There was a crowd gathered in front of Vane/Gloria's, as there usually was in the morning hours. This time, though, it was much larger than usual, inflated by the new infusion of people. Glory evaded their questions, promising them that they could get all their answers once the doors were open to the public, and she scampered inside, leaving them to stew for a bit longer while she got ready.
She spent her few minutes of peace setting up the booth, then looking over the mission boards to make sure that nothing was out of place. The board now looked about as full as it had before she’d stripped all the imp camps off the Rank 1 section, filled in with a flood of new contracts delivered by the elite Scouting team over the last two days.
Yesterdays delivery had been more dramatic than the first. There were so many monsters that had been missed by the standard complement of Scouts on their routine patrols that now every board was full of missions. She’d considered backing off of her policy of limiting the number of jobs a single team could take, though with the number of mercenaries she was expecting to see today, it wasn’t a great idea anymore.
Reassured that her boards had enough jobs for everyone, she turned to the back room. She thought about calling Durza herself, just to get the report over with. It was still early at the King’s Office, even if they were a couple hours ahead of Vane Gloria’s time zone – best to wait for them to call her instead. She shook her head to clear the cobwebs. Getting up so early to barge in on Larami had a way of inflating her sense of self-importance. She had to remember that, even though the Office looked favorably upon her and the Guild, they were still far above her station, and one wrong move could mean the end of good relations between her and those that served and surrounded the King.
Instead, she opened up the guild for the day, welcoming all the early risers and newcomers that were there to meet Glory for the first time. She grinned as they went around and introduced themselves, some already pouring over the jobs in order to find something for their newly arrived teams to work on while shelter and supplies were sorted out.
Villara and Bes filed in shortly after, and the guild truly opened up for the day. Mercs flooded the lobby, pulling job after job off the board and bringing it up.
It was wonderful to see the guild so full after so long. She had grown used to seeing jobs stay on the board for weeks, slowly upgrading in danger and threat to the surrounding people. And yet, her heart also lurched with worry. She hadn’t been able to vet these people. The intake process was already fairly long, forcing her to call Villara over to hand out contracts as she got through the onboarding process for each new team.
It took two hours for the crowd to finally thin enough for Villara to go back to her own booth to take care of the line that had formed there.
Glory checked out the tavern while she had a moment to breathe, finding it as full as the lobby would have led her to believe. She approached the desk and begged breakfast off Aron, who started whipping a quick omelette up for her to munch on.
As it cooked, he glanced over at her. “Lot of new faces today.”
“Lot of new people in town,” Glory agreed. She turned to look over the crowd. Hardly any of them were familiar. Several people were looking back at her with curiosity.
“I’ve been fending off questions from people asking about you. Asking about the guild.”
Glory sighed. With the rush of new people signing on and taking contracts she hadn’t fulfilled that part of the bargain she’d made with the morning crowd. With a resigned nod, she headed over to the stage at the front right side of the room. As she stepped up, some of those who’d caught her eye ribbed their neighbors to look up. Slowly the word spread, and the crowd slowly migrated from the back corners to the seats in front of Glory.
“Welcome to Vane/Gloria’s! Sorry about the terse greetings this morning, I wasn’t expecting you all for another month or so. I know most of you haven’t been around here before, so I’ll go over a few things you’ll want to know about how we run things here.
“First things first: it will not be so easy for your team to pick up jobs as it was today. This was a special case, because it was so busy. If you know anything at all about me, you’ll know that I’m fond of bullying the newcomers and low-rankers by denying them jobs that I think they aren’t ready for. This is a true fact. I’m already expecting a lot more people to die in the next few days because I was lax today – and not just because there are more people, but because I’m letting through some people that have no business going on a frontier contract.
“That brings me to the second thing: this is not the backyard of your central city home. This place is not ‘safe.’ Be prepared to be attacked on the way to your jobs, maybe even multiple times. We sell potions by the front door; make sure you stock up before you go. You will need health potions, even if you have a Healer.
“Finally, a last note of caution. The Demons have been acting strange ever since the end of the civil war. There are large pockets of imps around, as well as spectres, a type of demon that only operates here on the frontier – at least, I haven’t heard any stories of them farther in. They are smart, and they’ve taken to teaming up with monsters in the areas around here. Scouts have died, mercenaries have died, and an entire outpost was burned to the ground last night. I want you all to think hard about what it is you want to accomplish here. If you’re trying to build a family here, looking for a place to raise your kids, you might want to think twice about doing it in Vane Gloria, unless you are supremely confident in your ability to keep yourself, and your loved ones, alive.
“So with that out of the way, do you all have any questions?"
The reactions of the mercenaries in front of them were varied, from those who were excited to get on the road and moving, to those who were second-guessing their motivations now that they knew some of what to expect. There were some that were self-confident to the point of arrogance, turning away to keep eating as she went on about the new threats to the mercenaries that worked in her guild. But at least those that were willing to listen had been warned.
The group started chattering questions, such that she had them form a line in order to get through them all. At some point, Aron came over, sliding her the finished omelette, and she took bites of the food as the crowd asked their questions and mulled over the answers. Someone had noticed that all the imp camp work had been moved into Rank 2 patrols, and asked about that development. Glory reiterated what she’d said about the monsters grouping up as justification for what they all saw as an overreach. The crowd bubbled with objection that bordered on anger.
Bes appeared at the door, her Calm runes glowing slightly, tilting her head in a question.
Glory waved her in, but motioned her to hold off using her power, and she planted herself firm. “Look, if any of you really have a problem with my decisions, take it up with the Office. I’ve already had an Inspector go over my work, but if you want to pile on, you’re welcome to. If you make Rank, you absolutely can get ahold of the Office and complain about me, force me to give you a job you’re technically qualified for. Just remember that you all won’t be the first to stand on Kingdom rights. Most of the others that have done so aren’t here anymore, and even those that survived no longer question my word.”
There wasn’t as much pushback this time, though there were still some grumbles. Glory sighed. Just another reason to call Durza. She turned and looked at the back corner of the tavern, checking the wall where a Telecomm call would blink if someone were trying to get ahold of her.
With a start, she realized that it was, in fact, blinking.
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Glory waved off the last of the people with questions about her operations. “Sorry folks. I need to go take a call. If you didn’t get the chance to speak with me yet, don’t worry. I take some days off, but you can usually find me here whenever, even if I’m not technically working the booth.”
With that, she got up and walked past the newcomers, all watching her go with faces that alternated between awe and frustration. They’ll come around, Glory thought on the way by. The problem was, that learning came at the cost of lives.
She made her way around the wall to her booth, and entered the back room. The Office stone was already in the Telecomm, and she pushed mana into it. The image of Durza appeared, rising to a stand from the seat he’d been waiting in, his outfit pressed and firm.
“Glory! Wonderful to see you. I heard you’d spoken with Inra earlier today.”
“A kind man, he was very accommodating in this trying time,” she replied, a half-smirk on her face.
He reflected her mood. “Just so. I heard he agreed to Larami’s terms there. I wish he'd negotiated a bit harder, but it’s no big loss. We win when your town is funded, particularly since you’re going to be such a point of focus in the coming months and years. Anyway, enough about Larami. I’m calling about the guild. Dakara, the inspector, delivered his final report today. I thought you might want to check it over yourself.”
Glory took a deep breath and agreed. Durza walked up to his Telecomm with a sheet of folded paper in hand, which he unfolded and placed face down his machine. A secondary display lit up on Glory’s side of the connection, displaying the block off text that made up Dakara’s report. The room went quiet as she started to read it over.
Much of the first bit was a rehash of the various topics that they had discussed while Dakara was at the guild speaking with Glory. Income figures, money spent by the Office on her guild’s quests, and her specific policies about upranking quests that she thought had grown too dangerous for her mercs to take on at the recommended rank. He made note of the same arguments he’d given against her policy, but in a way that suggested he didn’t think she was being irresponsible – just that she did things her own way, the general guidelines of the Office be damned.
At the end of this first section though, he did make mention of something that she had to read over twice.
‘...Glory defends her habits regarding the quests rankings by standing on the relatively low death count she has among her mercenaries, which is borne out by the last few years of statistics. When questioned about the possible knock-on effects of postponing the clearing of these monsters and camps, specifically the possibility of monsters raiding towns farther in the Kingdom’s territory, Glory deflected responsibility, stating that those guilds away from the frontier still need to be vigilant – that Vane/Gloria’s was meant to be, in her own words, a first line of defense, not the whole of it.
‘This disregard of her responsibility disturbed me, but I also couldn’t answer her immediately when she asked for proof of such an attack. It took a bit of searching, but I was able to uncover one instance that may be the result of her decisions.’
Glory went cold as she carefully read the next paragraphs.
‘About three days east of Vane Gloria was a small town that went by the name of Diascene. It was founded as a resort town for some of the rich families in the central cities, and had a couple decades of life – before a direct attack on the town. Reports say that there was a group of forty or fifty imps, along with a host of other larger monsters. The bulk of the people managed to escape alive, as the guards sacrificed themselves to keep the retreating nobles safe.
‘On looking into the possible origins of a group that large, I came across a few imp camps job that were posted for the Vane Gloria area, Rank 2 at the time that they were posted. At some point, weeks after and before any Scout made updates to the risk of the job, it was upgraded to a Rank 3 quest. Unfortunately, Rank 3 teams are rare even in Vane Gloria, as we were using many of those teams for the Civil War with Emmroh. The job went undone, and it seems that the result was a rich town destroyed by the hordes that were allowed to fester.
‘I have to say, the fact that this was the only casualty of her decisions surprised me. I expected to have to wade through a pile of such reports. This was the only one that looked plausible, and even this had other factors at play. The town itself seems, by speaking to the former residents of Diascene, to have been quite underfunded. The guards in particular were left to sparse shifts without enough coverage to take care of an attack of that scale. Apparently they’d grown too comfortable being in the shadow of Vane Gloria, and saw no need to staff guards that rarely saw any action. In the end, that decision cost them. I can’t blame Glory for the way things ended up there.
‘I expected a slew of deaths and raids as a result of her action, but it looks like the excuse she used – that she was not responsible for the defenses of those towns farther in – wasn’t borne out of a desire to dodge that responsibility, but an earnest assessment that she couldn’t be the only one tasked with protecting those people.’
Glory sighed and stood back after reading that last paragraph. It had almost looked like that report was going to come down fully against her. Good thing she’d been right with that retort she’d spitballed. She looked back to Durza.
“Thank you for letting me see it. I was a bit worried when he thought I was getting people killed.”
As she thanked him, however, he just waved back down at the report, indicating that she should keep reading. She squinted at his face, suspicious. She realized he was smiling with his eyes, trying to keep mirth from breaking on his face.
Glory looked down and, indeed, found that there was another page of material to look over.
‘The rest of my time out here as been spent investigating the state of Vane Gloria as a whole for the trip later on this month. I’ve covered most of the diners in the area, and found most of them to be on par with the finer establishments in the Center, for quality of the fare if not the splendor of the décor. Even the guild itself has quite the cook running their meals. I was able to ask for a number of dishes I wouldn’t be able to get in most guilds across the rest of the nation, excluding only the very Center of our Kingdom. Their chef, Aron, will be a fine host if the King decides to eat in after the Parley, and there are plenty of diners and diversions for he excess guards and Officials that will be in attendance.’
By the end of this passage of the report, her hands were shaking. She skimmed past the next few paragraphs, which were filled with a list of names, grouped by family, along with a host of random names of guards that would be accompanying them. Glory looked back up at Durza, who was now gazing at her fondly, taking in her expression with a broad smile on his face.
“Is this really happening?”
Durza nodded with a chuckle. “Yes, Glory. It is. The King has chosen who he would like to speak with for this season’s Parley, and he’s chosen this guild, and you specifically.”
Glory had to take a step back, and she leaned over the table, palms down on the surface, feeling like she had to catch her breath. Coming here! she thought. Instantly, her brain spun up, thinking of all the extra guards she’d have to hire for the event, or who else she might want to invite for festivities. Could she get away with asking Larami not to come? No, no, he’d insist on being here, and as mayor of the town, he’d have the right to attend the reception parties.
Glory looked up, realizing that Durza was still standing there, watching her.
“Calm,” he cautioned her. “The trip won’t be for a month yet. You have time to prepare yourself and your guild. We wouldn’t want this to interrupt anything important, and I think by then you should have most of your new processes in place to take care of all the new people we just sent your way.”
That did mean she had to speed up her work on those areas. She still hadn’t met the new hire that she was supposed to interview for the overnight shift on the job booth. And there was that other thing….
“Hey, actually, I have a question for you,” Glory interjected. Durza nodded for her to continue. “It’s a rune question.”
Durza’s eyes widened, then his smile followed suit. “Is it finally time, then? You’ve decided?”
Glory nodded. “I need to know how difficult it is to get a hold of a Recovery rune.”
“It’s not difficult, but it might be expensive. That’s the rune you want to take? As your weapon?” Durza asked with a hint of confusion. It wasn’t a particularly popular rune to take, but part of that was because many of its benefits were already taken care of by Healing or Stamina runes. Stamina couldn’t be used as a weapon, though, where Recovery could. Durza rubbed his chin as he thought through his connections.
“I might be able to arrange something. I’ll need some time. That isn’t a popular one, though. I think I might be able to get a deal on it.” He looked up at Glory with a piercing eye. “I think you’d owe me for this one, Glory.”
Glory hesitated for a moment, wondering if she could afford to be in this man’s debts. But in all the years he’d been helping her out, he’d never done anything overly self-serving and had treated her as something of an equal. She didn’t think he’d ask anything of her that would tank her reputation or strip her of power in her guild. She paused longer anyway, thinking over the possibilities twice, three times.
In the end, though, she looked back up at Durza and nodded. “I’m sure, and I’ll owe you.”
With a pleased sigh, Durza smiled back at her. “Then you’ll have to give me some time to make a few calls and make plans. I think you should be able to get your rune within the week.”
So soon! Glory’s chest swelled. It was finally happening! She wouldn’t be some childish Lancer anymore!
She kept the outburst tucked inside, and thanked Durza one more time before the man disconnected the call.
It took another few minutes for Glory to comport herself. There was so much to think over, so much planning to do. She had to meet that new girl and hire her. Maybe she’d hire two people. It might be helpful for her to have another substitute to fill in for her with everything going on. That would mean twice as much training for the new people, though. Maybe she could just have them shadow her for a couple weeks, and teach them how to care for the mercs that way before assigning them their regular shifts.
In the end, she shook herself out of her reverie, and remembered that she had a guild to run. She opened the door and headed back out to the lobby, where a bunch of mercenaries were standing around, waiting for her to emerge. They held contracts in hand, and looked up as she emerged.
“Sorry about the wait,” she said to the gathered mercs. “Form a line and I’ll take your requests.”
Then she settled into the booth for the day, the glow of accomplishment pulling her on.