Peter

Standing out on the balcony outside my office, which was located on the top floor of the Dungeoneer's Guild, I looked out over the land that had been purchased for the Guild years ago, a walkway in the shape of a cross leading back out toward the streets with a pathway leading off to the right, toward the Guild boarding house which was used by all the less fortunate and less experience dungeoneering teams, while an opposite path led toward the library and archives, which was where all the information on this kingdom's dungeon was held, and where a good portion of the scribes worked.

My hands subconsciously tightened around the iron railing of the balcony, bending and warping the metal until it had indents in the shape of my fingers. The raid was a total clusterfuck, and now I had Lawbringers breathing down my neck, wanting anyone who could be used as a scapegoat. I also had to organize Nightshade into a much more effective force than they were. It was no big secret that they were good at their jobs, but asking them to fight against the same enemy that wiped out almost the entire raid party was nothing short of a suicide mission.

"The hits just keep coming." I couldn't help but sigh as I thought of how much political mud I would have to wade through in order to handle the mess that unique monster caused.

The sun was slowly beginning to dip over the horizon, coloring the sky gold. The summer warmth was slowly fading as day turned to night, and the people below all sat down to various dinners. I couldn't do the same with the knot that had settled in the pit of my stomach. In the end, it hadn't been the fault of the raid party, nor the fault of William, nor anyone else but myself, but the lawbringers probably wouldn't see it that way.

The real issue now was that I would likely have to send dozens more to their deaths, and I might very well end up joining them. I looked back into my office, seeing a small portion of the silvered platemail armor that had been gifted to me by the Guild, after I had singehandedly held off a hydra while the rest of an expedition fled. I could still feel the boiling blood sizzling against my face, the venom flowing through my veins, and the three different bite wounds that rendered me almost helpless against the five headed nightmare.

"If nothing else, I might not have to fight a hydra again. Small blessings..." I muttered to myself as I walked back inside, closing the glass inlaid door behind me. The office still felt too pompous for my liking, even after I had stripped out most of the unnecessary gold and gem filled ornaments, and renovated the walls to be more simple. I was forced to keep the door and the desk which were both carved by some of the best craftsmen that the Guild could find, to maintain the status the Guild deemed necessary for a Guild Master even if I was just in charge of a branch.

Just as I sat down in the padded chair that I'd had crafted by one of the local woodcarvers, one of the people I had been doing my best to avoid walked in, their leather boots thumping against the wooden floor, their cloak fluttering dramatically from what was likely an enchantment. His face was like stone, his expression denoting a stern resolution to do his duty, despite the fact that he had already come in here to bother me half a dozen times already. His dirty blonde hair peeked out from under the hood, looking like it was about to fall in front of his amber colored eyes. His attire consisted of leather armor with a hammer sewn onto the chest, in the spot where the heart was meant to be, while a white tunic lay beneath. His trousers were much the same, underneath the uniform leather leg guards which were made to specifically protect the thigh, instead of the whole leg. To me he seemed more fit to be a jester in a king's court, although I couldn't tell him that.

Lawbringer Michael Soranson. The same man who had been nipping at my heels ever since the Guild began to set up the raid, looking for someone who might be at fault for if it failed. Since the raid had failed so dramatically, he'd been attempting to use his authority as a Lawbringer to bring Nightshade, Kingsfoil, and Blueberries in for a formal inquiry.

"Guild Master Steelwind, you've been ignoring my requests, dodging my requisitions, and ordering your people to keep me and my colleagues out of the area the three guilty teams are in. May I ask why you're impeding our investigation into the matter of the supposed raid on a low level unique monster failing so spectacularly?" Michael's voice was nasaly like the buzzing of a fly next to your ear, slowly grinding away what remained of my patience for all the people clamoring for answers to the situation that had only occurred about a day ago at this point.

We'd barely finished tallying the amount of dead, and I still hadn't managed to finish writing all the condolence letters. I'd likely be in for a rather bad few months, and my reputation as a skilled, experienced, and level headed Guild Master would probably crumble by word of mouth alone, unless Nightshade could pull off the impossible.

"Michael, I've done all of those things because this is strictly a Guild matter at this time. You and your colleagues know damn well that you currently don't have any jurisdiction here, especially when all the people involved are legally bound to the Guild, thus making us responsible for their well-being, their livelihood, and their legal security when it comes to Guild matters." I leaned on the desk, my hands resting against the well worn oak.

"Ah, but this isn't strictly a Guild matter, is it? From what we've heard from your analysts, something in there is rather dangerous, and might end up deciding to come out for a bit of revenge, considering how much was done to antagonize it. This means that all those responsible must be questioned to determine if they played a part in causing this situation to spiral out of control. While this might normally include you, both Nevayan and Guild law states that in the event of a situation where a particularly dangerous monster emerges, so long as the senior official made multiple adequate attempts at subjugating said monster, they will not be held responsible for this failure. The two attempts made thus far, including the raid have been deemed adequate enough that you are not to be held responsible. You and I both know that this means we have to go down the list. Someone has to face the music for this, despite your attempts to keep us away." Michael took a breath, sitting down in the chair opposite me, resting his arms in his lap.

"While you say this is a Guild matter, the Lawbringers have speculated that if something does emerge from the dungeon, it will put civilians and military personnel at risk of being displaced from their homes, injured, and even killed. Guild law does not supercede Nevayan law in this case, and as such, the Lawbringers have the authority necessary to go through you if we must. The only reason this has not been done is to facilitate cohesion between our two organizations for the foreseeable future." The voice coming from the irritating man had become vexing enough that one of my eyes involuntarily twitched.

"As I've already stated at least seven times before you came up here, a plan is being put in motion to bring down the monster responsible for the massacre. Should the Lawbringers decide to just take those you deem guilty, that will leave us with precious few hands to plug the gap that has been created in the absence of the many powerful dungeoneers. However, this means that we need those you might deem guilty, as an elite team meant specifically for dealing with the issue that you and your colleagues believe the Guild has given up on. I can tell you with absolute certainty that we have not, and will not give up on ensuring the peace and stability of Chilaak, and the kingdom of Nevaya as a whole. If you or any other Lawbringers want to step up to lend their aid, we at the Guild of Dungeon Exploration would be more than willing to accept any aid you could provide so long as you allow us to do our jobs in the way that benefits everyone the most, including those who have failed a mission once or twice." Clasping my hands together to reign in my frustration, I could feel the desk begin to creak ever so slightly as I leaned more and more on it, the oak unable to hold against my superhuman levels of strength.

Michael fell silent at this, as he always did when I mentioned that a plan was already being put together. The man had only been in Chilaak for a year now, and the laws never quite seemed to stick in his mind, making him both a nuisance and the only Lawbringer I knew who I could beat in a debate within a few minutes of sitting down to talk. If the head of the Lawbringers in Nevaya came to my office, then it would become a much bigger deal, and I might not have been able to hold out even this long. The only memory I had of the man was seeing his face like a hawk, and the rumor that he had spoken for over eight hours in a single session to ensure he was given access to a local crime lord for interrogation.

The man smiled all of a sudden, before leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "We can agree to this, so long as the Lawbringers are able to send a representative to both assess the people chosen for this task, and to serve alongside them, to ensure they don't get any ideas of running off in the middle of their mission, or at any point in between." I felt my eye twitch again as he essentially forced me to accept conditions which would make it that much harder to keep Nightshade from having to participate in the political shadow game that had for years now, been sucking out all my desire to continue doing my job to the best of my ability.

"Very well, Michael. Get one of your people to draw up a contract and bring it over. Once I've read it and made sure it says only what's necessary, then we can talk about getting a Lawbringer involved in a Guild matter. Until then, the plan is going to proceed at its own pace, whether or not the Lawbringers are associated with it or not. After all, the Guild doesn't waste time deciding if the law allows us to do something. Now get out of my office until you have that contract in hand." I gestured toward the door with my hand. Without waiting for me to show him the door, Michael stood, bowed to me politely, and left the room.

I let out a sigh of frustration that I'd been holding in since the man walked in. The Lawbringers always meant well, but way too often would I end up having to convince one of them that just because a dungeoneer was drunk in the bar downstairs, didn't mean they were going to cause a violent incident, at least for the most part.

Reaching under my desk, I pulled out my favorite glass, a simple clear crystal cup, along with some of the specially made rum that I would get every now and then from the alchemist of my old team. I'd had to deal with Michael and other Lawbringers so much in the past several hours that I hadn't had more than thirty minutes to myself at a time. It had gotten bad enough that at one point that two of them had shown up at the same time, demanding to know why they couldn't see Nightshade, Kingsfoil, and Blueberry in the Healer's Den.

When I went to pour myself a drink, I realized that while I had been lost in thought, I had accidentally crushed the glass in my hand, ruining my favorite cup.