Chapter 10

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[Sigurd]

I stepped off the transport pad and out into the capital with a sigh of relief; transporting always made me a little nervous. A short walk took me to the main street. A wide expansive road, it led from the palace to the gates down below, gates that were wide open, welcoming everyone to the city. Though, most of the arrivals entered through the transport pads instead.

The gates had a slight green tinge to them as the wrought iron was coated with a thin layer of copper. The copper had in turn formed a green patina that gave rise to the gate’s colour, a colour I was quite fond of.

The main street was made from big blocks of stone, a granite if I wasn’t mistaken, and I was sure that I wasn’t. It was divided into three sections by dainty, pink trees in full blossom. They sat in perfect, neat rows and provided a nice touch of colour to the otherwise bland city.

The city was a sprawling expanse of stone, from the grey blocks of the street to the grey bricks of the walls and the grey tiles for the rooves, the trees lightened up the place and the freshness that pervaded made the capital a much nicer place to live. Well… compared to the other cities. There was nothing that compared to the blissful peace and tranquillity of the vibrant countryside.

The trees bordered the roadway that let the horses and carriages of the rich roll through the city unimpeded. They could dash forth with very few interruptions, getting on with the countless tasks that undoubtedly cluttered their very important lives. The rest of us, well, we’d be happy with the pavements and our own two feet. Beside the pavements were the shops that bordered the main street. High-end of course, there just couldn’t be a blacksmith hammering out some metal implement or a vender calling out his wares where visitors might go. Unseemly. And we couldn’t have that, could we? No!

The place for all those riff-raff was the backstreets and neighbourhoods, away from those important visitors. They would only experience the hospitality of the nobility, no need to see anything else. Like a cat protecting its belly, the king forced the seedy paupers and labourers away from the main street, presenting a glamour to the dignitaries and merchants that visited on occasion.

Out of sight, out of mind after all. If they couldn’t see it, why would they believe it was there? That was the thought process.

I made my way up through the three tiers of city, first was the poorer sections of the main street. So not the absolute slums but the poorer inns and shops, then the merchants closer towards the gates and palace and finally the noble ring. Within this ring, though partially segregated were the guilds.

A secondary city wall had been erected here, and it was against the wall that the adventurer’s guild stood. It took only a few minutes before I found my way to the stone gates that sealed it off from the city. The guild was a powerful organisation, and as such they were afforded such a liberty despite the officials of the cities not wanting them to, it grated that they had to give up such a thing, but they did. It was just one of the many many things for the nobles to be upset over.

The nobles weren’t allowed walls to insulate them from the city, barring the inner-city walls, but they were staffed by the king and not liable to bow to the nobles. A policy from the great rebellion when the factions of nobles had trained private armies within the walls of the estates.

The conflict had ruined the previous capital, Rothenon was just a hunk of rubble now, having been obliterated by the war mages of the time and the vicious conflict that raged for a year and a half. Guerrilla warfare in a city filled with innocents for over a year, those that hadn’t fled had been well entrenched or petrified by fear.

No-one had wanted it to occur once again and so policy was implemented making sure the nobles couldn’t have walls and occupational forces within the walls of the cities, in their own baronies and land they could train it up, but no internal force was allowed in the capital anymore.

Whilst I was sure all of the nobles understood the reasoning, and if they were ever crowned king I was sure they’d keep such a policy, they took it as a way to decrease the power of the nobility and even if the threat of war loomed they wouldn’t ever be able to admit such a thing.

So, the fact that the adventurer’s guild had their own walls grated them endlessly and it had created a rather large divide between the two. A divide that hadn’t calmed any in the years since I’d left.

I walked over to the stone gate and waited but a moment for them to open for me.

With a smooth swish, the barriers lifted up and I was allowed entry. I found myself in an illustrious but not an ‘in your face’ foyer.

Forwards and off to my right slightly was a reception, staffed by two slim pretty ladies, it caught my attention, as was its purpose. One was a brunette and the other a blond. They had both dressed in the uniforms; conservatively and professionally.

I approached the desk in a few long strides puffing myself up sub-consciously, preening like a bird. With one glance at the floor to wall mirror in the lounge I quickly corrected my posture. I looked like a fool, worse a noble brat. I slumped back down in my usual posture.

Opening my mouth to start speaking I was cut off.

“Plate” the brunette said in an authoritative voice; demanding. My mouth opened and closed a few times at the surprising bluntness, perhaps she had observed my preening and had decided she didn’t want to waste tie and humour me. I reached into my shirt and pulled out my aluminium plate. It was a small aluminium rectangle with my guild information on and my mana signature. She scanned it in and looked up expectantly.

“Well?” she replied as if she was in a rush despite an obvious lack of activity.

“Right, um. Where is everyone?” I asked, curiously.

She looked me up and down, snorted lightly under her breath before answering. I wondered absently what she thought of me? Not out of any self-conscious thoughts but just how had I come across?

“Today is the exhibition day for the newbies. Most adventurers go along to watch them take the model dungeon and see who, if any will be making it up the ranks. It’s generally recognised as an off day for everyone. Though the staff still have to come in” she replied helpfully but ending in a bitter note. I guess she’s upset at not being able to take the day off herself. Perhaps that was why she was so blunt today. Why on earth did I think it was something to do with me?

“So why are you here?” she asked before I could speak again.

“Oh, right yes.” I said with a little laugh “Um... I’ve found a dungeon, well not I per se, but the town. They asked me to have a look since I was an adventurer and all. You know how it goes” I said rubbing the back of my neck in nervous waiting. She didn’t reply at first. “New as well.” I added. At that she perked up a little.

“You sure it’s not just a cave?” she asked dismissively, but before I could reply she carried on talking. “Though you are an aluminium plate, so you should know the difference, but we do get a lot of fake reports. They think they just have to say they’ve found one and we’ll hand over lots of cash, idiots. You’re not one of those, are you?” She enquired of me. I stared straight ahead, giving no credence to it. I was not impressed that she had alluded to me trying to scam them.

She turned to her friend to relay the news. The blond came over, eyed me briefly before whispering in her friend’s ear, though I tried to listen in, they were skilled enough that I didn’t pick anything up. I felt a little awkward as they discussed this, but I stayed still and waited.

“Alright” she reluctantly started. I didn’t think she entirely believed me. “I’m going to pass you off to our guild leader. You know, being a high levelled plate and all, you should be trustworthy, or at least know you shouldn’t cause any trouble. If you could just wait over there for a sec” she said directing me across to a waiting area.

Soft seats and a cup of Aeldra later and I was very content. Let me tell you transport pads really take it out of a man. I yawned briefly and then I heard my name. The woman at the desk waved me over and pointed me through a previously closed door as I came across.

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Inside was an ornate dark wood desk polished to a shine and behind it sat an old man with a greying beard and glasses, he was looking at a reem of paper and he ignored me when I entered. I closed the door and sat down. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke.

“So, you think you’ve discovered a dungeon?” he asked without looking up.

***

“Yes, I think I agree with you that this is a dungeon. And in the Avaltjarn mountains of all places. If it’s powerful this could lead to some very interesting politics indeed.” The old man said.

“And you say you only delved the first two levels before concluding you had better come back with a party.”

“Yes, it’s not so much that I would be overwhelmed by the monsters it’s that the layout basically demands a party or at least a preternatural sense of your surroundings. Attacks can come from anywhere and there is very little warning. Though the first floor was truly very easy. Without a guild or teammates to retrieve me and watch my back it was as far as I wanted to go without help, I had already confirmed that it was a dungeon.”

“Well, that’s certainly fair enough. We’ll pay you the initial sum and when we confirm it’s a real dungeon we’ll give the rest. Sound fair?” I nodded.

“Would you be willing to take a group of surveyors with you? It’ll speed this up tremendously if they know where they’re going, from what you said its quite a trek to the entrance.”

“Yeah, no problem, I can’t see that being a problem. I’ll meet them back here in a couple of hours if that’s enough time for them to get ready, I assume they’re at the newbie thing.”

He confirmed it was fine and then I left the guild with money burning a hole in my pocket, it was the towns though and I couldn’t just spend it.

First stop was the bank then the information guild. They could send messages anywhere and I would be trying to get my old group back together again, I’d no clue if they would be up for it but I suspected they might, at least some of them. A couple like me had retired from boredom though from what I knew only one had a family now. He, I assumed would not be coming back, but the other two might be persuaded. The last two had been much younger at our split and had joined up with other parties. If I could persuade them to come back, we could have a real crack at this dungeon, but I thought they might have found a good place by now.

The bank took a good chunk of my time and splitting it between all the villagers’ accounts was a nightmare. At least sending the letters went well enough.

***

They were waiting for me when I got back to the guild. A group of highly experienced delvers that had dedicated their lives to dungeon diving and getting stronger. Five in all they had three men and two women in the group.

Both the women were mages; a dedicated healer and a fire mage. The healer had golden blond hair and a pair of bright blue eyes. Her high cheekbones hinted at an elven background, perhaps a quarter, you could never tell. She was slim and of medium height. Dressed in the thick white clothes with gold, red and blue trims that were stereotypical healer robes. A finely crafted wooden staff with a pearlescent, translucent gem on top and a sliver circlet that framed the head were accessories, and ones that accentuated her looks and were most likely very useful as well. You wouldn’t get far if you were concerned about looks too much. Well, you’d get dead, but that was about it.

The fire mage on the other hand was just as you would envision. Slim and tall and dressed in flame coloured robes. A flame walnut staff with a bright red ruby sitting on top was just right. The ruby seemed to hum with energy, like a heartbeat, it pulsed with power to a regular rhythm. She had red hair and green eyes and was very pretty. A sword was buckled at her waist and she, like all the others, carried a pack on her back.

The largest man I had ever seen was next in line. he looked almost like a dwarf in stature, the stocky block like body. Just a really, really large dwarf. He had a great big grin on his face that his thick moustache tried and failed to hide. Jovial, I thought. Like me, he carried an axe. Unlike me, it was a great two-handed battle axe. In addition, he had a strong metal pike and a large scutum shield. It would cover his ankles to his shoulders and his sides slightly. Dressed in full plate he had begun to take it off and put it away. I imagined he was at the newbie exhibition showing them the weight of plate.

A tall and slim man with a glaive stood beside him. Rigid and commanding. He was, I assumed the leader of this merry band. At his waist he had a sword, a falchion by the look of it and a bow strung across his pack. He was a warrior in all sense of the word. A set of Gauntlets and vambraces protected his lower arms and the rest was a boiled leather set. With a few bits of metal in key places.

Last was the rogue. No group was complete without one. Light leather and a black cloak and hood for mobility. He had on a belt of knives and two butterfly swords, one on each leg. Ruffled dark hair and a short frame he was as you would expect.

Introductions went quickly, and I soon found out their names.

The healer was Jenna, the fire mage; Lorelei, the rogue was Kael and the tank Jackson. Which left only the presumed leader; Sebastien or Seb for short.

They had never heard of Littlebrook which surprised me not, but they knew of the Avalt, well obviously.

Since the Avaltjarn was at the centre where all the regions joined, everyone knew of it. Since the Avalt had no regional mana type they didn’t really know what to expect, except that it would most likely not be simple. Without regional mana it couldn’t be classified as say, a fire dungeon and have mostly fire type creatures and levels. It could be anything. It took a while to fill them in on the two levels I had seen, but they agreed it was highly unusual, perhaps a nature affiliation.

After they finished packing up, they checked in with the guild master, collected some scanning equipment from the artificer’s office - apparently, it would help to determine how strong the dungeon was, but I wouldn’t know – and we were ready to go, back through the portals and off on an adventure of epic proportions.

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[Jenna]

The man named Sigurd was an oddity and it made Jenna curious. He looked young, but then so did a lot of adventurers. He acted young and enthusiastic at times, whilst at others it seemed as if he was weary of life and just waiting it out.

Jenna felt a passion for adventuring from him and an excitement he had seemingly tried to bury, perhaps this dungeon had rekindled his desire. As an aluminium plate he was experienced, yet he was retired, supposedly. He was a mess of contradictions. Though she supposed that everyone was, the genuine ones at least, those that weren’t such a mass of contradictions wore a face in public, fake people, just like the nobles.

He had gone and dived this new one on his own to confirm if it was in fact a dungeon, a brave choice, especially as a solo. New dungeons were notoriously deadly and temperamental. It was the most dangerous thing a group did and Seb’s specialised in it. But the sense of discovery was magical, something she could so rarely experience. It was worth the danger and Jenna had never thought about leaving. Not once in the three years she had been part of it.

Whenever Sigurd talked about anything even remotely related to the dungeon he would fill with passion and life, whilst other topics left him gloomy and jaded. He was odd, and she didn’t understand him.

He wasn’t a deluded fool like most of the adventurers she spoke with, and that had already put him in her good books. He had spoken with experience and wisdom when he had told them about the dungeon.

Without looking herself, she couldn’t tell if he had been right to retreat at the third level or not, but it was probably the correct call if he felt uneasy over going further. Swamps were very rare dungeon biomes, and one of the most dangerous compared to the theoretical difficulty of the puzzles and mobs. Caution over ambition was something it took the rookies a long time to learn, and a lot never did. After all, how could you use your money or fame when you died pushing onwards.

Her wandering mind stopped as her stomach lurched. She had had to hold in the feeling, tensing and breathing through it slowly, else she would be sick. Jenna hated the pads! Oh, how I hate them! She thought to herself.

Jenna was so envious of the others, those who could handle them so easily. It just didn’t agree with her. Bending over and breathing slowly she had just about recovered before glancing around. They were at the interchange. Jenna sighed, she would have to go through this again.

***

In fact, she had had to go through it twice more. Horrible.

They had transferred from the interchange to Barkamstead and from Barkamstead to Oar’s rest. From Oar’s rest it was a two-day trip. They didn’t have any horses nor any desire to buy them.

Sigurd had his own horse and they strapped it up with supplies, but the long walk to his home was still painfully slow.

The dusty road soon faded into a small dirt track that often just disappeared into the fields and grasses that they walked over.

Jackson looked just as uncomfortable as before, he was still carrying twice as much weight in his pack as the rest of us, a fair share in her opinion. More muscles, more weight, simple.

Kael often disappeared for a while and though he always found his way back, it was when they least expected it. Well, when Jenna least expected it. It was his favourite pastime to try and make them – Jenna specifically - jump. Damn sneaky man. Lorelei and Seb were just fine, as usual. Argh!

About halfway through day two, Jenna could just about see a settlement on the horizon, Kael had spotted it long before the rest could see it and so they knew to look out for it.

When she asked, Sigurd confirmed that it was in fact Littlebrook and her spirits rose. Nearly there, stupid dungeon making her walk to it!

It took another four hours until she could see Littlebrook in detail though. A cluster of twenty or so houses and a couple on the outskirts. A small stone wall surrounded the main section and the fields were off to one side.

A little stream wound its way towards the town and they followed its course quite tightly. The sound of a ringing hammer and the smell of smoke ran across her senses and, in what seemed like minutes, they were entering the town and heading off towards one of the houses closest to the mountain.

People looked with interest and they stopped several times as people came up to talk to the guide. Sigurd, it seemed, was well respected, but not a leader of the village. Just a friendly, helpful face.

Jenna entered his house and could finally sit down. It didn’t take too long for them to fall asleep, draped all around his house. Lore and Jenna took his spare bed. Kael had disappeared at some point and Jackson and Seb camped out in his living room. At last she could close her eyes and in no time at all, fell asleep.