Chapter 367: Branching Out

Chapter 367: Branching Out

The snow had finally stopped by the next morning, revealing a city transformed. The white blanket smoothed the hard edges of the stone architecture and deep snowdrifts buried some windows and doorways near completely. A little more than three feet of snow had fallen in a single day and night, enough that shorter races like gnomes and goblins would sink into the snow up to their eyeballs if they tried to brave the winter wonderland. Eldingholt was an old, established city though, and the people living there were used to dealing with blizzards. The day’s needs didn’t go away just because of a little snow, and while the snowplow hadn’t been invented yet on Oros, the people had their ways of dealing with the bad weather.

“That is amazing,” Jay said with delighted awe. “I wish I’d had people who could do that where I grew up...”

“Me too,” Aila agreed as she watched the mages do their work. “We had to pull out the shovels whenever it snowed like this if we wanted to dig ourselves out. No one in Red Tree had that kind of magic power.”

“We had a fire wizard who lived in my town,” Sorcha commented. “He’d melt the snow on the main streets. Made a horrible soggy mess, but it was better than shoveling. Once, he accidentally set a goat that was on the other side of a snowbank on fire.”

“Oh, goodness,” Eir gasped at the goblin’s story. “What happened to the poor goat?”

“Goat stew, mostly,” Sorcha shrugged. “At least the wizard paid the family who owned the goat and let them keep the carcass, too. He was a pretty decent guy. Too bad for the goat, but at least the family ate well that week.”

Jadis could see how using fire to clear snow would lead to accidents like Sorcha described. It sounded a bit like clearing a driveway with a flamethrower; no one could really be surprised if you set the mailbox on fire in the process. At least accidental arson wasn’t something anyone in Eldingholt had to worry about, not with the snow removal crews Jadis could see, anyway.

The wizards and sorcerers that were clearing the streets in front of Jadis and her companions were a mix of wind and ice mages. The two middle-aged women who looked enough alike from what Jadis could see of their faces under their fur-lined hoods were definitely sisters. The duo were ice wizards who worked in tandem, weaving spells that appeared as floating runes in the air that glowed the color of blue ice. Whenever they cast a spell, the snow around them would coalesce into hard-packed blocks around three feet on each side. A group of young boys and a few old men ran around behind them, lifting the blocks and stacking them out of the way along the sides of buildings. Some others ran back and forth with carts, dragging the blocks further away to be dumped either into the river or outside of the city walls.

They were currently working to clear a major intersection, and Jadis could see another team working down the other road. That group consisted of an older man with a bright blond beard streaked with gray and a much younger man who was probably his apprentice, or maybe even a relation like a grandson. The man had to be a sorcerer since he wasn’t crafting his spells the way the two wizards were, instead simply gesturing to cause an effect. His spells manifested as wind magic, which he used to blow the street clear of snow. His efforts weren’t as neat as the two mages, but he was also faster and covering far more ground with the speed of his magic ability. The young man with him didn’t look old enough to have his first class unlocked yet, but Jadis could see he had some kind of staff in hand that would occasionally glow with an enchantment. It seemed to her that the apprentice was casting spells with the aid of an enchanted stave while following the direction of his master, likely in the hopes of increasing his chances of unlocking a magic caster class. How he was casting magic without his own magic power pool to draw from, Jadis wasn’t sure, but probably the staff was powered by the mage and activated by some means that Jadis wasn’t familiar with.

Jadis’ thoughts were interrupted by Aila gesturing down the street where the sorcerer and his apprentice were coming from.

“Once they clear this intersection, we can turn to the left from where they came. It’ll take us the long way around the block, but it looks like that street has already been cleared so it’ll be quicker,” Aila advised.

“Sounds good,” Jay nodded. Turning her attention to Kerr, she asked, “The lovebirds know to meet us there, right?”

“They do,” Kerr replied absently around the bite of an apple she had in her mouth. “They’ll be there, so long as they didn’t get stuck in a drift or get caught up ploughing each other.”

Both of Kerr’s suggestions were possible, Jadis supposed, though she didn’t think Nevan nor Orla would be so irresponsible as to miss the first official meeting they’d been called to for Fortune’s Favored. The whole company was meeting at the new building headquarters that Aila had purchased with the help of Nevan’s cousin, Íte. Jadis hadn’t seen the property yet, but she trusted Aila’s judgement in such matters. Since Aila, Eir, and Thea had checked the place out and given their approval, Jadis had agreed to the purchase. Their descriptions of the building made the place sound like a great fit for their company, so Jadis hadn’t had any second thoughts about spending the money. The company coffers had definitely taken a hit since property wasn’t cheap in Eldingholt, but they had enough for the building and still plenty left over for their regular budgetary concerns thanks to both the generous gifts the Dryads had given them, as well as the bounty rewards for all the demon’s they had slain. Three demon matriarch bounties amounted to a lot of gold, never mind the greater demons.

The first floor consisted of an office, a smaller workshop, a bathroom with indoor plumbing, and a small storage room. The second and third floors were mostly open space without partitions; apparently the sculptor had used those areas as displays for smaller works and as storage space for unfinished side projects. It wouldn’t be hard to section off the spaces, though, and Jadis calculated that they could probably set up at least ten nice-sized rooms on each level, not including the bathrooms. Maybe fourteen rooms if they didn’t mind making them a little smaller, or twenty if they were okay with the occupants getting little more than a bed with a trunk at the end. Though if they were going to do that, a barracks-style arrangement might be better.

The building didn’t have a basement, since technically this part of the city was elevated and there was apparently a whole different city block located underneath, but there was a huge shed in the open area in the back that could either be used for more storage or converted into something else like a smithy for Sabina.

“This place is pretty nice!” Syd grinned as she spread her arms wide and slowly spun around in place. “I don’t feel so cramped in here!”

“Speak for yourself, friend,” Tegwyn laughed as he examined the tower barndoors that led back outside. “This place is far too stark with all this stone and dead wood. It makes my horns itch.”

“Well, we’ve got the room for plants,” Jay quipped. “Abyss, we could probably decorate the place with a few trees if we wanted to. Just pick them out and we’ll get them in here.”

“Ah, you know how to make a Dryad smile,” Tegwyn shot his own grin back at Jay before turning to examine one of the lifts.

Deciding to get a better view, Dys lifted herself up to the second floor by simply hopping up to the back balcony. Taking a seat, she looked out over the spacious area and imagined what it would look like once they got a few renovations done. There’d be room for tables where dozens of people could sit, a front desk to act as a welcoming center, and maybe even a training ring.

Well, probably not a training ring. That would be pushing things. But the open space out back would serve that purpose well, even if she chose to move the Behemoth wagon to park in that space.

“Alright, is everyone here?” Dys called out from her spot on high, getting the attention of everyone else in the room.

“No,” Eir answered, confirming what Jadis realized at the same time. “Nevan and Orla haven’t arrived yet, nor has Hans. It’s still early, though, so I’m sure they are on their way.”

At that moment, a solid knock echoed in the open hall, one that came from the door rather than the thumping work of the neighboring carpenters.

“Speak of the De—Demon,” Jay muttered, just barely avoiding using a word and phrase she didn’t think would work on Oros. “That must be them.”

Striding over to the front door, Jay pulled one open to greet whichever of the late arrivals had shown up. Doing so, she revealed two gnomes who were bundled up in enough furs that they looked like balls of fluff, as well as a tall, mustachioed man standing stoically behind them. There was one more unexpected figure with the expected trio, however, and she stood to the fore of the group, commanding all attention on herself.

“Hello Jadis,” Magistrate Vraekae smiled thinly up at her.