Market Benefits
Sunlight split the dawn of a brand new day once again. Yet another night had ended, and for the four of them, that was the longest night of their lives.
Everything might have gotten complicated last night, and her head was still an absolute mess, but Lwyn’s celesi-side had still left a mission ingrained within her. The mess from last night, all of it simply promoted the original plan, she HAD to escape with the other three. Instead of adding complexity, like it was doing inside her head, the world outside fit those details as resources to only better her odds. Sorting out the ones from the others could wait until after she was safe.
However, just like speaking Elaethyx, resorting to English would only complicate the situation. She couldn’t afford complications. She quickly got up and made her way for the door.
“So, what’s the plan?” Qheria did not get the memo about how English would cause problems, but clued into intent very quickly as Lwyn moved around. Her voice was incredibly soft. Qheria was, by nature, a light sleeper.. in both worlds, honestly. Both her training as a Shieldbearer and in Cadets for the Army had instilled a morning routine. It had also made her really methodical when under assignment. She was oblivious to what Lwyn was attempting last night, but her earth-side had filled in the blanks by going over the details. She also knew, the four of them were in this together now, but Lwyn worked here. The desperation last night, the breakdown involving the half-elf stuff, there was something going on, something her celesi-side was too much of a pushover to have figured out on her own.
“Keep being you.. celesi you, try to cut down on the English, keep Thanrie quiet, and try to keep Mhyl in the loop. I’m going to keep up the whole image of taking care of you guys. After lunch, everything here will be packed up and this room will be vacated. You three will be meeting me at the fountain plaza just as soon as I can sneak my way out. Don’t leave early, that will ruin the plan. Oh, and if anyone asks, you have concerns about getting more supplies and are trying to figure it out. That’s important.” “Wait, how am I to keep Mhyl in the loop if you want me to cut down on the English. You want me to use German?” “No, obviously you will need earth languages to talk to Mhyl, and I guess it doesn’t matter which one you pick, just don’t let anyone else hear you using it. It will raise way too many questions.”
Lwyn ran off after having explained her side of things as much as she could. The shuttering sound of the door immediately started Thanrie awake. “F–mwririr?” Defaulting to English again, followed by a complete language failure as Qheria silenced her, Thanrie was alert and concerned. “Less Kaito, more Thanrie, please. Between the scene last night, it seems you might have forgotten our circumstances before the storm. Lwyn still works here, for now at least. We have to keep up the image that nothing has changed. I’m sure, if you take consideration of your celesi-self, you came here for a reason too, right?”
“Oh.. yeah, of course.” It wasn’t clear if the reality of the situation was that cooling, or if Thanrie was just that good at shifting into celese mode, but her voice restored the sort of tone it held from last day. “What do we do about Mhyl?” “Uh… what about me?” Thanrie’s use of her name appeared to have awoken the elf of the group.
“Perfect, you’re both awake. Lwyn has so rationally explained that our usage of earth languages will need to be about as discrete as her elven had been. Any.. not normal.. language, they would cause issues if discovered. Leave the earth-stuff for later, focus on the celese goals you came here with. Considering how much of a mess were all were when we got here, no one really has a really deep plan of where to go after this. One thing is clear though, this mess has brought us together, so where ever it might be that we’re going, we’re going to be going together. We have to work things out.” Qheria, still channeling her earth-side, took leadership of the situation.
“F~~k it man, and you told me to keep it Celesi. If you want us to take things normal, you’re going to have to make the shift too.” “I am normal? I mean, there really isn’t that much difference between my attitude from Celese and from Earth, right?” One thing Qheria had never picked up upon, even after the mess, was her absolute lack in leadership ability. She had always thought herself a good leader that no one listened too, and had then connected with a good leader that was an actual good leader. Even putting both parts together, the resulting Qheria still didn’t see the difference. Thanrie and Mhyl took upon themselves the great challenge in explaining.
“Okay, I’m really sorry about any delays, I’ll be making sure breakfast is taken care of for you three right away.” Somewhere around when Qheria was starting to finally figure it out, Lwyn showed up again, fully in Celesi-mode, even in choice of language. Being back in the full swing of things, she wasn’t keeping quiet either, as other people hearing her would only work to her benefit. Suddenly hearing and having to mentally process Izhaethyx again got everyone else on board. Thanrie just passed Mhyl a quiet “Breakfast” so that she was in the loop of what was going on.
“So, just wondering, why are you not having breakfast?” After having gotten their serving of food, Mhyl whispered her concerns quietly to Lwyn. “Because I’m not supposed to eat in front of customers and… Half-elf, remember?” The exchange was in a quiet English, so the others caught wind of the conversation. “After all those years in another life travelling and immersing myself in every single culture, even if only for a bit, this regard of blatant xenophobia is revolting.” At this comment from Mhyl, Lwyn shrugged. She had memories too, she had friends from quite a few sides of earth, though earth itself wasn’t exactly a place devoid of it’s own racism. Here, she had just came to terms with how being a… mixed species… was just disgusting. Like being half human and half… anything else. Any other species from earth, that simple idea is still itself disgusting. This wasn’t exactly racial classification, humans and elves weren’t even the same species. Her existence was disgusting.
“You… you wouldn’t understand.” “Okay, no, cause lets go over this with a fine tooth comb. You’re saying that a single being that has to half be human, while also half being an elf, that’s a problem?” “Of course, I..” “No, no, no, this isn’t JUST about you. Think about it, SOMEONE in this room was fully JUST an elf JUST yesterday, sure. Today, she’s here struggling over the fact that now the other half of her self now is a human from far away place called earth. Half… human… half… elf. What does that make me, huh?” Lwyn froze. She still inwardly argued that it wasn’t the same thing, while still contemplating just how similar it was. The complicated combination, they had even mentioned it last night. In all honesty, with all the mess dropped on her, while not true by blood, Mhyl had became something of a half-elf herself.
“So, if you’re not going to eat.. because half-elf, as you put it. Then me either. Thank you, but no. However, because both of us have to share half of this problem, if you would be kind as to be willing to share half of my food, I might be willing to change my mind!” Mhyl’s argument was convincing, even if there were still issues about being caught. The two of them negotiated the details and came to a compromise.
“So really, I know I gotta keep doing things all lady-like, which means I’m supposed to be an airhead, but it doesn’t mean I gotta stay truthfully ignorant. What’s the plan?” “Wait, I don’t get it, where is she getting that being lady-like means being stupid?” “Lwyn, past experience. I might have been explained to what degree my own two selves are very unlike each other, but Thanrie’s hot-headedness from earth is dramatically unlike her celesi self here. She probably wins us all for how much everything has changed, personality-wise.” Qheria was probably right. Her own self has a decent enough hill of difference, Lwyn has shown signs of some slight deflection, and Mhyl was probably ashamed of how ignorant her Celesi self was, but Thanrie was taking the gold for this one. The two resulting personalities clashed so hard and so much, putting both into a single mind was probably waging a war inside her, neither side feeling that pleased about the other. It was almost curious to hear what Celesi-Thanrie thought of Earth-Thanrie.. a good project for a later time. Thanrie still had a good point, they should talk plans.
“Okay, so, like I had told Qheria, this room is done by mid-afternoon. There is a bunch of stuff I’m going to need to do on my own to make sure that works out, but my plan was to bail on this taco stand, so I’m coming too.” “Hmm… tacos… I remember those.” “Yes, yes, fine, that’s a thing, yeah… and then?” “And then what?” Mhyl pondered memories of earth foods while Thanrie quizzed Lwyn on details.
“That’s actually a pretty good question, one I’m not sure anyone has considered yet. After leaving the Magus Citadel, where are we going?” Qheria’s question went way beyond what anyone had planned. It took everything they had to plan this far, nothing after made sense. But then again, that’s probably why planning further was then all the more important. Mhyl took that moment to remember the book she brought with her.
“This will actually help, way more than my ignorant-to-the-world self thought it would, back when she got it.” Mhyl placed the large atlas she had been carrying with her in the middle of the room. “Uh, cool, a book.” “An atlas, detailing every place in Celese.” “Yes, that’s perfect.” “Gimme it, I want to see… uh, is this in hieroglyphics?” Thanrie was skeptical of Mhyl’s atlas, but Qheria could see the value of such a book. After being explained, Thanrie dove into it. Lwyn picked it up after Thanrie gave up on it.
“This is elven, isn’t it.” “Uh, actually, I guess it is.” “Good, then it’s your’s, I can’t read it either.” “But don’t you know elven?” “I know how to speak it, yes, the written form I ended up deprived of any source of learning materials. You’re lucky I can figure out it’s elven.” Lwyn and Mhyl discussed the particulars of the book, and shared that Mhyl was the only one present who could read Elaethyx. Lwyn passed the book back to Mhyl, who then flipped to the page with the maps.
“Everyone should be able to understand pictures then, right? This is a map, and here we are at the Magus Citadel. The human nations, which I’m certain everyone else knows way better than me.. that would be these areas in front. The woodlands I come from, further over here. Pretty sure those are the simple details everyone here had considered.” Mhyl coverage of the map repeated the situation they each had when first arriving here, though Lwyn never had to bother with the details. She paid attention anyway.
“East isn’t an option. Can we say the names? Qicir. It’s where I came from, we’re not going to find what we need there, I really don’t feel we can turn back either.” “Wyxir is no good either. Oh hell, I probably still have family searching for me. We’re definitely not going back there.” “So not east, and not west. I’m fairly certain that Mhyl has no interest in going home either, you don’t even need to present an argument there, and I’ve seen enough of this Inn to understand why Lwyn doesn’t want to stay. Their treatment of customers has been fine, but I think their staff deserves more.” Qheria and Thanrie filled in a quick synopsis of all the options they knew wouldn’t work.
“The map makes it look like both Qicir and Wyxir are part of a half-ring going around the great mountain.. but then they stop. Not even the Elnir goes out there, everything just stops.” “The atlas says that area is full of badlands. I suspect the humans here just felt such fields weren’t fertile enough.” “Oh, I remember my brothers talking about that. The badlands, that would be the… uncultivated fields. If it hasn’t been cultivated, it’s a pain to make use of, so even the expansion wars are ignoring the valley behind them, because it doesn’t mean anything. But, and maybe my english is just being faulty, but saying the lands are bad really doesn’t feel enough.” “The english term, Badlands, refers to a dry, arid climate, where most plants struggle to grow. In many such places, not even proper grass will grow. The ground will be yellow instead of green, and it will be very dry. Get much worse, the ground will become closer to what is called a Desert.” Thanrie’s questioning of geography brought out the depths of Mhyl’s geographic knowledge and experience. It painted a picture for everyone.
“So half way to a desert, but not quite. Sounds like the sort of places earth stories would put bandits and brigands.” Qheria contimplating Mhyl’s past experiences with stories from earth had a faint feeling of irony. “That might not be wrong, actually. There are no nations over there, but people live there.” “What really?” Qheria was shocked to be told she might be right when Lwyn recounted stuff she’s learned at the Inn.
“The mountain isn’t just a giant block, it has a series of rivers that run from it. Most of them feed the woodlands, but there is a bit that goes the other direction. The mountain in kind is full of countless holes and trails all over. Some travelers come from the other side of the mountain, and if you look at this map, cross the mountain…” “Badlands.” Thanrie was excising her English while Lwyn recounted from her memories.
“Wait, rivers affect dry climates, being near water would affect soil qualities. You said that there are smaller rivers going to the other side.” Mhyl jumped at her own discovery, and searched within the records of the atlas, searching for what she was suspecting. “Here, right other side of the mountain. It’s a long walk from either nation, but if there are tunnels it shouldn’t be a problem. Right here, that can’t be badlands. According to this atlas, there is a river from the mountain going right here and ending in a giant lake. Back at earth, that’s the kind of environment that has started new civilizations.” “… an untapped market.” With their mutual experience in business, Lwyn and Thanrie spoke out at the exact same time to finish the thought Mhyl was presenting.
“It’s perfect, a destination. It satisfies every requirement too. It also gives each of us something we might need, a new start. With how much everything just changed, having a place to forge a new start will be important. Lwyn, we will need you to figure out a way through the mountain. Over it, under it, whatever it takes. Mhyl, keep studying that book, look for anything else that might be helpful. Thanrie and I will keep the act going for now, so that no one questions anything.” Qheria’s leadership was again putting direction on everything.
“Oh, this will be like an adventure! And, and, we will be real adventurers! Actually, that might not be so far fetched either.” Lwyn was starting to dream big before she realized she might not be dreaming. “All things considered, you might have a point. Things are expected to get a lot less civilized, we will need to prepare to assume roles accordingly.” Lwyn got contagious when the heroic elements of the plan started to appeal to Celesi Qheria. She could live like a hero. It didn’t exactly sound bad to her Earth-side either. “Oh man, you guys should see me in action, I’ll show you the moves.” “Thanrie, first person shooter logic doesn’t apply in this world.” “Yeah, I know, but fighter games were a decent second. Uppercut, high kick!” “Thanrie, we’re being serious, this isn’t a game.” Lwyn was trying her best to stop Thanrie from losing it.
Thanrie gave a light kick to a nearby broom, brandishing it like a sword, twirling it with precision and finesse as she had trained for years, and brought the edge of the sword to a stop just before Lwyn in what would have been a fatal strike with a sword that followed through. “Yes, I know, nothing here is a game. Back on earth, even the worst I did was for kicks, and I wasn’t even that good at it, not really. Celesi-self, I might be an airhead, but there is one thing the me here has that my Earth-self could only wish for. Years and years of formal martial training. Blade, fist, spear, the whole kit. On earth, I was at best a fake, but here, I’m the real deal.” This gave the feeling of a new Thanrie. She wasn’t the hot-headed earth self that she had frequented of late, nor was she her other naive self. The chill from her voice was almost terrifying. With consideration what she was saying, it was almost a flagship reveal of what the true Celesi Thanrie was like, if you took away her naive side. The fact that it originated from all of her martial training made that distinction ever so pristine.
“So if we’re talking combat prowess, which if we are facing bandits that might not be a bad idea, I’m not exactly without training either. Back home, I’m a shieldbearer, which among other things at least involves formal training with an actual shield. Properly geared, I could also hold my own in a fight.” Qheria didn’t even bother making an imposing show. Everyone could tell she wasn’t bluffing.
“Umm, it’s probably not as much, but when you have to fear for your life every waking day, you kinda have a backup plan. My parents were teaching me how to use a bow, even before they passed away. I made sure that I haven’t gotten rusty yet. It’s been a life or death thing, after all.” Lwyn exposed her secret weapon training to the group, something she had never shared before, but it felt like the right time.
Everyone turned to Mhyl, as she picked up her book. She had spent her life with books, trusting everyone. She had just found another part of her Celesi lifestyle that she was also ashamed of. “S-sorry, I’ve got nothing. Other than spending time with books, the only thing I’ve done with people… I guess was to take care of them.” “Wait, take care how?” Qheria interrupted Mhyl’s train of thought to get more details. “Oh, my self here has been too thoughtful of people, so the most I’ve learned is how to cook meals, relieve pain, tend their wounds…” She stopped, and everyone else froze. ..except for Lwyn.
“So .. she got nothing?” “Mhyl has the perfect completion of our team..” “.. wait, did I miss something?” “Lwyn, if I have to explain this, you have dishonored yourself as a role playing gamer.” “I… what? Huh? Thanrie, you aren’t making any sense, you know this, right?” “It’s just you, my friend, just you. Fill in the blanks for me, okay. Tank, DPS…” “Heal-.. oh…” Thanrie helped Lwyn figure it out. She insisted in only being distracted, because breakfast was long over, and she had stuff she needed to prepare. The others let her run off to complete whatever had her so embarrassingly occupied. It was not a moment Lwyn would be proud of.
Planning continued through the rest of the morning and into lunch. Mhyl spent the entire time buried within her book. Lwyn ran out of opportunities to hang around. The other two negotiated what they had on hand.
“So, if you use a shield… what about your other hand?” “A resourceful knight is stilled at using whatever might be available to them.” “Sounds like something my brothers would say.” “Have you ever had any experience with a shield, yourself?” “I figure I could hurt someone with one pretty badly. I’m otherwise certain all the other important uses for a shield are more your expertise than mine.” “Fair enough then.” It appeared that what Thanrie and Qheria had on hand was a conversation involving the usage of weapons. At least Thanrie wasn’t brandishing brooms anymore. Between the two of them, they discovered a mutual talent for most any kind of melee weapons. Neither of them had any real talent with most things that cover distance, unless you account for some throwing weapons Thanrie was good with. Such they would have to trust Lwyn with, and her bow expertise.
“I’m back again, sorry. I sorry I can’t be of much more help. I’ve still got a lot more things to do, sorry.” “Lwyn, stop, your Canadian is overflowing, stop saying sorry.” “Actually, that might be a half-elf thing too, sorry.” “Ah ah ah, stop!” “Sor-..” Mhyl interrupted her reading to look after the overly occupied Lwyn, who was running herself down. Mhyl didn’t bother to correct her in that being overly apologetic was probably an elven thing, they would talk about it later.
Mid-afternoon came quickly after lunch. Lwyn went to get everything properly organized, on the pretense that she was taking care of her customer’s supply requests. The rest of them went ahead as planned. Waiting at the fountain plaza, Qheria got a sudden idea. “Thanrie, Mhyl, I need you two to do something for me. I’ll keep here waiting, so that we can meet up with Lwyn successfully, but you two should hit the market. Most of what Lwyn will be able to get together will be stuff she had planned before all this started. That might work for a generic trip, but it doesn’t account for everything. Thanrie, you’ve got money, go with Mhyl and put on a nice show at the market. Help be her voice while there, like she has instructions about what to get, but can’t talk herself. Flaunt your Celesi-side, not the dark one, get us a good discount. I’m not talking about reducing costs, get us a discount for the sake of a discount. This will confuse anyone following us, considering your usual inability to get a deal. While you play the act, Mhyl, find us clothes to build us a new image. You’ve seen how much we’ve changed, none of us are thinking the same way as we used to. Us three at the least, nothing we have here is practical for travelling. You are an expert in travelling. Get us everything we need. If you could somehow throw in some weapons for each of us, that would be even better.”
Thanrie and Mhyl set this plan into motion. Mhyl scanned the market for a suitable stall, while looking quite the part of being an attendant of the fair lady. She then dove in and started working. Meanwhile, Thanrie got into the act. “Oh, sir, I’m terribly sorry, I very much hope we aren’t getting in your way.” Thanrie put extra effort in looking defenseless and timid, her posture conveying the like same message, with a light air of flirting with the guys. She started a tirade of a story, something about her previous love, lost, and her heart ached to feel his embrace once again. Mhyl couldn’t understand the words, but the tone was making her feel ill. She then found a sword, two handed, looking in kind to the one her lost love used to bear, and how much it reminded her of him. The tears came with added impact, her audience was buying it. Mhyl took hint of the sword, and picked a similar one, much smaller, something Qheria might be able to use with a shield. She couldn’t figure out a decent shield though. Thanrie picked it up from there, saying that she would sincerely appreciate their recommendation of a really good shield. They would need to find one that would be used to keep her safe, after all. One was picked for her, being told that it would be complimentary, on the house, while Mhyl searched for some more arrows. She already had the outfits figured out. Thanrie started bringing their play to its conclusion, and upon the signal from Mhyl that she had everything they needed, Thanrie begun operation discount. She immediately asked how much everything would cost, then exclaimed her despair when everything was too far above estimate. She quickly apologized, and said she would be willing to return the shield they offered for free if they could please kindly reduce the price any so much. The boys hearts broke.
“So how much?” “30% off original offer. It sucks that I have no idea how the economy actually works in this world, but I figure getting them down to a third of their original offer would at least give you what you asked for.” “Not bad, not bad at all.” Qheria was complimenting Thanrie’s accomplishment, as they both returned to a quiet English. “Oh my god, if you heard all that. I have no idea what that girl was wailing about, but those boys were leaving the crumbs of their hearts all over the floor. You could hear their hearts break. Please, don’t go into details. Already, just hearing how you said it, I feel ready to lose my lunch.” Mhyl was still feeling ill after that performance, she was almost thankful to not be gifted with that particular language at that particular time.
Soon after, Lwyn finally arrived. As predicted, the poor half-elf couldn’t possibly get together everything they would need. Mhyl informed everyone that the new style she chose for everyone would take a bit of preparation. The decided it would be best to save that for later.
“Oh, nice, a spare bow. Actually, this is a really good bow. How much did you guys pay for it.” “It was paid for with broken hearts and tainted souls.” “I think that one was free too.” “… broken hearts, and tainted souls..” Lwyn was thankful they even got her another bow, even better than the one she was using. Thanrie was proud of her accomplishments, but Mhyl still felt skeptical.
The four of them were finally off on their journey, as they approached the wilder side of the great mountain.
Luminaeris 