The Scraidaft Market
15 Yixius 3602
Note: This story ended up being a lot longer than normal, so it might be a longer read.
Things could only go so wrong from here.
Razili stood in the middle of the forest, eyeing the bushes and trees all around her as one hand fidgeted, drawing random lines in the dirt. Part of her was hoping Morpho wasn’t going to show up- maybe that sucker got himself thrown into jail before she even had the chance! Oh, that would be just amazing. And then she wouldn’t have to worry about going to places she should never stray near! Or
someone giving away personal information to probably-not-very-great-individuals.
Letting out a hiss, she stepped closer into shade and away from the sunbeams that made it past the forest canopy. Wearing mostly dark clothing in the midst of summer was not a great experience. It had taken quite a while of digging through her closet before she made a suitable outfit that covered most of her scales and scars, which should hopefully hide her identity as best as possible. It was all she had- especially the dark tinted goggles that helped make her eyes appear a different color.
All hopes were dashed when Morpho landed in the same forest clearing as her- admittedly a lot more graceful than last time when he had just fallen out of a tree. “A beautiful day to go visit the lovely Scraidaft Market!” He loudly proclaimed as he stretched out his legs, a big grin on his face. “Wouldn’t you say so?”
Razili stared at him, clearly unamused.
“Alright! I know you dislike me, let’s just get moving!” Morpho hardly acknowledged her lack-luster mood before taking to the air. She begrudgingly followed after.
The two kept their altitude low, skimming above the forests and plains as they made their way towards the Stray Gales Settlement. They flew along the outer edges of the town until they reached the western edge, which was a mix of inns and farmsteads. Morpho led her to one tavern in particular, which was along a far-off branch of the main path and hardly seemed to have any other dragons around. She got a glimpse of the sign above the entrance that read ‘Egress Lodge’ before she trailed in after Morpho. Weird name for an inn if you asked her.
Even when they were inside, there were no other dragons around other than the innkeeper at the front desk. Looking around the waiting room, nothing immediately stuck out to her as ‘illegal’ or ‘sleezy’- except for Morpho, but he wasn’t part of the decor. It was just innocent potted plants scattered on window sills, or some comfy looking chairs with a small pile of books sitting on a table.
While she was busy sightseeing, Morpho approached the innkeeper and whispered something to them. The dragon nodded before disappearing through a staff-only door in the back of the room. Morpho turned back to her, looking like a child who had made the most amazing discovery that she had to hear. “Oh, you’re going to love this part.”
“... it’s an inn.” Razili noted, one wing pointing to the room all around them. She was not impressed, to say the least.
“To plebeians, yes.” Morpho snickered, warily looking around the room to make sure there were no other dragons around. The room was clearly empty. “But a gateway to us
nobles, if you will. Through the back and tucked beneath here is a portal that can take you
anywhere from
anyplace- including the ten Keystone black markets if you know the right runes. Though no one does, except for the few Gatekeepers.” He winked, tail motioning to the staff-only door that other dragon had last entered.
A… portal? Portals weren’t entirely unusual as a concept- experienced mages can create them, though they usually only go short distances. Getting the portals to take you any good distance to make them an effective means of travel required
a lot of elemental energy, enough that no one ever uses them for travel. So… that begged the question of
what source-
Razili’s train of thought was interrupted when the tavern keeper returned, only to beckon them to follow. The two walked through the staff-only door, which appeared to be a closet filled with maintenance supplies. Except, unlike most maintenance closets (at least, she hoped), there was an open secret entrance tucked around a shelf, with a circular stairway leading further into the ground. Anyone innocent enough could probably believe it was just some weird way down into the basement.
At the end of the stairs, the basement opened up to a decent sized room made of unpainted concrete brick. On the opposite end of the room was an archway made of dark gray stone, the pieces of the portal having runic markings carved right into each brick. The tavern keeper flipped one of several switches embedded in the wall, and the runes started to fill from the ground up with some weird glowing essence that was shifting through all sorts of colors, revealing the full intricacy of the markings. Some sections weren’t lit up and simply skipped over, while others seemed to have a stronger glow than the rest. Something about the glow was unnerving to Razili, but she wasn’t sure why.
The glowing runes eventually reached the top of the arch, the two sides linking together. There was a brilliant light from the center of the archway that soon spread to fill the entire arch, forming the portal. It was an ever shifting wall of iridescent colors that rippled like water, and hidden in those ripples seemed to be a glimpse of what was on the other side.
“C’mon now!” Morpho said impatiently, grabbing her arm and dragging her into the portal with her before she had the chance to peer closer into the small waves. She ended up running into him on the other side, sending both of them tumbling to the ground on rough stone.
Lifting her head, she took in the unfamiliar scenery all around her. The two of them were in some cavern-room of sorts, having just exited from one of seven portals positioned opposite of the entrance to the room. Outside was an even larger cave that was filled with rickety stalls and stands- some were even on platforms embedded into the stone or were in a ledge dug right into the wall itself. There seemed to be more tunnels and pathways leading elsewhere, though it was hard to tell as most of the cavern was cut off from the doorway.
“Well, that could’ve been more graceful,” Morpho grumbled as he brushed some dirt off his neck.
“You brought it upon yourself,” Razili growled in reply, readjusting her goggles in the process.
“Whatever.” Morpho flicked his tail in annoyance. “Follow close behind me, I want you to meet…
someone.”
That certainly was ominous. Yet Razili found herself foolishly following in Morpho’s footsteps, becoming practically glued to his tail as they entered the larger cavern. The small streets and paths between the stalls were bustling with activity of other dragons- whether they’re shopping or hauling several satchels-worth of goods to their stall. The smell in the air was ever changing, at times smelling absolutely horrid, and other times smelling of sweet pastries. Was there really a bakery in the black market?
Keeping track of her untrustworthy guide meant that she wasn’t able to look around much, especially now that he had picked up his pace. Maybe it was for the better, based on what random stuff she saw from the peripheral of her vision. There were exotic critters trapped within small cages being sold for a hefty price, skeletal remains that were most likely of a dragon and not an animal, unusual but surprisingly brutal weaponry, cakes that may or may not be poisoned that taste like the best thing in Eotera- it was overwhelming and she was hardly getting a glimpse before moving on.
The two made their way to a second similarly sized cavern as the last through one of the winding tunnels, with it being slightly less populated. They went up a wooden boardwalk spiraling up to the top of the cave, stopping at a platform about halfway up that connected to one of those ledges that were carved directly into the cave wall. Dark red curtains marked the entrance that Morpho stepped through with absolutely no hesitation, and she followed after.
The store was well-lit by lanterns scattered around, be it on a table or hanging from the ceiling. Soft, simple patterned rugs lined the floor, protecting any visitors from stepping on the rough stone for any longer. Several weapons of varying types were hung on the walls, many of them having scratches, chips, or dents in them, but were otherwise clean. Opposite of the entrance was another dragon who was sitting at a desk that was littered with a variety of items, similar as to the tables against the walls. To either side of the desk were two more rooms, concealed by more of that dark red curtain.
“Greetings to my favorite dragons in Scraidaft!” Morpho loudly exclaimed as he entered, opening a wing in salutation.
A loud rattly hiss came from the dragon on the other side of the room, potentially annoyed at Morpho’s loud presence if she had to guess. The gray and orange dragon looked up from the desk he was sitting at, blood-red eyes narrowing as he looked over in their direction. “
Hello to you
too.” He spoke roughly, the end of his tail waving around. As he adjusted the red hood on his head, Razili was able to get a glimpse of several scars across his snout. “You’ve brought a guest.”
“Indeed!” Morpho grinned, walking up to the other dragon with pride in his step. “A
blood element, just like you! Particularly an associate you can train for me.”
The other dragon looked at her, then looked at Morpho. “... sure… but first, do us a favor and go get some food from the market. We haven’t had lunch yet.”
Morpho looked disgruntled at the request, but shrugged it off. “Gotcha, will be back before you even notice! Consider this payment for now!” Partway through his sentence, Morpho had run out the entrance and disappeared elsewhere into the market.
An awkward silence filled the air, allowing for the information Morpho just randomly dropped to sink in. So… this other dragon was a blood element too? While she always wanted to know a bit more about her element, she was suddenly scared of what she might learn from whoever this was, based on their scars.
There was a clatter from the back. A gray and brown dragon stumbled out of one of the side rooms, hissing while shaking one of their feet. “Fastest he’s ever left-” The dragon made eye contact with her- blood red eyes as well. They gave a small, slow wave of their wing. “-oh. Hey?”
Razili felt a lot more nervous now that both of them were staring at her. How did introductions go in the black market? “... hi?”
“Did Morpho tell you anything?” The older scarred dragon asked.
Razili shook her head.
“Figures,” he sighed. “A quick introduction; I’m Osiris, youngling here is Fiachra. As that blabber-mouth said earlier, both of us are of the blood element- which you seem to be as well.”
“Uhm, yeah,” Razili fidgeted with the rug beneath her talons. Morpho was hardly intimidating compared to this Osiris person. It was like comparing a fluffy griffin hatchling to a fully grown scarred griff used in war. “I’m… Raz…” Her voice faltered at the end as she questioned whether or not to share her actual name. Probably shouldn’t. Oh well, Raz would work.
Osiris noticed her nervous nature, turning away to face his desk and shuffle a few loose papers together. “You actually want to be here? It seems like Morpho just picked you off a random city street and dragged you here.”
… To be fair, that was basically what he did. Though she should probably let that not be known- hide weaknesses, right? Otherwise they might try to take advantage of you. Even if she just wanted to scream the truth and get out of here and away from danger. “Y-yeah I do!” She replied, though she realized that it didn’t sound convincing enough. “I just- need to learn a few things and all, y’know? Don’t know much about my element.” Ah, half-truths. A lot easier to play off than full on lies.
“Hmm, well… there’s no changing your mind if you’re with Morpho of all dragons.” Osiris’s voice sounded a lot more judgeful than she’d like. “Anyways, I’m not a stranger to training someone. I’ve been training Fiachra for a few years, she and I can help show you the ropes. Though don’t get too excited for learning anything complicated until we’ve worked out a more… official agreement with Morpho. Which might be a bit.”
“Morpho’s stubborn as hell.” Fiachra growled like an upset dragonet. “And he yaps too much. Dude would sell out everyone he knows if he ever got caught.”
“Thankfully for half of Scraidaft’s vendors, he’s managed to avoid that.” Osiris sighed, looking back over at Razili and seeing her nervous expression beneath her goggles and mask. “He still has some skills you can learn from him. Really, there’s worse vendors that you could’ve ended up working with.” As Osiris attempted to ease her nerves, he reached up to a shelf where a worn leather-cover book was, quickly flipping through the pages. Then he slammed it shut only to toss it in Razili’s direction. She frantically caught it with her wings before it hit the ground- the poor book looked like it’d instantly disintegrate into dust if that happened. “Take that, bring it back next time you visit. Consider it homework. Read most of it and then I’ll start teaching you- mainly so I have time to figure out lessons.”
Slowly and carefully, Razili started to skim through the pages. It seemed to be a bunch of information about the blood element- its origins, causes, history, discovered powers- nothing like what she’d found in libraries. All of it looked to be personally written, most likely a personal journal of observations. A journal that was probably two hundred or so pages long. “This is… a lot. To learn.”
“It gets…
easier.” Fiachra tried to be friendly, though she grimaced at the end, eyes suddenly looking downcast. Her voice was a lot more quiet, almost a whisper that Razili couldn’t hear. “
If you ignore morality.”
“See? Wasn’t so horrible now, was it?” Morpho gleefully asked as the two landed in the midst of the forest, a little ways from the Lycan Pack cliffside. “You met some other blood elements, got some food, had a chat, got a… crusty old book… nothing bad!” His face had scrunched up when mentioning the journal, like he was allergic to the idea of reading. “Tomorrow. Same time. Gotta get you into the game quickly.”
Razili had no chance to reject as Morpho had already bolted through the canopy and flown away. It didn’t take long for the birds to start chirping once the air had fallen silent, leaving her to contemplate about the day.
There was a horrible feeling that it may be too late to turn back now.
@[Lore] Tales of Eotera
GOSH this was a beast to write, I'm not used to these Eotera stories being so long in comparison to previous chapters, but it was a lot of fun. Some world building and absolutely innocent new characters is always nice.
ALSO a little fun fact, originally in Fiachra's place was going to be an NPC, but after some digging I managed to find a mostly blank-slate dragon to use instead. Which is nice because I may or may not have gotten attached due to what happens later... Unfortunately I had no imperials that would fit Osiris and couldn't find any with the same vibes as the scry. So NPC will do for him!
