"Aye, these humans are an odd folk. But their coin spends as good as any other, but elves? Let me tell you a story dear d about those tree-fuckin whoresons."
- Dalin Ironfoot , about to regale his young son with a nine hour rant
She gently set down a tankard filled to the brim with ale, careful not to spill the foamy head which peaked over the rim. It was evening now, and the hall was bustling adventurers and tavern regurs as they sought out drinks after a days work. In the corner a brightly dressed minstrel strummed a lute, his voice unable to be heard over the raucous din which filled the room.
Aurelia made her way back to the bar, maneuvering around tables where games of cards and dice were being pyed. Most of the crowd were already nursing a drink, so she had a moment of down time before some oaf wanted another.
She leaned against the long wooden surface, surveying the room. The crowd was more diverse than most of Rome proper. There were humans from distant and far flung nds, some wearing strange robes, others with skin the colour of cream, others so dark as to nearly be bck. She could hear differing accents, the sporadic tones creating an odd symphony she'd never quite heard before.
There were plenty of non-humans too, with ears, horns, and tails marking beastfolk as the most common of non-human groups. But there were lots of others too. She could spy stout dwarves here and there, most arranged in groups of their own, but some were parts of mixed groups. There was even a blue skinned giant sitting at one table, slightly taller than even Aurelia's rge frame.
Brann caught her attention with a gesture, and pointed a window where the kitchen would pass food-den ptes to the bar where the server's could take them to the tables. She nodded, and took the ptter den with sausages and bread to the indicated table. As she set the tray down, she made sure to lean a bit lower than was necessary. At first, such actions had made her balk. Having to discard her loose temple robes and veil in favour of a much more revealing outfit had seemed like far enough to her. But after it became clear just how much the hall's patrons appreciated the added views, she'd begun to indulge them more.
The work itself covered her room and meals, she would serve food and drink in the mornings and evenings six days a week. Leaving her afternoons free to herself, as well as one final day where she was completely free. The problem was, if she wanted to realize her dream of adventuring, she'd need to get her hands on some basic equipment, and to do that she needed coin. Coin she was not payed for her work.
So she indulged the bar patrons with a lean a little deeper than necessary, she walked with a little more bounce in her chest, more sway in her hips, and more temptation in her voice. And in return for her efforts they tossed her coins and appreciative comments. It was a fine line to walk, giving enough to work towards her dreams but not enough to give up control, or to give up her morals for that matter.
She thought back to the felis woman she saw parading in front of a brothel, advertising her services and those of the establishment she represented. Giving adventurers peeks at her cleavage and shaking her rear was far enough for Aurelia, she didn't think she ever wanted to give anything more, no matter how much money it would earn her.
It was liberating in some ways, being raised in the temple had meant that she had been raised to be modest and polite in all things, as fit a young dy under care of the temple. It had been stifling in many ways. Everything from walking with her back perfectly straight at all times. to wearing bnd, figure obscuring robes to ward off the lecherous gaze of others. It had been a way of life she'd been taught to follow ever since she started emerge into a young woman from the child she had been.
She reached a hand back, and begun to absentmindedly stroke one of her wings. Suppressing her non-human nature had been among the first things she had been taught, as was proper for any fine young dy in the eyes of the temple. She wondered if they were more than simply decorative, like the tails of the beastfolk. They were quite rge, to be sure. They stretched out many times the reach of her arms when she had the space to spread them fully. But she wasn't sure if there was anything more to them. She'd once seen a rich noble show off a brightly coloured bird which could even repeat words! But it had been in a golden cage, and even when they'd let it out, it had walked on it's three-cwed feet, not seeming to realize that it's wings were capable of something much greater.
Aurelia sighed, and turned her thought back towards her work. If she wanted to go on adventures, she'd need to be able to afford the gear which would keep her alive.
The evening was winding down into night. The st rays of sunlight had disappeared across the horizon hours ago, and the st of the drunkards were staggering out of the bar and into the dimly lit street. Aurelia took stock of the night as she helped Brann clean the leftover mess which came with serving a crowd of rowdy adventurers each night. She felt at the coin pouch hidden under the swooping neckline of her work outfit. It clinked satisfyingly. After her second day working at the bar, she'd spent a little of her recently acquired coin to have a small pouch added to the bottom of her cleavage. Her first night working had shown her just how much men enjoyed drinking, games, and breasts. So she'd had a thought, and brought her work clothes to a seamstress the very next afternoon. Now when men wanted to tip her, she simply leaned forward and presented her chest. The inebriated crowd had immediately understood the game, and tried tossing coins into the canyon of her cleavage, where the coins slipped between her breasts and into the pouch.
It helped that they had such rge targets, but since they were mostly drunk anyway, that was probably the main reason that the coins ended up in the pouch, and not all over the floor where any sticky-fingers might happen to wander.
Heck, even the female adventurers had taken to the game quickly, ughing as they tossed their coins into Aurelia's chest. The peoples which filled The Sword and Scroll were as varied and diverse as they came, but one thing they were all united by it seemed, was a shared love of boobs.
When she had finished cleaning the main hall, she retired to her room. It was much rger than her closet at the temple had been, standing in the middle of the room she was able to touch opposite walls with her wings, but not with her hands. It had an actual bed! A low wooden structure stuffed with hey, it was far too small for her rge frame, and her calves and feet dangled off the edge, but it was hers. There was a small desk against one wall, with a small stool to accompany it. She had an actual window, with real gss. Apparently being an establishment frequented by adventurers came with a few perks. The ceiling were high compared to most rooms, but she still had to duck when entering doorways, and the crown of her head brushed the ceiling in pces where wooden beams protruded. It was still much better than her room at the temple. But what had caught her eyes immediately upon entering the room for the first time was what stood in the corner next to her bed.
A tall bronze mirror stretched from floor to ceiling, Brann had said that a visiting mage had left in a hurry years ago, and had not come to recim it since. She looked into the mirror now, and what stared back at her left her envious of the bar patrons who were able to gaze upon such a sight without needing to stoop in front of a mirror. The outfit Brann had given to her was meant to be enticing on an average sized woman. On Aurelia's seven foot tall and voluptuously curved frame, it was practically a parody of what a barmaid should look like. A soft, off-white blouse ced across the chest covered her top half, but not very well. The neckline had been meant to dip low on a woman much smaller than she. It now just barely covered her nipples, squeezing her chest enough to create delightful mounds spilling over the top of the blouse. The sleeves were puffed at the shoulder but tapered tight along her forearms, rolled up during her shifts of carrying mugs and ptes.
A tightly cinched brown leather corset hugged her torso, it was wound as loosely as it could manage, but even still it accentuated her figure by highlighting her comparatively narrow waist and lifting and shaping her already eye-catching cleavage. Her skirt hangs to mid-thigh standing still, though when she leaned over to wipe a table, or to serve a patron it would ride up deliciously. Exposing creamy thighs and shapely legs. A small apron was tied around her waist, more decorative than actually useful, but it helped add to the bar-wench ensemble and it let her carry tablecloths and such. A pair of sandals adorning her feet completed the look.
She stripped the outfit off, making sure to fold the clothes neatly for her workday the following morning, and began to count the days tips. She made good money, enticing coins from adventurers. She would probably have enough coin for a basic set of gear and a weapon by the end of the week. She just needed a few more As to make sure. She took the coins from her work that evening, and added them to her stash in the ceiling. She didn't have a nice hidden cache like a loose floorboard, so she made due with leaving her money along the tops of the ceiling beams. It wouldn't stop a determined thief, but if someone entered her room, they wouldn't be presented with her stored coin staring at them right in the face.
She sighed, and began to brush her hair before bed. Now that she was no longer wearing a veil, she had started to take more care of it. The long, metallic golden strands reached the small of her back. She usually tied it up into a long single braid to keep it out of her face, but she was experimenting with different styles now that she had it out during her working hours. It was usually the third thing people noticed about her, another quality that marked her as non-human, as if the massive white wings weren't enough. The deceptively real looking golden colour had been her namesake. One of the temple priestesses had seemingly decided that it was fine to name a child something so grand. "The Golden One" was a high bar to clear, and there had been many occasions during her younger years where she had gotten looks when introducing herself because of it.
Laying down in her bed, legs dangling off the edge, Aurelia began to reflect on the past week. It seemed like forever ago that she'd marched into the bar downstairs and demanded a job from Brann. He'd accepted of course, but she had refused to humor him when he began to hint that he could offer more lucrative work opportunities if she wanted more coin. To be fair, he hadn't pushed in the week since, seemingly happy to let her be the face (and tits) of the bar and bring in customers. He'd been a wealth of knowledge when it came to getting started as an adventurer. He'd been surprised when Aurelia had told him of her ultimate goal, but had humored her questions and had answered them to the best of his ability.
Most adventurers frequented certain hangouts, usually bars and taverns, who catered to the rowdy yet powerful group. People from around the area who were suffering grievances of some kind could post jobs to the job board. At the Sword and Scroll, the job board took a prominent position of on one wall in the main hall, covered in notes. Each note giving a short description of the task demanded, a reward, and contact info of the person who posted the job. Everything from fetching a lost item to sying magical beasts from far away nds.
According to Brann, the S and S attracted modest adventurers, most were well off enough to not need to take on contracts of a dubious moral nature. But the truly wealthy and powerful adventurers frequented pces much closer to the city center, where the more wealthy clients posted the most lucrative jobs.
Some other professions such as masons or merchants were organized into official guilds. Organizational bodies formed to benefit their members and to give a collective voice to the profession. When she'd asked Brann about an Adventurer's Guild, he'd simply scoffed. "Aye, there might be guilds for other professions, but adventuring's a whole different beast. There was some talk about organizing the Roman adventurers, but no one could agree on how it'd be led. So for now there ain't no such thing as a guild"
She'd simply nodded to the answer at the time, adventurers were a vivacious lot, no two were the same. The name included everything from wizened old mages to brawny muscle-bound brutes. Maybe they were just too sporadic to be organized in the same way.
Thoughts of the future and possibility filled her head as she began to nod off to sleep. Dreaming of the day when she'd be able to take on her first job, and tell Livia all about it.
