37 – Vanguard’s Future

“The answer, naturally, varies,” Rafael said.

“Summarize?”

As always, he replied without needing to organize his thoughts. “Three with whereabouts known. Two alive but difficult to contact. One missing. And two, regretfully, have passed away.”

She’d been excited to learn what had happened to her prior guild members, but at that, she stilled.

For all that these people were real now, they’d been NPCs in the game, so she didn’t have close emotional bonds with them. Still, hearing two had died was a jolt to her system.

She was silent for a moment. “What happened?”

“Bram passed in his sleep, surrounded by family. He was in his elderly years even before your disappearance, Lady Vivisari. You know how humans are. Here and gone.” He sighed. “As far as circumstances of death can go, his was how anyone would want it.”

That made her feel somewhat better. “And the other?”

He grimaced. “Rowena. Not nearly as pleasant, I’m afraid. An adventuring incident. She wasn’t the only to turn to that after Vanguard’s disbandment.”

Vivi’s brow furrowed. “Some of them became adventurers? Why?”

“To fill a void? Living under the great shadow cast by Vanguard inspired a need for greatness beyond their craftsman careers? Why does anyone turn to adventuring?” He shrugged. “I cannot fathom. I’ve never once considered that illustrious career.” He snorted, then cleared his throat and straightened out, putting on a serious expression. “That was inappropriate. This happened eight decades ago, and Rowena was a good woman. I grieved her in her time. But this is news to you, so I shouldn’t be flippant.”

Vivi nodded slowly. She didn’t feel grief, exactly, but—she didn’t know what she felt, hearing about their passing.

“Her family was taken care of?”

“She never settled down, but I would have made arrangements had there been a need.” A beat of silence, and Rafael moved to the less depressing news. “Now. Of those still alive, or possibly alive. Eshara has started a guild of her own, though she doesn’t call it such. In many ways, it’s the spiritual successor of Vanguard. She tours the continent with her band of heroes, slaughtering great foes wherever she finds them.” There was a sardonic tinge to Rafael’s tone, and Vivi didn’t know why. “You know how Eshara is. Very…principled. And unyielding. She has picked up your party’s fallen swords and gone to war against all evil. Hmph. She’ll be difficult to contact; I’m not certain of her whereabouts. She often obscures her intentions, even from me. Not all monsters lack intelligence, as you know, and indeed, the ones that wear the faces of men are the most dangerous of all. So we are not on bad terms. She hides herself out of necessity. The Roving Justicar must lurk in the underbrush, a predator’s predator.” He rolled his jaw side to side. “Eshara is likely the most accomplished of us, if considered by sheer merit of levels.”

She digested that. Eshara had been Vanguard’s elvish blacksmith. “She’s Titled, I take it?”

“Indeed. And not freshly minted. In the thirteen hundreds, I believe, she is one of the Kingdoms’ most revered knights.”

“Will she rejoin us?”

He raised an eyebrow. “It is Eshara we are talking about.”

“I…see.” She assumed that meant yes?

She knew the personality of each of her guild’s prior NPCs, since Vivi had definitely been nerdy enough to read their generated backstories. But that only gave her a general idea, and those histories could easily have translated across worlds in strange ways, or simply not have applied.

“Ulden returned to his dwarven enclave in the Western Kingdom,” Rafael continued, “so he’ll be difficult to contact as well, though less so than Eshara. Laelith is missing.”

“Missing?”

He spread his hands. “I wish I could offer more, but I sadly cannot.”

“When?”

“Even that is vague. Within the past decade? She was reclusive before her disappearance. I’ve kept tabs on Vanguard’s craftsmen, but only so many resources can be allocated, and Laelith was deliberately avoiding attention. I would not spy on my allies. I respected her wishes.”

She could hardly fault him for that.

“Now. For those who will be simple to contact. Petra lives in the Eastern Kingdom. She runs a ludicrously successful restaurant that nobles from all over the Kingdoms make the trip for. She is quite satisfied with her life, last I inquired, and I’m unsure how she’ll receive the news that Vanguard has returned.”

“It’s her prerogative,” Vivi said. “I won’t uproot her life. Just extend an invitation to speak. Or maybe I’ll go and see her myself.” Traveling across the Kingdoms would be an annoying chore, but she wanted to spread [Warp Anchors] anyway.

“Malach lives in the Central Kingdom, though not in Meridian. Solace. He runs a thriving trade, naturally, and in a similar vein, I’m unsure how he’ll receive the news.”

Solace would be a short trip. Tracking him down might be annoying, though. Maybe it was better to let Rafael handle the logistics? She had other tasks to worry about in the short term.

“And finally, Miraelle. Like Eshara, she’s spent her time refining her craft and advancing her class. To much less success, admittedly. Orichalcum, not Titled. She’s on an adventuring team these days—The Iron Vipers. Poison specialists.”

Poison? A natural fit, when the team revolved around one of the world’s most skilled alchemists. “Where is she?”

“Away, but returning to Meridian soon, so far as I know. She lives here.”

“Out on business?”

“I’m not sure. Routine adventuring? Again, I’ve merely kept tabs on them. I don’t track their every movement. They are allies.”

She nodded. “For completing the Quest, then. Who’s our best choice?”

“Ease of contact? Malach or Miraelle. Undoubted loyalty? Eshara.”

“We’ll want to speak with each of them, eventually.” She was quiet for a moment, thoughts churning. “What do you think of the Quest, anyway? And what’s the best way to restore Vanguard?”

He considered the question carefully, for once not responding without so much as a breath to bridge his words. “It depends,” he said finally, “on what you mean by restore.”

She tilted her head in silent question.

“You seek to rebuild the Party of Heroes? Or merely collect craftsmen to the guild? What will Vanguard’s purpose be? Will you tour the continent, seeking out threats as Eshara does? Or shall Vanguard grow in a different manner—more politically involved, perhaps? Do you wish to be more than a band of elites held up by craftsmen, as you once were?”

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Those were great questions. She thought about it, brow furrowed. “I…want to reach out to our previous members, of course. But I don’t think it’s possible to restore my previous party, so Vanguard can’t be as it was.”

“No,” Rafael said with a snort. “The confluence of five once-in-a-millennium, once-in-ten-millennia talent. That will not happen again.”

Vivi looked down at her lap, mulling the topic over. “We should open Vanguard’s doors, shouldn’t we? To the public. Bring it to prominence, and use what influence and resources we have for good.”

“Oh?” Rafael said mildly, though she heard excitement in his voice. “The choice is yours, my lady. I am simply your steward. I carry out the tasks set upon me, whatever they may be.”

“There’s a lot we can do with Vanguard. Especially its treasures. I won’t hoard those like a dragon.”

“Even from a mercenary standpoint, assets are best leveraged, not locked away.” He drummed his fingers on his desk before sitting up abruptly. “So. You wish for Vanguard to, like a phoenix, rise from its ashes. To spread its influence far and wide and reclaim its glory, if not in the same manner as before. To become a shining beacon of virtue the world over, a proper Guild, as Eshara always imagined. She’ll be pleased.”

“You dramatize,” she replied, “but yes, fundamentally, that’s what I want.”

“Then shall we discuss the Eighth Cataclysm?”

She frowned at him. “I already told you, there’s nothing suggesting the dimensional anomaly is any such thing.”

“That’s not what I’m referring to.”

“Then what?”

“You, Lady Vivisari.”

A pregnant silence filled the air. Vivi stared at him, stunned. Where had that come from?

“You think I might be the Eighth Cataclysm?”

Or become it?

“Of course not,” Rafael dismissed. “I know you, Lady Vivisari. But will the leaders of the modern world perceive the strongest known mortal, returned after nigh a hundred years, a danger on that scale? Yes. Especially the Sorceress. You were always the most elusive of your party, my lady, and thus the least known and most feared. Even in Meridian, your figure is so poorly known that many invent the details of your appearance.”

…Vivisari had been a shut-in too?

That was hilarious, if somewhat depressing. It explained the statues being so wildly off, despite her gargantuan levels of fame. Vivisari had hardly ever been seen in public.