoff at a new Copper like you! Lucky you!” the receptionist said and remarked in a cheer; “and…hopefully you remembered all of the details I had explained yesterday…because I would rather not explain them again…but I guess to also say: I recommend that you stay within your rank-range since you are…fresh and new and…well…no amount of explaining from me or anyone can prepare you for navigating and properly…making your head understand how this stuff works…so it is best to take small steps at a time…” she explained and suggested, her voice rather sincere and earnest.

The foreigner nodded in acknowledgment; “Goodly noted” she replied, bowing graciously before she picked up her handbag and began to promptly make way for that…rather large wall of a quest-board to the right.

“Oh, and also…since you have arrived so…early…uhm…we have not refilled the board with any of the new quests which were received yesterday…not as though that…would make much of a difference these days, but still…hold that in mind…I guess to say” the receptionist added from behind.

The foreigner paused and turned; “Goodly noted” she replied again…rather hastily, but cordially and with a smile, before she recontinued to gravitate towards that board of ‘quests’—that board of mission-like things and objectives to do.

Truly…she was so very…curious indeed. That strange tingly feeling persisted within and only grew stronger the closer she approached; that strange feeling hoping deep down within her mind’s warded-off shadow…that she may perhaps find something…that truly…satiated that starving itch.

Truly, existence was so much easier when she was simply handed mandates and ordinances to follow and execute, her responsibilities only being to those things attached and connected to her and her alone.