Chapter 11. Meeting the Jesters.
As it happened, the Loki familia lived very close to the northern gate, their home being located on the northern edge of Orario, very close to the city gate Rünira had used to enter the city. It stood on the side of a backstreet, one block away from North Main Street, a large wide road that went all the way straight to the tower of Babel.
The building itself was long and narrow as if the builders had to squeeze it onto the spot. Several pointy towers protruded from the roof like a line of spears standing on end, giving the structure an imposing look. Of course, the bronze towers were nothing compared to the mighty Tower of Babel in her opinion, but they were still tall enough to make someone crane their necks to look up at them. The very tips of the towers were dyed black by the afternoon light.
It was a dwelling carved from flames, Twilight Manor, home of Loki Familia.
Rünira walked towards the imposing castle-like mansion, already trying to contain a sigh as she noticed the elven woman standing guard in front of the big open gates made of solid steel.
Of course, it had to be an elf…
This would surely make things more complicated than they needed to be. Rünira didn't have any particular problem with elves, but she also was under no illusion that this one in particular would be part of the small group of forest dwellers that were actually civil towards dwarves.
"Excuse me," Rünira called out with a smile as she got close, deciding to go with polite friendliness first, knowing that it probably wouldn't work, but it wouldn't hurt to try. "Would it be possible to talk to the Goddess Loki?"
She managed to get the attention of the bored-looking guard, who turned to look at her with suspicion, but the elf gave her one brief glance before letting out a snort. "Go away, dwarf," she told her dismissively. "We are not recruiting at the moment."
Rüninra breathed out slowly, smile disappearing from her face, consciously keeping her twitching hand well away from her hammer. "I'm not looking to join," she told the guard with an even tone. "I came to deliver something to Lady Loki and Lady Riveria at the High Elf King's behest."
The guard gave her a nasty look. "Do not make me laugh," she scoffed, dismissive attitude disappearing as an ugly frown marred her beautiful face. "Why would King Alf ever debase himself by using a dwarf as a messenger?"
"None of your business," Rünira replied curtly, her patience starting to grow thin.
"Then get lost," the elf told her. "Neither Lady Loki nor Lady Riveria has time to deal with lying beggars."
Rünira was seriously starting to consider using more uncivilised alternatives when inspiration struck her, all the lessons on manipulation and extortion she had taken over the years coming back to her. Though Larfal had always reprimanded her for calling it that way, saying it was just politics.
"Understood," Rünira said, putting on the most sickeningly sweet simile she could manage as she took out one of Larfal's letters from within her cloak, the seal of the king showing proudly on the envelope, "I'm sure King Larfal will love to know you prevented his personal letter from reaching his beloved daughter. What was your name again?"
Rünira had to hold back a smirk as the blood visibly drained from the elf's face once she recognized the truth of her words, her wide eyes glued to the Alf Royal Crest, mouth opening and closing like a fish on land.
"I-I will be back shortly, please wait a moment," she told her, before hurriedly taking off towards the manor.
Rünira just dropped the act letting out a sigh, watching in mild exasperation as the elf quickly disappeared inside the building and idly wondering how much they would make her wait. She wasn't in much of a hurry anymore but there were still matters she needed to attend to before nightfall, like finding a place to eat and sleep. Luckily the answer was, not much at all, as a few minutes later the same elven woman came back, now sporting a serious, almost professional, expression on her face.
"Please come with me, they are waiting for you," she said, gesturing with her hand for Rünira to follow her.
Rünira just nodded, starting to walk behind the elf as they entered the grounds, the manor looking even more imposing as they approached a set of marble stairs that led into the building proper. They climbed another set of stairs once inside, leading to a narrow but well-decorated hallway.
Curiously, Rünira inspected the numerous paintings and suits of armour adorning the walls as they walked. She didn't know much about art, but it was easy for her to see that the armours were of superb craftsmanship, though of a pure ornamental nature.
Her guide finally came to a stop before an imposing wooden door with Rünira following suit, watching as the elf knocked politely to let the people inside know they had arrived.
"Come in," came a young and soft-sounding voice from the other side of the door.
They both entered the room, the elf bowing quickly to the people gathered inside, "Captain, I brought the dwarf seeking an audience with Goddess Loki."
"Good work, Sonia," came the same soft voice, belonging to a blond pallum sitting behind a big wooden desk, seemingly busy doing some paperwork. "That will be all."
Rünira's eyes followed the guard as she stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. She then turned her head, letting her gaze wander across the office, taking in its homely appearance before her eyes focused on the four people occupying the room, each one of them regarding her with a different expression.
"Your visit came as quite a surprise Miss Dwarf," said the pallum behind the desk, drawing her attention. Just like the girl from the Astraea familia, he looked extremely young, but one look at his sharp blue eyes was enough to grasp the depth of his experience, soft features betraying nothing but mild curiosity as he lifted his eyes to look at her. "I hope you can forgive us for the lack of hospitality. My name is Finn, Captain of the Loki Familia, and these are Riveria, Gareth and of course, Loki."
Finn Deimne, Riveria Ljos Alf, Gareth Landrock, the top members of the Loki Familia, considered by many to be one of the most powerful in all Orario. Larfal had briefed Rünira on them, giving her all the publicly known information about the trio, as well as telling her more private things passed to him by Loki through her letters.
They were the pinnacle of adventurers of this generation, charismatic, mighty and wise. There was plenty she could learn from people like them.
"It's my fault for coming unannounced," Rünira finally answered, eyes travelling through each adventurer nodding respectfully, before settling on the skimpily clad woman sitting on top of the desk. Red hair tied in a ponytail and long, thin limbs, her narrowed eyes inspected Rünira with unveiled interest, a playful grin dancing on her lips. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything important." she finished, looking at the goddess.
"Nah," Loki said with a wave of her hand, her smile never leaving her face. "Just yer good 'ol boring meeting, ya seem much more interestin' than that!"
"Loki, please behave yourself, I will not tolerate your usual uncouthness in front of guests," said the elf standing in the far right of the room to the smirking goddess, before turning to look at Rünira again. "Though I must admit some interest myself, I was rather surprised to hear that a messenger dwarf claimed to be carrying a letter with my father's seal."
Rünira hadn't needed the introduction to instantly recognize Riveria as soon as she entered the room. Hair and eyes the colour of polished jade, and a beauty that could hardly be put into words. The slight furrow on the princess' brow denoted a healthy amount of scepticism as she looked at her.
Though the one-eyed stare she was giving her felt strangely familiar to Rünira for some reason.
Of course… it's the same look Larfal always gave me.
Rünira was slightly amused at the similarity shared by father and daughter. "I have the letters but I'm afraid you have me mistaken," she said, taking out both envelopes and offering them to Loki, who was closest to her. "I'm no messenger, I simply decided to come to Orario for personal reasons, and Larfal asked me to bring these letters along as a favour to him."
She must have said something weird because as soon as the words left her mouth the four people in the room stared at her with different degrees of surprise.
"Larfal?" Riveria repeated, breaking the silence, looking lost for words, jade eyes betraying astonishment and disbelief. "You… you address my father by his forename?"
Rünira blinked a couple of times, before remembering that using Larfal's name wasn't something normal for almost anyone. "Well…Yes?" she answered with a shrug, not really seeing the need to hide it. "I mean, a lot of people have berated me over the years for doing it, but I've always called him that, and he never seemed to mind so…"
"Buhaha! You certainly are something else ain'tcha?" Loki said, slapping her knee with a boisterous guffaw. "I can't believe that old codger! getting all buddy-buddy with a cute little dwarf!"
"You speak as if you have known my father for a long time," Riveria interrupted before Rünira could respond, head shaking in denial. "But I know him, that man is heartless, he would never allow a dwarf inside the Royal Forest, he is too narrow-minded to ever entertain such a thought."
Rünira's brow furrowed slightly at Riveria's words. "Then you mightn't know your father as well as you thought," she said with some bite in her tone, feeling slightly protective of the elven king. "Larfal is wise and kind, his unconditional hospitality is the reason I'm still alive, I owe him a great debt of gratitude."
Rünira could see Riveria's frown deepening at her words. The elven princess looked ready to reply when she was interrupted by the redhead goddess.
"You surely are very wordy for a dwarf I'll tell ya tha', you almost sound like one of them elves, talkin' all prim and proper!" Loki quipped looking amused, her humorous tone helping ease the tense atmosphere.
"I guess that's the price you pay for living among them for so long," Rünira nodded with a smile, "Though I'm still capable of tellin' people ta bugger off quite easily."
Her response got a laugh out of the goddess, who seemed delighted that someone was finally indulging her in her inane banter.
"Well… this is certainly a surprise," Finn said, looking glad at the change of topic. "Sonia just informed us that there was a dwarf at our doors carrying a letter with the Alf royal crest, but you appear to be so much more than that…you carry yourself like a trained warrior yet I can't sense any falna coming from you."
The pallum hadn't said it as a question, but his intent was clear. He was curious now, they all were, Rünira was an oddity, an existence not easily explained. But they were being polite, waiting for her to reveal more on her own, at least for the time being.
Rünira looked down at her calloused hands, hardened by years of relentless training, she had worked so hard…but it hadn't been enough. "That's because I'm not an adventurer, at least not yet," she said looking up again, eyes hard with determination as she regarded the captain of the Loki Familia.
Her tone was soft, but the intensity of her words was not missed by anyone in the room. There was a fire blazing in the dwarf's eyes, a burning, naked desire. But there was also hard determination, an utterly unmovable resolve.
"I thought I was looking for power…power to fulfil my vengeance, to reclaim what's rightfully mine and get back everything that I lost," she continued. "But coming here made me remember something that I should have never forgotten."
"And what is that?" Riveria asked gently, frown still in place but all signs of anger absent from her face, now replaced by a hint of sympathy.
Rünira turned to look at the elf, green meeting green, so similar yet so very different. "That I'm not the only one who lost everything," Rünira answered. "We lost our home, lost our pride, and I'll be the one to take it all back, I'll make it right."
"You wish to restore the dwarfs' pride?" Finn asked after a short pause, now looking at her with unnerving intensity, blue eyes staring deep into her, judging her, measuring her worth.
But Rünira was not easily shaken.
"I've heard about you, Braver, your legend is known the world over, even the elves of the deep forest sing songs of the pallum's light, great hero of his people, bringer of hope," she said, matching Finn's stare. "And if what I've been hearing about my people is true, then you and I will not be so different, we have a similar goal."
Finn let out a sigh, a small smile forming on his lips. "Your people huh?" he repeated, leaning forward with his fingers interlocked under his chin, a shrewd look donning on his face. "Do you fancy yourself the next dwarven hero? It's a difficult journey you will be taking… but I can certainly understand your desire."
Rünira gave Finn a puzzled look, before glancing at the rest of the room's occupants who seemed to be giving her slightly pitying smiles, probably thinking her too naive to really grasp the enormity of her chosen path, all of them, except for one.
"You have no idea who I am, do you?" she said to all of them, her eyes landing on the last occupant of the office, seated in an armchair to the left of the desk. A stout dwarf, brown of hair and eyes, and a short but thick beard. He had remained silent ever since she had entered the room, his eyes fixed on her the entire time. "Not that I can blame you, but… maybe you should try looking to your left, I think Mr Landrock has already figured it out."
All eyes fell on the veteran dwarf, who began to slowly shake his head in clear denial. "No… 'tis not possible," the dwarf said, looking clearly distraught. "We searched for days…looked everywhere, but we couldn't find nothin', only ash… and death."
His voice was thick and heavy, probably weighted by the pain only years of guilt could bring to one's soul. Rünira knew well what that kind of load could do to someone's spirit. And although his Familia was looking at him with clear concern in their eyes, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the dwarf before her was neither broken nor defeated. Pained and grieving, yes, but the fire of his eyes shone fiercely, his will still strong as the roots of a mountain.
"That's because there was nothing to find," Rünira finally said, giving him a sad smile. "My father orderer an evacuation during The Fall, but he sent me away to live in secret under the protection of the elves…"
"Your father?" Riveria interrupted, realisation donning on her face, eyes going wide. "You cannot mean…"
Rünira gave a small nod. "Rörun Ild Eldur, Ruler of Bál Eldur, former King Under the Mountain and… my late father," she said softly, each word feeling like a knife to the heart, the memories of her family and her home making her chest tighten painfully.
Two pairs of eyes turned towards Loki as Finn and Riveria sought the goddess, looking for confirmation. Loki gave a curt nod to her children, letting them know that Rünira's words held no falsehoods. But Gareth needed no divine validation, Rünira's words seemingly being more than enough to convince the veteran adventurer.
With a crashing sound filling the room, the armchair Gareth had been sitting in fell to the ground as the dwarf dropped to his knees in front of Rünira. "Oh My Lady Eldur, blessed be the earth," he said, head held low. "Please forgive me…I failed you, I've failed us all, I shoulda kept lookin', I shoulda find you."
Rünira watched with a heavy heart at the dwarf kneeling before her, not really knowing how to feel about it. She didn't blame him for not finding her, her stay with the elves had been her father's wish, and although it had been hard at first, Rünira had no regrets about fulfilling it.
Letting out a sigh, Rünira moved towards the kneeling dwarf, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Please rise, Gareth Landrock, you are a son of Bál Eldur, proud and strong," she said gently, feeling slightly embarrassed at being the one offering comfort. "Do not blame yourself for things out of your control, my fate wasn't your fault. King Eldur thought it best, and Larfal's kindness saw to my well being for all these past years."
The last part, Rünira said it while looking straight at Riveria, almost daring the elven princess to contradict her, as she helped the distraught dwarf to his feet.
"So lemme get this straight," Loki cut in, eyes now glued to Larfal's letter, quickly pouring over its contents, "You not only were allowed to stay in the Alf Royal Forest, but were also personally tutored by Larfal and trained by this Vanur Wisteria guy?"
"Vanur Wisteria? Riveria repeated, a strange look appearing on her face. "Aina's little brother? Is that the best my father could offer? A cripple?"
"Cripple?" Loki said, scratching her head. "Dunno 'bout that… it says here he's some kind of weapon master prodigy or somethin', sounds pretty cool if you ask me."
"What!?" Riveria exclaimed in a rare show of emotion, her scream drawing the attention of the people in the room.
"Is that something noteworthy?" Finn asked curiously, clearly surprised at seeing her elven companion react so strongly. "I don't recall hearing about elven weapon masters before."
Riveria shook her head. "That is because there has not been one in centuries, to be named weapon master you need to achieve mastery in seven of the twelves combat arts," she answered. "I spent decades training with the bow and I could not get the rank of master. To even suggest that a crippled child like Vanur could do that is completely preposterous and utterly foolish!"
Silence followed the elf's outbursts, the Loki Familia seemingly not used to seeing the elf this way, but Rünira was not going to stand anyone badmouthing her master, princess or not.
"Not being able to use magic doesn't make him a cripple! And for your information, Vanur got his twelfth mastery early this year, and he's the only one to ever manage that!" she said hotly, rubbing salt on the wound. She knew she was being childish, but the elven princess was really rubbing her the wrong way. "And yes! I was his apprentice, and the only one he's ever taken!"
They all looked at Rünira, expressions ranging from mild surprise to utter delight. Particularly the red-headed deity, who looked as if the holidays had come early.
"I want you!" The sudden scream filled the room, making all of the occupants turn to look at the goddess Loki, who was now standing on the desk, a finger pointing directly in her direction, a manic grin splitting her face. "Join my Familia!"
Rünira stared open-mouthed at the goddess, not knowing what to say. "I…I really appreciate the offer Goddess Loki," she began tentatively. "But I don't think I can."
"Whaddaya mean you can't?" Loki whined, turning towards her Captain looking ready to throw a tantrum. "Finn!, you are with me, right? little dwarven princess here needs to join us, tell 'er how cool we are!"
Finn closed his eyes, letting out a sigh, a small smile on his face. "Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't mind recruiting someone like her," he said, reopening his eyes, giving Rünira a look of understanding. "But not this time. I understand perfectly the reason she can't join us."
"Ehhh!?" Loki cried out, starting to roll over the desk. "Finn you traitor!"
Finn just smiled at his goddess protests. "A hero is made not only by their deeds, but by the will of the people, and for that, she needs to rise from the bottom," he explained. "If she were to join us or any other famous familia, all her efforts would be disregarded, any personal accomplishments dismissed as the product of joining a strong familia."
Rünira nodded. "I need to become a symbol to my people, a pillar of strength that will help us rebuild the pride of my race."
"But you already are, my Lady Eldur!" Gareth exclaimed fervently, seemingly breaking out of his previous stupor. "Dwarves everywhere will rejoice once they know of your return! Toasts will be made in your name, songs will be sung, for the last Eldur still lives!"
Rünira just shook her head. "And tell me Mr Landrock, what can I offer them now but an empty name? The blood of Eldur still lives, yes, but nothing else," she said, despondently. "I'm not strong enough to lead my people, nor to give them back what they've lost…no yet."
Gareth fell back into his armchair with a big thud, all jubilation fleeing his body. Rünira was right, and they both knew it. Dwarves respected strength and courage above everything else, would they really follow a 15-year-old girl raised amongst elves? As things stood now, they would sooner declare her a deserter and a traitor than a queen worth following.
"I need to start from scratch, find a recently descended god and start a new familia," Rünira continued, trying not to feel too overwhelmed by the mere prospect of doing something like that. "There's no other choice."
"Not necessarily," Finn said, youthful face cast in shadows as the sun bleeding over the horizon shone its last rays of light, welcoming nightfall to the city of Orario.
"What do you mean?" Rünira asked, surprised. "I thought that you agreed with me."
Finn nodded. "And I do, you definitely can't afford to join a well-known familia if you wish to follow with your plan," he said, giving her a gentle smile "But as someone who has taken the path you wish to travel, trust me when I say that you don't really need to start from nothing."
"Y-You mean that joining a small familia would be ok?" Rünira asked tentatively, not wanting to get her hopes up. "That would really make things easier."
"Not just small," Finn said with a shake of his head. "But one that's out of the public's eye, you need to be the reason they rise to prominence."
Rünira mulled over the pallum's words, considering the merits of his suggestion. "What about the Astraea Familia?" she asked suddenly, her brief encounter with the exuberant group still fresh on her mind. "I met them at the gates and they seemed…nice."
This time, it was Riveria who answered her. "That would not work," she said, the one-eyed look back again on her face. "The girls from the Astraea Familia are renowned in Orario, practically heroines, there is not a single person in Orario that does not know about them."
"Then I'm all out of ideas," Rünira said half-joking, gaze wandering across the room. "Any suggestions?"
The three members of Loki Familia looked at each other seemingly communicating without words before they all turned to stare at the goddess with pointed looks.
Loki let out a sigh, clearly not happy about unanimous betrayal. "Well, there's always Vidar and his bunch of level two brats…" she began begrudgingly. "He told me that the last one of his kids levelled up a few weeks ago… and none of the other gods seemed care 'bout them, Vidar doesn't even show up to the Denatus!"
Rünira stared at Loki in surprise, a little known familia full of level twos sounded too good to be true. "And they aren't famous?" she asked, sceptically. "I was told that being level two was an impressive accomplishment, surely they are well known by know"
Loki just shrugged. "Ya would think tha' but no," she said. "That's Vidar's brats for ya I guess, worthy children of the god of silence and all that bull, complete waste if you ask me."
"Vidar Familia…" Finn repeated with a pensive look. "It's not a bad idea, not bad at all."
Rünira nodded, happy that things were starting to fall into place. "So…" she began, "Where can I find them?"
Finn watched their surprise visitor exiting the office accompanied by Riveria, the elven princess following along after the dwarf had asked for a word in private. Gareth had excused himself as well, saying something about needing a strong drink, leaving the pallum captain alone with his goddess.
"That was certainly interesting… the princess of the dwarves coming back from the dead," Finn said, looking out of the window behind his desk as the streetlight began to turn on, bathing the city with its pale orange glow. "We should probably keep an eye on her."
"Make that two," said Loki. "The old elf asked me to keep her safe…not having her in our familia is gonna make that a lot harder, even after the blow we dealt to those Evilus wackos."
"You think Evilus could target young Rünira?" Finn asked seriously. "I know they had taken advantage of the dwarves' situation to use them but…"
Loki shook her head. "Maybe not directly, but we know they have taken outside jobs to get money," she said, getting off of the desk and walking around to pass Larfal's letter to Finn. "The Empire is gonna flip out once they find out she's alive, I wouldn't be surprised if they offered carts full of gold to whoever managed to off the little princess."
"And Evilus would love to get their hands on more resources, especially now," Finn said with a small nod, taking the offered letter and starting to unfold it.
Evilus, a group of radical zealots led by evil gods, hellbent on destruction, chaos and murder.
Under Finn's command, the Loki Familia alongside other powerful familias had recently delivered a critical strike against the group, neutralising a lot of their high-level adventurers and sending their dark deities back to heaven.
The operation had been a remarkable success on the surface, but the same couldn't be said for its counterpart inside The Dungeon. On the same day, a huge number of adventurers were led to a trap on the 27th floor, where a suicidal party of Evilus members had ambushed them with a mass pass parade, a huge number of monsters gatherer in one spot with a single purpose, total massacre. Even now, barely a week later, Finn was already hearing people's whispers and hushed conversations about it, calling the Nightmare of the 27th floor.
He shook his head, clearing it of the dark thoughts, gaze going back to the letter, reading it with a celerity that only years of experience doing paperwork could bring. He finished it quickly, putting it down on his desk and turning his head to give Loki a surprised look.
"So you kept in contact with King Alf all these years…" he said with a wry smile. "Somehow, I'm not surprised, this is exactly the kind of thing you would do without telling anyone."
Loki just gave him a proud smirk. "Well, we did kinda kidnap his precious daughter…" she said, amusement flashing clearly in her eyes. "I figured it couldn't hurt to keep him posted about her health every now and then."
"When do you plan to tell Riveria about this?" Finn asked, looking distinctly amused.
"When I know for sure she ain't gonna kill me," Loki answered with a visible shudder.
"So… never?"
"Never."