“Are we really calling them ‘lower-level members?’” Stella asked Luna as Markus led them through the city toward the shop that he’d bought Kalexia’s egg at nearly two weeks ago.

“Calling them ‘unpaid members’ was even worse,” Luna said as she easily kept up with Markus’ longer legs and Stella trotted quickly beside her. “By using a term such as ‘lower-level,’ we can imply that those members can also become ‘higher-level’ members. And they can. Part of the reason I’ve insisted on interviews with all of them is so that Markus and I can determine if they’ll be a good fit for the Clan as ‘serious’ members, ‘earning’ members, or, and please excuse the term, I’m not fond of it myself, ‘grunt’ members.”

“What’s the difference?” Stella asked curiously.

“Serious members are the ones that are working to advance the Clan’s interests and to support the earning members,” Markus said. “Earning members are the ones we’ve decided to sign contracts with to obtain their gameplay footage. They’ll have the majority of the Clan working in the background to help them out with a few things; finding cool dungeons, temporary Party members, crafting connections, things like that. Grunt members are the ones that will be filler. They’ll be watched by higher-level members and chosen for work that would suit them, if they agree to it. Gathering materials, farming monsters, filling out Raid Parties if we need them to.”

“And which one am I?” Stella asked, worry coloring her voice even as she breathed heavily from trotting after them.

“You’re a serious member,” Luna assured her. “All serious members are paid and all earning members are serious members. Since you’ve agreed to join Markus’ Party and the new company, you’ll draw a tidy salary for as long as you’re employed with us. It’s why I asked you to sign a non-disclosure agreement and asked a third-party lawyer to sit down with you and discuss the contract.”

“I’ll be honest,” Stella said, trying to catch her breath as Markus looked around an intersection for the correct way to go, “I only remember seeing the salary and I was signing. I’m getting paid that much to play a game I was already getting ready to live in and I get a permanent Party and Clan on top of that? It’s like a dream come true for me.”

“Happy to hear it,” Markus said, throwing a grin over his shoulder at the red-headed Halfling woman. “I’ll try not to work you too hard.”

“Bring it on boss-man,” Stella said with a grin of her own.

“Seriously?! You’re not buying this from me?” the player demanded as Markus entered Stabler’s Mounted Goods.

“Why would I buy some torn up raw hide that still has chunks of meat on it?” the rude Elven shopkeeper from before asked in return. “I use finished, cured hides and leather in my work! Not whatever that’s supposed to be!”

“Then where the hell do I take this?” the Human player asked, waving a bloodied, torn up wolf hide in his hand.

“You could try a garbage collector,” the Elf told him. “They’ll even take it for free! If you insist on me taking it, then I’ll be charging you.”

“Stupid, buggy, bullshit of an NPC,” the player grouched under his breath as he stomped out the door, rudely pushing through Markus and the two women following him.

“Excuse you!” Stella called at the player’s back as she stepped into the shop after Luna. “Dick.”

“Well, are you here for that riding tack?” the shopkeeper, Stabler, as Markus had learned, asked grumpily. “Or are you here to try selling me crap I don’t need?”

“I’m here for my riding tack,” Markus said. “Good to see your business is doing alright.”

“That stupid prick?” Stabler asked, nodding to the door. “Apparently he heard that he could make better money selling hides instead of just the teeth and claws and so, he’s been trying to get me to pay for badly skinned, nearly ruined wolf hides.”

“That sounds difficult,” Markus said politely.

“Oh no, it’s the most fun I’ve had in years,” the Elf said with a wicked grin. “Getting kids like him riled up and pissy is hilarious! Especially if I can still get them to buy something.”

“I retract what I called that guy,” Stella said sagely. “You’re a dick.”

“Thank you,” Stabler said with a smile and an exaggerated bow. “Best compliment I’ve gotten all year!”

“All that aside,” Stabler continued, lifting a portion of the counter and waving Markus through, “your things are in the back here. Do you know how to care for riding tack?”

“I do,” Markus said with a nod as he followed after Stabler into his work room in the back of the shop. “Unless there’s a different way I need to care for this stuff.”

“It’s no different than how you take care of a horse’s riding tack,” Stabler said, waving his hand through the air. “To make sure you don’t ruin her scales, you’ll need to use certain oils and waxes, I’ll walk you through all of them.”

“Thanks,” Markus said, confused at the helpfulness Stabler was displaying. “That’s very nice of you.”

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“I may not like customers, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t make an effort to care for their mounts after they’ve come to me,” Stabler said as he led Markus to a table with a large saddle and several leather straps laid out beside it. “These are your pieces, I was able to use a good bear hide for the straps and belts, and the seat’s made to fit with any armor that you might get for her to wear. It’ll also hold up to you wearing armor in the saddle, but you might have to wax and polish it more regularly afterward.”

“It all looks good,” Markus said as he cast a critical eye over the various items, knocking on the seat of the saddle with his fist for a moment. “What about these waxes and oils I should use?”

“They’re over here,” the Elf said, leading Markus to another table with tins, cloth rags, and brushes arrayed next to a leather roll pouch. “The usual polish stuff will soften her scales and eventually strip them away. To avoid that, you need to use polish made from troll lard, griffon fat, or sea serpent blubber. They all have merits and I always recommend the sea serpent blubber for scaled mounts like your drake. Troll lard will keep her scales from softening so it’s the minimum you should use. Griffon fat will give her scales a bit of a polish as you ride her, since the belts will rub a bit. It’s also known to retain the scent and flavor of griffon meat, so it’ll encourage her to clean her scales where the saddle and such rests, stripping soft and loose scales away in a more natural manner and allowing her to regrow them without risking infections. Sea serpent blubber’s the best though, since it’ll actually strengthen her scales and help them stay strong.”

“Wow that’s a lot to remember,” Markus said. “Troll lard at minimum, griffon fat for natural care, and sea serpent blubber for stronger scales?”

“Yes,” Stabler said seriously with a nod. “I’ll give you some of each so you can see if you prefer one over the other. Just remember, troll lard’s easy to come by, but griffon fat’s the cheapest. Sea serpent blubber’s the most expensive, but it’s always the best choice if you can afford it. Understand?”

“I think so,” Markus said, returning the Elf’s nod. “Anything else?”

“Just to check the fit and that you can comfortably keep your seat,” Stabler said as he unrolled the leather and began to pack the various brushes, rags, tins, and bottles carefully inside. “Grab the saddle and tack, I’ll walk you through putting it all on her. You can ride her out after this if you want.”

“Thanks a bunch,” Markus said with a grin. “I can’t wait to let her loose, really see what she can do.”

“Ha! You won’t be disappointed, I promise you that,” Stabler said as finished rolling the care kit back up. “Let’s go.”

“And your roulette options are how much?” Luna asked Stabler as she made a marking in a book she’d purchased.

“Five Bronze,” Stabler said, a note of exasperation creeping into his voice. “Anything else?”

“Yes,” Luna said as she snapped her book shut and looked at him. “I’d like to purchase three roulette options.”

“Fifteen Bronze,” Stabler sighed as he reached under the counter and pulled the box of roulette eggs from their hiding place. “I’d wish you luck, but I’ll probably be buying whatever you don’t want.”

“Thank you,” Luna said as she counted out the requested coin carefully. “Would you like one, Stella?”

“I’m good,” Stella said as she and Markus shared a look. “Haven’t you been busy helping Markus this whole time? When did you have time to earn money?”

“There are all sorts of odd jobs that I’ve been able to do for the Church,” Luna explained as she pointed to a blue egg, a white egg with black stripes, and an orange and purple spotted egg. “Chess was very happy to have the help and his assistants were even happier to not have to do those things.”

“I’m afraid to ask what they are,” Markus said as he held out his skinning knife to Luna.

“Just some financial record-keeping and the like,” Luna said breezily as she pricked her finger and placed a drop of blood on the blue egg.

With a smoky flash and a theatrical boom, the egg exploded violently, causing everyone to jump back. From within the smoke an indistinct figure emerged, blurry from the swirling smoke as Markus’ curiosity surged.

Letting out an almighty bleat, a large goat, standing to Luna’s chest stepped out of the smoke and looked around curiously.

“Gornian Mountain Goat,” Stabler said. “Good eating, soft fur, terrible ride, usually used to pull carts.”

Letting out another indignant bleat, the goat expressed its displeasure at his words.

“I’ll likely be selling this one,” Luna decided. “How much would you buy it for?”

“Six Bronze,” Stabler said with a shrug. “No matter what happens with it, I’ll get my money’s worth from it. It can scale mountains with laughable ease even with a rider.”

“Interesting,” Luna said as she reached toward the striped, white egg next.

With a puff of foul smelling smoke, the egg crumbled inward on itself as a large stallion with a beautiful dappled gray coat stood with a snort.

“Should have done this outside,” Stabler muttered as he studied the horse. “Looks like a Horde’s Warcharger. Excellent mount for combat use. Very strong. If you’re selling that one, I’ll give you two Silver, seventy-five Bronze.”

“Best on solid, flat ground?” Luna asked with a quirked brow as the mountain goat sniffed curiously at her.

“Aren’t all horses?” Stabler asked, returning her quirked brow with one of his own.

“Either way, this one’s the best contender for keeping,” Luna said. “May as well check the last one.”

Dropping a bit of blood on the final egg, Luna quickly stepped back as the egg began to glow with an inner light before flashing out of existence and a large, solid ox was left standing there, placidly chewing cud.

“Baby Titan Ox,” Stabler said. “It’ll get bigger. A lot bigger. Of course, it’s going to get stronger than any other ox out there. Supposed to be able to pull an entire siege engine by itself at full size. Looks like a bull too. Fifteen Silver if you’re selling it.”

“Expensive,” Luna said in surprise.

“It’s prized less as a mount and more as a work creature,” Stabler said with a shrug. “Let it get into a herd of ready heifers and the young will be larger, stronger, and healthier. It’ll also go toe to toe with a damned dragon to protect its herd, according to the stories.”

“I think I’ll keep this one as well,” Luna said. “Can you provide the necessary supplies for the charger?”

“I don’t know,” the Elven shopkeeper said as he cast a critical eye around his shop. “You might need some sort of ‘mounted goods’ store for that stuff.”

“How much?” Luna asked with a roll of her eyes.

“For you, the goat and ten Bronze,” Stabler said. “Free of charge if you change your mind about the ox.”

“Ten Bronze,” Luna said as she counted them out and passed them over to the Elf. “Thank you for your help.”

“A pleasure,” Stabler sighed as he accepted the money and pulled three ropes out. “You’ll need these to lead them out. See you in five days.”