Startup 68: Loopholes

Rova 26, early morning

My movements were extremely restricted when I was under the Callistrians’ care. Legally I was allowed to go anywhere in the temple grounds, but I decided to sit tight for the time being. The only route I knew outside included a detour through a hallway full of lusty, frequently half dressed teenage girls, and I wanted none of that. Lucky for me, I already had plans to chat with a friend of mine that morning.

“Truly? In the city of your liege?” Yael asked, scandalized, “Perhaps this is better than what your family provided, but it is unseemly in the ****.”

“I haven’t really done anything for Fairwind yet. It’s a bit of a stretch to claim that she owes me anything.”

“Loyalty must start somewhere.”

Yael adjusted her mask, taking another sip of her tea. I’d summoned her early in the morning, per our agreed upon schedule, and scared the hell out of the acolyte that came to bring me and Rosie breakfast. I'd gotten so used to Yael that it was sometimes easy to forget that a 7 foot tall woman made of smoke was very intimidating to the average person.

On a positive note, when she dropped the tray that gave us an excuse to request extra food to make up for it. Rosie and I were fine eating the loaf of floor bread while the acolyte got Yael and Sosima something fresh.

Yael was fresh from the field, wearing the silver studded leather I’d enchanted for her, which glittered in the firelight. The same magic that made it forcefully repel undead caused it to catch and magnify the firelight. She had a trunk set on the ground next to her, which contained four long, serrated blades made from bleached white coral. Sosima held a fifth sword, testing its weight.

“I’ve already sent a message to her.” I said, “I’ve got a lot I want to ask Tessa Fairwind about, but I don’t think demands will be high on the list. I don’t have much leverage, and I don’t want the kind of relationship where she looks out for me but I can’t say no to her.”

“Huh?” Rosie said, “I thought you were planning on joining her fleet?”

“I’m less sure about that by the day.” I said, “If at all possible I’d like to stay as a free agent. Formally joining someone else’s navy seems like a safe path, but the world doesn’t seem inclined to reward caution out of me.”

Sosima sighed at that.

“I suppose not,” she said, “it would be a strange admiral indeed who allowed her newest captain to sail off for six months to enrich himself.”

“You mortals confuse me.” Yael said, “I can hardly countenance how you survive, when it seems you all run about seeking your own fortunes and ignoring your lessers.”

“I think it’s the relative lack of undead hordes.” I suggested. “Your people have a clear and present danger to unite against. If I can’t pay my debt, Fairwind will probably never give me another thought. Are you doing alright, by the way?”

“Well enough.” Yael said, “My soldiers have faced the kytons, and most have survived. We fared better than many upon our first engagement with such foes.”

Her voice caught at the word “most.” I nodded sympathetically; she’d lost people. It didn’t matter if most of them lived; some of them hadn’t, and she’d been the one in charge. That wasn’t easy to handle, and a part of me hoped it never would be.

“I know you didn’t like the idea when I brought it up before,” I said, “but my friend Jerry-“

“Would be happy to take the intact corpses of young soldiers in return for his services.” Yael said briskly, “I am aware. I have no intention of asking the fallen’s next of kin for permission to turn them over to a necromancer. Not when only one of six has a corpse pretty enough to sell, and all you can promise is that he will be stranded in your world while clad in unknown flesh.”

“Hey!” Rosie said, “Jerry’s a good guy. He’s done right by us. Look at my arm.”

“I agree,” I said, “but we should probably let it drop. I’m sorry for bringing it up, Yael. I hope you know I’m just trying to help.”

Yael nodded stiffly. The Shae and their fetchling subjects were extremely nervous about anything necromancy related. **** and life were a lot closer together in the Plane of Shadows, so everyone had personal experiences with undeath. Most of the time, those experiences were extremely negative. Necromancy was categorically banned in Shethalliahaya, for better or worse.

“Look, I’ll try to get these enchanted by the end of the week.” I said, gesturing at the trunk. “I should have time to do it. Six hundred each?”

“Do try to preserve any additional reagents.” She said, “Those are for the enchantment, not your own personal use. My father appreciates your entrepreneurial spirit, but-“

“He doesn’t trust me?” I said, raising an eyebrow, “I haven’t cheated him yet, and I’m already working for him on the thinnest margin possible. If he doesn’t want to provide materials he can pay sixteen hundred up front and I can manage the whole process myself.”

“Yes, of course.” Yael said, nodding, “I didn’t mean to offend.”

“You’re on edge.” I said, “I get it. If I come up with anything else I can do that’s cost effective, I’ll let your assistant know. Same time next week?”

“With any luck.” She said, “Thank you, Emrys. You’ve been quite the secret weapon for me. You are sure you can’t send us the golems?”

“If I had something more trustworthy than a Nightmare to bring them to you, I would.” I said, “I’ll keep looking. I hope you’re not offended if I also keep looking for a buyer willing to spend more than two thousand on a golem.”

“Our coffers are full, but not to overflowing.” Yael said, “Your creations are yet untested, and quite unseemly.”

Ok, yes, they are literally piles of rusted junk held together with string, but I’m pretty sure Mr. Rust could wade through a hundred skeletons and come out with… well, no new scratches anyway. Zombies might be able to punch through the damage reduction, but I assume she wouldn’t be deploying these guys alone.

“Fair, fair.” I said, “Here, take this jar of honey. It belongs to the temple but I’m pretty sure I can replace it.”

“Yeah,” Rosie chimed in, “plenty of apiaries on Bag Island. Probably not more than one silver.”

“Really?” Yael said, “It is so sweet I can hardly stand it. How could you possibly need so much?”

“If you don’t want it, you don’t need to take it.” I said, “I just like giving you a taste of the material plane on your way out.”

She did not dignify my suggestion with a response, slipping the jar into her belt pouch. I leaned in and gave Yael a hug. Her body was well below freezing, so we kept it quick, but she had mentioned once that feeling my body heat was pleasant. Once I’d grown uncomfortably cold, I released the magic binding her and let her fade back into the world of shadows.

A few minutes later, soon enough that I suspected it wasn’t a coincidence, Linu slipped into the room.

It took me a moment to recognize her, which is saying a lot given that I don’t know many white haired cat girls. Between her black dress tamping down her breasts and the missing 6 inches once provided by her heels, she looked positively tiny. Her hair was even done up in pigtails with black ribbons. A frilly white apron really brought the look together.

“Are you here to clean up the spilled tea?” Sosima asked from the seat next to me. “The initiate that brought breakfast was most unprofessional. She scurried off after delivering the replacement loaf.”

“Not for free.” Linu said, “I’ve already explained my rates to Captain M’Dair, but I’m booked solid today. I’m just here to speak with Emrys. Would you like the girl whipped for her inadequacies?”

“No, of course not.” Sosima said, “I simply wanted the job done properly.”

“Sosima, this isn’t a maid.” I said, burying my forehead in my palm, “This is Linu Arvanx, the one in charge of my stay here. I’ve mentioned her.”

“Oh. Yes.” Sosima said, turning to study Linu more closely. “I apologize. I simply assumed you managed the staff.”

“Of course, as an Amurrun I do have great difficulty suppressing the urge to serve as household staff.” Linu said, checking her nails, “I suppose you’re a cleric of Asmodeus, then? Or a coastal raider, given what’s under the illusion.”

Rosie snorted.

“For what it’s worth, you’ll probably only need to correct her once.” She said, “She hasn’t accidentally called me a slip in more than a month.”

“Consider me chastened.” Sosima said, one hand upraised. “Arvanx… might you be related to House Arvanxi?”

“Yes indeed.” Linu said, “Mother liked to play the role of exiled nobility from a branch house. It’s a much prettier story than that of a bastard housecat sold off to pay a debt. At least when she decided to repeat the process she chose a reputable establishment like the House of Stolen Kisses.”

I genuinely can’t tell if she’s being sarcastic.

“As exiled nobility myself, the romance is lost on me.” Sosima said dryly, “I believe you were going to speak with Emrys? You mentioned being booked solid, so I doubt you have time to waste?”

“Right!” I said, “Did you decide?”

“I did indeed.” Linu said, “If I’m going to allow you to risk my reputation with something as risky as demon summoning, I’ll want additional security, as you mentioned.”

“You can make arrangements or let my crew in.” I said, “Either is fine by me.”

“In addition, you will give me a portion of the proceeds,” She said, “which I in turn will partially tithe to the House of Stolen Kisses. Consider it the price of renting the venue.”

“Sounds great.” I said, then I had a thought. “Actually, would you like to make more money?”

Linu crossed her arms and smiled. She checked the clock.

“I can’t say I’d be opposed on principle.” She said, “You have three minutes.”

“Let’s say I offer you four percent of the proceeds.” I said, “does that sound reasonable? It leaves space for you to share with the temple.”

That’s around how much real estate agents make on a house sale. Seems like a good baseline.

“Of a golem?” Linu said, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “That should be adequate if you sell it for a reasonable price.”

“That’s where my offer comes in.” I said, “I don’t have a customer lined up, I just have a product that I can make cheaply. How about you sell it for me?”

“You want me to become a saleswoman?” She asked, “As if I don’t have anything better to do?”

Despite her tone, her ears were perked up and swiveled to face me. Interest.

“Or find one.” I said. “Whatever you pay them will cut into your bottom line, but given where you live, I think you’ll probably be in a better position to find someone than I will.”

Linu raised one eyebrow and glanced at the clock. I was just about out of time.

“I assume I’ll be allowed to set the price.”

“I assume you’ll want to sell for as much as you can manage,” I said, “given how you’ll get a portion of every gold you can extract.”

Material cost for a junk golem is theoretically 5000 gp alone, if I had to buy the materials instead of summoning them. Even if she sells with zero markup, well below market, that’s 200 gp. Twenty times her hourly rate.

“That seems… reasonable.” Linu said. “I warn you, I am in no particular hurry. I will sell when the price is adequate for my purposes, not merely to pay off your debt quickly.”

“Fair.” I said, “You should be aware that if I can’t pay off my debt, there will be no more golems, no more swords, no more magic. That’s what is at stake.”

Linu actually laughed at that, turning to step out the door she’d come in from.

“I’ll need to see more before I decide if you’re worth fully investing in.” She said over her shoulder, “for now, I have a client. You can summon if you have Filli with you to handle any combat, or someone equally dangerous. Do not make me regret it.”

Well that’s pretty generous. I’ve got like 6 people that qualify off the top of my head.

“One more question.” I said, stopping her midstep. “Can I leave? There are things I need to do in town.”

“If you can find clergy willing to accompany you, by all means.” She said dismissively. “I should be able to escort you the day after tomorrow.”

I could tell from her tone that she didn’t expect I’d find any volunteers. Given that I hadn’t seen any clerics other than Linu, she was probably correct.

“I should go too, Emrys.” Sosima said, stroking my forearm. “Is there anything I should tell the crew? The notes you sent with Filli were quite brief.”

“We can hold a meeting here with all the officers at dusk.” I said, “Cog can guard the ship; I think he needs to calm down. I’ll summon Dierdre to be a messenger, so don’t worry about that.”

I kissed Sosima, and she headed out.

••••••••••

Aaron wasn’t a teacher. He wasn’t a genius. He wasn’t a leader. He wasn’t even particularly sociable. By all accounts, he was a terrible choice for the role he’d been given, training the crew in various bindings. It was awfully strange for him to be unquestionably the preferred option.

“You call that a seal?” Cave Mother asked, “With such sloppy work, you invite possession! Each and every one of you are in danger when you use such imperfect tools!”

“I don’t need to listen to you!” The crewman, named Collin, growled back. “I can already summon Vishgurv. This is all a complete waste of time!”

“You will do no such thing while your soul is in my care!” Cave Mother declared, “You are no binder; at best you are a willing vessel. A puppet, willingly attaching strings.”

“Mother!” Aaron called, “Please be quieter. My students are working.”

He didn’t wait for an answer. Her answers were questions as often as not, and rarely pleasant to the ears. Instead, Aaron walked up and down the table where he had a third of the crew trying to reproduce seals.

“You used the compass again, didn’t you?” He said quietly to Ratts, “A perfect circle isn’t right for Coralene. You need to freehand it, or it won’t be infused with your intent.”

“Oh come on!” Ratts groaned, “Is it really that important?”

“Yes.” Aaron said, moving on.

He didn’t elaborate. The intent of precision was more important than the actual design, so he had them practice. Chelish students studied for a full year before being allowed to call relatively safe spirits, all so that they would approach the process with proper care.

The ritual was usually pretty easy; spirits wanted to leave the Void. Most of Aaron’s students could probably manage it with at least a few spirits. Avoiding true possession was also a fairly low bar; the seal didn’t need to be particularly good as long as you successfully summoned one of the relatively sane spirits. It was the personality and physical influence that were the real problems, necessitating an iron wall of ritual and well informed fear from the binder.

Even that wasn’t always enough. Aaron had once been fairly sociable, even chatty. He’d had a lover, a woman he’d intended to marry. Prospects, plans, hopes, and dreams. It’s why he’d tried so hard to bring Cave Mother into this world: he’d needed a companion that wouldn’t turn into a ghoul. After more than a decade channeling her, all of that felt distant.

Company was irritating as often as it was pleasant. Aaron told himself that it might be a result of the years of isolation, but he couldn’t be sure. Even Cave Mother didn’t know; unless she was lying, influence happened passively. A spirit could push it along if there were cracks in a binder’s defenses, but only malevolent entities would do such a thing. Some even invoked it deliberately; more than one person habitually summoned Verbose to become more sociable and outgoing, or General Hessant for exactly the opposite effect.

In any event, that was the real threat Aaron was trying to protect these people from. Unfortunately, all but two of his students just wanted power. He peered over Naomi’s shoulder, and saw that she was carefully creating twelve precisely equal circles in a single large circle. A pile of paper next to her gave evidence to dozens of aborted attempts. Mingled with the circles were a pile of spirals, created by Filli’s unsteady hand.

Aza’zati for Filli? Might work. I imagine she’d like the ability to shrink herself, and an even layer of scales might do better than that patchy fur.

Aaron didn’t know how much of his instruction she understood, but Cave Mother tended to ignore her in favor of the students that needed correction.

“Good choice, Filli.” Aaron said,. “Naomi, have you chosen which spirit to pursue? It seems like Eos Dei is giving you trouble.”

“All of them.” Naomi whispered.

Aaron blinked at that. She wanted to be a proper binder? He shrugged.

“Then keep practicing.” He said, “I’ll see about letting you read some of the books the captain has in his cabin. I think you can be trusted with the darker stuff, if you want.”

I don’t think she’s going to take this lightly, given what happened with her mother. Then again, I’ve read those forbidden texts. Less than half of the forbidden spirits are anywhere near as bad as Vishgurv, at least before you get to the advanced ones.

Aaron heard the clicking first, then saw half of the men in his class craning their necks to look at the newcomer. He turned his head, saw Sosima, and suppressed a shudder. She was wearing the same disguise she’d used as a ghoul to lure so many men to their deaths, and that always put him on edge.

“Helmsman Ivey.” She said, “The captain has ordered that the officers assemble at the temple of Callistria at dusk. After dinner, meet beneath the mast.”

Message delivered, she turned towards Filli.

“You have also been requested, assuming that you’ve considered the offer.” Sosima glanced around the room, including the seal Filli was drawing, “I assume so, if you have chosen to continue your studies here. I’d suggest Marat. I think you’d look excellent in armor.”

Filli shook her head and said something in her hand language.

“Is that no to Marat or no to accompanying us back to the temple?” Sosima asked, “Ivey, make sure she gets the message. I know better than to interrupt a spirit.”

She leaned in to inspect Naomi’s work.

“The circle at seven o'clock is slightly too large.” She said, “I know you are less than enthusiastic, but you may want to practice with Vishgurv’s seal. You are doing quite well, however.”

“Thank you, Lady Aulamaxa.” Naomi said, flipping the paper to start again on the opposite side.

Sosima nodded and went down the line of initiates, providing an equal quantity of praise and gentle corrections. If she weren’t all but **** to include suggestions related to Vishgurv, she’d be an excellent teacher. After only a few minutes, she left.

••••••••••

Varossa absolutely refused to let Sandara come along when she went into town with her goons, so Sandara was stuck in port. The green horde at the end of the dock hadn’t attacked anyone yet, but that many angry goblins was enough to give her pause. Sandara wasn’t strong enough to muscle through them if they decided to encircle her and jabber about goblin child rearing, like they’d done to poor Jape. She was weighing the merits of invisibility versus recruiting some of the lads from the binding class when a different diversion caught her ear.

“I know! You think I don’t know?” Cog growled, “Can’t a guy get mad one time?”

“I think that’s what bothers Emrys,” Sosima replied, her voice gentle, “You surprised him. He has quite a lot of faith in you.”

Sandara drifted to the corner, leaning against the wall to listen in.

“You don’t know what it’s like having that wasp as a mother.” Cog said, “I expected him to have my damn back!”

“I don’t think Emrys likes being presented with problems he can’t solve.” Sosima said, “He shouldn’t have gotten angry with you.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Cog said, letting out a hollow laugh. “Look, I’ll mind the ship. I don’t particularly want to go into port right now anyway.”

“I appreciate it, Cog.” Sosima said, “Is there anything you’d like me to get for you when I go out to resupply?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Cog stalked out onto the deck to take his role as sentry. It was likely he’d welcome a couple angry goblins trying to come onto the ship, to the point that Sandara found herself wondering if there was an arena anywhere in Quent. Somewhere he could blow off some steam with a good scrap.

Probably not. They’d try to civilize it too much. Maybe everyone would need to wear ruffled skirts and drink tea while they stabbed each other.

Once he was gone, Sandara stepped out with a smile.

“Hey, Fishy.” She said, “What was that about?”

Sosima rolled her eyes, which was good progress from glaring. Eventually she might even grow a sense of humor.

“Emrys and Cog had a spat.” Sosima said, sighing. “Cog had an argument with his mother and wanted us all to commiserate. Emrys was both unsympathetic and indelicate, and I believe Cog’s lover may be angry at him? I was not furnished with extensive details.”

Sandara let out a low whistle.

“Yeah, he’s having a bad visit home, alright.” She said, “How’s the captain holding up?”

“Reasonably well; you know how he is. Possibly on his way into another woman’s bed despite being confined.” Sosima said, “He wants us all to meet with him at dusk, so presumably he was planning on doing something or other today. I’m to inform all the officers.”

The two women began walking towards Syl’s cabin, where they knocked and lingered outside, unwilling to enter and let their noses be assaulted by the smell of melting demon.

“He’s looking to snag another one?” Sandara asked, “Who is it?”

“Linu Arvanx is her name; the priestess sponsoring his parole.”

“Woah, that’s a bad idea.” Sandara said, eyebrows shooting up, “Isn’t that the girl Cog was with? He should at least wait a while.”

“Perhaps he’s planning to, but you know how Emrys gets when he meets an attractive, useful woman.” Sosima said, “I wasn’t even warm before he decided to bed me. Nearly enchanted me, you know.”

“Huh! You too?” Sandara said, grinning.

“Quite.” Sosima said, “In any event, I only saw them speaking for a few minutes and they seemed quite amicable with one another. He quite openly watched her posterior when she left the room.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that he intends anything.” Syl said, shouting through the door. “He has plenty of pretty female friends he hasn’t slept with.”

She stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her quickly. She immediately started scattering a white alchemical powder over herself, thankfully neutralizing the abyssal scent.

“Rosie is too small, Naomi doesn’t like him, and neither Rowe nor Filli are attractive to him.” Sosima said severely. “I’m fairly sure that we three alone outnumber all of the eligible women he’s met and not at least attempted to sleep with.”

“Yeah, and he doesn’t trust Varossa.” Sandara added, “What did they talk about so amicably, Fishy?”

“He wanted to go into business with her.” Sosima explained, “Not at the temple, to be clear. With Lady Arvanx in particular.”

Syl’s eyes narrowed.

“Starting a business?” She asked, “That seems risky to do when we are working on a strict timeline. Was he going to consult anyone?”

Sandara smirked.

Someone’s feeling threatened, eh?

“Hopefully he doesn’t get too attached too quickly.” Sandara said, leaning against the wall, “Those Callistrians tend to be tricky. He might end up wrapped around her finger.”

“Cog doesn’t seem to have that problem.” Sosima said, “Mostly he seems to be neglectful, from what I have heard.”

“That sounds pretty managable.” Syl said, “How bad could he really be?”

“You’d be surprised.” Sandara said with a snort, “Seems like he forgets everything but what’s in front of him.”

“She obviously likes him if he managed to hurt her with mere neglect…” Sosima said thoughtfully, “Perhaps we could solve two problems at once?”

“Are you insane?” Syl asked, without any real heat, “Cog’s love life is none of our business.”

Sandara’s smile widened into a wicked grin. Syl had said that because she thought someone should, not because she believed it. She was in.

“Yeah, but Emrys’s is.” She said, “It’s not like we’d be hurting anything by helping Cog out. He might even calm down if he gets a little company.”

That could be fun. Cog can only be so hard to coach.

“Alright,” Syl said, “I need a distraction. So, what would you have in mind if we did decide to do this?”

••••••••••

Security for the House of Stolen kisses was pretty lax. I didn’t know the layout of the building, but when I sent out an outsider to scout, they found an exit pretty quickly. No one tried to stop me from leaving the building, and the front gates of the temple complex were guarded against intrusion, not escape. I nodded politely at a couple of armed gentlemen and slipped out onto the street like any other customer.

I really didn’t intend to do anything crazy; I just wanted to finalize some paperwork and stretch my legs. I even brought a minder. An ash blonde elven woman strode next to me, looking around the city with great interest. No one knew her, but who at a temple of Callistria would dare to question the movements of a hot girl wearing black and yellow?

The fact that the minder in question was summoned and thus technically beholden to me made my position slightly shakier, but I wasn’t insane enough to try to order Shishe around. The last time I’d asked her to give me a favor, she’d **** and terrorized the female half of House D’Lann in my name. I’d very politely asked her to blend in as a normal member of the Callistrian priesthood, and actively encouraged her to stop me from doing anything that might cause her sisters trouble.

Minor angels are part of the clergy, right? Even if not, she was a cleric in life. Sure it’s not the same chain of command, but I’m not putting a drain on their personnel. That’s got to be worth something.

“A human city ruled by Callistrians?” Shishe said. “It’s certainly beautiful.”

I had to agree; the buildings were mostly made from white stone, and the clothes were a riot of bright colors. I thought at first that we were passing through a marketplace on the way to Tessa’s municipal buildings, but eventually I realized that almost every street was lined with stalls. People milled around, dense but not impassible, speaking in a dozen different languages. It was almost overwhelming.

It might have been nice to sightsee, but I made a beeline to Quent’s naval headquarters. I was supposed to report to Fairwind’s fleet when I had the opportunity, so as to clarify my position and potentially receive orders. I really hoped she didn’t immediately send me on my first mission, but I would be damned before I gave her a technicality that would let her withdraw her protection. I’d filed my flags in Goatshead and Port Peril, but the last few days had made me cynical and world weary when it came to the legal system.

I reported to the desk and was asked to wait. The wood chairs were comfortable enough, but I barely had time to settle before a woman poked her head into the front office to call me into the back. She led me into an office where a mature redhead sat back with her boots on a massive desk.

“Alright kid,” Tessa Fairwind said, “let’s chat.”