>>3840

She had plenty of coin on her but without a discount at the guild, she knew she couldn't spend any of it, she knew it wasn’t hers and though abandoning them to the guards was within her nature, stealing Yulya’s coin that she was holding for her wasn’t. Of Yulya wasn’t completely without sin, she did ask Ashley to smuggle the substantial sum in.

This was important to her though, no, she couldn’t lose even a single gold, she had 40 gold even, that's all, and she was painfully aware of it as her stomach threatened to abandon her logic and force a coup.

She had just enough to register everyone and without it she knew they were going to have tough choices to make and a rough road ahead, so she double and triple tied her coin purse tightly, extra tightly against her skin under her vestments, there wasn't going to be any pickpockets or cutpurses taking Yulya's life savings on her watch. She didn't have much of a plan if they did assault her, because she was already low on mana the moment she cast a spell she'd transform into a Panther, a cloak-less, coin-purse-less one. That would be like handing over her clothes and money to any stray person who walked by.

As part of her pact with the Raven Queen, she was indeed cursed. Though the bargain wasn’t entirely one sided; the panther is a capable fighter and Ashley was decidedly not, in fact, she was more of a pacifist than she would admit. So she didn't dawdle and made a straight line walk for the Adventurer’s guild.

...

There's a street sign pointing down a long dark alleyway "The Guild" it said humbly. Straddling the entrance you see the unaffiliated quest boards, standing as a last option for those who lacked means to get registered, and these quests were lowly: clearing rats from a basement, fetching water daily to feed the needs of a noble's water fountain, testers wanted for a new formulation of potion, 'earn 3000 gold over the summer crab fishing, inquire with Glarg 3200 W Swordfish Street, docks district.' These quests were clearly without morals or tact.

The guild's location was adeptly situated back out of the way in an old warehouse area, sealed away from traffic now, given it's own little spot among the prime real estate. This is what Ashley must have witnessed and you wondered if it was as daunting and impressive for her as it was for you.

All this trouble making wasn’t for Ashley, she had her orders, she was to enter the guild and wait for the rest of her party to join her. It wasn’t hard to spot, the large warehouse looking building with the big symbol of a unicorn on it, and in she went without delay.