Chapter 65

It happened at the entrance of the dungeon where we killed Alister and his whole crew. The Wolves had an argument with Alira’s men there and it escalated into a full blown bloodbath with most of Alira’s men being wiped out. Alira and his men took full control of the dungeon and its surrounding areas ever since they learned about Alister’s disappearance and have been guarding that place strictly, disallowing anyone from approaching the place. They treat the place extremely carefully because it’s the last location Alister was last seen even though a month has already passed since his disappearance and they’ve certainly already found every clue that could possibly be found.

The Wolves, led by their First and Second Mistresses, wanted to clear out the dungeon but Alira’s men wouldn’t budge on it and threatened them instead. The First Mistress apparently wanted to continue negotiating and perhaps get into contact with Alira but the Second Mistress was infuriated by their disrespect and went ahead and insulted Alister right to their faces. Her exact words were, “Do you fucking idiots really think that little whoreson pigfucker’s still alive? I made sure he squealed exactly like those pigs he loved fucking before I slit his throat and hung him up by his feet to drain him dry. If you don’t believe me, by all means, you’re welcome to visit my slaughterhouse anytime.”

The only reason we know all this with such vivid detail is because Digby, who follows The Wolves’ Third Master was there at the time and witnessed everything. After the bloodbath was over, he returned to his master and told him everything that happened there, who in turn sent a runner to us with all of this information. Why did The Wolves’ Third Master tell us all this? Why didn’t the First and Second Mistress inform Alira before they even went to the dungeon? Why did the Second Mistress take credit for Alister’s death? To understand all of this, it’s necessary to understand the context of The Wolves’ history and their internal structure first, which we spent the rest of the day learning from Derriv and Bertrand.

…

The Wolves is just a moniker for the Wulfethryth noble household. Try saying that quickly a dozen times without stumbling your words. It’s one of the older noble households in the Nasaar Kingdom that fell to ruin decades ago and became one of the countless forgotten fallen noble families in the kingdom. The Wulfethrythes have lived in Midriver for a long time even before they fell to ruin when their family name was still influential and held sway. But over the years, their household power diminished until they were on the verge of being wiped out by the other noble families in the city, greedy for the last of their remnant riches.

But that all changed 12 years ago. A cataclysmic change took place in Midriver 12 years ago and the Wulfethryth household were given an opportunity to regain their former status and influence. But it wasn’t by doing it the legitimate way.

12 years ago, the city lord’s brother attempted to usurp Lord Vilfrith’s position in their family via a coup. But the coup failed spectacularly and the brother only ended up killing Lord Vilfrith’s wife by accident before meeting his own bloody end along with all of his collaborators. After that incident, Lord Vilfrith withdrew into his manor in the center of the city with the last of his loyal men and largely ignored the rest of the city, letting it transform into the cesspit it is today. His departure, however, created an incredible power vacuum in the city and the previous head of the Wulfethryth family wouldn’t let such a prime opportunity pass by him.

Lord Wulfethryth, or the Old Master, as the majority of The Wolves refer to him as, saw Lord Vilfrith’s withdrawal as his chance to revitalize his family and instantly got to work. He quickly armed his personal guards with high grade weaponry while putting out public notice that he was recruiting more guards en masse. He did all this while paying for all of it out of his family’s dwindling treasury but it quickly filled back up when he started demanding protection fees from the entirety of the business district using the threat of his growing army of guards. The once noble household of Wulfethryth was now extorting an entire city district and they were successful. They weren’t just successful, they were extremely successful.

Although dismayed they’d have to pay protection fees now, the business owners could only nod their heads and accept their new arrangements as well as their new security team. But the Old Master wasn’t willing to drive the business owners too far into a corner and made sure his protection fees weren’t too outrageous, basing them on the businesses’ profit margins. For example, let’s say an ordinary inn earned 60 copper in profit every day and every week it would earn 4 silver and 20 copper. The protection fee for that particular inn could be 1 silver and 26 copper coins every week. The inn would lose 30% of its profits but they’d still be able to continue operating without too much hardship, albeit much unhappier than without being forced to pay the new fees.

If a business flat out rejected the Old Master, he’d take the business by force, evict its previous tenants, and then let someone who worked for him run the place. Who was to stop him? The city lord? He was tucked away in his manor grieving the death of his wife. The city guards? They were reeling from the now defunct city government and the vast majority of them were unsure about what they should do without the city lord’s leadership. Many of them even turned to the Old Master since he was offering decent wages for their services and provided a new direction they could veer themselves and their families.

What about the kingdom? You’d be better off praying for divine intervention than hoping for the kingdom to intervene. When I first heard this, I was astonished because this one person was able to create a racketeering empire in this city with his own two hands in a matter of years.

From there, the Old Master continued expanding his faction, gobbling up businesses wherever he could and recruiting endlessly until he became the most powerful man in Midriver. At The Wolves’ peak, they had a massive bandit army of 5,000 men strong. Considering Midriver only has a population of around 60,000 right now, that is an impressive and frightening force. At their peak, The Wolves had their hands in everything ranging from drugs, to smuggling, to human trafficking, and everything in between. Anything that could make them coins, they had a finger in.

Although Alira’s name can elicit fear through all of Midriver’s citizenry now, he doesn’t have the same respect or esteem that the Old Master had. Alira rules through fear resulting from his viciousness and cruelty towards his enemies. The Old Master ruled using his charisma. It wasn’t like that in the beginning and I’m not sure how he did it exactly, but over the years of him dominating the business district, he became a beloved and respectable figure there. How the fuck did a bandit warlord become a figure adored by the masses? Maybe it has to do with the second half of his reign as Midriver’s overlord.

Funnily enough, the Old Master grew remorseful in his old age for his endless list of crimes and in the last few years before his death, he tried to redeem himself by performing good deeds. He became Midriver’s biggest philanthropist and created many charities in the Wulfethryth household name before donating generous sums to those charities. Remember the Church of Itia located on the border between the entertainment district and the slums? He had that church built to accommodate orphans and the poor. He paid for the whole construction project and invited the Church of Itia to set up an official branch in Midriver and officiate the church he built which they obliged for quite the hefty sum I would imagine.

That’s also how Derriv met the Old Master and built a friendly relationship with him. They’re both devout followers of Itia that lived unsavory lives but they were both trying to redeem themselves by following Itia’s teachings in their hearts. The Old Master really liked the concept of Candle in the Dark and threw Derriv some work and funding to help him out.

However, good things don’t always last and about three years ago, the Old Master passed away unexpectedly. He supposedly died peacefully in his sleep but there’s rumors that it was due to foul play and the biggest suspect at the time was Alira. Alira was seen as an upstart and due to his cruel nature and brutality, The reformed Wolves’ despised Alira and would often clash with his men, frequently destroying his businesses and forcing him to refill his ranks. It would only make sense that Alira would want the Old Master dead. But The Wolves didn’t have the time or luxury to figure out what really happened to the Old Master because after his death, the Wulfethryth household fragmented into three separate sides. Instead of the family choosing one of the Old Master’s descendants as the new family head, the family fractured into three internal factions.

The First Mistress, who was known for her coldheartedness, gathered the most men by promising them a return to the old days when their pockets were filled to the brim with gold coins and they could live unbridled like wild stallions. The Second Mistress, who was known for her fiery personality and her skill in fights, gathered the second most amount of men by using her sheer charisma and also promising to avenge her father no matter the cost. The Third Master, who was more interested in running the family’s businesses than fighting for supremacy in the family, attracted the fewest men and wanted to live his life in peace.

Unfortunately for him, the First Mistress wanted total control of the family and waged an internal war on both her little sister and little brother. Even to this day, that strange familial war is still occurring although it has recently simmered down and entered an awkward phase where they can’t fight against each other too seriously or else Alira will swoop in and devour them all. This odd war between family members is the answer to all the questions I had this morning.

The Third Master keeps close contact with Candle in the Dark because although we don’t have nearly as many members as his own personal faction in The Wolves, we’re able to get information he can’t get and do things he can’t do himself. It’s a beneficial relationship for both sides and will likely continue for the foreseeable future. On that note, it was the First Mistress who wanted to clear the dungeon and she asked for help from her sister. Digby tagged along because he didn’t have anything better to do and he needed to keep an eye on the two sisters for his own master.

Why they would help each other when they’re supposed to be killing each other is beyond me but Derriv said gang politics are always complicated and the less I know and the less I involve myself, the less likely I’ll end up dead. The Second Mistress wasn’t willing to contact Alira ahead of time because she thought doing so would make her look weak and The Wolves were supposed to still be the most powerful gang in the city.

Asking for permission like that from a supposed enemy and rival isn’t something she was willing to do and that’s how the bloodbath this morning happened. She’s also convinced that Alira had a hand in her father’s death which is also part of the reason why she was unwilling to speak with him and antagonized his men instead. This is also why she took credit for killing Alister but from what the Third Master’s runner said, Alira’s men likely didn’t take it seriously and more so were provoked by her insulting Alira’s missing son and taking them for granted.

Sigh. What a day it’s been. Nobody in the compound did anything today and we all stayed in the pantry, discussing what was happening and our thoughts for the whole day. It’s weird. I’ve already been in a gang war and I’ve seen what all that entails but the scale for this one is so much larger than what we went through last month.

According to Derriv and Bertrand, they think Alira has around 3,000 men under him. When the Old Master passed and the Wulfethryth household fractured, a large portion of their men joined Alira since he looked more promising at the time than the broken family. The Wolves still have about 4,000 men but they’re split into three separate factions which might influence their overall military might. Derriv says we should be fine inside the compound but for however long this war lasts, the streets of Midriver will run red with blood.