We still aren’t allowed into the mountain, or even on it, really. The entire port city, which is still called Desert Basin, skirts the water, sticking to the flattest, outermost land on the island.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t built on sand, though. Everything around here is sand. The lizards like what they like, I suppose.

When the time is right, the brathian come get us. The Colony starts buzzing about, loading up the supplies, and we proceed in a neat and orderly procession to a grand bazaar. Every beam and structure here is formed from glittering, mana-rich minerals, and honestly, it looks stunning. This is the first sign I’ve had that the ka’armodo love of finery has crossed over to their architecture as well.

From what I recall, their holdings in the third are fairly… normal? Demon cities are basically all the same, and at a distance, the only additions the lizard wizards make are to put up a few buildings for themselves.

Perhaps they don’t bother all that much in the third. Most people don’t, as I understand it. Maintaining anything down there is a massive pain in the thorax. Why would you put up a golden statue just for it to erode in a matter of months? That ash is not to be messed with.

Within the bazaar, I see a lot of business going on: stalls, traders, sailors, the works. Only difference is all the sellers are setsulah. But this isn’t what we came for. Moving confidently through the bustle, Eran leads the way until we reach an enormous… tent… thing? A pavilion? Sure, let’s go with that.

It’s comically massive, the entrance is so large I can fit through without having to crouch, and it's in here we are going to present our wares to the arkesh. Without much to do, I plonk myself down in the centre of the space, which is ironically the most out of the way spot, since all the stalls are being erected around the outer edge. Tungstant, Smithant, Sloan and the other leaders are consulting closely with Eran and her mages about every aspect, making sure they put the best mandible forward possible for what these particular clients are going to want to see.

Which means the jewels, rugs, tapestries, fine furniture, statues and the like are going front and centre. Unfortunately, the Colony doesn’t make much finery. We don’t have much use for gems and shiny metals, usually fobbing them off to the cities.

However, a few enterprising ants decided to try and make some nice things for the Queens. Rings to go on their legs, or around their antennae. Wrappings woven with glittering thread to drape over their carapaces. Even necklaces and such. Oddly enough, some of it was even accepted. Mainly because the stuff is considered useless to the rest of the Colony, so the Queens don’t feel selfish taking it.

However, the taste of the Queens is… modest.

[Don’t you have anything more… bedazzling?] Eran asks as she and the Council members fuss over the displays. [The ka’armodo are not shy about flaunting their wealth. The bigger and more ostentatious, the better!]

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Smithant shakes her head, sending her antennae waving.

[No. The few jewellers we have produce work for the Queens, and they do not like to look different from their children. Small, tasteful ornaments as a gesture of appreciation are acceptable to them. These… golden torques and diamond nets are… they would not be welcome. We simply don’t make anything like that. There wouldn’t be any point.]

[The point would be to sell them to the ka’armodo.]

[We don’t make anything solely to sell it.]

[You do now!]

[Whoa now. Cool it.]

I break into the conversation which was getting a little more heated than necessary. I think having the Legion breathing down our necks is stressing everyone out, brathian and Colony alike. They’re still here now. No sooner did our delegation leave the nest than they marched out to follow us. I’ve no doubt they’re in position outside the pavilion right now, watching, waiting.

For me.

I’m the guy with a target on his back, why am I the one least stressed about it?!

[Let’s all remember there are cultural divides between us.] I focus on Eran. [We don’t make anything for ourselves, but for the Colony as a whole. Other than a small number of carvers who saw human jewellery and decided to try and make some for the Queens, there has never been any purpose to making it. So we haven’t.]

Now I focus on Smithant.

[If our metalworkers know that producing these sorts of goods will mean cores flowing into our nests and empowering our brood, then they will make some, we won’t even have to ask them. You and I both know that. It’s not making things to please the whims of the lizards, it's turning metals and gems we don’t want into cores that we desperately do.]

Both of them settle down a bit and I turn my eye to the somewhat meagre displays we have put up. It’s not that impressive. We have too few pieces and none of them are that large. Eran is trying to make do with what we have to display the range of our skills, but there just isn’t enough there.

[This isn’t going to work. Everything is spread out too much. The stalls look like someone has already come through and bought everything. We need a different approach.]

[Like what?] Eran asks a little snippily.

I’m probably stepping on her toes a little. Do brathians have toes? I think so. She’s wearing shoes right now, so I can’t tell. I’m guessing the best way to sell to the ka’armodo is to turn up with stalls absolutely groaning with glittering trinkets. Some lizard-wizard will see it, start drooling and instruct their arkesh to sweep up the lot.

[Let’s go for exclusivity. One item per stall. Take the most finely crafted pieces, like that one, and that one. Set the displays so only one person can see it at a time, make them line up. Our designs are probably too modest for ka’armodo tastes, even if the sizes are right, but then we can tell them about our ‘custom design service’. If they like what they see, but not enough to purchase, we can offer to create modified pieces to their specifications.]

Eran Thouris nods thoughtfully.

[Commissioned work is highly prized among the ka’armodo, but not all can afford it. With the kind of prices the Colony can charge, there will be many clients who are willing to pay for custom jewellery.]

[Then we just need to give it a little veneer of exclusivity and class, even if it isn’t real. They’ll be falling over themselves to put orders in.]

Soon enough, the entrance to the pavilion is pulled wide open and a flood of setsulah enter, eyes peeled for deals their ‘bond-partners’ will approve of.

The game is on.