Every Journey Starts...

Hephaestus Dribble was at the stables at the front gate of the city, fitting his gear onto his pack mule. Gruff was laying lazily nearby in the hay as Hephaestus's horses idly waited for orders. It was a long journey to the desert, so he arrived before everyone else to make sure everything was in order. He had informed Beryl and Danar to meet him at the stables by sunrise, and he was not to tolerate tardiness lightly. As he finished strapping the last of his personal effects to his horse, Gruff's ears perked up and he let out a light "bwof", announcing that someone was arriving. "Thank you for arriving on time." Hephaestus called out, not bothering to turn to see who it was. He wasn't sure which it was, but it didn't matter. Whichever one it was, or even if it was both, the statement was still just as valid. He finished tightening the straps, hopped off the stool he was on, and turned to see who it was with his salesman's grin.

"You're welcome" Danar said as he walked over to his horse. He pulled out an apple and fed it to the horse before checking to make sure his saddle was still in working order. Everything seemed fine though, all that was left was for their last companion to show up. Danar still wasn't entirely certain how he felt about this, but time would tell if this companion would prove to be useful to Hephaestus. Danar moved away from his horse and leaned against the nearby wall, armor and helm on as they awaited their last traveling mate.

Beryllium herself would arrive not long after the sun had begun peeking over the horizon to bathe the area with light, her own mule following not far behind stacked to the brim with all manner of sacks and smallish crates. Whether Hephaestus considered this tardy or not was of particularly little concern to the woman. She'd needed to make a few last minute adjustments to her travel gear and she wasn't about to set off to depart unprepared just to meet her benefactor's timeline. Her research was more important than that.

She looked from one to the other slowly, much of her face veiled beyond her eyes. Her clothing was somewhat extravagant for a simple travel expedition, but it appeared adequate especially considering their next destination. She didn't give much more thought to the duo before introducing herself to the man she'd yet to meet before.

"Beryllium Chatoyancy, scientist and inventor."

As Danar entered the stable, Gruff stood and made his way over to him, laying at his feet as he leaned against the wall. Hephaestus smiled; the mastiff wasn't normally one for showing affection, especially to people outside the Dribble family. It was nice to see he took such a liking to Danar. Once Beryl entered, the old dog's ears perked up and he slowly made his way over to her, softly sniffing her as she entered. After a moment, he let out a sharp exhale and sat down, looking at her while holding almost military posture.
"Wonderful outfit." Hephaestus commented, also sporting silken threads that were probably too gaudy for a long journey such as this. But he was never one to take make anything less than a significant first impression.

Danar turned his head in time to see Beryllium entering the stable with her own mule filled with objects and who knew what. Surely this wasn't what she was going to ride was it? Danar hoped not, poor creature probably could outrun Gruff if its own life was in danger. Still, at least the woman didn't have that annoying air that Danar was afraid of.

"Danar Lothric, mercenary" he said back before pushing himself off of the stables. Danar scratched Gruff's head for a moment before making his way to his own horse. "Hephaestus is in charge of our little party, but command automatically moves to me should any acts of violence break out. I trust that you can listen to instructions even if things get a little tense?"

Beryl took a long moment to absorb that which was going on around her, her head tilting slightly to one side before she spoke. As she did so, she knelt slowly and gingerly extended a hand in case the mutt before her was of the unfriendly sort. She intended to give the animal a quick petting, establishing her presence as a friendly one rather than as any sort of intrusion.

"I appreciate the sentiment and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, mercenary, however, I believe that I was ill-informed. I was led to believe that this would be a caravan of sorts, perhaps with a wagon? I was never told that I would be required to acquire my own riding animal as well. I fear this may require a bit more time to procure..." she paused in thought for a moment, tapping her chin as she planned out the steps she'd be required to take to get herself a proper mount.

"As for combat situations, I assure you that you needn't worry yourself with my safety. I pride myself on knowledge of many things, two of which are a mastery of tactical combat strategy and the use of anima as a deadly force. I'll be more of a boon to you than a burden if forced into a battle."

Gruff stepped forward and gently sniffed Beryl's hand. After a moment, the old dog pushed his head beneath her hand with a light groaning sound, obviously enjoying the light petting.
When the subject of horses came up, Hephaestus stepped away from his mule for a moment, ducking into a neighboring stall. As the two finished discussing the situation of combat, he returned with a large, chestnut mare. "Can't afford to be waiting on you to buy a horse. I bought this one here in case Gruff here got tired of carrying me, but in the absence of you having one, you can ride this steed." He announced. "But as I said at our meeting, I'm expecting you to cover your own travel expenses. Right now, there's only three of us, each with our own steed. Not worth sinking money into a wagon that will slow us down and likely break on the road until we have a few more people. I have a few collapsible and buildable tables on my mule for your research." He added.
After this, he patted the horse and returned to his mule, pulling out his red book and doing one final inventory check. He wanted to be on the road in less than an hour. He was relieved to hear that Beryl could hold her own in a fight; hopefully that would alleviate some of the stress on Danar. Even so, he added, "I do have to stand by Danar. As soon as a fight breaks out, listen to his orders. He says take cover, I expect you to do so. Hopefully I can defuse most fights before they start, but nevertheless, he has the experience to deal with these situations."

"Strategy and application are two very different things. That said, I don't know you" Danar admitted as he moved to get on top of his horse. "Have you ever actually been in a fight or had to kill someone before?" the mercenary questioned curiously as he looked to the woman. He hadn't worked with too many people like her before. When he was hired, he usually had to kill thugs or other warriors of his stature. Having someone like her on this adventure would be interesting.

"Regardless of if you need my help or not, I'll do everything I can to make sure every member of this party is safe as we travel. I was ill-prepared for my last battle, and I don't plan on letting it happen again should the need arise" he said before looking towards Hephaestus. "Anything else we need before we set off?"

"Ah, wonderful..." Beryl noted as her benefactor revealed that he'd bought an extra mount ahead of time, even if it hadn't been meant for her. She'd calculated travel expenses as food, drink, ferry and the such, but she wasn't about to quibble about such things meaninglessly, especially considering that the matter was already settled. "All is well then. And as I attack from long range, seeking cover is a natural instinct. You'll not have to worry about my safety unless I'm unavoidably approached by the enemy. I never recklessly open myself to attacks."

Danar's question for her gave her a moment of pause, as if debating how open to be about the answer to his question. Finally, she appeared to settle on a suitably vague and cryptic answer. "I've done many things in the pursuit of furthering my research." And she'd leave it at that, abandoning the old mutt to now approach the mare that had been offered to her with her mule following not far behind. If they were to leave soon she didn't want to be the cause of further delays, though it seemed that the leader of their little group still had some last minute checks to attend to. Perhaps she should do one last round as well?

For a moment, Gruff's ears drooped as Beryl stopped petting him, but he immediately perked up, back to his military-like posture, when Hephaestus called him over. "Finish up any last double checking you need to do." He called to his companions as he closed his notebook, interrupting their conversation after Beryl's vague comment. As he continued speaking, he began fitting Gruff with a small, specially made saddle. "If need be, you two can continue your little war debate on the road. I want to make as much distance as possible; profit waits for no one." When the saddle was fitted on his mastiff, Hephaestus scratched Gruff's ears. "Ready for a trip, boy?" he asked his dog in Hobblin, who let out a bark in response.

"Right," Beryl replied simply, not adding anything more to the conversation unless it was warranted. Her check was quick, mostly just making one last glance over her mound of supplies and counting everything by finger to make sure she hadn't forgotten any of her containers or what was presumably in them. Once she was satisfied with her count, Beryl was quick to mount up and prepare to leave, expecting the hobblin to realize that this was a sign that she was ready. Considering Danar had already mounted up as well it seemed that they were prepared to depart... probably.

A vague and cryptic answer, typical. This is why Danar usually didn't like working with large groups. There was bound to be someone that annoyed him. However, they were just words at the end of the day. And if she had killed or harmed others, at least she wouldn't freeze at the sight of blood. Danar had to defend people that froze in the midst of combat, it was extremely difficult. With some luck, Danar wouldn't have anything more to worry about.

Danar moved his horse out of the stable, ready to head out whenever the other two followed.

In several clamboring movements, Hephaestus climbed on his dog, whistled to his mule, and followed Danar out of the stable. "We go east." He declared. "To the Alvare desert. I want as much ground covered as possible. Let's make tracks." He said.
Following Danar and his horse, Hephaestus and Gruff trotted along in relative silence for the majority of their journey, only talking when spoken to. Apart from that, Hephaestus had his comically large nose buried in his red notebook, making frequent frantic scribbles.

"Been some time since I had any work done in that area, most people tend to avoid it due to how open it is, and so few are trained to fight on the terrain. Even I won't be that good on it, though I'll make do well enough" Danar assured his employed as they began to travel.

Glancing to his two companions, Danar was curious as to what exactly they would be doing. Danar could handle silence, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. His eyes eventually fell on to Hephaestus. "And what are you writing exactly?"

It wasn't long before Beryl herself was taking up the rear, or rather sort of the side rear. Given that Gruff hardly took up the entire path, Beryl's horse wound up keeping a steady pace at the rear while keeping her mule moving ahead of her. Though she was left with nothing to do but examine her already fairly familiar surroundings, Beryl hardly found it to be a good idea to allow all her things to take up the rear where they could potentially be easy pickings for a silent thief. She had some rather valuable equipment amongst her basic supplies after all!

She noted the mercenary's apparent lack of confidence in his ability to fight at full capacity in a desert environment and then his recovery that he'd find a way to manage, likely an attempt to dispel any doubts their current benefactor may have in keeping him on the payroll. She wasn't going to bother speaking up about it, however. Whatever the merchant did with his money was his own business and she wasn't exactly expecting to rely on Danar as any manner of protection anyhow, especially in a desert environment where she had the upper hand.

Hephaestus looked up towards Danar when he spoke. "Planning out potential expenses." He explained when he asked what he was writing down. "I am aware of the environments unique fighting conditions and enemies, so I have no intention of having you do the fighting alone; I'm calculating out how much food and water will cost us when we stop at one of the checkpoint towns before the desert, as well as lodgings and the like, to find just how much money we'll have left over to spend on guides." He snapped the book shut and scratched Gruff behind the ear. "We Dribbles are the best merchants for a reason; we make sure to take expenses into account long before they're spent. Not to mention our natural charm." He flashed a dazzling smile (for a hobblin) and laughed. "But we should be able to afford a top-class Nub'irian guide to get us to the New Moon Oasis."
The New Moon Oasis was, for those who knew a great deal about trade and supply lines, a well-known source of various fruits and other desert goods that had a spotty history when it came to worker protection/safety, and rumored to be run by less than savory folks. Hephaestus was well aware of its shady rumors, which was one of the chief reasons he had decided to pay as much as he did for someone of Danar's caliber, and was going to be burning another small fortune on a top-tier Nub'irian guard and guide.

Danar merely grunted in response to Hephaestus and his plans. He didn't really know anything about the New Moon Oasis, but he didn't have to. His job was just to hurt, maim, and kill any enemies that showed up in their path. Danar was much more grateful with his recent purchase of a bow, the weapon might prove more useful than his trident should things get nasty. Should they be attacked along the way, it'd be by people who had done it before, and thus would be proficient in fighting on the sands.

Danar glanced over to Beryl. "And you? Anything specific you're hoping to accomplish during this particular leg of the trip?"

Beryl glanced up with a hint of annoyance in her glare as Danar pierced her thoughts with more idle chatter, though neither of her companions would see it given her position at the back. It also wouldn't be easily told by the bland tone of her voice.

Since the two had begun to speak amongst themselves, Beryl had produced a small wand-like device from within her shroud and had begun to fiddle about with it. She'd just been pressing the tip to the side of the mare's neck and was analyzing her results when it had come to her attention that she was being addressed.

"I'll be analyzing the various flora and fauna I can get my hands on for my own studies," she answered simply and left it at that. She hardly expected someone like Danar to understand the more complex intricacies of her study and the importance of such.