Ilyan the Estimable had a secret. And everyone wanted to know what it was.
For sixty-three years, the venerable aquamancer had peddled his potions, dilutions, and elixirs from his little shop on Renner Street—all the while wreathed in rumors of a secret to his success. And he was successful. His shop entertained a constant flow of customers. They came from all over the capital, the countryside, and even far-flung provinces. Ilyan was the aquamancer of choice for most of the nobility, and whisper had it that even the imperial aquamancers would go to him for help.
Everyone agreed that his potions just worked better than his competitors’. Stronger impact. Longer-lasting results. Fewer side effects. Aquamancy was a particularly exacting magical science, with the slightest errors having potentially dire consequences. Take an endurance potion, for example. The correct formula could give someone the strength to run twice as far as they normally could. But if one ingredient were to be off by a single percentage point, that same potion would cause a splitting headache the next morning.
No customer had ever complained to Ilyan of a splitting headache.
Rumors abounded of what Ilyan’s secret could be. A set of proprietary recipes? A secret additive? Imported ingredients from purer sources overseas? The blessing of angels?
Everyone wanted to know.
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For sixty-three years, Ilyan’s sign had hung proudly over his shop, weathering rain and snow with its unchanging message:
Ilyan's Aquamancery
Potions, Tinctures, & Elixirs
A sign hanging above a shop in a medieval street [https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05157361-0ce1-4901-ade1-a644ec9be824_1024x665.png]
Generated by the author via Midjourney. Edited in post with Photopea.
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Until today.
Today, unless Taliana broke her neck in the attempt, it would read ever so slightly differently:
Ilyan’s Aquamancery
Potions, Tinctures & Elixirs
Taliana gritted her teeth in concentration as she hung, upside-down, suspended by her tail from the sign’s support bar. Taliana was a snippen—a small, spry, furry race of creatures, about the size of housecats but more resembling squirrels. She daubed at the old wood with her brush, using as light a touch as possible to cover up the affronting punctuation mark after “Tinctures.”
“I still can’t believe you’re risking both your neck and your apprenticeship over a comma,” said her cousin, who was sitting on the top of the support bar with Taliana’s bag of paint supplies.
“I miscalculated the hue,” Taliana said, ignoring the comment. “Hand me the lighter brown ink.”
Her cousin handed it over, and Taliana somehow managed to take it without spilling it, despite hanging upside down.
“Do you think you should’ve at least gotten permission from the old man first?” her cousin piped up again. “You haven’t even met him yet. Seriously. This is uncharacteristic of you, Taliana. On-brand for me, but very off-brand for you.”
“He probably won’t even notice,” Taliana said. She passed the ink jar back up. “See? Once it dries, you’ll barely be able to tell the comma was ever there.” She launched herself away from the sign, twisting in midair until she landed in a crouch on the ground. Standing up, she dusted her fur off, then donned her spotlessly white apprentice coat, checking that the various pockets still held their respective tools.
“Welp, I’m off,” said her cousin, dropping the bag of inks and brushes by Taliana’s feet and racing off. “Got my own apprenticeship starting today at a bakery. Can’t be late.” She glanced at the brightening sky. “Well, already late. Can’t be too late. Whatever.”
A bell rang somewhere in the city, marking the seventh hour of the day. It was time. Taliana straightened her coat, padded up to the door of the shop, and knocked.
A squirrel-like figure in a white lab coat stands outside a large wooden door [https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa4007ff1-5b44-492e-bafe-bb0f00bd3a20_1080x940.png]
Composite of two images generated by the author via MidJourney.