“Let me see if I understand the situation correctly,” Glade said, massaging his temples in an attempt to fight off the headache that had formed over the last twenty minutes of conversation. “House Lensher is making a drive to compete with House Fellu in power, who has been the top dog in Asylum ever since the Empire invaded. In order to do this, they need access to the elvish controlled labyrinth to evolve their people’s brands and skills. The problem is, House Fellu and all of its lesser houses are doing all they can to prevent that from happening.”
“While I am unfamiliar with the idiom top dog I would say your succinct explanation captures the heart of the issue,” Helmand replied as he leaned back in his overly large desk chair. “Though, to be fair, there are a great many factors that we haven’t yet covered, such as the elves' influence.”
Glade sighed heavily. The preponderance of the time up to this point had been a crash course in the history of the Free Cities as well as a brief overview of local political rivalries. While it was good to understand those intricacies, he honestly wished he hadn’t asked. What he had learned made him sick.
After conquering the human lands, the Empire, in its infinite wisdom, set up a system of rule that loosely mirrored Elvish governance. Namely, the creation of greater and lesser houses that acted as stewards over various populations that included humans as well as a variety of other conquered races the elves transplanted into the region.
In reality, those houses were more akin to warlords who constantly competed against each other for power and resources. This effectively placed the human lands in a perpetual state of decline as anyone with an ounce of authority or power was forced to compete within a rigged system designed to keep the region in a constant state of imbalance.
Glade had personally witnessed global powers back on Earth do the same thing to great effect. Afterall, destabilization of competing rivals was a well known and highly effective strategy. However, in his personal opinion this form of governance ignored the human cost in both morality and lives. One only had to look at historical examples to see that in every case this particular strategy backfired horrifically. The repression of Germany after the first world war that led to the rise of Hitler and his third reich. The active suppression of central and south american economies, which led to the ongoing drug wars and incessant flood of refugees. Even the colonies under Great Britain had suffered, creating mass poverty and exponential loss of life throughout Asia. And those were just a couple of the more modern examples.
“So what are the other factors at play?” Kedryn asked Helmund. “I get why House Lensher wants access to the labyrinth, but this was a one time occurrence. Why not sell Vlad and Rem now for a profit?”
“A viable plan for any of the less influential houses,” Helmand explained. “But House Lensher is actually within sight of becoming a genuine threat to Fellu. They not only have the political capital to withstand the pressure from both elves and the hall of houses, but they have the general support of the people. Over the years they have elevated a force of mages from the local populace that rivals Fellu’s forces in numbers. All they lack are the levels and evolutions.”
“Which is why Lensher wants access to the labyrinth,” Glade surmised. “Is access really that restricted?”
“Oh yes,” Helmund said with a definitive nod. “The elves have made accessing the labyrinth nearly impossible for anyone who isn’t of their own race. Typically, the ambassador steps in behind the scenes whenever contenders near the elusive 8 consecutive wins required to gain access, much like they did with today’s match up.”
“But Vlad and Rem won today…” Kedryn said, his confusion clearly evident to everyone in the room.
“Yes, they did,” Helmand said, taking a sip of wine from his glass before continuing. “Didn’t you find it odd that House Fellu was allowed to field an experienced fighter against two relative newcomers?”
“I was wondering about that,” Glade said. “From what Cirea said, the Gnoll body mage, Kirkash, was a seasoned veteran that had been out of the circuit for a while. Were they even in the same division?”
“You catch on quick,” Helmand replied, raising his glass in a salute. “It’s a common enough tactic employed by the elves. The divisions within the arena are separated between 8 ranks. Those ranks are generally determined either by personal levels or by achievement. Your friends who won today were at the bottom most tier, rank 1, and will now progress to rank 2 because of their victory. The ambassador tried to prevent this from happening by permitting House Fellu to field a retired rank 4 veteran to re-enter at the bottom most rank. Both the ambassador and the Fellu’s were doing what they could to keep your friends, and by extension House Lensher, from winning.”
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“Isn’t that all the more reason to sell the slaves then?” Kedryn chimed in. “I mean, they won access to the labyrinth already. Why move forward when they know future fights are going to be rigged?”
“Because, your friends took on a rank 4 veteran and won,” Helmund said, leaning forward with excitement. “There are no real contenders in the next two tiers that even come close to matching that strength. For all intents and purposes, House Lensher has a winning ticket to at least two, maybe three, more chances to enter the Labyrinth. And even more important to the equation is that everybody knows it.”
“Aye, but why wouldn’t the ambassador just pit ‘em against other high level competitors?” Bragden chimed in.
“Oh, they’ll most definitely try,” Helmand snorted, leaning back with a broad smile. “But the fact is your friends beat Kirkash. There are precious few options available to House Fellu, or the ambassador for that matter. At least, any option that would keep the masses from outright rebelling that is.”
“How many people gain access to the labyrinth after a win like today?” Glade asked. It didn’t make sense to have so many others involved if only the winners were awarded access.
“Naturally, the winners are guaranteed their spots, but they also win the right to bring along up to 8 others of their choosing. Unless the fighters are slaves. In that case, their owners get to decide,” Helmund explained before draining his glass.
“What is it with this place and the number 8,” Glade grumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” Helmund asked.
“I was just thinking out loud,” Glade sighed. “So if my math is correct, House Lensher is banking on the fact that they could potentially get access for upwards to 24 others in the long term. No wonder they’re not selling.”
“Exactly,” Helmund said, again saluting Glade with his now empty glass. “This is exactly the opportunity they have been looking for. You would have to offer them something of incalculable value to even make them look your way, let alone consider selling their two most prized fighters. Unfortunately, you do not have anything that even comes close to drawing that kind of attention.”
Glade stood up and began pacing around the room. The thing was, he did have more than one thing that would draw the Lensher’s attention. Before their arrival, he and the others had brainstormed everything they had at their disposal that they could possibly use as leverage.
The list had been far longer than he had originally believed possible. Naturally, there were some things they absolutely refused to consider, such as the existence of Storms’ Rest or the fact that Kedryn was a Royal Elf.
But they had plenty of options remaining. Bragden had secretly kept hidden from both Holo and Helmund the lesser mana core from the astral spider queen, as well as the mana stones they had found in the Storms’ Rest vault. There was also the unknown banker’s mark, but they had all agreed to first check with a local branch of the Obsidian Bank to learn what that granted them. And if that wasn’t enough, Riya had volunteered her services as a celestial healer.
What surprised Glade was that Bragden had offered to enchant suitable items in order to sell at auction if the need arose. Then there was Glade’s ability to remove mana from various sources, which, he assumed, would allow him to create unmixed mana shards, making them more valuable. He even considered sharing his ability to free slaves.
But all of those options had been placed in reserve in case they needed access to more money. House Lensher wasn’t interested in money. They were interested in power. Which left only one option available to them.
Glade shared his thoughts with his friends via telepathy. It was a considerable risk, but the group agreed that it was worth bringing up so long as they could mitigate the inevitable consequences.
Before he divulged that information, Glade decided to ask one more question.
“Is there any way you can help us get access to our friends?” Glade asked, hoping he wouldn’t have to reveal their cards. The idea of breaking both Vlad and Rem out of their cells held a great deal of appeal.
“I’m sorry, that would be a no,” Helmund said, standing from his desk to walk over to the room’s wine cabinet. “I’ve already had inquiries from other powerful families looking to gain access to those two individuals. While I have all sorts of connections that would normally open the way for such a request, House Lensher is taking every possible precaution in keeping the Russki Soldat and Shadow Striker from anyone but their most trusted agents. It would take a veritable army to get to them at this point.”
“I was afraid of that,” Glade sighed.
“You are not the first to think of getting to them, albeit for entirely different reasons. No one else has approached me as of yet with inquiries on how to free the two fighters,” Helmund said as he began pouring himself another glass of wine. “But as much as I appreciate your moral fiber, my hands are tied. I would encourage you to drop this course of action and focus instead on supporting your friends from afar.”
Glade took a deep breath before facing Helmund.
“Hypothetically speaking,” Glade said, watching the auctioneer intently. “How would House Lensher react if they had temporary access to someone who knew one of the Adjudicators’ names?”
Helmund’s head snapped up, the wine he was pouring all but forgotten as the red liquid spilled over the rim and onto the floor.