Tears of Liscor, page 60
part #9 of The Wandering Inn Series
It was as if Krshia had a single silver coin’s worth more money to spend on buying…anything.
Thicker cuts of meat. Higher quality nails in bulk shipments. One less bruise on a piece of fruit, or a garlic bulb plumper than the rest. On every deal. The silver coin’s bonus was applied to every transaction Krshia handled, each time, without her having to activate the Skill.
One silver coin wasn’t a lot. But it added up with how much Krshia bought and sold each day. It probably wasn’t even one silver coin’s worth, honestly. Maybe it was only a few copper coins to make her goods that much better. But it was an advantage, and in the duels of [Shopkeepers] and [Merchants], it was a powerful Skill. And unheard of!
A [Merchant] with [Expert Bartering] could leave you penniless…but it was still possible to just refuse to deal with them if you knew they had that Skill or get something out of a deal if you had your wits about you. But this? This was unavoidable, a passive markup on everything Krshia made.
She loved it. Krshia hummed as she spread the thick pork paste on a piece of fresh bread and took a bite. Her mouth was filled with flavor, sharp and strong from the paste and a warm, chewy goodness from the bread. Knowing she’d gotten the bread for cheap just added an additional bit of zest to her meal.
That was how Krshia liked her breakfast. Rich, filling, and meaty. The Gnoll woman had three more big slices of bread with as much silkap on them as she could fit onto each slice. She had two cups of water, and then she was done with breakfast and feeling a lot more ready for the day.
Gnolls didn’t believe in eating salads for breakfast. It was more than just a cultural thing. While Humans and half-Elves and…Centaurs all ate more plant-based diets, Gnolls and Drakes both ate a lot more meat than their Human counterparts. They had to. Their ancestors had lived exclusively on meat diets, and while both species had adapted over millennia to eat grains and fruits and so on, too much of that wasn’t good for them. They needed meat, hence the emphasis on herding and fishing around Liscor.
It was always a race to stock up Liscor’s food stores. In the spring when [Shepherds] had to pen up their flocks on the hilltops or go north or south and when [Farmers] were raising a new group of animals for slaughter, fishing provided Liscor’s needs. The [Fishers] would haul in prodigious amounts of lake food, a good portion of which would be stored and preserved via spell or salt to last Liscor for months. By then, herd animals would supplement the food needs of Liscor, but if a bad season hit at any time of the year, meat became a lot more expensive.
Krshia had lived through some bad years when all most Gnoll families could afford was only a bit of meat to go with potatoes or grain. It wasn’t good for them, or for Drakes. She’d seen too many of her people get bloated and tired from grain or plant-only diets, but that was what happened when you lived in a city that could get cut off from the world like Liscor. It was a trading hub, but the rains dictated when the trading occurred, and the goods that flowed from Humans to Drake lands weren’t usually bulk shipments of produce. Liscor could be rich in goods, but poor in foodstuffs.
Erin’s magic door would change all that. Now, Liscor could import goods if it had to. Yes, the Merchant’s Guild didn’t like it, and Liscor had agreed ‘not to’, as had Erin. But come the first hunger pangs from lack of meat and Krshia was sure things would change.
“Of course, we send soldiers through the door now, and that was what many worried about, wasn’t it? If her door becomes a tool of war, will Erin be seen as taking sides? How long until someone claims the door from her? Or will Liscor not give it back?”
Krshia frowned as she put on her clothes over her breast band and loincloth. She knew Pallassian soldiers had been marching into Liscor yesterday; she’d seen the yellow armor, and it was the talk of the city. How many more would come through today? And what had the alarm in the night been about?
Another day, another crisis. Before Krshia went to her shop to set up, she had to know what had passed in the night. Yesterday had been tense. News of the attack on Liscor had spread like wildfire. At first, the Watch had tried to contain the news, but too many [Guardsmen] had spoken of it, and when the [Message] spells had begun flying across the continent…
Krshia left her apartment, leaving the door unlocked. She had no fear it would be burgled—she looked up to a neighboring apartment and nodded slightly. She saw a shape in the windows nod back. Her neighbor, an old Gnoll [Weaver], was watching her apartment, as were the other Gnolls in the area.
No [Thief] would get close to her apartment without being spotted, and if they tried to break in, well, if the Watch didn’t get there in time, they would be out of luck. Miss Zailky was old, but she could still point and shoot the crossbow she owned, and her aim was better than Krshia’s.
Reassured her home and the magic book Ryoka had given her were safe, Krshia began her day by sniffing the air and trying to remember where she’d find her first informant. She had to know what had passed on the walls last night, and she very much doubted Watch Captain Zevara would answer her if she strode in and demanded to know what had happened. The same with Olesm, Wall Lord Ilvriss, or the new Wing Commander Embria. Krshia was an ordinary citizen to them, for all she was important among Liscor’s Gnolls. She wasn’t Erin.
But she did have access to information. Krshia headed towards the western gates, where she knew [Guards] would be stationed. The gates were closed, obviously, to keep the water from flooding the city, but someone had to be stationed there regardless. Drakes loved their little rules. And as luck would have it, Krshia saw a furry head in a helmet. Perfect. If a Drake had been on duty, she’d have to have gone to the other three gates or found someone on patrol.
“Tkrn.”
The Gnoll on duty jumped guiltily. He’d been leaning on his spear and very obviously trying to take a nap. He whirled, ears flattening along his head and tail drooping, probably afraid a Senior Guardswoman or Zevara was about to chew him out. He saw it was Krshia and groaned.
“Oh, Aunt. I’m, uh, on duty, so I cannot talk. If you want to chat, I’m sure I could talk later, after duty—”
“What happened last night, Tkrn? What were the horns about?”
Krshia did not beat about the bush. She folded her arms and stared at Tkrn. He was young and had grown up in Liscor. He whined unhappily as he shifted his grip on his spear.
“Aunt Krshia, Watch Captain Zevara threatened to suspend any [Guardsman] who talks, and she’s my superior—”
He yelped and flinched as Krshia grabbed one of his ears between her fingers.
“And I am your aunt, yes? Speak up! What happened, Tkrn? Tell me quickly and with no exaggerations?”
The Gnoll winced and looked around, but eventually whispered quickly to Krshia.
“Someone stole the door in Erin’s inn in the middle of the night!”
“What?”
Krshia let go of Tkrn and recoiled in shock. Someone had taken the door? Tkrn went on hurriedly.
“It was recovered though! The Watch sent our pursuers, and we thought they would be too late, even with Relc. But then we found the bodies. Humans, [Rogues] most likely, were slaughtered on the road north. By Goblins. And the door was left behind! We have recovered it and put it in the inn again, but—Aunt, the thieves broke the connection to Pallass.”
“Explain.”
Tkrn glanced over Krshia’s shoulder and lowered his voice further so that only the Gnolls could hear.
“I do not know exactly how it works, but I heard Olesm talking to Zevara. They found a—a broken mana stone. It is this small thing that—”
“I know what it is. What did Olesm say?”
“He said—without the mana stone, Pallass cannot send reinforcements directly. They will march an army north, but it will most likely not get here before the Humans and Goblins.”
Tkrn’s ears went flat. Krshia felt a jolt of fear run through her heart. She looked at Tkrn. The Gnoll stared at her, his tail lowered in fear and then turned and pretended to be watching the gate. Krshia stepped away from him and tried to keep her own tail from doing the same.
They’d broken the door’s connection to Pallass? And someone—the Humans, no doubt—had tried to make off with the door itself! They’d failed, but without a link to Pallass—that was bad. Beyond bad, in fact.
“What will happen next, Aunt? Olesm and Zevara are at the inn, but they are worried. What will Liscor do now?”
Tkrn whispered with his back to Krshia. She didn’t know. She looked around, shaking her head.
“I—I will go to the inn and see what they say. But I must open my shop first. People will be hungry and need goods as with every other day. But—I will not work for too long. I will go to the inn after an hour and speak with Lyonette and get Mrsha. I have business with her. Then, I think, we must call a meeting.”
Tkrn looked over his shoulder at Krshia.
“Oh. The curs—”
“Not cursed!”
Krshia glared at Tkrn, forgetting her fear for a second. The Gnoll flinched.
“But Aunt, the others said—”
She slapped him on the back of the head. Tkrn yelped.
“Do you listen to what other people say instead of thinking all the time, Tkrn, you fool, you? I am telling you that she is not cursed and not a bringer of doom or woe. She is a young child. Nothing more. If I hear you repeat such nonsense again—”
The Gnoll [Guardsman] yelped and tried to shield himself as Krshia harangued him for a minute, then watched as she turned and strode away. He shook his head and watched Krshia striding away. She looked unafraid, but Tkrn wasn’t reassured. He had smelled the fear on her just as he had on Olesm and Zevara. And yes, he had orders not to reveal what he’d seen, but he’d talked to Krshia, hadn’t he? He was sure news was already spreading throughout the city.
So was Krshia. She strode towards Market Street, her thoughts in a whirl. Cursed child. Raskghar. Liscor’s dungeon. Goblin Lord. And now the Human army. It was all so much to deal with. She got to the familiar street full of street vendors and her small stall. It was already set up, the goods packed and waiting to be put on display.
The hour was still early, so the night [Guardswoman], a Drake, was just finishing her shift and being replaced. Normally, Market Street would be filled with [Shopkeepers] and [Vendors] setting up and customers already stopping by, but the place was practically deserted of both shopkeepers and customers. People were hearing the word about what had happened and staying indoors.
Still, that didn’t mean she had to follow suit. Krshia opened her stall, sweeping it clean and then placing some goods on the counter, adjusting one of her displays, checking her sign, and waited. She did not have to wait long. The first customers who came down the street were habitual early risers, people desperate for one good or another, or busybodies. Krshia knew them all and called out to them.
“Miss Ossi, good morning! Care to shop? I will only be open for an hour this morning, so if you have any orders, place them now, yes? Mister Vallissil, do you need a healing potion for that cut on your arm? I have a new shipment from Celum! A Stitchworks classic!”
Hers was the only loud voice on the entire street. Drakes and Gnolls came over, checking out Krshia’s goods, greeting her warily, asking her about prices and the news. Especially the news. Krshia spoke as she exchanged goods for coin or wrote down orders to be fulfilled later.
“Miss Krshia, did you hear about what happened? I woke up with the horns, but I thought it was nothing. But I heard that something happened to the magic door. You know, the one in the crazy Human girl’s inn? The Wandering Inn?”
“I heard the same things. But the door is back, or so I hear.”
The Drake with a cut on his arm shivered as he paid for a weak healing potion.
“Not in one piece. It was damaged by Human saboteurs. The connection to Pallass is gone. All the soldiers are cut off, and we’re alone.”
The other customers muttered uneasily. One of them, a Drake with a purse and speckled blue and yellow scales, looked nervous. She glanced over her shoulder as her tail lashed the ground.
“Maybe it’s time to go. My husband has been talking about it. We’ve lived here for sixteen years, and the Antinium were one thing. You hardly notice them—well, up till now, and it was reassuring having them here sometimes. But this? Krshia, this is war.”
“It may be. But leaving the city now is premature, yes?”
Krshia raised her eyebrows disbelievingly while her heart sank. The Drake shook her head.
“You think so? The Goblins and Humans are days away at best! I thought we could go through to Pallass if something went wrong or they’d send a huge army through the door, but now—if we’re going, it has to be right when the waters fall.”
“You don’t mean leave, Miss Ossi. Not Liscor!”
Vallissil turned to the other Drake, looking stunned. The Drake woman turned her head away.
“I don’t want to abandon the city. But I’ve heard people saying that there’s no way Liscor will be able to hold out against two armies. And that was before the connection to Pallass vanished. I have a newborn daughter and a son. I…this isn’t like the Necromancer. The army’s not here—most of them—and they have trebuchets.”
“That’s just a rumor—”
“It’s a fact! My husband heard from his friend that our [Strategist] was talking about it.”
“Who? Olesm Swifttail? He’s young! He doesn’t know—”
The male Drake cut off as another Drake woman leaned around him.
“Does your family have any plans? How’ll you go south?”
Ossi hesitated.
“We don’t know. We’d have to hire a wagon and cross the Floodplains, but all that mud…”
“It would be safer in numbers. If a lot of us went—not saying we would, but if we were going, it would be tomorrow or the day after, right? The waters are lowering.”
“You can’t be serious! Liscor won’t fall—”
“In that case, why did Olesm call for help? Did you hear? He strode into Pallass and demanded reinforcements!”
“So they’re coming.”
“In time?”
“Leaving with my family would mean abandoning our business and home. But if it’s that or dying when the Goblins breach the walls—”
“Trebuchets—”
“That damn Human, Tyrion Veltras and his lot—”
Krshia listened to the babble of voices as she did business mechanically, then just leaned on her counter and listened to people talk. Her heart sank further. This was the first time she’d heard this kind of discussion. Leaving Liscor? The people were truly frightened to think of such a thing.
But no wonder. This situation was unprecedented in scale. Monsters were a fact of life. Undead attacks, the dungeon appearing…all that was something you lived with. But war? Enemy armies? When those threatened, that was when you did start counting your coins and looking to the gates. It wasn’t treachery, and it wasn’t cowardice. It was just that people didn’t want to die.
“Honored Krshia.”
One of her customers, a Gnoll, muttered under his breath as the discussion became a hypothetical ‘what if’ about fleeing from Liscor and where they’d all go. Krshia glanced up and saw an older male Gnoll looking at her. He muttered under his breath as he inspected a set of writing quills.
“Honored Beilmark has requested us to call a meeting with all the representatives. She says the news is urgent.”
Krshia nodded. She leaned forwards, and under the pretext of showing the Gnoll her quills, spoke quietly.
“Does she know anything more than this?”
“She knows numbers and details. The other representatives have agreed. Honored Elirr has volunteered his home for the meeting.”
“I will go.”
The Gnoll nodded. He would spread the word further and tell others.
“We will meet at Elirr’s shop, then, at midday. It is time for it too; many families are discussing fleeing the city tomorrow when the waters lower. Just discussing, and not seriously, but if we must come to a decision…”
He glanced over his shoulder. The Drakes were standing and talking. They weren’t committed. They were finding every reason not to go. Wyvern attacks, having to pass through the Blood Fields, which would be waking up, leaving everything behind…but they were talking about it. Krshia nodded.
“I will be there. But I go to The Wandering Inn now. To hear what may be heard. And to pick up the Mrsha child, yes?”
“Now?”
The Gnoll raised his eyebrows. Krshia shrugged.
“Her abilities must be seen and discussed. It is not as pressing as this attack, but I have not had the opportunity to find out what she knows until today. If Honored Elirr is willing, please send him to meet us. It will not take more than an hour, and he knows…”
She trailed off meaningfully. The Gnoll nodded.
“I will pass the word on. Also—how much for these quills? I need new ones.”
“Take them. I’m closing shop. Dear customers! Make any final purchase, because I am closing, and I do not know if I will reopen my shop today, yes?”
Krshia raised her voice. She closed six more hurried purchases and packed her coins away in her belt pouch before sweeping her goods back into their bins and locking them. Krshia took one more look around Market Street before she left. A few more [Shopkeepers] were open, but they were hardly doing business.
They were talking with their customers and looked as worried as anyone else. Krshia shook her head and hurried down the street. Not towards her apartment, but to the eastern gate. Up to the battlements and, after speaking with a [Guardsman] on duty, down one of the ladders and onto a bridge leading east and north. To an inn on a hill.
No rain fell on Krshia as she walked across the bridge and stared down at the hills and valleys submerged in muddy water. The rains had stopped, and the water level was lowering. It was almost six feet lower now, so the bridge to Erin’s inn was, in fact, an actual bridge now rather than one that rested just above the waterline. Already, Krshia could see mud and bits of grass dotting the hills where the water level had receded.
