Su'lia just stared at the door for several minutes. She could not believe it, this goblin, this runt herding goblin who tried to steal from her, held her at magic gun point, actually led her to the shop she had been searching for. The very shop she had been searching for all day!

"What is the meaning of this!" she exclaimed at Knucklebiter as she turned to face him. The infuriatingly smug goblin just grinned wider showing off his full collection of teeth. Oh how she hated that smug attitude of his, but what was she to do. "Friends shop. Looking for smart rug wearer. You might do" said the goblin in halting common. It was like trying to decipher a toddlers speech at times with this, well she needed to continue on. "So whats next then Knucklebiter?" asked Su'lia, she was not sure if she should go in and the power she felt from the door honestly took her aback.

Shaking its head the little beast just strode forward and opened the door as if it was nothing. The little monster was three feet smaller than her and it had more guts than she did. By the Godly Patrons she just wanted to punt the little bastard back to Howen where his kind usually lived. Taking a deep breath she calmed her nerves. Oddly enough, Knuclebiter's action of just going through the door so casually helped her to calm down and while she sensed the power from the door she did not sense any hostility. Taking one more small breath she pushed the door open and stepped through the portal.

As she stepped inside, she heard the tinkling of a small bell, the door had hit it and caused the melodious chime to fill the air. The inside of the shop was, well it was spectacular to her. As she gazed around, she saw weapon fused with Stones, some waiting to be fused and many more tools. The air had a tangible taste to her, the feel of magic was just that palpable. Su'lia had a natural infinity with Elemental Stones, while stones did what they were made and powered to do, some people just had a, knack some might call it to draw every ounce of power from a Stone. Su'lia could do that with Elemental Wands, she was not sure why weapons did not work the same way for her, especially with her strength, having an axe of fire would just solve so many annoyances, like a certain goblin.

Thinking of that obnoxious little, where was he. She looked around the store more and found that there was a bar off to the right and even what looked to be a bartender cleaning a glass. Could they be any more cliche then that? Walking up to the bar she continued to look around but still did not see Knucklebiter anywhere. She spoke to the bartender "Excuse me, have you seen a goblin? He just entered the store and I seemed to have lost him." Looking at her, he continued to clean the glass in his hand and nodded his head. In an elegant voice he spoke to her, "You mean that scoundrel Knucklebiter? He went to get the shop master. Seems some, what did he call you, ah that is right some 'smart rug wearer' was found." the bartender chuckled at this. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked Su'lia, inwardly cursing her lack of manners, "Su'lia, and yes. Do you have any Twine Peaks Holova?" she missed the drink, its spicy yet sweet aftertaste coupled by its smooth feel going down before the life giving warmth explodes through ones body, ah, what a drink.

"Holova eh? Hmm, not a request I hear often. Maybe, AH! Here it is." It had taken the bartender a few moments to find the slightly dust covered bottle but she knew Holova when she saw it. The slightly pink color of the drink had a dim glow behind the veneer of dust on the bottle. She guessed it was maybe a three year old bottle. Good time for it to build its flavor. "Would you like some ice with this Ms Su'lia? OH! Where are my manners, I am Meltra, humble barkeep at the 'The Merchants Magician'." as Meltra introduced himself he smiled and did a small bow. Really just more of an incline of his head.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Taking a look at him, Su'lia noticed that he was an Elf. That was weird, elves tended to hate Krix due to the lack of trees and sun light. Most hated the fact that the Dragonkiln lived there, they hated the Dragons for their audacity in creating a race, especially the way they did. The forging of the Dragonkiln was a momentous event in the history of Culdovia. Coming back to the present Su'lia nodded to the desire of ice with her Holova. Ice enriched the flavor and in the Twine Peaks there was much ice to be had. Su'lia watched the door and the rest of the shop. Where she was seated, she could see most all of it, well at least the different entrances which was always important.

The door opened and the chime of that melodious bell was once again heard. Su'lia looked up and saw a nervous human boy? Human ages were difficult to tell, she saw them from child and elder but what they called an adolescent and an adult sort of blurred together for her, she would think of him as an adult though, otherwise she may insult him. The human wore loose fitting breeches, a tunic that hung from his shoulders and had a bandanna around his forehead. He was muttering to something or maybe to himself, she could not tell. His eyes flitted across the room, taking in the side of the shop that held the store in quick order, his eyes almost reverent. As his gaze found the bar, he seemed to blanch, hmm, maybe he was still young, humans were odd in their values and rules, why some could drink and others could not always had confused her.

The human made his way to the bar, his eyes glancing from Meltra with a small measure of distrust to Su'lia, though when he looked at her, there was what she could only describe as a measure of awe. She guessed that she should of not been too surprised, after all, her height made this reaction almost common place. He stood there for a few moments before Su'lia spoke up, "I will not bite you little human." her toothy grin was not exactly reassuring but she made the attempt to be kind, she would be lying though if she said that it did not give her any sort of thrill to tease the scrawny human. Heeding her gesture, he came forward and sat down though he still sounded like he might be muttering to something.

Meltra looked up at the boy and asked "Want anything to drink Mr.?". Meltra seemed to be doing what bartenders do best, dig for information. The human spoke up, "Kailo, Kailo Skybrand." he stated politely "Um, sure, can I get a Culdova on the rocks please?" Kailo inquired. This made Meltra and Su'lia raise their eyebrows. A Culdova was a potent drink, mixing a dash of half-orc Holova, elvish Beam Whiskey, halfling Runt Rum, and to top it all off dwarven Mountain Jewel Scotch. While sounding horrendous in its combination, it was actually a drink favored by those who could drink most people under the table. Even dwarves stayed away from the drink which would tell anyone to stay away.

"Are you sure, Kailo was it? That is a pretty potent drink." Meltra asked cautiously. Silently Su'lia agreed, she had seen a dwarf once try a Culdova and in less than five minutes he was out like a light. Kailo just smiled and nodded "Absolutely, this is one of my favorite drinks. Heavy on the rocks though." he said a bit sheepishly. Su'lia smiled and took a bit of a liking to the boy. He was smart enough to know that the ice would help him out and he likely would just sip the drink. She leaned closer to the young man"So, Kailo, what brings you to this shop? Are you a Krix Racer?" she asked curiously, she knew nothing of the little human but he was much better company than the missing Kuncklebiter to be certain. He grinned sheepishly again "A, friend, suggested this place to me. She said that this would be a great place to get some information on the Race and maybe even a group to join.". He was straightforward with her and she definitely appreciated that. She smiled at him and placed an elbow on the bar, she laid her chin onto her upwards palm and ignoring Meltra's glare she stated "You too eh? I happen to be in the same shoes though I am looking for some Stones to help me out."

The door opened just as Kailo was going to respond causing him to stop short. In walked a male Rak'lith hunter and a female Dragonkiln in leather armor.