The Witcher: My Own Path

Reading for the tenth time the short message that had been delivered to her less than a few moments ago, Loona wasn't quite sure what steps she should take. The message contained on that small scroll of parchment had its weight, and it was by no means one she could shoulder with complete responsibility. She directed her gaze once more and began to read:

"The Master of the Guild of Blacksmiths and Craftsmen have made their move. Requests for inspections of workshops at the King's court not accepted, matter postponed indefinitely. Keep your guard up, the enemy is plotting. Good luck!"

Ahh... With a loud sigh, she put the message down on the side of the desk, closed her eyes and began to gently massage her temples.

There was no doubt about the purpose with which this message had been sent. The two largest artisan guilds in the capital, if they were to be compared to anything, would be a sizable, albeit poorly cared for milking cow and this milking cow was about to maul, and then devour, the young and well cared for calf that would be, the workshops and shops of Ser Tyr. No one, whether a member of the Order or even a mere resident of the Monastery and Old Wyzima districts, could allow such a thing to happen. It was these Ser Tyr businesses that breathed life into two of the poorest districts in the capital, and if they fell into the hands of these greedy fools, everything that had been built with so much dedication and care would go to waste. Not forgetting that much of the Order's funding came from these sources. A hostile takeover was not an option!

The news was serious and action had to be taken as soon as possible. There was one more thing that did not give the Mistress of Spies any peace of mind, and that was that the source who had alerted her to the events at the King's court, as far as Loona could remember, had not sent any of her "girls" or "boys" to the King's castle, as her spy network, although in operation for a good few years, was not yet that well developed. The "Espionage and Intelligence" Sphere was thriving in the three districts of the capital, as well as areas outside the city, but the last and also the wealthiest one, the Royal Quarter, was still, beyond its influence, not to mention the King's residence itself.

There was only one person out of the entire Order who ever stayed in the castle and only he could place or recruit a spy there, namely her Lord. After a short deduction, enlightenment came, she made a mental note to ask her Lord. Without thinking further, she got up from her oak desk and headed towards the bookcase that held all the reports and intelligence her Sphere had managed to gather on the Guilds in the capital and their Masters. Taking quite a substantial stack of documents from the shelves, she sat down at her desk and began to carefully review them.

(An hour later)

Finishing reading the last page from the stack of reports, Loona leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and began slowly and meticulously sorting and arranging in her mind all the knowledge she could glean from the rough pages of paper. What she read did not appeal to her in the slightest.

These Guilds and their owners were powerful. Master Cycero of the Blacksmiths' Guild and Master Andrew of the Craftsmen's Guild. The families of both men had been involved in the trade for generations, and while Master Andrew, not very bright, is the typical heir basing his success and fortune on his already deceased father, who was respected for his ruthlessness and brutality and for creating a monopoly on craft products and more, it is a different story with Master Cycero. Although his family was not as wealthy as the aforementioned individual, they were characterised by greater political influence, the reasons for which we can only guess. The parents of both men knew each other well, so their descendants also tightened ties. From an early age, Cycero dominant character had a strong influence on his more shy and less astute companion. As both men reached adulthood, Cycera ambitions came to light. After the death of his parents (for unknown reasons), he decided to follow father Andrew's footsteps and combine all the blacksmith workshops in the Commercial Quarter being thus the only supplier of weapons and armour in the capital.

From one workshop and shop to a manufactory. Thanks to his political influence, which was dying out after the death of his parents and the exhaustion of his last favours with the mighty of Wyzima, he managed to obtain the necessary permits to trade in weapons on such a scale.

Here, however, the problems did not end; money was needed, and not just any amount. After borrowing from the Vivaldi Bank (amount unknown) and from his "friend" Andrew, there was still a lot missing. Luck, however, had not left Cycero; on the horizon he spotted the townswoman Teresa, wife of the wealthy food and other goods merchant Albert. He had intended only to approach the woman and her husband in order to gain the missing part of the funds, but his uncontrollable jealousy of the man's wife and his greed and desire for the merchant's wealth, he decided by all available means and especially those not legal, to take everything from him. First, he seduced the woman who shared all her husband's secrets with him, and then with his own wealth with the full support of Teresa he bribed the merchant's suppliers, business partners and employees, ruining him completely, and when there was nothing left, he took what was left and his house, throwing him out on the street.

Loona opened her eyes, you could see the sadness and rage in them. Albert is a good man, a righteous man, and what happened to him shouldn't have happened, and although these reports are years old, they didn't have that effect on her before, maybe because even then, he was almost a stranger to her, but completely indifferent? Now, however, the two have been friends for years, members of the Order and the Order takes care of its own. The Guilds have made their move and the power of the Order has grown to such a level that it can no longer be ignored, this issue can no longer be swept under the carpet. With determination in her gaze, she straightened up in her chair, reached out and grabbed the cord sticking out of the wall, pulling it three times. A moment later, a woman entered the room, the same woman who had not long ago delivered this disturbing message to her.

"How may I serve you, lady?"

Reinforcing and demonstrating her own determination, she issued an order, not subject to any discussion.

"Find Master Albert and tell him that I must meet him in an hour at the Order's headquarters we have a very important mission to carry out, codenamed REVENGE!!!!"