38 – Side quest progress

Semiluminal.

The city at the Edge, they called it. Once upon a time, nobody knows for sure when, beside that it was a long time ago and now faded from memory, a great tremor shook the earth. The ground opened as it shook, ripping itself apart and collapsing into what now is a great chasm leading into a deep, black void that spanned entire kilometers, and that was several hundred meters wide. The void concealed everything in its depths, and no bottom had been found in the chasm. All that was known was that there were treasures there to be found, and thus above it a city grew full of miners and treasure hunters willing to brave the dangers of the depths. The city was strange in its shape, quaint, and anyone who looked at it from afar for the first time had the same thought: half of the city was missing, swallowed into the chasm when the earth shattered and never to be seen again. They were all wrong, for it is known that Semiluminal was built after the cataclysm thanks to the riches it revealed, and the city had never seen damage or war or devastation thanks to its towering defensive walls.

The walls drew a semicircle, ending right where the steep slopes of the rift began. There were houses built on the edge, where the city ended and the deep fall began, and they were the houses of the rich and the powerful presences that dwelled in this outpost town, rich beyond measure: the houses of the nobility. From there the wealthy denizens looked into the distance and to the city below, for that part of the town had been artificially raised so that it sat above everything else.

The caravan arrived in the late afternoon, crossing the mighty gates without delay. Taiival was quick to get to business, unloading the many barrels of products imported from the now destroyed Obscuria into the back of the store he rented for the week, and even offered to pay Ishrin and his team if they helped him out. Ishrin was about to accept but then he remembered what sorts of goods the merchant was transporting and felt uneasy in the stomach at the idea of handling that stuff. Taiival didn’t seem to mind, and he was still particularly friendly towards Ishrin after him and his party saved the caravan from the bandits in the plains so swiftly and effectively. Ishrin made use of this window of time to ask Taiival about the bracers.

“Say, we are looking for something called the Bracers of Tiamat Azur. Ever heard of them?” Ishrin said.

“Mm,” the merchant mumbled, stroking the stubble on his chin. It was going to be gone by tomorrow when he opened shop, but during the trip across the countryside Taiival didn’t need to shave as often. “I can’t say I have, no.”

Ishrin sighed. Why wasn’t Melina doing this? Oh, right, he thought. The special payment. He almost sighed but managed to catch himself before it was too late.

“Is there any chance you might know someone, who maybe knows someone, who knows someone? At the end of the chain the last person must know about the bracers, of course. I can pay you… handsomely.”

The merchant’s eyes lit. “But of course. I could call in some favors, perhaps. What is this payment you have thought of?”

“Well,” Ishrin began, trying to put on his salesman hat. “Not petty gold, of course. I have something more exotic for you here.”

A small ornate box appeared in his right hand, behind his back, and when he brought it in front of him and opened his fingers it was like the trick of a magician. Of course it was no such trick, just a covert use of his inventory. And the box, he thought with a mental snicker, was from the secret stash he found in Lucius’ mansion, so he was basically paying the merchant with his boss’ stuff. Former boss. He was dead now.

Taiival eyed the box, and his eyes seemed to lick all over it, to open it and disassemble it without touching it.

“What’s inside of it?” he asked, unable to contain his greed.

“It’s a product, let’s call it. A nootropic. If used together with pixie dust, it can quite literally open your mind. To new experiences and enlightenment.”

The merchant’s eyes narrowed. “Enlightenment.”

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“Let me be straight, then.” Ishrin said quickly, not wanting to do this the hard way. “It makes you gain a whole Tier of power.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Taiival thought about it for a second. Or at least pretended to. Ishrin looked at him expectantly. Their eyes met, but the merchant was the better of the two at this game, and his face betrayed nothing. Then he offered his hand, and Ishrin took it.

“Well, well. That’s quite enough for me to cash in my favors! It’s been a pleasure!”

His hand went for the box, but Ishrin quickly pulled it away and made it disappear in his inventory. Taiival didn’t see the inventory and reacted like a dog who had been denied a treat, still salivating.

“After you give us the contact.” Ishrin said.

Taiival smirked. “But of course. You are a natural at this, aren’t you?”

Ishrin shook his head, not letting the merchant’s honeyed words get to him. He knew he was bad at deceit, he was too straightforward, but after showing the merchant the might of Tier 11 and beyond against the bandits, he knew he could sound credible. Taiival had believed his sales pitch, and the deal was done. It was as simple as figuring out what the merchant really wanted and in any case even if he didn’t know, Ishrin thought, a sure way to get to someone is to promise them personal power.

There was another benefit to this transaction, and it was the sole reason why Ishrin had spent so much time enchanting and Rune Inscribing the small root that was inside the box. It was a way he could prove whether the merchant was aware of what he was selling: the pixie dust the Lucius horrendously harvested from the slaughter of hundreds of innocent denizens of the elemental realm. The pixies couldn’t die, of course, but that made it worse. Like endless torture.

The party didn’t have to wait long before Taiival got in touch with them, having found someone who was willing to share information with them, and by noon of the next day they were walking down the main street of Semiluminal apparently all the way to the Edge of the city, where lonely stood a great white palace. As they got close to it, the city slowly shifted from a normal nameless town, where people were either farmers or miners who ventured down what was called the Obscure to harvest its precious minerals and gems, into a rich and flourishing seat of power.

The streets were clean and lined with plants, and the sound of rushing water guided the eyes to the hanging gardens. The houses were all of white and gold, made of marble and thick slabs of white stone embellished with gems and reliefs, and the trees that stood at the sides of the central walkway between the two canals were rich of flowers despite the season. In spite of it being late fall, in fact, here the air was warm and rich.

To the sides small roads let to narrow avenues and sloping alleys, and when one peered through and ventured a few paces inside they revealed their hidden vistas of calm rivers and trees and vines. The walls in the distance were like great giants of stone, guards that hid the horizon from the eye. Other narrow sights didn’t feature the walls, for they faced towards the chasm, and the horizon was clear and distant.