Celys watched as everyone gathered, then just about laughed when Kal, Theril, Reldan, and Magmyr “casually” entered the mess hall, eyes wide and staring as their noses twitched.

Instead of leaving them to stand there like lost sheep, she got up and made her way over to them.

“What brings you all here?” she asked when she got close enough to not have to speak too loudly.

“Even’n Chief,” Magmyr said, taking the lead for them all. “Got some new, but also wanted to finally visit the lad’s place,” he said as he looked around a bit.

“What news?” she asked, curious as to what it was, and who’d asked him to come here.

“Oh, it’s jus’ tha’ the merchants wanna know if they can take the lad’s offer ‘ta stay behind his walls for the rest of their time here,” he explained with a shrug. “Not sure he’d wanna have the lot of ’em camping here, what with his new slaves ’n all.”

Celys agreed with that, especially since Joram had already freed several of said slaves.

“I’ll ask him after dinner, which should still give everyone enough time to do what’s needed,” she said, then motioned for the four men to follow her to an empty section of table a bit further away from the girls.

She then idly listened to the young men chat away about this and that, though most of it revolved around Joram’s actions over the past day. Though, there was plenty of chatter focussing on the amazing mansion, the mess hall, and just about everything else for that matter.

She couldn’t blame them, especially since she was considering hiring Joram to rework several streets in Kirkwall to get them into better shape.

“OK, so! Could I have a few volunteers to help serve supper?” Joram suddenly called out from the kitchen, the shutters now open to reveal a veritable feast.

Celys got up and headed over, followed by the other women who’d come to help out for the day. That said, it had turned out to be a much longer day than any of them had anticipated. Though the offer of both lunch and supper had swayed most of them to stay the day, looking at it as a kind of holiday. Though, one where they also had the chance to help the younglings settle in and assuage their worries regarding Joram’s intentions.

Then the lists came off the huge pots as well as the other odd containers, all revealing amazing smelling food. She just about died when she was assigned to cut some roasts, the divine aroma nearly causing her to lose control with the temptation of just gobbling it up all by herself.

Her nose picked up a few familiar herbs that Joram had used before, though many new ones were also detected. Then they were ready for the line of eager younglings.

She was happy to see that they were all very well behaved, with no pushing or shoving. The girls quickly presented their plates and were promptly served, moving the line along with amazing efficiency. At the end, Joram was handing out cut and buttered rolls to anyone who wanted one. Which, as it turned out, everyone did.

Then the four men showed up at then end of the line, making her smile. They’d done well to wait, so she gave them a bit extra when they got to her.

Once the line was taken care of, Joram told them to serve up and get eating. So, not wanting to be rude, she did!

As she ate, she watched the younglings practically swoon at just how amazing everything tasted. She very much understood, for she’d been secretly hoping to get another taste of Joram’s cooking for two months now. Ever since she’d had that amazing stew he’d made for them that day she’d visited him with the others, she hadn’t quite forgotten the taste.

She watched as Joram stood watching everyone eat, looking pleased that his cooking seemed to be going over well with everyone. When a few of the younglings had finished, he then called out and told them all that it was all right to come for seconds. Thus encouraged, they did.

Then she just about went and kicked him when he just stood there and used [Telekinesis] or something to serve those who’d come up for seconds. He hadn’t needed their help at all!

Then she calmed when she realized that he’d likely called them to help so that the younglings wouldn’t feel bad being served first. Her opinion of him once again improved with that thought. But another thing stood out to her as she watched him, after having gotten another helping herself.

He wasn’t eating.

Then she remembered how oddly he’d behaved when she’d first met him. She’d noticed that he’d paced himself while eating so that he was only half-done by the time everyone else had eaten. So, when it came to serving seconds to everyone, he’d gladly done so. It was only when there was no more food left that Joram had finished his own portion, saying how full he was.

This time, though, he hadn’t even bothered taking a plate for himself, seemingly happy to just serve others. By the time everyone was happily fed, Joram still hadn’t eaten anything, which caused her no little concern. She watched as he quickly cleared away the empty pots and serving vessels, then lidded the ones that hadn’t been emptied.

Once things were cleared away, he reached under the counter and started pulling up trays of what looked like cookies. Once he had several large trays in place, he started lifting up large metal… cylinders with legs and with what looked like some sort of black spigot at the bottom, and placed them at the end of the counter. Then came tray after tray of cups, small plates, a white bucket, and at least a hundred metal spoons.

Then he just left the kitchen and made his way over to them.

“So, what brings you fellas over?” he asked as he sat next to Theril, that seat being closest for him.

“Just wanted to visit,” Theril said with a smile. “Good timing, though,” he finished with a grin.

“Magmyr here had a message to deliver,” Kal said, pointing a thumb towards the dwarf.

“Aye,” he said, then relayed the message. “Up to you though, lad,” he finished with a shrug, then changed the subject. “Is that a dwarf lass I see over yonder?” he asked, sounding a bit too casual.

“Hmm, that would be Ella Stonewell,” Joram said after a moments’ pause. “I think she said that she had some experience with brewing,” he said, then shrugged.

“Bit young, no?” he asked, giving Joram the side-eye.

“I have absolutely no idea when it comes to dwarves and elves,” Joram said as he shook his head. “What I do know is that she identified as a minor, so she’ll be staying for a while. That said, if she wants to mess around with brewing, she’s more than welcome to have a go at it. Though, I guess I should try to get some other grains growing for that…” he said, trailing off at the end.

“What’s this about staying?” Magmyr asked, looking a bit worried for all that he tried to hide it behind his gruffness.

“Hmm? Oh, that. I’m told that it’s not legal to free underaged slaves, so they’ll stay here until they’re old enough. Well, if they want to, that is,” he said, shrugging again.

“What’s all that now?” Magmyr asked, looking more confused than anything.

So, Joram explained to the four men what he’d told everyone else earlier that day, nearly flooring them in the process. Celys, though, very much understood their shock. Just freeing so many slaves after probably having spent hundreds of gold coins on them was… different.

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“Anyways,” Joram said, as he stood up then shook each of their hands. “I have one last thing to do before we’re done here, so just give me a few minutes to get that sorted,” he said, then headed back to the kitchen.

Instead of going inside, Joram just leaned back against the countertop before addressing them once more.

* * *

“What sorcery is this?” Fyrellia asked as she ate the ridiculously delicious food.

“You’re the [Sorceress], you tell us,” she said dryly between mouthfuls of food.

“I detect no magic in it,” Fyrellia said, shaking her head as she continued to eat.

“Good, though,” Qyress said, nodding as she happily ate the wonderful food.

They stopped talking at that point, more interested in eating than speaking.

Arise was now sure that Joram had asked the younglings to wait on making their decisions until after supper exactly due to how ridiculously amazing it tasted. Anyone would be more than reluctant to give up food that delicious after having tasted it.

For the three of them, it really didn’t matter, though. They would be slaves until they died, or Joram did. Though, given how long elves, erynese, and succubae lived, it was more than likely that they’d outlive Joram. Fortunately, the death clause in their slavery marks didn’t include death by natural causes.

After they cleared their dishes away, they once more sat, though this time to allow the food to digest.

“So, who regrets being bought by the young master?” Fyrellia asked with a wicked grin.

Surprisingly, Qyress shook her head, saying “I think he’ll be different from most.”

Arise thought about it a bit more, going over everything they’d seen and experienced. That Joram hadn’t done anything to them that morning after finding them in his room said a lot about him. That he’d even given them a blanket said yet more.

“Hmm, I’ll still have to see,” she said, playing it cool.

“I, for one, hope that he calls on me soon,” Fyrellia said, causing everyone around them to blush at the brazen words as the succubus just grinned.

“Well, we’ll have to see,” Arise said, shaking her head. “He already has Miss Asami Miki as well as Miss Myra,” she said, silently wondering how the man could keep someone so terrifying so close.

“So, what do you think he’ll say?” Qyress asked, drawing their attention to Joram as he leaned against the kitchen’s serving counter.

“OK, I have one last thing before dessert and tea,” he said, getting everyone else’s attention. “When I call your name, could you please come forward to accept a small gift from me. It’s not much, but I hope that you’ll keep it with you. If you always keep it on, you’ll notice the benefits in about seven days’ time,” he said with a mysterious smile.

“Abby,” he said, then waited for the startled rabbit-kin to make her way up, looking very shy to be in front of so many people.

When she got to Joram, he took her right hand and slipped a dark-silver ring onto her middle finder, making poor Abby nearly faint as her face turned crimson. He then gave her a quick pat on the shoulder, using the motion to get her moving again. She practically stumbled her way back to her chair, looking like she was in a daze.

“Akane,” he said, then repeated the process, stunning one girl after another until they all realized that he was putting the ring on each of their hands in the same way.

“Arise,” he said, startling her out of her thoughts.

She, too, went up and received her ring. She fought the blush as he took her hand in his and slipped the ring onto her finger, a ring that was seemingly made for her finger, it fit so well.

Then she went back to her chair and watched as the rest of the younglings were given their rings, Fyrellia and Qyress included. Not just the slaves, but also the freewomen, which surprised her more than a little bit. But given how strange Joram was, she supposed that it should have been expected.

Then Asami Miki and Myra were called up, surprising her more than a little bit. For her part, Asami Miki looked beyond please while Myra looked just as red as the first girl, Abby, when she received her ring.

“It’s weird,” Fyrellia said, startling her. “The ring definitely resized when it was put onto my finger, but I can’t detect any mana from it,” she said, looking more than a little confused and vexed.

Which also confused Arise, for they’d all witnessed Joram’s ridiculous magical ability several times already.

“Wait,” Fyrellia gasped, looking as though she’d thought of something incredibly shocking.

“What?” both she and Qyress asked at the same time.

“Later,” Fyrellia said, glancing at the younglings at their table.

She obviously wanted to speak her mind where others couldn’t hear. Though, given just how riveted the younglings were with the spectacle and their new rings, all of which appeared to be identical to her eye. As she looked back to her own ring, something about it tickled at the back of her mind.

“So, if anyone has any room left in their tummies, I have some cookies and tea here to finish off dinner for everyone,” Joram said, then made his way over to the Chief of Kirkwall.

Arise briefly wondered what those “cookies” were, but then saw Asami Miki dash for the counter, her eyes shining in excitement.

Guess I’ll go see what’s up, she mused, then made her way over to the forming line.

* * *

“Sorry, I thought that it might be a bit awkward to give you guys yours like that,” he said, then handed Celys, Kal, Theril, Reldan, Magmyr, and Ilyana their rings. Well, after he’d called Ilyana over, anyways.

He watched as Celys gave him a wry look before she began inspecting the ring, much like Magmyr was now doing.

“Lad. As much as I’m trilled to receive an electrum ring, how in the abyss did you get so much of it?!” Magmyr asked, looking intensely excited. And intense. Very intense.

Celys just about dropped her ring when she heard that, though Reldan looked a bit confused.

“Is it that rare?” Joram asked to deflect the man’s attention, but also to learn about “electrum”.

“Lad,” Ilyana said, impersonating the dwarf remarkably well. “Electrum is incredibly rare and ridiculously expensive. It’s primarily used in creating magic items and magical circuits for large arrays and such,” she said, slipping back into her normal parlance as she spoke.

“So. Expensive,” he said flatly, then shook his head. “I just thought it was a nice metal. Sorry,” he said with a shrug.

“Lad,” this time it was indeed Magmyr that spoke. “I hope you’re planning on keeping all those young lasses safe, because any [Thief]’ll want those rings once they set their eyes on ‘em,” he said, shaking his head.

“Well, crap on a cracker,” he said, getting weird looks from everyone. “I’ll figure something out, though I’ll have to make sure that everyone stays out of sight of the caravan while they’re here.”

“Good call,” Celys said as she slipped on her own ring. “So, aside from being ridiculously expensive, do they do anything besides resizing?” she asked, drawing attention to how she was slipping it onto different fingers, watching as the ring always seemed to fit perfectly on whatever finger it was put onto.

“Oh, well. They have a [Sustenance] effect on them,” he said, then got blank looks from everyone present. “Is that not a thing here?” he asked, his stomach sinking further.

“If it has anything to do with the actual word, then no,” Celys said, shaking her head. “Well, not as far as I know, anyways.”

“So, what’s it do?” Theril asked, all business as he inspected the ring, giving the engraving inside an odd look.

“Oh, well, if you keep it on, and don’t take it off for about a week, then you won’t have to eat or drink. Oh, and you will only need to sleep for two hours to get the equivalent of eight hours of sleep,” he said, choosing to leave out the [Anchored Navigation] feature, suspecting that it might get an even larger reaction.

“What?” Ilyana asked, her face going blank.

“Will that time reset if you take it off?” Kal asked, looking incredibly interested.

“Well, no. That first week is so that the ring can properly attune to you,” he replied, ignoring Ilyana’s look. “Though, I did attune each one so that they’ll only work for the owner. Otherwise, they’re useless to anyone else.”

That got another round of blank looks, though Celys and Magmyr looked as though they understood the implications of what that meant.

“You mean that you can make magic items that only work for one person?” Kal asked, looking as though he thought that that might not be as useful as all that.

Joram nodded, then almost facepalmed.

“I forgot Nalun’s ring,” he said as he got up. “Give me a little bit,” he said, then hurried off to make the ring.

* * *

“He never fails to astonish,” Ilyana said, shaking her head as they watched Joram head outside.

“Electrum,” Magmyr snorted, also shaking his head.

“He’s going to destroy our economy,” Celys sighed, likely seeing visions of the future she imagined would come to pass as she stared vacantly at the ceiling.

“But at least I’ve got another apprentice now,” Ilyana said, grinning at Magmyr.

“You’ve got one now, lass,” Magmyr snorted, shaking his head again. “If anything, Joram’s my apprentice,” he insisted as he puffed out his chest.

“Ah, but do you see how well the clothing is made?” Ilyana pressed, pointing to the nearest youngling. “You can’t say that he’d not learning from me.”

“I suppose you haven’t noticed how uniform the rings are, then?” Magmyr asked, pointing from ring to ring. “That takes a steady hand and an incredible amount of practice to do.”

“Ah, but…” Ilyana continued her argument as Theril started tuning out the unofficial couple as they once again started arguing about who’s apprentice Joram was.

He didn’t know if Joram would truly destroy the economy, but he did know that he’d have to get more than a few guards who knew Joram to coincidentally start dropping by to check out his new… estates. He shook his head at that thought, once more impressed with just how common sense-breaking Joram was.

Then he got up and made his way over to try the “cookies” and tea Joram had prepared for dessert. If Asami was any indication, they’d likely be as good as supper was. So, he pocketed a few to bring home to his wife, Amava. Mostly because he felt guilty for not having brought her along in the first place….