The morning after Tuscae gave the newcomer documents of his possible team members, he called a meeting with a few of the couriers and scouts he knew from previous operations. The meeting was held in a rarely used war room with a huge circular table at its center, complete with a map sealed beneath a quartz glass cover. As his guests slowly petered in from the outdoors and hung their coats while they laid their arms against the walls or on the backs of their chairs, Tuscae clears his throat to capture their attention. He surveyed the room full of patrons seated at the table or standing to the side due to the unexpected number of people, before beginning the meeting earnestly.
“Alright everyone, thank you for arriving on such short notice,” he said with a rare intensity. “I have gathered you here as we have an opportunity greater than we’ve seen in the last few winters. As you know, we are not yet a ‘Town’, meaning we do not have the imperial support our neighbors do. Today however-” he pauses as he waves over to one of his assistants who brings over a collection of scrolls and books, “-we have an opportunity to change that.” Tuscae placed them around him and unfurled one for all to see. On it was Kashan’s oral report, noted and signed by his own hand. “We have a Lesser Flood Drake in the area. If we are correct in our bestiary research, it should be ready to lay its eggs in the next week or two. You must know that the eggs from such a creature are considered a delicacy. If we obtain these for Second Prince Sellmur’s birthday, we will have a royal favor we can use to finally put us in an advantageous situation.”
A woman with a wreath of vines on her head tapped her gnarled staff onto the floor to capture the meeting's attention and whispered through a sourceless breeze, “And how do we ensure the quality of the product? If we give the second prince’s entourage an egg with half a living lizard formed in it, this town will be turned into dust before the next moon.”
Tuscae nods in agreement as he rummages through the pile of documents again, this time pulling out a singular page transcribed from the bestiary as he replied, “The eggs weren’t laid yet since Kashan, according to his report, engaged it while it was searching for nesting grounds. By cutting off its tail--” Tuscae continued by quoting the bestiary, “-’nutrients meant for the formation of the drake’s young are instead used to reform the tail’, not to mention the amount of blood it must have lost in the process, it should ensure that the eggs are unlikely to germinate,” he explains while rolling the bestiary page back into a scroll. “Any other inquiries before I continue?”
A taller man with pointed ears peeking from his cowl answered, his voice mellow and serene as he spoke, “Do we have anyone willing to face the creature directly?”
“Yes, it’s Kashan,” was his response, prompting hushed whispers and impatient foot taps beneath the table’s seated guests.
“Can he be trusted, Tuscae?” asked the cowl-covered man as he motioned for Tuscae to hand him some sort of proof. “It is not like you to send a newcomer to an engagement like this.”
“If he’s strong enough to rout the drake with his own strength, assuming he isn’t lying, I’m sure a short skirmish with it won’t be a great issue for him. As for his character, I tasked Aleg with probing his heart,” Tuscae said as he began to unroll copies of documents he’d handed to Kashan the day before. “In return, she would have Celeste also join the skirmish as part of her ongoing training.”
The murmurs rose once again when the Daughter of Caelma everyone raised together is proposed to fight. As reluctant as they were, the cowled man agreed, “It would be in both our interests. She gains rare experience and we gain a pyromancer that can protect Kashan if he gets overwhelmed.”
“Correct,” replied Tuscae as he perused the documents he unrolled. “In addition to Kashan and Celeste, I would have Asmoa and you, Eh’Wahn.”
Eh’Wahn was the man hidden behind his cowl save for his long ears, which drooped as he heard ‘Asmoa’. “Must it be her?”
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Tuscae resisted the urge to laugh at Eh’Wahn’s misery as he responded, “I understand your dislike of her, but she means well.” Eh Wahn replies with an exaggerated slouch. “Are there any other outlying questions?” When only silence followed, Tuscae nodded and closed the meeting with, “Good. Now that our team members for the skirmish are decided, I will leave you to discuss amongst yourselves the logistics and requirements of collecting and protecting the eggs during transit. Once you have a plan formed, leave a letter on my desk and I’ll get it approved with Atmos before the end of the day. Meeting adjourned.”
With the meeting’s main agenda complete, he made his exit leaving the documents as the rowdy conversation began to take hold behind him. Everyone had their part to play this time so he doubted any great divide would form, hard-headed as these people could be. As he continued down the hall of the guild, he approached the mayor’s personal study. Unlike the rest of the minimally opulent building, this one room was adorned with living vines and branches that permeated the walls. Just as he raised his fist to knock, a sweet honeyed voice beckoned him to enter as the doors opened.
“Tuscae, reporting post-meeting details,” was the first thing he said as he stepped inside, only to be met with a familiar tree.
The tree was firmly rooted in the center of the study, appearing to hold up a gently swirling light. After a few moments of silence, the bark in front of Tuscae began to warp and churn, forming what was at first the visage of a woman and said, “Good day, Guildmaster Tuscae.” As it stepped forward, bark slowly creaked and stretched to reveal supple heartwood for skin while sap collected to create vibrant amber eyes. Hair began to grow at length using what appeared to be the vines of a willow tree. When it took its first step out of the tree, it grinned as the bark formed a simple dress of weaving vines and flowering buds that hugged its ample heartwood bosom. Every step the creature took towards Tuscae left a trail of petals, while its willow vine hair swept the floor behind it. Had it not been for all the bark, many would mistake this dryad’s avatar for a pixie queen.
“Good day, Matriarch Vailan. I have news Atmos would be elated to hear,” Tuscae replied, unsure of where to look. Dryads didn’t always take humanoid form, but this one took a liking to the young and tempting maidens that passed through ages ago. After uncountable seconds of self distraction, Tuscae finally hears a voice with no real source, recognizable by its depth and whimsy.
“Tuscae, my boy! Dear Vailan told me through the leaves of good news! Does it have to do with the boy you had me supervise through the Spire?” spoke the elemental. Its verdant shine beaming through the dryad tree’s leaves. Rare were elementals that bothered with the mortal races, and unique was the one that ran a town itself. “I must say the magicks that follow him is unlike any I’ve had the pleasure of… Pardon, my excitement escapes my reins, what of your news?”
Tuscae chuckled at the easy-going nature of wind personified. “I was able to convince my peers that Kashan, ‘The Boy’, is capable of facing the drake. Once their plans are solidified, we will begin our preparations with your blessing. The hope is that we will have the gifts for the second prince more than a month before winter.”
“I knew my belief was well placed. Would you like to know of the boy’s endeavors? He hasn’t done much, though it seems he has already met Aleg’s student.”
Tuscae shook his head and replied with a smile, “No, leave him to do as he wishes. Should he serve to be a threat, I will accept your judgment.”
“I don’t think we have anything to worry about, my boy. With my magick, I hear many things. With the Spire, I see many things. If anything, I sense an uncommon kindness in his actions. I do, however, feel… An influence. Not of malice or sorrow, but present all the same. I feel it looking straight at us. Through the spire, through my winds, through the walls--” Atmos’ rambling intensified as he focused on a presence. My presence.
The dryad’s avatar looked up to the gleaming light above in confusion and slight worry as it furrowed its brow. Tuscae could only ask, “Are you alright, Master Atmos?” Atmos’ rambling abruptly stops as his grip on the present returns. Though the elemental had no eyesight to speak of, Tuscae felt his attention return to the room he stood in.
“I am perfectly fine. Know that Kashan has powerful magick surrounding him, and that I know nothing of its origins. The presence I feel is not hostile. Simply… curious?” he wondered as his gaze teetered between direct and distorted. The more the elemental focused, the more it seemed like the presence was not a far away object, but the horizon itself.