Dungeon Quotas – A requirement for membership is the need to run at least three level-appropriate dungeons per month. To maintain your membership, a tithe of ten percent of the loot haul is also required. Failure to do so will require amends – twenty-five percent of your next haul if done within a week after the deadline. Longer and your membership will be revoked for a minimum period of six months.

* The Adventurer’s Guild Guidebook

Now that Nash was the town’s mayor, he noticed that the population shrunk by half over just a few days. The populace wasn’t thrilled by the no-slavery order he had made. Tobey and his deputies did a good job of driving off a few slavers who thought they could wait him out. Nash shrugged it off. He wasn’t trying to be popular or political. He had more important things to worry about, like building a dungeoneering party.

Nash thought back to when he had first arrived. His students were scared and so was he. However, he needed to stay strong for them. Being so new, they were weak, and even in the Light realm, they had been taken advantage of on several occasions. After six of them were murdered, Nash knew he had to do something. They needed to be able to protect themselves.

Nash and his class started with the Cellar, the lowest level of dungeons. They had cleared them all within the first month and made their first quota. The next difficulty level were merely called Dungeons and that’s what most of them were; underground prisons that had been taken over by the prisoners. They lost two more classmates during this time. However, after six months, they had cleared them too.

By the time they made it to the Caverns, Nash didn’t lose any more members from his previous world’s class. As a group, they had all become strong enough to survive most normal encounters and the disreputable people of this world started leaving them alone. When he had been betrayed, they were about halfway through completing all of the Deep Dungeons. That would leave only the Ancient Ruins and finally, the Underworld. Nash had no idea what would be expected of them if they survived that long.

He and his class had been summoned within the first three months after the anomalies started to occur in their old world. The guidebook he had been given at the Adventurer’s Guild told him that they had been summoned because their species, humans, had overpopulated their world. Nash couldn’t argue with the sentiment of the council. They had messed up their planet badly and it was only getting worse.

Nash formed his guild… or former guild, from his students and quickly set about helping them to grow stronger for their own survival. They had been at the top of the leaderboards posted at the major cities’ adventurer’s guildhall.

The Adventurer’s Guild, the idea seemed like something a hard-core gamer turned god would come up with. Maybe that’s what the council was. No one he had ever talked to actually knew much about the council… other than the consequences of following the edicts laid forth within the adventurer’s guilds’ guidebook.

As far as he knew, Nash’s run-in with the Master of Dungeons was one of the few experiences that anyone had with one of the five that ran the world, or at least that anyone was willing to admit to. The whole system seemed odd. If the council sought a balance of the worlds, nash figured that there must have been an easier and more efficient way to accomplish that.

Whatever was really going on, Nash needed to put a party together. And now that he had mayoral duties, that just became more difficult. With Tobey and the half-ogres helping to keep the peace in town, he couldn’t recruit them. The town would be left to its own devices with all of them off exploring some dungeon. That made things simple. He knew what he needed to do.

“Okay, I’ll state my case tonight right here,” said Nash, leaning into Tamsyn so he wouldn’t be overheard. “Whether we pick up anyone or not, I’ll send out recruitment messages to all of the nearby towns in the following few days. Once we have enough people, we’ll start taking them through whatever dungeons we can easily handle and start building them up.”

“Simple, clear… I like it,” replied Tamsyn.

“And then I’m going to make a few more changes to the laws of this town,” said Nash. “We’ll hold elections for the Sheriff and mayor and create a city council to share power. No more of this dark ages ‘might-makes-right’ garbage.”

“But I think you’d make a great mayor,” pouted Tamsyn.

“No thanks,” replied Nash. “Besides, just look how I failed with guild leadership.”

Tamsyn frowned but didn’t say anything. Nash and Tamsyn finished their meals in silence.

The two of them spent the rest of the day walking around town and getting a feel for everything. He’d been doing this each day he’d been mayor and felt it was probably a good idea to be seen. He figured there were probably a little over two hundred people left in town and other than the slave market, the economy seemed to still be functioning.

The populace was a mix of goblins, ogres, humans, ash dwarves, gnolls, and various demi-humans of bunny, dog, bird, and cat varieties. All things considered, Nash thought that the townsfolk got along fairly well with each other. He’d like to see a council made up of a good mix of them.

The evening came quickly. Nash headed back to the tavern with Tamsyn by his side. She seemed to be in a better mood now. When he arrived, he noticed the place was busier than usual, even more so before the slavers all left. Nash smiled at his good fortune. The bigger the audience, the better his odds of finding a few folks looking to level up.

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Knowing that leveling in a large group was far easier and safer than trying to level alone, Nash always wondered why so many people would choose the latter option. After his betrayal, he had a notion. Trust was in short supply in this world, especially in the Dark faction. Nash decided he would try and change that.

“I’d like everyone’s attention for just a couple of minutes,” announced Nash once he reached the center of the tavern floor. “In return, the next two rounds are on me!”

Silent at first, the crowd roared in approval when Nash announced free drinks. He nodded toward the barkeep and the man quickly sent three barmaids around to take everyone’s order. Nash hopped up on a table, the same table from the first night, and looked across and around the room. There had to be over sixty people there that night.

“For those of you who didn’t know me, my name’s Nash. I was the town Sheriff for a week and am now mayor. I’m also the one to outlaw slavery here,” stated Nash, pausing to let his words sink in. “But none of that matters for what I am now offering. I’m a Dark Paladin, a tank, and I’m offering my services in helping those of you who are willing to clear some dungeons, become more powerful, and earn money and fame.”

Nash noticed the skeptical looks of the crowd, so he knew he had to prove his mettle to them all. Very slowly, he summoned his axes from his inventory to his hands. The crowd pulled back as one, clearly nervous. Nash couldn’t blame them, not after what he had done the previous week.

“Don’t worry. I just wanted to show you these axes,” said Nash, trying to calm the crowd before something bad happened. “You can check their tooltip and see that they both drop from the final boss in a mid-level deep dungeon. That should give you some idea of what I’m capable of. Now, I’m asking you to trust me… just a little. I know how big of an ask that is. But if we’re ever going to be able to relax and enjoy this life, we’re going to have to learn to work together and beat these dungeons.”

When Nash finished his little speech, he returned his axes to inventory. The crowd had begun to murmur amongst themselves, discussing Nash’s offer. It took a few seconds, but Nash had his first volunteer.

“If you have need of a ssspellcassster, I’ll join you,” said a yaunti woman, gracefully standing up and nodding reverently in Nash’s direction. “I am Nissshra.”

Nash was surprised he hadn’t noticed her before. Her blue robes accentuated rather than covered her taught body, human in every way except for the tiny green scales that covered her outer arms and legs and formed beautiful patterns across her head and torso. She looked… striking, and… dangerous, in more ways than one.

“Of course,” replied Nash, relief at finally having a damage dealer in his party. “You are most welcome.”

“WellthenI’dliketojointoo,” said a two-foot-tall elf-like person. “I’mquickandsneaky.”

He spoke so quickly that it took Nash’s brain a moment to catch up. His wild hair and ragged clothing had Nash wondering about his sanity, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. “What’s your name?”

“Xillifrideraticatsk,butmyfriendscallmeXill,” said the small man.

“Welcome, Xill,” said Nash, nodding towards the man who beamed with pride. He had a feeling that Kill’s utility would come in handy.

Looking around the tavern room, Nash could tell there was more interest. However, none of them knew him from the next guy so they didn’t speak up… yet. That was okay. He had everything he needed, a small party that could begin to clear some dungeons and start earning credibility… maybe even a name for themselves. Once they saw his party’s success, they would all come around. Nash also knew that a little goodwill would help too.

“Alright everyone,” announced Nash to the whole tavern. “Thanks for listening and enjoy the free drinks!”

“Yeaaahhh,” replied the crowd, barmaids bringing everyone their free drinks.

“Get a good night’s sleep,” Nash said to his new companions. “… you know… after we close this place down. Let’s celebrate tonight! We tackle the Caverns of Living Death on the morrow.”

Nash set up the party using the status magic that everyone seemed to be able to use. He saw that Nishra was a sixteenth-level fire witch and Xill was a twelfth-level thief, both damage dealers with some good utility. Nash smiled. He could work with that.

“You know, we ssshould form a guild,” said Nishra, having approached Nash and Tamsyn.

“Agreed,” answered Nash. “That was part of the plan all along. Any suggestions on what we should be called?”

Nishra put her head down and placed her chin in her hand, deep in thought. “Hmmm, how about Darknessss Risssing?”

“Ooo, I like it,” squealed Tamsyn.

“Okay, our new guild will be Darkness Rising,” announced Nash, raising his voice so everyone could hear him but looking at his three companions. “We’ll make it formal once we have a chance to visit an adventurer’s guildhall, but consider yourselves guild members from this point forward.”

“Nicenicenice,Ilikeit!” said Xill.

Everyone else nodded in support, raising their drinks to the fledgling group. Several toasts were made and Nash found himself enjoying everyone’s company, despite the radical differences between them and his former guildmates. A twinge of pain at the memory made him frown for a moment.

“What’s with the look?” asked Tamsyn, fluttering down to rest on his shoulder.

“Eh? Oh, just thinking about my old guild,” answered Nash. “I was just starting to realize how much more I have in common with my new guildmates, despite… you know… all of our differences.”

“Sure,” said Tamsyn. “I think I understand. I won’t let you get betrayed again. I promise.”

Nash looked into Tamsyn’s tiny eyes, trying to figure out her thoughts when he was grabbed from behind.

“Come and danssse with me,” said Nishra, her arms snaking around his torso.

Nash let the snake woman pull him onto the dance floor where several other couples were dancing to a bawdy song about a competition between a nymph and a succubus. It was fast-paced and Nash was glad he’d dropped a few skill points into dancing and his agility was high. Dancing had been a prerequisite for one of his tanking abilities but here it served its primary purpose.

Three fast songs and Nash was starting to sweat. Finally, a slow song started and Nash was about to leave the floor. Nishra stepped into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling herself to him. Nash wasn’t sure what to think but wrapped his arms around her too. She felt nice and it was a pleasant dance. Afterward, they returned to their tables after thanking each other for the dances.

Nash sat down and took a long drink of his ale, a bitter but tasty goblin brew when he noticed Tamsyn looking at him intently.

“What?” he asked, sloshing his drink.

“Did you have a nice dance?” asked Tamsyn.

“Sure,” said Nash. “Several, why? Hey, I’d ask you to dance, but I’m not sure how that’d work.”

“Whatever,” said Tamsyn, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “How much longer before we go to bed?”

“Let me finish this drink,” said Nash. “We do need to get a few winks before tomorrow. It’s going to be a long, busy day.”

Nash quickly finished his drink, figuring that Tamsyn was irritated about something and probably could use some sleep to cool off from whatever it was. Wishing everyone a good night, he made his way up the stairs to his room. He could feel more than one pair of eyes on him as he left, Tamsyn following closely behind.