The world of Relistan has not seen the light of the True Sun for millenia. An ancient ritual pulled a great orb from the heavens to block the sun's light for eternity. Not, the only light that shines on the surface of the world is that of the three moons and the stars. Time is still referred to as day and night, and is determined by the cycle of Selene, the white moon (it has a 24 hour cycle).

The continent of Shirán is a great desert, created in the times long before the Eternal Eclipse. Yet even with the lack of the sun's power the sands are no less dangerous and the heat no less sweltering. Many scholars have theorized at the heat's source and why it's cycle seems to be related to Selene, but none have found true answers.

The Shifting Sands (as the desert is less than affectionately called) has everything a desert should. There are several oasis, sand storms, and nomadic tribes trying to survive.

The majority of the desert is ruled by the Lords of the Shifting Sands, a group of powerful individuals who have carved up the desert to create their own domains. All but the northeastern region of the continent falls under the command of one of the 4 regional Lords, with the Crimson Prince (the last of the five) wandering the sands.

The group will begin in the free city of Calatain in the northeastern region of the desert. It is a city of gems, silks and riches. But where there are riches, there are thieves. Though here, the thieves guilds must battle any number of other guild for power and wealth. These battles inevitably happen in the shadows, away from visible society, and offer ample possibilities for willing adventurers.

The characters will be a small group of mercenaries, a part of the recently created mercenary guild known as the Blue Hand. The guild is small and not very wealthy at the moment. Yet its leader, a mysterious man known only as Lord Azure, has found ways to make a profit for the guild by forcing his way into contracts with various other guilds and sides of this complex political situation. You are not recent recruits, nor are you as experienced as some of the guild's members. You are most definitely not very familiar with the complexities of the current political situation, which is why you all joined the guild in the first place. You get paid well, and only pay a portion of any loot you find to the guild in exchange for contracts and a relatively steady source of income.

Each of you have been hired due to your skill set and history. Lord Azure has been kind enough to off you each a small room containing a straw bed and a chest for your clothing. Any other furniture or decor you need will have to be purchased with your own funds (not that much more will fit in the 10' square rooms you not possess). The kitchen has strict dining hours. Your meals will be provided, but only if you arrive within those hours. Discipline tends to be very strict within the Azure Hand.

You have all been on missions before. This is not your first show, and you have learned what it means to work in a team. However, this is the first time that you have been put together. You may know of each other, but other than names and perhaps a bit of your new companion's skill sets, you know very little. Now, you have been gathered in one of the small meeting chambers in the guild house, awaiting the messenger that bears your mission.

(I will give you all a few days in order to greet each other and chat it up a bit, as you may or may not do when meeting each other for the first time. You need not have your character completed to participate in this conversation, just your concept.)

Leaned against the walls of the small meeting room stood a strangely dressed Half-Elf, his hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. He had arrived early, well before the appointed time of meeting in order to watch as his newest team mates arrived. He was just starting to get used to the last group he had been travelling with, and as usual he was moved again, to a group he did not know and did not trust. He was beginning to think that the other groups had been requesting he be replaced, that perhaps even they did not want him around. This was not the time for such thoughts though, there was business to attend to, money to be made, and secrets to be learned.

And so he stood there, silent and motionless, watching as the others began to arrive, making no move to greet them or introduce himself. He was the one most of the guild whispered of in passing, the one few knew and even fewer trusted, the loner they all knew as Echo, and he already had a reputation as a stone-cold, untrusting, introvert, just the way he liked it. Only those willing to look past his harsh exterior would ever be trustworthy, potential friends.

Ivellios walked into the small gathering room, his leather boots echoing against the silent hall. The only other figure that stood here was a man that he only knew of as Echo. Ivellios flicked his long kinked black hair out of his face, and sat down at a small table. He tugged at his blue tunic and
made sure it was straight, wanting himself to look half way decent.

His last job ended just yesterday, which had him crawling through a ditch and reeds to make sure a trade job went down right. He and another man were scouting a merchant who had a contract with the Blue hand to keep him protected. If anything went down he and his partner Runt would make sure that this man would be alive.

But now, Ivellios wouldn't be with Runt anymore and he would be working with more than one man. His skills were best when alone or with one more, where he could shoot, move, shoot, and move again. The only thing he was hoping for was that his new partners were quick on their feet and good at moving.

Sounds of conversation could be heard out in the hallway, then the door to the room opened and two dwarves walked in. One wore a blue turban and a heavy leather apron, his hands were blacked by cinders and he subconsciously rubbed them on his apron, though his efforts didn't change the outcome.
He was responding to the other dwarf's questions:

"I can see your point-"

"No, no, we couldn't possibly do that."

"But what about the north side?"

"I've always loved the merchant district!"

"We couldn't possibly afford that."

"You've said that already, and we agreed not to bring it up again."

"Yes, but is it near a big enough water supply? A fire could be catastrophic."

Looking around as if noticing there were other people in the room for the first time, he cut the other dwarf off in mid sentence by almost covering the other one's mouth with his hands-

"Let's talk about this after the meeting."

To the pretty man with the curly hair at the table the dwarf stuck out his right hand and with a smile moved towards him,

"Greetings good sir, I'm Thiferl, Thiferl Agamud." Thinking better of it, he wiped his hand on this apron one more time, and waved instead, "Well, anyway, pleased to meet you."

Ushering the other dwarf forward, "and this is my brother Argent,"

Waving at the funny clad man leaning against the wall, as if the other man hadn't heard him in this small room, "I'm Thiferl... Thiferl Agamud, and this is my brother Argent." He said, again gesturing to the other dwarf.

"So I hear we're going to be working together..." He said to no one in particular as he tugged on his beard, and rocked back and forth on his heels.

Introductions. The awkward moments when you have to judge somebody by their appearance, and mostly always misread small gestures, misplaced comments or insecurities that hint at personality but are by rule misguiding. Argent was happy his brother was there. Not because he felt uncomfortable with meeting new people; future comrades maybe. He rather appreciated Thiferl’s presence because his brother had a way of drawing attention. And while eyes were on the babbling and nervously spontaneous mouth of the cleric, he could view the room and try his hand at figuring out who they were dealing with. He knew things weren’t going to be any different this time.

While they walked towards the room they were ordered to attend, he tried to convince his brother of locations he had spotted, here in Calatain.

“… besides, there are many benefits to being close to the city barracks.”
"I can see your point-" “But we also have the small shed, close to Mistryln’s Metallurgy, but I don’t like the competition there.”
"No, no, we couldn't possibly do that."

"But what about the north side?" “You’re talking about Griffonhill Road? That’s right in the merchant district…”
"I've always loved the merchant district!" “Well, they do have that mansion for sale with the …”
"We couldn't possibly afford that." “I shouldn’t say this, but if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have been robbed by the Thirsty Skull Gang. You blew up their…”
"You've said that already, and we agreed not to bring it up again." “I know, sorry about that. How about on lower side, where Gally took us?”
"Yes, but is it near a big enough water supply? A fire could be catastrophic."
They had entered the room, and noted two people were already present. Automatically, Argent leaned back, and let his brother do the talking. He wasn’t shy, it was just how things had developed over the years. He eyed the half elf who was leaning against the wall. Interesting posture. He would be keeping that one in front of him until he knew whether he could trust him or not. There was something beautiful about the man’s passive aggression, but Argent wasn’t sure if it was something to admire.
The other man, a human, was listening to Thiferl. He appeared muscled, but was too openly concerned with his appearance, so he couldn’t be a monk. Argent mused how the man’s gifts were probably with the blade, but he had been wrong before.

“… and this is my brother Argent.” Thiferl ended.

Argent slightly bowed his head and spoke in his low voice.
“How are you.”
It didn’t rumble as he hoped it someday would. He had once heard a man with a voice so deep that it sounded like an avalanche of boulders. He never knew much envy in his life, but that was one time he felt ice running down his spine.

His brother had moved on to the other man, and Argent replied with as much respect as he had shown the human.

“I think it’s best if we sit down as well.” He told his brother when he had finished introductions and was finally quieting a bit.

He picked a spot near the human. Not uncomfortably close, but not too far away to be rude either.

“Who are we waiting for?” he asked the man. It was just a matter of keeping conversation going, rather then true interest, though he made sure to look as occupied with the question as he could. The fact was that he would be experiencing soon enough who they were waiting for, but any information beforehand would be welcome.

Daleel had received his orders when he returned from his previous mission. It seemed in a few days he was to meet with a few other guild members and awiat their next mission. He had a few days to relax and took care of some personal things while he had the down time.

Daleel was approaching the meeting room in the guild house when he heard voices already. Damn I'm late. Well as long as I'm not the last, I guess that is ok. Hopefully I'm not the last. Daleel prefered working with people he was familiar with, but that wasn't always the case. He approached the room quietly and stopped just at the door frame. Pulling his mirror out of his belt pouch he carefully used it to peek around the corner into the room. He saw two dwarves just sitting down and a human already seated. well at least they aren't all going to be tall He also noticed someone leaning against the wall but couldn't tell much more from where he was.

Daleel stepped back from the door a bit and placed his mirror back in the pouch. He took in a deep breath, exhaled and stepped around the corner.

The halfling stepped into the room just after the dwarves had sat down. He wore a long blue scarf around his neck and several layers of clothing all accented in blue. His hair was a curly sandy blonde and well kempt. His light gray eyes reflected the light in the room and he seemed a bit nervous. At first glace it looked as though he carried no weapons, but with closer inspection you could see the bottom af a scabbard poking out from his clothing.

"Hi ya! Umm, I'm not late am I? Oh I hate being late." Daleel went on nervously. He made his way around the room looking for a place to sit. He got a good look at the man standing agains tthe wall now. From descriptions he had heard this man looked like the one they called Echo. He wasn't sure though. He tried to place the others, but didn't recognize any of them. well, so much for working with someone I know
Daleel took a spot close to the dwarves and human, but not too close. "Does anyone know why we are here?" He waited a moment for a response and then his manners caught up with him. "I'm sorry" he stammered "I'm Daleel, everyone calls me Skit. Nice to be working with you."

The sound of hurried foot steps echoed down then hall. Heavy breathing could be heard outside the door, as well as some breathless cursing. The door slammed open and a young man appeared in the doorway. His brow was dripping with sweat and his sword was hanging awkwardly off his right shoulder.

“Uh…hello everyone, sorry for being late”

That’s when Aurion looked around the room. Too his fears he was the last one to arrive. Walking in he could feel everyone looking at him, but he just remembered what his father had said. ‘Now just remember son, greet everyone with respect and they will respect you’. Aurion took a deep breath, straightened his posture, and looked at the group.

“Greetings” he said to Ivellios.
“Hello” he said to Daleel with a little hand wave.
“Good day to you” said Aurion in Dwarvish to Thiferl and Arent.
“Lovely to meet you” he said in Elvish and Commen to Echo.

After some awkward glances Aurion quickly took a seat and told himself that maybe it would just have been better stay quite next time.

As the last person entered Echo made his own mental notes on each of them, focusing mostly on supposed flaws he noticed in his usually over-critical manner.

This first one, looks like the type that can't be trusted, I'll have to keep an eye on him...
As if one dwarf wasn't enough to slow us down there are two of them, one never shuts up and the other doesn't seem to talk for himself at all, I may need to look into some earplugs...
Another little person, and a halfling at that. I'll have to keep an eye on him too, they tend to have sticky fingers...
Great, this one is so awkward, seems to have no experience at all. Just what we need, a wet behind the ears kid...
As usual he made no gestures to greet them, nor acknowledged the greetings offered by the others.

After a short awkward pause, a halfling came in through the door.

"Hi ya! Umm, I'm not late am I? Oh I hate being late." Stated Daleel.

"Oh no, you're not late at all" Replied Thiferl. "In fact I think we're expecting one more."

"Does anyone know why we are here?" Daleel asked.

"I think we're just waiting for our mission." Thiferl interjected.

"I'm sorry" Daleel stammered, "I'm Daleel, everyone calls me Skit. Nice to be working with you."

"Good to meet you Skit, I'm Thiferl, Thiferl Agamud." A short pause later, "And this is my brother Argent. Good to meet you."

(Assuming awkward silence until Aurion walks in, although if Skit/Daleel wants to play off me, I'd love it)

The door opened one more time, this time admitting a human.

“Uh…hello everyone, sorry for being late," Stammered the archer.

"It's no problem," Thiferl pipped up, "We've only just got here."

Murmurings of other languages:
“Good day to you” said Aurion in Dwarvish to Thiferl and Arent.

Becoming more excited, Thiferl responds in Dwarven, "And good day to you, I am Thifterl, Thiferl Agamud." And pointing vehemently at Argent as if there were some question, "And this is my brother... Argent. What's your name?"

He leaned back in the chair he sat in and waited for whatever to come next. The two dwarves that entered the room took his attention for a moment before one of them sat next to him and asked him a question.

"What are we waiting for?"

He shrugged slightly and casually spouted back a retort.

"For our orders most likely, or the mastermind behind our gathering. Seems like a rather large bunch of us to be brought together, wonder what kind of job it is."

Ivellios took his own question into consideration more seriously after he had spoken it, realizing that there were quite a few people around for his usual job.

Did they really need this many people of various skill and handy work? It must be somethin' big.
He swept the hair out of his face again as he sighed and rested on his elbows, awaiting for who ever else might show up for the meeting.

“Aurion, my name is Aurion”

After worrying so much about this meeting things were starting to look up. He did not know about the others, but these dwarves seemed nice. And although Aurion never told anyone he rather liked having conversations in dwarvin.

"For our orders most likely, or the mastermind behind our gathering. Seems like a rather large bunch of us to be brought together, wonder what kind of job it is."
Argent nodded to the human's comment, for it seemed true. He was starting to feel edgy, his senses heightening. Others might've felt nervous, but he had long ago learned to channel insecurities to his advantage. The anticipation made him more aware, clearer of mind.

Two more members of the Blue Hand came in. Argent greeted the newcomers with a short 'hello', and a warm smile. He was quite surprised to be addressed in the dwarven tongue by the last one. After his brother inquired the human's name, Argent spoke up.

"Aurion, take a seat. It's good to hear words in the language of our fathers."

He turned to Thiferl and muttered lowly in dwarven: "I wonder what we're here for."

A few moments after all of you are gathered the door to the room opens once again. A tall man clad in a leather vest and cloth breeches strides in. He gazes across the room, taking in each of you in an instant, then sneers as he throws a sealed envelope on the table.

Without a word he turns about and strides out of the room, slamming the door solidly behind him.

(Assuming one of you pick up and read the letter, written in Common

The letter reads as follows:
"Three days ago a shipment of mine was stolen from the caravan that was bringing it to Calatain. I have since discovered that my property did, in fact, find its way into the city. It is being kept in a warehouse on the northern outskirts, awaiting transport to North Harbor for shipping. You must reclaim my property before it sails, and preferably before it leaves the city. Bring the cargo to the warehouse marked on the accompanying map. Your payment will be sent to you via courier within twenty-four hours after my merchandise is safe in the named warehouse. Take note, the brand below is the same brand you will find marking my property."

Offer: 300 g.p.
Contact: None provided

The map shows a small warehouse in the merchant district of the city as well as the location of the warehouse where the clients merchandise is supposedly being kept. They are a little over 2 miles apart by streetway (as an estimate from what you know of the city). The brand is that of a triskele enclosed in a circle.

(If you don't know what a triskele is, do a google search and you should find it easily).

Aurion cocked his head sideways, “I suppose they are expecting a lot of force guarding this stuff, or they wouldn’t need so many of us.”

(Assuming no one jumps to make the first move)

The envelope was tossed down on the table, looking around to see if anybody else wanted to open it, Thiferl tore open the seal and read the note aloud.

Aurion cocked his head sideways, “I suppose they are expecting a lot of force guarding this stuff, or they wouldn’t need so many of us.”

Thiferl scratched his head and spoke, "Well that's just great, he didn't say how much of his merchandise was stolen. We don't know if we have to rent a cart, or if we can take it away in our pockets. Perhaps having a gettaway cart wouldn't be such a bad idea though?" He looked around the room questioningly at this. "There are probably a lot of ways to do this, but it boils down to two ways: might or treachery. We can barge in the doors and hope we're better combatants than 'they' are, or we can try to sneak in and steal it back. What do you gentlemen think?"

With one last look at the map, Thiferl laid both the letter and the map down on the table so that everybody could see.