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The most danger was when boredom took hold, when the enemy was too weak to even demand consideration. Thankfully, between the RPMP and the Rainlords, there were still a few famed opponents left who could keep his men occupied with their pursuit of glory. Darktide, Evangelina Stroud, the Water Dragon of Sair, the Jailer of Ridgemark, the Linebreaker, the Black Artisan. And a couple others whom had yet to be concretely identified.

Vanderberk rolled his neck while he waited patiently, a smile on his face and his feet up on the warden's desk as he also enjoyed the comfort of the warden's soft, velvety chair. The warden himself was standing on the other side of the room, arguing with his vice-warden over something, making yet another amusing fuss that Vanderberk had ceased paying attention to.

Marda was standing next to them and would soon handle whatever their conflict was, if they didn't handle it themselves. The Demon's Tiger was not given to speaking very often, but when he did, he was not one to be ignored, refused, or even argued with.

The little Rainlord young'un sat in the corner of the warden's office, observing silently. Not that he had much choice, of course. Vanderberk had no intention of letting him move a single muscle until this upcoming meeting was finished.

The Rainlords were certainly taking their sweet time getting back to him. No doubt, they were torn about making any sort of deal with him. This was where his infamy became more of a liability than an aid, but he wasn't too concerned, either way. If they couldn't bring themselves to bargain, then he'd be only too happy to make an example out of them, instead. And not just to the rest of Vantalay but also to his own men. It had been a while since he'd last made a big show of things. Wouldn't hurt to give them another reminder of why they should continue to fear him.

Of course, that wouldn't be ideal. The entire reason he was even making the Rainlords an offer in the first place was because getting them out of here with no further difficulty would afford him much more flexibility and resources for bringing this Vantalayan conflict to a swift conclusion, Ridgemark in particular.

Apparently, the RPMP was proving quite the stubborn group of rebels. Vanderberk had yet to encounter any of their three top warriors himself, but according to his men, they were the primary obstacles in the conquest of Ridgemark.