Draconians unlike their pure dragon ancestors do not divide themselves by type, color and the like but as their humanoid ancestors do as they have two main cities. Both worship the gods of the dragons in addition to the Althaen Pantheon though like their dragon ancestors refuse to give any information about those draconic gods. Both of the draconian cities are ruled by a matriarchal council though Drake’s Home has abandoned some of the ways that their sister city Acronas still follows.

Adrian

Charred corpses fill most of the short hall but that does not pose too difficult to get by. There are stairs in the store room down the hall next to some crates. The stair creek lightly as I descend but no one is rushing towards the store front. I don’t know the layout but there should be a guarded office somewhere, that is where I need to.

How do I make sure that I don’t get attacked and get to talk? And how will I convince whoever is in charge? I should have spent more time thinking about those questions than just how to find them.

As I walk down the hall I can see several rooms where some children are being taught to pick locks and who to target when they are out picking pockets. While interesting and morally questionable none of these rooms are the one that I am looking for so I follow the hall to its end and find myself in what appears to be an underground tavern. There are three closed doors that should lead to the rest of the complex, a counter with a fat man cleaning mugs as his eyes constantly glance around. Roughly a dozen people are sitting around at the six tables in the room as they exchange items between each other.

Is this a miniature black market? Why are they so calm? Shouldn’t there be some sort of precautions against my entrance?

I take a few steps in before the bartender says, “ya can drop your invisibility. I already know where ya are.”

I turn to look at the bartender to find him looking straight at me. No, at my feet. I look down to see that the sawdust covering the floor is thick enough to give away my footing.

I drop my invisibility and hold myself ready to perform some other magic as I say, “I want to talk to whoever is in charge.”

None of the thieves in the room stop what they are doing as the bartender beckons me over to him as he says, “Sneak'n’s a good way to get attacked.”

“I was attacked before I tried sneaking upstairs.”

“Ya don’t know any passwords then and you'd be full o’ holes if it weren’t that ya got past the magic detectors and dispelling walls with your spell. I ain’t the boss but be as close as your gonna get so what'cha wantin?”

“To make a deal to smuggle some called out of the city.”

“Learn that ya gonna die before they pay ya did you?”

“Not exactly but close enough.”

“Can’t be done. We could get ya out o the city but they’ll find ya.”

“Why?”

“They put all ya called under a second spell. So long as they got that it don't matter where ya go.”

“The Mark of Obedience, that isn’t a problem. They don’t have the command amulet for my batch anymore.”

“Then what hav ya to offer? It’ll cost the guild a lot o business when they come look'n for ya.”

“I’m sure you can come up with a favor that would be worth what I'm asking. After all I found this place with something similar to a Detect Living spell, my Invisibility doesn’t set off magic detectors and I can do this among a few other tricks though not all at once of course” I say as I place a jeweled dagger that was concealed on the bartender with a Sense Metal and Translocation Grasp.

The bartender looks down at his dagger. “Ya never put your hand close to that. How close do ya have to be for that spell to work?”

“Further away than you can see me from.”

The bartender grins, “welcome to the Shadows, name's Griff and I think there’s a lot we can do to help each other. . .”

Bryan

When I wake it is several hours past dawn. I dreamt of Tomas's death again with only minor changes. I had tried to heal him only to find my magic too weak. Always I am too weak.

I open the door to the common area to see several books open and a small wooden box that could half a pair of shoes if you didn’t mind stuffing them in. That box was not there last night. Is this what Adrian meant when he said he would find us what we need?

I open it to find two ink wells , some quills and a single piece of paper.

Bryan, Abagail,

I’ve made contact with someone that can help us get out of the city though it isn’t for free. We came to an arrangement and before we get smuggled out of here we'll need more equipment.

Write whatever you think you need and leave it in this box. Do not move the box and at noon it’ll disappear.

-Adrian

ps destroy this note once you’ve read it.

Why would I need to destroy the note? Unless we are being spied on but even so wouldn’t the box and whatever else he brings back give away that we’re hiding something?

Still, Adrian would not have written it for no reason. I light one of the candles on the table though it takes several minutes as I have little to work with aside from some flint and steel.

Once the candle is lit I put a corner of the note into the flame and keep the fire at the lowest point of the paper so that it will all burn. Another black mark is added to the wooden table as the final corner burns after I drop it so I do not burn my hand.

A door opens and Abagail walks out, looking as tired as I feel. “Burning things already? Why?” she asks while moving towards the table.

“Adrian left it as part of some instructions on a note. Make a list of what you want and need and put it in the box before noon but we can’t move the box” I answer.

“Anything else?”

“He made a deal with someone about getting us out of the city but it seems like it may take awhile.”

“Then what are we to do?”

“Practice till we stop being dead weight” I answer.

Neither of us say anything else as I pass her a piece of paper and one of the ink pot and quills that are in the box.

I begin making a list though I still more ink on my hand and table than I manage to get where I want it. Eventually, I manage to craft the following list amidst the splotches.

Enchanted Chainmail that won’t interfere with magic, medium shield preferably a kite shield, enchanted long/bastard sword, any standard spellsword build items, arcane spell books and as much on mana control as you can.

Abagail's handwriting looks better than mine and her list is longer as she does not know a build she could just name for Adrian to know to pick up an assortment of items along a similar path.

Light armor, daggers or a small sword, a flute, boots, sewing kit, clothes, water bottles, rations, spell books, mana theory books, anything on harmonic or music, crossbow, bolts, magic items that: protect the user, heal, energy resistance, invisibility

It took Abagail over an hour to come up with all of it but I don’t say anything as she goes over it several times. No doubt checking to see if she missed anything. I don’t worry about it as Adrian will fill in any gaps. He has always been better than me at that, one of the reasons why he always made a good wizard. He always had the spell we needed either memorized or on scroll or wand.

We put the papers in the box and nothing happens.

“Now what?” Abagail asks.

“We wait. Have you read all the books on the table?” I answer.

“Yes, but they aren’t very helpful.”

I nod at that having done the same. Certainly, Adrian will be able to find better books and if not a teacher who can show us and explain things both faster and better than these texts.

“Have you figured out how to cast an arcane version of that Light spell?” Abagail asks.

“No, no matter how much I go through these books a few critical pieces are missing to actually cast a spell. While I can guess at how to shape the mana, I cannot guess the incantation which is also missing in the thirty pages they take to explain that cantrip.”

“I have similar problems. I also have a different question. Did you start worshiping the Architect? Is that why you’ve been given magic by him?”

I sigh ever so slightly. Abagail is religious and I knew that the topic would eventually come up.

“It sort of went the other way, though I am not sure if prayers for the sole purpose of spells counts.”

“Aren’t you worried about being tricked? What if . . .”

“The Architect isn’t evil, he has given us help without asking anything in return.”

“Shouldn’t you be more worried about it because it had no cost?”

“He said that the price had already been paid and the only other thing that he asked for was to listen to a piece of advice. I actually know nothing of his religion and he didn’t even ask me to worship him. Besides we probably don’t have the time to be overly picky on the help we’re given.”

Our two stomachs growl as neither of us have had any food even though it should be getting close to noon.

“Let’s get something to eat and then work on something we can at least get progress in.”

“Okay” Abagail says with a smile as she gets up from the table.

Now where to go to make the most out of the coppers I have?

Brunch itself was uneventful as we went down and bought bread and the cheapest cheese that I could find while Abagail was deciding on what loaf to take from the baker. On the walk back however I hear a voice call out my name though it isn’t one I immediately recognize.

Both of us turn towards the voice and I see a fat man who used Tomas and Adrian used to play with before I got into RPGs, Jeff. I am not sure how but he seems to be doing well for himself. A pair of some sort of canine beastkin follow behind him with empty eyes.

“Bryan, did Adrian and Tomas get summoned here with you?” Jeff asks while scratching his shirt.

“They did” I answer not sure what to make of the situation.

“That’s great, where are they now?”

“Tomas died and I don’t know where Adrian is right now” I say in a lower tone than normal.

“Oh, well can you tell Adrian I’m here when you see him?”

I nod and hold my tongue, angry that he just brushed off the death of someone who he should consider his friend.

“Thanks. Holly which direction is my house in again?” Jeff says as he turns to one of the two girls following him.

One of them shivers before saying, “this way” and walking to the east.

Shortly after he is gone I look back to Abagail as we walk back to our assigned quarters. She has a frown on her face, something is bothering her.

“What is it?” I ask.

“That man was uncomfortable to be around. How does he even know you?”

“When I started playing games with Adrian and Tomas he was a part of the group.”

“Why haven’t I ever seen him then?”

“We stopped inviting him after he quit his medications and got really weird.”

“I think we should avoid him. Also why are those beastkin girls following him when they clearly don’t want to?”

I don’t immediately answer, not sure if my assumption of magically enforced slavery is right. Though I don’t know how he would have acquired slaves. He definitely is not fit enough to earn then via 'adventuring'.