The end of a journey

The path to the top of the mountain was a harsh one. They certainly knew where to place their guild hall. She understood why though, can't open a dark guild in the middle of town just so the rune knights can just barge in. It would be much harder to bring a squadron here, let alone one to fight dark mages. The mountain is a natural barrier on it's own. Her outfit would protect her from the cold, but she made a mental note to make a hunt for more comfortable cold resistant equipment a priority if things go well on the top. If not... guess she'd have to make another dashing escape. While she could make guesses, she had no real idea what kind of figures dark guilds recruited. According to her sources they were the worst of the worst.

Eventually she reached the castle. A large fortress on the top of the mountain. It had been a long and tiring journey. But at last here she was, the pirate without a ship in front of the castle on the top of a mountain ready to offer her services to another bunch of criminals she only heard tales and rumors about. Somehow, Mary saw nothing wrong with that. Without a moment of doubt she approached the gates of the castle. Looked a little old, but it probably would be warmer inside. She opened the gates and closed them behind her back. She took of her the hood of the outfit that she had acquired before starting to climb this mountain revealing her long red hair in the process. Otherwise, there was nothing seemingly weird about her. She had her magic, which was slightly underdeveloped because there was never a need to develop it further. She usually used what she had to solve problems instead of learning new solutions.

"Ahoy! Anyone home?" She'd shout through the slightly lighted halls of the fortress. Her voice was loud enough, since she'd often had to shout above the noise of the storm with comrades sometimes. There didn't seem to be much difference with the outside here. It could be seen as an intrusion by the inhabitant if she went much further than this without announcing her presence. Somehow, Mary didn't think this guild had much patience for trouble making outsiders.

"Ahoy...?" asked a bedraggled voice from the back, seemingly concealed by some stuffy, high-backed chair near the fire. After a hiccup, a lavender haired male staggered up form his seat, a nearly empty bottle of honey colored liquor in his right hand. Despite his wobbling and warbling, he was impeccably dressed in crisp black pants and shiny dress shoes. There was nary a wrinkle in his purple pinstriped dress shirt that hung open just a smidge at the clavicle, nor the tailored black vest over it. Most notable of all was is immaculate hair, expertly parted to the left with a healthy shine that nearly glowed. Balancing precariously on one heel he spun, now facing the direction of the voice. "Why are you so small?" the dark guild member asked in consternation, bending forward slightly to squint his purple hues through the distance to the door letting the icy fingers of lady winter in to prickle at him. So tiny, this red head who nonchalantly announced herself. Pretty loud for someone so small. Or was she small? The door seemed small too, but he knew for sure it hadn't always been small. So unless someone engineered a shrink ray that only affected the front door, which seemed like an odd place to test it, then....he was just really, really stupid drunk.

"HA!" he laughed suddenly, reason perking its head up from the stupor. "Wait wait...you aren't small. Haha! You're far!" Iris babbled, covering his mouth to stifle the giddy giggles. That said, he made his unsteady way to the new person, falling only once and recovering with striking speed. "Eeeeey, newbie!" he drawled as he drew near and she grew into the proper size right before his very eyes! Distance was weird. Or was it perspective? Both? It was all so very confusing after a couple bottles of honey bourbon. "Weeeeelcome! I'm Basklist Fran-- wait, no...I'm not a guild...I'm a people, I think....Haha... This is Braski Farm! ...And I'm an Iris..er...just Iris. What're-- Who're you?"

"Ahoy!" The pirate repeated full of joy. After all, joining another group should be done with fun and enthusiasm!. Otherwise there was no need for her to climb this entire mountain and seek out this guild on top of it. Certainly they offered better jobs than those simple and idiotic that guildless wizards get. Since it was still cold here she decided to keep her cloak on for now. The way the wizard in front of her babbled could only mean one thing. He was piss drunk. However, if wizards in this guild were allowed to stand guard while being drunk there might be a place for her. Though so much that they'd fall over might not be a good idea when one is standing watch.

"Great to receive such a warm welcome!" She'd say as she walked further into the fortress, closer to the drunk in front of her. As she did, she noticed how deep the guy in front of her actually had gone. When Mary saw that only three questions came to her mind: What did he drink, how much of it and where could she get it too?

"What a nice farm you got there, Iris. I'm Mary, Mary Bonny." She'd introduce herself after a joke. She did hope this wasn't all there was to the guild. Otherwise a lot of work would go into just making this place habitable. And she surely didn't want to go through all the trouble. But let's keep it civil for now. Maybe they have some pretty bearable rooms in here somewhere.

"You here alone, aren't there other people here?" She asks curiously. Would be a shame for this to just be a two mans guild. Surely the guild she heard such great things about wouldn't just have be one guy?

"Oooooh....there's tons of people here. Lurking around every corner!" expounded the drunk man, waving his just-shy-of-drained bottle around haphazardly. Leaning in, he offered her a secret, which wasn't really one. "Some of 'em are downright nasty. Gotta be careful of those... one'll beat ya for taking her good booze, and another will try and force feed you the absolute worst cookies ever!" Of course, he was speaking of his team mates, his fellow Buzz Killers Aeluri and Sonya...er, no...Juniper was the personality that made repeated attempts at baking, right? Her cookies were basically WMDs.

Not realizing he had made the dark guild sound awfully benign, he continued. "Oh! Sometimes there's a big weird guy that pops in a room and leaks diseases everywhere! Steer clear of him if you don't want pink eye!" Iris seemed to remember suddenly, plainly thinking of all the literally fatal and horribly painful diseases that Epidemius radiated, somehow conjunctivitis was the worst of those he could think of.

Hiccuping, the force of which sent him stumbling again, the intoxicated man seemed to notice how close to the door they were by seeing how small the fireplace and the chair he'd been near were. "EY! Wanna come sit and drink in the warm? I have more honey bourbon, it'll warm ya up and ya can take off that warmy thing!" he offered, spinning on his heel wand wobbling back toward his favorite sitting chair. "Usually there's a gentleman pyramid stamp that floats around and stamps people's butts, but maybe you'll be lucky and get Ahote!" She'd be lucky to get anyone else, really, because Iris was about to pass out drunk any minute now.