Looking for an Inn (Open)

[Fallan Windchaser]

It seemed that his drinking companion was an ambitious man, and Fallan reflected that it wasn't to be a surprise. He'd been the man who, unlike the others had approached a stranger in the street when others had simply walked past avoiding his gaze.

"Magecraft?" He spoke with raised eyebrows though perhaps it was more common here with the university, still he could have spent the entirety of the last winter without coming across someone with a knowledge of magecraft, still though he was distracted by tales of the grass sea.

"Well," he chuckled, "it's not so hard to move tents and since we don't have paved streets and we have horses so it makes more sense to move the city than to keep it in one place, and anyway, isn't it more fun that way?" He winked at the man and took another sip from the beer which he now cradled in his hands.

"Magecraft, now that is a wealthy craft as I understand it, not that I know much about that sort of thing for I am but a simple rider who has enough trouble staying on top of my horse to worry about that sort of thing. Is that how you intend to finance your way? Travelling is all about spending money because you will be away from all your normal sources of both earning money and also of ways of living cheaply."

[Hadrian]

"The Drykas way works for the Drykas, but they... well, you," he smiled, "developed it over millennia with the help of several gods. I'm glad they don't try to haul the library archives around the Sylira region. They aren't hardy enough o survive that kind of life. But that's another reason to travel: to meet different kinds of people and learn the wisdom of every path."

He considered his answer to the financial question, rubbing his temple absently and trying not to react poorly. Usually it was his father who posed this question, and it inevitably led to an argument.

"I hope to receive several commissions upon graduation, and use that money to finance my migrations. I'll just set up shop wherever I go, sort of like a Drykas," here he smiled conspiratorially again, drawing Fallan into his devious plans, "and take commissions while learning from the local wise men and women. So I will be self-sufficient, but most of my capital will be re-invested in furthering my education. Until I decide where I might want to stay long-term, and then I will take commissions and use them to fund my own facilities."

Obviously, at least to those outside his family circle, Hadrian had inherited more of his father's business sense than met the eye. He had "a plan."

"Of course, it will be a long haul. And I have to build up the initial capital to afford to leave Zeltiva with everything I need to do my work wherever I go."

[Fallan Windchaser]

That his drinking companion had thought his plan of action through was becoming clearer by the moment and it raised a good deal of curiosity as to what that plan might entail.

That his mouth now tasted as though something vile had crawled in and died, the previous season at that, didn't bother him as much as it had done anymore and the fire in his throat now warmed him nicely. He was hardly drunk but even so the spirit served to relax his inhibitions more than a little and in any case he was always curious to know how others spent their money and what the might be interested in.

"Sounds like you have a good idea of what you will be doing, but you'll forgive me if I ask what sort of commissions you might be looking for? I know very little about magecraft, in fact to be honest I know very little about it at all except the name." He wondered what the reference to facilities might mean and how Hadrian might manage without them.

[Hadrian]

"Well," he said, taking a sip of his kelp beer. The taste no longer bothered him, but he would be brushing his teeth immediately upon arriving home. It didn't get better for marinating in his mouth overnight. "For example, I can make your blade unbreakable... or practically unbreakable. Any tool, armor, or weapon I can make stronger and more durable, and amulets with functions... Almost any magic can be stored in an object. That's what I do. But the range of function can go from simply keeping your blade sharper to Areesa Tallshade's Anvil of Souls. It was blessed by Lhex and with it you can remove a soul from the cycle of reincarnation... At least, that's what they say. It's missing now."

The quietly growing fervor in his voice made it clear he hoped to be the next magical artisan extraordinaire within his lifetime. He was young, so it was anyone's guess if it would happen.

"Zeltiva might actually not be the best place to start because... well, there's Professor Stonemiller. There aren't very many artisans in our field, so I could corner the market somewhere else... And I think the commissions would differ wherever I went. The only place I want to avoid until I'm able to defend myself better is Ravok... I could learn a lot there, but I'd be nervous someone would try to enslave me to build some great death star of doom or something."

Then, the beer making him a tad relaxed, he smiled at Fallan and relaxed his eyes, letting detail blur just a bit. That helped him focus on things that were invisible to most. He couldn't read much in auras yet, must to his dismay, so he practiced his meager talent as often as possible, peeking at the patterns of colors around people he met. It made him feel like he knew them better, mostly on an intuitive level.

Ah, there it was: Fallan's aura.

[Fallan Windchaser]

The implications of what the man was telling him were not lost upon the horseman and yet he knew instinctively it could not be as unlimited as his first assumptions would lead him to believe it to be.

He nodded and raised his eyebrows as he sipped again at the beer before setting it back on the table. One thing the trader knew was that everything was a bargain of some sort, nothing worth having was ever free, even if the price were not in coin, not even the love in tales.

But neither was news free either, which was why after all they were now sitting in this inn sampling the rather dubious wares it had on offer. "That sounds rather impressive," he replied at length but with a smile, "it sounds to me a rather overwhelming magic, one which could easily accrue its wielder great power and fortune, so you just waggle your fingers over a sword," he demonstrated with his own fingers, "and then it's unbreakable? It makes me wonder why there are not more people seeking to learn it."

[Hadrian]

"It's not so simple as that," he admitted, smiling and working on maintaining a 'normal' face while looking at ephemeral things.

"It's an expensive field, and time-consuming, but I'm getting better, which reduces the time required. And if I stay in Zeltiva, I can probably use the University laboratories for my work so long as I teach a class or assist a professor... There are benefits to academia, and just because I've graduated doesn't mean I'll be ready to go out on my own. A lot of it is theoretical, too, you see. I come up with ideas and designs all the time, but sometimes the coin and effort that would go into something aren't worth what it will do for you... So in some ways it's a luxury among luxuries.

"For example, to make your sword stronger or sharper, well, I could probably do that in three days for a thousand gold nilos. To make it nigh unbreakable, well, I would have to repeat the process several times like a blacksmith folding a sword over and over to strengthen it, or go into more structural... well, it gets complicated. And sometimes the high cost only covers materials, so I would have to charge more in order to live and to save up for a laboratory of my own..."

[Fallan Windchaser]

Some of what Hadrian said went straight over the horsemans head but the gist of it was clear for it seemed that there were limitations to the craft which meant a good deal of time and money were necessary in order to proceed.

"Ah, I think I see what you mean," he replied with a thoughtful nod and indeed he did because otherwise the craft was just too useful and too easy for it not to have become the answer to everything. From swords to bridges, if all things could be made without need of particular craft or materials so that a wooden sword made by a child could be given the attributes which made it better than the best sword made by the best swordsmith then everyone would be out of a job. Except the mages.

But his curiosity was still far from satisfied, a professional curiosity in this case. "Materials though? How does that work?" His own closest knowledge of these arts was of course the webbing which snaked across the sea of grass and had no particular need of much else than the will of the person to make it happen. "Why would it be expensive in anything other than time? As I say, I'm a simple horseman but what I've seen and heard of such things has never included anything which would make such a craft expensive in anything other than time."

[Hadrian]

"Well," he said, taking another sip of kelp beer to wet his whistle. He was doing an awful lot of talking. "The more you fiddle with something magically, the more you're opening it up to destabilization, and so the truly useful pieces require some expensive reagents to stabilize them: metagold, infinitite, obsidian pearls. Those are all quite rare and expensive. I haven't worked with them yet."

Yet.

"So you should definitely tell stories about the great artisan Hadrian Aelius in your travels, and how he crafts the greatest magical creations."

He grinned, already working on a public relations strategy for the future.

[Fallan Windchaser]

Fallans eyes narrowed as he listened. Reagents? Again he didn't really understand what it was that Hadrian meant, but then that wasn't so important, what was important was this man who sat so comfortably in front of him had the potential to make Fallan very rich indeed. Not as rich as Hadrian perhaps, but Fallan had limited use for wealth in any case; some was useful but too much was pointless.

"They sound expensive indeed," he commented, for indeed they must be if Hadrian had not yet had the chance to work with them. Clearly they were reserved for more senior or experienced mages and that only reinforced the expensive nature of the items. Calculations started to run in his mind as to how to turn this to his advantage.

He had however no hesitation in grinning back. "Have no fear, I think I can see some mutually profitable activities in our future. A man like yourself should be concentrating on expanding your skills to dazzle those future customers and leaving the nitty gritty of where to source materials to those like myself who specialise in it. And of course the more people with an eye to where you can make sales the better."

"So tell me, what sort of things are you able to offer here and now if we could find a customer and what would you need in order to make it happen?"

[Hadrian]

"To be honest, I think most of my work at the beginning will be boring stuff. I mean, not boring, but repetitive and simple. If I were in Syliras, I would probably offer my skills to the Knights, strengthening their arms and armor so they can better fight monsters and brigands and the like. It would be steady work and income, and it wouldn't require major investment in catalyst reagents... The really imaginative work will have to wait until I have some extremely wealthy customers. Perhaps the guards here might want something similar, or charms for the fishermen to call fish to their nets, which would help prevent the next food shortage... Or if I can figure out how to duplicate a Stormgem without needing Zulrav's gnosis..."