The Bounty | Directives of the Tower - Pt. 2

 Mission Cycle -0.18

 Anvillon Tower, 2nd Representative's Residence

 The first room was as Rhobern had come to expect - a workshop of sorts with solid, slab-like tables, wall-mounted racks fully stocked with tools and components, and a bank of industrial appliances and control consoles that took up one full side of the room. Yet as he moved further in, he could see that the next chamber beyond appeared to be a surprising reprieve from the harsh, functional style that he had grown accustomed to in the tower. Unlike the space before it, the room was light and comfortable with furnishings made for human use, and a single ultrawide window that gave a grand, aerial perspective of greater Anvillon spreading outwards from the tower's base. However, it was the woman in the room, working at a desk in front of the window, that drew his attention.
 She was sat facing him, but was hunched over to better handle whatever she was at work on and had given no sign of acknowledging his presence. She appeared to be wearing the brown and grey garb of a forge worker, which was distinctive due to its tough and bulky design, and her right arm was sheathed in an armoured gauntlet painted midnight-blue with narrow rods, like drillbits, extending from the digits. Rhobern didn't recognise its purpose, but it was this tool that was being used to tinker with the object of her focus. Her posture meant that he couldn't clearly see her face, but the features that he could make out, and the style that her long, black hair had been tied in, showed hints of formal nobility which would have seemed at odds with her apparrel.
 Given that the door had been left open, Rhobern continued his approach slowly while making this assessment, and hoped that the machines on the floor below had properly announced his arrival. After entering the room, he hung a few steps back and waited silently for her to finish. The length of the walk here had worn at his patience, but he was not intending to make a mess of this opportunity. After a short wait, she drew her armoured hand back and retracted the manipulators with a motion at her wrist, then looked up. She regarded him with a polite smile - a relieving signal that he had not already broken ettiquette - but her eyes had a cold, analytical look as if he were another device to dissassmble and examine.

 "Rhobern of the Hook, you made it to Anvillon far sooner than predicted; it looks as though the rumours may be true... I am Morana, second representitive of the governing council of this city." She continued. "It was those rumours that led me to call you here, as they say that for the right fee you will see any mission to completion."

 Despite his difficult clientele, he wouldn't deny that. Maintaining a lifestyle independent from any of the regional factions was not cheap, but doing the jobs no one else could was one way to pay for it. Even if you did have to work for one of them from time to time.

 "Do you have an offer in mind?" He queried. He hadn't been given any information about what this 'mission' would be, but the first offer would give him a sense of scale rather than pressing for detail now.

 "More than one, if necessary, as I assume you have no interest in credits..."

 "In the outlands they're as good as dirt. I would prefer something with value I can get my hands on."

 She moved over to pick up a slate-like device, and tapped a sequence of buttons. "...then how does two quartblocks of darksteel sound?"

 Rhobern managed to limit his surprise to a single raised eyebrow. Darksteel was an alloy prized and sought after for its durability: when properly handled, darksteel plate could withstand heat, pressure, corrosion or sheer force like nothing else. However, it could only be mined in the southern reaches where scrap metal monsters of toxic constitution roamed, and that was before considering the awful conditions that endlessly plagued the area. For an industrial power such as Anvillon, or the makeshift empires of the tyrannical rail barons, mustering the manpower and resources for such a venture was well worth the expense, but to a small group like Rhobern and his crew it was as good as unobtainable. Which made this situation all the more concerning.

 "I won't decline the chance for a prize like that... but I imagine you already knew."

 She smiled genuinely at that, but once again her gaze cut through him like a scalpel. "Indeed. I did not bring you all this way just to have you decline. I spoke of rumours, but I am well informed enough to know that you and your team are the best candidates for the task."

 "So what is the mission then? I take it there is a reason you wanted my agreement first."

---------------

 Rhobern spent a few moments mentally reviewing the explanation he had been given before speaking up.

 "If this endeavour is truly as difficult as you say, then an advance of some kind would certainly improve our chances. Even a single darksteel blade would prove its use quickly enough."

 "Arranging for the goods will take time, but if you want for a blade then I may have an alternative for you." She moved back to the desk to pick up the object she had been working on, then headed for the workroom and beckoned for him to follow with a quick gesture.