Chapter Three-Hundred Forty

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Boss Toja

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“S-So that’s why I didn’t approach, Boss…” stammers the elf, withering beneath the dispassionate eyes of the spiderkin behind the desk.  Boss Toja gives nothing away as she weighs the future of the elf, the orb weaver resisting the urge to twitch her spinerretes as she thinks.  He’d never see them, but she’s been in this business long enough to know better than show any sign of weakness.

“It’s fine, Dippo,” she finally answers, the elf sagging in relief as she continues.  “You’re not the first to be ratted out by the ravens.  At least you didn’t cause a scene and drag any back here.”  Dippo shudders, recalling the beating the first enforcer got for leading a group of cawing, shouting ravens back to the headquarters.  “There’s always another mark.  Just make sure you know the difference between caution and cowardice.  One will get you far, the other… won’t get you very far at all.”

The elf stands, nodding so deeply he’s practically bowing.  “Thank you, Boss!  Don’t worry, Boss!  You can count on me, Boss!”

She waves an arm at him, dismissing him, and is glad to see he understands without needing to be explicitly told.  She eyes her guards for a few moments before allowing them to stay.  She can think without them bothering her, and she has a lot to think about.

Five arrests, five more chased off, and only Dippo so far has been smart or scared enough to back off without attracting attention.  Or at least doing so obviously.  She knows she has Thedeim’s attention, she just doesn’t know how much.

The dungeon hasn’t been anything worth her time ever since it appeared.  She and her guild are more concerned with people than monsters, though there are a few interesting poisons to be had from the dungeon.  Still, she’s been content to do her best to stay out of its affairs, and had been well beneath its notice until now.

She can’t help but smile at the memory of Hullbreak’s desperate gambit, and the dwellers of Thedeim knocking on the doors of the neighborhood, warning them they might need to evacuate.  They didn’t know who she was then, but that small luxury is probably past by now.

She should have known the Earl’s offer was too good to be true.  The first meeting was simple enough: a few mutual threats, bribes, gifts, and down to business.  She was more than happy to give details of the Slim Chance guild.  She was there when the old Boss told Karn that was his odds of getting out of the guild alive.  The dwarf had underestimated Karn’s party, and Karn himself.  It’s a tangential slight, but she and Karn have never been friends, so why not make some coin at his expense?

Rumors abounded after the meeting, with everyone looking forward to getting coin from a noble without even needing to pull a knife on them.  Toja did her best to temper expectations, but there’s long been a rivalry of sorts with the Slim Chance, so everyone was eager to get their weapons wet and be paid for it.

The Earl’s second offer was exactly what they all wanted.  Toja should have known it was too good to be true.  The offer was far more than even a disconnected noble should think was worth leaning on a few simple crafters and gatherers.  But not only are they showing to be a lot stronger than they should be, but they have the protection of Thedeim himself!

It’s a clever trick, she has to admit; causing noise and attracting attention.  Ordinarily, that would just mean delivering the ultimatum quicker and leaving.  Guards are always at least a couple minutes away, plenty of time for a threat and clean getaway, even with squawking birds.  Neighbors are supposed to pretend they didn’t see anything.  But after delving, they’re getting confident and standing together.

If it was just one neighborhood, retaliation would be easy.  But no.  Almost every single neighborhood her people have tried to intimidate, they’ve all solidified to the alarm of those stupid birds.  She can’t even be sure Thedeim is spreading himself thin, as she’s been seeing reports of seagulls intermixing with the ravens, lending their own cacophony to the mix.

Getting Thedeim’s attention would be bad enough.  She doesn’t need Hullbreak inspecting her stitches, too.  The harbor dungeon may have mellowed recently, but she remembers the horror stories of those who witnessed the tragedy and survived.  She doesn’t want to be the one to set him off a second time.

Their attention isn’t even limited to the town at large, either.  There’s been suspicious cats staying just outside the kill area, as well as birds, not to mention the sudden interest bees have taken to the headquarters.  A lot of her underlings chuckle about the dungeon not being as sneaky as it thinks it is.  Toja, on the other hand, recognizes a distraction when she sees one.  The only problem is she doesn’t know what she’s getting distracted from.

She sighs and settles back, grabbing a pair of knitting needles to keep her hands busy while she thinks.  Fools might find it odd for a crime boss to knit, but it helps her keep her dexterity honed, and even a crime boss enjoys feeling warm.

What is she going to do?  All the options boil down to a choice: stick with the Earl, or abandon him.  Sticking with him certainly has its advantages.  Coin, protection from the law, prestige from her people, and fear from those who aren’t are just the obvious ones.  There’s a lot of power to be had in aiding a rise to power.  Muscling out competition makes a lot of money, and the Earl stands to earn Toja a lot of money if he can monopolize Thedeim’s output.

There’s also a lot of downsides.  Just because she’s been staying out of the dungeon’s affairs, doesn’t mean she’s not up to date on Thedeim.  The Dungeoneers even suspect he’s a Lost dungeon, instead of Cloistered, though they don’t admit it in public.  She can’t imagine how he could be Lost, but it implies a lot of goodies hidden somewhere, if she can only find them.  But Thedeim is also no pushover.  He ate Neverrest, cowed Hullbreak, and even made friends with the Southwood.  She thinks the tales of the Maw are exaggerated, but that’s just another example to show messing with Thedeim is not for the faint of heart.

But would refusing the Earl be any better?  She’d have to give him his payment back, and he’d certainly demand a penalty payment, too.  On top of that would be a significant loss of face among her people.  The scoundrels wouldn’t stand for their Boss to back out of a deal like that, not without causing a ruckus.  She’s confident she can defend her position, one way or another, but it’s something she’d rather avoid.  And if the Earl is successful in his venture to take a direct hand in Fourdock, she’d have to deal with an actively-hostile mayor, instead of one who reluctantly turns a blind eye for the sake of stability.  Rezlar might be young, but he understands the havoc he’d create if he arrested her guild and left a power vacuum like that.  So long as she keeps things subtle, he has no cause to remove her.

She frowns into her knitting as she sees fewer and fewer options but to keep working with the Earl.  The money will be good, but she’s not foolish enough to think he’d defend her if caught.  So, if she’s helping him, what other angle can they try?  Much as she hates to admit it, the Slim Chance is probably out of their reach.  She could press, but a war between them and her guild would go well for nobody, least of all her.  What else can they try to strike a blow to Rezlar’s credibility?

He doesn’t have a lot of vectors for attack.  He’s practically a hermit, rarely leaving his manor.  Attacking his guards would be pointless and lead to her guild being squashed by the full might of the law.  He likes Thedeim, but good luck attacking the dungeon.  Smuggling in an invader is a tricky proposition even against a normal dungeon, let alone one as clever as he is.  The only other thing Rezlar has his hands in is…

“Oh.”  Her guards look to her at her sudden realization, with her smiling and waving for them to return to their positions.  Rezlar and Thedeim are working on that Hold now as a symbol of cooperation and protection for Fourdock.  If it were to collapse, it’d be a major blow to their credibility… especially if the young lord mayor is caught in it.  It’d give the Earl the perfect excuse to step in and take over, and if they can pin the blame on the dungeon, that’d be all the excuse he’d need to quarantine it and only allow in vetted parties for the dangerous thing.

If she plays her cards right, she can even see herself swearing fealty to the Earl and retiring to be the new lord mayor of Fourdock.  It’d be a better retirement than founding an adventuring guild, that’s for certain.