Chapter 4.1: The New Dungeon Busters start their first mission

Dell listens to Olpert then steps up."My good sir have you seen my brother Chase? I have come looking for him with some grave news from our homeland. I met Cecily Raptor in Gorna and she mistook me for Chase and told me he joined up with the Dungeon Busters. Do you have any news on his where abouts?"

"And I seek news of Aanbo, a dwarf from my monastery who was last seen in Orlane."

Berthold observed the assembled travellers as they greeted Olpert Razorsson, presenting their credentials or establishing their relation to other members of the guild.

"Greetings, Master Razorsson, this is quite the operation you are establishing here, " he stated rather formally, as would be natural for a first exchange with an unknown, but noteworthy stranger.

"I am Berthold of Dunsdale, at your service. You have other groups in Orlane or thereabouts? Who would be their captain, or leader?"

Antonius stood examining the room and the people with the quiet deliberation of a man long accustomed to watch halls and council rooms rather than guild gatherings. The lamplight caught faintly along the polished head of the warhammer at his side as he inclined his head first toward the figure who clearly commanded the room. "Master Razorsson," he said respectfully to Olpert Razorsson, "my thanks for receiving us."

Turning then to the others gathered in the guild hall of the Dungeon Busters in Hochoch, he offered a polite nod. "For those I have not yet had the pleasure to meet—my name is Antonius Block. Once of the city watch in Niole Dra, now a Karuth in service to Wee Jas. I have come north seeking honest work where the dead are restless and the living have need of steady hands." His gaze moved calmly across Sora, and Kazzak before settling again on the group as a whole.

"It seems, by fortune or by the will of my lady, that such work may be found here among you." He pauses only briefly before adding, "By the Ruby Lady I was guided here, so if this is your first charge I am happy to seek these bandits."

A brawny, wild-maned, black-haired Dwarf raises his calloused hand and addresses Olpert with an older term. "Mægester Razzorson, thank you for the opportunity with the Dungeon Busters. I, Kazzak Thunderblood, of Clan SkyForge, entrust my sword and my knowledge of underground activities to you in the desire that they will prove valuable in the future."

He sounds more formal than his appearance would indicate. "If we find bandits, they will trouble the good people here no more."

"I see," Berthold responded, seeing the grizzled man’s discomfort with honorifics.He’d met many a sergeant-at-arms that would have reacted in a similar manner.

He adjusted easily to match the man’s preferred manner of speech.

"Olpert, what can you tell us of this vanguard’s mission? What is it that your company is looking into, in Orlane?"

"So the bandits are around Orlane? Is that what they were looking into?" dell was thinking to himself Chase would have had no problem finding bandits he was a boundary warden and that was part of what they did. "Are there any contacts for us to talk with in Orlane master Razorsson?" Seeing it kinda made him uneasy Dell thought he would mess with him a bit.

"Yes, yes. We're all very happy to be a part of the Dungeon Busters, and we appreciate the opportunity, but don't we have a job to do?"

The walk back through the streets was brief but lively, with Olpert, now simply Boss in Antonius’s mind, setting a steady pace that spoke of long habit and quiet authority. By the time they reached the Inn of Eternal Rest, the lamps were lit and the common room hummed with low conversation. Antonius took his seat among his new companions, Berthold with his noble composure, Amnestria already half-lost in thought, Sora and Kazzak speaking in low dwarven tones, and Dell watching everything with a careful eye.

When food was brought, Antonius accepted a simple meal and a cup of water, declining the offered ale without comment or ceremony. His restraint was practiced, almost ritualistic. As the others settled in, he began to ask questions, not idly, but with the quiet precision of a former watchman. Turning to each companion he gives them his full attention, "Where did you trained? What roads did you traveled? What dangers did you already faced?" His tone remained courteous, even warm at times, but there was purpose behind every word.

To Antonius, this was not merely conversation. It was assessment.

Because if they were to face the rising darkness together under the banner of the Dungeon Busters, he intended to know exactly who stood beside him when steel was drawn, and when death came calling.

Sora shrugs, taking a mouthful. "Sora Highforge," she says flatly, almost annoyed. "I trained among the dwarven monks at Clan Stonereaver east of Moradinath Mor. The path I took here was fraught with danger, to be certain. You haven't lived until you've gone one-on-one with an angry mountain bear!" She rolls up her left sleeve to reveal a fresh set of claw marks. "Bruin wanted to make dinner of me, but I convinced him that catching fish was easier."

"I am Kazzak Thunderblood of Clan SkyForge. My clan is known to many as a provider of fine metal crafts.* I traveled here without incident from our home in the mountains west of the Dim Forest. We often battle a tribe of kobolds whose squads move too close to us in the caverns beneath the mountains. Our biggest foes in recent history were a group of hill giants."

"I am used to planned and coordinated attacks. It is the best way to secure victory."

Dell after finishing his meal will down his ale and look at Antonius"You know the name but for the others I am Dell Bandstone. I come from Agaden Reach and I am a boundary warden. My country has fallen because of treachery and that is why I must find my brother Chase. My specialty is the shadows." Dell will then move off to see if he can find a dice game.

Kazzak finishes his second ale before while others are on their first. "Razorsson mentioned undead in the forest. Does anyone know anything about that?" This time, the Dwarf was careful to correctly pronounce the name of their new boss. Switching from Dwarvish to Keolish does not come easy for him.

Antonius listened to each of them with quiet attentiveness, his expression measured but not unkind, weighing their words as much as their tone.

To Sora he gave a faint approving nod. "A mountain bear is an honest foe, Mistress Highforge. It tests strength and resolve without deceit—there is merit in that."

To Kazzak he inclined his head slightly deeper, "Discipline and coordination win battles long before they begin. I would trust a shield line built on such thinking."

When Dell rose to leave, Antonius simply said, "May your search bear fruit, Warden Bandstone. Shadows serve best when guided by purpose."

He had already spoken his regard earlier to Morgran’s bold spirit and Durren’s careful formality, and now, as the conversation settled, Antonius placed one hand over the ruby symbol of Wee Jas. His tone shifted—firm, almost solemn. "If this Dim Forest harbors unrest among the dead. That is no small matter." He bowed his head briefly, murmuring a prayer under his breath. "All things are owed their proper end. I will see that whatever stirs there is returned to its rightful rest." When he looked up again, his gaze moved across the group with steady resolve. "If we are to stand together as Dungeon Busters, then let that be one of the first balances we restore."

"Fair enough. I never much cared for the walking dead anyway."