Polymath Redux

Chapter 16: Into the belly of the beast

A large empty hall covered in shadows, with the only source of light being from a single candle. Seven figures sat down around a round table with most of their features hidden away by the carefully constructed shadow. To any casual observer this would obviously be taken as a signal to assume that this was a meeting solely for undesirable elements.

Of course, this was no exception. This was the largest underground organization that had deep rooted history in the governance of Xagontetia.

The 'Wayfarer Council'.

For over 200 years had they been slowly affecting and influencing how the country would progress, their goal? At the start it was simply for money but over time it had shifted to more political oriented objectives. They wanted to shape Xagontetia to their liking and expand outwards to the neighboring empire of the Baliazoural. With most of its core members being at a position of extremely high influence and wealth.

Their plans were almost at an eclipse and their hour to strike had been so dastardly close yet an unforseen circumstance had arisen, causing a halt to their operation and  requiring the presence of all core members of the council. Seven figures out of eight sat down at their round table to figure out what went wrong and how they should proceed out from now on.

The key matter to discuss in this meeting was the subject of the missing red dragon. A vital component to their plan had suddenly turned up missing without rhyme or reason.

"So? Can anyone tell me what's going on?! Why did the Red Dragon suddenly go missing?! Alexander it was supposed to be under your watchful eye. "

Out of all the people covered in the shadow the one most deeply covered was this person. The Grand Cardinal of the Church of Xagon, Lazzaro Zeder. The shadows boiling around him grew violent but not physically, as though to match his rhythm and pace the shadows expanded each time he raised his voice in an intimidating manner.

He raised the voice of another member of the Wayfarer council, Alexander Granate, the Vice Director of the Adventurer's Guild.

"I had placed a careful watch on the red dragon with only the most skilled trackers and scouts, but it had just suddenly disappeared, almost like it had been spirited away by some force. I don't even know what caused it."

Alexander replied but it was obvious that no one was satisfied with that answer. A silent shadow with gleaming golden eyes pierced through to Alexander's soul. A wave of nausea and fear had gripped tightly onto his heart, but soon that death glare had vanished.

"It seems he's telling the truth. Well, he had no reason to lie."

A deep, masked voice came out from the shadow with the golden eyes. This was the 'Luminary', the leader of the Wayfarer Council. His entire identity was a mystery; his name, his birthplace, his wealth, his race and even his gender was unknown. It was assumed he was a male due to the deep voice but that could have easily been falsified using voice altering magic.

Always draped in shadows even the other core members wanted to know who this person is but did not out of two reasons. The first was fear, even though they had never seen him directly fight so they could not gauge his strength, but his single signature glare was enough to put people into paralysis. At such a display they could not even begin to try.

The second reason was because of his incredible leadership skills. It was because of him that the Wayfarer Council had successfully shifted from a profit-centric organization to a more political-centric one. The greatest proof of his success was the promotion of the Granate family who was previously a no name small nobility, but now was one of the quintessential duke houses in the country.