“That place is closed – like, FULLY closed.” Amez shouted over the bar noise, before either he or Rum had even managed to find a free table. On this new day, both brothers had decided to take a small day’s off. Unfortunately though, the insides of The Minotaur’s Feast appeared tightly packed. “People I met today, they tell me something real is going on over there. They told me: dozens of employees were chased out of the place, and nobody’s been allowed to get inside since.”
“Really?” Rum and Amez managed to find a free corner, next to a passed out drunkard of an urban elf. Sitting down, Rum took a sip from his cup of rum, while his eyes followed his little brother with interest, as the younger man spewed forth more of today’s rumours.
“REALLY! There’s been talk of another infiltration in Iron City. The dungeon lords are striking!” Amez paused for a second, then staring at Rum with wonder. “Do you think this Jorteg guy has anything to do with it?”
Rum looked to the side, thinking about it for a second. “Nah. I wouldn’t think so.” The wizard spent another moment, thinking some more and taking another sip of his namelike. “I mean, I’ve never gotten a proper look at the man, but his dungeon is on the lower end of the power level ranges. He’s more of an upstart, as far as I get it.”
“We shouldn’t be worried?” Amez pressed, trying to be louder than the noise surrounding them.
“Not more than before.” Rum shook his head. “Jorteg is dangerous, to us. But not to the city. If The Mecha-Gnomes’ Revenge decides to target him for their next zerg, he’ll be squashed, probably, like a bug. No, if the dungeon lords are responsible...” Rum paused, stroking his beard. “There’s a dungeon I’ve heard of, a real terrifying one. You’ve probably heard some of your most veteran customers talk of it before. I mean the dungeon they established over the ruins of Bright Star Fortress. Argandon, the dungeon lord there, he’s more established, and more of a man of ambition. On my travels to The Wild Corridor, I heard that his forces attacked – and nearly wiped out – a fortified town, while I was only a couple of villages away. Hadn’t reinforcements come when they did, that man’s army would not have retreated. He would’ve won.” Rum nodded grimly. “And I heard more stories about him, from the other villages and towns there. Enough stories, to say that I bet: if it’s a dungeon lord that’s responsible for striking Ermos City, then he’s gotta be involved, somehow.”
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Amez responded leaned back, not entirely convinced. “Maybe.” The little brother took a sip of his own cup of beer.
“Or, rather” Rum corrected himself, “even though his forces are vast, he’d probably be cooperating with other dungeon lords. I mean, infiltrating Ermos on your own seems a little pointless, unless there was some advantage to be gained here. At least, attacking The Wild Corridor, it has a point to it. But, sending a spy up here, that seems like a waste of reso–”
BOOOOM!
A minor tremor was felt throughout the bar, and instantly all noise vanished. For an awkward 2 seconds, the whole bar became as quiet as can be. Only the squeaking of a chair, and the wood-against-wood sound of a cup being placed down on a table, made any noise.
“What was that?” sounded the first voice. It was a human, sitting half-way across the room, away from Amez and Rum.
“Sounded like an explosion” another voice offered.
“Did you guys feel the building shake? Or was that just me?” And with that last question, the voices of The Minotaur’s Feast soon piled on, resuming to just below its previous level of noise, though most people were by now curious of what they’d just heard, all other conversations having ceased.
Throughout this other noise, however, Amez and Rum remained quiet. Instead, both brothers mirrored each other, looking around themselves and listening in on other people’s conversations.
“I think it came from the south” they both heard a decidedly sober urban elf speculate from a couple of tables away.
“From the south?” Rum’s eyes met Amez’.
“What’s to the south?” Amez joined.