Gemwright Ch. 36

* Author's note: There are no intimacy scenes in this chapter. Mostly. *

As always, Sentral does an excellent job cleaning up the aftermath, but I still take a shower in Vai'yun's cart. I have some spare clothes ready on the sink that I brought over with Telekinesis.

Man, I've certainly done it now. Got a kid on the way. Probably. Well.. even if, somehow, she isn't pregnant after all that, I'll see to it she gets what she wants.

I sigh. It's... It's fine. Nothing's changed. I'll have plenty of help, and we'll get it raised right.

Deep breaths. It'll be alright. Maybe it'll be fun. Maybe I'll.. I don't know, be proud of who he or she becomes. Let's try to keep a positive mindset.

I finish up and step out. Vai'yun, it seems, has recovered from her.. fertilization, and gives me a quick kiss before stepping into the shower to clean up as well.

Ho boy. This should probably be a life-changing moment or something, full of deep meaning? But I only feel immensely satisfied. Honestly, the idea of tenderly making love to a female heavy with my child is... Well, I am looking forward to that.

In any case, nothing's actionable until she's confirmed as pregnant, or has to change her lifestyle to something easier, so I guess.. business as usual. Even though I have a baby probably on the way.

... Or rather, as many as five, depending on how many of the four women I studded for on the island are with child.

Vai'yun answers my musings as she takes my place in the cold water, ¬If any of them did not, then you are expected to lay with them again. You can refuse, but now that you've given me a child, I will not raise an objection. Say, do you want to stud for any Hardbark girls? I know a few who would say yes... ¬

Hah! I respond, ¬Eventually I will give a baby to all of the islanders who want it. But for the immediate future, I wish to make love to my wife and women. ¬

Vai'yun, ¬Very well. I think I will claim your love again tomorrow. For today, I am satisfied. I have done everything that should be needed. ¬ She gets herself cleaned in the shower as she 'talks' to me. ¬All this seed spilling... Ah. I will not keep you. Do your work with the gems. I have a surprise for you this afternoon, and for tonight. ¬

I'm clothed by this point. ¬Oh, do you? I thought this afternoon's plan had been to make a baby. ¬

She sends amusement, and perhaps a little self-satisfaction along our telepathy. ¬I was not sure... But I was rather confident I would be able to seduce you. Did you notice the diffuser? That was Hanamaya's idea. ¬

Hah. My women know me well. ¬I was wondering about that. Well, I'll do just that then. I love you, Vai'yun. ¬

Vai'yun, ¬As I love you, O' favored. ¬

I drop my connections, minus Sentral, and walk back to my cart feeling like a million dollars. Man, life is good.

What gem should I work on next... Maybe Ruby, or Nephrite. More gemstone durability will help with the satellite.. so.. Nephrite then. It's just a shame I've got so little of it.

I unlock Sentral's box and step inside. I've got a few kinds of dust from other gems, maybe one of them... Yup. The stuff - iron, I think - is also what gemsense is telling me is missing from Nephrite. Hmm.. I'll fix up Rin's ring later.

Oh, speaking of. Haji wanted to talk to me. Hana might have also, though she was probably just coming up the stairs. I push some probably-iron dust into my balled up Nephrite and head upstairs.

The common room is more populated than usual. Looking around, I find Haji talking to Rin, so I take a seat at their table.

Haji, grinning, asks, "Your bearing is more relaxed. Had a good time?"

Hah, sharp eye! "I did, yes. Vai'yun saw to that. She's wanted a kid since before I met her, and today was our first attempt."

He nods. "I'll bring some saga root next time then."

Rin supplements, "It's supposed to be good for mothers to eat it at the end of their pregnancy."

Me, "Thanks, we'd appreciate it. Haji, were you looking for me earlier?"

Haji, "Yes, but I've sorted out the matter with Ringara. She has the money I promised."

I honestly don't care about that..

Haji, "Also, I wanted to discuss encampment. What's the plan there?"

There isn't one. "I don't have a location in mind. I'll either look for a place to rent, or take the caravan outside the city like we did for Port J."

Haji looks thoughtful. Rin, for her part, looks around, then calls, "Bint!" I glance over, and yeah, there's Amina. She stands up from her table and joins ours.

Amina, who I remind myself is going by the name 'Bint' for now, sits down at our table. "What is it?"

Rin, "The city we're landing in Avatuna, the Republic's largest city and port.. traditional port, that is. Have you been there?"

Amina shakes her head, "Regrettably, I have not."

Rin lowers her voice a little. "Do you have any connections that we can draw on for a place to park our caravan?"

Amina grimaces, glances at Haji, but says, "From my understanding of the city of Avatuna, there's not really enough free space to host our eight carts. Parking outside may be wise. However..." She puts her thumb to her forehead and closes her eyes. "... I believe there's been a small fire on the north side of town. If the buildings haven't been reconstructed, parking there might be an option, and would put us closer to the action."

Rin, "Is this in the middle of a populated area?" Amina nods. "Then it would put us in the view of any onlookers curious enough to look. Your favorite scroll would be in easy view any time you use it. Are you alright with that?"

I think about it. "I can just make another cart for that. With Faid's, though, it'll bring us up to ten."

Rin nods. "Eleven, if you make the warehouse cart you sometimes mention."

Amina, "Make..."

Haji, "With that orange rock?"

Me, "Exactly. It's pretty malleable stuff." This is cutting close to revealing my power, but I'm not too concerned about it. They'll learn about it soon enough one way or the other. "Oh, right, Rin. Let me borrow the new ring for a while."

Looking curious, she slips it off and hands it to me. I motion as if I pocketed it, but keep it in my hand instead, along with some of the cleaned Nephrite. I work on extracting, purifying, and replacing the Nephrite in Rin's ring as we talk.

Haji, "It must be. The interior of the, what did you call it, bearaxe? It was rather orange, as well."

... Ah, I named it barracks in the Jensin language, didn't I? "It's barracks, that was a language misstep on my part, sorry. But yes, I've been using it to make carts ever since I acquired it. It's rather useful stuff." All of my gems are, but I leave that statement out for now. "More horse golems to pull the carts are not a problem, either."

Amina gives a weary smile. "Not a problem... How are you not wealthier than the Sultan?"

Me, "Oh, I'll get there. Speaking of. I need to talk to Wed about our new business."

Amina nods, but isn't making eye contact. She's off in her own little world.

Haji asks, "Returning to the subject of encampment. Mostly I'm curious how long I'll be needed to help set up. I've been to Friegheim once, and there's a few special someones I want to catch up with."

Hmm? Well, "Shouldn't be long. I just need to get everything circled, and Wed's Crew will handle security. I don't foresee it lasting long at-"

Amina, "It's because they aren't mindless!" I look over at the interruption. Amina quiets down, but continues. "Ringara is a shamanka, so she does something to make them receptive to telepathy, and that's how your golems work! You somehow bind spirits, probably lesser ones, to the rock animals to make them golems."

I blink. Not even close. Smiling, I reply, "Heh. No comment."

Amina looks like the weight of the world has been lifted off her shoulders. "Ahhhhh, what a relief! The world makes sense again. Had I accolades, I would award you, for succeeding where others surely must have failed."

Rin shoots me an amused look, before turning to Amina. "Your praise is sufficient, Bint. Your praise, and the mountains of wealth that our trade has brought us."

Amina's head leans forward. "Where do you store it? A bank wouldn't be useful in a new country." She pauses. "Ah, actually, forgive my blunder. I don't need to know."

I think back to the few dozen rows of gold coins stored in neat rows below the floor of my cart. Once it started getting heavy, I stored them in Hana's as well. The two carts are a believable weight thanks to that, though the rest are all suspiciously light weight. You know, if somebody were to walk up to one of them and attempt to lift it.

Amina, "Let me ask instead, what role does Hanamaya play in your business?"

Rin defers to me. I guess it's fine to say? "She's a skilled telepath. I trust you can connect the dots."

Amina smiles. "It all comes together."

Me, "And for me, earth magic is my strongest affinity.'

Amina is practically glowing. "And Vai'yun?"

Me, "She came along after, actually. Let's just say she has an entirely new skill set that I think will help us diversify our business. Of course, all of this is just their place in the business, which they volunteered for. My women are with me because I have fallen in love with them." I say something easy to misunderstand, and wait for Amina to look uncomfortable. Smiling, I reassure her, "Relax, I expect nothing like that from you. Not unless it develops naturally. But no, I have other plans for your talents. And beyond that, I hope we can all be friends."

Amina, "Most gracious of you. Friends, then."

I nod. A moment passes, so I say "I think that's all for that... Next, I need to talk to Wed about the business."

Haji, "I will find your man Wed. In fact, I see him over there." Haji stands up and walks off.

There's a knock on my brain from Rin's direction, and I accept. ¬What plans? For Amina. ¬ she asks me.

Me, ¬I'm curious to see if I can make manatech out of gems by having her cast the spell, and try to replicate the flow of mana. Probably won't work, but I want to try. ¬

Aloud, I say, "Should I call over Hana? Vai'yun maybe too."

Rin sighs, "Hana is.. recovering. Vai'yun doesn't quite understand the concept when I asked her about it, so don't worry about it." She turns to Amina. "Can we discuss this privately?"

Amina, "I was merely curious. I won't pry into your affairs." With a neutral face, she also stands up and leaves. Wed takes a chair soon after. Fre sits beside him.

Wed, "Grey. Lady Ringara. Shall we talk business?"

Me, "Let's."

Wed takes a breath, then begins. "Allow me to start at the beginning. I will reiterate a few points to confirm we share an understanding." The two of us nod. "We're planning to start a business. Our true goal is twofold. The first is to sell Grey's works for enormous sums of money. We will start with credible works in the short term, until you're ready to come into the open, whenever that is. The second goal is to buy enormous quantities of gemstone that Grey can use to further empower himself."

Me, "That all sounds right so far."

Wed, "The publicly-stated goals will be the sale of custom gems, high end jewelry, Tetsu wood crafts, and other such products. We will tell the public that this is supported by the use of novel, company-secret alchemical techniques. We will put an emphasis on experimental alchemy to further the credibility of our specialist works."

Fre picks up, "The company will be composed of six members of the Crew. They will stay behind and conduct official business. This will entail the purchase of two or more buildings. One to use as a true office, and another as a fake experimental alchemy bay. We will have two members assume the role of alchemists, who will visit the bay periodically to perform fake experiments. They will waste reagents to make colorful smoke and odd smells, giving the impression of authenticity to those looking from outside."

Rin and I nod.

Wed, "Somewhere in the office, we will set aside a room where we will store the gems for you to pick up. We expect you will leave a Topaz there to take in the gems at your leisure. We hope you will also leave some sort of method for the company to reach out to the Crew traveling with you."

Me, "That can be arranged." I have something like that on Topaz Island, after all; the bird perched on the shrine.

Wed, "The last major point is the profits. 50-50, as before? Half to you and yours, half to myself and the Crew." I nod. "Good. Any questions or ideas?"

Me, "If any gemstone mines come up for sale, let me know. Maybe that's a bit wild, but I think I can fairly easily harvest everything from a mine without much issue."

Fre, "Well keep feelers out for anything like that."

The next point is something Rin brought up not long ago. ¬Rin, do you want to bring up your idea of good local relations? ¬

Rin, ¬Oh, you remembered! ¬ She seems happy as she continues, "I think a portion of the profits would be wisely spent on encouraging friendliness with the surroundings. The common folks in the forms of charitable donations to orphanages or soup kitchens, and the powerful in the forms of governmental bribery or special business deals."

Wed almost cracks a smile... But he manages to hold on to his stoic facade. "The latter was already planned, we're no strangers to greasing the palms that need it. The former.. Yes, we can consider it a business expense."

Me, "Alright. Otherwise, business will more or less be as it is now? I fill gem orders, you sell them, and we all get rich?"

Wed, "Indeed."

I think that covers most of it. "In the future, I may shift the company to focusing on selling golems we produce, but that's likely about a year off."

Wed raises his eyebrows.

Me, "Consider it. You know I control the golems. Even if I sell them, they will work for the buyer because I tell them to, and it'll have a Topaz implanted in it.

"Say I sell a hundred farming golems to Jensin himself, make absolute bank, and the king has a hundred hyper efficient farmers. He takes people away from farms to work on other stuff. If Jensin then declares war on me, I shut down those golems remotely, and now his country is somewhat destabilized.

"Or perhaps after I make known their usefulness, I let it be known I won't sell to any country that allows slavery. This provides a strong incentive for countries to end that disgusting practice.

"Anyway, I have other reasons too, and I'm sure the details need to be refined, but I plan to sell them eventually. If possible, I want to use this new company to do it."

Wed, "The details definitely need honed, but we'll talk it over when that day draws closer. For the time being, it's just custom gems and hardbark that we will sell, right?" I nod. "Okay. We'll discuss what to make and when. Most likely we'll ask you for a lot up front and vault it, selling everything over time. Custom orders will be the usual. We plan to list you by name as a member of the company, and use you as an excuse for why we know how to make odd shapes."

Me, "Any thoughts on security? I can't imagine nobody will try to steal our secret production method."

Fre, "We'll handle that. We will hire a few people to patrol, and there are several magical items we've.. professionally interacted with, that we plan to use for security. Earth and darkness mana disruptors. Air stabilizers. Those are the typical methods of spying or breaking in."

Me, "Good stuff. Do all that. I was going to suggest I make a golem to patrol. Perhaps disguise it as human."

Rin, "Perhaps a door golem? It would only itself open for employees. Would that work?"

Me, "A golem in the shape of the door? Yeah, why not? Would that help?"

Wed isn't paying attention, but his eyebrows are furrowed. I can almost see the gears spinning in his head. I wonder what he's coming up with.

He doesn't keep us waiting long. "Grey, can you make bracelets who recognize their owner, with enough Sapphire to telepathically connect to.. door golems within 10 feet?"

I smile. "And said doors will only open when such a bracelet is within ten feet?"

Wed does smile this time. "Yes, and worn by someone it recognizes. This resolves so many security concerns. It will be almost impossible to steal from us without being noticed."

Me, "The only issue will be getting the bracelet to recognize a person. But I managed it with Sentral."

Sentral surprises me, ¬I will aid with this task. ¬

Rin looks mildly surprised, but then smiles brightly. ¬He's growing! ¬

Huh. This is a good thing, isn't it? ¬Thank you, Sentral. I'll rely on you when that time comes. ¬ Then aloud, "Sentral volunteered to help with the bracelets. We should be set there."

Wed nods slowly, his smile gone. "That should be everything. Upon landing, we will canvas the city looking for a good headquarters. Any preference for acquiring an HQ in the Sky City itself?"

Me, "Up to you. Seems a bit too conspicuous, but I still know little of them."

Wed, "On the ground then. Buildings in the Sky City should be much more expensive."

Fre, "The last matter is a name."

Damn, I dunno. Drothur's Demand? Grandstanding Golems? Gelatinous Jewelry?

Wed, "Gemwright, was my thought."

... Huh. That's not a bad idea. "Yeah, I like that..."

Wed, "Any other name proposals?" Nobody speaks up. "We've got until we file the paperwork at whatever bureau to change it, so be sure to tell me if you change your mind."

Fre looks meaningfully at Wed. Wed looks like he's remembered something. "Grey, this can wait for a while, but we want a Topaz large enough for a human to go through. The Crew who remain with you may need to visit the company personally to take care of any issues that come up."

Me, "Well.. I certainly have enough to make one. The issue will be spinning it into a perfect sphere. I've gotten the knack for small ones, but a huge sphere like that will be difficult, potentially impossible."

Wed, "We don't need it until we leave, and if it's impossible, then we'll make do without. But it would be useful to have."

Me, "I'll see what I can do. I've been meaning to make a teleportation cart anyway, for a scroll. I can add stuff like this in there, as well. Maybe I'll add one to the satellite, or the island."

They nod, and we sit in silence for a few seconds. "I guess that's everything?"

The two Crew members share a glance, then look back at me and nod. Wed smirks and says, "To a cushy retirement."

Hah, he remembered that line, eh? "Indeed, to a cushy retirement."

The two of them excuse themselves and depart the table. Rin sends, ¬Stepping out into view of the world. I think we will be fine, but it'll be hard to hide your strength when it becomes known we're rolling in money. ¬

Me, ¬You're not wrong. But once this business starts bringing in gems, we're going to have a conversation about coming out about my gem power. Once Zone has grown larger, and Sentral has enough Sapphire to surveil everything inside of it, I think we will be safe enough to be open about my economic value. However, that'll be after I come up with other methods of defending myself besides telekinesis alone. ¬

Rin, ¬I hadn't realized you'd given it that much thought. ¬

Me, ¬The first step before that anyway is to move Sentral onto Jericho. It's been getting rather large recently as I keep applying gems to it. I only really noticed it recently when I was applying the Nephrite skin. Hah, or maybe keep it down here and disguise it as a tamed monster? ¬

Rin sighs. ¬I know you're joking, but that would make a lot of people uncomfortable and potentially draw the army's attention. ¬

Chuckling, I say, ¬You're right, of course. ¬ Might as well check. ¬Sentral, you're there, right? How much of your mana regeneration would it cost to keep the Jericho portal open all the time? ¬

Sentral, ¬Somewhat more than 8% and less than 9%. ¬ I'm about to respond when it continues. ¬I wish for this vessel to be moved to space. ¬

Hm. ¬As your own satellite? Or just fuse you into Jericho? ¬

Sentral, ¬Either. ¬

Me, ¬Alright. Once we've got some redundancy for the satellite, we'll get you up there. ¬

Sentral, ¬My gratitude. ¬

Me, "A bit of a move up. First it wants flags, then it wants me to put him into outer space. What's next, colonize another planet?"

Rin, "I'm sure it won't be that bad, Honey. It won't even take you fifteen minutes. He helps you a lot, so it's the least you can do."

Me, "Right as always. Maybe I should leave the world conquest to you. You can be the brains of this operation. I demand that Al'ruheibi be conquered by this time next month."

She smirks. "That would just make me your general. So yes, give me your armies. I'll stage a coup and capture you."

I play along, "Oh, woe is me. I'll be chained up in the darkest, dampest jail cell, never to see the light of day again."

She lets a bit of desire and silliness flow through our telepathy. "Chained up yes, but in my bed chambers. I'd make you my servant, my personal 'gardener', tasked with tending to my rose every night."

Hah! She is, of course, not referring to plants. "I'll tend to it diligently, spending hours carefully watering it with my tongue. But I'll miss Hana and Vai'yun dearly."

Rin shakes her head, maintaining eye contact. "Oh, no, they'll be there too. They're nice, I'll let them borrow you every now and again."

Me, "Sounds like a great deal. I'm in. I'll retire presently to your home and chain myself to the wall."

She laughs, and gives me a play shove with one hand. "You're incorrigible. Well and truly deranged." She looks thoughtful. "Sometime after we land, we should go on another dive. It's been too long."

Oh, that reminds me.. I restrict the thought. "I would love that, Rin." I've been thinking of another activity along those lines, but I need to work on it. "We'll dive after we land sometime."

- - -

Lunch follows not long after, and after that is our lesson from Ringara in Freynd. The same group as yesterday is gathered. We get a few strange looks from outside the group, but we need to know the language, so I ignore them. I'd say we learned something from the lesson, or at least, I did. The vocabulary and conjugations, the syllabary and grammar.. they're coming together nicely in my head.

Vai'yun seeks me out, after reestablishing the telepathic link we just left. "I finished, so come downstairs and help me out with the water cart."

Hmm?

Hana, "You finished already?"

Vai'yun, "Part of it, yes. The new ring has made work much smoother. I am impressed with it."

Still not sure what we're talking about. Something related to hardbark... Hmm, wait, is it...?

It turns out it is. A pile of lumber waits for us outside of the water cart. "Ringara helped me with the measurements. This world of yours is so full of numbers and calculations. We do not have enough hardbark for the shower area, yet, but there is a sufficient amount for the bathing area."

Damn, the pile is nearly two feet tall, and it's only enough for the bath? "You've been working hard on this, huh? Thank you, O' favored."

Vai'yun, "I will benefit from this too. But I know you wanted a wooden bottom to the hot pool. Now, observe." She hands me one of the longer planks, this one about eight feet long. "It has a hollow portion on the inside. If you fill it with gem and attach it to the bottom, it will be fixed in place."

Oh! That seems viable. I'm a bit worried about someone kicking a board on the side and breaking the Topaz I'll use to fill the gap, but I can just fix it if that does happen. Hopefully, more Nephrite later will prevent damage entirely.

Speaking of, I should drop some crabs overboard..

Vai'yun answers the thought, "Ringara has thrown a few overboard this morning. She says we should throw more over as we get closer to Friegheim, as it has the..." she makes a thinking gesture, "'Highest known concentration'. Yes. 'Highest known concentration of Nephrite'."

I smile. "Look at you. Speaking Freynd like a native."

Vai'yun, "It is best to get used to it now. Soon, everyone we meet will speak those words."

I switch languages. Let's see... "You are correct. Shall we begin?" We take an armful of hardbark each and walk in.

- - -

Work goes fast enough. We get all the wood on the floor first. I draw in Topaz from the floor, and replace it with some from the ceiling, but since I don't want it to be structurally unsound, I eventually go and grab some more from Sentral's box. The stockpile is looking just a tad small.

Vai'yun, connected to my mind as she likes, sends, ¬Perhaps order Sentral to harvest more? ¬

Me, ¬I don't have a bird on that side. Even if I did, I don't want the enchantment leaking through, and people getting paranoid about a sudden brief burst of strength. If I need more, I'll steal some from the shrine."

Once the ceiling is sufficiently replenished, we finish up the seats around both sides, and the far end as well. The hardbark itself is coarse, but not sharp by any means. Its texture should mean that it holds traction even after we return to land and refill the pool. I try sitting on a completed segment of seating. The back and bum are sufficiently comfortable. I'd call it a definite upgrade over smooth gemstone.

At the end we're mostly done, but a few pieces were a bit too long, or too short, for where we need them to fit, so one of the corners is still just a little Topaz-orange. Vai'yun and I take a break, sitting on one of the sides of the large, empty-for-now bath. She leans against me, and I put my arm around her shoulder. We weren't exactly working hard, but we both quietly survey our nearly completed bath..

I enjoy a quiet moment with Vai'yun. ¬I can tell you worked hard on this, Vai'yun. Thank you. ¬ She smiles, sending happy emotions back.

The cart shifts a bit as someone boards it. Bor'wa soon walks in. "Vai'grey! We found another turtle! Rin is coming down."

Vai'yun, "I will finish up here. One or two boards should finish the corner. "

Me, "Thanks, Vai'yun. You are welcome to join us, if you want."

She disconnects from telepathy, gives me a peck on the lips, and pushes me towards the door. Alright then, out I go.

Bor'wa, "I looked around all morning for a turtle! I found a path almost right away, and it's HUUUUGE!"

I tousle her hair. "You've been working hard! Well done."

She makes the telepathy gesture, an open hand pointed at her head, and knocks on my brain. Accepting, I send, ¬Show me, please. ¬

Bor'wa, "Okay, look!" She sends me a mental image similar to the other day's underwater scene, but with more of the underwater plant life being various yellows, oranges, and reds. The devoured path, with life half regrown, this time is nearly 40... 45? 50? Feet wide. There's also a large turtle.. no, a turtle shell, before the crab's viewpoint. And, most importantly, that shell has a lot of a certain reflective, deep green sheen...

I smile. "Walk the crab over, if you would."

Bor'wa pulls my hand, "What about Rin?"

Ah, alright, that's fine then. "I'll meet you two in my home. Give me a moment, okay? I need to grab something." She goes to my house, and I head to Sentral's cart. I need the tablet with the crabs on it, if that green substance is what I think it is - Nephrite! I open the door, nod to Sentral as I walk by, then unfuse the crab tablet from the wall. It comes with me back to my house, where I find Hana, Rin, and Bor'wa around the table inside. I take the open seat.

Rin, "I was talking to Bor'wa when she found the shell. On closer inspection, it looks green, like Nephrite! We need you to confirm it, however."

Me, "Sounds good." Hana reaches out, and involves the four of us in shared telepathy. "By the way, Rin. How are you liking the new Nephrite ring?"

She raises a hand and looks at one of her rings, presumably the Nephrite one. "It seems to work as before, maybe a touch better? Was it perhaps very close to the correct color before?"

Hmm.. "Hmm.. there should be some sort of bonus. Maybe.. you'll be able to learn water spells more easily?"

Rin shrugs. "That is, of course, not something I can test. Sorry."

Me, "Not at all, I was just curious." Now, the reason we're here is... I put the tablet on the table. "Bor'wa, can you get the crab onto the shell? And, which one was it?"

Bor'wa touches the Jade covering over one of the Topaz hemispheres. "It's this one!" She patches some crab's vision into our telepathy, and I equip a blindfold that was in my pocket. It is already crawling up the side of the shell, scrambling its way up with its legs and claws, but it seems we're not alone. Various crabs, real ones, as well as fish are already around, and make no effort to avoid our crab. They seem to be eating the shell, oddly enough. Even stranger is that barnacles and coral appear to be already growing out from the shell, though they appear to be small still. Curious.

More interesting for now are the green spots on the back. I ask Bor'wa to stand the crab on one of them, and then try to fuse the leg.. yes, it is Nephrite. "Good. Now, if I bring it up..." I extract the Nephrite from the shell and form it into a long cylinder.

Next, I have the crab.. "Eat it!" a creative interpretation from Bor'wa.

Me, "Hah, yes, close enough." The crab will 'eat' the rod by holdung it against the Topaz, activating it, and moving it through with gemsense. The rod is way longer than the crab, but that's fine. I activate the Topaz, and no water blasts through... Pulling it in is no challenge either, though it does smell faintly of salt. Hmm, I'll need-

Hana, "I'll grab the iron! It's all in Sentral's cart, right?"

Me, "Just so. Thanks, Hana!" I'll need it to color correct the Nephrite once we've harvested it all. Since my current stock is pure, I want to correct the new stuff before mixing it into my things.

The rod is cumbersomely large, so I blob it on our end, and place it on the table. It's soon all across, about the size of a particularly large apple. It's quite a bit, but it's supposed to make my constructs more durable, so I need all of it I can get. Honestly, I'd like to reforge our homes to be mostly this stuff, just in case. I want to make use of this sooner rather than later.

Rin, "On to the next patch, then? Hana's back as well." Let's do that. Pulling out the last of the Nephrite, I reform some Jadeite that I'd shifted aside from the Topaz back into place, so water can't spill through.

Hana has a bunch of iron dust in a bowl, must have grabbed that from the food cart. "Thank you, Hana." The crab is moving to the next patch, so I summon a bit of the usual ring gems, and snip off enough Nephrite, correct its coloration with the iron, and make a quick Nephrite ring for Hana. It'll need the shape corrected, but we can do that in a bit. Another rod gets.. eaten, and the ball on the table grows.

Me, "This is going to be more Nephrite than I know what to do with. A good amount will go into the habitation carts. I imagine you, Hana, will be happier for an even greener cart?" Green seems to be her favorite color. Most of her cart is made of Emerald and Jade.

Hana, "Yes! All green, everywhere. Maybe some purple too." Alright then.

Rin, "Most will be going to the satellite, right?" I have the crab step in another green splotch and begin forming it into a rod. "There's a whole lot of Nephrite on this shell. You could probably stretch it out to make most of a cart." In telepathy I feel her trying to work out how much gemstone I used for the other carts, and comparing it to what we've got in front of us.

Me, "Maybe. And yeah, a lot of it will eventually be forwarded to the satellite. But for now let's put it into our carts. They'll be a bit more green tinted than before. I used a lot of Emerald for building material in the past, now I can replace them with something more useful. Well, not that I particularly need Emerald elsewhere, it's just Strength after all. But if someone ever chucks a boulder at the house, they might be surprised to find how durable it is!

... Though, the house would probably still go flying. Nephrite won't make the house heavier. Unless I anchor it. But that's probably overkill, Sentral would take care of my theoretical boulders regardless.

Shoot, no, it wouldn't. Carts aren't on the Protected Persons List. Well, it's just a house. Hmm, unless someone was insi-

Hana, "Grey~! Focus. Nephrite! And if we thought we were unsafe in our homes, we would tell you."

I shake my head. "Thank you Hana. Now, right, Nephrite. Okay." Another rod of Nephrite siphoned from the discarded turtle shell begins to be 'eaten'. "This shell is pretty thin. Was it perhaps shed from the back of one of the turtles?"

It looks.. fairly similar to the back of the turtle the other day, but since there's not actually a turtle below, I can only guess that it is, in fact, a turtle shell. It's got that same spiral shape, and there's Nephrite in it, so she's likely correct unless that's a bizarrely common theme down here among giant critters. Wouldn't that be exciting? If more than just turtles, a creature with a shell, used gemstone in its body? It does make me wonder if they use gemstone abilities too, to make their shell and legs harder or something.

Me, "Yeah, it's probably a turtle shell. The coloration is a bit darker, and it's larger, but it's more similar than different. If we find another two or three discarded shells like this, I think we'll have all we need for a long while, including the satellite."

The third rod comes through while the group discusses turtles and sea life. I look around the shell with Zone, and it seems there's only two more spots. The crab walks over to the fourth and gathers it. Nephrite is nigh indestructible, in high concentrations, so I think I'll make a Nephrite quarterstaff or two for the guard golems I've been thinking about. I wonder if I can teach them to fight?

A few brave fish swim in close, and try to bite the crab. They fail, of course, but they do succeed in jostling our avatar around. I push our would-be predators away with telekinesis.

The rest of the harvest goes smoothly. I'm left with a heavy basketball-sized hunk of Nephrite Jade. Maybe I underestimated how much was on its shell? Well, I'd already planned to continue looking for them. Maybe the first order of business is to put some on the crabs, increasing their durability as they search for more. First though, I should figure out how durable Nephrite really makes things. I'm about to suggest we start smashing gemstone rods against each other, but Rin interjects, "Maybe we should wait until after we have some space to ourselves? There's not a lot of privacy down here, unless we do it inside."

Hmmm.. "Good point. Alright, I'll just apply a little bit of this to everything. We can test it thoroughly after landfall."

Hana, "How much Nephrite do you need to make something indestructible?"

Me, "I'm not actually sure. I haven't tested it, because how would I know it's indestructible, rather than so hard I could never hope to break it, but technically breakable with enough force?"

Hana nods. Rin asks, "What if you put a fully indestructible gem through a portal, then tur-"

Sentral, ¬Attend to me. ¬

That's gotta be Drothur. Thank heavens, I was hoping to be able to talk about this with Rin. ¬Greetings, Drothur. We're listening. ¬

Drothur, ¬Under no circumstances will you cross that which is indestructible through dimensional portals. ¬

Wonder why.. ¬Understood. I won't. ¬

The telepathy with Sentral abruptly ends. Was.. that it? Man, sometimes it feels like He's..

...

Nevermind. Let's not think ill of Drothur, I owe Him a lot.

Me, "That was unexpected. But I'm glad you got to meet Him. Any questions?"

Rin, ¬Ah.. let's talk about this in telepathy. So it was Drothur. I had a suspicion you were an apostle. ¬

Me, ¬He wants me to, down the line, make and distribute golems across the world, and build him a temple. ¬

Rin, ¬I see. ¬ Rin takes a moment to think.

Hana, ¬But why did he demand that? About 'that which is indestructible'. ¬

I stop to think about it, and my mind goes back to the experiment with the sword stuck to the wall, and how effortlessly dropping the Topaz broke it. Ahh, perhaps it's an unstoppable force meets an immovable object scenario? ¬Portals seem to move objects around with unstoppable force. If we had two of them with an indestructible sword sticking through both, and they collided, it might be bad. Also, it's possible that having an indestructible item be destroyed by having the portal shut off could cause a problem. ¬

Bor'wa, ¬What kind of problem? ¬

Me, ¬We're talking about potentially infinite or absolute forces. This is just speculation, but in the worst case, an explosion that would annihilate the planet at the speed of light. Ah.. that means.. it would take less than a second. ¬

Bor'wa, "Woooow... We shouldn't do that, then."

I smile. "I don't plan to. I'll set up a safeguard. And even if that did happen, it probably wouldn't be that bad. I expect what would actually happen is it would be deafeningly loud, and we'd all need to drink a healing potion after word to be able to hear again."

Bor'wa nods. "Don't break the world. We live here! That's everything for the crabs right? I need to go check on the birds."

Me, "Yup. Thank you. I've got work to do." Lots of it. I need to mix a little of this to every crab, then every bird, then my carts and Jericho.

Rin, "We will leave you to it then. I want to think about this some more. I might have a few questions for you tomorrow." I nod. She's taking it rather well. "Say, one of the merchants wanted to talk to you. I think he wanted to sell you crystals or something. If you want though, I'll buy what we need from him."

I reconnect to Sentral and ask it to stop me from moving indestructible objects through Topaz portals, or any other form of portals.

Me, "Nah, it'll be good practise to talk to a native. Where is he?"

- - -

Farnm, "Glad to meet you, mister Grey. You've been keeping to your own, I wasn't sure if you were shy."

Farnm doesn't seem to be Al'ruheiban, closer to Jensin, but not quite. I can't put my finger on it, but that might be due to most of his face being buried in hair. His beard extends up to his scalp and up to his mustache. It's unclear where one ends and the other begins.

Definitely a Freigheimer.

We're standing between some other peoples' carts in the hold. Hana had waved and went somewhere else, leaving Rin with me. Rin's holding the money for us, I don't have anything but blindfolds in my pocket.

While I imagine he's bilingual, given that he was in Port Juhatara earlier, he is speaking in Freynd now. I respond as best I can. "Not quite that bad. As you know, I'm Grey, and this is my woman Ringara." He nods to her. "What did you want to talk about?"

Farnm, "I am a merchant of variety. I have a little this, and a little of that... Your ladies were interested in some of it, and bought some. Mayhap I can catch your interest too, move some of my stock before we land. The boat from port left so early I hadn't had a chance to sell my best wares."

Me, "Interesting stuff, huh? Show me."

He does. His cart, wooden, has a panel that folds up, propped by two wooden bars, though he only props up one. A wide array of 'stuff' is arranged in shelves behind it; some tied down, some held loosely in place due to being in a divot; the movable wall must prevent the contents from falling out while traveling by virtue of blocking the materials in.

The first items are standard fare, heat and water crystals. "I have plenty of those."

Farnm, "How about this then? Light crystals."

I've already got enough Diamond to produce all the light I need. "I don't have much need for additional light."

Farnm taps an empty divot, "I sold my stock of earth crystals, but have you tried wind? As you have surely surmised, it produces wind. If you put it in a specially shaped container like this," he takes out what looks like a semi circle tube about three inches long, "you can enjoy a nice breeze while you travel!" Farnm taps the back, and with a slight swish, a breeze does come out the front.

Me, "Sold!"

Rin pokes me in the side. "Ask the price first, Grey." She turns to Farnm. "We are tentatively interested in this item. What else do you have of interest?"

He picks up a slip of.. cloth or something. "This is a talisman of good fortune. If you burn one in the morning, you'll have good luck throughout the day!"

Rin looks dubious. This is a world with magic though... "Could it be real?" I ask Rin.

Rin looks at me. "Maybe. But I've never heard of luck manipulation."

The merchant shrugs. "That's fine. Let's see, you don't need any screws, do you?"

Uh. Well, I can't just tell him all of my carts are golems. Rin glances at me, "Our carts use Jensin standard."

Farmn sighs. "Got none of those." He thinks about it. "Any other tools, hammers or the like? I don't have foreign calibrated tools like Jensin, but a hammer is a hammer no matter who made it."

I can probably just make indestructible Nephrite tools if we really need it. "We're good on spare tools."

Rin, "Do you have jewelers tools, or a nice abacus?"

He thinks about it. "I should have a magnifying lens." He wanders into a door in the side, and I watch through Sentral's Z- I reconnect to Sentral through telepathy, note that it's standing upright instead of collapsed, and access it's Zone to watch Farnm open a chest behind the counter, dig through it, and locate some palm-sized circular thing. Grabbing a cloth, he cleans the item, and hands it to me through the propped-open wall. "This should let you see things in more detail. Hardly top of the line though."

As he walks back out front, I use it to look more closely at my palm. I have to get it at just the right distance, but sure enough, when I do, I can examine my hand in finer detail. This might come in handy.

Rin, ¬We'll take both of them, then. ¬ Then to Farnm, "Looks good. Any more?"

He shows off a few more silly knick-knacks, but we aren't interested. I do ask for a few extra wind crystals, the idea seems interesting. He and Rin eventually agree on a price, and money changes hands.

Farnm, "Thank you kindly. Again, this boat left early, for some reason, and so I didn't manage to sell as much as I'd like. Income is always something of a competition with merchants you see, we don't have anything better to do, so we compare ledgers." He chuckles. "What was your profession again?"

Me, "Traveling jeweler, of sorts."

He nods. "Most jewelers I know stay in one place, and build a clientele. And have better tools that I can offer. I have a connection in port that might be able to find or make better tools than that."

Me, "What did you have in mind?"

Farnm gives me an address, which I assume will be helpful once we reach port. "The workshop provides excellent tools to all sorts of craftsmen. Just do me a favor and drop my name, they will send me a kickback for referring customers to them."

Me, "I do need better magnification. My gems are good, but not great. Thanks Farnm, I'll make sure to tell them." Hmm. "Any tips about places to go? Interesting sites? Great views?"

He thinks about it. "The Parins park for sure. I've heard foreigners like the sunrise from the southern piers. Those'll be good places to start."

Me, "Well be sure to stop by, thanks."

Farnm nods, then smiles slyly. "I've heard over clink o' coins you're in the market for alchemical products."

Seems to be a metaphor? "My stock is fine at present, but I'll likely be ordering more while I'm in the country." I say country, but it's just a big island, probably twice the size of Topaz Island? "What did you have in mind?"

It turns out he just has another potential supplier that he'd get a commission for referring, so I promise to visit and make no effort to remember the address. He gives a hearty farewell as Rin and I depart.

I turn on the fan as we walk away. Well, not a fan. A strange wind tube. The breeze is stronger than I thought it would be. It makes my face itch where my beard is growing in. I turn it off. "He really was a merchant, huh? Angling for every coin he can get. Gotta respect it. But, I'm planning to leave the company to Wed, so he probably won't get that second commission."

Rin, "Maybe. I think you're a little quick to dismiss personal connections in this circumstance. I'm going to give Wed that address and Farnm's name."

Me, "Go for it."

She looks distracted for a moment. Telepathy? If so, she doesn't link me in.

After a moment, Rin turns and beams at me. "I will! Now, how about dinner?"

- - -

The dinner seems like it involves the entire passenger list. The hall is packed. Oddly though, the large cluster of tables we typically use is devoid of strangers; only my group sits there with enough open seats for me and my women.

Wed appears at my side as I walk in. WOW he's dressed up. Not in a tux, but rather something poofy around the arms and slimmer around everything else. It looks kind of strange, but maybe that's how the Friegs dress up? "Grey, we are going to announce the company here to drum up interest. We're also providing dinner and drinks. The cost will come from our share, but we're borrowing some Sea God meat. If you're asked about it, say that I bought it somewhere."

No big loss, we have plenty. "Will do."

Wed, "I'll mention you as a collaborator. You don't need to speak, unless you want to. Just enjoy the festivities."

Not what I expected for dinner, but at least it should be entertaining. "You can mention me, it's fine."

I take a seat amongst smiling faces and greetings. Rin sits to my left, and Vai'yun sits to my right.

Vai'yun, "I can not take credit for this. Is it typical to hold a feast to announce a 'company'? We do not have any such organizations."

Rin, "I haven't been a member of high society long enough to say for sure. It wouldn't surprise me though. If you start off wealthy, then why not?"

Me, "Most likely, the free food is to get people to listen, and get them talking about the company. This way, people will talk to others about our company, and more people will take an interest in us, reaching out to see if a partnership with us is profitable, or seeing if they like the wares we sell." I wonder where Hanamaya got off to? "I hope Re'dan isn't cooking for everyone by himself."

One of Wed's crew answers, "No sir, he's got plenty of help back there. I heard the dinner was delayed because the chefs helped themselves to a little too much Sea God. Seems they've got a hankering for it too. Anyway, Re'dan is mostly overseeing."

That's good. There's got to be fifty people in here.

Wed, in a huddle with a couple other Crew, breaks off and stands near the front of the room. He's.. grinning?

Wed, "Lords and ladies, paragons and pariahs, hello hello!" Wed's speaking in a much more upbeat manner than usual. I guess we're witnessing Performing Wed. "We've called for a small gathering on our last full day of travel, as the formation plans for the next big company have been laid down. I know, I know! I've heard that line before, you're thinking. Humor me for now. And in return, we will cover dinner and drinks!"

There's some cheers at that, but nobody looks surprised.

Wed gives an exaggerated bow, before walking into the kitchen. A few people come out soon after with food, side dishes for the most part, and serve them among the us and the passengers at other tables. We got some sort of salad it seems. The dressing is pretty light, salty-sweet. It goes well with whatever these vegetables are.

"What is that delightful aroma?" Someone at the next table wonders to his fellows. He's closer to the kitchen, but I soon also smell that beef-mixed-with-salmon smell. I imagine I'll eventually get tired of my favorite protein.. but it won't be today.

Me, "I almost feel bad for them. They're going to have the world's finest meat, and never get to experience it again."

Rin, "Perhaps.. It will be so delicious, that the audience forgets this whole.. presentation that Wed is doing?"

Vai'yun, "Will the company be in trouble? Perhaps a simpler meal would have been appropriate."

I think she missed the joke. Rin smiles, "Small chance of that. The Crew know what they're doing. And even if they didn't, they're selling the impossible gems Grey makes."

Wed takes center stage once more after most of us finish the start of the meal. "And now for the showing! As you know, earth magic has long been unable to satisfyingly shape gemstones. The magic specializes in large movements of soil and rock; experienced mages say the delicate pattern can't be preserved.

"But what if... I said they were wrong?"

He pauses dramatically for effect, and takes out one of my earlier works from the other day. Amethyst and Ruby, in a crescent moon shape with gold lining both edges and the part where they come together. I seem to recall the gilding taking the most time, as usual for those pesky requests involving that damn gold ingot.

Surprisingly, most of the ingot is still in my cart. Not much gets used per artwork.

While I'm lost in thought, Wed makes the rounds to each table aside from ours, briefly showing it off to everyone. To anyone who asks, he hands it over along with a metal framed lens, similar to the one I bought earlier. The few who do examine it briefly, nod, and hand them back.

The table next to us has an older gentleman examine it. He looks troubled, but says, "It appears genuine. But what a waste. How much was cut to make this?"

Wed doesn't answer immediately, and returns to the front. Turning back to the audience, he holds out the piece in front of him again, with his left hand raised at his side. Hah, again with the showmanship. "As you have seen, the article is genuine. But what you didn't know is this; both halves started at this size. Grey, the inventor of his technique, didn't start with a massive raw and hew it down. Using a brand new alcheomagical technique, a gem was reformed into this shape."

Now that gets a rise. A few people gasp, and I hear a few murmurs of "Impossible!" or "How?"

Me, "Alcheomagical...?"

Rin, "It's a mixture of the words 'alchemy' and 'magical'."

Me, "Ah, thank you, Rin." I guess I'm still getting used to Freynd.

Wed, "You heard right! An artwork that will sell for hundreds of gold costs us but a fraction to make." He pauses to let that sink in, and pockets the gem. "Any fanciful shape your heart desires, we can make. Be it jewelry, or standalone pieces, it can be done. Tell everyone you know, Gemwright is taking bids within the week!" There's some scattered cheers. "Bartender, every drink for the next hour is on my tab!" The cheering is much louder, and about half the folks stand up to order some booze. More than a few of them glance my way, to the supposed inventor of the alcheomagical technique, haha.

The mood livens up as people get a bit more alcohol in them. I abstain for now. The people who get their drinks sit or stand around Wed and some of the Crew, talking to them. The gentleman from the other table comes over though. His clothes look similar to the formal wear I wore a few weeks back. The coat tails roughly form a triangle pointing downwards, which I vaguely recall was the masculine version of formal wear... Something about the sleeves and something else, but given how expensive the garment looks, I'm sure it's all right. He asks, "Sir, would you happen to be the Grey that mister Wed spoke of just now?"

My tablemates mostly glance at the guy, but continue their own private conversations. Rin and Vai'yun do look at him without talking though. For myself, I turn in my chair (bolted in place), and respond, "That's me!"

He bows, left hand over right chest, right hand held to his side. "I am Estudione, a representative of Leif Marvels and Mundanes. The work your coworker, Wed, displayed was marvelous."

Me, "Thank you. I worked hard on getting it right." I only dimly remember crafting it.

Estudione, "We would like to invite you to prove your claims to our company. If we find them satisfactory, we would offer you a generous compensation to work for us instead. A furnished Skyport apartment isn't out of the question, as well."

Poaching already? Interesting. "Thank you, but no. I'm being paid well as it is." As if I'd give up my secret technique, even if it was what you think it is.

He nods, perhaps expecting this. I guess the follow up will be the 'more reasonable' request? "Then I invite you to craft a few works for us first, at a so-called friends and family rate. In exchange, we will provide a smooth introduction to the Jewelers' Guild. We will of course observe your working, to ensure there are no undercurrent deeds."

Hah. No. Still, a strange turn of phrase. "I'm leaving the business side of this to Wed."

Estudione, "Surely you will have spare time? I recommend you reconsider. A business in gem smithing will find they encounter many difficulties, if the Jewelers' Guild won't acknowledge them."

Rin, ¬That sounds like a problem for Wed to handle. ¬ She's amused at his request. ¬They simply want to know your secret. But it isn't like they could do it themselves. ¬

Exactly! I can't help ya, bud. "I will decline. I'm sure your compensation is generous, but I'm happy with my current arrangement."

If he's disappointed, he doesn't show it, but he does say, "Very well. I hope you don't come to regret this."

Hah, not likely. What's he gonna do, mobilize this Jewelers' Guild against my fledgling business? "We'll see." Past him, I see a few people bringing out plates of meat. I recognize it immediately. "Estudione, it seems the food is ready. Enjoy the main course, it's quite delicious!"

He walks off. I'm not terribly surprised when our table is served first. Vai'yun comments on my thought, "It's only natural for the chief to be given food first."

Rin, "I agree. Also, it will help alleviate fears that the meat is in any way tainted, if the ones providing the meat are seen eating it."

Once we're all served, Wed walks up to the table, holding a plate and cup of his own. "Grey, I'd like to say a few words." Interestingly, he's switched to Jensin, and is no longer loud enough to carry the entire room. "We took a risk with you. We left Karmm with a hope and a dream.. and honestly, a few dozen gold each. We could have walked away happy, rich; some of them did. But we chose to believe in you, the money you could bring in, and perhaps the adventure we would have along the way.

"You gave criminals like us a chance. By Galdr, you've made us rich as nobles, every one of us. So this is my promise, and oath. This company will be a resounding success. It will knock the walls down, surpass all expectations, overcome every obstacle... Heh. In your signature style, it will overwhelmingly succeed without even trying. But we'll be putting in every effort."

Wed lifts his cup.. "So here's to you, Grey. I'll postpone that cushy retirement that I could start today, and continue to see how your adventures fares. 'Cheers'!"

The last statement was back in Freynd, and I'm surprised to hear most of the room respond with the same. Everyone raises their cups towards me, so I raise my own mug (when did that get there..), bump it into everyones', and take a swig of.. beer it seems.

I put the mug down as someone in the back starts playing a stringed instrument of some kind. A lethargic tune gets started, and we dig into the meal. With knife and fork, I sever a hunk. I look at the coloration; rare, just as I like. Fantastic.

Fre, normally very serious, begins telling an anecdote from his time with the old syndicate in Karmm. Apparently he and a few others had to hole up in someone's attic for a day after a run in with the law. "I have never been in a room so dusty, and not being able to make noise was a unique torment. I have always valued my ability to sneeze freely since."

Luu follows up with an amusing recount of a politician that they blackmailed for years, and his clumsy attempts to skim taxes. "He learned after one such transaction, so we let him get away with the next small one to see if it made him do something foolish. And by Lim, did he! His next 'withdrawal' was ten times as much! The look on his face after was almost as satisfying as the amount he paid us."

I enjoy hearing about their time before meeting me. I'm sure these are just handpicked, though.

We're finishing our meal when the musician starts something a little livelier. A few of the Friegs head to a more open area in the room. Rin says, "Oh. This is a dance! Let's join, Grey!"

With a laugh, I stand up and take her hand. I glance at Vai'yun, who smiles and shakes her head. ¬Enjoy the dance with Ringara. ¬ she sends, before withdrawing from telepathy. Alright then.

Rin, dragging me to the middle, says, "It's a well known dance in Friegheim, to this song, but I don't know the exact motions. We can get in the circle and dance with them to learn it!"

She's cute when she's excited. "Let's learn this dance, then!"

Rin, ¬I object to that thought! I'm always cute. ¬

The people in the circle make room for two more. Before long, some queue in the music is passed, and it's amusing to see everyone take the first motion as one.

The dance is one of stomps, grunts, a few claps, ending with the group rumbling, "Huu-uuuuuu-AH!"

Someone starts singing the second round through, in as deep a voice as I've ever heard, about Bodjal, a coastline raider of sorts.

Rin, ¬To oversimplify, Friegheim once relied much more on raiding for food, commerce, and such than it does now. After a rather brutal coalition invasion, Friegheim shifted to a more mercantile stance to make use of their oceanic expertise. ¬

Makes sense. I guess this song about how awesome this raider, Bodjal, is a way to remember their history. We continue stamping to learn how this fellow supposedly led a hundred successful raids on the same number of towns and ports, before one day sailing off alone, never to be heard from again. Seems like an odd ending, but people are weird, so maybe he went insane or something. Assuming the song is even accurate, of course.

After the song, I look back at the table. It looks like Wed is talking to Vai'yun. She's fine then. I hear a new instrument in the direction of the musician; a small percussion. When he hits a pedal, it collides two rounded objects to make a 'clack'.

Rin, "Everyone's pairing up. Want to try?"

Hah, sure! "Let's give it a whirl."

There's several same-sex couplings, and the music is still upbeat, so this song seems like it'll be another 'festivities' song. Rin and I watch the others as the song starts, and mimic them as best we can. It has a few of the elements as the last one, but features one bit where the partners clasp arms, hands to the other's elbow, and turn about 270 degrees. The centrifugal force is an amusing addition to the dancing. Telepathy helps us coordinate our actions, both of us able to anticipate the other's movements, but Rin opts to follow my lead.

Rin's eyes go to the side as the next song is being prepared. I follow her eyes and mind; it seems that Hana's showed up after all. I check on Vai'yun, and she's talking more animatedly with Wed, and now holding a block of.. wood? I can't tell if it's hardbark or something else. Rin looks back to me, "Dance with Hana for a few songs. I'll see what Wed and 'Yun are talking about, ok?"

Hmm. "That's fine with me. Love you, Rin." She smiles and we share a quick pressing of lips before she jogs away. Hana smiles at Rin as they pass, and makes her way over to me. "How are you feeling, Hana?"

I swap telepathy over to her, but see her blush a little before I feel her mind again. "I'm okay, thank you. Um, it's embarrassing, so let's just hurry up and dance ok?"

Huh. That makes me a little suspicious about what embarrassing things she might have been doing these last few hours, but I only grin, and give no further thought to the matter.

The next song is much more of a sailor's piece; a simple repeating tune on the stringed instrument (I glance over, something like a guitar, but the shape is simpler; a lute perhaps?) and everyone seems to dance to this one as they see fit. The lyrics are a surprisingly lewd tale of a captain with a very small 'sword' visiting whorehouses in every port and making every woman he slept with either faint with joy, or laugh at his misfortune. The meaning seems to be deliberately unclear, enabled by a homophone in Freynd, so the song could be interpreted either way.

Hana laughs, "This song is so dirty! If any man said these lines to me, I'd knock him out."

I grin, "I don't know, don't you want me to tell you I'm about to brandish my pearl maker before we dive into our battlefield of bedding?"

She exudes mirth, "Noooo! It's funny now, but it would kill the mood so much!"

We dance on as the singer continues belting out the most appalling descriptions of intercourse imaginable, until he winds down with a bow.

The next song is interesting; a tale of a ship in a whirlpool. The dance for this one is for everyone, in a circle, to have their hands on the shoulders of both people beside them. The mood is slightly more somber. A second person stands with the musician for this one, and takes the role of 'captain', barking orders at certain points in the song, causing everyone to either spin to the left, or to the right, or kick their legs. The end of the song has the ship succumb to the whirlpool, and the group falls to the ground together. I laugh, "What a way to end a song!"

Everyone gets up. Hana says, "Get Vai'yun out here! She should dance a few too!"

Me, "Yeah, I had hoped to get her dancing."

Hana hops up for a kiss, then says, "Love you!" and leaves before I can return the sentiment. She runs up to Vai'yun, takes the wood from her hand, and gestures at me as I walk over. The next song starts behind me.

Vai'yun smiles at Hana and pats her shoulder, then meets me. She looks excited. "I don't know these dances, you know."

Grinning, I reply, "Me either. We'll have fun anyway."

Vai'yun lets me lead her into the dance area again. We dance to a tune with no lyrics, but a strangely intricate series of arm movements that neither of us can quite manage to get perfectly. Another has a lot of jumping motions; we laugh to each other as the sidelines cheer each time the group jumps; or, more likely, cheers to Vai'yun's leaps. She doesn't mind, so I choose not to mind.

Hana reconnects with telepathy, and asks my wife to join her elsewhere. I'm not tired, but take a seat at the table from before. I barely sit down before Re'dan seats himself next to me. "Your women have something planned, and have asked me to distract you. I am not any good at lying yet, and do not wish to be, so I will ask you to lie in my stead, should they ask." He says this with a silly smile.

He also has a cup and a bowl of some sort of nuts. Two sorts of nuts, it seems; I've never seen them before. "I've added salt, as well. It always amazes me how salt is everywhere, here."

I grin, and take a bite. The first one is quite salty; beneath that it tastes something like cashew. "This one's great. I accept your bribe, 'Dan. Good job on cooking dinner as well. You had help back there, I assume?"

He nods, and picks up a few legumes himself. "I did. They did not seem to want to listen to me much, but Wed vouched for me. The cooks were more willing to listen to me, after that."

I can't imagine chefs would listen to a teen too willingly. I wonder if Wed paid them off, or if he simply convinced them that this was a new meat, and Re'dan had experience with preparing it. "I only had mine to sample, but it turned out as well. Everyone loved it."

As I try the second, rounded nut he brought out (tastes like pear mixed with peanut, not bad), Re'dan says, "I was not aware which plate was going to you. But I did not handle too much of the Sea God meat directly, today. There were too many people to cook for. They taught me a few tricks, too." He talks briefly about how they used some kind of knife, the details of which I don't quite follow, something about how being short and thin helps with cooking certain kinds of food.

The conversation moves on to charcoal, and I try the drink. Some sort of cider. I can never tell how much alcohol is in a cider, but it doesn't seem excessive, if there's any.

Re'dan, "That is cider of parnum, a fruit native to Friegheim. I'm rather partial to it. I plan to try to.. purchase, a lot of it, and use it in cooking. There are any number of spices I can try with it, and one of my chefs told me about a method with-" he regails me with several recipes he wants to try, then a tale of how his mate is fascinated with the incredible variety of cloths available outside their island (discovered while learning to polish gems), and his own curiosity about a metal called 'steel', and the 'charcoal' which is used to make it. At this point, Zaw joins the conversation, talking about how it's not just steel that exists, but various kinds. Charcoal steel is the low end; the good stuff is either demon steel, which nobody on this side of the world knows how to make but has a curious red tint. Or, fifth steel, created using some combination of magics, also kept a secret by the Jensin king.

The conversation drags on, and I interject questions here and there. Turns out that those steels are the best, they're also wildly expensive, and most people use the steel produced by Al'Ruheibi. Their Infinite Mines, true to their name, never run out of Iron, so they process and export, to their profit.

The topic has just shifted to spears and javelins, making me wonder if I should call over Haji, when I get a knock on my brain. No sirens, Sentral? I quickly check Zone; nope. Hana sends me a thought. ¬Hey, come on down, okay? ¬

Me, ¬Be there soon. ¬ She sends me a mental image of blowing a kiss, and disconnects. Now that was cute. "Gentlemen, it seems that's it for me tonight. See you tomorrow?"

They say their farewells and wave me off. I've got an inkling what might be in store, so I make a quick stop at the public water closet before going downstairs.

As I'm walking down the stairs, I'm surprised to see Rin waiting for me. Her dark hair was done up earlier, but now it's all flowing down her back.

Rin, "You're overdue for some affection. Would you like a blindfold now, or later?"

It has been more than a week, hasn't it? "Later. Let me see you, at least for now."

Ringara tilts her head as she smiles up at me. "Okay." And then closes her eyes and kisses me.

It starts gentle, the pressure light, our lips only touching. I pull back to kiss her again, and again, a small noise as our mouths separate, a small warmth as we meet again. Her mind leans against mine. For once, I keep it there, without tongue, without desire. I run a hand through her hair; it's cool, soft, smooth. I lift some of it into my hand, and enjoy the sensation of it flowing down between my fingers. Rin squeezes me against her, and smooshes her lips against mine. I bask in the warmth of her body and love.

She pulls back after some time. It's a bit odd that both of our faces are still clean. "I love you, Grey." She takes my side, and with a hand on my hip, pulls me down the stairs. "Come, Hana's waiting."

Me, "Let's go then. And, I love you, Rin."

She leans her head on my arm as we walk down the stairs. There's only a few flights, so it's not long before we pass Hana near the bottom. The hold is fairly empty, and a little dark in the twilight hours. Rin takes her hand from my hip, gives me a small smile, and walks back to my cart, leaving me with my smallest woman.

Hana, "Smallest, but cutest, right?"

I can't help but smile at her cheeky attitude. "Very true. The cutest I've ever seen, and with eyes like Emeralds."

Hana, "And you, handsomely leading a trek spanning the world. Sit down."

She gently pushes me back towards the stairs, and sits me about three steps up from the ground, and then straddles herself on my legs, facing me.

Hana's tongue starts flowing out of her mouth. ¬That was a nice, loving kiss you shared with Rin. But, you know how I want it, right? ¬

I smile. "For you? Anything."

Her eyes move closer to mine, glittering in the low light, slanted upwards in that arousing, upturning angle. I focus on them while Hana slides her long tongue beside, and then around my own. She doesn't stop there, she never does. I seal my lips to hers as she wraps again and again around my tongue, cocooning it, making sure that the only thing I taste is her saliva.

She shivers briefly in pleasure, then opens her eyes again to stare into mine. I can feel her affection and love, communicated less through our telepathy than by the happiness in her expression.

Me, ¬You are mine, Hanamaya. I love you. ¬

She smooches me for a few minutes longer before pulling back. As the moment wears off, I ask, ¬Does the new beard scratch you? ¬

Hana, ¬It would, if I paid attention to it. It's not hard for me to ignore. ¬ She takes her left hand from behind my back, and rubs it on my newly hairy cheek. ¬Scratchy! You're even more wolf-like than before. I should flee while I have time~¬

She moves back, but feeling playful, I grip her in the hug stand up, and push my lips tighter against hers, before setting her down a few seconds later. ¬I wouldn't let you escape! You're precious to me. ¬

She smiles, and brings back her tongue, appearing once more to be an ordinary girl. "You are too. Come on, Vai'yun is last, then all of us."

I note that telepathy didn't begin with Hana earlier, meaning she must have been there already when Rin reached out. I'm betting Vai'yun is also in this connection. ¬We are, O' favored. Come, I wish to touch you once more. ¬

Vai'yun is waiting for me at the end of my cart, smiling knowingly at me. Hana pulls off one of my rings, and gives me a gentle push to Vai'yun.

Me, "Well. Am I also to kiss the tallest of loves?"

She pushes off the wall, and walks over to me. "No, Vai'grey. You are here to be kissed by the tallest of your loves."

Even better. One of her hands cups the bottom of my jaw, thumb and middle finger angling my head up, while the other lightly caresses the base of my skull. She smirks, not moving her head, but instead pulls my lips to hers. As she kisses me, she sends, ¬It is good that you are here. I am enjoying owning a male. I will treat you well. ¬

I'm not really sure how to take that. She drops the hand at my jaw, and giggles through the kiss. ¬That is what the mask I wear when we mate would say to you. I love you, Vai'grey. I am glad you found me. ¬

Haha.. ¬I'm glad we found each other. I enjoy the company of your mask, but it was Vai'yun that I fell in love with. ¬

My lover is happy with my response, and shows her appreciation with a gentle embrace and tender kisses. Vai'yun opts to include tongue, so I happily meet her in the space between our lips...

She pulls back. "Hanamaya and Ringara taught me what you like. Now that I am your wife, I will be joining your 'scalp rub'." She runs a hand lightly over the side of my head. "Do you have any requests?"

While I think about it, she leads the way into my cart. Hana and Rin await; Rin with a confident smile, Hana with a mischievous one while wiggling her fingers at me.

The door closes behind me, and darkness falls. Blind without my Zone ring, my girls lead me to the bed, and submerge me in pleasant sensations, giggles, and warmth.