At some point well into the downward spiral Liwich was caught in, Tori returned to the Arms in a sour mood after another job-gone-wrong. Though she still reeked of some combination of sewage, blood, and undeath, she paused on her way past the entry to the common room at hearing something out of Liwich. She entered slowly, pausing at the bar to listen to the talk. Sickness. Prophecies. Her name on the lips of magical doomsayers. Heh! The Reluctant, indeed.
Dragons. World shouldn't have things with so much power even when they're dead, but she could sure as strife say the same for the stonebound.
It'd faded to background for a bit, the initial revulsion and alarm retreating before the silence and long days of routine. Back in full force now, though. Didn't seem to be a formal bounty, but then. Anyone capable of bringing in Vrebel would be asking Ausir. Back in her room, after a much needed wash, she thumbed through some of her notes. No way any of the plans she'd made would survive this unless she owned it, but talking like she'd mattered would bring heat she couldn't handle. She'd been useful like a glass hammer. There was nothing in the whole rotten mess of it she could even pick out as belonging to her line of work - she shouldn't even have been there. They'd needed covering like dragons need crossbows.
If there'd been a bounty, evading other hunters and collecting on herself would've been the best she could hope for her name, pull together her fraying reputation. Her eyes flicked back to the other scroll, not needing to unroll it to see the marks scratched on it or bring old faces back to mind. Still work yet to do. No way she could get locked in a cell or fed to a dragon before it was done. The series of marks on the scroll formed a series of names, real and false, and many of the names had lines through them. One of those names was why she'd come to Leringard to begin with, and it was about time to cross it off.
Finish the rest, and they could do what they want. Few months, say. She moved to pick up the crossbow once more and paused with her hand on it. Extend her leave indefinitely, put off Thoven and the halfer. She'd let herself get distracted, lulled into steady work and occasional mob charges without contract terms or clear boundaries and expectations. That was going to change.