Beyond Chaos – A DiceRPG
[1268] – Y06.168 – Old Woman IV

“It is a nice sword though,” Adam said, admiring the beauty of the blade, his eyes darting aside towards Dunes, his brows asking permission.

Dunes tilted his head slightly, taking a moment to think upon the half elf’s request, before turning aside towards the older woman. “There is a small matter we would discuss, Mustashalur.”

“What matter is this?” Ellani replied, seeing the way the young man brushed his beard lightly in thought, trying to figure out how to navigate through this conversation.

“Jeticule is traded by the royal family, so we will need to discuss with the royal family on how to procure the material?” Dunes pretended to ask.

“Jeticule is within the purview of the royal family,” the old woman confirmed, taking in the sight of the pair of young men, who were enjoying playing this game of coyness. “You will need to discuss with the royal family.”

“So we’ll need to speak with the-,” Adam began, distracted a moment by Kizwolima, who coveted the jug with a thirst only known to mermen, the half elf quickly filling her cup, the girl slurping the water away noisily. “We’ll need to speak with the royal family then?”

“You will need to,” Ellani confirmed. 

“Oh, then, Mo Dunes, shall we go do that?”

“It is not so easy,” Dunes admitted. 

“What? You’re telling me that meeting with the royal family has some difficulty?” Adam gasped, emphasising the gasp, just in case his dry sarcasm did not seem evident. “Wow. That’s crazy. Although, perhaps if the Shen requires some enchanters, he might be willing to discuss with us?”

“There are some enchanters in Aswadasad,” Dunes informed, more seriously.

“As good as ours?”

“Hmm,” Dunes replied, groaning lightly as he relented to the half elf. 

“How skilled is your enchanter?” Ellani asked, more intrigued by their little game, though keeping a half tone of doubt. 

“Very skilled,” Adam said, a smile encroaching across his lips. “Most of the weapons enchanted were enchanted by the Enchanter, though, actually, not the sword gifted to our Taygak, I’m pretty sure. However, if you want, I can let you hold my axe, since you were so polite in allowing our Taygak to hold your blade, though, actually, Dunes, you should hand over our dear Ranya’s sword.”

“This sword belongs to my daughter, though I am borrowing it from her,” Dunes said, undoing the sword belt, holding out the beautiful blade. 

“How old is your daughter?” Ellani asked, plucking the sword from his fingers, though found the great magic rush through her in an instant, and if she was not who she was, she may have dropped the blade, but she tensed and kept the blade within her grasp. 

“She will turn two this year,” Dunes replied. 

“She’s two, but let me tell you, she’s vicious, she is,” Adam said, letting out a tired sigh. “You try to take her pepper, you’re going to need a better sword than this to stop her beating you!”

“It is a great blade,” the woman admitted, for it was surely among the best weapons she had felt in her life time. 

“Well, Greater Enhanced, but we don’t have to squabble about terms,” Adam replied, glancing aside, leaning back as though he didn’t want to tell her about how amazing it was. 

“What does it do?”

“It strikes true a few times each day, and strikes heavier when it does such,” Adam stated, smiling in the way Jirot would as he caught her gaze. “It does a little more, but I think you understand it’s a pretty amazing weapon.”

Ellani noted the look the half elf shared with his brother, the half elf asking permission, the Iyrman pausing to think, before nodding. 

“It’s, you know, pretty good. I mean, it’s only-,” Adam paused, leaning in to whisper into Jurot’s ear in the Iyr’s tongue. Jurot shook his head lightly. “Oh, you know, it’s defeated at least a Grand Commander, that blade.”

“Which Grand Commander.”

“Oh, just… a few, around the lands,” Adam replied, shrugging his shoulders, all the while a wide grin appeared on his face as Dunes sighed, the Aswadian shaking his head lightly. “That sword has quite a few tales to it already, much better than my axe, which has come to blows with Ashuk the Spear.”

“Ashuk?” the woman asked, surprised, tilting her head slightly. “You met with Ashuk?”

“I did. We came here on the Windy Warhawk. We met with, uh, what’s his name? Not Ocean. O’Shan. Captain O’Shan, of the Windy Warhawk, and there were quite a few powerful warriors. Ashuk. Tovi? That was one, right? The drakken? Then there was… Tavi! Tavi, Tovi… Jan, Juk?”

“Jok,” Dunes corrected.

“Damn it. There was another one I think.”

“Shaya,” Jurot said.

“Yeah, yeah, we met them, and we made our way. I sparred with Ashuk on the ship, he was very merciful, and then we sparred more heavily upon land, where we could stop holding back, and… we fought.”

“You… fought?” Ellani replied, because there was a certain look within the half elf’s eyes that stated something else. She threw a look to Dunes, her eyes full of confusion, with Dunes letting our a defeated sigh and a head nod, and the woman returned her attention back upon the half elf. “You have met quite some important figures, and you… fought quite a powerful figure.”

“Yeah, well, you know how it is. We met with like, five Grand Commander, no, more, and we’ve met so many figures. I mean, of course, I hold a great respect for you, there’s no doubt about that, but we’ve met a lot of people. Princes, Princesses, Kings, I mean, last year there was King Merryweather, right? This year, too. Also, Lord Marshal Royce, the Grand Marshal? Anyway, you know who I mean right? The Knight of Death?”

“I know of him,” the woman replied, nodding her head, as though it was possible for her not to know of the Knight of Death. “We were contemporaries.”

“Yeah, so, we’ve met a lot of people, a lot of grand figures, and I know Ashuk and the others are a big deal, but…” Adam shrugged his shoulders. “That being said, if we meet a dragon, I’m more excited. We met, uh, Lord…”

“Keswing,” Jurot said. 

“Is that the guy that flew to us after the tournament about the time we met Great Urkina?” Adam whispered.

“Yes.”

“Yeah, so we met him, and we’ve met a few dragons. Actually, we were there when, uh-,”

“Adam,” Jurot said, realising that they couldn’t mention that particular dragon’s name, since they were a little too east. 

“Anyway, yeah, I really do want to meet more dragons, and I hear that Aswadasad is the land of dragons, so, I’m very excited,” Adam admitted, his eyes beaming with a childish joy. 

“You wish to do business within Aswadasad?” Ellani asked, trying to return to the conversation, meanwhile noting down more about Adam within her mind, who seemed a fool, but a fool with fortune. 

“Yeah. We’ve had some issues with the Aldishmen, so we thought, maybe Aswadasad might be friendlier,” Adam said, motioning to his ears.

“Ah,” Ellani replied, slowly nodding her head. “The Massacre of Rock Hill is still fresh within their hearts. I remember sending some of our Order to escort the crates of fish and wine the Shen donated to the Aldish. I remember sending them out once more during the skirmishes a few years later.”

“Yeah, that’s just how it is,” Adam replied, shrugging his shoulders. 

“How much business do you intend to complete within Aswadasad?”

“That depends on how much the Aswadians welcome us, I suppose. If we’re coming in and taking all the jobs from the hardworking Aswadian enchanters, I’m sure there might be an issue, but if we can come in and provide a unique service so that the hardworking Aswadian enchanters don’t feel threatened, I think we can complete a fair amount.”

“You are the High Alchemist?”

“Yeah, though, I haven’t been doing much alchemy work due to all the…” Adam waved his hands out vaguely. “It is what it is.”

Ellani slowly bowed her head, assuming what he meant. “We can send word to the Shen that there is some business he may be interested in, but I cannot guarantee any interest.”

“That’s fine. I mean, we’ve done business with plenty of other nobles. The Duchess of East Port, the Grand Duchess of the North, and Queen, what do they call her? Queen Silver… Silvari! Right, right.”

“Queen Silvari?” Ellani asked, furrowing her brows, for Queen Silvari would have no need for enchanters. 

“Yeah, that’s right, Entalia, right?”

“Lady Entalia,” Ellani corrected.

“If she wants me to call her a Lady she can tell me that herself,” Adam replied playfully, almost rudely so, causing the older woman’s eyes to completely burrow into him. “What?”

“Even this far out, you should show respect to the Queen of Drakkenlen.”

“I showed her respect, I called her Queen Silvari, but Queen Silvari is Queen Silvari, and Entalia is Entalia,” Adam replied. “Anyway, it’s fine, we’re friends.”

“You are a friend of…”

“Yeah, Entalia, and Prince Morkarai, but I call Prince Morkarai a Prince because… I was bullied into it by a friend.”

Ellani turned to Dunes with a look. ‘He is insane!’

Dunes shrugged his shoulders.

We just shrug the existence known as Adam.