Chapter Three-Hundred Thirty-Eight

Now that’s new.  Most of the strong delvers go to the Forest of Four Seasons, but there’s a trio awkwardly standing in front of the manor right now.  I don’t recognize them, so they’re almost certainly part of the Earl’s guild.  Most of them act like troublemakers in class, glancing around and thinking the teacher doesn’t know what they’re up to.  But these three look more like a kid who learned of a bully’s plan and don’t know how to tell the teacher.

They’re an interesting group, for sure.  The orc is gigantic, easily seven feet tall and bulging with muscle beneath the fur armor.  He has a huge axe on his back, and a thick book at his hip, too, which is interesting.  The stereotype is that barbarians can’t read, but I don’t even need to peek between the pages to see it might be even more used than Rhonda’s notebook.

Then there’s the foxkin lady who I think has a class a bit like a mix between Tarl and Berdol.  She has the sneaky stance of Tarl, while also having even more knives than my favorite catkin.  Her armor is certainly functional, even with how tight it looks on her.  I’d wager she’s used to distracting foes, which means she’s also probably used to dealing with people, not just denizens.

And lastly the tall androgynous elf.  I’m pretty sure he’s a guy, but I’m not going to go looking to confirm.  He has a very “a wizard is never late” kind of vibe to him, a confident arcane caster if there ever was one.  His robes are lighter than most others I see around here, so either enchanted to help keep him warm and protected, or he’s tougher than he looks and used to colder climates.

All three are looking around like tourists that missed their subway train, and are trying to figure out what they should do.  The foxkin lady is keeping her eyes on the ravens watching them, while the orc keeps his eyes on the other people around.  The other delvers mostly ignore them, more concerned with their own delves than with the lost adventurers.  I’m tempted to ignore them, but they’re not causing any trouble.  In fact, they look like they’re actively trying not to make a scene while they figure out whatever it is they’re trying to figure out.

I don’t even get the chance to poke Teemo before he pops out of a shortcut not far from the group, giving them ample time to spot him and not be spooked by his sudden appearance.  “You guys lost?” he asks from the grass.

The orc glares intensely at him while the foxkin looks confused.  The elf, for his part, is trying not to laugh as he takes the lead.  “You could say that, I think.  Are… you truly the Voice of the dungeon?”

“I better be.  I’d hate to have him constantly buzzing in my ear without even getting a title for it.”  He grins as I snicker at that.  The foxkin looks confused while the orc looks murderous, though his hand is twitching toward his book rather than his axe.  Is he a shaman instead of a barbarian or something?  Do shamans use books?  I’d expect totems, but I haven’t seen many come through, so I dunno.

The elf follows Teemos look before speaking up.  “Please don’t mind Noynur.  He’s much friendlier than he looks.”

“I hope so,” quips Teemo.  “It’d be hard to be less friendly.”  The orc, Noynur, snorts at that and folds his arms.  He still looks like he wants to eat Teemo, but at least with his arms crossed like that, he’s not in any position to actually do it.  “So, what do you guys need?”

“To talk.  Somewhere private,” rumbles the orc, and his companions nod.

“What about?” asks my Voice, and the foxkin answers.

“About things best not said in the open.”  Her eyes dart around, looking like she’s trying to be alert and not nervous.  I’m suspicious, of course, but I’m also curious.  Teemo is right there with me, so he motions for them to follow him.

“Then follow me.”  He turns and opens a new shortcut, and once the three enter with him, he pinches the ends closed.  It’s probably not absolutely proof against spying, but it’d take someone pretty special to be able to bug a fresh shortcut like that.  “And we’re here.”

Noynur glances around before nodding, and takes a seat on the ground while the elf appraises the shortcut.  “That’s impressive work, Voice.”

Teemo shrugs.  “Just call me Teemo.  What do I call the rest of you?”

“Ah, how rude of me.  I am Driough, a mage of high standing.”  The elf gives a little bow as he introduces himself, and settles in to lean on his staff to get comfortable.

“I’m Jana,” replies the foxkin as she paces around the shortcut.  “Rogue.”

“And I’m Noynur, as they said.  A barbarian by class, and…”

“And a busybody by hobby,” finishes Jana for him with a smirk, earning a glare that would usually come with an initiative roll.  I get the feeling they’re all pretty good friends, and seem to feel more comfortable in the shortcut than out in the open.

“Well, I’m Teemo and the Boss is Thedeim.  What do you three want to talk about?  It looks like you’re part of the Earl’s guild.  Is he trying to contact the Boss?”

“Not exactly,” rumbles Noynur as he takes the book from his hip, and starts flipping through it.  I can’t help but look over his shoulder, and I wonder if they’re fans.  I see more than a couple copied stories about me that look like they’re taken from newspapers.

“I hope it’s not for an autograph.  It looks like you guys have been paying attention to the Boss for a while.”

The orc freezes for a moment before quietly pulling out an inkwell and stylus, and making a note: Don’t take book into dungeons.  Teemo and I both laugh, though only he can be heard.  Still, it's enough to make the other two look confused about why my Voice suddenly started laughing.

“He can read,” states the orc simply, causing his companions eyes to widen.  Teemo recovers from the humor before they can react much more than that.

“He sure can.  But I don’t think you’re here to talk about his literacy, yeah?”

“No, we’re not,” admits the orc as he turns a few more pages, then pauses again.  “Did he read the entire book yet?”

“Nah, just a peek while you were flipping through.  He usually tries not to intrude on peoples’ privacy.”

Noynur grunts in appreciation before finding his place in the book.  “If you didn’t know, the Earl is trying to solidify his hold on Fourdock directly, instead of leaving it to the Mayor.  Instead of simply handing it over like most would to curry favor, he’s politely resisting, and seems to be doing a good job of it.”

“Too good,” grumbles Jana.  “So the Earl might stoop low and accidentally… or deliberately kick off a crime spree or worse.”

Noynur nods as I pay more attention, and Teemo motions for him to continue.  “The civilian delvers could end up causing a chain reaction that sees the current Mayor deposed.  The Earl wants to control the goods coming out of this dungeon.  He brought a lot of strong adventurers to form his guild, but the average level of the rival guild is a lot higher than expected.  He can’t try to intimidate them outside the dungeon without escalation, and trying to be more direct inside will be difficult with the ravens constantly staring.

“Which means he needs to lean on the gatherers and craftsmen.  He can’t use his guild for that, as the law frowns heavily on that.  But the Thieves Guild will have no problem with doing it.”

Teemo nods for me, and so far, nothing is too surprising.  I saw them as a potential avenue of attack and have Zorro working to keep an eye on things, but the way Noynur is talking, he’s still setting the stage for the actual news.  News that it seems Jana will deliver.

“But the problem is the gatherers and crafters are delving.  They’re still not combat classes, but they’re learning to fight, to defend themselves.  Usually, a legbreaker only needs to make a few subtle threats to get them to listen.  But with the new practice in a fight, and probably a couple more levels to boot, there’s going to be some who don’t take the hint, or threaten back.  Or fight back.  The local Boss can’t let that slide, and the Mayor can’t let the retaliation slide, either.  All the Earl will have to do is sit back and subtly fan the flames, and he’ll have all the excuse he needs to take Fourdock directly into his control.”

Teemo crosses his arms at that, and I try to chew on the scenario they’re presenting as Noynur speaks up again.

“I don’t want to see that kind of destruction happen, and from what I’ve researched, I don’t think you do, either.  But I can’t think of a way to avoid it,” he admits, glaring at his book like it’s failed him.  The other two look at Teemo with hope, and I can feel Teemo waiting for me to come up with something.

I just hope mobster and other crime movies can give me some inspiration.  Situations like Noynur describes are common in them, and when pride is on the line, people will do all sorts of stupid things.  Pride’s a hard one to get around, too.  A mob boss will have his syndicate running just how he wants, and will crush the competition before it has a chance to actually challenge him.  That’s exactly what’ll lead to a war in the streets.  When pride’s on the line… I think the only thing that will really counter it is survival, and even that’s not a guarantee.

I think, if I want to keep the local criminals from going after the civilians, I need to give them a wound to the pride first, before the crafters and gatherers do.  And I think there’s two ways to go about fighting crime: with opposed criminals, or with a vigilante.  I’d love to invent a Kaiser Soze to have them chasing shadows, but for it to work, I’d probably actually have to make my own criminal syndicate.  The mind games would be great, and would probably be an easier scenario for the criminals to accept, but I think it’s beyond what I can do right now.  If I had more time, maybe, but it sounds to me like the casual delvers will be getting visits very soon.

Vigilante it is, then.

Teemo smiles while I mentally pull together ideas and start figuring out what I can actually do.  “The Boss has an idea.”  I chuckle as the three look relieved, and wonder just how much research Noynur has done.  Most of the people who know me would be rightly concerned when they hear that.