Inch by Inch

Jay arrived far too early for the Pono-Lauchia adventuring meeting. It was his only option really, given that he wasn’t a guild leader, or even a guild member, and this was explicitly a meeting for them. The invitation was folded and at the ready in his pocket. It‘d been delivered yesterday by a far too serious messenger that had the bearing of one of Pono’s soldiers. He needn’t have bothered to bring it. In the end, he wasn’t required to show it once.

After asking the receptionist about the meeting, he was given a polite smile, a welcome by name and directions. No questions about who he was, why he wanted to know about the meeting, or if he should be there at all. He didn’t know if he should be concerned by the lack of security at the Lauchia council chambers, or impressed that they could match his name to face on such short notice. It wasn’t his clothes. Jay wore the most suitable clothes he could find, but they were a mix of sharp, high-quality fabrics perfect for making a sale, and tougher cloth for adventuring. His leather vest only further confused the issue.

He felt like a fraud.

It would have been so, so much easier to not show up. Jay hadn’t even accepted the invitation when Envoy Detar made it. He didn’t represent any guild. He didn’t need to be here. He had no obligation to be, or to Lauchia even, as Kane pointed out. But. He also did. Jay didn’t know why Manuwai had chosen to invite him, but there was a hint of good intentions behind the move. The city didn’t know why Pono soldiers had arrived. The adventurers didn’t know, especially the independents, that didn’t receive a trickle of information from their leaders.

Jay wasn’t a representative for independent adventurers, he was barely one at all, but he did know one or two. Or just one, Miles, and that several liked to go to Rock Bottom, but if he didn’t go, they would have no one at this meeting. What was decided today wouldn’t reach their ears for days, if not weeks, more.

Maybe that’s why I was invited, he thought darkly. A token attempt by Pono so they could claim they made the effort later.

Jay took a deep breath and brushed the idea away. It was unfounded and came from his frustration with the situation. He was here to find out what was happening in this city so he could let his friends know, or discover that Kane was onto something and it was time for them to leave.

His hand closed on the recess carved into the door. The stone was textured and rough under his fingers. The door slid open without a sound and so smoothly it didn’t feel like a 99 cm by 297cm slab of stone.

The room reserved for the meeting was grand, but small enough that anyone seated on the dais wouldn’t need to shout. A thin table circled the room, forming a hollow circle before the raised platform opposite the door. Any hope he had for comfort went out the window as he spotted the flat stone chairs shaped like a cupped hand. The chairs were set far enough away from the narrow table that it would provide no cover. There wasn’t a cushion in sight. It was a stark room. Exposed. Perhaps it was the window itself which led to the feeling. The room only had one, and it was as wide as the mouth of a cave. The city seemed to stare into the convex glass.

Jay wasn’t the first to arrive. On the window side of the room, five individuals waited. As he took in the room, they scanned him before dismissing him and returning to their conversation. Jay didn’t recognise any of them, and he’d spent some time investigating notable figures in preparation for this meeting. He did recognise their demeanor, the assessment in their gazes, and what they wore. Merchants. It made sense for business to have representatives too. Any change affecting adventurers affected their costs, their supply of goods and their contracts.

Maybe I should ask Tony what he knows about Pono.

He closed the door behind him and stepped towards the merchants, but stopped before joining them. The wait began. He really had arrived too early. While he tried not to fidget, Jay studied the room. It would be an uncomfortable meeting. Dust gathered at the base of the chairs, marking lines on the floor where the heavy stone had sat for years. Every participant would be out of arm’s reach from the table which...

It’s the walls of Lauchia, Jay realized as he followed the tables’ path. The circle wasn't perfect because the walls weren’t either. In some sections, the wall bulged out to envelope a hill or dipped away from a river and unstable foundations. The table was a recreation of the city seen from above.

People began to trickle into the room, first more merchant types, then the occasional adventurer. Jay recognised some of the adventurers. Weary Woolsley, a man that apparently never slept, but didn’t look tired enough to match his title. His beard and mustache were oiled and tied with elaborate knots. Not a hair was out of place. Emily Olwen who led the White Pig guild and gained fame after tracking down and killing an Oddity that wiped out a village north of Lauchia. At least Jay thought that was her. The woman wore a white shawl over her head that cast her face in shadow. It could have easily been another member of her guild and no one would know.

Irakli the Lever stalked into the room, ignoring the greetings of anyone else. His guild, Pillar, was known to be unfriendly and didn’t accept tasks that weren’t direct requests to them. It was a surprise they were here at all. Pono’s arrival shouldn’t have had any effect on them.

The more famous names arrived later. Brayden of Brayden’s brigade. He was a heavyset man with a confident smirk on an unmarred face. Widely considered the best shield in the city. If you hired him, you or your goods were as untouchable as the man himself. Jay fought against an instant dislike of the man for the sake of Bakti. Something about the man’s strut annoyed him. The quarry was full of deadly Oddities and rather than doing something about it; he let it fester while pushing the council for more money.

It was two of the last arrivals that surprised Jay the most. He recognised them from the dog track each morning. Jason Diamandis was considered by most of the city to be the ‘heir’ of Bedrock. He was chosen for it, they said, with a Word like Lead. Jason looked decidedly uncomfortable today. Instead of a tunic, he wore an elaborate garment in the black and gray bedrock colors that reached his ankles and was most definitely not for adventuring of any kind. It was clearly ceremonial. Whether for the tunic or the meeting, Jason’s thick brown eyebrows bore together in a heavy scowl.

His counterpart, Maya Oliveira, was less obvious with her thoughts. The forecasted successor of Marching Orders scanned the room before entering, examining each inhabitant individually. Her brow wrinkled in confusion when she came to Jay. It seemed the dress code for her guild was fairly strict. Like for the dog track, Maya wore full armor. The signature metal work that accompanied each member of Lauchia’s top guild was enough to draw the attention of most of the room. The armor did not shine in the somber halls of the council as it did outside the bureau.

The two of them moved straight to the seats in front of the door. Some signal passed through the room and others began to sit, several unhappily. Irakli was the last to sit. The skinny man crossed his arms and slouched in his seat. Part of that seemed to be for his height, which made even the large stone cupped hand seem small.

Twice as quickly as quiet arrived, angry murmurs built up, most directed at the latest two arrivals.

Jay took the empty seat nearest to him. It wasn’t much of a surprise that the other guilds of the city were angry with the top two. Pono had bumped people from a huge number of tasks, but not once had they bumped a member of the leading guilds of the city. It was a direct acknowledgement that Bedrock and Marching Orders were better than the rest, and their competitors hated it. What was a surprise was why Jason and Maya were here. According to Ana, their guildmasters were out on a task, but the two of them were not in charge of their guilds in the meantime.

A minute later, two more people arrived, and they closed the door behind them with a sense of finality. Jara, Manuwai’s aide? Assistant? Coworker? led the way to the dais, though it was the council representative beside her in an elaborate tunic that should have been guiding his guest.

There were now 22 people in the room with seven chairs left unoccupied. The number irked Jay.

The council representative stood at the front of the dais, while Jara stopped in place behind his shoulder. There were no chairs on the dais, no place to relax or hide. The representative knew it too and seemed to quail in the emptiness. Jara did not have that issue. Their positions made it clear who was to talk, but the Pono woman’s height left her looming in the background. The man looked over his shoulder at her for support before beginning to speak.

“I call to order a consultation on the eighteenth of the second month of decline about the matter of the Empire of Pono and the Lauchia chapter of the Greater State Alliance bureau of adventuring. Thank you for coming-”

A screech interrupted the representative. Jay and everyone else turned away from the raised stage. The noise ended as Ikali adjusted his stone chair in his hands. It was a strange image. A flagpole of a man carrying a giant stone hand many times his weight. As all watched, the adventurer stepped forward and placed his chair closer to the circular table with a thud that echoed through the floor. He left a noticeable silhouette on the floor behind.

“Cut to the bone with it, Remus,” Ikali growled, his voice gruff like sand. It didn’t suit his frame, and Jay couldn’t help but think that the famous adventurer was putting it on.

Oddly enough, the rude interruption seemed to settle the council representative - who must be Remus - on the dais. His hands relaxed and his shoulders relaxed back. “This is an official Lauchia consultation in the keystone room. Everyone will conduct themselves with full respect for that, or they shall leave.”

The representative paused, leaving room for Ikali to protest. The tall and thin adventurer scoffed quietly and slouched down in his chair once more.

“Thank you all for coming,” representative Remus began, continuing from where he had left off. “It has been expressed to the council that there is concern over the recent decree. This consultation is to provide an open forum to discuss those concerns. Today is limited to those registered with the bureau, so we may focus on the effects on adventuring. Everyone here has been invited as they represent a portion of Lauchia’s adventurers.”

Jay took another look at the occupants of the chairs beside him. Not merchants if they are bureau members. Who are they then?

“Oh? Is that so?” It was Ikali again, his tone unchanged though his body language made the attempt at humor clear. He raised an eyebrow and scanned the table across from him. Jay’s side of the table. “It’s odd then, that I don’t recognise half the people here. I think I’d know if they were adventurers.”

“Fool!” a woman two seats down from Jay shouted. She wore an elaborate chain covered in symbols, but none that gave Jay any hint as to who she was. The call was met with much murmured approval from their side of the table. Ikali didn’t even glance in her direction.

“Ikali,” Weary Woolsley said his fellow adventurer’s name with such drained emphasis that Jay understood why he was called such.

“What? Tell me that I am wrong?”

Emily Olwen of the White Pig seated between them was the one to respond. The fabric of her shawl against her hair made a sound like a saw through wood as she turned to face the slouching adventurer. Her voice was as soft as horn velvet in comparison. “It is not the statement that we disagree with, it is the-”

“Waste of our time!” Brayden roared over her. ”Do you think we have nothing better to do than listen to you moan like a child with a paper cut?”

Ikali slapped a hand on the table, rattling the long slab of stone, and straightened up. He faced the hulking guildmaster of Bakti’s guild and glared, his other detractors forgotten. “Oh, that is rich. You may not want to upset the council while you beg to sort through their rubble for scraps, but I still have dignity enough to note the fault points where I see it.”

Jay had heard rumors of a feud between the two guildmasters, from back when they were children, but he hadn’t really believed it.

Brayden sneered at Pillar’s guildmaster, but under both Ikali’s and Emily’s glare, he remained silent. Ikali’s mouth twitched in a toothed snarl, but he kept it down and looked back at Remus. “You remind us this is the keystone room, but you speak false anyway. Agents are no adventurers.”

The men and women around Jay erupted into shouting, and he began to regret his choice of seats. It had seemed like a safe choice to fade into the background near the ‘merchants’, but it was proving to have the opposite effect. He also didn’t get the issue. Agents were a part of any guild. They were how most guilds found their tasks and organized their teams.

It took representative Remus a lot of waiting, stomping and hand waving to calm the room down. Up on the dais, he was not left with many options.

Jara watched the whole process with hidden disdain, only Jay’s prior meetings with her leading him to watch the lift at the corners of her neat eyebrows.

“One more insult directed at a fellow guildmaster, Ikali, and you will be removed from the room,” Remus said when the room was finally quiet enough for him to be heard.

Ikali opened his mouth, an insult ready to curl out of his sneer. Then movement at his side – Emily dropping her hand to her waist – stilled him. Ikali’s mouth closed with a clack. He slouched down again. He was not done, however.

“What about the kid? You can’t be telling me that we have a new guild in the city that I haven’t heard of?” Ikali’s eyes settled on Jay. They were full of petulant fury.

More heads turned towards Jay, curious though reluctant to follow Ikali’s lead.

Jay molded his face into a practiced neutral expression, drawing on all his childhood training for the shop.

Remus cleared his throat loudly, patience with Ikali gone. “It was suggested that a representative for the independent adventurers be present. This is, after all, not the first consultation with guild representatives, but a repeat after it was judged the guild’s information dispersal methods insufficient.”

They’re upset about the protests outside their offices, Jay translated, keeping his face blank.

“This? This is the representative for independent adventurers in Lauchia?” Ikali let out a laugh that sounded more like a cough and was as painfully fake as his voice. “I don’t know if I should be worried or admit it’s exactly as I expected. Newly worded. Near children.”

“I did not realize you had an issue with the Bedrock and Marching Order representatives.” Jara said, speaking for the first time since entering the room. It did not seem to be a favor for Jay, though, given the annoyance in her eyes when she looked at him.

Ikali sneered at Jara and Remus, but he shut his mouth again, hopefully for good this time.

Remus began to speak again, hasty to drag the entire meeting back on track. Most heads turned away from Jay, but two lingered a little longer to express their own disapproval. Jason and Maya did not appreciate being lumped in with him, it seemed.

With a semblance of order, the discussion immediately went to the great bump, and further task shifting by the Grandmaster Pono officer. Jay had nothing to contribute and spent most of the time trying to prevent his amusement from showing. All the complaints, which came especially from his side of the table and the agents seated there, were not about the practice itself, but the fact that it had been used against them.

From what Jay gathered from their words and faces, which he amused himself with by examining with Measure, the agents were in a panic. It was easy to figure out why. Repeat tasks required little management to organize once they were set up. With enough time, it was easy enough to fully book the schedules of your adventuring teams with continuous tasks. That left the agents free to do... whatever. Nothing.

Now they had no repeat tasks. No easy work. Adventuring teams were getting antsy, and most of the agents were out of the practice of finding tasks and dusty. A fire had been lit beneath and these men and women were afraid of a waiting grain mill explosion.

He didn’t have an ounce of sympathy.

“What if there was a shift in the criteria for task reassignment?” One man in a fine nine layer garment like Jason’s official Bedrock one. “Instead of requiring rank, it could be based on guild size, or contributions to the city. Strength does not equate to experience, as is clear with this officer. It would be a simple matter to-”

“And give you bloated task farmers the keys to the city?” Brayden asked with clear amusement in his tone. “The rank requirement was put in place for a reason. It’s what keeps your hordes of wood and leather from annoying us iron and stone.”

There were lots of nods from the armored side of the table. Brayden was himself an iron tag. Grandmaster. You had to be to found a guild, but he was one of two at this meeting. All others were master or stone tagged. The Agents however... Jay hadn’t heard of any of them for a reason.

“Why was the decree even allowed in the first place?” Emily asked, the rustle of her shawl once more punctuating her statement as she faced Remus.

The council representative clasped his hands behind his back. “As you all know, the bureau has been in decline. Talks on the matter have been unsuccessful for years. Tasks continued to pile up or go unanswered. Casualties are high. Our citizens are upset, and the deaths before the solstice were the final tile.”

“You mean the death of one of your own,” Ikali snorted, drumming his fingers against the table. “A lot of fuss over some fools.”

Remus’ eyes widened and his mouth twisted into a snarl. “Enough! Out! Out!”

Ikali only smirked at the representative’s response. He slouched back in a chair that had been moved for the first time in decades, confident as likely the physically strongest in the room.

The reaction did not help. Remus’ face reddened beyond healthy. “I said out!”

Ikali smiled, turning to search his fellows for more amusement. He did not find it. Grim or neutral faces met his own, except for one.

“Do I get to throw you, or will you go on your own?” Brayden asked with clear amusement marked on his face.

“As if you could,” Ikali jeered. Yet he stood, scraping the great stone chair back with one leg. “This ‘consultation’ will change nothing. Real guilds, real adventurers were not affected by this at all.”

In the silence left by the Pillar guild leader’s exit, Remus calmed down, and the red faded from his face.

“My question still stands,” Emily said. “Why was the council’s decision to relax Pono’s restrictions? There were other options discussed to address the bureau’s situation.”

Remus twitched towards Jara before stopping himself. What he said next had clearly been rehearsed. “The council debated the matter extensively with the city’s leading guilds.”

The guild leaders and agents turned to examine each other, seeking confirmation.

“This is the first I have heard of any debate,” Brayden said, an edge to his tone. He was echoed by more of the master ranks, the famous names and adventurers of Lauchia.

“He said the leading guilds.” Jason Diamondis’ voice cutting through the room. It wasn’t a welcome interruption. While many faces turned to him, there was that same dissatisfaction as earlier back. With what Jay had heard since the meeting started, he was able to identify it now. The guild representatives, mostly leaders, had come to speak to their peers. Leaving the adventurer vs agent issue aside, having a guild send one of their junior members instead was an insult. Especially coming from the largest guilds of the city. “The Bedrock, Marching Order and Heritage guild masters gave their support to the proposals.”

Brayden’s eyes narrowed. “Then why aren’t they here to explain it? Seems oddly convenient to me.”

“A high priority task has taken them away from the city,” Maya answered, her voice firm and strangely familiar.

“Strange that Stonecold is not here today,” Woolsley noted. “While some of his team has left the city, I do believe that Anders is still here.”

“Guild master Anders was occupied.” Jason answered. “I can pass on any concerns to him if you wish.”

Maya gave nothing further away. The two of them presented a united front in the face of the other guilds.

“I’m sure you will,” Woolsley said, stroking at his beard.

“Queries may be directed to the council,” Remus chimed in, still trying to salvage the meeting.

Those seated paused, considering all that had been said.

“Is that it then?” The woman two down from Jay, with the elaborate chain, asked. Her head was bowed forward, and all her compatriots near mirrored her. “There is no going back, nothing that can be done to restore our city to normality?”

“The council has not entertained any such motion at this time,” Remus answered.

“What about the trial period?”

The question came so suddenly it seemed to surprise all, especially Jay, given he asked it.

“Trial period?” The woman asked.

Jay cleared his throat, fighting to keep calm as he was once again the center of attention. “The notice in the bureau mentioned a trial period. How long does it last?”

“Oh.” Even Remus seemed taken aback by the mention of it. “Well, it’s the end of the decline, of course, the next solstice. Some-” He took a moment to calculate the days. “Two months and twenty-three days away.”

It was not a lot of time.

“And what are the terms?”

Remus’s eyebrows had found their way closer together, a picture of bemusement as he regarded Jay. Behind him, Jara’s were waging a violent battle as they fought over millimeters of ground in a battle unseen by any but him.

“Well, there aren’t terms as such as a general assessment of the bureau,” Remus mused.

All the representatives on his side of the table sagged further, like that statement was the final tinder placed at the base of the firewood.

Remus paid their actions no attention. “Which is based on an assortment... hmm... I suppose you could state the root of the issue lies in the unsolved tasks. Our citizens will be happier with their work done. The bureau will receive more funds with more completed notices... It all ties in.”

“Is there a number, or...” Jay asked. He might as well get a complete answer at this point.

“No.” Remus shook his head. “No number has been specified.”

An impossible goal never meant to be reached then, Jay understood. Immeasurable. It was an excuse if anyone protested.

“Although...” Remus glanced back at Jara, and not seeing the depth of emotions expressed by the minor flickers of her perfectly neat and thick eyebrows, continued. “The comparison would have to include Pono’s own efforts. The restrictions were lifted to ease the issue after all.”

Oh, that’s much easier. Jay scoffed in his head at the explanation. Just beat an Empire’s army, now the largest guild of Lauchia. That’s not impossible at all.

The topic of conversation shifted to a request for compensation by one of the Agents. Jay tuned out most of the conversation, regretting his choice of seating already.

Still, he idly thought about it. How much would it take to win?