Edge Cases

Vex had told them the next morning that it likely wouldn't take long for them to be summoned — Elyra, he said, tended to try to throw money at problems instead of actually resolving them. The negotiations would reach an impasse, and they would call on the adventurers to break that impasse.

It wasn't long before he was proven correct. Sev received the summons, asking them to the uppermost floor of the Guild.

"Moment of truth, I suppose," Sev muttered.

There were no stairs that allowed them to access the uppermost floor — instead, each room in the Guild had a magically reinforced, spatially expanded closet that doubled as both a safe room and a means of housing a transportation circle.

"I never thought we'd get to use this." Vex looked around in some wonder, examining the runes in the ground. The runes began to glow as soon as the four of them stepped within the circle — before that, they had been completely invisible, even to Derivan's [Mana Sight]. "Or need to, I suppose. Usually it's meant for evacuation."

"Evacuation?" Derivan tilted his head. He couldn't imagine it being necessary, in a building full of people that built themselves to fight. Vex gave him a wry, slightly sad smile.

"It's saved lives. It's rare, but dungeon breaks can still happen, and Guild branches are meant to be a last bastion of defense," he explained.

Derivan grimaced. That made sense.

The circle activated. Mana swirled around them, pulled in from their surroundings and from somewhere else — then it flashed inwards, impacting all four adventurers.

And then they were in the uppermost floor of the Guild. Just like that.

Impressive feat of magic aside — and from the way Vex's eyes widened and the way the lizardkin began to mouth off calculations to himself, whatever magic this was was complicated — the entire floor in itself was impressive. It was obviously built specifically to accept political delegations, with all the splendor and magnificence that the task required. The magic and wards alone were strong enough that Derivan could feel them without using [Mana Sight], and then there were the tall pillars of alabaster, fixed into place with mana crystals, of all things...

...Derivan frowned. "Those are not actual mana crystals, are they?"

"They better not be," Misa said, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"No, no," Vex rushed to assure them. He paused, looking at them closely. "...They're some variety of crystal flowers, like the ones we saw back in the forest. These ones are slightly more refined and it's harder to tell that they're just flowers, but they're definitely not real crystals."

"Good, or I was going to hit someone," Misa muttered.

"Please don't do that. We're here for politics. That's a terrible idea," Sev said drily. Then he thought about what he'd said for a moment, and amended his statement. "It's a terrible idea for now."

"I did not realize the Guild was this wealthy," Derivan commented, glancing around. There were no windows, but the room was well-lit, light magic shining through crystal chandeliers to cast glimmering motes of rainbow light over the room.

"We're really not." The dry voice of the Guildmaster cut in, and all of them jumped in surprise; she'd been standing right in front of them, unassuming and as still as a statue. She raised an eyebrow at them. "The mana flowers are there to look pretty, but they're also there to power enchantments that suppress skills, so we can avoid diplomatic incidents. You are aware that the entire delegation from Elyra is here, yes? They can hear you. Please don't threaten to hit anyone."

"Bring them here already!" A voice called, and the party finally focused their attention in the actual center of the room.

There was a table at the center; it was large, round, and decorated with an unnecessary degree of fine carving. The Elyran delegates were seated on one side, and there were five empty seats on the other — for the Guildmaster and the four party members, presumably. Small runes sat on the table in front of each seat, glowing dimly.

Derivan's gaze flicked over the delegates. They weren't what he expected, though he wasn't sure what he expected to begin with. There were two lizardkin, two humans, and one orc, each of them dressed in attire that the armor assumed was common for nobility in Elyra. He didn't miss the way Vex flinched, just slightly, as his gaze touched upon the two lizardkin in the delegation — but neither of them seemed to recognize him, and Derivan didn't call attention to it.

In short order, they were sitting at the table. Derivan found himself seated across from the orc; he was a slight, lightly built man, dressed in pure-white robes, and he offered a small, polite smile upon seeing Derivan watching him. "Hello," he said. "I am Leben, of the Divine Order."

"You are a priest?" Derivan asked curiously. Leben nodded, and Derivan wondered why a priest would be sent on this delegation. What did the dungeon represent for the Elyrans, anyway?

Vex sat next to him, opposite a human woman who seemed unable to stop scowling at everything around her. She didn't introduce herself, and Vex didn't ask. The others took their seats at the table, too, though Derivan quickly stopped paying attention as the Guildmaster spoke.

"So," she said. "We have reached an impasse within negotiations, as Elyra keeps attempting to offer more money in return for less Guild interference, and that is far from the resource that we are lacking." The Guildmaster's gaze cut across the table into the lizardkin man she sat across from; he sat with his arms folded, wearing a decidedly unimpressed look. "The Guild has the right to have one team involved with your operation, and I am personally vouching for their ability."

"And I have the right to approve of that team. I don't see anything that makes them worth the investment, so far," Tarilex rumbled in reply. He was a broad-shouldered lizardkin, Derivan noted, nearly twice Vex's size; he could see Vex almost shrink away from him as he spoke. "You claim these are the ones that discovered the dungeon? Four of them, surviving a formation event for a Platinum-tier dungeon? Absurd. I am not a fool, Guildmaster."

"The dungeon formation was weaker than usual. There are many things abnormal about this particular dungeon, Tarilex; this is the entire reason Elyra cares enough to claim it at all." The Guildmaster sighed. "There is no point in rehashing this. You asked for this team to be brought up here for a reason; do not waste my time with political games."

"And what game are you playing, Guildmaster?" Tarilex asked, arching a single brow. "Backing this team to this degree? Do you owe them political favors? It does the Guild's image no good to pretend they discovered this dungeon, I assure you. They are — what, Bronze? Barely Silver?"

Silence. The Guildmaster did not engage, and while Misa looked like she wanted to say something, she did not. Derivan simply tilted his head — Tarilex seemed almost like he was fishing for information. Why? Was this not something that the Guildmaster had already explained to him?

"And you claim that there is information in this dungeon that is, of all things, restricted under an infolock," Tarilex added, when no one said anything. "And that your adventurers are privy to that infolock, and can operate outside of its effects. But this hardly seems provable, and there is no benefit to Elyra, when whatever they uncover cannot be shared."

"Unless, of course, you are claiming that your adventurers can secure a shareable secret out of this? That they can extract something?" Tarilex smiled a thin, sarcastic smile that seemed strangely empty. "The vast majority of adventurers I have met are thugs; I cannot imagine this group would be any different."

"Then you have a poor imagination." Derivan spoke without really thinking about it. It was strange — Tarilex spoke with all the pompousness and smug superiority of a noble, but his bearing didn't reflect that. He spoke with the hunched back of a man who pored over books, not the proud set of a man that lorded over others.

"Excuse me?" Tarilex swung his gaze to glare at Derivan, though strangely, there was no true heat in his gaze. Derivan looked back at him, and realized that the rune beneath him was glowing — Ah. Voice amplification magic, then. He poked at the rune set in front of his own seat experimentally; when it lit up, he spoke again.

"I said that you have a poor imagination," Derivan repeated. Tarilex's brow twitched in irritation.

Ah. Derivan understood, perhaps belatedly, that Tarilex hadn't meant that he literally couldn't hear him.

Derivan paused and decided his statement required elaboration. "You have only met us once, and you think to judge our capabilities based on the fact that we are adventurers. If you are only capable of imagining adventurers doing one thing, then you strike me as a man with a poor imagination." He shrugged. Vex, beside him, did his best to hold back a snicker; his shoulders shook, though, so he wasn't doing it very well. Even the Guildmaster seemed vaguely amused.

"And who gave you leave to speak?" Tarilex frowned at him.

"...You did?" Derivan tilted his head, confused. "Why would we be called in for negotiations if our opinions were not of value?"

"Mm." All at once, any pretense at irritation seemed to slip away. "I suppose you have a point. And I thought you witless cowards, for all that you only seemed able to stay silent and watch." He smirked faintly. "But regardless of how capable you are, there may not be anything for you to extract from this infolock. We're still against your participation, unless there's more you can offer."

The Guildmaster gave them an apologetic glance. This was on them, her look said; the Guildmaster herself didn't have any cards left to play.

"The infolock surrounds urgent events," Sev tried. "It may not mean much to you, but it is crucial that we are allowed to pursue more information related to it."

"What, the fate of the world is dependent on it?" Tarilex scoffed, but there was something strange in his eyes, like he was surprised.

"No. Only the fate of a friend," Sev said, his tone subdued. The lizardkin frowned, staring at Sev for a moment.

"...Be that as it may," Tarilex said. He sounded less pompous for a moment, a little more sincere. "My hands are tied."

"You're the leader of this delegation," the Guildmaster scoffed; Tarilex glared at her.

"My hands are tied," he repeated, putting a strange emphasis on the words. "You will need to give us more."

The Guildmaster fell silent, brows furrowing slightly, like she was confused. Derivan watched her for a moment, trying to read the expression — there was something she was concerned about, but that was about as much as he could tell.

"What about the bonus room?" Misa asked suddenly.

Tarilex frowned at her — Derivan saw the way his eyes darkened, the way he was suddenly, more genuinely upset, unlike the false irritation of before. "What about it?"

Misa grinned. "Research costs you time and money, doesn't it? We can help speed up the process."

"Indeed," Vex agreed, picking up on her train of thought. "Dungeons pick out information from their surroundings to generate challenges; this is especially true for bonus rooms. We know what the dungeon used to seed the bonus room. We can give you that information in exchange for being allowed to participate."

"...This might be a worthwhile trade if you were the adventurers that discovered the dungeon," Tarilex said, still tense, though he had relaxed a little as they spoke. "But you are not."

"How are you so sure?" Sev folded his arms, a little irritated. "You've never seen us fight. You have no idea what we can do."

"I don't, that's true. Unfortunately for you, the adventurers who did discover the dungeon have already approached us, and we have verified their honesty with truth spells. This is why I wanted to meet your adventurers, Guildmaster; I wanted to see those that could convince you to engage in such a bold lie. I thought they might have been interesting." Tarilex leaned back in his chair. His anger relaxed into simple disappointment. Derivan frowned; many of Tarilex's reactions had been strange, now; there was something about the way he kept swinging between his apparent emotions.... "It seems I have only wasted my time."

"Fucking Jerome," the Guildmaster growled.

Tarilex frowned. "You cannot have expected a Gold ranked group to go along with your coverup."

"It is not a coverup." The Guildmaster looked very much like she was hanging on to the barest thread of control; any more, and she would plant her face on the table, decorum be damned. "And they are not Gold ranked. I have demoted them. They are Iron ranked, pending them learning basic manners. I have half a mind to kick them out entirely for this stunt. I don't know what my people were doing, but—"

"It seems harsh to punish a team of adventurers for simply speaking the truth—"

Ah. The pieces finally snapped together in Derivan's mind, and he realized why Tarilex was acting so strangely.