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Gage looked to the others, finally setting Eshu down. “It looks like we are still together for the time being. I hope that is okay with everyone.”
Elfric gave a small sigh and set down his pack. “It is. I know you, and am familiar with yours as well.” His eyes flicked to Aeliana, who bowed slightly. Elfric continued “We can situate ourselves. Take it one day at a time.”
Aeliana was the next to speak. “It is more than we hoped for.” All four of the adult alajin were huddled around Faelenor. “We thought,” Aeliana paused, closed their eyes and after a moment opened them and continued, “We thought that we would have found our way into The Dark out in that desert. If Taan had not found us, if you had not fought for us, perhaps we would have.”
Gage dropped his pack, doing his best to give the family a reassuring smile. “Let’s make a home then, eh?”
They worked together to divide the tent. Several poles of various sizes had been provided. They were then used for the structuring of the rooms as cloth was hung from them to form the walls. Sound was dampened only slightly from space to space, but privacy was achieved. They decided to keep the layout simple by hanging the walls so that the corners were cut off into separate rooms. This shifted the center space from a single open square to a smaller diamond shape.
Gage and Eshu took one of the front rooms while Elfric took the other. Neither were surprised when the family decided to take a single room for all five of them. Gage had just finished dividing the blankets he and Elfric had brought along with them when there was a ring of a bell outside the front flap.
“Hello?” Gage asked as he stepped up to it, opening it enough to look out. Before him stood a kumdahari elf. The elf was the most muscular elf he had come across yet by far. He wore two gold bands, one around each bicep, which stood out against his blue-gold skin. The only other thing the elf wore was a very, very… very sheer cloth that was wrapped around his waist a few times and went to his knees.
The elf frowned. “No one should have provided you with a translation tab so early.” He gave a sigh and shook his head. “No matter, I am the Inscriber. You should be expecting me.”
Gage kept his gaze fixed around the elf’s throat. “Yes, yes, we were told we would need to speak to you. Please come in.” He stepped aside, holding the flap open. Ma’tuk, Eshu and Faelenor were in the center of the tent. The child kept trying to lay out a blanket. Each time Eshu would lay on it, take a corner in his mouth and roll with it. As the dog burritoed himself, Faelenor would giggle and then proceed to unwrap him once more. “And it is my god, Kin, that provides the translation for us. Through Ma’tuk.”
The orb bobbed over to them. “Hello! It is a pleasure to meet you. I do not require sustenance; do I need a token?”
The Inscriber blinked at the orb, “That depends. Tally is used for more than just food.” As the elf spoke, the rest of the tent stepped out of their rooms into the central space. “If you do not have one, you will need to be listed on someone else’s, such as a child or a pet would be.”
Gage gestured for Eshu to sit before laying out the blanket. Once it was down, everyone sat around it. The Inscriber knelt. “Rosehip told us a little about what they are used for, but not so much how they are used.”
With a nod, “I will be carving the tokens for each of you. They will be linked to you, so no one else may use them, unless they are also connected to that token. After that, it is a matter of will.”
“And what would you need from us?” Gage furthered as no one else spoke.
It was then that Gage noticed the bundle the elf had been carrying with him. With a flick, it was rolled out onto the blanket before him. On the bundle were eight stone tokens, each of them blank. There were several small chisels as well. “I will need your name and a drop of your essence to bind the token to you. Kossi said at least one of you proved to have something useful about you, so once the tokens are made you will receive a small allocation of tally.” His voice hardened, “This will be your only allocation. You must earn the rest.”
The Inscriber looked at each of them in turn and each of them acknowledged him. “Good. You,” He looked to Gage. “We will start with you.”
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“Okay, uh, I am Gage’kin, cleric of the god, Kin?” When the inscriber raised a brow at him. “Statement, not question. I am Gage’kin, cleric of the god, Kin. This is Eshu and Ma’tuk,” as he gestured to first the dog and then the orb, “They will both be on my token.”
The Inscriber nodded, picked up a token and a chisel, and began to work. Gage watched, fascinated. He could see the focus the elf had as his hands deftly carved at the stone. As he watched, he felt his breathing shift. A steady and even pace.
“Now the essence.” He barely heard the Inscriber speak. He felt something akin to a tendril of cool stone brush against his Breath. In and out. He let a drop of his power connect with the tendril of power from the Inscriber and felt it pull away. Eshu yawned and shook himself as the same was done with him. Ma’tuk did not seem to react.
The Inscriber continued to work. Diligently working away at the stone. “There.” His voice jarred Gage out of his trance, and he looked up to see the token being handed to him. “This will work for you, your orb, and your beast. Should they do something useful, the tally will be added to yours. The token must be present.”
Gage reached out and took the token. It was cool to the touch, despite being handled for some time. “Thank you… Inscriber…?”
The elf nodded. “Outside of work you can call me Mamadou. You should rest. It may not have felt like much, but the process of having this tied to you is draining.”
As if to prove Mamadou’s point, Gage yawned. He glanced over to see Eshu already laid out next to Faelenor. He looked to the others and Aeliana gestured towards his room “Go. Rest. We will speak again when we all wake.” Gage merely nodded, rolled to his feet, and stumbled to his room. He was asleep nearly as soon as his head hit his blanket.
…
Gage woke to a cool tent. He could have considered it cold, if Eshu hadn’t been curled up next to him. Warmth radiated from his little Bunsen burner of a dog. He curled up into the warmth, closing his eyes to go back to sleep.
The sound of a faint chime caught his ear. Lifting his head, he listened. Not long after, it rang again only slightly closer. With a sigh, he pushed himself up. Eshu only grunted, not bothering to move. Nice thing about sand for floors, he thought as he left his room, don’t have to worry about creaky floors. The central room was empty, though some blankets had been laid around the central pole for a nicer space.
Gage stepped to the tent flap and stopped. Just inside the flap were several bundles, wrapped in a thin cloth. He picked one up and opened it. Inside were several small, personal rolls of bread. The meal Rosehip had promised, everyone must have been asleep when she came by. He picked up the bundles and moved them to one of the blankets. The chime sounded again.
With a sigh, he moved back to the tent flap and pushed it aside. This time sticking his head out. He glanced about and saw the source of the chimes. Down the row was a small procession of people. In the lead were four kumdahari, each carrying a short spear. Behind them were two more individuals. One was a very large crocodile-man. His scales were stretched over thick muscle, which was greatly needed for the load he was pushing. It was a large wheelbarrow, packed to the brim with… hay?
The crocodile’s companion was a small woman with green skin. A pair of dark green horns grew out and swept over her dark hair. A thin, wispy tail stuck out from just above her waistline. They would walk to the next tent flap down the line where she would ring the chime. Someone would answer and hand out their token. Gage could hear the mumble of conversation, then she would return the token. She would turn to the cart and remove a few clay jars, which would then get handed to the individual in the tent and they would move on.
The water delivery! Rosehip had mentioned them. Is it the next day already? He must have passed out hard to not only have slept through the rest of the day, but the night as well. He hooked the tent flap open and sat down just inside, listening to the chime getting closer. His head bobbed and he blinked rapidly, looking up. The skryftling, he remembered Taan calling them something like that, was standing before him, looking amused. “First day?” she asked, sticking out her hand.
“That obvious?” he asked, with a tired grin. He handed over his token without thinking. “Oh! Wait, never mind, I shouldn’t have any tally. I just got the token last night.” Dejected he offered his hand back out, “We have some water left over from our trip. We should be able to afford some tomorrow.”
She looked to the token before looking back up at him. “Well, ya must have impressed somebody. You got ‘nough here for a couple o’ jars if ya want them.”
A vague recollection of the Inscriber talking about an allocation crossed his mind. “Uh, right. Thank you for letting me know. Um, how much for a jar?”
“Ten tally a jar.”
“And I have…?”
“Twenty-five. Most I seen a new guy have.” She tapped a finger against the token. “How many ya want?”
“I’ll take the two, then.”
“Big spender.” She grinned, showing a mouth of shark-like teeth. Gage’s eyes went wide. She had to wave his token in his face to get his attention. “Oye, here ya go luv.” He took the token and the two jars she gave him. They were about the size of a large mason jar, each.
“That’s all ya get today from us. Ya can buy more somewhere, but it’ll cost ya. Ten is the cheapest ya’ll ever get. Mornin’ prices. Don’t miss a mornin’. Triple is the next best bet, if ya can find it. Leave empty jars outside the tent in the evenin’. I would suggest you buy a vault; a big jar for storing water. Keep too many jars and people start to think ya hoardin’ water. Don’t do that.”
She turned with a wave. “Have a nice day… and get a job!”