Day 13
The next morning after watches had been set, it was discovered that Vella a lord’s daughter had slipped away from the camp.
Lady Vella Jetarious, ran she had been unable to recover a horse. The adventurers that had been stopped by her incompetent men were more than her small group could handle. They had magic, and were completely unknown. There were lists, that listed high level gold and silver groups and the people she had encountered last night were not on those lists.
They had tied her up and left her in the carriage, while they setup camp. It was easy to slip out of the ropes, and sneak away. The dozen men she had coerced into helping her, had most likely gone back home, or to the backup camp.
She ran, and finally arrived at her destination, a small grove of trees, that hid a secret. It had a hidden entrance to the caves under the district. When she got close she saw one of her men standing watch.
“Eric, you idiot, someone could have seen you.” She said rushing up to him.
“You got away?” He asked.
“Yeah, those adventurers are kind of dumb they didn’t search me. I cut the ropes and came here, anyone else make it?”
“You’re the last one, we were trying to decide if we needed to try and break you out. Glad we don’t have to. You learn anything about them?”
“Let’s go down and talk to them,” She tried to lift the heavy door in the dirt. Eric helped her and they descended the ladder.
There were two dozen people in the large room.
“We have to rescue her, otherwise she’s going to get turned over to the local authorities, if her father finds out…” He stopped when she entered the room. “Looks like she out foxed those adventurers. Welcome back Vella.
She nodded and went to where he was and started talking, ”Those adventurers have a lot of treasure, I heard them talking about Sutter, they have some relation with him. They are camped out just south of the crossroads, if we can ambush them before they leave we can get enough gold and items to be set for life.”
“What about the crazy guy with the magic armor. Then there were those women.” One of the men said
“We didn’t know what they could do, we thought they were just adventurers we know how to deal with gold adventurers. Right Charlie?”
An older man who had been sitting in the shadows, “Missy, your intent on going after these people, do you have a plan?”
“I do, we just need to get my father involved and we can blame everything on them”
“Ok let’s hear it then”
She began explaining the plan.
She left the hideout shortly afterwards and went north, to her father’s manor.
When Vella arrived at the lord’s manor it was early morning, she was dirty, out of breath and had rips and tears in her clothes. The guards seeing her called for the lord and lady, they arrived very shortly.
“Where have you been?” Her father asked.
“I was abducted by some bandits, I managed to get away.” She said gasping for breath.
“Where?”
“The crossroads,” she said.
The lady of the house took her inside, and the Lord, started barking orders for the guards.
Five minutes later there were thirty guardsmen and the lord were heading to the crossroads.
The Lord arrived at the crossroads, and found a group with a carriage had set up camp. It was a common enough occurrence, and a safe place for adventurers to rest. The thirty guardsmen had surrounded the group. They didn’t give any resistance, and when the lord asked for who the leaders was an older man stepped forward.
“I am looking for a group of bandits, I was told they were around here”
“Not sure where you got your information, the only bandits we ran into were back that way in the woods.” The older man said.
“Are you an adventuring group?” He asked.
“Nope, we are on route to the third district on the kings orders. This is only half my group the rest are staying with my wife Coreen, and will join us in about a week or so.”
“Rather expensive carriage, where did you get that?” He asked.
“Oh, that’s mine, once me and Coreen got married, her father gave me all the holdings on Rhir.”
“Her father?”
“Ambros Sutter.”
The name was like an electric switch, “Ahh, so she finally got married, I tried having my son court her, he said she was a cold ice woman. I hope your experience wasn’t as cold.”
“No, she is a fine young woman, good head on her shoulders, I have her running the estates while we consolidate our holdings.”
“You let a woman run your estate?”
“Sure, why not she’s very smart. My first wife and she get along well enough.”
“You have more than one wife,” He seemed shocked.
“I have six, it’s a mutual thing, I look after them, they look after me. That’s my first wife there, Coreen is my second, she is with Hellen, my third who is also helping her. My fourth wife keeps me honest, and My fifth wife keeps me grounded, and Xyrediane she watches my back.”
“And who are the rest of these people,” The Lord asked.
“My son, and daughters. And that’s Eve and our driver Marshal.”
“What did you do with the bandits,” He asked.
“Well we roughed them up and told them to go home, we caught the leader, and they escaped. I have pictures if you want to see what they look like. She was pretty, had a mouth on her though, swore like a sailor, tied her up in the carriage, though it looks like she ran off durring the night.”
“You can draw me a picture?” he asked.
“No, I took a photograph, hold on.” He retrieved his phone and show him the picture.
The Lord sputtered, and turned red, “I am being played for a fool.”
“What, this is the bandit’s leader, I have my paperwork from the king if you want to see it.” He said retrieving the paperwork from the king.
“That is my youngest daughter she’s been missing for a few days and you happen to have a picture of her. She told me she was abducted by bandits.” He looked over the papers the king had given him, and turned a little pale.
“Well you have to decide, if you believe me or her. Considering she is your daughter I understand the need to believe her. How about we both get to the bottom of this, if it helps you it, helps the kingdom.”
The Lord seems somewhat relieved, ”I will handle this if what you’re telling me is true”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, if you need any help, we can assist”
The lord pulled him aside, “You wouldn’t happen to want to marry off your son?”
“You can ask him, I doubt he will agree.”
“Humm, what about yourself, you have six wives, would one more make any difference?”
“I’m a bit picky, if you can get her to agree, maybe. Though I would have to talk with my first wife and the others.”
He nodded, and walked over to talk with Xach.
“No” Xach said before he even finished asking.
He walked back over to Bloodstone, “I don’t know what to do with her, she’s causing trouble in the district and if were to be caught, and brought before the king, I would have to answer for her behavior.”
“That seems a little short sighted, no one has been really harmed and the two prisoners we released didn’t know she was involved, I’m Bloodstone by the way.” He said offering his hand.
The lord shook it and let go. One of the soldiers, who seems to be more scholarly that a fighter, approached the Lord. “Hanson says he found a trail leading away from here towards the town, you find any information?”
“Yes, have them follow that trail and report back in two hours, Lord Bloodstone here and I will be investigating these bandits further, assuming you have time to do that.”
“I have time.”
“Good, we will have to see the location you found these bandits.”
A group of men and the two lords returned to the woods where Bloodstone had been ambushed. They looked around and found some of the crossbow bolts from the night before as well as the original campsite they had used.
“There were bandits here, kings law says Me and my men must deal with this since it’s in my jurisdiction. Would you be willing to sit in on any trials as a visiting lord? “
“Sure, as long as It’s not to lengthy, I still have to head north to the third district.”
The guardsman with the scholarly appearance said, ”Kings laws require that at least one lord or one magistrates for trial of commoners. If it’s a noble then it would require three magistrates, and one lord to witness, depending on the crime. Treason or sedition would fall under that of a larger contingent for listening to the evidence.”
“You seem to know the king’s laws, could you answer a few questions” Bloodstone asked.
“I am one of the [lawyers] of this district, we keep track of the laws as well as how they are administered. We give advice and help shape the punishments for the crimes.”
“Who count’s as a noble?” Bloodstone asked.
“Anyone below the king, [Counts], [Dukes], [Barons] and [Lords]. Even a [prince] or [princess] would be included in that. Though we have not had a princess in Rhir in my lifetime.”
“Lords don’t seem to have a lot of power,” Bloodstone stated.
“Depends on the [Lord], many of them are just administrators of a region, to keep the peace, and rally soldiers if the district has issues.” The lawyer replied.
“Why is having multiple wife’s so shocking?” He asked.
“It’s not that it’s shocking it’s unusual, there is not limit on how many you can have, it’s just unusual for someone to have more than two. Usually there is a financial component, associated with that kind of joining. It’s not unheard of just unusual. There was one lord I know of who and two dozen, this was three hundred years ago, there was more wealth on the continent, concentrated into larger holdings. Though if you have married Coreen Sutter, I don’t see you having any issues in that regard. I must ask though how did you convince a half elf to join you in marriage?”
“Long story, she needed my protection and that was a safe way to get it.”
“Ahhhh, that makes much more sense. I would imagine it pretty much the same for all of them?”
“Not really, I left it open for them to decide.”
“How very unusual, I would presume that your first wife agreed to this?”
“She didn’t raise any objections at the ceremony.”
“I see.”
“How serious is the charge of being a bandit?”
“If there were any deaths, or money stolen, it can be a very serious charge. Any who assaulted someone on kings business, could be in just as serious trouble as a death or stolen goods. Interfering with someone on king’s business carries serious penalties.”
“Meaning that if I had said no, there is not much he could have done?”
“Technically, the only thing we could do is escort you though to the next district and make sure no one else bothered you. Your agreement to help means that we have some leeway, since you yourself are a lord, and are supposed to uphold the kings law. If you want to take time to bring them to justice, it garners a lot of respect from the other lords.”
They eventually returned to where the Bloodstone had setup camp and everything was packed and they large group of soldiers started back to the town. Halfway there twenty bandits attempted again to stop Bloodstone and the large group of soldiers who had been following interceded and arrested the bandits.
The large group arrived in the town, with the twenty bandits who were taken to a holding area. The Lord, and Bloodstone, went to visit with the local magistrates. Each of the bandits were escorted into the into courtroom one at a time, a single magistrate was in attendance as the judge.
The Lord and Bloodstone sat and listened to the [magistrate] and two [lawyers] asking questions. It came out that the bandits were not going to give up the leader, and that they each were taking responsibility for leadership.
Bloodstone pointed out those who had delayed him and when the charge of interfering with the king business, came out they all turned a shade paler. After deliberation, it was decided that they would leave the sentencing up to Bloodstone.
They had him come to the stand, “Are you under the crowns orders?”
Bloodstone presented his documents, from the king. The document in question allowed him unobstructed passage through all districts and any retainers or family with him. What’s more it was revealed that each of his part that left had a copy of the document.
“Well if they will give up their leader, I don’t see any reason they can’t just get off with a warning, I am willing to be reasonable.”
The Magistrate called out to the accused men, ”Who is your leader, please step forward.” None of the men moved, “If your leader is not present, name them” No one spoke. The magistrate looked back to Bloodstone. “It appears that they are not going to talk, or volunteer.”
“Well if that’s the case I will leave it back up to you, as to the sentencing. This is not my district, and you have to keep order here.”
The Magistrate began talking with the two Lawyers.
Vella stood at the entrance to the courthouse, hood up and watched as her men were marched through the entrance. She went in with several other onlookers who were curious as to what was going on. The twenty men she had helped, were going to stand trial. She listened with half an ear and watched her men, they stood together, and refused to give each other up, and when the call came for them to name their leader they stood silent.
The two lawyers finished talking with the magistrate. “Several of you have been here before, this court, for theft, as well as other petty crimes, several of you have never been in front of this court before. Banditry in Rhir is not permitted, kings law is very strict on this. The conviction of banditry is hanging. We do have some leniency in certain situations, however since you all appear to be unwilling to put for a leader, you will all be hung tomorrow at noon. Unless you name your leader.” The magistrate said.
None of the men moved or spoke.
Vella stood watching. The older man who was a lord, spoke up before the magistrate could complete the sentencing. “I understand your loyalty to each other, and to your leader, if you don’t name your leader now I believe that you will all hang. I don’t want to see you all die, for someone else’s mistake. We both know who your leader is, but you refuse to name them, I would like to know why.”
The men stood fidgeting and obviously distressed, one of the men who had first assaulted him on the road finally spoke, “Loyalty, we would not have survived this past winter without, our leaders help. We will not betray that even if we all hang.”
There was a murmur of agreement from the men.
The older man turned to the magistrate, “These men are loyal to someone, it seems a waste of good men who were misguided, is there anything that can be done to spare them from the noose?”
The magistrate looked over at the men and then the lawyers, “Are you asking for leniency?”
“Twenty good men could man the walls, or be turned into a good fighting force, if they have the loyalty to one person, it speaks volume to the character of these men, and to the leader they wish to protect. It’s too bad that their leader doesn’t have any loyalty to them.”
“I hear your request Lord Bloodstone, however these men refuse to tell us who led them and that means there is someone who can start this up again, we must make an example of them.” The magistrate said.
Vella stood in the back, she had seen other men convicted and hung, it was one of the few things she couldn’t agree with. The men she knew. Each of them she had helped them become self-sufficient, the banditry had been her idea, a way to make her father look bad. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. No one was supposed to die. The old fart magistrate, was going to make her look bad, and then men whose loyalty she had cultivated, no one would ever follow her again. She started walking through the crowd to get to the front.
“If you will not cooperate then we have no choice but to convict you on charges of banditry and assaulting an agent of the crown.”
She called out “WAIT!”
Everyone turned and looked at her. “Who interrupts these proceeding’s?” The magistrate said a little annoyed at the interruption.
“I am the leader you’re looking for,” she said pulling back her hood.
“Is this a joke, do you understand the seriousness of these proceeding’s girl?” The magistrate said getting angry.
“These men were following my orders, and that man” she said pointing to Bloodstone, “Knows very well that I am telling the truth.”
There was an outcry from those around as well as the Lord who had been sitting off to one side observing.
“SILENCE!” The magistrate boomed. Everyone settled, “Bring her over here” The magistrate said.
“She’s not our leader, we don’t follow some woman.” One of the bandits said.
“Silence, one more outburst and you will be removed.” The magistrate said, he looked at Vella, “Are you, admitting to this court that you are the one who put these men up to banditry and assault.”
“I admit that I know these men and that my father’s rulership caused each of them problems in the past, problems that I rectified.” She said smugly.
“Do you admit that you attempted to halt or impede and agent of the crown?”
“Who him?” She pointed at Bloodstone, “He is no lord I know of, and I have met all of them, and I don’t see any crest. What gives him the title of Lord, you are all so high in your righteousness that you don’t take care of the people.” She said the last part staring at her father.
Her father stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. She turned back to the magistrate, someone she knew, he was a fair man. She stuck her chin out and up, “I will stand for these men, let them go.”
He looked over at the men who were standing wrists bound, “Do you acknowledge this woman as your leader?”
None of them moved or made any action to acknowledge the question. Again, the one bandit, said for the others,” She just some noble who thinks she can stand in for us, she’s sadly mistaken.“
“Shut it Gary, you know dam well you couldn’t lead a horse to water.” Vella said to the bandit.
“Miss, you don’t have to do this!”
“I said shut it Gary! You always talk too much.” Vella said.
“You seem to know these men,” The magistrate said.
“They are good people, they were just doing what I asked them to do.”
There was stunned silence as the comment sank in.
The magistrate looked a little upset, and looked over at lord Jetarious sitting off to one side. Then back to Vella. “For the crimes your men have done, are you ready for sentencing?”
“How were we supposed to know that he was an agent of the crown?”
“That’s not a good defense, you knew that banditry was outlawed, and assaulting him still entitles him to prosecute those responsible.”
“Fine, then my men were not participating in banditry, we were taking tolls for crossing through the woods.”
“Vella, you know that only the king can do that, and there have been no decrees with regards to tolls on the roads in this district, what you and your men were doing is banditry, plain and simple. If you wish to pursue this further, we will rule you in contempt and remove you from the courtroom.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“The law is very simple, bandits are to be hung, or sold off as slaves, or at the lords discretion, sent north to work on the new walls.” He looked over at Lord Jetarious, “My lord, what is your ruling if any on this.”
There was a hard look in the man’s eyes, sadness and pain. “I am not able to offer a judgement on my daughter, to do so would be a violation of my oath to the crown.”
“Since I am also unable to pass judgement on miss Vella, there is another lord present here who can rule on this.” He looked at Bloodstone.
“Me?” he looked back and forth between the Lord and the Magistrate. “Vella, has three choices, hanging, sent north, or slavery is that about right” He asked.
“Yes, Hanging is one punishment, usually used for those who are murderers or career criminals. Sent north, is where they are conscripted for hard labor, to move rocks or whatever else the wall builders need. Slavery is where the offender is put into a slavery contract and sold off.”
“Let her pick her punishment,” Bloodstone said sitting back down.
“Can you not let me off with a warning?” She asked.
“That is not one of the prescribed punishments.” The magistrate said glancing over at the Lord. “There is a law that allows a spouse to pay off a debt or penalty imposed, however a crime of this magnitude would be at least three hundred gold. Half would be payed to the crown and the rest split amongst this court and the lord. Would you happen to have three hundred gold?”
Vella looked over at her father as if to see if he would lend her the money. Her father sat with a look of anguish, without saying anything further he got up and left the courtroom.
“I do not.” She said looking for some way to get out of the punishment.
“I would not like to send you to the gallows, you are well known in the district and this would set a bad tone, however you have to be punished.”
She looked over at Bloodstone who seemed to be ignoring her and watching the men. “You there, Lord Bloodstone, would you lend me the gold?”
He looked up, “No”
“Is it that you don’t have enough gold with you.”
“I don’t believe you have the ability to pay or earn it back.” He said.
She turned back to the magistrate, “What would you have me do?”
“You have been given the options, you can be sentenced to hard labor or sold into slavery. Unless you can come up with the gold, those are your options.”
“May I have a moment to speak with Lord Bloodstone?” She asked.
“If he will speak with you I have no objection.” He looked at the men standing, “As for the rest of you. You will be released, however if I see any of you in here again for any crime, you will be dealt with harshly.”
The twenty men were escorted out and objected slightly about being removed from the courtroom.
Vella walked over to Bloodstone, “My fate is in your hands, what must I do to?”
“Do, I don’t think you understand the situation here, I have no obligation to you, nor do I think you should be given any leniency.”
“Do I have to beg?”
“You can do what you want, it makes no difference to me”
“I would consent to be your wife.”
He looked her over, “Not interested, I already have six, you’re not interesting enough to make it seven.”
Vella stared at him unsure of his demeanor, he seemed indifferent, to her situation.
“What do you mean you already have six, six wives?”
“Yes.”
“Please?”
He leaned forward slightly, “I don’t think you have any intention of honoring any agreement. However, I will make you an offer, I will pay off your debt here, you will need to pay me back before you leave this courtroom”
“There is no way I could do that.”
Bloodstone shrugged, “Then you need to deal with the magistrate.”
She looked at the people who were watching, and asked them, “Would you all be able to lend me gold to pay off the debt?”
The crowd murmured its disapproval, “She’s trying to get out of her, punishment” Someone towards the back said loudly.
She turned back to the Magistrate, “I chose hard labor.”
“Very well, Vella Jetarious, I sentence you to twenty years of hard labor, building the wall. Guards, please bind her until we can arrange for her transport.”
The crowd began leaving, as she was tied up.
“Magistrate, I am to understand that you now have a prisoner, to be transported north. What is the process that this is usually done?” Bloodstone asked.
“Usually a visiting Lord or Lady that is going north takes the prisoner if they can, to be delivered to one of the Lords at the farthest wall. The Lord then decided how best to use each prisoner.”
“I would be willing to transport said prisoner north, I have business with Lady Aladeana.”
“This would be most agreeable, however there is the matter of her having a day to pay off her debt. Would you be willing to wait till tomorrow?”
“Unfortunately, I do not have time to wait, I will have to leave her transport to you then.”
Vella stared at Bloodstone, “I hate you, you ruined everything.”
Bloodstone walked up to her, “No, your misguided attempt to hurt the one person who cared about you did this.” He turned to the magistrate who was beginning to leave. “Magistrate, is the debt still three hundred gold?”
“Yes, though if memory serves, the only ones allowed to make such a payment would be a spouse or relative.”
“I think that’s what the Lawyer said earlier. If memory serves as well, the wall lords are also able to accept gold to release a prisoner.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” She asked.
“Well I am on my way to talk with Lady Aladeana, I suppose I may see you there in a few days. At least I would expect to see you, unless your men try and break you out. I expect if that happens you will be hunted.” He turned and left, several women sitting in the back followed him out.
Drev stared at the potion equipment, and had grown to hate making potions, at least those that were ordered by his task masters. There was little joy in making healing potions over and over, and it had been ages since he had even experimented with potions. It was partially his own fault he knew, he had trusted the human, trusted him so much that when his world came down around him and he had been shipped off to Rhir, it had taken two days on the ship for the magnitude of the betrayal to sink in. That was four years ago, he had spent almost four years in this place, far from home and doing the task masters bidding making potions. He hadn’t leveled up once since being here, a [alchemist] of his level was a rarity. It galled him that the human had betrayed him, he hadn’t since him more than twice since he arrived.
“Get back to work!” The task master said to him. The others in the room were [Alchemists] as well; they had been making healing potions for the past month. Crates of them had been shipped out, to who knows where, the value of them was in the thousands of gold pieces.
The only other drake here was Fenna, another [alchemist] she was from a different part of the continent. The string people that were here were easy to get along with; there were seven humans, alchemists from Terandria. There was also two beastkin a rabbit [alchemist] and cat [alchemist]. There was the one Dullahan who was mostly quiet and kept to herself. Her armor was simplistic but functional. There was one Selphid whos body was of an old man. The three half elves were nice enough, they were treated just as badly as the rest of the non-humans, perhaps even more so.
Drev wasn’t the highest alchemist of the group, it was the sephalid Kredran, who had been doing alchemy for the past three hundred or so years, and at least that’s what he claimed. They worked sixteen hours and were given six hours to sleep and had one meal when they woke up. The rest of the time they sorted reagents, or brewed starter potions. There were two glassblowers who made vials flasks and other containers, for the potions.
Drev waited while the potion cooled, until it was at the right temperature, it wouldn’t be possible to pour it into the potion vials. To hot and it could crack the vial, not that the vials they used were inferior, it just was prudent to be cautious when dealing with the watchers.
The watchers were humans, and they made sure they were always working or sleeping. Halis was the worst he seemed to hate all non-humans. If they thought that a healing potion was inferior they would test it on you. It was a good thing that the potions never left scars when used, he had been stabbed and cut so many times by Halis he had lost count.
It was late evening when an older man that no one recognized walked into the workshop, the watchers were nervous, and kept out of his way. The man approached him, “You’re a drake?”
He nodded talking back to watchers was ill advised.
“Come with me I need to talk to you”
Drev followed not sure who this human was or what he wanted. He followed him into one of the side rooms he had never been allowed in. The watchers were nowhere to be seen.
“Are they treating you all right?” he asked as he closed the door.
“It was a strange question one that he wasn’t sure how to answer. Did he want the truth or was he testing him. He decided on truth, “It’s horrible here, I barely get enough to eat, they work us all the time, and when we make a little mistake they blame us.”
The gray haired human nodded, “What else?”
He told the man about how he was mistreated, and the potions they had made him make, he listened.
“Drev, I am sorry that you have been so mistreated, if you give me a bit of time we can change your situation. Here though this is your papers that Sutter used to enslave you. He set a single sheet of parchment in front of him. It was the one sheet of parchment that was both a joy to see and a horror.
“It’s yours now Drev, I am giving it to you this means your free to decide what you want to do. I also know you and the other have been working your tails off to make potions. I know it’s not all you are owed.” He set a small bag on the table.
Inside the bag was gold, five hundred coins. “Why?” Drev asked, not sure what to make of this human.
“I looked at the records, before coming into the workshop. Your one of the best [alchemists] here, I want to hire you if you’re willing. It’s going to be challenging work and you will get paid. I want to hire as many of you who are willing to help me, there’s enough gold for you to return home if you want. “
“No I mean why are you freeing me?”
“It’s the right thing to do. Oh and before I forget, you have twenty crates of healing potions you made, I would like to know what you would be willing to sell them for?”
“What?”
“They were keeping your potions in the store room, something about them being the highest quality; I didn’t know how to assess them to pay you.”
Drev was speechless, was this human pulling his tail.
“I know this is probably a shock to you, I took over this place from Sutter. I get to decide what happens here, I don’t like them exploiting you and the others. I am making changes; someone of you skills should be doing research, or whatever you want to do. So you tell me what the value of twenty crates of healing potions is worth.”
Drev did the math, and replied, “Twenty eight thousand and eight hundred gold is what it works out to.”
“How about an even thirty thousand gold, I don’t have that much gold with me”
“Can I keep the potions?”
“I don’t see any reason not to; you can sell them if you want.”
“How did all this happen” Drev asked.
“it’s a long story, the short answer is I married Sutters daughter and we took over his holding here on Rhir.”
“This is Rhir?”
“Yes the third district, just north of one of the keeps for second district.”
“I never know where they had taken me, Who are you?”
“I didn’t introduce myself, must be getting tired, I apologize Drev, the name is Bloodstone.”
“Bloodstone as in the gemstone? That seems like a strange name”
“It’s not my real name I feel that using that here in this world would be dangerous.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not from here, Drev you’re the first drake I have met. I wish it had been under better circumstances.”
“whats going to happen with the others?”
“That’s up to them; you can go back and talk with them if you want. All of you, who are able to make potions like this, could really make a fortune if you pooled your talents and skills.” He escorted him back to the main room, the watchers were not there and it was comforting and disturbing.
Drev looked around the others were looking at him. The human walked over to one of the elves and asked her to follow him.
She was not gone long and came back, there was a look of confusion and shock on her face. He talked with everyone there, and each of them had received their slave papers, and gold. The watchers still hadn’t returned.
It was very late when the last of them had spoken with Bloodstone. He returned to the workshop, ”You all have some decisions to make, stay or leave. I will arrange transportation if you decide to leave, those people who kept you here will not be returning. This place is currently collectively all yours, as well as the potions in the storage rooms. There are some guards who I brought with me who will stay and protect you and this workshop. Until I leave, you may want to decide who your leader is.” And then he left them alone.
Drev looked around, the other alchemists were stunned, and they had all been freed. The crazy human and come in and freed them, and given them more than they knew what to do with.
It was the sephalid that spoke first, “Im out of this place, I will find a nice new body and leave Rhir as soon as I can”
The three half-elves had decided to stay, Fenna had gone back to making potions. They all spoke, first in hushed tones and then louder when no one came to tell them to stop. It was decided that Drev would speak for them, and that they would make a group, Bloodstone had returned and sat listening to them.
“How about the alchemist’s flask” Bloodstone suggested.
The sephalid left sometime during the discussion. They were shown the large stockpile of the potions they had made, and were still on site. They also had met with a group of men who had followed Bloodstone, they were willing to work for the Alchemists, in exchange for healing potions. It was also when they met with the local runners.
Drev stood talking with the alchemists, about future plans, when he noticed that the human was asleep. He had met the others the human had brought and they were in one of the other rooms.
He gently woke the human. “You would be more comfortable in a bed, not asleep in a chair.”
Bloodstone yawned, “I’m sure your right, I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to take on some tasks.”
“Are these the explosives that you asked about an hour ago?”
“No something more personal and secretive.”
Drev leaned in, “Perhaps we could talk elsewhere?”
“It’s actually something I want to know if you can do.”
The others stopped and came over to listen.
“I want to know if you can chart out the rules of [alchemy] what’s the minimum amount you need to make say a healing potion. Can you find the essences of things and put them in a potion. What is the strongest healing potion you can make?” He yawned
“I don’t know what you mean, we go by formulas we have found.” The rabbit woman named Hefneri said.
“Are they the same?”
They each looked at one another, “I don’t know we never write them down less they be stolen.” One of the half elves said.
“That’s not all true, we know how to make potions based in the properties of substances,” Drav said.
One of the humans Yan asked, ”Bloodstone, why did you do all this.”
“It’s the right thing to do maybe someday you will tell your grandkids how some crazy old guy helped you build your own company. Maybe pay it forward, help someone yourselves and see where that goes.” Bloodstone yawned again. “Sorry I am rambling.”
A carridge sat outside, the horse grazed in a covered barn, where a lot of hay had been left out for them. The sun had been down for several hours. Drev looked up at the stars. He had some thinking to do, in the morning how whole life would change, but for right now he felt the slight breeze and the smell of the horses.
Bloodstone had asked him if he could make a specific kind of potion, maybe tomorrow he would start working on it, or the day after. He was free, and had to decide what he wanted to do.