Ahead of the Storm - Day 49

Sasserine, Two Months Ago

Deep in the Amedio Jungle, Anzak Guildenstern was on the hunt. He could smell the scent of his prey in the air... a velociraptor. Only in his mind, he was trained to think of them by a much more obscure name: Thunder Lizards. That was what his Immortal tribesmen called them... a name no doubt originating from ancient times, back when the Immortals were Olman refugees from the Isle of Thanaclan. It was said that the tribe's founder, a man who was called Immortal, was quite the skilled hunter of Thunder Lizards himself.

In any case, whatever he called them, and whatever skill his tribesmen may have passed on to him regarding their hunt... the fact remained that this was not for pleasure, but for profit.

Suddenly, the jungle brush came awake to the sound of a man running at full tilt, in Anzak's own direction. That would be his friend Max, right on time, leading one of the Thunder Lizards right into the trap. Anzak had already prepared the pitfall, set to collapse when Anzak brought his axe down upon the rope which held its camouflaged cover in place. The second Max had run over it, with the raptor trailing close behind, Anzak would sever the rope and send the poor creature falling down into the pit... trapped yet likely not wounded in any serious way.Surely, Anzak found such methods overly complicated... He'd much rather face the beast in one-on-one combat, letting the rage within him overpower the creature. Yet, as mentioned previously, this was not for pleasure, but profit - and the arena wanted living creatures, not dead ones. And what the arena wanted, the arena got, since Anzak needed the steady income provided to him from them. He needed money to cover his gambling expenses, after all... Try as he might, that damned gambling hall kept sucking him right back in, with its promises of a quick and easy forture. After all, if he could strike it rich and buy his beloved Lavinia a sailing vessel out of his own pocket... then they wouldn't need the Blue Nixie and whatever strings might be attached to it by those snooty Vanderborens. Anzak wanted to think their wedding gift generous, but knew that with it would come expectations and duties... Soon Verik would probably have Anzak running constant shipping errands to and from the Isle of Dread, year-round, as a way to keep him busy and out-of-sight. But if he had his own ship... His own crew... His own freedom... Then he could live a life of simple joy and relaxation with Lavinia, without servitude to anyone.Yet for that, he needed money - ships don't come cheap. And he knew Elena wouldn't offer him any free coinage... She'd come down hard on his gambling problems in the past, and refused to give him any further money to waste away. So all he could do was this work for the Arena... Then use those funds to try his luck at the gambling hall, night after night...

Yet instead of profit, he was only collecting further debts...

Back in the jungle, Max arrived at the pit and leaped across, with the raptor fast on his trail. Anzak waited a split-second, then CRASH came his axe, followed immediately after by a much heavier CRASH from the raptor as it jumped right into the now-open pit. A quick look down into it revealed exactly when Anzak had hoped for: the creature was struggling to climb out, but could not - and it seemed physically in good condition. Cueing for Max to come back and help, Anzak watched as his friend took out a crossbow and applied poison to the bolt (that urchin venom he was so fond of using). A few poison-tipped shots later, and the raptor was unconscious. Pulled out with ropes and carried to the arena - that should net them about 500 gp. Tonight's gambling should be plentiful.

Now if only Anzak's luck there would take a turn, then perhaps he could finally pay off those debts and purchase Lavinia her wedding present. He already knew what he would call the ship, too... The Ocean Pearl.

Indeed, Anzak was optimistic. Somehow, he knew, everything would work out for the better.

Max came over and high-fived his barbarian friend.

"You know, Anzak, I've been thinking... You say you need money to pay off those gambling debts of yours, right? Well, I know some people who might be able to advance you those funds... If you do certain jobs for them in exchange. You even already know a couple of the people I'm talking about. Do the words Lotus Dragons mean anything to you?"

Yes, everything would work out for the better indeed...