Noble Arcana

Weigh the ores and count the stones,

Move the carts and load them full,

We crave gold deep in our bones,

And in our hearts we feel the pull.

Dwarven mining song

The rest of that day and the next passed without incident. The guard continued to watch the manor and he kept his business strictly between the church, the guard, and the manor in order to limit the number of places he could get ambushed. They also re-sent their request for support from Etling. Solomon had a feeling that the reason no help had been sent so far may have something to do with the Viscount trying to ensure he had as few eyes on him as possible.

In the meantime he focused on restoring his mana and translating more of his uncle’s journal. Unfortunately his great uncle seemed to be at a standstill at that point of his journey to magic. Having clandestine meetings with the unnamed and comparing notes on ways to acquire magic and what they knew so far. Nothing useful to Solomon in the moment. He also had to keep his trips to the study short, focusing only on gathering blood and monitoring his next batch of homunculi. He didn’t want to risk visiting the repository when inquisitor Song could stop by at any moment.

The following morning Solomon donned a thick hunting coat and had a hearty breakfast before heading to the atrium where he found Yarrow waiting for him.

“Lord, would you please reconsider your plan to travel to the old mine and logging sites? We still haven’t caught the man that’s been attacking you.”

Solomon shook his head. “I can’t simply hide away until you find him. If you wish to get additional guards to join us then that would be acceptable.” In truth he was more worried for the guards than himself.

Yarrow frowned and shook his head. “No. More guards might just lead to confusion in the woods if there is an attack. Instead we’ll send patrols ahead and behind us to see if they can see any signs of potential ambush or reinforce us if needed.”

Solomon nodded, it seemed a sensible enough idea, though he imagined if all of those guards were simply bunched around him they would likely be safer. Melissa was waiting at the carriage with a stoic expression and opened the carriage door as he exited the manor. He’d insisted that she stay behind. She nearly argued with him about it, before calming herself.

“Good luck, Solomon,” she said as he stepped into the carriage.

“Thank you. Please check on Barnabus while I’m gone and make sure he’s met with doctor Isaacs. I’m concerned he’s avoiding it.”

She nodded and closed the door.

Solomon waited until the guard was ready to follow in their own wagon before giving the window two taps for Duncan to get moving.

The Black Wood had felt different to Solomon since he’d killed its lord. The shadows didn’t seem quite as dark and the path felt less treacherous. Solomon walked confidently with the guard around him. The main path branched off into multiple side trails, but for the most part one could follow that path straight to the mine with only a few detours. Their first stop was at an old logging camp where he found Lockwood Logging’s representative, Jules Tan and all of his men examining a piece of wood they’d cut in half.

Solomon approached and Jule’s slightly pointed ear actually seemed to twitch before he turned to look at him.

“Lord Morrow,” he said, bowing. “We weren’t sure if you’d make the trip.”

“I have nothing to be concerned about with the Moonfallow guard’s protection,” he lied, seeing the men puff their chests out a bit. “How have you found the woods here?” he asked.

“The quality is excellent. Exactly as you’d described. The logging buildings themselves would mostly need to be torn down, but most of the young growth near them is easy to clear, so they should work well.”

“That’s good to hear. You have no other concerns with it?”

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Jules hesitated for a moment, “No, lord.”

Solomon saw that at the man’s words a few of the men behind him exchanged glances.

“Are you certain?” he asked.

Jules’s expression grew a bit pained. “The color of the wood, lord. Most elfwood is lighter in color. Because of that we mostly look for wood in a similar color as that’s still the style. Lighter wood can be stained darker, but wood as dark as this is different… it may lead to a lower offer than you have been expecting.”

Solomon frowned. Not only at the idea of a harsher bargain from Lockwood Logging, but also at the fact that the man would tell him so bluntly about it and seem so disappointed to tell him. Typically a businessman would play things closer to the chest rather than spelling it all out so plainly.

“Hmmm, I appreciate your candor. I’ll leave you to your work, I have a number of other sites to visit.”

Jules nodded, nearly bowing he nodded so deeply, and returned his attention to his men who were wearing mildly confused expressions.

Solomon walked back to the main path, meeting with the men of Kynd extractions. They gave a similar report as to the quality of the wood and the necessary infrastructure changes, but otherwise said nothing. That was more in line with what he’d expected from them.

After that he walked with the guards to the mine. He passed by a small patch of dried blood on a stone, recognizing it as being Colm’s from when the late mayor had attacked them. He moved toward where he saw Derry of Iron Pick and Ben Marlow of the Drakthiss Mining Consortium having an argument.

“-no reason to use those here! We can simply dig around and look at the previous work to see what’s possible.”

“No balls! You men in the consortium have no balls at all! How can you tell how much value is within if you’re unwilling to actually break a few stones!”

Solomon approached curiously with an eyebrow raised, projecting his voice as he’d been taught to speak easily over the two of them.

“Gentlemen. Is there some kind of issue?”

“Lord Morrow,” said Ben, bowing quickly. “This man wishes to use explosives in order to reopen the tunnel into the mine!”

“How in the Herald’s name can we really know what’s here without it?” asked Derry.

“By digging! We’ve already found the traces of several manarite veins. Enough to provide a report to our companies. If you blow the entrance it could cause instability all throughout.”

“We’re going to have to use them eventually based on the mine’s previous output. Why not do it now and get a clearer picture?”

Solomon tapped his fingers against the head of his cane.

“You won’t be blowing the mine,” he said simply.

Derry looked at him with disappointment, and Ben looked at Derry with contempt.

“It does sound like it would give you a clearer picture, but I can’t allow it. From what I understand many men were buried when the entrance collapsed. If you blow it, you risk disturbing their remains. I have to insist that you find another way until any remains can be collected and interred properly.” He paused. “The people here still remember the family they lost in the accident, if you don’t treat them respectfully it will make it hard for any of them to work here.” He also didn’t want to cause some kind of haunting. He’d begun reading through Beasts, Gods, and Spirits of the Continent, which he’d purchased from the Explorer’s Guild, and disturbing bodies without properly interring them was an easy method of bringing about ghosts.

Derry’s expression softened. “Ah, that’s a fair point.” He turned around to his men who had been moving barrels closer to the entrance of the mine. “Cut it boys and grab your pickaxes. We’re going to be doing some digging instead!”

There were a few groans, but they did as they were told.

“Explosions aside, what do you think?”

“It’s viable,” answered Ben. “But just how viable it is can’t be fully understood yet.”

“I’d say it’s damned viable,” responded Derry. “And the manarite itself is very pure. Almost as rich as the stuff being shipped over from Manacht.”

Solomon nodded, Manacht was the land of the Untoss, four armed men with purple skin. Their lands were in dispute between the Orcs and Drakthiss. They themselves had lost all claim due to their lack of strength in arms. Vaughn was stationed at one of the colonies in Manacht.

“Thank you for the update gentlemen… in the future if there are any plans to blow things up within my lands, I would appreciate it if I’m one of the first to be informed.”

With that he turned and he began the walk back out of the Black Wood. His legs were sore from all the walking and he was more than ready to sit in a cushioned chair and continue brushing up on his orcish and elvish.

As the light at the edge of the woods came into view he saw something glinting in the light as it flew toward the air toward them, a flame glowing at the tip of it.

Yarrow pushed him out of the way as the bottle landed and shattered, flames quickly spreading across the man as he screamed.

The other guards tried to put out the flames while one of them looked for where the bottle had been thrown from.

While they were distracted, Solomon curled the fingers in his right hand around until he made a fist, channeling his mana through it as he did so to cast flame stop.

The flames that had consumed Yarrow were extinguished instantly.

Solomon reached into his pocket, sending mana through a gold coin as he saw movement in the woods ahead, but hesitated, gritting his teeth as the mana faded. He couldn’t let his anger cause him to risk exposure.

One of the guards threw his spear at the fleeing man. It sailed clean and seemed to just miss his head, but he didn’t slow, just kept moving.

He turned his attention to Yarrow who was already sitting up. He saw an elf with burns across his face and singed hair, his left eye barely able to open. After a moment the elvish features disappeared and he saw Yarrow in front of him.

He clenched his fist around the handle of his walking stick.