Noble Arcana

When you’re scum in Drakthiss you have very few options. You can be a criminal and die here to the guard leaving a disappointed family behind. Or you can go be scum in a foreign land and be called a hero for it.

Lenn Braun, Chief of the Explorer’s Guild

A short carriage ride took them to the Explorer’s Guild. The guild had been an institution within Drakthiss since even before the Union had been formed. Originally it had been made up of men and women who hunted dark spirits and monsters for coin and glory. Over time though, as threats within Drakthiss had been quelled, they turned their attention outward. Now they sent men and women to the frontier to have them explore unknown regions. At least that’s how they recruited. In truth they owned tremendous economic interests in a number of regions and had created small fiefs for themselves to rule outside of the Empire’s jurisdiction. Their recruits were often more mercenaries than explorers, and Drakthiss turned a blind eye to their activities as the information they provided was invaluable and they were useful at softening up those areas Drakthiss was eager to seize. Solomon’s brother Vaughn had been interested in joining them before their father had convinced him to take on a military commission instead.

Melissa let him out of the carriage and he took in the building. It was small, as the bookseller had told him, but that wasn’t unexpected. Etling was on the outer perimeter of Drakthiss, but nowhere near anything that could be called the frontier. There were posters of Lenn Braun, their Guildmaster, reaching out toward the viewer with a world held in his hands plastered all along the outside. The text on them read, “Take the World”. It was a grand sentiment considering how many young men and women were likely to die of dysentery on their way.

Solomon walked through the front door and swept his eyes around. He heard the sounds of conversation immediately cease as he entered and seven eyes swept toward him. The people within were rough looking, wearing their shirts and coats open, scars visible across their bodies. An older woman with an eyepatch and long gray hair looked him up and down.

“You’re a little scrawny to be a recruit,” she said with a surprisingly high and pretty voice.

“And a bit well dressed for it too,” said a weasel faced man wearing all black.

“I’m not here to join anything. I’m looking for books on translation, and was told by the bookseller up the street that you may be able to help me.”

“What’re you looking to translate? I can help for the right price,” said a bookish looking man with a curved dagger stabbed into the table in front of him.

“I appreciate the offer, but my desire is to learn new languages, not to simply have them explained to me.” He paused as he looked around the grim surroundings. “I’d also be interested in any unique books you may have in general. Objects you’ve found in your travels. Things like that.”

The woman with the eyepatch snorted. “We don’t just sell what we’ve got. The objects here don’t belong to us. They belong to the Guild.”

One of the men was staring at him unblinking. The force of his stare was so strong that Solomon found himself looking back at him. The man’s eyes seemed a bit too large, and he was shorter than the others. His ears were long and one had a sharp point to it while the other seemed to have had the tip cut from it. His hair was short, but fine and seemed to be dark blue in color.

He was an elf. That surprised Solomon. He’d seen a few in Drakthiss, but they were rare. After Drakthiss had cut down their forests and driven them out, most had fled to the far isles. Very few had chosen to live within a nation that had killed them. Those that did had incredibly varied experiences. Elven women were prized in brothels and many found them in service of houses that appreciated their aesthetics as butlers and maids. Others joined the military, their heightened senses making them fantastic scouts, and he imagined those skills played an important role in working for the Explorer’s Guild as well.

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The elf looked away from him finally and began talking to the others in hushed tones. Solomon could make out only a few words.

“...inventory..”

“...never…”

“...looks rich…”

“...booze and whores…”

“Alright fine One Point, you crazy bastard.” The woman with the eyepatch leaned back and fixed her eye on Solomon. “Come with me. We ain’t doing this kind of business out front.”

Solomon nodded and watched the woman stand up. In spite of her old age the arms of her jacket were well filled with muscle and her back was broad. Had her posture not had her hunched over she likely would be nearly his height. He wasn’t too surprised by that. It took a strong woman to compete with the men of the Explorer’s Guild. They weren’t allowed in the military, but the guild had no such compunctions.

Melissa followed him close behind. She didn’t express any surprise or raise any concerns, simply playing the part of the quiet and attentive valet. Solomon hadn’t expected her to have any questions. She’d already participated in his meeting with Vantus all those weeks ago without issue, but he was still impressed by her dedication to her role.

They went behind some sealed doors into a dusty and unkempt room. Solomon could see a few items glowing faintly with mana, but resisted looking directly at them. Only seeing a sword on the wall in his peripheral with the rest of the items seemingly being sealed in various boxes. At the far end of the room was a bookshelf filled with leatherbound tomes covered in dust and filled with yellowed pages. Some seemed to be logs or accounts of explorations, but one corner seemed to be more academic in nature.

“We’ve got a few tomes that detail other languages. Elvish and orcish, of course, though if you want to pretend to be an orc it’d be easier to shove a pissed off cat down your trousers and try to keep your hollering in a low tone. There’s also one here for giant, one for Untoss, and two for regional dialects of birdfolk.”

Solomon nodded along as she spoke, his eyes looking both at the dictionaries as well as the other items on the wall. He noted one in particular, “Beasts, Gods, and Spirits of the Continents”.

“I’ll take all of them along with the elvish and orcish dictionary. And I’d like that one as well,” he said pointing to the book he’d noted.

She frowned. “That’s a big chunk… easy to notice that they’re missing.”

“Probably worth some gold then, rather than silver, you’d say?”

The woman’s eyes lit up. “Yes. I would say that’s fair.”

“Twenty, and you forget I was ever here. Deal?”

She smiled widely, revealing several missing teeth.

“For that money I’ll carry the books to your carriage for you and give you the lay of your life as well.”

“I’ll just take the books themselves, thank you.”

She shrugged. “Your loss.” She reached up to the shelf and plucked each of the books from the shelf to place in a small crate, kicking up enough dust that Melissa sneezed.

After they had them Solomon handed her the gold, it was entirely his winnings from gambling the previous night, and handed the crate to Melissa to carry. They then walked out of the Explorer’s Guild hall and back to the carriage. Solomon could feel the elf’s eyes on him the entire time they walked out.

Once the books were loaded back in the carriage Solomon let out a long breath. He’d engaged in more criminal activity in the last two days than he ever had in his previous life. Of course his mana and spellcasting was illegal, but that wasn’t quite the same thing. He felt he’d handled it well though. He hadn’t given out his name and to them he likely appeared to simply be an eccentric noble looking for something to do. He wanted to immediately crack open the crate they gave him to see if any of the languages they’d found dictionaries matched with books he’d seen in the repository, but he needed to be patient. There was no rush, and he still had a ball to prepare for.

Duncan took the carriage back to the Viscounts estate and they left the crate of books within it, though Solomon kept the elvish and orcish dictionaries for study. He had a light lunch prepared by the Viscount’s staff, and worked with Melissa to choose an outfit for the ball before he took some time to read and focus his mind for the questions he’d need to be prepared to answer. He presumed they’d primarily be about how he’d defended Moonfallow or what had attacked him in the woods. He’d rather focus on bringing economic opportunities back, but as this was a ball and not a meeting he knew he needed to be prepared to be charming. He let out a long exhale. He felt in that moment like he’d rather confront the Lord of the Black Wood than do that.