“Whoever this thief is,” Clive said, “they either have an interesting understanding of magical tools or are working with someone who does. Aura masking, material deconstruction, bypassing magical protections. Her methods speak to an eclectic magical knowledge, most likely specialised for this kind of work.”
“A professional thief,” Jason said. “That’s hardly a surprise, at this point.”
“I’d love to meet them. Their unorthodox approach to magical study would be fascinating to discuss.”
“The whole point of this is so you can do exactly that,” Jason said, sorting through the piles of paper in front of him. He frowned, looking at them all. “There’s a lot of paper in this city for a place with such a small lumber industry.”
“This is all reed paper. There's a local reed that grows prolifically in the delta,” Clive explained absently, not looking up from his own notes. “It's a fairly easy process to produce paper from it. Pulp it, a little bit of magic and here you go. It's one of the local exports.”
“Reed paper,” Jason said, running a sheet between his fingers. “I wouldn’t have guessed that. This is high-quality stuff.”
Clive started reorganising all the papers in front of him. Some he placed into neat order on the table, others he stacked in haphazard piles on the chairs around it.
“The snatch-and-grabs are obviously some kind of distraction from their true intention,” he reasoned.
“Agreed,” Jason said. “Clearly their true intention is all these magical supplies they’re taking on the other jobs.”
“If I can figure out what all of it is for, then maybe we can figure out their ultimate objective.” He stood up, rubbing his temples. “I need a break to clear my head.”
Jason glanced at the clock on the wall. Like everything in Madam Landry’s inn, it was tasteful, understated in design and worked perfectly.
“It’s almost time we headed out, anyway,” Jason said. “There’s something that should be worth seeing.”
“Is it something to do with the mysterious group taking over the expedition to explore that complex we found?” Clive asked. “Word came down from on high to let them take over, which didn’t impress Lucian Lamprey.”
“Who?” Jason asked. “Oh, the director of the Magic Society. Haven’t had the pleasure, yet.”
“Pleasure isn’t the word I’d use. Still, it was gratifying to see it taken off him the way it was taken off me.”
“Well, you can meet the man who took it off him,” Jason said. “He’s scheduled to arrive this afternoon.”
101
Fantasy World Goodness
Jason and Clive made their way to the northern side of the Adventure Society campus, which occupied much of the western side of the Island’s north shore. They passed a grey, stone tower that Jason now recognised as the prison tower. The society was only allowed to hold prisoners taken as part of a contract, while others went to the courthouse gaol. It had briefly held the man who attacked him at the lumber mill, Jerrick, before he was stripped of his society membership and sent packing.
Getting closer to the north shore, they skirted around the memorial grounds where they had attended a solemn service three weeks earlier. They both gave sober glances to the mausoleum as they went past. The memorial grounds occupied a good chunk of the shoreline, while the private dock took up most of the rest.
“Isn’t this a bad place for a dock?” Jason asked. “It’d be very exposed to the elements.”
“It’s rarely used,” Clive said. “Usually by prestigious visiting adventurers, who get dropped off before the ship moves on to the ports. Sometimes vessels with important cargo for the Adventure Society or Magic Society.”
The Adventure Society's private dock had a few buildings nestled into garden grounds where the plant life was chosen for its resilience to salty sea winds. Clive pointed them out explaining their purpose to Jason. The largest was a service building, right up against the dock. The smallest was a processing building for ships' crews. The middle-sized building was nicer than the others—an arrival and departure lounge with space for lavish functions.
As they went inside there was no elaborate function set out, but the small crowd looked like all the prestige Greenstone could muster, at least while so many luminaries were absent on the expedition.
As Clive’s gaze wandered over the assemblage, he became increasingly startled. He recognised the directors and deputy directors of both the Magic Society and the Adventure Society. There was the Duke of Greenstone and his brother, Beaufort Mercer.
“It’s Cassandra’s dad,” Jason said.
“You’ve met him, then?”
“There was a brief, stilted encounter. Reserved respect isn’t really my strongest play.”
“You might want to consider what that says about you,” Clive said.
Along with nobility, there were representatives of the various temples. That including Gabrielle Pellin, who had been helping Clive with his investigation into the underground complex. She was standing with one of her church’s more high-ranking members. Given how many of the city’s elite were off on the expedition, it was an absurdly high-class gathering. Jason led Clive away from the group gathered near the doors. The lounge was spacious with glass, dockside frontage, so they easily found some isolated seats that still afforded them a view of the ocean.
“Jason, what is this?” Clive whispered as they sat down. “That's my boss and my boss's boss. The Duke, a bunch of silver rankers…”
A few curious glances were thrown their way. Jason sensed, as much as saw, the look Elspeth Arella gave him, with the weight of her silver-rank aura behind it. It wasn't a suppressive force but made itself unmistakably felt.
“Let's just keep our distance,” Jason said. “I'm not sure I can be around that much wealth inequality without going on a socialist rant.”
Jason looked out over the water.
“I always meant ask what the tides are like with two moons,” Jason said.
“What?” Clive asked, still distracted by the crowd. He turned to Jason with a confused frown. “What do tides have to do with the moons?”
“The moon has a huge effect on the tides,” Jason said. “I can only imagine it's bigger with two. What is it you think causes tidal action?”
“It’s not really my field,” Clive said, “but the prevailing theory is that it is a function of ambient magic. We just can’t test it because we would have to monitor the whole planet’s magical field for an extended period. Or a good-size chunk of the planet, at least.”
“No, that’s all wrong, mate. What you’re dealing with is… Gabrielle?”
“I’m dealing with Gabrielle?” Clive asked, then noticed Jason looking past him. Gabrielle had left the group and was approaching them as swiftly as her formal robes would allow.
“Jason,” she insistently hissed, wanting to be forceful without being loud. “You can’t tell people that.”
“I can’t tell people what?”
“About that thing you were about to tell him about. Hello, by the way, Clive.”
“Acolyte Pellin,” Clive greeted her.
“I can’t tell people about gravity?”
“No, you can’t. Some things people have to figure out for themselves.”
“This is your boss telling you this, then,” Jason said.
“Yes,” Gabrielle said. “She said you can't just go around telling people about fundamental aspects of physical reality. Especially not someone like Clive.”
“Fundamental aspects of physical reality?” Clive asked. “Wait, why not someone like me?”
Gabrielle gave Clive a friendlier look than the forceful one she had been giving Jason.
“Because you’ll run around telling everyone,” Gabrielle told him. “My lady quite likes you, by the way.”
“Really?” Clive asked. “She knows who I am?”