"Strictly platonic," I said stammering out the words at first. "I'm actually married but a death has separated my wife from me. I hope to see her again someday." I chose my words to not be fibbing, but also to not sound crazy. It probably sounded a bit weird but Roderic didn't question it. I wondered if this was my new amulet doing its job.

"That makes me feel a bit better. Nothing against you, son, but I don't want her to lose another husband and would prefer her to be with someone who isn't putting their life on the line on a daily basis," he said.

"I completely understand that, sir. I wouldn't want her to go through a loss like that again." We continued walking toward the tallest buildings in the city.

"I'm glad we're on the same page. Now for the task at hand. Besides telling Wolfhill's leaders that they are no longer under the control of Edrus, we need to convince them to restart the trade routes between Bettyford, Roseglen, and Wolfhill. It will be mutually beneficial for the citizens of all three cities," he said.

"That sounds like a good plan," I said. We continued talking about what needed to be conveyed and some possible scenarios they might agree to. It sounded like everything with a trade route was positive for all parties, but you never know once the politicians get involved.

We came to the large, double doors with a guard on either side. They looked angry as we approached and spoke gruffly.

"What does Edrus want now Roderic? It isn't your normal day to visit the leaders."

"Edrus is dead. We are here to help stabilize the city and help with the healing process," Roderic said matter-of-factly.

The stoic guard's eyes widened when he heard the news.

"They'll want to hear this right away." He pulled the door open and led us inside. The main lobby had a man sitting at a central desk and a grand staircase on either side. The guard went up to the man and whispered something to him. He almost fell out of his chair.

Steadying himself he practically ran up the stairs and yelled back, "One moment please." His attempt at propriety was slightly comical under the circumstances.

A minute later he came back into view at the top of the stairs and tried to calmly state that they were ready to see us. We headed up to meet with them and Roderic said something quietly to me when we were about halfway up the stairs.

"Let me do the talking. I know these people and they wouldn't take kindly to weird talk about looting corpses and whatnot."

I just nodded even though I wanted to respond differently. I was a little offended because the implication is that I say things that are inappropriate in polite society. As I thought about it I had said something about looting corpses yesterday and I may have used the word 'lootapalooza' so I guess I kind of understood where he was coming from.

We got to the top of the stairs and there were huge doors on either side of the landing. We were directed to the left and walked in the open doorway. We sat on one side of a large conference table. Five older gentlemen sat on the opposite side with stern, judgemental visages.

"Give your report," stated the person who sat in the middlemost seat.

Roderic told them everything that had happened as far as he knew. He adeptly left out parts that made me seem like a crazed murderer and emphasized the parts that villanized Edrus. He spoke of the need for trade routes and the request for people for Roseglen. He was a master orator and I could tell why Edrus needed him to keep his foothold on this city. I could also tell why Bettyford was one hundred percent on board with having him be their mayor. This guy was a politcal genius and had the five men eating out of his hand.

By the end of his explanation, the men's faces had adopted a more calm, agreeable expression and they asked us to step outside for a few minutes. We got up and I followed Roderic's lead of giving them a slight, polite bow as we exited.

It was more than a few minutes but that was par for the coourse for any government entity I had ever dealt with before. After about a half of an hour we were summoned back in and took our same seats.

"Thank you for waiting. We desired to ensure a positive outcome for our city and believe we have come to an agreement. You will now here our verdicts," said the man in the leftmost seat.

The one on the far right spoke loudly and clearly while another person wrote down each word. This person sat on the right of the one speaking and hadn't been present before.

"This governing body finds that the actions of the adventurer Theodore were justified and in the best interest of the city of Wolfhill. He will be commended as a hero of the city and his many crimes, including the killing of eighty-three men, will be henceforth forgiven and he shall not be crushed under heavy stones as is our customary punishment for taking the life of another," he paused as the record keeper finished his frantic writing. I felt my eyes go wide as my crimes were forgiven as I didn't know that my being crushed by heavy stones was even up in the air.

He continued, "This governing body is agreeable to the request to restore trade with the towns of Bettyford and Roseglen and the call for additional resources and people for Roseglen as a goodwill gesture." The other man finished writing once again and waited.

"This governing body requests that the adventurer Theodore or someone of equal fortitude embark on a special mission to lessen the negative impact of the pirate scourge that has all but neutralized Wolfhill's trading capabilities in the North Sea." The man stopped speaking and all five of the men and Roderic looked to me awaiting an answer.

It took me an unfortunate amount of time to give an answer because I had been told not to speak and I wasn't expecting the need to arise. "Um, yes," I said stupidly. Roderic gave me a friendly elbow to my ribs and I realized I need to be more formal in my response.

"The adventurer Theodore agrees to deal with the pirate menace and set up a meeting of said pirates with the locker of Davy Jones at their earliest convenience," I said in an official sounding voice. All six of the men looked at me like I was a moron and Roderic put his palm to his forehead and then rubbed his brow with his thumb and forefinger like he wished he hadn't brought me along. A new quest popped up which broke the tension for one-eighth of the people in the room.

New Quest!

Lessen the negative impact of the pirates in the North Sea.

You have the option to kill the pirates or use an alternate solution of your own design.

Reward: XP awarded will be a direct reflection of the effectiveness of the method utilized.

That is an ambiguous quest with an equally ambiguous reward.

"With all parties in agreement, this meeting of the leaders of Wolfhill, Roderick Rhodia, and the adventurer Theodore is adjourned." The five men got up and left the room through a back exit and the one recording the meeting finished writing and followed.

Roderic got up and I followed his lead. We exited the building and started back to the inn. He hadn't said anything yet so I broke the silence.

"What did I do?" I asked.

"Those men could have ordered your death and frankly would have been justified based on the amount of men that died as the direct result of your actions and you made a weird joke in their court. I wouldn't have been surprised if they reversed their ruling had you made a similar joke but had refused their request," he said seriously.

"Well, I didn't even know I was on trial so that would have been a nice heads up," I said with a little mustard on it.

He put his arm out and stopped me I turned and looked into his intense eyes.

"Killing people is never a laughing matter. Even these pirates you agreed to 'lessen the negative impact of' are people with families. They have mothers and fathers. Did you think of that?" He asked rhetorically. I could tell he just wanted me to think about it.

"There's more than one way to skin a cat," I said and then immediately regretted saying.

"What does that mean?" He said in confused anger as if his words were just bouncing off of my skull.

"It means that I can find an alternate solution to killing the pirates." I didn't know what the alternate solution was yet, but I'd have more time to think before I set out. We still had to get back to Bettyford and I wanted to visit Roseglen and give them an update as well.

"Why not just say that in the first place? Sometimes it is better to be clear than clever," he said wisely. I agreed with him and we walked in silence the rest of the way to the inn. I needed to talk to him more about the guilt I have been feeling recently. Maybe he would have some words of wisdom.

We walked into the inn and saw the rest of our group smiling and having a good time. It made me happy to see them all this way after everything we had been through to get to this point.

"Good news, everyone! I didn't get the death penalty for my many crimes," I was trying to make a joke but I guess it was too soon. Roderic once again rubbed his brow in frustration. I pretended not to notice.