Chapter 207
Silas ended up getting back up to get a sketchbook and some sharpened charcoal pencils before he turned and also grabbed a small lumpy ball that reminded Jay of a misshapen eraser. He returned to the group and quickly sketched out a bird.
“His head is flatter on top,” Norri suggested as the others got up and gathered around Silas as he sketched birds over and over in an attempt to put on paper what Jay had in his mind's eye.
Jay thought of a way to speed things along and reached in to his backpack. He withdrew his Toy Chest of Class Choices and set it on to the low coffee table in front of the couch he sat in. He opened it up and four little toys spilled out. Jay picked up the little Sunny toy and handed him over to Silas.
Silas lifted the toy up to his eye level and the tiny toy Sunny tilted his head back and opened both wings for a moment before he smoothed them back down along his back.
“Perfect,” Silas said as he set the toy back on to the coffee table and picked his sketchbook back up. He quickly sketched out an outline of Sunny and managed to get it to look just like him. He used the small lumpy ball he had picked up from the counter earlier to erase bits of the charcoal where he had gone wrong.
“Tell me about yourself,” Silas said to Jay without raising his head from his work. Jay looked unsure of what to say and so M'redith helped. She explained that Jay was an adventurer both as a job and a class, how he found treasure, how his parrot worked, how Jay was always finding secrets and meeting new people.
Silas listened intently and even stopped drawing for a bit. He asked no questions and just let M'redith decide what she thought he should know. Finally he turned to Jay. “Do you have anything that you would like to add?”
Jay shook his head, “I think she covered pretty much everything,” he answered with a smile.
Silas was quiet for a moment before he nodded and dramatically flipped the page he had been drawing on and began again. He drew Sunny with his wings extended out to the sides. He drew his head so that it faced to the right and with his beak in the open position. He continued to draw and fill in details as he spoke.
“Parrots are associated with communication and socialization and are not frequently found on seals, royal or otherwise. Eagles, doves, falcons, owls, bats, even hummingbirds are popular, but not parrots. A very interesting choice for your seal's main image but a good one I think.” Silas commented as he shaded in Sunny's neck ring.
“A bird with an open beak would classically be translated as a messenger or a wellspring of wisdom. An excellent anchor for your seal,” Silas said absentmindedly as he continued to focus on his drawing. He swapped out his charcoal stick for a different one that looked exactly the same to Jay's untrained eye.
“Anchor?” Norri asked and Silas looked up briefly from his drawing.
“The main symbol on a seal is sometimes referred to as the anchor – it is the image that ties everything else together. Jay's seal will revolve around the parrot as well as its meaning,” Silas explained before he returned to drawing.
A few moments later he began to continue his explanation. “The outstretched wings signify freedom, power, or protection,” Silas said as he began to create details in Sunny's wings through the use of long lines of various thicknesses. “His eyes are pinned, indicating vigilance,” he said as he moved on from drawing Sunny.
In the bottom right of the page he drew a shield using a single unbroken line. Inside of the shield he drew the letters K and D but in a sans serif font. “As the ruler of Kagan's Dome you are its shield and its ruler. The shield on your seal denotes this and the letters K and D indicate what you rule over, Kagan's Dome.”
He returned to Sunny and began to draw his talons. “In one talon he holds an upgrade stone indicating wealth and power, in is other talon he holds a key which signifies knowledge and treasure.”
He finished the shield and turned to the lower left of the page where he began to sketch out an opened treasure chest heaped with coins, “The overflowing treasure chest sends a clear message that you are a man of means – your wealth replenishes all on its own.”
Silas continued to draw but switched his focus to the seal as a whole. He drew a circle around the entire thing and began to add detail to the circle until the entire seal was ringed in a complicated pattern of lines. “The ring around the seal will be magically enhanced – your die will imprint the line pattern I have drawn but it will always be colored purple regardless of what color wax you might choose.”
He finished his drawing and turned the pad so that everyone could see what he had drawn. “The image itself will show in whatever color wax you use but again, the ring around it will always be purple – not something easily done or counterfeited.
The final image was that of a parrot with wings fully extended. The wings extended from one side of the seal to the other. The head faced to the right with open beak, and the parrot's only visible eye was pinned in to a tiny dot. The left talon clutched an upgrade stone and the right talon held a key. In the lower left of the seal sat an opened overflowing treasure chest. In the lower right was drawn a shield with the letters K & D written inside of it. The entire thing was ringed in a complicated repeating pattern of lines.
Jay smiled, “I love it!” Then he looked over at M'redith, “It's good, right?”
M'redith nodded, “I like it.”
Sha'li had been silent since they had entered and was trying to stay in the background. She spent so much of her life as the main attraction and the center of attention that it was nice to fade in to the background a bit. It wouldn't last – she would eventually have her hair change colors or she'd let out a set of scents and emotions that would draw the attention of others. Until that happened however she was just going to enjoy it.
Aiden, Norri, and Sha'li smiled at Jay's new seal. It looked good, but it wasn't their seal. Still, they nodded politely as they digested their lunch wraps and enjoyed the soft seating they were all ensconced in.
Silas slapped both of his legs with his hands and stood up as he gathered his supplies and returned them to the counter. “I'll get to work on it right now unless you had any changes in mind?”
Jay shook his head, “I think it's great just as it is, thank you Silas.”
Silas smiled at the praise but he hadn't even gotten started on the hard part – making the dies. Drawing was the easiest part of what he did for a living. “I'll be back in an hour or so. Feel free to wait here or you can return in an hour to check in, it's up to you,” Silas said with a smile.
“We'll wait if that is ok. We're a bit exhausted from our day and it'd be nice to relax for a bit,” M'redith explained as the rest of the group sat quietly.
“Alright then, I'll return with your dies – make yourselves comfortable,” Silas said before he left the counter and went out back to the area with the desks and cabinets and sat down at one and got to work.
Jay sighed and leaned up against M'redith who was sitting next to him. No one spoke and it occurred to Jay that it was the first moment they had that day to really just relax. They had been going non-stop since they had woken up that morning and could all use a nap.
The reception area was warm and cozy and it wasn't long before M'redith glanced over at a snoring Norri who had her head leaned up against Aiden whose head was slumped back against the wall, his mouth partially open. At least he wasn't snoring Jay thought to himself.
Even Sha'li seemed a bit tired and smiled sleepily at Jay when he looked over at her. She shut her eyes and propped her head up with one hand. Her hair turned a dark shade of red and then seemed to quiet down a bit.
M'redith sighed and finally leaned her head against Jay's shoulder and closed her eyes. If everyone else was going to take a nap then she wasn't about to miss out on her chance to take one too.
Jay was left as the only person still awake for a time and he sat quietly and thought. He didn't have much choice as M'redith was asleep on him and would wake up if he moved. He thought she looked so peaceful while she slept and did not want to wake her, especially after all the help she had given him that day, not to mention all of the other days.
Things had begun to move faster he thought. He'd started off with Dag in a little abandoned Traveler's dungeon with no idea of what he should be working towards. Eden had been confusing back then but a lot less complicated. Now he had to juggle being a Patron, a member of a Guild registered adventuring group, and very soon being a major partner in not only Redgrass, but his very own mini golf course too.
It was an odd collection of achievements but they were Jay's and he had worked for each of them. He had managed to grow an entirely new life on Eden, and as far as he was concerned it was just getting to the good part. He'd be free from basic training soon at the Guild soon – very soon actually.
After that he'd be on his own and set his own schedule. He'd have to find somewhere new to eat instead of the dining hall but that shouldn't be too difficult, especially with Aiden's help. Aiden knew food better than just about any other subject.
Aiden wouldn't be around all the time though – none of his group mates would be at first. His group would go off for additional training after graduation. He wasn't sure how often he'd get to see them until they all finished their advanced training courses. For a time he would be on his own in the city, an intoxicating and somewhat frightening thought.
The group slept surprisingly well. One of the hallmarks of being a true adventurer was the ability to go to sleep at a moment's notice. One never knew when they'd get another chance to sleep so it was often important to grab some whenever an opportunity presented itself.
“Jay?” whispered Silas who had somehow managed to approach within inches of Jay without him knowing.
“Huh?” Jay muttered helplessly.
“You fell asleep. Your dies are finished if you would like to have a look?” Silas explained quietly so as not to wake anyone else.
Jay nodded and rubbed at his eyes. “How long was I out?”
Silas smiled, “I'm afraid it has been a bit over an hour and a half. Your matrix took longer than I had thought it would. The double sided seal was a bit of doing too but I managed. I think you'll like what I did with the double sided die.”
Jay nodded and yawned once, “Excuse me,” he said as he carefully tried to untangle himself from M'redith.
She woke up as he shifted as if she had been waiting for him to do so before moving herself. “I'm up,” she said and used her fingers to smooth back her hair before she stood up and stretched.
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A younger woman wearing a cloth cap entered the back half of the shop and set a tray of steaming hot tiny brass cups on the counter. There were six of them and were filled with a dark creamy looking liquid that was piping hot and steamed dangerously.
“Would you like to wake up the rest of your party first?” Silas asked politely but M'redith answered without even looking up.
“Let them sleep. I'm sure they're not as interested in seals and dies as Jay is right now.” M'redith explained with a grin.
Jay and M'redith got up and followed Silas over to the counter. On the counter were a number of items that Jay did not recognize.
“First things first,” Silas explained. “There are two ways of making a seal – one sided and two sided. One sided seals are more than enough for sending letters by messenger or as a manner of identifying yourself. Two sided seals are used when signing government documents or anything of great value. They provide an additional layer of security.”
Silas picked up a square waxy stick. It looked like a rectangular candle. “These are wax sticks and the main source of the wax you will use when making seals. Light the stick,” Silas said as he used a tiny metallic firestarter to light the cloth wick that ran through the middle of the stick. “Then dribble some wax on to the intended medium. Right now we're using a blank sheet of paper.”
Silas dribbled wax in to a small puddle on the sheet of blank paper that rested on the counter. “Make sure you use enough wax – don't be shy to let a good puddle form. Then give it a moment to start hardening. Don't wait until it cools completely though – you want the wax warm but not liquid.”
Silas took out a squat metal square. The top surface was smooth metal but when the block was turned over it was clear that the bottom side was Jay's seal, carved and engraved in to the metal's surface. Only it didn't look quite right.
“The seal looks backwards on the die,” Jay pointed out.
Silas smiled and nodded, “It has to be in order for the final result to look right. Anything carved on the right side of the die would show on the left side of the finished seal. Just trust me – it works,” he finally said as Jay flipped the die back and forth. Jay handed the die back to Silas.
Silas pressed the carved side of the die in to the puddle of wax and pressed it firmly before he picked it carefully back off of the page. The die wasn't yet attached to a a handle and was just a squat square of metal which made it a bit unwieldy to handle.
Silas showed off Jay's new seal which had now been pressed in to the red wax on the paper. Jay watched as a circle formed around his seal in the wax. The color of the seal's border rapidly changed to a vibrant purple that was impossible to miss. Silas grinned at the finished product.
Jay examined the wax seal and was impressed. He could clearly make out everything that Silas had sketched out for him earlier. There was Sunny holding an upgrade gem and a key. A little shield with the letters K and D inside of it. And finally an overflowing treasure chest.
“Take a good look at it and tell me if there is any problem with it,” Silas said as Jay and M'redith closely examined the new seal.
“It's gorgeous, well done,” M'redith finally said after inspecting it silently for a minute. Silas beamed with pride at her compliment.
“In that case I will send this off to be registered. Once that is done then this seal will become your legal signature. Oh! I almost forgot the double sided seal!” Silas said as he opened a little box and withdrew a ribbon.
The ribbon looked like the kind of ribbon you would win after racing 5k and coming in first. It was brightly colored fabric in banded colors. The one he had chosen had bands of red, white, and red and was roughly a foot in length.
“You use ribbons for official documents,” he explained as he lit the wax stick once again. This time he dribbled a puddle of wax on to the ribbon halfway down its length and waited a moment before he pressed Jay's primary die in to the wax firmly. He lifted it off and then waited for the wax to harden further.
Silas flipped the ribbon over, seal side down, and again lit a wax stick and dribbled wax, this time in the same spot as the first, just on the back side of the ribbon. He waited for it to cool and used a second die which he pushed in to the cooling wax before removing it carefully.
The second seal was much like the first but reversed. Sunny faced to the left, the text in the shield was backwards, and the left and right sides had been swapped. It looked exactly like the original seal but was backwards – just as if an object was viewed from behind rather than from the front.
The seal quickly cooled and Silas picked up the ribbon which was now weighted down with a thick two sided wax seal. “This is a signature, your signature, and is what you would use when conducting business with the government or nobility for example.” He handed Jay the ribbon with the two seals attached to it.
Jay flipped the seal back in forth in his hand as he compared the details on the front seal to the rear one. They were as far as his eye could detect practically the same, just viewed from different directions.
“This would be attached to a document and at that point would be legally binding. Do not lose your seals. Do not allow others to touch your seals. Do not allow others to borrow your seal. Remember, your seal, your responsibility for its use.” Silas said seriously to Jay as he handed back the ribbon and seals.
Silas took the single seal they had made a moment ago as well as the double seal he had just made and used his firestarter to melt the seals in to waxy goops. “Never leave a seal unattached to a document. Always destroy unused copies. Got it?” he said as the seals melted in to a big puddle. He crumpled up the mess after he made certain the seals were destroyed and threw them out.
“This is your case,” Silas said as he opened a dark wood-stained container whose shape reminded Jay of a mini fishing tackle box. There were little compartments for various wax sticks, all different colors. There were compartments for both of his dies, front and back. Another compartment held ribbons in various color schemes.
There was a compartment even for the firestarter. Another compartment held a thin rod with a cone at the end of it. The cone would be pressed against a burning wax stick in order to snuff it out. Jay had wondered how he would stop them from melting once they had been lit.
M'redith eyed the set critically. It was by no means a luxury set. It was a basic non-magical seal kit and had only one magical ability – the purple ring each die placed around any seal created with the kit. The purple ring let everyone know that the seal was a royal one – Jay was technically a King, just a tiny one. A detail which he hated being reminded of. Still, the kit was sufficient for Jay's purposes.
The expensive price Jay was paying was for Silas' skill at engraving dies. Silas wasn't in the business of making seal kits – he was in the business of engraving seals, and that along with having it done while they waited was the actual reasons for the high price he had quoted Jay.
“Today we created and fleshed out a new seal for you. I engraved the seal in to not one but two metal dies so that you can create a two sided seal with a front and a back. I did it all in an hour and a half instead of a week. You will be provided both seals along with a basic seal kit. The current total comes to 37 gold, however,” Silas said before he took a deep breath.
Jay looked a little spooked at the amount but M'redith wrapped one arm around his arm and that seemed to settle him down a bit. “However?” Jay asked, a bit afraid that whatever he was about to say would cost him more money.
“The dies I gave you are naked. I can give you a couple of basic wooden rounded grips or you can arrange to have them mounted on your own. Some people carry them on necklaces, others in their pouch, still others keep it in a safe place and only take the dies out of storage when they're needed. No matter how you decide to do it you'll need something to attach the dies to.” Silas said as he handled the metal dies.
Silas picked up a wooden handle that looked familiar to Jay and it reminded him of the stamps librarians would use when he would check out books as a child.
It was a round wooden handle attached to a rectangular wooden base which had an empty slot. Silas picked up one of Jay's dies and forced it in to the slot in the base. The die stuck fast and would not fall out of the handle without a lot of applied pressure along the sides of the die – not something that would happen naturally.
“I think the wooden handles will be more than enough for now – how much?” Jay asked and Silas shook his head.
“Not enough to bother with, you can have them – they attach to the sides of the kit here, and here,” Silas said as he pointed at two spots on the case with nubs that the handles could attach to. Silas leaned under the counter and returned with a blank bank draft and set it on the counter where Jay could reach it. “Let's just call it 37 gold even, ok?”
Jay looked at M'redith and she nodded once to let him know that 37 gold was appropriate. He leaned over and used the writing implement left out on the counter to fill out the draft form. M'redith watched him with a quiet smile as he did so.
Silas just smiled happily. He had just made 37 gold! Sure, making seal dies was expensive but not 37 gold expensive. He tended to charge ridiculous prices for rush work just so that he didn't have to do any rush work. He had fun that day though and Jay wasn't as insufferable as some of his other clients.
Jay handed over the filled out form and Silas took it as well as some other paperwork to the back half of the shop. The same woman from before came in and they held a hushed conversation before she left once again, with the draft. Jay looked uncertain if their business was concluded yet or not and M'redith spoke in to his ear quietly which tickled a bit.
“He's sending your draft to be redeemed. Once the money is transferred your seal and paperwork will then be filed with the K'tharkle government. Once that is done you will have a new signature, your seals. It'll be just a few minutes, runners are fast around here,” M'redith said as she stifled a yawn. “Sorry. Still waking up I guess.”
A few minutes later Silas returned and motioned over to the tray of metal cups on the counter. “It is done! Now we drink!” he said as he handed each of them a small brass cup of dark looking liquid. Coffee.
The cups were small – very small. There did not seem to be enough liquid in the cups to serve as a single portion. The three of them each held a cup and Silas said, “To new beginnings!”
Jay thought that was a toast he could get behind and clinked cups with Silas and M'redith. Jay took a sip of the coffee and immediately understood why there was so little coffee in the cups.
It wasn't just coffee it was straight up concentrated coffee. Each sip was potent in both its effects and its taste. Jay felt suddenly more awake than he had in a long time as the caffeine made him feel more alert. Even M'redith seemed to perk right up and no longer looked tired.
“This is delicious!” M'redith said to Silas who smiled widely and nodded.
“Not easy to brew but well worth the extra effort I think,” Silas said politely. “I am only sorry that my work took so long that your friends were unable to stay awake.”
M'redith laughed, “We've been too busy lately I think. Not enough down time. This coffee though, with this coffee I could do anything!”
Silas laughed, “Careful – when it wears off it can be quite the let down.”
M'redith sighed, “Ya. That was what I was worried you would say. Oh well, that is a problem for future me.”
Jay and Silas laughed and Silas finally reached out and shook hands with both M'redith and Jay.
“A pleasure meeting you both. Please let me know should you require anything else seal related in the future!” Silas said in a tone that indicated their business was concluded.
Jay thanked Silas profusely as he took his new seal kit and packed it up before he then stowed it carefully in his backpack. It would be safe there.
Jay and M'redith helped wake the rest of their group up who were a bit slow moving at first until they were convinced to try some of Silas' coffee. After a few sips of that they were all once again awake and ready to move on.
They all waved to Silas and thanked him one last time as they left the shop. The doorman that had been there when they had entered was still there, only this time he had flagged down a cart for them in advance of their departure. It was a nice touch and kept the group from having to find one themselves, something that could be difficult in the quieter sections of the city.
The new cart did not have watermelons like the last card did. The new cart appeared to have just dropped off its load and so was entirely empty with room enough for the entire group to get comfortable.
The sun wasn't quite yet ready to set but it was growing close to that time. M'redith handed the driver some coin and hopped in last. “To the Guild we go!” she said as she landed in between Jay and Aiden with a happy looking smile.