Dungeon Master (Karma System)

Rod returned to the Sanctuary with a lawful order, an enemy holding a fortress, and no intention of pretending those two facts amounted to a plan.

The training camp occupied more land than it had when Lord Titters first established it. Practice fields spread behind the original barracks, specialized buildings stood around the perimeter, and guard recruits moved between drills from dawn until long after sunset. Senior guards trained them for service in the Titters family’s territory, while serving members of the family guard periodically returned to sharpen their own skills. Rod knew their names, strengths, and habits better than any list of levels could describe.

He called the senior instructors together before announcing the contract.

Lana, Dirk, Dain, and Nessa joined him in the camp office. Renn and Korran had followed the party into the sanctuary and now sat near the end of the table with the Ironcloud ruling between them. Lord Titters listened through a communication plate from his own territory rather than traveling to the Sanctuary merely to occupy the largest chair.

"How large of a force are you planning to take?" Lord Titters asked.

"One hundred adventurers." Rod said. "That is the largest force I think we can command effectively."

Lord Titters studied him. "Helmar had more than three hundred warriors at Blackwater Reach when Lucian left. He may have gathered more since then."

"His soldiers only get one life. Ours can return through the graveyard and rejoin the battle. That advantage disappears if I bring so many people that our officers cannot keep them organized."

Lord Titters studied the map. "You are planning a military operation with recruits who have not yet earned permanent positions in our guard."

"I am asking for volunteers and using the operation as a field test. No trainee will lose his place for refusing, but anyone who performs well will have a strong claim to a permanent position."

Renn shifted in his chair. "The Ruskell family will pay them."

Korran glanced at him. "The portion of the family treasury Helmar does not control will pay them. Promise within that limit."

The correction carried no disrespect. Korran had supported Renn during the hearing, but he did not treat recognition as proof that the younger dwarf suddenly understood every family account. Renn accepted the warning and adjusted the figures.

Participants would receive base pay, a completion bonus, and additional rewards for freeing slaves or securing evidence of Helmar’s crimes. Equipment legally belonging to Blackwater Reach would remain Ruskell property. Personal possessions belonging to Helmar’s officers could be held until the council decided whether they were criminal assets.

"No looting." Dain said.

"No looting." Rod agreed. "Anyone who sees the contract as permission to strip a dwarven holding does not join."

Lord Titters asked about permanent positions.

Rod had considered that before leaving Ironcloud. "The best performers receive offers through the camp. Guards, instructors, caravan leaders, or field teams depending on what they demonstrate. I will not promise the same job to everyone."

"Good. A battle reveals qualities a practice field cannot."

The communication ended after Lord Titters authorized Rod to use the camp’s stores and name. He did not attempt to take command from hundreds of miles away.

The offer was posted throughout the Sanctuary that afternoon. Existing Titters trainees could volunteer, while outside adventurers could apply for temporary contracts and consideration for future positions in the family guard.

More than three hundred adventurers applied before the following morning.

Rod did not select the highest levels and stop counting at one hundred. He needed groups capable of obeying signals, holding positions, carrying injured allies, and withdrawing when ordered. A brilliant fighter who chased every fleeing enemy could create more trouble than a moderately powerful adventurer who protected the person beside him.

Dirk evaluated scouts and archers. He placed candidates in unfamiliar teams, gave them incomplete maps, and watched whether they shared what they discovered. Several fast scouts failed because they returned with excellent information no one else could interpret.

Dain tested the front line. Candidates held a narrow practice route while instructors attacked from changing directions. Strength mattered. Maintaining formation after someone fell mattered more.

Nessa reviewed healers and support classes. She rejected anyone who treated healing as an excuse to ignore positioning. The Blackwater force could not stop every time a healer wandered behind the wrong shield.

Lana traveled to the Academy.

Its halls had grown busier since the tower opened, and students from several countries now trained beside the original nobles. Lana found young Master Valewick examining another student’s barrier even though their instructor had already declared the exercise complete.

"You know the barrier passed the test." Lana said.

Valewick pointed toward its lower edge. "It still formed unevenly. The left side is almost two inches lower than the right."

"But did the difference weaken it enough for anything to get through?"

"That is hardly the point. A spell should be formed correctly whether the flaw causes an immediate failure or not."

"It will cause a failure where I’m going." Lana said. "At Blackwater Reach, no one will care whether a barrier looks perfect. They will care whether it keeps them alive."

The mention of Blackwater Reach drew the attention of everyone close enough to hear.

Lana presented the contract to the Academy instructors rather than recruiting students from a corridor. The operation required combat capable mages, not beginners seeking an impressive story. Every participant needed permission to leave current obligations and enough practical control to cast around allies.

Valewick volunteered before Lana finished explaining the contract.

"You understand that this will be a real battle, not a controlled Academy demonstration." Lana said. "People will be depending on you, and the enemy will be trying to kill you."

"That is precisely why I want to participate." Valewick replied. "I have learned as much as I can from exercises."

"And what will your mother say when she finds out where you are going?"

His expression tightened. "I am an adult. I do not require my mother’s permission every time I accept a dangerous assignment."

"That may be true, but you did not answer my question. What will she say?"

Valewick remained silent.

The Duchess arrived at the camp the following day. She did not demand that her son be removed from the expedition. Instead, she read the complete contract, questioned Rod about the command structure, and inspected the arrangements for anyone Helmar’s force might kill.

Once she was satisfied, she turned to her son. "I will not prevent you from going. However, you will obey the field commanders without argument, even when you believe you have devised a better approach."

"I would never disrupt the command structure without cause." Valewick said. "But if someone chooses a method that is plainly inferior, surely I should be allowed to point out the problem."

"You may raise the concern once, provided there is time. If the commander rejects your advice, you will follow the order you were given."

"What if following that order causes the entire plan to fail?"

"Then you will follow it especially carefully." The Duchess said. "Learning to work under someone else’s command is one of the reasons you need this experience."

Lana concealed a smile while Valewick struggled to produce an acceptable response.

The Academy provided twelve mages, most of them men with experience beyond classroom exercises. Lana divided them among the assault groups instead of creating a single unit that could be disabled at once.

Korran returned to Ironcloud long enough to gather Ruskell support. Twenty-three relatives and retainers agreed to recognize Renn publicly. Most were not adventurers capable of facing Helmar’s strongest guards. Their presence still mattered. Blackwater’s soldiers needed to see members of the family standing beside its lawful head.

Korran became the connection between those supporters and Rod’s camp.

He never offered Renn empty reassurance. When Renn proposed placing every relative near him during the approach, Korran pointed out that one attack could then destroy the family’s alternative leadership. When Rod suggested keeping the dwarves entirely away from combat, Korran explained that Helmar would present their absence as proof that Renn possessed no family support.

They compromised. Korran and six capable relatives would accompany Renn. The others would travel behind the main force and appear once an approach was secured. They would help secure Blackwater Reach once the opposition was dealt with.

Selection ended with one hundred names.

Seventy-one were men and twenty-nine women. They included fighters, guards, archers, scouts, healers, mages, trappers, and several classes useful for wards and siege work. Existing parties remained together where possible.

Rod assembled them on the largest practice field.

"This is a lawful reclamation." He said. "Renn Ruskell owns Blackwater Reach. Helmar Ruskell occupies it while wanted for murder and slave trafficking. We will offer surrender. We will accept surrender. Anyone who harms a captive, surrendered guard, or civilian answers to me before they answer to Ironcloud."

No one cheered. Rod preferred their attention.

He explained that Blackwater held hundreds of defenders and prepared wards. Death protection did not make the battle painless or remove the loss of equipment. Anyone who revived would need to re-equip and return from the selected graveyard. No participant was required to continue after dying once.

The camp prepared replacement stores. Basic armor, weapons, potions, and travel supplies were sorted by size and role. No one wasted money enchanting cheap equipment to return with its owner. Adventurers with costly returning enchantments recorded which pieces would revive with them so quartermasters knew what replacements they actually needed.

Renn purchased dungeon coins for the force from his available family funds. Rod and Lana contributed additional reserves rather than allowing a bookkeeping error to leave someone waiting after death. This way the could return at a graveyard instead of being sent to the Sanctuaries Hospital.

Training shifted from individual performance to signals and formations. The hundred adventurers practiced dividing into four groups, recombining around a breach, and carrying orders when communication magic failed.

Valewick repeatedly delayed spells while adjusting them.

During one exercise, Lana ordered Valewick to raise a barrier across a marked lane. Instead of casting immediately, he stopped to correct the positions of the anchors buried along the edges.

A padded projectile struck him in the chest before he finished.

"You fired before I was ready," Valewick said as he recovered his footing. "Two of the anchors were out of alignment. If I had used them as they were, the barrier would have formed at an angle."

"That delay is what allowed the attack to reach you," Lana replied. "Helmar’s soldiers will not wait for you to inspect every anchor and construct a perfect defense. If someone is about to die, an imperfect barrier raised immediately is more valuable than a flawless one completed too late."

"I understand the need to act quickly, but a poorly formed barrier can collapse when it comes under pressure."

"Then raise it quickly and correct it afterward. Your first responsibility is to stop the attack. Once the people behind you are safe, you can worry about making the barrier perfect."

Valewick looked at the misaligned anchors again. "Very well. Fire the next projectile whenever you are ready."

Lana signaled before he had finished speaking.

The second barrier rose with its left side leaning slightly toward the lane. Valewick grimaced when he saw the uneven formation, but the spell stopped the padded projectile and every shot that followed. Once the immediate barrage ended, he adjusted the anchors without allowing the barrier to fall.

By the end of the week, Rod no longer saw one hundred individuals waiting for orders. He saw four organized groups, each with recognized leaders, designated replacements, and clearly assigned responsibilities.

Renn watched them assemble their traveling equipment. "Helmar spent years gathering soldiers and strengthening Blackwater Reach. We have assembled this force in a single week, and many of these people have never fought beside one another before."

"That is true." Korran said. "It is also why Rod has spent the week organizing them instead of simply pointing them toward Blackwater. They may not have Helmar’s years of preparation, but they are stronger and more disciplined than they were when they first volunteered."

"That does not make me feel much better about leading them against several hundred entrenched soldiers."

"It should not make you feel better." Korran replied. "You are the head of the Ruskell family, but that title did not suddenly give you experience commanding an army. Your responsibility is to listen to Rod and the others who understand how to use the force we have assembled."

Renn looked toward Rod, who was correcting the placement of the graveyard supply wagons. "I have no intention of pretending I know more than they do. Once the battle begins, Rod will command the adventurers, and I will concentrate on persuading the Ruskell soldiers to abandon Helmar."

"Then you are already making a better decision than your uncle would have." Korran said.

The final exercise placed all four groups on the field together. Instructors represented Blackwater’s defenders and changed the conditions without warning. A marked bridge became unusable. A messenger carrying Rod’s order was removed before reaching the southern group. One healer was declared dead, forcing another team to redistribute support.

The first attempt collapsed when two group leaders tried to solve the same problem and left the central route unsupported. Rod stopped the exercise, returned everyone to their starting positions, and asked the leaders to identify the failure themselves. They did. The second attempt succeeded because they trusted assigned responsibilities instead of chasing every visible threat.

Valewick’s contribution came when an instructor disrupted the mage beside him. He began a complicated counterspell, saw the front line losing ground, and abandoned it for a rough barrier cast from an imperfect stance. The shield leaned badly enough to offend him. It held long enough for Dain’s unit to withdraw.

"Ugly." Lana said afterward.

"Effective." Valewick replied reluctantly.

"Remember which one keeps people alive." She reminded him.

The quartermasters conducted their own test. Ten volunteers reported to the graveyard stores without warning and requested complete replacement kits. Missing boot sizes, unsuitable weapons, and poorly labeled potion crates appeared within minutes. None of those failures involved combat, but each could prevent a revived adventurer from returning when needed. The stores were reorganized before departure.

Rod also required every group leader to name a second. Blackwater’s defenders would target visible commanders, and resurrection could remove a leader for hours even when everything worked properly. No unit would stand idle because one person disappeared.

When preparations ended, Renn walked between the assembled groups with Korran. Some adventurers recognized him from rumors surrounding Ironcloud. Others knew only what the contract stated. He thanked them without promising a glorious victory or pretending the danger was smaller than it was.

"Blackwater is my family’s responsibility." Renn said. "You are helping me take it back, but you are also going there for people who entered the mine in chains. Whatever we find below, they come out."

That earned a stronger response than his new title.

The following morning, one hundred adventurers left the Sanctuary beneath Renn’s authority.

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