“Frankly, I’m underwhelmed by the report you have provided me. I’ve grown to expect more from you. And that you know cousins that… well. Did you explain that we would use our power to protect them if they came forward themselves?”

I didn’t look Guard Commander Emblemange in the face. I knew it would look like a sign of defiance or will, and I did want to come off as contrite here, without triggering her instinct to shake me down further. 

I was in a red painted room with shelves covered in law books and personal memorabilia, a free-standing, Human table that might have had a map of the city on it, were I tall enough to confirm, and a window overlooking the plaza. It was likely so that royals and city dignitaries could visit with proper awe. The sun was close to the horizon, but yet not setting.  The window was properly Barriered to reduce the glare into the room.

There are only three Guard Commanders on duty at any given time in Sumar City and a total of nine that served the Governer’s Office. All of them were Humans with some minor title or nobility. None of them had spoken to me before.  

“You have my humblest apologies, Commander. I mean no disrespect. Because I couldn’t provide more information, in spite of my confidence, I present this to you as my last act in the City Guard. I invoke Priority over no small thing.”

There was a crinkle of paper that implied she was looking at my violet-colored paper. “Yeah, no small thing, indeed. The royal diplomats will be all over my ass if they find out what you are asking us to do. And I will tell them that you were the source if they find out. Damn it, Scaleen, all reports said you had a good head on you. I hate to see you lose it.”

I bowed my head further, not sure what else to say. At least she said they’d look into it. Hopefully that resolve would last until Captain Raim could make it back. The shame of standing before the Commander, mixed with the knowledge that Raim wouldn’t hire me because of politics, did nothing to increase my sympathy for his early end to vacation. 

When I said nothing, she continued. “Look, Officer Fortuna… Scaleen. I can’t promise I will be able to hire you back here after this. I’d been getting pressure from a few of the university parents that they didn’t like their kids being hassled by a rapt- by a Kobold. If you are right, and we survive this coronation, I can talk to the North or West Commanders. Maybe they could find you a better fit. Maybe. Dismissed, officer. Leave your issued items at your desk.”

“I…” I didn’t have the privilege to be frustrated and loquacious here. “I understand completely, Guard Commander. It has been an honor serving you and Sumar City.” I looked up now to see her dismiss me with a wave. A tall woman with a shaved head and sharp cut uniform. She had fists that could crush stone, she was about as diplomatic as I could have suspected. I suppose I should be more than grateful she didn’t toss my report into the trash. 

I was not.

Without the flat feet of the mammalian sentients, I had no propensity to stomp, even though I found the idea appealing as I marched to the guard locker rooms one last time. 

As I made my way back to the changing rooms for the second time in as many hours, I could already see that I was collecting stares. I ignored them. Dresden wasn’t on this shift at least, so I won’t have to see his snide face.

As I was changing, two of the guards from a different captain followed me. I knew it would be nothing but verbal abuse, so I tuned them out as I changed back into the same clothes I’d worn as I ran around town before this shift started. As I hung up the uniform, I realized I forgot my two spare uniforms back at home, and realized I’d have to bring them back. Great.

They used the sorts of language they thought they could get away with now that I wasn’t a coworker. All sorts of domesticated avian slurs, as well as more colorful diminutives regarding my heritage and potential loyalty outside the Sumar throne. Given that I didn’t need to worry about their abuse affecting my future employment, I found their casual banter merely upsetting in an abstract societal sense, rather than personal. 

If nothing else, my short tenure as a city guard taught me that reform from within the power structures of the city was truly never an option. 

The two city guards left me alone once it became clear I wasn’t going to actually give them the satisfaction or explain why I requested a Priority Sheet. My desk was more or less immaculate, but I was careful to check for any personal belongings or remains. 

Inside one drawer, I found my original report regarding Justin’s confession and reread it. I had not been charitable to the Human teenager. I considered the paper and ink for a moment, before folding up the report and shoving it delicately into my mouth. The report wouldn’t be great for my digestion, but it wouldn’t leave something behind to follow up on either. Justin would be a target if someone less scrupulous found it, and my story about “cousins who have connections with the Drakenguard” would fall apart.

I didn’t see Justin leave but I also didn’t want to linger here, so I left the building with the small satchel at my side with my personal supplies and looked around the main administrative square of Sumar City. 

While most might say that the palace was the heart of the city, this plaza was definitely the central nervous system. The governor’s primary offices, the royal mercantile guild, and the city guard headquarters all lived here. Up on a hill just north was where the royal ground officially started, and a block away from here in any other direction would quickly roll into the wealthy commercial districts that catered to the rich. 

In the small square dedicated to the center of the administration of the city, there was a small park and a series of carts brought to life by the rich scent of food and banners of color. No government ran on an empty stomach, and I knew these carts were all either subsidiaries of larger restaurants or wealthy individuals who could afford to operate at all times of the day. Still, the quaintness of their offerings and the small park was considered a little breath of life where bureaucracy reigned. It was also a common meeting for inter-departmental recon and surveillance between the competing branches of royal and city administration.

I wasn’t even the only Kobold, though the other one was a paid janitorial servant to serve the cadre of food carts, standing upright and gesturing animatedly at those that approached. I paid for overpriced meatballs on a stick to get the taste of wood pulp out of my mouth and casually tried to blend in with the park’s natural environment, using my {Innocuous} feat to its full extent.  

I didn’t have to wait long, and - as fortune would have it - my [Observation] skill increased from eight to nine. Not the time. For a moment, I felt my crown of feathers lift as I realized it would be excellent to add to my semi annual review, and that betrayal by my body… I was embarrassed. Not too embarrassed to miss Justin stumble out of the guard HQ, wearing a relatively serviceable set of grey parolee robes that were too big and none too clean. He also carried a standard issue prisoner tote, no doubt filled with only some of his confiscated equipment. 

He looked around blinking against the late evening shadows. I approached him now before his [Clandestine] hid him away from me again, though not before depositing my trash into the wheeled bin provided to my Kobold cohort. We didn’t speak to one another. A common saying in Sumar City was that that one Kobold was an oddity, but two or more were a conspiracy.

“Wizard Justin Stormhallow. Do you have anywhere to stay in the city?”

He startled at my voice, though I was quite certain that I’d managed to keep it in the higher melodious tones that set Humans at ease. “Off-officer Fortuna? What are you doing here?”

“I am no longer an officer of the Sumar City Guard. You may just call me Fortuna. I was waiting for you to be provided bail.”

“Well, I got bail, though I don’t understand why the Governor should care, but the guard put a pair of curses on me. Two!”

I nodded, not surprised about his benefactor, “I assume a curse to afflict you if you leave the city, and another to track your general whereabouts?” All pretty standard ‘high-risk’ criminal bail curses.

He gestured assent, distracted by his misfortune. “They didn’t even give over my money or my magical items. Just my spell book and a few other things.”

“Asset forfeiture. You will get the magical items back once they have an arraignment set on your case. You might get some of the money back.” I seriously doubted it. If the Royal Guard didn’t take it, the City Guard will blame them for it going missing anyway. There was a pool seized assets that was used for discretionary spending for the less scrupulous officers.

“How am I going to afford to remove the curses then? I can’t stay in the City forever.”

“It would be highly illegal to remove those curses early. Even if you knew someone from your games that would do it in Sumar City, they would be foolish to risk it right now, during the increased chaos of the coronation.”

“I- yeah. I don’t have the means to tackle the thieves guild quests anyway. Hey, wait.” Justin returned from his habitual mental wandering to focus on me again. “You called this a game. Does that mean you believe me?”

“You used that term. I have no idea what it means, since you aren’t treating reality like a playful exchange or fun experience. I have verified that your information was factual, so I am willing to take what you say at face value and help you prevent the empire from falling into war and chaos.”

“I… don’t know anything about you. What do you do? It would be easier to navigate the laws here normally with a city guard as an ally.”

“I am a trained scribe and competent scout. I am not a city guard anymore. I raised a Priority Sheet to the top of the administration, and had to resign.” He didn’t understand, it was written on his face.  Several guards walked out the main door of the station and gave me a double look. “Let’s take a cart to my neighborhood, pick up food, and we can talk more bluntly. Do you like Tamaran cuisine?”

“Tamaran- do you mean Orcish?”

I ushered Justin along with a gesture and a pained look. “Tamarans might be a primarily Orcish nation, but it might behoove you not to insult an entire nation by conflating their racial demographics with their nationality.”

Justin opened his mouth, then closed it, “Are you always so precise, Fortuna?”

“Being explicitly rude is a luxury that Humans have in large quantities, but it also runs out. I’ve never had such riches myself.”

“Ah.” 

He was quiet long enough for us to get past the counter into the cartways, where he was enraptured by the cart system and the buzz of people all around, after muttering something about ‘loading screens’. It was too loud to speak properly, so I let him enjoy studying the mechanics of the cart system. 

Hadassah

Having the Empire's bureaucractic core run run practically within sight of the palace was an intentional choice made to echo how Washington D.C.  in the US exists. I wanted to build a realistic, quasi-modern Empire, run out of a city proper, not some lonely castle on the edges of a big town.

With that in mind, the city and empire bureaucracy are intertwined but not the same organization. The Royal Guard are an older organization that are officially tied to the military, but would more or less be treated as special corp under direct purview of the Empress's family, rather than a truly war-focused branch.

The City Guard are much like a combination of the police, fire department and emergency services. Some of the worst abuses of state power are tempered by the fact that the City Guard actually are supposed to protect people over property. Those wealthy enough to have concerns about their money being at risk hire retired adventurers rather than trust the state.

Still, positions of power empower bullies regardless of the level of corruption or malice. Once Scaleen is gone, someone else will be on the bottom of the pecking order.