Chapter 123: Nosey Guests
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It was a few days before they sighted Grevi flying in formation with a white dragon. As they got closer, the white dragon seemed to be carrying cargo of some description, so likely a hired trader to help with transport.
Tom had mysteriously gone missing as soon as the sighting was reported, Kiran delivering a message written in crude draconic to the point Saph was honestly pondering whether Tom or Kiran had hastily made it. It simply stated ‘Nope.’ When questioned about where Tom had gone, Kiran looked a little uncomfortable, refusing to answer, before running off. Saph just stood there for a second looking unimpressed before deciding chances were pretty good that the kid was running back to Tom and gave chase.
Kiran might be an energetic little guy, but he was still only three, so she just made sure to keep up while maintaining enough distance to keep the guy’s spirits high. He was heading down, so likely going for the workshop as Saph excused herself past everyone else going to get ready themselves, all going upwards to their rooms. It was going rather well until Anchor ended up in the way, leading to a rather clumsy dance to decide whose right of way it was. Saph eventually just gave up and moved him aside by the shoulders, revealing an empty corridor… and no Kiran.
‘Gods give me strength. Right, probably forge or workshop,’ Saph mumbled to herself as she moved past Anchor, who just awkwardly nodded and left her to it.
Going back down to the next level she decided to check the workshop first, finding it empty aside from Ray who was sitting on her knees scrubbing the floor vigorously.
“Are you serious right now?” Saph had to ask, looking at the spectacle.
“We are having guests, and they might want to see what we have been working on,” Ray replied as she kept scrubbing.
“I don’t think they will even be allowed in here, Not to mention the keep hasn’t been this clean in years. Come on. Let's get you tidied up instead. Have you ever been a part of a welcoming committee before?” Ray just turned to look at Saph with an expression of horror, or at least a fair amount of discomfort.
“I… No.”
“Well come on then, can’t have you looking like a slave, that’s for sure. Still have the clothes we got for you in the capital?” Saph asked with a smile, doing her damndest to sound light hearted.
“Uhm… well yes,” Ray answered cautiously, throwing a side glance at the floor.
“Perfect, let’s go,” Saph went as she put the bucket aside, Ray still hanging on to the brush like a kid with a teddy bear. ‘If Tom doesn't wanna be helped, I’ll help someone who wants it.’ “You need to remind us we have to get you some clothes that are a bit more… local.”
Ray eyed the leathers that Saph was wearing at the moment. Saph totally not making sure to twist a bit so Ray could see all the nice hand-stitched and embossed patterns that had been put on it.
“You got me really nice clothes though. Shiva and Raulf found these for me, so I don’t have to wear them everyday. I don’t want to wear them out.”
“Yeah you need proper work clothes for you. Pretty and tough. Besides, you have got to have the clearest blue I have ever seen.”
“I… Thank you,” Ray replied with a happy little smile that damn near made her glow.
“Hey, I'm just stating the obvious. Now come on, let’s make you shine.”
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“Wait, you managed to lose her? Damn bro,” Tom had to admit it hadn’t actually been the plan for Kiran to make his escape.
“You have been teaching him things haven't you?” Jacky questioned, turning to Tom with an expectant look and crossing her arms.
“Not really, no.”
“Knowing Tom makes you ‘stealth,’ ” Kiran replied with great confidence, despite technically having failed his mission.
“Well, so much for operation treasure hunt,” Jacky went with a shrug. They had hidden clues and everything too. The goal being to have Saph running around trying to find them. They had considered trying to dress up Saph in some of Tom’s spare clothes, but elected to try and waste her time, so she would struggle to get ready for the welcome committee herself instead. “What now then?”
“We… get ready I suppose… Right,” Tom replied after a seconds thought. He would have to get his revenge for being crossdressed in front of a colonel some other time. “You best run along now, Kiran. Go find Dakota. There’s a good chance she’s looking for you.”
“No we stand, no running,” Kiran replied in protest, straightening his back and doing his best to look mad, which only really made him look cuter as Tom pondered what to say to that for a second. ‘Fuck it, might as well play along.’
“I’m terribly sorry. We must relocate our forces to stand with… Jarix. Yes! He must be ready for inspection too. You are the head of claw inspection, right?” Tom questioned, doing his best to muster a commanding tone.
“Shit!” Kiran went as he spun around, running out the door and hurriedly making his way down the stairs.
“He’s learning quick,” Jacky went with a shit-eating grin as Tom grumbled for a second.
“I blame you for that one.”
“Can’t be me, I still can’t make it sound right. Shet.... Shieat,” Jacky tried, pulling some rather exaggerated grimaces.
“What’s next? Are you gonna grow lips just so you can learn to say Fuck?” Tom countered.
“Hey, quit showing off, that's my job. Speaking of which, do me first. I want those horns to shine,” Jacky went as she sat down in front of her dresser. "We’ll figure out a way to comb your hair afterwards.”
“Right, so what… just get a cloth and rub away?”
“Sure, it’s like shining leather… more or less. Oh, I want this polished too,” she went as she got out the revolver from her drawer.
“Isn’t that supposed to stay here?” Tom questioned carefully. She did really like that thing after all, and he was not in a fighting mood right now.
“Aww come on. It’s like the shiniest thing I have… Well, at least the biggest shiny thing. Look, it’s like a mirror. Hey, I can use this as a mini mirror now I have two mirrors,” Jackalope continued as she held up the revolver to look at herself.
‘You can see your reflection in it and you want it polished… Sounds about right’ Tom mussed to himself as he got the lid of the can of whatever it was that they used for polishing. “Does a white dragon mean anything special?”
“Might be from the church. Don’t think so though, they feel too important to carry much cargo from what I’ve heard.”
“I thought Heron said it looked like a trader.”
“As I said, not from the church then,” Jacky countered with a shrug as she set about cleaning jewelry and hanging a few extra items from her ears after strapping on the holster. “I hope they don’t have anyone too religious on-board. I hate lectures on what to do.”
“I thought I had taught you about Murphy.”
“... What I meant was I really really hope there is a religious fanatic onboard. I love those.”
“Dammit Jacky,” Tom replied with a sigh as he shook his head.
“What?... Do I need to be more convincing?” Jacky went with a sarcastic laugh as Tom struggled to get to work on her horns.
“No, you definitely have me convinced. Now stay still”
“Are you sure?”
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Jacky wasn’t too pleased when Nunuk told her that ‘No, her revolver and holster were staying indoors today and that's final.’ These people were not under oath, nor could they guarantee they would take such an oath. Then there was the simple fact that the more people you put under an oath of silence the higher the chances were of someone breaking it. Hence these folk would be given only the ‘official story’ so to speak. They would not be allowed inside the keep, and they would not be told of any strange projects aside from Tom having brought some odd plants from his home, which they were trying to make grow. It was rather hard to hide a field after all. Tom was still a wizard who could fling fire and worshipped the moon and nature. Hence the green and black that they were yet to fix. And he had arrived here via teleportation accident.
Their precious human had been diligently waiting down in front of the keep when Saph made her way down there with Ray in tow. It was the first time Saph had gotten the chance to see Ray in proper clothes for a while. She was looking quite a lot better in fact. Still skinny, but she looked healthier that was for sure. The few pieces of jewelry Saph had managed to scrounge up definitely helped make her look better too.
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The incoming dragons were still a minute or so out, Nunuk and Dakota going over the story one more time for everyone’s sake, Nunuk taking extra care with some of their new faces to remind them this was a serious matter. Ray and Bo nodded their consent with a serious expression. Pho was a bit more reluctant but she got the message in the end.
The two dragons had set down in the grass in front of the keep, a proper welcoming committee being mounted for them. Saph still had a hard time getting used to seeing dragons arrayed on their side of the greeting line, but it did feel rather nice to be on equal footing. At least sort of, as they had Glira and Jarix at their back.
Grevi had done the introductions for their party. The White dragon with her was apparently named Galaxer and had indeed been hired due to the number of passengers. The two of them were carrying a sizable delegation from the royal academy all representing different branches, a priestess for some reason, some Royal Guard recruits likely destined for Glira, and a representative of the Engineering Guild.
It was actually rather fun to see the gaggle of intellectuals from the academy gawking at everything, chattering with each other. Saph guessed they were all city people rather than keep dwellers like Linkosta since even the keep itself was apparently interesting. Perhaps it would be possible to have some old-fashioned fun at their expense before they left for the vaults. Right now though, they were all staring at Tom after having made him out in the crowd. It wasn’t exactly hard; he did have the cape on, in white even, and he had gone with red trimmings for the occasion.
The priestess was more worrying to Sapphire. Sure the academy people would likely try and stick their noses in just about everything, but a priest could cause quite a ruckus if they found something they didn’t like. For now though, she seemed to mostly be inspecting Tom with a kind of bewildered curiosity.
Once the formalities had been taken care of, the engineer representing the guild had come forth, arms wide in greeting. The guy apparently knew Tink and expressed quite some surprise at finding him at a frontier keep. The surprise rather quickly turned into suspicion when Tink refused to answer just what he was working on out here in the middle of nowhere, not to mention the fact that they were not allowed inside the keep. The academy people also added their protests, Grevi silencing them rather quickly, stating they knew perfectly well what the rules were gonna be around here.
Victoria sealed the deal, stating it to be official Royal Guard secrets. Using the word secrets definitely did nothing to calm down the academy people, who immediately began arguing about what the guard had decided to hide this time around. But even they didn’t argue the point beyond that, at least not openly.
The Engineering Guild representative had then stepped forth, at least pretending to not be bothered with being left out, as he walked up to the Bizmati family carrying a large satchel. Saph made sure she was nice and close; she didn’t want to miss this and who knew, there might be something for her in there.
“Well I was not sent to spy on our beloved guard anyway. I am here to, first of all, congratulate you on the magnificent success of some of the inventions you so graciously licensed to craftmaster Jakolev. And to bring you your just pay from said contract in addition to his well-wishes, which just so includes some of the fruits of our labor.”
‘Damn someone is good at kissing boots,’ Saph chuckled to herself as the man retrieved some wrapped parcels from his satchel, presenting them to Nunuk and Apuma. After the guy didn’t back off, Nunuk politely unwrapped her present, revealing a really rather nice-looking lighter. If Saph's eye was right, that looked like actual gold, all nicely polished. ‘Damn, they weren’t kidding when they said they were going for the nobility.’
It was obvious though that the guy was looking for Apuma’s reaction as he unwrapped the pencils. When the old loremaster instead began inspecting them and making comments on the construction, Saph had to try not to giggle at the engineer’s rather surprised expression.
“Oh, I mean no offense. Very well done mister…”
“My sincere apologies, Kasra. Hivon Kasra. It is a pleasure.”
“Apuma Bizmati,” the old man replied with a polite nod, before looking back down at the pencils. “I think they will do the job most marvelously. They are a little thick though, don’t you think?” Apuma continued after it apparently dawned on him that he might have insulted the engineer a little with some of his comments.
“But the leads shatter if we try and make them much thinner,” the engineer replied almost automatically. “Believe me, we have tried.”
“Hmm… Well I’m sure you will figure out the secret one day, son,” Apuma replied, giving the guy a pat on the back.
“Yes… most certainly… I do also have this. I was instructed to give this to your daughter,” the engineer went, pulling out another parcel and handing it to Dakota with a polite bow. “I must say this is my personal favorite, it’s almost like magic. But not,” he went with a wink, bowing slightly as he handed it over.
Dakota unwrapped the wayfinder, doing a better job of looking surprised by the result than Apuma, thanking the engineer on a fine piece of work. Tom made his way over, excusing himself as he pushed by to get a look at the new products.
“Hey, not bad, it’s bigger than I would have thought. Still, that’s pretty good,” Tom went with an enthusiastic smile, Dakota handing over the device for him to inspect.
“Yes, it was quite the endeavor,” the engineer replied, tilting his head a tad at the human. “It is my understanding you were the one responsible for the warnings associated with its construction?”
“You mean the blitz gel?” Tom questioned with a head tilt, Saph making a note of that. ‘Tom the dragonette. Well I guess it goes both ways,’ she mused to herself.
“Yes. We do apologize for not taking it more seriously. Proper containment has now been affected for the power source, though I am happy to report we didn’t end up losing anyone in the accident.”
“Right, the last letter mentioned that,” Tom replied in a somber tone, seeming to ponder that for a second.
“That is in the past though, and I am here to do more than offer trinkets of gratitude.”
‘Ooh here it comes,’ Saph mused to herself.
“The guild would like to place an offer for two gold per capsule of this mysterious gravity oil you have uncovered. And I believe I have brought enough coin to buy the whole lot. If not, this may serve as a down payment,” the engineer finished, looking rather proud of himself as he patted a hefty coin purse on his belt.
The smile went away though when Tom had to repress a laugh, Dakota clearing her throat, looking a touch apologetic.
“We respectfully decline your offer. Until their full potential has been revealed we will be retaining the majority of our stock, though we might be open to negotiations for some of the vials uncovered.”
“But the report stated you found hundreds of these cylinders. You would never have made such a profit in your lives.”
“In fact, I believe it would be our second such deal this year. But don’t worry, I do believe you will get your claws in our supply at some point,” Dakota cut him off in her best diplomatic voice. “Oh and we have thousands. But that is all in good time.”
“I will look forward to it,” the engineer replied, slouching a little, looking like he was pondering just how wrong that had gone before collecting himself again. “Well in either case I do have this for you. The first payment on our contract with you. I’m sure there will be much more where this has come from,” Hivon went, handing over a small bag of coins to Dakota, who counted them.
Grevi had also been carrying an impressive number of requests, orders, contracts, and other paperwork for Jortun and Victoria, which were handed over. The officers started to go through them on the spot as the delegation from the academy set about inspecting Tom in detail, doing sketches and even taking a few measurements. The priestess was first to start asking questions though, as she stared him down with a suspicious gaze.
Easing her suspicions was mainly a matter of Tom citing off the various gods, admitting that no he wasn’t very religious and then agreeing that their gods were definitely better. Linkosta lent her word to the fact that Tom had in fact seen the real gods through a telescope. After that the priestess just settled into what seemed like a well practiced routine as she started going through the gods and what they stood for. Making sure to put emphasis on Oleg since Tom was clearly a crafter of some kind.
Tom listened diligently while complying with the gaggle's curiosity, seemingly finding it funny as they argued over how to classify his rather odd nails, and he just laughed when they asked whether or not he considered them to be natural weapons or just decorative ones. Another scolar arguing that surely they must be meant for optimal scratching.
“Careful now, he can in fact bite,” Saph went as she walked over. Might as well be a little mean after he just bolted earlier, not to mention putting Kiran up to try and trick her. “Even if it doesn’t look like much in there.”
That had the desired effect, as the academics started pestering him to open his mouth to let them have a look. Jacky seemingly decided it was a good idea to walk over and look tough, staring at the delegation as she took up the station behind Tom, doing her best to tower over the lot of them. It did lead some of them to second guess their decision but not for long.
“Fine, but no touching. You ain’t putting your fingers in my mouth. Or anything else,” Tom replied with a bit of a sigh as he opened up, the priestess actually stopping her lecture to have a look at the fine white chops.
The general consensus from the group seemed to be one of fascination as more notes were written down and hurried sketches made. One of them nearly broke the rule of no touching before he was smacked by one of his colleagues.
“How about you go and have a chat with Linkosta instead? I'm sure she can fill you in on a lot of interesting things,” Jacky went, crossing her arms in front of his chest. It was a noble attempt to try and divert some of the attention, but it was not very effective.
“Hey, at least they aren't trying to kill me or making rude comments on how hideous I look.”
“Indeed, a big improvement,” Jacky echoed with a chuckle and a head shake as she leaned a bit more on him.
“Are you lovers?” one of the academics then questioned, Tom turning pale, much to the fascination of both academics and the priestess.
“I would rather not discuss that,” Tom eventually let out as Jacky clearly started second guessing how smart getting mixed up in this had been. Sapphire just chuckled a bit to herself at the display. What came next were some very uncomfortable questions which quickly had just about everyone in earshot averting their gaze. Except of course the academy people, the priestess starting to go on about propriety in public spaces.
Tom did his best to answer questions as vaguely as possible as Jacky froze for a few seconds before taking a knee, grabbing one of his feet, and pulling off a boot. She nearly caused Tom to lose his balance as she held his foot out for them to see, eliciting a fair few oohs and aahs as sketches started taking shape in a hurry.
“Get a good sniff,” she went with a giggle, Saph guessing she was holding her breath herself. One of the researches was in fact dumb enough to take a deep whiff and promptly puked on the ground, much to both Jacky’s, Saph’s, and most of the keep dwellers’ delight, and the shock of their coworkers.
“Good gods that’s horrid,” the poor man let out as he got his stomach under control again, staggering back a little as Tom apologized, stating it had been awhile since his last bath unfortunately.
“Fear the evil stink foot,” Jacky continued with a slight cackle. She waved Tom’s foot back and forth at the now retreating group of academics, who had started arguing about whether they wanted a sample badly enough.
“If you behave yourselves you might get the chance,” Victoria went, walking over, paperwork still in hand. “You lot are departing for the cave right away, you have work to do. Grevi and Glira will be taking you there, so you may make it before sun down. Galaxer you are free to go, though I suspect you would want to stay the night, yes?” the colonel questioned, turning her attention to the sleepy looking white.
“That would be marvelous,” the dragon rumbled, lazily licking its chops. “What’s for dinner?”
“But what about his fire magic?” One of the students questioned, Saph recognizing some of the markings that Linkosta wore on her robes. So likely someone who dealt with magic of some kind.
“Don’t you know it’s a little rude to ask for someone to show you all their tricks. What’s next, should Glira blow something up to satisfy your curiosity? The man is technically a decorated war hero, and you will treat him as such! And you are here to do a job, and by the gods you’ll do it. Understood?” the colonel snapped in reply. “Now get a move on unless you want to be flying there yourself.”
The priestess looked less than pleased to Sapphire, but she had her chance to question him and she wouldn’t be getting a lengthy theological discussion today that was for sure. Her little lecture would have to do. That was probably for the best too, mainly since Tom could probably not be trusted to avoid fucking something up in that situation. Nor could they if Saph was being honest. They were many things at the keep, but they weren't good liars around here.