The Wise Wolf's Persuasion · Old Singe's Choice

Murphy was playing at being a god, trying to swindle the elves into handing over a "territory development subsidy mega-pack," but the others weren't sitting idle.

For instance, the players of the Wolf Guard had received a rather unusual quest: they were to escort the Wise Wolf and Old Senke to a secret location near the ruins of the Farstrider headquarters.

The quest description was quite vague, but it was labeled as one part of a gnoll racial quest, so the players didn't dare slack off. Though the Wise Wolf was strong enough now that it hardly needed players to sacrifice themselves for it in a pinch, as a rising faction leader, it still deserved a proper entourage.

Hog was also the sort who enjoyed talking to people, so the escort quest itself wasn't dull.

The players chatted with Hog almost the entire way to the designated location. The Wise Wolf also told them a tall tale about its wanderings through Transia in its "younger days," embellishing its experiences just a little.

Especially the part about its "fated encounter" with its master, Murphy. Hog described it with considerable artistry as "an inevitable miracle, set in motion by fate."

It was quite a clever way of bragging, but the shrewd players weren't fooled.

What Hog didn't know was that A-Cha and Little Ashina had already collected the story of its miserable early days and made it part of the "Transian Gazetteer" on the forums.

During the long wait as "content-starved players," every player had read those stories more than once. They were actually pretty entertaining as adventure novels with players as the protagonists.

"Damn, Hog can really spin a yarn! And it doesn't even blush. If I didn't know the truth, I'd almost be taken in."

With a thermite blade slung