Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

"Oh, this? Yeah, whatever." Ayemon tossed the envelope without reading it into the trashcan.

"Ah, no!" Aldrich hurriedly took it out, "didn't you read this?" He pointed at the sentence 'city council' "it's from the city council, it must be important right?"

"Why bother?" Ayemon lit a pipe and smoked, "I know what's in there without reading it, it's something about attending the next meeting for a vote, or asking for favors and the like."

"Wait, you're a member of the city council?" Aldrich asked in shock. "You're a big shot, why didn't you tell me?!"

"Em? You didn't ask besides, I'm just the treasurer. I'm not a big shot. I basically fill a seat for the sake of convince. It's not a big deal, anyway tell about your adventure, now that's something I want to hear about."

"Are you serious, even if it's just the treasurer it's still a big deal. You can talk to the mayor any time you want."

"As if, If it was in my hands I wouldn't want to be in the same room as him. Anyway, back to you."

Aldrich pondered, he didn't know what to start with, should he talk about what happened to him first and then deliver lord Garon's message?

"Before that, I have a message to you from lord Garon." Aldrich decided to start with this first since it seemed of greater importance.

"Lord Garon? Lord of what and where?" Ayemon asked curiously.

"You really don't know?" Aldrich asked suspiciously and observed his expressions, however he discovered that Ayemon seem honest. "Lord of Ebrict, who else."

"What's with your attitude? Am I supposed to know every minor lord out there? He probably knew me. So, what does he have to say?" Ayemon waved his pipe lazily, smoke billowing to the ceiling.

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"Uh, he said that 'Orven didn't come back nor did he send word' he told me that it was for your ears alone."

Ayemon's smile disappeared, it was replaced with a blank expression that Aldrich had never seen before. It lasted for only a split second.

"Ah, he must be one of Tagborn's men. It's understandable since I contacted him to do some work behind the scenes to make that last quest of yours possible."

Aldrich didn't get the full picture but he understood that Ayemon went all in to make the third quest that he asked for legitimate. He had to make it actually real.

No half-measures. That was always how Ayemon acted, even when it came to his fake identity, he said multiple times that it was as real as real can be.

On that note his seat on the city council must have played a part in making that work much smoother. Wait.

"Tagborn? You mean the warlord in the west?" Aldrich asked in disbelief.

If you were to divide Vorian in to the East and West then you arrive at a startling contrast. The east was in better condition than the west by a significant margin.

Yes, indeed. Even with things the way they are now, monsters and bandits out of control, even with the the disappearing villages every now and then.

Some say in the west the war never ended. Not really. Some say, it did end, but that only made things worse in the west.

The lords of the west, for one reason or another—some say it started with a petty squabble— but ultimately it lead to a skirmish and then to true battle.

They started drafting soldiers, unlawfully and soon enough every lord in sight gathered men to do battle with one another for their own reasons.

The number of monsters in the west is said to be ten times of the east. Goblins, gnolls, kobolds and even orcs have made their own warbands and sold their services to the highest bidder.

It became the place to be if you were a lawbreakers of any kind, vagabonds, pirates and thieves were common. The entire place burned, many ordinary people try to run but most are just captured and enslaved or eaten.

The rule of law and order was a joke to them. The Imperial citadel made no mention of this matter. The governors didn't either.

Tagborn was a city in the west known now a days as the city of crime. And lord Tagborn was also known as the lord of crime, a warlord that made a name for himself in these kind of times.

Of course Aldrich knew not of the west was really like but there was no smoke without fire.

"Yeah, the west. My lands are in the west." Ayemon mused, "I am staying in here for the most part but I keep in contact with my men there. I even go there a few times a year."

"So, the chaos in the west is not as bad as everyone says it is?" Aldrich questioned.

"I want to know that myself," Ayemon smiled, "if you go there I am sure you will agree the rumors were understated. From the looks of it, it's even worse than what one might imagine."

Hmm? That was an odd answer.

"Caldera has gone west too, and I haven't heard from her either." Ayemon added without waiting for Aldrich's reaction.

"So…" Aldrich swallowed down, "you're going there to check up on them?"

For some reason, Aldrich felt a chill creep up on him. He did not know why he opposed that idea. From the beginning he didn't want to tell Ayemon about the message, but it was just a nagging feeling at the back of his mind.

"Go there? I guess, I should." Ayemon replied, "but not now. Both of them are capable people so I'm not worried. Orven can be playful like that sometimes, and lazy too."

Aldrich sighed in relief.

"Now, lets see your crest. Don't even try to weasel your way out of this one." Ayemon pointed at him.

"Fine, it's not a big deal. Here it is." Aldrich showed off his crest. Anyone looking would be able to see his rare symbol.