Chapter 13
The Dundoma guild representative, a middle aged wyverian man dressed in guild clerk attire, takes in the situation, and gives a response.
"...I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation. I appreciate this is isn't exactly the sort of display that inspires confidence, but we've certainly seen worse; and your honesty is appreciated."
"Thank you. I think its safe to say the immediate debacle is the result of both a severe breakdown in discipline amongst the low rank hunters, and some exceptionally poor judgement on the part of the managerial staff."
"Yes; in fact we were nearly accosted by some of these deputies ourselves. Thankfully we were chaperoned by Big Sally, so as you might imagine their attempts fell far shot of the mark. Anyway; we've got a reasonable idea of what's been going on, and by the sounds of things; someone is doing their damnedest to exploit the situation in Tanzia."
"Hmm...that's really not what I wanted to hear. The impression I was getting was that we were dealing with a combination of the fallout from Dire Miralis, combined with a spot of opportunistic criminal activity."
"We'll need to talk length I'm afraid; and while I can understand your reluctance to entertain the idea of outside interference; bare in mind that the warring factions have technically been at war for over two centuries. While there have been numerous truces agreed upon during this time; peace has never once been formally declared; and as much as the guild has remained neutral the entire time, both factions are fully aware that pulling us into the conflict would most likely provide whoever we allied with a pivotal boost in fighting strength."
"I was under the impression neither faction would be willing to endanger their respective neutrality treaty with us."
"Publicly yes; privately...lets just say both sides constantly try to interfere our affairs at a relatively low level. They generally try to keep things within the margins of plausible deniability, if you get what I mean."
"I see; well, how soon do you want to begin discussions?"
"As soon as all the relevant representatives have arrived. Don't concern yourself with the situation on the ground; we've been accompanied by a contingent of both experienced hunters, and highly qualified support staff. Their assistance should be enough to sort things out hastily."
A few days pass as number of important figures from the guild territories make their way to Tanzia. In the mean time order is rapidly restored to the city, with the town watch and experienced hunters providing effective enforcement. Patchy has a short stay in hospital, and leaves as soon as she's diagnosed with superficial injuries. The hunters that assaulted her have significantly more severe injuries; although this does make detaining them considerably easier. Once everyone has arrived, the meeting gets underway.
Tanzia Guild Hall, conference quarters.
The meeting is attended by a large number of people. Guild representatives from the major hubs of Minegarde, Dundoma, Loc Lac, Val Haber, and Tanzia are present; along with those from the minor hubs of Pokke, Jumbo, Kotoko, Yukumo, Bherna, Moga, Cathar and Harth. Additionally Captain Argosy is present to represent the merchant fleet, and the Caravanner of the Capital C caravan as a neutral party. Big Sally is also present as an active hunter representative, and one additional surprising guest is a very tall wyverian woman; who appears to be some kind of shrine priestess; judging from her attire. Leona, Manny, Saul, Patchy, Katrina, Mickel and Old Man Vangis are also called to attend, due to their involvement in the events being discussed.
Over the course of the meeting, the issues facing Tanzia are clarified, and the aggravating factors discussed. It becomes apparent that the process of the transfer from Loc Lac to Tanzia had been rushed, and in order to have Tanzia sufficiently staffed, administrative and managerial positions had ended up being filled by people without actual hunting experience. Additionally, staff who had transferred from other guild hubs were not made aware of some of the local issues unique to Tanzia. This had led to the recruitment process for new hunters being botched; background checks were often not made, and the relevant questions failed to be asked of many new hunters. As a consequence, individuals that had a history of street crime and gang violence particular to Tanzia slipped through, and many continued their activities after recruitment. To make matters worse, the document vetting process had been subjected to corner cutting; and as result individuals with possible ties to the warring factions had been able to become guild hunters without any kind of proper background check. These factors all played into the low rank hunters ending up as a volatile mix, some with severe discipline issues, and a few outright disloyal to the hunters guild. In particular, and small number of freshmen hunters are found to have been directly involved in the Wycadamy heist. Questions were raised as to how things managed to go this far, and the conclusions drawn were that the low rankers ended up being left largely unobserved during the aftermath of the Dire Miralis incident, since returning G rank to full strength was prioritised; and the chaotic situation around Tanzia in general made in extremely difficult for the town guard to function effectively. Thus, even regular street crime wasn't being dealt with as well as it needed to be; so a professional job like the wycadamy heist ultimately faced few significant obstacles.
The matter of the lighthouse explosion is also discussed at length, with the majority of the guild representatives deciding that the evidence points towards foul play. In particular, evidence from the merchant fleet confirms the involvement of the light house operator in orchestrating the blast; while the paper trail for the gunpowder proves to be non existent, a trace is found regarding the purchase of mechanical parts consistent with the construction of a remote detonator; and the buyer turns out to be none other than the light house operator. It is further theorised that they were also involved in the wycadamy heist; and fled Tanzia, along with the stolen goods in the aftermath. After the suspect vessels have been recalled, one of them is found to have had a tow line surreptitiously attached to the underside of the hull, and unbeknownst to the crew, has been towing a container underwater. Upon investigation, the container was found to contain scrap materials, and thus was a dummy payload. The remains of a make shift airship airship are also discovered on the shore of the tainted sea; indicating that the goods may have been airlifted out of Tanzia after all. After several rounds of questioning, the low rankers involved the heist confirm that an airship was employed as part of the heist. The backgrounds of these hunters are investigated in more detail; they turn out to be Tanzia locals, with histories of violent crime prior to enrolling as hunters. The details they provide about the heist are enlightening; they were contracted specifically to take whatever they pleased, with the exception of the Dire Mirals parts. These were handled by a secondary team, who appear to have been professionals. The burnt body is identified to belong to a local street thug; and on further investigation other members of the general raid team are identified; but all are found to have either vanished, or met with misadventure shortly after the heist. This, combined with the evidence from the merchant fleet, indicate an action of misdirection on the part of whoever orchestrated the heist. The false documents from the fleet underground, combined with the messes made by the hired thugs and hunters ended up being the points of focus, allowing the real mastermind to escape, along with the Dire Miralis parts; and most likely cover their own tracks.
The source of the information leaks regarding Dire Miralis also identified, and much to the embarrassment of the Wycadamy, turns out to be a result of their actions. In order to speed up communications between Tanzia and Dundoma, the wycadamy had been using the much less secure standard hunters guild postal relay, rather than internal channels. At some point, someone had been able to intercept the mail and read its contents before resealing it and sending it on, effectively telling them everything the wycadamy knew.
All charges against Patchy are formally dropped; it's also identified that prior to the set up, her room and been broken into and ransacked. Questions are raised regarding why she in particular was targeted; no concrete answer beyond raw malice is found, but given the proximity of her home town to the border with one of the warring factions, it is suspected that she could perhaps have been mistaken for a rival agent by one of the undercover hunters; especially considering some of the slander circulating amongst the low rank hunters suggested this to be the case.
The eventual conclusion drawn is that Tanzia has effectively been compromised as guild hub for the time being. The other branches of the hunters guild will provide support in ensuring the port can fully recover, and that the guild branch itself can be restored to full working order. In the mean time, a new central hunting hub will have to be declared; and responsibilities transferred accordingly. One unfortunate consequence of the findings is that the entire freshman year of low rank hunters ends up being effectively purged. Their guild cards are considered void, and while it is made clear to them that they be not be prevented from starting their hunting careers anew; they will have to undergo proper background checks this time.
The Tanzia guild management themselves are put under review. The Guild master, and most of the front line staff, are found to carried out their roles commendably; but a significant portion of the middle management are discovered to have either been inappropriately allocated, or been outright incompetent. Some reshuffling of positions is strongly recommended; and while the reprimand received by the management is fairly mild; considering the magnitude of the problems; it is still met with hostility by several individuals.
After the meeting proper concludes, Leona and her friends are asked to talk in private with Dundoma guild rep, and the wyverian shrine priestess.
"Well, I'm glad that's over with Leona. Far from a pretty outcome, but at least the problems are going to be dealt with now."
"How do you think the Tanzia staff took it?"
"The Guild-master took it pretty well; the rest of senior management...not so well."
"Ah."
"Yes; I think the penny dropped that you had a role in us becoming aware of the situation here, and I don't think you'll be very popular with them for a while. I suspect they'll make your stay in Tanzia as awkward as they can."
"No big deal."
"Not for now, anyway. Still, the main reason I wanted to speak with you all in private is our special guest."
The priestess introduces herself. On closer inspection she appears to have a highly unusual stature, being very tall and slender, and her hair is pure white other than some red streaks. Her attire bears more than a passing resemblance to an Amatsumagatsuchi set of hunter armour, but her head dress appears to form an elaborate crown resembling four twisted horns, and folds of white material wrap around her body.
"Delighted to make your acquaintance; my name is Nyx, and my role in this is has been primarily to confirm that the guild has been subjected to outside interference…"
She turns her gaze to Old Man Vangis, and then bows deeply before him.
"...however, I was not expecting to meet with one capable of surpassing the highest of dragons; and as such, I feel compelled to ensure no secrets are kept from you. Please do not be alarmed; I mean you harm, and this will be explained."
The fabric around her body unfolds, revealing it to in fact be wings, and she remove her headdress, revealing the horns to also be a part of her body.
"Ah, so you must be the high priestess of the children of Fatalis then?"
"Indeed. Something most of you are likely aware of is the treaty of neutrality between my people and the hunters guild."
"I've heard of it; but to be honest with you, this the first time ever met anyone like you."
"That's not surprising Leona; our homeland is considered to be strictly off limits to the hunters guild. Well, to clarify; the treaty we signed is ancient; going back to aftermath of the great collapse, but its details do make certain specifications. Namely, that our relationship not merely be neutral, but to be one of active de-escalation in the event the potential for conflict were to arise."
"This is news to me. How widely known is this within the guild Grandpa?"
"Very few people know; since the basic details state that we stay out of each others way, we generally don't divulge the finer details."
"That's something we appreciate; and I'm here to ensure our side of the treaty is kept. Something you might not be aware of is that we have unfortunately been drawn into the war, as the Inheritor faction decided some two centuries ago we represented a threat to their vision. Naturally, the Gaia Alliance sprang to our defence; we have largely avoided direct involvement in the conflict, but on a few occasions it has been necessary to take part ourselves. The war has slightly swung in favour of the Gaia Alliance as a consequence; something the Inheritors have not taken lightly. Based on what information has been available to us, we know they are extremely keen to obtain monster materials; especially elder dragon parts; in order to facilitate some kind of weapons program."
"So, you think they had a hand in the wycadamy heist then?"
"It's not a certainty; there is also the possibility of provocateur action on the part of someone in the Gaia Alliance; given their central ethos, they view the hunters guild in something of a poor light; so what I can tell you is that outside interference is a given. Our treaty of de-escalation pre dates any agreements we have made with Gaia Alliance, so our duty to uphold it comes first; and as such, we will be sure to inform you of any hostile action against the guild they plan to engage in."
"I guess the situation hasn't changed that much then. Classically the Inheritors would engage in low level interference in guild affairs with regularity; but would try to avoid doing anything that'd cause real problems for us. Conversely, the Gaia Alliance tended to just leave us alone, but wouldn't hesitate to get nasty if they thought they could get away with it."
"Well, regarding the current situation; what I know is this. The Inheritors primary objective, outside of military victory, is the obtaining of monster parts, and the restoration of pre collapse technology; with the ultimate goal of restoring the pre-collapse civilisation. They mainly seek to do this through the black market and spying; although there have been rumours of them trying to infiltrate the guild and wycadamy in order to facilitate a direct supply of sorts. They still view the hunters guild as a potential ally; they see the knowledge and resources within the guild as an enormous potential asset towards their vision; although I suspect they'd seek the sort of relationship where they were ultimately in control. The Gaia Alliance by contrast, want to do everything possible to prevent a repeat of the collapse. They absolutely oppose any attempt to restore civilisation relics, and some are even pushing for the complete destruction of any ancient sites within their territories. They see the hunters guild as a potential threat; since the Wycadamy has been successful in its research, and they view hunting in general as an obstacle to their vision. They maintain neutrality with the guild primarily out of pragmatism; but I suspect they'd be unwilling to instigate hostilities even if they were to achieve victory against the Inheritors. They view you as a potential, rather than an actualised threat to their vision."
"...What a horrible situation. For all that the war continues to bring ruin to everyone it touches; we really can't take a side and help end it either."
"If its any consolation Katrina; I personally agree with guild's stance regarding monsters and the old civilisation. We're stuck with the Alliance out of necessity; and much as we'd probably thrive in the world they wish to build; everyone else would suffer greatly. Much as they wish for peaceful coexistence with the monsters; I suspect they are being excessively optimistic for such a situation to come into being; since their thankfully few attempts to initiate friendly encounters with elder dragons have not gone well for them to say the least."
"From what I know of the Inheritors, they aren't really any better though; and that's before we take into account their malevolent intentions towards your people."
"Not just us though, all monsters; and this brings to light another situation that may well require the attention of the guild. Just over a century ago, there was some kind of event on the mid oceanic landmass. We don't know exactly what happened, but what we do know is that it caused an effective mass extinction of the local monster populations. Since then, a faction associated with the Inheritors has set up some kind of presence there; and there have been reports of...disturbing things. Things that sound like attempts to resurrect some of the horrors that led to the collapse."
"We do have an extremely small scale presence on the landmass in question. While there isn't anything that'd typically be our kind of business there, we are considering constructing facilities to allow the exploratory fleets headed for the new world to be able to take a break there; since it lies between here and their destination."
"Have they been able to tell you anything about what's happening there?"
"Yes; and your suspicions do have foundation to them. The land is plagued by some kind of shapeshifting creatures that the locals call Yoma; they're apparently sentient, capable of disguising themselves as humans, and prey exclusively on human flesh."
"These Yoma sound an awful lot like one of the old civilisations living weapon experiments; which raises the issue of what manner of ancient relics might be present in that land. It might well be in the interests of the hunters guild and the wycadamy to investigate this; and for all that the monster populations were effectively erased; based on our observational data, there is a strong possibility of monsters reappearing there."
"That backs up something we observed at the Wycadamy. The migratory patters of flying wyverns have started to shift; they used to fly directly to the new world continent, but over the last decade they've sometimes taken a different route; one that would pass over the mid ocean continent. Not only that, but we've also observed a change in behaviour around the polar limit as well. Some species of monster are now heading into ice cap itself; and from there they could theoretically cross over the frozen sea to reach the mid ocean continent; since the northern most parts of it overlap with the ice cap area."
"Sounds like we might have to keep better tabs on things over there then Katrina."
"I'm with ya Saul; but it's going to be no small task to set up an effective guild presence over there; plus it'll need approving from the very top of guild."
"We might be able to sway them in favour of action. The reason for us calling ourselves the children of Fatalis isn't simply some boast, or a take on our appearance; we seem to trigger something in the instincts of monsters that make them mistake us for actual black dragons. As a consequence, they won't attack us; which has allowed us to observe their behaviours in detail with relative ease. We'd be happy to share our research notes with the guild if they prove willing to set up an investigative expedition."
"That'd certainly sweeten the deal; but why are you so interested in having the guild investigate?"
"We suspect that whatever wiped out the monster populations was some kind of remanent of the pre collapse civilisation. Given the Inheritors approach to old world technology, and their attitude to monsters in general; we strongly suspect they'll try to utilise it if they get their hands on it. The consequences of them successfully harnessing its capabilities would probably result in an ecological catastrophe; along with probably wiping my people out; but the consequences of them botching it could be even worse. We still don't know the exact details of how the extinction occurred, so for all we know it could be capable of wiping out any species of creature if used incorrectly."
"...Hang on; why are you only coming to us about this now? The extinction event occurred over a century ago; and from what you just told us, the Inheritors have had some kind of presence over there for most of the time since."
"We only discovered this recently. Some of the states involved in the war have switched sides over time; and one such state did just that earlier this year. They shared intelligence with us; which included information regarding Inheritor activities."
"Fair enough; did you find out anything specific regarding this Inheritor faction?"
"Well...from what we could gather, their activities are highly classified; even within the Inheritors themselves. From what little we have been able to find out; the group receives some degree of funding and resources from the main Inheritor coalition; but seem to be largely independent. Beyond that, the information runs dry; we still don't know what their specific objectives are, and we don't even have a name for them at the moment."
"Simply knowing that they're over there and up to something is a good start; and now we that we know we've got something to observe, I suspect we'll be able to find out more in due course."
"Thank you; that pretty much covers everything I needed to talk about with you for now."
"What're you going to do now Nyx?"
"I'll need to head back to home soon to discuss our findings with my people at greater length. While we'd figured out that someone was interfering in the affairs of the hunters guild; we weren't aware that Black Dragon materials had been stolen from you, and we need to find out who might have them now. They could prove extremely dangerous if they were to fall into the wrong hands; and sadly I suspect both the Gaia Alliance and the Inheritors would both fall into that category."
"Given the regenerative functions of the Heart of Dire Miralis; it could provide an exceptionally nasty surprise if mishandled."
"...That's one of the reasons I actually hope the Inheritors were the ones who took it. They'd doubtless experiment on it; but they'd make efforts to properly analyse it, and they'd take on board any information they'd intercepted from the wycadamy. The Gaia Alliance on the other hand...they'd probably try to revive Dire Miralis; and I think we all know how well that would end."
Over the next few weeks the Guild finalises its choices regarding the actions to be taken. The purge comes into effect; most of the former freshmen try to enrol again, and this time proper background checks are performed; preventing the majority of problematic individuals from coming back. The Tanzia guild itself loses its position as the primary hunting hub; which in turn is bestowed upon Val Haber; but rather than the rapid transfer of resources and responsibilities that happened with Loc Lac; the process is given a significantly longer time scale to allow a smoother transfer; and hopefully prevent some of the issues that dogged Tanzia from occurring at Val Haber. The minor guild hubs also become involved in the process; taking up some of the strain.
The purge unfortunately does effect Patchy; she finds that thanks to her guild card being temporarily frozen she can't transfer to Val Haber. Mickel finds a solution for her though; the Capital C Caravan agree to recruit her as part of their staff on his recommendation; and this enables her to enrol as a freshman hunter with the Val Haber guild hub. She parts ways with Leona and the gang, but they promise to keep in touch. Over the next few years she proves herself as one of the guilds most promising hunters; rapidly rising through the ranks; and gains significant notoriety for her roles in both mapping the unexplored regions of the Everwood, and assisting in defending both Val Haber and Dundoma from elder dragon attacks.
The Tanzia guild management make their displeasure with Leona and her friends quite clear; by contrast, the rest of guild management praise their actions. This results in some degree of internal friction within the guild; the majority of the Tanzia guild staff want to see them reprimanded for bringing them into disrepute, while the other guild hubs feel their actions deserve rewarding. A solution that pleases all parties is eventually found…
The trails for both the lighthouse bombing and the Wycadamy heist end up going cold, leaving both crimes unsolved. Nyx maintains contact with the guild, and continues to provide them with information regarding the actions of the warring factions; but no further trace is found regarding the Dire Miralis parts.
The Tanzia guild itself is forced to undergo a brief but complete halt in its operations while security is overhauled and guild management reviewed. During this time, Tanzia manages to commit to rebuilding, and the reconstruction and expansion of the port is completed. With the town restored to full working order, security becomes less of an issue; and the Tanzia watch are expanded significantly in light of the growth of the town. Once the guild resumes full operations again, the Tanzia hunters guild is able to run operations smoothly; and there are some petitions to restore it to the primary hunting hub. These are rejected by the guild-master himself; stating that Tanzia's position as a central trade hub would mean there would simply be too much activity in the port to reliably maintain security. Since Tanzia has been established as a prime target by those with hostile intent towards the hunters guild, they cannot afford to compromise security. Tanzia suffers no further significant incidents, but one detail of note is that a small number of purged low rank hunters pretty much vanish as soon as the changes come into effect. On closer examination of their documents, they are found to be fraudulent; giving credibility to the suspicion that attempts were being made by outside groups to infiltrate the guild.
The Hunters Guild decide that setting up an effective presence on the Mid Ocean Landmass is a necessary course of action. After analysing the information at hand, they conclude that it would serve several purposes. The first; and the original reason for the proposed expansion, is that setting up facilities there would prove helpful with regard to travel to the unexplored new world continent. The second, is that monster populations would be very likely to return; so the presence of the hunters guild would prove helpful for the people native to the land. The third, is the presence of the Inheritor faction, and by extension the likelihood of ancient civilisation relics being present there. Leona is approached by senior officials in the guild to lead the proposed expedition; which she accepts. It takes roughly a year to assemble the resources, select a crew, and finalise the plans, but events are set in motion; and the expedition makes landfall in the northern territories of the Mid Ocean Landmass. A concealed harbour is set up to function as a relay point for vessels making the trip to the new world continent, and not long after that, The Flag is set up in the town of Pieta; and functions as an effective headquarters for the hunters guild there. It takes another four years before the return of the monsters can be confirmed, but the crew of The Flag are ready when the time comes...
