Aftermath 37.

The Kaldel Plains...

"I don't know if i trust them or not" says Arvelle the leader of the crew of illegal wreckers.
"Who?" asks Sasha the former mercenary, who continues on with "Samiel?" and adds "Or Sara?".
"Both" says the tall plainsman with the shaven head who leads the illegal wreckers.
"Well of course you don't" says the good looking woman with one eye, who has a wicked looking scar down one side of her face "You're a plainsman, all of you don't trust spellcasters" adds the former mercenary.
Arvelle sourly similes, while behind Sasha, her lover Pallen the blademaster grins.
"You not what i mean" says Arvelle as they stand just outside the front door of the two storey house he lives in, as they look across the village green, on what's a cool morning here in the northeast of the Kaldel Plains.
Sasha, who like her lover Pallen, hails from the kingdom of Girdane, nods her head, then says "I know" she continues with "Mac never really liked Samiel anyway, and only got along with him for necessity".
The former mercenary then adds "I can't see them working together for something like this" Sasha follows that with "And Sara never does anything without her brother Famic, and Mac just plain out disliked Famic".
"I know" says Arvelle, who looks at the two from Girdane who are a couple, and tells them "That just leaves Davon".
"We'll know when he gets back" says Pallen the blademaster, the tall plainsman who was born and raised in the kingdom of Girdane continues with "That's if he comes back, because if he doesn't i think that's pretty solid proof he was working with Mac".
The other plainsman Arvelle sourly grimaces at the prospect of that. He still can't believe his best friend Mac the dwarf stole from them.
And that if he had magical help doing so, which seems likely as they've yet to find any trace of the former shipwright and the loot he stole.
And it's looking more certain that it was the wizard Davon was his accomplice in the theft of the chests of gold and gems.
"And if he does come back, and didn't have anything to do with it?" asks the leader of the crew of illegal wreckers "Then we're fucked" bluntly says Pallen the plainsman, the dangerous blademaster continues with "Because if he didn't, that means pretty much only one thing" he briefly pauses before adding "Mac had outside help".
Both Arvelle and Sasha wince, as they've all contemplated that, but no one as yet had voiced it, until Pallen did just now.
"That" quietly says the tall, shaven headed plainsman who leads the crew of illegal wreckers "Is something we do not need" adds Arvelle as he thinks about the possibility of outsiders helping Mac steal from the rest of them.
The leader of the illegal wreckers, shakes his head, and sighs, then as he looks at one of the nearby airships, the only one that's being worked on, fewer than ten of the wreckers doing so.
He says to the couple from the kingdom of Girdane "With potential buyers arriving in two or three days time, we've got to get some of the others back to tearing down the ships".
Arvelle continues with "Not all of them will be able to afford the remaining magetubes" he then adds "Ship parts have always been our main source of coin, and will continue to do so".
The leader of the crew of illegal wreckers then says "And we have to send more of the wagons with the sundry bits and pieces south to that town down there" he follows that with "We're always able to sell to them".
Both Pallen and Sasha nod their heads in agreement, then the good looking woman with just one eye says "We'll go and round up some of the others who are searching" she continues with "Get them back working on the ships". Arvelle grunts, then says "I'll do that too".
The trio head across the village green, completely oblivious to the fact that Narladene the ground pixie, who is invisible to all, who has been watching and listening to them, is following behind them.
Meanwhile south of the village, near the route that's used to travel between the village and the town that's further south on the plains.
A rift appears, which once it's formed, the former arena fighter from the city-state of Brattonbury, Gorlic walks out of, followed by the mage Samiel, who drops his rift spell, and it vanishes.
After quickly looking around, Gorlic the former arena fighter says "About halfway to town are we?" as he spots a nearby waypoint that looks familiar.
"Almost" says Samiel the mage as the two of them walk to the waypoint, looking at the ground as they do so, trying to find any tracks belonging to Mac the dwarf.
"I still can't believe it" says the powerful mage, it's the umpteenth time he's said that since they left the village earlier, around mid morning.
The former arena fighter, who is a bit of a hot head at times, just grunts as they come to a stop next to the waypoint, and look up and down the well worn trail between the village they're based at, and the large town nearly thirty miles south of the village.
"Beats me what we can find" says Gorlic who continues with "People go up and down this way all the time" the former arena fighter from the coastal city-state of Brattonbury then adds "Most of the time it's us".
Samiel sourly grimaces, though he nods in agreement with the Brattonburian as this is the usual route their wagons and riders use as they travel to and from the town further to the south.
"Still" says the mage who is originally from the city-state of Tuledare "We have to do something" continues the powerful spellcaster, who then adds in a mutter "I still can't believe he did it".
"So you've said" sourly says Gorlic, who follows that with "Numerous times already this morning".
"Sorry" says Samiel in a contrite tone of voice, next to him, the former arena fighter sighs then says "I know the feeling mage" he continues with "I've said the same thing over and over to myself since yesterday morning when we found him missing and the gold gone".
Gorlic shakes his head, then says "I don't know what the hell he was thinking" the hotheaded former arena fighter then adds "Damn dwarf".
The powerful Tuledarian mage nods his head, then sits upon the pile of stones and rocks that marks the waypoint, Samiel then says "I'm not really that kind of spellcaster".
In response to Gorlic asking him "You got a spell that can locate him at all?".
The spellcaster who once worked for the airdock authorities in the city of Tuledare then says "We mages tend to concentrate on destroying things" followed by "Other spellcraft is kind of secondary to us".
Samiel after a brief pause, says "Though if i get anywhere near where he is, i might be able to locate him".
"Oh" says the former arena fighter who hails from the coast of the Southlands, Gorlic then asks "How would you do that?".
"With a mageglobe" says the powerful mage from Tuledare, who continues with "I personally don't know any spells that can locate someone, but a mageglobe i can create will be able to find him if we're fairly close".
"How close?" asks Gorlic "Few miles i guess" says Samiel who continues with "That's why we have to find some sign of where he's gone, or more specifically where he's going".
"At least that's something i guess" says the Brattonburian who rubs his chin as he thinks about something, then he asks the Tuledarian spellcaster "Can one of your mageglobes locate the missing gold and jewels?".
The powerful mage thinks about it for a few moments, then he says "Maybe" he thinks about it bit more, then adds "They're not exactly smart, as they can only do what they've been created to do. So if i tell it to go and find the gold and jewels, it could very well head to the nearest place where people are digging up the ground looking for gold".
"Hmmm that might be a bit of a problem" murmurs Gorlic, who is beginning to understand the frustration that Arvelle their leader has with spellcasters.
"And the fact they can get distracted at times if you give them more than a simple task" says Samiel "Oh?" says the former arena fighter who has only seen Samiel create mageglobes to bring down the airships they've targeted "Distracted by what?" asks Gorlic.
"Anything" dryly says the powerful spellcaster who is originally from the city-state of Tuledare "The wind, the sun, a horse, a child, you name it" adds the mage who continues with "If it sees something interesting, it will stop and watch it".
Samiel shakes his head, then says "It's why we tend to create them to do simple tasks, like attack another mage which is what they're actually intended for" the Tuledarian mage then adds "Or have it blow something up. Which is about the most simple thing imaginable. As it doesn't have to think too hard about doing that".
Gorlic grunts, then says "We'll never find him at this rate" the former arena fighter from the city-state of Brattonbury continues with "Or the missing gold and gems".
While he sits upon the waypoint, Samiel frowns as he thinks about something, then he says "You know what, there's something i could try" the powerful spellcaster then adds "I might not be able to find Mac or the missing gold and gems".
The powerful mage from Tuledare then tells Gorlic "I might be able to locate the chests and lockers the gold and gems are in" he then adds "That's pretty specific, especially as i know what they look like".
The former arena fighter who is pacing back and forth on the well used trail next to the waypoint, stops and looks at Samiel, and asks him "You think so?".
"Pretty sure i can" says the Tuledarian spellcaster, who continues with "And i doubt I'll need to be all that close to wherever they are".
"Hell, that's definitely something" says Gorlic who was of the opinion that they were never going to find Mac, and that they're only wasting their time trying to find him and the stolen loot.
Samiel gets up off the pyramid shaped pile of rocks and stones, then holds out his right hand to create a mageglobe.
Gorlic who has seen him do this before, stands there and waits for what seems like an eternity before a white coloured ball of living magic, the size of a small apple appears in the right hand of the mage from the city-state of Tuledare.
Samiel tosses the mageglobe in the air, and after it circles around them a couple of times. The living piece of magic goes away, not exactly in a hurry. As they can see it wandering away in the air, kind of going east, as it often heads north, then comes back south.
"Why did it take so long to create?" asks Gorlic, who has seen Samiel in the past when they've taken down airships, create mageglobes almost instantaneously.
"Searching for those missing chests and lockers isn't exactly a simple task" says the powerful mage who continues with "I had to give it detailed descriptions of the chests and ship's lockers to search for".
The former arena fighter nods his head, then says "It's not exactly moving that fast compared to the other ones I've seen".
"That's the price you've got to pay for doing something that isn't simple" says Samiel who then explains to Gorlic "The more difficult the task, the harder it is to create one, and the more time it will be alive" the powerful mage from Tuledare then adds "They tend to take their time to complete something that isn't simple".
"Should we follow it?" asks Gorlic who can still see the mageglobe weaving through the air, heading more or less to the east, well northeast as it seems to be going.
"Nah, it'll be a waste of time" says Samiel who continues with "Though if it does find them, it'll get back to me quick smart" he then adds "And we'll know where they are".
"Let's hope it finds them" murmurs the former arena fighter from the city-state of Brattonbury, who looks up into the sky and says "Almost midday".
"Almost" says the powerful mage, who shades his eyes as he looks southwards, and after a moment he says "I think there's wagons coming this way".
Then after Samiel casts a farsight spell, and takes a better look, he says "Four of them" followed by "They're ours".
Gorlic nods his head "The lot coming back from town" the former arena fighter from the city-state of Brattonbury continues with "They left the same morning you did, before Mac did what he did".
"We'll find out if they know anything" says the mage from the city-state of Tuledare, who then adds "You do the talking, and I'll find out if they're telling the truth or not".
"Right" says the former arena fighter, who moves over and stands beside the powerful mage, who then teleports the two of them south.
When they reappear, they walk towards the approaching wagons which stop at their sudden appearance.
Seeing Samiel and Gorlic, those on the wagons who were ready for a threat, relax and call out in greeting to their fellow illegal wreckers.
The former arena fighter who is often a hothead at times, talks to those on the wagons, finding out what they've been doing in town.
In the conversation, he casually mentions if they've seen Mac the dwarf since they left the village to go to town.
As he does, Samiel checks to see if any of them are lying when they answer the former arena fighter from the city-state of Brattonbury.
After he does, the powerful spellcaster glances at Gorlic and slightly shakes his head no.
Then he too joins in on the conversation after the former arena fighter sourly smiles at knowing none of their fellow illegal wreckers here, had anything to do with Mac stealing from them.
After talking to those on the wagons, which continue on their way back to the village, Gorlic and Samiel disappear as the powerful mage teleports them away again.
They reappear further to the south, closer to the town, only about ten miles away from it now. And the two of them head to a few roundhouses. The only plainsman settlement between the town and village further north.
As they go to find out any possible sighting of Mac the dwarf in the last couple of days. The mageglobe created by Samiel a little earlier, is still wandering away at it's own pace.
The living piece of magic which earlier was weaving back and forth, not going in any particular direction.
Is moving more or less in a straight line as it goes to complete it's task.
It still isn't going all that quickly. Infact it's still moving slowly through the air.
But for all that, the mageglobe is going more or less straight, back towards where the village is located further to the north . . . . . .