The hustle and bustle of the street just in front of the guild hinted at what we’d experience trying to get inside. Apparently, someone had realized the dangers of having an overcrowded guild and put guards on the door who only let people in after people left.
We lined up behind a party of adventurers who were escorting a little dwarven miner. I could tell from their clothes that the Orc was a tank, the two human girls were both mages, and the female dwarf was a cleric. They appeared happy all around and chatted about how well their quick dungeon exploration went and how they’d reached level two after fighting four groups of monsters while their non-combat mined the vein.
It hadn’t really hit me how impressive hitting level 4 in a few short hours was until overhearing that group. It made me puff my chest out in life over our accomplishments. And then I remembered what it took to get there.
The massive wooden and black iron doors of the guild opened wide as they let both our groups through.
“Hey! Val is back!”
“So soon?!”
The short dwarven miner waved to his friends in the back and proudly lifted a black diamond of some kind.
“I told you I can sense what veins are ripe for mining!” They cheered. And he ran over to greet his friends at a table while his team continued forward.
We, along with the small crowd, headed to one of the quest turn-in lines.
Fortunately, this one was very short. Within a few minutes, the three of us stepped in front of a guild intake officer who stretched her back.
Murr handed in the quest paper, and our guild tokens then grinned.
She carefully reviewed the documents, then froze. The strained smile on her face made me think there was a serious problem.
“Come with me.”
She stood up and walked us behind a beautiful black and gold partition. Once we reached a quiet waiting room with red couches and pretty decor, she handed us tea and directed us to sit down. They were so comfortable that I almost sank into them.
What the hell? This didn’t seem right. Did we break some rule or something and need to get scolded by a higher up? But then why the pleasant room and the good tea?
A confident orc woman walked into the room in shiny black armor that looked closer to business attire. She sat down on the opposite couch and crossed her arms.