Child of Ember - Chapter 2

"As I said earlier Dolph, I'm not up for celebrations right now. I'd much rathergo someplace quiet and sedate" Katherynne replies still watching Cornelia with concern.

"I agree, wise one. Someplace quiet. I'm all right, I think - just a shock to hear the name of my city's nemesis spoken as if he were alive."

He nods, "Tasha's Exotica is such a place that a person may lose themselves, from every port, from every land is imported fine and exotic goods, their chefs are unexcelled, and their other goods attract the eye of healers and sorcerors alike."
"The Flying Fish, however if a tavern full of noise, life and color. There is a warmth there that heats more than just the body. The drinks are cheap and of good quality. And there are... other entertainments for the discriminating buyer there as well."

Dolph leads the pair through streets crowded with revelers to a quiet stone and brick building. Fully three stories tall it is one of the tallest buildings in Old Market Square. A single sign with the name written in curling letters stands before a set of stairs that lead up to the front doors.
Flanking the stairs is a pair of eternally watchful marble lions. Exquisite in detail you almost expect them to come to life as you pass between them. Dolph pats one gently as he ascends the staricase.
The doors swing wide before you revealing the foyer. To the right is the doors to a shop from which rises the scents of herbs and spices, to the left is the door to a restuarant from which more enticing smells emenate.
As you enter the restuarant you are greeted by a young woman.
"Table for three," says Dolph as she approaches.
"Certainly, right this way," She leads you to a table and brings you each a menu written in your home tounges. They specialize in getting a little of everything, and anything you can imagine can be ordered...

A bit surprised, Kat eyes the menu. Leaning forward as she takes down her black hood, her face is framed by her thick curls of black hair hiding her ears, forehead, and cheeks, so all you can see is her face, looking just as hooded as it was before removing her cloak. She takes her time, studying the menu, before ordering simple fare. She orders a bottle of rather expensive wine, and a nice easy bowl of stew, no carrots.

Cornelia searches the menu briefly, then settles for a bottle of the cheapest elven wine and some dried fruit bread. Noticing Dolph's eyes on her selection, she smiles wistfully and explains,
"My employer back home often sent his caravans to trade with the Qualinesti elves. I've got something of a taste for their fare."

The young lady returns in short order, "Good evening Mr. Lithenstien, have you decided what you want to order?" Dolph smiles and lets the ladies order theirs before ordering his, a large plate of beef stroganof (sp) some cheese, bread (enough for all) and...
"The ladies seem to have a taste for elven wine, perhaps you still have that bottle of Sithican Black?" he asks with an arched eyebrow.
"But of course!" she says writing it all down. "Shall I credit it to your account?"
He smiles widely, "Splendid idea. Also tell Tasha that after diner I shall be up to conduct some bussiness."
She nods, and, taking the menus disappears into the back.

The three of you sit in silence, waiting. Your minds are elsewhere, far from here. Outside the fesivle is loud but here behind the stone walls the sound is faint, muffled. Within these walls there is a sense of serenity that you have found lacking in recent days.
"It will be a few minutes before they arrive with the food, if you would care to browse around, it might help take your mind off recent troubles. Perhaps you may even find mementos of your home lands? Tasha does extensive trade, occasionally even beyond the misty veil."

Cornelia declines the offer with a slight shake of her head . . . still trying to get her bearings in this strange land, she prefers to watch the people passing by for any who might be from her own homeland.

Looking around at what she can see, Katherynne declines gently with a shake of her head and merely awaits her drink and dinner with a slight smile.
"If it is so easy to obtain items from other worlds" she asks rather tactlessly "why is it then so difficult for people to get home from here?

"That i do not know, though i suppose it is like trying to swimm up river. The flow carries you onward and no matter how hard you struggle you always end farther down stream than where you started," he says politely. "I have never been beyond the misty veil of our world, and the only ones that can are the Vistani, and only the elders among them hold that knowledge." He shakes his head sadly, "I fear there is little I know that can truly help you, and for that I am sorry."
"As for how Tasha aquires her goods? She is very resourceful. Often she deals with travelers from other lands. She pays, and well, for rare and exotic goods. Indeed this night I need transact some bussiness with her, but that can wait. Our Meal has arrived," He says as the waitress approaches with a heaping tray of food.
The food is excellect, the wine both tart and sweet, and quite unique. Dolph eats hungrily, as do you all. After he finishes he will excuse himself to head upstairs to speak with Tasha, should either of you be finished you will be welcome to join him.

Eating rather quickly, but savoring her wine slowly, Kat quietly studies her companions and their mannerisms. When Dolph rises to go upstairs, Kat stands as well. "Coming Cornelia?" she asks with a smile in her voice and on her face.

"Of course, wise one," Cornelia replies, standing with her hand on her sword hilt and moving slightly in front of her mistress as they move up the stairs.

You walk to the foyer, and down a hall opposite of the door to the street till you come to a staircase that spirals up. Made of black marble it rises from the floor with no obvious sings of support. Handrails of softly polished brass accents the rise up to the second floor where you are greeted by a skeleton hanging on a peg in the wall. A tendril of thorny rose vine snakes about its form, and its hands are nailed to the wall. Empty eye sockets regard you from a head bowed by its own weight. A circlet of thorns sits like a crown upon its brow.
Above it, in simple lettering a sign reads a clear warning, "Our last shoplifter."

Kat skirts around the skeletal figure as they enter, eyeing it with obvious distaste, and keeping as far from it as possible without bumping into her companions.

Maybe it is just a tired mind, and you have been under a lot of stress, but you could swear it was watching you as you entered...!

Cornelia, keeping her hands well away from anything in the room, moves slowly among the glass cases, admiring some of the more spectacular pieces of weaponry. She peers closely at any axes, in particular, passing over ostentatiously-decorated examples but examining finely-made, functional weapons with a keen eye. Nothing she sees seems to satisfy her, though, and she turns her attention to the room in general and to the woman, presumably Tasha, behind the counter. Though relaxed, the skeleton on the wall outside has obviously made her wary enough that she keeps her hands close to her weapons at all times.

From a pouch at his side, Dolph pulls a large object of sculpted glass. Shaped like a crouching spider, its long blade like legs are tucked beneath it, and within its bulbous body a thick purplish-black fluid sloshes like thick syrup.
Carefully taking it in her hands, Tahsa examines it.
Kat is close enough to notice that within its body are small, fine gears of crystal or glass.
"Interesting," she says as she strokes a finger down the body, obviously admiring the craftsmanship and detail. "An automaton?"
"Yes. It is called the Assassin of Gilcraft. It is activated by pressing like so," he says taking it gently from her hands and pressing a precise spot behind the head. Like a thing awakened it springs to life, turning to reguard Dolph as though patiently awaiting instructions...

At the word "assassin," Cornelia turns slowly on her heel and places her hand on the axe at her side. Surveying Dolph carefully, she flicks her eyes towards Kat and back to the two at the counter.

When Dolph pulls out the robot, Kat can't help but be curious, never having seen one before and watches it intently as he places it on the counter and activates it. But like Cornelia, when the word assassin leaves his lips, she also steps back and eyes the spider, as well as Dolph with uncertainty.

"Interesting" Tasha says examining the spider from a safe distance.
"Dangerous as well,"says Dolph. "There were three of us exploring the ruins In Keening, that is when we came across this. I was the only one to make it out, because..." he clears his throat, "...well you know. So how much do you think it is worth?"
Tasha gives him a small predatory grin, "Worth? Or worth to me? I can pay you 1000, 200 in cash, the rest in store credit."
"Don't you want me to tell you more about it?" Dolph asks, somewhat surprised.
"Dolph, where is the fun in that. Would you deprive an old woman one of the few pleasures she has left in her receeding years? You know i love a good mystery." She favors him with a smile, "Besides, what could you tell me that i couldn't learn myself... and more?"
Dolph agrees, and taking the money he gets a credit voucher from Tasha and prepares to leave.

Cornelia relaxes and waits by the door, but her eyes still fix on Dolph troubledly.

Stopping to smell the perfume, but unable to find a fragrance she enjoys, Kat tries to be nonchalant. "So anyway Dolph...I'm interested in hearing about this spider thingy you just sold, even if that woman wasnt" she says, picking through the spell components to see if there is anything she needs at hand.

"I found it in the tower of a sorceror in a city where the dead walk, and no living thing stirs," he says as he scoups some salt into a bag and sets it onto a scale. "At the base of a mountain where the banshee lives, searching in vain for her lost child."
"It was designed to hunt and slay for its wicked master, its body is glass, as you saw. It was carved in nether caverns where light is a myth and the elves of darkness live," he measures out a quantity of pepper, the scent nearly causing you to sneeze.
"We had stumbled apon it, not realizing that it was no mere treasure. Packed away and forgotten, it struck the first of us while we slept, biting Ria as she slept. Bristlestone was next his dying wails enough to rouse me and give me time to stop it." He has taken some sprigs of monkshood and mandrake and put them into a pouch.
"As for Tasha? There are no hands better for an accursed thing like that. If any are capable of handling such a creature it is her. She has gathered quite a collection of... oddities." He shows his voucher to the clerk who writes the new sum on it.

"That's awful!" Katherynne replies when Dolph mentions his friends deaths. "However did you stop it?" she continues to ask, while looking at various spell components she might need for future spells, she starts tallying the price of getting enough components for 2 more castings per spell.

"A magical tuning fork that causes glass to shatter when it is struck. It caused it to go dormant while it healed itself."

"Well that was certainly ingenious of you" Kat says with a smile. "I'm happy you made it out anyway. You've been a wonderful help to me!" she concludes recalling her recent troubles. Turning her attention to the woman she has pledged to aid she asks "Is there anything you see that you might need or want Cornelia?"

Cornelia smiles and shakes her head. "Thank you, wise one, but no, I'm still well-supplied. The only thing I really want is to know what our plans are for the immediate future."

"My plans are to return home, I cannot speak for anyone else, though I have room and to spare." Says Dolph.

"Well Cornelia" Kay responds to the warrior "Rest would be a good thing I believe. What say you? Do you find any fault in accompanying Dolph for some much deserved sleep?"

Cornelia smiles and shakes her head. "I can't raise any objection to that plan, wise one. Thank you, Dolph, for your kind offer."

With that you step into the crowded street. Awash in an ocean of people, you make your way toward less crowded sections near the river.
"I must warn you, I live in a pretty dangerous area of town. Much of it is abandoned," he says to you as you walk. "Still it is not with out its charm. There is a great view of the river, and the city as well. A well stocked library, and a stuffed pantry..." he stops to allow a cart to trundle by.
Carved and gilt the carriage bears the unmistakeable sign of nobility. The coat of arms upon its side is finely carved, depicting a rat headed man with a sword fending off a large hawk.
Dolph tells them that that carriage is owned by a noble family called Ste.Ronges, of which a city in the distance is named. They are one of the most influential families in all of Richmulot.
You travel on till again Dolph stops, this time in front of an inn. Outside people have gathered pointing to one of the windows, where flickers a bright orange light ond roiling darkness. The window shatters, sending down a rain of splintered glass into the crowd of onlookers, and smoke and flame billow forth in black, panting gusts.
Dolph is gone from your side, climbing hand over hand up the brick exterior of the inn. You stand there for a moment frozen into inaction. There are wails of suffering from the crowd, almost swallowed by the roar of the fire...