Of Glory and Riches (MonkeySage)

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For Grassveil's guildhall, it was business as usual. Teams had come in every now and then to receive payment for completed missions and to rest up or pick up assignments as they were posted on the board. It wasn't a huge flurry of activity, but there were people around in the mess halls or in the rooms discussing anywhere from personal to guild business.

Near the mission boards, standing slightly off to the side and barely reaching the bottom of the post it board itself was a short, reptilian individual who fixed the posted missions with an amber-eyed stare. The lime green serpentine body with stubby legs and long, fanned tail revealed the new arrival to be a snivy. Not very common in the region, but he seemed to be present none the less.

His name was Jeremy, and for the last thirty minutes he hasn't moved from that spot ever since he entered the guild hall about an hour ago. In fact, despite himself, the Grass Snake Pokemon seemed slightly shocked at the fact that such a building existed in the first place. He came into the guild hall with a gaping mouth that settled into a carefully maintained face of stoicism… Though his wandering amber eyes betrayed his thirst for knowledge about this place.

"I didn't know they had a guild here…"

He didn't seem to be talking to anyone in particular, and the normally composed voice was toned down to a murmur.

When Jeremy came across this place he was amazed. Guilds back in his homeland hosted some of the most famous travelers, explorers, entrepreneurs, and treasure hunters the world had ever seen. Others were famous for their heroic actions in bringing down terrifying villains that were at the mercy of the cunning, vicious criminals that thought they couldn't be stopped.

Some of those individuals that came from the guilds became legends in their own right.

Jeremy tried to calm himself as he made efforts to go about this rationally. Compared to home, this guild was fairly small stuff. It was an opportunity though, and um… He DID find himself low on funds… Despicable, but even if he was proud he was also pragmatic. He needed to do some… Work.

Without really realizing it, Jeremy slowly back up to get ready to turn around when he felt something collide into him. Shaking himself a little from the light impact, the male snivy frowned and furrowed his scaly brow when he beheld the individual he walked into...

At her words, Jeremy's amber eyes widened in shocked at the… Apparent care she showed him. That, and her perceptiveness. The Grass Snake Pokemon idly wondered if the sneasel was just messing with him so far… She would seem unusually out of it, but moments like these never ceased to surprise him.

For a while, he considered her words, head tilted away and expression thoughtful. After some time considering the options presented, Jeremy gave a slow nod as he turned back to Kuro. "No… I think we will go with Magna." Jeremy sighed as he lifted his hands up, shrugging ever so slightly. "The Blackwood family has much renown on its own anyway. If I want to add to their greatness, I have to be able to build something great on my own first."

Jeremy turned to face Kuro once again. "Besides, I want something that lasts in the memory of others besides just my family. A Blackwood can get credit for helping form and lead this team, but a team is not made from one individual alone! We shall be Team Magna, for everyone who is a member will achieve and exemplify greatness itself. That is what the words means, and that is what we will accomplish."

He felt somewhat proud of his speech… To co-form an exploration team and lead it himself. He didn't think anyone in Blackwood had accomplished such a task yet. Achieving that kind of glory, earning riches, and proving his leadership abilities would surely earn him the mantle of next in line… But more than that… To be part of history...

The lime-green serpent turned to face the female meganium, face composed and determined. "Miss Faye, I believe we have our name. Team Magna… M…A…G…N…A."

While the two Pokémon in front of her debated over the name of their future team, guildmaster Faye watched the spectacle, silently chuckling to herself. Now that they had decided on a name, she waited for a moment to see, whether they would get another idea, then wrote it down next to their names.
"Okay, dearies. You are now officially a team! Now to get you equipped..."
Using her vines the guildmaster retrieved one of the medium-sized bags from the wall, setting it down on the desk between the three of them.
"Now, sweeties, this is your Treasure Bag. Inside you will find your Explorer Badges, your Wonder Map and a little surprise. So, would you like to familiarize yourself with it now, or would you prefer for us to get the two of you a room first?"

(The surprise is a ribbon for each team member in the colour of their choice, just like the ribbon at the start of PMD Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky.)

Kuro didn't wait for her partner to decide what he wanted to do and opened with bag hastily. Inside was a Wonder Map already rolled up like a scroll, beside that were 2 ribbons, and atop of them were their Explorer Badges. She excitedly picked a badge and a ribbon, the ribbon was the exact same shade of red as her feathers on her tail.

Kuro wrapped the ribbon around her neck with a smile "How do I look?" The sneasel twirled around with a short laugh. She didn't really care much about the wonder map, she preferred just randomly exploring places, despite that gets her in trouble a lot of the time

Despite himself, Jeremy earned himself the faintest hint of a smirk, amber eyes surprisingly warm. They were a team now. Ever since he came to this continent by sea, problems and disappointments plagued him at every turn. Now, things seemed bright. Gripping his hand tightly, Jeremy felt a wave of energy invigorate him.

At Faye's question and the offering of the bags, Jeremy barely managed to get a word out, much less grab his own before the female sneasel practically LUNGED herself across the table at it with a sound that sounded somewhere between a squeal and an excited chirp. Taking a deep breathe to compose himself that followed a sigh, Jeremy simply offered a relaxed smile to Faye. "I think she has officially answered that question."

As Kuro started to frantically dig through her bag, the snivy calmly took his own off the table, carefully looking though it. He pulled out the map, calmly looking over it for moment before folding it up again and organizing it in the slotted pouch. It seemed to hold information of a lot of local areas and regions… That will be very important for later.

The next thing that came with it was the explorer badge… It was about the size of Jeremy's hand, maybe slightly bigger. The centerpiece was a dark green gem polished to a sheen… Jade perhaps? Intricate vine work webbed on the side of the gem and formed the back base, and emblazoned wings sprouted from the sides… So this was Grassveil's official explorer badge… And now their badge of office. Jeremy put that back neatly before bringing out a colored ribbon.

His seemed to be a rich, ebony color. Black as night with a satin feel to it, Jeremy gave a small smirk of pleasure as his leafy hands stroked the surface of it before glancing at Kuro when she asked her question.

"Not bad. It matches you well." Jeremy looked thoughtful as he held his own bit of clothe up. "What do you think Kuro? Arm band or bow tie?" Come to think of it, when he had the funds he may tailor something for the team later to differentiate their own group, but that could be done another day.

Jeremy then turned back to Faye, thoughtful expression on his face. "Speaking of room and board… Is there a monthly or weekly rent that is imposed, or does this guild make money from donations or get a sum of the reward poke?"

Calmly watching the two gleefully check out their new equipment, Faye couldn't suppress a small grin from appearing on her face. The Pokémon, who signed up here may be as different as the night is from the day, but this look of pure, simple joy on a face always was the exact same.
After the newest recruits had calmed down a little, the Meganium suddenly found herself facing the Snivy, who had presented quite an interesting question to which she responded:
"Well, we do manage to finance this organisation by means of several social security systems coupled  with a few supplementary fonds, but in essence the guild earns its money by utilizing its fractional claim on the payment for services of its members. The exact terms and policies are to be found in the Guild Handbook §42-9001, available in the guild library."

Kuro replied with slight glee at the Snivy's question "Hmm.. Bow tie would add a certain charm..." She let out a small laugh and listened to Faye talk about... money? At Least that's all she got from it. Yet she nodded along with a few "Mm.. yes" along the way. After Faye had done she nodded a last time "Yes yes.... so... there happens to be money... aaand..." She paused for a few moments "A... handbook of sorts?" She clapped her paws together "Yep, totally get it, 100 percent understand what you're talking about... Yup"

Jeremy nodded at Faye thoughtfully as the meganium went into the details of their arrangement. This information was important to know after all, as this determined when and how he would get paid. Jeremy looked thoughtful as went about tying the black ribbon around his neck, threading it into the shape of a sharp looking bow tie.

Temporarily ignoring Kuro's ramblings, the male snivy simply stated, "Ah. So the rewards listed are a small percentage of what the guild gets the most of… And what the guild gets helps with upkeep and overall service to the guild mates themselves. Seems reasonable."

Jeremy preceded to hop out of his chair, face composed and eyes lidded in the typical expression most snivies wore. Swinging his pack over his shoulder, he offered Kuro a slight smirk. "Up and at em' Kuro. Anyway Faye, I may reference that book later when I find the time. It would probably be most pertinent."

Jeremy then glanced at Kuro. "I suppose our next step is our living quarters?"

"In essence that is correct.", the guildmaster responded.
"And yes, the next and last step will be getting the two of you suitable accomodations. Just tell me, once you are ready. Or are there any further questions you're having?"
These two Pokémon certainly were a peculiar team, the noble and polite Jeremy paired with the rather simple and direct Kuro. How had they found each other?
Well...the Grass type would find out sooner or later. For now she had to get the new team a room.

Kuro shrugged her shoulders "Well I'm pretty sure i'm ready, although knowing Jeremy he'll have one hundred and one questions" She let out a small giggle and waited for Jeremy's retort, which would most likely be a stare or gaze that would make Kuro ever so slightly uncomfortable

Jeremy, completely composed simply shook his head at Kuro's suggestion. "I believe madame Faye has informed me that most guild regulations and rules can be purveyed at my disclosure. If that is the case, I shouldn't be taking up anymore time." In a very professional manner that seemed almost unlike his age, the snivy turned toward Faye, expression composed and neutral.

"If you would please show us our quarters?" He offered her the barest hint of a smile

"Of course, dearies.", Faye smiled in response.
"Now if you would please follow me, so we can begin with the last part of your signups. Don't forget your equipment!"
With that said, Faye placed the tome back into the bookshelf behind her before reemerging from behind her desk, walking over to the door and opening it whith her vines.
Soon another team would be ready to face the missions ahead of them.
Another new beginning with more Pokémon to help and more friends to make.
Just as it was with all the signups before this one, the thought warmed the guildmaster's heart.

Kuro grabbed her bag of the table and followed Faye with a smile, walking slightly ahead of Jeremy in glee. She had always lived in the wild and for once she would be in the comfort of a building... her new home. She looked to Jeremy once again with a smirk "You better not snore, I'm not gonna be too happy if you wake me up in the middle of the night... I need my beauty sleep ya know!" The Sneasel let out a giggle, wondering how he'd react

Jeremy gave a scoff, actually looking somewhat bemused. "So I take it you can't be a morning person then?" The jib was a sharp one, but there was a sense that the snivy made it out to not be so mean… Similar to Kuro's banter. At least an attempt at it.

The male snivy grabbed hold of his own back, securing it across his shoulders as the duo made their rounds following Faye after she had gotten her business taken care of.

It seemed the three of them were heading towards the personal quarters… Every now and then they passed rows of doorways, sometimes with other guild mates circulating through them. Jeremy raised a scaly brow as the female meganium stopped before one. Was this it?

As they left the guildmaster's quarters, Faye led the duo to a corridor, wooden doors occassionally interrupting the right wall, apparently leading to the quarters of various teams. Finally the Meganium stopped in front of one of these doors, opened it and gestured for the Sneasel and the Snivy to come and look inside the room behind it.
"These will be your quarters, dearies. I know, that they don't look like much, but you can decorate them however you like. And most teams don't spend a lot of time at the guild anyway, usually being on missions throughout the day and only returning here to sleep. Now I'd suggest for the two of you to go to bed right away. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day for both of you. So, unless you have any further questions, we'd be done here, dearies."

(OOC: Actually there would have been a short tour through the guild before, but I guess we can skip that. Details are to be found in the Guild Structure Plans A3-B7.)

The sneasel smiled, walking into the room and picking a bed to sit on "Yeah... I like it, nice and cosy" She laughed slightly and looked at Faye "Hmm... nothing really, I guess just a thank you!" Kuro chirped rather loudly and rested her head on the bed. She closed her eyes for a second, she had finally found her home. A place she actually felt secure and safe. Her eyes opened and she lifted her head up, still smiling "Yeah this place is pretty good"