"Let the sun rise upon our Brethren Court as we gather now, not to altercate, but to deliberate the forthcoming occurrences which we have; as of recent times only now discerned." A voice echoed atop an ivory tower that stood alone eclipsing the sun and for a moment all was silent...'


The town of Harengoth, or better stated as the provincial territory of Harengoth for it was not simply a single town but a network of interconnecting towns and villages that stood within close proximity of one another was and has always been the grand pearl of land trade in Aestaria. Since the very creation of Aestaria men flocked from far and wide to Harengoth because of the rich natural resources that surrounded the area and the network of creeks and small rivers that ran through the villages for they acted as an easy way to transport materials. Harengoth bears a bustling population of residents but an even larger population of passersbyers and traders who sought and continue to seek great wealth in the city. Even today, amidst rumours of a falling eastern world Harengoth continues to bustle and move, but fear still stalks the land and many have begun to move away from Harengoth and other social hubs to avoid Aestarian guard who have taken to the streets to steal away those who are thought to be terminally ill or the recently deceased for unknown reasons. Despite the miasma of fear that strings itself along firmly in the air the central market of Harengoth opened as usual today as the early morning sun crept just over the hills.


Nero,who had just woken from his slumber, shambled out from the Inn in which he had rented for the night. Nero had come to Harengoth in search of work as a body guard for local merchants but as of late was unable to find work and so he took to sulking through the central market which was positioned ever so close to his current residence. Entering the great market his eyes feasted upon a collection of hundreds of stalls and brick and mortar stores lined along in a square formation. At the end of the market there was a massive building, presumably the tallest structure in Harengoth, which was not much of a feat as there were very few tall buildings in the area, it was still a sight for sore eyes. Nero eventually meandered through the massive crowd in the square, having to duck, shimmy and crawl through the thick of it he eventually made his way to a fountain that sat dead in the center of it all. Taking a seat upon the fountain Nero examined the building that was now perpendicular to him, he knew it well for it was not his first time in Harengoth, it was the hall of Tarenstine, a guild hall established long ago to house the numerous orders, covenants and guilds in the general region of Ganaeg and Harengoth. The building was built in a gothic style and as such was covered in Flying buttress, massive windows, and stone art hanging from the walls and roof. Nero always found him self staring deep into massive cherry wood doors and long arched steps outside of the hall every time he came to this market, but never once did he dare to approach the building, let alone enter it. For him it was a mystery, a charming yet looming mystery he always wished to always exist.

Erratus was genuinely impressed with the sheer magnitude of the town he had stumbled upon. As he hobbled slowly down the streets, he saw people busily scrambling about, haggling, trading and shopping. He was fortunate that people took care to give him a wide berth, which could be attributed to the cane he was supporting himself with. Otherwise, he'd probably be trampled by the dense crowd. The place was a veritable hotbed of commerce, and it provided an irresistible opportunity for someone of his profession.
Presently consumed with his thoughts, Erratus mistakenly bumped into one of the many traders. He was a burly, tough-looking man, but his unfortunate deficiency of teeth made it difficult to take him seriously.
"Watch where you're stepping, street filth." The man grumbled, shoving the nomad bodily out of the way.
What a considerate man. Erratus mused, pocketing a newly acquired coin pouch. It wasn't often someone made such a generous contribution.
As he made his way through the town proper, he found himself obstructed by a small river. He was on the verge of jumping in to swim across when an alternative presented itself in the form of a barge. Grateful for his stroke of luck, he hopped on without a second thought.
To his s****, the men onboard were less than enthusiastic about the intrusion. They quickly closed in on him, most likely with the intention of tossing him overboard. Not wanting to inconvenience them further, Erratus decided to save them the trouble, making a long leap to the river's opposite bank. He teetered on the edge for a moment before regaining his balance.
He turned back briefly to catch one last glimpse of the boat, but he could no longer see it. He figured it must have gone under the bridge. With a shrug, he continued on his way through the town.
Before long, he came upon a large plaza that appeared to be the hub of activity in the city. The place was surrounded by stores and stands, all of them swarming with prospective customers. By Erratus's estimation, the place was so crowded that he could easily pick pockets all day long and nobody would be the wiser. Not if he was parched, though. He wouldn't be doing much of anything unless he quenched his considerable thirst.
Taking another look around, he spied a fountain right in the center of the square. For the umpteenth time that day, luck was on his side. Without hesitation, the thirsty traveler eagerly made his way to the fountain, drinking straight from it as if it were a lake. The water, though eerie-tasting, was thoroughly refreshing. After he'd had his fill, he produced a flask and began filling it with the stuff.

Lucia stifled a yawn as she handed a woman one of her handwoven scarves, she had been up as soon as the sun crested over the horizon, having wanted to be one of the first people to sell her wares. Of course, with that price came fatigue, on the plus side she had been doing quite well that morning. Lucia had managed to make a minor name for herself with her fine crafted handwoven fabrics. She sold sheets, handkerchiefs, scarves, shawls and various other simple items she could make in a short amount of time. She had even managed to come across fine silk which she promptly weaved into luxurious scarves for noblewomen. Some of her customers asked whether she had any enchanted articles of clothing, most likely because of the odd silver in her hair, but she had told them otherwise. She did not feel comfortable with her magically spun clothing, and was unsure of what would occur to others who wore them. Would they fall apart after she was a certain distance away from them? Would they explode in a flashy arcane display upon touching someone who was not the maker of the garments? These were risks she was unwilling to take.

Lucia sighed as she leaned against the side of the fountain where she had set up shop. Despite the hustle and bustle of those all around her the bubbling waters seemed to have a calming effect on her. Had she been alone she would have spun some of the water into a beautiful string before letting it return back to the pool in the fountain. Ever since she had been kicked from her ancestral home, she'd had the greatest wanderlust. Staying within the confines of a city was safe, and a secure means for income, but she was growing tired of the crowds, and the noise. Lucia longed for the solitude of nature.

As Talaitha crossed the threshold of Harengoth's gate she received weary stares from the fair residents. Standing out in such a crowd, there was little she could do to merge within and hide herself, but such was the life of a wayfaring gypsy. Taking care not to take the stares to heart, she strolled toward what seemed to be the main marketplace of the city, with merchants and stalls set up about the area, as well as a few stores build from stone hidden among residential buildings. With her critical eye she scanned about, noticing a few enchantment merchants displaying the badge of the guild on their person or the stand itself, signalling this city as with a massive guild branch

Sighing, she resolved to skip this one as well, it was big after all and there was nothing she could really do about it in the end. Somewhere there would be a place she could set up shop without a large guild branch, but for now she would just have to wait. For now she could just look around the town and she headed off. The guild house was the largest building around, but she preferred to avoid it and wandered off towards what she thought was the main plaza. in order to scout out some lodging.

"Well ello there." A soothing voice over came Lucia as a figure, appearing of the gentry, approached her stall. The figure appeared to be in his late twenties, his hair was a long tied back brunette colour, his face was pale and level, his eyes blue as the sky, and his clothes were made of high quality materials and of rich blue dyes. "My name is Alexander Menteshure, I couldn't help but notice your fine apparel which may I add looks just dashing on you" Alexander gave a bit of contrived smile as he attempted to charm Lucia. Hoping to keep her attention further Alexander persisted with a question in order to hook her into conversation, leaning in closely to inspect her trade he let out a subtle gasp. "My lord, do you do all of this your self?"

____

Upon seeing Erratus Nero turned and watched the man's almost animalistic behaviour for a moment before standing and approaching him. Normally this was uncharacteristic for Nero, approaching someone out of the blue to speak to them wasn't something he could usually bring himself to care about or do, but he felt it needed to be done, the gentleman drinking from the fountain had no idea what he was really drinking. "Excuse me," he began, putting his hand on Erratus' shoulder. "That water you're drinking isn't really safe, nor is it really.. well water." He stopped for a moment attempting to find the best way to explain it to avoiding shocking the individual. "It's more like a liquid by-product of alchemic reaction taking place in the hall over there-" he point behind him to the massive hall doors. "It's not deadly, really it isn't, but too much of it could make you sick, and it's a tad - flammable.."

____

As Talaitha approached the square the population in the area slowly began to fan out and spread away, the once thick crowd had slowly begun to take to the side streets, there were still numerous people left in the square but for reason unknown it had dwindled greatly. Now it was much easier to see from near to far side in the square and as the sun slowly rose to a noon position a balding gentlemen dressed in brown robes 'sprinted' towards Talaitha.
"D-di-did-did the hall let out already?" he question as he gasped for air. "You're one of the members of Moonshire Covenant right?"

Erratus stared blankly at the man who had addressed him. People approaching him of their own volition wasn't something he was accustomed to, or comfortable with. Obviously, the man was jesting. The notion that anyone would fill what was clearly a drinking fountain with anything but water was ridiculous. On the other hand, he didn't see anybody else partaking of it, and now that the man mentioned it, it didn't taste much like water. He pocketed the flask, regardless. If the stuff was flammable, as the man claimed, it could potentially be useful.
He glanced at the large hall at which the man was pointing. He pondered what kind of activities might be underway in such a place to create a flammable substance that looks like water. The prospect was at the same time both intriguing and intimidating. He decided he would like to avoid the building if at all possible.
"What a strange place." Erratus thought aloud. Dazedly, he stood and meandered back into the crowd. Getting water was still at the top of his list of priorities, and there had to be some somewhere.
Wait, that man probably knows where I can get some. He was a bit embarrassed the thought hadn't occurred to him sooner. Against his better judgement, the nomad made his way back to the fountain to talk to the man again. He had been gone for fewer than five seconds.
"You." He said, pointing at Nero and eying him skeptically. "Tell me, how does one go about getting water around here?"
The thirsty wayfarer now thoroughly regretted not having a drink from the river.

Talaitha faced the man with a raised brow, taking a step back. He might have just been hysterical as there was no reason for someone to not suspect her being a gypsy. Perhaps he was oblivious or uninformed. Either way, she decided she could probe further into this matter, seeing how the man was most likely riled up by this group.
"No, I'm just a gy-" she began, catching her tongue before she blurted 'gypsy.' Recollecting herself quickly, she continued, "I'm just a traveler, I have no clue what this Moonshire Covenant is, but if it has to do with the guild hall then I would rather not have anything to do with it."

Lucia eyed the man, who seemed to have dipped himself in a pot of blue dye, with a questioning and cautious stare and watched as he approached her stall. He introduced himself as Alexander Menteshure and promptly commented on her handmade garments and how nicely they looked on her. It took all her strength from turning a bright red so she looked down at her feet and shuffled her feet a bit while murmuring incoherently about it not being much. As he exclaimed at her making it all by herself, her cheeks took on an uncharacteristic rosy complexion as she waved her hand in front of herself dismissively.

"Oh it's nothing really" she replied softly "I just love to weave"

Nero pondered for a moment before answering, surely the traveler must have notice the flowing rivers and creeks all about the city, but perhaps he wanted to know where he could gather water in the immediate vicinity. "There's fresh water pumps outside some of the shops in the square, their water ways connect to a fresh water spring a few miles out. But-" Nero was immediately interrupted by the sound of a vicious bell from atop the hall.

____

Alexander slowly became fascinated with Lucia's shy behaviour, inspecting her eyes closely he began to 'swoon' over her appearance before his train of thought was interrupted by the hall's bell. "Well, I'll be damned now, the courts are changing already?" stepping away Alexander furiously ruffled his hair. "I'm due to the Guild Hall at this very moment, but I couldn't just pull myself away without your name, m'beauty."

____

The old fellow's face flashed red as he quickly recollected himself. "I'm terribly sorry, it's just alot of your kind, dark skinned people I mean, are part of the Moonshire Covenant" turning away he let our a nervous chuckle. "Sorry to offend!" the old man attempted to shuffle away towards the Hall, avoiding direct eye contact with Talaitha. As he approached the building, the doors of the hall swung open and the great bells atop the hall began to ring. It became apparent now why the square had emptied out, people were avoiding the crowd the hall was soon to create. Figures wearing shining or worn armour, dark and light hooded robes, gold lined noblemen clothing, and simple off colour tunics flooded the streets as groups of different individuals entered the square from the side streets, waiting to enter the hall for their session and court. It was now almost doubly as crowded as it was earlier, and many of the individuals leaving the hall were still exiting.

Lucia blinked not knowing what to say. She was so unaccustomed to such attention, especially by a man, and a stranger no less. She could only deepen a further shade of pink as she realized he was staring at her. The tolling of the bells from the great guild hall seemed to snap them both from whatever mental ruminations that they were having at the moment and she raised her head to see what commotion would follow.

The fellow, Alexander, seemed to not want to part so quickly, Lucia on the other hand was flooded with a mixture of relief and confusion as to what had just happened to her. He asked for her name and she opened her mouth to speak, only to find that no words came out. She coughed while blushing trying again and simply replied, "Lucia"

The nomad's confusion was beginning to subside. He knew how to operate a pump, though he was more conditioned to getting water from wells or lakes. Still, he'd take what he could get. Beggars don't get to choose and whatnot.
The stranger was interrupted by the sound of bells emanating from the tall building at the end of the plaza. A torrent of people began pouring from the hall's large doors, spilling into the square until it was even more crowded than before. This was going to make getting a drink marginally more complicated. Erratus turned back to the man.
"What's happening now?" He demanded.

Talaitha stood by as the man disappeared as soon as he appeared, pondering what he meant. No one in her community spoke of any Moonshire Covenant, but knowing how secretive the elders were, they must have been a part of it. But then, why was she not part of it? Was she not chosen to inherit the knowledge? Why was she left in the dark when it came to this matter?

If anything, what the strange man told her was enough to interest her in what went on inside the hall. Finding somewhere to set up shop would have to wait until she understood the Moonshire Covenant. If the other Gypsies were there, she should be there as well. Resolute, Talaitha hurried toward the hall and merged with the crowds who were waiting to enter.

Nero let out a sigh as he slumped against the fountain once again to avoid the crowd, his eyes fixed upon what little he could see of the hall. "They're changing 'courts' the guild hall may be huge, but it can only fit so many people and this is, as of recent events, the formal guild capital of the country. Every time they change court the new group populates the hall for 8 hours. There are permanent groups that never leave the hall though as well, so a lot of groups that spew in out of the place represent smaller guilds, like the River Boat Merchant's Guild.." pausing for a moment Nero took a step forward, just speaking about The Hall of Tarenstine prompted him to want to enter the damned building, just to get a peak. "Hey-" he began looking back at the passer he had just recently met. "Would you like to take a look inside the hall?" There wasn't exactly any kind of rule against non-guild members entering the hall but it was frowned upon under normal circumstances, but Nero felt confident if he was with another person the chances of someone stopping him would be lowered greatly.

_____

The crowd had now come to a trickling stop as the new court began to patiently shuffle up the multiple stairs that sat just outside of the hall. Talaitha, who had worked in her way into crowd was now shoulder to shoulder with a group of robed individuals, most of them appeared to be 'well off'. Their robes were a plain brown colour, but the fridges and ends of their uniform was lined with gold and around their necks they wore medallions depicting the image of a golden eye. The group seemed friendly enough and was accommodating with Talaitha's clearly out of place actions. "My, you're new here, aren't you?" one of the older gentlemen next to Talaitha noted as he began to ascend the stairs. "Here to join a guild?" he added in a rusty voice, one that matched his rough old face and his shiny red nose. "Or are you a new member already?"

______

Alexander could hardly pull himself away from Lucia, in his mind it was love at first sight, or at least he thought. He was taken back by her name and immediately gave a soft sigh. "Oh, Lucia! How enthralling and aristocratic sounding!" He couldn't help but feel a spark of joy knowing that she was speaking to him in what he could only assume was a flabbergasted tone. Immediately though he felt as if his spark of love was being quenched as he would be forced away from her into the hall for a mandatory meeting, but an idea dawned upon him as the immediate fret vanished. "Say, your works are amazing, truly breathtaking. I've never seen cloth so finely made in all of this city! I'm sure if you were to approach the Merchant's Guild they would commission your apparel and sell them in their stores! You wouldn't have to stand out in the streets anymore, how about it?" Alexander turned quickly towards the crowd to check the procession's progress. "I could take you in to meet with the Guild Head and arrange everything!"

Erratus sat, enthralled, as Nero summarized the affairs which the Guild Hall entailed. Though what he was actually enthralled by was the ample portion of the crowd who were toting hefty coin pouches, he managed to catch enough of what Nero was saying to get the gist of the situation. He was immediately opposed to the notion. He wanted nothing to do with the fire-water building, and he had no logical reason to trust this man besides. No way in hell was he going along with this scheme.
"Alright." He said blankly, his misgivings shelved for the time being. His considerable curiosity won out easily over his fear of the unknown, and though he was still greatly skeptical of his new companion's motives, he could always just stab him if he began acting suspiciously. Stabbing had been a good, practical solution to many a problem during his years of traveling.
His mind made up, Erratus stood and prepared to follow Nero. He jostled quite a few bystanders in the process, though they were quick to apologize once they saw him supporting himself with his cane.

((It's funny because firewater is alcohol))

Talaitha shook her head in response to the man's questions, raising her bowed head after noticing no one seemed to mind her presence.
"No, I'm not a member of any guild anymore. I used to be a member of the enchanter's guild, but they turned their back on me and ran my business out of town not too long ago. I've been trying to set up shop somewhere else, but news spreads fast throughout the branches it seems."

Idle chat out of the way, she decided to probe the men for information about the Moonshire Covenant.
"Have you heard of the Moonshire Covenant?" she asked, feigning lack of interest as if it was merely a random question.