“Quite a selection they have, don't you think?” remarked Ishran as he inspected a stand selling various trinkets.
“Is it? Looks about the same as yesterday.” said Soleil who was accompanying Ishran as he was walking around the town’s topside marketplace.
“Not exactly the same. They brought out a few new items, higher quality it seems. Probably accounting for the traders in the town now.”
Soleil shrugged, crossing her arms and deferred to his knowledge on the subject. Accessories and trinkets not used particularly often in her line of work. She had acquaintances who flirted and mingled with the nobles of the Mercidium, where appearances and mannerisms were key. They were the people who had a good eye for finery and the ones she consults with if she ever needed assistance in that field. Otherwise she stuck with her more practical area of expertise.
A thought occurred to her and since she had a mage with her she took the chance to ask. “Anything enchanted from what you have examined?”
Ishran paused, turning slowly to stare at her with a raised eyebrow. “Enchanted jewellery? At a frontier town’s market? Even at major trading cities you will be hard pressed to find such items.”
“Isn’t there a mage collective in the town? Plus this is a favoured trading hub between three nations, there must be some traffic for those items.”
“‘Mage collective' is a generous word to use. The building utilized by them is just an observatory, with only a few of the normal mage facilities. And as for enchanted jewelleries… well anyone who would be trading them would be keeping them under heavy lock and key.”
“I thought things might be different in an Argentum town based on what I heard about them.”
“Well… this is an Argentum colony. Located at the border between the Mercidium and Solaris, far away from their capital. Honestly it already is a lot more than what I expected. Also expecting to find enchanted jewellery is asking for too much”
“Would you care to explain? I know they are rare and are quite costly but I never knew why.”
“This coming from someone working for an information broker?”
“I’m a middleman. You don’t get paid to ask questions and you are advised not to ask too many.”
“That's fair. Well, let's go to the observatory and I will explain along the way. I think it’s about the meeting time soon.”
Soleil nodded her agreement and followed beside Ishran as he began his explanation. He spoke well and in detail but tended to get sidetracked on various subjects he found interesting. She did manage to get a good grasp on the topic however. To enchant items, suitable metals were required as those types were the only kind which are able to retain the magic placed into them. Unfortunately, the best and most common material for enchantment was also the worst for weaponry. Silver. Thus the current method of creating enchanted weapons would be an enchanted silver core in the weapon. This however led to another important requirement, that of skilled smithing for the creation process. Careful procedures were required to ensure the core and the enchantment held within not be damaged. All of these factors gave enchanted weaponry a respectable price on the market with prices increasing based on the enchantment and the cores.
Knowing that information, Soleil glanced down at the dagger at her waist now realising its value. With the observatory coming into view she inquired about once again on the topic of enchanted jewelry.
“The reason for the value and rarity of items like enchanted rings and amulets is the difficulty in their creation and the lack of potency in their magic.” Ishran said flatly. He smiled and his tone became more energetic. “The problem currently is the mass of said items. To enchant such small items and to imbue them with any kind of significant magic is a difficult task that calls for an enchanter with advanced levels of proficiency.”
“So if you have a stable source of all that is required could you not create them at a reliable rate?”
“Weapons and armour? Sure. But rings and amulets? Very unlikely. Enchanting is incredibly taxing and the effort for those items even more so. With a much higher chance of failure too.”
“So the tales of magical rings and amulets?”
“Exaggerated for grandiose. Although if any are true to their story I suspect they will be found in the vaults of the great nations rather than in the possession of adventurers.”
“Well you can’t know for … ah spirits…” Soleil silently swore. Cutting off her own question and slowing to a stop as she spotted a trio arguing at the front of the observatory.
“Problem?”
“Maybe. I recognise that paladin.” Soleil indicated with her head towards the armoured man. She grimaced, continuing. “Self righteous brickhead was part of a group that attacked a meeting point for my associates. I was lucky enough to escape and barely at that.”
“Will he recognise you?” asked Ishran worriedly.
“He shouldn’t. I was masked at the time. I wonder what he is doing here, if clerics are getting involved, even the more sane ones from the Argentum, then it is going to be a whole bunch of headaches for us.”
“Masked? What on earth were you doing?” asked Ishran to which Soleil rolled her eyes at him.
Ahead of them the argument between the trio seemed to have come to an end, with the male paladin walking away back up the path, his face stoic though his demeanor betrays a sense of frustration. He glances at the pair as he passes but pays them no mind as he leaves. The other woman who was clad in cleric garbs proceeded to enter the building, while the remaining person who they can now see was one of Sultrus’ underlings, resumed his position at the doorway.
Ishran shot Soleil a glance to which she returned with a shrug. She had no idea why a cleric would be involved with the expedition. Both of them had some prejudice against the clerical orders, being residents of the Mercidium, but the clerics of the Argentum sect are known to be a more tolerant bunch.
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“Well this meeting should be fairly interesting. Shall we?” said Ishran.
Soleil nodded her agreement and they both continued their walk towards the observatory.
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Elva climbed the spiral stairs of the mage tower heading for a study room that was to be the meeting point. She was grateful for the walk up as it gave her time to organise her thoughts and reorient herself as the morning has not been going well thus far. After discussing the situation with Vance, he offered to accompany her and help her out, an offer she happily took as she could use the help of a friendly face. But after spending some time tracking down Sultrus’ cronie at the trading hall they were told to find him at the mage observatory which was across town at the Northern section. There they ran into more cronies who seem to have taken over half the observatory, and proceeded to get into a long argument over Vance’s presence. Despite her insistence, Vance was denied entry and she would have been too had Vance not decided to leave on his own volition after cautioning her to be careful and not agree to anything too fast.
She found the meeting room easily enough, located on the third floor. She rarely visited the mage observatory and only went to the ground floor or the viewing sphere. Entering the room she found Malik at the end of an elegantly designed longtable, his slave or rather his ‘companion’ was standing behind him and to his right was seated a muscular man clad in mismatched armour of bone and steel. Arrayed on the table is a map of what looks like the Mercidium and the local region along with several other maps of different areas of the Rakta desert. After taking a few steps towards the table, Malik looked up and smiled, lifting his hands from the table and raising them in welcome.
“Ah if it isn’t the lovely Miss Schylar! Since you are here I take it then you have come to accept the job?”
Keeping her tone as neutral as possible, Elva replied. “Interested at least. But I will not commit until I have some more information.”
“Depending on the information I may refuse but otherwise I shall be happy to oblige, ask away.”
“What is your intent and destination?”
“The destination is still not set, but I am looking for a secure place somewhere past the plain of scorn. Now as to why, I am afraid I cannot reveal that to you at this point.”
“Secure is not exactly a thing out in the Rakta.” said Elva tiredly. “What’s the size of your expedition?”
“Hmm… about five wagons and about twenty people I would say?”
Hearing that caused Elva to grimace. Movement of that size across the desert basically amounted to banging a dinner gong for the predators lying in wait. Only the few nomadic tribes of the Rakta could move as a group without attracting too much attention.
Seeing her expression Malik chuckled, saying. “I can tell from your looks what exactly you think about that. But like I told you before, I have several measures in place for security. Your input would be welcomed of course should you be joining us.”
Recalling something Vance told her, she pushed past her thoughts on his confidence, saying. “Any assurances you can give me about payment? Is this a personal contract?”
“Not at all. Questing guild contract, the Argentum branch naturally of course. I trust this should put you at some ease?”
That of course did put her more at ease, running afoul with the guilds especially the Argentum ones was extremely bad business. Before she could even nod her approval however, the other man at the table spoke up, his voice deep and coarse.
“I don’t see why you are going to all of this trouble for a guide Sultrus. The other slayers and I have plenty of experience trekking through hostile environments. We will get you to where you want to go.”
“I do not discount your prowess, Mister Trax. But I believe that this will be the first time for many in the group entering a desert and none I believe have experience in this particular region of the Rakta which is incidentally one of the more dangerous ones.” said Malik calmly as he turned to regard the slayer. “I have every confidence that you and the rest of the slayers accompanying us will have little trouble with the beast we may encounter but the desert and its terrain offer a separate danger which I intend to have the proper tools for.”
“And you are hiring a priestess? Come on Sultrus if you need a guide hire a proper one, go to the questing guild and ask around. I’m sure you will find one within the minute.”
Elva had to resist rolling her eyes at the slayer’s comment. It was equal part insulting and amusing to her, the confidence and prejudice of the man. With a confident tone and a grin she interjected. “None who are experienced with the North-Western region of the Rakta. There are seven others who have ventured out there but all of those seven are currently out of town.”
“And let me guess, you are the most experienced and the best guide to the region?” he replied sarcastically.
“Not at all. But I am the only one currently available.”
Hearing that reply took the slayer aback and made him give a light chuckle, cracking a wry smile as he simply nodded.
Just as that moment the door behind Elva opened once again and three figures entered the room. A hooded woman wearing leather armour and a dark skinned man clad in mage robes both who she did not recognise, behind the pair walked in one of the local mage, Loric, carrying some scrolls and a book.
“Welcome Mister Loric, young master Suncrit.” greeted Malik.
The one called Suncrit and the person with him took the seats near to Elva whereas Loric continued walking up to Malik. Setting down the items he was carrying, he unfurled a map of the region and began delivering a report.
“I’m afraid to report that a sandstorm will be passing through the area soon Master Sultrus.” Loric said as he pointed to a location on the map West of Sunhold. “Judging by the size and speed it will sweep through the area you are planning your expedition in two days.”
“Will this hinder the expedition?” His gaze moving over to Elva as he asked, as if seeking her opinion.
“I'm afraid that traveling during a sandstorm is highly ill-advised. Miss Schylar could elaborate further I’m sure.”
“Unless you are fine with getting flayed alive and wandering blind the only sensible thing to do is seek shelter to wait the storm out.” stated Elva as matter of factly.
Cursing under his breath Malik grabbed several other scrolls and began scanning their contents. He leaned back in his chair deep in thought, silently contemplating for a minute before asking Loric. “How is the weather around?”
“Cloudy and calm, I expect we will be seeing birds as well.”
“I see…” said Malik with a slight sigh. Turning to address Elva he continued. “Well then Miss Scyhlar I’m afraid I will require your answer now. Circumstances seem to have accelerated my departure window and I need my guide on hand now.”
“You can’t give me a little more time to consider? Even if you are departing tonight there’s plenty of time.”
“I have a mountain of issues to sort through now. I need to find another guide now if you are not willing so I can get things properly organised.” He then takes a scroll of the table and hands it to his companion who then proceeds to bring it over to Elva. “Here, either sign the contract and stay for the meeting or kindly leave.”
She hated being coerced like this but she knew full well that there were plenty of sandsider guides who are willing to take a job if the pay was lucrative enough. Seeing the questing guild seal and quickly browsing the stipulations of the contract to see that is fair she made her decision though she knows she is going to get an earful later on.
Signing her name down with a provided pen, she then handed the scroll back.
“Welcome aboard Ms Scyhlar. Now let’s get this meeting started.”