Ten days ago, Ikandras City
“Son of a bitch!” came a harsh exclamation amidst an explosion of dust and smoke.
Within the mage workshop Ishran coughed painfully as he rushed to open the windows to ventilate the room while constantly attempting to fan away the dust from his face.
Ishran stood by the window to breathe a little easier, he patted down his robes to find his hands covered with white powder, his normally brown skin now with a fine layer of white. Groaning lightly he ran his hands through his neatly trimmed black hair and beard to find them equally powdered. Cleaning up was going to be a hassle, he thought.
As the dust began to settle he looked at the ruined remains of his construct’s power core with a twinge of annoyance. The energy harmonization process was going smoothly until two minutes ago, then suddenly a complete rejection reaction began which led to the subsequent explosion. Inspecting the wreck he was relieved that the damage to the lab and its equipment was minimal but disappointed that once again his calculation proved to have been lacking.
“What in the eight hells happened here?!” shouted by a familiar voice from the entrance of the lab followed by some coughing. “Ish are you alright?!”
“I’m fine Ilmi! Just some -” he coughed on the still settling dust cloud before continuing rasply. “-minor miscalculations.”
“Minor? I hate to see what a major one will look like. No, actually I hope I don’t ever have to see that,” said Ilmi as he entered the lab mimicking Ishran fanning away.
“Neither would I,” chuckled Ishran as he regarded his older brother with mirth.
They were very much alike, studying in the same field at the Ikandras mage university. That of the school of constructs, where mages of the Mercidium further the research and creation of mechanical marvels and the like. However, just like how Ilmi styled a clean shave and tied hair, they had their branching paths they walked on. He himself was more of a tinkerer whereas his older brother studied energy containment and usage.
Meeting his brother’s matching amber eyes he finished. “That would mean I got my calculations wrong.”
“What do you call all this then?”
“Someone else’s calculations being wrong. The theory was sound and should have worked though, so now I just need to do a little more testing to see what went wrong.”
The dust having finally settled, Ilmi walked towards the epicentre of the blast and began shifting around the ruined construct. “Interesting core design, twin valves with a central fusion… hang on… are you testing my powercore theory?”
“Your presentation of opposing element harmonization was extremely compelling. I figured I would try and assist you with a practical test.”
“Looks like my theory needs some reworking,” said Ilmi as he began inspecting one of the broken elemental crystals. Lifting it up to examine it through his monocle he frowned. “This crystal looks like it was holding radiant energy… but if you were following my theory that would mean-!”
Ishran tried to reach for the last elemental crystal, but his brother beat him to it. Putting it up to focus at it through his monocle before he could snatch it away with a gloved hand.
“An elemental crystal charged with necrotic energy!?” whispered Ilmi harshly.
“According to your theory, synchronization between elemental forces greatly opposed to each other will result in a stronger energy generation.” explained Ishran quietly while he wrapped the ruined crystal in cloth and placed it into a wooden box. “What greater example than the energies of life and death then?”
“I think I know my own theory fairly well thank you very much.” thutted Ilmi as he folded his arms with a mild look of annoyance. “You should know just as well then that the only successful combination is between elemental crystals of water and fire. Everything else results in nothing or failure.”
“Hence why I thought I put this particular combination to test for you, it seemed so promising. You’re welcome by the way.”
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Sighing heavily Ilmi took a seat in a nearby chair and examined the glove he held the dark crystal. The cloth was slightly singed and withered, making him thankful he happened to be wearing his gloves at the time. He continued on. ”I hope you got a good explanation for Professor Ravos about why he has only one necrotic crystal left in his stores.”
“He still has the two, don't worry.”
Narrowing his eyes Ilmi fixed his brother with a serious gaze. “Please tell me you didn’t…”
“Well the Professors aren’t exactly going to loan them out to me or even approve of this line of inquiry now will they?”
“How. Did. You. Get. It?”
“A friend of mine has some… contacts. I asked, she asked. I paid, she delivered.” said Ishran evasively.
“Ysvari’s tits Ish… the black market?!!” whispered Ilmi harshly
“Allegedly. I simply asked a friend for a favour to keep an eye out for a particular item and she gave me said item. Where she got it from concerns me not” replied Ishran calmly as he began wrapping the box containing the ruined crystal with a thick cloth.
Rubbing his temple and sighing deeply, Ilmi remained silently organising his thoughts and emotion as his brother tidied up the rest of the wreck. Speaking with an even voice he said “If you did achieve the harmonic synchronization how were you going to explain yourself?”
“Run the experiment again after putting in the proper requisition order of course. Tedious and long but you should be able to follow up easily. Thought I help you out however I can before I leave for the Combine”
“That’s … very kind of you Ish, if somewhat reckless.” replied Ilmi with a faint smile. His brother puts on a rather pompous and rude attitude to most people but he cares alot for his family members. A thought of recollection flashed and he grimaced as he remembered why he was visiting his brother. “Right, that reminds me… erm… I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.”
“Isn’t it always?” Sighed Ishran, still busy with his tools and occasionally writing into his note book. “Well? Get on with it, with the way the week has been I honestly can’t even hazard a guess on what it might be.”
“Your trip to the Combine has been postponed to say the least.” Seeing his brother turn around with an incredulous look he continued. “I am not informed on all the details but it seems that all travel to the North-West are being suspended.”
“It just had to be the worst kind of news didn’t it… Gods… damn it all. Is there no passage to El-Thesia at all?”
“I honestly don’t know. If I had to make an educated guess I say that it might be possible if you go through the Solaris Kingdom or the Tagawa Empire, but that's not ideal to say the least.”
Ishran put his hand to his chin, doing rough calculations in his head before giving an annoyed sigh. “Those two routes would take too much time. Even if I leave now I will miss the inventor’s fair. By weeks. Fuck! I spent so much time and effort on my entry! And also …!”
“Ish trust me I know.” Ilmi said trying to calm his brother down as he rattled on about all the things he will miss and disruptions caused. “I’m going to help with trying to find another way. But it will take time. I’m going back to the estate and seeing if our family has any connections and strings we can pull. So please calm down and don’t do anything stupid alright?”
Looking at his brother’s concerning visage, Ishran sighed deeply and turned to face the window. “Fine. But you’re not going to hinder me seeking out more information about this debacle on my own are you?”
“No, but Ish… Just please. Nothing illegal?”
“I promise you brother. I will not be doing anything of that sort. Last thing I need is to turn up in El-Thesia via a smuggling ship.”
Bidding his brother farewell Ishran waited till he heard the footsteps fade away before picking up a quill and penning a message down. Attaching it to a messenger construct shaped like a dove he walked over to the window to launch it off. Hopefully his contact will get it promptly and meet with him this evening. In the meantime though he has a construct to clean up, a crystal to dispose off and a trip to the commerce guild.
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Six hours later
A waitress comes over with a glass of mead to the table Ishran was seated at. Dressed primed and proper she was fairly attractive as was expected of the establishment she was working at. Setting down the drink she nodded and smiled in thanks as five silver coins were placed on her serving tray. He may not be in the best of moods but he always made sure to put his courteous side on display. Even though his family were only of minor nobility, proper decorum was always expected, so his parents drilled into him from a young age. Catching more flies with sweets and all that. And at the Serpent's Coil, an upper class tavern which he likes and visits frequently, it would be ideal for him to have a positive reputation.
Before he could take a sip from his glass, there was a commotion at the entrance as a waiter was refusing entry to an individual who looked fairly out of place with the rest of the tavern’s patrons, hooded and wearing leather armour in comparison to the fancier raiments of the average customers. Catching the barkeep’s attention with a wave he gestured to himself and the barkeep called the waiter to give passage to the hooded figure. Striding towards his table, the figure threw her hood back to reveal shoulder length auburn hair with green eyes on an beautiful tanned face marred with a slight frown.
“My thanks for being able to meet me on such short notice, Soleil.”