Legend of the Runeforger: A Dwarven Progression Fantasy

Return to Darkness 30: Plan for Gold


I stare into the runes. The longer I look, the brighter they seem to burn, even breaking into the black of my pupil-scars.

Why do they stand out to me so clearly?

The Runic League: there is nothing at all remarkable about this name. Plenty of guilds call themselves a league. It's something of a grander word than guild, or association, or company, implying a kind of high-thinking alliance, yet it's not that grand. There's a bit of a military connotation, I suppose. Maybe that's what attracts me.

As for 'runic', well, to me it simply sounds better than 'of runes' or just 'rune'. Maybe because the adjectival-topic marker lends it an importance the other grammars don't have. But perhaps that's thinking too deeply, and I just prefer how those particular syllables feel on my tongue and in my ears.

I sip some water. It's cool, crystal clear. I go over the list again, but my eyes are always drawn to the same runes: to Dhal-Hal-Runseh. To ignore this instinct, I decide, would be folly.

"I've chosen."

"Already?" says Ithis. His brows rise. "You can take your time. You have plenty."

"I don't need any more. The Runic League—that's the name we're going with."

The others are silent for a while. Do they disapprove?

"I think it's an excellent choice," says Hayhek.

"Thank you."

"I'd expected you to choose something a little grander," says Ugyok, frowning a little. "Not that I'm criticizing you of course, guildmaster. I just thought maybe you'd go for something like"—he points to the parchment—"the Runeforger's League, or the Masters of New Runes."

I shake my head. "Too ostentatious. I don't want to scream out that I'm the Second Runeforger. I don't want to be so unsubtle. It'll bring bad luck. And I can't call myself a master of anything: I'm not even a first-degree yet."

"I bow to your wisdom." He bows his head.

"You're really fine with it?" says Ithis. "I thought you would think of something of your own. Something unique."

"Why try to improve on a phrase already well-written? It suits our needs. It sounds good, Dhal-Hal-Runseh. It rolls off my tongue."

"Then I am honored, Zathar Runeforger. Very honored."

I sit back and fold my arms. "Now what, though? You said there was complicated legal work to be done. Do I sign? In blood?" I lay my hand palm up on the table. "Should I use my own craft to draw it?"

"Not yet!" says Ithis. "First, we must decide exactly on the classification of our guild."

I withdraw my hand. "Classification?"

"Yes. There are many kinds of guilds, you realize."

"But surely we are a guild of runeknights."

"It goes deeper than that."

"What do you mean?"

"If you'll allow me to explain..."

I spend the next half hour listening to his painstaking, mind-numbing lecture about all the different kinds of guilds recognized under the legal systems of Runeking Ulrike. There are adventuring guilds, guilds for protection, guilds for hunting, caravaners' guilds, rail guilds, overseer guilds, and a dozen others. Most are adventuring, which basically means they'll take on any job, but there are benefits to declaring your guild to have a specific purpose—as well as disadvantages, of course.

Until now, I had little idea these separate classifications existed. Well, I had a vague notion that caravaner guilds were different from guilds like the Association, and that guilds like the New Dynamium Guild, in charge of the rail network around Allabrast, had some kind of a favored status. But I didn't know there was such depth to the system. There is so much terminology that I feel I could drown in it.

"Though, I don't think a category for runeforgers' guild has been created," laughs Ugyok. "Perhaps we should petition our Runethane."

Ithis smiles. "We'll go with the next best classification: a script-searching guild."

"What will that get us?" I ask.

"Writs of travel, permission to step into forbidden caverns, that kind of thing."

"Do those jobs pay more?"

"It's not about the jobs. It's about attracting members through the promise of new scripts—though it'll be an open secret that we don't go out hunting for the ones we offer."

"If that's no problem for you," Hayhek adds hurriedly.

I shake my head. "No problem at all. My secret is out. There's no reason to lie—lying would be foolish."

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An image of Pellas' bloody body flashes into my mind's eye, then vanishes. I take another sip of water to wet my suddenly dry throat.

"Then, if we're agreed," says Ithis, "let us move on to the next item of business: the finances."

He launches into another lengthy explanation, this time about how guild finances work. This is all new to me as well—my understanding was that you took on a quest, received payment for it, and then your guild would either take a percentage of that gold, or else it would be funded by membership fees based on degree. Turns out, financing a guild is a lot more complicated than this. There are taxes of various kinds to consider, and deductions from those taxes. There is the question of how to store and protect the gold earned: to keep it as gold or to invest in other metals, gems, or reagents. And, of course, how will the gold be spent?

"Traditionally, the guildmaster receives a third of all profits," says Hayhek. "However, since we are just beginning, I believe we should invest more in the guild itself. We need a decent hall, for one."

If it had been anyone else suggesting this, I'd suspect them of trying to scam me out of my profits. But this is Hayhek.

"Very well," I say. "I'll take only a quarter. But Ithis, you still haven't explained how we're going to make all this money."

He grins again, like he's been doing all throughout this discussion—smiling, nodding, grinning, always in a slightly wild manner. He's off-putting, somehow. Maybe it's because I know what he's capable of—torture. Or maybe it's the way he speaks of my abilities, as if they're sacred, some gift from the unknowable Runegods.

I find myself scowling at him. "Well?" I demand. "You suggested selling my runes, somehow. To our members? What degrees will get what? Or are we going to be a shop and publish books of them?"

"Both, guildmaster." He does not seem to notice my irritation. "Of course, members of the Runic League will be given access to whatever runes you see fit to give them. As well as, if you have the time, personal instruction about how best to use them."

"But we'll give them to those outside the guild, too?"

"Yes. We'll start with your script of magma. Hayhek and I are familiar with it, so we can help with the creation of the dictionary. We'll set the tenth degrees to copying it—under supervision, of course. Then we'll sell it in volumes, from the most basic vocabulary to the more advanced, then to the dual-runes and reversing runes."

"All right. But what's to stop others from copying the pages and selling my script themselves, though? And for cheaper."

"There are laws against that. Especially, guilds classified as script-searchers get extra protection. We'll have the sole right to copy the runes we found."

"They'll still be able to copy off each others' armor."

"Of course. But they won't get access to the full definitions, connotations, and all the other deep nuances you're going to explain."

I nod, slowly coming to understand. "Proper dictionaries certainly are helpful. Though to be honest, it's been a long while since I used one."

"For most of us, they're vital," laughs Ugyok. "I remember starting out, back in Allabrast. I saved up from my metalworking. I thought I knew enough about metal to craft well—but the runes! They did my head right in. Nearly gave up, until a tenth degree I knew took pity on me and lent me one of his best dictionaries."

"You were a metalworker?"

"Yes, in the foundries near the palace. Hard work, very hard, and dangerous, but it paid well."

"But not as well as being a runeknight."

He laughs. "Of course not!"

This Ugyok—I'm not quite sure what to make of him. For this whole hour he's seemed almost giddy with excitement. His eyes flash each time they meet my own, much like Nthazes' sometimes to. Why so keen? He just lost his guildmaster, and many comrades. Why is he so happy? Perhaps it's just a mask. I think not, though. It's more like armor than a mask. His fanaticism guards him from his grief.

"These laws—what's the punishment for breaking them?" I ask.

"A hefty fine, usually," says Ithis.

I frown. "Will that be good enough? My scripts are new, and complete. Exactly how hefty are these fines?"

"In all honesty, not hefty enough, especially if it's a senior runeknight doing the infringement. But that won't matter as long as we're clever about it."

"I don't quite get it."

"Neither," says Hayhek. "You've been awfully tight-lipped on this point, Ithis."

"Well, it's a nasty trick I have in mind."

"I don't like the sound of that," I say.

"Oh, it's not like anything we had to do in Vanerak's realm. Nothing like that."

"Then what?"

"A kind of—let's call it bladed protection."

"Bladed protection?"

"I'll explain: in order to buy one of your dictionaries, the dwarf wishing to make the purchase will have to sign a contract. In it will be a clause to the effect that if he or she is caught unlawfully copying the runes—that is, writing them for any purpose other than the crafting of one's own equipment—they must fight a duel with a member of our guild."

"A duel?" I say. "Aren't those outlawed in Allabrast? Or at least frowned upon?"

"Well, we aren't in Allabrast, but you're right that those laws apply. Runethane Halmak is a bit stricter with their application than Runethane Thanerzak was. But there are some exceptions—and as a script-searching guild, we'll be able to write in basically whatever clauses we want."

"That seems illogical," I say. "Surely it's in the Runeking's interests for scripts to spread easily. Yet you're saying we can more or less execute anyone who copies from us?"

"On the contrary, if there weren't such strict protections, no one would be able to turn a profit searching old fortresses for runes."

He's smart, is Ithis. Very smart—smarter than me.

"How do you know all this, anyway?" I ask. "About the laws, and the financial questions too."

"Courtesy of my father. He was treasurer of our guild, back before the dragon."

"Oh."

"He didn't perish in its flames—he perished on the way down to Allabrast. Vanerak's fault, and then our guild was dissolved."

Well, now I know his main reason for hating Vanerak now. It wasn't just the beatings he received from getting on the wrong side of Vanerak's second degrees. He's suffered worse than a few bruises and cracked ribs.

"He taught you well," I say.

"Very well indeed. But that's enough about the past—do you understand my plan, Zathar? We'll take on ordinary jobs too, of course—mostly to build up our name, show the dwarves of Brightdeep that your runes are especially powerful and useful."

"I understand. But I need to say one more thing—the dwarves of the fort get free access to my runes. I have that prerogative, yes?

He nods. "You do. Runethane Halmak will be pleased at the choice, I think. He might not believe in how you made the runes of light, but he's always been more concerned with results than with methods."

"I worry a bit about him," says Hayhek. "I don't trust him."

"Neither," I say. "But I suppose it can't be helped."

"No," says Ithis. "It can't."

I take another look at the papers strewn across the table. Only a few patches of bare stone remain to be seen—the rest of the surface is all pale brown and ink-lines.

"So, are we finished?" I ask. "I don't think my head can take much more."

"We're finished—for now. Next, we have to get permission to form as a script-searching guild. Only then can we formally establish ourselves and take out a loan to purchase a guildhall. After that, we start recruiting, start work on the dictionaries—"

"It's going to be a lot of work, then, before I can get back to the forge."

"Well, yes. But in the end—we're going to have more gold than you've ever imagined. Trust me on this, Zathar. Directed in the right way, gold can flow like a river."

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