The First World Sphere

My mind was trying to recall Aelyn and Niserie’s disappearance when they used the portal stone. I had been hanging over them and had a great view. Did any of the runes glow? No. Were there any clues on where they went? I couldn’t think of anything. Where did they go? Maybe Niserie lied to me. I could only think of asking Loriel if she had uncovered anything when she used the flashback spell. It would take a lot for me to grovel for the information to her. And I knew it would come with a hefty price.

We had arrived at the spell emporium. It was sixty feet tall with only three floors and built of large black stone. We entered the impressive black granite building, and it was not what I had thought it would be. The first floor reminded me of a bazaar with dozens of individual shops. Dozens of hawkers announced their wares, and dozens of people were in constant motion, going from shop to shop. I looked for help and noticed a young-looking dark elf in a deep blue dress leaning against the wall. She appeared to be crowd-watching. “We are new here. My name is Storme, and this is Bleiz. Are you available to be a guide and help us navigate this?” I asked her in the common tongue.

She looked to be a teenager, but I didn’t know what relative age that meant for dark elves. She looked me up and down but seemed more interested in Bleiz. Bleiz had been getting looks all day, as I guessed half-breed beastkin were rare.

I used my assess person ability on her, thinking she was too inexperienced to notice me use the skill.

Lorae Fadrae

Dark Elf Female

Age 29

Disposition: Mild Curiosity

She finally pushed off the wall with elven grace, “Sure, I am not busy. My name is Lorae Fadrae. This level is all the independent merchants. Mostly merchant groups or powerful delving teams pay to rent one of the alcoves to sell what they have harvested or crafted.” She started walking and telling me what each shop specialized in. Two guards flanked a large stairway at the end, and she started walking up.

“The Adventurer’s Guild runs the second-floor bookstore and is mostly non-spell books,” she continued talking. When we got to the second floor, it reminded me of a library. Dozens of people walked the shelves. “Most books on this floor are copies. The copies are perfect replicas. You can still ask for the original printing, but they cost three to ten times as much and might not be available.”

“What language are the books in?” I asked as I did not recognize the script on many bindings.

She answered without hesitation, “Mostly the common tongue. You can order a book translated into another language at the cost of 2 silver per page in addition to the normal cost of the book.” We walked a few rows, but I could not figure out their catalog system.

The elf kept looking at Bleiz; maybe that was why she agreed to be our guide—she was curious about him in particular. She finally asked, “Were you born in a dungeon?”

The question took Bleiz aback. He did answer, “I was conceived in a dungeon but birthed outside of it.” Lorae nodded like that made complete sense.

I asked, “Lorae, what do you do?”

She grinned, “This and that. I mostly work in one of the shops below. My father is a delver, Relik Fadrae.” She said it like we should know the name. She looked disappointed when we didn’t acknowledge knowing who her father was.

I explained, “This is our first time in this city, and we don’t know many famous delvers.” That seemed to mollify her. I could tell she was about to detail her father’s exploits but continued our tour instead.

She continued to explain, “The men and women in the light blue uniforms are the Guild’s librarians. Ask them if you are looking for a book, and they can help. They will bring it to that desk, and a Seeker will give him a list of where to find the books. The librarian will collect the books and bring them to you. Just remember, this is not a library. You can read a page or two, but you either need to buy it or return it to the shelves.”

I stopped a blue uniform librarian. “Can you get me everything you have on phantom cats that is in the common language? I am also looking for a specific book of training them by Dar the Beastmaster.” The middle-aged man wrote some notes on a notepad and walked away.

Lorae asked, extremely interested, “Planning to hunt some phantom cats in the wild? I know there are none in any nearby dungeons.”

I decided to be honest, “No. We killed some, and I want to see what we can get for the kittens.”

Her eyes went wide on her face, “You captured a newborn? That is amazing! Can I see them?” Her exuberance reminded me of Freya.

The blue-robed man returned with five books.

Understanding the Motivation and Body Language of your Phantom Cat

Variants of the Phantom Cat and Their Preferred Habitats

The Complete Guide to Skinning and Harvesting a Phantom Cat

The Complete Ecology of the Dungeon Phantom Cats for the Deep Abyss Dungeon

The Step-by-Step Guide to Tracking, Capturing, and Training Your Own Phantom Cat

Lorae took the last book and said, “This one is trash. You cannot train an adult beast.”

“You know a lot about phantom cats?” I asked the dark elf.

The young elf shied, looking away, “No. Just what everyone else does from the bestiary in the upper city, they have three of them in one of the exhibits. It’s definitely one of the more interesting exhibits and one of my favorites. There are large panels in the viewing area with text describing the beasts. I remember everything I read.” I was not sure why she was seemingly ashamed of knowing things.

I turned and asked the librarian, “Are these all the books you have on phantom cats?”

The librarian shook his head no, “These are marked as the most useful references by the Seeker. More obscure texts are in the basement archives.”

I took the book Lorae said was useless and read through the index, “It appears to be a guide to capturing and breeding your phantom cats and then training the offspring.” If Lorae’s dark skin could be darker, I was sure it was as she flushed in embarrassment. “It does not mention breeding in the title, so I agree that it would seem useless if you can not train an adult.”

Lorae nodded but did not seem at ease with her failure to advise me. She finally asked, “Can I see your kittens? I always wanted one as a pet.”

“Maybe after we are finished.” I turned to the librarian. “How much for these titles?”

He opened the front cover for each, and they all had slips of paper in the pouch. He pulled the first one out, compared the title on the cover to the slip, and handed it to me.

Understanding the Motivation and Body Language of your Phantom Cat

Author(s): Dar the Beastmaster, Translated by Monicae Journeybender

Status: Copy Produced from Original on 201,101 DC

Price: 11 gold 3 silver

Original Text Printed: 186,003 DC

All five books were just 41 gold and 8 silver. I gave the librarian a platinum, and he left, brought me the change, stamped the inside cover with the City of Llorth Adventurer’s Guild Seal, handwrote ‘Paid’, and initialed it with the date. He then placed the slip back inside the cover for me.

“We are going to continue our tour, but I would like to look at the other books you have on phantom cats that are readily available in the common tongue. How long will it take you to get them?” I asked him.

He had a pained look on his face, and I handed him two gold, and he brightened instantly, “About an hour. I believe there are nine books that only deal with phantom cats, not all will be in the common language. Do you want any other books related to the monster? I believe one title from the Seeker was about their natural enemies, blink dogs.”

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“No, just the phantom cat books are fine for now,” I said, and he rushed off to fulfill my request.

Bleiz leaned into me, “I believe you can safely store the books in your dimensional space. Most people here seem to have some dimensional device or personal dimensional storage.” I started scanning the others around us.

Lorae seemed to overhear, “That is true. Most everyone here is a member of the Adventurer’s Guild.” I nodded and sent all the books except the step-by-step guidebook. I read it as we walked.

Lorae, catching the hint, continued the tour, “The third floor is the top floor. It has magical texts. The dungeon essence repository is up there as well.”

I looked up at the ceiling in awe, “You sell dungeon essences here?” There was a fair amount of shock in my voice.

She wavered, “No. There is a monthly auction for members of the Guild to sell essences where they are auctioned off. The next auction is…” she thought, “Fourteen days away. There is a registry on the third floor if you are interested.”

“How much does a tier 1 essence usually cost?” I asked, holding my place in the book.

“It varies. I have seen them go as low as 100 gold and some as high as 15,000 gold. In larger cities I hear the bidding can get out of hand even for tier 1 essences. Tier 2 essences…well, that is always a wild show with many angry people at the end who did not win the bid. Usually, one or two tier 3 essences are auctioned every month as well, but you need a thousand gold buy-in for a seat at that special auction. The special auction also has some interesting magic items there,” She explained while smiling brightly. I think it was partly from the fact that I was having trouble hiding my amazement.

It really was a different world in the lowlands. Essences in Skyholme all belonged to the Triumvirate. I nodded, “You have been extremely helpful and not asked for anything in return. How do you value your time?” I asked the dark elf.

She fidgeted a little, “Well, I was just kind of bored. I work in a shop below, run by the delving guild, Dusk Hunters. My father is a member.” She seemed to think, “How about two gold, what you gave the librarian?”

I thought about it for a moment. I was running out of time before we were expected back at the ship, “Do you know where to get sets of communication stones? I am looking for an interconnected tier three, preferably tier four stones.”

“How many in the set?” she asked, immediately interested.

“At least six, but as many as ten,” I said, adding up in my head everyone who needed one.

Lorae thought for a moment. “Six tier-three stones would cost about four hundred gold.” That was cheap compared to Skyholme. “Tier four would be a special order. I know two enchanters who could do it, but each stone would be expensive. A set of ten tier-three stones…Master Articficer Gorsch should have a set in stock. I can probably get him to sell them to you for seven hundred gold,” She smiled craftily. Maybe she would get a commission from the enchanter.

I reached into my pocket and produced seven platinum and five large gold from my pocket—750 gold. I handed her the coins. She was not as wide-eyed at the sum as I expected, but she worked in a shop below and probably saw large amounts of coin daily. “We are going to wait here for the librarian to return. Get me the set of ten tier-three stones if you can, and keep the change.”

Lorae seemed uncertain. I was just giving her a large sum and trusting her. We had only met an hour ago. She backed away and started running, saying she would return as fast as possible. Bleiz looked amused, “Lot of trust you placed in a stranger.”

I shrugged, “We know where she works, and if I do end up losing the coin, I will just consider it a lesson in life.” I sat at a table and opened the book to the marked page. Thankfully, inflation was not an issue in the Sphere. According to texts I read in Skyholme, values remained stable over time. There was an issue with supply and demand, but this old tome should be accurate.

The book listed phantom cats as being valued at 5,000 gold if less than a week old. Two weeks old, the price dropped to 3,000 gold. Three weeks old, 2,500 gold. After three weeks, they wouldn’t take to training well as their awareness too far. I looked at the relative size by age and guessed my pair was right around the week mark. I think the mother was still lactating when we killed her, and they stopped nursing after one week. I had fed them the raw chicken because they already had sharp teeth. I was definitely no master tamer and probably got lucky they could digest the chicken and their age.

So my pair would sell for around 10,000 gold. I opened the book on variants. I was looking to see if the albino phantom cats were listed anywhere. I only found five species variants. The arctic phantom cat was white, but that was not a match as they were much smaller and only lived in freezing climates. The dungeon phantom cats were emaciated and generally black or dark gray. The phantom cats of the Underdark were larger and stronger but also always black. The variant we captured was the generic type found in jungles and forests. The final type listed in the text was called progenitors. They were supposedly the first phantom cats created by powerful magic. The short story was they had killed their creator, escaped, and were unleashed onto the Sphere. The progenitors did not age and were beyond deadly in their power.

Lorae returned with a wooden box at the same time, the librarian had seven books for me. Lorne had a huge smile on her face as she handed me the box. I opened it to find nine communication stones inside a neat 3x3 formation. She explained, “That was all he had. You did mention between six and ten, and these stones are keyed. Each stone has a symbol indicating its number.” She turned over a stone, and there was a three-by-three grid with numbers in each. “The off-color number identifies which stone it is in the set. You just tap what other stones you want to communicate with before tapping the center box.” I was awestruck as that seemed like really advanced artificing.

Seeing my awe, Lorae said, “It is magitech. A blend of technology and artificing. They still need to be charged with aether to work as they have crystal batteries.”

“Wow. These are amazing! How much did they cost? Do you know the range?” I asked while I handed Bleiz stone #2 and took stone #9 for myself.

“The range is on the box. I believe one thousand two hundred miles, and they cost me everything you gave me,” she smiled brightly. “They are normally closer to 900 gold, but I am friends with Gorsch. Tier three communication stones needed to work over at least 1,000 miles, so these were slightly better.

“Well, here, take this,” I said, handing her two large gold coins. “And if you still want to see the kitten phantom cats, you can come to my ship.” She bit her lip uncertainly but nodded eagerly. It looked like that was what she wanted more than the coins.

I sat at a desk and quickly reviewed the six Archives books. I was looking for a reference to albino phantom cats. Bleiz was quiet as I paged through the index of each book, searching. I put aside the fourth book and the sixth as well. I then paid a few golds for both books. After the purchase was done, I put both books into my dimensional closet.

“Lorae, I could spend all day here, but we do have to get back to the ship. I am looking for one particular spell. If you could show us up and where I can inquire about it,” I motioned, and she led the way eagerly. The third floor had guards at every landing of the stairs and even more upstairs.

The third floor was a much smaller library. These were the spellbooks that the Adventurer’s Guild was selling. I could feel the aether in the air, and not many patrons were wandering the shelves. There were more guards, all dark elves, than patrons. Lorae explained, “It is not the busy time of day. Most everyone is in the dungeon during the day and shop in the evening.”

She led us to a massive desk with three stations. The dark elf behind the desk looked up impatiently. I stepped forward, “I am looking for a tier five lightning spell, Summon Lightning Elemental.” The old elf’s eyes showed surprise, and he opened the registry.

It did not take him long to shake his head no, “Unfortunately, the only copy in the city is at the Mage’s School. It is a dungeon copy, and the asking price is 24,000 gold.” Bleiz coughed for me in our shared disbelief.

“Thank you for your time,” I said, turning away. I had about half that amount in coin in dimensional space. Maybe next time I am in Llorth, I will try again. It would have been a powerful spell to add to my collection and only cost me eight slots on the aether matrix to imprint it. Since I was running low on spell matrix space, I decided to avoid shopping for other spell books.

I turned to Lorae and asked, “We are returning to our ship. Still interested in seeing the cats?”

“Definitely!” She was practically jumping. She admitted as we descended the stairs, “I always wanted to be a beast tamer. My father will not let me until I reach my 60th birthday.”

“Sounds a bit overprotective,” Beliz said.

“What? No way. Most of my friends cannot pick a profession until they reach their 75th birthday. My dad is quite lenient. But yes, he is overprotective. He would insist on coming with me if he saw me leave with you. Good thing he is on a delve,” Lorae smiled merrily.

The conversation turned to artificers in the city. Lorae was in her youth rotation. She spent six months out of the year in an apprenticeship and the other six months traveling. She did the artificers apprenticeship two years ago with Master Gorsch. She was currently in her merchant rotation and hated it. So that was how she knew the Master Artificer and got the stones at a discount.

We reached the Maelstrom and climbed the ramp. Everyone had returned from their adventures in the city unscathed. Before going further, I handed out the communication stones. Gareth got #1, Sammie received #3, Remy got #4, Cilia got #5, and Leda was handed #6. That left me with just two stones. I was hoping to give one to Aelyn—but maybe I should not hold much hope.

Although the process went quickly, Lorae was impatient. She did not even want to meet the crew; she just wanted to see the young phantom cats. I brought her into my cabin, and she squealed in joy. Sammie was in the doorway and said she fed them and gave them water. I used my cleanliness spell to clean the cages. “Lorae, they are dangerous. Be careful. I have healing magic, but do not get too close.”

“Wow, I didn’t know they came in white!” She sat cross-legged and stared at the two cats, just watching them fascinated. I took the time to sit in my chair and read the two books I had purchased.

The first book detailed a number of unique phantom cats encountered in various dungeons. It was only a single chapter and detailed two dungeons that were far, far away. It had been a long shot, and I found no references to an albino beast. The other book was the jackpot. An entire chapter on white displacement cloaks made from white phantom cats with red eyes.

The chapter detailed the genetic anomaly causing albinoism. It was called an impurity, but the white phantom cat market was quite high because the albinos had access to stronger beast cores and were typically smarter than normal black phantom cats. The white color made the cloak of displacement not only more fashionable but much stronger. The text did not have a specific value. It just said twenty times as valuable and twenty thousand times as rare.

I looked at the white beast I had named Kiara, and she met my gaze. The black cat I had not named was studying Lorae, who had edged closer. The black’s tail was twitching. I was planning to lift off as soon as Lorae was done staring at the cats. Unfortunately, she was still at it thirty minutes later, but the black cat had stopped its tail twitching and seemed calmer.

Bleiz came up and entered, “Storme, there are six tough-looking dark elves at the ramp. One of them said he was looking for his daughter, Lorae.”

Lorae looked up at Bleiz, “He should still be in the dungeon. Well, maybe I can convince my father to buy me your beasts. They are amazing! Thank you, Storme.” She gave me a surprise hug and headed down. I followed, and when I walked down the ramp, I found a very irate group of dark elves.

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