Bait
When the group arrived at Archers Market, Bait hastily split away from his companions. Only Illaria went with him toward the cheese shop. He only had to ask one man where to find good cheese to get directions to the cheese forge. The shop had it all: a storefront for selling cheese, people making cheese, cows giving precious milk, and an orc man with a clipboard documenting things. Bait, of course, ignored the clean and sanitized shop entrance. Instead, he bee-lined it to where the magic really happened: the vats of curing cheese out back.
"You can purchase cheese at the shop," the orc with the clipboard said as he placed a hand in front of Bait's chest.
"Cheese this way," Bait informed the man towering over him as he moved to scuffle past.
"Yes, but you buy it over at the shop," he insisted.
"Bait want best cheese; how Bait find stinkiest cheese if Bait no allowed to go see cheese?"
"We have a fine selection in the storefront. Ben doesn't allow just anyone to enter into our workshop."
"Step aside, Biswell; I wish to see this cheese purveyor with my eyes." Came a voice from further back. A halfling hardly taller than Bait stood several feet back. He wore a simple black robe, and his hands were wrapped in clean white bandages. His hair was wild and graying, and the wrinkles on his face were deep creases in which shadows lurked. The orc man Biswell stepped aside. "Yes, yesssss," the halfling said as he sniffed the air. "You carry the sacred substance with you even now. I am Ben, the master cheese-smith at this establishment. I know much of cheese, methods of its craft which some consider to be... unnatural," he said, cackling quietly.
Biswell took a deep breath and sighed in defeat, lowering the clipboard. "I'm going to do some actual work," he said as he headed towards the storefront.
"Oooh, teach Bait? Teach Bait!"
“Ahhh, not so fast young acolyte. Before I share with you any of my knowledge, my power... you must first complete for me a quest," said Ben
"A cheese quest?!"
The elderly halfling man cackled again. "Yes, a cheese quest, young cheese acolyte."
The goblin was practically bouncing in anticipation. "Find rare and exotic cheese ingredients and return them to me. I will use them to teach you how to craft the finest cheeses the world has ever seen. Any questions?"
"Bait have one; what exotic mean?"
"It means an unusual or strange ingredient others might not have thought to use before," Illaria said.
"Oh, Bait, find those; Goblin food have many exotic ingredients."
"Try to choose ones that regular folk will find appealing. Not all of us have your constitution, Bait," Illaria chided.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go attend to the cows. I must figure out which cows have best friends, and then they must be paired together to extract the most delicious and bountiful milk I can. Good cheese starts with good ingredients." The halfling in dark robes wandered away, cackling the entire time.
"Do you reckon he's a druid?" Illaria asked Bait.
"Bait, go find out?" Illaria pursed her lips together as she stared down at the small goblin.
"Ya know what, go ahead; I'm curious as to how this will be playing out." Bait took off, his tiny feet slapped against the dirt road before he remembered that sneaking required sneaking. Bait knew how to be goblin quiet. You just did what you needed to do without worry, for you were supposed to be here. Worked all the time; Goblin secret. So Bait walked as if he belonged here because he did. Surrounded by cheese, making cheese, eating cheese, Bait belongs everywhere there is cheese. Behind the large wooden building full of various cheese vats, he found Ben standing in the middle of a field surrounded by cows. He was talking to them all right, but even Bait tell that he no understand them. Ben, no druid.
"Yesssss, yeesssssss, you two look like fine friends. We shall put you in the same pod. Same for you three," he said as he pointed at a different group of cows. The bovines did not seem to appreciate Ben's presence. One of which pawed at the ground and lowered its head as if to charge. Bait pulled out his musket and took aim over the field. No want hurt cow, cow sacred. Cow produce milk, and milk becomes cheese. Ben cheesemaker also sacred. Can't let Ben be trampled by cow, who then makes cheese?
As the cows charged Ben, Bait fired a round into the air harmlessly above their heads. The thundering noise startled the animals, diverting their attention from Ben. The halfling looked at him strangely. "Yes, Bait, do you need something more? You have my attention."
"Bait want tour, then cheese." The halfling nodded and motioned for Bait to follow as he wandered the Cheeseforge. Occasionally stopping to fetch Bait samples from completed cheeses and scolding him away from those not nearly ready for market. Illaria finally reunited with the pair at the cheese shop, where she had already purchased some fancy samples.
"Did we learn anything?" Illaria asked.
"It take more than one whole gallon of milk to make one small pound of cheese. Bait will need many cows."
Archers Market: Alvec Snaptail
The banners turned out to be a military bar. Red and Blue flags primarily hung from the walls, along with old weapons retired from use and pieces of armor. Here and there, you could even find equipment from the yellow and green banners. He sat at a table, a single stein of ale pushed off to the side, bought more as a courtesy to the bartender than anything else. Parchment lay over the table. He copied the drawings he had made of the creatures, trying his best to be accurate and include further notes about the encounters in the margins of the page.
Finally content with his work, he moved on to the next bit. He let out a discontented sigh. What to write to his no good, rotten, devil fucking grand-father. Alvec wasn't pleased with the thought of writing to Iridel Reynore. Still, he was a powerful wizard serving in the Blue Banner army. Likely as a condition of his amnesty. That said, Alvec had a duty to report the creatures he had encountered on the roads to someone. Iridel was the easiest one to contact. Several of his aunts and uncles would have been good fits, too, but the Reynores were very spread out, and their positions changed with alarming frequency.
Everyone wants to hire one of the best wizard families in the Empire. Anelle Reynore had made sure to help feed into the family's public perception. She was the chair of conjuration in the Empire. Had Iridel not made a deal with an Eirinyes, which resulted in the bastard bloodline Alvec traced his blood through, it's very likely the two would be a frightening, powerful couple. Possibly even within Ageneon's inner circle, to be honest. Anelle had made a point of not publicly acknowledging any bad blood between her and Iridel. She'd tried to obscure the truth of his father's birth. She'd tried to bury the fact that Iridel was his father entirely at first. Only abandoning that lie because it was too hard to keep Iridel's conscription to the Blue Banner secret. They had tried to spin it as a specialist position at first.
Even a generation later, Anelle's anger burned too bright for any lies to completely smother. Alvec pulled the bronze badge out from his clothing and ran his fingers over it several times. She'd levied considerable resources to stop him from even attending the academies. Only with the intervention of some of his other extended family was he permitted to enter. She'd gone so far as to try to get him kicked out, fabricating records that might have disqualified him from studying altogether. Alvec's father had masterfully outmatched her. She may have had tons of arcane power and all the arcane education to back it up. Still, Alvec's father was a bureaucrat and knew how to work the system to dismiss Anelle's extra efforts.
With a sigh, Alvec set the bronze badge down on the table. He was a wizard. All of that and the stupid drama the Reynores brought about were none of his business. He was a "Snaptail," after all. He quickly penned a fairly bare-bones description of the creatures and the encounters he had with them. He wasn't friends with Iridel. No doubt the man would only view him as another tool in his chest if Alvec amounted to anything of renown. There was no reason to do anything but let him know of a threat to the Empire. Perhaps it helped him, maybe it helped the Reynores... but that all failed to matter. They had resources that might save lives. Ignoring that was just as good as damning innocent travelers to a strange death. In that way, Alvec was benefitting too. He gathered the notes and sealed them into a letter. He headed to the bartender. It took only a few minutes and a few gold coins trading palms to find and get someone willing to bring a letter for the Blue Banner with them. While it was labeled for Iridel, it was so nondescript it didn't matter if anyone broke open the seal to peek at its content. Had it been more sensitive, he might have tried to figure out how to keep the contents secret. On one final note, he asked again about Tyir, getting no response. Whoever this Tyir fellow was, he likely wasn't local; that much could be said for sure, having now traveled the river and the outlying lands with no sign of the lad.
The Gates of Sha-Laial
Sha-Laial was the first large city Alvec had seen in some time. Nothing in the small towns they had traversed lived up to the grandeur of the earthen ramparts outside the city walls. Traffic lined up at a large portcullis where soldiers and bureaucrats alike inspected those entering the city. Their group wasn't the best looking, but he was confident that no one would refuse their entry. His pockets may have been a little light on gold, but that was only because he had used much of his resources to procure the necessary reagents to enchant his gear. The stains of the Anarchy and Ageneon's War were clear to see if you knew what to look for. While much effort had been placed into the clean-up, bumpy grassy fields were a dead giveaway of the use of siege engines. No doubt, the further they went towards the city, the less the damage would stand out to him. The group joined the line behind a wagon with a halfling at the helm. Plenty of odds and ends were visible through the back, ripe for picking, yet the goblin with sticky fingers paid no mind to it. Alvec could only begin to guess what mattered enough to so enrapture Bait. Maybe the cheesemaker had given him something to think about.
The cart in front of them was inspected more thoroughly than Alvec had expected by a man who looked far too bored to be doing such a thorough job. He was an older man with a plump figure, wispy salt, and peppered hair. In his prime, perhaps he had been a guard. "Hello," He stated as he surveyed the group, his gaze lingering over long on Illaria. "What business do you have here in Sha-Laial?"
"We're here to check out a property we were gifted," Alvec said as he presented the deed.
"Are you planning to become residents of Sha-Laial?" he asked as he read from a clipboard.
"Not all of us, that's for sure. Bait and I work in the Blue Banner Army; we wouldn't be staying here as a primary residence. If the property has the space, it might be nice to have somewhere to take leave."
"I'm just going to write property development," He stated dryly. "Now, onto the animals. Who owns them, and what are they."
"Are we counting the clockwork rabbit?" Mavec asked as he pointed at Piccora.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Yes, we include all ambulatory constructs."
"Then this is Piccora; she's a familiar. Do you need to see my academy graduate badge?"
"Yes, I do, in fact. As you know, rogue magic is frowned upon within the Empire." Mavec produced his, and Alvec did the same. The two badges were nearly identical; their names were etched into the bronze, but the symbols differed. Alvec's looked more like a shield, whereas Mavec's was a gear. Alvec looked back and gestured to Rem. The words caught in his mouth for a second as he saw Naya edged toward the back of the group and stood behind Illaria, practically hiding.
"This one's mine," Alvec indicated towards his fox friend a few feet away, sniffing the nearby grass. Alvec reached out with magic, projecting his words directly to Naya. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I can cast magic, and I didn't go to a school; they'll know, and then I'll be kicked out or killed... or," Alvec fought hard not to laugh as he swept his head side to side, trying to actively dispel the thought.
"It doesn't work like that. They're concerned with arcane magic; the sort you pull from nature, perhaps the spirits, is divine in nature and exempt from this particular ruling." She seemed to relax at the words before shooting him a questioning glance.
"Why is that?"
"During the Anarchy and Ageneon's War, many wizards, sorcerers, and the like summoned devils to help gain the upper hand. The devils worked a lot of harm here beyond the purview of the war. It's why we Tieflings are not all that well received."
"Seems rude," she thought back before the man made his way in front of her and Echo.
"Alright, miss, I can see that this is a genuine wolf; now, is this truly an animal companion, or is this fraud. Dangerous fauna like a wolf is only granted access if it's a fully certified animal companion." He leaned over her enough that Echo started a soft growl in his direction.
"What do you mean certified? Who does the certification? I, uh, haven't heard any of this before," she admitted, breaking eye contact and staring a hole in the ground.
"Follow-up question: where are you from?"
"Lom-Itoti," she replied quickly, straightening out.
"I've never heard of it, but with the prefix of Lom, that would explain that. What exactly are you doing in the city, miss? When did you meet these travelers, and do you have a history with them? He asked, his voice softening a bit. Concern had replaced accusation entirely.
"I've been traveling with Alvec and Mavec for months; the other two are members of the Blue Banner. We met at a fancy party hosted by Cellocht, the... the Emperor's favorite bard." His face flashed through several emotions quickly as he looked down at her.
"It's how we got the deed to the property," Alvec interjected. "He gave everyone a gift at his 111th. Mine was a property here in Sha-Laial."
"How did you get invited?" The man asked again, appraising Alvec with a distrust that made his stomach churn.
"Did you hear about the Red Banner's evacuation of the mining town of Rust Hill? Some forge elementals went out of control. The army arrived to help civilians flee. During the tail end of it, a young child got left behind... I saved her." The man let out a laugh.
"I heard the hero of Rust Hill was a hulking Tiefling that fought with a battle ax almost as large as he was. You're claiming to be him?"
"No, I'm claiming the rumor mill distorts the truth. You hear something far enough down the chain, and it's unrecognizable." The man appraised him once more.
"Alright, I can believe it. Now, miss, you'll need to visit a temple or church and have a priest there just sign off that you and your wolf are the real deal. Please be sure to do this as soon as possible." He glanced over at Bait and Illaria. "You said you're Blue Banner?
"That would be right; I have my shore leave somewhere in my pack," she said as she shuffled a small bag forward and pawed through it.
"No need, I trust you. I've met the sort of people the Blue Banners employ. You two look like you're cut straight from the cloth. Alright now, move along so I can inspect the next group," he said as he ushered them forward.
"Well, that suits us fine. Alright, Alvec, where should we head first?"
"The first government building we can find? Get directions to whoever is holding the keys to this property, get it from them, and then head over to see what exactly we're dealing with," Alvec replied.
"Look, the second I know where we're staying, I'm going to find myself the local academy and see if I can't find anything else about the monsters we fought on the road," Mavec informed them.
"Bait, go ask for cheese ingredients. Maybe someone have good idea?" He stated before wandering off to ask nearby strangers. "You know strange cheese ingredients?" he asked while stopping abruptly in front of a young couple who stuttered, unsure how to respond. Bored of their lack of response, Bait waved again, "K, Bye," before he wandered back over to Illaria, leaving the couple stupefied. "They don't know anything."
"Perhaps our neighbors might be knowing a bit more about where to find exotic ingredients, more so than a random passerby," Illaria said.
The roads of Sha-Laial were well maintained; the stone beneath their feet was smooth and unblemished. The main street they were on followed the western side of the river. Thankfully, it took only a few moments for Alvec to find a city map. It was a large city, bigger than the one that Alvec had grown up in. Glancing at the map, the city was split by the river. About a quarter of the city was located east of the river, and most of the city was on the western side. While civil engineering wasn't exactly a thing Alvec was versed in, he was pretty sure that Eastern Corner would wind up being one of two things. Either the wealthiest, most elite members of Sha-Laial's society lived there, or it was the industrial slums. Judging by the lack of smoke plumes, he thought it was likely the wealthy district after all. The lack of chemical stink from this section of the river added evidence to his conclusion.
The town hall was just on the western edge of the river, nearest the largest bridge. Alvec went alone into the building. There was no point dragging several clearly armed individuals into the town hall, doubly so when one was a goblin with a gun and another was accompanied by a wolf. It took a moment once through the heavy wooden doors in the stone building to find another map. Eventually, he found the correct room. He tidied himself up just a smidge before he entered the room; attempting to control his sheepish hair was a losing game, but he had to try.
The room he entered was lined with small wooden drawers no larger than a shoe box all along the walls. An elderly elf man sat at a desk writing something by candlelight. "Oh dear, we have a client. How may I help you today?" He asked hastily as he stood up from his desk, nearly knocking the thing over, candle and all. He stood taller than Alvec and had a pale, well-wrinkled face. His clothing was simple in design but well maintained: a rust-orange tabard and a pair of brown pants.
"Hello, I'm here to research and claim a property. I was gifted a deed; if I'm reading this right, it should be lot 1-32-75," Alvec said as he unfurled the scroll and handed the deed to the elf. He took it in his thin, bony hands and peered over the document.
"You are reading it right; give me but a moment." He said before shuffling over to the wall of drawers and slowly cross-checking the numbers. Eventually, he found the correct box and pulled it open. Once the key was in his hand, he laughed momentarily before he handed it and the deed back to Alvec. "The church of Kushang will be most upset that someone has finally claimed this property. They have petitioned the city for the last ten years to give them the rights to it. Tell me, how did you acquire this anyway?" Alvec's stomach sank. The church of Kushang was not inherently kind towards Tieflings; an alarming amount of anti-Tiefling rhetoric had come from the upper echelons of the Empire of Fire and Waters primary church for years. Knowing that he had inadvertently thwarted their efforts left a sour taste in his mouth. The last thing that he wanted was conflict. This was supposed to be a golden opportunity and was starting to look gilded instead.
"Cellocht gifted it to me for my service to the country; he gave a bunch of causes and notable youths some gifts to help them out."
"Ah, that would explain why their proposal was shot down so many times. If Cellocht owned it, they'd never be able to get it." Alvec nodded.
"Could you perhaps tell me a bit about the property? Cellocht was celebrating his birthday and didn't give us too much time to discuss the subject." Alvec asked.
"Ah yes, 889 Scythefell Street. Located in the southwestern section of Sha-Laial, it has been fallow since the war. It was the former headquarters of an organization known as the Six Strengths. Believe it or not, I'm actually a newcomer to Sha-Laial. I lived in Ac-Aziza before the wars. So I can't tell you anything more about who they were or what came of them for the buildings to have been vacant for the last twenty years. Perhaps your new neighbors can shed some light on that." Alvec gave a slight bow.
"Thank you very much for that information. Do you think you could get me directions to Scythefell Street?"
"Well, of course." The two spent a moment looking over a map before Alvec departed. Reuniting with the group, he shared what little new information he had acquired.
"Six Strengths, never heard of them," Mavec replied.
"Neither have I," Illaria added. "So they don't have any connection to the Blue Banner, to be sure." The group made their way toward the property at 889 Scythefell Street. When they finally arrived at the road, they were delighted to find that it was a mix of small-scale businesses and residential housing, with a church of Kushang at one end of the road and a tavern at the other. Children played in the street and grassy plots in front of some houses. There was a single wagon parked in front of a fine tableware store. A bakery, a law office, and a large boarding house also dotted the road. The day, by this point, was mostly spent.
"So what say you, we go open her up and take stock? Or we sleep at an inn for the night and start fresh in the morn?" Illaria asked.
"It's been abandoned for twenty years; we probably have a lot of cleaning to do. I vote we stay at an Inn till we can get it clean and bedding sorted," Naya chimed in.
"Bait no mind sleeping in dirt. Dirt good, dirt tasty, dirt sometimes have bugs, bugs are crunchy and juicy. Dirt good."
"Yes, but an inn likely has cheese," Illaria reminded him.
"Bait change answer, inn. Need more cheese."
"It's still too early in the night to call it quits. Maybe we can go introduce ourselves a bit. Ostensibly, we'll be here a while; we might as well get to know the neighborhood a bit," Alvec said
"Sounds like a plan; let's meet at the inn when we're all done making the rounds," Mavec said. Bait rushed off to the property directly across the street, where two humans sat on a hanging swing. An old bald man and a woman with dull gray hair held hands together.
"Hi. We live here now," Bait said as he pointed back at the still-locked and gated property. "Who you?"
"Oh, what a charming young goblin. I'm Edis, and this here is my wife, Nora," the old man said as he waved hello to the goblin.
"You know any good cheese ingredients?" Bait asked.
"Oh dear, I like mine with a little kick in it. Some of those hot peppers. Reminds me of the ol' days in the Green Banner army. The rations were terrible, so we added pepper sauce to everything."
"K, bye," Bait said before he scurried back down their stairs and wandered up to a group of children. Alvec waved hello to the couple as he approached the porch.
"Hello. I'm Alvec; we're your new neighbors."
"Oh my, a goblin and a tiefling, what exciting neighbors," Edis remarked, his tone far more delighted than Alvec had expected. "He sure does have a lot of energy."
"Yeah, he's Bait," Alvec said with a wide smile.
"What a terrible thing to say!" Edis balked at Alvec, aghast at what he'd just heard.
Alvec waved his hands before himself, immediately seeing where the wires crossed. "No, no, Bait is his name, I swear."
"Oh, what an unusual name," he said while patting his wife's hand.
"Anyway, I'm Alvec, a trained wizard and academy graduate," he said as he extended his hand to them. "What may I call you?" He asked as the man took his hand and shook it.
"I'm Edis, and this is my lovely wife, Nora," said Edis. "We run a boarding house here. We've got an academy student staying with us right now called Praha. Perhaps you could offer some tutoring to her. I don't see a ring on either finger either."
"Edis! You can't just be trying to set the young miss up. Especially with someone we've only just met," Nora said, giving him a slight playful slap.
"I'm flattered, but I must agree with your wife," Alvec said.
"I'm sorry, Nora, the girl is too shy for her own good," replied Edis. "She'll stay cooped up in that room if we don't try to help her make a few friends. He studies magic; they've already got something in common."
"I'd still like to meet her," Alvec said. "It's possible, Mavec, or I could offer some tutoring. That and I know he wants to head to the academy the first chance he gets in the morning."
"Oh, you have others living with you?" Nora asked.
"Yes, we've got a few others living with us. We've got a young woman named Naya and her pet wolf, Echo. A young woman named Illaria has bright red hair and is taller than the rest of us, so she's a bit hard to miss, and Mavec is another wizard."
"Sounds like quite the lovely bunch. Pardon me asking, but is that fox with you?" Edis asked as he pointed at Rem, who was quietly stalking something.
"Yeah, that's Rem; he's mine," laughed Alvec. "Don't worry, he won't be a problem. He's an expert mouser, and he's been told to stay away from cats."
"Oh good, we could always use more rodent control. Is he friendly?" asked Nora.
"Very. It's safe to pet him, so long as you don't surprise him." With the conversation petering out, Alvec said his goodbyes, asking for introductions to Praha tomorrow so that Mavec could get to the academy on his own without having to wander the city with a map.