Trent Farre
From Reydala
Trent's first mission with the guild was a fairly routine affair. A population of giant carnivorous arachnids had wandered in to a cave near Drei and made it their home, posing a threat to the local populace. The Academy of engineers wished to test a new toxin developed with the intention of exterminating such vermin, Trent and Charlotte were assigned as a last line of defense should things go wrong. Their eldritch blasts were more than sufficient to stop any stragglers able to escape.
The toxin was in the form of a liquid that would evaporate into a noxious vapor after prolonged exposure to air. The engineers simply flooded the cave with the liquid and waited for the gas flume to smoke out the remainder of the arachnid menance. All in all, the two warlocks were only stationed there to watch for any trying to escape from the death trap. Not many did, and those that emerged were mostly the younger, more energetic spiders that were easily dealt with.
Despite the ennui of the job, Trent was enthused to be on his first mission. He was finally getting to help others in a meaningful way and get paid for doing it. He wanted to make a good impression to the guild, show to them his abilities. The engineers seemed thankful for his presence and he took pride in his work. He had never seen much of the engineers work from his home in the far eastern Suda or during his studies at the Pailah Library, so this was another excitement for him.
The one problem, as he saw it, existed with the one that was assigned with him. Or rather, the one who had volunteered to go with him at reduced pay. Even during his short stay at the guild halls he had heard many, many stories about his fellow warlock. They were not all too common, and many expected him to be the same as Charlotte. This was very far from the case. From the stories he heard, Charlotte was a very scary woman, and one whom he did not want to cross. It boggled his mind why such a person had shown such enthusiam for going with him on this trivial mission.
The two sat about five feet from each other, about twenty from the entrance to the cave, watching as the billowing green smoke began to filter outward and upward into the atmosphere. Trent was terrified of saying anything around the woman, wondering how many of the stories he had heard were true. She seemed harmless enough, even cheerful and happy.
"So where do you come from?" Charlotte was the one that began speaking in a high-spirited tone, between their blasting of straggling insects.
"Ah!.." Trent leapt a little, the sudden breaking of the silence startling him. "Um.. I grew up in Suda, in the far east of Nuln, I studied mostly in Pailah.."
"Suda?.. Suda... hmm.. Oh, yes, that small border town.. So you're a farm boy?"
"H...hardly. My parents did own a large farm, but I was sickly for most of my childhood... Probably why I came to prefer books to the fields and eventually why I came to study the ways of incantations."
"Books?.. Pah, those are for the wizard types.."
"Uhm... Even us warlocks can learn a few things from them, I learned a great deal about how to control.."
Charlotte waved her hand, cutting him off. "Experience is the best teacher, you learn by doing in our trade. I'm mostly self-taught, myself."
Trent was awed a little, to have learned the art independently is quite a feat. He also thought that may be why her art seemed so strange to everyone else, the rumors may have been just exaggerations of that. Trent started to relax a bit more. "Self-taught? That's quite an accomplishment..."
Charlotte shrugged. "It's not that difficult, when I was your age, I did most of my practice killing demons.."
"D...Demons?!" Trent's mouth went agape for a bit. He was wrong, this woman definitely was scary!
"Yeah, it's kinda fun the first time, the weaker ones don't even fight back. You should try it some time, y'know." Charlotte said with a cheerful smile.
"I..I think I'll pass, but thanks.."
"Hmmmm?" Charlotte leaned in with a knowing grin. "Don't tell me you're afraid of demons?"
"I...It's unusual not to be!"
"...Do I scare you?" She said after a bit of a pause.
"..I..I didn't say anything like that!" Trent flustered, "It's just unusual, that's all!"
"Oh..? Most people are, I guess that makes you a bit unusual too." Charlotte smiled again. "Or maybe you're just trying to be brave to impress me?"
One of the small spiders made a break from the cave entrance, nearly getting away in trent's distracted state, he lifted a finger toward it as it scurried away, blasting it with a dark burst of energy that sent it into oblivion. With a bit of a sigh he returned to the conversation. The giant arachnids seemed so much easier to deal with.
"I certainly don't find you... scary at all, miss Charlotte. As a fellow warlock, I have a bit more understanding of what we do.." He couldn't tell this demon-hunting woman the truth at all costs, it might be the end of him!
Charlotte stood up, moving a bit closer to him, blasting another of the spiders without so much as a glance as it tried to flee. She looked toward Trent, who seemed to be making every attempt to avoid eye-contact. She smiled, he must have heard alot of stories. He was trying to impress her, or at least, trying not to be killed. Over the years the difference between the two had faded to her somewhat. She sat down right next to him.
Trent gulped slightly, instincts urging him to flee the scene but unable to abandon his mission. "M..Miss Charlotte, if I may ask.. W..Why did you volunteer to accompany me on this assignment?" He stammered out eventually.
Charlotte tapped her chin lightly. "Hmm, I wonder why it was... Maybe because I thought you were cute~"
Trent leapt a bit again. "W-What?!"
"This woman is terrifying" he somehow found the time to think to himself.
Charlotte laughed. "What's wrong with that?... maybe you don't like older women?"
"I..I didn't say that!"
"Oh? So you do like older women?" She leaned in closer.
"I didn't say that either!!"
Charlotte only giggled, she was obviously having fun.
Trent was fearful for his life for the rest of the mission. Even with several more under his belt, he would still hold this one as his most difficult assignment by far. He would eventually become more accustomed to Charlotte's strangeness more than any of the other guild member, if only because she was constantly teasing him. The two would become slowly become friends.
Since the woman's idea of a date was being surrounded by demons, poison gas, and spiders, however... he decided to staunchly oppose any advances on the romantic front.
Character Sheet
| Level: 7 | Class: Warlock | Paragon Path: N/A | Epic Destiny: N/A | |||||
| Race: Human | Size: Medium | Age: 19 | Gender: Male | Height: 5'9" | Weight: 157 lbs. | Alignment: Unaligned | Deity: Lucion | Origin: Nuln |
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