Ithil was standing behind the counter when the boys walked through the door. He looked down at the timer candle burning across the counter left of the paperwork he was working on. He smiled as he looked up. “Welcome back,” Ithil said warmly “You're a bit early I'm afraid” he double-checked the notches on the candle each marking an hour since sunrise. He frowned before speaking “Gale hasn't returned with the supplies we need for the ceremony yet so we really can't proceed I'm afraid.” He seemed genuinely regretful which made
Seth felt bad that he upset the elf and spoke in an apologetic tone. “Ithil I apologize for troubling you we're not trying to rush you.” Ithil looked slightly relieved by the revelation. “We were hoping you knew where we might have some luck in town looking for starter equipment. I've lived here my whole life but have to admit I don't know any place in town that might sell the kind of things we will need to get started after the procedure”
Ithil looked back down to the ledger he was working on while he spoke “Well I must admit our little valley isn't quite big enough to support a store with that kind of merchandise, the nearest one is valley forge it's about three days travel north by horse or a week by foot” Seth started to feel sick with the thought of traveling that far unarmed. The valley wasn't particularly dangerous, really it wasn't any more dangerous than any other place. That being said it was well known that the world as it was, was not a safe place for unarmed travelers.
The local government, as it was, tried its best to keep the main roads free from monsters and bandits alike but the farther one was from the capital the less that protection existed. Monsters avoided the cities for the most part, they had learned over the years that any creature that invaded the city would soon find itself the target of an adventuring party and that was more than enough to dissuade most. Still, it wasn't unheard of for less intelligent monsters to take their chance here and there for an easy meal.
Seth thought back, the last attack like that had been nearly seven years ago and the one before that was a couple of decades. But a day or more away from the city and he had heard that rapidly changed. One could travel by caravan if they had the coin to pay for passage but the caravans always had two or more adventurer parties with them often several if they were sizable. Unfortunately, the last caravan before next spring had already long since passed through and Seth did not treasure the idea of waiting till after the end of winter to get his basic starting gear. Seth frowned in frustration at the thought.
“That's unfortunate I think I might have to hold off on adventuring until I can get some suitable equipment,” Seth said grumpily.
Ithil smiled warmly and pulled four large books from behind the counter. “I don't think you will” He motioned for Seth and Jason to sit at the tables and brought over the four large books. Seth noticed the books were bound with ornate wooden covers and must have weighed a considerable amount. Yet Ithil seemed to have no issue carrying three of them under one arm and holding the last in a single hand by its binding close to his chest. It made sense, after all, Ithil was an adventurer even if he did work a desk. Seth wondered idly if he had links like Jason had talked about and what his rank was.
Ithil gently laid two volumes in front of each of the boys as he spoke “These are catalogs of equipment the guild normally recommends for new adventures. The first volume covers recommended training materials such as links, and instructional manuals. The second larger catalog contains weapons, armor, and other supplies that you might need in the practical application of adventuring.”
Seth looked at the books and then at Ithil “Ithil if we order things from the catalogs won't we still have to wait until the spring to get the items?”
Ithil frowned “No, we can't have that. If you're not making money how can we make money? I'll place the order tonight after you two are comfortably resting. I have a tablet that functions using transcription magic I'll write it here in the ledger and an identical item in Valley forge will duplicate whatever it is I write.”
Seth interrupted “Is that a magic item?”
For the first time, Ithil looked tired and maybe a little irritated with the interruption he looked back at his desk where his paperwork was still sitting and Seth realized while he was dealing with the boys his other duties weren't getting taken care of. “Yes it is but it requires very little magic to use and this particular type of item is mass-produced by the guild so it's accessible in most guild halls. Though usually when an adventure wants to use it the guild normally charges a fee.” He paused to see if Seth had any more questions, Jason shot him a look that told him to shut up. “As I was saying I will place the order tonight, and my replacement will bring your order down with him when he comes. He's a good man and an adventurer so he shouldn't have any problem getting here.” He turned and looked at Seth “Just be aware that he will be transporting your goods via horseback so try to keep the weight of your order reasonable for the horse's sake will you.” Finally, a smile returned to his face as he determined he would soon get back to his paperwork. “ Anyways take your time if you have any questions just shout them out, it's only us in here. Item name and description are on the left and the full price of the item is in the first column on the right the payment plan and terms are in the second.” with that, he turned and headed back to his desk.
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Seth and Jason Enthusiastically tore into the catalogs. Before Seth was unsure of what kind of equipment he would want to employ in his future quests and the variety and sheer volume of equipment available through the catalog had not made the task any easier. He knew he wanted some kind of link to start his casting career but even if he narrowed it down to starting with fireballs that still left several.
Seth silently poured over both books for an hour, reading through the equipment and in truth not understanding a lot of what was in the description of the items. He wondered why he hadn't asked more questions or why his Dad hadn't taken the time to explain more of the actual processes of being an adventurer. Regardless, the fact that there were many holes in his knowledge about being in the adventuring profession was evident. Another thing had become apparent as well. Anything link related was prohibitively expensive. He could afford a few of the more mundane things but even then he realized his money wouldn't go very far.
He looked over at Jason sitting across the table who was still buried in his catalog and quietly tried to get his attention. Quite looks weren't drawing his attention Jason was so engrossed in the catalog “Jason” he whispered
Jason looked up from the book puzzled. "What?” he spoke at a normal volume and Seth quickly motioned for him to keep his voice down and he complied “what?” this time in a hushed whisper he looked over at Ithil who was even more engrossed in his paperwork than the boys had been in their catalogs.
Seth looked back over to Jason before speaking “Why is everything in this catalog so expensive?” He tried to hide the redness on his face as he felt a blush of shame creep over him.
Jason looked at him puzzled. “Seems pretty standard to me why?” Jason said quizzically as he flipped to the back of the book. Jason quickly read some of the items out loud “Meter blade Northern Style 1 gold, Meter and half blade Northern Style 1.2 Gold, seem about right?” He looked up still puzzled.
Seth still whispering responded “Not the non-magical stuff that seems a little lower than normal. I'm talking about the links, that's more than my Dad would make in years.”
Comprehension came over Jason as he realized what was going on and again smirked. “We can talk normally I imagine Ithil can hear everything that happens in the guild hall anyways I would be surprised if he didn't have a domain spell set up on this place” Ithil looked over at them smiled and nodded and then returned to his paperwork.
Seth began speaking normally and looked from Ithil to Jason. “What's a domain?” He was now aware that his embarrassment was probably visible as he could feel his cheeks start to burn.
“A domain”, Jason began “is a place where the owner can hear and see anything and everything that happens within it. Combat classes use it to keep track of the people their fighting even when they aren't looking at them. There are exceptions and only some people have the ability. Ithil would have likely been trained in the spell through the guild. I've also heard some merchants learn it as well to keep track of their merchandise so people can't shoplift. Not in a small town like farmers rest mind you, but I hear it's common in some of the really fancy shops in large cities.”
Seth stole another look at Ithil who seemed to be unconsciously nodding along to their conversation. Jason redirected the conversation “As for links and magical items being expensive they should be. By their nature, most of them are somewhat rare. Most people never have any links or magical items, they don't need them for their day-to-day lives for the most part. Plus having your soul open is a prerequisite to use them and for the most part only the guild and a few high-ranking church officials are the only ones that I know of can do that.” Seth pondered briefly before speaking “Then how are new adventurers supposed to get them?” Jason shrugged “for the most part new adventures don't, they start off with some basic equipment and maybe a few training manuals”
Seth was confused by the unfamiliar term and questioned it “What is a training manual anyways?” Jason responded by shaking his before responding “you are really clueless about this stuff” Seth looked abashed while Jason continued “Don't worry about it. I'll try to fill in some of the blanks and I'm sure Ithil can fill in the rest”
Ithil muttered something under his breath and looked frustrated then looked at the boys before speaking up for the first time “I do apologize for using that kind of language it was about our log book not about you boys” They both looked confused. “Ah, right I forget no one else can hear as well as I do here.” Ithil rose from his desk and walked to where the boys were before he continued “If I seem frustrated it's because of the lack of adventurers in this town. The amount of monster-made goods we bring in isn't enough and the prices for a lot of the goods people rely on are rising too fast as a result. Which means I should focus on getting you boys up to speed.”
He put his hand on Seth's shoulder and gave it a firm friendly squeeze. “Training manuals are very much exactly what they sound like. The guild understands that not everyone may have the funds to buy a link right after they join so we encourage the use of training manuals. We offer a large variety that covers everything from martial arts to introductory guides to several schools of magic. Normally even those would be prohibitively expensive but many of the various disciplines of magic offer them to new adventures hoping that they might grow and bring prestige to their organization. ”
Ithil paused before changing the subject “On another note, Gale has arrived and is setting up the ritual so we should be ready in just a bit” Jason and Seth were excited and at the same time nervous. Ithil took them both in with his gaze and smiled. He had seen the same looks on hundreds of faces and briefly remembered what it had been like for himself so many years ago. He continued “It'll be okay boys don't worry I'll be gentle” he let out a cheery laugh filled with good humor. “In the meantime let me see if I can help you make some sense of this.” motioning to the catalogs.