Whereas the markets had felt haphazard, the artesian district felt restrained. There still seemed to be a lot of scrap in front of some shops, but perhaps that was a matter of degrees; raw materials compared to produced junk. Alastair was surprised by the wide variety of production in the city, indeed the size of the city alone, on an island that supposedly had nothing else to it. Perhaps that meant they exported most of it, but where did the imports and raw materials come from? And where did they ship it? It struck him enough to ask Flor.

“How does this city exist as it relates to imports and exports and transportation of those goods?”

“You’re right. It shouldn’t. I just assumed it was reverse gamification, and figured that was something you’d have more experience with.”

“Meaning you think they sized this city for the player experience rather than the practical nature of economic systems?”

Flor said, “Outside of kidnapping and import of prisoners, this seems like it should be a closed system. We’ve seen exports to the keep, and I mean that in a terrible sort of way. There are imports from the farms and beer from the monastery. I expect the farms and monastery would supply the city and the keep with food and beer. They probably also support each other. But maybe West Shilgrave has a booming tourism industry that doesn’t occur in this rainy season. But, if that were the case, we would see more taverns outside of the ‘Angry Onion.’ Considering all that, the city is probably designed for player experience. Maybe the city itself was initially built as an entirely enclosed game and was therefore supposed to allow for more suspension of disbelief.

“I mean, we’ve already seen potters, blacksmiths, toolsmiths, coopers, signs for carpenters, roofers who have too much work to fix every leaking roof in this place, bakers, cobblers, tailors, jewelers…what are we looking for, anyway, other than stray cats?”

Alastair said, “Even though it hasn’t happened that way yet, I was hoping that some divine beacon would highlight something unique for us. We’d be able to find a puzzle shop that sold plans that we could nono into an item or two that would still be in our inventory tomorrow. Or maybe another book or two that we could at least figure out more complete background information.”

“There was what looked like a drafter’s sign back there. We could ask about designs for items, maybe?”

“It’s as useful as wandering aimlessly.”

They walked into a clean, if sepia-colored, room with walls full of scrolls and a drafting table in the back corner. The table had plans and tools around it as if the drafter had a sudden chore to complete elsewhere. Alastair and Flor walked around the shop, looking at the scrolls displayed to show skill in specific plan types.

“Is the plan to buy something and see if it works?” Flor asked.

A quiet voice answered from the door to the back. “My plans don’t work if you don’t buy them. But if you do, I guarantee supplemental plans if something is unclear. Only to an extent, though. I won’t go on preparing plans if you’re unusually dense.”

A lithe woman wearing wireframe glasses and a conservative smock and her hair pulled up tight spoke from the door to the back. Alastair noted the title ‘Artesian 2’ over her head. She spoke clearly, which meant she probably had a persistent memory somewhat between Pocks and Jubs.

“So, what can I help you with?”

“We’re looking for plans to make unique items,” said Alastair.

“Ah, I have a few. I also have some plans that might make common items, if they are more in your price range.”

“Before we negotiate, what is the nature of your blueprints?”

“I deal strictly with chronos. If you’re after body modification or puzzles, go to a different shop. They’re a different sort.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Wait, I’m a bit slow,” Flor said. “Explain how the blueprints work. I have the capacity and manual dexterity to learn, but this one,” she gestured at Alastair, “is convinced that items are for muscular individuals.”

Artesian looked at Flor and said, “Typically he’d be right. But since I’m procrastinating on a project for a troublesome client, I’ll explain. And since you look thick-headed, I’ll start at the beginning, even if you’ve heard it before. Items are typically either found or created. I do not influence found items unless one of my clients loses an item and you find it. Maybe I could deconstruct something you found, but I wouldn’t claim I would put it back together correctly. Now, created items come from blueprints, which are also found or created, although technically, in this case, they are drafted, not created. Are you following along so far?”

Both Flor and Alastair nodded.

“Good. Common items typically will last for a single use, although sometimes a skilled craftsman can create an item of higher durability that might last two or three times. Unique items, however, persist. They might be deconstructed, destroyed, or stolen, but using them won’t break them. Typically they are also more challenging to create. Do I need to discuss what a chrono is?”

“Please,” Flor said.

“Chronos deal with time. They typically speed up or slow down time, and I’ve heard there are some rare cases of items that may reverse time. As I mentioned, some other shops may deal with body modifications or puzzles, but I do not.”

“Can we see your list of blueprints, please?” asked Alastair.

“I have blueprints for common chronos in the slow and speed categories that range from one to eight hours. They range in price from eight to sixty-four coins. I also have a unique chrono in both speed and slow that cost thirty-two coins for slow and sixty-four coins for the fast. The blueprints for them are sixteen and thirty-two, respectively.”

Alastair considered that the list some vendors used was likely easier than how this information was presented.

“That’s a bit more than we want to spend. What about you, Alastair?”

“A bit. We could do it. But I have some questions about the process. Will we need to purchase other items to construct from these blueprints? If so, are those items available for purchase close by? Can you estimate the final construction cost from the blueprints? By what means are the items constructed after we purchase them?”

“That’s too many questions at once. If you estimate that you’d like to purchase a single item, I can use that as an example.”

“Say, perhaps, we propose to buy two items? One unique slow down chrono blueprint and one common fast chrono blueprint.”

Artesian 2 calculated. “So, your cost would be twenty-four coins.” She looked doubtful that they could afford that amount. “The common chrono requires two additional common items, I’m unable to tell you which, but I will tell you that they are readily available in the city and I can list preferred vendors if you like. The unique chrono requires multiples of four items that can be found or purchased. They typically charge a premium, so you may want to find them, instead. I believe those items can be found in the city, although I cannot verify that you will find them where I suggest looking. There should be no additional fiscal costs associated with construction if you have the items and the blueprints. Finally, to construct the items, assuming you have the materials and the skill level to produce them, you expend your energy and time. If you have the skill, and the item is created. I’ve seen common items created in as few as five minutes and as many as an hour. Unique items typically take closer to an hour or longer, although in one case I heard of a craftsman so accomplished he would churn them out in about fifteen minutes.”

“Alastair, this is too much to take in right now. We don’t want to be destitute, and we have other things we can focus on.”

He could feel the heat of accusation rising before he knew what was overcoming him. “I tolerated you buying a worthless tumble lock that turned out not to be needed. It doesn’t even matter, though, does it? We’re chained here forever.” Alastair felt the embarrassment of his outburst, but couldn’t justify an apology. He turned to the Artesian, “Are bluepoints…points…prints… Are they persistent?”

Perhaps it was NPC coding or just the capabilities of the Artesian, but she ignored his outburst. “Blueprints will not disappear unless stolen or used.”

Alastair calmed. “Can you at least tell me how much the common items for the chrono typically cost?”

“Usually five items for one coin, for each item.”

Flor, taken aback by Alastair’s outburst, lit up at that comment. “If we create the items, is there a market for them?”

“Sometimes. You might be able to sell them to a vendor at two or three coins each.”

“But, would we need new blueprints each time?” Alastair felt silly he hadn’t thought to ask that question.

“Most blueprints, once used, become a part of your innate skills. You may lose a skill if you neglect it for long enough, but that doesn’t occur often.”

Flor looked at Alastair, who felt abashed at his comments and general poor form. “We’ll take the unique slow chrono prints and a simple fast chrono print. Please and thank you for including the preferred vendors and location.”

The Artesian looked at Flor like she was a bit crazy. “You have thirty-six coins?”

“We do. And…,” Flor nodded, “…one final question. Are there any cats around here?”