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Chapter 12 - Chapter 12

"Soon mortals found themselves across every corner of Ver-Anda and it was not long before the Commanas Dounite began. The Reign of Commons, where the short-lived but numerous humans took center-stage in the play that is Ver-Anda. The Ancient Elven Queen had since passed, leaving a contracting empire and the vacant space allowed for many new powers to arrive in its place." -An Excerpt from Kieva's Mythological History

Semsí

"The city hasn't changed much since I'd been through," Va'tu said as we walked through the southern gate of Hyhryst. From where we were, the city seemed like it was built down the hill face, with the majority of residential homes clustered on the flat areas of the cliff, with streets that wound their way down to the waterfront, where the majority of the action and the massive brick apartment buildings were that housed a majority of the cities laborers. The docks, found at the very tip of the northern end of the city, were absolutely massive, the largest shipping port until the city of Choopool further to the east. 

A gargantuan ship was visible from even here at the gate, which was at least a few miles up the hill from the docks, and even from here the massive flag was identifiable. 

"The Sakars, the legacy of Lady Sakari." Kurdu said, pointing at the massive raven-skulled flag. The Sakars were once a pirate crew, founded by a human who was known as Sakari the Lady, currently they fancied themselves merchants, though they still are as heavily armed as when they still pirated. "What do you know about them, Semsì?" He asked.

"They are just as dangerous as the days of the Pirate Queen, according to the words of my brother. They basically got rid of the other pirates a human generation ago and they have ruled the trade routes ever since."

"Ah," Kurdu nodded. "would they provide passage to us?" I thought a moment before responding.

"I'm sure they would, but what of their price? They aren't really friendly with my family, seeing as my father did try to crush Sakari in her day." I winced remembering the story my father told me. It was before I even met Jiva, when a conglomerate of kingdoms tried to purge the pirates from the Garu'ud, which backfired, elevating the then lowly captain to Queen of the Pirates in a few short years. 

"Well that doesn't help." Va'tu chuckled. "It's not like it would really matter anyway, the Sakars are known to ask inane things of adventures as payment anyway. They would take one look at us in all our armor and know what we are." I sighed. 

"We could disguise ourselves," Mire said.

"You all could try. But I will stick out no matter what. Most of my people are found on North Vad," Ossunnam said, "how do you say, like a sore thumb?" He added, holding his own claw tipped thumb up with a smile. 

"Yes, dragon-kin of your size in the south is sure to draw eyes." I put my thumb to my chin and thought a moment gazing at the dragonborn. " But what if you were the size of a kobold?"

"I mean, that could work. I could be a Kobold shaman traveling to a conference perhaps?" He said, chuckling. "How long would it last?" Ah, the weakness of my spell. 

"One hour."

"Very well. We can call that plan 'Little Dragon'." He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. 

"Otherwise we can take a look at the other ships there, I'm sure one of them will take us across the seas."

Us five made our way through winding streets, descending the cliff towards the sea. We seemed to pass more houses than Rency even had, and near the halfway point of the city gates and the sea, the street opened to a large square. In the center, a temple of the god of the ocean He'tu rose at least sixty feet into the air. The exterior of the temple was made of carved granite and colored in a brilliant pastel yellow. Above the entrance, a door of painted oak twenty feet tall and ten feet across, were intricate carvings from left to right of merfolk and sea-elves with the many ships of men arriving on the horizon. 

"I think I will stop by the temple, actually," Va'tu said, looking towards the building's tall front pillars. 

"While you do that, I will check the general shop. I want to ensure we have everything we need for our journey." I said, turning around to bid them farewell. 

"I'll join you, Sem," Mire jumped. "I think he can pray enough for the three of us." She added. 

"Alright," I shrugged. 

"Before you set off," Kurdu began, "Finding passage now might be a little more difficult as the sun goes down. Ossu and I will go find an inn and send for you all when we get some rooms."

"That works for me," I said, nodding. 

"I will see everyone soon," Va'tu smiled and headed towards the large doors of the temple. 

"Alright, Mire, let's go find this general store." I said, turning towards the city before us. "Good luck, Kurdu and Ossunnam."

"You as well," Kurdu nodded. 

"We will see you both very soon," Ossunnam laughed. With that the two set off down the path, heading closer to the docks. 

I turned back towards the buildings in the square near us now. There were three large ones on the corner, the far side of the square was filled with the stalls of local merchants mostly. 

Willard's Wand's, The Great Magorfica's Emporium, Stven's Scabbards. 

"I must be honest, Semsì, I do kind of want to go to Willard's Wands," Mire began, "and whatever the Emporium is." 

"Only if we go see whatever is up with Stven and his scabbards," I chuckled and motioned for her to take the lead. She walked forward with a smile but after a moment she looked back. 

"We don't hang out as much as we used to," She said after a short moment, before entering the wand shop. She paused for a moment and looked back. "Do you remember when we were all little, and none of us cared about this love shit?"

"Mire, you have been in my life longer than the woman I am crossing an ocean for. I couldn't forget how good a friend you have been." I chuckled and put my hand out. She looked at it for a moment. Whatever was on her mind, only she could tell me. 

"We should go and see what this old wand-maker is selling." She chuckled, shaking my hand then running off into the store. 

The interior of the store was rather modest, not only were there wands for sale, there were several staves and scrolls as well. As I walked in, I could already see Mire looking at something in the corner, her eyes wide in wonder. In the back of the shop, behind a long counter with panels of glass protecting what looked to be spell books and a few wands, was an older elven man with tawny colored skin and a long white beard.

"Welcome to the wand shop, young ones," he began, his voice rather deep and smooth. "What brings you both in today? I can see your friend is rather interested in the Elvenkind gear there." 

"That's what I thought they were," Mire said, more excited than I had ever heard her. "How much would you charge for the set? The boots and the cloak?" The old merchant walked around the long counter and up to the display, a mannequin wearing the cloak and boots. With a wave of the wand in his hands, the mannequin sprung to life and kicked off the boots and slid the cloak off of its shoulders and draped it across an outstretched arm. 

"That was," Mire paused for a moment, "so cool." Her mouth slightly agape. She took the cloak from the mannequin and held it before her, examining it. 

"Animate object, dear." The man laughed. "Because you are buying the set I can give you a bit of a discount. I can part with this for seven hundred and fifty gold."

The sound coming out of his mouth made me want to physically cringe, which was a hard feeling to give me. Seven hundred fifty? That set could be worth twice that to another merchant. I hope this doesn't end up with us helping him find something.

"That's an amazing deal," Mire nearly shouted, excitedly digging through her bag to find enough gold and platinum to cover the cost. 

"You wouldn't happen to have any idea what this is?" I said, taking the cube we found from the goblins out of my pack and showing it to the man as Mire counted her coins. He took the cube in his hand and turned it around a few times. His face held a puzzling look for a few moments as he thought.

"I've seen these a few times in my life, the Prime Beings have been worshipped for many years by many beings." He touched his finger to the face of Yornus, defaced by someone before us. "I'm guessing this wasn't you? You wouldn't have brought it to me otherwise."

"We found it on some goblins who ambushed us in the night on the road south of here." I said. "Do you think they could have a grudge against Yornus?"

"Most goblins worship Be'reiet, the god of the wilds and the Elder Hobgoblin. Most regard him as the Father of Goblinkind."

"Va'tu would make me point out that you could have said that he is the 'Hobfather'," I smiled, chuckling to myself. The merchant let a slight smile cross his face then quickly continued about the cube.

"You might ask Sèlevor Gran'da, at the mages guild here in the city. She's an old friend of mine who is an expert in the occult and all things Prime." He handed the cube back to me just as Mire finished counting her money, and placing a stack of platinum and gold into the man's hand. The man counted the coins quickly and with a wave of his wand the tag that was clipped into the fabric of the boots and the cloak unfastened and flew into his other outstretched hand. "Thank you for your business, younglings." He smiled and dropped the coins into a bag that he summoned with the wand then sent back to whatever demiplane it had been in.

After leaving the wand shop lighter in gold but with new magic items we headed into the Emporium. The front of the shop was crowded by vendors selling elixirs, potions and tonics and the building to the left seemed to be a bustling inn, possibly a place we might rest should they have rooms. We entered the shop which itself was housed in a tall three story building of dark stone. Upon closer inspection, I recognised this as Hellstone, something that is generally only found in the Underworld. Curious. I thought to myself as we walked into the dimly lit main room. The walls of the shop were covered in both merchandise, things like hammers and even instruments, and posters and drawings of what looked like the undead and unholy. 

"Welcome," came the excited voice of a woman from the back of the rather messy store. The shelves were in various states of disarray, though nothing was overly out of place from what I could tell. Things were in place, just not order. 

"This place makes me uncomfortable, now." Mire whispered, to which I nodded in response.

"My name is Magorfica, and this is my humble shop." The shopkeeper said as the two of the rounded a final bend and came to see the elven woman who stood behind the counter. She was shorter than Mire, though her golden-tinted skin betrayed her High Elf heritage. A long braid of light brown hair was tied down the side of her head and draped over her shoulder and tipped with a clip imitating a white flower. She was an older elf, much further into adulthood than either Mire or I.

"It is quite the sight," I said, still taking in what I was seeing. The place was filled to the brim with magical oddities and items; the least of which caught my eye was a shiny crystal flute. 

"Ah, the Flute of Vitàn. You struck me as a bard." Her eyes rested on me as I examined the instrument. "That very flute was the Instrument that the hero, Vitàn played to lure the White Death out of the city of Keheath one hundred years ago."

"The White Death?" Mire questioned, the name was familiar to me, though only from the stories I've heard. 

"The White Death was an Ancient White Dragon that was defeated a generation ago by a group of adventurer's outside of Keheath. The dragon had attacked the city, keen on destroying it in search of a rival, and Vitàn and a group of adventurer's bested the beast in combat. According to the story, Vitàn played his glass flute alongside the group and it drew the dragon away from civilians and into the flat plains to the north of the city. It was there that Inyasmar was defeated by that group, saving the city from sure destruction."

"Why do you have it?" I asked. Hyhyrst was a long way from Keheath, across a desert and then the Garu'ud Sea.

"The same way that anyone ever gets anything, dear. Trade!" She smiled a wide toothy smile. "Now what do you think that flute is worth, I'm sure you could make use of it yet?"

"More than I can spend, ma'am. The gold isn't the problem either, I've just no need for a glass flute." I said, trying to get out of the store.

"Crystal, dear. Made of the bone of Crystal Dragon. You heard when I said this was the instrument of a great hero, right?"

"I did. Vitàn must have been a powerful individual to lure a dragon."

"Go ahead, dear, pick it up. You can't break the flute." Her smile told me that she was keeping something from me, though maybe I was reading into it, and she just liked to smile.

The flute was nice, I had to admit. Using the bone of a crystal dragon for anything was a brave choice, as they were difficult to procure and even more difficult to work. Nevertheless, the craftsmanship of the flute was expertly done. 

"Alright if that will get you to drop it." I said, giving in and taking the instrument into my hand. The glass was icy cold to the touch and a shock of energy passed through me, going from my fingers and racing up my arm. 

My vision narrowed and every one of my extremities felt as though they had been tied down. 

Suddenly a shape, or shadow grew before me and the room shifted around me. The walls melted into obsidian and the furniture and racks sunk into the ground, replaced by spires of black rock that nearly touched the ceiling of the now towering room. The shadow continued to grow until it filled the room and suddenly it morphed into something that I could more easily comprehend. 

When it spoke, its voice was booming and powerful, though also comforting somehow. I couldn't help but be enraptured by its every word. "Semsì'vati Sevata. Finally you stand before me."

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