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    Getting Ianmus a membership to the guild had been even easier than Kaius had thought it would be.

    When they’d entered the guild hall, he’d spotted Ro flitting around in the workers section behind the counter, directing people to and fro. Leaning on the powers of his height, he’d managed to wave her down and introduce her to his prospective team member.

    Thankfully, they didn’t have to deal with Ianmus getting hazed. It seemed being chaperoned by a known member was enough to stave off that uncomfortable fate.

    At first, upon hearing that he wanted to get Ianmus in with just an interview, she’d looked ready to seize him by the neck and throttle him, even if it meant jumping for it. That is, until Ianmus mentioned he was this year’s valedictorian of Sunspire. As soon as she’d heard that she’d grabbed the half-elf by the wrist and yanked him to the silence room without another word.

    Kaius had expected more interest from the other delvers in the hall, but one and all they averted their eyes. Their reasons became a lot more clear when Porkchop let slip that he’d overheard Ro had something of a reputation for short temper when they ‘meddled in business that wasn’t their own’, and apparently they weren’t the first newcomers on the up-and-up that the manager had greased a few wheels for.

    It was possible that some of the established delvers were..put off by the special treatment, but Kaius assumed that most would be waiting for the results he put forth. After all, power justified much, and a meagre bending of the rules was more than understandable to secure talent. Especially when the flood of extermination requests was considered.

    While Ianmus was gone Kaius visited the mission board, smiling excitedly as the request he had spotted in the morning was still there. Snatching it up, he met Porkchop at a secluded table in the corner of the room to wait for their third.

    It didn’t take all that long, Ianmus returning only a bare quarter hour later. With his lanky frame that stretched even taller than his own, it only took a moment of craning before the half-elf spotted Porkchop’s bulk and hurried over. Behind him, Ro poked her head out, before giving him an exaggerated thumbs up.

    Kaius chuckled, shaking his head at the sight.

    Ianmus slid into the remaining seat with a grin, slapping a wooden medallion on the table. “Wood was the best she could do, considering the circumstances, but she said once we’ve done a copper over a threat level of thirty she’ll be able to bump me straight up.”

    “Well done, the questions weren’t too difficult, other than the standard oath? My own was reasonably quick.” Kaius asked.

    Ianmus nodded. “I assume she caught you guys out the second you stepped foot in here? The woman is as shrewd as a devil plying contracts.”

    Kaius chuckled, leaning back into his chair as he dropped his hand to pat Porkchop on the shoulder. “She did. Gave us a talking to. A very energised one.”

    Ianmus smiled, hand momentarily retreating to his pocket, before he returned it to the surface and passed over two simple steel bands. “The first minute or two was spent grilling me about if I was a spire graduate, what my rank was, and things of the like. The remainder was a straight up interrogation about how we met, if I had designs on you, if I was a spy, how genuine I planned for our cooperation to be, and what my ultimate goals were.”

    “I just about thought she’d transmogrified into a manticore with how viscous she was.” the mage finished with a shake of his head. “She said those were for you two, that she got them finished overnight. She wanted you to know it would be a hundred depths-gold all up, and she’ll dock half your cut until it’s paid off. I told her yours would be two thirds, for obvious reasons.”

    Kaius nodded gratefully, inspecting the rings. They were simple looking things, and a quick use of True Sight told him they were identical.

    Ring of Minor Deception:

    Uncommon – Tier I

    Some things are best not shared.

    A ring of unadorned alchemically infused steel. Assists the wearer in shrouding up to two singular aspects of their status, and passively holds their Mask in place. Active testing of the Mask still burdens Will. When worn, this artefact becomes more difficult to analyze.

    Artisan-wrought Artefact

    Accessory – Ring

    Limited Mask Reinforcement II, Resizing I, Inspect Resistance I

    He nodded at the description, surreptitiously sliding one over his finger while he pocketed the other. Assisting Porkchop with his copy would draw far too much attention, even if they were sitting in a secluded corner.

    He felt it activate, a strange power settling over his Mask – bolstering it. He quickly pulled his will back, sighing in relief as it stayed in place. Intuitively, he directed the ring to focus more fully on his class identifier, and his class rarity. He doubted anyone would have the kind of skill needed to see that, but it was still better safe than sorry.

    “A reasonable price, for the security they will bring.” Kaius said, thanking Ianmus with a nod.

    Now that Ianmus had his membership, they could get to the real meat of the reason that he had brought them here. Securing their first contract. Kaius rubbed his hands together with glee. No doubt his companions would hate it—hells, he hated it himself—but the match up was too good to ignore.

    Pulling out his slip of card, Kaius read its contents once more.

    Threat level: Assumed Fifty

    Location: Wooded road between Intshire and Holburrough, forty leagues south-east-east of Deadacre.

    Description: Horse-sized spider beast, ambushing travellers on the road through hidden webs. Illusion and affliction abilities. Last confirmed sighting, two weeks post phase shift. No confirmed level—descriptions in line with a threat of fifty.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Reward: Fifty depths-gold.

    Known abilities: Trapped webs, motionless cloaking—more unknown.

    It was a good match up for their team. As it was an affliction specialist, he would hold a distinctive advantage against the beast in direct combat, and similarly it would find it far more difficult to trap him in its illusions than others.

    That, and solar magic was anathema to illusion, and ambush predators tended to be far worse off when they did not have the element of surprise.

    There was still the fact that it was a horse sized spider, no doubt a significant reason that the job had languished unchosen for so long. Disgusting, but it would be good to work off some of his final grievances for the swarm that had given him his welcome to the Depths.

    The only thing that irked him was the pay. So soon after his payout from his artefacts, it felt like a small sum. That said, he knew it was a false perspective. Fifty gold was almost certainly enough to survive off for a year or more, it was only the outrageous cost of artefacts and delver economies that made it seem like a small sum.

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