Talking with Val''Melnroe was much easier without any mages present. His posture remained ramrod straight, but that probably had more to do with the habit of supporting those fricking amazing antlers on his head than anything else. His attitude, however, had relaxed quite a bit. It also helped that just being around Lena''s dungeon building activities and helping her with them had started them on completing their own [Champion of Order] designs. Parandrians loved them [Champions of Order] almost as much as they loved them dungeons.


    Jason had shared how he had been basically ordered to show his status screen to the Lotrot military commander on their first meeting. Considering how personal that information could get, the male contingent of the Studio crew played around until they figured out how to share just parts of their status. They also discovered how to revoke the sharing privileges, which apparently wasn''t automatic. Jason had quickly canceled his status sharing with Commander Faulkin.


    Rob had about had a heart attack when his "fully integrated" Skill list included several entries of "Erotic Arts", each with a different specialty. At this point, he doubted he would ever willingly share his full status screen with anyone. Ever. If he had seen a character sheet with the breadth of skills his own status showed, he would have walked away from the game. Not having that choice here, he just ignored it all and focused on living his life.


    Regardless of all that, showing Val''Melnroe their progress toward their [Champion of Order] designs had done a lot to sweeten the attitude of the Assistant Guildmaster of the Lotrot Branch House of the Adventurer''s Guild. They were still making pleasant small talk when Grascile knocked on Val''Melnroe''s door with the collars for their creature companions.


    After showing Rob and Jason how the collars latched and how they would normally work, Val''Melnroe turned to his receptionist. "Grascile, what assignments have the Serpent Striders and the Long Fangs taken?"


    "The Striders just completed a collection run into the Wastes. The Fangs are on a recon contract with the city to track down reports about a goblin warband in the area. It was reported almost two weeks back, but no one''s seen them since."


    "That was taken up by the Grass Whistles," Val''Melnroe said, his expression flattening.


    "Yes," Grascile said, unperturbed. "They took the original contract, but they haven''t reported in and despite my assurances to the contrary, the military contracted a second scouting group this morning."


    Val''Melnroe inclined his head, his eyes narrowing. "I see." Straightening, he stood and said, "Very well. Are the Serpent Striders in the Hall?"Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Grascile wiggled her hand. "I passed them coming out of the baths on my way back from Gilt''horn''s workshop. They were headed in the direction of the Hall."


    "If you Dreamers would please follow me," Val''Melnroe said, leading the way out of his office.


    Rob''s lips twitched. He knew it was just him being weird, but it amused the hell out of him whenever the natives of Rhofhir referred to them as Dreamers. The Lotrot City Council had sent a contingent of negotiators to the Studio of Capricious Dreams when they accepted that the dungeon was under Lena''s control. The representative from the Rimward Mages Guild had been particularly obnoxious, calling the Earth natives "demons". The rest of the negotiators had been reluctant to call them Travelers. It seemed most Travelers fell on the monstrous scale, and rarely ever reached anything remotely like being fully Aware, so when they asked what the Earthlings wanted to be called, Rob had suggested Dreamers. Jason went along with him, and now they were Dreamers.


    Val''Melroe led them out of the central building and over to the building left of the Petitioners Office. According to Kargerran, this should be the Adventurer''s Hall. A sign hung over the entryway sporting a scroll impaled by a blade and an arrow with a pile of coins to the side.


    Inside, the Adventurer''s Hall resembled the common room of the Splendid Tail, minus the stage. There were more tables and several of them were meant to seat smaller groups. Along the walls were several boards decorated with different colored slips of paper.


    The quiet murmur of the morning crowd stilled, the wave of silence traveling out from the first adventurers to spot their Assistant Guildmaster.


    Val''Melnroe scanned the Hall. His lips curled ever so slightly into a smile just before he spoke. "Calissa, bring your boys out to the yard. You have clients to impress."


    Rob heard a sibilant hissed, "Sshucks," in the silence, the sound registering in the higher pitched range of his newly broadened hearing. He doubted Jason could hear it, though judging by the way Val''Melnroe''s ears turned down, Rob guessed the parandrian has also heard.


    A woman with a head full of snakes stood, followed by a minotaur, a gnelf, and two arassi. She walked with a bouncy stride toward them. The nearer she came, the more clearly Rob could make out her features. For one, her skin was scaled like a snake, not the pine-cone scales of an arassas. Her natural pigmentation was a mottled brown with flecks of green and gold. For another, the snakes on her head weren''t actual full on snakes. They were more like half meter long fanged reptilian tentacles. Her body was quite humanoid, including breasts, and she wore loose fitting trouser style pants over boots. She wore a long sleeved shirt, slit up the sides, that stopped at the middle of her thighs under a leather cuirass sculpted to resemble well defined abdominal muscles and a pair of perky tits. Brass bits adorned her armor, helping to emphasis the sculpting.


    Her stride faltered, just a minor shuffle added to her gait, when her gaze swung from Val''Melnroe to Jason, but she had recovered by the time she looked over at Rob. Coming abreast of them, she tapped two fingers to her opposite shoulder just before flicking her wrist so her hand splayed out, palm facing them, in a casual greeting wave. "Hey, Second Boss. What kind of impression you wanting?"


    Without saying anything, Val''Melnroe led the way out to the courtyard in front of the buildings.