Story of the Sovereign

 Maggie Goodsong reached a hand off the side of her bed as the sound of Blue Whispers echoed through her room. The sound originated from two blue birds singing on her window sill, chests puffed out as they performed a well-practiced routine which, upon finishing, received praise from Maggie who had just finished putting her outfit together. As Maggie approached the window sill, both birds took flight, hovering a meter from the window expectantly.

"Thank you Blueberry." She said as she gently laid down a small handful of seed for the first bird. "You have to work on your transitions though, Margaret." She finished and laid out another handful of seed for the second bird. She stepped back and the two Blue Whispers happily landed on the sill and began to eat. The two birds and Maggie were surrounded by silence for a moment before a crash erupted from the common area of the SARA unit causing both birds to dismount and fly off for the time being. With a smile and a shake of her head, Maggie left her room to enter the common area where she was greeted by a broken table, her friends Ester, the human woman from Paradayo, and Zara, a childhood Solequi friend from from a sister tribe, were both on the ground in between the two separated halves of the table.

"Tap out!" Ester yelled while holding an arm around Zara's neck, her second arm being used as leverage to tighten the grip.

"I don't tap!" Zara sputtered, rising to her feet slowly as Ester struggled to hang on. Once Zara stood at her full height with Esters legs dangling helplessly off the floor, she fell backward, knocking the wind out of the both of them. They rolled around on the ground afterward holding their sides.

"Alright that's enough here!" Came a voice from behind the bar. Maggie turned to see Lorenzo, the cat-like proprietor of the establishment, in a frenzy looking about his broken room. His ears poised straight up above his head in a worrisome manner while beads of sweat trickled down the face surrounded by a light mane of brownish fur. "It's hard to turn a profit when the two of ye seem to want to break a piece of this building every day. Look at this! I just had the hole beside the door fixed!" He pointed to a space a mere foot beide the door where a Solequi sized hole had been punched through. "You get thrown through walls a little too much, Al-mor." Lorenzo said, finger pointing at Zara who pulled a flattened bun out from her back pocket and took some bites while struggling back to her feet.

"Relax whiskers," Ester said, dusting herself off. "That's why we bring in the big scores, so you can repair all this stuff." Lorenzo huffed but went back to cleaning his glass, a resigned sigh escaping his mouth.

"Now now," came a voice from the other side of the room which Maggie immediately recognized as Sebas, a Sovereign who had shown up in the SARA unit recently asking strange questions to Maggie and her group mostly pertaining to the highborn within the area. "I believe a safe place to fight is necessary to breed the strength that is going to come, don't you agree?" Sebus nudged a smaller Caravellian man beside him who went by the name of Xander, a stout individual with a beard covering the majority of his facial features.

"Eh, what's that?" Xander said, shaking his head to change his attention from the paper in front of him to the scene in the common area. "Yeah, strength, whatever." Realizing nothing more was happening, he took the paper out and once again to examine it. Maggie took note of a face on this piece of paper which Xander seemed to be studying curiously.

"Maggie!" Maggie barely had time to react as Zara approached her, threw her arms around the girl and lifted her into the air, spinning, all the while small pieces of bun falling about the floor from her pocket.

"Ok, that's enough!" Maggie croaked, chuckling as Zara placed her down. "I was just coming out to let everyone know we're on our last day, but I'm sure you didn't need to know that." She gave a knowing glance to Lorenzo who shot her a wink, his face becoming aglow with the slightest of acknowledgment. Groans escaped the rest who had just now realized this fact but it was Maggie who first approached the writ board with all of it's requests available for Sovereign of different abilities.

It was at this moment that the door to the SARA unit swung open revealing a man dressed in finer clothes than were custom within the Spare Limb, aptly named, for the people of Ritro could easily do without this portion of the city and still maintain good standing within the Chapter. The man passed beside the two occupied tables in the unit, nodding at each as he passed, a stack of papers in one hand, a large nail and hammer in the other. He stood beside Maggie and eyed the board up, down, left and right before finally settling on a large open space in the bottom left. In this space he took his large nail and pounded it through at least one hundred pieces of paper all with the same wording on them.

Calling all Sovereign - The beautification of the rift is imminent and we require the help of those who are willing to drain the swamps within. Helping to expand our ever growing community and push back the darkness that once was is a duty to be reveled in! Those who help will be guaranteed a place among the newly built area of the city.

The message seemed to continue but the pages were all torn at the bottom to prevent further reading. Maggie eyed it suspiciously before her eyes drifted to another within the center of the board she had noted. 

"What's the difference between that and this?" Maggie questioned, finger pointed at a writ that simply said Investigate the strange noises within the rift 

"That's posted by the crown, you can tell by the small seal on the bottom." Three small crowns, one on top with it's bottom two corners connecting to the other two crowns peaks below were stamped onto the paper whereas the one the man had recently posted did not have this marking. "We'll pay more though! Name's Dale. You interested?" Dale extended a hand to Maggie who took it lightly and shook.

"Maggie," she replied. "Maggie Goodsong," Looking to the board with a last cursory glance she broke off the handshake. "Unfortunately I think we're best to continue with the work we have been doing which has been these for the most part." Maggie tapped the three crowns, a lie, she knew, but something about this man seemed off. Pulling down the Three Crown writ, a green compass formed on Maggie's knuckle pointing deeper into town. With a smile and a nod, she moved back to a table alongside her four companions, the only other inhabitant of the SARA unit occupying a table immediately beside them, a large jug of ale in front almost depleted.

"When Maggie says the week is almost up, that means for you as well Solstice!" Lorenzo said from across the room to the girl sitting alone. Raising her glass in the air she responded.

"You'll get your work done in time, Lorrie."  Barely lifting her head from the rings that numerous drinks had left in front of her on the table, Solstice continued. "Just keep the drinks flowing." Lorenzo, not wanting to make a scene, approached Solstice and whispered something in her ear which caused her to perk up. With a single swig, she emptied the mug and stumbled to the table beside her beside Maggie.

"Alright, where are we going?" She slurred, reaching for a glass in front of Xander only to have her hand slapped away. "Feisty." She said before turning and eying a glass that had been put down in front of Ester."Go ahead." Ester said as Solstice's hands recovered the drink with a dexterity only seen in pickpockets with decades of experience. Stifling laughter, Maggie began to speak.

"It looks like there's been some commotion in the Rift. I thought we could see what information we could gather and bring it back to the Cathedral in Sanctuary. It all seems to be for the gentrification of the area, removing the beggars who go there and never return. Can't be that bad, right?" Her eyes scanned the table waiting for any input. It was Sebus who spoke up first.

"The rift is a dangerous place, sorrow permeates the rubble. Although, I believe our chances of survival to be in the high nineties with the size of our group." As Sebus spoke, Solstice burped. "Perhaps Mid eighties." He corrected, looking over to Xander who had remained focused on the page in front of him until now. Folding the sheet and placing it into his note pouch, Xander spoke up.

"Aye, my work here is far from over and the amount of eyes we have now is ideal for a writ such as this." Rubbing his beard, Xander looked to the Dale suspiciously as the man read over the writs posted on the board. "What did the man tell you about that stack of white he shoved into the board, Mags?" Maggie looked to the board and back to Xander. 

"It's roughly the same as what we will be doing but not endorsed by the three crowns." As the words left her mouth, both Xander and Sebus eyed her suspiciously.

"Have you never heard of a double dip?" Xander said incredulously, rising from the table, his chair almost toppling over as a result of the speed at which he stood. Maggie pinched the bridge of her nose as Xander came back with from the writ board with another piece of paper in hand. This one had not created the green compass on his knuckle as Maggie's had as it was not publicly endorsed by the SARA unit. He placed the paper down in the center of the circular table and it was Ester who first inspected it.

"Look here, says we'll be guaranteed a place within the new portion of the city." This raised the eyebrows of most at the table save for Maggie.

"The term too good to be true comes to mind." Maggie said in a lowered voice as not to call attention from Dale who had moved from the writ board and was now speaking with Lorenzo about something regarding black cloaks. "I just don't think it's best to 'double dip' as you put it. We are Sovereign and we have at the very least, some standards that we follow, Don't you remember the precepts?"

"To ash with the precepts." Solstice slurred before planting her head back down on the table.

"I hate to say it but she aint wrong." Zara added, rubbing at the reddened area around her throat. "The precepts are for the do gooders in the capital. We should be allowed to do what we please." Maggie's brow furrowed briefly but she resigned to her friends reasoning. Sighing she took the paper and looked it over once more, trying to discern what had been on the pages below where they had been torn.

"So it's settled then," Ester said, pushing her chair back, "We ride!" Despite Ester's enthusiasm the group took a longer than expected time to get ready. Solstice whose head had been planted on the table during the majority of this encounter went to speak with Lorenzo once more, interrupting the conversation he was having with Dale. Maggie could barely make out what had been said but by the gestures she assumed Solstice had been asking for more liquor and been denied. With a slam of her palm on the bar Lorenzo stood behind, Solstice came back to the others.

"Alright, on with it then?" The words were garbled but understandable if you focused enough. Maggie, feeling as if her life would be in danger with a drunkard at her side, placed a hand on Solstice's shoulder and closed her eyes. She attempted to completely drain Solstice of the alcohol in the system but due to the Soulstone that had been used to build the SARA unit her powers were diminished leaving Solstice still slightly buzzed. In a heart pounding instant, Solstice smashed a glass on the table and held the handle with jagged edges toward Maggie in a defensive stance.

"What do you think you're doing?" Solstice seethed.

"Just making sure you are ready for the adventure to come, I thought-" Maggie replied but was cut off.

"An adventure isn't an adventure if I'm sober. I was just starting to get a good buzz on too." With a sigh, Solstice reached into a large pouch at her side which Maggie originally thought had been filled with supplies of importance but the clanging of empty bottles made the contents all too apparent. After some searching, Solstice retrieved one of the bottles with several x's plastered about the label. The bottle was only half full and was drained by the time Solstice finished with it.

"Alright, we're back in action. Why don't you watch it with those hands this time grass-herder." Solstice pulled a cloak up over her head and motioned for the door. With a sigh, Maggie proceeded through. With everyone at her back, they proceeded to the cathedral in Sanctuary as directed by the compass on her knuckle.