CHAPTER THREE-HUNDRED EIGHTY-SIX

Gerlfi

How best to ‘leave’ the Slim Chance? Gerlfi considers that as his friends relax in the shade of the wall, letting him come up with the plan. The simplest way would be to just quit. Tender their resignation, pay the severance fee, and go join the Calm Seas. If it were an ordinary guild, that’d be the option he would go with.

With them working with the thieves guild, it won’t be so simple. Ordinarily, he’d be willing to give a guild the benefit of the doubt, but from what he knows of Thediem, he wouldn’t make accusations lightly. So with that in mind, the Earl and his guild would be suspicious of anyone leaving the Slim Chance on good terms.

He could try to do something to get them kicked out, or more accurately: have Karn play along and loudly kick them out for something. The problem with that is they would need a history of butting heads with the orc. Otherwise, it just makes them look like thieves that got caught, and though the Earl is working with a lot of them, he’s not likely to invite unknown ones into his guild.

Which leaves sabotage of some kind. It will definitely burn some bridges in the short term, but he’s confident in salvaging their reputation, so long as Karn plays along. He won’t attack anyone, but he won’t need to. Guilds always have their accolades and rewards, and sometimes if they’re lucky, ones they’ve stolen from rivals. He knows the Calm Seas doesn’t have much yet, but if he can steal one from the Slim Chance to offer, they’ll welcome him with open arms and a heavy purse, too.

He nods to himself before focusing on his friends. “I have an outline. We’ll have to make enemies of the guild for it, but if I talk with Karn first, we should be able to come back and be welcomed, once we’re done.”

Vieds and Wold both frown as they take in that information, with the large bearkin speaking first. “I won’t draw blood.”

Gerlfi nods at that. “We won’t attack, but rather steal an accolade, I was thinking the plaque signifying the first victory over the True Gauntlet.”

Vieds grins at that. “That’d definitely

make people mad, and be juicy enough for the Seas to let us in, even if they don’t trust us.”

“Exactly,” confirms Gerlfi. “Are you two alright with that?” They both nod, so he stands and gets moving. “Then I need to talk with Karn.”

They head back to the guild, where Vieds and Wold take a seat in the tavern area. Gerlfi, however, meets Karn's eyes and pointedly looks upward a few times, getting a subtle nod in response as he serves a few drinks to the adventurers. Without needing a word, Gerlfi heads up the stairs and waits outside Karn’s office for the Guildmaster to arrive and let him in.

Once inside, the thin orc doesn’t waste much time. “What has you all cloak and daggers today, Gerlfi?”

“My party and I just got a quest from Thedeim.” Karn gives him a confused look, then frowns.

“I take it you don’t just mean one from the aranea. What is it?”

“He wants us to infiltrate the Calm Seas and find evidence of the Earl and the thieves guild working together.”

Karn’s eyes widen at that. “And you accepted something like that?”

Gerlfi nods. “For three protection from lifedrinking belts and some time with individual scions, yes.”

Karn whistles, impressed at the payment. “Fair enough. So what’s your plan to get in? They’re not gonna just let you in if we part on good terms.”

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“That’s what I figured, yeah. I wanted to steal the Gauntlet victory plaque to give them.”

The orc frowns and crosses his arms, clearly not liking the idea, but also not immediately shooting it down. “That’s one of our highest honors. You won’t just be insulting the guild in general, but also personally insulting Vnarl’s group. Are you sure you can handle that sort of heat?”

“If it came to a fight… probably not,” Gerlfi admits. “We’ve gotten a lot stronger since they joined, but so have they. But I’m not exactly planning to flaunt my party until everything is done. Honestly, it’ll give us a good excuse to stay in their guild hall if Vnarl and his party are after us.”

Karn absently nods at that. “It would, yeah.” He doesn’t elaborate for a few more seconds, then sighs. “It’s the best one to make off with, too. I really like that one.” He focuses his gaze on Gerlfi. “Alright, you can steal it and I’ll kick you out, but you have to make it look good. Just trying to grab it off the display and running won’t be an option.”

The goblin nods firmly. “I know. I have a plan.”

“Good, don’t tell me. You only get one shot at it, so it’d better be a good one that actually has a chance to work without me letting you have it.”

Gerlfi smiles. “Of course. I know how important image is. It should be subtle enough that, by the time anyone notices, we should be out of anyone’s grasp.”

Karn smiles as well. “I hope so, and I hope that, by the time you’re done, we’ll be able to hang the Calm Seas guild crest as a trophy, too. Now get out of here, I have a busy bar to return to.” He opens the door to let Gerlfi out, who gets right to work.

First order of business: their stuff. While they have their normal kit on them, he and his party still have extra things in their room. If they’re going to act like they’ve betrayed everyone, they need to bring along all of that. He gets his friends before they all retire to their room, and start quietly packing. But they can’t be seen taking everything out, or people might start asking questions.

“Titania, I offer you time for time in the execution of your quest. I ask for you and some sprigs, whom I will offer milk, bread, honey, and beer, once we are finished. And your tithe, of course.” He hardly finishes the offer before he feels her accept, and he summons the small royal pixie along with six of the tall, lanky sprigs.

Titania looks around curiously, while the other fey simply stand unnaturally still in the small room. “Please have the sprigs move our things through the wood of the building and into the alley outside. We need to subtly make our exit. Then I’ll need the sprigs to steal a plaque from the tavern area in the same way. Oh, and leave this in its place,” he instructs, quickly scribbling on some parchment before handing it to a sprig.

The fey queen nods and gestures for her retinue to do as told, before she settles on Gerlfi’s shoulder. She watches them pack up with interest, occasionally asking questions through their bond together. She’s especially interested in the cards when she spots them, and he wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if she next calls in his debt to demand a few games.

For now, however, she is mostly business, and the sprigs get everything moved without being spotted. He has her fly out the window to their belongings, not wanting to draw attention down in the tavern as they exit. He gives Karn a subtle nod as they leave, and once outside, they quickly shoulder the rest of their possessions, sighing in relief as Titania magically lightens their load.

They don’t even have to wait a minute, yet it feels like an eternity before a sprig’s hand reaches out of the wooden side of the building with the Gauntlet plaque. He doesn’t get a chance to put it away before he hears a shout from inside the guild.

“The Calm Seas pays better?!” bellows Karn, clearly having found the note. Gerlfi and his friends waste no more time and sprint for the other guild, having enough of a head start that they don’t encounter anyone trying to stop them before they get to the large building.

A pair of elven guards look at them suspiciously as they run up, and bar their entrance. “You’re not part of the guild. Leave,” orders one, and Gerlfi holds up the plaque.

“Something we’re hoping to change! We just took this from the Slim Chance, from their trophy case!”

One guard scrutinizes it while the other maintains a vigilant watch. Shouts start to echo in the distance, lending credence to their claim, and the inspecting guard seems to be satisfied. “Alright. The reception hall is straight through the gate. Don’t try anything funny. If this is legit, and you really did just ‘liberate’ it from the Slim Chance, I can’t imagine them turning you down. Welcome to the Calm Seas,” he says with a smile and lets them through, just as a very angry Vnarl comes into view.

All three breathe a collective sigh of relief as the gate closes behind them, trusting in Karn to be able to reign in the angry guild before anything goes too far. The commotion will only help sell their cover. Gerlfi steels himself and follows the directions to the reception, looking forward to getting registered and getting a room to put all their stuff.

Then the real challenge can begin.