Finding the Mayor of Sedgewick proved difficult. A helpful young woman hauling a large wagon of barrels directed them to a building she said was the Mayor's office. Geoffrey made a note of the contents of the wagon. The 130-gallon butts of apple wine each had the words 'Apple Kick-Ass' stenciled in yellow, with a painted picture of a bright, smiling sun. Underneath the sun was a line of smaller script, 'Product of the Barony of Gadobhra.'

Like other people working in the town, the woman seemed unnaturally strong. She didn't seem to have any trouble moving a wagon that should have had a team of four mules pulling it. Manfred was trying to get her information without being obvious. "She's a Lumberjill, level 9. Each of those barrels weighs a half-ton." The woman pulled the wagon up to a storehouse and began lifting the barrels off the wagon and walking them into the stone building, calling down to someone.

"You've got six butts of apple-kickass coming in, Jeb. I'm putting them on the first floor. Mark off two more going up to Gadobhra for the festivities tonight." Someone yelled back to her. Satisfied, she turned the wagon around and began trotting up toward the city.

Geoffrey was trying to calculate her strength. "If she were a normal peasant, I would say she had a STR score of at least 25 or a specialty in hauling heavy loads, such as a teamster. I'm unaware of any such skill available to the Lumberjill class. At level 9, even if she was cutting trees non-stop for months, she could only achieve a maximum STR of 20. An absurd amount of work."

Theordis looked at Geoffrey and grinned. He liked having more information than his fellow agents. "Didn't your department get the briefing on these 'Contract Workers'? The corporations have somehow found a class to give all their peasants special advantages and disadvantages. They all get the Haul skill and increased STR and stamina in trade for giving up weapon and armor skills. Even the lowest peasant or farmer can use a club or a dagger, but not a contract worker. It's very ingenious when you think about it. It saves money on horses and limits the ability of the workers to rebel against their overlord."

Geoffrey had a thought. "We need to let the Teamsters Guild know all the details. What if the Baron starts using his workers to haul goods to market? That infringes on their guild's charter."

Theordis snorted. "Good luck traveling over the road going south until the Guild of Roadbuilders can 'get time' for the project. But I think that's a worthy idea. The mere thought of the Baron taking money from the hands of the hard-working wagon drivers should get them upset with him. For now, though, we need to do a little investigating, find the mayor, and ask some questions.

Manfred paused, thoughtful. "We need to check how goods are taken to Rowan Keep. There might even be a case to be made for the ten-mile delivery counting as a violation of the Teamsters Guild's charter."

The door to the storehouse was left open. Geoffrey motioned for most of the party to stay where they were while Manfred and Theordis accompanied him for a quick look. The one room stone building was filled to the roof with foodstuffs. Bushels of eggs sat on one long shelf. Hundreds of jars of exotic pickled snails filled half of the room. Bags of flour from Wolfsburg were stacked in a corner. Barrels of apples, acorns, ironwood nuts, and cornmeal filled every available space with the butts of wine recently delivered, taking up the little space in the center, next to a stairway down. The three taxmen descended. The next room was cold, unnaturally so. Everywhere they looked was meat. Stacks of pork bellies, steaks, wings from huge birds, and hams. So many hams. There were tons of meat piled everywhere, waiting to be cured. Geoffrey was making notes and wishing he had brought a scribe. Another stairway went down.

Manfred looked at it. "Is this some sort of insane village dungeon?"

Geoffrey shook his head. "Worse, it's a magical storehouse. An official storehouse bought with city building points! The goods in here will keep for years. In a merchant's war, this is the armory. A city with ample storehouses to keep goods fresh can buy when the price is low, wait for an emergency when there is a shortage of goods, and make ten times the normal profit. This type of storage is the backbone of the imperial system. But such things are expensive! They take building points earned by the local lord for extraordinary service to the empire or events of a peculiar nature."

"Well, this is a peculiar town. The baron must be gaining points for discovering dungeons in Gadobhra but spending them to improve his little village." Theordis narrowed his eyes. "Or, he might be storing up supplies for a real war. I'm sure the two of you have heard about some of the problems with the orc tribes. If the Legion mobilizes in the next year or two, food prices will increase drastically. I'm sure the good Baron will neglect to sell his hoard of foodstuffs to the Legion and instead try to smuggle them onto the black market." He grinned. It was certainly what he himself would do. "All the more reason to restrict trade to this cursed Barony and limit his teleportation options. Let us see what is on the third level, gentlemen."

The third level revealed a huge room that did have the look of a dungeon. The ceiling was twelve feet high, and the emperor and his court could have held their annual badminton tournament in it. Hundreds of barrels of beer were stacked in row after row, each labeled 'Bludgeon Extra Dark' and in smaller letters 'Produced in Sedgewick for Bludgeon Brew Incorporated. Product of the Barony of Gadobhra.' They could see openings to a hallway at the far end and another staircase leading both upward and down. Further exploration was halted by the appearance of a man wearing the blue and white robes and pointed hat of a wizard, holding a crystal-tipped wand. His eyebrows and beard were shockingly white and bushy, and his clear blue eyes glared at them.

"Who dares enter the lair of Delbert the Frost Wizard?!!" He walked towards them, pulling out a clipboard. "No shipments are going out today, and your body heat is disturbing my carefully controlled temperature!"

Geoffrey started heading back up the stairs; Manfred held up his hands and began to appease the angry wizard, using the simple excuse of 'Sorry, we were sightseeing.' But he didn't get that far. Theordis had a bad habit of taking offense and escalating situations, sure of his authority as an imperial tax agent. He bellowed at the man, "I am a servant of the emperor and will go where I choose. I demand answers. Explain where this alcohol is going and how it gets there! Furthermore, I will be bringing in my scribes to note down each and every bundle of contraband and stolen goods you are hiding in this place. Cooperate, and you might get off with a warning and a small whistleblowers reward."

The wizard paused and stared at them. "Tax people? That's the worst type of vermin. Worse than thieving ratkin after my cheese. But I know how to deal with you!"

"By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, I cast the mighty mystical spell Banishment of Vermin! Begone!

All three invaders began to feel a chill in their bones and panic in their hearts. Not knowing what else would happen, they fled to the surface along with two mice, seven squirrels, and a fledgling colony of roaches. The effects seemed to vanish as they left the storehouse. The mighty Frost Wizard followed and slammed the door after putting a note on the front that said, 'Closed. Knock for deliveries.'

Theordis and Manfred were shaken and shivering at the close call. Geoffrey declined to mention that the spell used was a cantrip commonly taught to students of Ice magic. It was a handy spell since the student dormitories were old and infested with mice and roaches. Most storehouse keepers spent the five gold pieces to learn it themselves.

Theordis got his breathing under control. Sprinting up two flights of stairs was more exercise than he got most weeks. After a few minutes, they resumed their quest to find the Mayor of Sedgewick.

Geoffrey was worried. "If they are employing the services of a trained frost wizard, then they have a much larger system of storehouses than what we just saw. Such wizards do not work cheaply."

Unfortunately, the Mayor was not in the Town Hall. In fact, no one was in the Town Hall, and the doors were locked tight. There was a sign. 'Closed. Try the Tavern.'

"Well, gentlemen, I think it's time for lunch." The entourage headed for the tavern to speak with the local mayor and find an agreeable price for his agreement to a few bits of business.

Earlier that day...

Ozzy and Suzette stayed in bed for a considerable amount of time past noon. Neither needed that much sleep, but it had been a long time since Ozzy had slept in a bed, and they both enjoyed getting reacquainted. The grumbling of Ozzy's stomach finally forced them to get up. Suzette looked at the bathtub and then at Ozzy. "Still have that handy Cleanse cantrip? I've missed that."

"It's been upgraded to a spell now. It happened when I made a deal to do a quest for Jack Fyrebeard and got rewarded with the Aspect of Radiance." He cast the spell on the two of them, and Suzette could see it was much more powerful. "That's a powerful upgrade. It feels like I spent an hour in a shower. Is it giving you experience when you cast it?"

Ozzy checked. "Not a lot, about 5 points each time I cast it. It's not a lot, but every little bit helps."

Suzette was thinking. "I have so many questions about magic. I got all my cantrips and spells from spending CSP. But most of them aren't useful." She gave him a quick kiss. "Which is why you giving me that upgrade for Solar Arrow was so lovely. I have a real spell now.

Spell: Evergreen's Shining Lance.

A unique spell created by the Goddess Evergreen. The spell may be used in two ways.

Firstly, a Gleaming Projectile of Pure Sunlight may be launched at a foe. Dodging something as fast as light is beyond most creatures, and the Lance will rarely miss.

Range: 100 feet.

Mana Cost:

Damage: 200 plus 5 additional points per point of RAD of the caster. Demons, Devils, Daemons, Fallen, and those that Defile Nature will take extra damage from the spell.

Additional Effects: When cast into the sky, sunlight pours down upon the island earth, and plants receive Evergreen's blessing, increasing their growth and harvest.

Ozzy compared that to how much damage she had been doing with her older version. "The new effect is interesting. But did you lose the ability to increase the damage by pumping up the mana cost?"

Suzette shared some notifications with him. "Yes, but that's because this is a different spell from Solar Arrow. I don't even know that cantrip anymore. My staff isn't affecting the spell. In fact, the staff reset entirely."

The spell that was upgraded by The Enhancing Staff of the Versatile Magician had been removed. You are not attuned to it.

Enhancing Staff of the Versatile Magician

Sometimes a big stick helps to compensate for what you lack in other places.

This staff is able to enhance the effects of one Rune, one Aspect, or one spell effect. The enhancement is versatile, meaning it can be changed to another enhancement with 10 minutes of meditation. Current enhancement: none.

If the enhancements are made permanent, the staff will enhance one selected Rune, increase one Aspect, and increase one spell effect of a chosen spell (Example: always increases the radius of a fireball.) These enhancements cannot be changed later. Choose wisely.

Ozzy was immediately interested in the possibilities. "So you could use this again for the new spell and really turn it into a powerful spell... Or, you could use it for another spell and give yourself some versatility." He tried to say this with a straight face.

She looked at him and nodded. "Yes, this will need considerable thought. Having a decent spell and an enhanced cantrip is just as good as a portable Laser Cannon."

She couldn't hold it. She snorted and bent over laughing, Ozzy soon following. They looked at each other and said a word at the same time. "Cannon!"

Further talk was interrupted by Ben banging loudly on the door. "If you have time to talk about min/maxing spell effects, it's time to get to work. Jorges wants to get another fifty feet of rune-work carved today so he can finish that wall section. And everyone is looking for Ozzy. Billy wants a meeting tonight with the three of us and Rolly."

The Butcher and Barmaid shared one more long kiss and then walked downstairs for another day in Sedgwick, unaware of the impending invasion of tax collectors.