Airisu Oreti, Level 5 Vulpenite Rogue
It was evening, the busiest time for the Adventurers' Guildhall, and the time the hall felt most like a tavern. Those who wanted full meals beyond the simple fair the Guildhall offered had gone, eaten, and returned to drink. Parties leaving the next day on a quest were enjoying one last night of comfort while those just returned were looking to blow off steam and spend their well-earned loot on liquor and tasty treats from the kitchen.
The atmosphere in the Guildhall was more than what one could find in the tavern-like dining hall of an inn frequented by Adventurers. Only Adventurers were allowed into the Guildhall so it was a place where these heroic men and women could be their most true selves, to unwind and open up in ways they often felt hesitant to do in most other spaces.
The Guildmaster loved these evenings. The boisterous atmosphere took him back to his youth when his life had been the same as those on the other side of the counter he sat behind. The sound of chatter, the raucous laughter exploding at a comical tale of someone barely avoiding a gruesome death, it all brought such happy memories back to him.
Even the smells! Ale and pipe smoke mixed with the musk and exotic fragrances of Adventurers gathered from so many different lands from across Alaria. And soaking through every scent the odor of clove. It was the same in every Guildhall across Alaria, they all burnt clove incense. None could remember where the tradition had started, and few cared to try and search out its true history. What mattered was the way that smell, often lingering on Adventurers' gear long after their last visit to a Guildhall, made every Guildhall feel like a familiar home to these strange, diverse people.
Looking out on the crowd the Guildmaster had to hide the way certain faces made the smile most expected to see on his face falter. He could never let on that he thought a
certain
kind of Adventurer had no right being a member of the Adventurers' Guild, that he thought they didn't even have the right to
EXIST
.
Women should NOT be Adventurers,
the Guildmaster thought, struggling not to glare at the women who had grown too powerful for him to do anything about.
Although the struggle to keep his feelings hidden was difficult at times, he mostly succeeded in keeping his opinions secret. In fact, he'd done more than keep his true feelings secret. He'd managed to present a version of himself that had convinced the world the friendly old Guildmaster adored female Adventurers! It was well known he'd hand out quests to ambitious women most other Guildmasters wouldn't think of offering. He'd even let women into the Guild who, at any other Guildhall, would have been turned away for being too unskilled.
"He wants to give everyone, especially women, a chance to prove themselves," he'd often overhear people say.
Few seemed to notice he was often too generous when it came to handing out quests to eager women in need of improving their skills. Adventurers left on quests they never returned from all the time. It was a risk of the trade that most dealt with by trying to never acknowledge. That was good for the Guildmaster as it meant few Adventurers noticed how most of the eager, inexperienced women he kindly offered quests to never returned from them.
And some are more deserving of 'disappearing' than others,
he thought darkly as he looked out at the hall. His eyes fell on a cute, sexy Vulpenite woman. The very sight of her caused him to struggle to hide the disgusted snarl pulling at his lips.
Airisu Oreti, level five Vulpenite Rogue. When did I last hate a female Adventurer this much?
The thought lingered in his mind as he stared at the Vulpenite while she laughed happily, doing everything she could to remain the center of attention at the table she was sitting at.
Her dainty, feminine facial features left her looking youthfully innocent and cute to most other races' eyes, something that was helped along by her big bushy fox tail and the adorable furry fox ears sticking out of her long, thick orange-red hair. As a member of the Vulpenite race she had a lithe, athletic body yet had full feminine curves that weren't overly sized as the women of some races were.
Since arriving with her party the Guildmaster had seen Airisu was adept at using her alluring mix of cute and sexy to wrap both men
and
women around her dexterous fingers. She came off as being a charming, playful flirt but the Guildmaster could see through the act.
She's a manipulative, greedy, nasty little cunt,
he thought grumpily as he watched the members of her party and a handful of others happily entranced by her charms.
Saw through her the moment she arrived. But I've had to swallow my hatred for a woman like her and try my best to put her out of my mind. At level five and as part of such a large party she's beyond my reach.
The false smile he'd been wearing to hide his disdain grew more sincere.
At least that's what I THOUGHT. Their party has stayed in the area for so long now that I haven't been able to keep myself from watching her. I've noticed something none of them seem able to. Cute, charming little Airisu is a lazy, entitled little slut who uses her cute sex appeal to get others to do almost everything for her.
Perhaps she IS a skilled Rogue, but after listening to her party sharing tales of their exploits I can see her skills are starting to grow rusty. How could they not with the lazy bitch using her charms to get others to do almost everything for her? And the more that happens the more she's had to charm others into doing her work, ensuring her skills grow more out of practice.
Since noticing this the Guildmaster hadn't been able to keep from thinking of ways to rid the Adventurers' Guild of yet another female member that shouldn't be a member.
The main problem was her party. Aside from not wanting to have anything bad happen to the male members there was the fact that as long as she had
THEM
for support nothing truly bad could ever happen to her.
That means I have to get her alone. Perhaps I could convince her to take on a solo quest where her weaknesses could be exploited?
Once he'd started watching her more closely he suspected it wouldn't be that hard. It was clear to the Guildmaster that at one point the Vulpenite Rogue had been aware of how lacking her combat skills were. He imagined it was a big part of why she'd started charming others to protect and do things for her. But she'd become so used to using others to get what she wanted she no longer recognized that weak spot in her skills. The Vulpenite was so full of herself that she'd convinced herself she could accomplish anything, with or without the help of those she charmed.
"Guildmaster?" someone said, startling the Guildmaster.
Where did this messenger come from? It isn ' t like me to let people sneak up on me like this. I was paying too much attention to the damned fox slut,
he thought angrily
. I have to be more careful. I can't let on that I'm paying so much attention to her.
He turned his focus to the messenger. "Yes, I'm the Guildmaster. You have a message for me?"
"Yes, ser," the young messenger said as she handed over a sealed letter.
"Thanks, lad," the Guildmaster told the boy, handing over a small handful of coins after taking the envelope.
He barely noticed the boy bowing and proclaiming his thanks for such a large tip. The stamp in the wax seal on the back of the envelope had consumed all the Guildmaster's attention once he'd seen it.
It's the family seal of Lord Luthanda. I can't read this message out here, I need to go to my office where I'm certain no one might be spying on me.
The Adventurers Guildhall was filled with so many enchantments even the most skilled magic user would have trouble detecting all of them. Many of them were common in Guildhalls across Alaria, but some were things the Guildmaster had put in himself. His greatest achievement was setting up various hidden ways for him to magically spy on nearly every room of the Guildhall from the safety and comfort of his office.
Knowing what might happen if the wrong people found out about this he'd taken extra precautions to ensure his office was someplace people couldn't spy on
him
the way
he
spied on others. He also often had meetings with special guests in his office he didn't want to be overheard, and even a letter like the one he'd just received needed a place to be read without any chance of it being seen.
The Vulpenite slut can wait,
he thought as he closed the door to his office and activated all the charms and enchantments that would ensure his privacy.
That family seal means this message is from Svensson Luthanda, and I know from my dealings with that nobleman that whatever request he's making of me deserve to take priority over everything else.
Once alone and comfortable at his desk the Guildmaster broke the seal and pulled the letter out of the envelope. The handwriting was exquisite, as was to be expected in a message from a nobleman of such bearing.
And cunning,
the Guildmaster thought as he happily recalled his previous dealings with Lord Luthanda.
He uses his wealth, influence, and intelligence to always increase his station in life. He's also a man who shares many of my views on how the world SHOULD be but knows well enough to keep the most controversial of those opinions hidden from all but a select few.
Over the years the two of them had developed a secret working relationship, with the nobleman offering riches and helping the Guildmaster make connections in exchange for the Guildmaster posting quests that would hinder the nobleman's enemies or ensure quests that might target his or his ally's interests never got taken up by competent Adventurers.
The Guildmaster read the letter quickly, eager to find out what morally dubious task the man was requesting in exchange for wealth or favors to be called in later. As the Guildmaster read a wide, eager smile spread across his face.
It's perfect,
he thought gleefully. Lord Luthanda, a man who had confessed he'd never take a wife as he felt no woman his equal, had decided it was time for him to sire some heirs. He still had no intention of marrying a woman, but he'd decided it was time to acquire a female to secret away in his huge manor to "breed" at his leisure.
But not just any woman,
the Guildmaster thought.
He's a Human and well aware of how short-lived that makes him when compared to most of Alaria's races. Always looking to increase his noble house's power he's decided he needs a woman from a longer-lived race to "breed" his heirs with.
The nobleman wanted the Guildmaster to choose a non-human Adventurer that would be good breeding stock. "One young enough to have many,
MANY
years of breeding in her to ensure she eventually bears me a male heir. And she must be comely so breeding her will not be a hardship," he'd added. "Something exotic, but not
TOO
exotic. But most importantly one from a longer-lived race so my half-blood heirs will live far longer than the heirs of my fellow noble families to ensure
MY
