Oak was a beautiful town, situated on a hill with a grand castle on the top, with the road curling around the hill like a spiral. Along that road lay the town itself, made from the same material and in the same design as the castle, giving the town a good aesthetic feel to it, along with the grand oak trees growing everywhere, giving the town its name. The cobble stone streets give way to pleasant shops which host nice shops, pleasant pubs, churches, and a region famous art gallery. Yes from the outside without any information given Oak Town is a pleasant looking place, perfect for starting a business or raising a family.

In reality Oak was only slightly better than Dahlia due to the actual firm structure of authority, though still corrupt through-and-through. The towns lord and the guild master of Phantom Lord were supposedly chums, letting the dark guild do as they like though within reason, keeping peace but brewing with criminals. People with bounties like Thorn could stroll down the streets unafraid of getting picked up by local authorities because they probably have a higher bounty than you. Underground trade and the black market was actually a town highlight it seemed. Yes when you heard the words ‘Oak Town’ you usually think of something illegal….

It was both everything Thorn expected, yet at the same time not. The general criminal freedom was nice, Thorn had to be careful even in Dahlia, but it was also so… cheerful. It was like the town was putting extra effort in seeming harmless when it was obviously not. Even in the pub Thorn was in had a warm cheerful atmosphere that was suited to a cheesy happy place like Magnolia Town, not freaking Oak. Just walking into the Swineherd Pub the Curse Magic user bet her demonic arm that a good half of the people in the building were dark mages themselves, and that’s only with a glance.

Honestly the town was starting to give her the creeps, but she had a letter of recommendation from a creepy cultist leader that was going to get her a job so Thorn marched on, wary of any foul play. But none came, to her surprise. It was a bigger surprise when no one gave her a second glance since she knew that with her ragged outfit, bandaged arm and mane of raven hair that she stood out. Glancing around she understood why, people who looked like ruffians were not uncommon here.

That made her next task hard. She was looking for a certain address, but was wary of asking for directions. Then Thorn noticed something in the corner of her eye. Every once in a while people in outlandish costumes like herself, making it known they were mages, would go up to a nearby bulletin board, look and it, and often rip off a piece of paper. ‘A job board.’ She realized. It might be the chance she was looking for. Her probable employer might be looking for other people and put up a job, hopefully with directions to his address. Feeling a tad optimistic Thorn walks up to the board and takes a look. Then another look. Then a longer look. Then she shuffles over to look somewhere else. None of the requests had the address of her recomendee. Dammit, she knew better than to be optimistic, it always ended in disappointment.

But then she noticed one last job, paper brown and hidden away behind the others. Curious Thorn shifted the others out of the way, to read the last one, and was very surprised to find it to be a scavenger hunt of sorts. At first Thorn was just going to roll her eyes and be on her way, but then she stopped to think for a second. There was an actual reward for this stupid little job, a nice one as well and Thorn needed to look around to find her new employers place and get familiar with the area anyways. This might not be such a bad idea. But it looked so old that the reward might not even be valid anymore. Well, she didn’t have anything else to do anyways, might as well waste some time. It wasn’t like she would get lost either, the objects were in rather obvious places.

Nodding to herself Thorn headed off to find the first object, an old plant in the churches public garden. The church was a large building that towered over the others, easy to spot if you were on its side of the hill, which Thorn was. On her way to the religious center Thorn kept an eye on the addresses and street names while she passed them, hoping to chance upon the one she actually wanted. No such luck as the cursed woman did not find her address by the time she reached the church. ‘Now what the hell count as an old plant? A dying one?’ Thorn muses to herself, avoiding the eyes of some of the priests walking around as she headed to the gardens. They held a rather pretty sight, full of shrubs and flowers all in full bloom. And no withered plants, to Thorn’s disbelief. But after wandering around for a while Thorn spotted a mandrake plan that comically looked like an old person. Hardly believing her eyes Thorn picked the mandrake and left to the next destination on the list.

Which was a very large tree near the church, partially burnt. Still, no address in sight Thorn took and burnt wood and headed to the last destination, the castle armory. It was thankfully open to the public so Thorn had no problem walking in and asking for a piece of scrap metal, other than some odd looks. She then headed to the final destination, a darkened town square. There, walking mysteriously out of the darkness was a beautiful woman who introduced herself as Serena Nightless, then started to laugh at an indignant Thorn. It turns out the scavenger hunt was prank she didn’t think anyone would fall for. But just as Thorn was about to get really angry the witch threw a bag at the mage. Inside was the number of jewels promised for completing the hunt. Anger instantly dissipating, she was paid, after all, Thorn looked up to see Serena pointing somewhere. Looking over Thorn noticed it was the street she had been searching for.

Glancing over her shoulder Thorn noticed the strange woman had disappeared.