“…Aldmoor began as a frontier town for retired soldiers and their half-heritage kin after the fiendish wars. It is governed by a council of merchants and crafters and free from the influence of nobles and largely relies on trade and income from adventurers. Connected by the Riftedge port to the north and several land routes, and access to the Great Vale that overlooks the skyport, it has flourished to become an envied centre of commerce for those seeking greener pastures…”- excerpt from Valerith Quilworth’s Treatise on the History of the Alkerdian Continent.

Elena took in the gray facade of the three story building in front of her as she pulled at her stiff blouse collar. She watched the centaur drawn carriages entering and leaving from a large service gate alongside porters and couriers picking up large items from within the building.

Smoke billowed from an adjoining section of the premises. That part of the building was loud with the clanging of several smithing hammers and yelling of crafters as they took care of the day’s orders. If the girl standing beside her showed any sign of being bothered by the din, she didn’t show it. If anything she seemed nonchalant and was giving the sign above the storefront a critical eye as if she was looking for flaws.

Suffice to say, the sign emblazoned Yondouk’s Magical Emporium and Aersmithy was in pristine condition and strategically placed to capture the eye for any pedestrian walking the streets. It even lit up using mage lights at night, truly a hallmark of a 25-hour business.

Like the rest of the establishment, though old, it looked well maintained as a dwarven construction could be. It wore its aged flaking coat of paint well like a proud pioneer of the town. It was as old as Aldmoor after all.

“So Elena, what are we doing here?” Hanna asked, tugging her companion’s blouse sleeve while she cast her eyes about the street. She seemed rather fidgety as if her new shoes were pinching her but Elena knew it was anything but that.

It was quite the opposite, in fact. Hanna was just bubbling with energy because the half-elf had accepted her offer to go shopping; on Hanna’s purse of course. She had pulled all the stops, even going as far as to request that her shift be moved when she got word that her guild colleague had gotten a leave for a few weeks.

“I’m going to request for overtime for my shifts. I have more time than I know what to do with,” Elena stated as they began to walk towards the main doors.

“Huh? I didn’t know you worked here. I thought we came here to do shopping for magical items. Not that I wouldn’t ‘cause I brought a lot of gold with me just for today. But c’mon, all you think is work, work, work. It’s called a break for a reason you know. Plus, you are not getting any younger…girls like us should be out having fun, not getting calluses from holding quills like desk grunts. I think my derriere is becoming flat just from sitting through my shifts.”

“One, I am a half-elf—I have all the time on Eryth to do with as I see fit. Two, maybe you should stop sitting on your rear and work while standing. You should try in sometimes, it even gives you firmer muscles,” Elena smirked.

“ Eugh!, who wants to be all muscly? I wouldn’t be caught dead doing any sort of work that’ll give me farmers’ calves.”

As they reached the doors, a golem standing guard regarded them for a moment before opening the glass doors with the finesse of an experienced doorman.

“I can never get used to that,” Elena opined.

“What do you mean?” Enquired Hanna as she jogged to catch up to her as they entered a large foyer. The air inside was cooler than the outside where an afternoon sun beat on the brow of many a soul walking and working without a shade. It was the work of a rather expensive enchantment that cooled down the air and for the magical emporium—one of the ways it advertised its products to potential clients.

“The golems; I mean the way they use that [Identify] skill. It makes my skin crawl every time they do it.”

“Oh, I guess I can’t relate because I am not a mage-born like you are. I wonder if I’ll awaken to my magic.”

“You’re only sixteen Hanna. Besides, being a mage-born isn’t all that it's cut out to be, especially if you want to be a mage. Even if the tomes are not expensive for you, studying is in itself, backbreaking work, literally. You have to bend over when reading some books, they’re so heavy.”

“Why not have a scribe copy the notes for you?” Hanna said as she started browsing the products on display on either side of the isle they’d just entered.

“With whose money?” Elena deadpanned. She followed her friend’s stare as she looked at the mannequins wearing suits of armor. Some sets had an accompanying weapon like a sword and shield, or a glaive and bracer.

Some were made of mundane metals like dwarf steel which reflected the mage light shining directly above the display cases. There were also leather armors and mage robes made of fabric that radiated magic.

However, she knew that these products were just for exhibition—the real things were further inside. Going further in, they came to another set of double doors manned by a human doorkeeper regarded them with a practiced smile.

They entered a large hall that had counters arrayed in a reverse U-shape. It was as long as a tennis pitch and half as wide. There were several sections each manned by both a cashier and an attendant who attended to clients.

Though it was high noon, the counters looked rather busy, from adventurers shopping for gear, housewives who wanted to recharge magical items or buy new ones, or just browsing for new household goods.

There were also a handful of other people getting potions from the potioneer and apothecary section where crystal bottles glistened with colorful magical liquids. There was even an enchanter at a sequestered workstation where an appraiser looked at adventurers’ loot using an [Appraisal] artifact.

“Well, what do you think?” Elena asked her dazed and goggle-eyed friend.

“If you’re asking for a merchant’s opinion?” Hanna swallowed. “The proprietor looks like a pragmatic person. The room has a minimalist theme, no gaudy decorations at all. They’ve placed their wares where everyone can see them. Like the shields and swords see,” commented Hanna as she pointed towards two of the walls that had wooden weapon racks. “It also makes sense to just have a few pieces but a wide variety for exhibition since adventurers like to have their gear customized most of the time—”

“ And placing different counters within the same hall? It's brilliant! I’d run out of coin in no time just from being overwhelmed by all the products on display. I also think having a work station for household goods and apothecary products is an excellent idea. I speculate the apothecary is an independent business just paying for the space, am I right?” Elena nodded.

“And then the flooring—he didn’t use any fancy material or anything, just good old wood. It even looks worn from use; must be popular. Er, sorry I just ramble when I get into it sometimes.”

“No problem at all, you’ll make a great [Merchant] yourself someday.” Elena chuckled. C’mon, let’s go see the shift overseer.”

She made her way across the room to the attendant furthest from them and showed her work tag.

“Hiya Orniel, is the shift overseer in?” addressed Elena. The attendant simply grunted an affirmative and then pointed to the door behind him as he went back to serving customers.

“Oh, he’s at the aersmithy?”shaking her head, the half elf didnt let the attendant’s attitude bother her as she ducked under the counter door. She beckoned Hanna to follow. “Well then Hanna, wanna see an aership up close?”

“For reals? I’ve never been out of Aldmoor to see the port before. Ma and Pa are so overprotective and don’t let me go outside anywhere else”

“ Heh,I wouldn’t relate…” Elena mumbled under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing—just follow me.”

Elena went through one of several backdoors that led away from the shop counters into another hallway dimly lit by mage lights at their lowest setting. The walls were made of a nondescript worked stone that looked like it’d been picked haphazardly; nonetheless a good architect would have said the wall masonry artfully done. They exited the hallway into the back where they were assaulted by the sounds of a busy aersmithy.

Workers sawed large planks of wood while others hoisted cut beams using pulleys into a half complete skeleton of an aership. Again some were hammering away at joists made of dwarf steel that would brace the joinery work in place.

She tuned out the sounds of the smithy and looked around for the overseer—she found her standing off to the side near a large open-air section of the workshop. There was a wooden platform that had struts overlooking the open roof.

The installation was large enough to berth two aerships of significant size for maintenance and overhauls. There, the overseer was conversing with a short and stocky man who had a bald head and a braided waist-long beard. Like his conversation partner, the man had a pair of safety goggles strapped to their forehead and a black pair of leather overalls.

As Elena approached, they noticed her presence and turned about.

“Good afternoon, aersmith Yondouk, supervisor Rosedust,” she said, leaning her head at the dwarf and at the woman in greeting.

“Afternoon young miss Elena; I wasn’t expecting you to come today. And who is your friend? You do know we don’t allow unauthorized personnel in this section of the building.”

“My name is Hanna ma’am…Sir. Hanna Lalilab.” Hanna responded, doing a hastily done curtsy.

“Ho! Lalilab's young’un—Quite the lass ain’tcha?” replied the overseer’s companion in a booming voice. “At ease lassie, were not lords and ladies that we would have you bein’ all so stiff and prim. And go easy on the young’uns Rosie.”

“It’s my duty as overseer to make sure things run smoothly Yondouk.” The gray haired overseer said to the dwarf.

“Ha! Give me a break you old goose. Alright let’s hear ye lassie.”

“Uhm, I just got two weeks open and I’d like to request for overtime.” Elena stated as she turned her attention to the woman.

“I’ll give you an answer when I see you on your next shift. It’s tomorrow isn’t it?” overseer Rosedust said as she crossed her arms over her ample chest.

The sound of approaching wingbeats and eagle-like screeches drew the group's focus towards the open area of the aersmithy.

“Incoming aership! Watch out below!” came a magically amplified bellow. Slowly, the keel of an aership appeared directly overhead. A quartet of griffin riders guided the aership using using harnesses tied to the underside of their mount’s saddles.

Slowly, it descended orienting so that the berthing struts could receive the bulk of its weight properly. The struts groaned as the aership rocked slightly and finally, it touched down with nary a creak.

Elena and Hanna looked at the docked aership sitting a safe distance away from their group. The ship had been stripped down of its masts, sails and rudder. The wood on the hull was old, and to the untrained eye it still looked quite sturdy.

There was a grotesque figurehead of a gargoyle mounted on the vessel’s forepeak which had parts clawed off or bitten by a large beast. Unlike the waist and stern, the portside looked like it had seen torture as there were splotches of dried blood and viscera which could not be more than a day old.

One of the griffin riders flew down his mount to the aersmithy. The man dismounted and approached the group with a roll of parchment which he presented to overseer Rosedust. Without further ado, he left the same way he’d come joining up with his wing mates.

“Well?” the dwarf prompted the woman who was scrutinizing the parchment. He groomed his beard as he squinted at the aership. “Oi!—Get me a gangplank o’ here!”

“Report from Riftedge port’s harbor master. He’s requested an overhaul of the Mocking Jay. It’s a reclaimed merchant ship hijacked by pirates and found adrift over the Hunchback Ridges”

“What happened to the pirates?” Hanna quivered.

“Ho? You don’t seem to have the stomach for spilt blood, young miss Lalilab.” said Rosedust with an arched brow. “Anyway, I’ll humor you. The report doesn’t say much—it does mention a mutiny on the ship. Whatever remained of the pirates who commandeered the vessel were picked clean by a weyr of wyverns. They fought back, killed a couple of wyverns but they still lost. Don’t worry though, nothing of them remains, they made sure to clean it up. Except for the blood evidently— We’re fixers, not morticians. Hearing that, you still want to go aboard?”

Hanna gulped and looked at Elena. Elena shrugged saying that it was all the same whether she went on or not. Thus, the group of four plus a couple aersmith workers went aboard the ship.

“Watch ya steps lassies, the wood here’s in dire shape,” said the dwarf as he guided the women across the deck. Where the group passed, the floor creaked and squeaked ominously.

The deck floor had been scoured clean of whatever blood had remained after the altercation but claw marks and gouges that peered into the dark underbelly of the ship told the story of carnage. Wooden railings broken from either physical blows or wear and tear tittered precariously over the edge of the ship.

While the workers scribbled things on some slates, Hanna gawked at every little feature of the derelict aership. Contrary to Elena’s expectations, she was not even horrified at the aftermath of bloodied fighting around her. Rather, she had the enraptured expression of a child who’d received their favorite gift on their name-day as her glowing eyes darted every whichever way.

“Elena!” Hanna perked up from her trance. She grasped her friend’s hands, startling her in the process. Elena swore. “ One day I wanna have my own aership!” Hanna chirped gleefully.