Julia opened the doors to the Guild and entered, followed by her party. She paid special attention this time, but as she moved through the hall, she failed to spot any elven adventurers. They truly must be few and far between.

Now that she was paying attention, however, she noticed the looks she was receiving. It wasn't one specific look; it was more like as she passed, people turned to stare. Attention was drawn to her, but the looks were varied. Some were indifferent, others admiring, and still others hostile—for some reason.

Clearly, word about either her duel with Cass or the details of her previous job had spread—those were the only notable things she'd done since arriving in Vazreth—but she failed to understand why so many people were suddenly interested in her. It's not like she could give them anything, lacking both wealth and influence.

Regardless, she approached an available receptionist with an amiable smile.

"Hi, how can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"I've got an appointment, apparently," Julia replied, placing the small card that Cass had given her on the desk.

The receptionist's eyes widened for a brief moment before she schooled her features.

"Of course. Please wait a moment while I go confirm the Master is ready for you," she said, scooting her chair back and fast-walking toward the administration area upstairs.

As she stood and waited, the events of the previous day flashed through Julia's mind. The suffering and toil of the elves in the South Quarter, Nadhem being stabbed, Julia losing her temper, and Ithshar's words once they had returned to the inn.

Julia sat on a bench in the common room of their inn suite, staring into the small fire that brightened the hearth. She kept seeing Nadhem stabbed, and the looks of fear on people's faces. Those scenes replayed in her mind, over and over.

Ithshar sat down next to her, but rather than speaking, she observed the fire with Julia for several minutes in silence.

"That was quite a day," Ithshar suddenly said.

The lightness in her tone threw Julia, who'd been brooding, off balance.

"It was," she replied.

Both continued to watch the fire in silence for a few more moments before Ithshar turned to look at Julia.

"I would advise caution, Julia," she said.

Julia nodded.

"I don't plan to lose it like that regularly," she said sardonically.

She knew she was in the wrong, but it still stung to hear.

"That is not what I am referring to," Ithshar replied.

Julia looked at Ithshar for the first time.

"What do you refer to, then?" she asked.

"I would advise you to be cautious with regard to Cassandra," Ithshar said seriously.

"With Cass—what? Why? She hasn't done anything," Julia said, confused.

"Ah, but she has. First, let me ask: did you gain any clues or leads for locating the leader of the Nashiin from that visit?" Ithshar asked.

Julia paused to consider before shaking her head.

"Indeed. Yet it was Cassandra who suggested you would, yes? It was her suggestion to investigate the South Quarter, and she even led us on a guided tour, so to speak. Do you not find that strange? How could she possibly know what you are looking for?" Ithshar questioned.

Now that she thought about it, Cass had suggested the trip. There was no chance she could've known about their hunt for the Nashiin's leader—even Wilfred didn't know what had happened in the marsh until Julia informed him.

Cass had advised investigating the South Quarter before she could have heard about the battle in the marsh from Wilfred—if he even told her.

"That's…a good point. I'll have to ask her why she sent us there," Julia conceded.

"Yes, it is worth discussing. However, I don't believe her motivations are difficult to discern, even without her saying them outright," Ithshar said, staring into the fire.

Julia looked at her in confusion, urging her to continue when Ithshar returned the look.

"A revolt is brewing, Julia. It is plain to see, and I suspect Cassandra wants you to be a part of it. She guided us across the Quarter, showing you all the cruelty and misery it had to offer, and then disappeared when we reached the square. That was carefully calculated, I suspect. She's quite the manipulator, that Cassandra," Ithshar said with a chuckle.

"You think she arranged for Nadhem to be stabbed?" Julia asked, sitting up in her seat and her expression darkening.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"No, I don't. That would take—well, it seems unlikely. However, she knew the aid was distributed in that square, and she likely knew that the guards there were haughty and belligerent. She probably planned for you to witness them being cruel to the civilians—rile you up, get you angry," Ithshar reasoned.

Julia sat back in her seat, staring into the fire.

"Well, she certainly succeeded. I got pretty angry," she said flatly.

She and Ithshar both shared a chuckle before the silence of contemplation returned, lingering for several moments.

"You think we shouldn't get involved with the revolt, then?" Julia asked.

"I am not saying that, nor am I saying Cassandra's cause is not just. The elves—my kin—they suffer tremendously in this…city. Still, we have our own mission to consider.

"Prioritizing is an essential skill that leaders must learn, but it is also one of the toughest. You must be able to triage the tasks and situations before you into higher and lower priorities.

"My advice—should you desire it—would be to consider the highest priority: the Nashiin. As cruel as it might seem, if participating in this mounting revolt hinders our goal of finding the Nashiin's leader, I would advise against it.

"Leadership is like a mire, full of confusing and dangerous terrain. If you keep your eyes solely on your goal and neglect your feet, you might find yourself walking into quicksand, unaware it was even there.

"However, if your eyes focus only on your immediate surroundings, you might find you have completely lost sight of your goal," Ithshar lectured.

"Follow me, if you please," the receptionist said, startling Julia out of her reverie.

Walking up to administration and past Wilfred's office, they came upon a corridor leading deeper into the building. The hall was unadorned, with only a neutral brown rug running its length. There were no doors along the sides, only one at the far end.

The receptionist knocked twice on the door before opening it and ushering the group in. The room matched the corridor, sparse in decorations and frills. The sole exception was a large, multicolored window that occupied the majority of the left wall. It appeared to be some kind of stained glass, with squares of blue, red, yellow, and every color of the rainbow.

The rest of the office was far more functional, with a seating area similar to the one in Wilfred's office, and a large, solid-looking desk, behind which sat a handsome elf. His age was difficult to guess, as he possessed the thirty-something face that most had when they reached high levels, and his long, silver hair did nothing to clarify.

"Greetings, thank you so much for—" the elf started, but his eyes widened as he examined Julia's party and he stopped speaking, his mouth agape.

"...Nice to meet you, Guild Master," Julia said after an awkward silence, stirring him out of his paralysis.

He coughed lightly into his hand and stood up straight.

"Yes, my apologies. I knew that Miss Julia was traveling with elves, but I did not expect to see Ithshar Ithsharûn-Tûrathiin in the flesh—or ever again. It is my great honor to host you, my lady," he said, bowing slightly.

"Oh, my. Have you perhaps migrated here from Tûrathiin? No one has recognized me thus far," Ithshar asked.

"Indeed, though it was many decades ago. My brother was in the Thalan'veth, you see. I happened to have spied you from afar when visiting my brother at work. I believe you were coordinating with the military for something or other. Forgive me, like I said, it was many decades ago. I cannot remember the occasion specifically," he said apologetically.

"No matter. I am merely accompanying Julia, so pay me no mind. We are all a part of the same party," Ithshar said placidly.

"Well, please, have a seat," he said, leading the way to the seating area.

Once everyone was comfortable, the Guild Master turned toward Julia.

"My name is Mahven, and as you already know, I am the Guild Master for this branch. It's a pleasure to meet you all: Julia, Talnîr, Sahira, Nadhem, and Ithshar," he said, nodding to each as he named them.

"Before we get down to business, please allow me to extend my gratitude to you all. Wilfred has briefed me about what terrors have befallen Tûrathiin as of late, and it sounds like you all gave everything you had to defend Her. Thank you for your service. Although I no longer reside there, Tûrathiin is still my home," he said seriously.

Julia was uncertain how to respond to such sincere gratitude, so she was grateful there were others with her to take the lead.

"No thanks are necessary. It is our home as well," Sahira said, and the others nodded.

"Well, regardless, I am happy to hear that things are more-or-less well there now. That said, I intend to leverage some of the Guild's resources to find out why such important information never made it here. We are far from the marsh, but not that far.

"To that end, I have a job that I was hoping this party would be willing to accept," he declared, placing a scroll on the table between the seats.

Julia picked up and skimmed the commission.

"Investigate disappearing merchant caravans? Not that we won't accept it or aren't interested, but how exactly are these things related?" she asked.

"Most information from outside the city's territory comes in from merchants. True, other sources exist—the Guild even has its own information networks—but we are a thousand journeys from the closest civilization. Information exchange over such distances would be incredibly labor-intensive and expensive.

"Plus, this city is renowned for its trade. Like I said, the nearest civilization is a thousand journeys away, so merchants have functionally no other options but to stop and rest here. Since its founding a century ago, Vazreth has served as a hub for trade moving both east and west.

"There was never any need for more robust information gathering services due to the sheer number of merchants coming and going.

"Now, that's been the case for a long time, but this year, there was a dramatic reduction in the number of merchants passing through. The curious thing was that when questioned, the merchants that did show up didn't have anything unusual to report. No wars brewing, no inclement weather, no monster hordes, nothing that would normally cause merchants to use a different route.

"So, what I really want you to do is, well—guard the caravan. However, be on the lookout for anything unusual. My personal suspicion is that a group of powerful bandits or something have been attacking caravans as they leave, but nothing is certain. This is just as much an investigation as it is a defense.

"We will also be keeping your presence hidden, so you will need to meet the caravan once it is out of sight of the wall. Again, we do not know what is going on, so we cannot rule out the possibility that there is an informant in the city feeding potential targets to bandits or whoever.

"If we broadcast that an Adamantine party is guarding the merchants, it might deter the assailants—which we do not want," Mahven finished, leaning back against the seat.

The group contemplated quietly, passing around the job scroll and taking their time reading. As they all finished, the scroll returned to Julia.

"A bait and switch, then. What are we waiting for?" she said.

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