138. Looking for Death: Gwaed.

The bath and massage were nice, but they left me bloody horny. Ruku can go and find a brothel to relieve himself, but I bloody can’t. Not only have I not seen another elf in this god-forsaken city, but I also wouldn’t dare risk breaking cover here. Anyone can be an informant, and a lot of information will flow out of the brothels. I hope Ruku knows that. I am sure he does. On the way back to the apartment, I used Blood Manipulation to reduce the flow of blood through my reproductive system to reduce my horny hormones. It is not good to use my Skills like this, but it is not easy for us elves to relieve ourselves as humans and orcs do.

I picked up some food for me and the bonds. Esgyn had been flying over the countryside and found something to eat. Prybyr was pining to join us. He was strongly pack-orientated and didn’t like being on his own. Esgyn would join him tonight, which would help a bit. Merch was heading back to the apartment, and Sugnwr was just waking up. This number of bonds took some work to keep up with, even with Multi-tasking.

I fed Merch and Sugnwr and then got set to Scry for the assassin again. I was 90% certain she was still in the city. I can only Sry twice a day at the moment, so I have been varying the time of day I look for her. I caught her bathing once, so I got a good look at her body. She has a new arm, and I am not sure how, as it hasn’t been that long. The arm will be weak and not yet have the muscle memory of the other, so if we get into a fight, that is something to take advantage of. I am hoping I will be able to kill her without a fight, but we will see. I also got the scent of the soaps and perfumes that she would use to mask her natural odour. That was a very useful session.

Today she was out to dinner with a guy in uniform. Military, but not the navy, I think. I spend time looking at the restaurant and the serving staff, and the logo on the napkins. It was a high-class restaurant. I took the time to sketch the logo. A minimum of four hours before I can try again, six if I want some energy reserves left. I might try a short Scry in four hours. Is the guy a date, a target, or something else? Is she going to sleep with him or kill him, or both? Maybe it is just a business contact.

I eat and dress up for the night. Dark colours, but smart. I am visiting fancy restaurants tonight. I sent Sugnwr toward the east to search and headed to the richest part of town. Three hours later, I was still unsuccessful. I finally got fed up and asked a doorman about the logo, meeting a friend you know. He didn’t believe me and knew I was not from the Empire. It turns out the logo is the Empire Guild Restaurant. Very famous with restaurants in every major city. The Empire Guild is an exclusive guild for high-standing members of the Empire only. Only the elite of the Empire can get membership, whether that is military, political or financial. The Northport Restaurant is next to the Military Headquarters, which is closer to the harbour.

I went there to eyeball the place. She was either here or she is in a completely different city. My Olfaction didn’t pick up anything. The soaps and oils must be very common, which is what you want to go for if you are trying to mask your scent. My Level 1 Sense Decay didn’t find anything, as expected, and my Blood Sense told me she wasn’t around. I obviously couldn’t go into the building. Merch could get in, but she didn’t have Blood Sense yet. Her blood is pretty unique to my senses. I don’t know if she is a member of the Empire Guild or if she is a guest there tonight. We are getting closer.

It was time to get back to my apartment and Scry for her again. I then have some alchemy to do. We need an exit plan from the city. Ruku will hopefully secure a ship, but I am going to assume we will have pursuers, and we need to slow them at least. I have a couple of options in mind.

When I did Scry her again, she was sitting in a cemetery. It was an older cemetery with no open graves, so she wasn’t burying a body. I couldn’t make out the grave markings, but some larger mausoleums were in the distance. I guess I will need some sombre clothes tomorrow to visit my ancestors' tomb. If I can find it. I wonder how many cemeteries the city has. A cemetery is an interesting place for her to visit. It is a place of death and rot. It is probably how she awoke her affinity. Maybe she grew up there as a street kid, or maybe she just has a morbid fascination for death. Maybe she was just visiting the grave of someone close to her. It will be a good place to level my Sense Decay Skill.

We are also going to need some help breaking into the Lore Society. In Obalno, I know exactly who to contact. Here it would be very risky to try to make contact with the underworld. They would sell you out at the smell of coin. The second place to hire someone would be to advertise to the blacklist of the Mercenary Guild. That is risky as well, but probably less risky and less time-consuming than trying to contact a Crime Lord, assuming they have such things here. I need to schedule a visit to the Mercenary Guild tomorrow as well. I know there are two guild halls here in Northport. One is in the centre of town and is all fancy and rich, but has the best trade hall. The other one is down closer to the harbour. I assume it is for visiting members. It is less fancy and is right next to the Shipping Guild. I might take Ruku, as the Shipping Guild will probably be the best line for a legitimate exit from Northport. I doubt that will happen, but maybe they have a Blacklist for smugglers, etc. I don’t know much about the Shipping Guild.

I got about three hours of sleep last night, which was not much less than I normally needed. My first appointment is with The Lore Society Alchemist. Hopefully, he or she will give me information on local cemeteries, although I will have Esgyn note them on his flyover later today. At least cemeteries are obvious from the air.

The Lore Society Alchemist was a really old stout dwarf. I would peg him at upwards of the 200-year mark. I told him I had the Basic Alchemy class at Journeyman level and I was looking to specialise. “I have a potential client whose business is to remove soft material, like cotton and leather, from steel. He wants to know if he can do it with an alchemical solution and if it could be cleaner and faster.” This was the excuse I bought up for potential Acid alchemy.

“Hmmph. Just burn it off,” was his gruff suggestion.

“That is what he does now, but is there an alchemical method.” This guy was going to be difficult.

“Alchemy can do most things, but it is likely not easy or cheap,” was his reply. “Follow me. The Alchemy books are on the first floor.” He took me upstairs and told me to sit in one of the alcoves. “Don’t move or touch anything, or this consultation will be over with no refund, and you will be banned from the Society.”

He went down to a nearby shelf, picked out two books, and brought them back. He put them on the table. “This one,” he pointed to the biggest book, “is an introduction to industrial alchemy. Chapter fifteen is about common acidic solutions and their uses. This book,” he pointed to the smaller one, “is about using alchemy in waste disposal. You can read them for one hour. They are not to leave the building. I will be over there if you have questions. Do not wander off or look for yourself.” He moved to a nearby seat and got out his own book.

I started with the smaller book as both acid and fire were in fact, used for waste disposal. Maybe I wouldn’t have to break into the place. Incineration was a viable method, but the book focused on fire starter mixtures and accelerants. I noted some good ideas and recommended ingredients. I did the same for the acids in incase he checked my notes. I scanned the contents page of the big book. There was a whole chapter on Fire Enhancers, particularly useful for advanced Blacksmithing and similar. I also looked through a section on industrial adhesives, as I wanted the fire to stick. I noted down some ideas and made sure I was looking at chapter fifteen when the hour was up. I am pretty sure I have enough information to create my sticky fire and start my Acid Specialisation. That was easy. We won’t have to break into the place after all.

I was escorted to the public area where the final cost was added up, depending on the books I had consulted. They were both introductory books, making the consultation cheaper but still expensive. I guess the Lore Society has a lot of expenses, and I have essentially got enough information to boost two specialities. They tried to get me to join, as the costs were less, and I could make contributions to the Society to offset them. I said I would consider it.

That was a very profitable morning. I flagged going to the Mercenary Guild instead of going to a market to get ingredients to try my alchemy ideas. Then I went home to practice alchemy. Esgyn will be doing his flyover soon, so I can visit some cemeteries later. I still haven’t learned to reproduce Esgyn’s stomach acid, although I had him regurgitate some for me to experiment with. I got some out to taste. You will be surprised how effective the Taste Skill is in Alchemy. In this case, Esgyn’s stomach acid burned through my taste buds. I focussed on Blood Regeneration, and they would be back in half an hour or so. It is not the first time I have done that. The cemeteries might have to wait until tomorrow. Alchemy is much more interesting.