(I don't know why I agreed to taking this job.) Growled Gao-Ling angrily as she marches along side Tenth Spear of Rage, headed toward Darius' tent, in the middle of their war camp. (When you asked me if I wanted to do mercenary work, I kind of assumed that payment would be part of the deal, somewhere along the line!) Her mood seems evident with her every step, as a deep foot shaped indent in left upon the ground as she passes by. (I'll admit, I'm not great with talking to people or making deals... but from now on, I'm sitting in on every contract negotiation.)

Tenth Spear of Rage rubs his aching jaw with chagrin. (I was under the impression they were bartering with you as a separate agent. It's the custom I'm most familiar with.) He looks... put upon as he pushes the tent flap open and walks inside. And a little guilty. (But if they've tried to take advantage of that, we'll set the accounts straight. Pointedly.) he continues, confident in the protection of the language barrier.

(You were under the impres...) Gao-Ling pauses, taking a deep breath to subside her growing rage. It didn't work. (WHERE IN THE UNDERWORLD DID YOU GET THAT IMPRESSION? I never met ANY of these people here before. Not Darius, not that girl commander, not that Cathak Zuriel who seemed to have recommended you. I just tagged along with you! I figured worse comes to worse, I'll just take my share from your pay... turns out YOU aren't getting paid in anything that can be shared.)

Darius comes up behind them, spattered in mud and looks at thsoe in his tent. Clearing his throat. "My Lady. Sir. May I help you?"

(They're HUMANS! I just stab out with a guess at what they're angling at and it usually works! Do you--) Tenth's flustered rejoinder is cut abruptly short by Darius' arrival. He gestures at Gao-Ling. "My partner, she is not receiving the compensation for effort."

"There was a tiny bit of a mistake. Entirely my fault." Ling says, switching to Riverspeak so that Darius can understand her. "I assumed that Tenth here would have more common sense than a least god. I'm not going to make that assumption ever again." Ling is a venomous little thing when she's in a bad mood, although all thing said, at least she hasn't broken anything yet.

Darius raises the eyebrow over his one good eye and walks past the pair into his tent. He walks over to a drawer, opens it and pulls out a bottle of wine, and a bottle of Brandy. Looking at both he puts the wine back and tosses Tenth the bottle. "Don't worry about glasses. Let's just drink the damned thing." he looks to Gao as he sits in a chair and begins removing a boot. "Compensation. What, Mistress Ling, would you wish for compensation?"

Ling grins at the sight of alcohol and moves to snatch the bottle of brandy from Tenth's hands, although she's not exactly the most deft of fingers, and those smashfists she's wearing can't be helping. "I dunno." Ling replies, fairly honestly. "Whatever the going rate for a mercenary job like this is worth. In jade, silver, goods, prayers, slaves... whichever. I can find a use for any of those. What I /don't/ have a use for is vague protection against an enemy that I don't happen to have! I can't well take a share of Tenth's protection against retaliation from people he's pissed off, now can I?"

Tenth Spear of Rage catches the bottle, and takes a swig from it with a thankful nod to Darius, using his height and a little bit of swerving to keep it in his possession before he hands it to Ling. Then he lapses into a stony, thoughtful silence.

Darius laughs loudly for a moment and looks to Tenth. "Gods, you sure know how to find yourself a lovely Lady Tenth." he unhooks a belt pouch and weighs it in his hand. Then he tosses it to Gao. "There's a down payment. We don't have a treasury around here in the middle of ass nowhere and since we didn't know if we were going to win I didn't want to be dragging a money cart." he points to the bag. "We use Jade in the Thousand Lakes. You'll find a damn sight good sum in there. So I'll tell you what." He takes the bottle of brandy when it's passed to him, sips it and hands it off to Tenth. "I have an assignment for you two. Each of you will get a bag of Jade like what you have there, and another once you get successfully finish the mission."

Gao-Ling takes a swig from the brandy and elbows Tenth in the ribs purposefully. (See how much more professional things are when I'm actually involved in the contract negotiations?) She comments before turning back to Darius, and giving him an excited reply. "Shouldn't be a problem! What's the job though?"

Darius leans back and steeples his fingers. "You two ever hear of the Realm of Lumaba?"

Tenth Spear of Rage's stony demeanor cracks a grin. (That's you. Professional.)

Tenth Spear of Rage shakes his head no.

Gao-Ling says, "Sounds like a kind of dance."

"I am presuming that it is the next land to draw your conquesting eyes?" Tenth ventures.

Gao-Ling says, "And that there's things for us to hit until it breaks? Giant wall? More shirtless, spear throwing guys?"

Tenth Spear of Rage grins. "Maybe we can use a harpoon to retain him next time, yes?"

Darius points to a map on the tent wall hanging form a peg. "No, that would be Umbrrl. However Lumaba is not far from here." he waits for his turn with the Brandy, takes a swig and hands it on. "The place recently had a small problem with a Necromancer. They eventually defeated him but the place is rather beat up. Before he went away, or was defeated, this Necromancer let loose a Plague, or all the dead bodies loosed a plague." he holds up both hands in mock dismissal. "I have no idea which happened. Anyway the place is beat to shit, has no defenses and it's people have turned to banditry. Well, we think we can deal with the Plague, but we need to handle the bandits. So That's were you two come in. I want you to go in, either convince the Bandits to join us for Political forgiveness, or you beat them into submission. At the same time I'm sending a diplomat to speak with their rulers to make the arrangement that if the Bandits are reigned in and the Plague is cured they join us peaceably." he grins his roguish grin before taking off his other boot. "That's the assignment."

Tenth Spear of Rage shrugs. "I do not have much persuasion in my tongue. But corrective beatings, I can administer." He looks happier with the prospect of violence and adventure ahead. "Who is your diplomat?"

Gao-Ling scratches her rocky hair with a gauntleted finger and considers this carefully. "Convincing them may involve lots of shouting and breaking of bones. That should be alright, yes?" She comments after a while.

Darius says casually "Midori. She was the young pretty thing in charge of the Archers, did a lot of whistling. She has quite the tongue on her." he looks to Gao and raises an eyebrow. "Use your discretion. They're bandits whatever their reason for doing it. However they ARE in a hard position. So if you can convince them by only breaking one or two idiots that would be best. There is likely a few groups, so I'd expect a few visits and a decent stay in the Kingdom."

Tenth Spear of Rage nods. "We will break men artfully." He thinks for a few seconds longer. "Do not build your plans too much upon these bandits, but it can be done. When do you need the task complete?"

Darius shrugs "Sooner would be better. But speed is not important. I'd head out within the week." he looks to Tenth. "Kitono is sending in 2000 men to take Umbrrl and end this war. So it might be a good idea to be gone before then. I'll be replacing his troops with mine as my Legion is trained."

Gao-Ling thinks about this for a bit, but math is hardly her strong suit. "We can head out first thing tomorow morning. And that should get us there in... fou... fi... a few days, give or take."

Tenth Spear of Rage nods in agreement. "We will need maps, maybe horses? And way to speak with your Midori."

Darius points in the direction of a Picket line. "I've told the Quarter master to give you anything you needed within reason. After the battle we replenished our Horse supply and then some, so you can have those. I'll make sure Midori sees you two tomorrow Morning." he leans back and sighs. "Any idea how long it will take you two to crack some heads?"

Tenth Spear of Rage frowns. "The number and belligerence of bandits, how well they hide, these are factors. For each bandit-clan, maybe a day or two?"

Darius nods and stands up with a stretch. "Good. Take your time. This mission has no rush and needs to handled right. Which is why I'm sending you two to deal with the bandits as opposed to the Lord." he yawns again. "Anyway, I've been in the saddle for three days straight. I'm going to bed. Good luck."