Frozen Stars Over Wonderland - Chapter 6 (Patreon)

June returned before Atticus did. She barely took the time to receive Ren’s message from her second in command before marching straight over. She was tall and willowy, her auburn hair braided and tied back away from her face into a long, flowing pony tail that cascaded down her back until it reached her hips. Her pointed ears gave her away as an elf. Alfre wondered if all elves were this pretty. With her was a cat eared young woman with hair so orange it was almost blinding, but it went well with her dark skin. She carried with her a small harp, so Alfre assumed she was a bard.

“What’s this I hear about creating a player government?” June asked the moment she strode into the pub.

Ren greeted her with her signature grin, which quickly fell away when they actually got down to business. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how messed up it is out there.”

June nodded. “There was a swarm of new players joining my guild just after the Incident, we barely have room for them. The poor things are scared out of their wits.”

Ren leaned forward to rest her arms on the table. “Understandably. They’re lucky they joined your guild. I’ve heard not so nice things about what happens when they join some of the more aggressive guilds.”

“I’ve been away, so I don’t know much about what’s going on,” June admitted with a frown. “What have you heard?”

Ren scowled, her hands clenching into fists. “These poor kids rush to join the bigger guilds in hopes they’ll be trained in relative safety with the big guys watching out for them, only to be shoved into the guild hall and forced into easy to level up subclasses. They’re practically being used for slave labor. They may end up being a level fifty tailor, but they’ll never survive out in the Wilds because their main class is still only level one or three. But I can’t do anything on my own. Which is why I sent messages to you and Atticus.”

“What does Atticus say about all this?” June asked.

Ren sighed, sitting back in her chair. “I don’t know yet, he’s out in the Wilds like you were. I have no idea when he’ll be back. But we’ll need his muscle power if we want to look formidable to all the big raid guilds.”

June hummed in agreement. “I’m glad you thought of me, though. My guild may not seem like much, but we merchants have more connections than you’d think. My guild’s average level may seem subpar, but we’ve got more money in the bank than all those big scary raid guilds combined.”

“That’s what makes you so damn scary,” Ren said with a laugh, that wild grin of hers reappearing for a moment. “How many friends in high places you got that you could maybe convince to join my little council session if I sent them an invite?”

June tapped her chin in thought. “For something like this? I bet I could get the leaders of Wall Street Spade to join in on the fun. A healthy, lively city atmosphere is good for business after all, and something like a fourth of the Fell owned shops in town are run by their guild members. I may not like Ouroboros, but they are the biggest scholars’ guild in Siniy. And Ludovico owes me a favor for that giant order I expedited to him a few months ago. If my name is on the invitation with yours, he’ll get the message.”

“And if not?” Ren queried.  

June flashed her a terrifyingly sweet smile. “Then he’ll figure it out when I cut off all his accounts with us if he fails to comply.”

Ren gave a harsh bark of a laugh. “Like I said, damn scary.” 

“Level can only do so much when it comes to intimidation, my friend,” June said, her smile becoming more genuine. “You’d be amazed what supply and demand can make people do. Say what you will about the big scary raid guilds, they’d be powerless without the merchant guilds supplying them with their items.”

“Which is why diversity in a guild is important,” Ren agreed. “Look, thanks for backing me up with this stuff. There’s no way I could do this on my own.”

“Of course, what are friends for?” June soothed. “Any one could see that what’s going on isn’t good for the city. I’m just glad you’re trying to do something about it.”

“Well, not yet I’m not,” Ren amended. “Not until Atticus gets back to lend some muscle to the whole thing.”

“Let me know when he comes back,” June insisted. “I’ll be here to back you up if you need it.”

It turned out that Ren didn’t need the back up at all, even if she appreciated it. Atticus was in total agreement with them that something needed to fix what was going on in Spade. His guild had gotten flooded with new players after the Incident just like everyone else. He was lucky that his guildhall had a designated space for level grinding. That way, he could train his new members in a controlled environment until the players deemed themselves strong enough to venture into the Wilds with the regular parties. He understood not everyone had that kind of luxury, but that didn’t excuse the exploitation that was going on in the guilds. 

“There should be a way to fund and build public works,” he offered. “That way, we could build a training ground open for everyone to use, that way there’d be no excuse for not helping the newbies get stronger.” 

Atticus was a hulking beast of a man. A dragonling, much like Izo and most of the Burning Oak guild, he towered over pretty much everyone, his black scales glittering in the dim light of the pub. He exhaled a brilliant ruby red flame when sighing, far different from the pale silvery blue of Izo’s flame. Ren had to remind him several times to hold back on the flames, most of the pub was made of wood after all. Despite the intimidating aura about him, he was polite and passionate about the idea of brining the city together. 

Like June, he’d brought a friend with him: Izo’s cousin, Lance. Lance was just barely taller than Izo, but he had broad shoulders and obvious musculature that made him seem far larger than Izo than he actually was. He’d embraced his cousin warmly the moment they locked eyes from across the pub. 

“I was so worried!” he shouted, grasping Izo’s arms tightly as the two of them pulled away from the hug. “I’m sorry I didn’t find you before I left. I couldn’t be sure you were logged on. I’m so glad you’re alright. You joined a good guild, Ren and the others will take good care of you.”

“I know they will,” Izo soothed. “Thank you for worrying, I’m okay. You should thank Alfre, she’s the one who saved me from bandits and introduced me to Ran and the others.” 

Lance released his cousin and turned to Alfre, who was sitting off to the side, sipping on a warm cider drink and attempting to go unnoticed. Lance knelt to meet her eye to eye and she never felt so self-conscious about her size before in her life. Bitter, most certainly, but never self-conscious.

“Thank you,” Lance said solemnly. “Thank you for taking care of my cousin. Right now…he’s all the family I have in the world.”

Alfre cleared her throat in embarrassment. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. …Please stand up, people are staring.”

Spica gave a tiny giggle in amusement, hiding her smile behind her hand when Alfre turned to glare at her over her mug. Elias pointed looked away from the two as he sipped on his glass of sangria. 

June drew up a sample of the invitation they’d be sending to the other guilds. The paper was far fancier than Alfre had expected, with its gold leaf border design. It would be a weeklong conference, if necessary, beginning on July third. Or, what the Wonderland calendar said was July third. The invitations would be sent several days in advanced, to give anyone traveling in from the Wilds a chance to make it to the city. It would be held in what was considered the city hall, a large, old palace in the center of a large green space that was used for special events. That way no one could have the home field advantage, everyone was on equal ground. 

“You’ll come too, won’t you, snowflake?”

Alfre blinked owlishly at Ren. “Why would I come?” 

“Because newbie representation is important,” Ren insisted. “I’m not saying you’ll be asked to give a speech or whatever, but June thought it’d be a good idea for the three of us to bring some of our newbie members to show those assholes how you should treat someone who comes to you for help.”

“But I’m not a member of the guild,” Alfre reminded. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Ren said. “You live in my guildhall, you’re under my protection, you might as well be a guild member. I’ve asked Izo to come along too and he’s already agreed. And it’s not like you two will be the only ones with me. Ran and Silver are coming too. Elias has been thinking about joining us as well.”

That was a lot of people. Likelihood was even more than that would end up going when the time came. Ren’s guild members loved her, and would support any endeavor she attempted. But she was being asked personally. That meant a lot. Ren put a lot of stock in her, in her view of what was going on. 

“I’ll think about it,” she finally said. 

Ren nodded. “I’ll take it.”