The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

[50] Path to Nobility

After a much needed shower Tanisha returned to her room. She needed to go through all of her belongings, especially her new alchemy equipment. She smoked while counting out her money, which had grown to a staggering nineteen gold, sixteen silver and ninety copper. Carrying around that much wasn’t wise, so she stored all of her gold and kept the silver and copper out. 

She’d found a lot of ingredients during their travels to the fort city. In all the excitement of the past few days she’d had little time to properly go through everything. If she wanted to pay her way she needed to make money, and she would do that through her potions.

Most of the things she’d found could be used to make topical ointments and lotions. Tanisha had the ingredients for a hayfever cure which would sell for a few copper. For most of the mid-tier potions that would sell for a few silver she was missing one or two things. She bit her lip as she checked one of the few notebooks she kept.

The most impressive ingredient she had at the moment was the northern blue moon flower, which she had in a specimen preservation glass. As long as the flower was in the glass it wouldn’t wilt, and she could keep it until she needed it. The flower could be used to make a common or even greater health potion, or any number of stamina, resistance and cure potions if she had just a few more things. It was the most valuable ingredient she had ever had, which was a little intimidating.

She moved her attention over to the recovered goods from the gnoll hideout. Everything from her cart was stacked on the lower floor of her and Bjorn’s room. She needed to catalog everything, as she would need to come up with a plan to sell it all. She had no intention of being a weapon and tool saleswoman so the quicker she could get rid of it all, the better. 

There were six crates full of tools for farming and construction, and a separate crate of well over a thousand nails by the look of it. She found a second smaller box amongst the crates that had ten more enchanted orichalcum tools. Moving on, she had two normal bardiches and two enchanted orichalcum variants. Those were by far her most valuable assets. Next were five scorched spear heads; the shafts had all burnt up in the fires but after being washed the heads should be good as new. She wrote everything down in her notebook and was getting ready to leave her room when she noticed a chest behind one of the crates. 

“What’s that?” Tanisha asked herself.

She walked over to the chest. It was immaculate; finely polished wood covered in magic symbols and runes. She could only make out a few of them but got the gist. They were strengthening, anti-tampering and weight reduction runes, along with a host of tracking runes which looked to have been deactivated, and others she couldn’t make out. 

“Whatever is in this they didn’t want anyone to get into.” Tanisha scratched the back of her head and let out a sigh. “I guess I need to find an arcane lock cracker. Unless…” She looked over to Bjorn. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to open encrypted locks would you?”

Tanisha didn’t know what to expect from the familiar, but he got up from his futon under the mezzanine and walked over to the chest. She moved out of the way as he approached; his tail wrapped around the chest and moved it to an open spot on the floor so he could get a better look. She honestly hadn’t expected him to look at it so intensely, and she couldn’t help but watch him in fascination. He poked and prodded the chest with his talons as each of his heads looked at different sides at the same time.

“What do you think?” Tanisha asked. 

Bjorn shook his heads no but still seemed very interested. 

“Wait, do you know how to read?” 

Bjorn again shook his heads.

Tanisha smiled brightly at the idea, “I can show you how to read Yuia and magic script.” She gasped at her own idea. “If I did that you would be able to communicate with me by writing. Why didn’t I think of that sooner? I mean, once you’re a Sigma level familiar we can communicate telepathically but that’s decades away. We can start tonight after training.” 

Tanisha watched Bjorn put the chest back in the corner with his tail. The door opened and Joha walked into the room. He was changed into his merchant attire, which meant it was time to get started for the day. They needed to get her papers and transient merchant licenses so they could sell in the city. Tanisha saddled Bjorn once they were outside, and the trio continued to the guard station.

The inner city was far more beautiful than Tanisha had realized the night before. The street and boulevards were all paved in beautiful patterns, making use of different materials. Greenery splashed the world in color, while the buildings looked to have different cultural inspirations. Which was likely given the diversity of Lavi in trade and people. 

Tanisha couldn’t help but look at some of the many races she passed. She found herself staring at a person carrying boxes from a wagon into a building under construction. He had the upper body of a human but the lower body of a spider. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was when a screen popped into her vision. It startled her; she yelped and nearly fell off Bjorn, only saved by the fact she was clutched onto the saddlehorn. The incident caused both Bjorn and Joha to look at her in confusion.

Identify

Name: Morn
Race: Jorogumo
Level: 6
Vocation: Noncombatant

“Everything okay up there?” Joha asked.

“Yeah, yeah I am fine,” Tanisha said, embarrassed. “Was just startled is all.”

She looked back at the pop-up, her confusion turning into fascination as she looked at various people all around. She noticed that most people were around level five except for town guards, who were fifteen and up. She couldn’t see Joha’s level, so she turned her attention to Bjorn.

Identify

Name: Bjorn Isin Scalebound
Race: Lernaean Hydra
Level: 21
Vocation: Nature, Elemental, Maya Conduit 

“Isin?” Tanisha said quietly. 

Bjorn froze, his leg still in the air before the next step, as his heads turned around to look at her. Tanisha could feel a mixture of emotions from the familiar, ranging from shame to fear. Tanisha could tell she’d found something that he didn’t quite want her to know. Maybe he did know more about himself than he let on. Was Isin his real name? She had so many questions but right now, in the middle of the road, was not the best time. She controlled the maya in her head, letting it take away the feelings of suspicion so she could think clearly. She pet Bjorn’s side and looked at his eyes that seemed to watch her expectantly. 

“Don’t worry, you big baby, we’ll talk later, okay?” Tanisha asked, and Bjorn nodded with a low rumble from his heads.

Joha stopped with his hands on his hips. “Are you two sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” Tanisha said. “We’re coming.”

The entry paperwork at the guard station was easy; they conducted a short interview which seemed to be more of a formality than anything. Tanisha got the impression that the Isi family may have loosened the gears of bureaucracy a bit, as Joha mentioned the process was easier than normal. It was all but confirmed when the interviewer told them to give the Isi family his regards and condolences. 

The Isi family seemed to be far more connected than Tanisha had originally thought. At first she thought they were just the leaders of a small but wealthy village, then a swordsmanship family for those looking to become material users. However, the more she learned about them the more she wondered if they were something else entirely. Their family’s swordsmanship style was deeply entrenched into the guard. They had political sway and money; the only thing they lacked was magical power.

Material Users weren’t on the same level socially as mages, and they couldn’t become nobility. Even if they could amass wealth or gain following, own land and even get military accolades, they were still not mages. They had a higher status than wizards, sure, but nothing more than that. Unless they married their family into a mage family, but then they would lose the Isi name to the mage’s family name. 

Tanisha finished her thought out loud, “Unless that mage was shai.” 

Tanisha found herself in the middle of a powerplay for the Isi to become nobility. They wanted her to marry into the family so they could extend their power. They seemed like good people, and if anyone should be nobles the Isi would make good ones, but did she want to get involved with that mess? The best thing to do would be to talk to Hrolf to get to the bottom of things. This was her path back into nobility if she wanted it, but did she want it? 

They arrived back at the gate to the Isi Family House, and there was an Isi maidservant waiting there. She was not like the other maidservants Tanisha had seen. She had on all white, and a veil that covered her face.

“Hello, Lady Scalebound, Master Bhatia, my name is Æsa,” the maidservant said with a curt bow of her head. “I am Lady Isi’s Right Hand, it is a pleasure to meet you both. The Isi family has requested I collect you and the others involved with the safe return of all the villagers. If you all would please follow me…”

Tanisha looked over to Joha, who simply shrugged. She turned her attention back to Æsa and returned the bow, affirming she was ready. A Right Hand and Left Hand were considered some of the highest positions a servant could obtain. They essentially acted as the word of the person they served, and had the highest authority under the heads of the house.

***Author Note***

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