The first treasure I gained with my actions in the Fulcrum that day was some information the Jester provided me with, free of charge. I could spend some Essence to create a little drone in my private room, which could inform my wisp of any messages the advisors would deliver. It was how he had been involved so quickly. So, I told Lily and together we created a little construct, a secretary drone if you will, that we anchored to the large raven in my room at the Fulcrum. He would relay messages to either Lily or me.

It cost me one hundred Essence. Fifty for the construct and fifty went to the Consortium. The Consortium was really good with holding out their greedy little hands in all and any transactions that happened in their trading hubs. Always small enough sums that they did not hurt and only inconvenienced. They knew what they were doing.

All the small little trades and transactions must add up to enormous sums over time and the different places they had, for no sweat of their own besides creating the places and the infrastructure in the first place.

But, and that was way more important than my begrudging respect I had for the business sense of divine traders and magnates, I now was able to send and receive messages without having to enter the Fulcrum every time.

Now I waited. I was not bombarded with messages, not really, because the interested parties would have to read the noticeboard first, but words traveled, and they traveled quick.

So, I sat in my room, trying to strike a relaxed and almost bored pose, while I had my features hidden underneath my mask. I waited for my first customer and aimed to make an impression that would hide my personal involvement in the matter.

My first customer arrived shortly after.

A child stepped into my room, watching around with giant, curious eyes. It was golden. Golden from head to toe. Wearing gilded silk, golden shoes, golden paint on his skin, even golden yarn woven into its hair. A crown of gold with gems aplenty, glittering, shining...blinding, even. It was a girl, if I was not mistaken, but the child was so young and buried under so much treasure, that it was kind of hard to tell.

„Greetings, Raven, and good luck to you, as it is considered fortunate to bask in the glory of the Golden Child.“ The child spoke with an ephemeral, eternal voice, resonating and vibrating in my ears, light as a thousand bells, but just as heavy. Hard to grasp. Far away from the inflections of mortals, so it was impossible to tell if it was female or male.

The child floated, not a muscle was moved, over to the chair in front of me and settled on it, still standing, our eyes reaching the same height, more or less. I sat up straighter in my chair and smiled behind my mask. Now, diplomacy with spoiled brats and powdered nobles? That I was prepared for. And had been, most of my life.

“It is an honor to receive your Highness in my humble abode, please forgive me if I use the wrong term to address you. Consider me illiterate in the way of the higher powers.“

“No insult has been given, but we prefer to be addressed as your Blazing Glory.“

“As you wish, your Blazing Glory?“

“I wish for you to know that I am the Godqueen of Khetuma, destined to rule all the lands touched by the sun. I am the rider of the flaming chariot, born as the Golden Child at night, growing to a woman at noon and waning in power once the darkness spreads its blanket over the world. As such it is paramount for us to oppose darkness, wherever it rears its ugly head.“

I tilted my head, as one might do in deference to a person of higher standing.

“I understand your desire to know the whereabouts of the Dragon of Darkness.“ I said.

“It is plain to see. I wish to annihilate the darkness. I wish it to cease existing, so my rule over the lands of Khetuma will no longer be contested. You have knowledge of a being of great power and as such, great danger. Tell us what you know.“

“See, Your Blazing Glory, I came by the information but paid dearly for it in blood and lives of people dear to me. I wish to help you on your quest, but I cannot in good consciousness give the information away without asking something in return, something that brings sense and hope to the victims of the tragedy.” I had prepared this reason ahead of time, as I was not well versed in the way of the merchants. I found it hard to ask for payment, as just as it might have been. But I needed to.

Her little child hand flicked through the air dismissively. “Speak and be rewarded. If you manage to not strain our patience to much.“

Here came the hard part. I had no idea what to ask for. What was that information worth? How far could I go? I had not a lot of reference points I could use.

“I am interested in your success and good relations, your Blazing Glory, so I dare not to go higher than 100 Shards, so as to stay in your good graces. But I cannot go lower than that.“

The child flicked its arm again. Dead gods, that was unnerving - watching a child behave like that. How old was that child, anyway? It looked like maybe 3 or four years of age.

“It is done.“ And a rain of Essence fell onto the table out of thin air, the golden eyes of the child dispassionately staring at me. I tried to keep my cool, but that had been way too casual. Had I been too low with my estimate? I had no chance to go back now.

“I don’t only know where the dragon is, your Blazing Glory, I know it to be alive, as I live and breathe...“

I leaned forward, as did the child who came closer, as I told the story of the imprisoned Dragon being released by chance or machinations of the Wyldlings, releasing its mist and ink-creatures onto the Empire of the Sun. I did not speak a word about the Wyld. I also told it about the religious uprisings from the acolytes of darkness in the cities of the empire, I had heard about and the shadowy powers of the invading [Shamans]. I tried steering the child into a direction opposing the forces of darkness, and gave her the information it needed for that, without drawing attention to Ravenport.

The Child stared ahead, thinking. Then nodded. “You pleased us with your information and we sense no falsehood in your words, or you would have been smitten by the wrath of the sun.“ The child barely tilted its chin in farewell and floated away, dragging behind a sea of gold-wrought cloth.

The door closed and I put my head on the table, groaning. That would be a long, long night.

The next visitor had introduced himself as the Seeker, and he wore the body of a spry, old man, wearing a robe in a dark blue changing into the light blue of the sky towards the collar. On his robe, moving in front of my very eyes, were small white birds flying through the cloth, creating patterns and even words with their formations. But they still were embroidered, just yarn, whenever I thought to look closer.

His eyes were behind thick spectacles and he wore a book the size of a tavern door chained to his back. He put it down, before pulling back his chair, and it thudded heavily to the ground, standing taller than both he and I.

“I seek the knowledge you peddle with, traveler of dark places.“ He said carefully, probing even, as if he was trying to gauge who I was and how I might have come by the information.

“I am just that. A traveler of dark places. And witness to something I had no right to see. But I am a peddler as well, although I am a little insulted by the truth. But alas, the way of the Fulcrum is one of gain and greed, and I cannot free myself of the sin.“

He smiled, his white beard moving with his face. He had a giant mustache as well, one that curled up at the ends, dancing along with the smile.

“I know the game of gods, as I know a lot of things. I am the Seeker, after all. And knowledge is the thing sought most after, in my experience. And the sharpest weapon to wield, as luck would have it.“ He grinned. Was that a boast or a threat?

“Maybe we can come together as friends then, and let Essence be Essence. Because I am in dire need of knowledge as well, and you seem to be rich in the realm of knowledge, where I am a pauper.“

“That would be splendid! But I tell you in honesty that depending on the secret you hold; you should ask a very good question in return. If knowledge is a blade to wield in the game of gods, knowledge of dragons is a volcano waiting to erupt.“

“I am confident that my information will not only satisfy your desire to know, it is worth more than just your curiosity. Let me make a proposal because I am ill prepared to ask the right question. I will ask two questions of you. One right now, and easy to answer. And one later, when I have need for it.“

“A favor traded for in morsels of truth? That is a trade I love to make! So then, ask your question and I will remember to answer you truly, when you have thought of another.“

“The question is easy, because the answer could be ‚no‘. Do you know of a four-armed race with one central-eye only, and can you give me the tools to understand their language?“ I had to think quick, and that was a question I had the desire to know the answer for, because I had the tools and books of a legendary golem maker in my possession. It could be a treasure without equal in my part of the world.

“Easy question indeed. I have never heard of creatures like that. Which is in and of itself intriguing to me. I might come back to you for that information sometime. But the answer to your second question is easy as well. I can give you the Skill you need. But now, you asked two questions of me, did you not? But I will forgive you. I still feel you are getting the short end of the bargain here. I will throw in the Skill for free. It cost me nothing and will spread knowledge, knowledge that you even might give back to me as a favor...?“ He grinned at me.

“We will come together one way or another.“ I nodded. “Listen closely, because the Dragon of Darkness is alive and walks the earth...“

I had one last visitor that day. And it was a man that could have been a mirror of myself. A thin man hidden under the folds of dark cloth and cloak, masked with a silver plate, engraved to resemble the visage of a creature I was unfamiliar with. A manticore perhaps or a chimera? Something that resembled a lion’s head but clearly was more sinister and different in subtle ways. The mane seemed to be bone and the teeth were dripping a liquid, for example. It just seemed wrong.

He did not speak much, but referred to himself as the Tongue, and calmly discussed business with me, but haggled pretty stubbornly. I could only bring him to offer me 75 Shards for the information. Now, I knew that man was likely no paragon of virtue, but he was nebulous at worst. I had rejected a couple of offers from clearly nefarious godlings, but I could not quite justify that course of action with the Tongue. So, I took the 75 Shards and shared not a word about the involvement of the Snake Clan with the forces of darkness.

It was a poor measure of safety, but if it would deter whatever force this man stood for from working together with the Snake Clan, at least for a while? Or if that even could create a tragic misunderstanding between them, if the other came for the region with full force, not realizing they were spiritual allies? It was the best I could come up with and as I was not clear about the motivations of the Tongue, I could only speculate.

175 Shards and a Skillbook of [Decipher the Ancient Truth]. I felt good about the risks I had taken, and the rewards I had reaped.