Jes Doublestone, the dwarven [Scholar], was doing something all dwarfs love doing. He was counting his gold.

  Pos Opalhand groaned, Vormarobe Flinthand huffed while the [Knight], Umdar Blackrock, smiled from the side, glad that he was wise enough to turned down the game. Noghoula Whitbrew was just pissed.

  “That’s just unfair. You must be cheating!” The [Berserker] shouted as she pointed an accusing finger at Jes.

  “I’m a [Scholar], not a [Rogue], and I’m no thief.” Jes shrugged unapologetically as he continued counting his winning.

  “Then you must have some luck Skills! No one wins six games in a row.”

  “You can hire a priest to check. Ten gold says he’ll find nothing.” Jes smirked.

  Nog grumbled about the luck of the Stones as she took a big gulp from her mug. The ale within was thick, bitter and smelled great. It was a true dwarven brew, not the poor imitation most establishments served in the World Above. Not for the first time tonight, Pos stopped himself from rolling his eyes. The numerous mugs of ale the [Berserker] had consumed had played more of a part in her losses than luck.

  “Another game?”

  Groans greeted Jes’ suggestion. Nog was about to curse the scholar again when there was a knock at their door, the first they had heard since they got there.

  “One of you losers better get that.” Jes mocked. Pos looked at the other dwarf and frowned.

  Today, the party had decided to rent a private room in the Adventure Guild for a game of cards. Playing cards had become a popular pastime in Viaggia since Pos reported the existence of the Hall of Carda and that he won the card in a game of 21. The mood of the party was relaxing, but that could quickly change if the scholar continued to gloat. Jes Doublestone was the definition of a bad winner.

  “I’ll get it.” Umdar said before temper could fray further.

  Pos looked over as Umdar open the door and saw a very unhappy Maglor Goldenaxe. Pos was about to groan when he noticed something. Although you would not be able to notice it from his face, the agent of the dwaven king was nervous, his eyes glancing left and right as he stood outside the door. Pos was not the only who notice this as Umdar quickly ushered the agent inside.

  “What happened?” Vorma asked, clearing picking up on the vibe of the agent.

  Maglor waited for the door to close before walking to the round table the party was seated around, but he did not answer Vorma’s question directly. Instead, he looked at the gold and cards on the table and scoffed.

  “Well, nice to see that you all are having fun.”

  “What’s the use of having gold if you don’t spend it?”

  Pos had to smile at Nog’s reply. Since the auction, the party had been relaxing in town, spending the gold they had received from the auction hall. It was the way of adventurers, especially delvers.

  When you might die tomorrow, you should enjoy today.

  “Well, playtime is over.” Maglor said. “I need all of you back in the dungeon and complete your quest.”

  The party looked at each other. They had discussed this earlier and had come to an agreement. The party may be rich, but they had taken the quest and would enter the dungeon to complete it if Maglor asked. The party knows they could buy the agent off with the gold from the auction but the hit to their reputation wasn’t worth it. Adventurers who agreed to a quest were expected to complete it to the best of their ability and while it might be understandable to come out of the dungeon after finding a good treasure, adventurers were still expected to complete any quest they took. However, Maglor did not need to know their decision yet.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “We were expecting a visit from you before today, but you never came. Why are you here now? What happened?” Pos asked, trying to sound as nonchalance as possible.

  “Nothing that concerns you. Just do your job.”

  The taunt worked as Maglor’s answer came out as a growl. Pos would have left it at that, curious adventurers die early and all that, but Vorma was not one to let thing lay.

  “Not till you tell us what is happening. It has been twenty days since the auction, and you come to us now? What happened?”

  Maglor looked unsure, before replying. “Things are coming to a head.” The agent swept aside his cloak to reveal a leather bag. He reached in and took out a package, placing it on the table.

  “What is this?” Nog asked as she reached for the package.

  “A set of reports I had received from my agents within the Bright Kingdom. The feud between the Biaggo and Manfredi families is deeper than anyone had believed. There was a skirmish between the two parties two day after the auction, and one of the Manfredis died.”

  Vorma cursed as she quickly looked though the reports alongside Jes and Umdar. Pos did not bother and just looked at the agent.

  “I haven’t heard anything about that.”

  “It happened outside of town, when the Manfredis were on their way back home. The court is trying to keep things quiet and hoping cooler heads will prevail. They will fail. Both sides are calling in their forces, and I expect the first of their troops to arrive within the week.”

  “The Guild has declared Viaggia a Dungeon Town. Even the Biaggos and Manfredis wouldn’t dare offend the Guild.” Pos pointed out.

  “They wouldn’t, but the noble houses only need to respect the letter of the law. The town and the dungeon will be off-limits, but the areas around the town? The road from here to the dungeon? The roads merchants need to travel to bring supplies into Viaggia? There are many ways around these restrictions. Even if the fighting only occurs outside the town, it will make things very miserable for everyone.”

  “But with strife comes opportunity.” Jes said, a suggestion that had Maglor shaking his head. Pos wasn’t the only one surprised by the reaction.

  “Why not?” Vorma asked.

  “All of you probably don’t know this, but the political situation in the Bright Kingdom has been volatile for some time and the Biaggos and Manfredis are on different sides of the political divide. Now, that’s not news but things are heating up, and we believe both families are but proxies for their factions.”

  “The Biaggos and Manfredis are both powerful noble houses.” Jes said.

  “But they are not the most powerful forces in the kingdom, and we believe their backers want them to engage as a show of force.”

  “Who are their backers?” Jes asked.

  “That’s none of your business.” Maglor simply answered.

  “Goat’s piss, it’s the royal family, isn’t it? The Biaggos and Manfredis are proxies for different faction within the royal family of the Bright Kingdom.” Jes groaned and Pos finally understood why Maglor was in Viaggia.

  The discovery of a dungeon is major news, and Pos had believed Maglor was assign to oversee the dungeon town. That may still be true, but the dungeon was not the only assignment the agent had. He was also here to report on the various factions within the Bright Kingdom. Maglor wasn’t just the dwarven king’s eyes and ears in town. He was the king’s dwarf for the whole kingdom!

  “How volatile are things?” Umdar asked.

  “I’m not sure.” The agent looked a little embarrassed by that. “Anyway, just know there are forces at work here is bigger than us and things are going to happen soon. I need you to go into the dungeon, clear the room, and get the treasure. Then, I can get it out of here before things start to happen. Our kingdom wants something out of this before the inevitable cave-in.”

  “Why?” Pos asked. “Why would you, or our ‘trustworthy’ king cares about the treasures from a new-found dungeon?”

  “A new-found dungeon that has strange spells and items from at least two Gods. Of course the king is very interested in the treasures of this dungeon. Everyone is.” Maglor replied with a roll of his eyes.

  “But what exactly is going to happen? The Bright Kingdom is strong, and its Queen is hale and healthy. By right, things should be well. So, things are a little volatile in court? So what? What’s the problem?” A puzzled Nog asked.

  “The Bright Queen believes her kingdom should be bigger than it is. And she does not wish to fight other humans for land. She plans to expand the kingdom by pushing into the neutral territories.”

  Everyone’s eyes widened. In shock and fear. There were many different species in the World Above and most of them had claimed some territories. All the species that had territories made it a point to leave some unclaimed territory between them to avoid conflict. Human kingdoms may border each other, but you will never see a human kingdom bordering an elvish one. The unwritten rule is that no kingdom or nation should intrude on any unclaimed area between two species. No one wants a species war. Maglor was now claiming the Bright Queen intended to throw the rule off the mountain.

  Jes Doublestone, the [Scholar], whispered what everyone was thinking. “That’s insane.”