Clan Baz

The location Clan Baz had given them for the meeting was about halfway between Springfield and the mall, down a rather normal looking road off the main highway flanked by modest looking five story tall brick buildings.

“Guess they’re fans of the ‘hiding in plain sight’ theory,” Vivian remarked as she found a parking space in a lot adjoining the address they were given. There weren’t many cars along with them.

“Also it seems they aren’t proponents of car use either,” John pointed out.

“Their home might be close enough that they can walk,” Verida suggested. “Or maybe they have a pathway like we do.”

“Or they already live there,” Vivian added. “If they have a talented fateweaver, they can have a full homestead complete with a day-night cycle, fields, fully furnished homes, all the fixings. Maintaining it would take a lot of effort.”

“If they’ve got that, then I can think of no better business partner for us,” Verida said. “That does mean they should be well equipped to mine out the resources.”

“We can hope,” John remarked. “Only one way for us to find out.”

Car parked, they slid out and made their way to the entrance. John cast his eyes around, looking for anything that betrayed the magical hidden in plain sight. When nothing stood out to his mundane senses, John reached out with his arcane ones.

For a moment, he could only sense Vivian and Verida as they walked beside him, with the barest hint of Kiera’s aura peeking out from behind Verida’s every so often, faint enough that he wasn’t sure he could detect it if he wasn’t familiar with it and knew to look for it. Then, he caught it. There was a subtle charge that grew stronger the closer they got to the building.

In John’s mental eye, it was like looking east just before the sun began to rise, the pale color slowly driving away the darkness of night. A great power hidden just out of sight.

“They do have a delicate hand with barrier craft, it seems,” Verida commented.

“More signs they’ve got a good amount of resources they can draw upon,” Vivian remarked. “Or at least the revenue flow to keep someone on retainer to maintain this.”

As they neared the entrance, there was a sudden shift and a woman appeared seemingly out of thin air. She was sharply dressed in a crisp black suit, grey shirt and black tie. Her purple eyes held a stern focus as she turned towards them, her long purple ponytail turning in the light breeze.

“Renoux Solutions?” she asked in a measured tone, one nearly devoid of emotion.

“Yes, that’s us,” Vivian answered.

“I am Tamia Weaver, head of security,” the woman introduced herself, extending a black gloved hand. “Before you enter, I have to give you a once over. Standard procedure. I’ll be scanning you during a handshake. If there’s anything you wish to disclose, now would be time.”

“Well, we have some raw materials we’ve gathered to show,” Vivian answered. “And there is a slight issue with the number of people we agreed to bring with us.”

“The agreement was for three,” Tamia said, her eyes narrowing.

“We had a lapse in focus when we were discussing the terms of the meeting,” Vivian explained. “There are some extenuating circumstances for why and why our party number is five instead of three. My companions are intrinsically connected to others.”

Tamia regarded them for a moment, before she asked, “Do you mind if I confirm that? I want to have the full picture before I report this.”

“We have nothing to hide,” Vivian answered and thrust her hand out. As Tamia gripped the redhead’s hand, John tried to sense the magic at play while going over the exchange.

‘Vivian didn’t explicitly say how we’re carrying two extra people,’ John realised.

‘No need for all our secrets to be revealed,’ Senka remarked. ‘Saying that I and Kiera are seeing and in mental contact with you and Verida is enough of the truth for them to make an informed decision about the case at hand.’

‘We don’t know just how skilled her senses are, so she might not even be able to detect either of you,’ John thought. ‘But given her confidence about being able to find evidence to report, I’m not going to bet on it.’

Tamia let go of Vivian’s hand and turned to John, hand still outstretched. John took the offered hand and felt the woman’s magic wash over him. It was like dropping into a warm pool and having clothing pulled onto him all at once. And, somewhat more disturbingly, he felt her magic flow into him, not into his body, but into his very soul.

The mental image of his inventory being flooded came unbidden to his imagination, along with Senka’s forest domain getting washed away in a torrent. But what unsettled him the most was the breaking of Tamia’s neutral, professional expression into one of surprise and confusion.

It was only a momentary break before she reined in her emotions and she let go of John’s hand. She didn’t say anything but pivoted to Verida. The security head couldn’t keep her composure as her magic analysed the goddess, her hand jerking back as if she had touched something hot.

“I,” Tamia began before she cleared her throat. “I need to speak with the others. I apologize, but I must ask you to wait out here. There is an enchantment to keep you unobserved so no one should bother you.”

She turned sharply before vanishing into the barrier.

“I think she got a clear view of what I am,” Verida said. “I hope that doesn’t become an issue.”

Vivian sighed. “I have an angle we can use if they raise an objection to your presence.”

“It’s not like we can separate you from the Kingdom,” John said. “If they don’t like you, then we can’t work together. I’m sure there’s someone out there who would jump at the chance to work with a goddess.”

---

Tamia marched through the hallway, her normal stoic expression barely held in place as she tried to sort through all the information she had just obtained.

‘And here I thought this meeting would be boilerplate,’ she thought as she sped towards the small conference room they had set aside. ‘Gin isn’t going to be bored with this one.’

She reached her destination with no delay and knocked once before entering. Inside, seated in just the spot she expected him to be, was Vel who looked surprised at her sudden, and unaccompanied, entrance.

“There a problem, Tamia?” Vel asked, his hand stroking his beard. “Have our guests thrown a curveball?”

“You could say that, sir,” Tamia reported as she closed the door behind her and stepped closer to the long conference table. “Is Gin not here yet?”

“Tastefully late as always,” Vel grumbled in the way he did when having to deal with Tan’s eccentricities, though Tamia felt there was a bit more heat than usual. “Which means we might actually be all here once we get things sorted.”

The dwarf leaned forward in his chair, “So, what’s the issue? Might as well start finding a solution before she gets here.”

Almost as if on cue, the door was flung open again and a sharp dressed dark skinned dwarven woman strode in, a confident expression on her face. When she noticed it was only Tamia and Vel, her expression dimmed.

“Seems I’m early,” she said, brushing back a loose strand of her greyed brown hair behind her ear. “Though I could have sworn I saw you heading to the entrance a few minutes ago, Tamia. False alarm?”

“A complication, Gin,” Tamia clarified. “The representatives from Renox Solutions have presented a few interesting complications that I think we need to settle before we invite them in.”

“Is that so?” Gin’s perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised up over her vibrant violet eye. “Have they brought something dangerous? Or something impossibly rare?”

“Angling for the big haul already, eh, Gin?” Tok grumbled.

“I would think you’d be more interested in that,” Gin snapped back. “This was your find after all.”

“Just give us the report, Tamia,” Vel sighed. “No need to draw things out with guests waiting.”

“I’ll start with the least troublesome,” Tamia began. “A scan of Mr. Newman revealed a small number of gems and ore stored in a personal pocket space. A pocket space that seems keyed to his very person, but I could find no anchor point enchanted on him. He did have a few weapons stored there, along with a few pieces of apparel. I’ve deemed those to not be a great threat.

“But,” she continued, “and this is the first problem, he was not alone. He has something like an elemental bound to him. A few actually, but only one of note.”

“‘Something like an elemental’? You’re usually more precise, Tamia,” Gin remarked.

“Its presence was not like any elemental I’ve ever encountered,” Tamia explained. “Fully aware as far as I could tell. Which brings us to an issue they brought up.”

“That they aren't the three they agreed to, but four,” Vel guessed. “Hmm, I wonder if that woman with Newman when they approached me is their fourth member.”

“You said they brought this issue up, yes?” Gin asked.

Tamia nodded. “They said in their haste to get this meeting scheduled, they forgot to account for the fact that two of their chosen representatives had a passenger.”

“Two of them?” Gin repeated. “How sloppy. I’m going to guess they want us to just ignore their plus two.”

“On the contrary, they are willing to have two more of our team sit in on the meeting,” Tamia revealed. “Came right out with it. But there is something a little more pressing that they didn’t reveal. One of them is a goddess.”

That got both dwarves’ attention.

“A goddess? You’re sure?” Vel asked, standing up from his seat, a look of shock in his eyes.

“That is my best guess,” Tamia answered. “I don’t have anything to compare her to, but her essence was far more complex than anyone I’ve ever scanned. There also was another person’s essence mingled with hers in a way very different from a summoner and their summon.”

“Either way, it seems they have a powerful person under them,” Gin muttered. “It would be a bit hasty to call the whole thing off over a little mistake like this. Not after we’re all here.”

“Careful to not let your greed be so visible,” Vel grumbled.

“Oh please, you want this to be a good deal just as much as I do,” Gin said dismissively. “If Tamia is right, we’ve struck gold, in both senses of the word. A partnership with a goddess is not a deal one turns away.”

“It is when we don’t know what she is a goddess of,” Vel countered. “Now, I’m not saying she’s some portent of disaster about to fall upon the clan, but we can’t just jump right in without making sure there’s no downside.”

“Of course we’d make sure the deal’s good. What do you take me for, some bimbo secretary?” Gin sighed as she shook her head. “Tamia, got any insights into her character? Any hints?”

“Her mana was water and earth heavy, with a touch of wind,” Tamia recounted. “I do still have a bit of her mana on my hand, if you wish to use your magic to get a view yourself.”

“Might as well see if it reveals anything,” Gin said as she reached her hand out. Tamia took the dwarf’s hand and a phantasmal blue spark shot out from their joined hands and began to grow in size and brightness. It began to take shape, manifesting like crystals growing until a spectral copy of the supposed goddess stood next to them.

“She didn’t have horns or a tail, but that’s her,” Tamia said once the copy had finished manifesting.

“Given that they had to walk through the mundane world to get here, I suppose she just has them hidden,” Gin remarked as she studied the static figure. “Hmm, not much I can make out. An indirect copy minutes after contact doesn’t leave a lot to work with. Mhh, I can’t really make out why it feels like there’s a second soul connected to her. Maybe some adherent?”

“Guessing isn’t going to get us very far,” Vel said, running his fingers through his beard. “Can you pick up anything that hints at her domain?”

“I’m looking,” Gin replied tersely, her eyes narrowed. “You know how hard it is with such a small sample. I’m getting the earth and water, alright, and they’re blended pretty tight, so something in the vein of plants most likely. Not getting anything useful regarding her hanger on, which with this sample, is not surprising. She's a far more prominent signature.”

“So one of our guests is bringing in an aware summon of some kind, and another might be a nature goddess in communion with a worshiper,” Vel summarized. “And they claim to have access to untapped mineral resources. Hmm, I wonder. Newman was a bit cagey on what exactly he had access to, only that they had ‘untapped resources’. We could be looking at a freshly manifested divine domain.”

“Would they even need our help if that was the case?” Tamia inquired.

“Gods and goddesses aren’t always all powerful,” Gin answered, letting her magic fade. “We could be dealing with one just after her ascension and unable to perform ‘miracles’.”

“There’s also the issue of where her power resides,” Vel added, stroking his beard. “The divine might be able to call upon powerful mana, but most of the time it’s limited by where they draw their authority from. In this case, if Gin’s assessment is correct…”

“It is,” Gin interjected.

“...then it’s likely her magic is limited to the manipulation of plants. Maybe life in general, but in the positive sense. Healing, enhancing the body, that sort of thing,” Vel concluded, ignoring Gin’s remark. “If her domain is a fully realized environment, there could be limits to what she could do with metals and stone.”

“Which means they do need our expertise and labor to get the most of what they have under their feet,” Gin said, her violet eyes sparkling with desire. “I think we can overlook this little misstep on their part. They did come right out with it when they arrived.”

“True, but I think we should take up their offer to match the numbers,” Vel suggested.

“Oh, I wasn’t going to propose we have the meeting at a disadvantage,” Gin said dismissively.

“Then should I invite them in?” Tamia asked. “Or do you think we should hold off until you bring in whoever you want to join us?”

“Call them in,” Vel answered. “I can get Lara to grab Lita easily enough and she can sit in too.”

“I suppose in a pinch they can handle something like this with us present,” Gin remarked, pushing her glasses up her nose. “No point in delaying for someone more experienced with negotiations.”

“I’ll go get them then,” Tamia said with a curt nod then departed. She caught Vel pulling out his phone as she did, no doubt to inform Lara of the change of plans.

‘Never a dull moment,’ she thought with a frown. ‘I should start drawing up plans for revamped security if this deal goes through. Just in case.’

---

Standing outside waiting was not how John expected this meeting to start. He couldn’t really fault their hopeful partners for keeping them out. From how Vivian explained things, if they were strong enough, they could have taken control of the barrier if they had been invited in and that clearly was a scenario their hosts were trying to avoid.

‘Guess when magic’s involved, you can’t be too careful,’ he mused, his eyes drifting over to Verida. 'Especially with the bombshell we dropped on them.’

“Do you think it’s going to take much longer?” Verida asked, more to Vivian than the group as a whole. “Kiera says she is fine, but I can’t help but worry I’m straining her.”

As if Gaia herself had heard Verida’s concern, Tamia popped back out of the barrier.

“I apologize for the wait,” she said with a bowed head. “Vel Foh and Gin Tan, speaking for Clan Baz, welcome you to our offices. If you follow me, I’ll escort you to the conference room.”