After the shouting died down some, I sat back in the little room, exhausted.\u00a0 I truly don\u2019t like being someone else\u2019s messenger, and I think Mahar specifically gave me that information so I would be the one to take all the heat for it.\u00a0 Eventually they did calm down though, which made conversation somewhat easier to accomplish.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mahar was less than popular with them still, but they grudgingly admitted that it was better their friend was offered some measure of quarter rather than just be killed outright.\u00a0 They ended up writing a note to their friend, and forwarding it on to the Shadowspire.\u00a0 The gist I got from it was that they were happy he was still alive, saddened that they hadn\u2019t heard from him, and hoped they\u2019d see him again when he got done and freed of his obligation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Once heads had cooled considerably, I left them and headed to my room.\u00a0 Settling in that night I had time to consider all the things that had gone on around me.\u00a0 I opened my window to watch the swallows and bats compete for insects against the darkening sky.\u00a0 Its deep blue began to show stars while I watched.\u00a0 After the darkness settled completely I closed the sash and the drapes.\u00a0 Digging through my satchel, I dragged out the Ephemerals<\/em> and the two books I\u2019d recovered from Sheng\u2019s gear but had never had time to indulge myself with.\u00a0 They were books on aspects of arcana dealing with fire \u2013 a subject I\u2019ve often found interesting, but have not examined closely myself, because of my alliances with the Winter Fey.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I worked through the better part of a bottle of wine as well as a tray of cheeses brought to me by one of the serving staff while reading the books.\u00a0 They were really quite fascinating, and considering some of their styles of spellcasting were very similar to my own, it didn\u2019t seem out of line that I might be able to learn a thing or two.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Besides, there\u2019s something satisfying about setting your enemy on fire that I just like the thought of.\u00a0 I was just closing the book when I thought of what I\u2019d heard on the street.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They\u2019d brought their curse with them<\/em>.\u00a0 The woman had obviously harbored an anger for the refugees from Tarsis.\u00a0 Could one of the refugees we\u2019d rescued have been a ghoul?\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t imagine it to be so, as ghouls have a distinct appearance and smell, though I suppose one might have trailed their caravan on the way up.\u00a0 However it got here, a ghoul infection in Al\u2019Veydra would be bad news for everyone. \u00a0\u00a0I thought it over for a while, and noted to meet up with J\u2019Tiel the next day.<\/p>\n I settled to sleep to the sound of crickets.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In my dream, I was in a glorious mansion of red and black marble, tapestries of fantastic detail adorning the walls.\u00a0 I think you handled that well,<\/em> Voedle was there to greet me when I shut my eyes.\u00a0 He was standing at the top of a finely-wrought staircase, holding a clear glass of red wine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u00a0 What are you referring to?\u201d\u00a0 I looked at myself \u2013 I was dressed in my adventuring gear, but my hands were completely clean and well-manicured.\u00a0 My clothes were in perfect shape.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure somewhere a mystic would read some bogus significance into this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I just enjoy the sensation of being clean.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The conversation with Mahar,<\/em> Voedle had a thoughtful tone.\u00a0 He\u2019s ambitious, and already got himself in hot water by taking a side among the Legions.\u00a0 You might have piqued his curiosity. <\/em>He strolled down the stairs, swirling the glass before him.\u00a0 He looked as he did in life, dressed in the finery of a noble house, a rich brocade vest with a knee-length fur kilt.\u00a0 A silk shirt open to the chest showed a medallion of some ancient design.\u00a0 Voedle\u2019s skin was a light yellow, and his eyes violet, with blue-rimmed ovoid pupils like a goat\u2019s.\u00a0 That was how one could tell Shadrim apart from infernals \u2013 Shadrim don\u2019t have visible pupils, our eyes are the same color throughout.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some necromancer somewhere is probably capturing Shadrim just to take their eyes and dissect them, in order to find out why and how that is.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOr his greed,\u201d I suggested.\u00a0 He joined me, and we walked casually down the hall.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Is there such a strong difference when it comes to us?<\/em> Voedle enjoyed the humor of the moment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo he really is an Infernal then?\u201d\u00a0 We turned into a library parlor, and I poured myself a strong blue distillate into a crystal tumbler from the sideboard.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yes, though not of a specific type I\u2019ve been familiar with.\u00a0 Then again, your kind rarely follow a typical path to ascendance. <\/em>He started working his way along the stacks.\u00a0 You have interesting taste in books, for one who fell into the arcane through a bargain.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI did not enter the Cairn Jale as a warlock,\u201d I looked around at the books as well, somewhat humbled by my own imagination.\u00a0 \u201cI was a historian and a story-teller, a Commander in rank before I left.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yes, I followed your career from a distance, through Balenor.<\/em> He pulled down a volume and cracked it open.\u00a0 Why do you keep these?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t choose to, they stay of their own accord.\u201d\u00a0 He was reading a history of the campaign against the minotaur nation of Gaeth\u2019s Mountain, one of the earliest true victories of Bael Turath, ages before the Blood Compact.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mahar must have given you this.<\/em> He looked up at me.<\/p>\n \u201cHe did,\u201d\u00a0 I nodded.\u00a0 Steering the topic back to my old commanding officer, I added:\u00a0 \u201cI could really use some allies here, let\u2019s hope it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Well, allies are one thing, he\u2019s another. <\/em>He closed the book with a snap and shelved it.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\u00a0 I turned a padded leather chair around and sat in it, facing him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He sat across from me.\u00a0 He\u2019s a mercenary.\u00a0 Paid for hire.\u00a0 His loyalty only extends so far as his pocket.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDo you really think so little of him?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I never knew him well, until he turned against Balenor.<\/em> Perhaps my opinion is tainted by this.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you know of that?\u00a0 And how well do you know Balenor?\u201d\u00a0 I finished off the liquor in my glass and debated returning to the sideboard for another.\u00a0 While I have a magnificent capacity for forging dreams and nightmares, the only place I was likely to hire a butler for this mansion was one from which I didn\u2019t need help in my own mind.\u00a0 The residents of Taer Lian Doresh might enjoy their job a little too much.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But then, that might not be a bad idea.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What I know of that rebellion is not for me to tell, and very well.\u00a0 He brought me into the Legion, you know.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI think he mentioned that once, a great many years ago.\u201d\u00a0 I stood to refill my glass, after all.\u00a0 I pointed at his, the question on my face.\u00a0 He nodded and held it out for me to take.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, you have your whiskey.\u00a0 Will you return early to see the Smith? <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNot yet, no. Were I a craftsman, I would be upset with an impatient customer.\u00a0 The less upset I make him, the less chance of\u2026well, of him killing me.\u201d\u00a0 I refilled his glass, and frowned.\u00a0 There was water here, but no ice.\u00a0 But that, now, was not a problem for me.\u00a0 One of the benefits of having secret channels into Levistus and Fey Winter means that ice is never far.\u00a0 I reached my hand through a small rip in space and retrieved a handful of the glowing crystalline shards there.\u00a0 Changing drinks, I poured a clear vodka over the violet crystals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At least, in dreams, one could mix drinks without hazard.\u00a0 Returning to Voedle, I handed him his wine.\u00a0 \u201cI am wondering what other payment he will be asking for when I return.\u00a0 It can\u2019t be so simple as a barrel of whiskey.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You don\u2019t think he\u2019s actually reasoning through all this, do you? <\/em>He drank from the glass.\u00a0 Good wine, by the way.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I inclined my head in thanks for the recognition.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He looked into his glass, contemplating for a while.\u00a0 At this stage, he may very well be on automatic \u2013 he builds things on the forge because that\u2019s what he\u2019s always done.\u00a0 It might be best to leave him that way as much as you can.\u00a0 He is a weapons-master for a reason \u2013 he desires hurt upon those who enslaved him.\u00a0 He expresses that need through his craftsmanship \u2013 and there has never been a finer.\u00a0 For a being of such power to be enslaved is a terrible blow to one\u2019s ego \u2013 and to be forgotten for a thousand years in his prison, well, one can nurse a terrible thirst for vengeance in that amount of time.<\/em> He looked over at me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I didn\u2019t need an explanation of that.\u00a0 \u201cI see.\u00a0 Something you\u2019re not telling me, then?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just don\u2019t get on his bad side.\u00a0 You may already be, just by being a member of your race. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat about you?\u00a0 What of your bad side?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oh, I\u2019ve got one, make no mistake.\u00a0 Fortunately you\u2019re not on it.\u00a0 You know the vengeance I seek, and you\u2019re a willing party to it.\u00a0 That, and you\u2019re family, after all. <\/em>He grinned at this.\u00a0 Who would have thought that we\u2019d meet again in this way, hmm?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I concurred.\u00a0 \u201cIt is a strange world, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So if you\u2019re not going to the Smith right away, where will you go?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n With some circumspection, I said, \u201cI think perhaps I\u2019ll detour along my return.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Voedle raised his eyebrows. \u00a0That\u2019s not\u00a0 a real answer, you know.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI was thinking of perhaps paying a visit to the City of Brass.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cGood morning, everyone.\u201d\u00a0 I said as I strolled into the small dining room set aside for us.\u00a0 \u201cDid you sleep well?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nemmy grunted, Horace was semi-conscious in his chair.\u00a0 Both had obviously stayed up drinking.\u00a0 Lotonna had an enormous ham steaming in front of him \u2013 probably one of the two Duchan usually puts on a spit in the early morning \u2013 and was shredding it with his teeth.\u00a0 Kineta was eating quietly, but loked up at me with a smile as I came in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Smile.\u00a0 That\u2019s a good sign.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, I slept very well, thanks.\u00a0 This is a nice place.\u201d\u00a0 She waved around at the walls.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNot worth doing if it isn\u2019t worth doing properly,\u201d\u00a0 I responded.\u00a0 \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhere will you go now?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI think back to the Overspill Market, and from there to the City.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never been there, and I\u2019d like to have a look around.\u00a0 Seems like a great opportunity, since I have a little time.\u201d\u00a0 I sat down across from her.\u00a0 She was wearing the same robe today, but a different blouse beneath it.\u00a0 She remained enchanting just in her appearance to me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou seem to be on a schedule, waiting for something.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I meant.\u00a0 What is it?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A server came in with my breakfast.\u00a0 \u201cI have commissioned a weapon to be built, I am waiting for it to be done.\u00a0 I also will need to connect up with my other friends when they return from their current objective.\u00a0 What about you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a bit aimless right now, had been thinking to go to Vor Kragal to see what we could dig up there, but really hadn\u2019t come to any decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hmm.\u00a0 \u201cWhy don\u2019t you come with me?\u00a0 There\u2019s fun of all sorts in the City of Brass, or at least so I\u2019m told.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMe?\u201d\u00a0 She looked at me demurely.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about\u2026?\u201d\u00a0 She inclined her head to point in the general direction of the snoring Horace, feasting Lotonna, and groaning Nemmy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019d be welcome too, of course \u2013 we could all go.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never been there, and it would be fascinating to me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll ask \u2013 I want to say yes, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI know, loyalty to friends.\u00a0 I completely understand.\u201d\u00a0 I dug into the omelet with a lot more enthusiasm than I expected \u2013 I was really hungry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We ate in silence for a while.\u00a0 She finally set her fork down and looked across at me.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about your friends?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I chewed through a cheek-full of ham and washed it down with some full milk.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about them?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you with them?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I don\u2019t really know the answer to that question.\u00a0 We finished our last job, and had to leave Banner for a while.\u00a0 We\u2019d heard tell of a fellow who was aiming to get to this strange tomb up North.\u00a0 He was a rival of a colleague we knew, and it seemed\u2026unwise\u2026to let him accomplish his goal.\u00a0 But for some reason I had this urge to return to Vor Kragal, we\u2019d just been there.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t let it lie.\u00a0 Almost like\u2026\u201d\u00a0 I drifted off, thinking about it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLike you were called there?\u201d\u00a0 She suggested, fork back in her hand and twisting some spinach around.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSomething like that, yes.\u00a0 I don\u2019t really belong there, it\u2019s not like it was my home or anything, but something pulled me to it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cInteresting.\u00a0 Many of your people seem to feel that.\u201d\u00a0 That was the first time she\u2019d referred to my race.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t make me feel uncomfortable, but it bothered me that it put an otherness between us.\u00a0 \u201cBut wouldn\u2019t your friends go with you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI was the reason we went the first time.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not so sure I can call them friends<\/em>, you know?\u00a0 They\u2019re just people I travel with, I don\u2019t get the feeling I\u2019m really entirely wanted there.\u201d\u00a0 I was a little surprised with myself even saying this, though I could certainly feel it was true.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not as if we haven\u2019t gone through our fair share of scrapes, I just don\u2019t think they feel all that comfortable around me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She listened to all this silently.\u00a0 I could tell what she was thinking, I\u2019m sure, though she was being very diplomatic to not say it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAnyway,\u201d I switched the topic over.\u00a0 \u201cI need to make a quick trip to the keep, then let\u2019s get that wagon and go.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She took a moment to let go of what she wanted to continue with and nodded.\u00a0 Looking over at the other two, she glanced back at me.\u00a0 \u201cAn hour?\u00a0 Does that work for you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSure,\u201d I affirmed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be back before then, and we can retrieve the wagon on the way to the distillery.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was again another beautiful day, which I enjoyed thoroughly on the way to the keep.\u00a0 I chewed on a big hunk of celery on the way over, and marveled at the smells in the air.\u00a0 There was going to be an excellent honey crop this year, from the look of it. \u00a0I reminded myself to mention to Ysolde to buy up a lot of it for a big run of medovina and a batch of brandy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I made my financial arrangements in the keep vault and spoke to J\u2019Tiel about my ghoulish suspicions.\u00a0 He confirmed that his pack of Fellbane had drawn the scent too, and were working on it.\u00a0 His eyes lit up when I handed him my old ritual book, in which was inscribed Corpselight<\/em>, but his optimistic expression dipped severely when I mentioned the Cavra ghouls, creations of Casavas, that looked and appeared natural for all intents and purposes.\u00a0 I was pretty sure Cavras were undead and would be picked up in the ritual spell, but one could never be too sure.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I returned, Duchan had already fitted the wagon up to a small horse, and my bag was stowed in it.\u00a0 I thanked him and paid him for the horse and gear.\u00a0 Kineta emerged a few minutes later, leading the others.\u00a0 Lotonna bodily lifted Nemmy into the wagon before throwing his own bag into it.\u00a0 He was outfitted with a full set of scale armor, each scale holding interesting runic patterns on them, and across his back was an axe whose head was as broad as my torso.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Memo to me, no pissing off the beefsteak.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Horace was also geared up, though he was carrying his sword rather than wearing it, and Nemmy had a couple of small knives and (very) short swords arranged on him.\u00a0 He promptly leaned against a pack and went to sleep in the wagon.\u00a0 Lotonna went for the reigns, but the horse shied away from him with a frightened whinnie.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLet me, you\u2019re scaring the beast, you ugly bastard,\u201d Horace mumbled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna laughed quietly.\u00a0 \u201cAlright, pretty-boy, let\u2019s remember that next time you try to talk up a hobgoblin.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWas drunk, and she had huuuge ti\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s enough of that, I think, boys,\u201d Kineta stopped them midsentence.\u00a0 \u201cTime to go.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Horace lowered his hands from the cupping gesture he\u2019d been making and squinted.\u00a0 \u201cYep, okay, time to go.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We walked on towards the distillery.\u00a0 As we did, I managed to pull up next to Horace.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d I told him.\u00a0 \u201cI once tried to score with one of the medusae.\u201d\u00a0 He looked a little startled at that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I thumbed my hand over my shoulder, back towards the inn.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s her head on the mantle, back in there.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI hope that that wasn\u2019t exactly how you planned it turning out.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We emerged in a section of the market I didn\u2019t recognize, the horse a little startled at the transition.\u00a0 The six variously-sized barrels in the back of the wagon strapped down in case of bumps (I\u2019d given the smallest to Horace as a gift, and taken four more to sell in the City if I could).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The square in which we\u2019d emerged had no less than ten circles inscribed on it, with a single enormous circle surrounding them all.\u00a0 Its designs were sunk deep in a plate of black stone I did not recognize, using copper or bronze poured into the carved-out sigils.\u00a0 I had no idea why they didn\u2019t use brass, it\u2019s not as if there wasn\u2019t enough of it here.\u00a0 From the look of it, the outer circle caught the end of the portal tendril, and directed it to an unoccupied circle within itself.\u00a0 I was fascinated with the design, I hadn\u2019t realized such modification could be done.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kineta saw me looking around.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, neat, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 There are three more of these, on each of the other cardinal points of the city \u2013 this is the Westerly.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I grinned, not exactly sure what to say.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The City lived up to its name \u2013 the walls of every building were a bright, shining brass (I have no idea the cost of the enchantments required to keep all that from tarnish).\u00a0 Enormous structures, hundreds of feet tall, were covered with glass or crystal, and the place gleamed in the thrown light of fires whose source I couldn\u2019t see.\u00a0 The sky was black, I suppose this was night-time, and a strange soft rain was falling (at least this was of water).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Atop the taller buildings, lights blinked, alternately red, blue, and white, and all around us the brass and crystal walls were carved and painted in vast murals and frescoes, bass reliefs and carved patterns.\u00a0 This city was remarkably alive, even the hot breezes felt living.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSome parts of the city, you won\u2019t be able to take her,\u201d Nemmy pointed to the horse.\u00a0 \u201cAnd the wagon will burn.\u00a0 We\u2019ll keep you clear of those.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHe means he\u2019ll keep him clear of those,\u201d Kineta amended him.\u00a0 \u201cLast time we ventured into the city, the rodent set his own toe hair on fire before telling us he had no protection from the flames.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI wish you\u2019d stop calling me that,\u201d Nemmy pouted.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kineta just grinned over at me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCome on, the market\u2019s this way,\u201d Horace led us all down a street to the side away from where we entered.\u00a0 We walked among the circles, and as we did one on the far side manifested a gate, through which emerged one of the dunkel centaurs, a drider, and her retinue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most curious.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBe on your toes here.\u00a0 There are laws, but they don\u2019t favor us.\u00a0 You\u2019re allowed to defend yourself and your property, but \u2018defense\u2019 is a loose term here.\u00a0 And do NOT agree to anything without being sure you know the terms.\u00a0 Accept no gifts or favors, and offer none.\u201d\u00a0 Lotonna recited this as if he were reading off a card.\u00a0 His voice echoed dully back from the walls of the city around us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We marched up to a small booth, barely two yards on a side, which had a window in it.\u00a0 Inside, a slender woman whose hair was literally on fire sat and looked with boredom at our little band.\u00a0 It took me a moment before I came to the realization that she must have been of the Genasi race, elemental-kin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Horace stepped up first.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cState your name, place of origin and purpose of stay please.\u201d\u00a0 The tired creature said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHorace, umm\u2026do you mean where I just was, or where I was born?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBirthplace, sir,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLogan\u2019s Haven, then.\u00a0 Visiting, I\u2019m a tourist.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFive yits of silver, please.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He handed her three silver coins, I didn\u2019t see what make they were.\u00a0 She placed them on a scale beside her and counterweighted them.\u00a0 The tray on which the coins rested turned light orange, and descended, indicating his payment was more than the weight of her measures.\u00a0 She drew off one of the coins and gauged it, before placing it on a block and pulling down a large steel pincer blade.\u00a0 The coin was snipped at about two-thirds of its diameter cleanly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She placed the larger piece back on the tray, which then balanced perfectly.\u00a0 She offered him back the smaller piece.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cKeep it, enjoy,\u201d he said.\u00a0 She grinned back at him, pleased with his gesture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nemmy mumbled from behind me:\u00a0 \u201cHis chat-up reflex is going to get his dingaling incinerated here, if he\u2019s not careful.\u201d\u00a0 I chuckled, and Lotonna laughed out loud while cracking his hand against the side of the wagon.\u00a0 Of course, this startled the horse again, and he settled back immediately.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kineta gave them both a cold stare.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n My turn came up, and I led the wagon forward.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cName, place of origin, purpose of your visit, please,\u201d\u00a0 she had gone back to boredom again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAzrael, umm, the city of Ichaer, and both business and visiting.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat goods are you carrying, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTwo barrels and two tuns of whiskey.\u00a0 One barrel is personal, and one cask belongs to Horace, there.\u201d\u00a0 I waved back at the wagon.\u00a0 \u201cAlso one horse-drawn wagon.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She looked at a chart on her wall, cross referencing something.\u00a0 \u201cDoes the halfwise belong to you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, he\u2019s not mine,\u201d\u00a0 I replied.\u00a0 Hadn\u2019t been asked that in a while.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFive silver yits for your personal entry, five for your wagon, two each for the barrels, and one each for the tuns\u2026sixteen total, please.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I handed her nine silver coins of about the same size as those Horace had given.\u00a0 \u201cIf there\u2019s any extra, keep it please.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She grinned again, and did her measurements.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t bother to look at whether she had a thumb on the scales or not.\u00a0 She passed me in a moment later.\u00a0 The others followed through quickly, Nemmy casting an angry glance over his shoulder as he walked by.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We walked down a street of red cobbles, smoothly carved and tightly spaced.\u00a0 Alternating white stones in among them made an interesting pattern.\u00a0 Around us moved a few other people, mostly efreeti \u2013 their skin and clothing gave them away when one couldn\u2019t see the faces.\u00a0 None looked closely at us, I suppose we didn\u2019t look all that remarkable here.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before long, I began to notice an increase in the number of people and their variety while we walked, which indicated to me that we were certainly getting lose to the market.\u00a0 Sure enough, the buildings opened wide to an enormous stone-garden, filled with wind-carved stones of orange and tan, and populated with a vast number of stalls and booths.\u00a0 I climbed halfway up a large lamp-post where we entered to get a true feeling for how big the place was, and was rewarded with a view that seemed to extend for miles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDoes it ever end?\u201d\u00a0 I asked them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt does, but it\u2019s a good three miles down that way.\u00a0 Even then, we have to have the Overspill, which continues for about two miles in the canyon of Vanots Kabre.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I slid down again.\u00a0 \u201cHow did Vanots ever win such rights?\u00a0 And why is it so small?\u00a0 With access to a market like that, I would imagine it would grow bigger than Banner.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kineta answered without looking at me, she was drinking in the scenery too.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t really know, but I think the people of Vanots Kabre were offered payment and accepted.\u00a0 And that town may yet grow, you never can tell.\u00a0 The rest of our world is still rough enough to be considered unexplored.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cVery nice.\u00a0 How about we grab some food?\u201d\u00a0 Nemmy said, impatiently.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou just ate!\u201d\u00a0 Lotonna exclaimed.\u00a0 \u201cI swear, halfwise, you eat more than I do.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We hunted down a roasting stall, and Nemmy got his food, while I looked about for a beverage vendor.\u00a0 I had tapped a smaller keg as a sampler, and after visiting three places, had managed to sell off all the extra I\u2019d brought along.\u00a0 I had a gulp to celebrate, and the others joined me in toasting the success.\u00a0 All three of the shop-owners had requested details of how to find my distillery, which told me I perhaps should be investing in a portal circle back in Al\u2019Veydra.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once things settled down, that is.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While we were wandering about, we passed by a booth of wood and stone, actually more of a small house.\u00a0 Out front a countertop was arranged with a few small daggers and a helm, and behind the counter, sipping at a cup of something hot, was a dunkel who looked remarkably familiar.\u00a0 He had his left nostril just slightly larger than the right, and his ears curved up and back slightly instead of straight up.\u00a0 He was watching the crowd casually, lost in thought, until his eyes settled on me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He swallowed and eyed me cautiously.\u00a0 \u201cMay I be of assistance?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry to bother you, but do you have several brothers in the business of magical enchantments?\u00a0 Huelvar, Quelvar, and Delvar?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His eyes brightened.\u00a0 \u201cIndeed I do, and you\u2019re quite well-traveled if you\u2019ve met them each well enough to see the family resemblance.\u201d\u00a0 He inclined his head to me.\u00a0 \u201cI am Trelvar, sir\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Not much point in disguising the name, I thought.\u00a0 \u201cAzrael, of Al\u2019Veydra.\u00a0 Pleased to meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWere you looking to do some business today, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I thought it over.\u00a0 \u201cI hadn\u2019t really, but now that you mention it, I suppose I do have a few things that I\u2019ve little use for, but which you might value for trade.\u201d\u00a0 I dug through my haversack for a moment, and retrieved the gear I had taken from the bodies of Kurrian\u2019s companions.\u00a0 Stephan\u2019s bow in particular, Ugor\u2019s sword, and the one blade I\u2019d relieved Kurrian of.\u00a0 I also drew out Morgan\u2019s crossbow and bolts, but turned with it to the others first.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAny of you have interest in this before I offer it up?\u201d\u00a0 I hefted the small stock.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nemmy looked among the others, then quickly stepped up.\u00a0 \u201cMe!\u00a0 Yes, I do.\u201d\u00a0 I handed it down to him, and he shouldered it a couple times.\u00a0 \u201cYes, please, can we talk about this when you\u2019re done there?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSure, no problem.\u00a0 You,\u201d I looked to Kineta, \u201cmight prefer this.\u201d\u00a0 I handed her Sheng\u2019s wand.\u00a0 She took it slowly, not sure how to respond.\u00a0 \u201cI only have two hands, and it might prove useful.\u00a0 Take it.\u201d\u00a0 She grinned and started examining the thin spire of metal.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I also laid out some minor miscellany that I\u2019d identified as enchanted from among Kurrian\u2019s people.\u00a0 Trelvar pushed the weapons to one side, and fingered through the various bits and pieces I\u2019d set down.\u00a0 \u201cIndividually, not worth very much, but you\u2019ve accumulated quite a little stock here,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cI might have something, please wait here.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He then went inside his tiny hamlet, and out of my sight.\u00a0 While we waited, I spied a stall down the way a bit selling leather goods, which I made a note to myself to visit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a few moments he returned, carrying a small silk pouch.\u00a0 Opening the drawstrings, he retrieved a rough-looking stone.\u00a0 It was the color of charcoal, and about as big around as the base of my thumb.\u00a0 As I was holding it, it felt as though it was wanting to move of its own accord.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cA lodestone,\u201d Trelgar explained.\u00a0 \u201cIf you focus your will on a specific plane to which you desire to travel, it determines for you the direction you need to travel, and roughly how far to go.\u201d\u00a0 I took this in while hefting the thing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt is also suitable for beating kobolds and goblins, sir,\u201d he eyed me with a slight smile as he said this last.\u00a0 I grinned back, and nodded, then pushed the small pile of goods back to him.\u00a0 I looked back over my shoulder, and thought of the forests around Al\u2019Veydra, and the meadowed fields around Ichaer.\u00a0 The stone pulled towards the far side of the market, and somehow I felt it was indicating where I knew the Overspill Market to lie.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I turned back to the weapons before me.\u00a0 I tapped Horace, who was looking at a bakery shop the way we came, and motioned to Lotonna.\u00a0 As both approached, I showed them the weapons arrayed out on the surface before me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEither of you got a use for any of those?\u201d\u00a0 I waved with my hand at them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI am grateful for the offer, but I have my axe, and have no use for a bow.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Horace looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no obligation here,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI know, I just\u2026I don\u2019t like taking things from people.\u00a0 Not without a fair trade.\u00a0 You might not feel an obligation, but I do.\u201d\u00a0 He fidgeted a bit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThis?\u201d\u00a0 I pointed to Ugor’s sword.\u00a0 \u201cLet me see yours, please,\u201d I asked.\u00a0 He unsheathed his blade and handed it over, hilt-first.\u00a0 I looked the two over.\u00a0 While I could see that Horace\u2019s weapon was nice, and I liked its balance, I could tell that the blade that I was offering was of a material wholly stronger and sharper.\u00a0 Ugor\u2019s was of adamantine metal, and would carve steel given the right pressure.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMake you a deal, Horace,\u201d I considered for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cYou trade me this blade of mine in exchange for yours, and for consideration against the first thing we find together that you and I both have a desire for.\u00a0 Here, test them against one another.\u201d\u00a0 I offered both hilts to him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He hefted them each in turn, gave a few practice thrusts.\u00a0 \u201cIt is nice, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s my offer, do you consider it fair?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh yes, certainly.\u00a0 Yes, I\u2019ll take it.\u201d\u00a0 He transferred both weapons to his left hand, spat in his right, and offered it for a shake.\u00a0 Although I\u2019m not a big fan of a wet palm, I spat in my own right hand and shook his.\u00a0 Then wiped mine off with a grin.\u00a0 He added his old sword to the table, and I turned back to Trelgar.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo, the bow and the sword, what do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He looked the two over for a few moments.\u00a0 \u201cThe\u2026estate from which the lodestone was acquired did have some other items that I also took up, which I thought you might find of interest.\u201d\u00a0 He pulled out another silken pouch and opened it to reveal a small brass sphere, with a slight line bisecting it.\u00a0 He twisted the two halves of the sphere, and opened it smoothly to reveal a series of lenses and what looked to be tuning controls.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cShould the location revealed by the lodestone prove\u2026inconvenient,\u201d he said, \u201cThis device can open a temporary portal to bring you into the plane you desire, and will bring you into the place where your own current location corresponds in it.\u00a0 It may also help you orient yourself in the new place once you have arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He looked at the two items before him, closing the sphere and setting it on its bag before me.\u00a0 He slid the bow towards him.\u00a0 \u201cFor this, I think?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I thought it over, and nodded.\u00a0 That would be quite handy, indeed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAnd now, your friend\u2019s sword,\u201d he said contemplatively.\u00a0 \u201cI haven\u2019t anything of the same caliber, but perhaps what I lack in direct power I can make up for in specific usefulness.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He drew from his pouch a pair of thin leather gloves, which had small hardened patches across the back and open pores on the insides, to enable easy skin contact with what the wearer was holding.\u00a0 \u201cTo someone of your profession, these are quite\u2026hmm\u2026handy.\u00a0 No pun intended, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat are they?\u201d\u00a0 I had never seen something like these before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPut them on, you\u2019ll understand.\u201d He offered them to me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hesitantly I took them from him, and slipped them on.\u00a0 For starters, they fit perfectly.\u00a0 As I flexed my hands, I could feel a sensation of tingling entering my hands where they came into contact with my skin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ah, those are for you alright, <\/em>Voedle\u2019s voice echoed in my ears.\u00a0 We used to call them Yuvan\u2019s Gloves, he was the first pactbinder known to have come up with the idea.<\/em> They enable you to tie your spiritual curse to an element, so instead of simply ripping a piece of something\u2019s soul free, you can freeze it, burn it away, or dissolve it as if with acid.\u00a0 The effect can be quite dramatic, and actually becomes visible to the naked eye.<\/em> Quite good if you\u2019re fighting something that is particularly vulnerable to one of those. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I tested my grip with them on, using Horace\u2019s sword as a reference.\u00a0 Solid, and in fact, somewhat better than bare-handed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThey look rather good, as well,\u201d Trelgar said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I thought it over for a moment, though my mind was already made up.\u00a0 \u201cOkay, it\u2019s a deal.\u201d\u00a0 He scooped up the sword and stashed it below his counter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m reminded, Trelgar \u2013 are these of any interest to you?\u201d\u00a0 I pulled out the pouch of gems I\u2019d recovered from the back of the bulette in Vor Kragal.\u00a0 \u201cThey have some residual enchantment, although aside from their gemstone value I don\u2019t know quite what to do with them.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He took one and turned it over between his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cYes, I would consider them in trade, though I\u2019ve nothing left to show you \u2013 I can only retrieve so many items for a single customer.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I didn\u2019t really understand, but accepted his refusal politely.\u00a0 \u201cFair enough, I\u2019ll set them aside and next time I visit we can discuss them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He nodded agreement.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure doing business with you, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I bowed slightly.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you.\u00a0 My regards to your brothers, and thanks for your assistance here.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I almost turned away, then looked up.\u00a0 Eyeing the cup he had, I asked \u201cTrelgar, do you drink?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He appeared thoughtful for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cI have been known to tip a glass from time to time.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHave you an empty jug?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His right eyebrow went up.\u00a0 Silently he held up one thin finger for me to wait. After a moment of looking, he produced a small clay jug.\u00a0 I walked back to the wagon, and topped the container off with Winter\u2019s Fall<\/em>.\u00a0 I corked his container up and returned it to him.\u00a0 \u201cThanks again for your help, and I hope you enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He opened the cork and sniffed carefully.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose it would be unwise to partake of this before dealing with customers?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Horace laid a finger on the side of his nose and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cHoboy, yes, that\u2019s the case there.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trelgar smiled thinly and stowed he jug out of sight.\u00a0 \u201cMy thanks, and may your new acquisitions serve you well.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We moved on.\u00a0 Horace made it to the bakery, and I got to the leatherworker\u2019s place.\u00a0 I was just trying on a new overcoat when he came up, stuffing a large chunk of brown bread into his face.\u00a0 Kineta and the others were off somewhere while I led my wagon around.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cVery you, Shadrim,\u201d he said approvingly of the thick black leather draped over my shoulders.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThanks.\u00a0 Going for the evil overlord look, it works?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh yeah.\u00a0 How much are they asking for that?\u201d\u00a0 He checked the weight of it.\u00a0 \u201cHeavy.\u00a0 What is that?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBebilith hide,\u201d I passed on.\u00a0 I turned to the vendor.\u00a0 \u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSixty kerrits.\u201d He replied.\u00a0 I think that came out to about three hundred gold crowns, and I practically gagged on my tongue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I took the cloak off and laid it back on his shelf.\u00a0 \u201cTwo things \u2013 first one is that I need a money-changer.\u00a0 Second is that I\u2019m coming back here, and we\u2019ll start talking at twenty kerrits and see where we go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He looked a bit upset at that, as he took up the cloak and returned it to its hanger, but I could tell he was feigning his upset.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We walked on a ways, and eventually I found my money-changer.\u00a0 We found Lotonna and Nemmy throwing handaxes in a target contest a little while later.\u00a0 It was a little hard to believe, but the halfwise not only could throw an axe well, but he was getting better travel out of it than the minotaur was.\u00a0 He sank a second bullseye right next to his first as we approached.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As it sank in with a ring of metal, the little man raised his hands and started hopping a dance around.\u00a0 \u201cTake that, t-bone!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna stomped once, and I swear I felt the ground shake a little even from where we stood.\u00a0 I looked in surprise over at Horace, who was grinning like an all-souls pumpkin.\u00a0 \u201cThey do this all the time, man.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nemmy backed up and gestured with his hands as if to say \u201cIt\u2019s all yours.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna threw his first, which spun a bit too quickly, and ended up sinking in the bottom of the target, well outside of the high-scoring zone.\u00a0 He chuffed loudly and strong enough to ruffle the halfwise\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His second shot went wide by about six inches.\u00a0 At this point the game was over, and Nemmy pumped his fists at his sides.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna looked down at the halfwise, his massive fist clenching and loosening on the haft of his remaining axe.\u00a0 I swear, I was about to intervene, it really looked like he was going to bury that axe in the little guy\u2019s head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Without even looking, Lotonna flicked his axe with a powerful sideswipe, sending it sailing across the contest area like a boomerang.\u00a0 It sank in the target so hard that the thing was knocked against its backstop and rolled a full revolution into the corner of the throwing area.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His shot had sliced both handles off of Nemmy\u2019s bullseyes, clean as a razor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHoooo, time for Nemmy to buy the big steak a drink.\u201d Horace walked up to the two as Lotonna was dropping a gold coin into Nemmy\u2019s outstretched palm.\u00a0 I leaned against the wagon, wondering at what was being said, but happy it wasn\u2019t me that had pissed off the giant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They walked back to me a few moments later.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhere are you guys going to be?\u201d\u00a0 I asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nemmy looked up and down the lane, then pointed.\u00a0 \u201cThere \u2013 that looks like drinks.\u201d\u00a0 Where he pointed, a series of tables with various people sitting at them and chatting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOkay, take the wagon, will you?\u00a0 I\u2019m going back to that leather shop.\u201d\u00a0 Horace nodded and took the reins.\u00a0 \u201cSee you in a second.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I hurried back to the leather booth, slowing down as I approached so as not to appear too eager.\u00a0 The shopkeep saw me coming, and pulled down the cloak.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We haggled for a little while, and eventually we landed on fifty kerrits \u2013 definitely more than I had wanted to pay, but hell, it was a nice cloak.\u00a0 He bundled it up in dry paper and twine for me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was walking back with my purchase when I realized Kineta was walking beside me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019d you get?\u201d\u00a0 She was looking at the brown bundle I carried under my arm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNew cloak.\u00a0 Last winter convinced me it\u2019d be a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI imagine Taer Dian Loresh gets chilly.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was a little surprised that she knew that, but I suppose legend gets around in arcane circles.\u00a0 \u201cYou find anything good?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, new bracelet,\u201d she stretched out her arm to show me.\u00a0 A fine gold braid with three sapphires gleamed in the sun.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat is nice!\u00a0 Where\u2019d you find it?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She pointed behind us.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a jeweler back there.\u00a0 I saw it last time we were here, a week or so ago.\u00a0 Decided I might as well.\u00a0 Besides, I got paid recently.\u201d\u00a0 She grinned.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, that helps, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We chatted a bit more on the way back to the others, nothing of consequence, but it felt good to have no concerns beyond the moment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Drinks were waiting for us when we found them \u2013 I settled in and took a really long pull on the beer before me.\u00a0 It was remarkably good, in fact, though whether due to any inherent quality or just my being completely parched in this heat I couldn\u2019t tell.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe only man I know who buys a new cloak in a city that never grows cool,\u201d Nemmy said, grinning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey, where else will I find this kind of good deal?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna pointed at the package.\u00a0 \u201cMay I?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I spread my hands before me and pushed it over.\u00a0 He unfolded the package and drew out the cloak.\u00a0 The leather glistened as if wet, and an iridescent sheen shifted over its surface.\u00a0 \u201cVery nice,\u201d he offered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThanks, I rather like it too.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Horace looked back to me from the cloak.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019d you get him down to?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOnly fifty, he really wouldn\u2019t budge below that.\u00a0 Still, I\u2019d never be able to get that at home.\u201d\u00a0 I held the leather in one hand, testing the surface.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m thinking that a stormwalker enchantment will settle into this material rather nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou need one done?\u201d Kineta asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI have such a cloak already, but if you are able to move it, I\u2019d be grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She nodded.\u00a0 \u201cLong as you have the components.\u201d\u00a0 I produced a bag right off and dropped it on the table in front of her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cGee, it\u2019s as if he expected you to say that,\u201d Horace chuckled.\u00a0 She drew up the bag and looked inside.\u00a0 \u201cOkay, first chance we get.\u00a0 Which reminds me, here we are.\u00a0 Who\u2019s got a plan?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I looked around casually.\u00a0 \u201cWell, I didn\u2019t give anyone any indication where we were going aside from the four of you, and I\u2019ve had one \u2018chance\u2019 meeting already, so I doubt you\u2019re about to kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNight\u2019s young,\u201d Nemmy said after wiping foam off his lips.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThanks for that, whiskers.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kineta held up a hand.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, enough.\u00a0 You said you had a month before you were due back, so that means three more weeks carting this thing,\u201d she motioned at the wagon, \u201caround.\u00a0 Not the most convenient solution.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, in hindsight I should have stopped in there last, but I couldn\u2019t guarantee Al\u2019Veydra wouldn\u2019t be watched by then.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat do those barrels weigh?\u201d\u00a0 She looked at them calmly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe big one is about four hundred pounds.\u00a0 The smallers are about fifty or seventy-five each.\u00a0 I see where you\u2019re going, and they\u2019d fit by weight, but the bag\u2019s mouth is too small.\u201d\u00a0 I patted the haversack inside my jerkin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She pursed her lips \u2013 which was really cute \u2013 and then looked at me.\u00a0 \u201cYou owe me for this,\u201d she said, and walked over to the wagon.\u00a0 She set something in it, and started doing something I couldn\u2019t see.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOwe you for what?\u201d\u00a0 I started to stand, but Lotonna\u2019s hand restrained me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWait for it, Shadrim,\u201d he said.\u00a0 I think he was grinning, but I haven\u2019t seen enough minotaur faces to read them well yet.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s her way.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I sat back down and motioned to the bartender for another round for the table.\u00a0 \u201cSo, she\u2019s leaving us time to talk plans and get some idea of what we do next,\u201d Nemmy said.\u00a0 \u201cIf we don\u2019t think of something before she gets back, she\u2019ll be steamed.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I finished my beer while thinking it over.\u00a0 \u201cWell, I wouldn\u2019t mind taking a trip just about anywhere, but that barrel is a bit of a tie-down, as she said.\u00a0 Just not the Feywild.\u00a0 Time runs funny in there, and I don\u2019t want to be late.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI too would like to avoid that place.\u00a0 It appeals to my\u2026wilder side, but right now that part of me needs no coddling.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou know what would be really nice?\u201d\u00a0 Horace asked of no one in particular.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We all looked at him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFishing.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nemmy looked at him quizzically.\u00a0 \u201cFishing?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, fishing.\u00a0 A nice relaxing time by a lake or a river, cool nights, warm days, swim when we want, catch fish all day.\u00a0 This last few months has been a lot of excitement, I\u2019d like to just relax for a bit.\u00a0 Besides, we\u2019d be sure to get back in time for your thing, and having a wagon wouldn\u2019t be a burden.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna gazed at him dully.\u00a0 \u201cYou know how to fish?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Horace nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, my grand-dad taught me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAnd you want to spend three weeks fishing?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be great?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI hope you don\u2019t mind my pointing this out, but that sword is going to be hard to fish with,\u201d Nemmy said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe could make poles, that\u2019s easy.\u00a0 And we\u2019re here, we\u2019re in the market \u2013 someone has to have fishhooks.\u00a0 And string.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThis doesn\u2019t sound like such a good idea.\u00a0 You guys get tired of me after only a few days when we stop at inns.\u00a0 Three weeks of fishing, I think you might start using me as bait.\u201d\u00a0 Nemmy was somewhat circumspect as he said this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, guess I should amend my statement \u2013 not so hot on fishing.\u201d\u00a0 It isn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t like fishing, but three weeks of it seemed, well it seemed a bit much.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, then,\u201d Horace slumped a bit, rebuked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHorace, that sounds like a good time, but three weeks of it, yeah, I\u2019d probably want to cook and eat Nemmy.\u201d\u00a0 I looked over at the halfwise.\u00a0 \u201cNo offense, there.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He leaned in fast.\u00a0 \u201cNo, that\u2019s okay, I\u2019d want to cook and eat me too.\u00a0 I\u2019m great, after all, and you guys would want to possess my power sooner or later.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna chuffed loudly, in what I was beginning to take for a laugh, but he might have just been choking on a fly.\u00a0 His tail whipped up behind him, smacking Nemmy on the back of the head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The halfwise covered his head.\u00a0 \u201cWhat?\u00a0 Just saying what you all are afraid to, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A moment later, a hand reached into my jerkin and yanked out my haversack.\u00a0 \u201cGive me that for a moment,\u201d Kineta said from behind my ear.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I turned around to see what she was doing.\u00a0 \u201cHey, where\u2019d the barrel go??\u201d\u00a0 I stood up fast.\u00a0 She was stuffing a small keg that I didn\u2019t recognize into the sack.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She got the keg in, and cinched the bag shut.\u00a0 \u201cThere,\u201d she said with an air of finality.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere, what?\u00a0 What was in that?\u201d\u00a0 I stepped over and accepted the bag back from her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhiskey.\u00a0 I shrank it.\u201d\u00a0 She tapped the wand against the book laying open in the wagon before closing it and putting it away in her robes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cShrank it?\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t that enchantment expire?\u00a0 As in, well before three weeks is up?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, this should run out in about a day.\u201d\u00a0 She smiled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThen what happens when it goes back to full size?\u201d\u00a0 I looked at the bag in dismay.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll know in twenty-four hours, won\u2019t we?\u201d\u00a0 Her grin grew wider.\u00a0 \u201cLook, the one thing keeping you from putting it in there was its size.\u00a0 When it comes time to take it out, I shrink it again.\u00a0 You can get an edge of it up and out the opening of the bag, so I can touch it for the spell.\u00a0 It\u2019ll shrink, and you can take it out again.\u00a0 Meanwhile, this way, you can ditch the wagon.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now it was my turn to grin.\u00a0 \u201cThree weeks, that\u2019s a while.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI suppose you\u2019ll have to keep me around for a bit, then, won\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We found a few rooms a little ways off the market, ones which had a wonderful view of the city.\u00a0 I could see the Burning Quarter from my balcony, and now and then could actually feel the hot breeze coming from it. I stood there, a glass of some bluish wine in my hand.\u00a0 Kineta was sleepingin the room behind me, I could hear her snoring.\u00a0 The others had warned me about that, which she had feigned offense at before storming halfway off and turning to wait for me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In two weeks, we\u2019d done a fair bit, even surprising me.\u00a0 We\u2019d ventured off into the Elemental Chaos, seeing the raw elements of creation working themselves up.\u00a0 I had to wonder where this place drew its sources from.\u00a0 All of us, arcanists and divine alike, we draw some element of power from a source \u2013 whether it be a being, or the natural flow of energy through the World, we all source our power from somewhere.\u00a0 Even the strange psychics draw theirs from a connection to the mysterious Far Realm, turning that power against itself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before Sybarron had shown me the loopholes in my own infernal curse that enabled me to siphon power from the Hells, my source \u2013 pacted and agreed \u2013 had been the Feywild.\u00a0 Originally with a Queen of Winter, and later exchanged with Shan Doresh, the Lord of Nightmare.\u00a0 None of us, though, are anything other than channels, mill-wheels on rivers of power.\u00a0 Gods and Demons alike, all simply exist as animals do, feeding off the same trough of power.\u00a0 From where did it all come?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here, massive regurgitations of even new matter were created in seconds.\u00a0 What was this power source, where did it originate?\u00a0 Of course, I recognized this logic would only lead me to wondering where that <\/em>power originated, and so on, but it was a curiosity that ate me up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In those two weeks, Voedle and I had continued to come to terms with his shared presence within me.\u00a0 We had come to something of an agreement, he was welcome to use my senses outside of\u2026well, intimate moments; and I promised to hear him out when he wanted to talk about something.\u00a0 We hadn\u2019t met in the mansion setting again since the one dream, but the locations we had seen were all just as intricate.\u00a0 I was becoming quite good at crafting dreamscapes.\u00a0 For some reason I didn\u2019t feel it wise to share with him where I developed those skills.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One conversation sticks out in my mind, about a week prior.\u00a0 We were camped in the midst of a strange wilderness, where we\u2019d seen a Fire Archon forge and had been investigating how we might benefit from such knowledge.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In my dream, we were on a great mountain cliff-side, sheer and steep, overlooking great vistas of forest, river, and lake.\u00a0 The sky was bright blue with only a few white fluffy clouds passing overhead.\u00a0 He\u2019d told me a bit of his own history, about how, a thousand years before I was even born, he\u2019d been a merchant.\u00a0 A citizen of Bael Turath, well before the Blood Compact, and a rather successful one.\u00a0 Unlike the usual story, he hadn\u2019t fallen on hard times, he\u2019d simply grown bored.\u00a0 One day he just picked up, took a large sum of his fortune in portable form, and wandered off.\u00a0 Within a few years he\u2019d become acquainted with Balenor, and the two had forged a strong friendship, before he discovered Balenor\u2019s true nature.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I never knew his nature until years after we\u2019d met.\u00a0 He would often give me and my companions odd jobs, much as you yourself first began your adventuring career.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, that was a little different, I enlisted in the military when I left home.\u00a0 He recruited me to the Cairn Jale.\u201d\u00a0 I tossed a small stone over the side, watching it sail out into the air before falling into the distance below.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ah, true, yes, I\u2019d forgotten that.\u00a0 A Warsinger, he told me later he\u2019d admired your work.<\/em> He sat as well, enjoying the sun.\u00a0 In this form he looked like a normal human \u2013 he\u2019d never been Shadrim, his time was before the Blood Compact.\u00a0 I could tell he was not human, but I don\u2019t think I can describe how I knew this.\u00a0 It just was, as the stone below me was stone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you found out, what did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Well, I was faced with a bit of a dilemma.\u00a0 He\u2019d always been a friend, and never wronged me on a deal, even if he was a hard negotiator.\u00a0 In the end, I guess it\u2019s obvious that I decided to follow him, join his Legion. <\/em>He looked at his hands, the fingernails grey and cracked.\u00a0 He was not happy about that, oh nosiree.\u00a0 Actually tried to dissuade me from joining. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I don\u2019t think he wanted to see the impact the change would have on me.\u00a0 I think he knew that in the end it might make me different \u2013 perhaps he truly felt our friendship and didn\u2019t want to risk it.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBut you went ahead with it anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I did.\u00a0 Fortunately, it seems his fear wasn\u2019t to bear fruit, and we remained friends.\u00a0 Even now, distant as we are, I still think we\u2019re good comrades.\u00a0 I was successful, and worked my way up the ranks to become a member of his personal guard.\u00a0 I traveled for a century with him before the compact with Ille Macreane. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSo it was my family that brought you two to a separation?\u201d\u00a0 I watched an eagle flying high up, circling on the thermals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yes, but not the way you would think.\u00a0 Your family compacted with Balenor for power, and I was part of that \u2013 I was to become your family\u2019s weapons-master, teaching its children the art of war and making choices on how the family would defend itself.\u00a0 Balenor gave me over to you freely.\u00a0 We knew we\u2019d still be in range to catch up from time to time.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOur success in war is greatly due to your teaching, though, so I have to thank you.\u00a0 You did us a great service.\u201d\u00a0 As I said this I wondered how a dream could have such convincing physics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was \u2013 and remains \u2013 my pleasure.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t just duty to the compact I made, in the end.\u00a0 I fell in love with your many-greats grandmother, you know.\u00a0 She was a striking woman, an accomplished wizardess.\u00a0 She took me as her consort after her husband fell in battle.\u00a0 Three sons and two daughters she bore me.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo our lines were tied even before the Blood Compact?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even so.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat was it that resulted in your imprisonment, Voedle?\u00a0 How did that come to pass?\u201d\u00a0 I looked over at him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His face drew a grim set.\u00a0 I was sent to carry an offer to the Barikdrals in Vor Kragal some six or eight years before the city was destroyed.\u00a0 Though Ille Macreane and Barikdral had never been enemies, we\u2019d also never been close, and your father wished to create an alliance.\u00a0 You were off on a campaign in the South, I think. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n He rubbed a stone against the rock on which he sat.\u00a0 It made a quiet scraping sound, and left a white trail behind it.\u00a0 He offered my services for twenty-five years to train a cadre of warmasters for Barikdral\u2019s own future, in exchange for arcane knowledge and service.\u00a0 I believe the suggestion was that your younger sister, Acia, was to be wed to a Barikdral heir as well.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So I went as emissary to Ille Macreane, to broker this alliance.\u00a0 The Charspire had not yet been sealed, though it was known that Barikdral had turned its eye from Nessus as a source of power and instead favored the Abyss.\u00a0 I was accepted by Jorhara, the house matron, and she held audience to hear me out.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We hammered out an agreement over the course of three days.\u00a0 The alliance was to be cemented six months following.\u00a0 I remember bowing in farewell, her undead servitor offering her voice to me and wishing me well.\u00a0 She stood and touched my shoulder to have me rise up, and straightened as if electrified.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n In only moments, she\u2019d snapped to her guards, and I was wrestled to the ground by four of my kind.\u00a0 They bound me in bronze, and carried me encased in a coffin of granite to the Pool.\u00a0 I screamed and hammered at my imprisonment, but it was to no avail. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n They destroyed me there.<\/em> As he said this, the stone he was scraping along the ground shattered in his hand.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He brought his hand to his mouth, blood of molten bronze leaking from the palm of his hand.\u00a0 He glanced over at me.\u00a0 I never did find out why she had me cast into the pit.\u00a0 Whatever her reasons, Jorhara never shared them with me.\u00a0 Perhaps one day I\u2019ll bleed it out of her.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll do so, perhaps someday.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I am too enraged, I feel the need for calm. <\/em>I nodded, and stood, brushing my hands off on my trousers.\u00a0 We parted that night calmly, but I could feel his anger with the memory even after I woke.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I hadn\u2019t seen him for days to follow, I guess he\u2019d hidden away and either slept or simply watched through my eyes and listened through my ears.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We had returned to the City of Brass a few days later, taking a longer path than we\u2019d expected, as our original route had become a lava field.\u00a0 I was the only one who could pass it safely, so our detour took us along a pass through a set of mountain foothills nearby.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now, a week to go before I was to return to Rithzalgor, I wondered how I would deal with the great devil.\u00a0 What would he want in exchange?\u00a0 It could not be as simple as the exchange of a barrel of whiskey, I thought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I turned on the balcony to face back into the room, and found Kineta standing in the doorway, looking at me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re awake,\u201d I said, and regretted leaving myself open immediately.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAstute, as usual, Shadrim,\u201d she grinned at the opportunity for a gentle dig.\u00a0 She walked out and wrapped her arms around my neck.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing out here?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAppreciating the view of the city, and thinking the time is approaching where I need to return for my commission.\u201d\u00a0 My hands went to her waist.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou never told me where you need to go, where are we headed for this pickup?\u00a0 Is it in Banner?\u201d\u00a0 She looked out over my shoulder at the City.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHmm, no, a bit closer than that.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t hedge, where is it?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou sure you want to know?\u201d\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure I wanted to share, but I supposed that if she was determined to know, it was better to give her the knowledge now when she could still bow out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a grownup, Azrael Ille Macreane.\u00a0 I can handle myself.\u201d\u00a0 She was frowning, not liking where this was going, I think.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, I have noticed that, especially when I twist my tail just that right way\u2026\u201d I grinned back at her, enjoying getting a jibe in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHmph.\u00a0 Don\u2019t dodge, either.\u00a0 Where are we going?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAlright.\u00a0 Vor Kragal.\u00a0 I have an appointment with the Master Smith of the Hellforge there.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She had little to say in response to that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After the shouting died down some, I sat back in the little room, exhausted.\u00a0 I truly don\u2019t like being someone else\u2019s messenger, and I think Mahar specifically gave me that information so I would be the one to take all … Continue reading