RavensDagger

  Chapter Twenty-Four - A Check In

  53rd Day of Spring - Year 1758 of the Golden EraShorefarm, Yellowfield, Draya Calyrex

  "Hello, Sir Jorvin," Viridian said with a wave. She and the others, including a re-headed Carnel, were moved off to one side while the Gentle Tidings and its crew got busy scouring the town for all sorts of things.

  Teams of sailors were clearing the area out. Pushing trash aside, creating a small bonfire to one side to burn off detritus, and then ying out usable materials in a few stacks being overseen by some officers.

  The fishing ships were being looked over as well, and it seemed like some might be used for something ter. Some were in bad enough repair that they were being salvaged on the spot. It had turned the otherwise calm town into a bustling hive of activity.

  There were probably more crew onboard the ship than there were vilgers here at the best of times.

  "Hey girls," Jorvin said as he stomped over. He had a rge pack on, with a few hilts sticking out of the top. "Heard you were setting out again and needed some repcement weapons. You know, I'm not your quartermaster."

  "Sorry," Viridian said. "Most of our things are fine. But Carnel broke a sword."

  "I didn't break it... it broke while I was using it," Carnel said. She picked up the two halves of her short sword and handed them over to Jorvin.

  He took both and looked them over before whistling. "Clean cut. A fault in the metal? But no, they don't fit together. This was cut apart. Did you run into a bdemaster? Someone who can cut so cleanly isn't common. Or a mage-knight who empowered a swing?"

  "No, the lord mayor had a knife with a dragon-scale bde," Lazur said. She had the knife on her. The Magus didn't seem to want it and so they added it to their slowly growing pool of loot. She took it out of its sheath and handed it over.

  "Hmm," Jorvin said. "A scale, cut lengthwise. Holes drilled in to fit some ngets, and what looks like a full-metal tang. Bit on the heavier side." He tested the edge with a thumb. "And deceptively sharp. I imagine it was empowered to cut straight through metal. You're going to have to learn a trick or two to use the same ability. Might be better to use the half-scale for something else. Some smiths will powder the scale and add that to iron. It makes a sort of steel called dragon-steel. Tougher than usual, though a little brittle, and very magically reactive. Good for spell bde work."

  Lazur tilted her head, and Viridian knew that she was interested.

  "We have a smith, now. Tomas. Viridian insisted on feeding him."

  "Hmm, the blind one you mentioned?" Jorvin asked. "I'll see if I can't help him settle down. It might take a day or two, but having a proper smith on hand can only help. Especially if you're breaking all of our swords like this."

  Jorvin reached into his pack and pulled out a fresh short sword for Carnel.

  "We only have so many of these. Try not to lose that one too," he said.

  Carnel took the sword and looked it over before nodding. "Thank you," she said.

  "So, you have a longer-term quest, from what I heard?" he asked. "How many days?"

  "Only one," Viridian said. "But it'll take the night to get there. The Magus gave us a map, and we have compasses to navigate."

  "I see. Usually I'd advise you with regards to supplies, but you don't need water. I would suggest a quick dip in the ocean, however. You're all covered in blood. It's drying out, so the stink is fading, but I can smell you from here, which means something wild will smell you from much further out."

  Viridian looked down at herself and... yes, she was rather covered in blood at the moment. Obviously none of it was hers, but that only made her feel suddenly less clean. "I think that might be a good idea," she said.

  "We will get salt in our joints," Lazur compined. "But I suppose that's better than being sticky."

  Jorvin didn't have much more to give them. They had their backpacks still, with four bottles of the soporific between the three of them left, and the cannon spell that Magus Maldrak had given them was still with Lazur as well. Otherwise, they still had pikes and short swords to work with. For an exploratory mission, she supposed it might be enough.

  Going down to the side of the piers, they found an area with a gentle incline into the water, one that looked to have some cleaning equipment left by the side of it. The locals likely used the spot, which had some run-off from a small stream, to wash their clothes. There were buckets left stacked there, and a small wooden aqueduct meant that they didn't need to bend down to fill one up.

  Lazur's concerns about salt water were unfounded, as it turned out, seeing as how the water was fresh, if a little muddy.

  They washed up, and Carnel even found some soap in a tin and a few sea sponges that were great for reaching into the small engravings on their wooden limbs.

  Viridian enjoyed the sensation of being clean. It wasn't something she could feel, exactly, but it was definitely still something that she was passively aware of, like actually paying attention to the sounds around her instead of letting her ears go blind to frequent sounds.

  She liked her new body a lot more when it wasn't covered in speckles of blood and bone and mud.

  Reequipping themselves, the three returned to the pier where Artificer Woodbone the younger was talking with Magus Nocthorn. They were arguing over the semantics of certain spells, a discussion that Viridian found herself unable to keep up with.

  Eventually the artificer detached himself from the young woman with a shake of his head. "Sorry about that. I imagine you'll want to use up the essence you've gathered?"

  "Yes, please," Viridian said. "You don't like Magus Nocthorn?"

  It was safe to ask, since the young woman had wandered off and was giving instructions to a small team of other younger folk in the robes of mages. Some of the small contingent of mages that had always been onboard the Gentle Tidings but who looked like they only now had work to do.

  "She's a traditionally-raised academic mage," Artificer Woodbone said. "Arguing is their way of having a conversation, which is extremely tiring at the best of times. Artificers tend to be a lot more honest about things. Despite that, we're still looked down upon by pure casters. Which is nonsensical, of course."

  He continued to rant as he pulled out the essence purification machine and set it up. Viridian went first, mostly because she'd been the one to walk up to Woodbone first. Her essence counter was sitting pretty at 987. Just shy of a thousand points, and far more than she'd ever gathered before.

  He siphoned it away, the bulb he filled glowing dully before he passed the liquid through the machine, made a few adjustments, then extracted a smaller amount of purified essence. "Good amount," he said as he inspected it. "But low purity. This should be good. Lean in a little closer..."

  Viridian couldn't see it as he clicked the vial in pce, but she felt it as the essence was poured into her core. It burned. Like taking a full breath of fresh cold air after being in a stuffy room for too long.

  The power coursed through her, moving from the ends of her feet up to the top of her head and back. Then it settled.

  Viridian raised a hand, opening and closing it a few times. Did she feel any different? She wasn't sure, but... no, she did. It was small, but there was an impression that she fit within herself a little better now.

  She stepped to the side, letting the others have their turns.

  Carnel, as always, was the most eager. She practically shoved forward and was twitching impatiently as Woodbone got to work. As the infusion completed, Carnel's head tilted, eyes clicking in an odd sequence. Then, she tapped the side of her head. "Told you I was fine."

  Lazur exhaled, long and slow, but said nothing.

  Artificer Woodbone packed up his machine, shaking his head. "This should keep you going for a bit. Just don't come back in two days looking like you've gone through a millstone. These bodies are sturdy, but not indestructible."

  Viridian adjusted the straps of her pack, feeling the weight settle against her back. She looked over the bustling town, the salvaging crews still picking apart what remained, the slow recmation of something that had been left to rot for too long.

  They still had work to do.

  She turned to her siblings. "Ready?"

  Lazur nodded. Carnel rolled her shoulder, testing her new strength, then gave a sharp nod. "Always."

  ***

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