Peek: The Crown's Leisure

King Horlon wears a contented smile as he make his way back to his chambers. Open court can sometimes be so chaotic as the citizenry make their impassioned pleas for certain things. That one's brother is innocent without needing a trial. This one has been wronged by a minor noble and is in danger of losing their home. These merchants hate the new tax, those other ones much prefer it.

Trials are for the courts to decide, the Crown's own agents will investigate the noble, the tax was ratified with more than enough time to adjust to it. His father rather hated open court, but he personally finds it to be the highlight of his week, even the ones where some scandal or another is dramatically revealed. So many nobles are so bored they'd rather act like they're staring in some bawdy play than responsible for swaths of land.

At least keep the drama to closed court or the myriad of balls. Still, it does at least keep things from getting boring. And after the excitement of a busy open court, he's looking forward to a pair of reports from Fourdock.

He can guess the basic contents simply from the updates he's been receiving, but there's nothing quite like warm tea, a warm fire, and detailed reports to read. He chuckles to himself as he closes the door behind him, well aware most wouldn't find such a thing relaxing, but the order of such things helps him feel like everything is right in the world.

It's no wonder he follows Order, rather than the Great Mother. Not that he shuns Her, of course. He just finds Order suits him better. He sets his crown on its stand and moves for his favorite chair, his butler/spymaster seeming to materialize from thin air with not only the reports, but the King's favorite tea.

"Ah, thank you, Jenkins. Anything urgent that I should deal with before I settle in for the evening?"

The troll shakes his head as he holds out the tray. "Nothing urgent, your highness. Earl if'Gofnar is preparing to pressure his son, but if your report echoes what I have been hearing, it's unlikely you'll need to take personal notice."

The king makes a noncommittal sound around his tea, savoring the complex blend for a few moments. "Will I need to take unofficial notice?"

"It seems unlikely, your majesty, especially if you allow Inspector Olander to take a small break in Fourdock."

The king smirks and trades the teacup for the report. "Was it such a draining assignment to look into some little dungeon that's all of a year old?"

Jenkins dons one of his mysterious smiles and gestures at the report. "Read for yourself, your majesty."

He snorts at the troll and does as suggested. He really has been looking forward to getting the official report. If he hadn't been getting periodic updates, he'd be worried something had happened. A dungeon so young shouldn't take so long to investigate.

He saves that part for last, letting his anticipation build as he goes over the tax report that was sent alongside. The auditors found no onerous nor burdensome taxes, and though skimming is inevitable, none seems to be done by the young lord mayor. The lad seems to have quite a head for numbers, too. He idly sips his tea as he goes over the ledger, happy to both see orderly numbers and to see the town genuinely seems to be looking at a boom.

The plans for a hold are especially interesting. He expects he'll soon see an official appeal for funding for the project.

He finishes the tea and sets aside the finances, eager now to dive into the dungeon report. Olander's notes always look like a disaster, but the elf somehow manages to discipline them into concise and detailed reports every time.

The basic conclusion is both surprising and not. That Olander agrees with the Dungeoneers that Thedeim is a potent cooperative dungeon is no shock, though the potency at such a young age is. The claims of what the dungeon contains would be doubtful even from the Dungeoneers themselves, but who else can he trust about dungeons than his own Crown Inspector?

A dungeon with a wide range of challenge, both combat and skill, plentiful and varied nodes, a plethora of scions and a network of affiliated dungeons. It's the sort of thing he wouldn't expect from a dungeon less than a century old, and yet the dungeon seems inclined to keep up the ridiculous pace.

It's planning a large combat area intended for strong adventurers, which is all the more interesting for the fact the dungeon has not a single kill to its name. But even that revelation pales with the strength of its scions.

Olander accepted a duel with one of them, a zombie of all things, and even mighty Olander Wideblade had to hold nothing back to achieve victory. If the dungeon had decided to actually try to kill Olander and bring all its scions to bear at once, Olander seems doubtful of his ability to escape, much less win. That kind of power is more than a little concerning, but the dungeon seems to genuinely enjoy helping and challenging delvers, with its combat encounters more a reaction to growing to meet their needs, rather than any hostile intent. Besides, it also seems to have an active disdain for politics, so there's litlte worry of it trying to capture the town.

Still, it may need to learn the ins and outs quickly. If it can provide even Olander a challenge and seems opposed to killing delvers, the king would be a fool to not test his soldiers against it. That kind of training can be invaluable, and what dungeon would balk at the uptick in mana from more people delving.

"Jenkins, remind me to bring up this dungeon at the next military court. I doubt this dungeon could train all our soldiers, and it'd be a bad idea to do so even if it could, but it sounds like an excellent place for at least the garrison in the area to train."

The troll nods and refills the tea cup as the king reaches for it, and he enjoys the fresh warmth as he leans back in his chair. Such an evening may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it suits him perfectly.