Chapter Three Hundred and Seventy-Eight - Pay for It

Chapter Three Hundred and Seventy-Eight - Pay for It

Chapter Three Hundred and Seventy-Eight - Pay for It

We walked into Thorades Munitions and discovered the front lobby was empty.

Or at least, empty of people. There were lots of things to poke at and see. The walls had racks and racks of different tools of war. Most of these were crossbows and the like, with one wall displaying individual bolts with a variety of mean-looking heads.

There was a counter to one side laden with teeny-tiny miniature ships that had teenier-tinier ballista on them, clearly as the focal point of the models, as if to show prospective ship captains the kinds of armaments they could buy here for their own ships.

Oh, Awen said. She pointed to something and I followed her finger to a wall with diagrams.

What is it? I asked.

That kind of repeating crossbow mechanism? Thats whats at the front of the Redemption, she said. It must have been made here.

Hrm, Tharval said. Thats the little skiff tied up in your airship? Then thats possible. Thorades Munitions make cheaper gear, but the quality isn't terrible. Plenty of smaller ships carry a couple of their emplacements.

That made some sense, I figured. Do you know anything else about them?

Tharval stroked his beard, then shook his head. Not much. Respectable mid-level crafters. Good at mass-producing things. Not the most ingenious bunch, but theyve made a decent thing or two.

Right, that made sense. The dwarves especially seemed really fond of mechanical workings.

Just then, a dwarf stepped into the room from the back. They looked a bit frazzled, with tufts of beard sticking out this way and that. They paused on seeing us, scanned over our entire group, then locked their attention onto Amaryllis.

Then, they let out the kind of sigh that only someone working in customer service could before muttering, another one, under their breath.

Hello! I said, summoning up as much good cheer as I could. You look a bit busy, but, ah, we had a question or two.

Hello, and welcome to Thorades Munitions. Were a little busy at the moment, they said, trailing off leadingly.

Were looking for a Baron Vonowl, I said.

They winced.

To arrest him.

That cheered them right up. Oh, really? they asked. Well, I cant imagine what the good baron has done, but I can lead you right to him.

I blinked. "Wait, he's here? Now?"

"Yes indeed!" The dwarf seemed unable to contain his grin. "Please, follow me!"

He began striding toward a door labelled EMPLOYEES ONLY.

I traded glances with my friends. Awen and Caprica looked surprised, while Amaryllis was grinning viciously and Tharval rubbed his hands together.

"Well, let's not keep the poor kid waiting," he said. "We came here to stop Vonowl from buying weapons, and the easiest way to do that is to deal with him before he can buy them, isn't it?"

That got us moving.

As soon as we crossed the doorway, the nice veneer of the storefront disappeared. Pretty stone flooring was replaced by metal grating and the walls lacked any decorations other than posters of scantily clad dwarves using their beards to cover themselves up and gazing at the viewer in ways that made me blush and look away.

The main factory floor of Thorade's Munitions was a busy, loud space, with dozens of dwarves and a few elves working big, complex machines. It smelled nice though. A lot of the ballistae they made had wooden frames, and a whole section of the shop floor was dedicated to woodworking, so despite the dusty air, the scent of freshly sawn wood was pleasent.

We passed a machine that seemed entirely built to raise up an anvil-sized hammer and sent it down onto a car-sized anvil, and another which consisted of a whirling mess of interlocking gears and spokes just asking for someone to stick their fingers in.

I imagined that they didnt have much by way of safety regulations in the Storm Towers. Or if they did, they werent being applied here.

We found the baron, as well as a pair of harpy guards and a small gaggle of unhappy dwarves standing at the back of the shop.

Infamous is still famous, whelp, he grumbled at her.

She sniffed. I heard that youre insane, with the occasional flash of genius only a madman would dare to have.

Hear that, Bud, Im a genius.

Yes, that was the part of the statement that really caught my ear, Willowbud replied. In any case. We should take the baron somewhere a little more discreet, I think.

Where? I asked. We dont exactly have cells on the Beaver.

Bah, we have cells at the Exploration guild, Tharval said with a dismissive shrug.

There was a pause.

"Um, why?" Awen asked. It seemed like a very sensible question to ask.

Because some of us arent good with our drinks, he said. And that seemed enough explanation for the rest of my friends. Except for Amaryllis, of course, who had devolved her argument from a catty back and forth to a tirade of insults which was gaining in loudness with every mention of someones hatching and the quality of their plumage and ancestry.

I patted her on the back. Hey, its okay, were going to arrest him now.

Arrest implies a certain amount of legal authority, Caprica said. This is more of a... citizens detention.

But were not citizens here, Awen said.

A... non-citizen detention. You know what, Im just going to work hard to not think of things in legal terms for a while. I feel like doing that might be bad for my mental health.

Thats the spirit, princess, Calamity said.

Seeing as how we were more or less all in agreement, I turned to the next potential source of problems. The barons guards. Hi, I said to the two. I know that youre basically being paid to take care of the baron here, but we kinda need to take him away for a while. And wed much rather not have to fight.

The two bodyguards looked to each other, then to our group. I imagined that even though we were mostly a friendly bunch, we might have been a teensy bit intimidating, under the right light.

Also, your boss is broke, Calamity added. Unless nya got paid in advance? No? Oh, that stings. Well, live and learn, huh?

I walked up to the baron, and then patted him on the shoulder. He flinched back. Dont touch me, he said.

Oh. Well, okay. But only if you agree to walk ahead of us and not kick up a fuss. Youve done some very mean things and I think we should do something about that.

If you want, my boys can whip up a pair of cuffs or fetch some ropes real quick, Thorade said.

Youd betray me, Thorade? After I brought you so much business? Baron Vonowl asked.

You havent paid me yet either, she said.

I made an itty-bitty mental note to make sure I paid people in the future, because it seemed like not doing so led to people being rather unhelpful.

The baron protested quite a bit as we tied his wings up against his sides (Amaryllis suggested against tying them to his back, harpy shoulders not being the same as human ones, apparently). We wondered about gagging him for a while, mostly because he was being extremely vocal about... well, everything, but that felt a little rude, especially when the only thing we could gag him with were the socks that Calamity volunteered with rather more glee than appropriate.

With the baron all tied up, we pushed him along ahead of us. Willowbud apologised to Miss Thorade, who charged us a token sum for the ropes, and then we were off.

Crossing the Storm Tower with a rather unwilling, tied-up baron in our midst, one who constantly shouted about how we were scoundrels, kidnappers, and other more vile things, was a little tricky.

We tried to stick to less popular routes, but that only helped so much.

What helped a lot more was the strange amount of authority Willowbud could exude whenever he wanted. I had to wonder if it was a skill when we ran into some guards and he persuaded them that this was all Exploration Guild business and that they should keep on doing their jobs... but elsewhere.

Once we have you in a cell, Amaryllis said. Were going to have all sorts of questions for you.

***