"The islands..."
"So, there's this prime real estate somewhere in the South Tropics, perfect for setting up for producing a lucrative trade product?" Elizabeth mused, scratching the side of her chin.
"Extraordinarily lucrative," Inigo corrected her. Elizabeth leaned back in her seat again, idly stroking the side of her taut stomach as she thought it over. She wasn't one to take big risks and gamble on slim odds. Her fantastic losing streak at cards back before she deserted was proof enough of that. Six hundred a month was perfectly fine for her, and...
"The islands..."
...six hundred a month was okay for some people....
"The islands..."
...six hundred a month was absolutely unacceptable. Not when she was sitting on a windfall like this.
"I've had good fortune thus far," she said at last. "Might as well see how long it goes for, and if we can find these islands before anyone else does."
"Oh, I perhaps neglected to mention, but we may have an advantage in that regards." Inigo couldn't help but smile at the look of surprise on his master's face as the dining room door creaked open and a towering figure entered the room.
Elizabeth knew at once the woman was orc-blooded, perhaps by half or even more. Her pale green skin gave the game away, as well as her size. The former soldier had fought orcs before, and perhaps a year earlier her reaction to seeing this woman would have been to jump up with blade drawn. Now that she was far too lazy...er, disinterested...to take such action, she realized this woman was nothing like the monstrous warriors she once fought, dressed in fine clothes, her long black hair clean and straightened neatly, spectacles daintily perched on her nose. She had a powerful build sure, standing two heads taller then Inigo, but she had the appearance of having hardened muscles that went soft with disuse, making her look more heavyset then heavyweight champion of the world.
"Mistress Elizabeth, Faline Shayugar," Inigo introduced the two.
"DOCTOR Faline Shayugar," the orcish woman pointed out. "Didn't get that degree for nothing, you know!"
"I didn't know Bitemarsh had a university," Elizabeth mentioned, noting that if they did they probably wouldn't educate someone like this woman any time soon. "Not that I'm not glad to receive company, but can I ask why you're here?"
"You know how the rumor is that someone discovered a chain of fertile islands?" Inigo reminded her. "Meet the discoverer."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as Faline smiled proudly. "You don't seem like a sailor."
"Well no, but I am a scientist and a scholar, and I happen to know that there's a fertile island chain that can be useful to you," Faline responded, taking a few steps and reaching all the way to Elizabeth's end of the table to show her a heavily marked map. "Specifically, here!" She pointed at an island chain that even the ex-soldier recognized, and thus began to laugh.
"You're joking, that's the Deadshoals," Elizabeth chuckled. "Nothing but barren soil on these islands."
"Yes, but not anymore," Faline said, drawing her attention to the largest of the Deadlands, which she circled with green ink at some point in the past. "You know what this is, right?"
"Mount Kardon, of course."
"Not anymore. I've been studying weather events over the past month, and made a rather remarkable discovery. Tons of ash and soot flung into the air remarkably close to this region. I will spare you the minutia of my follow up observations, but in time I realized there's exactly one conclusion to be drawn; Mount Hedrak violently erupted to the point of self-destruction, blanketing the Deadshoals with volcanic ash."
"The Deadshoals have always experienced excellent weather conditions for sugar cultivation, but lacked good land for farming," Inigo continued. "If her theory is correct, then the islands could be covered with good soil that we can use to our advantage."
"And why haven't you claimed them already?" Elizabeth rounded on Faline.
"I'm a scholar, not a trader," Faline said simply. "I only really want safe passage to the Deadshoals to run some tests and explore the dead volcano. If you can provide that I'll take you to the Deadshoal islands that have been most affected by the eruption, and what you do with that is your business. Literally!" The orc woman laughed forcibly, shying away immediately when Inigo and Elizabeth didn't join her.
Still, the lady of the house nodded approvingly. "I can agree to that. Inigo, can we start setting up contracts for her and a trade crew?"
Faline felt like leaping for joy. At last, a worthy scholarly expedition, to study a real volcano! It was truly a dream come true! As the conversation turned away from her though, Faline felt something tug at her, like a light sensation.
"A task is required of you."
"Of course," Faline mumbled, her eyes slipping out of focus. "What do you want from me?"
"-and I can probably scrounge up supplies for departure at the end of the week," Inigo concluded. "That will work for you, right Miss Shayugar?" There was an awkward silence as Faline stared off into space, her lips moving slightly.
"...Miss Shayugar?"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and slapped her hand on the table, rattling the silverware.
"Gah!" Faline yelped. "Oh...sorry, yes. Those arrangements will be fine. Though I will need to transport a few delicate alchemical devices..."
Thus the three began to plan out a trip for Faline to this once desolate region, in the hopes that such a daring venture would net them a massive financial and scholarly windfall. Elizabeth knew how risky the endeavor was, yet she remained confident. Almost as though, on some small level, she knew deep down that the venture would prove to be successful beyond their imagination.
The Codex would make sure of it.
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