Magic: The Gathering: Say You'll Haunt Me

Chapter 2: Benalia

Kerrick
Benalia. A nice city. Miss Vess' father used to be a prominent figure here, but that was three centuries ago. Now, we were both nobodies on the streets.

We had stopped at a small cafe to decide what we would do. There wasn't anything immediately available, so we figured refreshments would be nice.

"So, what did you like to do when you visited Benalia, Miss Vess?" I asked.

She furrowed her brow. "It's been a while. Let me think. One moment." She said before taking a sip of her coffee. "Well… despite my origins, I wasn't the most cultured girl." She said with a smirk. "I was a bit… naughty…".

I raised an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?" I asked.

She chuckled. "I was a temptress. If I wanted something done, there was almost never a boy I couldn't charm into doing it. My father didn't approve of the amount of male friends I had, despite the fact they were just that. Friends." She smiled and put her chin in her hand.

"Well, I teased nearly every single one of them with the prospect of being more, but that's beside the point.".

I laughed for a bit after hearing that. "You slept around? The cultured Liliana Vess, Dominarian Nobility, a floozy? I can't imagine your parents were too happy with your choices.".

She snickered quietly. "Keep it down, you! I have a wild side. Don't we all?" She added.

I smiled at her. "I suppose you're right.".

"And no, they were not happy at all with my choices, but I was." She added. "You know the rest. Brother poisoned, black magic cure, lich abomination… The Fall Of The House Of Vess. The old legend. Most of it is true.".

I nodded. "Less said, the better?"

"Precisely.".

I nodded again and took another sip of my coffee. "Well, I'm almost done with my drink, and I see you are as well. Any clue what to do now?" I asked, getting up from my seat and offering her my hand.

She used my hand to help herself up. "It's a city, Kerrick. Cities have merchants." She said, nudging my side.

We walked to the market. Lots of different merchants selling various different goods. I saw an elf with an eye patch selling what she claimed to be genuine Llanowar longbows and daggers. Several Tolarian Scholars peddling a litany of different arcane tomes.

As Miss Vess stopped at a vendor selling old Benalish jewelry, I took a look at the salvagers.

These people were interesting. They also weren't supposed to even be in the market. They officially don't exist, and for good reason. If the governing caste knew, the market would be shut down immediately.

A thief at a stand caught my eye. He was surrounded by various locked boxes, all chained down to prevent theft.

He saw me too, and smiled at me, displaying yellowed teeth. "Hello, traveler. You are interested in the antiquities, no?" He asked, shuffling over to a locked box and opening it to reveal a small sphere of ornately decorated metal.

"Perhaps some of Urza and Mishra's old toys?" He explained, removing the sphere and letting it chirp and whirl around him, the device glowing light blue through gaps.

I smiled. "Not particularly." I said, looking at other boxes.

The vendor moved back towards me. "Ah, yes. I should have seen this earlier. Silly me. You have an air of dark curiosity, my boy. Perhaps Yawgmoth's instruments of corruption?" He asked, pointing to a small black case etched with the Phyrexian sigil.