Deep in the alleyways of Fleuve Cendre a young man was walking alone. He was wearing some leather armor and had a light sword on his hip, however the armor was scuffed and the metal of the blade's hilt was worn and dull. The young man's face was not much better, he looked tired, unshaven, and hungry.
Things were not going well for Andre at all. He had been an average kid in school, not horrible but also not good either, he did however have some talent in physical tasks. He had high endurance and strength, talents he had nurtured in the hopes of finding a solid job as a laborer. However in the rapidly developing city of Fontaine, who needed people to do physical labor when you could have machines do it for you? After all, machines didn't need a weekly paycheck to be fed and housed. Desperate for money, Andre had turned to the criminal underground, only to be one of the first unlucky people to encounter the Brass Wraith.
It had shown him mercy, only scaring the living daylights out of him and allowing him to run off relatively unharmed. Given it was nearly indistinguishable from a normal Gardemek, he still felt shivers while walking near them even on the brightly lit mainstreets.
Recently, Andre had entered a Mercenary Guid that partnered with a Private Investigator's firm. It felt good, he could pick up jobs that matched his skills, however the ones he could reasonably perform paid little in comparison to what he needed to maintain his daily life so he often overworked himself to get a living, often leaving him exhausted at the end of the day, but still with a roof over his head and enough food to keep him going.
However there had been some major trouble within the guild recently, Apparently a rival firm had started to be more aggressive and started to cut the prices of their services in order to starve the guild of business in the hopes of running it into the ground. This had been causing some stress as some of the guild's high paying customers had shifted over to the cheaper option, as soon as they heard it was available.
Andre wasn't sure how much longer the guild would be able to stick it out, the other group was undoubtedly losing a lot of Mora in this maneuver, but they didn't show any signs of relenting at all.
At the rate things were going, Andre saw this guild, the place he had found a place in within the moral grey of society after becoming a criminal, falling apart, people were leaving or getting injured or ill from overwork or trying to complete more dangerous missions. Soon he too would have to make the decision to leave this employer or risk his physical health in an attempt to earn enough to keep going.
If he chose to leave or had to as the guild closed, what would he do? He did not have enough Mora saved to fall back on. He was unlikely to get a job at another private investigatory guild especially with how adamant this one's rival seemed in tearing it down. And if he could have gotten a job in the light side of society he would never have become a criminal or a Mercenary to begin with, the only surefire occupation he could see for himself… no, he didn't want to risk running into the Wraith again.. But if it were that or starve.. He would have to face it, but he refused to give up until he had no choice.
[Somewhere else in Fleuve Cendre]
Ruisseau Sage was sitting behind his desk. He was the leader of the joint Mercenary Guild and Private Investigation Firm, a group that went by the name Ravenwatch which had been facing financial troubles as of late. He wasn't sure how, but a rival group, the Umbra Accord, had been getting traction and started pulling customers away from his group.
It had started a month ago, when some prospective customers had cancelled their commissions with Ravenwatch and stated they had found another guild with a lower commission rate.
Gradually, word spread about this group offering lower rates and many of Ravenwatch's customers turned to the new group, leaving only the regulars that had built a relationship with the guild.
However, the money gained from the regulars' commissions was not enough to keep the guild running in its current capacity. They were either going to have to raise their prices or cut many costs and sell their current building.
What was worse, was that when they tried to investigate Umbra's new activity, many of their best investigators disappeared without a trace. Ruisseau was sure it was the Umbra's doing, but from the lack of evidence, they could not pin them with any crime.
Ruisseau looked at the portraits of the past leaders of the joint guild on the wall, there were three, two being from the Private investigative firm side of the organization and one from the mercenary core. A feeling of loss and desperation enveloped his heart, he had been raised in this guild, as an orphan with no background, he had been taken in by this group and was able to build a name for himself without having to resort to crime, he had even been selected to take up the mantle of Guildmaster by his predecessor. Now however, everything was going down hill and there wasn't much he could do to stop it, at least legally, but he refused to turn to criminal acts to solve his problems, he had been taught better.
"Mr. Sage" a female voice made itself known in the office Ruisseau thought he had been alone in.
Turning towards the voice, he found a person with their head and face covered with a large black hat and veil, likely a woman judging from their dress and voice, standing there, the window open behind her.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Said Ruisseau as he reached for a weapon
"Do not be alarmed, I came with a proposal from my director, one I think you might find mutually beneficial given your current circumstances."
Despite what she said, Ruisseau did not lower his guard. "And what kind of proposal might this be?" he asked.
"The kind that will help your group out of the situation it is in, and one that will help your group grow larger than it has ever been. We come to open a door of opportunity for you; however it is up to you to choose to use it or not." Said the woman. "We have investigated the abnormality of your rival faction, and offer to aid you with resources and information in return for your cooperation."
"And why should I believe you would not turn on us as soon as we lower our guard?" he asked.
"We have procured a Moraxian Contract. I assume you know of them given your profession." Said the woman.
"A Moraxian Contract… intriguing, I will need to make sure it is genuine and read over the terms before I even consider signing it. I hope that isn't going to be an issue" Said Ruisseau, his eyes locked on the woman, waiting for even a hint of her moving to attack him.
"Of course, here is the current draft of the contract, you may propose revisions as you wish, however, do not test our patience, after all, yours is not the only struggling guild down here." said the woman as she tossed a piece of paper onto his desk.
"Just make sure this remains a secret, that is my Director's bottom line." she said before swiftly jumping out the window, saying one last thing before disappearing. "I will be back in three days. Please be ready by then."
-To be Continued