Intervention
The red, translucent figure of Aria wobbles and returns to a puddle-like form on the floor. Having finished conveying the message, it creeps around your feet like a puppy seeking attention and praise. You toss Red a piece of meat which it begins digesting happily with a burbled “Fucking thanks!”. The hivemind of the slimes is a particularly useful thing.
Unfortunately, sending Aria there has not achieved much so far – granted, you had not hoped for anything in the first place, so there was no bar to clear. For some reason she had spent her time asking about the prince. It seems that she was just being a typical girl after all. Pity. Being a prince and not a princess, this brat she asked about is not anywhere near the top of your priority list.
Prince Feyton, son of the Crown Prince Feist, who looked a bit too hungry and ambitious even to you when you saw him at the banquet. Though there is still little you know about him at the moment, he has apparently managed to live quite luxuriously while on camp, maintaining standards of comfort befitting that of royalty. Besides that, you have also learnt that he is more popular than his father, at least amongst the knights. Earnest and willing to learn. Humble, too. In short, the type of person you liked talking with the least, and also the type of person you liked to talk at the most, if they would give you the chance. And they invariably did. However, nothing about this is particularly useful to you. After all, you have handled far deadlier and repugnant members of royalty before.
The second thing Aria managed to find out was about the notable adventurers accompanying the expedition. This was marginally more useful. All you have are names and descriptions of their feats. To gauge their true strength from this report is difficult, and you know far better than anyone else how tricky adventurers can be.
The parties said to be the strongest were:
The Dragonslashers. A party of six adventurers that had slain a mature dragon as their primary claim to fame. Dragons are said to be nigh-immortal, powerful beings on par with demon lords, and slaying one is no small feat. Their leader is a man named Edward Vast, a fighter said to have immense physical might. The other members of his party are a paladin, a ranger, a priest, a mage and a rogue. All in all, a rather well-balanced party rather reminiscent of your own.
The Blue Spinels. An all-woman, all-rounder adventuring party with five members at the moment. Aria has met one of them, a rogue by the name of Mira. They have successfully completed many difficult missions and are ranked just below the Dragonslashers, with each of the members being trained in the three disciplines of martial arts, magery and thievery. Their leader is a woman called Pucelle of the Thousand Weapons, who is said to have a weapon for each occasion. No news on where she keeps them when not in use, but you are interested in finding out.
The Trinity Coterie. A trio of archivists who specialize in exploring magical ruins of ancient civilizations. Their interest is in history and archaeology: the study of the ancients, and the fruits of their discoveries are said to fill magical libraries from here to Byarlant. Each of the trio is a powerful mage in their own right, on par with the best mages of the Royal Caster Society. Their names are stranger than most – Alpha, Beta and Gamma – and though based in Methuss, they do not seem to be locals.
There were also two adventuring parties that have made the trip from outside Methuss to answer the Guild’s call.
Lucius’s Blades, Squad Two Team Three, designated as S2T3 for short. They belong to the largest adventuring party in the world, run by the Byarlantian adventurer Gaius Lucius. Each team consists of five adventurers, and each group of ten teams belonged to a single squad. As of now there are ten squads of Lucius’s Blades. From what you hear, each squad leader takes a cut of the rewards from the teams’ completed quests, and Gaius Lucius himself takes a cut from each squad. Franchised adventuring. It appears to be the realization of an old vision you had for the future of adventuring and heroism…
Crimson Moon, a group of beastmen adventurers from Luna. Their presence is making the knights and some of the adventurers uneasy, but so far nothing has come of it. Their strength is unknown in terms of feats but vouched for by Alexander, so they have been grudgingly accepted.
You look at the silhouette of the castle being built. There is a hole that the golems are busily repairing, the aftermath of your little card game with Rin. You would have to prepare plenty of traps for the adventurers, covering the gamut of physical and magical variants. Having assaulted your fair share of fortresses ruled by demons, you are quite familiar with the preparations that you should make to greet the incoming expedition.
There is time enough to do whatever you need to do. On the other hand, you are slightly concerned about whether Aria can successfully set the narrative required to attract their interest. Even though her prying has been cautious and uneventful, you get the feeling that she will need to do more to earn their trust. Perhaps there is something you can do to assist her…
***
A. Conduct a little raid of the adventurers’ camp to raise tensions and create expectations. Nothing excites adventurers more than a little show of foreshadowing along with the display of potential loot, and nothing creates bonds between strangers better than the camaraderie formed from surviving an attack. The raid will be led by:
I. The Minotaur Firelord. They are expecting it to be around after all. It is a safe choice.
II. An angel. It can double as an attempt to tease out more information about Methuss’s supposed angel.
III. The Dark Lord. You don’t mind operating under his name. He might even welcome the increased reputation.
IV. The Second Coming of Vaalgrahf. This should stir things up a bit, possibly even enough so that they spill more information about their goals.
The lead role will be played by:
i. Yourself. It is the best way to gauge the difficulty level of your opponents and mark out any potential troublemakers.
ii. Rin. You cannot be bothered to interact with these rabble. She still owes you for destroying the cards.
***
B. You merely shoot a powerful bolt of Gigadyne into the sky to draw attention to the castle’s presence and its potential threat. That should suffice to confirm Aria’s story.
C. You do nothing. Aria should be able to handle a simple mission like this on her own.
