Melody

“Look, Gladil. I’ve tried to be understanding with you, but you can’t just keep coming in here asking for the same thing everyday. I already sold you a parcel of land at a discounted rate and I do not see why it is in the town’s best interest to sell you another one even closer to the dungeon. You must know how valuable that land will be to the guilds.”

“I get that, but like I’ve told you time and time again the forest is alive. It is ruled by a new god or goddess who is growing in power. I want to build a place of worship, and the closer to the forest the better.” The elf had been in her office at least once a day for the last week. Ever since he’d disappeared in the forest for five days before reemerging even more crazy than before.

“Gladil. We checked out your claims of a trial and nobody has seen the opening that you claim is in the dungeon clearing. For all we know, you smoked some of that ‘Jivey Ivy’ as the kids are calling it and just tripped out in nature for a week.”

“Explain the coinage then? Or the brass spear I took from the guardian as a spoil of war? The god controls the dungeon beneath his domain and granted me a trial by combat there. I emerged victorious and enlightened. You all cannot find the way because you lack faith. Only the god’s true believers, the devout, will be allowed to be tested and found worthy.”

That was the one part of his story that did line up. Until he had returned, the first floor’s boss had just been a group of drop-bats and a cat-sized spider that shot web at you. The same day that he stumbled out of the dungeon, however, the dungeon suddenly had a safe room at the end of the first floor and a cave goblinish creature as a guardian. As far as they could tell, Gladil had been the first person to face off the new boss. They still weren't sure what the little humanoids were, but because they resembed a cave goblin in the right lighthing, that was what they were going with.

Still, Melody was not ready to write off the possibility of a drunk fueled and ill-advised dungeon delve from the crazed fanatic.

“Nobody is denying that you ended up in the dungeon, or that you emerged victorious however unlikely that was. However, we are not ready to concede the presence of a fledgling godling in the forest. If you want land to build your house of worship, you are going to need to purchase it like everyone else. Now if you will excuse me, I have other matters that require my attention.”

The elf stood there indignantly glaring at Melody, somehow surprised at the rejection although it had been the same result he got time after time. Finally he accepted his dismissal and saw his way out of her office. Still, his claims had some credence to them. The forest behaved very strangely, and nobody had seen a fairy yet to suggest it was just an enchanted forest.

Melody shook her head. She hadn’t just dismissed him offhand, there truly were other urgent things she needed to attend to. With the growth of the dungeon and word reaching the King, there had been a large influx of settlers. Amongst them she’d managed to find a couple promising non-humans to hold key positions in the town’s small makeshift government and no longer had to speak to each new arrival and assign them land. These days she was more of a big-picture gnome, only dealing with those who adamantly demanded they speak to her such as Gladil, the ranger turned … priest? As much as she wanted to blow him off, he was rapidly gathering a few believers like him. For now there were only a handful of them, but if his cult got any larger she’d probably have to address it.

Later. For now she had to deal with the issue that plagued her currently. The thuggish brutes who lived up in Ostlind had taken to accosting the wagons that passed through their town, forcing taxes and levying goods when they passed through. With Geim and Helg’s assistance, the town had created a rough dirt path around the town, but for some reason that area got frequently attacked by bandits and the road was made unpassable through random acts of vandalism.

There was no doubt in Melody’s mind that it was Ostlind doing those acts, considering all that subjected themselves to their harassment managed to pass by without attack. A letter had already been sent to Eastreach requesting the garrison to deal with the issue, but for now Annahmia was on their own.

“Davis, could you come in?” There was a moment of silence before the door opened slowly and Davis entered. Standing at 6’3, the canine beastman towered over Melody, as well as almost everyone else in town so far. He ducked his head to enter the room, both to avoid smacking his head on the door frame and to remind her of his subservience. Throughout the founding of the town and even during the exploration before they settled, Davis was a rock that Melody could count on to get things done.

“Mrs. Mayor-”

“Mel. We’ve gone over this, if there isn’t anyone around it’s just Mel.”

“Right. Melody. How may I be of help?” Currently Davis was both head of the town guard and Melody’s personal guard.

“Another caravan was waylaid on the way down to Annahmia. Eastreach hasn’t responded to our letter yet and we cannot let this continue. I need you to send someone up to Ostlind to try and work out a peace. Since that isn’t going to work, we need to bolster the town guard and start training.”

“As you wish.”

Davis bowed again before exiting the room to carry out his Mayor’s request. Melody blew out the candle that was slowly dripping away on her desk and started packing her things away. Public hours were over and she had other people she needed to talk to, namely the dwarves and the Greensong party.