Warband

Gore walked through the doors of the bar and looked around. There were dozens of men in the bar, some with armor who were clearly mercenaries and others who were clearly farmers. But every single one of them turned towards him and for a moment there was silence.

Gore cleared his throat. "I'm making a warband. I am a giant and I have the money to buy equipment for you all and the experience to train you. If anyone is interested, come over to my table."

Gore turned away and walked to the bar where he ordered some food. "Hey, I want a few dozen pounds of beef, cheese, and a dozen glasses of milk."

The man looked at Gore a little strangely until he slid a gold coin across the counter. The man grinned. "I'll be getting you that food straight away sir!"

Gore sighed and then strode over to an empty table that had eight seats. As he slowly lowered himself down into a chair, it creaked dangerously. It would have broken too, if his sword hadn't been turned into a ring.

As Gore sat down, there was a man with dirty chainmail that walked up to the table and sat down next to him. "Hey, my name is David Chris' son. I'm a mercenary, but I want to join your warband."

Gore looked the man up and down. David had red grizzled hair, blue eyes that seemed to have seen lots of combat, well used equipment, and was 6' tall.

Gore spoke softly. "How old are you, why do you want to join, and what experience do you have?"

David nodded. "I'm 28. I want to join because you look like a leader that can pull far more than his weight. I have stormed two castles as a mercenary. I've moved across the entirety of Veros, Alien, and Talos in caravans that I was protecting."

Gore nodded. "You will do. Do you have any questions for me?"

David glanced at the coin bag at his waist. "I want to know how much I'll be paid."

"Two gold every month and a percentage of the spoils of whatever we do depending on your performance."

David nodded. "That's a good deal. Do you have any horses or supplies or anything?"

Gore shook his head. "We can get that later. I'm trying to find people first."

The bar attendant brought over lots of milk and meat. Gore turned to the food and he began to eat everything because he was starving. 

Gore turned to David who was looking at the food. "Do you want a glass of milk?"

He shook his head. "Milk upsets my stomach."

Gore raised an eyebrow and then continued eating. 

Four more men who looked to be farmers came over. They had dirty cloth shirts and pants and they were all muscular, but they looked young and related. There was one boy who introduced himself as Gore ate. "My name is Dal, Sal's son. These are my brothers: Dor, Lor, and Yor. I am the eldest at 19, Dor is 18, Lor is 17, and Yor is 15. We want to join you sir."

Gore stopped eating for a second. "You can all join if you have the stomach and will for it. The first month I will give you all a gold coin to split between yourselves. After that, I will decide how useful you have become. I will train you all and will provide you with equipment."

Gore glanced from face to face and took in what they looked like. Dal, the oldest, was six feet tall, had black hair, and brown eyes. Dor was 5'9", had black hair, and blue eyes. Lor had Blonde hair, blue eyes, was 5'5" and almost looked like a woman. Yor had brown hair, brown eyes, and was 6'2". 

Gore sighed and shook his head. "None of you look that related except for your facial features like your noses and general face shape. Also, Lor, are you a girl?"

Yor blinked twice in quick succession before clearing her throat. "Ahem, I am not sir."

Gore sighed. "Don't lie…"

Dal stepped towards Gore. "Fine sir, this is our sister, but she can hold a sword too! Our father was drunk one too many times… He kept on beating us, so we left the farm."

Gore sniffed. "Okay, I don't care but just know that the life of a farmer and a soldier in a warband is nothing alike. If you come with me, I can promise you riches, but you must survive. The likelihood of you all dying is high."

They all turned to each other and conversed for a few minutes, and as they did, Gore ate more of the meat and drank more of milk that he had bought. 

When Dal finally turned back to Gore he nodded. "Even if we die, we want to become men! We want to strive as high instead of groveling in the dirt beneath the beating sun for the rest of our lives."

Lor stepped towards Gore. "I promise I will learn along with my brothers as hard as I can!"

Gore nodded and then wiped his mouth as he finished the last bit of food that he had bought. "Alright. Since no one else is coming over here, let's go and buy some gear.

 Gore left the bar and his 5 new recruits followed behind him with Dal and David on his right and left side. David looked up at Gore as he walked. "I know this city well, let me take you to the best shops for weapons, armor, supplies, and horses."

Gore nodded. "I can run as fast as a horse, but you will all need horses for sure. Lead the way, David."

For the next few hours, the six people made an odd sight in the city as the dirty farmhands quickly got turned into proper looking soldiers. They had fine chainmail with three pairs of extra underclothes. They also bought a shield, short sword, spear, belt, pair of boots, and a helmet each. 

Gore only had 20 golden coins at the bottom of his bag, but he felt as though he had spent the 176 golden coins well. 

And so with that, Gore had formed the beginnings of his Warband.