No one understood why dungeons existed in the Regesea Realm. Not even the educated elite of the wisest men in the realm understood what caused a dungeon to pop out of the earth like an infected pimple. Some theorised that ethereal energies circulating in the ground created eddies which led to dungeons forming. Other speculated that an entire world existed underground and at times, like a flood bursting through an earthen dam, denizens from below erupted above ground when living pressures became unbearable for the beasts.
None of those people creating those idealistic theories or speculations ever darkened the entrance to a dungeon, but they were only too happy to speculate behind their city walls and let adventurers stake their lives on it. Regardless of what people thought, reality proved a hard task master because anyone who ever entered a dungeon would tell you that people dropped a few rungs on the food chain the moment they set foot into a dungeon.
“I see. You said a dungeon near your farm in the north, right?”
Grud needed to confirm what he heard. From the guild’s perspective, an unexplored dungeon was the equivalent of an untapped gold mine, but nothing came for free, just as new dungeons came at a price.
“I take it you’ve seen the beasts?”
“Yes. A few days ago, my family and the other farmer’s families in the area banded together to protect themselves. A team of hunters penetrated the forest and confirmed the beasts were coming out of a cave no one had ever seen before. We realised we needed to inform you as soon as possible.”
“You said the beasts already appeared some time ago, why did you only come now?”
“At first, we thought we could deal with the beasts, but by the we realised what was going on it was too late. Unfortunately, we lost someone from our community in our attempt to inform you and only realised yesterday that he never made it here.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Grud’s question wasn’t without merit.
“Renata!”
William nearly launched into orbit with fright. Not expecting the guild master’s sudden call to Renata.
“Yes, guild master.”
“Have the Red Backs returned from their quest?”
“Yes sir. They arrived this morning and were resting from their work.”
“Get them here, I’ve got an urgent job for them.”
“You mean now?”
“Not unless you intend subjugating a new dungeon that’s threatening to erupt with beasts at any time?”
“Wha… me? No. I’ll get onto it.”
“Thank you.”
Melody stood at the door, watching Renata running for the receptionist desk.
“You shouldn’t do that to her.”
She said while dropping more paperwork on his desk.
“I couldn’t help it. It’s just too easy.”
“Don’t you need to notify the mayor about this.”
“Why?”
“It’s written in the guild’s memorandum of understanding with the city. Any the case where a new dungeon is discovered, the mayor must be immediately notified.”
Grud’s foreign language skill level increased at this point, along with William’s embarrassment.
“Sorry William, I didn’t mean for you to hear that. Pretend you didn’t hear anything.”
“Not only am I in danger of never forgetting it, but I’m also sure I’ll never know the mayor’s anatomy to that degree.”
Grud’s laughter echoed through the hall as he stood up and slapped William on the back.
“Don’t worry son, we’ll get those beasts wishing they never left that dungeon.”
Melody’s earlier intimation about the mayor, reminded Grud’s greedy thoughts that the mayor had a certain amount of dibs on anything of value coming out of the dungeon, a tax of sorts. City’s like Hafeld, surrounded by beasts, made clever arrangements with adventurer guilds called memorandums of understanding. In the unlikely event that a new dungeon ever appeared, the wealth from it be distributed to all, and not hoarded by those capable of monopolising the benefits.
“Melody…”
“Yes. I’ll draft a letter for you.”
Whereupon she left the office to take care of the document.
“So… William, I heard Sunkiss are together again.”
The guild master dragged those syllables out as if hatching a devious plan.
“Really? It was only for a short time on the bandit quest.”
William sweated like a pig before the sacrificial altar. He didn’t know what the guild master intended with those words.
“I see. That’s a pity. Did you know that the first delvers into a new dungeon get special perks?”
“What perks?”
“What, a new dungeon?”
Mayor Roselind’s voice shot up a few octaves when he read the guild master’s letter.
“Secretary, come here at once.”
The door opened to the mayor’s office and a man in a crisp uniform swiftly approached.
“You called sir?”
“Yes. What is the story about them finding a new dungeon?”
Mayor Roselind demanded. The secretary sighed to himself, the mayor typically asked those sorts of rhetorical questions, too lazy to think for himself, or be bothered to read the document. Luckily nothing too unexpected and to which he already formulated a reply.
“Some farmers in the northern districts were attacked by beasts coming from the northern forests. When they went to investigate, they discovered a new dungeon had been formed.”
The mayor’s mind twirled in happy expectation at the coincidental turn of his fortune. Just minutes ago, he languished at the humongous bill the adventurer guild dumped on him following the bandit's subjugation quest. Naturally, he left a piece of his mind with the adventurer guild master. He received such a dirty look from that man that he dared not say a word more lest he lose some part of his body, if not his life. Thank goodness there were witnesses at the time, otherwise who knew what would have become of him.
“Take note. The next time the adventurer guild master comes to visit me, you are to arrange a knight to protect me from that horrendous man. Also, I hold you accountable for allowing him to come into this office and berate me in such a barbaric manner. Dock yourself half a month's salary as compensation for your lack of diligence.”
The secretary's shock and horror at what befell him only sunk in when the mayor moved on to his next decree as if he had only asked for tea and biscuits.
“What can I get from this dungeon and for that matter what tax revenue do we receive from the other dungeons?”
“Sir… we receive 10% of all proceeds from the surrounding three dungeons. Unfortunately, those dungeons do not offer much in the way of raw materials or minerals, the beasts in them being the main source of revenue.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Stop bothering me with stupid statistics. Get to the bottom line, what will I get from this dungeon?”
For the first time in his life the secretary wanted to personally visit a dungeon to deliver the mayor as a small snack to the beasts. He hoped they would appreciate his offering and didn't choke on the stringy bits. It occurred to him more than once over the course of the last few months that he practically worked for free in the mayor service. If he continued to lose his salary the debt collectors he owed money to would sell him off as a debt slave.
“Sir. We cannot say until there has been a full investigation and assessment by the adventurer guild.”
“Oh rubbish, I am not waiting for that dastardly guild master to pull a fast one on me. I know that man doesn't like me.”
“What do you intend to do, sir?”
“I know, send some knights to delve the dungeon before those idiots get there.”
“Excuse me sir?”
The mayor lifted an eyebrow indicating that the secretary would lose the rest of his month's salary should he say a word more. He gave up and made a unilateral decision to do whatever the mayor insisted on without challenging or questioning the man's logic. Gone were the days where he would cover for the man's ineptitude. Little did the mayor know that his life was about to become far less agreeable.
“Very well sir. I will inform Commander Rothman.”
The secretary left the mayor's office before he committed premeditated murder. The last thing he needed in his life, was to languish in a jail for someone as lowly as the mayor.
Meanwhile in the guild...
“Welcome adventurer. How can I help you?”
Suri professionally greeted the next adventurer at her reception desk. The adventurer looked about thirty years old, messy black hair, large ears and a unshaven face. By the looks and smell of the man, he just arrived back from a subjugation quest. He probably spent a few days camping out in the field. Suri didn't take their lack of personal hygiene personally because adventurers typically marched straight into the guild to deliver their subjugation evidence as proof of their quest completion.
“Hi Suri. Can you please process these for me?”
Suri couldn't remember the man's name, and she couldn't be blamed for it. It was nigh impossible to remember every person's name in the guild, and if one adventurer took offence hundreds of adventurers would take offence. She learned early on to treat each person with professional curtesy regardless of their look, cultural background and smell. Being katkin, with a keen sense of smell took a lot of self-discipline not to respond to the odoriferous assault on her nose.
“No problem. Please place your items on the desk and remember that any messy items should rather be presented to the slaughtering section at the back.”
By saying 'messy', Suri referred to bloody carcasses or parts of subjugation beasts that we used as evidence to show that the adventurer completed their quest and could claim the reward for that.
“Suri remembered the first weeks when she started. The site of creature parts lying on her desk made it difficult for her not to upend her last meal. The smell of blood and leather, and sometimes identifiable things made her stomach churn. Soon she became used to it, almost blasé at the sight of it. But still it happened on more than one occasion that adventurers either forgot or disregarded the rule stating that bloodied items should be directed to the outside facilities for processing resulting in a stinky, sticky and bloodied mess on her desk. Never mind the sticky mess, the unpleasant metallic smell of blood hung around for a few days afterwards, no matter how well someone cleaned the desk. One of the reasons why they regularly waxed the desk surface so well.
Adventurers quickly learned that making a mistake like that cost them money because adventurers were good at hunting and slaughtering beasts but dismally poor at cleaning up after themselves. And Suri would never trust an adventurer to clean up her desk, ending up with her cleaning it like any receptionist would, but not without compensation. A hefty fine of a metal bit quickly reminded people, with surprising results. She couldn't recall a single instance where a person fined like that ever repeated the offence. It worked wonders. It could be a particularly painful cost to the adventurer especially if the subjugation reward only offered a few copper bits.
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The man opened a bag and produced a few forest rabbit horns and what looked like goblin ears. From experience, the items placed before spoke of the man's capabilities. Few advanced adventurers limited themselves to subjugating common forest rabbits and goblins worth only a few iron bits. Which meant that the man before her probably levelled around the beginner to intermediate stage.
“I went to the forest to…”
Suri stop the man short because he started to describe his quest. One of the rather unusual traditions when responding to confirming subjugation parts was that the guild receptionists were expected to first confirm the items given to them before checking the details of the quest or the adventurer's specific details. He realised that she first wanted to look at the items.
“I always wondered why you wanted to first count the parts when you didn’t know what quest I completed?”
It was an honest question asked by many adventurers before him. One that Suri knew how to reply to off by heart.
“That’s a good question, you must be relatively new to the guild. We do it quite often at it's a tradition intended for the receptionist to be free of preconceived notions when tallying up the spoils.”
It wasn’t unusual for older men to join the guild at a late stage of their lives. Sometimes during a drought, farmers found better rewards in subjugating the beasts that plagued their farms at that time. Nothing prevented people from being having dual roles as farmer and adventurer. To some it acted as an insurance policy, paying out when things became untenable as a farmer, allowing them to later return to the fields when situations improved. Moreover, the guild provided a sustainable income when fields or stock produced minimal or no returns.
Although dungeons provided materials and minerals, they critically provided regular income which positively buoyed the local economy, albeit a small contribution at places. That fact alone made it worthwhile allowing dungeons to stay active and not succumb to the short-sighted whim of destroying them for the sake of removing the beast threat.
“I don't understand, how does that work?”
“Well, if I don't know the details of the quest, I can't prejudge your situation and subconsciously add or detract from your quest accomplishments. That means I'm giving you a fair assessment.”
“Okay. I guess I can live with that.”
He watched as Suri produced a ruler from her desk and carefully measured each horn in turn, not missing one then writing the details down into a ledger. Then with a gloved hand she picked up each horn and with an appraisal skill checked to make sure of the species and specific details like age etc.
“I noticed that you use a skill when you do that.”
“Yes, it’s an appraisal skill that tells me the details of the beast and which part of the beast the item came from.”
“Fascinating.”
The man seemed full of questions. Suri recalled the adage not to judge a book by its cover. The adventurer in front of her clearly displayed an inquisitive mind, nothing comparable to his frazzled countenance.
She moved on to the goblin ears, noting that all ears were the right ears required as subjugation proof. Again, she wrote down the details.
Guilds found the written information invaluable. Information about species, size, sex, age, and frequency of occurrence could tell an educated evaluator volumes about the condition of the beasts and their environment.
The adventurer managed quite a collection. He had six rabbit horns and fifteen goblin ears. Coming to three metal bits and four copper bits. The man certainly wouldn’t become rich from that, only live with the basics, roof over his head, food and possibly clothing after saving hard. Not a way to live. Better payments came from hunting wolves or other beasts that roamed the forests deeper in where pelts or ivory sold at higher prices in the cities.
The guild insisted that everything gained by the adventurer be processed by the adventurer guild. Of course, some flaunted the rules by selling direct and eventually discovered that the guild didn’t take that situation lightly. The guild survived with on-selling items at a markup, allowing them to exist and offer quest rewards for a wider range of items like herb gathering or rabbit subjugations, both of which didn’t bring in much income but provided a service to the community.
“I’m glad you managed to get a few rabbits. It seems that there is a lot more of them lately. We’ve been getting more requests for pest eradication from the farmers.”
“Yeah, its hard not to make a profit now, just poke your nose into the northern forests and the rabbits come to you. I hadn’t planned on the goblin patrol, but they turned up as well and I didn’t complain. My luck was so good, I spent a bit longer there than I planned.”
“That’s great. Do remember to be careful out there. We’ve got word that a new dungeon has been spotted up north and we might be dealing with a dungeon break already.”
“When did that happen?”
“A few days ago.”
“Really…”
Suri realised her warning fell on deaf ears. Some adventurers first listened their purses and when it was far too late, with their brains. She had just about finished with the man when the Red Backs walked into the guild after being summoned by the guild master.
“Hey ladies, is the guild master in?”
Valence asked the ladies in his elegant voice. The tall man didn’t try to be captivating, he oozed confidence from every pore in his body, instantly turning every woman in his immediate surrounds into custard. His blonde, shoulder length hair swayed as if the wind caressed his epicene face. His deep blue eyes completed his handsome ensemble, capturing Suri’s heart. She pointed to Grud’s office in a helpless daze.
“Thanks Suri.”
The four adventurers turned as one, climbing the stairs with unified purpose, like people trained to synchronise their actions with no wasted movements. The people below appreciated their impromptu performance spellbound at the matching Red Back motif of a large boar emblazoned on their backs.
When the Red Backs entered the guild master’s office a collective sigh rose from both men and women as if the presence of the team lifted from them.
“Ah.”
Sighed Suri. Her chin resting on her hands.
“Get your elbows off the desk Suri.”
Renata chided an infatuated Suri’s.
“I’m going to have a big litter of kids with him.”
A smitten Suri sighed in adoration.
“Suri!”
“What, you can’t deny that also like him.”
“Of course, but I’m aiming for someone else.”
“Oh yeah? His name doesn’t start with a big ‘K’ by any chance?”
“Don’t say that so loud, everyone will hear.”
Suri’s distant laughter followed the Red Backs into Grud’s office. Grud appreciated that the Red Backs were the best of the best when it came to adventurers. In a stand-offish kind of way, he even appreciated their team’s flair, and their camaraderie solidified their bonds, but coordinated clothing pushed it over his limit. To the adoring crowds the Red Backs looked like the peak of adventurer achievement, a dream to long for. To someone like him, having spent time in the unforgiving elements while on the edge of survival with only the pointy end of a blade between a beast and his survival, those sorts of petty things held no attraction for him.
“Well old fart, we are all here now. what riled your feathers so much that you needed to disturb our well-deserved rest?”
And then Valence’s attitude lacked any decorum. Grud lifted an eyebrow in objection.
“Who’s old?”
“Every time I see you, you look older, like you need a break.”
Valence casually commented that only someone could after a long time of familiarity.
“If you like, you can sit here and take my job. Perhaps it will give you a greyer hair and the patience that comes with it.”
“Oh forbid. I prefer my freedom, thank you.”
“Where is Melody?”
Asked Sydney, the Red Backs archer. Normally the quieter of the team, Sydney kept a friendship with Melody.
“She's on an important errand for me. She should be back soon.”
They bantered with each other for a short while and then knuckled down to business. After Grud related the issue of the new dungeon their smiles already disappeared.
“I give it to you, that is a good reason to disturb us. Why didn’t you call us sooner?”
“We only discovered this earlier today. I called you as soon as I could.”
“How far are we from a dungeon break?”
“Not far now. If things keep going like this, three days at most.”
“What beasts have we seen there up to now.”
“There’s only one very quick four-legged beast so far and we haven’t identified it before. Only one beast which is why I’m still pushing it to three days.”
The Red Backs implicitly understood that new dungeons, without external controls, erupted into something called a dungeon break, where beasts exited the dungeon in large numbers. If local authorities realised a new dungeon emerged, they typically arranged dungeon delving parties to subjugate the beasts in the first moments of its existence. Making the first few days critical in avoiding beasts overrunning human populated areas.
“Surely a few teams could easily clear that dungeon? You didn’t need us to do that for you and we don’t owe you any favours. What are we missing?”
“You’re correct. That’s not the reason I’m calling you in.”
That time it was Valence’s turn to be surprised. But it was his team partner, Felicia who spoke up.
“Then why call us in the first place?”
Felicia, the less patient fighter of the team, didn’t like to mince her words. She lived on the principle of kill first and ask questions afterwards.
“Relax Felicia. I want Sunkiss to complete the subjugation. I need you to look after them.”
A chorus of disapproval conveyed their sentiment. The last thing the top adventuring team wanted was to babysit a newbie team.
“Is this some newbie team you want to induct?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just make sure they don’t bite off more than they can chew, and if they do you can step in to help them.”
“Sunkiss you say. Wasn’t that Aryan’s team?”
Aryan was Valence’s close cousin. Her death impacted the entire family, including her extended family, most who stayed around Hafeld. So understandably he knew about her situation.
“Yes, it is, which is why I want them to subjugate this dungeon.”
“You want me to look after the same team leader who allowed Aryan to die.”
“You know it doesn't work like that. And if he was I wouldn't endorse him, nor would I ask you to look after him or his team.”
“You’re placing me in a difficult spot.”
Grud knew that he pushed the envelope by asking Valence to look after Sunkiss. His purpose was twofold. One, to get the Red Backs to remember that looking after newbies remained part of their responsibilities, and two, to get Valance over his inevitable bias on Keegan, no doubt holding him responsible for Aryan’s death.
“I know, but Red Backs can handle it. Ah, it seems Melody has returned.”
Melody's return came at the perfect time. Grud seemed Melody out while earlier to collect the Sunkiss team and bring them to the guild. After Melody followed Keegan, Josh, William and Macie behind her. It felt a bit cramped with ten people in the room.
“Are good everyone's here now. Let us shift to the meeting room next door, my office isn't going to be a comfortable place to talk.”
The meeting room was large enough to comfortably hold thirty people. Three wooden, elongated desks filled the room one after the other, each desk seating ten people, five on each side. The teams made themselves comfortable on the solid seats, individual planks running the length of the tables.
The desks were not made for comfort, rather toughened against the likes of adventurers with all their paraphernalia like armour and weapons. Luckily for them, the meeting promised to be short because Grud pressed straight into the semantics.
“By now all of you know why we're here. A new dungeon will break in less than three days and your two teams will spearhead an attack on the dungeon. I have personally picked on you for this quest because I know that you can do it. Sunkiss need to prove that they can become reliable adventurers and I'm giving them the chance to prove that. Red Backs will cover Sunkiss should anything go wrong. On their own, Red Backs are capable of completing this quest, but I will consider it a quest failure if they do.
On that note, Keegan will lead the subjugation and will be responsible for calling in assistance from Red Backs should it be necessary. Again, I will consider it a quest failure should Red Backs need to engage the beasts on the half of Sunkiss apart from protecting themselves. Any questions up to this point?”
He gave them a moment to respond. When no one did he continued.
“How you decide to subjugate the dungeon I leave entirely up to you Keegan. So long you need your team first into the dungeon and completed to its end you will successfully complete the quest I initially put your team. Naturally you're asking yourselves how is it that the previous dungeon is remotely comparable to a dungeon about to break as an initiate quest? Well, that's easy because as I mentioned to William there are a few perks with this dungeon. Should you successfully subjugate it, I will allow your team full access to the dungeon in the future for free. On top of that, you can claim all the kills on this first delve, regardless of who subjugates the beasts.”
Grud allowed his words to sink in, but before they could ask any questions he continued.
“That's not all. In future, any kills you make in this dungeon will score you double rewards on any beasts, minerals and plants. Any questions?”
Keegan spoke up first.
“Are you serious?”
“I'm always serious.”
Grud commented dryly.
“What's the catch?”
To that expected question Grud couldn't help smiling. Although he hadn't expected that question from William.
“There’s always a catch. I think your team has a lot of potential. But your team needs to opportunity grow, the funding to do that and the expertise to guide you. This dungeon can offer you all that. I'm not a charity and I'm not handing this to you for free. As payment I want you to sign a three-year apprenticeship with the guild. And if you think my offer doesn't stack up, feel free to join Suryman in Northport. Take my advice, don't go there because you will regret it. That's all I will tell you about it. Now, you have the greatest opportunity few if any adventurers ever had to progress and learn while earning good money for it. We don't know what is in that dungeon, it could be a total dud, or perhaps your biggest boon. That my friends, is the gamble you take as an adventurer.”
Keegan always trusted the guild master’s advice. Even when the information hurt, he always had to Keegan's best interest at heart. And even when Keegan deserved worse, the guild master always ensured Keegan came out on top. Although he seriously considered joining Suryman at Northport Adventurer Guild all of that remained an unknown. More than once now the guild master warned him not to go to the Northport. Although he never knew the reason why, Grud’s warning could lead to dire consequences if he ignored it.
Grud on the other hand, gave Keegan and the rest of Sunkiss every reason to stay. It would be their decision if they wanted to go to Northport after the dungeon subjugation request. None of the others had Keegan's ability. Even Josh would pale in comparison although he had his own particular skill, but he didn't have the people skills which meant he would never lead a team.
“There is more at stake here than you realise. I'm going to tell you something most adventurers only find out much later on in their careers. The greatest adventurer teams out there all started while they were young. It takes time and effort to produce something exceptional. Teams cannot be created in a short amount of time. What I'm saying is as individuals you can become good maybe even great, but if Sunkiss breaks apart here, you lose an opportunity to become exceptional. Having said that, I’m finished with my speech. I'm going to leave you with my last proviso. You need to find another team member.”
“What?”
Grud threw the equivalent of a cat amongst the birds.
“Where are we supposed to find another team member at such short notice?”
Asked Keegan.
It pleased Grud that Keegan didn't dispute the need for another team member, which meant that he understood the reasoning behind it. Four people made for a poor team. It limited their ability to effectively attack or defend as a team, not to mention the difficulties they would encounter when running guarding shifts or replacing injured team members as they already discovered.
“It's convenient that you should mention that because I have just the person you need. Melody, invite her in.”
Everyone expected a new team candidate to come in the room, no doubt hand-picked by Grud himself. Imagine their surprise when a young female orc walked through the door, green skin and all.
The whole Sunkiss team were admittedly stunned into silence while the Red Backs broke out into raucous laughter. Keegan couldn't read the orc's face, so he didn't know if she felt taken aback by everyone's weird responses.
“Everyone, please meet Bula. She is the new team member for Sunkiss.”
“Hi Bula.”
Waved a smiling Macie. Bula lifted a hand, greeting her in return, but didn't wave. Somehow it didn't seem appropriate for an orc to wave as humans did. None of the Sunkiss team could claim to have seen an orc before but it didn't take a genius to see young Bula still had a lot of growing up to do since she more or less came up to the same height as them. Part of their studies at the guild involved learning about other races including orcs. Orcs typically towered over humans in height and beat them in strength. All in all they made for good physical fighters, but they were floored by Grud's next words.
“Bula will be your next mage.”
“Huh?”