Quest: Mage Hunter’s Folly Complete. Reward has been added to your inventory.
“Let’s not get off on the wrong foot here,” Nate said as he held up his hands, palms facing out. Terry set Fuzzball down and tucked into Nate. He felt the armor encase him again, and Quilly added a timer that Nate instinctively knew was for the magic recovery poison duration. Thirty minutes. It was moving faster than real time, and again Nate instinctively knew it was Terry’s consuming presence. Good. Maybe fifteen minutes.
“You’ve threatened the safety and livelihood of the citizens of Aezrith. You will accompany us to the Council Hall to answer for said crimes.”
“It was the-” Nate began to protest, but the guard captain raised his hand to interrupt.
“You will give your account to the Magistrate. Will you come quietly?”
Nate motioned to Zeff, Fuzzball, and Ellisandra, “My people need healing, as they were knocked out before the explosion.”
“They were not involved in the anti-magic fight?”
“Absolutely not,” Nate lied. “They were caught unawares.”
The guard motioned for the other three oreforged. “Take them to the Temple of Air.”
“Thank you. Krypdyr, let’s follow these fine folks just trying to do their jobs.” Krypdyr glowered, but begrudgingly followed. As they began walking toward the gate that opened to the Gentle Breezeway, Nate took some time to go through his new notifications.
Wrong Cord Achievement Unlocked! You were maybe a little too close to an explosion. Did you cut the wrong cord, or push the wrong button? Doesn’t matter. What matters is that you survived! Reward? You didn’t even lose any fingers or toes. Also 10 gold pieces.
Banter Distraction Mastery Achievement Unlocked! You have used banter to distract a foe while your familiar or allies dealt with opposing minions! Reward? 10 gold pieces, Silly Hat.
Hunted to Hunter Achievement Unlocked! You have struck out against a group that was hunting you, changing from hunted to hunter. Hell yes! Reward? 10 gold pieces, Ring of Life Detection.
Nate opened his inventory to check the effects of his new items.
Silly Hat. Type: Clothing. Weight: 1 lb. Value: 1 platinum piece. Imagine if Cicero wasn’t a psychotic murderer and was instead a happy-go-lucky jester who did children’s parties! This hat would be from him. While wearing it, you gain the following benefits: once every 4 hours you can pull one of the three bells from the hat and toss it to the ground. When you do, a creature of your choice that you have seen before appears, made of long balloons. The balloon creature has only a single hit point and draws the attention of anyone nearby when popped. Bells regenerate each day at dawn.
Ring of Life Detection. Type: Ring. Weight: 0.1 lb. Value: 10 platinum pieces. For someone less cool than us, this ring would make all living things within 60 feet glow, even if hiding behind walls. For us, though, it expands the range of marked enemies on your minimap, and you can mentally command the map to display additional information such as what types of creatures they are and their range away from you, approximate if they are behind walls, or true distance if within the same space.
Nate slipped on the ring and the number of dots dramatically increased on his minimap. He mentally altered it and found that a small legend appeared and the circles all changed to show the races or creature types present. The map became overcrowded with overlapping shapes, so he stashed the ring back in his inventory until he may need the extra info.
The Gentle Breezeway was a beautifully chaotic space. Housing made of a variety of different materials, from sandstone to reinforced glass, lined the roads that were crowded with carts and people. Nate noticed there were no traffic lights, but the flow of traffic wasn’t really hindered by that. He watched the crowds as he walked, and found that under the seeming chaos, there was order to be found. Carts all narrowly missed hitting people and other carts as they drove, people moving with purpose or stopping to chat, others flowing around them like water around stones.
Just as Nate was getting the hang of the movements, they reached a wide, flat platform that turned out to be an open elevator that took them up to the middle district. Nate had Quilly pull up the information they had for this section. Quilly stood leaning next to the pop-up.
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The middle tier, known as the Artisian, is home to artisans, scholars, and alchemists who provide goods and services to the upper and lower classes alike. Here, brightly painted shops, academies, and workshops line the polished wooden streets, and stone arches connect wider avenues. This level is bustling but orderly, a hub for commerce, creativity, and invention.
You are currently in Wandering Lights Square. Wandering Lights Square is a lively, open plaza lit by ever-glowing, enchanted lanterns that change colors with the city’s movement across the Sand Sea. Performers, musicians, and fortune-tellers ply their trade here.
Indeed, as Quilly described, the various musicians seemed to blend their music into a frenetic jam, and Nate found himself bobbing his head to the beat as they passed through. If they weren’t possibly about to be thrown into the Smog, he’d have been having a really great time.
After several minutes continuing down the main road, Nate noticed an influx of multicolored birds flying around. Another pop-up window appeared.
You are now near the Great Aviary. The Great Aviary is a sanctuary where trained birds and messenger creatures are bred and trained to navigate the winds of the Sand Sea. Some say the Aviary also harbors mystical creatures capable of traversing between worlds.
Nate almost stopped walking as he took in that last sentence. Creatures that can traverse between worlds! He may be able to get back sooner than he thought. He made a note in his journal to investigate that later. They turned and continued starboard to the next, albeit slightly smaller, elevating platform.
You are now entering the Sunward Heights. The topmost level, known as the Sunward Heights, is reserved for the wealthy elite, including nobility, merchant lords, and council members. Its golden spires and marbled corridors shimmer in the sunlight, and lush hanging gardens spill from terraces, fed by complex irrigation systems. Here, grand mansions overlook the Sand Sea, and opulent plazas host vibrant gatherings, festivals, and feasts.
“This is a truly wild experience,” Nate said aloud as he spun around to look at the opulence. “A microcosm of wealthy shenanigans.”
“Keep walking,” the guard behind him pushed him a little bit too hard and he stumbled. Terry grumbled in anger, but Nate mentally calmed him.
“Yes, sir!” Nate said. To Quilly, he posed a question.
The Kingdom of the Sand Seas is primarily run by a King, with nobles who serve under him, many of them also serving on the Council. The Council basically handles all of the shit the king doesn’t feel like dealing with, which is likely most of the day to day goings on. Merchant lords hold little real power, but are mostly here to pay their way into getting things the way they’d like them. Hence all the gatherings, festivals, and feasts.
“The term is lobbyist, I think,” Nate told Quilly.
Entry updated. Merchant lords are glorified lobbyists.
The contrast between the Undercroft and the Sunward Heights was staggering. True to its database entry, the buildings were immaculate and enormous, with sprawling gardens and elaborate fountains. Enough of the buildings were gilded with golds and silvers that it was sometimes difficult to look in certain directions because of reflective daylight. One in particular they marched past was more silver than stone. Bold lettering above the entrance read ‘The Silver Vault’.
The Silver Vault - An exclusive bank that houses not only the wealth of the city’s elite but also rare artifacts and magical relics. Its vaults are secured by intricate magical locks, guarded around the clock by well-trained sentries.
Nate felt a strange pull and looked up, squinting from the glare. A figure leaned against a rooftop balustrade, and shifted out of view when noticed. Another pop-up appeared.
Quest: Silver Vault Vigilante.
Objective: Discover the identity of the shadowy figure.
Reward: Silver Vault Lockbox Key.
Accept? Yes. No.
Curious as to who the figure was and what the key was, he accepted the quest.
Finally, after their long walk through Aezrith, they arrived at the Council Hall, pushing through the ivory doors. Its walls were adorned with artifacts from each councilor's lineage, and its vaulted ceiling was enchanted to reflect the stars despite the time of day.
The foyer had only a handful of well dressed people milling about, speaking softly. Hallways extended to the right and left from the back wall. Inset cubbies covered by reinforced glass displayed historic objects that Nate, while using his Astral Sense, noticed were not magical. Small plaques displayed a few interesting facts about each object, and naturally they moved beyond down the right hallway before he could read any of them.
Hardwood doors with heavy hinges lined the hall, glowing orbs of magical light set on either side of each door gave some clue as to the status of the room beyond. There were red, green, blue, and white colored lights.
“What do the colors mean?” Nate asked the chimeran guard next to him, but got no response.
Four doors down the lights by the door were green, and the guard pushed the door open silently and held it for the rest of them to enter. Two Thuderstagians, the first two he’d seen outside of his own character creation menus, were huddled facing away from the door.
“-the city isn’t going to fall!” the left one said.
“The prophecy said it would happen soon.”
“It always says it will happen soon.”
“It’s different this time!”
“No, it isn’t!”
“A hundred platinum says I’m right.”
The oreforged guard cleared his throat and they started, turning quickly enough that their lightning horns bent strangely before realigning. They straightened their robes and walked back to their seats.
“Captain Stonecrusher, what brings you to the Hall today?”