Winter.
I'm telling you they won't have anything you'll like, says Helbe the elven thief by way of the mindspeech spell he has cast.
Have you actually gone in and had a look? replies Mira Reinholt the mage via the spell the highly talented elven magic user has cast.
Or have you just sensed the place from a distance, and not found anything worth stealing? adds the once powerful mage.
The spellcaster from the city-state of Vexil, faintly smiles as all hears in his mind is a grunt from the young elven noble, who is from the island principality of Laerel.
The mage Reinholt, who is walking with his fellow member of lord Farque's personal council, Jarjin Littlefoot the hobbit. Here, not far from one of the central city squares in Kuradum.
Just nods his hooded head in reply to something his fellow spellcaster, Helbe the elven thief says by way of the mindspeech spell between the two of them.
"Who knows?" says the Vexilian mage in exile, who then adds in a dry tone of voice "Probably looking for a place to rob".
In response to Jarjin Littlefoot the hobbit quietly asking him "Where's the royal thief?".
I heard that, sourly says the elven masterthief through the spell he's cast between himself and the mage Reinholt.
Then the young elven noble who is a member of the royal family that rules the island principality of Laerel, drops the mindspeech spell.
The blurred and shielded elven practitioner of magic, who is on the roof of a nearby building, shifts away.
Meanwhile, his fellow members of lord Farque's personal council, Mira Reinholt and Jarjin Littlefoot.
Turn onto another street, on this cold and fairly windy day, especially for here in the capital.
Not all that far from the center of the city, where both the grounds of the ruling council.
And the main barracks of the city garrison of the Kuradian army are located.
"That street to the right at the end there" quietly says the spellcaster from the city-state of Vexil, who is also a highly skilled swordmaster.
"It's on that street" adds the practitioner of magic who was once the most powerful mage of his generation.
Until he was stripped of most of his powers when he went offworld through a rift/void spell that he accidentally cast a number of years ago.
They turn onto the street in question, which like many of the other streets in this part of the city today.
Isn't particularly busy, due to how cold and windy this winter's day has turned out.
The Vexilian mage in exile points to a shop on the right, further down the street, and quietly says "There".
As they get closer to it, after a donkey drawn cart goes by carrying a load of firewood.
The halfling who hails from the far east coast of the continent, the Sultanate of Dreese to be exact.
Quietly says "Maargin's Emporium Of Curio's". As he reads the name of the shop on the sign above the door.
"Sounds like a ripoff joint if I've heard of one" dryly says the hobbit who isn't what he appears to be.
"It probably is" quietly says Mira Reinholt as they stop outside the shop.
"But both the book dealer, and that scribe i spoke to, say that once in a while you'll actually find something of value in here" adds the mage who is a member of the personal council to the lord and ruler of the lands Farque.
The halfling former air sailor, who previously served in the fleet of the Sultan of Dreese, just grunts at that.
Then he follows the mage Reinholt, who has opened the front door to the shop, and entered.
"Hell, what a lot of crap" murmurs Jarjin Littlefoot as he looks at the shelves, cases and counters, all stacked with items, books, scrolls and oddities.
The hobbit, who is really a hordes outrider from the southern tundra by the name of Zubutai Timaginson.
Who just happens to find himself inhabiting the body of the halfling, from the far east coast of the continent.
Just shakes his head, as he wanders off down between a couple of aisles of shelves.
In what's is a fairly large shop, for here in this part of the capital city of Kuradum.
While his fellow member of lord Farque's personal council, Mira Reinholt makes his way to the counter. Behind which, stands the proprietor of Maargin's Emporium Of Curio's.
As the exiled Vexilian mage speaks with the shopkeeper. Who definitely isn't Maargin, as that was a figure from Kuradum's past.
Jarjin aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman looks at the things on some of the shelves.
Most of which looks like junk to him. That's because most of it is junk.
The hobbit from the Sultanate of Dreese finds badly fitted and made armour. To go with a fair amount of badly made weapons he spots.
The halfling who is a member of the deathlord of Farque's personal council. Sees more moth eaten scrolls than he's ever seen anywhere.
Not that it deters the shopkeeper, who has a lot of the scrolls front and center.
Jarjin aka Zubutai Timaginson finds a shelf of maps. Most folded up, and a number of others. The ones not moth eaten and in a fairly good shape. Are rolled up at one end of the shelf that's at eye level with him.
The hobbit, a member of lord Farque's personal council, opens a few of the more intact maps.
And finds that they're fairly recent, made within the last twenty or thirty years. And that they're more or less accurate.
A couple of them are fairly detailed maps of the city-state of Kuradum and the surrounding lands.
He even finds a set of maps. A pair, showing the north of the Southlands, and much of the central regions too.
Those along with much of the coast, being the most populated areas in all of the Southlands.
Then the former air sailor from the far east coast of the continent is pleasantly surprised when he unrolls another of the maps.
This one showing a lot of the southern regions of the Southlands. Which a lot of people in the central regions, and up here in the north. Don't know even exists.
Jarjin aka Zubutai the son of Timagin, sees that though the map is fairly inaccurate when it comes to the size of the nations and lands in the south of Southlands.
It does have the lands Farque on it, smaller than it actually is. As well as his homeland, the southern tundra. Drawn much larger than it actually is.
The map even has a rough estimation of the southern polar region. Though it shows nothing of the Ork Range.
"Huh" murmurs the halfling former air sailor, who then silently adds, imagine that.
As he had never of thought he'd find a map, even an inaccurate one. Showing the southern regions of the Southlands. Here in a curio shop in a city in the northern regions.
The hobbit who is really an outrider from the pony archers horde in the southern tundra.
Rolls the map back up, and puts it back on the shelf when he hears that the mage Reinholt is in an aisle a couple over from where he is.
One of the advantages of being a halfling, is that his hearing is far superior to when he was a human.
The former air sailor who served in the fleet of the Sultan of Dreese. Until he was killed in battle, and Zubutai the barbarian hordesman took over his body as he died in the same battle.
Took over being a bit of a misnomer. As the hordes outrider, who was a human being at the time by the name of Riley Hait.
Was shoved into the body of Jarjin Littlefoot when he died. Shoved in by lord Farque, who as usual whenever Zubutai dies.
Came to the death realm, that realm of existence before the true afterlife. And found the barbarian hordesman and returned him to the land of the living. Or as it's also known by. The living world or the physical plane of the world of Volunell.
Jarjin Littlefoot walks around to the aisle that his fellow councilor is in. And finds the once powerful mage going through the items on a couple of the shelves.
"Ah ha" says Mira Reinholt in triumph, who then adds "His royal thiefness will be pissed off he didn't come in here".
The spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster, has taken something from a higher shelf, and hands it down to Jarjin Littlefoot, and tells him "Here, you can have it".
"Hell" mutters the halfling who is a member of the personal council to the lord and ruler of the lands Farque.
"What's in it?" asks the hobbit former air sailor as he looks closely at it.
"No idea" says the Vexilian mage in exile, who continues with "The glyphs have worn away".
The mage Reinholt follows that with "And it's impossible to sense what's in it" he then adds "Farque will know, you can ask him what's in it".
Jarjin aka Zubutai the son of Timagin nods his head, then he says in a slightly dry tone of voice "What's a bet it's something that goes boom".
The highly skilled swordmaster chuckles at that, then says "Of course" followed by "That's all we know how to make".
The we he's referring to is mages. For what the halfling former air sailor is holding is a mage canister.
Councilor Littlefoot slightly frowns, then he says "Isn't this a little shorter than they normally are?".
As the mage canister he's holding is under a foot in length. When most such magical items are usually between a foot to a foot and a half in length.
"Well, that makes it perfect for you then doesn't it" slyly says Mira Reinholt who has gone back to rummaging through the shelves.
"You prick" mutters Jarjin aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman, which earns a chuckle from the once powerful mage.
As he rifles through the contents of one of the higher shelves, the spellcaster from the city-state of Vexil.
Who once served upon the mage council of his homeland. Infact he was the youngest ever person to ever serve upon the mage council of Vexil.
The mage council essentially being those who ruled the large city-state of Vexil, which lies in the central regions of the Southlands.
The practitioner of magic who is also a highly skilled swordmaster tells the hobbit from the Sultanate of Dreese "It's an older one" followed by "They're the shorter ones under a foot long".
"How old?" asks Jarjin aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman as he turns the cylindrical device in his hands, looking carefully at it.
"At least five hundred years old" is the reply of the once powerful mage.
"Hell, that's old" mutters the halfling former air sailor, who like the Vexilian mage in exile, is a member of lord Farque's personal council.
"It's still good though?" asks the hobbit from the far east coast of the continent.
The swordmaster Reinholt nods his hooded head as he moves down the aisle a bit as he continues to check the contents of the shelves.
"It's still good" says the spellcaster who is a member of a family that owns one of the most wealthy and successful trading companies.
Not just in his homeland of Vexil, but for all of the Southlands.
"They always work no matter what" adds the once powerful mage, who then dryly adds "I should know, I've helped make a number of them when i was a youngster at the mage college".
Jarjin Littlefoot nods his head, then listens to the mage Reinholt who quickly tells him about the process of making a mage canister.
How it's made by two people, one a master craftsman, a metal worker. Usually a skilled blacksmith, one who specialises in making things such as a mage canister.
Though the mage canister is the only one that needs an actual mage in the process of making it.
For unlike say a magetube, which is made in a foundry. Where a mage is only needed at the start, then at the end of making a magetube.
A mage is needed during the entire process of making a mage canister. Which is made out of rolled steel. Well, the more modern ones are. Modern being the last few centuries.
Older ones, like the one Jarjin Littlefoot is holding, is made out of iron. And they're fairly heavy for their size.
"It's why they're so damn expensive to buy" quietly says Mira Reinholt to his fellow councilor.
"Usually" adds the exiled Vexilian mage, who nods his hooded head in the direction of the shopkeeper, and quietly continues with "He has no idea what it is".
The highly skilled swordmaster follows that with "If he did, he wouldn't have it on a shelf amongst a bunch of crap".
The spellcaster who was once the most powerful mage of his generation, to be found anywhere in the Southlands, then says "Probably thinks it's just a smith's trinket".
The mage Reinholt then dryly adds "It's a miracle he, or anyone else over the years hasn't twisted the end".
The halfling former air sailor nods his head in agreement with that, as the swordmaster from the city-state of Vexil continues to search the shelves for anything of value.
They end up buying a book, that takes the interest of Mira Reinholt. As well as buying the mage canister, which indeed the shopkeeper thinks is just a trinket made by a smith.
Which he sells to them at a fraction of the price it's actually worth.
As they stand outside Maargin's Emporium of Curio's, on this cold and windy winter's day here in the capital city of Kuradum.
Jarjin Littlefoot the hobbit as he looks both ways along the street, says "Back to the inn?".
"Might as well" is the reply of Mira Reinholt the mage, who nods his hooded head in the direction they should go back.
As they head back to the inn, the halfling former air sailor quietly says to his fellow councilor "Wonder what's happened recently in the war?".
They don't have to wait long to find out. For once they get back to the inn the group are staying at.
They find out that the enemy, have begun their advance in the north of the city-state.
Where councilman Hirrye's forces up there, have started the march on the town of Gensa.
The largest town in the north of Kuradum, a town on the way to the capital of the city-state . . . . . .
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