Concept stolen from inspired by: Scarecrow3000 and the rest of the FE forumers.

Welcome to Shifting Sands, the Game! I suggest checking the other threads before you get going here; there’s a lot of info you should know before starting. But once your character’s been accepted and you’ve chosen a quest, you are good to go. Have fun, all.

And we're good to go, methinks. I'm gonna let Dan take the first post, and then anyone who doesn't know how to do the opening post can follow in his footsteps. You'll catch on quick.

Another day, another day

Dan sat at the counter in the inn. The stocky innkeeper poured him some tea. Thanking him, Dan took a sip.

Refreshing as always, Dan thought as he sighed pleasantly.

Dan was a native of Ambersol, the son of a small-time father and brother to three siblings, two older and one younger. As a child, he helped his father on the farm extensively with his older brothers, but as time went on, he found himself enjoying the work less and less. At age eighteen, his father passed away at the age of fifty-three, after suffering from pneumonia for a few months. Taken prematurely, his twenty-four year old brother took over the farm, with his younger brother at twenty-two helping him out. Dan, realizing that his role and profit would be limited, decided to take his leave of his brothers, and they understood. Dan's youngest brother at age fifteen agreed to stay home and help out on the farm in a limited role. Dan's mother was upset with him for leaving, but she had her other three boys to keep her company, so she bid him a fond farewell and told him to write often.

He had learned to wield a spear as a pre-teen when he used to twirl around a shovel in the fields, pretending he was a soldier in a valiant army. Eventually, as his interest in weapon-wielding increased, he purchased a cheap lance to practice with, hoping he could make his way as a mercenary and see the world and its people.

"Letter for the innkeeper!" a voice called, entering the room. A messenger stood at the doorway.

"That'd be me," the innkeeper replied, receiving the letter from the messenger.

"A call to arms, eh? Any able bodied men, head to Lorell's inn..." he said, glancing it over. "Guess they're in need of men." He looked at Dan, "You look like the sort of folk who'd appreciate work like this. May as well do something, eh?"

He handed the letter to Dan. Work is good, it's why I'm setting off, right? Better head there while the sun is still rising He took a final swig of his tea, and tipped the innkeeper. He was off to Lorell.

OOC:

Travel penalty to Lorell from Klint, don't know it off the top of my head. Dan heads to the inn.

A slim, shadowy figure clad in red sits in the back shadowed table of the Tipsy Squirell keeping an ear tuned to conversation around her.

She is a native of this bustlinh, the gossip hub, but she never sticks around for long. Since the fire when she was young, all she has had to rely on is herself and her bow which she rescued from the blaze. It once belonged to her father, and he had taught her archery many years ago. She has now grown a great deal, both in wisdom and in sport and has taken to living by her own standards.

As she listened to some of the tales of woe, she felt a pang of envy.

These people don't know how lucky they are

She had been forced at 16 to escape the blaze and survive on her own smarts and her father's bow. She had succeded, but it cost her her looks. She was attractive, yet rugged with tangled long black hair and sapphire eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. As she listened one tale caught her ear:

"I heard that there is a young man who is seeking help a companion" the patron chortled. Amber turned her head in that direction.

"I read it on the bulletin" Amber follows the man's finger to the bulletin board posted just outside. Slowly, she gets up and ambles her way over, looking for the notice.

'Young man desperately seeking help in Crosel. Tired of being one."

Intrigued, Amber decides to see exactly what it is this gentleman wanted.

Before she heads off, she must first go to the Armory, her father's bow had to be sold for money some time ago and she is in need of a new one.

Amber lightly travels to the Armory in town and greets the proprietor with a mumbled "'ello"
She browses the selection of bows and picks her desired weapon, a slim bow. She then pops into the magic shop, and selects a water orb to fit her bow.

And with that she heads off to find the young man.

(-1000G, +Slim bow, water orb)

OOC: Meh, screw traveling penalties for now. It's mainly just so everything doesn't happen at once for me, but until we've got this thing up and running well (hopefully), they won't be necessary.

Also, Dan, holy crap backstory. XD Here I was expecting your character to wake up in the Inn wondering where he was, as usual lol. Anyway...

TOMATOSAURUS

The mercenaries were easy to spot; they were sitting at a table in the rear of the Inn, a blank sign-up sheet lying on the table in front of them.

PATIENCE

Amber strolled through the front gates of Crosel. The bustling city was the biggest in Rednell, and Amber suddenly realized there was no name or address listed on the flyer. It was at that moment that two men walked past, laughing hysterically.

"And the poor son of a bitch actually put up an ad!" The first man was saying. He crumpled up a piece of paper that Amber recognized as the flyer she held in her hand, and tossed it to the ground.

"Oh, man..." the other one said, through chortles, "When is that sap going to learn that he will never find anyone? He's practically asked out the whole town already!"

"Man, that kid is a riot..." the first man said as the two rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. Apparently, the guy Amber was looking for was rather well-known, for better or worse... maybe finding him wouldn't be so hard after all.

OOC: Just so you know, Patience, my post is in past-tense simply because that's how I write. Your first post was fine, so if you want to continue in present tense, that's perfectly acceptable. Just don't want you to feel forced to follow my lead or anything.

OOC: This isn't Vivica, I get a name this time. I'm not Tomato the archer/monk lol

BIC:

Looks like the spot

Dan waltzed over to the sign up sheet, and in his neatest handwriting (which was still sloppy by the standards of some), wrote his name. He never really cared much for his penmanship. He always thought everything sounded much more pretentious in the written word as opposed to the spoken one. So thus, he preferred to talk things out rather than write them out. He also was not educated too heavily, but even his small education was better than the average man. And not just for book smarts of course, Dan was something many people cannot honestly say they are - reasonable.

Guess I'll sit and wait it out, Dan thought taking a seat at a nearby table, wondering what this life would throw at him. Hopefully nothing sharp.

Being from a bustling town herself, Amber knew just where to go. She ventured to the nearest inn knowing that is the gossip hub. On her way to the bar to ask the bar-keep if he knew where the "Flyer Man", as she referred to him, lived she heard snippets of conversation about the Reene feud. It seemed that it was a pretty even mix, and the room was split in half, loyalists with loyalists and nationalists with nationalists.

Poor keep, must be hard to keep the peace.

When she arrived at the counter, she announced her prescence with a pretty yet rugged voiced "Excuse me".

The keep turned around. "What can I get for you?"

"Actually, the dwelling of this man. I'd like to help him if I could," and she held up the flyer.

"Ah," the keep said and pointed to a red shingled, humble home not too far from the inn.

"Thank you for your time," she said as she dropped a coin into the jar marked 'tips'/

She got up before the keep could contradict her and swiftly left, barely thunking in her leather boots. She headed in the direction the keep had pointed towards the home. When she approached the door, she checked to see if it looked like anyone was in. There was no significant clue so she raised her right hand and lightly yet firmly knocked on the door four times.

(-1G)

OOC: I will probably end up doing both. Introductions tend to be in present and other stuffs past. Also depends if I end up doing it real travel time or not.

Cojisto yawned as he watched the busy Luxor town square through a window of one of the small restaurants that lined the streets. He was, quite plainly, bored, in need of adventure. Simply battling wits with the men and women and children and dogs of Luxor was starting to become a simply taxing labor. The young man took a quick swig of his ale (the cure-all drink, don't you know) and looked back down at the stack of papers before him. "Perhaps I'll find some suitably asinine lunatic willing to cater to my utterly immense library of knowledge I call my head." Taking another drink, the ego, I mean to say the man, opened the small Luxor newspaper and began reading.

"Hmm, poisonous spiders, I'll pass." Flip. "Be a mail boy? Hardly a fitting problem for a worldly man such as myself. Pass." Flip. "A lucky mug? Preposterous, the scallywag should simply stop this gambling addiction post-haste." Flip. "Hostages in Zellovah? A problem in my homeland, to be sure, but perhaps there is something a tad more daring?" Flip. "Wyverns? Filthy beasts, I'll never ride one if I can help it." Flip. "Deadly disease in Dankron? As if I could seriously think about going to such a place under any circumstances, the whole town is some kind of stupid. Wouldn't dream of it." Flip. "Ah, now what is this? Two brothers fighting over who inherits their father's land? Such a problem would surely see profits as well as a mental challenge worthy of a man of my stature."

Cojisto stood and folded the newspaper his arm. With a flourish of his rich purple cloak he turned and headed towards the building door. As he reached for the handle, he paused, and frowned. With a slight shake of his head, the man headed out into the blinding sunlight. He raised his hand, shielding his eyes from the harsh light that contrasted the candlelit room he had just emerged from. He took in a deep breath of his surroundings and strode off. Not on his way to the brothers in Klint, but back to his homeland of Rednell, and this hostage situation in Zellovah.

OOC: Apologies for the long delays between posts for me. I'll be able to devote much more time to this after Christmas.

BIC:

DAN
It was nearly an hour later when Dan was jostled awake by a loud bang on the table in front of him. His eyes fluttered open to see the face of one of the trio of mercenaries.

"Well boy," the man said, "Seems you're the only one foolish enough to join us out there on the trade routes.You might just be brave, but I'm inclined to believe you're foolish, until you prove me otherwise."

Merc Leader: You know what our job entails, right?

AMBER
A tiny voice rang out from inside the house.

Voice: W...wh...who is it...?

COJISTO
OOC: I was going to do a post describing Zellovah, but screw it. You're there. Go find the Inn. =P

Cojisto walked through the once-grand wall that protected the city of Zellovah, now dilapidated from the constant wars and strife that plagued the nation. He had plenty of time to think on his long, arduous journey. About the state of the country, the quarrel between the Reene siblings, the hostages. The paper had clearly stated Colonel Kusmanov was in charge, but asking for permission wasn't quite Cojisto's style. However, he wasn't about to rush into the situation.

First stop, Armory: +1 Riding Gloves, -500G (Total 750G)

As Cojisto exited the Armory, pulling his brand new Riding Gloves onto his hands (AKA equipped). He had just one more stop before he'd be ready.

Second Stop, General Store: +1 Herb, -500G (Total 250G)

He paused, contemplating whether or not he was ready to go, before finally deciding that a man of his stature didn't need to spend time worrying about whether or not an orb and a herb extract would be a better choice overall. With a shrug of his shoulders under fine purple cloth he headed towards the inn, fully expecting to simply be able to walk in through the front door.

COJISTO
But as Cojisto approached the Inn, he found it completely barred off by a wall of army officers, who pushed him back. He looked around: the great Colonel of Rednell, Dimitri Kusmanov, was barking out orders about fifty yards to his left. He could always try to sneak around back, but there was no guaranteeing the guards on duty wouldn't catch him...

Cojisto was mildly disgruntled by this development, though in truth he had expected it (now that it was right in front of it, he changed the unreasonable expectation he made earlier). However he still wasn't about to go to the Colonel even with the soldiers barring his way. No, he was Cojisto, Rednell's finest adventurer!

Disappearing into the crowd of onlookers, he started sneaking around to the back, preparing himself for whatever it would take to get past any of the soldiers who were obviously going to be guarding the back.

Dan shrugged. He did not know what the job entailed. He heard something about trade routes, and the stocky innkeeper in Klint really didn't do much besides send him off.

What am I getting myself into? he thought.

"I don't really know, care to clue me in?" Dan asked.

COJISTO

Strangely, considering the barricade out front, the back of the Inn was effectively unguarded. There were two guards, one patrolling and the other half-asleep at his post. Cojisto waited until the patrolling guard turned his back, then vaulted over the fence and made a dash for the door. He slipped inside, silently closing the door behind him.

The Inn was quiet despite the army positioned outside. Apparently, they hadn't made their move yet. In front of Cojisto was a staircase, presumably leading up to the many guest rooms.

OOC: Take the stairs, or stay on the first floor?

DAN

"Ho boy, my first assessment was right - foolish!" The mercenary shook his head. "Ah well, we need every body we can get out there. See, I'm sure you know that Ambersol's army is strained, almost to the breaking point. A bunch of bandits and highwaymen have seized the opportunity to take over the country's trade routes, and that's where we come in." He took a seat. "But I gotta warn you - it'll be dangerous. Think about it, the army of Ambersol can barely maintain control, and we're a group of four lone fighters..." He looked Dan over quizzically.

Merc Leader: You don't seem to have any weapons on you... you CAN fight, right?

Cojisto stroked his chin as he thought through the situation. The first floor was quiet, but it would be foolish to think that there was no one guarding the front door just in case. Then again, it was also foolish to think no one was guarding the back door, either. That meant they were either all holed up on the second floor or higher, or they had one man patrolling the first floor who was simply looking over the front. Thinking it better to figure out what was on this floor, he moved forward quickly but quietly for any sign of life on the first floor, as well as listening for any creaking floorboards one story up.