The five of them reached a massive wooden gate with guards flanked by stone walls at least twenty feet high. Two stone towers stretching even higher watched over the south gate. Victor could only smirk ‘Gargrim would hate these.’ Four guards holding spears stood at the southern entrance clad in metal helmets and leather armor. Two of them were inspecting a cart as their group approached the door. Another guard considerably shorter than any of them even Emilie approached. Once she reached them her tiny voice and stature made it clear she was a halfling. “Greetings travelers, I am Patricia Conway. Who are you and what business have you in Wonora?”
Victor stepped forward. “We’re artifact hunters here to start a guild.”
“That’s a bold claim. Who amongst you is above level 40?” Patricia asked.
Forala currently in her towering adult form approached the halfling who barely came up to her knee. “My name is Forala Medot. I am level 60.”
The halfling looked up unimpressed by her stature. “A bold claim but you’ll need to go to the mayor’s office and confirm that as well as fill out paperwork and pay the 200-gold fee to start a guild. To enter you will need to submit to a search. Please place all magic items on this wooden table.” She walked over to a table under the archway and slapped it on the table. “Come on over.” The group brought out their potions and Swordie. “Not many magic items, I can only presume your group sells them.”
Forala shook her head. “We won’t be selling artifacts.”
Patricia shrugged. “Well, not my wheelhouse however Brice needs to cast Identify on this book. It will take about 10 minutes. Please wait here. BRICE!”
A wizard in a large blue pointed hat scuttled over in blue robes. “Yes, Miss Patricia?”
“This book here. The rest just looks like regular potions and antidotes.” Patricia turned back to them as the wizard began drawing a circle using what Victor could identify as the magic writing skill. “In the meantime, how have your travels been?”
Victor figured honesty would be the best policy here since they had already spoken with Luke, and he knew what happened. So, he recounted the story just like he did to Luke finishing with “It was really something” before pulling out the medal from Luke to show her.
“That’s quite the tale but it would explain the explosion the other day. If it is good enough for Luke it is good enough for me. I just have to have him confirm the artifact is harmless and-” She was cut off.
“WHAT THE HELL!?” Brice shouted. He turned to the group and then to Patricia. “Captain, may I speak with you privately?”
She sighed and walked back around the corner with him. “Uhg, Brice what is it now?” She returned with Brice in tow a few moments later and asked. “Is that book an angel?”
Swordie spoke up. “For mortal purposes yes. I am an angel.”
Brice stepped back. “That’s not all! It’s a tier-10 artifact! Its power is just being restrained by something.”
Swordie commented. “Well of course. My power is limited by the level of Victor Vogal while I am on Verdan.”
Patricia sighed and scratched her head. “Well generally speaking the rules on artifacts tier 8 and up are pretty strict. I will take you to the mayor and we can write up an exception since it’s an angel. If I didn’t the church would yell at me for years to come. You’ll need to be careful people will try and steal that from you.”
Swordie burst out laughing and would not stop for almost an entire minute as everyone looked on. “I will not be stolen.”
Victor pointed at him nodding. “I’m pretty confident he won’t be stolen if he reacts like that.”
“Alright, Brice you’re coming with me to explain this to the mayor. All five of you have to accompany me to fill out paperwork and sign up for the guild you want to make.” Patricia waved for them to follow her.
“Miss Conway, are you sure Mr. Zane will tolerate this within his city? I think he’s going to yell at us.” Brice leaned down following behind her. “I don’t think he will be happy we are doing this.”
Cawthorn whispered into Victor’s ear. “That mage is an elf. He’s hiding it.”
Victor whispered back. “Don’t tell anyone he’s hiding it for a reason. Leave him alone.”
“I’m always discrete my mage.” Cawthorn insisted.
They entered the bustling city with a sea of people rushing around. Many people had swords, shields, spears, staves, wands, bows, and many other weapons. It seemed like every other person was armed. The buildings made of grey and red stone were quaint. It’s exactly the kind of old medieval town Victor read about all the time. Cobblestone roads filled with wooden carts drawn by mules and horses clattered by. In the distance, a massive golden cathedral towered over the town. Strangely the building they were approaching seemed almost Roman in design with massive pillars made of white marble. “That building looks out of place here,” Victor noted.
“It’s been here a very long time. People love it so it’s never been torn down and rebuilt.” Patricia continued walking. “There’s a huge number of shops here, 4 major guilds and countless minor ones. Most commonly quests get posted in bars but there are other places to post them. If you want to find leads on artifacts, you’ll have to find a group willing to sell you the information. It’s a big city.”
Brice spoke up with a smile. “It’s a brilliant town filled with incredible people. I didn’t know anyone when I arrived in this city, and she hired me for the guard.”
“He’s a bit anxious all the time but Brice is always on hand and reliable,” Patricia noted pointing to him. “He’s also really tall but he can’t stop hunching over.” Brice immediately straightened up gaining nearly a foot. “See he only stands up straight when I comment on it.”
They reached massive wooden doors propped open before walking in on marble floors. A trio of beautiful stained-glass windows that portrayed angels at the back of the building at the top of a staircase. “Follow me.” Patricia walked up the steps with all of them behind her. She walked to the end of the hall and knocked on a large wooden door. “Mayor Zane, I have someone here seeking entry with an exceptional artifact.”
“FILL OUT THE PAPERWORK AND LEAVE ME ALONE!” A deep booming voice answered from behind the door.
“Brice you’re up.” Patricia stepped back.
“Mr. Zane, Mr. Mayor sir, the artifact in question is tier 10.” Brice politely added from behind the door.
A man could be heard stomping toward the door. The door creaked open. “Come on in.” A massive man waddled back from the door to a double-wide chair and sat down. In front of him, 8 chairs spread before a solid wooden desk covered in stacks of paper and supplies including a quill and ink. “Close the door. Sit. Sit.” He sat down practically panting. “Go ahead, Patricia.”
“Sir Brice here has identified the book in possession of Mr. Victor here as a tier 10 artifact.” She explained.
“Well then get him the hell out of my city! He’ll destroy the place if he stays.” Zane insisted waving them away.
Brice raised a single finger. “Sir the artifact is an angel.”
Zane’s face contorted confused as he leaned forward causing his desk to creak. Victor placed Swordie on his desk. “This book is an angel?”
Swordie spoke up. “That I am.”
Zane recoiled back nearly tipping his chair over. “It talks! Is it intelligent?”
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“More so than you,” Swordie answered.
Cawthorn cawed. “CAW CAW HAH.”
“Uhg I can’t reject it if it’s an angel the church will skin me alive. What assurance can you offer me Patricia that this item will not destroy the city?” Zane leaned his pudgy face forward.
Brice spoke up. “The artifact is significantly limited. It seems it unlocks more power based on the level of its user.”
Zane put both hands on his desk. “Well, what level is its user?” He looked across the group.
“I’m level 12, Mr. Zane,” Victor spoke up.
He threw his hands up. “Splendid! Exception granted.” He quickly grabbed a form and filled it out. “I just need your signature here.” Victor quickly signed two papers. Zane handed one to Patricia. “You’re on the hook to file it.”
“Yes sir.” Patricia nodded.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” He asked.
“Yes. I wish to establish a guild as the guild leader.” Forala spoke up.
Zane looked up and down unable not to stare at her chest. “While you are a beautiful woman there are rules. You need to be level 40 or higher to lead a guild and you need 4 guild members. If you are claiming your level 40 or higher, I will need you to tap this book.” He pulled out a red book and opened it to a blank page. Forala touched it and handed it back to him as her sheet became viewable. “Let's see level 60 is more than enough! Wait. Are you a half-drake?” He looked taken aback. Brice fell back out of his chair and backed away.
“I am, is that a problem?” Forala leaned forward resting her chest and arms on his desk.
Zane licked his lips and gulped. “Well strictly speaking legally no. You have a humanoid form, can communicate and you aren’t a devil, but no one will join your guild if you are a half-drake.”
Victor spoke up. “I’m sure it will be fine. We’ll let results speak for themselves.”
“Well, the fee is 200 gold. Do you have that?” Zane leaned forward.
Forala put forward 200 gold. “The guild name is to be ‘The Artifact Hunters Guild’. Are there any guild halls available?”
“That’s something you’ll have to find on your own. I don’t know of any major buildings for sale.” Zane leaned back creaking his chair.
“That is a shame.” She sat back down in her chair.
Zane smiled and nodded raising a finger. “I know, you should speak with the church. With an artifact like that, they’ll bend over backward to help you.”
Emilie smiled. “Well, they’d help us anyway! I’m a priestess of the Golden Goddess and Jenora is a holy warrior of the Golden Goddess.”
“While your friend hasn’t taken off her helmet you are quite the lovely young lady. I am sure they will help you find what you are looking for, I am however tragically busy processing these new arrivals for Freedman’s Guild.” Zane noted pulling back out a small stack of paper. “I’d give you directions to the church, but I think you will find looking up more than sufficient to locate the church.” Victor raised his hand. “Yes, young man.”
“Why wouldn’t anyone join a guild with a half-drake guild leader?” Victor tilted his head quizzically.
“Well, you know. People don’t trust those types, anyone different from their kind that is. Humans, half-elves, dwarves, halflings, elves, and other humanoid races aside from devils tend to have cautious acceptance of each other mainly because monsters in this world vastly outnumber us other half-breeds significantly less so.” He explained.
Victor thought to himself with a grin he hid beneath his hand. ‘I hadn’t expected that their racism could be my opportunity. I bet there are a lot of outcast types that would like to be in a guild where racism isn’t tolerated.’ Victor turned to Emilie.
“Why are you looking at me?” She asked rather confused.
“If you’re all done here, I have a lot of slave forms to process.” Zane finished.
“Slave forms?” Serena grabbed Victor’s chest as he repeated the words.
“Well yes, the Freedman’s Guild brought in a new shipment from the Great Desert of Devolus over the mountains to the west. They’ve been extremely aggressive about importing slaves recently this is almost twice their normal shipment size.” Zane leaned back and shrugged causing his chair to creak again.
Serena gripped Victor’s shirt. “I see. We should go Victor.”
All of them immediately left the office. All of them looked at Victor as though he was going to lose his mind. Victor slowly turned looking down ominously at Patricia “What happens if a slave is freed in Peria?”
“Well, if you buy a slave and free them, they are free, but they need citizenship or they have to leave the country unless they sign up as an adventurer.” She looked up at the face of a man enraged. “Freeing another citizen’s slave is illegal.”
Victor looked forward answering flatly. “I see.”
Brice raised one finger realizing Victor was angered. “Well, sir you can buy slaves at the auction house and free them if you’d like.”
“Duly note Brice. Thank you.” Victor contained his rage.
“Happy to help sir, if you need any information, I’m at the barracks,” Brice adds with a chipper attitude.
“Thank you, Brice.” Victor took a deep breath as they reached the exit.
Patricia looked up and extended her hand. “Miss Forala you’ve got your paperwork and Victor has his exception. I’d recommend finding a room at one of our many inns they sometimes fill up around this time of year since it is warming up and adventurers are flocking here. I’m headed back to the gate. If you’re looking for help any of my men would be happy to help you.”
Forala shook her hand. “I’m sure I will see you again.”
Patricia walked away with Brice behind her. Brice turned around and waved enthusiastically. “Come on Brice!” He snapped back and caught up to her quickly disappearing into the crowd.
Serena finally let go of his shirt. “I’m glad you learned to control yourself.”
“Oh, I’m in control of myself. I’m patient too. The other day I learned what it means to be powerful. I will reach that level before I try to fix the problems of the world. That said Swordie, please create a list of people I come across over our journey who own slaves. It will be a useful tool to help us later.” Victor quipped with a slightly deranged smile. He turned to Emilie. “On to the other point, racism has to not be tolerated in our guild.”
“Okay, why are you looking at me?” Emilie asked turning to Jenora.
“You are joking right?” Victor asked.
Forala crossed her arms and shifted her weight. “Think back to how you acted when you met me.”
“Or when you met the skeleton and the dryad, yes you were right, but you need to stop judging someone by their race. It works sometimes but it’s going to be wrong as often as it’s going to be right.” Victor insisted.
She pouted. “But I was right!”
“What if you came across a devil and she was nice to you?” Jenora asked.
“It would all be part of some ploy. Devils can’t be nice!” Emilie protested. “Half-drakes are usually too savage to converse with, so Forala is an exception.”
‘I wish I had a squirt bottle.’ Victor sighed. “Emilie, we need our guild to be welcoming to everyone. I’m betting the guilds here all have some kind of hook. If we do this, we’ll get a huge number of individuals who don’t feel welcome in other guilds. That means we have to put a stop to that attitude and give everyone a chance.
“Ok, but not devils or undead. They aren’t even legally allowed in towns, and they’d raid our guild to get them.” Emilie crossed her arms.
Victor relented. “That’s fair I suppose. I am nowhere close to strong enough to change the laws so at least for now that’s fine but half-whatever needs to be welcome as long as they can communicate and are peaceful to other guild members. Is that fine?”
She groaned. “The church will give me so much grief for this but fine.” She turned to Jenora still in her helmet. “Does that work for you sweetie?”
“I don’t mind allies like Forala, they’re strong and knowledgeable about combat. As long as they find me to be an ally, I will do the same for them.” Jenora nodded still in her helm.
Cawthorn crowed loudly “SAUSAGE! IT IS DINNER TIME! I REQUIRE SAUSAGE!” Everyone laughed and went to an inn for dinner.