Count Leopold von Rabenfeld had spent years building relationships with noble households that controlled some of the most profitable dungeons around Kingsford.
Their interests were not always identical, but they shared one important advantage. Through ownership rights, inherited privileges, and longstanding management agreements, they controlled access to valuable underground territories that attracted Warriors from across Westmark.
For decades, that control had provided considerable wealth and influence.
Now, the Adventurer Guild was threatening to change the arrangements upon which their businesses depended.
The Guild's negotiations with several dungeon owners had already attracted attention throughout the capital's aristocratic circles. Reports concerning its Dungeon Pass system, expanding membership, and growing regional network suggested that the organization possessed advantages many private operators struggled to match.
