Ten Rabbit was waiting in a hidden room in the main temple of Camatz. It was a hidden room that the uninitiated were unaware existed. The murals covering the walls were all of Camatz in various poses and depicted cutting the soul from the bodies of various Michocanos. Which was appropriate for the High temple of that particular god. The diffuse almost brownish lighting made the vivid colors of the murals of the various beings depicted almost leap off of the walls. The lighting was created from a special type of glowing majical obsidian stones set in the walls. Everyone else used lamps of different types, torches or tallow dips depending on what they could afford. Because of it's rarity, only the temples used the majical obsidian lamps. The glowing obsidian that the lamps were made of was never traded and very few outside of Michocan even knew of its existence. It was rare enough that even the Michocano didn't see it unless they were in a temple or at the palace for some reason.
The weather outside the temple was still the cool and dry of winter. The warmer wet weather of spring had yet to start. Deep in the heart of the carved stone temple however the temperature stayed the same no matter what the weather outside was doing. Ten Rabbit had just gotten the tattoo's sacred to Camatz placed on his head, face and body. Those marked him as both a priest of Camatz as well as a Sacred Assassin but very few Michocano were aware of the double meaning to the tattoos. Ten Rabbit's curly blue-black hair was cut almost to his skull on top. Both sides and his forehead to almost the middle of his head was completely shaved. Now that he was a full priest Ten rabbit would be allowed to grow his hair to any length he wanted but only the hair that was currently cut close to his scalp. The shaved areas would stay shaved for the rest of his life. Unless of course he got kicked out of the priesthood and somehow managed to survive the experience. Something that had never happened except for the extremely rare times that the priest being kicked out was excommunicated in absentia.
Ten Rabbit's narrow frame would broaden at the shoulders as he aged but right now his shoulders were not much wider than his hips so he looked long, lean and vaguely unfinished even at his young age of seventeen. Ten Rabbit currently was wearing a loin cloth under a waist wrap that was so heavily beaded that it was no longer possible to see the original cloth under them. His golden-brown, heavily tanned skin was beaded with sweat but he didn't move a muscle or make even the slightest noise. Ten Rabbit had completed many tests over the last three sleepless days and nights of his Tlatzahui ritual. This was his final test to become a sacred assassin for Camatz. During this test, he must make no sign that he felt anything, no pain, hunger or sleeplessness. Ten Rabbit must show that he feels nothing at all. Equally important he cannot react to any sights, signs or other sensation either. The other priests of Camatz had tried many different ways to get him to react. Cold water trickled down his back, sharp sudden sounds out of nowhere. Anything and everything the priesthood could think of to get a reaction from him, all while he was being tattooed with a senior priest watching over him. This was the hardest part of the ritual tests that Ten Rabbit had endured but if he succeeded he would become a priest of his god and one of his Sacred Assassins. And if Ten Rabbit failed in even the most minor part of the Three day ritual, he would be brutally put to death for failing his god.
Once the Tlatzahui ritual was complete Ten Rabbit kneeled at the feet of the high priest of Camatz. He had survived his Tlatzahui and was now a Sacred Assassin. At the conclusion of his Tlatzahui Ten Rabbit had received the Tzanatli or ritual obsidian blade. It was made from a single piece of obsidian with a simple but very sharp blade and an ornately carved handle that depicted a bat. A sacred weapon that was only used in the sacred assassinations that Camatz himself had decreed would happen. It was the high priest before him who decided which Sacred Assassin would get what assignment, but no Tlatzahui ritual was considered to be complete until after the first sacred assassination was done and the assassin had returned.
Ten Rabbit's face still stung from the tattoos he had been given. And he was fighting the exhaustion and yawns from everything that had happened over the last three days. He showed no sign of the pain from his tattoos or how tired and exhausted he was. Nor did he show any discomfort from the intentionally rough stone that he'd been kneeling on since the ritual started. Pain was inconsequential, the only thing that mattered now was waiting attentively for the high priest of Camatz to speak and tell him if he was getting his first assassination now? Or was he going to have to wait, not fully a priest and assassin of Camatz but no longer a student until he was given an assassination to complete his ordination as priest and Sacred Assassin.
Camatz was one of the most important gods for the Michocano, he was an important god of the dead. It was Camatz who flew down from the sky and severed the link between the body and the spirit so the soul could continue on its journey. If that link wasn't severed by Camatz then that person was doomed to be tied to Ardu and not pass onto the afterlife. Those souls were cursed to wander the world as hungry ghosts, forever miserable and suffering. There were two ways the Michocano worshiped the god Camatz. One was how the sacred assassins worshiped, a way that the very few who knew about. This was made up exclusively of nobles, and not many of those. For the most part the Sacred Assassins were unknown. The of the rest of the Michocan people made up the larger group. The majority of people who worshiped at the temple of Camatz came for two reasons, to try and hold off death for as long as they could. And to pray for Camatz to find any relatives that for what ever reason hadn't been able to receive the needed death rites.
Now that he was a Sacred Assassin of Camatz, Ten Rabbit was considered a junior priest as well. But only if he successfully completed his mission and returned to the temple. From now on he would now live in the priests temple complex instead of his parents opulent home in the nobles quarter of Tlatlolitzli, the capitol of the Michocan Empire. While all of the Sacred Assassins of Camatz were priests, not all priests of Camatz were sacred assassins. In fact very few of the priests of Camatz were also assassins. Anyone of any rank could become a regular priest of any Michocan god, but only nobles could join the mystery cult of whatever god they followed. Each of the gods of Michocan had a mystery cult that only the noble followers of that god knew about.
Ten Rabbit waited patiently for the high priest of Camatz to tell him what his mission would be. Patience was just one of the many things that was taught to those who would become the Sacred Assassins. Those who became the Sacred Assassins started training at a very early age. As soon as the child showed that they had high intelligence as well as the needed physical aptitude the priests would test them to see if they should become initiates to the mysteries of Camatz or if they would just be priests. Ten Rabbit had excelled at every aspect of his training from the very beginning. So much so that the decision to make him one of Camatz's assassins was a foregone conclusion from the get go.
While he waited for the high priest to speak Ten Rabbit's mind drifted back to when he was tested for inclusion into the sacred assassins. He had been a boy of only seven at the time. Even then he had been both more physical and smarter than anyone else in the temple school he attended. He was also a staunch worshiper of Camatz. For as long has he'd been aware of the different gods, Ten Rabbit had felt that Camatz had a role for him to fill. All nobles of any rank were trained in the basics of reading, writing and arithmetics, so that they would be ready for the jobs they would do in support of the Teotlepetl, the God-King, of the Michocan empire. Even in his earliest classes Ten Rabbit had excelled. So much so that he had been recommended for deeper study at the temple of Camatz. All within his first year of teaching, which had confirmed his beliefs about Camatz.
Everyone in his family had been so proud, even those who didn't know what his service would mean. For even the majority of nobles weren't aware of the mystery cult that service to Camatz could entail. As far as the majority of his family knew he was only a priest of Camatz, which in all fairness he was. They just didn't know about the rest of the job description, the part about him assassinating the people that Camatz wanted him too. Ten Rabbit had lived up to his potential as far as his teachers were concerned, he knew this because he'd survived his Tlatzahui ceremony. He also knew that he'd done well by the style of the tattoos he'd received as part of it. Now all he waited for was to find out if he was going out immediately on a mission or if he was going to have to wait for Camatz to designate someone to die.
Ten Rabbit wasn't sure which he hoped for, after all it was terrible to wish for someone you didn't know to die. There had been some Sacred Assassins who had needed to wait for a long time, even years, to be given a mission. Other times there were more missions than people to do them. The latter had been during very tumultuous times. Thankfully this wasn't one of those times, at least he didn't think it was. None of the other countries were at war with anyone. Well Gizba was, but they generally were at war with everyone. And the rest of the world didn't care, they just avoided the place. So, as far as Ten Rabbit knew this wasn't one of those inauspicious times and he was very glad for that.
The high priest was a tall, lean muscular man with impressively broad shoulders like the majority of Michocano. The sacred tattoos on his face showed that at one time he had also been a Sacred Assassin. No one that hadn't been a Sacred Assassin could become the high priest of Camatz. The rule about becoming high priest didn't just apply to Camatz. In fact all of the high priests of the different gods of Michocan had once been members of that religions mystery cult. This isn't to say that someone from outside of the capital couldn't become high priest. Not the only rules as far as Ten Rabbit knew were that they had to of have once been a member of a mystery cult, which meant they were a noble of some kind. But the nobles didn't just live in the capitol. Many nobles lived in the country and their homes were the centers of many of the larger villages in Michocan.
Ten Rabbit knew that when he spoke the high priest's voice would resonate through him. No one could ignore or dismiss the high priest of Camatz when he spoke. He even believed that the Teotlepetl would listen to the high priest of Camatz when he spoke. Ten Rabbit didn't know how things were done in the temples of other gods. If he ever became high priest he'd find out he supposed. But since he had no desire to be high priest Ten Rabbit doubted that he'd ever know. Which was as far as Ten Rabbit was concerned just fine. While he had an inquisitive mind he had no desire to learn things that would get him killed if others found out that he knew them.
Finally the high priest spoke the words that Ten Rabbit had been waiting for. The high priest told him what and where his mission for Camatz was to be. Not only had he been given a mission but his mission was outside the Michocan Empire. To the best of his knowledge Ten Rabbit was in a very select group of assassins whose first sacred mission was outside of Michocan. In fact it was in Kishnagar, which was very far from his home in Tlatlolitzli. He was being sent far from home with no support on his very first mission. Camatz and his high priest must have great faith in him to give him such an important mission. He would not let them down, not the high priest and most definitely not Camatz.
Ten Rabbit's first step would be to journey to Alkadharam, the capital of Kishnagar. From there he would join any adventurers group heading towards the Adikha Yunavarasiti. If the group was going all of the way to the Yunavarasiti then all was well. If not than he would leave when the party was as close to his target as it got and continue to his goal. Once he was alone he would travel the rest of the way to the Yunavarasiti by himself and again all would be well. Where he would kill the leader of a group of mages before they could end the world. If he had to kill all those mages to get to his target he would. Nothing was going to get in the way of his mission.
Travel
A few weeks later Ten Rabbit was walking along the border of the Michocan empire and the Oristani lands. It was a mostly warm, but very sunny day. The dry grass of the savanna crunched under his sandals. He wore what every Michocano wore when they left their homelands. For some reason some of the other nations found the standard Michocano attire to be more or less scandalous so they wore leggings that were loose on the upper leg and close tied to the lower leg with the ties of their sandals with their ever present hip wrap over them. On the upper body they wore a open vest that fell to the hips under a colorful poncho. A close knitted cap that could be tied under the chin finished off the look.
Because the Michocano had no interest in remembering which of the countries thought that they were under dressed. It was decided long ago to just wear what the Michocano wore in the usually cold highlands whenever they left their territory. Along with him Ten Rabbit took a beast of burden. An Alpaca that he used to carry all of his supplies and goods that he needed. After all he was of noble blood and didn't need to carry his goods on his back like a commoner.
Ten Rabbit was traveling through the dry grasslands that abutted his beloved rain forest. Technically the land he was walking through was part of the Michocan Empire, but the Oristani also claimed those lands. Since the Oristani were only interested in grazing their herds and gathering some of the herbs and spices that grew wild in the forests at the border of the two countries, the stance of the Michocano was to let them do so instead of trying to keep them out. Pretty much every country on Ardu had learned to not argue with the Oristani about borders. At one time or another each of the countries that bordered the Oristani lands had tried to stop the temporary invasions of their sovereign lands. The only result was that their people were slaughtered by the Oristani that came boiling out of nowhere in huge numbers. It didn't matter how advanced your weapons were, or how big your army was. The Oristani would calmly hand you your head and make you like it. No one argued when the Oristani came through on their seasonal trips to the Michocan lands. It was much safer to live and let live when those folks were around. All of them had learned that particularly sharp lesson the hard way.
Ten Rabbit walked along the obsidian road trade path wondering if he was going to see any of the elusive Oristani. He knew that he would be safe from them because the Oristani never attacked unless they were attacked first. Although there was some mild raiding done by young Oristani trying to make a name for themselves, no one was actually hurt by these raids. Although it was a bit disconcerting to wake up and find that only one of your beasts was gone or an item from inside your house is missing. The people who lived on the edges of Oristani lands had long ago gotten use to it. There even was a convention of sorts. The "raiders" never took something that was truly needed for survival. Such as the only mount or a needed piece of equipment. Only things that wouldn't lead to the death of the one being raided. Apparently some of the Oristani, especially the young adults of both sexes, thought it was a great game.
Ten Rabbit wondered if other lands had the same kind of troubles with the Oristani. Or if this was something only this tribe did. Ten Rabbit knew that there were many different tribes and they weren't very homogeneous. As far as Ten Rabbit knew the only thing they all shared was their reverence of the spirits and their shaman. But considering how private the tribes were his ignorance was no great surprise to him. Ten Rabbit prided himself on knowing everything that his people knew about the Oristani. Which to be honest wasn't really much.
Ten Rabbit kept his eyes on the ground he was walking on, only looking up when he had to. On his right was the start of the vast plains of Oristan and on his left was the edge of the dense forests and jungles of his people. He had never before been away from his home city of Tlatlolitzli, floating on man made islands of Lake Michocatle. Even there the jungle was ever present growing everywhere except in the city itself. And in the city the great size of the stone buildings gave the same kind of feeling that the dense jungle did. Never in his life had Ten Rabbit been faced with such an open expanse of land and sky. Of the two, Ten Rabbit was more discomforted by the open sky. So much so that he'd taken to walking with his eyes on the ground so he wouldn't see the sky above him. It was almost enough to make him feel like he was going to go flying up into the sky.
Ten Rabbit neither heard nor saw the group of Oristani who rode up to him. He did manage to become aware of them before they spoke to him but only just. Their Temee made almost no sound as they rode up to him. Only sound of the soft and gentle chiming of the bridle bells told Ten Rabbit that they were there. Those bells also told Ten Rabbit that the Oristani in front of him weren't a hunting or raiding group. Neither would have had the bells on their bridles. Plus a raiding group would be much larger and younger. There were very few of the youths that usually raided into the Michocan lands.
In fact Ten Rabbit had seen groups just like this, only unmounted, trading in the city more than once. So he figured that this group was on its way to do just that. None of the cities in Michocan were set up for mounts. Generally speaking the Michocan didn't ride any mounts. Sure, the very old, the injured, or the crippled would travel in a cart. But the Michocan didn't use mounts of any kind, instead preferring to walk and Ten Rabbit was no different. They used runners for messages and llamas or alpaca for just about everything else. But no one rode either even if they'd would put up with it.
The Oristani were mounted and Ten Rabbit was uncertain of what he was seeing at first. For a brief moment Ten Rabbit thought he was looking at some bizarre monster. He had never seen a Temee in reality after all. It took a couple of heart beats for his mind to actually make sense of what he was seeing. And when he finally did the revised picture wasn't much of an improvement. He'd had no idea that the Temee were so large. Ten Rabbit had always thought that Temee were just slightly taller versions of the llamas they used to transport goods and pull carts. The Oristani were already a tall people and mounted on their Temee they seemed to be giants.
Ten Rabbit jumped a bit when the Oristani in the lead made his Temee kneel so he could dismount. He'd met Oristani before so his? her?, it was hard for a Michocano to tell sometimes, voice came as no surprise. Actually Ten Rabbit had always thought that the deep voices of the Oristani were rather nice. He'd often wondered what their music was like, but now was not the time to ask. The leader of the traders walked up to Ten Rabbit, the Temee following like a dog. No lead rope or anything that Ten Rabbit recognized as a means to control the beast. He could feel fear starting climb up his spine the closer the beast came to him. If he'd known just how large the Temee were he might have tried to find another way to get to his target.
Ten Rabbit steeled himself, determined not to let his fear show. The Oristani had no respect for the cowardly but it was very hard with that mount so close, and were those fangs? Were the Temee meat eaters, Ten Rabbit thought he might have heard something about that but had always thought it was only rumor. But with the beast so close to him now, he started to rethink that belief. The Oristani stared at him intently, looking him directly in the eye. He seemed to remember it was a sign of respect, so Ten Rabbit raised his head to meet the very intense Oristani's gaze. Then his brain translated what the trader had said. They wanted to know if he was in trouble of some kind and did he need a ride to somewhere to get help.
Thankfully Ten Rabbit was able to tell the traders, quite truthfully, that he was on his way to Alkhadharam and was just fine. That was when they surprised him again and asked if he wanted to buy one of their camels for a mount. This string, except for the temee of course, were all for sale as well as the goods they carried. They could shift the load around if he needed a mount. Ten Rabbit had never been gladder of his lessons at the temple. He was able to tell them, without insulting them, that he didn't need a mount but thank you for the offer. They shrugged, mounted and continued on their way.
As he watched the Oristani traders continue on their way Ten Rabbit was very glad that he'd been able to convince them that he didn't need a mount of any kind. His aversion to riding was more than the fact that only the ill or aged rode and that was only in llama pulled carts. His people just really didn't ride. And in his case it was more than tradition, it was also the fact that any beast much larger than his alpaca gave him a case of the horrors. It didn't matter how peaceful the animal was if it was large it scared him. Just thinking about it made him nervous so Ten Rabbit tried to calm himself. It was a very long time before he succeeded.
Assassins Guild
Just over a month later Ten Rabbit was sitting in the common room of his inn in Alkhadharam listening to the strange music of the large stringed instruments they had here. Someone was playing along on small hand drums, the rhythm was very fast and almost chaotic, it didn't seem to follow the other players. Also a woman was singing along in Kishnagari in a strange high voice that almost seemed at odds with the musicians. The people in the inn seemed to like it or were indifferent, Ten Rabbit couldn't make up his mind about it either way. It was just strange, much like the food here.
The inn was very colorful to say the least and everyone was at low tables sitting on small round colorful cushions on the floor. The lighting was candles that sat in little lanterns and it almost seemed that someone wanted to see how many they could hang from the ceiling without setting the draped fabric that also hung from the ceiling on fire. The inn seemed to be filled with a chaotic energy. People were talking loudly, the musicians played loudly, people were constantly coming and going. It almost seemed like everyone was having a contest of who could be the loudest. Ten Rabbit wasn't impressed.
He was waiting for his dinner to arrive. Tomorrow he was to go to the Adventurer's guild to see if he could find a party heading towards the Adikha Yunavarasiti. If not, he would and could travel the distance alone. But it would be better if he had a group to travel with, if only for cover. It would be harder to get into the yunavarasiti if he didn't have a reason to enter, and "I'm really curious and want to look around" wasn't going to cut it. Sure he could sneak in, and if he couldn't find a party to go with he would. But that had its own risks and he wanted to avoid them if he could. No, the best way to get into the yunavarasiti would be as part of a group that had a reason to enter.
Ten Rabbit's impression of the city wasn't very complimentary. How had these crazy people managed to get anything done. There was no clear chain of command to control how and when stuff was accomplished. They voted for their leader for gods sake. This whole place was crazy. Ten Rabbit was fairly certain that he would never understand this place or the people in it. How did people know what they were supposed to do or be. And the temples were everywhere. You could pick pretty much any street and somewhere on it would be at least one or more temples. Ten Rabbit understood that different peoples had different gods, that was only right and proper. Some of those temples were even dedicated to the Michocano gods. That was also quite understandable to Ten Rabbit. What he didn't understand was why the temples were all over the place and anyone could go into any temple. It was all very confusing to Ten Rabbit and he wasn't sure he wanted to understand it.
Ten Rabbit had been in Alkhadharam for almost a week now. It had taken that long to find out all of the places he needed to go to to accomplish his mission, or at least this phase of it. While his superiors could have just told him where he needed to go, they hadn't for a very good reason. Ten Rabbit needed to show that he could work well without direct input from his teachers and superiors. If he couldn't figure out how to do everything he needed to do here then he wouldn't be able to finish his mission. If he couldn't complete his task, his mission, then he should just go home and let the temple give this task to someone else. Since the mission, and who would complete it, had been decreed by Camatz he should be able to do it. After all he'd been chosen by Camatz himself, hadn't he.
Ten Rabbit sat thinking, while around him the common room bustled with activity. The only part of this crazy land that made any sense were the taverns and inn common rooms. In every other way these people were confusing to him. He had already decided that unless he really had to leave the inn he was going to stay here. Ten Rabbit was paying close attention to everyone around him. Not because he really thought that those around him were dangerous, but because that was how he was trained. Even with all of that caution he missed the startled expression that one of the other customers made when he stood and left.
Later that night Ten Rabbit was relaxing in his room reading when there was a knock on his door. Who could that be he thought to himself as he stood up. Ten Rabbit decided that it must be a message from the adventurers guild. He was not expecting who was at his door. There were five of them, two Humans, two Alfr and a Long Yi. The Long Yi pushed Ten Rabbit backwards into his room. The rest of the group followed with the last one carefully closing the door behind them. The scaled face of the Long Yi was close enough to Ten Rabbits face that if it had used its breath weapon there would have been no way to dodge it.
Ten Rabbit's body reacted without conscious thought, as it had been trained to. Before the Long Yi had a chance to do or say anything Ten Rabbit had killed it with a quick jab of the knife in his sleeve. He then stabbed one of the two Alfr in the eye before the Long Yi had hit the ground. Spinning in place Ten Rabbit then kicked the remaining Alfr hard in the chest, sending it into the wall. The two loud cracks from the Alfr he'd kicked, one when he kicked and second when he hit the wall, probably meant that that attacker was also permanently down. That left the two Humans staring at him, stunned at the quick removal of the other three attackers.
For a moment Ten Rabbit considered letting the other two live. But one of the two Humans decided to pull a knife and and charged him. A quick side step took him out of the way of the charge. A quick stab with another of the knives that Ten Rabbit had hidden in his other sleeve put an end to that one as well. All that was left was one very startled Human that was just starting to understand just how screwed he was. Ten Rabbit decided that the five attackers were not as skilled as they had thought they were. Ten Rabbit was also certain that if he did leave the sole remaining attacker alive, he'd probably just go and get more friends to try again. This guy was too stupid to do anything else. With that thought in mind Ten Rabbit approached the sole remaining invader. This was going to be a long and messy night.
Adventurers Guild
A few hours later Ten Rabbit now knew why he'd been attacked in his room tonight. Apparently one of the assassins guild members had been in the common room of his inn. This member had been the guilds chronicler and had recognized his tattoos as belonging to the sacred assassins of Camatz. Of all the bad luck, that chronicler also happened to have made a study of the more obscure religious groups of assassins. Which was why the blasted chronicler was able to identify him. His tattoos had given him away which was more than annoying since not even his own countrymen would have known what they meant.
It seemed that when that oh so industrious chronicler had seen his tattoos he had gone directly to the Assassins guild and told them what he had seen. Unfortunately this individual had a reputation for sober thought. If he'd had one for exaggeration Ten Rabbit might not have been found out. Once they had gotten the news that one of the sacred assassins of Camatz was here the guild heads had lost their collective minds and decided that since he hadn't registered with them that he must be there to either assassinate one of them or someone so high up in the government that they wouldn't have allowed him anywhere near them.
The real reason he hadn't contacted the assassins guild here was that he was only passing through. The odds were that if he'd been there to kill one of them or a high government official he probably would have gone to them. The sacred assassins really did try to work within the law whenever possible. Or at least within the guidelines of the country they were in. If only because it kept things like this from happening. But Ten Rabbit had figured that since he was only passing through it wouldn't matter. If he made it back home he would tell the priests of Camatz about what happened so they could update the information about Alkhadharam. That way no one else would, hopefully, run into this situation.
On the good side of the ledger, he had managed to defeat five people who if not assassins had known enough that the majority of people, assassins included, would have been defeated and/or killed. So at least the fight had proved that his skills were as good as his teachers had said they were. However it also meant that he would have to leave quickly. Not just the inn, but the city altogether. It was no longer safe to be anywhere in Alkhadharam for the foreseeable future. Ten Rabbit was going to have to go to the adventurers guild as soon as he was done with clean-up here.
For a long moment Ten Rabbit debated just leaving the mess behind and going to the adventurers guild immediately. In the long run he decided against it though. Since leaving a mess was not only bad manners but would probably get the constables on his trail as well as the twice blasted assassins guild here. Ten Rabbit foresaw a very long and labor intensive night ahead of him. And he better get onto it before the coming day complicated what he needed to do beyond all expectations.
Later that same night after some very tricky maneuvering, Ten Rabbit was able to dispose of the bodies and generally get his room clean enough to pass unnoticed by the cleaning staff. Not that the inn he was staying at would have much of a cleaning staff. More than likely as long as there is no obvious issues, like huge puddles of blood or random corpses laying around. He didn't think that anything was going to be noticed. So now all he had to do was to get himself out of town as fast as he could.
With that thought in mind Ten Rabbit headed to the adventurers guild right away rather than going at a more reasonable hour as he had originally planned. Thankfully the adventurers guild never closed their doors. While individual businesses closed, the city itself didn't seem to. Businesses like the adventurers guild not only stayed open at all hours but seemed to always be doing a brisk business. While Ten Rabbit hadn't actually gone into the guild, he had scouted it out multiple times over the last week. He would have gone in sooner, but Ten Rabbit wanted to make sure he knew all of the in's and out's of the place before he walked in. More than one job had failed because the person assigned to it hadn't been careful about things like that. Sure he wasn't planning on doing any work here. The fact that he was able to not only survive the attack, but was able to clean it up afterwards proved the wisdom of that particular piece of training.
Even knowing that the city of Alkadharam in general and the adventurers guild specifically never slept did not adequately prepare Ten Rabbit for what he found when he walked into the guild in the early hours before dawn. He'd expected activity but not this level of bustling around. The stable area looked like someone had stirred up an ant hive with how many animals were being saddled and unsaddled around him. It took a very long minute for Ten Rabbit to steel himself to cross the stable yard with all those animals moving around and making unpleasant sounds that he assumed were complaints. If he hadn't needed to get out of town so quickly he might have balked at crossing the stable yard at all, but his mission was more important than any nervousness. So through the stable yard he went dodging animals and their waste with fastidious haste.
The inside of the guild was even busier than the outside, it was worse than the inn. It took a bit for Ten Rabbit to find someone that wasn't running somewhere at top speed, eventually he succeeded. Once he was able to get his desire across to one of the guild's people things moved rather quickly. Before he knew it Ten Rabbit was added to a group that was leaving that same day. In fact the guild was getting the pack animals ready to go as they spoke. Ten Rabbit was very pleased to have found a group so easily. Significantly less please to find out he was going to need a mount. No matter how many times or ways that he tried to explain that he didn't need a mount. Ten Rabbit was unable to convince the guild folk that he was just fine walking. They insisted that he would need a mount or he wasn't going on this job. Ten Rabbit's need to get out of town so he could complete his mission was much higher than his desire to stay unmounted. So Ten Rabbit found himself being given a mount by the guild and he was ready to go.
