The Aspire Guild, Not the biggest guild, not the most well known guild, but undoubtedly the most powerful guild in the Elwere; Aspire was first known for guaranteeing its contracts, if a contract was accepted the terms of the contract would be carried out no matter the cost – now however many patrons and clients don’t even require the guarantee as they are fully aware that once a contract has been signed the terms would be complete. A wealthy noble who was patron to one the guilds strongest competitors ‘The Companions Guild’ once mockingly offered his houses wealth and land for Aspire to take control of the Companions Citadel, a mountain stronghold fortress that was believed to be unconquerable; the terms of the contract were openly agreed to by the Aspire Guild, and within the span of a month the Citadel was flying the Aspire Guild Flag. The noble refused to uphold his end of the contract and hired a small army to protect him and his lands, however he quickly relented when he and every member of his family woke one morning with the Aspire Guilds symbol a black orchid and a dagger next to their heads in their own beds, none of the hundred or so guards seen or noted anything out of the ordinary during the night. Now the Citadel and lands are used as training grounds for potential applicants looking to join Aspire. The capital city of Elwere, Velendale, named after the gently sloping dales that much of the city now covered was split in to two parts the inner city and the sprawling mass of the outer city. The city as a whole held close to one million people however almost all of these lived and worked in the outer city – the inner city held a population of a little more than forty thousand and this is where the heart of the empire lay the royal palace was on the crest of the largest hill in the dales and overlooked the entire city, the land around the palace also held most of the power in the empire, nobles mansions, guild halls, foreign embassies, the mages college and the more reputable money lenders as well as some of the wealthier merchants and business owners. Kadin had dropped off his horse at one of the guild training grounds on the outskirts of the city that morning and was working his way to the guild hall in the inner city, there were several main roads into the city and by keeping to these roads even the outer city looked safe, warm and friendly; this however was only on the surface the first couple of streets off the main road, a few more turns off the main roads and gone were the two or three story stone homes, shops and Inns of the merchants and traders, gone too were the clean paved roads and decorative trees lining the roads, now after turning off the main road the homes were wooden tired looking shacks and huts the streets were packed dirt and passing by some wet and muddy lumps of garbage, alleyways with the reek of weeks old trash and human waste, the smell of unwashed bodies and the choking stench of too many people living too closely together. The inner and outer city were separated by a magically constructed wall even from a distance away Kadin could see the gently glowing runes on it pulsing with strength and keeping the whole inner city safe, once he started to progress through the otter city he could feel his magical energy begin to drain away now this close to the wall he had no magical power left, the field created by the enchanted

wall dispelled all magic and covered almost all the city the outer city is just now beginning to reach beyond its boundaries, Kadin hated coming here without his magic he felt weak and vulnerable, it didn’t matter that no one else could use magic here either it still put him on edge but he still walked the streets confidently shrouded in his black cloak, no one would be able to see the black dyed leather armour underneath or the multitude of weapons strapped to it or hidden in the layers of the cloak. He did get a few glances from the random footpad and a small gang of thugs with stained cloths holding either cudgels or blackjacks but not slowing his stride or even glancing in their direction they all seemed to think better of it and leave him alone. Walking down a grimy street that seemed marginally better than those surrounding it Kadin took a sharp right down a deserted and shadowed alleyway this one was different than the others as there was no puddles of unidentifiable origin or piles of scraps and trash, this was a packed dirt trail that lead straight to a dead end wall a side of the inner city wall. It is believed to have been raised directly from the ground as a single grey granite construct and looking at the wall as he approached there were no signs of brickwork or joinery, a smooth grey canvas for the multitude of protective spells, enchantments, runes and glyphs that covered the whole surface of the wall gently illuminating it in a rainbow of colors, as he approached the wall a small section flickered and dimmed, Kadin didn’t pause his stride and continued right into the wall, where he should have impacted the stone Kadin only felt a slight tingle as the enchantment on his gold guild seal kicked in allowing him to pass though a magical tunnel that lead through the wall. He could have kept to the main roads and passed through one of the gates to the inner city the guards would not have challenged or barred his way in, but he needed to get to the guild hall and report what had happened after he returned the ‘child’ to the village. The reaction to the child being returned brought what he had expected shock, horror and disbelieve. What did come as a surprise though was the reaction of the magistrate for the area, the one who had negotiated the contract with the guild, his long red robes of office trimmed in gold to signify he spoke for the crown, the man had oiled hair pulled back and a thin beard ending in a point just under his chin, he began accusing Kadin of blasphemy and demanding to know what he had done with the child, accusation of bringing a demon back with him to destroy the village. At which point the child was roughly grabbed from Kadin and stoned by the magistrate and a few other energetic villagers where the former mother wailed in disperse. Blood fresh on his face, hands and cloths the magistrate turned on Kadin rage on his face he and the murderous few villagers began to advance, at which point the magister blinked in surprise as the point of Kadin’s sword was pressed at his throat.

“Think carefully on you next actions Magistrate” Kadin said pushing the point a bit deeper, just short of drawing blood. Colour drained from the magistrates face and fear flickered in his eyes, the support he had from the other villagers quickly dried up when they saw the speed of Kadin move forward draw his sword and level it at the other mans throat.

“You are free to leave” the man said anger and spite evident in his voice. As Kadin sheathed his sword and turned to leave the village he heard the magister mutter to the others ...”wont get away with this..”

...

Kadin walked through the streets of the inner city all clean white stone pathways, the main streets were lined with small evergreen trees and the occasional decorative fountain at cross roads and

junctions, the street its self was wide enough for three carts to move side by side. The buildings were mostly a lightly shining marble with upper class shops, Inns and other traders on the main streets, there were also a few homes ‘modest’ by inner city standards but still an unattainable dream for many in the lower city, as he continued his trip towards the square in front of the palace the roads grew quieter and the buildings larger, long joined walls of buildings were replaced by individual structures and further on walls and gardens with some of the large manor houses set back from the street, then on to larger houses bigger walls gated entry ways and guards in house liveries, even the occasional tower reaching into the air high above. It was mid afternoon by the time he arrived in the collective square in front of the palace grounds the palace itself was still far in the distance up a long broad road with opulent displays of wealth as it went, statues to either side of the road, fountains and garden ponds set a little further back all the way up to the entrance at the hills summit. However Kadin wasn’t here for the palace, the square was enormous where in the first days of the kingdom the subjects would gather to hear declarations and announcements, as the kingdom flourished and grew more wealthy notable groups set up closer to the grounds and now the square was lined on three sides with all sort of buildings from Giant wizard towers to a military barracks to a few guild halls. The Aspire guild hall was directly opposite the gates to the palace touted as a great sign of respect from a former king centuries ago. Kadin was one of the few who knew the real reason for the location of the hall, the top ten golden members along with the twenty Diamond members and the Mithril five knew the truth and the whole history between the crown and the guild. Kadin headed towards the open gates of the Aspire guild hall from the outside there was nothing impressive about the building no flags or guild insignia, no decorated garden or statues. A simple structure four stories high with a sloping roof to the left and right a row of illuminated windows above the arched doorway at the top of a small but broad stairway, the centre of the stone steps starting to wear smooth and dip from centuries of traffic. The doors in to the hall themselves were twelve foot high and two foot thick hard wood with multiple metal studded bolts on the outside to strengthen the wood, the main doors only open once a week to keep them used, inside the left door was a smaller door that was most often used for admittance. It was to this smaller door that Kadin walked the enchantment in his golden guild seal was still active even in the magically sealed city, the door made a light clicking sound as he approached and pulled the black metal ring of the door handle towards him opening up the hall. Bright red flooring covered the full base of the entry hall with white marble pillars reaching to the sloping roof above, there was also two large stair ways leading to the upper levels to the left and right sides of the hall with the open space in the middle leading the main meeting hall. The stair in the entry hall lead out on to balconies overlooking the lower levels, Kadin stepped forwards past the sign warning all visitors to stay on the red flooring for their own safety as there are various traps, locks and tests for students - most were non lethal except in the north east wing of the building where the seventh year students who were approaching graduation needed to study. As he moved forwards in to the hall he heard a voice from behind him say

“You’re late!” The light chiming voice of an elf. Kadin turned to see Aurora casually leaning against one of the pillars the loose fitting gray cloths at contrast with her light blue skin and midnight blue hair, she was small for an elf, taller than most humans but Kadin was a hair taller then her, however with her lithe body and light frame she seemed taller still, she lightly pushed herself off the pillar and moved forwards with the grace only an elf can achieve.

“Late for what?” Kadin asked lowering the hood of his cloak and looking to Aurora, even in the guild hall and in her casual clothing she still had a few weapons visible, a belt of throwing knifes set against her left shoulder a long bladed dagger sheathed at her side and another two blades worked into her bracers on his forearms. She nodded her head towards the far end of the hall towards the set of double doors to the meeting hall doors that were currently closed.

“Man in a red cloak, very snake like – oily beard ... has a high opinion of himself.” She replied with more than a hint of amusement behind her eyes, before going on “has a very low opinion of you – he actually demanded to see the five ... they kept him waiting for most of the day but they went in a while ago – you might still be able to catch the end of it.”

“Knew I should have charged him more!” Kadin muttered to himself before unlacing the pouch with the black soul gem in it and handing it over to a quizzical looking Aurora. “Can you have a look at this?” he asked

“Fine.” The elf replied “go speak to Mr Oily Serpent in there and find me when you are done.” She said lightly taking the belt pouch from Kadin heading towards a set of stair leading to the upper levels. She paused for a second on the bottom step of the stair looking to the pouch then back to Kadin questions evident in her gaze before continuing on. Kadin strode towards the doors to the meeting hall and as he approached he heard the shrill sounds of shouting within. ‘Here we go’ Kadin thought as he pushed on both doors ‘no point in trying to quietly slide in – time to make an entrance.’ Both door swung wide letting him calmly walk forwards into the hall, the meeting hall was well lit and could hold hundreds of people, to his right and left seats went both up behind him and down in front of him all cantered around a stage and from the front side a raised and protruding platform large enough for a single person to stand on. Above the stage there was an observation deck that in more formal times held the mithril five the leaders of the guild, as it did now the raised deck kept the guild leaders shrouded in shadows so you could not make out individual features just the outline of five forms sitting looking down on the speakers platform. The leaders of the guild were each responsible for one of the five core tenants of the guild. Combat, Strategy, Stealth, Sorcery and Death it was also widely known three of the five had achieved immortality. However Kadin’s attention was drawn to the man on the speakers platform gesturing wildly he turned to see Kadin as he entered eyes widening in shock before turning venomous then he began pointing and shouting

“There!!! He’s the one!! He is the one we hired to protect us and not only did he fail – he tried to pass off some sort of demon child as one of our own!” The magistrate ended on a wild shriek.

“Ahhh – gold seven, good of you to be here, you are being called to account.” One of the voices above said to Kadin, its generally accepted that the five only used the names of those diamond level members of the guild the remaining got referred to as their current ranking. The voice went on “If you can please report on the details of your last contract and what transpired?”

The magistrate interrupted with “Whats to explain?!?! He failed!!”

The glowing orbs that illuminated the room began to dull before a stern voice above said “Gold seven has the floor, magistrate – You will be silent!” the magistrate cast hateful glances at Kadin.

Kadin relayed his story to the five guild leaders, omitting that he had taken the black soul gem as the magistrate was still in the room and Kadin would rather he not know. Once complete he then explained that "The contract was stated as to enter the tower retrieve the child if it still survived and to bring the necromancer to the village to be judged or if not possible to terminate him. The operation was to commence on the following day after the contract had been signed" He then went on " so I did get the child back and returned him to the village - however the necromancer was substantially more powerful than reported and had access to teleportation magic, so the second stage of the contract is still ongoing and this is what my focus will be going forwards."

"Enough!" shouted the magistrate "you have failed your contract!" as he shouted these words the glow around the room started to dim and Kadin could feel anger and annoyance radiation off the five but the magistrate didn't seem to notice and continued with his titrate "This guild has had too high an opinion of its self for too long - I will go to the king and revoke your rights.." the room had gone almost completely dark by this time but still he went on "and I will announce to all, that you have broken your vows..." before he could get out more than a startled yelp the magistrate was grabbed by the throat pinned to a supporting pillar several feet in the air face to face with the guild leader of Stealth an immortal vampire, darkness and shadows seemed to bleed out of him and it was hard to see where his red and black cloak ended and the shadows began. His alabaster skin and glow of blood red eyes were all that was visible beneath his hood as he spoke. "We are done with you magistrate, this contract will be honoured and this will be your last dealing with us, if you return to this building you will die." Stealth said in a dry voice that sounded like crumbling leather.

The magistrate was able to choke out two words "the king.." Stealth went on with anger in his voice.

"Our agreement with the king is simple - we are exempt from all laws, and in exchange we will not accept a contract to end him! That is all! - over the years we have extended a courtesy to him and his officials by allowing them to request certain contracts with us... it seems we have become too complacent if your views and attitude are anything to go by - I will pay a visit to King Robert later ... to .... Discuss things!" With that the lights in the room returned to full brightness and the magistrate fell to the ground with an ungraceful thud, the five were back in their seats as if nothing had happened, the magistrate muttered

“I will go to his highness right now” before fleeing the chamber. This left Kadin alone with the five where he was asked from another voice a dry but lighter voice.

"You have a question?"

Kadin voice his question before he realised it "Why did you tell him of our agreement with the crown?"

Amusement sounded in the answer "Very few people know of it, and that.. person cannot be trusted to keep quite - he will go and tell everything to the king, then he will be executed by the king to keep the details of our agreement secret."

"I understand" Kadin answered before going on. "I found one of the necromancer’s items, a black soul gem - I will use this to track him and complete my contract - do you require anything of me?"

"No." came all five voices as one. Kadin turned to leave when he heard

"Kadin." A lighter female voice, he turned in shock - it wasn't a surprise the five knew his name but it was that they used it.

"I have felt the necromancers aura on the magistrate, he is more dangerous than you know - be careful." Kadin assumed this was the leader of sorcery but couldn’t tell from the forms above, he bowed his head before turning and leaving the room.