by Adam Horne
“Your people always attacked me first,” said Kelath. “I wasn’t looking for a fight.”
Several people who had been practicing with the trainers in the yard stopped and watched what was happening. Itrix nodded to Brill, who ordered them to move on. They stopped training and left the practice area. Brill and the recruiter stood at the open end of the grounds and blocked anyone who tried to enter.
“The story is that you attacked my people at the mines without provocation,” said Itrix once the spectators had cleared out. “You froze them in place then sent your party to butcher them while they stood immobile.”
“That’s not true. They attacked my friend first.”
Itrix smirked. “Sadly, the rumor that’s been spreading around town is that you blindsided my people for no reason. Of course, I had to respond and put a bounty on your head. A whole gold to any person or group that takes you down.”
Kelath bristled. “You’re an asshole.”
“I am a king, and as such, an attack on my subjects won’t go unpunished.”
A cry came from the road, and they both looked in that direction. Througar was arguing with Brill, trying to reach them but being pushed back each time he stepped off the cobblestones. Galahad was behind him, glancing between Kelath and Itrix’s guards in confusion. Througar drew his sword and shield, and Brill’s hand went to the pommel of the great sword strapped on his back.
“Stop!” yelled Itrix, and both Througar and Brill froze. “Let them through, general.”
Brill relaxed and removed his hand from his sword. He turned to Itrix and with a nod said, “Yes, sire.”
Itrix shook his head as he addressed Kelath again. “See how your friends immediately resort to violence. The rumors must be true.”
“You’re mad,” said Kelath.
Througar and Galahad rushed over, interposing themselves between Kelath and Itrix.
“What’s the problem?” asked Galahad.
Before Kelath could answer, Itrix said, “So these are two of the people who assisted you in ambushing my men. Galahad and…Througar. But you’re a member of my guild. Why would you attack your own people?”
“They called me a traitor and attacked me,” said Througar.
“All those who join Noblesse Oblige know that it is their duty to help fellow members. It is a grave offense to slander the names of your guild mates. As your king, I order you to return to the guild hall to be judged and given a suitable punishment to atone for your crimes.”
“Screw you!”
A look of profound sadness crossed Itrix’s face. “I see you cannot be reasoned with. A pity. Know that you are all now anathema and will be treated accordingly by all my subjects. Also the woman who was with you when you killed my knights will suffer the same fate.”
Kelath growled and reached for one of the bombs at his belt. Galahad leapt up the stairs and restrained his hand, pointing to the edges of the training yard. Several city guards had gathered there and watched the confrontation. Although they had drawn no weapons, they gripped them tightly in their sheaths. Kelath relaxed and let his hand drop to his side empty. He had no desire to tangle with the guards.
Itrix turned his back to them and returned to the street.
“All hail King Itrix!” yelled Brill as he passed.
“Prosperity for all!” added the recruiter.
They formed up behind Itrix and followed him towards the market. Kelath seethed as he watched them walk away.
“What happened?” asked Througar.
“There was a man in the training hall recruiting new members,” said Kelath, “the one next to Brill. I interrupted his spiel and convinced the woman he’d targeted not to join. He must have told Itrix, and they waited here until I came outside. Itrix said he’s put a bounty on my head so other players will kill me. He’ll probably do the same for you two and Elora.”
“I’m really starting to hate that guy.”
“Perhaps if we tried to parley,” said Galahad, “we could convince him this is all a misunderstanding.”
“Not likely,” said Kelath. “I’m sure he told his people to attack us, but he’s playing it off as if we wronged him. He’s spreading rumors we ambushed the guild members we killed.”
Galahad looked shocked. “I would never attack a man unawares!”
Kelath laughed at his reaction, reminded of how ludicrous the situation was. “I know you wouldn’t, Galahad. You’re a good man.”
Galahad looked at the ground, too shy to respond.
“This is all very touching,” said Througar, “but what are we going to do about Itrix? He’s become a real pain in the ass.”
“He has many allies,” said Galahad. “I would not run from the fight, but three cannot stand against so many.”
“You’re right.” Kelath marched across the training yard to the main road.
“Where are you going?” asked Througar, who had to run to catch up.
“To form a guild.”
Chapter 12
They entered a side door at the guild hall with the sign hanging over it that said, “Guild Registration.” A female elf sat on a stool behind a long counter. Benches filled the space in the middle of the room for people to sit on while they waited, although nobody was using them. The room was empty, and Kelath approached the woman at the counter.
“Hi, I’d like to register a guild.”
“There are several steps you will have to take,” said the woman. “First there is a fifty silver deposit in order to start the paperwork. It is nonrefundable.”
“Wow,” said Througar. “That’s kind of steep.”
“I can cover it.” Kelath checked his coin purse. He wouldn’t have much left after this.
“Next,” said the woman, “I’ll need the name of the guild you wish to create so I can add it to our files.”
“I hadn’t thought about that.” Kelath looked at the other two who only stared back. “Could you give us a moment?”
“Of course. Many people who come in here don’t know what name they want. There are benches behind you if you’d like to sit while you think it over.”
“Thanks.”
Kelath led them to the benches in the middle of the room and sat down. For several minutes, they didn’t speak, each thinking about what would make a good name.
Galahad was first to break the silence. “Why not call it ‘The Round Table?’”
“That might be good for you,” said Througar, “but we’re not all named after Arthurian characters.”
“I like the idea of equality, though,” said Kelath.
The woman at the counter cleared her throat to get their attention. “Sorry to interrupt you, but there already is a guild by that name. You need a name that is unique.”
“That settles that,” said Througar. “How about ‘Citizens United?’”
Kelath shook his head. “That’s the name of a political organization. I don’t know what they do, but I don’t want to copy something from real life.”
They lapsed into silence again. Coming up with a name was tougher than Kelath thought it would be. He considered several possibilities but rejected all of them. One phrase kept popping into his head, and the more he thought about it, the more he liked it.
“What do you think of ‘Prosperity for All?’”
“Where have I heard that before?” asked Througar.
“When the man who called himself king left the training grounds earlier,” said Galahad, “his squire shouted the slogan as they walked away.”
“That’s right,” said Througar. “His lackeys were all chanting it when he gave his speech at the beginners’ area too. You don’t really want to associate yourself with one of their catch phrases, do you?”
“Actually, I kind of like the idea.” Kelath held up his hands to forestall Througar’s objections. “Just hear me out. Itrix has been instructing his guild mates to convince people they believe in generosity. If we pick his slogan for our guild name, he can’t use it anymo
re. He’d be advertising for us every time he uses the word prosperity.”
Througar grinned. “I bet that would piss him off.”
Galahad laughed but caught himself and took on a stern demeanor. “I could not condone theft.”
Througar slapped him on the shoulder. “Nice to see you’ve got a sense of humor.”
The sides of Galahad’s lips twitched like he was hiding a smile.
“That settles it then.” Kelath stood and returned to the counter. “We would like to call our guild, ‘Prosperity for All.’”
The woman asked for fifty silver to cover the deposit, and Kelath counted out the money from his purse. By the time he finished, his bag had grown much lighter. She took the coins and dropped them through the slot in a lockbox by her seat then grabbed several papers from stacks on a table behind her. She filled them out, creating a pile as she went along.
“There are questions you must answer in order to create the guild contract,” she said.
“Okay,” said Kelath.
“Would you like a special message to appear at the top of the contract?”
Kelath remembered the long, rambling missive about acting nobly and helping people from Noblesse Oblige’s contract and felt certain they’d put it there so people would grow bored with reading and never reach the part about the fees the guild charged. “Standard wording should be fine.”
She checked a box at the top of the form she was holding then moved to the next one. “Are there any special requirements people must obey who join your guild?”
“Definitely not.” Kelath wanted the members of his guild to stay because they enjoyed being part of it, not because they owed him anything.
She again checked a box on the form and added it to the growing pile.
“Every guild requires a symbol to represent them. You can commission tabards with the design, and you will probably want to make a sign to hang on the wall if you rent a room in the guild hall or purchase a headquarters.”
A window opened with several different options. He could choose an icon to display, as well as pick colors for both the icon and the background. He scrolled through the pictures and found one of a coin which seemed appropriate. He played with the color choices until he had a gold coin on a silver background then accepted the layout. An artistic rendering of his design appeared on the form.
“What do you guys think?” asked Kelath.
“I like it,” said Througar.
Galahad nodded. “Quite apt.”
With his guild symbol chosen, there was only one final page to fill out. She wrote the guild name on top of it and slid it in front of Kelath. Empty lines ran down the length of the paper.
“In order to complete the registration, you must find at least ten people to form your guild. Get their signatures on this page then bring it back to me.”
“Why ten?” asked Througar.
“You need to show you’re serious about creating a guild. If we didn’t require a list of prospective members, we would be swamped with people wanting an organization just for themselves, a bunch of guilds with one member. The amount of paperwork would be staggering.”
Througar shrugged. “Makes sense.”
“Will there be anything else?”
“No, thank you,” said Kelath. “You’ve been very helpful.”
“My pleasure.” The woman gathered up the various papers and walked into a room full of filing cabinets behind where she’d been sitting.
“Do you guys want to be the first to sign?” asked Kelath.
“I can’t,” said Througar.
Kelath was confused for a moment but then remembered Througar was stuck in Noblesse Oblige until he paid off the fee and rose to the next rank. Until he left his current guild, he couldn’t join another. “Sorry, man. I forgot.”
“It’s fine. At least Galahad can sign. You’ll only need nine more people.”
“I would be happy to join.” Galahad took the form and examined it for several seconds. He handed it back, his name written across the first line.
“Let’s head out to the square and find more people.”
Kelath exited the registration office and headed towards the auction house. A large congregation of people stood around it, bidding on items they wanted or placing loot they’d found up for sale. He entered an empty market stall and took a discarded crate to stand on. As an elf, he was taller than most people in the square, but he wanted to make sure everyone saw him. He stepped on top of the box.
“Are you tired of being pushed around?” he yelled at the top of his voice. Some players on the near side of the auction house looked up. “Because I sure am! There is a man here who calls himself a king. I’m sure you saw him as soon as you crossed the bridge from the beginners’ area. He spoke of helping people and performing good deeds. But what did he really do?”
As his speech went on, more people stopped pursuing their business with the auctioneers and turned to listen. Some wore the tabard of Noblesse Oblige, and from the frowns on their faces, they didn’t appear pleased. Whether they were upset about being duped into joining the guild or angry at him for talking about their leader, Kelath wasn’t sure.
“I’ll tell you what he did. He lured unsuspecting players into joining his guild without telling them they would have to pay a fee. He placed that clause in his guild charter, all the way at the end, after pages of flowery language meant to distract you. He knew you wouldn’t read it.”
Some of the spectators wearing the tabard of Noblesse Oblige searched through their possessions, pulling out pieces of parchment that looked like their guild contract and scanning them. Several pointed at things on the page and discussed them with others in the crowd, although they were too far away for Kelath to hear their words. A few ran off in the direction of the guild hall.
“But that’s nothing compared to what he’s done to those who refused to join him,” he shouted over the noise of the crowd. “I’m sure many of you waited for hours at the mines, fighting amongst each other to scrape together the items you needed for your quests. And if you walked too close to the entrance of the mines, you were killed by the so-called king’s cronies.”
Murmurs ran through the crowd, this time from the other players who weren’t a part of the guild. Many of them moved forward to hear him better, forming a semicircle around the box he stood on. A female dwarf pushed her way to the front and said, “You were the one who killed the two players guarding the mines so everyone could go inside! You stood up to them.”
He recognized her as the woman who had waited behind them in line at the mining office and thanked his luck that she was there. He motioned for Througar and Galahad to come up beside him and said, “Yes, but I could not have done that by myself. Itrix has gathered a large following, and he bullies anyone who gets in his way. That needs to stop.”
The dwarven woman cheered and encouraged those around her to join in. Others nodded their heads along with his speech. He felt sure he could get at least ten people to sign now, but since he’d gotten their attention, he wanted to recruit as many as possible.
“Itrix preaches a philosophy of helping others, but his actions show just the opposite. I’m starting a new guild, one that will uphold the values he pretends to espouse.”
“What’s its name?” asked someone in the crowd.
“It’s called, ‘Prosperity for All.’”
Laughter spread through the people surrounding him. They knew he’d turned Itrix’s motto into his guild name.
Kelath continued. “Members of my guild will prosper, because what’s good for one of us is good for all of us. The name ‘Noblesse Oblige’ stands for the obligation of the nobility to act generously towards those beneath them. Make no mistake. Itrix believes you are beneath him, but he never acts generously. For those of you already in his guild, I have bad news. Even if you want to leave, you will have to pay off the debt he placed upon you first.”
At this news, members of the crowd from Noblesse Oblige b
ecame agitated. Some claimed that it wasn’t true and they could leave whenever they wanted. Others tried to tear up their contracts or discard them and found out as Througar had that it couldn’t be done. Angry shouts carried through the air.
Kelath waved his arms to regain their attention. When the crowd quieted down, he said, “Much like with the mines, Itrix will continue his campaign of exploiting his own guild mates and assaulting others for as long as no one stands up to him. I intend to do just that, but I cannot do it alone. Who is willing to join my guild and tell this self-proclaimed king that Genesis belongs to everyone?”
The dwarven woman leapt forward, saying she would gladly join. He handed her the registration list and watched as she added her name. She turned and encouraged others to follow her. A human fighter was going to sign his name next when the crowd around them hushed. Those to Kelath’s left shuffled back, and a group of about twenty players wearing the tabard of Noblesse Oblige pushed into the vacated spot.
Itrix stood at their head, saying nothing, but his eyes dared anyone else to step forward. The players who had moments before seemed eager to join were suddenly unwilling. All except the man who had been about to sign. His hands clenched into fists. He snatched the paper away from Kelath, signed it, and marched over to stand directly in front of Itrix.
“Your lackeys killed me twelve times at the mine.” The man spit at Itrix’s feet.
Several things happened so fast that Kelath only saw them because he was still standing on his crate and could peer over the heads of the crowd. Brill, who was waiting beside Itrix, pulled his great sword and raised it to strike the man down. The mob roared as one voice and surged towards the members of Noblesse Oblige. Itrix retreated behind a wall of his supporters, and they backed away with their weapons drawn.
Worried things would escalate further, Kelath yelled, “Stop! Let him go.”
The crowd paused in their pursuit, although many did so reluctantly. Kelath’s followers outnumbered Itrix’s by nearly four to one. There were even members of Itrix’s own guild amongst those about to attack him, and they were already turning to go after him again.
