Twelve

He had been hired by the Emperor to escort twelve different people to the northern wastelands. A simple enough task, one even a simple thief such as he should be able to accomplish. Then he viewed their images on the Tablet of Future Revelations. A mage fresh out of the academy with his female slave. She was very cute. A Trifling merchant with a taste for women of all races. The battle scarred Midling was a relief. The giant red-head was just big, but unarmored. The two fully armored knight errants were twins. They were from Scosha, a war-like nation of sea pirates. Now the wood elf was a looker. She carried a wooden staff and was known as a dread witch. Then he groaned. The next image was a dark elf. Everyone knew the two nations were locked in a millennia old war where no quarters were given. Another thief followed, but she was of noble birth. The next was a dark-haired beauty with a bounty on her head, dead or alive. A healer just out of the cloister followed her. He grinned in anticipation. The imperial battlemage next to him chuckled. "She must be delivered to the shrine intact - a virgin. Did I mention that her time of mating is upon her? Actually that applies to the wood elf also. All of these twelve must not die or your mission is for naught." He swore to himself and held out his hand for the pouch of gold coins.