Anvilites' Adventures #1

Evening paperwork and thoughts.

Evening paperwork.

It was an unusually cool evening at the City of Concord, and as soft gusts of wind surrounded Ademal Preacte and kissed him on his cheek, he wondered not for the first time that hour, if he maybe should close the windows to his office. Or at the very least put on something warmer. But no. He again shrugged it off; he had been dealing with much colder temperatures than this and if he gave way it would just be proof that he had gone soft over the years. His comrades would surely think he overexaggerated; one did not become the High Administrator of the Anvilites' Guild for being soft and if he felt cold he had earned the right to put on something warmer. That may be so, but he did not care. It would be a waste of time anyway since he was soon done with going through this day's paperwork.
Fortunately, this had become something rather mundane over the years. Concord may be a bit livelier than other cities out there, and the Anvilites' District may be of the more, let us say, unusual spectrum, but interesting and noteworthy events rarely occurred more than twice a week. The flood of white roses that had exploded out from the World Ends Inn's well two days ago was one — Pand the Innkeeper would surely keep finding white roses scattered throughout the inn for a few more weeks onward — and then there was the Void Angler Denizen that Leno the Handyman and Astiri Astra had stumbled upon again. They had not managed to kill it this time either since it had phased through the floor, and Leno was worried that it was the same one that had nearly eaten Jimmy the Goblin a month prior. Not that that would have hurt exactly; that goblin had a knack for surviving things. Still, if the hunch of Leno was correct — and it usually was — that Void Angler Denizen would need to be taken care of. It would only be a matter of time before someone of the members became seriously hurt, or worse, and with it gone they would have at least a few weeks of modestly calm down in the Basement of World Ends Inn.
The pendulum clock on the wall chimed. Ademal raised his gaze and frowned. Already eleven o'clock? The time just passed by it seemed. The others would begin to wonder where he was at, and when that happened, they would knock on his office door. A sound that he loathed as it made his fingers itch. Maybe it reminded him too much about his previous life?
He put the paper he held in his hand and rose from the high backed chair; he could do the rest tomorrow. It would get faster too after a night's rest. He nodded to the thought, taking his rapier that had been leaning against the deks and stepped towards the door. He had come no further than halfway when someone knocked on the door.
"By Cthenth," he muttered, his grip around the sword sheath hardening. He opened the door and managed to only barley contain his surprise. Standing in front of him with a calm expression stood one of the Anvilites' Guild's founders; The Golden Matriarch. She was dressed in the usual civil attire; a white shirt underneath a dark red silk west with gold buttons. Dark trousers and knee-high leather boots with silver buckles. Sometimes he wondered if they were divine in nature, just like her Holy Garments.
"Salutations, Ademal. My apologies for disturbing you in your work."
"No apologies needed, madame. I was just on my way down to the Inn. Is something the matter?"
"Nothing for you to worry about. I was just going to ask if you wanted to accompany me down to the Inn."
"And your Husband, madame?"
"He is busy and needs some time alone."
So there was something going on. It unnerved him. Both the Golden Matriarch and the High Forger were Angels and what usually concerned them concerned the Divinities. Which was never good, something he had quickly learned after arriving in Concord.
"It would be my pleasure, as always," Ademal responded.