JOE

Ellen and Sarah arrived outside the transportation room heavily loaded. They carried a variety of bags and packs all stuffed full. Sarah dropped her first load and ran back up for a second.

“What is all this?” Joe asked. Harry and Joe were both lightly loaded. Grandmother told him it wasn’t possible to carry that much through the transportation system and to just pack for a day trip, three times over.

“Magic books,” Ellen said, as if that explained anything. “Companion thinks his people will be interested in them. He is very keen to start a steady trade between humans and selkie. We hope that by offering to sell them our spells it will help them understand why we want to buy theirs.”

One of Sarah’s dropped bags fell over and a spool of thread spilled out of the top. Harry caught the spool as it rolled past him. The thread was a pure blue. He handed it back to Ellen.

“We also brought some color sources,” Ellen explained. “I hope we can pick up some starter crafting tools around the gallery. The crafting books make more sense when they are paired with tools.”

Companion arrived. He was carrying his ax in his hands. A large war hammer was secured on his back. As he arrived, Ellen picked up two of Sarah’s abandoned bags and pushed them at the selkie.

“Carry these for me will you?” Ellen asked him. The selkie squeaked something back. Joe was aware of the selkie, but spent no time with the player. He didn’t understand a word he said.

“Why are you taking two weapons?” Harry asked. “Should I go get a spare?”

The selkie fluted a high pitched song that left Joe feeling sad. Harry responded with a nod of understanding.

“What did he say?” Joe asked Harry quietly.

“He is returning the weapon of his fallen comrade to her family,” Harry responded. Joe nodded his own understanding. He offered to take one of the bags. Ellen seemed relieved. Shortly there were extra bags tied to both Joe and Harry’s light packs. Sarah returned fully loaded, which she split with her sister since Ellen managed to offload most of the first set.

Alex came around the corner of the hall deep in conversation with Ted. Alex was giving the young man last minute instructions on the running of his shop while he was away. Joe handed the running of his shop off to his oldest apprentice, now a craftsman in her own right. Joe was certain that the woman didn’t realize he didn’t plan to ever take the shop back from her. When he returned from this little trip with Grandmother, he would relocate to the new square.

He was making this trip because Grandmother decided he needed independent access to the transportation system. She only knew one way to give it to him and that necessitated a trip to the southern gallery. Joe didn’t admit he didn’t know where the southern gallery was. Grandmother insisted Harry also come along just in case something went wrong. Harry’s role was to push Companion through the transportation system after everyone else used his map to go to the selkie square. Again Joe didn’t know what that meant exactly. He was feeling a little uneasy with how unfamiliar he was with the essence of this trip. He was used to being the head of the workshop. The man in control. Here he was just along for the ride.

Grandmother and Todd arrived. Grandmother was carrying her ever present walking stick and wearing a set of worn leathers. Her pack seemed lightly loaded, although there was a wood and leather contraption strapped to the back of it. Todd was wearing his usual red brigandine and carrying a spear.

Companion asked something in his high voice.

“Yes,” Grandmother responded. “I packed them.”

“I have a set of yellows too,” Sarah added. She looked around at the distributed bags. “They are in that bag, I think,” she said, indicating one that Ellen was carrying. “Did you get your crossbow?” she asked her sister.

“Isn't it strapped to my pack?” Ellen asked, half turning so that Sarah could see her back.

“No,” Sarah responded.

“I must have left it in the kitchen,” Ellen responded. Bags were transferred around again, as Sarah ran back up to their apartment. Now Alex and Todd were also carrying extras. Grandmother looked amused. Joe felt the thrum of something through his bones. Todd turned and looked at Grandmother. She caught his reaction, took a deep breath and smiled. The feeling faded.

Sarah returned carrying a crossbow, a long bow and two quivers. One quiver was packed with crossbow bolts while the other held fletched arrows. The longbow was a nice weapon but not nearly as beautiful as his own.

“Are we ready?” Grandmother asked. Everyone agreed that they were. Grandmother opened a door Joe could not see and from his point of view, walked through the wall. Todd followed her example, after instructing Harry to push each person through the door as Grandmother called for them.

Joe heard nothing, but after a few minutes, Harry announced that it was Ellen's turn and taking her arm walked her through the wall. Joe saw a similar display yesterday in his new square, where Grandmother, Todd and Harry ushered Muriel and himself through the system. After Ellen, Harry escorted Companion, Sarah, Alex and then Joe.

Joe allowed himself to be guided through the darkness. He stepped forward at a push on his back. A curtain of light flashed across his vision. He stepped forward again when he felt another nudge.

“Welcome to the south gallery,” Todd said as he guided Joe out of the darkness. Joe stepped out of another door he couldn’t see and his sight returned to him. He was standing behind a sofa in the central section of a gallery. The sofa was covered by an elaborate tapestry. On the other side of the sofa, a standing wall rose up with a complex inscription carved into its surface. This inscription was why Joe was here. According to Grandmother, decoding it would give him access to the transportation system.

Joe stepped to the side, trying to clear the door he couldn’t see. Ellen and Sarah called him down to one end of the gallery where they were unloading. He went down to hand them the two bags he carried through. The women were sorting through their load, trying to decide what they would take with them the first day to the selkie square.

“Can I look at one of your books?” Joe asked, as his curiosity about what a magic book was grew too strong to resist.

“Sure,” Ellen replied. She turned to a pile she just stacked and picked out three in the center. “These should interest you,” she said, handing them over to Joe.

Joe sat down on one of the chairs that decorated the area. The first book was how to join wood scrap into a plank. Joe was a little disappointed. He thought these were magic books. He remembered Ellen saying something about selling starter tools with the crafting books. The second book was utility spells. Joe was surprised to find a description of how to turn the hot water on, described as a spell. What was really interesting was the third spell in the book. It described how to set a piece of wood on fire.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Joe considered himself the expert on wood, but he didn’t know this spell. He also didn’t have any interest in burning up a perfectly useful piece of wood, but he felt like he should know it. Although the book contained a description of the spell and a high level description of how to cast it, it didn’t contain the actual spell. It referred the reader to the spell ribbon on the next page, but that page was blank.

The last book Ellen passed to him was weapon spells. As he leafed through the first pages of the book, he realized many of these pages were identical in the last two books. This time through he took the time to read each page. It was eye opening. The book included a description of a spell called light blade. It again referenced a missing spell ribbon. Joe was certain he never heard of this spell.

“What is this light blade spell?” Joe said. “I don’t think I have ever heard of it.”

“I just learned it,” Ellen responded. She pulled an integrated knife out and held it in a vertical position. “Here, I’ll demonstrate.” She shifted her grip on the hilt and twisted the blade. The knife began to shine as bright as a light panel.

“Interesting,” Joe commented. He was thinking how it might be useful on the outside above his new square. There were no light panels there to activate with light.

“Yeah, not the most useful. Although I have ended up in a couple places it really would have helped and it is only tier zero. The best part is it teaches the method to imbue any element into a blade without coloring your magic.” Ellen let the blade drop and the light went out. She went on to explain how they thought the books would work. She told him how they would add the spell ribbons to the books after they were purchased. When she got to the part where their list of available spells expanded to a book that contained full page descriptions, Joe asked if he could see that book.

She dug it out of another pile and handed it to him. “That is the book of wizard spells,” she said to him. "There is another one around here for weapons spells.” She went back to sorting piles.

Joe was surprised at how many spells were in the book. It started with light ball, a tier zero spell and ended with a tier five spell labeled the ring of death. The description of it was enough to give him nightmares. The only consolation was the note that it would take at least three months to successfully cast the first time.

“Here is the weapon spell description book,” Ellen said triumphantly, as she passed it to Joe. “I haven’t gotten a complete master book for crafting spells yet. I have been focused on making the task based books.”

“Do you have a list of patterns?” Joe asked. “I have always thought it would be useful if you knew what the prerequisites were for a pattern when trying to unveil it.”

“No, I don’t,” Ellen said thoughtfully. “I will put that on my to-do list.”

“Grandmother was talking about buying patterns on the next square tour,” Todd commented. He was delivering the bags he carried through the transportation system for Sarah. Joe glanced back to the center of the Gallery and saw that Grandmother and Harry arrived. They were talking in front of the colorful couch.

“You need a table or set of shelves to display your wares at the market,” Joe said to Ellen as he handed all the books back. He excused himself from Ellen as he rose and went back to the center of the gallery. As he walked away he could hear Ellen asking Sarah if she saw where Alex went.

“I was just telling Harry, if you use the transportation system multiple times back to back, you can come out on the other side dazed,” Grandmother commented. “We want to be sharp on our arrival at Companion’s home square so we are staying here for the day and leaving in the morning. I want to get there early enough that we catch most of the residents before they go into the water. Companion assures me that all the housing is in the air.”

“Does Companion’s home square have a name?” Joe asked. “I find it confusing to have two home squares.” A high pitched tune rose up from the group's feet. Joe jerked in startlement. He looked down to realize that Companion was laid out flat on the course sand garden that was at the bottom of the inscription wall. The garden was sunk slightly into the floor. Companion was so stretched out that his bulk barely raised above the level of the floor. The selkie’s eyes were closed as he gave every indication that he was in a state of bliss.

“Companion claims this is the best gravel bed in the structure,” Harry observed, as an explanation for the selkie’s behavior.

“I think his square’s name translates to something like Seagrass Square.” Grandmother commented. Companion gruffed his approval of this translation. It was obvious that even if Joe didn’t understand a word the selkie said, the opposite was not true.

“Ok,” Joe responded.

“The inscription hasn’t changed yet, so I’ll try to transfer the decryption over to you. If I have lost the solution you’ll have to do it yourself. I will try to walk you through it. Before we do, I wanted to ask you to stay until tomorrow. It is always free to transport back to a crystal you own. Since you own the new square, you can send Harry back there at no cost. The price from the new square to Home Square should be low, since they are close together and we have all touched the crystals there recently,” Grandmother observed.

“I thought I would wait here for you to get back,” Harry commented. “I wouldn’t mind seeing Seagrass myself if that is an option. Perhaps Todd will trade places with me on the second day.”

“I would like to see it too,” Joe put in. “Ellen mentioned there may be opportunities for trade. I would like to get a feel for what they are interested in.”

“Hmm…” Grandmother murmured. “Companion, will they let us touch their crystal?” Companion fluted a response. It seemed rather long. “Really?” Grandmother said. “How can I have missed that?”

“What did he say?” Joe asked, wondering what the selkie said that surprised Grandmother.

“He said touching the crystal tells the crystal owner things about you. He is a little vague about what things,” Harry translated to Joe. Companion sang what was clearly an addition.

“He does admit that sometimes people frown on outsiders touching a crystal because it allows others to use the transportation system to get there. Since we are arriving via the system, he doesn’t think they will stop us,” Grandmother added. “I wonder if getting visitor information is another feature you have to unlock, like the transportation system. Or if I am just an idiot.”

Companion made a quick comment.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Grandmother said with a smile.

“He called her an idiot didn’t he?” Joe asked Harry in a conspiratorial voice.

“Yep,” Harry responded.

“Ok, so if Todd or I manage to touch the crystal in the square we will come back here and bring you over too. If we don’t, we will switch you out the second day.”

“Do you want to take Harry with you?” Joe asked. “I don’t mind waiting here alone.”

“I’d rather just go in with my team,” Grandmother explained. “No insult to either of you, but I am confident that I know how they will react. I don’t want anything to go wrong on this initial contact.”

“I understand,” Harry, head of the guards at Home Square, reassured Grandmother. He knew how a lower tier experienced team could perform better than a group of higher tier individuals who did not know each other.

“Do you want to come with us to scavenge rooms?” Todd asked the two older men. “There is an area right around this hall that is dressed as offices so we don’t have to go down into the industrial spaces. The animals here are tougher and more plentiful than around Home Square so don’t wander off alone. As a group they aren’t a problem.”

“Yes, I would like that,” Joe agreed. Grandmother’s team was so diverse, with its mix of wizard, warrior, crafter and even enchanter that Joe was curious how the team worked together. Joe carried a bow and he did go out into the green to hunt with it, but the only time he spent in the halls was when he left Londontown looking for a better future. As a crafter he spent most of his time in the square. Even his trips into the green to hunt weren’t really driven by the need for meat. He had other reasons for that.