Walking into the city of Midton was one of the most unique experiences Dei had been through so far. Instead of the typical outer wall of the towns in the golden kingdom separating the buildings from the unending water around any cities like an island in a shallow lake, Midton was quite different in that it sat in the middle of a field. Much to her joy, Dei had even had a chance to take in the city from afar as she walked down a nearby hilltop.

Nearly all the houses were wooden in this city as row upon row of slate roofs rippled up the side of the opposing hilltop. Above them all on the crest of the opposing hilltop a single stone building stood apart from the rest. It dwarfed all the wooden villas that seemed to crowd around its feet, stone crenulations casting a long shadow down over the side of the hill onto the houses below.

Dei’s eyes had then been drawn to several small dots of color drifting about the city. These walking flashes of yellow, and purple, and green, and every color Dei had ever seen moved in between the alleyways of Midton like ambient ghosts in the daylight. As they started getting closer to the main entrance to the city, Dei soon realized that they weren't merely figments of her imagination, but real people wearing such vibrant colors they looked like moving shop stalls drawing her attention.

All the people she had met in the golden Kingdoms had worn rather dull clothing with various shades of brown, gray, and beige, moving dully between the cookie cutter streets of stone buildings. Here however, the people matched their architecture as every house looked like a different style of construction. Here a flat roof, there a steeped roof, here a house with green painted shutters, there a house that looked like the wooden door was about to fall off. It wasn't all pretty, but it was enough to give Dei something new to look at as she took in the still distant city.

Even more interesting was the fact that they hadn't even reached the main gates of the city yet, but were still surrounded by buildings that sprawled out from the city walls like fingers poking into the nearby farmland. There were no carefully cultivated rows of crops like in the golden kingdom, but instead sprawling fields of food that pushed out from the city for acres in every direction. Squat fences of interlocking wooden pegs seperated the fields from the road, but it all seemed so open to Dei that she had no idea how they prevented thieves from stealing the crop as they walked by.

Crops turned into shacks, shanties and tents populated by the hard of heart and the downtrodden. Beggars lined the roads on both sides, but never stepped foot on the road itself, like it was some invisible line they couldn't cross. The beggars faded behind them as the buildings started to grow in size, gradually turning into tenements that resembled something your average peasant might call home. She caught a couple pairs of wary eyes watching the road from these buildings, sheltered behind their barred doors and tight windows despite the midday sun. Dei however, paid them no heed.

Matthew walked quietly beside her throughout the entire trip, content to lead the way but never really opening up despite the miles they had traveled the last couple days. As they finally reached the main wall of the city, Dei decided to continue a conversation that had been laying dormant between the two of them since before they left the catacombs.

“Why do you refuse my gift?” She wrote.

“Because I am not worthy of your blessing Herald.” Mathew said.

“As you've said, but why?”

“I am too old to be learning new tricks Herald.”

As they spoke they passed through the main gate to the city without so much as stopping for a second. The guards here didn't stop anyone who passed through, merely scanning through the faces of everyone feeding into the city as though they were looking for something. Thankfully, the casual look overs they gave people were so lenient that they hadn't even stopped Dei to ask the usual questions about her mask. Not that the guards didn't give her some strange looks all the same.

“But are you not my most faithful follower?” she continued.

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. I am merely an old man pulled along on an adventure.”

“Says the man who practically led the group from the beginning.”

Matthew shrugged in response, dismissing her slate as he focused on the small buildings they passed on either side. Dei had a feeling he was looking for a tavern. He was always looking for a tavern. After that however, the two of them had agreed that it might be wise to check up on house Jocell. Harrant had mentioned that House Jocell was the most staunch opponents to house Brent within the recent years, and perhaps the best place to start considering their poor introduction to house Brent after killing one of its nobles.

Matthew spoke even as he continued to search through the building signs as they walked. “Don't forget that you are the one who is in charge here Dei. I may have some good advice on your direction, but I am only a follower.”

Dei had begun to write again when the man tapped her shoulder then pointed at a small sign painted with the words, ‘The Lazy Mare’. The two of them stepped inside the thin doorway as they made their way off the street into a sparsely populated room filled with long tables and benches. Matthew called over for a beer as they sat down near the middle of the room, giving the nearby groups of people eating their lunch their distance as everyone sat a few empty seats away from one another. Nothing within the room particularly interested Dei though as she brought her slate board onto the table to continue trying to pull anything of interest from Matthew's tight mouth.

“What is your game Matthew?”

A nearby server dropped off a mug of beer with a thick head on the top of it off at Matthew's side as he responded.

“I play no games Dei. Your success is for the best, so I serve.”

“For the best?”

“Yes. A dozen broken kingdoms does this land no good. Perhaps a single empire can change that fact.” He replied as a man in a thick cloak seated himself to the other side of Dei.

“I have news Herald.” The cloaked man spoke, “You were right to set us trailing after you. Someone from the guard post has been following you since you entered the city.”

Dei nodded along as the man spoke, writing her next instructions down for him.

“Follow our tail until they reach a safehouse to report on us.”

As the man read his instructions, Dei pulled a small mouse skeleton out of her pack and placed it in the man's hand as he put it away in his pocket, a little bit uncomfortably. It wasn't the favored Fei's most favored mouse mody, but it was still small enough that it only slightly drained Dei's attention to leave the skeleton in a passive ‘WAIT’ command.

The man suddenly shot up off the bench and started patting around his belt line as he made a point of saying, “Damn kid must have stolen my coin pouch!”. He left the tavern quickly and several people who watched him leave with a half interested look on their face returned to their meal. Dei had to admit to herself that the sellswords were proving to be far more valuable to her than she had first expected. A fair number of them had experienced different sides of the underworld before they had taken on mercenary work. It made them a motley crew of con-men, thugs, thiefs, and even a single forger on the team that Harrant had called together under his leadership.

Dei mulled over several ideas on how best to use the crew as Matthew finished up his beer. The two of them stood together to make their way out of the common room and continued their journey for the day. Stepping out onto the street once again, Dei instantly felt a dozen eyes watching her masked face as random people walked up and down the worn cobble road.

Instead of looking around for the stranger who was following them, Dei and Matthew continued on their way as though they hadn't a care in the world. Behind the mask, eyes of blue fire burned away deep in thought as Matthew led them towards a distant great house deep within the city of whispers.

—

Charity walked into the small town alongside a well dressed man dressed almost entirely in black alongside a turban done up so thickly around his head you could hardly even see his eyes in the crease of the fabric. The man had asked her to carry a thin umbrella to shade him from the sun, though Charity thought the actions would do little more than draw attention to the pair of them as they arrived in town. Sure enough the daily workers that traveled alongside them gave the man a strange look as they passed by, but when Tai raised his fully covered face to blindly meet their gazes head on, they quickly looked away.

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He was a proud man, Charity realized. The only thing he carried was a thin journal alongside a vial of ink and a pen that all fit neatly into a small pouch pocket on his belt. It was so different from the massive bags of bones and other assorted tools that she had seen Dei and Xei carry around all the time, just as he too dressed quite differently. Despite the black coloring of his clothes, the man was still finely dressed, with his customary satin vest and undirtied pants despite the day's journey to reach the town. The gloves that hid his skeletal appendages were finely crafted riding gloves, once again stolen from the nobleman's wardrobe that they had found in a secluded room deep in the catacombs.

But that was all just the physical aspects of the man. What bothered charity most about him was the blatant disrespect he seemed to show everyone around him wherever he went. Perhaps worst of all was the fact that he had a habit of writing something in his little booklet, then merely staring at the intended recipient until they were forced to crane their head over to read his neat little handwriting.

As they moved down the busy street, Charity lagged somewhat behind the nobleman, letting the parasol fall out of place as the sun's rays shone down on the overbearing turban that looked so out of place. Tai turned to look at Charity, but she stared right back into those lifeless eyes. The parasol remained out of place until Tai paused in his step momentarily to get back into the shade of the tool. He only looked forward again after they had locked eyes for a good ten seconds, finally paying attention to the road. Charity took the break in contact to shuffle her feet a little bit, tripping up her step and forcing herself to fall just enough behind that the parasol once again failed to cover the man. This time he merely ignored her as she smiled to herself.

Tai soon found the building he was looking for, leading them into a small carpentry shop based on the name carved above the front door. Inside a wide assortment of chairs, tables, and dressers greeted the pair of them as they stepped into a small maze of furniture that divided the large room into small lanes of travel between masses of carved and lacquered wood. Sawdust piled into the corners of the room as they crossed the floor room to a small man seated in the back looking at them from over a clipboard.

“Hello there strangers. What can I interest you in today?”

“We’re looking to participate in the local craftsmen guild meeting tonight” Charity responded as she pulled the parasol to a close, pushing away the dusty air in a rush of movement that almost made her cough.

The man narrowed his eyes before speaking slowly, “It’s a bit early for the meeting, don't you think?”

“Nonsense. My lord Tai has traveled far from the eastern wastes in order to grace your…establishment. And he would like to ensure that he arrives early enough for the full experience.”

The man eyed them for a moment longer before barking at a man sweeping the floor to the other side of the room to man the shop while he was gone. He rose off his three legged stool to lead them up a small set of stairs to the side of the room, moving up a creaky set of wooden steps that opened up into a large workshop. Several craftsmen and apprentices looked up from their work as they took in the strange group that had entered the room, but quickly set back to work manning a wide variety of tools and devices scattered throughout the room. The owner led them to the back of the room and pulled aside two rather dusty stools alongside several other benches set against the wall despite the fact that none of the workers had been seated in the room.

“You'll wait here if you insist on staying. I can't say the meeting will be worth your time if you're not from this area, but I've got no reason to keep you away either. Mind you it'll be a bit of a wait until everyone else is done with the work day.”

Charity nodded in thanks, quickly plopping down on the stool as she assured him it was worth their time. The man merely grumbled something unintelligible and walked back down to the first floor, leaving them alone in the shop. The harsh sounds of scraping carving tools, and wheel fed saw machines filled the room as charity and Tai remained in complete silence. After some time, Charity asked Tai a question.

“Why don't you sit down with me. You look strange just standing there.” She patted the nearby stool to accentuate the point.

The man looked at her then pointed, first at the top of the stool, then at her hand, then at her butt. Somewhat confused, Charity looked down at her hand to find that it was suddenly covered in a small layer of gray and tan dust. Than she lifted herself slightly from her seat to find that the bottom of her robe was almost covered in the same mixture of dusty wooden flakes that had enveloped her hand.

After a moment of thought, Charity reached out and used her already dirty hand to wipe away at the top of the stool pushing off the dust onto the ground.

“Please, sit.” She waved to the stool.

The man pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, opening it in a flourish that pushed even more sawdust into the air, then set it down precisely over the stool's head. The man waited for the air to clear up a little bit, then sat down quietly beside Charity as they settled into the busy silence of the workroom. Neither spoke until the meeting started.

—

A dozen men and women sat around the room, having trickled in as the sun set and they were released from their shops. Based on the scatterings of greetings they gave each other as they entered, Charity could tell that they were all the owners of several craft shops around the town, perhaps the majority of the shops in the area.

They all gave Tai some strange looks as they entered, but seemed content to otherwise ignore the pair of them as the shop owner from before opened the meeting once everyone was present.

“Thank you all for coming tonight. Maddison, I'm guessing you should be able to catch up Rene when you see each other tomorrow? Good. So the topic I wanted to bring up first tonight is the closing of the Geld copper mine on Mount Tarrant this last week.”

A scattering of murmurs broke through the group as the man shared the news, but he continued over them.

“As you all know, that was the largest mine in the country for not just copper, but also a smattering of iron and gemstones as well. Now, all things considered, I'm going to guess that this will increase the price of our copper imports by around ten percent, and our copper purchases by at least twenty.”

“That's conservative, the prices will double just based on the principle of it!” a man called out from the benches.

“Won't the Brent family be able to eat the cost for us?” Another asked.

“They wont release their surplus when the drop is caused by the Geld family's weakness! They'll just expect us to suffer the difference.”

“Let me speak!” The main speaker took the room once again. “We all know that even a twenty percent price hike would ruin us if we do nothing. Which is why I propose we all raise our prices by twenty-five percent starting tomorrow.”

“Raise prices again? The people nearly murdered me when we rose by five percent last month.”

“No, no. He has a point. If we all do it at the same time, the people don't single out any one merchant to be mad at.”

“Easy for you to say. You all know damn well I'm the only weapon's merchant for miles. I'll be the only one to blame.”

The conversation ambled back and forth on the matter for the next thirty minutes as the group was slowly brought to a consensus on the matter. Charity decided to stand during the lull in the conversation and started her own part of the conversation.

“Respected craftsmen of Tallowton, I'm here to make an arrangement.” She noted that she had their attention as most of the room turned to face her, though many of them crossed their arms as she started talking.

“My lord Tai and I come as envoys of a powerful individual who is interested in improving the lives of our people in these trying times. Through her guidance we will be ushered into a time of prosperity where haggling over the price of goods need not happen, as all will be joined under the faith.”

“Martin, did you just let a damn priest into our meeting?” Someone asked the owner of the shop who just sputtered in place at the front of the room.

“Well can your mysterious benefactor fix the price of iron for the next year?” Someone asked Charity from the benches.

“Yes, of course, in due time.” Charity responded.

“In due time sounds a lot like never to me.”

“And just how much gold does this hidden mistress have to feed into the economy.”

“Why, she deals in the very economics of death itself.” Charity said

“I don't know about you but death doesn't feed my family.”

“And it certainly doesn't save me the time I just spent listening to you preach at us!” someone else added.

A man bent over to grab a handful of sawdust from the ground near his bench and casually flung it over at Charity, covering her black robe in tan powder. Tai stood up from his stool and crossed the room towards the back staircase, leaving Charity and his handkerchief behind.

“Please, just listen to-” Another handful of sawdust flung by another craftsmen hit her straight in the chest, sending a puff of smoke up into her face. Her eyes watered and she tried coughing into her elbow as she felt several more handfuls of sawdust hit her body. It didn't necessarily hurt, but between the crowd's reaction to her and the fact that Tai had left her behind, she quickly walked away from the room with her head buried in her arm. As she shuffled down the stairs a single voice called out to her from behind.

“And don't come back!”

She found Tai waiting for her by the doorway, wordlessly opening the way out onto the street as she joined him once again.