Clyde had slept well after his work, his mind satisfied that he could not have done any better, and that all that was left to do was to wait. He certainly did not expect much when he awoke except to perhaps inspect the item one last time, and to check to see if it had been properly integrated. Then it would undoubtedly be sent off to whomever had commissioned it, and wanted it done.
However when he awoke he saw a somewhat surprising sight in the main work area, the slave he had taken to calling Ice was completely transformed, clean, well kept, and in and leather armor that showed clear workmanship in its crafting. Someone had spent a good miza or two to put her in such a appearance.
This made Clyde wonder about Ice, if she was perhaps more than she seemed, or if this was more of a symbolic show of wealth and power on the part of her master, to show he could if he wanted to spend funds on something most nuits would see as useless frivolities.
She seemed a person ready for battle, to spring into action of some sort or another, and was wound quite tightly at the moment.
“Clyde Sullins, my Master has deemed you will deliver your product in person. I would have transported it for you had this command not be issued shortly after completion this morning.”
Clyde looked back at the woman of the colored eyes, appraising her and her words. It was a bit odd, that after all this the person would want to meet him in person... Or had that been part of the plan to begin with? Clyde could not help himself, puzzling out possibilities and logical end results or plottings. Considering the ways of Sahova, it was all to likely one or several of these ideas were true, or close to the truth. Politics took on a new bent when you dealt in plots that lasted centuries, involving beings that could live far longer than normal men.
“You cannot know where we go after this, if you want to tie the blindfold that is fine. As for your auristics, I cannot stop you or shield you but I advise that you respect the symbol of the blindfold. Not for his safety but yours.”
Clyde pondered back at Ice, a small smile on his face, and muttered to himself for a bit, though loud enough that she might hear, going off on a random avenue of Glyphing that her words had made him think of.
“You can't stop me... I wonder if I could... Barriers or pathways upon the cloth, tricky but possible, blocking magical sight... Not too different form anti-magic but limited to vision... So less constraining... Hmm...”
After a moment Clyde would seem to recall that Ice was there, and take the offered cloth. He would allow her to tie it if she wished, since he did not see any difference it would make if he was the one to do it or if another. After all, it was only a cloth tied about his head, nothing magical.
Looking at the lab, were his Glyphs had once been, Clyde looked on with a small pained expression. It was saddening to see his Glyphs gone, to see such a powerful creation wiped clean and expunged. It would not have lasted forever, but his work was strong and it likely would have lasted for some time.
“Bellerian may meet us there, or he may not.”
“Yes, yes, very well.”
Taking the offered appendage, Clyde would let her lead him blindfolded, not using his Auristics, more for the point of he did not know who was watching and who might detect such a usage. Also Clyde had a odd sense of honor, of what he felt was wrong and right, and oddly enough this fell within what he deemed himself to keep true to.
“You recall the original order? I assume you know Bellerian and I serve Councillor Farke. He is a member of the Council of Five. Other questions can be answered later.”
Clyde in fact did not recall Bellerian, he had been so focused upon his work that he had forgotten who in fact had been mentioned as the item being commissioned for. Regardless, it was good that she mentioned his name again, as it acted as a refresher. He also vaguely knew of Farke, or of the name, but had not recalled his exact place as a member of the council until she had mentioned it.
Clearly as he had suspected there was much more at work than it would seem at face value. He wondered what this had to do with him though, and what they wanted of him. As usual he was wearing his only pair of robes, the Magecrafted pair with the Ebonstryfe symbols facing inward so that a normal pair of robes was visible. They were purposely made reversible.
He did not openly hide what he was, but nor did he reveal it. Of course simply the fact that the robes were Magecrafted might be enough to garner someones attention should they be of the ability to sense such magics.
With the robes on his body, Cha sitting in his free hand, and the medallion in his pocket, he was walking about with enchantments worth a fortune of Mizas. Of course he had been gifted the robes, and so had not had to pay for it. He however had made Cha himself, and so perhaps for that was more deeply tied to it than another user might be. And while he had made the medallion, it was not his to keep. Not that he could use it.
Clyde lost track of time and distance, however he sensed movement, and felt as the blindfold was taken off, revealing the room he was in. They were sitting in some office of sorts, with a economic design and use of furnishings. However it did seemed to be filled with various objects or trophies, books, weapons, bones, and other things he did not fully understand with a glance. However the objects were just objects, the nuit sitting in the room was the main event.
“Good Evening Iceris, Apprentice Sullins. I have been informed the requisition is complete?”
Clyde nodded, using his now free hand that had been holding Ice's grip, and taking out the medallion from his pocket. He held it up before himself at chest height, so it was visible to the nuit.
“Bellerian and Iceris were helpful I hope?”
Clyde paused before answering the question, looking at the nuit and deciding to answer it truthfully, in essence, but without much meat to it. It seemed anything else would likely put himself at odds with one or another of the people that had assisted him. He was no expert of the workings of politics of Sahova, but it seemed fairly clear that a bad word here would put him in a bad way politically with someone.
“Good evening Councilor Farke. Yes, they were useful for completing the project on time. With the required timescale, I would not have been able to complete it by when it was asked to be finished without them. And Ice certainly helped in various preparatory work to keep us on time, and so I could focus on the actual Magecrafting. I believe the item will work as the specifications required.”
This was Clyde attempt to say things nicely, while in a roundabout way of saying that he could have done it all himself if he had been given more time to complete the project. At the same time he had mentioned the additional assistance Ice had given him, forgetting her true name and calling her by the nickname he had given her, which was also true enough. He had not said anything bad about anyone, but had done his best to make his position and abilities clear.
“Though I perhaps had to increase the items intelligence a bit more than might have been expected, to account for the fact that the user of the item would not themselves be a Reimancer, and thus would need the item to act more autonomously in its casting and understanding of Reimancy. I felt it was better to ere a bit on the safe side in regards to that, but the item will be all the better and more useful for it.”
 |
