Ice Titan's Might, Chapter 1: Rumblings in the Mountain

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Alder started in surprise as he heard the voice address him from behind, and he whipped around to see who was speaking. Feeling the warm sensation around his rear, the shaggy headed man realized he must have sat in part of their food and interrupted their conversation. He looked between the humans and the half orc and stammered, "Oh! Uh, oops, sorry bout that. Didn't, uh, see you there." Alder wipes the remaining food off of his behind and crouches next to their table. "No, I don't think you can help me, but I believe I might be able to help you! Are you familiar with the good word our Lord and Savior Oen?"
 
Sleeping Coyote:

The elven man at the counter smiles at Regalia and nods. "Two plates, alright then. Must have quite the appetite," he chuckles, before popping quickly into the kitchen and sliding her two plates. "Oh, just the usual news -- orc raids here, banditry there, adventures all over. Though someone came in recently saying that they saw a giant come and harass a village to the north, so the jarl is lookin' for more recruits for the guard."

The woman Alder was speaking with had a mix of expressions on her face, from mild disgust to slight disappointment that her cherry pastry was now smeared on the cleric's rear. "Uh, no I'm not. But from what I've heard and now seen of the lout and his 'wonderful' representatives, I don't really care to be." The other human man just sighs and brings his drink up for a long gulp.

Scram smirks at Puck's compliment. "Pillar of a small part of this big ol' town, sure -- the part that you can never guarantee you'll see the next dawn. Usually the safe bet is Rendaril's Emporium over on Flint Row, the ol' coot there has been in business for decades now... though I doubt you're the type of person to go for 'safe'," he says, chuckling.

He rubs his chin in thought, then perks up and glances over at the table Alder had found himself at, shouting across the main hall. "Oi, Baric the yeti-killer! Ya got any of those yeti coats left? Ye probably got a buyer here!"

The half-orc at the table, broad-shouldered and protected by heavy plate mail, turns his attention from the stranger at their table to the older man calling him out. "I already told you, Scram -- I didn't kill that damn yeti by myself. It was a blessing from Tyr that I made it outta there alive at all." He grumbles, though he can't hide a hint of amusement at the praise. "Besides, I gave the pelts over to the temple so they could make their own coats and help the less fortunate."
 
Flint Row Market:

The halfling in the clothier wagon just chuckles and nods. "A master of the arcane arts, huh? Yeah, I thought myself something like that when I was a young'un like you. Lemme see what I've got." He ducks into the back of his wagon for a minute behind a curtain. He comes out with two robes, one in a dark forest green and another in a regal blue color. "These are the only two I've got around your size, if either strikes your fancy. They're lined on the inside so you won't freeze your butt off. I'd put these at about 10 gold apiece."

He grins cheekily. "I do custom work as well, if you're willing ta wait a bit. Different color, matching hat, maybe sew on some stars for that authentic 'unlimited magic power' feeling."

Vincent coos and flies onto the counter to peek inside. "I'd say there are plenty of people who'd give a crap. And I wouldn't write off someone because of their appearance -- people do that enough to you already."
 
Rendaril's Emporium:

The interior of the wide log cabin is open and spacious, likely refurbished to remove most of the second floor in order to provide more room for shelves and supplies. Quite a few people people are browsing around, as a guard keeps watch just inside of the double doors (shivering a bit each time someone enters). A younger woman mans the counter to the back, while a tall older half-elf man sits in a chair behind it, scribbling away in a ledger and counting coins.

The half-elf glances up as Mei-Lynn addresses him, standing up and crossing his arms. "Of course we deal in magical items, but I'm not going to just leave it out there on the floor where someone could just take it and bolt." He raises an eyebrow when Mei-Lynn mentions lords and investments, but seems more unimpressed than unconvinced. "One of your lords, eh? You have several?" He shrugs. "We are not looking for patronage, as you can see we're doing quite well for ourselves already. Regardless I can acquire you something of that given a down payment of 150 gold and another 150 on receipt. Or he can buy our regular cold gear like most everyone else is perfectly fine with, for 15 gold apiece."
 
Taking her error in word choice in stride she absently reached into her bag pulling out three bags of coins and plopping them onto the counter in a flourish. "Three hundred gold you said? I will of course inform the lord who has traveled with me that you are not looking for such business opportunities, and he will of course relay it to the others," says Mei-Lynn doing her best to play off the blunder before a fourth sack is pulled out from her bag. "However perhaps it is just the differences in culture hailing all the way from Toraya, but Mr. Hu-Lin was insistent that I leave a sign of good faith to remember him by. Another one hundred gold to complete the transaction."

Mei-Lynn gave a good look around the place. It didn't seem like this place would be anywhere near on her list to steal from as it would require far too much work. That she never liked to steal from any place she purchased goods from either. "I am curious to see what you had in mind," said Mei-Lynn some of her current attempt at acting dropping from her guise as the excitement of seeing a new magical item took over.
 
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Giving the barkeep an impish grin she took the plates. “Thank yah, I’ll head in tat direction once mah companion arrives.” She could certainly eat both plates, weather she looked it or not. The thought might even cross her mind if Mei wished to dawdle. The longer Mei was gone, the more trouble she could get into. Time taken meant a slow pace and a slow pace for that girl meant scheming.

Chucking to herself she sniffed her plate of food while walking to some empty seat or table if she could. As things came around she ended up adjacent to the flamboyant one. Noticing the blanket for the first time her brow arched as she slowly sat. Distracted her plates hit the table with a small clatter and she sighed as a few potatoes tumbled onto it.

It took several moments for her to decide if she wanted to put them back on Mei’s plate. She would never know... In the end she shook her head. “Nah I musn’t,” she mutters to herself while bringing her spoon to her mouth eating thankfully something other than hard tack.
 
Austin groaned internally in response to Vincent’s nagging, confident in his abilities. “That’s different and you know it. I doubt most people dedicate years of their lives to formulating their own unique style of magic from basically scratch.”

Turning his attention back to the cart vendor, he frowned as he looked at the two robes. “Hmm... Don’t love spending time in the city, so I’ll probably take your current stock. I like the green since I spend a lotta time in the forest, but it doesn’t really scream ‘wizard’ to me. On the other hand, the blue is pretty awesome, but I think it might make me look like an apprentice, and I’m sure as hell no newbie.” He looked up at A.W.E. “Whadda ya think, bud? Blue or green? What’d look best while I’m frying my enemies with arcane power?” He cackled a little to himself.
 
On Austin's request, A.W.E looks at both the Dark Forest green robe and the Regal Blue robe. "My personal preference goes out to green, but blue is a good color to accentuate the occasional splashes of red caused by 'blowing kneecaps off.' Also, quoting to one of our previous conversations, the yellow of your arcane lightning will look 'super duper awesome' in contrast to the blue."

Having made his decision, A.W.E. points towards the blue robe. "Results show a 79% preference for blue and 21% preference for green. Is this outcome agreeable?" A.W.E. asks, giving Austin a questioning look
 
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Austin stared at the robe a moment longer before nodding to A.W.E. “The outcome’s very acceptable, thanks A.W.E.! Also, seems like your vocabulary systems are finally beginning to accept the modifications I’ve been trying to make. You’re soundin’ pretty neato now.” He turned back to the halfling and smiled to him. “Blue, please! How much is it gonna cost me? Oh, and how susceptible are these robes to magic? I’d hate to have to hand wash when I can just presto-cleano em up.”
 
Raising a hand, Puck closed his eyes for a moment as he made his voice sound sagely, "Ah ... but when it comes to clothing, I'd rather be assured my trousers aren't going to fall down." Opening his eyes he smiled, "Unless of course that's the plan!" Taking another bite of his meal he continued, "Emporium .. eeeeemmmpooorium, such a fun word isn't it? Sounds as if I might find some fun things there as well." Puck's golden eyes followed as Scram shouted across the hall, "Oh ... a yeti-killer hm?" he muttered to himself.

Listening to Baric's response, Puck rested his head in his hands again with a long sigh, "Well, it would be cruel of me to force the unfortunate to freeze as I currently am, so it seems I'm due for a trip elsewhere." Hearing a clatter of plates, Puck glanced towards the woman that seemed to have stumbled, giving her a smile and a small bow from his seat, adjusting the blanket again. "Hello hello hello ~ allow me to introduce myself if you've yet to hear my name: Puck. Currently freezing gladiator from the warm sands of Garza across the waters." He winked towards her, "I do believe your eyes are the most vibrant blue I've yet to see! Perhaps I should borrow your look?" Focusing for a moment his solid gold eyes instead transitioned to a solid ice-blue color then returned to the gold shortly after as he smiled.
 
Rendaril's Emporium:

The half-elf narrows his eyes as Mei-Lynn casually tosses out coin pouches, taking three of them and tossing each slightly in the air to test its weight before stowing it below and making a note in his ledger. "... Indeed, I suppose you shall. While you're at it, I'd appreciate it if you told them that Rendaril does not accept bribery. Or don't and keep it for yourself, I could care less." He pushes the fourth coin bag back to Mei-Lynn before writing up a small note and handing it to one of the shop attendants stocking the shelves, who nods and throws on a coat before heading outside. "I do believe that's our last one, which means I'll have to get the enchanter to speed up on her next commission of those."

He flips to another bookmarked tab and starts skimming down the page. "Most of our immediately available selection is utility-based in nature, though we do have a few weapons and other armaments with basic enchantments. Potions, we keep a steady stock of. Anything more complex we make to order after reaching out to some of the specialists in town. Did you have anything particular in mind?"

Flint Row Market:

The halfling shopkeep nods at Austin with a grin, folding up the blue robe neatly and plopping it on the counter. "Susceptible enough to a good ol' cleaning, magic or not. It's not anything special 'cept some quality material and quality hemwork -- if I do say so myself. 10 gold just for the one." He chuckles, then points to A.W.E. "Anything for your friend there? I definitely have something his size laying around."
 
“Well met, Puck” her eyes settled upon the stranger warily. The look on her face a mixture of surprise and wary recoil as she slouches back into her seat his proximity a bit much suddenly. “I be regrettin te inform yah I’ve not heard of yah exploits or yer name.” As he changes his eye color her body language shifted her shoulders pulling forward to make her appear bigger her chin rose up and her lips settled into a straight line. “ I be asking that yah don’t be takin on any of me visage again tho it t’aint polite.” Giving a nod to assert her words she pulled a smile.

“Couldn’t help but over hear that you’ve come in search of glory. Hard work and Frost bite may be te only thing yah find here friend. I wish yah luck.”
 
Mei-Lynn was taken aback by the refusal of the extra one hundred gold. Bribery? She wasn't doing anything but offering a nice gesture to pay extra. Did people not barter around here? Now it was probably more pride than anything now that she made the decision to leave the gold sitting there on the counter. "Very well perhaps the next customer to find it on the desk could use it towards a purchase as your shop. I admit to finding the differences in custom still baffle me," said Mei-Lynn not giving the gold another look. She began to think of what else she might need, and honestly she probably could have come up with a bunch of things that might be useful, and the word weapon perked her ears a bit, though she had found the style of foreign swords to be both unique and interesting she was still more comfortable with her sister's sword at her hip.

"Perhaps another time, I am unfortunately just realizing how much of my Lord's time I am wasting. Thank you for you're assistance in this matter," said Mei-Lynn knowing that she should really get back to Regalia. Her food was probably getting cold by now, and it was all because she had wanted to complicate a simple shopping trip by practicing her fast talking. She waited patiently for the help to return, knowing she'd probably be running back to the Tavern once out of sight of the shop owner.
 
Austin reached down to his coin purse and pulled out ten gold coins, tossing them onto the counter. “Don’t worry about A.W.E., he doesn’t get cold. Anyways, sounds alright to me, thanks! You should be proud, ya know. Your work’s gonna be worn by the greatest magical mind the world’s ever seen!” He pulled the robe off the counter and threw off his current threadbare mess, wearing a simple tunic underneath. He quickly put on his new found threads, looking at himself before grinning up to A.W.E. “I look pretty great, don’t I?” He hopped down from A.W.E.’s arm and looked around the market once again, his eyes falling on the Emporium once more. “I mean... we might as well take a peek, right? Right. Come on, A.W.E., there’s magic stuff to look at!” He quickly headed over to the store, his robot companion following behind.
 
Rendaril's Emporium:

The halfling clothier nods and waves his latest customer farewell, picking up his old threads and tossing into his pile of cloth scraps. "Good day, lad! Don't freeze to death!" He drags the stool back to its original spot and returns to his work-in-progress crochet project.

Rendaril shrugs and starts counting out the three other bags of gold coins at the counter, leaving the fourth where he had pushed it. "That charity would go further outside in the cold than with my typical clientele. Personally, I'd just prefer to not mess up my accounting."

As Austin enters the Emporium and starts walking around like a kid in a candy store, A.W.E. trailing slowly behind, the half-elf looks up from his accounting and raises an eyebrow. "Erm. Can I help you find something, lad? There's a lot of dangerous things on the shelves, you could hurt yourself if you run around like that."

 
Mei-Lynn nods in affirmation to that. "Ledgers can be an anathema, so many things to keep track of. There is a saying where I come from that those who are generous will often find hidden gems," said Mei-Lynn as she looked at the next people coming through the door and was slightly surprised to see the people she had taken notice of earlier. 'Those two are an odd pairing to say the least, hope they like their surprising good fortune.'

"Ah looks like the next customer has already arrived. Enjoy the bag of gold, courtesy of Lord Hu-Lin," said Mei-Lynn pushing back a lock of her dark-brown hair that had gotten in her face when turning to look at the others. She moved off to the side of the counter to let the newcomers have access to Rendaril. She prepared to try and keep a straight face, no doubt the odd pair would be very confused by this gesture.
 
Austin skirted to a stop at the shopkeeper's warning, looking up at him with a wide grin. "Dangerous? Where? That sounds awesome!" He looked around the shelves of the shop, and turned back to the shopkeeper, a little disappointed before his eyes catch the items by the display case. "Woah... cool!" He ran over to the display case, not hearing the girl who had spoken to him in his excitement. "That staff looks like it can turn into a rope, right? That's neat. What's the dagger do? Looks like it can channel magic or something, but to what end?" Moving along to see the curiosity section, his eye was drawn to the driftglobe. "Oh, I've seen a bunch of these, but never a whole one! The ruins out west are absolutely littered with em, but seems like most've the monsters don't much like the light, since they're always shattered. Is that sneezing dust, or one of the other types? I dunno all of em too well." After his rapid-fire dissection of everything he could see, he looked back over to the shopkeep. "Oh, also I'd like to know what scrolls you've got, particularly if you've got a flying spell scroll. Thanks!" His excitement was obvious on his face.
 
Seeing the woman's body language, Puck smiled and leaned back into his seat. "I hope soon enough you'll be telling tales of our first meeting to eager listeners, and I apologize if I was a bit too forward." Gesturing to Scram he added, "Like I told this wonderful man earlier, the cold has got me perhaps a touch more excitable than I should be!" Wrapping the blanket around himself, he even curled his tail around his legs for emphasis and gave a faint smile, "I'm a devil of the desert, so I've yet to get used to snow or 'frostbite'."

Relaxing slightly he continued to study the blue-eyed woman, "I've given my name, but who might you be, to offer your condolences to me already?"
 
Oblivious of the attitude that this woman was giving him, Alder gave her a toothy grin, exposing his exaggerated incisors. "But of course you must know of the Prime God? He who created the very ground we stand on!" Alder pulls out his holy symbol excitedly, showing a golden sun on a long chain around his neck. "His light is what allows plants to grow, and keep the terrors of darkness away!"

Alder was almost panting by the time his minor outburst was over, his excitement getting the best of him. As the shifter saw the look on the woman's face, he finally saw the annoyance and disappointment the woman in front of him held. His face began to flush, even in the cold of the day, and he lowered his head and shoulders slightly in embarrassment. "Sorry again about your pastry," he muttered quietly, and quickly turned around to plop into the first seat he found that was open to hide his face -- next to the man in the blanket and a woman covered in furs. Face burning, he quickly buried his head in his hands.
 
Humming in thought as she thought over the devil. He was certainly boisterous. Holding out a rough hand to him. “Regalia Canterwen no sense not giving mah name likely not see me again less a find some work. As I said it’s a hard life out here in te northern regions.” Giving a hearty chuckle she turns back to her food. Side eyeing Mei’s plate the steam long gone.

As she turned back she witness the newcomer to her table. The sulking stranger drawing an eye roll. “Strays why do I always get the strays...” mumbling under her breath she knocks the table. “Hey man, don’t be sulkin at meh table, what would Oen tink a yah? He’s always watchin those who love em.”

Feeling she had given enough encouragement she returned to shoveling the rest of her food in her mouth. Where was Mei, she needed on of her distractions. Giving blanket man a glance once again, “So ye say dat you’re a warrior from te dessert? Other than the promise of giants what brought yah all the way up here. Hard change in climate for a few beasts and more likey death at the hands of the elements.”
 
Reaching for the hand, Puck grasped it, giving a squeeze before releasing, "So many interesting names around here! Regalia ... certainly does you justice, if I may."

Catching sight of movement off to his side, a new fellow had joined, one that stood out among those Puck now found himself surrounded by. "Oen ... Oen -- he's popular over here too, huh?" He glanced upwards, "How often d'ya even see the sun here?" Patting the man on the back he chuckled, "If you're going to win over people, you've got to be more relaxed about it, more casual. Don't force it on them, convince them they want what you're offering, and soon enough they'll realize they want in on ... whatever it was. Oen the ... sun god or something like that, right?"

Turning back towards Regalia, Puck steepled his fingers infront of himself, "Some might consider me just a warrior, but truly I was a gladiator! A champion of the sands in the arena, favored by many, adored by all," he grinned widely. "What sort of champion would I be though if I only claimed mastery over fighting in the sands? If my renown is to grow, why not go for the other extreme -- the freezing wind and dreadful snow? Besides I may or may not have burned some bridges, and at some point it gets tiring of fighting against the same challengers all the time."
 
Alder lifts his head and gives a grateful smile to the two individuals who attempted to cheer him up. “Thank you kind strangers, your words do give me much comfort. And don’t worry Miss, I’m sure Oen is accustomed to me making a fool of myself in His name, He must know it comes from a good place.” Alder listens quietly as the others speak, a dreamy smile crossing his face. “Ahh, the desert, so much of Oen’s grace can be felt there I’m sure. I’ve never been, but I’ve heard great things about it’s warmth and sunniness. Oen must have blessed you to have been so successful in a land of His light. The cloudy skies and cold breezes make it harder to feel His warmth in these lands, but His presence is still with us always. — Oh! I’ve done it again, forgotten my manners, I spew my faith at strangers and I haven’t even introduced myself. My name is Alder, Disciple of Oen at your service.” The shifter attempts to bow while seated, an awkward shift of his hips while his head almost hits the table.
 
'Well he seems to be able to pick apart valuable things fairly quickly, that's.... impressive,' thought Mei as she observed his excitement from afar while waiting for the assistant to return. She then gave the boy's companion an appraising look wondering if maybe they were master and student? The boy could be a pretty good fence in that he'd be able to quickly determine what something did, and if he knew what it did then could probably quickly guess how much something was worth. Placing her hands behind her back for a moment she twisted the ring on her left hand as the wait began to drag on. She knew most people couldn't move as fast as her but sometimes people where unbearably slow. She decided she would have to take the rooftops to save time on getting back to the Inn.

Mei-Lynn found herself contemplating the odds of these two strangers being locals, if not maybe they could join up with her and Regalia. Someone who knew magic's items probably knew a little bit of magic, and the larger companion could probably handle himself right? Besides it was safer to travel in numbers, especially if a particular order were to catch up with her. "Excuse me Sirs, is there the slightest chance I might be able to meet you at the Sleeping Coyote Inn? Someone of your great talents would be a relief to have along with us in this strange land," said Mei-Lynn trying to broach a conversation while she continued to wait.
 
Having made their way into Rendaril's Emporium, A.W.E. calmly walks through the store. He briefly stops and looks at the woman passing him by, not being able to analyse on such short notice, A.W.E dismisses his analysis and inspects some of the items stored away on the shelves. Hearing one of his keywords 'Dangerous', A.W.E turns his head towards the counter and listens in on Austin's dissection on magic items, before calling it a false alarm.

Making his way towards the counter, he and Austin are met by the same woman he encountered on the way in. Looking at her from top to bottom and back, A.W.E quickly determines the integrity of this request. "Our current objective is to 'look at magic stuff'. Does the Sleeping Coyote Inn have 'magic stuff'? If not, then your chance would likely be zero. Give me one moment." Afterwards, he lightly taps Austin on his shoulder for his attention. "This woman is need of 'great talents', this aligns with keywords linked towards your interests. Are you interested?"
 
Austin turned at A.W.E.’s prodding, shaken from his magically induced focus. He looked between his metal companion and a girl he hadn’t noticed earlier. He smirked up at her and folded his arms. “I mean, if ya want talent, look no further than here. You’re talking to Austin the All-powerful here. Never found a spell I can’t cast.” He then gestured to the large man beside him. “And that’s sayin’ nothin’ about my big bud here, the Amazing A.W.E. He’s got crazy skills himself, but I’m not gonna ruin em for ya.” He then looked over to the owl that had just landed on his shoulder. “Oh, and this is Vincent. He’s a devil.”

Austin glanced the girl up and down, blushing slightly as he looked over her body before staring her in the eyes. “So who are you supposed to be? And why do you require the attention of such a powerful wizard?”
 
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