Headed By A Snake

Karodin insisted on hurrying. Tycon continually rea.s.sured the fellow that there was no purpose in doing so. Team Athena had arrived two bells before the agreed-upon time. 

As Zenon was not specifically crusading for the Church, he had eschewed both his t.i.tle and his Centurion armor. Instead, he wore white cloth robes, supplemented by his own set of recently purchased chain mail. 

The Centurion had insisted also on undergoing a shave and haircut before departing. Tycon respected the tall man"s diligence and professionalism. Because of it, he listened patiently to Zenon"s complaints about how cold his face and head felt. 

Shared misery brings about camaraderie. 

Entering the command tent, Tycon observed the only human present, a bald but bearded Tyrion veteran seated at a table and examining a map. 

Deep lines were carved onto Guild Leader Bannok"s face from age and scars, both. He wasn"t particularly attractive, neither old nor young. He didn"t look unreasonably muscular underneath his dark armor-- nor was he fat. He had the advantage of a few inches of height on Tycon but was nowhere near Zenon"s elevation. 

With nothing particularly standing out about the human, Tycon would have struggled to identify him in a crowd. Thankfully, he had his System to constantly remind him of anyone he"d encountered. 

"Hey! Karodin!" Bannok stood and approached them, wearing an easygoing smile that radiated supreme confidence, "You look like an ogre ate you and s.h.i.+te you out. You gonna be alright or am I gonna have to call Ari to fix you up with a heal?"

⟬ Bannok, Gold-Rank Human Weaponmaster. ⟭ 

Bannok was a confident leader of hundreds of men who spoke affably and expressed concern for a Bronze-Ranker. Name and reputation aside, just that small interaction was enough to win Tycon"s respect. 

Karodin apologized for his clumsiness in combat and reported the patrolling incident. He waxed... somewhat poetically at the timeliness of Team Athena"s intervention... though Tycon found it odd how he was referred to them as such, instead of as the Stormbrands they were supposed to be. 

At Bannok"s insistence, Karodin was to leave to seek out a secondary check-up from the Brazen Guard lead healer, apparently a woman named "Ari." Before he left, he introduced Tycon and Zenon, as well as their respective cla.s.ses, Iron-Rank Tactician and Librarian. 

"Oh, yeah? Good s.h.i.+te, fella"s." Bannok nodded. He clasped wrists and shook, first with Tycon, then with Zenon, a professional Tyrion greeting, "Sure is nice to get a couple more Iron-Rankers."

"Heard a lot about you, Guild Leader," Zenon smirked. 

Most of Tycon"s information about the Brazen Guard had come from Zenon. Apparently, besides knowledge of Ezyrian Gladiators, he enjoyed reading about the military histories of various adventuring companies. 

Zenon did not have many friends... which in this particular case, was a boon. 

"It"s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Bannok," Tycon nodded. 

"Ahaha," Bannok chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, none o" that here. Name"s Bannok-- not Guild Leader, not Sir, not Fat-Old-Guy."

Tycon looked up to share a look of uncertainty with Zenon. Using honorifics was a force of habit for both of them. The Centurion was raised in the militant Church of the Eternal Flame. If an acolyte failed to use proper courtesies, they would be flogged... or worse. Tycon enjoyed being polite. 

"Uh... sure thing... Bannok," Zenon said hesitantly.

"Come on, guys." Bannok twisted his lips to the side, "Don"t give me that look! Anyroad, I"m just gonna call you"s by your first names, too. Tycon and Zenon, yeah? Though if we get in the s.h.i.+te, I might just call you green-hair and tall-guy."

"I"m alright with that," the Centurion smiled. 

Tycon chuckled softly, "I"ve been called worse, Brother-Bannok."

The term gave the Weaponmaster pause before he burst out laughing, "Haha! A weird guy, huh? Alright. Why the h.e.l.ls not?" 

Bannok nodded, grinning wide, "Glad to have you, Brother-Tycon, Brother-Zenon. Ah... make sure your guys are all in order, yeah?"

Tycon forced a smile. There were still whole bells of time before their collective would set out, "Hurry up and wait, then?"

Zenon chuckled at the joke. Concerning military situations, hurrying would inevitably result in delays, usually for logistics purposes. 

"Oh, a military guy, huh?" Bannok sat down on a folding stool and gestured to two others. "I was part of the Snake Cult wars... seven h.e.l.ls, it"s been fifteen years since. I got out two years back. I"m only really good at making things bleed-- without a war, I ain"t s.h.i.+te."

Bannok laughed at his own joke, "How about you guys?"

"Also military..." Zenon admitted, "But I haven"t seen combat yet."

The Weaponmaster snorted, "Yeah. I can tell by your shave and haircut-- you look like you"re a fish, fresh outta training! Don"t worry "bout it, guy. You"ll get plenty of action here... and if you"re alive at the end of it, we"ll all have an ale together."

Tycon was liking Bannok more and more. 

"How about you, green-hair-guy?" Bannok asked.

"I did serve as a Duplicarius recently," Tycon smiled weakly, "But for my other military endeavors, I honestly can"t tell you.."

Bannok raised an eyebrow, "Confidential s.h.i.+te? You look like you know what you"re doing." 

It was an astute observation, considering they had only just met, "Memory loss."

"Yeah..." Bannok shook his head. "I been hit in the head a few times too many. Hey, it"s fine, though... there are things I seen I wish I could forget."

Tycon frowned. The Weaponmaster mentioned he left the military two years prior, "Did you deploy to the Free Nation?"

Bannok took a deep sigh, "Yeah... I... killed..."

The Weaponmaster hesitated, shaking his head, "--I did a lot of things I can be proud of. Fighting for a good cause, that sorta thing I can be proud of. In the Free Nation... there wasn"t a lot of that."

Tycon nodded quietly. Military leaders all had similar stories. It was why they tended to keep to their own kind. The gravity of their decisions was not something civilians could easily understand.