Thorn had been on quiet an adventure this past month. Got pissed at an old employer for not paying the woman her full dues. Might have made a bit of a mess out of his people. Was still pissed so when she was offered a job opportunity by a rival faction the mercenary had leaped at the chance to get back at her bastard of an ex-boss, particularly since the new one paid so well. Then lots of nicely paid sabotage happened making Thorn a very happy woman, and the old fart a very mad man. Who had the resources and money to send a hit or two after the woman. So the Curse Magic user decided to skip town. She had been surprised by new newer employer when she got not only his blessing to leave, but also a letter of recommendation to work for some guy in Oak town. He must have learned from his rival’s mistake to not mess with the mercenary.

But anyways, after a long hike through dangerous territory Thorn had arrived at Oak Town, cheery looking even though it was the countries black market capital. 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…. And upon arriving Thorn had immediately set off to find her new employers place of residence, but had trouble since she was too standoffish to ask for directions. But after spotting a job board and what looked like some sort of scavenger hunt with a nice reward, Thorn decided that a nice walk around town gathering random stuff was just what she needed. But when that was finished some lady named Selena Nighless (or something) showed up and told her the job was a hoax. But before Thorn could rip her throat out not only did the woman pay her, but helpfully point out the exact place she was looking for. Nice, but creepy. Hopefully she wouldn’t run into the witch again.

Finally she had met her long-awaited employer and honestly was a little underwhelmed at first until the man began to explain things. Dr. Stephan Mabuz who runs a cute little magic shop in a hard to find side street in Oak which gets little to no traffic. The Doc informed his new employee about not being worried though since he was actually one of the best black market providers for illegal magic goods, particularly dark ones. This is where most of the man’s business comes from and where he got to know Thorn’s old employer. The doc offered Thorn a free dinky room in the apartments above his house to stay in while she works for him and others in Oak town, something she was grateful for since she both didn’t want to waste money on renting a place and wanted a bed to sleep in. Dinky was better than nothing.

Turns out the doc had a small job for her right away. There was a certain illegal to pick mushroom that he wanted the Curse Mage to, well, pick. Hardly worst job she’s done but if he was paying who was she to complain? He was a stout little man who stayed in his lab slash store all day so it was no wonder he didn’t want to go trepanising through the undergrowth looking for a hard to find mushroom.

So with the promise of money ringing in her ears Thorn marches off to the nearby forests to find some random ass mushrooms in a dark smelly forest. If only she had a Dragon Slayers nose, then this job would be easy. But alas Thorn had normal human senses so she would have to do this the old fashioned way: hunting around and checking every mushroom patch she comes across. Supposedly the mushroom in question is tall and skinny, completely gray except for the glowing green dots on it. The Doc showed her an example using the one mushroom he had left so she wasn’t going completely blind at least. But still, looking for it was an overall pain in the ass because there were so many mushrooms that looked similar to the fungus in question yet slightly different enough to know not to pick it.

Thankfully after a few hours Thorn found a few patches of them and after carefully pulling them out and putting the things in a bag to not ingest any of its deadly spores Thorn left Oak Forest and headed back to Oak proper. Dumping them unceremoniously onto the man’s desk Thorn demanded her payment, and after cackling to himself in glee for a while at new toys to play with Mabuz complied, paying his new hire for her hard work. Overall it wasn’t a bad day for Thorn, very profitable at the least but she was dead tired. So Thorn headed to her small room, flopped on the bed and promptly fell asleep.