Adventurer Guildmaster Rhodes smiled as he saw who was coming in through the front door. Today was not a good day, and the events of this morning were grim, as were the ramifications of those acts, but what was about to happen almost made it all worth it. Almost.

The adventurer's guild was a very nicely appointed building. The city's ruler, the Archduke, was quite fond of the guild and had always done well by them. Because of that, they had a large and comfortable building in the city's main square. Compared to some of the shabby buildings that other guilds occupied, such as the Ratcatcher's guild, it was practically a palace.

Guildmaster Linus of the Ratcatchers Guild had just pushed his way through the door, flanked by a pair of his flunkies. Like the guildmaster himself, they were short, wiry men, but while the guildmaster wore a silk doublet and hose, the two goons wore light leather armor. Rhodes suppressed a chuckle at the sight: Rhodes himself was dressed in half-plate as was his habit and had a mace at his side. Standing and rising to his full height of six-and-a-half feet, Rhodes was rewarded with seeing the two flinch. Linus, however, was apparently too angry to be intimidated, or just too self-absorbed. The man's almost rat-like face twitched as he began his tirade.

"One of your lackeys assaulted three of my men this morning," Linus shouted, his voice shrill. "They also threatened me directly. I demand retribution!"

Rhodes, keeping his expression deadpan, replied, "I spoke with the 'lackey' you're talking about. Your men barged into a closed tavern and tried to strongarm the owner into paying your extortionate rates for killing giant rats. After my adventurer hauled a giant rat out of the cellar and asked one of your goons to kill it, all your men could do was cower at the sight of it. After my adventurer left the premises, your men followed them into an alley. The Ratter gave them a chance to walk away, and the only answer she received was that they were going to break their legs and braid them behind her head. The Ratter then, in an act of considerable restraint, disabled your men with pepper bomb, then made it clear that there would be consequences if they ever tried to assault them or any of their clients again." Rhodes shrugged, then added, "I've already received the full report, and the Ratter is up for a commendation for their remarkable restraint. Nobody was killed, and no permanent harm was intended or done. So, if you're finished, please be on your way: I have a lot to do today, and I can't afford to waste any more time on your tripe."

Guildmaster Linus' face turned an impressive shade of red as he began screeching, "HOW DARE YOU! I'LL HAVE YOU BROUGHT BEFORE THE ARCHDUKE AND..."

Rhodes, his expression deadpan, interrupted him with a simple, "The archduke is dead. Murdered. His family, too. They found the bodies this morning."

Rhodes suppressed a smile as Linus began sputtering in shock. They both knew that was bad. Extremely bad, truth be told. There was an old saying: "Good men rarely make for good rulers." The Archduke was a good man, and surprisingly enough, a good leader. He'd watched over the city and helped it to prosper for nearly fifty years. Perhaps more importantly, he was as close to the king as a brother might be, despite not being related by blood. If the Archduke and his family were murdered, well...

Good men rarely make for good rulers, and while the king was an excellent ruler, he was definitely not a nice person, especially when angered or challenged.

After a moment, Linus finally collected himself and asked, "How?"

Rhodes nodded, then explained, "The 'Dark Guilds' have decided to band together, and chose to make a statement. They wrote it, quite literally, in the blood of the Archduke and his family, saying "This is our city now". The king has decided to send the Dark Guilds a message in return. To that end, three royal proxies, and five full Murders of the king's Crows are coming. They're expected to arrive tonight." That was honestly a bit overkill, but with the Thieves Guild, Assassins Guild, Necromancers Guild, and maybe a dozen other criminal guilds banding together, it was a threat to be taken seriously.

Linus was obviously flabbergasted by this news and seemed to struggle with which question to ask first. Eventually, he asked, "How can the king know so quickly when it happened this morning?"

Rhodes nodded, admitting it was a fair question, then reached into a drawer in his desk, and pulled out a crystal orb. "In times of great emergency," he explained, "the guildmaster of the adventurer's guild and a few select others are granted permission to use one of these to contact the king directly. The full list is classified, but there are a dozen other people in the city who can contact the king if I can't. The murder of one of the highest nobles in the land along with his family, as well as a direct challenge to the king's authority, certainly qualifies as an emergency. As to how the proxies and the crows can get here so quickly, the king has paid the Magi Guild for a windwalking spell for all parties involved, expense be damned. Half a 'Massacre' is going here, the other half is going to reinforce the northern border, in case our neighbors get any ideas about invading during the current crisis."

A single member of the king's elite enforcers was simply considered a Crow. Ten of them were a Flock. One hundred of them were a Murder, but a full one thousand of them were a Massacre. A single Murder once purged an entire city in a single night, although that was a special case and they were allowed to use any method they saw fit to do the job. The fact that five full Murders were coming meant that the king was planning wholesale slaughter against the Dark Guilds in response to their challenge. Three royal proxies were just icing on the cake.

The kingdom was quite large, and the king couldn't be everywhere his authority was needed at every moment of the day. To that end, twelve proxies were selected to take that authority everywhere it needed to go, so the king could see to the business of ruling the kingdom as a whole. The royal proxies were powerful and talented individuals who were granted permission to act with the king's authority in any situation. A proxy was practically an army unto itself, and three of them were on their way right now.

Linus gulped, knowing what was coming next, and asked, "So, I expect that the city is under martial law?"

Rhodes, finally allowing a smile, answered, "As of this morning, yes. And in any situation where the city falls under martial law, the archduke is unavailable, and authorized royal authority is not yet available, it falls to the Adventurer's Guild and their guildmaster to keep the peace. So, for the next few hours, I'm in charge." Pulling out a scroll from his desk, he then added, "And I've decided to use that authority to officially make it the Adventurer's Guild's business to take care of giant rats. If you or your cronies try to strongarm anyone else into using them instead, there will be fines, incarceration, etc., in response. If the king or his proxies want to repeal it when they arrive, they're free to do so, but I doubt that will happen, what with them being so busy with the Dark Guilds and keeping order in the city. I'd recommend waiting until a new Archduke is appointed and taking it up with them, although I expect that'll take a few months, if not years. In the meantime, you should keep your head down: The Crows are known to have very final methods to dealing with any lawbreakers they come across, and if they catch you or your boys trying this shit again, they may well hang your entire guild in the city square on general principles. They've done it before, and worse. Plus, given that one of the Proxies that's coming is 'The Axe', well... he's very big on making sure that law and order are kept, even if it means the streets get dyed red with the blood of the guilty." That was not hyperbole, as the now infamous city of Redroad could testify.

Linus looked defeated as he left the building, flunkies in tow. Honestly, Rhodes couldn't imagine what the man was thinking. Both he and the Archduke had been more than patient with the man, knowing that no matter what the Ratcatchers tried, there was no way anyone would choose to use them over the Adventurers Guild, especially given the rates that were being charged. The man was just greedy for gold, Rhodes decided. What other reason could there be?

That evening, Linus made his report to the master. It was not a pleasant experience. When he'd told his master in the depths of what had transpired, his nerves had flared with unbearable agony as the master's anger flooded through the link they shared. It was several minutes before the master demanded explanations. There was something of a language barrier to overcome, but Linus was able to get the message across. After a time, the master admitted that a delay was called for, given the current situation as well as the revelation that the King could be contacted immediately in case of an emergency. Clearly, more steps would need to be taken. It would not do for them to overtake the city, only to lose it the next day. The master would need to speak with their superior, and see about coordinating an assault across the kingdom, rather than taking cities one by one as had been the original plan.

After several minutes of contemplation, the master added further instructions. If the original plan to prevent adventurers from killing giant rats was no longer viable, other methods would be needed to swell the ranks. Instructions were given for obtaining supplies, personnel, and other resources for the job ahead. If expanding upwards was not an option, downwards would have to do for now...