Bibsis, Rainspeakers, or Callers are only found in one sacred pond that grows into a great ke with the coming of the rains in the Grieving Lands. To gaze upon them is said to be akin to receiving a blessing from the Goddess herself.

  -The Fanciful Travels by Beron de Laney 376 AC.

  At long st, it was now our turn. Behind the counter stood a thin dark-haired bookish man clothed in an elegantly cut shirt with a silver bolo tie with a dark emerald at its center. Gray calcuting eyes behind small horn-rimmed spectacles looked up from his papers and gazed over us.

  The clerk coughed, a white-gloved dainty hand rising to his mouth, before asking in a smooth baritone, “How can the Adventurer’s Guild be of service to you, gentlemen?”

  “We wish to register as new members of the Adventurer’s Guild,” I replied simply, mentally spping myself for forgetting the earlier idea to just register as one member.

  “Names please?” he asked in a no-nonsense voice, all professional now as he filed through a different set of papers for registration.

  “Gilgamesh of Uruk, Elwin Tucker, and Kidu Kreshin,” I said slowly, careful to enunciate the names correctly as my companions simply nodded behind me.

  “I see. Gilgamesh and company, that will be nine silvers in total for all of you. You are lucky. The Guildmaster has nothing scheduled today and will be able to see you soon for the induction process. My name is Taciano, and, since you will be becoming Adventurers, I believe we will be seeing each other more often.” He cracked a smile incongruous with his earlier attitude. “Please pay the requisite fee and wait a while to the side while I inform the Guildmaster,” he gestured to the side of the counter.

  My party and I paid the requisite three silver coins each, and we followed Taciano’s instructions to the letter, waiting quietly to the side. With nervous energy that belied his usual confidence, Elwin spent the time throwing and catching a sharp knife that rose and fell, glinting with a deadly metallic light.

  It was after a few long minutes when Taciano called us over in a quiet formal voice. “Guildmaster Darcen Tsend will see you, please follow me.”

  I nodded in assent and he guided us up a sturdy flight of stairs before knocking respectfully on a wooden door. After waiting for a few moments, he opened the door and ushered us in.

  We were greeted by a formidable sight. A lean silver-haired rugged man cd in the local style, a deel fashioned in colors of golds and reds, positively filled the room with his presence. On anyone else, it would have looked like a colorful peacock’s dispy, but it hugged his formidable frame and seemed like another form of armor. He stood behind a finely carved wooden desk with his hands behind his back.

  Atop his desk was a purplish crystal ball, mystical mist moving eerily in its depths. The desk itself was delicately patterned with mystical creatures, and various trophies from past adventures decorated the walls. A massive one-eyed monster’s head directly behind Darcen drew the eye, its rge fang-filled mouth frozen in a roar. Tentacles circled around its single eye like a medusan mane.

  The lines of his face were hard and scars ran down one sun-browned cheek, crossing lines carved by age and old victories. The Guildmaster exuded a restrained sense of danger and authority, like the head of the pack that had seen many hard winters but was content for now. His other quality was that he was also wolfishly handsome, and he greeted us all with a wide canine smile.

  “Good afternoon, prospective Adventurers. I welcome you all formally to the Adventurer’s Guild. My name is Darcen Tsend, and I am the Guildmaster of the Ansan Branch,” he paused for a moment and I could feel a sort of energy work its way through me, as if searching for something.

  “Ah, you noticed the Watcher. One of my earlier victories. Terrible things. They say they are creatures of the void. My party and I were contracted to clear out a nest of them. I lost many friends to those creatures,” he said somberly.

  Switching gears, almost jarringly, he continued. “You all look like capable sorts so I will induct you immediately. Speak to the fellow Taciano for an expnation of the rules. But the biggest rule of all, this isn’t really part of the rules of the Guild, but still… do not think to deceive me, for I can smell a lie,” he stated, his wolfish appearance giving credence to his cim, and it seemed for a moment that small room filled with his presence.

  Elwin smiled nervously and almost visibly gulped as he said with a courage I did not possess at the time, “The sky was purple this morning.”

  Darcen just guffawed at the Rogue’s temerity. “I like your style,” he excimed as he spped him on the shoulder which almost brought Elwin down to his knees. The bigger man chuckled throatily all the while.

  “Now pce your hands on the Bonding Crystal and I’ll hand over your first badges,” he said as he gestured to the purple crystal ball on his beautifully crafted desk.

  “What does that… thing do?” I asked quickly, apprehensive at the thought of touching some clearly magical.

  “It merely registers you as a member of the Guild. Trust me, it is for your own protection. Wouldn’t want you being carted off to somewhere like the flesh pits or the mines, right? The crystal is also imbued with minor magics to inform the Guild of an adventurer’s death, and in such a case we will pay the death price to their next of kin,” the Guildmaster said in a serious tone. I couldn’t help but feel that he had given this speech many times before.

  Against my better judgment, I felt a need to win this man’s approval and moved to be the first to touch the stone. Taking off my gloves, I touched the purplish ball with the bare skin of my fingers and felt almost a jolt, like static electricity. I looked to the Guildmaster to see if this was normal, but he simply nodded.

  A few seconds ter, the wolfish man tapped a copper badge, simir to the one Gan possessed, to the crystal’s now opaque milky surface. Darcen gestured that it was alright to let go, so I removed my hand and golden script etched itself onto the copper badge as if an invisible pen was writing on it. Soon enough, I could read my name clearly in the Trade nguage and was taken aback by the casual dispy of magic as the ball grew clear once more.

  “First encounter with magic?” asked Darcen, moving to hand over my newly minted Adventurer's Guild badge.

  I smiled, feigning awe and rather avoiding directly answering his question. Being wary of his ability to sense the truth from a lie, I was unwilling to show my hand just yet.

  “Now, there is the quick thing about the Adventurer’s Guild oath, and it is very simple. You just need to swear that you will do your very best to always uphold the reputation of the Adventurer’s Guild. Do you so swear, Gilgamesh of Uruk?” asked Darcen as he looked me squarely in the eyes, just a few moments shy of handing it over to me.

  “I swear to uphold the reputation of the Adventurer’s Guild to the best of my current abilities,” I said as firmly as possible, trying not to let reluctance enter my voice.

  I must have really meant it, or the Guildmaster’s truth-sensing ability was imperfect, because he simply looked me up and down and handed the badge to me with a comradely smile. Still, he decided to sp my shoulder, as he did with Elwin, in an unconscious show of dominance. I was ready and expecting it, however, and with a thin and annoyed smile, I absorbed the shock of the blow through my knees and a shifting of my own weight. As a student in my old world, I had dealt with his type many times before.

  Kidu, following my example, was next to step up to the desk. Taking off his gauntlet, he grasped the crystal with his giant hand almost as if to crush it, and drew a chuckle from the Guildmaster. As he did with me, he tapped a copper badge to the crystal before asking Kidu to repeat the oath about not tarnishing the reputation of the Guild. Kidu’s name magically appeared on his badge in the same manner as it had on mine. Darcen looked at Kidu’s badge and read out aloud Kidu’s name.

  “Kidu Kreshin. Kreshin, now that is an impressively fierce creature for one’s first kill. Gilgamesh here must be something special to be in the company of a Hunter so gifted,” the Guildmaster said thoughtfully, a new respect in his eyes.

  I barely registered the Guildmaster’s comment, my own mind already analyzing the oath that I had taken. Was it a simple honor system or was it magically enforced? At first, the oath seemed pretty vague, but after analyzing it a bit further, I realized it actually encompassed a rather wide range of things from my interactions with other NPCs… people. I had to remind myself that I was probably dealing with real people, to the manner in which I completed requests. On the other hand, as long as I was never found out, I could do, for the most part, whatever I wanted. This was probably why the Guildmaster had some sort of truth-sensing ability. My enhanced Intelligence helped me to realize that it could be a loophole that could be potentially exploited in the future.

  It was Elwin Tucker the Rogue’s turn next. If anyone had secrets to hide, next to me, it would be my companion Elwin. With great hesitancy, he made to touch the crystal, stopping just a hairsbreadth before touching it.

  “This doesn’t hurt, right? Had enough pain to st three lifetimes. Not enough drink in all the Grieving Lands to numb what I’ve been through,” he mumbled with a slight quiver.

  The Guildmaster simply smiled and grabbed his hand and forced it to the crystal with such speed I was barely able to track it with my eyes. Elwin’s mouth opened in stunned silence, forming a big ‘O’ in surprise. Again, Darcen made Elwin repeat the Guild’s oath before finally handing over his copper badge.

  “I welcome you all to the brotherhood that is the Adventurer’s Guild. May you always find that which you seek,” Darcen intoned formally in a voice that weighed heavy with the authority of the Guild.

  Not knowing how to respond, we all just quickly looked at each other and nodded.

  “Alright then, that’s out of the way! You best make your way back down to Taciano, good d but a little weedy. Also, could do with a bit of toughening up. Spends far too much time indoors. Nonetheless, he’s a reliable sort and you could have done a lot worse. One of the ds from the st batch we hired was a right sod. Now be off with you!” he commanded, the smile on his face making a lie of his stern tone.