He awoke as dawn was broke through the small window in his room. When compared to yesterday, a solid meal and good night’s sleep had done the man wonders. There was a polished piece of tin hanging on the wall, and he approached it with delicate fingers at his face. It wasn’t pretty.

His cheek was a dark bloody mess with a nasty slice lashed together with ‘X’ shaped stitches. Even when it healed, he’d be permanently disfigured. None of that bothered Lohmen, other than it might make interacting with strangers and various townsfolk more difficult. He sat back in his bed, wrestled his notebook from his bag, and jotted his resting place for the night, his location at the start of the day and worked and his plans. The bank was to be his frist stop. If he wanted to avoid another altercation, he couldn’t be travelling with so much coin on his person. He should have listened to Yerik. He packed up his things, and left the inn feeling sore, but surprisingly refreshed.

Lohmen craned his neck upwards to see the marble carved sign of the bank. It didn’t say ‘Bank’ but had the same stylized pair of L’s that the currency bore. He pushed through the heavy metal door and immediately felt the hush of the place. At either side of the door, guards in smart uniforms stood stoicly, a cross bow hanging on their back, and a gleaming shortsword at their hips. Though he couldn’t see them, Lohmen felt their eyes upon him as he strode through the bank. Thick grey marble rippled with white and gold lined nearly every visible surface of the interior and the click of his boots was relatively deafening. He half tip-toed to a woman at barred wicket.

“How may I help you?” She asked with her head down, writing. She was fifty, slim and had her black hair pulled back into a neat bun at the back of her head. She was wearing a modest black uniform with pairs of matte black buttons and an erskine trim. Her eyes widened when she looked up and met Lohmen’s face for the first time.

“I’d like to make a deposit.” Lohmen said, aware of the volume of his voice. She cleared her throat and resumed her professional demeanour.

“Well you’ve come to the right spot.” She had a warm style despite the coldness of her appearance. “Do you have an account with us?” Lohmen shook his head and the woman smiled politely.

“Not a problem.” She stood and returned with piece of paper and an inkwell. “Fill this out and we’ll get started.”

Lohmen filled out the form, and entered his name and age. When he got to his profession he smiled sheepishly and wrote down ‘Painter.’ Further down it asked for his address and he explained to the teller that he was a traveller now, without a home address.

“That’s alright, we handle a number of travellers and adventurers. Just write down your original Realm. It’s a means of reference more than anything.”

“Will I need a letter of account for other branches or…” Lohmen asked. He’d never had money and banking was a bit foreign to him.

“Yes, but the bank uses Tomes of Reflection. Your balance will be recorded in each branch.” She explained matter of factly.

Lohmen nodded in an effort to hide his naivety. The teller smiled and gave him a hushed explanation.

“The tomes are connected to each other by reflective magic. I make a recording in here and close the book. When someone else, somewhere else opens it, my entry is there. Just as theirs would be here.”

Lohmen grabbed his lord’s purse and counted out fifty, and placed the hefty balance on the counter before the banker. She took it, poured it onto a tray in front of her and counted with mesmirizing agility before opening a small chute-door and sweeping them in. The coins rattled against metal down and then under his feet. Lohmen turned his head to follow the sounds.

“The vaults. We take the protection of Lords very seriously.” She explained in response to his confused face. “Mr. Dreisler, you are all set. We’re happy to have you as a customer of the Iron Bank.” She handed the empty lord purse back to Lohmen and he dopped his fifty lords into it. He thanked her and got directions to the Mount Registry before making his exit.

The Mount Registry wasn’t far from the Iron Bank and a man exiting the front door told Lohmen it was open as well. He walked inside and found a bespactled man sitting in front of a wall of books.

“Hello there.” Lohmen said in an attempted to get his attention.

“Yes…” The man said without looking up. Lohmen pulled out his notebook, and unfolded Tolo’s bill of sale.

“I’m trying to find this man. His seller ID is 0113D7. But I can’t make out his name.” The Registrar took the paper without making eye contact with Lohmen and gave it a quick look before handing it back.

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“Nor can I.”

Lohmen, felt a twinge in his eye.

“Ser, this is a Mount Registry is it not.” Lohmen said with more curt than he had intended, but the registrar continued with his papers, offering no reaction to Lohmen’s face or hand.

“Yeeeessss.”

Lohmen raised his voice, and removed all niceties.

“Then tell me how to find someone registered here.” The man finally looked up and took Lohmen in, who was staring back at him with a look of determination and stubborness. When he felt he’d made his point, Lohmen relaxed slightly giving the man an opportunity to responsd

“Ahem, well. There are branches all over, but we only keep record of buying and selling. The central registry isn’t here.”

“Well where is it?” Lohmen prodded the man, staring the full weight of his mangled face into the beuracrat.

“It’s in Talul.”

Lohmen cursed under his breath.

“Where is that?”

“In the Realm of Newhul…” He said but continued before Lohmen could prompt him, “It’s on the northeastern coast of the continent. It’s a major port of entry and where most horses from across the black sea are brought in. All seller registrations are kept there.”

“We don’t have the security of an Iron Bank, so we store them centrally. I could check to see if the seller has sold any horses in the last twenty years however.” Lohmen nodded with a stiff face, so as not to break the flow of this man’s increasing helpfulness. The registrar turned to his shelves and pulled a few volumes. “01137D….hmmm.”

“What is it?”

“Well he’s only sold one horse in the last twenty years. The one from your bill of sale. But…” the registrar scrunched his face… “That’s strange.”

Lohmen, who had softened his edge, asked “What?”

“Well. Registries only keep bills of sale for ten years, there isn’t really a need for them beyond that. But we do have aggregate information for sellers for time beyond ten years. Appears this person was quite an active horse trader. They had hundreds of deals recorded, but they just stopped thirteen years ago.”

“Is that strange?” Lohmen inquired.

“No, not exactly. People die. Retire. Children take over. There’s any number of reasons why somebody stops, but it’s strange that they did that single deal thirteen years ago.”

“If I get to Talul, how can I get access to the sellers’ file?”

“You won’t be able to. They’re stored under lock and key and we don’t just let anyone into the records. You’d need legal grounds to request those files.”

Lohmen turned his cheek just a fraction, to insinuate to the registrar that he should see the other guys.The point was well taken.

“Legal grounds such as investigating a death, or you were collecting on a debt. I can’t be of more help than that I’m sorry.”

Lohmen nodded and thanked the man for his help, as unforthcoming as he was initially. He left the building, and outside put his hands behind his head.

“FUCK!” He said louder than he had intended. A few passersby shuffled further away from the angry scarred man. Lohmen took a deep breath through his nostrils and closed his eyes. He’d only known about the bag for a day, but it had been in his possession for thirteen years.

To Yophel’s house. Then to Poshnman to meet Yerik. Then to Talul to the central mount registry. I will find this Mr. 7042.

The sudden injection of improvisation was difficult for the main of routine.

It was still quite early in the morning, but he had a full day ahead of him so he readied his horse and began the race north. As he raced through Azsateztez and Zhodbrezh he took notes on the Banners and would paint them after he met with Yerik. He only had a day to get there. Seven Banner-notes in all were taken on his way to Tauptiimai.