Gwen rubbed her eyes and let out a fierce yawn. It had been many hours since she had last been able to catch even a bit of sleep, but tonight was not looking in her favor for such purposes. Having walked to Era and gotten there only hours ago, she was quite tired. She sat with her back against a wooden wheel attached to a rather elegant looking caravan wagon. Around her sat quite a few other wagons of varying condition, all parked in one of the few open spots in the entire town. Era, while known for many things, did not tend to leave much space for merchants to leave their goods over night, and the knowledge of where these few places were made them easy targets for robbery as Gwen had come to know.

She had been contacted earlier that day in accordance with a man looking to hire a mage to do a rather menial task. The man, Augustus as he was called, had hoped Gwen would look after his caravan for the night before he and his men set out for Hargeon the next morning. Having just arrived in Era from her vacation, and not one to easily turn down a job, Gwen had accepted quite readily, and found herself only more incentivized when she learned about the payment involved. Sure, it wouldn't make her rich, but she was looking forward to having just a bit of spending money to keep her belly full for a few weeks. The job hadn't been an issue at first. She had made a few rounds along the caravan in order to make sure no one was approaching from one of the many points of ingress, but so far all had been quiet throughout the night. Well, as quiet as Era could be. The town was a bustling metropolis compared to some of the other towns in Fiore. Just a few streets over, Gwen could hear the sound of revelry coming from taverns and inns, and how she wished she could join in. But, she had a job to do, and failure, at least to her, was not an option.

Standing up from her relatively comfortable position, Gwen yawned again while she took another walk around the caravan in the cold night air. Winter was absolutely the worst time to be dealing with an outdoor job, and to have it take place in the dead of night was not something she found any more appealing. She was a Frost Mage, but at the same time she hated being out in the cold. The rather tall mage had wrapped herself up tightly in her biggest coat, and pulled her scarf as tight as it would go around her neck just to ward off the cold during her sentry duty. Her hat even protecting the top of her head from the wind. A light amount of snow had fallen to the earth only a few hours before, and although walking through it wasn't much of an issue, Gwen still felt the need to complement the powdery substance she had come to enjoy over the years. After her round about the caravan was complete she leaned back against the cart for a moment, and once more tried to shake off the drowsiness she knew would claim her if she wasn't careful.

A few more hours passed, and the moon had risen quite high into the night sky by the time Gwen even bothered to check. She had been making so many rounds and watching each road so carefully that the passage of time had simply flown past her like a fine breeze. Alone with her thoughts, Gwen tried desperately to entertain herself, but to no avail. The night was doomed to be as dull as it had seemed at first, and there was hardly a thing she could do about it. But just then, a hushed noise came from just beyond Gwen’s line of sight. Turning her head and cupping her ear, the mage tried to see if she could pick up anything, but it had fallen silent once more. Just as she was about to go back to making her rounds, Gwen heard the noise again. With a frown she made her way as silently as she could towards the source of the noise. She had been warned by Augustus that some kind of bandits or thieves might try to make off with the goods in his caravan, and Gwen had no intention of allowing such a thing to happen. The crunch of the snow beneath her boots was a dead giveaway, but considering the noise was still going on she assumed no one had heard her yet. Drawing ever closer to the source of the noise, Gwen took note that the sounds seemed to be coming from a nearby cart. Sidling up to the side of the caravan she took a deep breathe before taking a peak inside through a crack in the wood. Inside, she could barely make out two individuals in a rather intimate position. They seemed to be sharing words of affection, such that made Gwen feel rather sick to her stomach. Turning away silently, she slowly made her way back to the caravan, and gave it her all not to heave her dinner in the process. She had never been a big fan of such antics, but the close proximity to such things had made her quite queasy. Settling back into her routine, Gwen resolved to make it to morning without any further issues.

As the sun began its slow climb over the buildings surrounding the caravan opening, Gwen continued to blink away the exhaustion that was creeping up on her. It had been a long and frigid night, but she was glad to see that it was coming to a close. She was pretty sure a hot bath would fix her up just right, but she still had to wait for her relief. It wouldn't take long. A mercenary wearing the garb of her employer's company soon approached bearing a pouch of jewels and a mug filled with some unknown, but clearly hot drink. He passed both off to Gwen with a word of thanks, but Gwen could only return a nod in response, she was far too tired. Leaving the caravan in the care of the mercenary, Gwen began her frigid walk home, but happily comforted by the coffee the man had given her.

WC: 1086