Niko trotted happily through the now open doors to the guildhouse, deciding not to give the other adventuring team a hard time. Still, they seemed to suck in a mouthful of air as he passed them, trying very pointedly not to antagonize the giant murder bird.

“Err… Thanks for holding the door?” Skye awkwardly thanked the other team before darting through, followed by the more casual paces of the others. Niko’s attention moved across the room as he came to a stop a few steps into the main lobby. Unlike what he’d thought would be the case, there was an expansive space above him, and he could see up to the other floors with little more than railing keeping anyone from staring down at the entryway and adjoining bar space. Niko’s eyes met with several others as he scanned his surroundings, and he noted that many had stopped whatever they were doing to openly gawk at him.

‘I am a very pretty bird,’ He mentally acceded with their actions, ‘It’s totally normal. I don’t have a problem with narcissism, yet.’ Joking aside, Niko didn’t feel as though there was much of any malevolence in the way people were looking at him. Certainly, this world had beasts that were as intelligent as humanoids, but that didn’t seem to necessarily equate to the same social norms. Unless people gawking at him wasn’t standard, but Niko was leaning towards beasts usually not caring if someone was appreciative of the way they looked.

“It’s that Phorus!” He heard someone call out, and vaguely he recognized it as yet another voice belonging to yet another team that he’d beaten down, “The Bladethief!”

At that, Niko’s gaze snapped to the man who was speaking, who quietly yelped in turn. A big man next to him slapped him upside the back of the head, “You got your swords back, stop complaining.”

“Y-yeah, but he still took them…” the man continued weakly.

Another group laughed good naturedly, “Considering it's a Phorus, you should be glad that’s all he took.”

Niko turned his gaze to the group that spoke, five individuals in all, and–

“Hello there!” A sharp, excited voice hit his senses from a large, squat creature beside them, “You’re a new face, I’m Russell, who are you?”

For a split second, Niko felt hungry, and simultaneously intensely guilty for feeling that way. The reason for that was the fact that the beast that was talking to him right now was what vaguely resembled an Ironback Badger. “I’m Niko!” He decided to answer exuberantly, doing his best to not think of how tasty the critter might be, “Yeah, I’m new to the guild at least. I’ve been around the city for a while, though.”

The beast–Russell, Niko corrected mentally–nodded sagely, “You must be a new tame. No, actually, are you a tame? Sorry, I don’t mean to be presumptuous. Either way, you’re speaking very well! You must have worked hard.”

“Oh, seems Russell’s taken a liking to him.” A woman with bright orange hair and a hardened cuirass of leather relaxed fractionally, “Good, that’s a relief.”

Skye stepped forward, and while Niko could feel the radiating nervous energy form his mental bridge with her, she did her best to remain as confident as possible, “Is he normally standoffish?”

The woman shook her head quickly, “Oh! No, not at all. It’s just that most tames around here lived in the Green, so they look at Russell as either predator or prey. With a Phorus, I’d imagine it’d be a lot of the latter.”

“That’s fair,” Skye grimaced, “Oh, uh, sorry. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Skye, this is Niko, we’re a part of the Wyldwalkers.”

The woman beamed, “Oh! You guys changed your team name? I was wondering when that was gonna happen!” Before Niko could listen more, he realized that Russell was studying him very closely.

“You’re very colorful,” Russell stated quickly when he noticed Niko’s questioning gaze, “I’ve never seen another beast with colors like yours.”

“I agree,” another voice spoke, and Niko’s attention shot up to the new source. He had to do his best not to really stare at this one. She was a tall woman, but what really drew his attention was the fact that parts of her body had what appeared to be scales covering them, and more still the very obvious backswept horns that started at her temples and stayed mostly flush to the rest of her skull. Her eyes were a bright green that almost glittered in the sun-lit room from a skylight above that Niko found difficult to pry his gaze from. She was dressed in flowing but well made robes that were brought in around her waist and upper arms, with several discrete cuts at the legs to allow for great mobility without sacrificing protection.

“Russell isn’t bothering you, is he?” The woman tilted her head, and Niko only then noticed the two meter long staff she had strapped to her back with a trio of clear quartz crystals embedded into the wood.

With a force of will, Niko shook his head, “Not at all.”

The woman turned her gaze to a now beaming Russle, “He says it’s fine!”

“Well, good, I’m glad then,” The woman smiled, and Niko saw that her teeth were vaguely pointed and sharp, but not exaggeratedly so. She turned her attention to Skye then, and the rest of the Wyldwalkers as they approached. “I’m Priscilla. Scenn here,” she gestured to the bright orange haired woman, “should have mentioned that we’re a part of the Aelphis Group. We’re team two.”

“Well met,” Ronald nodded to her, “Ronald, field-leader of the Wyldwalkers.”

“Dachna,” the dirty-blonde haired man introduced himself simply but amicably.

“I’m Mithel, alchemist,” she grinned and gestured to her clear ensemble of gear, “In case that wasn’t outwardly obvious.”

Priscilla nodded to each introduction, but gave a smile to Mithel before glancing backwards as though she expected someone to say something.

Surely enough, Niko watched another of their number virtually prance forward.

‘That is the buffest gnome I’ve ever seen in my life,’ Niko thought to himself as he saw the man move forward with a bright, earnest smile on his face.

“Well, I’ll be! Gnome-kin!” The man stepped forward with his arms out wide, “Svernifebli aunst!”

Mithel responded in kind, and embraced the man kindly before they politely stepped back from one another to their respective groups, “Been a while since I’ve met a gnome alchemist. Back when I was a wee lad, I wanted to be one, but never could get all the mixing right. Ah, right, where are my manners? My name is McNabby, it’s not my first name, but that thing is waaay too long to use in proper conversation!” The man laughed uproariously, but somehow Niko didn’t find it annoying.

“It’s a challenge, for certain,” Mithel responded with a shake of her head, “Nice to meet you! Been a while since I’ve had a clan greeting. You wouldn’t happen to be from the clan Auguemuffin, would you?”

“Just the one!” The man grinned, “How’d you know?”

Mithel gestured to his right hand, at which point Niko looked. There, he saw a small tattoo on the man's wrist, which Mithel must have seen when he went in for the hug. “Recognized the rune, my clan is Zeirigstief and we do a lot of alchemy trading with yours.”

“I’ll be! Small world,” the man grinned, before turning to Ronald with a nod, “I’m the leader of our team. You guys used to be called ‘Greenhorns’, yeah?”

Ronald nodded, “Just so.” Then he shrugged with and winced, from his bandages.

“Come, let's get you seated, yeah?” The man gestured over to their table, “You look like you’ve been through the ringer, my friend!”

Ronald laughed, “Have to report in first, but I’d be happy to talk af–”

“Wyldwalkers, Guildmaster Orson requests your presence upstairs to debrief.” A familiar voice turned every head in the room. Niko almost squawked in confusion as he saw Tabitha, though he realized that she didn’t smell like the Tabitha they’d met.

Then, he realized, they’d met not-Tabitha who was actually Mary, so perhaps this was the real Tabitha?

‘Ugh… doppelganger or whatever, that’s going to be a headache to deal with.’ Niko shook his head.

“Speaking of,” Ronald chuckled at McNabby’s interested look, “Thanks for the offer, we’ll be off for now.”

“Indeed, good luck! Don’t say anything I wouldn’t!” The man laughed.

At that, another of his team who hadn’t yet gotten the chance to introduce himself called out, “That’s a low, low bar, McNabby.”

The gnome shot the man the stink eye before Niko turned around with his team, “See ya around, Russell.”

The other beast waved and said, “Come play later! I know some other beasts that would love to meet you!”

Niko trilled out in response, and found himself somewhat surprised that they were as friendly as they were. Then again, perhaps the openness that Russell displayed was a sign of naivety or youth? Though, considering he was still habitually working off of a human’s sense of social rules, maybe he was the odd one out.

They ascended the stairs wordlessly, led on by a silent Tabitha. Niko was unbothered, but he could feel Skye eyeing the woman with both confusion and curiosity. Even so, neither she nor the others broke the silence. Niko occupied his attention as they climbed the third floor and walked down a short hallway by examining the decor of the building. The higher they went, the nicer everything seemed to be, ranging from more intricate wall carvings to a gorgeous, tree-inspired theme of carved vines that intertwined around the stairwell’s pillars. Straight down the middle between the winding stairs a lacquered pillar rose, all the way up to the top. At the bottom, it looked simply like a pillar, but on the second floor it looked much more akin to a tree.

By the third floor, it had branches that reached up and outwards, as though holding up the angled ceiling. There were very few rooms up here, but Niko noted that the skylight above cast a diffuse light over it all, whereas the bulk of the light was reflected by mirrors into the lower floors.

Niko had to admit that he very much liked the decor, just the right mix of grandeur with cozy.

They entered a small lobby and continued until they were before a pair of much more intricately carved doors, where Tabitha then stopped. No one else was around then, and the woman took the opportunity to turn towards them.

Niko was taken aback by the sheer emotion that overtook what had been such a stoic visage not a moment before, “I’m told that you all helped get everyone out. Is that true?”

For a few seconds it was quiet enough that Niko could hear the going-ons back on the first floor. Ronald caught his voice then, “Yes, though not alone. The information we found on the Baron is damning as well, so as far as I know, everyone should be safe.”

Tabitha took a second to swallow down a particularly strong rush of emotion, but teared up nonetheless. She bowed to the group, “Thank you. You really have no idea what… what that means to us. To me.” The woman rose, then, wearing a contented smile, “If there’s ever anything you need, just ask. If it’s in my power, I’ll make it happen.”

The Wyldwalkers nodded to her seriously, but even Niko found it awkward to receive such heartfelt sentiments. Tabitha chuckled a bit then, a sound that seemed foreign with the severe countenance that he’d come to equate her with, “Come on in, the Guildmaster is waiting for you.”

She swept the doors open and stood to the side, and Niko saw that the office was both more fancy than he’d expected, and less. It played at being cozy, but he could see the sheer volume of essence in the walls that filled sygaldry that boggled his mind. He had no idea what he was looking at, but Niko knew right then and there that Orson was definitely more wealthy than the Baron was. Or, had been, he supposed, considering the Baron’s assets were almost definitely ‘confiscated’ now.

“Welcome,” Orson smiled and gestured them in, several seats were arranged around a modestly sized table set out in front of his own desk. “Make yourselves comfortable. Thank you, Tabitha.”

The woman curtseyed and then said, “Of course. Shall I procure some refreshments?”

Orson glanced at the Wyldwalkers briefly before nodding, “Indeed, that’s a fine idea. Thank you, again.”

The Wyldwalkers walked into the room as she once more bowed to them before closing the doors on her way out. Niko slowly strutted into the room, examining the walls and the flow of essence with interest. Orson didn’t seem to mind, and as the others sat themselves down, Niko eventually came to rest on a padded cushion that he dragged to be near enough to Skye.

“It’s been less than twenty-four hours since you’ve been on the pilgrimage, and you’ve already managed to turn what was supposed to be a meeting with the Baron into his end.” Orson said it with a twinkle in his eyes that made the would-be accusing statement seem like he found the whole thing wonderfully amusing, “Really, I had expected something to come of this, but I hadn’t guessed that things would blow up as they have.”

Ronald didn’t notice the look in Orson’s eye that Niko had and flushed from embarrassment, “Well, it certainly wasn’t a planned occasion…”

“You don’t need to worry. I’m not upset about this, though it does mean I have to move some other matters forward ahead of time.” Orson chuckled, “Sometimes, the best opportunities come when you least expect it. The best adventurer’s know when to jump, and when to hold.”

“Did the Baron get caught?” Dachna asked outright, “He’s got a lot to answer for.”

“He did not escape,” Orson half answered, “The less you know about his current situation, the better. I hope it will suffice if I say that he will see the error of his ways many times in the coming days.” No one in the team had any pity for the man, especially not after everything that had happened.

“Now, let us get on with some official business,” Orson spoke, “Please relate to me your experiences as you remember them. I’ll be using a recording crystal for audio, and if you wish to pause said recording, please hold up a hand.” The man set the crystal on a metal plinth and twisted it. When he did so, the crystal began to glow a pale green, “Green is on, clear is off.” He demonstrated by reversing his previous motion, allowing the crystal to appear as a primarily clear gem roughly the size of a person’s palm.

“Are there any… details that we shouldn’t say?” Ronald answered uncertainly, to which Orson smiled.

“Excellent question. As you go on in the world, you’ll be confronted with that very concern many times over. For now, how about we go through a trial run where you tell me everything without the crystal, and then I’ll tell you all a story about a very similar adventure that should prove entertaining.” Orson smiled in a way that reminded Niko every bit of the mischievous grandfather figure that he never had.

The Wyldwalkers all exchanged contemplative expressions before Ronald began to tell their account of what happened. Niko and the others chimed in as necessary, and the others fell into an easy rhythm as they went. By the time he’d finished, Tabitha had returned with refreshments before sitting on a cushioned chair in the corner of the room herself, along with an assortment of various teas and snacks that she gradually served to the seated adventurers and guildmaster as needed.

When they got to the part where they met Not-Tabitha, the woman who had been copied was visibly perplexed, but not especially surprised. Niko guessed that they must have worked that out between them, but he was intensely curious about her part in all of this. Finally, after their retelling of the battle they’d gone through, the room was studiously quiet.

“Gram is a good man, so I don’t think telling him the parts you did will be a problem,” Orson pondered aloud while tapping his finely trimmed white beard, “Alright, let's go over what would be an issue. Firstly, you’d never admit to willfully roaming a noble’s estate without permission directly. You can say that you, as a group, got lost, and while that is clearly a lie, that won’t directly harm your credibility. If they’re attending you as they’re supposed to, then you’d never have cause to do such a thing. Beyond that, do your best to frame yourselves as the good guys, but not too good. Commoners will eat up a hero story, but you all can leave that to bards and their ilk, as I’m sure that will get around after the report is released.”

Orson tapped his fingers on his desk as he continued, “All in all, there’s nothing really wrong with your accounting. But… perhaps something like this would flow even easier.”

The Wyldwalkers listened to Orson as he re-told events, and Niko found himself drawn into the man's easy storytelling. It was entirely different from the assorted report that they’d given the man, and yet not that far off as far as the general facts went. He kept the flow entirely in his control, and made it sound as though their wandering off had nothing to do with being suspicious of the man, and everything to do with having been lost to the decor and admiration of the Baron’s estate. The encounter with Mary possessed an entirely different feel to it, intentionally vague but also with just enough detail to make it seem as though the Wyldwalkers had been drawn by her request into helping the people of the estate. The safe was mentioned only after meeting the woman, rather than before, and when they went downstairs, it was much more cloak and dagger.

As the account went on further, it sounded more and more like an adventure, rather than a dry and drab report. Dachna especially seemed rather taken with the Guildmaster’s version, and Skye was nodding along seriously. Niko knew from his connection to her that she was literally taking mental notes.

The battle especially was an entirely different feeling tale, a desperate struggle against a tier three and a unified troop of two dozen. It strained the truth, but it wasn’t false, either. In fact, Niko found it hard to say that the way Orson stated things wasn’t actually more true. Ronald had downplayed their individual contributions, but Orson instead took his guesses at what happened–with only a few minor corrections offered as he pulled more details out of the group–and built a narrative of a steadfast defense of the helpless folks behind them. He mentioned only in passing that the ex-guards had protected the flanks, but didn’t go into detail on that.

When he finished, the Wyldwalkers felt a strange sense of accomplishment with the tale even beyond what they’d actually accomplished.

“Is it weird that I feel a little bad about how good that made me feel?” Mithel asked with a complex expression on her face.

Orson smiled, “This is something a lot of higher tier adventurer teams will do. It helps keep employers engaged, but it’s also important to be able to suppress information from people who might use it for ill. It’s an artform, because it’s very easy to overstep your bounds. Always remember that what you're doing is telling a tale, but not a lie. Liar’s will always be exposed in time, but something like this? If someone reads between the lines, they may suspect some of the obfuscation, but nothing was outright untrue.”

“Now… it’s your turn to try!” He beamed, and suddenly Dachna and Skye looked at each other pale-faced.

Niko laughed at them, “Come on, give it a try! We can just go again if needed.”

Skye huffed at him, before sighing, “Alright, so, let’s do it like this, then.”

Ronald, Dachna, and Mithel leaned in as she related how she wanted to tell the story, as they nodded along. Dachna and Skye would take the lead instead of Ronald, while in the future Mithel would ensure that they’d shared information and gotten everything straight beforehand. Niko had a somewhat similar role to Mithel, but realistically Skye was the main speaker.

She started roughly, but as she spoke, Niko felt only approval for how well she was doing. The meeting dragged on for over an hour, with Orson only asking a few challenging questions occasionally, feigning different attitudes as though from different speakers.

Yet, Skye met those head on, and those that she didn’t, Dachna picked apart with a few well placed jibes and jokes. Niko found the man fell into the role exceedingly well, and only when Orson tested them with applying a bit more of a forceful line of questioning did Ronald and Mithel speak up, directly calling out the would-be heckler and earning a nod of approval from Orson.

When they finally finished, they hadn’t even realized that Orson had been selectively activating the audio crystal. “You did quite well! I have to say, I wasn’t expecting you to take the lesson so well, a lot of teams don’t really have a socially apt presenter.”

Skye beamed for exactly one second before she suddenly paled, “Err, wait, presenter?”

“Of course! You even performed better than most, since Niko here is basically your partner. He’ll naturally serve to draw the eyes of onlookers to your side of the room, no matter where you go, so it’s good to get used to it now.” Orson nodded sagely, “It’s quite a benefit.”

“I… I have to… talk to people?” Skye somehow paled further, “Do I have to?”

Orson laughed heartily, while her team only patted her shoulders in sympathy, “Don’t worry, we’ll be with you! I’m sure things will go fine.”

“At worst, I’ll just peck some fools!” Niko chimed in, “It’ll be great!”

Skye groaned to herself at that, and Niko just knew he was going to love this new dynamic.

“Any chance we can get a room in the guild tonight? Preferably with a bath?” Ronald asked.

Niko looked down at himself, noting that while much of his coat didn’t appear to be in the worst condition, it didn’t exactly sit quite right. His feathers were messy, matte instead of glossy, and worse yet he felt their stiffness crinkle together every time he moved.

“Definitely a bath.” Niko agreed vehemently.

“That can be arranged. Tabitha, would you mind directing them to suite three? I believe that one is empty.” Orson said, “Meals are on your own tab, and we’ll work out a proper reward for what you’ve all done later. For now get yourselves cleaned up, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of people asking what happened to you soon enough.” The Wyldwalkers rose with thanks from their chairs, and Niko himself was looking forward to a very nice bath.