I see a pair of eyes and a shock of orange-red hair peeking above a disassembled weapon on the counter top. “I’m sorry? Is this where I comment on how you should get a shorter counter, or a bigger box to stand on?”
“No. Normally I’d kick you out for suggesting it, but I did comment on your height first. I was also told that there was a blue Troll looking for a place to live and possibly interested in a trade skill or two.” Her head disappears and I hear boots hit the floor a second later. The small, yet strangely proportionate woman walks under the passthrough in the counter.
“Yes please. I was thinking of working with glass and also alchemy.” I start worrying my hands together as she scrutinizes me with her piercing green eyes.
“Sensible and complimentary. Well it would be for a normal person. But you’re a Sky Troll, lass. Your race is no good in the heat.”
“Is it ridiculous to say I can develop a resistance?”
She snorts, “No, but living until you do is the tricky part.” She walks by me, bars the door to the street and walks past me again toward the bar top. “We can talk about that later. Let me show you the apartment and see if you like it well enough to stay.”
“My office is to the left, the supply room to the right, at the end of the hall is my workshop, and beyond that is a warehouse with my forge in it.” She stops at a wall section, blocking the hall with her body and pointing to my left to a staircase. “This leads to the apartment. Two rooms and a shared common space.”
Curious, I walk up the stairs and the switchback to find a cozy living space with a kitchen, a couch and a table. On the storefront side there is door to what I assume is a room, and over the workshop area appears to be another.
“Up front is my room, in the back would be yours. We have running water, but if you want it hot, you have to use the stove. The stove can be run on wood or coal, and I have a chill-box for perishables and beer. That runs on aether and costs a bit to run, so if you ever leave the door open, I will melt you down and sell you for parts.”
She has a fridge? Way cool. Makes sense it is magic though.
“Bathroom and shower are snuggled in behind the stairs, and don’t worry, I have one in my room, so we don’t have to share, you just have to brave the common space to get to it.”
I smile at that, “I guess I’ll be brave then.” I walk toward my room and see the door to ‘behind the stairs’ and see a toilet, sink, and a faucet and a bucket in a tiled area in the corner. Huh, I definitely expected a shower. Cold, maybe, but that would just be a ceiling faucet. I’ll talk to her about it if I end up staying.
I walk into the room that is supposed to be mine and it’s larger than I expected. At about seven meters by five meters, I’ve heard of studio apartments as big as this room. There’s a small bed by the left window, and a dresser on the wall on the opposite side of said window. There is nothing but open space by the right window, and the far side has a view that looks at the top of the warehouse she mentioned and a fair bit beyond that, a river can be seen.
“So, what do you think?” Leeda asks.
“Any do’s and don’ts I should know about?”
“Yeah, sure. I sometimes work late, and you’re over the workshop and near the warehouse. You should probably buy some earplugs. I expect you to pitch in for wood if you plan on cooking, or if you can recharge crystals, we can work a trade for the chill-box’s energy requirements.
“Next, you’re not to be in the forge un-supervised unless you’re just passing through after I close the shop. The key I will be giving you will be to my warehouse door and to the door into the house from the warehouse. I bar and lock the shop door, so that one’s no use after shop hours.
“Last, Ol’ Maude said you were good folk, so don’t go making her a liar, alright?”
“I’m not a thief if that’s what you’re after.” I huff at her. “Do you want me to ask if I add stuff to my room?”
“Nah, only if you would describe something as ‘installing’ instead of arranging.”
“No alchemy in the house, got it.”
“You damned well better not. I would rather set you up a bench in the warehouse than risk an accident in my home.” She actually seems afraid that I would do it.
“I definitely see some benefits of living here. Especially if you have space in your warehouse for me to craft.”
“Ach, don’t get your hopes up, but I’ll see what I can do. And you know the cost? Ten silver a week, which does not cover wood and aether, or any materials you may need.”
“Maude said that was the price, but it seems that with so many limitations, that should include rent in a corner of your warehouse, don’t you think?”
Leeda grins, “Aye, Maude already bargained for that, nice try though,” she says, and then the little shit winks at me and cackles her way down the stairs.
“Freaking orange cat energy that one.” I’ll be back to pick her brain later about supplies and where to buy stuff. Either that or bug her until she submits.
***
“Giuseppe is booked for months! He cannot possibly take another customer . . .” A medium height, rail-thin human says just before they come from behind a clothing display and sees me. “Oh my, you are big, blue and beautiful!”
He walks over, pulls out a measuring tape as though he’s taking off a belt and starts pawing out my dimensions. What the freaking hell? I did walk into his shop, but immediate touching?
By the time I collect myself to protest, the man is already done and sketching. “I thought you said . . .”
“Yes, yes, but this is not for you, this is for Giuseppe. I have never dressed a Troll before, and now that I have seen, I must. Is there anything you require before I make something magnificent?”
“Uh, two sets of clothes, one dress, one with breeches, and several sets of small clothes?”
“Of course, we have many items on display, for immediate purchase, but Giuseppe needs time to create. Perhaps six days? Yes six days. You will take two outfits, four sets of small clothes and leave me a gold to pay for my work and my time.”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
He wants three thousand pounds!? This shit better be made of the rarest of worm’s ass silk. I walk over to his displays, and no shit the small clothes are made of stretchy silk. These are nicer than the underwear I wear in the ATC. I next look at the pants, dress and blouse that I can get and again, their quality is insane. This is like, buy it once and wear it forever kind of stuff.
But a gold is a huge dent in the six gold and change that I have. But if this stuff lasts multiple years, won’t that be worth it? While wavering back and forth on the viability of hundred pound underwear, a notification pops up.
Holyshit, magic panties. The tops are similarly describe, but the cut is rudimentary. With the stretch quality though, this would make a passable sports bra. I’m in.
I don’t see other enchanted items, but the quality of material and make are superior. To hell with frugality for now, these will be comparable to the finest clothes in my closet in the ATC. I set the gold down on the counter and set a reminder in my calendar to be back in six days.
I fold and store the number of goods he said I could take and I immediately rush up to my apartment, heh, I have an apartment in Alaris’ world now too! This is so exciting. I rush through the warehouse door and up into my room to change as quickly as possible into my new panties and top.
The comfort and relief from chafing is a blessed miracle from the goddess. I add the new pants and the sleeveless tunic I picked out from the men’s section to complete my outfit of lavender and cream. I would discuss shoes, but I haven’t needed to wear any. My feet are apparently impervious to road gravel, brush, and just about any street annoyance—which is cool. I still feel weird walking everywhere barefoot. Maybe I should talk to the leatherworker about a pair of boots should I go traveling.
A whistle from the store grabs my attention and I find a petite ginger looking at me while leaning on the counter, standing on a crate. “Damn, blue, you really clean up nice. You didn’t get those from Adventure Outfitters.”
Ah, the attention is appreciation. I blush at her blatant interest. What does a blush even look like on my blue skin? Aaaaaaaah. “No, it’s from Spindle Spangle, Maude said I should visit.”
“Wow, okay. Giuseppe is pricey, but his work is obviously good.”
“I was sold at the stretchy magic underwear.” I beam and do a few lunges to be ridiculous.
Leeda stares past me for a few moments as I approach and when she shakes her daydream away she’s blushing. Definitely pictured me in magic underwear. I swat her shoulder.
“Thoughts out of the gutter, missy.”
“Hah, it’s not welcome anywhere else.” Her eyes linger on my bust before raising to my eyes. “In my defense, that outfit accentuates you well.”
“Thank you. Got anything special going today?” I ask in an attempt to change topics.
“Not really. I have a few finished orders that need to be picked up and I’ve got a contraption I’m working on that’s frustrating the hell out of me.”
“Oh? I’m a fan of machines and I’m good with math.” She had me at ‘contraption’. I am suddenly desperate to see what people are thinking and discovering in this world.
“Good with math, she says, alright, I’ll bite. Let me bring her out and we’ll see what you see.” Leeda hops off her crate and walks to her workshop and totes out a crossbow almost as big as she is. “This right bitch is what I’m struggling with. It’s supposed to be a miniature prototype of a more powerful arbalest, but I can’t get the extra leaves to flex at the same rate.”
It seems that she’s got two steel leaves separated by a block and the lower leaf pulls on the upper leaf when the lower is nearly fully contracted. Maybe it’s hyper focus and she can’t see the leaves through the trees?
“So I think there are two alternate methods, assuming you’ll be cranking this back with a winch on the full-size?”
“Of course.” She huffs impatiently, waiting to hear my pearls of wisdom.
I explain to her that if you use her design in reverse, the bands will push on each other and eliminate the slack wire problem she is likely having, or there might be an option with pulleys and then you could either use a thicker arm or more bands to get the force you need as long as the rope and or cables can handle it.
“I tried the pushing bit, but the band flexion of the lower bands causes some wear issues and the screeching is a bit much.”
“Maybe an ablative wooden end that you can pin on and replace when it starts screeching again?" Leeda turns to stare at me, my eyes this time, seemingly searching for something.
“You’re not some ordinary young Troll. What game are you up to?”
Nooooo. Why does she have to be so smart and why did I get so interested in the weapon. Alaris, do they even know what I am if I tell her? Oh hey, Leeda, I’m from another world, and I just want a normal life here, please and thanks.
A titter of laughter brushes my mind.
I was ‘encouraged’ to create lore for Travelers after the alpha testers made a mark on my world.
So? What’s the lore? Alaris? Oh, right, only the barest information if it’s related to my permanent residency. Time to query.
//Travelers: The proper noun refers to otherworldly beings, and the most recent case being humanoids, that arrive on Alaris with knowledge not from this plane. The majority of recorded Travelers arrive on the continent of Alescura and are known generally to be a nuisance of catastrophic proportions.
Great. Just great. A Troll Traveler, could I be any more radioactive?
“No game, I’m just not from around here.”
“No shit. I’m not interested in digging to hard mind you, but a troll appears at the edge of the southern forest, is in a coma for a year, then suddenly you’re fine and full of math and know how? Nah, I don’t buy the innocent act. I don’t have the cleanest past, so you’re going to have to tell me enough that I believe you’re not after the good folks of Marcrest, including myself.”
I have no other plausible explanation. I was interested in contraptions and mechanisms when I was nineteen, but my education was sorely lacking. Now though, ugh. I should just tell her, especially if I want to salvage living here.
“I’m a Traveler, Leeda. I was a 27-year-old human in my other world, now I’m a 19-year-old Sky Troll. I studied engineering and technology was in a different place than here.”
She takes a few minutes to study my reaction and then starts laughing. “Oh goddess, you almost had me there. A Troll Traveler? That’s just asking to get murdered. You seem to believe it though, so I won’t press you further. I would keep that to yourself though, the Watch would likely kill you ‘just in case’.”
“But not you?” I can’t keep the worry from my voice as I search her eyes.
“You’ve been chipper and nervous and volunteered to help. I’m still suspicious, but you believe the story you’re telling me so if this is a lark, you don’t seem to be in on it.”
“Does that mean I get to stay?”
“Goddess help me, yes. Just don’t pout anymore.”
I scoop her up into a hug, “Thank you, thank you!”
I set her down and notice red creeping up her neck. Heh, serves you right for scaring me. “Just don’t make any trouble alright?”
“Yes ma’am” I snap to attention and offer a sloppy salute. “Oh! I was wanting to go take care of a wolf problem I was working on and I lost my knife in a scuffle. Have anything that screams, a wolf is on top of me and I need to stab it?”
“A wolf-killer are ya?”
“Around a dozen so far,” I nod, “James as been buying the pelts, though he’s been fleecing me a bit.”
“Sounds like James. Good folk, but stingy as a Noble. You’ll need to get some armguards and a sturdier pair of pants if you want to make a business of hunting up close.”
“A good idea, I’ll talk to him later to see if he has anything before I head out tomorrow. I also have two handheld bolt repeaters stashed near the Healing House. I was afraid that the Watch sergeant would have confiscated them had I tried to bring them into the city.”
“Bolt repeater? Is that a System confirmed recipe or a janky contraption?” The small ginger is leaning a little too close in her interest—she’d fall into my chest if she were any closer.
“Uh, a pattern system. I mean a recipe contraption. Oh gods.” I push her back by her face, “It’s a recipe! A recipe.”
“Gimme.” She gestures with her hands.
“Five silver for a license, five gold to own.” I try to make a face that looks like I know what I’m doing.
“Five gold, huh? You won’t make any more if I buy it?”
“I will agree to only make them for myself.”
“Ach! I’m tempted, but for that price, I’ll need to see it in action.” She pounds her fist on the table. She is a curious one isn’t she?
“I’ll message you when I get back to town tomorrow afternoon. You’ll have to take the crossbow to get it into town after all.”
“I hate waiting, but if you’ve stashed it an hour away, it seems reasonable. Handshake to exchange ID’s.” She extends her hand, I grasp it and then a pop-up asks me to confirm adding Leeda Gemmonger to my contacts list.
I decide that I’ve had enough contact with Leeda for while and head out to enjoy a meal and maybe see James afterward. I want to go look at the job board at the Guild, but I can do that tomorrow on my way out of town. For now, if I have time, I can see about a book store and maybe shore up some knowledge as my queries have resulted in bare bones responses so far.
Alaris told me to live instead of treat this like a game, but what if I want both?