Soldiers of Silence
She sat with crossed arms taking in the pitiful sight that stood opposite of her. He was young, too young to have found his way into her tavern. The shine in his eyes, the easy smile across his face, the air of optimism around him…it was enough to make her stomach turn. She forced her breath through her nose and looked back to the maps and missives splayed across her table. “How’d you find me,” she said flaty. His reaction was somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “How did I find you? Do you jest?” Her one eye lifted from the maps and seemed to instantly stifle the young man’s reaction. “If you’ve heard of me…then you know jesting is not something I do,” she replied in her stone cold tone. “Ma’am, You’re a one eyed half orc nearly a man and half tall, wrought of defined muscle, and cold as night in winter. You’re not exactly difficult to locate,” she nodded, he made a fair point after all. She slid two markers, one to Britain and one to Vesper on her map. She made a note in her mind to send scouts to meet her contacts there. She needed to keep ears and eyes on the streets in search of signs of jobs to found. The young man shifted uncomfortable in the lingering silence. He was about to speak but a quick glare from her good eye gave him pause. She’d let him stew in the moment a bit longer. “Commander,” she said as the pregnant pause neared a tangible level. “Commander?” She sighed at his response. “Another slow one,” she thought. “You called me ‘Ma’am’ before,” he looked at her blankly unsure of how to respond. “Don’t do it again,” The young man nodded slowly. “Fine, you’ve found me…what do you want?” She asked this knowing full well why the young hopeful had sought her out. “I am here to join your band of ruthless mercenaries, so that I can make a name for myself.” It was a good reason as any other, though she took umbrage at his description of her organization. For his reason, she could not fault him. She reminded herself that It was in youthful overzealousness that she lost her left eye. “Can you even swing that?” She questioned nodding toward the mace hanging from the young man’s belt. “Of course I can. I’ve killed a wolf with it even.” he stated with an air of pride. She took in the sight of the young man again. She had met this boy a hundred times before. She had sent him off to fight and die in the name of gold and fame. A younger her would feel pity or try to stir the young man onto a different path…safer path. But no, now she was older and she had learned all too well there was no way to change the mind of a determined young person. “You know the Creed of Three Silences?” That was the true test. If he knew at least then she was obligated to take him in. “I do. We come from silence. We are paid for silence. We create silence.” She had to admit, he did his research. She stood slowly and the young man suddenly felt tiny before her. “We come from silence,” she said moving at a snail’s pace as she made her way in the young man’s direction. “It means we don’t care where we come from, what we believe, who sent us, or how we got here. If you are here, then you are with us.” She corned the table end and continued her path toward him. “We are paid for silence. It means we do not care for the reason we are here. If you are here, then you are here for the job and nothing else is to get in the way of that.” Her good eye locked onto his eyes. “We create silence. It means we do the job when we are here and when we aren’t…here doesn’t exist.” She finished her advance. He looked up with the timid eyes of a green youth. “Does that mean…I’m in?” He asked meekly. “There is no in. Did you not hear what I said?” The young man paused for a moment, straightened his back, and returned her gaze. “I am here, Commander. What’s the job?” He said with confidence. She offered him a hand. Her clasped her forearm with a calp. In that, moment she couldn’t help but to think, “Maybe there is hope for this one yet.”
Soldiers of Silence is a mercenary network guild that welcomes people from all walks of life. Maybe you are an honorable paladin whose sect has hired the Soldiers and requested that you oversee the divine justice that must be brought to a group of demons. Perhaps you are a nimble thief who decided to join the Soldiers on a job to help a local noble vie for power and make some quick gold. Or are you a dark necromancer in search of souls and came to the Soldiers to capitalize on anonymity of an assassination mission? Whatever your reason, goals, or past you are welcome in the Soldiers of Silence so long as you are here for the job.