"Through a storm? That is a thing that all men know is impossible."
It was certainly difficult. Would it be possible for you to relay a message to the palace for me? I wish to apologise for the delay, but as I said, the matters of the material world have required a great deal of my attention.
...It's surprisingly hard to tell whether OL is even speaking sometimes. I wonder if there's a faint whisper of his narration audible to those around him like this.
"I would like to boast of my close friendship with the greatest of kings, but the truth is that I am a simple merchant. I have no way of gaining entrance to the palace. The guards would simply turn me away."
I pull a small quantity of sand up from the ground and melt it into glass, including a structural irregularity in the shape of an orange sigil in the centre.
That assumes the caliph has made it known that people bearing that sigil are to be considered honoured visitors.
"Please, show that to the guards. If they don't let you in, you can keep it as a memento."
His smile fades a little as I threaten to draw him into a situation far above his preferred risk threshold. But after a moment he starts to picture the potential advantages.
Eyes on what benefits
him, eh? No wonder OL's talking to this fellow. That's a somewhat
Avaricious way of thinking, after all.
"And you want nothing else?"
"I want many things. Everything, really. But today I only seek two things; a message sent to the Caliph and news of an abducted elf."
Now, one of those things, he can help you with. The other...
"Ah. Well. I am sorry sir, but I have never had cause to have dealings with a elf."
"In order to skip a potential waste of time, I am obviously happy to pay for accurate information. There is no need to talk around the subject."
Though if your information turns out to be
inaccurate, well... That can be paid for as well. By
you.
"And I would be happy to take your money sir, but few elves make the journey here and none at all come to my stall."
"Would you be interested in establishing a trading relationship with them?
I'm sure there are many fine things he could deal in with them.
"No, but if you have a contact then I have a contact."
I nod as best my serpentine head can manage. "I will seek you out in Dream Baghdad once my business here is concluded."
"I will see you there. Good day to you, sir."
And I half-picture him sweating up a storm as OL slithers away... It's hard to tell if that was an offer or a threat, after all.
I turn away, leaving the glass cube in his care. The market here is nothing like as large or chaotic as the one in Baghdad, and my avarice sense quickly demonstrates why. This place serves as more of a through-road than a place for casual purchases. With no real resident population people trade with their contacts in private sales. If you want something then you arrange a purchase in advance. The stalls are mostly displaying examples of wares, acting as a lure for people who want something else. There are things here that I'm sure even the better educated Atlantean magicians would like to be able to purchase, so I'll be sure to put Queen Mera in contact once this is over.
So, to some degree, it's a tourist trap.
"...anything older."
Kon is conversing with someone who looks like a relatively normal man aside from the hole in his chest over where his heart should b.
Sounds a bit
hollow.
Let's hope his dealings aren't too cutting.
"'Older'? My friend, Martian materials are uncommon enough here, and you want something older than this?"
He holds up… It looks a little like M'gann's kuru pendant, though the design is more simple.
Ah, he's shopping for a vacation gift for his girlfriend. How sweet.
"You won't find that anywhere. Search all of the realms you want."
"I will! Thank you."
Aw, offer refused. I guess Kon isn't very good at haggling yet.
Kon steps away from the stall and heads towards me. He shrugs as we make eye contact. "I was hoping I could get something from before the Guardians did… Y'know."
"Honestly, I'm not sure that would be a good idea. While I don't approve of everything the Guardians did, excising those memories allowed Martian civilisation to exist."
And OL should remember how well the most famous attempt to crack the psychic blocks, as seen in the
comics.
"Right, but…" We turn and walk up the main boulevard towards Bast's… Temple? Palace? Cernunnos felt that giving her a little warning might be for the best. "There could be all kinds of things about what martians can do that they don't know anymore." He raises his left eyebrow. "And since when do you want to lose information? Or give up a way to make M'gann more powerful?"
"Since there's no real way to test whether or not experiencing a Burning Martian's dream will turn a modern martian into one."
And in case you need to be told, Kon: That would be bad. Cataclysmically bad.
He frowns thoughtfully, then shakes his head. "I don't see how that could happen. The only minds they had to communicate with back then were other Burning Martians. Modern martians know what it's like to not be monsters."
"I suspect that you're right but I don't know that you're right. And without a way to test it…"
Worst case, it becomes a contagious cognitohazard. Imagine all of Mars catching fire,
literally.
"If that did happen, could we undo it? I mean, the Guardians did it in the first place."
There aren't enough Guardians left for them to be willing to send someone to oversee an experiment like that. As for a Lantern… Maybe? I wouldn't want to take the chance on one of the local ones, myself included.
Especially since they would likely be aligned to Avarice, being creatures of primal
desire. To
hurt, to kill, to
terrify, to mate and birth more...
He nods, clearly dissatisfied, as we reach then end of the thoroughfare and begin walking up the steps to the entryway. The walls around us are covered with Kahndaqi hieroglyphic depictions of both Bast and mortal cats-. No, wait. That one is Sekhmet. I load a copy of everything I see onto my ring's database. I'm sure that if I knew more about their theology that the story on display here -accurate or otherwise- would be quite informative, but given the huge span of time Bast was worshipped for I don't know which particular form of the mythology it is referring to.
Heck, it might excite some archaeologists once this is all over and life is getting back to normal. So many myths and historical knowledge has been lost, something so close to the original as this would be heavenly.
"Do we really need to talk to Bast about our mission? I don't think she can really help us."
"This is her realm, and we know they came here. Even if she can't help with our main objective, there's a good chance she can give us useful information."
And it's worth finding out if she even knew they came through here. It might offend her mortally if they didn't pay their dues to her.
"Anything we couldn't get by asking around the market?"
"Maybe. It will be quicker and more honest, though."
And it's only polite to meet your host when travelling through their territory.
"If she decides to help."
"I'm fairly-."
I mean... Cats can be friendly or unpleasant. I suppose it depends on her mood.
A blur lands in front of me, grabs me with ferocity and bloodlust and leaps back up, pulling me along with-. It? No, her, that's-.
Sekhmet tosses me so that I roll across the brick platform at the front of the palace proper, coming to a halt about half way across as she glares at me, teeth bared.
...Mood not
good, then. Anyone got some
wine seasoned with blood handy?
"Do you think I am a whore, Lantern?"
Unlike the housecat-looking Bast, Sekhmet definitely has a more lion look. Those are big teeth she's showing me.
Ah... Not happy about the Athena thing, then?
I opt to stay down.
"No, oh goddess. I have never thought of you as such a thing."
Yes, very good idea. Stay limp, play dead and talk very nicely and very quickly.
"And yet you saw fit to offer me to the Olympians."
"They are the gods I worship. You may consider the fact that I want you included among their number as a sign of my admiration. I didn't consider Zeus worthy."
And a little bit of cross-pantheon cooperation is always a good thing, after all.
She growls, but given that her teeth mostly disappear afterwards I think it was a 'marking territory' growl rather than an 'I'm about to tear your throat out' growl.
"And you were not just trying to make a cat joke?"
…
...Don't answer that, OL, or the teeth may come back out.
