image [https://i.imgur.com/x3M9mkw.jpg]
A curious clock mechanism with five colored hands dominated the public square outside the magic shop. It stood three stories, and sixteen pie wedge sections divided its face. Sixteen animal figurines rested outside the clock’s frame.
“Wow, what is that?”
“You’ve never seen a sky wheel?”
I shrugged.
Fletcher pointed to several storefronts around the square. “A lot of these are gambling houses. Anyone looking for long odds can bet where the moons will be at any point in the future. The closer to the present, the easier for an astromancer to predict the moon’s location. The face’s outer rim represents the horizon, and four colored hands represent the moons.”
“So if I can guess where the moons will be, I can win money?”
“The odds change over time, so it depends on your projection. With the moons slingshotting around one another, anything outside a few weeks is impossible to forecast.”
Conjunctions created localized periods of low gravity, amounting to part of Miros’ dubious physics, but celestial events went unnoticed by anyone not involved with shipping.
I studied the contraption. Red, green, gold, purple, and blue hands spun around the clock, one for each school of magic. “Is it fixed? Does anyone even know if this thing is accurate?”
Fletcher shrugged and grinned. “Who knows?”
“People will bet on anything. It’s no wonder there’s a debtor’s prison.”
The Westend Emporium welcomed visitors with a sign—Admittance to Buyers Only. This place shunned browsers and offered no front windows. The foyer to the street thinned into a hallway leading into the store’s interior. Security measures looked to be maximal. Fletcher stayed outside while I stepped inside the magic shop.
The interior looked unlike any store I’d seen before. Shelves lined the walls, but a drawn curtain hung in front of each.
Nothing happened when I cast Detect Magic. The spell wouldn’t even trigger.
An enormous woman with a nasal voice greeted me. “Can I help you?” She pronounced her vowels with an almost painful twang. Her manner and dress showed no pretense, and I immediately liked her—even if her tone suggested I didn’t belong.
“Hi, I’m looking for magic. I’m specifically looking for items with intelligence bonuses, but I could also be in the market for powerful mana potions.”
The woman smirked as my Detect Magic cantrip failed. It made sense that a store filled with so many valuables had magical defenses. “You came to the right place. We have an anti-magic rune, so spells and items won’t work inside. There’s a demo room, but we keep the shop neutral to keep everyone safe.” She looked me up and down in an unapologetic assessment of my net worth. “Intelligence items are scarce in this town. They don’t stay in stock and rarely come in as a trade. Are you making a rune?”
My mouth fell open. It’s been a long time since someone read me so well, and I wondered if she had telepathy or a divination power.
As an afterthought, she introduced herself. “Everyone calls me Debbie. Whatcher name?”
“I’m Apache. I’m also looking for anything special. Combat or survival gear.”
“How many more intelligence points do you need? We have a new inventory of mana potions.”
“I need to increase my mana pool by 185.”
Her forehead furrowed, and she shook her head. “Major mana pots can take care of most of that. They go up to 150. I only have two in stock, but I’ve already sold them to customers. Are you with the astronomers’ guild?”
I considered lying but thought better of it. “No, is that a problem?”
“No. Well, yes. I mean, I can’t sell you the major mana pots without blowing up my relationship with the guild, so you’re outta luck there.”
“How much are the major potions? I know how to make the regular and minor versions.”
“Minor mana pots are one gold and 25 silver—regulars are 10 or 11 gold, depending on availability, and major cost between 50 and 65, but I have to order them from the alchemist in advance.”
Debbie studied my face as she gave me the prices, and I did not fake my reaction. Usually, I wanted to hide how much I could afford when negotiating. Everything from Arlington’s architecture to the guard’s armor gave the impression of it being an expensive town. I had almost 2,000 gold, which amounted to a fortune, but it probably wasn’t an unheard-of amount.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
She checked a list. “For mana pots, you can buy bumbleroot at an apothecary. There’s a good one around the corner. Tell them Debbie sent ya. I’m sorry to say I don’t even have regular mana pots. They go fast too, and astromancers buy ‘em in bulk.”
Another problem involved the gold’s source. Our cylinders had a magic quality to them. One deactivated the barrier around the relic that rapidly aged anything touching it. Without it, we couldn’t have gotten into the sarcophagus. Trading away cylinders wasn’t my favorite idea, but they amounted to our only source of funds.
“I could go much higher if you could sell one now.” I hated spending that much on a perishable item.
Debbie grimaced and shrugged in a no-can-do answer.
At least my nonchalant offering of 75 gold might prove me as a serious customer. “If I could buy bumbleroot, I could make a 100-point mana potion and shop for +9 intelligence in gear.”
Debbie mulled over the numbers. “That might be the way to go, but I don’t know if I can stretch ya to +9 intelligence. Let’s see what we can do. Do you need this for astronomy?” When I showed hesitance in disclosing what I needed it for, she continued. “I’m asking because I have the stuff to help you make tidal chart runes. Do ya need celestial nav items or maritime buffs?”
“No. This has nothing to do with nautical voyages. We’re land-lubbers.” I smiled at borrowing one of Lloyd’s favorite insults.
“Okay then, we still have some things. You want adventure gear?”
Without waiting for an answer, she pulled a curtain aside. “We have the standard array of magic gear. Weapons, arrows, armor. Aside from intelligence gear, are you looking for anything special?”
“I guess I’m looking for things that offer new powers.” Aside from items with strength and intelligence, bonus stats and damage weren’t as exotic in the continent’s interior. Like my spear, I preferred items with utility.
She snorted. “I got a few gizmos for ya. Over here, I have my weapons. I like this ax—it’s called Rainbow’s End. After 30 seconds of combat, it confuses level 1 critters. It’s good against swarms.” I nodded to encourage her. I wanted to see more of these items. Aside from area-of-effect spells like Fireball, we had no effective mechanics against swarms—dense masses of tiny creatures, anything from rats to locusts.
“Good. I like that. What else do you have?” The price tag asked for 200 gold pieces. That seemed like a lot, but I let her continue her tour.
“We’ve got all the standard magical arrows, plus these came in from the East—Hummingbird darts. They take care of enemies behind cover, and their beaks have thin hollows that deliver poison and whatnot. It’s the same as these capillary arrows.” She pointed to a rack of metal-tipped arrows. Upon closer inspection, their double-arrowheads aligned so they could suck up a liquid, like an ink pen.
“Ah! Those are cool!” I fingered their points.
“Ain’t they, though? And these hummingbirds look mechanical, but they’re not. They’re magic, which means they’re more reliable.”
“Do the bird darts unerringly hit?”
“No. Nothing with poison does. As long as you know your enemy’s location, you have a better chance of hitting. Especially with these.” She pointed again at the darts.
I looked at the other items. Debbie moved on when my eyes didn’t linger on weapons with small damage bonuses.
“This is the only weapon I have with intelligence.”
Item
Divine Bow
Rarity
Masterwork (green)
Description
Level 26 short bow
+1 Intelligence
Bow will glow if pointed toward the last target struck within a day.
A non-damaging glow seemed a weird effect for a weapon. Why would anyone care if their weapon glowed?
My puzzlement must have registered, and Debbie showed herself as a quick study. “It’s for tracking. It marks what it hits and glows when pointing toward your last target.”
“Oh, that’s really cool!” This bow offered a foolproof way to track Winterbyte.
“Ain’t it, though? It also works on an object. If you hit a chair or a stone, it’ll point to ‘em for the next 24 hours. It’s good in darkness or fog.”
The price tag of 220 gold seemed a little cheap compared to the axe, a lower-level weapon. Perhaps a bow that didn’t have a damage bonus and gave an intelligence bonus wasn’t the most sought-after item. The Divine Bow would be an immediate buy for the extra intelligence, but I wasn’t sure I would use it in combat. I wanted to see my options.
We passed on the array of weapons with just stat gear. I could find drops like this from adventuring, but a jeweled rapier with +8 damage tempted me until I saw the name—The Prancing Blade. With such a flamboyant moniker, I could already hear Dino and Fabulosa’s jokes. Besides, it gave no utility powers.
Debbie moved to the next two shelves and pulled back her curtains. “I have some cool shields. Over there, I have a Shield of Arrow Deflection. They’re always popular and don’t stay on our shelves very long. This one does the same thing but has an extra kick.”
Item
Wall of Wind
Rarity
Rare (yellow)
Description
Level 31 Shield
+12 Armor, +6 Stamina
Item use—Once per hour, the shield may exert a gust of wind strong enough to push back a medium creature 5 feet.
This looked like another buy-on-sight item. Like Compression Sphere, it affected an enemy’s position, which introduced tripping, falling, and interrupting opportunities. This yellow item gave 60 health, and its level explained its price of 310 gold.
Maybe I could trade her my other shield, Flying Wall. I showed my current shield to her and asked what she would accept as a trade-in value.
Debbie crooked her eyebrow. “You sure you want to trade this? The Flying Wall would work well with the Divine Bow, which caught your eye. The great thing about it is that you don’t need it equipped at the beginning of combat. You can activate it after combat begins.”
“I didn’t know that. The description said nothing about that.”
“You won’t be able to use the bow with another shield, such as the Wall of Wind. I’ll give you 60 for it.”
“Okay, before I decide, let me see what else you have.”