Chapter 153

Walter conducted the meeting at first – it made sense to Jay that he would do so as they were on Guild grounds and in a Guild meeting room. Why wouldn't the Guild representative conduct the meeting?

Unless the Guild representative was in trouble too. That would do it. Jay winced.

“Glimmerhide Group, Jay, thank you for joining us.” Walter stated flatly.

M'redith looked worried which made Jay really worried.

Jay nodded but wasn't sure if he was supposed to speak first or allow M'redith to. The amount of things Jay didn't know about how to handle political disagreements suddenly weighed heavily on him. He shrugged and decided to just be himself.

“We weren't really given much of a choice,” Jay replied with a smile.

The man who wore the thick golden chain and round seal of K'tharkle took that opportunity to speak up and Walter made no effort to prevent him from speaking. Jay knew enough about politics to deduce that the man outranked Walter in this situation.

“Yes, well, there was hardly room to retrieve you ourselves, now was there? And who might we have to thank for that, hm?” the man stated with a dark look directed at Jay.

Walter extended a hand palm upwards in the direction of the man. “This is Figs, Mayor of K'tharkle. He has shown an...interest, in the commotion that has resulted from the upgrades you have repeatedly installed in Kagan's Dome.”

Figs nodded in anger. Jay took a moment to inspect him – not Inspect him, just a quick once over. Jay had the impression that Figs would respond violently to being Inspected in the current environment.

Figs was the opposite of what you would expect out of a mayor. He bristled with muscles. His muscles had muscles. He gave the appearance of straining to lift something even when his body was at rest. Jay looked at him and was momentarily terrified. Fighting the man would be a nightmare – this was the mayor!?

“Good to meet you,” Jay said and extended his hand to shake. The mayor did not return the gesture and frowned.

“I wish I could say the same but you've made quite a mess for everyone it appears.” the mayor replied sourly.

Jay nodded. He might not be good at politics but he knew how to cure sour grapes pretty well. “I've been thinking about that. If you'd give me a moment I'd like to talk about the Artifact. I think it might help.”

The room got quiet as the others in the room became nervous. Was Jay threatening them with the Artifact? No one wanted to say the wrong thing and trigger the Artifact's built in repercussions for any attempts at tampering.

“I'm pretty sure that taxes and tithes are allowed to be removed from my earnings. The money is mine to do with as I wish. I wish to pay my taxes and tithe, so long as the amounts are reasonable.” Jay offered.

Jay was not threatening them with the Artifact – this was something different and unexpected. He wanted to... give them money?!

M'redith stirred next to him in surprise. She leaned over to him and whispered, “What are you doing?”

Jay smiled and whispered back, “Trust me, they'll be happier if they have some skin in the game.”

M'redith shook her head but didn't reply.

Jay continued, “There is nothing that says I have to. I can hide behind the protection of the Artifact and pay nothing and the Goddess would most likely not interfere. Although I can't speak for Her or Her plans.”

The others stirred unhappily but Jay continued.

“I recognize and accept that this has created an amount of upheaval for the Guild, the Church, and K'tharkle, in no particular order. My offer is to pay 10% of my Artifact income, to each. That is a whole 30% out of my earnings but I understand that it costs money to put on more Guards for K'tharkle, the Church, and the Guild to handle the influx of new people.” Jay explained magnanimously.

“Where are we supposed to put everyone?” Figs demanded. He wasn't yet prepared to be mollified no matter how tempting Jay's offer was.

Jay laughed, “Anywhere that wants to make some coin! That isn't a problem, that's an opportunity! K'tharkle will need new housing, new places to eat, new venues to play – it's going to be a boom.”

“A boom?” asked the high ranking Church official who had yet to introduce themselves. They appeared to just assume that everyone would know who they were. Jay was loathe to disabuse him of that notion.

“You know – like when there is an opportunity for growth it's called a boom – when the opportunities dry up it's called a bust.” Jay explained.

“I've never heard that before,” Walter replied dryly.

Jay sighed. “Listen. I'm about to come in to a bit of money it would seem,”

M'redith chuckled beside him before the Church official glared at her and she went quiet.

“If you all really can not handle housing these people then I'll use some of my money to build housing for them. Same with food or entertainment. I'm guessing that some of you here have already begun to do so?” Jay asked with raised eyebrows.

Walter looked embarrassed as well as the Church official but only for a moment before his face returned to its perpetual scowl.

Figs caught the byplay and frowned in anger.

“Right. So there will be room for everyone. There will be money to pay for additional Guards. It sounds like everything will adjust to the new influx of people it'll just take a little time. And K'tharkle will be richer for it.” Jay explained brightly.

“Those things could have been prepared in advance if we had appropriate warning!” the Church official responded darkly as he pointed at Jay accusingly.

Jay didn't respond but instead raised one eyebrow, “I gave the Church everything they asked of me, no less. Are you saying I somehow breached my agreement with the Church?”

The Church official made a face like he had smelled something he didn't like, “Of course not, but even you have to admit the timing could have been better.”

Jay nodded, “Sure, I can admit that, but I won't say that I failed to do something I should have. If there was a problem with the instructions then that lies with the Church, not me.”

M'redith winced and bumped in to Jay and leaned towards him, “Easy big guy,” she told him softly.

Jay rethought his approach, “It sounds like this is a huge business opportunity for anyone who is interested in making money. More employment for Guards across three organizations won't hurt either. Especially since there may be additional changes to Kagan's Dome.”

“What now?” Brother Orin asked, the first time he had spoken since Jay and M'redith had arrived. The others looked interested as well.

“I'm permanently linked to the dungeon. It seems that I may be able to make changes to the dungeon itself as time goes on. I'll know more once the dungeon is reactivated tomorrow.” Jay replied carefully.

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“So this influx of people – this is just the first wave,” Brother Orin said as he thought out loud.

Jay nodded, “Probably.”

The room went quiet and everyone retreated to their own thoughts.

“I'd rather throw you in the dungeon and be rid of this whole mess. I hate the extra work you've made for everyone but I can't argue with more gold in the treasury. So long as you hold to your word...what is that device on your armor?” Figs appeared to be momentarily focused on the patch Jay and M'redith both had sewn on to their collars.

The patch was in the stylized shape of a Glimmerhide's head and glittered just as a Glimmerhide would – it should considering that it was made out of real Glimmerhide hide.

M'redith spoke up and fielded the question. “It's our Adventurer's Group sigil, a stylized Glimmerhide head. We each wear one on our collars.”

“Where'd you get the hide?” Figs demanded. He didn't seem as upset as he had before, he was more curious than anything else. The Church representative however looked more upset as if his time was being wasted. Perhaps it was.

“We fought a Glimmerhide. It beat us up pretty badly but we survived just long enough to keep it busy until help arrived,” M'redith explained. With some further prompting by Figs M'redith ended up telling him the entire story of how they had fought off the Glimmerhide on Guild grounds. It seemed like so long ago.

Figs turned to Walter questioningly and Walter nodded and shrugged in response as if to say, yes, it sounds ridiculous, but she's telling the truth.

Figs went quiet and the Church representative was about to say something sharp when Figs extended a hand and waved him off. The Church representative pressed his lips together in to a tight line and went quiet but did not appear to be happy about it. He went quiet nonetheless.

“I thought your group had just picked Glimmerhide because it was a deadly monster. You know, the same way a lot of new groups like to call themselves Dragon This or Dragon That.” Figs explained.

M'redith shook her head, “No, no. We actually fought our Glimmerhide. We wear the hide as a trophy, not as a gimmick.”

“Hmm. Well.” Figs said thoughtfully.

Brother Orin had been smart enough to keep his mouth shut the entire time and continued to do so with wide eyes. Technically this entire mess was his fault as it had been his responsibility to inform the others. He had not done so specifically because he had assumed they all would have told him to wait for them and that they would find an appropriate place for the Artifact.

Brother Orin had already found the perfect place for the Artifact, Kagan's Dome, so he hadn't told anyone and instead took unilateral action. Jay and M'redith had just gotten swept up in the commotion really.

Figs appeared to make a decision, “My judgment is as follows and it is final: No harm done by the Glimmerhides. Ten percent tax each to go to K'tharkle, the Church, and the Guild. No fault will be assigned. In return for abiding by those terms no charges will be brought for those of you who took advantage of the situation before bringing it to me. Furthermore, you will be allowed to keep the business you have created to take advantage of the situation.” he finished darkly as he gave Walter and the Church representative castigating looks.

Both men looked guilty and nodded their heads when Figs' gaze swept past them.

“Fresh Terms. In the future all parties shall be notified any time there are changes to the dungeon. Hopefully that way we can prevent a repeat of... this.” Figs finished.

Jay and M'redith weren't sure of what to do but Walter fixed that simply by dismissing them.

“Thank you Glimmerhide Group, Jay. You may go now. Get some rest. I'm betting you'll need it for tomorrow.” Walter stated without emotion as he turned his attention from the two of them to some paperwork he had in front of him.

The others didn't speak and Jay realized that it was done. They could go. He stood up and helped pull out M'redith's chair. She got up and the door behind them opened as the Guard that had brought them there returned to retrieve them. They left the room and the Guard shut the door behind them, but not before they caught one last sentence.

“Now moving on to YOU Brother Orin. Please. Tell us how an Artifact came to be used in a CHURCH dungeon in MY city with out ME being told about it first!” Jay heard Figs yell angrily loud enough that it could be heard from outside and was followed by a crash as the Mayor slammed one massive fist down on to the table.

Jay winced. Thank Goddess it wasn't all his fault.

The Guard left the majority of Guards behind to guard the high ranking very important people that had gathered in the meeting room. Jay and M'redith were apparently only slightly important. Being linked to an Artifact made Jay important in ways the people in charge were still grappling with. They hadn't yet figured out how to handle him.

“You're free to go but I'd recommend you keep away from the common areas – they're all packed with people. If you know a private place to eat I'd suggest you go there instead of the dining hall as well, its even more packed there than the other common areas.” the Guard suggested helpfully.

M'redith thanked him for the advice and Jay smiled in thanks. The Guard nodded in return and walked back to the building to stand watch in front of it.

M'redith led Jay off towards the female living area to see if Norri was awake yet. It'd be nice to have the group back together for dinner.

Jay reached out and held M'redith's hand which surprised her.

“What's wrong?” Jay asked when she made a face he couldn't figure out.

“Nothing. It's just usually I'm the one that has to hold your hand, you usually don't initiate it yourself.” M'redith explained with a smile as she swung their hands back and forth between them.

Jay grinned, “Sorry, I guess I'm just a bit out of it normally.”

M'redith laughed, “Wow. That's one way to put it.”

They continued to walk but chose one of the less used paths so that they wouldn't be crowded.

“So you're about to be rich. You have any plans?” M'redith asked in a weird tone of voice that Jay didn't quite catch.

“I don't know. I'd like to have somewhere for us to live, all of us. I like the idea of doing whatever we want! We can run dungeons, go on adventures, go mining for gems, explore ruins, we can visit other cities, we can do anything!” Jay said brightly as he waved his free hand about in emphasis.

M'redith screwed up her face in confusion before she tried again, “Jay, you're going to be rich. That means more money than you can probably spend. Are you really going to still go run dangerous dungeons when you could just live off of the money forever?”

Jay laughed which surprised M'redith but he quickly explained, “I don't want to live off the money – I want to go out and do things. I want to run dungeons – they're one of my favorite things about Eden! There's so much to see and explore and discover and learn. Why would I stay in my manor when I could be out having real fun?”

“Sure, it's fun, but it's also dangerous. We could die!” M'redith explained a bit exasperated.

“And that is exactly why I want to run the Dungeon of Rebirth. So that we don't have to worry about that anymore.” Jay explained patiently. “Besides, there's a chance that more Travelers could arrive at any time. Once they get here things will really become crazy. It will be incredibly important for us to have finished the Rebirth dungeon before that happens.”

“Why is that?” M'redith asked, curious to learn more about Travelers.

“Well, they're not all very nice, and chances are more than a few of them will try and kill me.” Jay explained as if he didn't have a worry in the world. It made so much sense to Jay that it seemed obvious and it didn't even occur to him that it might upset M'redith.

“WHAT?” M'redith asked and stopped walking along the path. A few people behind them muttered but walked around them as Jay steered M'redith to the side of the path.

“Look, people on Earth aren't all friends. They can be mean and violent and self-centered. Dangerous. Not all of them but enough of them that you need to be careful. Imagine being able to visit a world where you could act however you wanted, and when you were done, you'd return to your own world, with none of the consequences for any of your actions while you were gone. That is what it is going to be like for the new Travelers.” Jay tried to explain.

“So they're not like you?” M'redith asked.

Jay shook his head and gently guided M'redith back on to the path and headed towards Norri's rooms.

“They're not like me. I'm here permanently. I can't go back to the other world. My body is in the other world but my mind is here, in this body, forever. The others, their minds will just visit here only to return to their true bodies once they leave Eden. They won't live in Eden the way I do so they may behave differently.” Jay tried again to explain but wasn't sure he had done a very good job of it.

“So what?” M'redith asked, “Why does that matter so much?”

Jay sighed, “Because to me this world is my world, it is real. To the new Travelers though this world is just a place to visit, to have fun before returning to their own world. They aren't dependent on Eden for their survival the way I am.”

M'redith nodded, “So they would hunt you down just for the fun of it?”

Jay nodded, “Not to mention the status of being able to say that they killed me. Its complicated, but suffice it to say that we need to be protected before they arrive, if they even do arrive.”

M'redith shook her head, “Earth sounds insane.”

Jay nodded, “You've no idea!”