^^ Zaya the Death Knight ^^

— Arcata, Dungeon District —

The Thieves' Guild was often misunderstood to be an organization that flourished on exclusively stealing things. Of course that was not true, because no organization could possibly subsist itself purely upon stealing. A steady, stable, safe method of sale for stolen goods was required, clients willing to hire Rogues were required, connections with the governing forces of the region were required, and an infrastructure woven of all of these things together made up the support structure of the Guild, acting as the safety net for Rogues around the world. The Guild was an international organization, with no one leader, but rather a collection of Tier Seven Rogues and Dark Merchants that shared profits and losses to ensure the continuation of the Guild, and made decisions for the forward growth of the Guild, such as when to crush competitors, and whether to absorb them into the fold. That being said, the decision to take over Arcata's underground and choke out the Order of Mana's resources was around fifty years in the running, and a sudden alteration of that situation, via a World Message and whispers of a Dungeon Merchant's Guild, was enough to make the old Rogues and Dark Merchants move like snakes, swiftly moving to strike the new Champion of Muradin before she caused more chaos than she was worth.

Zaya, a Tier Six Mage/Rogue titled 'Death Knight' for her necrotic magic and combat capabilities, watched from the rooftops across the street as her subordinate, Aric, an Ink Creeper Rogue, ran into the Tavern that was the source of all this trouble. His response to her order had been emotionless and calm, as always, agreeing to kill his target within the hour, but she'd been suspicious of his movements already; she'd sent their crew to control the area the day before and received no progress report afterwards, besides whispers that he'd been defeated by a Tier One Champion, which she didn't believe at all. Now she watched his panic as he gathered his family and rushed them into the building, and sighed softly in disappointment. "He was such a good Rogue... very dependable, even though he was only Tier Five, managed to hold a whole district all on his own, never failed to send us our cut... such a shame."

"Should I kill him?" One of her subordinates, a small and skinny girl with long black braids, spoke a simple truth: Betrayal was met with death.

The Death Knight shook her head slowly. "No... let's see what happens. If he truly switched sides, the fact that she beat him might be true... or if our luck is shit, maybe Anitra the Storm is still alive, and this was all a Ruse? Would you like to fight the Storm Mage on your own?"

None of the four Rogues on the rooftop seemed eager to tangle with one of the most feared Tier Six Champions on the Continent, and the idea that she was still alive was a sobering thought.

"I thought not. So we'll wait and see." She nodded and settled down on the edge of the roof, watching the tavern below carefully.

Around an hour of waiting later, a stream of people poured out of the building, running apparently for their lives, because as soon as the last one was out, the entire building crumbled into itself, turning into a ball of what looked like clay before shooting upwards into a loose humanoid shape, slowly but surely shaping itself into a visage of Muradin.

The Rogues, frozen in place in shock, stared at the manifestation of a Deity upon the face of Nonith for the first time in at least three centuries, and most of them quickly lost interest in dealing with this issue on their own. Now was the time to run. Then, their skills activated, calming them, and their brains started to notice details of what was clearly a Statue, not a real Deity; the visible silver double doors at the center of the statue/manikin's feet being the most obvious, but the fact that the Mages Robe was still slowly moving as if in a gentle breeze was deeply unsettling.

The silver double doors swung open, and an armored individual stomped out, swinging a massive mace up onto their shoulder, then addressing them directly, as if they were easily visible, instead of sheathed in several dozen Tier Six Rogue Stealth Skills. "HEY, YOU, THE RATS IN THE SHADOWS!!! GET LOST, OR GET STOMPED ON LIKE THE RATS YOU ARE!!!"

"Don't fall for it, they can't possibly see us; they're just making empty threats." Zaya shook her head at her subordinates, unconvinced, then turned back to the armored individual in time to see the mace the figure had been holding right in front of her nose, as the armored figure leapt through a glowing disk of space as easily as hopping a curb.

The first strike with the mace broke the Death Knight's nose rather harshly, as well as lacerating the rest of her face with the multiple metal axe blades of the mace's head, but failed to take her off her feet, due to the difference in Strength Stats between the two combatants, even with the Skills and Enchantments that Anitra had activated. The Spell activated by the Mace as it hit her, however, was more than enough to launch her off her feet, as 'Shatter' and 'Reverse Gravity' activated at full strength and knocked her block off with the form of a professional baseball player swinging at a fastball. Or, really, a Little League Softball Player cracking a double to third base, but she'd always had dreams of a bigger stadium one day.

Anitra grinned inside the helmet, turning towards her downed opponent and resetting the mace on her shoulder. "I guess dreams do come true... always wanted to try that, but always also wanted to avoid murder, so, it's a bit difficult. But you can take it, eh? How about another?" The mace came down again, slamming into the dazed Death Knight's face yet again, and there was a dangerous crunching sound from beneath the bludgeon, prompting Anitra to reset the mace and turn towards the other four Rogues on the roof, casting Grease around the entire rooftop and then spreading it inwards to prevent them from running away. Within moments, they were all on the ground and incapable of standing up fully, and Anitra was walking towards them with an inch of air underneath her plate-armor boots, striking them on the head with the mace until they stopped swinging daggers at her and laid still.

As she broke the final one, there was an itch between her shoulder blades, and her armor informed her that the pale woman with the broadsword was standing back up, bleeding heavily from a combination of a head wound and a Bleeding Status Curse, but a sickly green glow surrounded her body, halting the bleeding and stitching her wounds back together while she glared at Anitra blearily. "That... was a good hit. Good sneak attack... very Roguelike."

Anitra raised the visor of her Helm, smiling happily. "Oh, Thank you! It's my first time ever fighting someone with weapons, really, so I'm happy for any positive feedback! Are you sure you want to keep going with a concussion? Your skull made a very distressing noise when I hit it, I wouldn't want it to affect your brain?"

The Death Knight blinked slowly, coming to terms with who was fighting her, and sighed heavily. "You're... a child."

"Yes, I'm Twelve years old, my name is Anitra the Dungeon Master! I'm a Mage Champion! I love your hair, by the way, we should trade hair tips after this; if you survive, and decide to not be my enemy, of course!"

The sigh came out even heavier, and Anitra's opponent sat down slowly on the edge of the building, holding her face in her hands. "I just got punked by a fucking Tier One Cleric... have I lost my touch? Should I retire? What the fuck is going on?!?"

"Are you okay? Should I Cure you? Or are you going to attack me again?" Anitra cast a Hold Person spell on the Rogue first, for safety, upcasting it to the highest level to ensure it would succeed and hold, then cast Cure Wounds to fix the damage her mace had done to her opponent's skull. "Are you okay now?"

"Other than not being able to move and having an existential crisis? Doing alright."

"Oh... sorry, I guess? The Holding Spell is so you don't stab me, though. I can't help the Existential Stuff, most likely. Well, maybe I can, what's the issue? If it's that I beat you, you should remember than I'm within the range of my Deity's Cathedral and the First Dungeon of the Dungeon Merchant's Guild, so my Mana is pretty much limitless here, you know? And I can Cast Tier Seven Magic in range of those two things, so... yeah. Plus my Mace and Armor are all super enchanted and made of Luxos' Magical Metal, so I have all sorts of advantages and Skills and stuff that made this happen. Does that help a little?"

"... a little. You're still a Tier One Cleric, though. It's very emasculating, I suppose, to be beaten up by a child."

"Well... yeah, I have nothing for that one. I'm twelve and I just kicked all of your asses, plus it was my first ever fight with weapons in my life... yeah, you guys definitely got punked, and pretty badly, too. Now are you open to conversation? Because I have a bit of a business proposal for your Guild, and I feel you'll be a little bit more open to it now? Yes?"

The Death Knight sighed slowly, testing the Holding Spell and finding there was a bit of give, but not enough to stealthily reach for anything like her weapons, and lock-picks were useless here because there were no shackles to pick open. She could probably break out with force, but that mace was enchanted with something that had rung her bell but good, and she wasn't keen on a second round. "Fine, I'll hear it. What do you want?"

"Not here. Inside." All five of the Rogues began floating, pulled behind as Anitra leapt across the street again and walked back into the Cathedral. All five were somewhat conscious, and so they all saw the interior, made entirely of Luxos Metal and glowing with enchantments, and then the Mythallar, the Planar Engine, glowing and pulsing and shifting like waves and ripples in a pond towards each and every person in the room intelligently, like it was tracking them. "This is the Mythallar, the Core of the Tower. It encompasses the Mana that powers every enchantment in the Tower. It's core component was essentially a Dungeon Core and a bunch of Tier Seven Mana Crystals, so it's power is pretty gnarly. Touching it with your skin is instantly lethal, even to a Tier Seven ArchMage or Cleric, but just being near it has a cleaning and healing effect on all living creatures. Next up is the Market, where the Dungeon Merchant's Guild has its only store location in this Dimension, though technically the interior of this Building is like a Dungeon, a separate Plane, but that requires a bunch of Mage stuff to explain, so suffice to say it's just bigger on the inside than it is outside."

The group floated through the market and up the stairs, into a massive, clinically clean tavern, which was totally abandoned currently, and with a Silver Door on one side in an alcove that was labeled 'Tier Two Undead Mage Dungeon', which got the Death Knight's attention immediately. "What kind of Dungeon is that, then, if it's called an Undead Mage Dungeon?"

Anitra glanced at the placard, then continued up into a different room, built like a board room in her old world. Everyone was placed into a seat against their will, locked in place for now, as Anitra took the seat at the head of the long oval table. "It's a dungeon full of zombies, imps, skeletons, vampires, and a Vampire Mage that casts Charm Magic to kill people and make them into Ghouls. Now, we're just waiting for a few more members to join us... Aric, dear, where are you? I know you're hanging around in the shadows, take a seat."

A piece of the shadows behind her broke away, revealing a tall man with grey hair and dragon-hide armor, as he slowly sat down directly at his boss's right hand. "Is there a reason we're talking to them instead of killing them? That's what they'd do to us... it's what they'll do to me and my family, if they get away from here and tell the rest of the Guild that I took your side."

"I intend to subordinate them, like I did with you." Anitra shrugged, turning to the Captive Thieves and removing her helm, setting it on the table in front of her and addressing the Rogues directly. "I want the Thieves' Guild as my allies, and their Dark Merchants as my Employees. The Dungeon Merchant's Guild is thusly offering them the option of employment or destruction. After all, I can teleport materials across the planet in seconds: if I wanted to ruin their business I could do so in a single afternoon. I can buy and clean any material that exists, and I don't need Fences to sell it as 'Not Stolen' goods. I can literally buy a Mage's Robe, still wet with their blood, and sell it three minutes later clean and free of any and all concepts of 'Stolen', just like I sell the goods from the Corpses in my Dungeons. Where did you think your stuff went if you died in the dungeon?!? It gets used as a reward in someone else's treasure chest, or in my case Sold to the next buyer. My web of merchants will spread around the globe and invalidate the Higher end of all the Fencing; the lower end goods and non-magical goods will not be affected, but your entire business is High-End and Magical Goods, so, allying yourself with me if the best chance you have at surviving in the long term, and profiting, too."

Zaya the Death Knight, much older than she looked and much wiser, frowned slowly as she realized what the girl in front of her was saying: Muradin, through this little girl, was going to take over all the dungeons, and use them as transport hubs for magical goods. This would drive the prices of enchanted items down, to an affordable level, which would in turn increase conflict between regions, and again in turn increase demand for magical goods. "You intend to turn yourself into the centerpiece of an arms race..."

Anitra glanced at the pale woman, shaking her head. "The arms race already exists, and if you didn't notice, I'm talking to the wrong people. My plans are more esoteric, and they are more focused on educating the masses about Magic, resurrecting the Mageocracy, and reaching Demigodhood. These are long-term goals, but they will be cut short if I don't make the proper alliances and collect the best possible subordinates."

Zaya hummed softly, and the other Rogues in her group glanced at each other. "You're aware that the Thieves' Guild is directly responsible for the Order of Mana's fall?"

"I was not, but the fact that they're literally dooming the planet for a little more money on their pockets makes it a lot more morally and ethically simple to just crush them, going forward." Anitra scoffed under her breath at the new knowledge, already reasoning that magic could ruin these peoples' business if they didn't have a part in it. "Regardless, I represent the Order of the Tower, a far more Education-Based Order, not so much Conversion-Based. Muradin wants more Mages in the world, because that stabilizes the Mana of Nonith and lessens the burden on them to keep the dimension from falling apart. I quite like this Dimension, I'd like it to continue existing, so if the Thieves' Guild would like to get in my way... well, I hope they have a god helping them, because when I get going, I'll be a ball of snow rolling down a mountain, and the only thing that'll stop me is hitting the bottom. Now, Rogues of the Thieves' Guild, how would you like to proceed?"

Zaya glanced at her fellows, then back at Anitra, speaking for them all. "We would like some time to deliberate with our Directors and Regional Managers... but we will give them your message and offer,-"

Anitra shook her head quickly. "You misunderstand: I was not offering, right now at least, for your entire Guild to join me. I was talking to you five people. Would you like to join the Dungeon Merchant's Guild as Sources?"

"Sources... of?"

"Goods, genius! What, did you think I thought you were a source of joy or something?" Anitra sighed exasperatedly, rubbing her face.

Zaya snorted, and the other thieves chuckled as well, at their fellow's expense, before she responded. "We will deliberate and return to you with answers."

"You have twenty-four hours; after that, I will begin my campaign for the eradication of your Guild from my City, and every other city that depends on Dungeons to exist. Pretty soon I'll own all the Dungeons, after all, and as such options for dungeon goods will be quite limited." With that, Anitra nodded and cast the Gate Spell, tossing all five of the Rogues out of the Tower onto the street outside.

Aric laid his head down on the table, groaning tiredly, then turned and looked at his small boss. "You know, I don't think that Grease spell will last you forever, dealing with rogues. Eventually they'll figure out to just stay away from you."

"Grease is a Tier Zero spell that I use for its amusement value, Aric, but I have much more lethal spells. If they get around Grease, they'll get hit in the face with full-ass Meteors. Dodge that, you little Rats."