Beyond Chaos – A DiceRPG

“Sorry, right, well, he didn’t fight the King because he hated him or anything, and it wasn’t the first time they clashed either, for the King was quite generous, and a few years ago, when I brought a-,” Adam paused, unsure of how much he should say. ‘I probably shouldn’t mention Starsword or anyone either, right?’

Jurot leaned into his ear and whispered something in their tongue, causing the half elf to nod, since it was pretty much exactly his thoughts. 

“Anyway, what I mean to say is, Tork and Brother Mork, they were rewarded not just because they were Experts, but because of their loyalty and hard work. If you show to me the same level of loyalty, the same level of hard work as Tork, Brother Mork, Dunes, Rick, Jane, Remy, Jeremy, another John, and then also another Jonn whose name is spelled slightly differently, and all these other figures who worked hard in our business…” Adam paused, inhaling deeply, scanning their faces. “I promise you, we will take good care of you. We will house you, clothe you, pay your taxes, deal with your health issues, teach you how to read and write, how to use simple weapons to defend yourself, equip you with appropriate weapons and armour, maintain those weapons and armour, all on our own coin.”

The townsfolk all around remained focused entire on the half elf who spoke such sweet words, so unbelievable, surely they were dreaming.

“These are the simplest things we offer, but there is far more, so much more. Those of you who are guards, if you work hard and show your loyalty, you will find yourself adorned in full plate and wielding a magical weapon, just like Tork, Rick, and so on. Some of you may think I’m lying, so I’ve brought the perfect example!”

Adam stepped aside, placing a hand on Brittany’s shoulder, before realising it could be seen as a little inappropriate, so pat her shoulder and stood proudly beside her. “Brittany here is someone who is like John, your John, not our John, or Jonn with two Ns. She was in one of the villages near Red Oak on the way to the Iyr, we’ll pass by it and you’ll see, and she charged right up to me, and with a glare, she said she wanted to come with us, no matter what it took. She wanted freedom, strength, the power to choose her own Fate. Very quickly, within six years, less actually, she became an Expert. Within those years, she has received so much silver, she could drown in it. Within those six years, here, Brittany, may I borrow your shortswords?”

“Yes, Executive!” Brittany almost exclaimed, quickly hoisting up the shortswords, though she had panicked, and hadn’t managed to pull them out with the gusto she wanted to show, but thankfully didn’t drop them. 

“It was seven years ago you met,” Jurot corrected.

“Seven? Ah, right, because of the zero. Anyway, here, John, come and feel them for yourself,” Adam said, holding out the shortswords to the young father.

John stepped forward, taking the swords, feeling their gentle magic. ‘They must be Basic?’

“Basic shortswords, two of them, each worth easily about a thousand gold, just hanging around at her waist. The reason why she still has them and hasn’t been gutted in the middle of the road is because we have a strong recommendation, almost a rule, that says you should go out at least in pairs, just in case, because I know how cruel the world is. I’m a half elf walking around in Floria, the King wants me exiled, and I walked right through Thousand Hunt’s old fortress, and I’m probably not allowed to mention how Tork and Brother Mork have earned my trust because we came across an unimaginable evil you couldn’t believe that wanted me dead, but don’t worry about that, I’ll deal with him, so yeah, I know how awful this world can be. Yet, here I stand, and here my companions stand, and back at the business, the people are all fine, safe within the walls of the Iyr, what with all the Reavers.”

The group could hear Adam’s words, but only a few of them listened to his true words. 

“Go ahead, pass them around, feel the truth of my words with your own two hands,” Adam said, motioning with a hand, and the group all passed the pair of weapons, though Adam quickly stopped them, sheathing the blades so the children could handle the blades too. 

‘He really is crazy, and a father,’ they thought, but quickly their thoughts were distracted by the magical blades. The tingling of the blades brought such an excitement within them all, who believed what they could see and feel within their hands and hearts, rather than what they heard with their, mostly, rounded ears. Once the blades were returned, Adam personally handed them to Brittany, who tied them around her waist. 

“On top of all that? We will also pay you ten gold at the lowest end, and more, for someone like Mork and Tork are…” Adam paused, trying to recall the number, and he turned to face Mork.

“Twenty gold.”

“Twenty gol-, twenty gold?” Adam asked, shocked. “What? Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Not thirty?”

“No.”

“Brittany, what are you at?”

“Thirty.”

“Thirty? Yeah, that sounds about right, but Mork, you’re at twenty?”

“Yes, Executive.”

Adam tapped his amulet, winking at the Priest, before continuing. “Why are you at twenty, though? I guess…”

Mork could see how deeply the half elf was thinking about it. 

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense, since you’ve only been working with us for a year, and we haven’t really let you do much.”

“You said we were on probation before we joined, and now we have joined, but we have done little work.”

“I’m paying you more for coming with us though.”

“I do not believe so.”

“No, no, that’s a thing. Your pay increases when you’re travelling around the land, doing dangerous stuff, plus, I mean, we are paying for all your inn stays and food and drinks, and drink,” Adam repeated, motioning his head to where Tork stepped out. 

“That you do!” Mork grinned wide, patting his wineskin. 

“Anyway, only twenty, huh? I guess… I think we only pay Bael twenty too, and that feels weird. Bael making twenty, but I guess he’s not really a member of the business, plus we owe him a magical weapon still, and we’re paying for all his stuff still, so…” Adam returned his attention back to the townsfolk, but he turned back to Mork again. “Really? Twenty? We’ve given you bonuses though, haven’t we?”

“Full plate, magical weapons, you’ve built a shrine for us, so has the Iyr, and you have handed out bags of silver, Brother.”

“Yeah, yeah, that sounds right,” Adam said, feeling a little better about himself. “Sorry, Brother Mork, I really thought we paid you more.”

“I have no complaints at all, Brother,” Mork said, patting his armour. “You gifted me this full plate without promising such, and… from what I have seen, I believe I will have no complaints in the future, either.”

“See that? This guy just earned himself another bottle of wine, with that beautiful, charming mouth of his,” Adam said, bursting into laughter, before quickly clearing his throat, and laughing even harder. 

‘He really is crazy.’

“Sorry, uh, sorry. Usually, when you become an Expert, we push you immediately up to twenty gold each month. Also, every so often, we do hand out some extra silver now and again, usually about a hundred silver, to each person. I think, at least once a year, but it could be as much as every season, but either way, like I mentioned, we pay for pretty much everything, and we have, what, four Priests, one of them a Ray of Life’s Rose, so if you’re sick, it’s best to be sick in our business, and you won’t have to pay a single copper for it. Whatever you all spend your money on usually, you won’t. That ten gold that we’re paying you, which is less than you make at your guarding, I think you make thirteen, but two of that goes to taxes, which we will pay for, and then… the rest of it also goes to duties, tithes, other taxes, food, clothing, weapons, education, and more, and at the business, we pay for all of that. Of course, as you might not be able to eat all the wide varieties of food you’ll find here, in a city as magnificent as this, but we’re currently in the process of figuring out logistics for spices, which, hey, that might be something we leave to you, once you’re all Experts.”

Adam’s words were honeyed, but to many of them, seemed almost like a poison that was too good to be true. How could they believe the half elf’s words, for he spoke far too much, as though he had something to hide.

“That ten gold you make,” Adam said, pointing to them with each word. “That’s all for luxuries. That’s why, the biggest thing we ask for, is that you move from Gold Port to the business, and bring whoever you want. The business is at the border of the Iyr’s land, which sounds scary, but I promise you, though it is a little, for sure, but they’re some of the kindest people you will ever meet, and our business is protected by them too. You’ll have to move form the rest of your friends and family who don’t want to join, to become part of the business proper. The contracts will last for quite a long while too, that’s why we pay so much, that’s why we look after you so well, that’s why I want to make you all Experts and more. No one in this entire world, or at the very least, no one in Gold Port, will treat you as well as I treat my people.”

His silver tongue was indeed such a sweet poison. 

Adam doesn’t yap, he YAPS.