Broken Lands

Chapter 323 – Shopping

Sophia blinked. She wasn’t sure what to say to that; she’d thought it was odd enough that the people around her spoke English. Hearing that the Guide actively changed languages based on your location raised even more questions than it answered; was that why everyone spoke English in the areas she’d been through? For that matter, was the “minor translation Ability” that “Kept Meadow’s speech clear” the reason they spoke understandable English?

Where did the Guide get English and French from? Sophia couldn’t believe that it was coincidental, despite the fact that Dav also spoke English. The history of Dav’s world was not that far from Sophia’s; names and places were different, but the two worlds did seem to parallel each other in ways that implied they were somehow linked. Every major event had a parallel. The biggest difference, really, was that Terra nearly fell to the Dust while Earth survived the advent of the Voice with few issues.

That was all too easy for Sophia to explain. It simply meant that Terra hadn’t had anyone who knew what needed to be done early enough. Without that, Earth would be in worse shape than Terra was.

The Broken Lands weren’t like that, though. She didn’t know that much about the Broken Lands’ history, but she did know that it was one of a growing empire up until about sixteen hundred years earlier. Even if she equated that to something from Earth, like the fall of Rome, nothing else really lined up. 

The world after the fall of the Kestii Empire was a series of scattered city-states, while Earth’s history (and Terra’s) always seemed to turn into something larger. There was no mass migration of people like when Europeans settled the New World, either, and there certainly were no World Wars. Dav’s homeworld had different country names, and the geography wasn’t identical, but Sophia could pick out the major players before the Dust came from a fairly sparse description. Terra was almost eerily similar to Earth; the Broken Lands weren’t.

“Sophia?” Dav set a hand on her shoulder, then filled her in on what she missed while she spiraled about languages. “Meadow needs to know what you’re looking for here. That is, what would be the most helpful if you wanted to buy it. None of us have much in the way of worthwhile trade goods; apparently, a Night Market is best late in a trip to the Maze, and the fact that they only want magical goods makes it harder than usual. I haven’t spent anything yet, but Ci’an and Jax have already spent a good bit of their portion of what we brought into the Maze, so we probably can’t afford as much as we’re going to want. I think we should identify what we want, even if we don’t have enough aurichalc, then see if we can earn it. I put you forward as the first person who should try, since you know a lot about magic that isn’t exactly common here.”

Sophia nodded. “That’s what the aurichalc is for, but that makes sense. If I can trade for them, I won’t feel bad about buying all of the feathers. And maybe some more packs to hold them; didn’t we hear somewhere that stuff like that was available in the Maze?”

“Ways to carry more are usually deeper in than this, but Night Markets are special. You can find things you shouldn’t be able to, sometimes. The Blade has a set of armor that’s supposed to be impossible to make, even for a third upgrade craftsman. Rumor is that she pulled it out of a Night Market deep within the Maze, maybe even near the center. She’s never claimed to have gone that deep, but that’s what the rumor is.” Meadow shrugged. “All you can say for sure is that a Night Market’s goods always fit the theme. That one was probably armor or defenses; this one’s magic, which means almost anything’s possible. I’ll ask about both.”

Meadow stepped away for a few minutes. When she returned, it was with a sketch of part of the Night Market with a few directions noted and a number of different stalls identified. “The things Rockfist wants to look at are over that way,” she indicated, “and Jace, Jaycen, and I are all looking for things that are pretty close together. Amy, you should probably stick with Rockfist; the enchanted arrows are near the armor. That makes the third group Dav, Sophia, and Xin’ri. Does that work for everyone? The Night Market should be safe enough to split up, as long as you don’t try to steal or something.”

Sophia shot a look at Dav. Taika apparently hadn’t asked for anything, but they’d have to keep an eye on the furry little rodent. He was all too likely to decide that something looked like it might be delicious and nibble on it. You’d think that someone as smart as he was could stop himself, but that didn’t seem to be the case with Taika.

“Yeah, that works,” Dav answered for all of them. “Which way is it? Oh, I see. That’s not all that far.”

“You don’t need to worry about storage; there are people who sell it here, but they’re near where I’m heading so I’ll discuss price and favors with them. I doubt we’ll have any unless we can earn something from the Eidolon, but you have Sophia’s pack; you should be fine. When you’re done, we’re going to meet up here. The vendor called it the Eidolon’s Overlook.” Meadow paused as if she wasn’t sure she should say something, but decided to go ahead anyway. “She seemed pretty doubtful that we’d have anything to share, and warned me that trying too long if we didn’t please the Eidolon could anger her. That’s not usually a problem in Night Markets, but you really don’t want to piss off a Night Market’s ruler. I’ve heard of entire expeditions fighting them and losing half their people.”

Yeah, they were definitely going to have to keep an eye on the furry bandit. Maybe they should buy him something to eat now so that he’d go to sleep? “What about something for Taika to eat?”

“We can get that while we buy the materials I’m looking for,” Xin’ri answered. “I figured we’d have to do that anyway, because some of the stuff I’m looking for is definitely stuff he’d want to eat. Might as well get him a little to keep him out of the good stuff.”

“Hey!” Taika sounded both pleased and offended at the same time. “I don’t always eat stuff you get that’s yummy.”

“But you’re not going to turn down the bribe, are you?” Dav shook his head at the talking chinchilla. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Now, do you want to go back in the pack or be carried where you can see?”

Taika thought for a long moment, then jumped into Dav’s arms. “Carry me.”

It was probably the best option. That way, Dav had a chance to keep an eye on him. 

The trio’s first stop turned out to be a pair of booths tucked under an overhang. Unlike most, the booths were dark, with only a single lantern showing the wares. It was a stop entirely for Xin’ri, where she bought a few small chunks of metal and asked about more. If they managed to earn enough favor from the event at the end of the shopping, it would be waiting for her. The salesman didn’t seem to think it was likely.

The next three stalls were similar, if better lit. The third one sold potted plants. One of them was a small bush with tiny fruits. Xin’ri bought a bunch of fruits that the vendor harvested in front of her, along with one of the bushes for Taika to eat.

Taika thought it tasted spicy and delicious.

The stall they visited after that was very different from the ones Xin’ri went to, far more like the first one. It held a wide variety of goods, from small individual vials that almost looked like they needed to be crushed to use them instead of opening them to wands shaped like hair sticks, glowing crystals carved with patterns that looked like individual runes, dreamcatchers, and shiny glass apples.

Xin’ri stopped them a little ways before they reached it. “This one’s for Dav, but there might be some things for me as well. Feathers weren’t mentioned, but I see some, so we’ll ask about that too.”

The vendor did not sell feathers. He only sold completed magical items, and he didn’t think feathers counted. Despite that, he had some very interesting things.

The glass apples were something Sophia had never seen before: a “bomb” designed to be thrown near allies. You could fill the apple with whatever you wanted ahead of time; when it was thrown, it would shatter easily into shards of solid sugar and spread the contents. It was supposed to be used to help your allies, but it could be used for toxic products as well. There were some downsides of the application method, but the shopkeeper swore by their effectivity for delivering certain products; while they were made of sugar glass, they were also enchanted to deliver the alchemical properly.

Ci’an got four.

The breakable potions were similar, though unlike the glass apples, they were already filled with their contents and designed to be broken by the person using them. They were surprisingly cheap, as well, actually cheaper than a standard potion in Mazehold. Without any of team Rockfist with them, they didn’t know if that was normal, but Sophia was beginning to think that the Night Market was valued for its prices as well as its rare goods. They bought a few; Ci’an expressed interest in buying a lot more if they had the carrying space and extra funding later.

The dreamcatchers, hair sticks, and hair ornaments were all wards of one sort or another. None of them seemed particularly necessary, since they had Taika, but Taika suggested getting one of each so that he could study them. He thought he might be able to use them to learn more about his Sphere.

The engraved crystals were the real reason they’d come to the stall, so the vendor saved them until last. They were solidified magic, intended to be used the same way as Taika intended to use the warding items: to help Called discover new things, perhaps even learn new Abilities. 

“They’re why the Eidolon let me in,” the vendor admitted. “She thought they were very clever. They don’t sell well, though; most people seem to think they’re simply trinkets. The problem is that the spells the crystals duplicate are deliberately weak, slow, and obvious. You can’t use them the way you would use a wand; they’re training tools, not weapons.”

Dav bought one that held a Fiery Cleansing Ability. It was supposed to help remove toxins from the person you cast it on, once you knew how to use it. He then asked if there was a place he could test it out before he bought more. The vendor clearly didn’t expect him to return, but he did give directions that led to a more open area for a small price.

Dav tested the spell itself before he tried anything else. It took longer than Sophia liked for the spell to form; she was pretty sure she could cast the spell using an ordinary spellform almost as quickly, and that wasn’t usually fast enough to be useful for a fight. 

Once the spell finally came together, it created a small heatless flame that didn’t seem to do much. None of them were suffering a condition that the spell was meant to fix. He did find that he could maintain the spell for a very low mana cost, at least; that much worked better than the vendor promised. That made Sophia wonder if there was a way to use it in a fight after all; the crystal didn’t really require attention to work, so perhaps he could divert a little mana to it well before he needed it.

Of course, that would only matter if there was some way to use the spell itself in a fight, and this particular one wasn’t well suited to combat anyway.