“No Lizzy tonight, huh?” I noted as I logged in and took a look at our guild roster to see who was on. Myanihia was also offline, according to my friends list; she was probably at her job.

“She was cranky about it, too.” Heali remarked as she and Ariana joined me.

“I bet,” I said with a short laugh.

“Sandra got tied up with a late-shift tonight at the bar, too, didn't she?” Ari remarked.

“Yep!” Belle replied as she came in the room. “Someone had to cancel their shift so she ended up with an extra four hours to cover them.” the pixie-girl told us.

“Sheesh,” I sighed.

“She'll be here sometime after one, I guess; we do like to add to our lives here in this world,” Belle giggled.

“Who wouldn't want an extra two or three days per day in their week?” I shrugged.

“Oh I can think of a few, hun.” the older girl nodded wisely.

“Anyway; Der's tied up too, but Peaches and Snow Dancer are definitely coming with us to meet up with Wildeye and the others tonight, as well as Kiana and Barbarianne.” Healina told us as Anhe and Mary arrived. “We're meeting up at Castle Ember in Woody Heights.” she added with a soft smirk.

Castle Ember... Woody Heights... why does that sound familiar... I wondered to myself with a blank stare as Ariana turned to give me a mischievous grin. My eyes then widened, and a desperate sort of smile came to my face.

“Y-you don't mean...” I nervously laughed, and the two of them chuckled evilly.

***

Twenty in-game minutes later, we arrived at Castle Ember, the headquarters of the Flamehearts guild. Angelfire beamed happily as we walked in the door, and I smiled back shyly to her. The other guild leaders of the old Silver Tigers Pact were gathered around, and aside from Angelfire there were some who had been part of the Garth-Fire Alliance, namely Humphrey from †SOVEREIGN† and Angela of The Tea Cupboard. I could see Skeletor from Fear The Repaers chatting in the back with Deathscythe of Hallow's Eve as well.

“Well, well! The prodigal guild returns -- and with friends!” Jannie smiled.

“Hey now.” I grinned back.

“This is actually fortuitous timing for us, considering Guardians of the Eternal Citadel is determined to have rule over the local seas on both sides of Xuanpu.” Wildeye said.

“On this side too, huh?” Kiana sighed.

“We were running cargo deliveries to the Isles of the Seven Lucky Gods when they ambushed us with one of those giant ships and a swarm of smaller ones.” Angelfire frowned. “If I hadn't heard about what happened this past weekend I'd swear those gigantic things were about invincible.”

“Unfortunately we can't bait Turt' down this way.” Reginleif said as she showed up with Valkrysti.

“Now that would be game-breaking.” Peaches quipped.

“Right?” Wildeye grinned.

“I see you girls are still as crazy as ever.” Angela sighed.

“No no, they've gotten crazier.” Peaches returned at once, and they all laughed. Wildeye then adopted a more serious look.

“Fènghuáng, leader of Guardians, has been majorly put out by the loss of that ship; however, she's apparently commissioned an order for several more cannons from Gears and Wheels. MacYnduff, of course, won't tell anyone how much he and his guild provide to other players, and I respect that. However, I remember distinctly him complaining about nearly draining the local mines they use about seven times over to fill the first order before the actual competition started. This time, he's got his mining crews going over nearly twenty spots in Harmonia that have either the same ore or the same quality of ore.” the Mountain Tigers leader said to us.

“If it takes empyting a mine seven times over to make enough cannons for five monster ships...” I then mused aloud, and Magisteria frowned as she finished the thought.

“They're going for nearly three times as much now, which means Guardians has enough of the other components, wood, fabric, sail-cloth, and so forth, to make around fifteen ships.” she said.

“I would estimate at least twelve.” Humphrey remarked.

“We've had scouts in the Tundralands and in Vales of Aergondi observing their crafting raids; they've got more than enough wood to pull off twelve, for sure,” Kiana nodded.

“Not to mention their smaller ships only use archers, ballistae, or catapults.” Angelfire added.

“When did the commission happen?” I asked Wildeye.

“I'm not sure. It probably happened Sunday night, judging from the sudden burst of expeditions from Gears and Wheels. I know Eitri and Borin personally went with two of the groups,” he replied.

“Those two, huh...” I rubbed the back of my neck, recalling them from the Garth-Queens War.

“MacYnduff is a good guy, but also shrewd. I bet he only participated in our little spat down here as a means of seeing what would and would not work for this specific event.” Wildeye said.

“And this time he's playing all sides instead of allying with just one.” Angela sighed.

“Do we know where the Guardians have their shipwrights?” Humphrey then asked.

“I scouted out their harbor near Yifu in Kunlun,” I told them. “But they probably have others too, considering the size of that guild.”

“I had some people check that one over as well,” Angelfire nodded. “And I sent them earlier today to do some new reconnaissance. That fleet of thirty or so is still there, along with the big ships, but there's no signs of any newer ones being built there.”

Okay, so when a ship is being built up piece by piece by a player or players in-game, a basic silhouette of what the finished product will be can be seen. It's a green translucence that stays in place until the final product is in place. Simple ships like the longboat I initially made earlier this year can just be plunked down, and probably those junks too; but larger ones like the Tekkousen can't be set willy-nilly. They need a lot of time and resources put into them.

“They probably have another harbor then. One more secluded.” Jannie said as she looked over the maps, frowning and sighing.

“What about the King-Priests? They were giving you guys trouble too, weren't they?” Angela then asked us.

“The King-Priests will be out of action for a while, so we don't have to worry about them or the Wildlands for at least a week. Let's focus on these guys.” I replied, and Tyman snorted with amusement.

“Someone didn't read the forum posts this morning,” Magisteria smirked.

“King-Priests aside, the Guardians have outposts in the Wildlands too.” the other guild leader remarked.

“That's... true...” I hesitantly nodded.

If they can't get us on the sea, will they try on the land? I wondered, thinking about our locations up there. We had chosen spots that were out-of-the-way yet which still had some value to them.

“They also have outposts in the Firelands and the Phoenix Domain.” I then recalled.

“We'll have to scout those areas as well for harborage.” Angelfire said.

“I doubt they'd be there. Neither of those areas are good for ship-building resources or for keeping a low profile.” Deathscythe shook his head.

“Ah!” Peaches then exclaimed, looking at her alerts panel. “We've got an incoming attack at another one of our outposts; it's the Guardians.”

“Ugh! Same here!” Kiana grimaced.

“Well, tonight you've got more reinforcements.” Angelfire declared.

“Let's hurry, then,” Peaches smiled back.

As the others began filing out and summoning their guild members to join them in the Wildlands, I continued to sit, thinking hard. Ariana, of course, stayed by my side, nodding for the others to join the raid party. Jannie then noticed me as well, and signaled for Tabitha and Winnie to take over as she came my way with Tyman, who had also noticed me deep in thought.

“Yo, Lans, what's up?” he asked me.

“Isn't there... isn't there an island, like right near the sea-border of Onyxus and Harmonia? You know, the one that's super rich with resources?” I looked up.

“Huh. You know anything about that, Jans?” Tyman asked her as Wildeye joined us.

“Isn't that... Wild, that island in the Wild Blue Expanse, what was its name?”

“You mean Lantisha? Why would--ohh,” Wildeye said as it dawned on him. “I see...!”

“Guys, what's up? Let's go!” Angelfire called back to us.

“Angel, coordinate with Peaches, Kiana, and Humphrey to repel the Wildlands assaults; we have another thing to sort out,” Jannie told her.

“Heh...?” the flame-haired magic user grinned.

“You're no dragon, but you're the next best thing; you can handle a few rank-and-file guild members, can't you?” I said to her with a cheeky smile.

“That's true, but don't expect me to eat them.” she shrugged airily, and headed out to deliver the message to the others.

“Th-that goes without saying,” I said with an awkward laugh.

“We'll take my ship.” Jannie then said. “It's lightweight, fast, and hard to spot.”

“Agreed.” Wildeye nodded.

“Yo! Let's go!” Tyman grinned, and the five of us headed out to take the wayport to Seacrest, where Jannie's ship awaited us.

“We're still not absolutely certain about this, which is why we're going with only a small party for now.” Jannie said to the other alliance leaders via magic-globe as her swift vessel carried us speedily through the Crystal Ocean.

“Well the Guardians haven't sent their full force against us yet, but that'll change soon after we repel their scouts and advance parties. There's about two-hundred of us online all told, but don't forget they can field three times that just from their own guild.” Angela said to her. “If you do find something out there, what'll you do about it?”

“We'll at least dig a bit deeper into the situation before returning. At this point it's probably too early for lasting sabotage, and we want to keep them in the dark about what we know.” Wildeye replied.

“Lasting sabotage, eh?” Peaches returned with a knowing look in her eyes. “Well, you know best how to handle these things. I'll just keep my little ducks from getting out of line so we can chase out these big bad wolves.” she shrugged, and we shared a laugh.

“Good luck; we'll be back soon, hopefully.” Jannie said.

“We're counting on it!” Angelfire nodded, and the globe went dark.

“Still... it does sound crazy... but if anyone could successfully do it, it'd be the largest guild this side of Kingsmark.” Jannie softly remarked.

“And if anyone could predict it, it'd be the craziest guild anywhere in Harmonia.” Wildeye shrugged, giving a smirk to Ariana and myself.

“You get a hold of one dragon and suddenly everything you do gets judged.” I wryly smiled.

“Just the dragon? Hon, wake up.” Jannie retorted, ruffling my hair.

“Yo, Lans, y'all know half the stuff you girls do is high-wire nuts, right? You know that, right?” Tyman said as he gave me a funny look.

“Is it?” I turned to Ariana with a look of mock surprise.

“People seem to think so,” she returned with a similar expression.

“Hmm.” I nodded. “Anyway, this ship is nice,” I then said, and Jannie beamed.

“It's a hybrid. It has sails but we're also using a magimotor crystal to help propel us faster. We can outrun anything!” the blonde-haired girl said proudly.

“Which was a very good thing five nights ago when we had to get away from the Night Wolves' prowler ship.” Wildeye said with a bemused smile.

“Ugh. That thing.” Jannie sighed as we headed back out on deck.

The ship itself was basically a trade-cog, but it had some armaments and archer or mage stations as well. There was plenty of room for cargo and crew in the sleek vessel, though it was obviously designed more for the former than the latter. Its coloring seemed to shimmer, which Jannie explained was because of an enchantment on the wood called “Chameleon”, which is exactly as it sounds. It was the perfect ship to run and hide anywhere in the seas of Panarena, provided no one had a counter for the enchantment.

“Even then they'd have to catch us,” Jannie shrugged as she remarked upon it. “We're running at top speed now; I'm gonna shut the magimotor off when we get close to the island.”

“Good idea,” I agreed.

“Tyman and I will keep the boat ready to run; you girls can slip onto the island and investigate as needed.” Wildeye told us.

“Sounds good.” Jannie replied.

“I guess sneaking ain't my thing anyway.” Tyman shrugged.

“You think?” his guild leader grinned back to him.

“Yo! Hush!” the other boy grinned back, playfully punching his shoulder as Wildeye laughed back.

As I smiled at their antics, I got a message from Maryn. She reported that the Guardians had used a feint with their advance parties to launch an attack on other sites around the Wildlands. In a nutshell, the region was now in a state of controlled chaos decidedly ruled by our main antagonists of the night--and to add to the chaos, King-Priests and Venomheart had also decided to come and duke it out for spite. A few other guilds had also joined in the fun, and even some of the neutral ones had come down to pick at the battlefields like carrion birds.

“Tch!” I clucked my tongue at the news.

“Aw, hell. Venomheart's in the game tonight, boss,” Tyman shook his head.

“Lovely. One more reason to hurry this expedition.” the other replied.

“Hrrggh, scout the Guardians and see what to do about the ships; find the orbs to thwart the King-Priests... and what the actual heck can we do about a guild of poisoners?” I sighed as I sat down on the deck.

“Say, Lana,” Ariana began as she knelt beside me, “If there's a way to sever the contract with Djaziim and the King-Priests, doesn't that mean someone could find a way to nullify our pact with Dracuoatlax?”

“Hrrmm...” I frowned as the weight of her question hit me. “Milk for the kitten is milk for the cat, huh...”

“I think you're good.” Wildeye then said to us.

“Hm?”

“How so?” Ariana and I wondered.

“Djaziim's contract with that guild can be nullified with magic orbs because there was a similar process used to create and bind that contract; however, from how I understood it, Dracuoatlax's service to you is based on your cleverness and your prestige moreso than the artifact you used to tame him, though admittedly that plays a part. I doubt anyone could get it off of him without his consent, and that consent would likely only be triggered by a lessening of your status in his eyes.” Wildeye explained.

“Ohh, I get it,” Ariana said, and I nodded.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“That's a relief. So all we have to do is not get on his disappointed side, like with Fyu,” I noted.

“Seems like it!” she smiled back.

We talked lightly after that, but when we got in sight of Lantisha about five in-game hours later we ceased, and put out the lights aboard the ship. It was an incredible amount of distance we had covered thanks to the magimotor, but it would be slow going to get back at this rate. The five of us agreed there had to be a wayport on the island, probably an imported one like we had at our Bethelia house, so it was decided that Wildeye and Tyman would sail the ship back as soon as we were in range to swim to the island.

The three of us prepared ourselves to do so, and at a nod from Jannie we dove in softly and swam hurriedly to shore. There had been no sign of harborage on this northeastern side of the island, but there was definitely a large forest in its midst that covered a small mountain range. As soon as we got to shore we redressed, and Jannie looked back towards the ship. It was already receding into the horizon, barely visible even to Ariana let alone us. I then tapped the other guild leader's shoulder, pointing to a stream that was coming down from the mountains, and we all nodded to each other as we decided to follow this.

Most of the trees here were semi-tropical in design, though some seemed based on evergreen archetypes and there were a few that looked more oak-like in appearance. There were plenty of animals roaming around, and quite a wide variety of plants and fungi; it was definitely an herbalist's dream here. Ariana collected several samples as we passed through the woods silently.

“It's a good thing this island has torchwings,” Jannie remarked as we made our way along the banks of the stream. Torchwings are the Panarena version of fireflies, except these have a more steady luminescence.

“I wouldn't want to even risk a spell that mimics them in this situation,” Ariana agreed.

“Like really,” I nodded.

It was a tense but quiet hour and a half as we made our way first up and then down the mountain, and when we got to a ridge that overlooked the southwestern side we saw it. There was a sprawling shipyard with exactly sixteen massive silhouettes awaiting their components, as well as spots for at least forty other ships by my counting. Ariana augmented her Mystic Vision so the three of us could observe what she saw as well, and we scanned the harbor in greater detail.

“There's the wayport,” Jannie said. It was in the middle of the supply camps.

“This is really daring of them; there's another island further west of here, isn't there?” I said as we continued to observe the situation.

“From what I've heard the Onyxus guilds are more antagonistic towards each other, so I doubt anyone's laid a complete claim to it like these guys. But you're right; then again, they are the front-runners to win the overall competition.” Jannie told me.

“I can probably add hearing to this as well,” Ari said, and she made the adjustments.

“Oh nice!” I whispered excitedly. Then the three of us stared in confusion for a moment as the audio came through.

“Oh, I get it, translators don't work here.” Ariana realized after three seconds.

“Hmm... we should have brought Anhe with us.” I sighed.

“We can get the gist, probably, but just in case,” Ariana returned, activating a recording spell for posterity.

“Hrrmm...” I nodded back, picking up my listening ears.

From what I could tell, the leader here was named Zheng; he was one of the top officers in Guardians, according to the forums. If he was here, it meant that this project was one of their highest priorities. He was arguing with another officer named Kirin about the distribution of the materials and the seeming lateness of the expected shipment from Gears and Wheels. Kirin was countering him by reminding him of the time and the amount of resources that the other guild needed. Then the two of them sighed in vexation, talking about the high cost of the cannons they were expecting, and made a few jokes... I think? They laughed anyway. Maybe they were poking fun about something or sharing an in-joke.

“I think we've heard enough.” Ariana said, preparing to switch off the audio.

“Wait!!” I hissed, holding my hand out. She paused, and then her eyes widened as she heard what I was hearing. They were planning to have this entire fleet operational by next week exactly.

“Ooh, good catch,” she nodded back to me.

“One week, huh?” I noted.

“One week? For what? Oh, God, you're kidding?” Jannie's eyes widened as she suddenly understood what we meant.

“One real week, at least.” I nodded back.

“Well, that's a semi-hopeful note. Now let's get to that wayport and get out of here without being noticed.

“That'll be tricky.” I said.

“I don't want to hear that from the two girls who slipped into †SOVEREIGN†'s mansion without getting caught or even looked at sideways.” Jannie quickly replied with a snarky grin.

“Ah-heh,” I laughed faintly.

“Sh-she's got a point,” Ariana smiled wryly.

I then looked around at our current surroundings, suddenly noticing a storehouse nearby. It was a good thing no one had come up to investigate it. I softly nudged the other two girls, and we made our way over to it. Inside, we found mining clothes and some miner's gear as well. We put our own stuff back into inventory and donned these instead, dusting and griming ourselves up a bit before heading cautiously but confidently towards the camp.

When we got closer, one of the guild members from Guardians commented that we looked like we'd been through hell and asked us if we had managed to dig anything up. I managed to reply in the negative, saying that our superior had told us to return home for now until we had further orders. He laughed, and then shrugged, making sure we knew where the wayport was as we continued on into the camp. I heard him say something to the other lookout, who laughed.

As we stepped up on the wayport, I input Unmo as a destination to keep immediate suspicion off our backs. Jannie nodded at my choice, and we stepped through to the mainland; moments later, we input a new destination into our next wayport: Paxwiss, the hub for the Wildlands.

***

“Hurry!” Jannie said as we quickly donned our usual accouterments and ditched the mining get-ups. “They've almost broken through the stronghold on the east banks of the Wan'r!”

“I can't believe even the neutral guilds decided to go with our enemies on this one,” I griped.

“It's probably balance from their point of view,” Ariana sighed, “But that doesn't make me any less angry about it!”

“You said it!” Jannie agreed with a vexed tone. Overhead, I saw our friendly neighborhood dragon fly by, and then he swooped down to land in front of us.

“Lady Lana! Your ally Maryn sent me a message nearly two hours past; it seems that the enemy is planning to use Djaziim to finish off this fastness!” the dragon told us.

“Oh, swell, just what we need!” I said as we approached him.

“Pah! Fear not; we shall put fear into them this night! I will not let our names be tarnished simply because of greater numbers!” Dracuoatlax grunted.

“Let's fly, pal.” I said, giving him a grin as he smiled back toothily.

“Let's fly, indeed!” he returned, and when we were on his back he took off to head for the scene of battle.

We found the battlefield shrinking for our friends, but they began to rally as soon as they saw Dracuoatlax heading for battle. The dragon set fire to a wide swatch of the area, causing the impromptu anti-alliance to start breaking ranks. At that moment, Djaziim emerged, and the three of us slid off the dragon's back to let him deal with the demon while we joined in the fray around the fortress. Lysandra and Lizzy had turned up by now, as well as Derwydd, the were-beings using their animalistic forms to their utmost. Maryn and Magisteria held the defenses on the walls alongside Angela and Humphrey. Wildeye and Tyman were leading a group from the south to try and flank the enemy's assault team.

Lysandra, Derwydd, and myself went to cut off a detached force of werewolves that was galloping towards the walls to try and jump them. Ariana put some fear into them with a lightning strike right in their path, and the three of us swiftly engaged them while they recovered their wits. Valkrysti and some from her guild came rushing over to help us.

Ten minutes later Dracuoatlax had again pushed back Djaziim, and the dragon, satisfied with his victory against his old enemy, began singeing the edges of the enemy ranks to drive them further into chaos. We were still in a tight spot, though. I could tell that our buddy was worn out from his fight against Djaziim, and the Guardians were better than we expected at recovering their forces and rallying them, even with a bunch of other guilds in the mix.

I, at least, had the satisfaction of pulling the exact same trick on Mad Dog as I had done in the Grand Tournament. He looked positively cross-eyed as his avatar disintegrated, howling for vengeance before he went poof. The rest of his guild began falling back after that, though we were wearing out as well by then and would likely have been pushed back if Chaneyson had instead decided to rush us.

Five minutes after that, another guild decided to join the fray. There was a sound of horns from the northeast, followed by the sound of thundering hooves.

“Horses?” I wondered, tensing up slightly.

“Rrgh!” Lysandra said as she shifted back to human form, forgetting to adjust her top in her frustration. “All night! All night and now someone else is joining in?! What the--”

“Wait, that banner!” Derwydd exclaimed as he resumed his own human form.

“Huh?” Lysandra turned to him, and then suddenly noticed her top.

“Those -- oh wow... it's the Horselords of Heorot.” Derwydd remarked.

“Are they here to pick on us too?” the werewolf-girl said as she finished fixing her top.

“I hope not,” I said tiredly.

Then, to our relief, they began thundering through the enemy ranks, scattering them. Their large force then split into six, five large ones to chase the enemy down and a smaller one that made its way for the gates of our fortress. Well, Valiant Maidens' stronghold, but hey. Eight riders halted before us, five women and three men. The leader, a man, dismounted first and took off his helmet to address us.

“Hail, Lana Windstrider; hail, Jannie Brooks; hail Wildeye and Kiana, and all others who lead this night against dire odds in these Wildlands,” he began.

Theatrical fellow, isn't he? I remarked inwardly, impressed at his immersion in the game.

“I am Eothane, leader of the Horselords. This is Wyne, my second.” he gestured to the lady with flaxen hair next to him. “These are our officers, Beoryn, Gundea, Sybel, Fera, Leafryne, and Wulf.”

“Hail, Eothane; your presence gladdens us,” Wildeye said as he joined us at the gates. “To what do we owe your valiant rescue?”

“A welcome payback for treachery played upon us in Ragnarheim by Venomheart and their masters the King-Priests of the Demon Sands. We see that you also have their attention, and the attention of many others. I would make a pact with you to stand against them in times of need; as pledge, I am willing to send a generous supply to help you rebuild and redouble your defenses here.” Eothane told us.

“I am heartened by these words, and I would gladly accept; please allow us to pledge that we shall repay you in the future.” Wildeye said as he held out his hand.

“I know you will do so, Wild.” Eothane smiled. “How fares your father?”

“He is well, my thanks for asking,” the other replied amiably. “And your uncle Forseti?”

Whoa. What? I blinked.

“Much is upon his mind, but he has a store of mirth from our mischiefs across this world,” Eothane grinned.

“I can imagine!” Wildeye grinned back.

“Say, Wild,” I then broke in. “Lord Eothane, perhaps we can recover our debt to you in a timely fashion.”

“Of what do you speak, Lady Lana?” the man said to me.

“The ships, the ones that the Guardians have,” I said.

“Ships are no good to us, my Lady.” he said with a grin.

“But ships are made up of things, are they not?” I smiled back.

“To be sure, they are fashioned from a trove of resources; I see your point, my Lady! If we can capture these sea-faring beasts, we can return them to their basic components, and re-purpose them for other things or sell them off for profits,” Eothane mused. “But this mighty trick cannot be done with our help, I fear.”

“Don't worry about that, just worry about keeping them distracted for the next week or so on land.” I replied.

“That may be all the time we can give for such a task.” Eothane replied. “And we still have the others to knock out of this rivalry as well.”

“Why a week, Lana?” Wildeye said.

“That's when the next fleet from the Guardians will be up and running.” I told him.

“If their ships sail the seas unchallenged, then land may not much matter,” Wyne said.

“You speak the truth,” her leader nodded back.

“They'll dip into the red if we can pull this off.” Kiana remarked as she came forth to join the discussion. “And maybe we can force Gears and Wheels into picking a side as well.”

“Ours, I hope you mean,” Peaches poked her.

“Ha-ha, yes!” the other replied.

“We have many matters to discuss, it seems,” Eothane said. “But first we must finish driving away these,” he smiled fiercely.

“We'll help as we can,” Wildeye returned.

“Rest now, you have battled the night valiantly and held off defeat; let us earn our keep for the night!” the other replied as he got back onto his steed, and then the eight of them hurried off to aid their fellows.

“Well I call that help.” Angela said with a smile.

“So that's the other contender for biggest guild in Harmonia,” I said as I watched them in awe.

“Eothane's been preparing for this event since he founded his guild.” Wildeye told us. “The artillery in this game isn't to the practical level of modern or even early modern warfare, so practically speaking he and his guild can dominate nearly any PvP battle in this world.”

“You mean there's not many who have a strong enough head to think of how to counter him and his cavalry units.” Reginleif nodded with approval.

“Exactly.” the other replied. “Fènghuáng is probably one of them, too, so let's be grateful that Eothane is joining us against her guild.”

“Lana.” a soft voice then said beside me. It was Myanihia.

“Hey! Were you here this whole time?” I wondered.

“In the shadows, picking my targets carefully.” she nodded. “Lana; I got it. The whole list of them. I managed, just before they attacked the Horselords, in Ragnarheim. I sent Eothane, a warning; that's why he's here now, after driving off Venomheart, in the north.” she told me.

“We owe you a debt, then.” Kiana said to her with a smile. The Snow Elf bowed back.

“It, is all for Lana, but I appreciate, your words.” she replied.

“Wait, wait, the whole list of them? Venomheart?” I then asked, and Myanihia nodded back.

“Ohh, snap. This'll be good.” Tyman said.

“I, want to wait, for Eothane, though.”

“Of course.” I said to Myanihia with a nod. “Let's help them a bit too if we can.” I added, and she nodded to me as well.

***

It was a full two in-game hours before we finally settled down in the main hall of the outpost that had been saved. All of the guild leaders and our seconds were assembled, along with most if not all of our officers as Myanihia addressed us.

“First, a review. The Blade, Melody; a master swordswoman who sometimes uses a poisoned blade. Then Cyan Idewyll; a necromancer, with necrotic poisons. Next, Venomy; an assassin who is on par with the top-ten shadow users. Clara Toxin, the witch, who incorporates various toxins into her spells and potions. I have mentioned these four to Lana. And now, the other three.” she recounted, and we began paying close attention. “Cobra; he is, an animal charmer, focused on controlling serpents, or snakes. All of them venomous, of course. Merc Mandrake; he... is an alchemist. His personality... is too much.”

“Pfft!” Lysandra giggled, and Myanihia gave her a wry smile.

“Finally,” the Snow Elf assassin said, “There is Jana Foxgloves. She... is a gardener, an herbalist, and also a deadly archer. I, am not certain, but, she might be, the second.” Myanihia told us.

“Hmm.” I nodded back. “That would make some sense; if she's not the second, she's the quartermaster at least,” I remarked.

“Agreed.” Myanihia nodded.

“Yo, Wild, what d'you think?” Tyman prodded the other boy at once.

“I think we need to get their contractors out of the competition first.” Wildeye mused.

“Agreed.” Deathscythe said.

“The King-Priests will not go down easily.” Eothane shook his head. “And there is the matter of that demon as well.”

“Lana and her guild are working on a final counter for Djaziim,” Reginleif told him.

“We'll have to get to that dungeon sometime this week.” Healina said to me then.

“Agreed.” I replied.

“I can be on Thursday but not Wednesday. Not early anyway.” Lizzy said.

“Same.” Derwydd added.

“You're not a Queen, bub.” our smith playfully flicked him. The rest of us laughed heartily at the quip.

“One thing more I would add to these counsels,” Eothane then said, “What is the number of ships being built?”

“Sixteen large ones and at least forty smaller ones.” I replied.

“From what I have seen of them on the forums, the sixteen would already more than enough to repay us. You need not net an armada entire.” Eothane told me.

“I agree.” I replied. “We'll capture the sixteen large ones, and maybe even the four already here patrolling the mainland, and then break them down for their resources to pay you back for the supplies you're sending us.”

“That still leaves us with one teensy little issue.” Lizzy said as she placed her elbow on my chair to lean on it. “How are you gonna steal sixteen ships of that size?” she asked me.

“Ahh...”

“We will think of something! We always do!” Anhe spoke up for me.

“Well I hope you think fast.” Kiana told us.

“I trust Lady Lana.” Eothane gently smiled. “She is one who can get things moving and done, from what I have observed over the past several months. There is no doubt in my mind that sixteen ships will come a'sailing from the south in due time.”

“Hmm...” I pondered quietly.

“You already have an idea, don't you?” Ariana grinned over at me.

“We'll need some sugar to get the spice, but I think we can pull it off.” I nodded back.

“Oh dayum. Here go them forums again,” Tyman grinned broadly, and the others laughed.

“So what kind of sugar are we getting for what kind of spice?” Lizzy asked me the next day in Panarena. It was probably about three in the morning for real. We had returned to Cloverbell for a change, and Myanihia had come with us, saying she wanted to be a part of our discussions on these specific matters.

“Remember the Heavenly Dragons?” I said.

“Okay. I think I like where this is going.”

“We get some more of that rare ore and stuff from places around Memphani for them, and ask for their help. Maybe Jade Lotus if we can, too...”

“Because the Guardians will probably have their ships' crews restricted to Mandarin-speakers only.” Ariana nodded.

“At least that much. We'll probably need our old uniform trick as well.” I replied.

“Access by uniform over access by guild registry.” she returned.

“With a large guild like that they'd nearly have to,” Lysandra shrugged. “Guilds can be as large as anyone wants, but even the largest halls have a limit to registering access, which is why the game has the uniform or insignia recognition as an option.”

“True.” Myanihia nodded in agreement.

“So we have more to steal,” I noted.

“Get some bribery funds, get some uniforms, steal the ships, secure an alliance and gain some rankings. Sounds like a plan!” Lizzy nodded in approval. “And the orb soon for sure or we'll never get to it.”

“Right,” I agreed. “Woof... I'm wiped out...” I then sighed.

“Same,” Ariana said, plomping back in her seat.

“We have a plan. It, is a good plan. But, we should consider that the other guilds may want something new, instead of what they have gotten before.” Myanihia told us. “I think, something from the Untold Deeps, our purview, would be a more enticing commodity.”

“She's got a point.” Sky Belle remarked.

“A good one.” I said. “Let's get down there before our day ends to do that.”

“Agree.” Healina nodded.

“Seconded!” Ari said.

“Let's do that.” Lysandra smiled, and her twin nodded.

“After a nap, I hope,” Lizzy yawned.

“For sure.” Derwydd agreed with a faint grin.

“A short nap.” Maryn returned.

“One hour.” I said.

“Fair!” Lizzy agreed.

As we then went to idle or nap away the hour, I suddenly wondered how Wildeye and Tyman had gotten to the fortress ahead of us when they should have arrived much later than we did, all things considered. Nothing came to mind, so I shrugged it off for now and decided to ask them later.