The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Ferodias POV / Ten Years Earlier

It wasn't long until some arrangements were made for the group as a whole. They were set up in the village's community hall, essentially the building where the villagers held meetings and discussed important topics. Thus, nobody was actually in there right now, allowing the party to move in for the night without inconveniencing anyone. Spare bedrolls, blankets, and pillows were produced by various households around the village, which served to make tonight's sleeping arrangements much more comfortable than what the group was generally used to.

Four baths were drawn, the ladies and Danica being allowed to go on first while the guys set about making the community hall liveable for the night. Well, while Brasyl and Monty set things up. Ferodias and Regan went with the village head to talk business, and they found themselves in a rather modest but warm home in the center of the village. Sitting at a table across from the village head, the village head's wife had taken a moment from meal prep to serve a pot of tea, setting it up in the center of the table along with finely made clay cups. Regan moved to pour the tea, diligently serving the village head first since they were currently in a position of power between the trio.

The village head looked pleasantly surprised by the little act of respect, and after Regan served Ferodias and then himself, the village head took up the cup before breathing in the scent of the tea and then taking a sip. After another moment, he set the cup down and looked between the two adventurers curiously. "I hope you don't mind, but can you clarify what your ranks are?" The village head asked, seemingly doing his best to be direct without offending the young adventurers before him.

Ferodias and Regan share a glance before Ferodias spoke up, reaching for the tag under his shirt and holding it out, Regan doing the same. "Regan and I are emeralds, Danica and Monty are both sapphires, and Brasyl is a steel, but he should be up for promotion after we turn in the bug hunt quest." He explained as he went to tuck his tag back into his shirt. "Why do you ask?" Ferodias pried as he took up the cup of tea, holding it but not drinking from it yet.

The village head nodded intently as he stroked his chin, glancing between the two adventurers before speaking up again. "I'll be blunt then." He stated as he offered a bit of a smile. "We had a poor harvest last year, and with the infestation of bark bugs, we were expecting the worst this year. But thanks to your quick action, we managed to avoid any loss of our fall crops and protect our stores from the spring harvest. However, the neighboring village and our community had to put our coin together to even be able to afford your party, and we just barely met the minimum for the commission." He explained, swirling the cup of tea around before taking another sip and continuing to speak. "We are unable to afford any kind of escorts this year, and our harvest is actually rather bountiful compared to our last one, so there is more of a risk." He said as he looked between the two adventurers once more. "Since you were the first to offer, I hope you forgive our greed for putting this burden on you. But would you be willing to escort both our people and the people from the neighboring village to the city? We won't make you work for free, but we won't be able to pay the usual commission for someone of your rank." He admitted as he waited for the two to respond.

Regan and Ferodias shared a look, taking a moment to silently communicate with their expressions before Regan decided to speak up as he leaned forward on his elbows. "If, and I do mean if, we do agree to escort both of your groups, how quickly will you be able to mobilize and head out?" He asked before taking up the cup and sipping at the tea.

The village head seemed to perk up, his ear flicking with delight. "We can send a messenger bird to the neighboring village, and I'm sure we can be ready to leave before lunch tomorrow." He said as he watched the duo intently.

Regan and Ferodias shared a look again as Regan spoke up. "So we'll be leaving in the afternoon, the trip on average would take at least two days and a night, however, if we are moving with a caravan of villagers, we probably won't be making great time. No offense." He mentioned as he looked to the village chief, who shrugged in understanding. "So this trip will most likely take three days and two nights, but we'll likely have safety in numbers despite a large amount of cargo." He summarized for Ferodias, Ferodias nodding intently at the breakdown.

"Of course, a few of our militia will accompany the caravan as they'll be the ones making the trip back, so you'll have some support." The village head pitched in as he waited for their answer.

Ferodias' tail curled and tapped against his chair as he considered things, taking a sip from his own cup of tea and savoring the taste before speaking up. "I'll need some time to discuss this with my group, and ultimately, the decision will need to require the ladies to weigh in since they're the ones who will be most affected by all this." Ferodias stated as he sat a little straighter. "We'll try and have an answer for you by dinner time." He mentioned, sharing a nod with Regan.

The village head nodded in understanding as he looked between the two adventurers. "Of course, we'll look forward to your answer then. Thank you again for what you've already done." The village head said respectfully.

Ferodias moved to stand, dismissing himself, all while Regan took a moment to down the rest of his tea before standing and following Ferodias as the duo make their way out of the village head's home and started walking towards the community hall. "So, what do you think we should do?" Regan asked, glancing over at Ferodias as they walked.

"Honestly?" Ferodias asked as he looked over to his friend, Regan offering a nod as Ferodias looked ahead while they walked some more. "I think we should just spend the coin, buy a cart and a couple chivostieds, and get going. I think it's a big risk to travel with that much cargo, that many people, and with three noble ladies in our care. The longer they're stuck with us and not in the care of their families, the greater the chance we have of something going wrong." He said before stopping short of the community hall's doors and stepping away around the corner and leaning up against the wall, lowering his voice as Regan followed close by and leaned against the wall beside Ferodias. "But then I think about what she said." Ferodias mentioned as he glanced over at Regan. "That concept of Noblesse Oblige... Sure, to them, I'm just some adventurer, but you and I know who I am. These people are my father's subjects, my subjects... What kind of man would I be if I were to blatantly ignore a plea for help when I'm in a position to offer that help and make a difference? Helping them here and now could be the difference between life and death for some of these people, or some other unforeseen consequence if we were to ignore them." He considered as he looked away from Regan and looked up to the violet and orange glow of the evening sky.

Regan couldn't help but smile at Ferodias, even if he didn't really like the idea of Ferodias getting close to that noble girl in the middle of his trials, he could see the future king of this nation growing into the right kind of man Ferodias needed to be right before his very eyes. After a moment, Regan decided to prod Ferodias a little more as he spoke up. "You're just one man. You can't help everyone, you know." He said, hiding his smile as he watched his friend develop a little more.

"Maybe, for now, I can't... But I can help these people now, can't I?" He said more resolutely before looking to Regan as he stood a little taller. "I'll make the case to the others, but again, it's still up to the noble ladies since they're the ones who have been most affected by recent events." He said, though as Regan pat his shoulder, the duo share a smile as Ferodias led the way inside.

Inside, Monty and Brasyl had made good progress in making the hall cozy to stay in for the night. The duo had strung up the canvas of two tents to divide the room straight down the middle, the entryway being perfectly lined up for them to walk to either side of the canvas curtain. Taking up the left side of the building was the guys as it were; Brasyl setting out a bedroll in the middle of the room, while Monty sits on his own bedroll along the wall with a needle and thread in hand, mending a tear in one of his shirts. Brasyl is the first to notice Ferodias and Regan, flashing a grin and waving after plopping back on his bed roll. "Hey Rodi, Regan. So what's the news?" He asked pleasantly. Monty looked up from his work and smiled a bit before focusing back on the tear.

Ferodias smiled as he looked around at the extra bedrolls, blankets, and pillows the villagers brought out for his group before starting to set up his own sleeping space, Regan doing the same. "Well, the village head is asking us to escort the people of this village and their neighbors into town with this season's crop, we probably won't get paid for our efforts, but that's what is on the table right now." He explained as he looked over to Monty and Brasyl.

"Alright, so when do we leave?" Brasyl asked, not even skipping a beat as he stretched and laid back more properly on his bedroll.

Ferodias couldn't help but chuckle at that, nodding to himself as he sat down on his bedroll and began checking over his gear. "If the noble ladies are okay with it, then the plan is to leave tomorrow afternoon once the villagers have their carts packed with their goods."

The guys nodded intently and went about relaxing for a time, though after another twenty minutes or so, Danica and the noble ladies made their way inside the hall, looking between the two sides of the curtains before just walking over to the side with the guys as Danica flashed a grin. "Alright, you lot, the baths are ready for you all." She said as she looked among them. Following behind her were the ladies, and they looked refreshed and almost cheerful. Lady Nerva's tail was even slowly wagging as she curiously examined the clothes she was now wearing, all three noble ladies wearing rather nice, long gowns and sleeveless tunics, their hair done up in neat braids with cotton ribbons tied into them.

From what Ferodias could tell, it looked like the village girls had fun spending time with the noble ladies, and in turn, the noble ladies enjoyed their time with the village girls. For just this moment, they looked like normal girls and not sheltered nobles having gone through a harrowing experience. Historietta caught Ferodias watching her again, though to be fair, he wasn't explicitly staring at her this time. Even then, she smiled a little more, casually swaying side to side for a brief moment as her dress swished back and forth. Despite all the people all around the two of them, this somehow managed to be a private moment between just the two of them, Ferodias' right ear flicking as he felt his cheek warm up at the view. His ears perked as he heard her giggle at his expense. After taking a moment to collect himself, Ferodias grabbed a change of clothes and got to his feet, moving to head out, but stopping short as he came up beside the ladies. His nose twitched as he caught the floral scent hanging in the air around them. The ladies and, more pointedly, Historietta watched him curiously as he took yet another moment to collect his words. "I err... Just wanted to let you all know that the village head is willing to help take you all back to the city. The only caveat is that he wants us to escort a caravan of goods for him. This will add a day or so to our journey. Is that alright with you all?" He asked as he looked among them before gazing down into Historietta's eyes.

Historietta shared a look with the other ladies, and the ladies each gave a nod before Historietta looked back up at Ferodias and smiled charmingly. "As you said this morning, we're in your care. Do whatever it is that you need to do to see this through." She said before reaching out and almost playfully poking his fluffy cheek. "And I'll make sure you're compensated for your efforts." She mused before pulling away, Danica and the other girls making their way across the curtain.

Ferodias was a little stiff at that, not expecting for his cheek to be poked like that. He could hear Monty and Brasyl snickering at his expense while Regan just shook his head at the scene. After a little while, the four of them made their way over to where the baths were set up, it was an outdoor affair, a large, premade wooden frame with curtains set around four special barrels that were placed over a fire, the barrels having been filled with water and some kind of herbs as light steam rises from the surface. A group of village girls had waited just outside the curtains as the guys went inside and started undressing. The four of them have seen basically all of each other before now and didn't care about seeing each other naked, though they all felt a little anxious and red in the face as they heard the murmurs of the girls just outside the curtains as they evidently peeked in on them while the guys were climbing into the barrels of warm water.

Once the four of them were settled in, they were mildly surprised as the girls walked in and began scrubbing their backs and washing their hair despite minor protests from the guys. It was a rather surreal experience for Ferodias in particular, having had this sort of treatment in his youth, but not expecting to experience this again at his age now. Regan looked over at Ferodias and spoke out in an elvish dialect that he knew Ferodias knew. "/Looks like the village head wanted to give us some more motivation to help./" He mused, before jolting a bit as one of the girls reached a little too far down with a loofah, and giggled at his expense.

Ferodias had his eyes closed to avoid soap from getting in his eyes as his head fur and ears were getting scrubbed by a catkin girl, he supposed she took on the task since she would know how to do it right. "/I wouldn't doubt it, a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one./" He replied with a smile as he could feel the stress just melt away.

Monty and Brasyl seemed to relish in the attention of the girls, the two of them getting their hair braided once they were rinsed off. Though, after a pleasant fifteen minutes, the girls excused themselves to allow the guys to relax and soak in the warm water. Brasyl was the first to speak up, messing with one of his new braids as he smiled at the others. "This village is great. They're so nice here." He mused with a delighted sigh as he sunk down in the barrel so the water was just below his chin.

Another 10 minutes later and the guys had gotten dried off and dressed. By the time they returned to the community hall, they found the ladies and Danica seated at a table that was brought in, a pot of stew sitting in the middle of the table, joined by a basket of fresh bread and a bowl of fresh fruits. "Come along. They just brought it in." Danica said with a mouthful of bread and a huge grin on her face.

Monty and Brasyl were quick to hurry over to the table, startling Lady Roche, though Lady Nerva flashed a pleasant smile at Basyl when he sat next to her. Monty finding his place beside Danica, whereas Regan ends up beside Lady Roche. The last seat was beside Lady Historietta, and she smiled almost expectantly as Ferodias settled in.

The meal was a mostly quiet affair, though Lady Roche spoke up, offering a bit of a smile. "This meal, while it's not the finest I've ever had… I daresay it's the most refreshing. Especially after the last few days we've gone through." She said with a cheerful smile. Lady Nerva hummed her agreement as she chewed on some warm bread.

After dinner was done, Ferodias excused himself, making his way back to the village head's home, tapping his knuckle against the door frame. It took a few minutes, and the older man came to the door and smiled as he spotted Ferodias. "Ah, young adventurer, you have your answer. I take it?"

Ferodias looked up at the man and offered a nod. "Yeah, send your messenger bird, my party will escort your caravan." He said simply.