Walking Mage

Things needed ch7

Still trying to find some answers and to see if she could make any allegiances with the invisible masses that run the inner workings of the Boar's Tusk, Lynn told Starla that she was spending the day in the Homes and Apartments districts.

Which prompted a barrage of questions from the handmaiden. Lynn smiled patiently but tried to avoid the bulk of the questions and the advice she ignored outright. The girl seemed to think Lynn was a Lady off on a tour of the city.

The Homes in the city were set up for the married with children.  Unlike the poor district these living quarters are paid for out of workers wages when they get paid on moon Una's thinnest point in the night sky.

Not paying was not an option and taxes come out at the same time. Taxes and home pay were collected  by a team of heavily armed and spelled Collectors.

The Apartments had the same set up as the Homes but for the married workers they lived near the Homes, which were near the markets and a large park.  The Homes were three to four stories high but not very deep.

The park was a mix of open area and walking trails. Kids with their elders moved about the park and Lynn watched it all with fascination as she walked into the park.

As she walked into the park what struck Lynn was how much people went out of their way to avoid her. For a city built around Mages one would think they would be used to Mages walking amongst them. Then she looked around and could only see one very old Mage pair playing a game of King Stones together.

From out of a crowd a wandering vendor began to beeline toward her. Putting up a ward she waited for him to announce his intentions since he was the only human willing to come near to her. If he was a trap of some kind she would be ready.

"Excuse me Lady Mage but I notice your walking the park today without a pet." He asked in a surprisingly strong Upper accent of nobles. "I happen to have three pets left to sell. Would you like to see them?"

The definition of pet was vastly different depending on what country one found themselves in. A pet could be a harmless and cute Hand Monkey. Or it could be the poisonous lizard called a shorg, which only likes one human till it or them die.

Bored Lynn raised her eyebrows. This was a sign for him to proceed but be careful about it. She had seen upper Mages use this facial expression when buying goods and she tried to copy it whenever she could.

He produced from a large pouch at his side a little bronze with green markings dragite. The rare creatures looked like mythical dragons of stories but were a magicly derived copy.  Unable to breed they tended to go slightly mad as the years went on. The only ones she had ever seen had a red or green color to them.

From a second pouch he pulled out a wolfin. Also a magic produced creature the wolfin was loyal to a fault and could understand human speech. A hybrid of wolves, dire wolves, and a canine like beast known as a Inin.

Wolfin were easy to train but hard to keep from following you all over and they grew to three stone weight in three cycles.

Blowing on the dragite and putting it on his shoulder, he then produced a kearteal. This is a bird but it had four wings and it could understand human speech, even going so far as to repeat simple phrases.

"How much for the kearteal?" Lynn asked. She had no intention of buying anything but it was always best to start with something you did not really want and make it look like you wanted it.

"Only three silver crown for you Lady Mage." He said with a flourish.
She knew this was high and he was feeling her out as well. Raising only one eyebrow she tisked loudly. This she had learned from her Nanny.
He looked unabashed but the bird disappeared back into the large pouch.