Olphas, Nyvora, Miravon.
Three continents made up most of the landmass. The four others didn’t look like they’d rival any of those for size, even combined.
But, as an academic, she held a healthy skepticism.
Varethis, the country Wayfarrow belonged to, was top and centre, taking up a significant chunk of the continent of Olphas.
Is it a true representation, or is it national pride?
It eclipsed the island-nation of Albraxia - a name she recognised from the Guild documents - sitting off the north-west coast of Varethis, and the smallest of the continents.
It is not important right now.
Resolving to find a [Geographer] or [Historian] when she had the time, she replaced a bundle of maps in the cartography section and spent the next half hour searching for a very specific one, before giving up and grabbing Harlowe from the front desk and getting the badger-headed [Library Assistant] to find it for her. It only took him minutes, and she sighed with relief as she examined it and then gave him a request for a specific type of book too, but again, that one wasn’t a priority at the moment.
She had work to do.
Before she left though, she poked her head round the door of the [Chief Librarian]’s office.
Lady Ununcia Kypria was working at her desk, one leg splayed out in a splint as she leafed through documents and transcribed notes. The librarian didn’t notice her until she cleared her throat. She looked up, eyes blinking.
“Lady Kypria, I am just heading back to the guild, if you had…”
“The translations. Yes.” The woman began pulling sheafs of parchment out. “There are a few more pieces but I have the gist of it here.” She held out a rolled-up selection. “Most of it is the usual back-and-forth of communications; I’ll forward it on with our reports to the Great Library at Altherund, but I’ve summarised the key points for Thror, if you’d be so kind.”
“Of course, Lady Kypria.”
“Oh, and Marie…”
Marie paused, half turned to leave.
“Yes?”
“Intressa - the lady I told you about before - returned this morning, and I mentioned that chest of yours. She’s quite keen to examine it, if you’re available any time soon.”
It was Marie’s turn to blink. She’d completely forgotten about that particular issue. It was currently sitting in the corner of her office under a heap of books and a pile of laundry she really needed to get done… and at least a day's worth of half-finished meals.
“Oh, of course. That would be most welcome.” She smiled to cover the nervousness. “Perhaps I could bring it over this evening if I find the time?”
“I’m sure she could come to you, if that’s easier?”
Not easier than cleaning my office, no.
“It is no problem; it is not too heavy for me, and I am sure the people here will want to be present if she is successful.”
The [Chief Librarian] gave a guilty smile.
“We are all rather curious. Very well. I hope to see you later.”
Breezing out of the library, Marie’s boots rapped out a staccato rhythm on the streets of Wayfarrow as she hurried to her meeting with Guildmaster Thror. There was so little time to get things done if she was to keep to the schedule she’d planned. Well, the schedule the Alloyed Assembly had set, but her plans were built around those deadlines.
Still, the map she had clutched in her hands and the books in her office were the final pieces she needed for her initial gambit. Or at least, she hoped they would be. And as soon as her meeting was done, she’d put quill to parchment and arrange for a letter to be sent to the government in the capital city of Altherund, as quickly as possible. With any luck, it would be on its way before the end of the day.
Minutes later, sweating lightly, the chair squeaked as she sat down opposite the [Guildmaster] and sorted through her papers, passing him the notes from Lady Kypria.
He scanned the first one as it came.
“Have you read these?”
She shook her head, and he unrolled another parchment and took a minute to dig down into the details.
A jug sat on the corner of the desk - something Thunderous Roar had only started putting there recently with all the meetings they were having - and she helped herself to a cup of cool water whilst she waited.
The silence stretched on another minute, then another, until Marie finally interjected.
“If you are able to share the details, it may help with the plans I am putting into place.”
Thror held up a finger as he got to the end of the roll and unfurled a final one.
This time it only took him a few moments to check.
“It’s mostly what we thought, although Ununcia notes we don’t have the full set of correspondences. They were Chamaian, and the force was meant to look into the potential of setting up a secret outpost here under the guise of simple banditry. If they’d gotten away with it they’d have moved greater numbers in and used the area as a staging ground for a surprise assault on the northern cities, although it appears that the plan was later changed to use it as a feint for an attack on the south-eastern border. A risky prospect but it seems they didn’t think anyone would pay much attention to what was going on down here, and to be fair to them, we almost didn’t.”
Marie nodded.
Perhaps they suspect the same as I do.
She underlined a bullet point in her notes as Thror continued.
“Apparently, they discovered the dungeon entrance whilst looking for a suitable place to hide their numbers, and after reporting their initial findings back to Chama they were instructed to disregard the invasion plans and focus on the dungeon instead…
…It Looks like their government didn’t want to risk bringing more resources in to support them and giving their location away. Then, when exploring the dungeon took more of a toll than they were expecting, they stepped up the raids to resupply and to level more safely, but that was what finally forced us to deal with them.”
The tabaxi frowned.
“If they hadn’t pivoted to the dungeon, we might never have realised what was coming.”
Marie thought through the consequences of the information.
“Does that mean we need to inform someone about an impending risk of an attack in… the south-east… as a priority?”
“Yes. The council informed me this morning that they’re delegating responsibility of the aftermath of all this onto me; apparently they think the one with the most combat experience knows how to deal with all the paperwork around it. Bunch of workshy bas- well, apart from Gil. But at least they’re looking at their budget to see what they can offer us towards the cost. Probably a couple of hundred gold at most. Regardless, we need to warn Grimmswade and Theriden that something might be brewing - they’re the main line of defence on the other side of the Langschloss - and we should notify the King’s Council in Altherund of everything that’s happened.”
Marie drew a deep breath.
Here we go.
“Perhaps I could write up a report and send it to the King’s Council, whilst you contact those other places.”
Thror’s eyes narrowed as he considered the [Secretary] sitting across from him. There was silence for a minute, and then one hand reached up to stroke his beard.
“I suppose it would be appropriate for me to inform those most imminently at risk, whilst you drafted a report for the council…by the end of the day?” She nodded and he leaned forwards. “Of course, I would still have to check the contents of anything you prepared for the council.”
Marie kept her face neutral.
“Naturellement, you will need to approve the message, but I suspect that the king’s council will be very busy, and I should only include the most pertinent information…and requests…”
It took the dark-furred [Guildmaster] a moment more to make up his mind, but then he leaned back into his chair.
“That would be wise. We should get to that immediately. Unless there is anything else you need to bring to my attention...”
She was about to say no, when she hesitated.
“I…there has been another request made to send a group in to explore the dungeon - and to look for any surviving [Soldiers] and the [Tactician]...”
Thror nodded. They both knew who was making them. Sirrochon had not stopped in his quest for vengeance, even when most of the guild were licking their wounds and trying to recover in the aftermath of everything that had happened.
“... but I think it would be inappropriate to approve such a mission whilst the emergency procedures are still technically in place.”
Mouth twisting as he considered it, Thror began tapping one claw on the desk.
“You realise that I have to end that today, seeing as no more threats have arisen since Chiritta reported in and Lady Kypria’s translations show no imminent danger to Wayfarrow?” He waited for Marie to nod. “But perhaps…the warnings of the attacks should take precedence, and we can call off the emergency this evening - when I leave, at sundown. Then tomorrow I could write my report to the Alloyed Assembly about the event, and the discovery of the dungeon, and consider Sirrochon’s request.”
Marie exhaled.
He understands. Or at least, he suspects.
It might not be vital to do everything in this order, but though she’d been reading laws and legal documents as though her life depended on it, she was still new to all of this, and as far as she could tell she was on shaky ground. Plausible deniability. It was worth doing it like this…just in case.
She was about to thank him and leave when he nodded to the map she had rolled up - the only thing she’d set on the table and not offered to him.
“What about that?”
Once more she hesitated.
Perhaps he does not understand as much as he seemed to?
“Just… something for the report. Nothing to worry about.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
She smiled innocently and packed it away with her supplies as he dismissed her and pulled out a quill and blank parchment of his own.
As soon as she was out of his office she rushed down to her own.
There was only half a day to get her first and most promising plan into motion.
—
Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it and flipped to another book.
Come on. It is the last piece of the puzzle. There must be a precedent for it somewhere…
Nothing. The map had been just what she’d needed; why couldn’t this part be so easy. She piled the book on the growing stack and turned to another.
‘A History of Varethis, the Kaskenos to the Lutevin; How the Age of Discovery Shaped a Nation.’
At any other time she’d have been devouring the information these pages contained. The texts she’d borrowed from the library detailed thousands of continuous years of an empire’s development from multiple sources. It was a trove of knowledge from which she could glean insights into the development of civilisations. Random facts leapt off the page and into her brain, but she simply had no time.
The stack grew once again, and she pulled another to her.
‘Torn Asunder - An Account of the Ten Thousand Nights of Terror and the Bloody Path to Recovery.’
It was certainly a catchy title.
Marie started reading, and this time didn’t stop.
—
The sound of dinner being called roused Maire from the tale of woe and the years of hardship that had followed. She understood now something of why the allagi had been reviled. But more importantly, she’d found a passage.
In the aftermath of the death of the allagi [Bloodlord] and the destruction of his armies and the scouring of the infected, countries across the world were left reeling, but few as much as Varethis. This was particularly true in the south, where many of the highest-leveled members of the Howlers had made their lairs and slaughtered the local nobility. Aid came where it could, notably from Albraxia, whose charitable donations and emergency relief proved vital to the regeneration of their neighbours in the south-eastern reaches.
On the other side of the country however, especially with the presence of the exclusion zone so close, no such aid was able to be spared, and the victorious [Sun King] adopted the same approach as many other monarchs across the continents that the allagi had ravaged - namely, to take the land under the protection of the Crown. At another time, this might have raised a public outcry, but the king’s popularity with the masses and the devastation of the south-west left little to no opposition.
More than three hundred years later, and much of the land is still left in the administrative hands of the King’s or Queen’s Council, until such a time as it becomes pertinent to assign it to a new or existing local jurisdiction. In this, the ravages of the allagi rampage can still be seen to this day in the wild, untamed and underdeveloped stretches of Varethis - perhaps moreso than in any other country where the [Bloodlord] staked his claim.
It wasn’t much, and it wasn’t recent, but it was precedent, and if she knew anything about legal systems and governments, it was that they liked to have examples to follow.
She could only hope that held true here.
Even if it didn’t, she was almost out of time, and to avoid falling foul of any adventuring guild codes or guidelines as she attempted to force something favourable out of the situation, she had to get this done today. So she pulled out her quill and a sheet of parchment and began to compose a letter.
For the immediate attention of the King’s Council, Altherund.
On behalf of the leadership of Wayfarrow I am writing to inform you of a matter of grave importance. Recent banditry activity between the southern border of Varethis and Wayfarrow has proven to be far more dangerous than initially thought. In the process of undertaking a quest to remove the bandits from the area, it was discovered that the threat in question was not [Bandits] at all, but more than a hundred and fifty [Soldiers] from Chama masquerading as outlaws. This was evident not only from their equipment and tactics, but from fragments of correspondence recovered and translated after the fact, copies of which are included along with this letter.
As soon as the true nature of this threat was discovered, Wayfarrow’s council and Watch and Adventurer’s Guild mobilised, along with key citizens, and a force was put together to confront the [Soldiers] and rescue a number of adventurers who had been caught unawares by the truth of the matter.
Following a long and bloody night of battle, the Chamaian [Soldiers] were dead or routed, though the cost to the brave citizens and adventurers of Wayfarrow was high. From their camp we recovered notes (also included) that suggest that this duplicity was just an initial foray into Varethis to set up a staging ground and test defences, and later to provide a distraction before an incursion attempt on the south-eastern border. We have of course sent word to the Langschloss outpost to the south, and to Grimmswade and Theriden to be vigilant and to be prepared for battle, but we are now dealing with the aftermath in Wayfarrow.
Whilst we have successfully repulsed the attack here, it has taken a toll not only in lives but in coin, and not only do we owe a debt to the families of those who perished answering the emergency call that went out, but the adventurers and citizens who lent their aid require recompense, and payment to the Alloyed Assembly for vital Skills used by the local [Guildmaster] must be made shortly.
The area that the enemy [Soldiers] were camped in was approximately thirty-two to thirty-three miles south-south-east of Wayfarrow (map included), which is outside the city limits in land that is under the jurisdiction of the Crown. As such we are requesting that the Crown cover the cost of this endeavour, which includes:
-
Emergency funds to be repaid,
-
Payment for citizens who answered the call,
-
Wages for adventurers and recompense for the fallen,
-
Planned patrols, sweeps for remaining [Soldiers] and defence plans for the immediate future,
-
Compensation for costly but vital Skills used by individuals in the battle,
-
Reimbursement for lost supplies and various other expenses detailed in the attached invoice.
The total for this comes to twenty-one thousand, six hundred and seventeen gold, forty-two silver and eleven copper.
Although the information at hand indicates no immediate further threat to Wayfarrow, we also request that you consider the building, manning and running of a permanent outpost in the location to prevent a risk like this from occurring again in the future. We await your response and hope for a speedy resolution to this issue.
On behalf of [Guildmaster] Thunderous Roar of the Wayfarrow Adventurer’s Guild and the Council of Wayfarrow,
[Secretary] Marie Dubois.
And there it was.
It was a real gambit, but if it paid off…
All it needed now was the [Guildmaster]’s seal, and to be sent - and she knew of a recently-returned librarian-mage she was due to meet who probably had a spell that could get it to Altherund fast, not to mention hopefully having something that could open her chest at the same time.
Faire d’une pierre deux coups.
But first, it needed Thror’s approval.
—
The tabaxi [Guildmaster] poked distractedly at the remnants of his dinner with a fork, then looked up and raised an eyebrow.
“You think they will pay this?”
No. Not a chance.
She structured her answer carefully.
“It is not up to me to decide the council’s response. I am merely reporting the events.”
Thror grunted and finished reading it, then, with a firm press, took a wax seal and affixed his mark to the bottom.
“Worth trying. I need to finish composing a final message of my own, so I'll leave it to you to get this one on its way.” He slid it back across the desk, and she scooped it up before it dragged through a splotch of spilled gravy.
The [Guildmaster] sat, eyes half-closed as Marie double-checked she had the additional documentation that she’d promised in the letter, and scraped her chair back as she got up to leave. She was pushing it back in as quietly as she could, keen not to disturb the weary tabaxi when Thror’s mental voice rang out in her mind, and the mind of almost a hundred people in the small town. He must have been working on it before she’d interrupted him.
‘Attention all adventurers. The [Bandit]-[Soldier] threat has passed. Thank you for your service at this difficult time. Many have paid a steep price and some have yet to recover, but in the coming days and weeks Wayfarrow’s Adventurer’s Guild will do what it can to ensure each of you are paid what you are owed. Whilst it is not possible to pay out wages immediately, rest assured the balance will be redressed. Further enquiries may be made starting tomorrow afternoon, and announcements will follow when there is more news to be shared.’
Marie released a sigh of relief. He’d not told them to come to her directly. That was a r-
Ouch.
Something hit her head and she flinched, turning back to Thror who looked up with one eyebrow raised as a silver coin dropped to the floor. Then a handful of silver and copper rained down over Marie’s head, followed by a dull thud as a weight settled on her shoulders.
In a panic she jumped, sending her letter and notes flying as she snatched at the snake wrapping around her neck.
Except, it wasn’t a snake.
She threw a rope to the floor.
Thror’s brows drew together in a furrow, and he opened his mouth, until a copper coin bounced off it, followed by a brief shower of copper and silver with the hint of gold coming through, and a glass vial filled with a liquid that he reflexively caught before it smashed on the floor.
The two stared at each other in confusion for a second, and then both spoke at the same time, eyes wide.
“[Guildsworn Bonus]!”
Ignoring the small pile of coins on the floor, they dashed to the door and out to the balcony to look down on the guildhall where a dozen adventurers were resting, or they had been.
Each of them was now staring at a handful of coins or an item in their lap, or scrabbling about on the floor to catch them before they rolled away.
Finally, a welcome development.
—
It wasn’t much, but it was something.
One small concession in what had been a week of hardship and loss.
Most people they’d checked in on had less than a gold's worth of coin, or an item of a similar value.
I bet if I check the infirmary there will be more.
Thror was the only one they knew of who’d received actual gold, but he'd still been ecstatic at the reminder of her manifestation-type Skill that had been forgotten in the chaos of the last week, and impressed on her how vital it was that she post every quest that came through.
He'd gone into some long monologue about how the loot suggested the rewards were based on the quest participants’ level and contribution, or possibly some combination of theirs and hers, and was pondering if it might constitute a small but steady tax-free inflow to recoup some of their losses in the long run.
Whatever it was, Marie was grateful for the modicum of goodwill and cheer it brought.
One of the few silvers worth of coins she’d been granted bought her dinner from the Grinning Broccsus, along with a glass of sparkling green wine courtesy of the adventurers who’d been dining there once they’d worked out where the surprise pieces of loot dotted across their steak and ale pies had come from, and the random rope was looped at her belt.
Why rope?
There was no urgency to her thoughts, or to her walk as she made her way over to the library, partially because she was enjoying the memory of the first good meal she’d had in days, but also because she’d remembered to bring her chest along with the letter.
Maybe Intressa also has some advice she could share about reanimating bones…
The library building rose above its surroundings in the late evening light, the setting sun painting its spire a beautiful rose-red. The ever-present chill of the entryway sent a pleasant ripple up her spine, and even though the hum of activity in the circular walls never truly ceased, for the moment it was an oasis of calm and quietude.
Nodded through by the [Clerk] at the desk, she approached Lady Ununcia’s office, and a minute later the greying [Chief Librarian] was presenting her and the chest to a short and squat woman in her mid thirties, brunette hair tied up in a bun, who introduced herself as Intressa Tiluth, [Arcanavist].
“I understand I have you to thank for clearing the roads, Miss Dubois?”
Marie was caught off-guard for a moment before she realised the woman was talking about the goblins.
Mon dieu. That all seems so long ago.
“I was only one of a team, Miss Tiluth. I am just grateful the fighting seems to be over for now.”
Lady Kypria looked up from where she was scanning Marie’s letter and the attached notes. Her eyes held a measure of understanding, but she handed them back without comment on the contents.
“Be grateful for peace, but don’t discount the opportunities provided by conflict. It is a great opportunity to discover something new…and to gain levels!”
Marie bowed her head to the older woman’s wisdom, but privately crossed her fingers for weeks of boring paperwork and quiet. She turned to the [Arcanavist], distracting her with the documents before she could get hooked by the mystery of the chest that was drawing her eyes like a fish to a worm.
“I am sorry to bother you on two counts, and I would not ask if it were not urgent, but is it possible to send this message to the capital? I understand that you are the most able mage in Wayfarrow, but I do not know what a spell to do that would entail, or how difficult it would be.”
The shorter woman took the collection and rifled through them.
“You want these exact pages sent? Or would a facsimile of them suit your needs?”
“Absolutely! A fax…a facsimile would be parfait. I was going to copy them anyway.”
“Hmm, right. Give me a moment.” She pulled a great codex out of nowhere and left it hanging in the air as she produced a quill in the same manner. “I’ve sent a copy of a document before but never a whole sheaf, and making sure that seal transfers…” She flipped the book open and went back and forth through the pages of her floating grimoire before nodding to herself. “...{Analyse Components}, [Cannibalise Formulae], [Arcane Reforge],” she found a blank page “{Inscribe Spell}.”
Marie watched over Intressa’s shoulder as the squat woman’s quill began to sketch out a series of symbols and annotations, moving faster and faster until, with a flash of white light and a mass of dark lines resolving, a new entry appeared in the [Arcanavist]’s book. The woman looked up, blinking from the aftereffects of the light.
“I’ve heard of this one before. ‘Dispatch’. Looks like it’s third tier. More mana intense than a {Sending} but not by much.” She ignored Lady Kypria hobbling over to examine it and continued to parse it herself. “Doesn’t need any components beyond the message itself. The documents will be gone for… well, it depends how far they’re being sent, but they’ll reappear when the spell ends, at the same time the recipient gets them.”
“That sounds perfect, Intressa. How long will it take to arrive? And what would you charge for such a service?”
The shorter woman’s eyes sparkled as she double-checked who it was addressed to.
“To send to the capital… I’d guess no more than a few hours. Hard to tell without trying. No charge for you Miss; call it thanks for your part in clearing the roads. [Chief], I assume you’ll be here ‘till midnight. Would you mind timing this? {Dispatch}.”
The papers in her hands fluttered and glowed with a soft golden tone, and then with a sound like a bird in flight they disappeared altogether.
And just like that, it was done.
All she had to do now was hope and wait.
Intressa shattered the moment of relief as she rubbed her hands together with glee and clapped.
“Now, I was told about a magical chest.”
—
They stood around the chest.
They’d been there for over an hour.
Intressa was flicking through her spellbook once again, no longer mumbling spell combination ideas or potential new creations, surrounded by Lady Ununcia and the few library staff still on duty. Everyone wanted to see.
To see nothing, as it happened.
Marie broke the silence.
“So, uh, how long does it take to become a [Mage]?”
The woman replied without looking up, her mind still focussed on the task that was proving so frustrating.
“You could gain the Class in an afternoon, but training is slow. Although if you’re an adventurer and throw yourself into danger enough you’ll get there. I wouldn’t recommend it until you had a good suite of spells though. Bodies are quite squishy when they’re not encased in armour or you don’t have [Greater Toughness] or potions of Stoneskin and the like. It’s taken me years to get to level 28 just by studying; your friend Miss Entoll is progressing faster, but she’s got the resources to do it.”
They halted their conversation as a young dwarf came in staggering under the weight of a hefty tome, and Lady Kypria and Intressa both bent their Skills to searching it for options.
It was no use.
After almost two hours, the [Arcanavist] gave up.
“I’m sorry, Marie. I’d happily take you through the basics of magecraft sometime, but this puzzle is beyond me.” She patted the lid of the chest, a flash of exasperation, ire and longing passing across her features. “Come back to me in a month and I’ll see if I’ve got anything new. Whatever the way of opening this bastard thing is, it’s been lost to the annals of history.”
The gathered librarians grumbled and began to turn away, but Marie paused.
Then she twitched.
Something began to percolate in her brain.
Lost to history.
Forgotten…
Could it be that simple?
“Bien s?r, idiot!”
As Intressa and Lady Ununcia watched on, and half a dozen heads turned back, tilted in curiosity, Marie laid a hand on the chest and muttered a Skill…
…and something clicked.
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