Exiting into the upper courtyard Elva crossed past the fountain to the edge of the court. She placed her hands on the balustrades, feeling the morning wind and savouring it as she gazed out at the town. The temple grounds stood at the most North-eastern part of the town, and constructed on a higher elevated area of the plateau, it offered an overview of most of the town whilst being the location of the primary observation tower.
The sun had not fully risen and thus Elva was spared a direct glare as she enjoyed the morning view. She took the upper path which bypassed the observation tower, so she can have a quick chat with the sentries just rotating off their duty. After a brief exchange she learnt that the convoy was due to arrive in approximately an hour, which given its size of eight wagons would mean that it would be another two hours before she could acquire information about the matter. The lift ride, up to the plateau along with the usual checks will take quite a long time, especially given the convoy size. Even if the convoy master were to take the faster lifts meant for small groups, they would still be held up at the guardhouse dealing with customs. Meaning plenty of time for a proper breakfast at the market square, before dropping in at the guild house.
By the time Elva arrived at the market place the crowd was starting to form with the sounds of banter and bartering all around. She headed for a corner shop at the Western side of the marketplace, pleased to see that her favourite spot was available and planted herself in a seat. Waving the shopkeeper over Elva gave him a warm smile and spoke. "Good morning Rashid! Pleasant morning, is it not? Could I have some naan? With a side of cheese if you have any."
"Of course, my friend! I will get you some of my special tomato paste to go with it too!" The shopkeeper Rashid boomed. “A cup of morning brew to go with your meal as well?" Seeing her enthusiastically nod, Rashid waved to his assistant to prepare the bread as he grabbed his copper pot, poured in his coffee mix and filled it with water before settling it in his pan of hot sand.
Although Elva had been a frequent customer of Rashid’s morning café, she was still in awe of his smooth and flowing movements as he prepared his patrons' meals, be it brewing coffee or cooking. The smell of the brewing coffee soon reached her, along with the faint smell of baking dough, both making her happy and hungry at the same time. Seeing Rashid shift the copper pot around to spread the heat out evenly Elva piped up to engage in some small talk. "So… Rashid. What is the word in the winds this fine morning?"
"The trade caravan is finally coming in I hear, most of the guild adventurers and mercenaries still seem to be out… Oops that was close." The boiling coffee almost frothed out of the copper pot, but Rashid took it off the heat just in time, grinning as he continued. "A few new faces in town already, most likely vanguards from the incoming caravan." He gestured with his head towards the direction of the market stall, whilst pouring the coffee into a cup and handing it over to her.
Elva took the cup, raising it to her lips to smell its fragrance. At the same time, she turned to lean her right side on the counter so she could observe the marketplace. Although she was not familiar with every local in town, she was familiar with most members of the mage academy, cleric temple and the guild of adventurers, making the five newcomers easy to spot. Two women and three men, with one of the men dressed in mage scholar robes while the rest of the group were dressed like adventurers. Clad in an assortment of armour and carrying a variety of weapons. One of the women with raven hair and one of the men wearing a horned helm seem to be carrying modified weapons, and if Elva had to hazard a guess she would say that they were monster slayers. Sipping her brew, she quietly made a small note in her mind about the convoy’s possible escort size. Slayers are not usually the type of people to run escorts for merchants, which means that the route to (Town) has seen an increase in monster attacks or that they are gathering in preparation for something. She smiled as she savoured her drink contemplating, the former is troubling but could also mean more work at the questing guild and the latter would be of little concern to her. Turning her attention back to Rashid she could see that his assistant was taking the naan out of the clay oven as he began preparing the sides.
“Aside from the visitors, not much else too interesting I suppose.” He said as he placed Elva's order in front of her. “Oh Zahir slaughtered a cow just this morning so there should be good eating today if you go over to the suncliff inn later.”
“Out of my budget for the month sadly” chuckled Elva as she took a bite of her bread which she dipped into the sauce. The sweet and sour of the tomato mix blending well with the freshly made naan, the taste satisfying despite having the dish often. She let out a delighted sigh. “Mmm… delicious as always.”
“Only the best for my favourite customers.” chuckled Rashid happily. He turned his attention away as more patrons arrived and he moved to attend to them.
Elva continued with her meal, occasionally greeting familiar locals who pass by or stop at the café. The newcomers had moved to the further end of the marketplace and have not been doing anything other than browsing the stands. After a time she finished her meal and left, waving farewell to Rashid as she walked along the edge of the now bustling marketplace towards the questing guildhall.
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The red roofed guildhall was abuzz with activity, though most of the people bustling about were staff members and not the usual adventurers. Elva could understand the latter as quite a number of the resident adventurers had set out on various quests during the past week. The heavy activity of the questing staff would most likely mean a huge influx of quests and they rushing about now would probably mean that some of them require urgent attention. The rewards for those jobs were normally quite substantial, which would mean there would be plenty of things to be busy with in the coming weeks. Crossing the hall while smiling in greeting to several local adventurers, she spied a group which was likely from the convoy and her eyes widened in surprise while pausing in her step to confirm what she was seeing. Seated at one of the long tables having a meal was a group of two mages and five slayers, the mages in robes with heraldry unfamiliar and the slayers clad in an exotic array of armour, fashioned from bones and scales of the monsters they have hunted. Slayers usually operate solo or in small groups of up to three, they will occasionally assist questing parties but normally just hunt great beasts of the realm.
Continuing on to the counter she finds Mariana, a guild clerk, filing away some papers and clearing up her desk. Smiling, she said. “Good morning, busy day?”
Looking up from the documents and putting on a strained smile. “No more than usual ma’am.” Seeing that it was Elva she flushed, coughing to clear her throat. “Oh Elva, it's you. Yes it has been a rather busy morning, never had a morning like this and I hope not to have too many of them. How may I assist you today Elva?”
“Slow down Mari. Take a breath.” Chuckled Elva. Seeing Mari in her prim and proper dressing getting flustered was adorable but she tries not to tease her so much, at least while she was working. “I’m here to complete that report on the job I last took, the one last week. Talis told me he and his group had already filed the completion documents yesterday so I figured I should come in to hand in my account.”
Still slightly flushed but having calmed down Mari said. “Oh, of course. I believe you can use the scribe’s room, there should still be a station open. Is there anything else?”
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“Any chance you could let me in on some of the convoy manifest?” Mari pushed up her glasses and nodded gently for Elva to continue. “Information on any travelling herbalist and their goods? Also anything regarding job requests or rumours?”
Exhaling lightly, Mari took up her quill and began writing on a small piece of paper. “The details for the new quests are being finalised so I can’t tell you anything conclusive. A good portion do involve securing the Seria highway and the Oulan Savannah.”
“Anything unusual?” Elva said as she glanced at the group of slayers.
“Ah… that. Well unless they are really bored or desperate for coin I do not think they are here for any of those quests or our outstanding ones.” Mari handed over the note to Elva before continuing with a thoughtful look. “Must be something big though, but there aren't any bounties around here that warrant such an endeavour."
“Pity, but not too much of a bother I suppose. Sounds like their future is away from here. Thank you for your help Mari! See you around!”
Smiling, Elva waved farewell to Mari who returned the wave happily. As she is heading towards the scribe’s room she reads the note given to her, finding two names. Belladonna the herbalist and Stalia the apothecary. Both would most likely be at the hall of commerce and with any luck they should be finished with settling with the customs. If things go well she should be done with her tasks well before the evening. Settling in her seat she begins to fill out her report.
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The sun was setting by the time Elva made it to the elevator that would take her down to the cavern section of the town where the water drop tavern was located. The cavern was well illuminated, despite the coming of dusk due in no small part to the presence of a natural pillar of glowstone. Sunhold has a great deposit of the mineral which is also one of its special imports. The locals distributed glowstone throughout the settlement to serve as night time lumination and the cavern section was also known as the glowstone quarters to visitors of Sunhold. While most visitors find their accommodations on the surface level, a fair number of those visitors come down to see the sights and experience some of the more exotic attractions of the settlement.
While the visitors riding down the elevator focused their attention on the sight of the quarters, some of the locals who recognised Elva were surprised. Normally she always projected a cheerful persona, halfway to a smile origin. Today she wore a look of annoyance, her arms crossed and her eyes frowned.
Even though she was well aware of the fact, was unable to get back to her usual state. Such was how much trouble her day had been. She had to wait hours in order to get access to the herbalist and apothecary, with various assistants and merchants of the trading convoy stonewalling her attempts to expedite the process. They were extremely tight lipped about their cargo manifest and any inquiry into them. To the point that she had to approach the local trading guild staff to make any sort of headway. Even that took quite a bit of time but after a fair amount of earnest pleas and flirting she finally was able to grant permission. Only to discover that it all been for naught, neither had Eflusia leafs in their inventory. The short version of their rather lengthy explanation was that due to a shortage from trading ships coming in to Mercitum territory the leafs which were an import of the Empyrical Kingdom was in short supply. In addition the convoy organiser had bought up what little stock they had for his own purpose. The only thing she ended up leaving the trading hall with was the name of the merchant who now has the only stock for the foreseeable future.
The water drop tavern was a short walk from the elevator platform, located at the edge of the under market, a subterranean reflection of the bustling market square on the topside. She strolled swiftly past the stalls, too annoyed and unfocused to indulge her curiosity of the displays. Soon finding herself crossing the threshold of the tavern and heading for a table she usually enjoys sitting at. Mercifully the tavern was not quite packed yet, she normally enjoyed greeting familiar faces and she was in no mood to properly exchange pleasantries. Unfortunately for her Vance appears to have arrived early and was already seated, waving her over as soon as he noticed her.
Watching her approach Vance could not help but raise an eyebrow as he studied her. “Dawnbringer’s teeth, that is not a look I have ever seen on you. I take it then that the day did not go all too well for you?”
“What do you think?” Elva replied gloomily as she took a seat across from him. “Nothing but going in circles and getting jerked around. All just for a stupid name for heavens know what point.”
“I am going to need some context and more detail Elva, I only just arrived after spending the whole day at the temple.”
Resting her elbows on the table, she rested her chin on her right hand and pouted. Taking a breath, she sighed and began to explain all which have transpired throughout her day. As she was explaining she also tried once again to regain her usual composure, putting on a display like she did would be most unbecoming, at least according to Madam Rosa. Vance was stoic for the most part, but when she began recounting the situation at the later time of the trading hall his visage became more serious and a frown started to form.
Raising his hand, Vance interjected “Did they happen to mention how much supply they have of Eflusia?”
“From what I gathered they had just one crate between the both of them.”
“Damn it, that would mean four urns at the most. They usually have three to four times that number.”
“How bad would this be for Father Gabriel? Tell me honestly Vance.”
Sighing, Vance slumped back in his chair. Pinching the bridge of his nose he replied sullenly “If we can acquire the crate there won’t be a problem, we would have enough for a few months. A few problems though, first is that Father Gabriel donates a good portion of the leaves to the alchemist to distill into other potions for the less fortunate. Second is that even if we convince him to use it all for himself we cannot properly store the leaves to keep them in their ideal condition. And lastly…”
As he paused Elva could see that he was thinking hard and that this issue would be the most troublesome one. She probed him to continue before he became lost in his own thoughts “And?”
“I am worried about whether we can afford it.” Seeing her confused look he continued “There is just one crate in this trading convoy and from what you learnt there has been issues with goods coming in from the Empyrical Kingdom yes?”
Elva nodded.
“That means that there is a current shortage of Empyrical goods and would likely continue for a period of time. This would mean that the prices of said goods would increase noticeably.”
“By how much do you think?”
“I am no merchant, but we should be prepared for a significant increase. The usual price for an urn of Eflusia would be around two gold conus, give or take a few silver spirals. We should expect the price to be two or three times that amount given the circumstances.”
Signalling a barmaid for two mugs, Vance studied Elva and permitted himself a wry smile noting her surprise at the potential cost they may have to pay.
“So, did you manage to meet the person who now has the crate of eflusia?”
“No. I was turned away at that point, something about needing to make a proper appointment or some nonsense like that.” Grumbled Elva. “I did manage to get a name though.”
“Well now don’t keep me in suspense.”
“I just didn’t get to finish telling you what happened earlier, it's somebody by the name of Malik Saltrus.”
Vance’s eyes widened and his expression became one of annoyance and disgust.
With a sense of foreboding Elva inquired “You recognise that name?”
“Only rumors and hearsay when I visited Ikandras City sometime ago. But if they are to be believe, that man is a -”