Walking the streets of Aughal was both an odd, and entirely new experience for Daniel. Difficulty tolerating commercial flights had severely restricted where his family had been able to take vacations. That had been a source of controversy throughout the years until it led to the ultimate one, him not going on the trip where his father had gone missing. For that reason, Daniel had never visited a truly large city such as New York, Chicago, or anything overseas.
The spires of Aughal reinforced Daniel’s impression of skyscrapers, not having the experience to make a direct comparison. They had dwarfed everything on the approach to the city and now rose to dominate the sky above him. Even with Quick Mind, he had only a guess of their height, something around a kilometer.
Compared to those, the buildings of the outer city were sheds. There was a patchwork construction to them, although not in the sense of a shantytown but an old quilt in the process of being remade with new material. Age was apparent in the older style, cracked stone made from dried earth that repeated as they walked each block. If Daniel had to guess, the original Builders had only a handful of blueprints to work off of when they set up the city and mass produced them. The stone buildings of Roost’s Peak drew an immediate and painful connection in his mind.
Sometime over the years, a new style had taken root. Whenever one of the monotonous structures had become unsound or their owners wanted renovations, the hardened clay had been torn down wholesale for new construction. Colorful stone predominated those refurbished lots, either an improved variant of the previous mixture or quarried stone in some cases. While their neighbors were cut from the same cloth, this new construction stitched uniqueness into the fabric of the city.
No wood in the construction, of course. Daniel imagined that would be hard to come by in a desert. There were signs occasionally made of the substance, though in most cases street names, advertisements, and storefront signage were painted onto the buildings. For the old stone it was a splash of color and only added to the liveliness of the new ones. He tried to imagine what this wave of color might look like from above and was met once more with the Spires jabbing him in the metaphorical eye. Something about them irritated the scraps of knowledge he had on engineering.
“How do those stay up with the wind here?” Daniel asked the group in general as Lograve led them to places unknown. Khiat was just as impressed as he was, absorbing the landscape around her with lingering glances.
“I would imagine magic,” Evalyn answered as if it were obvious. Which, upon reflection, it was. “Builders have as many powers as we do, and they’re a purposefully specialized class.”
The Arcanist glanced up from the street sign he was reading to appraise them as well. “It’s more than that. Those are the city’s Spoke.”
“I’ve never seen one this large.” Evalyn’s brusk tone changed to awe, far more impressed by this fact than Daniel. “I didn’t even see the developing one in Eido. They always kept the Temple of Unification locked down.”
“Do they all look like that?” Daniel asked in a more moderate tone, more curious about the divine object in front of him than some temple he could guess the function of.
“No. I’ve seen a fair few. You know, of course, that the Spoke is the divinely blessed construct that suppresses monster activity, pushes back against the Crest, and calms a region’s more dangerous aspects if present,” Lograve summarized, for both Daniel’s benefit and Khiat’s, assuming her education had been limited. His normal humor was toned down as he entered lecture mode. “When a Spoke has fully taken root in a region, it transforms. Sometimes into garish towers such as those, or even something as abstract as a magical aura.”
“The city of healers,” Evalyn commented.
“Yes, Teskalia. Known even in this Realm, although I’d argue Rikendia’s aura is even more notable.” Daniel wanted to ask what he meant, but Lograve continued before he could. “You could almost imagine a completed Spoke as the region’s Focus, in that it differs between them and is the concentration of power lent here by the Octyrrum. I’ve read about one city whose Spoke became a guardian construct, a true Incarnate. I imagine they don’t have to worry about monster attacks, lucky bastards.” Lograve closed his eyes for a moment and cut Khiat out of their telepathy. Knowing that this aspect of his feature would be needed to get past the gate and that heightening it to that point would be noticeable, he’d already done it on the approach. Keeping her out of this discussion was rude, but necessary. Hunter, I am curious if you recall the time before you met Daniel, when you were a monster and the Spoke was still active.
The ringcat didn’t respond immediately as they continued walking. True to what Jeras had said, no one called out in alarm as it was obvious he wasn’t a threat. Beastmasters walked in these wide streets just like anyone else, and most of them didn’t have Tlara’s ability to store monsters on their person. If anything, Khare was drawing sideways glances and stood out more as the lone gestalt.
Hunter answered mentally, as on edge as the fur standing up on his back would suggest. Like eyes were everywhere. I feared the monsters greater than myself, but also the air. It was heavy. Something near where the ground shook during the Upswell burned. I used to think of you as hunters needing to be destroyed. Everywhere you lived was fearsome, and I would not have come to your village if Daniel had not made me. Though, I would have attacked it in time, if I had Grown.
Lograve pointedly didn’t react, since Khiat may notice, but his response showed he was affected by the description. It’s disconcerting to hear that, I’m not going to lie. You can hardly blame us poor mortals for throwing something up to keep dragons and mangy cats away. What about now?
Nothing. Since I made the bond with Daniel, I have had no instinct to hurt people or avoid where you live. I have also not felt the feeling from the Spoke since we came to the desert.
If the group was in a car, Lograve would have slammed the brakes. As it was, everyone save Tak came to an immediate halt when he did. The avianoid was cheerily nodding at anyone who walked by and took a few seconds to notice.
“What is it?” Khiat asked.
“Just, making sure this is the right street.” What!? Lograve asked with the tone he occasionally used when talking to Daniel. You felt the Spoke in the Thormundz after you met Daniel?
Yes. No heaviness in the air, no point of fire. Just a feeling it wasn’t gone.
Lograve looked sharply to Daniel who held up his hands in surrender, drawing another confused look from Khiat. He never said anything about this! Not that we really talked about it past the fact that he was going to eat me before Natural Affinity stopped him.
I, gods, I need to think about this. Every time I think I’m inured to your bullshit you find an even higher cliff to throw me from.
You’re the one who threw me out of a window!
I gently pushed you out after you assaulted my poor mind with the implications of Hunter gaining the means of reproduction. There was a moment of awkward silence, broken by Tak distracting Khiat with questions about how she’d been hunting without any levels. Lograve sighed and continued the mental conversation. Alright, we know the Thormundz Spoke failed, whether that means it was destroyed entirely or was just drained of divine power. Let’s assume whatever was done to Hunter at the border removed him from the suppressive effects of the Spoke. If that’s the case, it means he wouldn’t be able to distinguish a completed Spoke from whatever happened to the one in the Thormundz.
Maybe that thing in the mountains took it?
I doubt it, we hadn’t woken it from its nap yet. Hold on, we’re here. The group stopped in front of a store displaying brightly colored shapes made of stone and wood. I think?
“This is a toy store,” Evalyn commented as the group observed the sign above the door of a colorful two-story building. It read ‘Ornithar’s Craftworks’. There was no glass here, not that Daniel had seen, so instead of display windows there were detailed paintings on the closed shutters with names and prices of some of the objects. Instead of any currency marking like a dollar sign, there were just numbers contained within circles in different colors.
The writing was all in the script of this world, though as long as Daniel didn’t think about it too much he could read it. When he did, it was like realizing you were talking gibberish in a dream and could no longer connect meaning to the words coming out of your mouth. It was an ongoing mystery, but Daniel had another question at this moment. “Where do they get all of this paint?”
“This isn’t what I was looking for,” Lograve said, still reeling somewhat from yet another earth-shaking realization. “There used to be an Artificer here, though I suppose it’s been a decade.”
Tak, observing some of the paintings up close, offered, “Maybe he moved?”
“Likely. The old store wasn’t made of painted brick. He might have finally earned enough to get a good Builder to upgrade his store. I always told him anyone with half a mind could break in on him while he was at work.”
Daniel watched with interest as Khare joined Tak by the painted posters. Even now, he didn’t have a good sense of the gestalt’s real personality besides a strong affinity for daggers and the Grafting. A language barrier was only one thing, most of the time Khare didn’t even have body language to read. This was one moment where Khare revealed something about themself Daniel wouldn’t otherwise know, and he made a point to remember it.
At the same time, Lograve made a decision. “Well, I’m sure Arpan gets out of town business all the time. It might have been a while, but this Ornithar has to have had to direct others to the new store from time to time.”
“I think Tak wants to buy something,” Evalyn whispered to him and Daniel. “If this is a Craftsman’s store, I might be interested as well depending on what powers they have.”
Daniel nodded in agreement. He’d first learned of the class when Lograve had explained the more common varieties of class evolutions. Unlike Tyrants, who evolved based on rare societal pressures and twisted aspirations, other classes could undergo a change at certain thresholds. Craftsman could evolve into another class as early as level 2 and had the widest amount of specializations known. Builder and Smith, for example. What Artificer could turn into Lograve was unsure. Lograve’s class had its own permutations such as Aquamancer, a water-specialized class he’d admitted he probably wouldn’t get even though he had Aquakinesis.
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Craftsmen could create magical items like Artificers, having a wider scope than Arcanists who gained relevant powers, but behind the theoretically infinite possibilities inherent to Daniel’s class. Very good ones could still approach the level of proficiency common to Artificers, if still lacking in scope, while retaining versatility in other areas. A high level Craftsman could do something like make a laser fortress one day, and hundreds of mid grade enchanted swords the next. An equivalent Artificer could only do something like make you an arrow that could kill god.
“Some of these are expensive. Are you all rich?” Khiat indicated a particular sign with a price in a green circle. Daniel, who had seen most of them by now, was struck by a strange familiarity in the way each color seemed to represent relative price.
“I don’t have any money.” Daniel would have inverted his pocket in emphasis but didn’t want his phone to fall onto the sandy ground. “I was hoping Arpan would buy some of my stuff.”
“Assuming all of you go hunting, you’ll stumble on enough to live by as well,” Lograve reassured, reaching for the door and causing a bell to ring as he opened it. “Daniel, it’s probably for the best if Hunter stays outside. I’m only going to ask for directions. If the rest of you want to browse, we have time. Arpan keeps odd hours, I’m sure he’ll be awake even if we don’t get there by nightfall. Uh, good evening.”
A voice greeted them from inside, clearly avianoid. “Awk, customers.” The room Lograve opened up was of modest size and lit by lanterns no doubt set up in the last hour or so of fading light. Shelves took up the side walls and interior of the external one, giving the immediate impression of a cozy bookstore. Instead of tomes, various works of craft lined them. Some were in boxes, others on display. Two counters ran the length of the room to take up the interior space with more merchandise, and towards the back was a third where an elderly avianoid was at work on a fresh block of wood. The color of his feathers, an almost even covering of light orange, had faded to appear like the inside of a rind instead of the outer peel.
“Shopkeep. I was looking for the Artificer Arpan Morel if you wouldn’t mind directing us. I believe some of my companions may also wish to peruse.”
An appraising glance passed over all of them, lingering mostly on obvious weapons, Khare, and Khiat, whose travel armor was now loose fitting around the collapsed legs. She’d had to reduce her height to fit in the store. “You don’t look like my normal patrons.”
“I am interested in one of the flying ones,” Tak said, walking over to where one was on the shelves but refraining from touching it.
“It should be said that I don’t typically offer discounts,” the man said carefully, unsure of what exactly was going on. “Even to those associated with the nobility. I am an independent business.”
“Oh, we are nothing of the sort,” Lograve laughed. “We just found our way into town, as it were. I’m an old friend of Arpan, so old that he stood where you do now the last time I saw him. You must have been quite young then and the memory hazy, but I would appreciate it if you knew where he moved to.”
“Idle flattery,” the shopkeeper waved a hand but visibly relaxed. “That fool sold a plot just off the southern thoroughfare for half of what it was worth. Said he couldn’t be bothered to wait for reconstruction.”
“That does sound like the man, always conscious of his time.”
“Let me think for a moment. No one’s come here calling for him in years.” A wistful look came across Ornithar’s face. “Two, maybe three. It’s nestled in some side street I couldn’t be bothered to remember.”
“He probably enjoys the seclusion. Take your time, and I apologize for the intrusion.”
“Bah,” another hand wave, this time the one holding a chisel.
Free to browse, Daniel looked at the shelves nearest the door while sending a thought to Hunter. Telepathic Network with the rest of the group or not, he could single out Hunter if he needed to because they had a direct link. Sorry Hunter, but Khiat’s barely fitting in here. I don’t think you could without breaking something.
I will watch. Still, the same detachment that had been lingering for over a week now.
Do you want anything?
I am not a pet.
Yeah, but you liked chasing that fake mouse when you were recovering. You haven’t changed that much since then.
And you’ll buy it with what?
Hey, I haven’t explained the concept of money to you yet.
I don’t need you to, Hunter thought with a trace of humor breaking through the moroseness. Only a little though.
Well, you are picking up a lot just from listening these days. Daniel continued looking, this time with more intent now that he wasn’t carrying on a side conversation. He immediately found one toy that made him pause. ‘Ornithopter, Enchanted - 1’. It was about the size of his hand, a construct made from wooden poles and canvas in the rough shape of a bird in flight.
“Expensive,” Khiat commented, seeing his interest.
“It’s more the name that’s odd.” Daniel turned towards the back of the store where the shopkeeper was watching them. “Excuse me, your name is Ornithar, right? Mine’s Daniel,” he quickly added. He couldn’t be sure of the man’s name as both he and Hunter were reserving use of Identify Creature while in the city on the advice of Lograve. That, and Daniel had a terrible memory for names that attribute advancement had only given minor improvement.
“Yes, that is one of my finer works. I named the piece after myself, naturally.”
“Any reason for that name specifically?”
“No, it was a whim. Hraw, but my father wanted me to be a Builder when I found out what my class was. Far less room to be whimsical. I’m sure if I had that mindset, I’d have just named it ‘Ornithar’s Flying Bird’ or something like that. Are you interested?
Daniel debated internally for a moment. “Maybe. I have to sell some stuff elsewhere first.”
“I am also interested. Could I see one fly?” Tak asked, taking Ornithar’s attention off of Daniel as the shopkeeper sidled over to delicately take the piece off the shelf.
“Khiat, do the words ‘Ornithar’ and ‘ornithopter’ sound similar?”
“Yes. Is this about my name?” Khiat couldn’t hide her voice like Daniel could in such an enclosed space, but she tried.
“It’s weird. These are called ornithopters where I come from, or, that’s one way to call them. His name and the word sound the same to me just like your name and the word ‘kite’ do, but it isn’t the same for you.”
“What does that mean?”
Daniel sighed. “Khiat, there are things I can’t tell you. Nothing bad, I’m not a killer or anything but, it’s like you, I guess. In more ways than you know.” He looked at the semi-giant insect woman wearing the equivalent of saggy jeans, while behind her Tak was smiling up at a flying bird construct and once again felt the absurdity that so troubled Lograve. “I want to tell you, but I don’t know if you’re going to be with us long enough to take that risk.”
Khiat was quick to reassure him. “No, don’t worry. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Maybe. Why don’t I tell you this though. I think something is going on with how I understand language. Like, it’s being translated for me, except I’ve run into one or two times where it doesn’t work. Different languages, I think. Lograve said powers like that exist, so I might have one.”
“Wouldn’t you know? I thought your Focus told you everything about your powers.” There was concern in Khiat’s voice now, which was understandable given what Daniel had done for her.
“Yeah. It never lies, but sometimes it just doesn’t say anything or leaves stuff out.”
Elsewhere in the store, Tak asked a question. “How long can it fly?”
“It depends. The one your friend found can all day. Forever, if it doesn’t have to fight the wind. This one?” Ornithar frowned and looked at the tag in his hands. “Ah, two hours a day. Cheaper. I could make them all the long-lasting version, but then only a few could afford them. That takes longer as well. Would you like to buy this one?”
“Yes!”
After Tak had produced several golden coins, and Khare a few that were more orangish in hue, the shopkeeper suddenly remembered where the group could find Arpan. It might have been just a coincidence, and Daniel was inclined to think well of Ornithar even if it wasn’t. Tak’s small ornithopter flew around his head, a thing of thin wooden poles and canvas that was bound to within a short distance of whoever’s name was inscribed on the bottom. The owner could control it with hand movements, otherwise it flew around randomly. Khare, for their part, bought a toy stylized as a turtle and advertised as something hard to break. It seemed primarily aimed at dusker children.
“I haven’t seen too much in the way of money here,” Daniel commented as they made their way to the actual location of the Artificer. “Not like the kind you use. Is the value based on color like a rainbow?”
“Yes, it is.” Lograve gave him the half-smile he showed whenever Daniel asked a good question. “There are minerals from levels 1 to 7 that are common enough to use for coinage. Well, common for their level, and magically inert. You can smith them but you can’t enchant with them.”
“Is it 10:1 between steps?”
“Broadly speaking, no. Yes for the first denominations, but it varies. The higher the rarity of the coin, the wider the exchange rate.”
Evalyn, having bought nothing at the store, pulled out a coin she hadn’t spent. “Gold. Bronze is below it, and then copper, and then wooden coins for level 0. Those last ones are just made of regular wood. Generally, it’s not even worth the effort to carve fakes.”
“But bronze is an alloy of copper.”
“Alloy?”
“It’s something with smithing,” Lograve said dismissively while trying to cover for Daniel’s slip. “You might be thinking of something else.”
“If the coins Khare used were ‘bronze’, that’s probably it,” Daniel said, wary not to go too far into why he’d been confused. This was already a sketchy conversation to have in front of Khiat, but he felt bad for leaving her out of the other ones. “Too orange. Why do they fit that pattern?”
“The rainbow? It’s just how it is. Higher level metal is rarer, thus more valuable. The colors are just a coincidence.”
The conversation paused as Khiat laughed softly. Tak’s ornithopter landed on her hand midflight before taking off once more. There was no intelligence behind its movement, simply a few patterns it had been enchanted with. The construct was one of Ornithar’s finest, if a lesser example of the best version costing one of the green coins called viridian.
“One of the elders of my village, Mvina, said the gods made it that way,” Khiat commented. “The rainbow they make represents the Octyrrum.”
“‘The gods did it’ is a fairly popular and unimaginative explanation for many things.”
“It’s a nice story Lograve,” Evalyn replied, a bit annoyed by Lograve’s dismissal. “It might as well be true.”
Daniel decided to get them back on track. “What about level 8 and 9 coins? Assuming those exist.”
Lograve shook his head. “Even if the metal itself is inert, it’s still level 8 or 9. Wrap it in leather and you have indestructible armor. Ignoring the fact that there’d be no forge able, or Smith willing to melt it down into coin, what would you purchase that would be worth it?”
“Level 8 or 9 gear?”
Lograve’s laugh was about the same volume as Khiat’s earlier one, though she’d tried to hide it while he roared. “Sometimes I forget how little you know. Suffice it to say the heliorite we found was an unimaginable bounty in and of itself. Discovering enough extreme level metal to make a single coin would set most up for life.”
“I saw some once,” Tak said idly, moving his hand just underneath the flying construct to direct its movements, before swapping his hand out with his foot and smiling as he realized that still worked. It looked ridiculous, but it worked.
“Really?”
“Yes! Alabaster. It was white.”
Lograve was taken aback, indicating Tak wasn’t bluffing. To be fair, he rarely lied. “Tak, where in all of this world did you see that!?”
“Back home. We only had it briefly.”
“Is alabaster the level 8 or 9 one?” Daniel asked, enjoying the novelty of someone else causing Lograve consternation.
“Nine, it’s, how big was it?”
“Small.” Tak wasn’t perturbed at all by Lograve’s intensity. He made a circle with his thumb and middle finger, one the coin Evalyn had shown wouldn’t fit into. “We just had it briefly. It was a secret, but by now I doubt that matters.”
“Spiritualists with alabaster. What did they buy, Tak?” Evalyn asked, giving Lograve a meaningful glance.
“I don’t know. I had to leave soon after it was given away.”
“We’ll have to talk about that later. With everything else, that leaves us with a conversational schedule stretching into the next few weeks! Oh, Murdon, why did you leave me with these fools?” Lograve asked dramatically.
“Hey, you asked me to come with you,” Daniel protested.
“And don’t I regret it.”