At present, astrononical dusk has already long since set upon the land, painting the once disorganised streets in a uniform curtain of blackness. Many hours have passed since the initial audience with the king. 

Upon signing the deeds to Walters newly aquired province, King Lorenz relocated himself and Walter to the palace's eastern great hall, wherein a great majority of the kings advisors and accountants had be summoned. There, numerous discussions and negotiations ensued, involving the rellocation of populace, the initial trade routes for building material and daily neccessities, the initial construction of housing and farmland and other subjects fundamental to the development of the land .

The meeting had continued long into the evening, forcing Walter to stay over at the palace to eat, much to his dismay. He'd have much prefered to return home or, if he wasn't in such a penniless state, even a nearby tavern would have sufficed.

Trading his belt for scraps of bread would have been better, in Walters eyes, than the simple meal that evolved (devolved, as Walter saw it) into a grand feast to celebrate the appointment of a new duke of the duchy of Brightland. 

Of course, it may seem unusual for such an unplanned feast to occur; usually they would take months of preparation. The aquisition of food being the major part as a king that provides too little for a feast may be considered of poor etiquite by the nobles. Invitations, on the other hand, were less of an issue - mages could quite rapidly send messages over long distances if given adequate resources to set up the communication channels. This time, though, no magic was required to request their attendance. Many important noble figures were already gathered within the capital at the kings command for many subjects, ranging from the expansion of land to the implementation of new agricultural techniques. 

Either way, it just so happened that the basic neccessities of a feast of its scale had been prior prepared, though for what reason none may ever know. Maybe its all the fault of the clerk in charge of the palaces storehouses, and the king just happened to find a suiting event to capitalise on anothers misgivings. Then again, maybe it was just a coincidence. Perhaps it is a secret that will forever be lost to the king and his advisors, though such a triviality was the least of Walters concerns. 

The uncomfortable carriage that he so despises, of which he is being forced to travel in, is the greatest of Walters current problems. You would be considered a fool if you tried to traverse wessends streets on foot without a deep understanding of the city, and thats only considering if the trip is during the day!

Trying to do the journey in a time whence streetlights have yet to become widespread would be suicide, a fact even Walter must concede too. Albeit, if not for Lorenz's persistence, he may yet have taken his chances over this ordeal.

Each stone on the paved city streets causes the entire carriage to jolt and jostle. The unsteady movements of the horses jerk Walter forward with each step taken, and the hard wooden seating covered by a thin layer of cotton barely aleviates the constant upwards smacking of wood against man. His back is no better off, as although the padding may be thicker, the seat is much too short and the backing much too straight, forcing him to take an excrutiatingly straight spined position. 

 What irks Walter the most is not his current discomfort, though. No, he can bare with the half hour of pain due to how fatigued the day has left him. The thought of the journey to the Brightlands, on the other hand, is more painful than anything the carriage is able to inflict. 

The dirt roads leading to the forest are pooly kept, moreso than in the city at least; laws may be in place dictating that those living around the area must maintain them but the chances of the peasants bothering to do a decent job is minimal. Travelling by carriage, which Walter will be forced to take out of respect for his new position, the journey will be at least 2 weeks on the dirt paths, given rain does not turn them to mud. 

Although a river cuts through the forest territory, it is still a 3 day week journey to the nearest port connecting it. Only 4 days will be required for the journey from that point on, and fewer stops will need to be taken and hence the trip is considerably less by boat. Unfortuantly, boats are no better than carriages - they are much, much worse. 

And so, Walter resolved to improve his transportation dilema. 

 Almost at the instant the carriage reached his manors doors, the mage rushed towards the wooden doors, barely showing his fatigue. Shoving his way through into the hallway, Walter whipped off his chaperon and nearly threw it onto the iron hooks imbedded into the wall. 

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Very little of the hurried activity from earlier in the day remained, with only a small number of house maids and servants left at work. Those remaining attempted to greet the hurried mage albeit Walter did not give them the time; he hurried past each till he reached a set of downwards spiralling stone stairs. 

Once again, Walter reached for the pouch and pulled out the spherical object and twisted, revealing the glowing core. This time, he held the two hemispheres in his hand as the core now radiated a bright yellow aura that extended out to the walls. He then proceeded down the stairs. Every 10 steps, the aura engulfed strange glass structures on the wall, resembling lamps. Each "lamp" was full of a water-like substance, which quickly began glowing with light of the same colour as the aura. Upon closer inspection, it could be see that the gem within the hemispherical object in Walters hand also contained the same liquid.

The moment Walter reached the end of spiral staircase, immediatly infront of him was short corridor stretching out towards a sizable black wall. The mage then stretched out his arm containing the spherical object which floated out of his open hand and placed itself within a hole at the center of the wall. The two hemispheres reconnected, producing a sharp click. Soon after, a split formed down the center of the wall, and opened to reveal a completely  black walled room. The mage stepped into the room, pulling the sphere out of the wall-turned-door while he walked, completely sealing the entryway behind him. 

 Early the next morning, Margery hurriedly carried a flat wooden tray towards the house masters bedroom.  He had not returned until much later than expected and she doubted he had eaten much, hence she had the head chef prepare a light breakfast. On the tray lay a plate, on which a small slice of crusted bread and two chunks of cheese placed. Next to the plate was a green-tinted glass containing a sweet-smelling creamy coloured liquid. Margery knew her employer did not enjoy the wine or beer that was generally consumed by other noblemen for breakfast, hence she personally squeezed a glass of poinberry juice. 

When infront of the noblemans door, Margery gently knocked on the wooden structure and waited. 

"The master is probably still sleeping, although I strictly remember warning him that too much sleep will be bad for his health!" the young maid mused, as many seconds has passed yet still no reply came from the room. 

 She knocked again, and yet again no reply came from the room. This time, she grabbed the handle and opened the door, carrying the tray into the room

"Good morning sir, I am awfully sorry to disturb you but I really insist you wake up and eat. I can't bear to see you get sick from an improper appetite and lack of activity and im not just saying this as I wager you'd dock my wages!..."

 He isn't in the bed? Margey was so absorbed in her rant she had failed to notice that the major component of a decent complaint was missing - there was nobody with her to hear it. She knew the master had returned, as she personally witnessed him stepping out of the carriage from her second floor room, and yet seemingly he had not returned to bed. Although Margery had only recently been promoted to the lords personal maid, she had been under the noblemans employ long enough to know exactly where he had hidden himself. 

Carefully, she picked up the tray she had placed onto the bedside drawers and headed towards the downwards staircase. The abnormal still-glowing laterns confirmed exactly where her employer had gone. 

The lanterns were no longer completely full of the liquid. Although she did no understand exactly how they worked, the fact that at least 4 centimeters of the usually full liquid had vanished informed Margery that her master had retired to this place the moment he returned from the palace. 

Knowing full well that knocking on this black wall would have little effect, instead Margery loudly spoke,

"Sir Walter, its me, Margery. I've come to bring you breakfast as I'd very much wager you ate as little as possible in the day gone past"

 Practically the moment she finished speaking, the black wall split open and out stepped the now haggardly nobleman, still wearing the robes from the day prior. Her employer eyed the tray, then carefully took it from her hands and retreated to the room. A short while later, sir Walter returned and handed Margery a large stack of parchment of differing sizes. 

"Perfect timing! I want you to gather a few servants, and send them to all the people listed on that note, carrying with them the corresponding parchment. As i've personally taught you to read, I perfectly understand you are the only one in my employ capable, Give them the instruction to hand the parchment over to their target, and request them to construct what is drawn" 

Walter barely took any breaths between each word, and continued to bombard Margery with instructions.

"Oh yes, money". He pulled out a small parchment of paper from his pouch "give this to the accountant and tell them to deal with any expsenses that may arrise. Oh, and also, I want you personally to attend to this list"

Sir walter pointed to a thin piece of parchment ontop of the pile. Margery skimmed through the list of strange components, then confusedly asked "Sir, would it be rude of me to ask what exactly all of this is for?". 

Hearing this question, sir Walter began stroking his bearded chin and raised his eyes to the ceiling as if in deep thought. He began questioningly humming a series of Hmmm's until he once again looked at the young maid and answered "Its all for an elemental accumulator"