The Baroness

For Baroness Sinis, her position and her reputation were the most important elements of her life. She was regarded as an exemplary noble of the Kingdom of Alcainez. Her people loved her for her charity work. The other nobles often asked for her advice on matters of politics and government. Even the Royal Family held her in high regard and often complimented her actions. 

To the eyes of the public, she was the perfect visage of nobility.

An act that made her skin crawl and her blood to boil…

The reality of it was that she despised every single one of the sycophants that approached her for council or help. She would rather see them writhing in pain or wailing with jealousy, as she knew they probably did in private. The only reason her people loved her was that they were under her control. She had broken their minds with torture and psychological trickery into subservience. To her, her people were simply pets that needed to wag their tails and worship her at her whim.

The one thing she loved most was to watch people suffer. To see their faces in agony the moment before they were killed at her command. It brought her to the peak of ecstasy to see people in such a state.

She was able to enjoy her darkest desires thanks to her willing service to the Demon Lord’s cause. As one of the Dark One’s worshippers, she knew she had a special place among his faithful followers. All she needed to do was to gain control of the Adventurers Guild, welcome the criminal element inside the city, foster the illegal goods market and gather the Demon Lord’s minions inside the city.

Using the Black Talon group as her pawns was a clever move. Cementing her position as a patron of adventurers, she earned some respect among the community and praised her generosity. In truth, she was turning them into her scapegoat. She knew that the Black Talon group were little more than bullies and simple commoners who only wanted money and the feeling of being important. How ridiculous… That these insects would even dream of trying to reach for such things was both laughable and infuriating.

However, keeping them around would help her in several ways: muscle for her illegal operations, disrupting Guild activities and keeping her informed of their dealings. Their main purpose would come to bare if her misdeeds were ever known. If anyone caught wind of her deals or if it became public knowledge, she would turn the blame on them. It was widely accepted that nobody liked the Black Talon members due to their posturing, their inflated egos, their constant harassment of adventurers and the people of the city. There was no evidence that would link her to all these criminal enterprises or her allegiance to the Demon Lord. It was the word of the “Benevolent and Magnanimous Baroness Sinis” against the word of a bunch of hated bullies.

Her plans were perfect!

Until now…

She had read the reports that, recently, some of her schemes had been disrupted by an unknown party:

She had used her proxies to make requests to the Adventurers Guild that would seem very lucrative for any adventurer to take. However, the information provided about the request would be misleading and severely downplaying its risks. One such request that had been made was to deal with a small warband of Orcs. In reality, it was more like a small army that would kill any adventurer that encountered them.

However, this request had been successfully completed by an unknown adventurer. She couldn’t find out who it was because the spy that kept an eye on everyone that accepted the request had disappeared without a trace.

Other reports mentioned that many of her enterprises were under scrutiny by the Royal Guard after an investigation had begun thanks to a small group of adventurers providing information regarding bandit activities in the forest. According to her informants, they had ambushed the bandits and eliminated them. In truth, they were members of the Black Talon group who were trying to earn their place among their numbers. Such uncouth initiation rituals…

Given all these situations, Baroness Sinis was less than happy. Her minions were being slain and her businesses wouldn’t be able to operate.

While she mused about this interloper that had meddled in her affairs there was a knock on the door of the Baroness’ study. “Enter.” She said with a haughty command.

One of her most devoted servants, the Smiling Man, entered the room, prostrated before his mistress and waited. Despite his constant smile, which made a lot of people nervous, she had chosen him to be his main enforcer whenever someone needed to be assassinated.

“Ah, my pet. You may approach me.” Baroness Sinis beckoned him to approach.

The Smiling Man, still on his knees, crawled towards the Baroness and kissed her feet. “Mistress.”

“So, why have you come? Has the exchange happened between the Black Talons and the Orc-Kobold alliance?” The Baroness stared down at the Smiling Man. To her exasperation, she saw that he wasn’t smiling and was hesitant to speak. “Speak, worm. Or you will no longer feel the love of your Mistress and cast you into the sewer where I found you.”

The Smiling Man’s eyes showed both desperation and fear. He’d been broken in by the Baroness and thrived by her “love”. Everytime she hurt him with the lash and the rod, he felt alive. But to be cast aside from his Mistress was unthinkable.

“O’ my merciful Mistress, I apologize, but I fear I must deliver bad news.”

The Baroness’ expression remained stoic and unchanged. Only the fire of anger could be seen in her eyes, but other than that, it almost looked like she was an alabaster statue looking down on a worshiper.

“Deliver the news then.” Said the Baroness with a cold voice.

“The deal was interrupted by an assailant. The orcs and the kobolds were killed, our contact with the monster alliance was slain, the Black Talons were decimated, the safehouse and the merchandise were destroyed.” The Smiling Man was sweating like a madman. The most chilling of things for him was the fact that the Baroness was calm and silent. This told him she was furious beyond reason.

“Did that mongrel Grove find out who it was?” The Baroness was boiling from within in rage! Could ANY of these imbeciles do anything right!? Even a worthless knight like Grove might get results. But it seems that she overestimated his value and that of his pack of mutts.

“He did, Mistress. There was a survivor from the deal who claims that the culprit was a new adventurer in the kingdom. A bounty hunter who is known as the Wolf. According to my informants, this man is a veteran adventurer that came out of nowhere and is earning much praise from adventurers and commoners alike. There are even rumors that he’s close to the royal family and is also feared for his brutality while on the job.” The Smiling Man bowed his head in shame. That meddling bounty hunter was making his Mistress angry! If he was given the order, he would slaughter him!

Bounty hunter? Wolf? Some new upstart comes into her city and suddenly all of her plans are falling apart? “I see.”

The constant cold answers given by the Baroness was making the Smiling Man lose hope. Unless…

“Mistress! It seems that ever since this bounty hunter appeared, things have become a bit difficult for you. If that is the case, then we could easily tell that HE is the reason for all this misfortune. Command me, my Mistress, and I shall slaughter that mongrel and bring you his head!” He thrust his head to the ground making a loud bang, opening a small wound on his forehead.

“No, my pet. Despite your suggestion I have other plans. You.shall.stay.put.” This command made the Smiling Man’s heart sink. This was the worst punishment! She had denied him the option to serve her!

“M-Mistress… I beg you.”

“Now, now, my little pet. You shall serve me in a different way. Command Grove and his pack of mutts to hunt down and kill this bounty hunter. Once the order has been given, prepare the evidence we have gathered over the last year and have it delivered to the judges under my control. The Black Talons have outlasted their usefulness the moment they put my affairs in jeopardy. So we will dispose of them. If they end up killing this pesky newcomer, we will use that as additional leverage to ensure the death sentence. And, if they somehow fail, then I won’t have any use for them, and you, my sweet little pet, will kill this mongrel dog for me and earn my favor again.”

Amazed by his Mistress’ scheme, the Smiling Man nodded and held back his adulation. “I shall act upon your command!”

“Now, hurry and disappear. I still have much to ponder.” With a dismissive signal, the Smiling Man left after Baroness Sinis said the word.

Now alone in her study, the Baroness vented her burning rage by grabbing anything within her grasp and shattering it into a thousand pieces. Screaming with frustration and fury, she finished her rampage after leaving the entire room in shambles.

“That damned bounty hunter! How dare he interfere with my plans? I was so close to controlling the Adventurers Guild, my business enterprises were thriving! Everything was going perfectly. Now, the Black Talon fools are dead, the Dark One’s minions were slain, and all my plans are ruined. I underestimated the Guild’s response. I thought he was just another fool looking for fame and glory. But he's more than that. He's cunning, resourceful, he has connections, and he’s too dangerous to let live. I need to get rid of him before he exposes me. Grove and his mutts will have to do the dirty deed for me. I'll crush him. I won't let anyone stand in my way. The Demon Lord will reward me handsomely for my efforts. I'll be the most powerful woman in the kingdom. No, the world! And that hunter... will be nothing but a footnote in my glorious history.”

Feeling her sense of superiority growing once more, the Baroness smiled sinisterly. She would get rid of the bounty hunter, the Black Talons and Grove, and she would have to start all over again. It didn’t matter how long it took! The coming of the Demon Lord must not be postponed any longer!