Avenue From The Plains (Open)

[NotWright]

Wright walked alongside his mount, holding its reigns firmly in one hand, and a map in the other. Consulting it through narrowed eyes, his eyes scanned it's surface, set upon discerning just where he was. The map he had found was dreadfully out of date, and had up until this point proved unreliable. He had months of aimlessly trekking through Sacae to back this up, setting off for one destination, only to arrive in the middle of nowhere. As a result, he had nearly succumb to the elements a number of times and often thought he might be better off abandoning the map altogether. But then he would have no clue where he was, and some poor soul might find the thing and pick it up. A cruel fate he was not eager to spell on anyone else. He had already resolved to destroy this map once he had located a reliable vendor and purchased a new one. But for the time being, this was all he had.

He looked up from his map, and craned his neck to look over his mounts back. Just as the map dictated, there were sheer mountains in the distance to his right. This he hoped, indicated that this time he was indeed headed right for Etruria. The climate and terrain also seemed to be changing, as he gradually left behind the blistering heat and never ending flatlands of Sacae, for the cooler climate and rolling foothills they were entering now. Although, Wright did not think Etruria to be a cool place. But this he passed off as merely a result of his proximity to Ilia and its mountains. With any luck, the map would not have lead him there. But to be frank, Wright would not be at all surprised if it had.

It was midday now, and after a short time more spent walking alongside his steed, a town appeared on the horizon. Although it did not appear on the map, this was a welcome sight for Wright, for he was once again almost entirely out of supplies. He rolled the map up, stowed it, and made directly for the town in the distance. His pace quickened as he and his mount approached the town, and was met with a dull roar of activity from within. It was a fair bit larger than the small settlement he had originally suspected it to be. It was in fact, more along the lines of a small city. Though this did not discourage Wright. Indeed, it only made him more excited to dwell for a time amongst the wealth of resources, despite being almost entirely strapped for gold, as well as supplies.

Most notable for its plethora of foreign goods for sale, Periphan draws mages from all over Sacae to the sale of tomes and staves they otherwise would not be able to gain access to. Because of the revenue gained by the sale of these items, the small border hamlet quickly exploded into a large pseudo city, with a thriving market based around the sale of rare and unusual products. As the city continued to grow, it expanded far past its former borders, erecting towering stone walls, in place of the rotting wooden it had before.

As he neared these city walls, Wright mused briefly over them, as they reminded him slightly of the ones in Bern. The cold grey stone cast a shadow in the midday sun as they rose high above his head as he followed its length to an entrance. As he approached, a cobbled walkway seemed to spill out from the cities walls, and though the walls seemed new, this pathway was worn and clearly well used. Although, the worn walkway, innumerable footsteps and cart tracks faded away as they bleed into the city. He could see many sorts of people passing him by as he ascended the steps, and his ears met the roar of the nearby market in full force. These were more people than he had seen in weeks. Months perhaps. Sacaen and Etrurian all mingling with one another. It was a pleasant sight, and Wright looked briefly on. However, after a moment was spent, he moved further into the city, intent upon replenishing his supplies and being rid of the damned useless map once and for all.

[Mila]

Mila walked along the busy city paths. Her mind was elsewhere. She was musing over the last few words of a letter from her old master telling her to get out of the country while she still could. Although she herself was not charged with anything illegal, it was still better to err on the side of caution. She managed to spirit herself over to Periphan, the mage city close to the Sacean border. She hitched a ride with another caravan shortly after the events in Bulgar. The Caravan was supposed to make it's way up to Illia but they ended up here due to skirmishes and bad weather.

Here at least the law of the prophet was a bit more lax then of those cities closer to the capital. She sighed softly. For some reason the mage felt more at ease here then back home. Calm enough to walk around without her hood and mask. Perhaps due to the magical nature of the city. It was here that traders, merchants, scholars, shamans, of all walks of life could deal their wares in peace. Mostly in peace. The mage was hoping to stock up on some supplies for her journey east.

“Perhaps I should find a caravan to Taras. At the very least I can go see ‘uncle’ before fully hitting it off on my journey.”

The young mage found a quiet patch of stone wall to lean upon and pulled out a book. From the book she pulled out a piece of paper that was folded into the pages. She took a look at her own map. A well worn but detailed map that showed all of Etruria and not much else. It was a large map too, anyone near her could see it clearly over her shoulders.

Majority of the surrounding lands around the country were blank, save for the many handwritten notes from her “work”. Nabata is here. Beware of bandits and hot weather. The western Isles are up here. Beware of pirates. Sacae starts here. Be prepared for plains and unpredictable weather. Ostia WAS here but now wasteland. And along each of the notes she had for the nations there were notes about monster sightings.

Spiders in Lycia. Roaming Mauthe Doogs on the fringes of the Eurtian border. Mountains have gargoyles/doogs. WALKING DEAD EVERYWHERE, ESPECIALLY OSTIA. That last bit about Ostia was written with red for emphasis.

She folded neatly refolded her map and put it back into her book.

"Right.. Now where do I start? Lets see If I can find a traveler's guild or something and arrange passage."

[NotWright]

When he had finally arranged lodging for both he and his mount in the local inn, Wright regarded his dwindling supply of gold with a twinge of worry. The pouch he had once kept it in that was once fat with coin, was thin and rather meek looking. He sighed. This meant he going to have to think up a way to earn some coin. True, he had reached Etruria, and true, Periphan was a perfectly respectable city. But this was not his final destination. If he had not spent so many months stumbling around lost in Sacae, he would not be in this position, and have the funds required to get him where he needed to go. But alas, he had, and there was no point dwelling on the matter. Besides. Wright was sure that Periphan likely had ample opportunity to earn meager amounts of coin here and there. If only he looked in the right place.

So, looking around is exactly what he did, once he had exited the humble Inn. Although, between the Sacaens colorful garbs, and the Etrurians modest yet elegant robes, it was very difficult to decipher between customer and merchant. After a short time, his gaze fixed on a young woman facing away from him, occupying a small portion of stone wall. Over her shoulder, he could clearly see a rather detailed map. This drew his memory back a bit. He had nearly forgotten. Not only did he need to destroy the faulty map responsible for so much of his misfortune, but to acquire a new one with the remainder of his gold. He approached this young woman, resolving to seek out odd jobs afterward.

"Excuse me, ma'am." he said respectfully, pausing shortly before continuing.
"I was wondering, would you happen to know where I could by a map of my own?"

[Mila]

OOC- Your updating the map as we go along. Wright that's adorable!
--

The mage was a bit surprised at the voice that spoke to her. She turned around and was greeted by a man on a horse. There was a bit of a chill down her spine for a moment as she thought the man was one of the guards. But she relaxed slightly when he asked about where he can go about acquiring a map of his own.

"Oh! Your a traveler." There was a mix of surprise and relief to her voice. She cleared her throat and regained her composure. The man had an imposing figure at least from her perspective. Tan-ish armor and a stern face. A bit dusty and weary. No crest or specific armor pattern.

"Well good sir, if you need a good map. The shops usually carry some. If not you can get one commissioned by a cartographer." Well this is a pleasant coincidence.

"I was on my way to the shop market myself. I can guide you there if you like." She looked around. Hmm.. The armory is right there. So then the shop is.. should be north east of here. Really close to the northern entrance of the town. Yeah. That should be it.

"Most shop maps usually are maps of the local area. I believe the main market is north east of here. It's very close to the northern entrance of town." She shrugged. All I really need a map of each area. I can work with it and fill it in as I go.

[Hel]

Hel had a long journey from Ilia asking many traveling caravans where she could stop for shelter, buy supplies, and keep up to date with local news of what paths might or might not be too treacherous to travel. As a young pupil Hel had not had much combat experience and had to choose her travel paths wisely or meet a grave end.

Hel has been making a long journey from Ilia for quite some time now and had eventually made it into Etruria where she could train to be a much better prepared mage. As Hel had made her way into the unfamiliar area passed a traveling caravan where the nearest town was, it was apparently some small city with a large market place. After arriving at the new found town she realized she was very lost seeing as she had never visited Etruria before.

After traversing the bust market asking people around where she could possibly find a mage she could train under or if someone had a map she could borrow to find her way around the new region. Hel was close to giving up her mission of acquiring any information seeing as everyone was busy with the latest sales and new foreign products from neighboring regions, she decided to ask one more group of people for direction which was a man with his mount, assumingly a cavalier, and a women speaking.

Hel walked up to the two strangers and asked "Excuse me" slightly out of trying to traverse the ignorant people browsing the wares, "But might I ask if either of you have a map showing the local or regional area of Etruria? or somewhere I could find a mage mentor? you see I hail from Ilia and am unsure of where to go from here."

[NotWright]

Wright watched as the lady he had spoken to very nearly jumped in surprise at being addressed. Perhaps they were not used to people wandering about on horseback in Etruria. Realizing his faux-pax, Wright took hold of his horses reigns and dismounted. "Oh! You're a traveler." she said as Wright slid off his mount. "Yes." he replied curtly. "My name is Wright." he said, introducing himself. He listened passively, taking little notice of the dense crowds passing them by. He did however take note of the small dark figure ambling toward them, but for the most part dismissed it. "I was on the way to the shop market myself. I can guide you there if you like."

"I would appreciate that greatly." he said, tugging on the reigns of his horse, under the impression they were about to get underway. The Mage said that they were headed north-east and mentioned that the maps shops usually had available, might not be as helpful as he had hoped, as the majority only illustrated the local area. Not what he was looking for, but better than nothing. And he would have said as much, if not for at that moment, another voice interjected.

"Excuse me." said the dark figure whom had been approaching them, and Wright turned to look at her. The first thing that could be noted other than her gender and politeness, was that she was rather meek looking. However, looks can be deceiving. "But might I ask if either of you have a map showing the local or regional area of Etruria? Or somewhere I could find a mage mentor? You see I hail from Ilia and am unsure of where to go from here." Indeed, a journey from Ilia certainly wasn't the undertaking of someone predisposed to meekness. Wright felt as if he could answer, but would not be able to do so as effectively as The Mage, who he assumed was native to the region. He stopped tugging on his horses reigns, and differed to the Mage, looking to her expectantly to answer the Pupil's question.

[Mila]

"Well met Wright my name is Mila." She spoke as Wright got off his mount. She wasn't sure why he dismounted. Perhaps it was a courtesy thing. It made sense. Mila adjusted her cloak for a moment before catching the voice of a small hooded figure near by. A traveler from Illia? Wow that's quite far. Wait.. a mage mentor. Well this is the city for mages. But I don't know any sages around here.

"Oh, you little darling. You've come quite a long way. Well, like I said to this gentleman earlier. I am heading to the market now. It seems we all have a common goal in maps. While I can't guarantee the shop might have maps presently in stock but I'll at least get you there. Uhm.. As for a mentor. I'm pretty sure there's a guild for that. You might need to check the bulletin board. Be careful though, they might charge an arm and a leg.. or something else for their services." Corruption has been on the rise lately. She pouted slightly. The world is full of people, some good, some bad.

"Shall we be off then? Oh Wright, if you need a place to rest your horse, the stables are past the Armory behind you." With that said she started to walk off. A steady pace, so that the other's could follow her, and take in the sights of the town. She stuck close to the sides of the streets as there were wagons and people moving about. Just as she said the shop was north east, just past the northern entrance.

"Sir and little lady, that red roofed building over there is the shop. Well to be truthful it's the only shop building. The rest of the market as you can see is beyond that." The road past the shop was lined with tents and cabana's, and stalls, of merchants peddling their wares.

"Though this main building usually has a little bit of everything. If you can't find it here, then the lady at the counter can guide you to the appropriate market stall. And... oh.." Her voice trailed off. There was some sort of commotion going on.

[Hel]

Hel was thrilled to finally have people answer her questions and not brush her away like a crumb, Wright and Mila were there names and they seemed like quite friendly people but you can never be too sure in this cruel world. As they were making there way through the shops there seemed to be a crowd gathered around two men who were arguing over something which no one could make out because of the chatter of the large crowd, One man who seemed to be in his late thirties arguing with a teenager possibly around 18 were shouting about what seemed to be stolen goods.

"I saw you steal from the kart kid! now give it back and I wont have to hurt you!" The man said while cracking his knuckles "I don't have any idea what you're talking about old man I didn't steal anything from your lousy old cart." The teenager said while stretching his arms over his head who seemed to be extremely relaxed over the situation while also having a small smirk etched onto his face. "C'mon kid, I saw you stuff that fish into your pocket! That fish cost a lot of money for me to ship it from Lycia!

"Do you think we should intervene before things end up getting ugly between them?" Hel asked her newly met acquiescence. "I don't necessarily want guards to show up and delay us any further." Hel said with concern in her voice anxious to end this minuscule feud.

[Mila]

"Oooh.. I wish they would at least move out of the way. They are totally blocking the way into the building." She huffed. The man, his cart, the boy, and the crowd, made it very difficult to navigate the street. No guards to be found either. Surprise. Surprise. Said the sarcastic voice inside her head.

"It's so very, rude. Of course there are no guards presently." She looked around at the large crowd. Most of the argument seemed to be in defense of the theif and the other in defense of the fish monger. And it did not look like these two were going to stop fighting anytime soon. If anything the fighting would most likely escalate. And it's not like the smug kid is going to drop his pants any time soon to prove or disprove the man's point. She let out an annoyed sigh.

"Well we aren't going to get anywhere with them there." She pulled her hood up. It hid her hair and some parts of her face. In a small attempt to look more like a resident. And if no one else is going to do anything.

"I'll go say something. Else were going to be here all day." She pulled out her tome and held it casually in her arm. Just in case. She pushed herself through the crowd momentarily before getting up close enough to the two males.

"Excuse me Sirs! Can you kindly take this discussion elsewhere. You are blocking the road!" She spoke out loud, in a slightly annoyed tone.

[NotWright]

As the fight progressed Wright simply looked on. He could hardly navigate through the crowd with his horse held by the reigns, and if he mounted it, he feared it would appear threatening. Nevertheless, he was sure the guards were already on their way. But the moments passed into minutes, and the oral battle progressed further, still and no guards had yet arrived. "This will probably devolve to blows any second now, if nothing is done." he mentioned, and the two mages as well as a few of the people surrounding agreed. Be that as it may, the crowd seemed divided in their support. Half were vying for the thieving kid, and they seemed to be made up of mostly honest looking Sacaens. The other half, residents and other merchants of Periphan alike. Understandable. They would be more inclined to trust one of their peers.

Although Wright was not sure about either of them. The kid's baggy clothes and ratty cloak were indeed, typical of a Thief. However, some of the rather large salesman's claims didn't sit right with Wright. He harkened back briefly to his days working for the family blacksmith and the many forays he had underwent, transporting goods to Lycia from Bern. Wright knew that it certainly would cost quite a bit for the man to have fish shipped from Lycia. He also knew that the fish would go bad before even arriving in Periphan. A fine price for a rotting fish Wirght thought. Neither of these men where honest.

However, in the end, this was meaningless. He looked around behind him, craning his neck to see over the back of his horse. "Still no guards?" Wright said in mild surprise. "I'll go say something. Else we're going to be here all day." Mila said. Wright not having quite heard, turned back around. "I beg your pardon?" he asked, but soon saw there was no need. The young mage had already started toward the fight. Wright instinctively reached out a hand to stop her, but only the ends of his fingers reached the end of her cloak, and she slide easily through the crowd. "Bugger." Wright said, his teeth clenching. "I hope this turns out alright." he said to the young Pupil, who seemed thankfully enough to be nearby.

--------

The crowd gave the pair a wide birth, so as not to be struck with any stray blows. The Burly Merchant's meaty fists clenched and he began to bare down on the Smug Kid. "Excuse me Sirs! Can you kindly take this discussion elsewhere. You are blocking the road!" The Smug Kid's sneer faltered, as the Merchant's shadow eclipsed him, but when he turned around, it sprawled right back across his face. The Merchant looked at Mila, grinding his teeth. The wrinkles in his forehead became more pronounced as his bushy brow furrowed even further. "He knows what he has to do to end this!" the Burly Merchant hollered, his patience clearly having left him. "Turn out your pockets!" He demanded!

"Don't get your panties all in a twist!" mocked the Smug Kid, pausing for effect. The Merchant rounded on him, and he quickly continued his statement. "I-If that's what it'll take, then fine!" He slid his hand into his pockets. He reached in quite a ways before taking the ends, and pulling them out for all to see. The pockets were truly cavernous! But also, completely empty. "Can I leave now?" the Kid jeered. The Merchant looked absolutely bewildered. He opened his mouth to object, but only managed to splutter. After a few moments The Burly Merchant swept one of his enormous hands through the air, as if to dismiss the crowd. "Blasted rotten kids." he grumbled as he whirled around, returning to his cart. "Fine!" he called. "I'll get of the damned road."

"I told you!" said a Sacaen mage to his Etrurian counterpart in the crowd. "Gah hah hah! You owe me!" boomed another large man to his peers. The Smug Kid said not another word, and took this time to shove past Mila, and into the crowed with every bit as much grace as a charging Rhinoceros. "Alright!" Said another voice from the back of the crowd. It appeared the guards had finally arrived. "There's nothing to see here, move along." Wright thought it might have been better if they hadn't come at all if they were to be this late. The crowd was beginning to disperse anyway. Though, at least the way into the shop was now clear.

[Mila]

Well it's about time. The inner voice of the mage thought as the guards finally arrived. People started to dispirse. Mila did a quick check of her things. Her coin purse was still tucked away in her sleeve pocket and her book still in her hand. Her bag was safely behind her and well fastened. She did not feel the thief's hands grope her back there so she assumed her belongings were spared.

"Right, then." She walked back to the other two.

"Way to the shop is clear. So lets go!" She said with a bit of cheer in her voice. She opened the door to the building and went inside. A bell chimed every time the door was opened. The shop was small. But stacked with things upon it's shelves. Potions for healing, staves, books, papers, there was a lingering smell of dust hanging in the air.

Mila welcomed the smell of books. Behind the counter was a man and woman. Behind them were more things. Herbs and spices for brewing potions and other more dangerous things like knives. And further beyond that was an open door leading to the outside. The mage busied her self looking over tomes. There were plenty in the overstock shelves that she hadn't read yet. She made a mental check list of the things she would potentially need. Ink, parchment, pencils. Ooh I haven't read that one yet. Her eyes glossed over a tome designed to teach novice mages about earth manipulation. Ah. The price. Guess I will have to save up then.

"Excuse me shop keepers. Do you have any maps for sale? Or a world Atlas?"

[NotWright]

The crowd began to disperse, clearing their way into the store. Wright tugged lightly on the reigns of his mount, motivating its cooperation, then tied it to a post outside. "Perhaps not the best place for you." Wright said aloud. "But I won't be in there for long." He patted the steed fondly, and proceeded through the doors of the shop after Mila, hearing the soft chime of a bell as they entered.

"Welcome!" Exclaimed the woman behind the counter, whom was quite a lot more enthusiastic than he male counterpart, who was leaning rather heavily on the counter. "Is there anything we can help you with?" She asked. Wright glanced over to the young mage, who seemed already to be scouring the store for any items of interest. "Excuse me shop keepers." Mila began. "Do you have any maps for sale? Or a world Atlas?" The man behind the counter opened his mouth to reply, but was immediately cut off by the woman. "There's an Atlas right there!" she said, pointing with a flourish to the man again, who sighed raggedly. "But you, don't look too interested in Atlases." The woman said to Mila, stepping around the counter, and bustling toward her. "You look more interested in one of the fine oddments and relic we have available on display!"

On the woman's way past Wright, she knocked a large metal orb of the table, which fell to the floor with a dull thud. The man, who was presumed Atlas winced at the noise, but remained in one place. Wright, identifying him as the easier of the two to deal with, marched up the aisle toward him. "You'll have to forgive Rubia." Atlas said flatly. "This sort of thing is her passion, and she gets a little... overbearing?" Atlas seemed to be reaching for the right words, so Wright rose a hand for him to stop. "I understand completely." he said, and Atlas appeared to relax. Wright extended his hand to him, and introduced himself, to which Atlas replied "Well met." and continued "So you're looking for a map of the region."
"The Country." Wright corrected.
"Hmmm..." Said Atlas.
"You'd be hard pressed to find one of those, this late in the month." he confessed.
"But I might still have one kicking around."
"Could you check?" Wright asked.
"Sure." Said Atlas with a shrug. And sure enough, after a few moment rooting around behind the counter, Atlas produced just what Wright was looking for.

"Ah, excellent!" Wright said with excitement, reaching down to where a small leather pouch was tied to his belt. "Did the map you were using blow away?" Atlas asked. "I might have been better off if it had." Wright responded, and produced the faulty map of Elibe that had caused him trouble to no end. Atlas spared it a glance, then laughed aloud, exclaiming "Wow! That's really awful! Where the hell did you come across this piece of work?" Wright froze as he loosed the tie around his coin pouch, and was about to ask what exactly was so awful about it. However, he took a moment to look over his shoulder and see Rudia, the female store clerk showing Mila (much to Atlas' apparent distaste) one of two tea sets, that apparently had magical properties.

[Hel]

Hel was walking around the small shop browsing through dusty nick nacks wondering about the authenticity of each item, Hel was very intrigued with a small black book towards the back of the shop it seemed to... whisper to her "Strange" Hel said as she wondered closer to the small black book.

She picked up the book and it felt extremely cold to the touch such as ice. Hel tried to pry open the book but to no avail it seemed to be locked with what appeared to be a lock which needed a key or possibly it was enchanted and not able to be opened, Hel held onto the book while continuing to browse the stores wares but her attention kept falling back onto the dusty old tome, upon closer inspection the book seemed to have symbols of darkness engraved on the hard leather, Hel was extremely curious and at this point had to know what secrets the book held. Was it an old tome? Perhaps a diary of an old dark wizard? Hel assumed there was only one way to find out.

"Excuse me!" Hel said to Atlas "Would you perhaps know of some way I can open this old tome, I am quite intrigued by the old designs and if possible, I would like to purchase said tome." Hel was extremely anxious to get her hands on this book, What was making her want to buy it so badly? It is just an old dusty book.

[Mila]

Mila was taken around the store again by the female clerk. It took her a moment to realize that she meant her companion's name was Atlus. She was going to correct the clerk named Rudia about the error but was stopped by the woman showing her all sorts of things. To be honest the mage didn't have much of an interest in the hanging charm, the shiny orb, or the newest thing the tea set. Cut her loose Mila.

"Uh. Pardon me ma'am. Ah no Rudia correct? It's quite alright I do not need these lovely things you have shown me. I am simply here for a world atlas. The book of maps of the reigon if you have it. And maybe some rune ink for spell books. Nothing more." She tried to be polite in her wording. But her voice was stern. She did not have time to spend the day haggling with the woman over baubles she did not need. After this shop she needed to hit other markets. And arrange for passage to leave the town and then think about where she could spend the night.

With the message received, Rudia made her way back behind the counter. This time now she went off to answer Hel's question about the black tome. As Mila approached she could see the dark book was a tome on dark magic. It looked like a standard flux tome but she wasn't too familiar with Nether magic to be certain. Also from her angle it was difficult to read the probable letters on the cover.

She glanced over at Wright's faulty map. It was "unique". Unique in the fact that it was just simply so wrong. Perhaps wrong was too strong a word, a better term would be outdated. The other clerk, the gentleman had asked where Wright had acquired his faulty map.

"Yeah, where did you dig up this thing?" She asked with a curious tone.

"Oh I'm sorry did I hear that right there aren't any more maps? Does that include the atlas.. er the book form of Atlas. Not you sir. No offense. If that's the case. Wright if possible mind giving me this faulty one? I can make a copy of a map using the one your about to buy as a template. To be honest I just need the part that outlines Sacae."

[NotWright]

As Wright and Atlas were attending to business, Rubia continued to drag Mila through the store, showing her the wealth of oddments and rarities available. As she passed one of the counters, she picked up a rope necklace with a plain grey stone hung from it. "This necklace might looks plain and cheap, but it's actually enchanted! You see, this grey stone actually glows a soft blue colour when an impending inescapable danger was present! They were popular on the market a couple years ago. And so few of them are around, making it fairly rare in nature." Rudia paused for a second, looking to Mila and registering her discomfort. "Maybe accessories aren't your thing. But just about everything in this shops has some sort of enchantment!" she said, scooping up a dish as they passed through another aisle upon which, and archaic looking tea pot and cups rest. "Like this tea set. Now this tea set is for all intents and purposes, just a regular tea set. However, if you had a tea party, and someone uninvited were to arrive, the cups would heat up and burn their hand. Although, this usually resulted in that person dropping the teacup and it shattering on the floor, making a full such as this, a rarity, despite its limited uses."
"Uh. Pardon me ma'am." Mila interjected.
"Ah no Rudia correct?"
"Rubia" she corrected brightly.
"It's quite alright I do not need these lovely things you have shown me. I am simply here for a world atlas. The book of maps of the region if you have it. And maybe some rune ink for spell books. Nothing more."

Rubia seemed disheartened, but complied nevertheless. "Right, Rune Ink. I'll get that for you." she said, and bustled off, sweeping past Hel who had a book in hand. "Would you perhaps know of some way I can open this old tome, I am quite intrigued by the old designs and if possible, I would like to purchase said tome." Atlas glanced over to Hel after having laughed at Wrights map, and spotted the book. He frowned heavily. his brow furrowed, and his skin seemed to crawl at the sight of it. "Y-yes." Said Atlas with a slight stutter. "There's a key for it. Come over here, and I'll tell you more about it."

Wright took this time to rest the small leather pouch he kept his coin in on the counter, before turning to answer Mila's question. "My father was a blacksmith." he began to explain.
"And his first son was trained to be the next blacksmith in the family. Being the second son, I was responsible for the transport of goods to our various, very spread out customers." Wright pointed to the lower section of the map. Bern and Lycia were considerably more detailed than the rest of the locations. The map there seemed surprisingly accurate, in contrast to the absolute mess the rest of the map had proved to be. It was not until one looked past the mountain range that lead from Bulgar to Ostia that it was noticeable the maps validity began to diminish. "I bought it in Macendew, and it had never failed me, until I entered Sacae." he grumbled. "And it was all downhill from there."

Wright looked down a bare portion of the counter, momentarily mulling over all that had went on while he was lost. He heard Mila ask Atlas about Atlas'. Atlas shook his head. "We won't be getting another shipment of Atlas' until the next month. Although that's only a few days away..." he said, his voice trailing off, trying to entice her to hang around and leaving room for Mila to reply. She instead, turned to Wright and asked "Wright if possible mind giving me this faulty one? I can make a copy of a map using the one you're about to buy as a template. To be honest I just need the part that outlines Sacae." He looked up from his brief foray into the past and sent Mila an apprehensive glance. "Sacae is just where my troubles started." he stated. "I wouldn't recommend you use this map for anything but navigating Bern." he continued firmly, sliding the map away from her. "Baring in mind all the trouble the thing has cause me; do you really want it?"