Editing Chapter 9.27 RC

{{Infobox_episode
|title=Chapter 9.27 RC
|published=December 4, 2022
|link=[https://wanderinginn.com/2022/12/04/9-27-rc/ Chapter 9.27 RC]
|previousChapter=[[Chapter 9.26 F]]
|nextChapter=[[Interlude – Age and Tales]]
|wordcount=21,088}}

'''Chapter 9.27 RC''' is the 38th chapter of [[Chapter List#Volume 9|Volume 9]]. The '''R''' stands for [[Rickel|'''R'''ickel]] and the '''C''' stands for [[Thomas Trautmann|'''C'''lown]].

==tl;dr==

* In [[Oteslia]], The Gentlemen Callers have been at war with the [[Earthtenders]] and [[Rickel]] is trying to find ways to spend his money.
* In the [[Blighted Kingdom]], we learn about Arruif Yal and [[Othius the Fourth|Othius]] decides to send [[Thomas Trautmann|Tom]] to the [[Dyed Lands]].

==Synopsis==
This chapter is split into two parts. The first is those remaining in [[Oteslia]]. The Gentlemen Callers have stayed in the city and have started building up their gang's presence by directly contending with the [[Earthtenders]]. [[Poruniv]] and the Earthtenders were not happy about this intrusion. They hired an expensive assassin who failed to down [[Wilovan]], so Poruniv brought forth a [Seer] who managed to learn Wilovan's class and Skills. This showed the gang leader that he was truly outgunned, so he decided to hire the [[Gallowsmen of Loeri]], a powerful law enforcement group that he hoped would take out the [[Brotherhood of Serendipitous Meetings]] before they targeted the Earthtenders. Once this decision was made, he sent away his other faces. One of these, [[Ecleeif]], was still secretly on [[Rickel]]'s payroll and had been helping the [[Earthers|earther]] hide from the Earthtenders. Rickel's biggest issue currently was in how to spend his large amounts of money he'd gotten from the Golden Triangle. He'd hoped to use the Earthtenders to make quick connections, but he'd switched sides to the Gentlemen Callers due to their style. Rickel had also started hanging out with [[Cirediel Anvi’dualln Olicuemerdn|Cire]]. He was sharp enough to realize that Cire was important if not exactly what was important about him. Besides this, Rickel chatted with Wilovan and [[Ratici]] about recent events among those were a letter sent by [[Erin Solstice|Erin]] and [[Symphony]] taking a contract to hunt down [[Tesy|Sellme]]. Rickel also walked close to the members of an ongoing investigation about his Golden Triangle fraud. They had been able to track him down to Oteslia, but from there, the trail ran dry. This investigation included multiple high-level merchants and a rarer class of [Investigator] though at this point, many were ready to give up since they weren't truly specialized in this work.

The second part of this chapter focused on the [[Blighted Kingdom]], primarily [[Thomas Trautmann|Tom]]. Here we see that many of the earthers have been leveling and have been treated much better than the first group to arrive. Once the Blighted Kingdom realized their value, the earthers were given prime treatment. This has led to many of the earthers not taking the situation quite as seriously, though. The Blighted Kingdom does not want to send them out into true combat situations prematurely lest they be attacked directly by [[Silvenia Ettertree|Silvenia]] or other high-level combatants. One earther who was more combat ready, Tom, had been falling into madness over time though he leveled in [Hero] as well. He was stable enough to talk to the princesses of the Blighted Kingdom and issue a challenge to one of them that she should call Lord [[Hayvon Operland|Havyon]] a bastard. Even when [[Nereshal]] heard about the potentially scandalous challenge, he allowed it hoping that it would help Princess [[Erille]] get stronger as she would be buffed by a [Hero]'s Skill. She did so while he was meeting with dignitaries and told him that he was wrong not to send help to other nations in need despite their ability and their recognition of the danger. The other princess, [[Isodore]], was also disapproving, but she was more curious about the fact that some few powers had never sent support to the Blighted Kingdom. Notable ones were the species of [[Drowned People|drowned folk]], [[dullahans]], and [[fraerlings]] as well as anyone from the [[Drath Archipelago]]. More than this, she had recently heard of Arruif Yal, a phrase that just being uttered put Nereshal into a state of distress. She went back to him later to get a better explanation but was turned away. Later on, she asked Lord Havyon and he told her that it was the name of a terandrian half-elven village that had been supposedly destroyed by the Deaths after they'd harbored and nursed a demon back to health. This led to the latest Demon war and the downfall of The Deaths. Nereshal in his own thoughts implied it to be something greater, though. Before they could discuss any of this further, the Blighted King made two pronouncements. One was his public announcement that he would be sending people to the new lands of [[Izril]]. This would include [[Rhir]]'s citizens and Earthers who could level in a hopefully more controlled environment. The second was that he would be sending Tom and his [[Gloomless Troupe]] out to the [[Dyed Lands]]. This would get Tom away and either kill him or make him much stronger, but it was also dangerous since Tom was secretly planning on finding the [[Niers Astoragon|Titan]].

==Characters==
( * = First Appearance)

* [[Wilovan]]
* [[Ratici]]
* ? - Drake [Assassin] *
* [[Poruniv]]
* [[Ecleeif]]
* [[Zanzeil]]
* [[Neverwhine]]
* [[Toenir]] *
* [[Rastandius]] (''Mentioned'')
* Gallowsmen (''First Time Mentioned'')
* [[Rickel]]
* [[Cirediel Anvi’dualln Olicuemerdn]] / Cire
* [[Erin Solstice]] (''Missive'')
* Symphony (''Mentioned'')
* [[Tesy]] / Sellme (''Mentioned'')
* Investigation team
** [[Gaills]] *
** [[Itrems]] *
** ? - Female Gnoll investigator *
* Rellas Biscale (''First Time Mentioned'')
* Beansi *
* [[Thomas Trautmann]] (''Surname Revealed'')
* [[Erille]]
* [[Isodore]]
* [[Nereshal]]
* Troxin *
* [[Hayvon Operland]]
* ? - Member of House Wellfar *
* ? - Gnoll emissaries from the Tribes *
* [[Richard Davenport]]
* [[Thorne]] / Hawking 2.0 *
*[[Quiteil]] (''Mentioned'')
*[[Antal Fekete]] (''Mentioned'')
*? - 19-year-old Rock climber Earther girl (''First Time Mentioned'')
*Earther's Training Group #4 (x8)
**[[Loreto]] *
**Miloslav / Milo *
**Johnson *
**Jie *
**[[Arden]] *
**? - Earther [Swordsman] *
**? - Earther [Fencer] *
**Hapi *
*Shel’s Cleansenborne
*[[Coretine]]
*[[Emily]]
*[[Beclaire]] (''Mentioned'')
*[[Cynthia]] (''Mentioned'')
*[[Gloomless Troupe]]
**? - Female [Jester]
*[[Othius the Fourth]]

==Locations==

* [[Izril]]
** [[Oteslia]]
*** Merchant’s Guild
* [[Rhir]]
** [[Blighted Kingdom]]
*** [[Paranfer]]
**** Burnished Court
****Earthers’ academy

==Creatures==

* ??? / Huge two-headed dog

==Items==

* ''Dawning of Zeres'' / ''Dawn of Zeres'' - Made by one of the greatest [Painters] of an age
* Ring of Greater Appraisal

[[Category:Chapters]]
[[Category:Lettered Chapters]]
[[Category:Chapters with Colored Text]]
[[Category:Volume 9]]