“Ah,” said Eddel. The smug expression fell away. “Well, perhaps it’s a
sub-par entad for you then, but it’s the best I’ve got when it comes to
archery, if you’ve already got the bow covered. I
“The book is going to be our storage,” he said, hefting it back up. “But I was looking for something that would help with travel. I know travel is common enough, but the party is still forming, and I don’t think there’s much confidence that we should all uproot our lives. Being able to bring them directly to the next dungeon would be helpful.”
“You made fourteen thousand off just the books,” said Eddel with a frown. “I’m not sure how it is in Dondrian, but that’s a windfall for any new party in these parts.” She must have seen something in his face. “But not everyone is fully on board, are they?” She looked over at Isra.
“I am,” said Isra, still inspecting the arrows. She took one of them and nocked it in her bowstring, drawing back to get a feel for it.
“No shooting in the store,” said Eddel.
“Some of the others though, no,” said Alfric. “Not fully on board.”
“And then you’re the one who has to take up the coordination and everything else,” said Eddel, looking Alfric up and down. “That was what I did, in my adventuring days. Not only are you filling your role in the group, but you’re checking times with everyone, making travel arrangements, scoping out the dungeons, gathering information, all that work, and everyone profits off it unless you try to make sure you get a larger cut, which no one likes because they don’t see it as work.”
“I don’t mind the work,” said Alfric. “I’ve been dreaming of going into dungeons all my life. I’d have taken the world by storm a year ago if plans hadn’t fallen through.” As soon as he’d said it, he realized it sounded like arrogance and puffery. It was the kind of thing you weren’t supposed to say out loud, even if you thought it was true. And if he tried to justify it with his lineage, or his extensive knowledge and practice, it would sound even more like arrogance.
Eddel nodded and said, “Better to be an older adventurer, I’d say.” She
went over to one of the cabinets, which was packed with stuff, and began
looking through it until she found what she was looking for. “Here,” she
said, handing a dagger to Alfric. It was a small one, slightly dull,
with a handle of jade. “It’s a part of what you need, and the best I can
part with for what I know you have. Once a day, you can go to where the
dagger is. It works for the last person the dagger cut, but the weight
limit is high, and it’s
Alfric nodded, feeling the dagger. “How’d it do on the scratch test?” he asked.
“Somewhat poor,” she said. “You could probably get away with stabbing someone with it or using it for cooking, but I wouldn’t go into battle with it or use it against armor. Seventeen hundred for it. I should note it’s private testing only, but pretty extensive. It hadn’t seen a cleric of Qymmos, but that’s factored into the price.”
“So all I would need to have a good setup is a second one of these, then some way to take people along,” said Alfric. “One-third of what I need, let’s say.” It seemed like a high price to pay, but equipment or services that allowed rapid traversal of the world always were. Floatstones would be a fairly significant expense, but they were probably better than trying to find an entad.
“It’s only a piece, but it’s what I have as far as travel goes,” said Eddel. “I’ve got three more entads that I don’t think you’d have much use for, all with some travel applications: a staff that lets you walk through trees about a mile at a time but in a random direction, a sail that can harness unseen winds, and a pair of boots that allow for long jumps.”
“How long of jumps?” asked Alfric.
“Fifty feet, or thereabouts, but you can do as many in a row as you’d like,” said Eddel. “The man who brought it in twisted his ankle using it and, I suppose, lost his taste for it.”
Alfric hefted the dagger. “You said, when we came in, that it was better not to buy something we were likely to get more of.”
“And I stand by that. But travel is vital, and one of the big things that stops dungeoneering teams. You might want shelter too, but that’s not vital in the same way travel is. You might want food, but again, it’s not the hardest thing to get on your own.”
“I was told that I should never get an entad that replaced something I already had in my backpack,” said Alfric, nodding.
“Well, whoever said that was a fool or someone wise who was trying to be too pithy,” said Eddel. “Replacing something that weighs ten pounds with something that weighs one? That’s almost always worth it, unless someone’s trying to charge you an arm and a leg.”
