The Guild (Part 1), Exposed

Approaching the gate I was stopped by the guard posted at the entrance, the guard was heavy set bald, with wine scented breath the guard gave the general impression of being unreliable.

"yoooou look like trouble boy, why should let you into thish fine city of our's, I'll bet you have no proper respect for authority"

he was clearly drunk and speaking in slurs I knew for a fact that the city had no fee for entry but it's best to avoid trouble

" I-I'm sure T-That Y-your mistaken Sir, I pay my taxes, and I uh, I appreciate the work you do, It must be a very d-difficult j-job "

pretending to be scared, and faking a stammer with my boyish voice and making full use of the tricks from the rouges arsenal skill, I begin by passing the small bottle of alcohol to the guard and a few copper coins to the guard I gently remove the coin purse on his belt and put it in the inventory pretending to bump into him in a startled fashion while shoving the objects into his hands.

with a snort takes a sniff of the alcohol and waves me off, as if to tell me I can enter the city apparently satisfied with my tokens of appreciation its late in the afternoon but not quite dark yet, the city is in its slow hours so I have plenty of time to wander around the city and familiarize my self with it, popping into a nearby shop I approach the counter and ask for directions to the guild the owner raises an eyebrow that's on the verge of twitching looking a little irritated, he gives me directions quickly in a way that almost sounds like a recitation or even a manta I get the impression he's done this a time or two. I thank the shopkeeper for his help and quietly make my way out, as I'm leaving I hear a quiet "goddamn tourists".

Following the directions of the shopkeeper I quickly reach the guild without any problem, the route had little to no foot traffic, and it was extremely straightforward. The guild was a sturdy looking 4 story wooden building that stood out against the stores on either side easily dwarfing them and beside it, a steady stream of people going in and out not to slow and not too fast, it gave of a clean almost sterile appearance as if to directly contrast the adventures coming and going.

The guild is a monolithic organization, that acts as a sort of labor union and a power broker. For example Its members cannot be forcefully conscripted into a kingdoms army regardless of whether or not they are a citizen of that kingdom or not or not. It has a reputation for protecting its own.The guild is partially known for granting asylum to fallen nobles, famous assassins, and other high profile members of society in dire straits. The guild also has a reputation for taking in both retired and active criminals maintaining a strong grip on the underworld in the process. Most of the guilds work involves the commerce and control of monster parts, in fact they have an iron grip on the market often snuffing out their competition in order to maintain a monopoly as a result it can keep the various powers in check through a combination of intimidation, trade restrictions, and a large number of combat veterans that can be called upon at any time. Despite all of this the guild has a sterling reputation, it is both respected and feared. because the guild specializes in monster hunting and protects the citizenry in place of its army the guild not to mention having the gild on board is a necessity if a kingdom wants to expand its boarders into monster territory safely. Because of the guilds reputation and the fact that a guild card serves as identification no small number of people join the guild for the sake of starting a new life or running from an old one.

The inside of the guild had an atmosphere somewhere in-between a bank and a shopping mall, an army of receptionists clad in vests and slacks populated the counters, processing facilities, and even stores inside the guild. the ground floor was dedicated to monster intake and processing, the second floor was dedicated to training rooms and rank exams, the third floor served as a storefront for equipment and essentials and the last floor was dedicated to the guilds administration, this was the floor where you would undergo registration, schedule promotion tests, accept missions, register parties, place requests in person, and lodge complaints.

Passing through the floors took about an hour, as my curiosity regarding this strange world known as the guild was genuinely peaked, I quickly noticed that almost all facilities outside of administration and intake were restricted to guild members above bronze rank. Proceeding to administration I walked up toward the registration counter and was met with a rather bored receptionist who asked for identification, I blanked realizing that I completely lacked an identification of any kind not to mention that the entire village was dead. I said that I lost it the receptionist sighed and guided me towards a private office for inspection and interview. shooing me inside the receptionist closed the door and left.

The room was dark and warm, as for the humidity it was neither hot nor dry. With a quiet swoosh a candle flickered to life revealing a lightly pudgy but executive looking man with a glint in his eye seated, behind a hardwood desk on that desk was a strange crystalline device. The man inhaled deeply taking a moment to examine me.

" The guild does not care who you are so long as you follow policy. The guild is a freelance organization it is not an extension of any one country, in other words to offend us is the same as offending the civilized world, if you harbor no ill intentions we will have no issues. Plenty of people have joined the guild to find work, or to move more freely with a sensitive identity. The Object on my desk is a Lie detector as long as you understand this we can proceed"

"do you harbor any ill intentions towards the guild, are you a spy"

"no, on both counts"

the man took a listless glance at the device as if he was half expecting something

"Do you have a sensitive identity"

"does being a dead man count"

" I will take that as a yes"

The mad behind the desk appeared irritated by my awnswer drumming his fingers on the desk impatiently, emitting a series of soft, almost inaudible taps

"what is your discipline"

"rouge"

"Classes"

"Blood rouge, and one I refuse to reveal"

The man had a hint of a smile at the mention of blood rouge but showed disappointment at my not revealing the second one

"anything to do with those strange weapons of yours"

"I would prefer not to answer"

"is it a new or variant class"

"I would prefer not to answer"

"Tsk", he let out a sound of irritation, as its becoming increasingly obvious to me that this man wants to pry some information out of me.

"Last question, why do you wish to join the guild"

"Identity, Work, and Information"

"what kind of information, we buy and sell here"

"it concerns a village a few days north here, Rivertown, it was wiped out, I wont reveal the cause without payment"

the man stood up from his desk with a grim look and picked up a horn like device mounded on the wall with a cable attached "notify the others that I wont be accepting any visitors today... send them to the vice president if it's important"

"yes president"

"was the incident natural or unnatural in origin"

"not without payment"

the man reached opened a drawer and counted out 10 silvers

"unnatural"

"was it magical in nature"

"yes"

"was it man made "

"yes"

The mans face darkened and he took out ten gold pieces this time and placed them on the table along with a velvet pouch.

"was it a large scale spell"

"no but the carnage was worse"

"how many are responsible are multiple people involved"

"More than likely it was more than one, after all this occurred over a period of time and the information was suppressed"

Ten more coins were placed on the table

"do you know any of the persons involved"

"not by name but I can give the description and occupation of one of the main people involved and the methods used"

The man took a device out of the desk it looked like a snow globe with an ear inside it he then pulled out an entire sack and placed it on the desk. tapping the globe three times an absolute silence descended or to be more accurate the globe had created an absence of sound.

"no one will be able to eavesdrop, We will be made aware if someone tries "

I began to give a description of the healer and the events that transpired in the village leaving out anything that occurred without after Alexanders death.

"The rest of the information is something I can't reveal"

The man had a sharp glint in his eye

"last question, is the body your soul inhabits the one it was born in"

My heart started pounding and a cold sweat started to run down my back

"That's a strange question"

"answer me"

The man spoke quietly but it was like a roar in my ears, he began to emit a strong pressure that I was unable to resist, I felt an instinctual fear at that moment I knew instinctively that this man could crush me like an ant if he wanted to. I was in over my head

"yes"

The word came out of my mouth before I could stop it

"are you from this earth"

at this point I didn't see a reason to leave anything out the cat was out of the bag, and I was screwed anyway

"no"