'Why do you people have to stick your noses into everything?'
Anser was utterly speechless.
For a while, he'd thought Amn would settle down and stay quiet. Instead, not long after the fighting in Beregost had ended, the Amnians were already stirring up trouble again.
Still, for a commercial empire to be so enthusiastic about invasion and war, there had to be profit in it somewhere.
When he'd first heard that the Second Prince had outside backing, he'd considered all sorts of possibilities—except Amn.
He vaguely remembered that the Nashivaar Family, one of the families on Amn's Council of Five, had close ties to Cyric's church. And Cyric and Bane were mortal enemies.
'What could Bane offer Amn? Hegemony? Wealth? Territory? An expanded commercial empire?'
He had no idea whether the two sides had reached some secret agreement, but the situation had suddenly become extraordinarily troublesome.
With two powerful enemies joining forces, they would probably be unable to resist.
Leaving aside the classed professionals within those armies, the equipment of Amn's military alone was enough to make people despair.
Every Amnian soldier was equipped with a new generation of firearms and cannons. Judging by their appearance, the technological leap was enormous, giving off a distinctly steampunk feel.
Every barrel was manufactured to exact standards, likely the product of industrialized production or the work of highly skilled professionals.
There was no need to guess—the equipment was almost certainly connected to Artificers.
'They're complete war maniacs.'
Complaints aside, if Anser had access to that kind of equipment and army, he would definitely become just a tiny bit overconfident himself.
'Could it be that I slaughtered them so badly last time that the Artificers no longer wanted to fight on the front lines and decided to stay in the rear advancing technology instead?' He curled his lips.
Everything in Faerûn was racing down a track completely unfamiliar to him.
He circled the Starport Palace several more times, confirming the approximate troop strength and overall situation before entering the complex.
As he approached the central palace, an invisible wall blocked his path.
His heart skipped a beat.
He immediately retreated, hastily diving deeper into the Ethereal border region and narrowly avoiding detection by two spellcasters conducting a search.
'The First Prince must still have a few trump cards left. Hopefully you can hold out for a few more days.'
Anser's gaze swept across the tense expressions of the two spellcasters. Not wanting to provoke them any further, he withdrew and left.
After returning to the stone building in Midtown, he had barely revealed himself when Osborn jumped up from the sofa. Only after recognizing him did the halfling let out a sigh of relief.
"How bad is it?"
"Not great. Start preparing for an evacuation. The Kingdom of Amn on the continent of Faerûn has entered the war..."
As he listened to Anser's description, Osborn pressed his lips together and remained silent for a long time.
"Is there really no other way?" he finally asked, unwilling to give up.
After generations of halflings had built, maintained, and protected The Burrows, it had become a peaceful and stable home. Everyone had long since grown accustomed to life there.
If there was still any chance at all, most of them didn't want to leave.
"There are definitely ways," Anser said, stroking his chin as he sank into thought.
He once heard a saying:
If you can't resolve a conflict, escalate it.
If Bane's Chosen could bring in outside help, then so could they.
"Since they've started this dispute, we'll make it even bigger. We'll turn it into a storm and push it beyond everyone's control."
Osborn's eyes lit up.
"Tell me more."
"It's simple. Spread news of what's happening here. Open the Teleportation Circles..."
Anser's plan was straightforward:
Muddy the waters and bring more factions into the game.
The first step was to immediately inform everyone about the situation here—including the churches of the good-aligned gods, the Adventurers' Guild, the Magic Research Society, Traveler's Rest, Waterdeep, and anyone else who might be interested.
Amn couldn't be ignored either.
The five ruling families of Amn each had their own agendas. If cooperation with Bane had been arranged by only one family, exposing it publicly could very well provoke opposition from the others.
The second step was to open the Teleportation Circle in the stone building's basement to all parties—anyone could use it.
That way, Priest Evan could travel to Faerûn and rally reinforcements, while outside forces such as the Magic Research Society would be able to reach Rock of Bral directly.
Chosen, churches, nobles, and others hostile to Amn and Bane might flock here once they caught wind of the situation. As more forces converged, the growing storm would quickly erase Bane's side's advantages.
Of course, there were significant risks involved.
Bane had allies as well.
However, Anser could prioritize informing Bane's potential enemies first, creating a time advantage. Then, by controlling access to the Teleportation Circle, he could limit the movements of Bane's allies as much as possible.
Even if the Teleportation Circle was ultimately destroyed, it would still be worth it.
If Amn and Bane's Chosen won this campaign, this base would have to be abandoned anyway.
The Second Prince hadn't come personally yet mainly because he was tied down elsewhere. Once he captured the Starport Palace, he would undoubtedly move to seize control of this stone building immediately afterward.
If they didn't make full use of it now, they might never get another chance.
The third step would be carried out alongside the second:
Issue bounties.
The idea came from Traveler's Rest. If others could post bounties, then so could he.
He currently possessed over ten thousand pounds of gold. If he used that wealth to place a bounty on an Evil God's Chosen whose whereabouts were known, it would undoubtedly attract a massive number of adventurers.
Most of them wouldn't even have the means to teleport here on their own. But if they could find a way to reach Rock of Bral, that meant they possessed at least some degree of capability. One way or another, they could create obstacles for the Evil God's Chosen.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get moving. I'll notify Evan and the others."
Osborn wasn't afraid of making the situation bigger in the slightest. He paced around the room, his steps noticeably lighter than before.
"Don't rush. I have a way to spread information very quickly."
Anser stopped him and motioned for him to sit down.
"I founded a small Adventuring Party. The members are connected through a contract, and it comes with quite a few benefits..."
He explained with a smile.
Osborn's eyes gleamed.
He immediately understood what Anser was getting at. His thoughts raced as he rapidly weighed the advantages and disadvantages.
"I'm willing to join!"
The moment Anser finished speaking, Osborn immediately stated his position.
The halflings needed a powerful spellcaster and Paladin like him right now. Cooperation would benefit both sides.
Anser didn't rush to recruit him. Instead, he handed over a freshly revised copy of the Genius Adventuring Party Charter, which Iris had just updated.
It briefly outlined the benefits members would receive, the obligations they would bear, and the supreme authority and status held by the Party Leader.
After learning about the miraculous nature of the Adventuring Party, Iris had gone through quite a bit of internal struggle before ultimately choosing to surrender.
She no longer spent all day shut up at home developing her innate magic.
Whenever she had free time, she would head to the edge of the Wood of Sharp Teeth to hunt. At night, she would return and continue refining the party's rules and regulations.
The change in her had been enormous.
The other party members were much the same. Whenever they couldn't hunt, they trained instead.
The Party Storage was never short on prey, and the Black Tower's ice cellar was already packed with every kind of meat imaginable.
Experience points were like a magical potion.
Once someone tasted them even once, addiction was inevitable.
Anser was more than happy to take it easy. With everyone sharing the same goal, managing the party became much simpler, and no one objected to the Genius Adventuring Party Charter.
The name "Genius" had been Iris's idea as well.
Every member of the Adventuring Party would eventually reach the pinnacle of mortal potential. In the eyes of outsiders, they would naturally all be considered top-tier geniuses.
The name also served another purpose:
It would create the illusion that only geniuses could join the party, helping conceal the secrets within that could never be revealed to outsiders.