[SD:OA] And All We Got Were These Black Gloves - Chapter 9

After half an hour, the sea calmed enough for passengers to once again return to the deck. Gem, in particular, rushed up there as soon as it was allowed. Though much to their disappointment, the Leviathan and Kraken were long gone.

Gem did manage to get a bit more information on what happened. One sailor relayed to them that the fight had really only lasted ten minutes, but the aftershocks had kept everything all riled up. Also, it was a tie and so presumably, back the way they just came from the fight among the whales and giant squids was likely still going on.

Gem sighed, “So, back to fishing?”

The sailor laughed, “If we’re lucky! The system tends to favor those who have been through an epic encounter with the rest of their immediate trip being boring. Though for the moment, even without such favor, things will be boring if only because nothing will want to make waves, heh, after a Kaiju fight.”

And the sailor’s words proved to be quite prophetic. The damage to the boat did mean it took another month to finish their crossing.

Now, Gem is standing on deck, putting away their fishing rod as a large port comes into view. “Huh, it looks bigger than Whale Island.”

Samuel nods, “While our home continent has many ports, this land has an honestly pretty sucky coastline. This being about the only place where bigger ships can dock.”

June shakes her head, “I wouldn’t say they don’t have ports. They have a bunch of floating ports. That, however, isn’t much good for cross ocean trading. More designed to handle people instead of goods.”

Samuel shrugs, “I wouldn’t call them major ports, though.”

June puts her hands on her hips, “Just because most of their traffic is from people, doesn’t mean they aren’t.”

Gem ignores them both as they watch the port reveal itself. “So, how long will we be there? What with our plan to basically head right back.”

Emrys shrugs, “Sssally will tell us how long they plan to stay once we dock. Besides, since we did ask to join her ship on the way back, she offered us room and board while here as part of the return trip package.”

Gem, “Huh, I don’t remember that.”

Emrys, “Of course not, you were busy fishing. Anyway, we should get a few days in the port.”

And a few ended up meaning five days. The ship arrived in the afternoon and was unloaded quickly enough. Except what Emrys had forgotten to consider was the damage the ship had taken. The Salty Baron was going to take some time to get fixed, if only because sourcing the right materials was going to take time.

So bright and early the next day, Gem drags the other three into the port city of Foundsand. “The name’s a bit descriptive.”

Emrys shrugs, “They found sand, which is rare and doubly important. Not only because it lets them set up a deep water port, but because sand is easier to make glass with.”

Samuel, “You’d enjoy the place. Really chaotic. While the coast is mostly cliff, the rest of the continent is all rainforests and heavy jungle. The high altitude kind, what with this basically being a continent sized plateau.”

Gem shrugs, “Eh, I’m not one for humid.”

June, “I’m not partial myself. Though it will be a shame that we can’t explore the ruins. Researchers are mostly sure they’re faux ruins, placed by the local deity as a bid for more tourism. Which if it is the case, well, it worked.”

Gem points to the side, “A shop selling black gloves! I want gloves.”

Emrys squints, “Is it a store?”

Gem nods, “Yeah, if you look in the window it has a sign.”

Emrys raises an eyebrow, “In a language I don’t know.”

Gem, “Huh. Looks normal to me.”

June looks over, “Nope, that’s the continent’s local language. I guess something with your backstory must have granted you either the language or some ability to translate it. Squint at it and see if you can will it to return to normal, even if only for a moment.”

Gem does so, but the small sign stays the same. “No changes, but can I go shop now? I’ve apparently had this ability for a while now and it isn’t going away. Whereas we will be leaving here so my chances to shop are the greatest.”

No one said otherwise within a few moments and so Gem walks right in. The house/shop is a little dusty, but the displays themselves are well taken care of and maintained. Though it is also clear that the “shop” part is literally just the entrance hall to the building. A literal hall, given how narrow it is.

Oh, and a little bell chimed when the door opened, which is why moments later a dwarven lady bustles through the door behind the counter, her beard grey, but not as if from age. Rather, it has the reach and deep coloration of granite. Her eyes glint, literally, in the light. Jeweled orbs like cloudy quartz with points of brilliant sapphire.

She sits behind the counter, “Huh, what’s a party like you doing in a shop like mine? Don’t get many from out of town and you all seem very much from out of town. I don’t even have a trade tongue sign.”

Gem raises their hand, “I can read! Anyway, I was looking for some gloves and yours look good. You got anything for around fifty gold?”

Emrys sighs, “Why’d you reveal that? It is kind of hard to haggle when they know what you’re spending.”

The dwarven lady nods, “He isn’t lying. Though since you played it straight with me, I’ll play it straight with you. What are you looking for?”

Gem smiles, “I use wind magic and I’ve got a spear that I really should make more use of that can channel my Wind Blades. Oh, and I’ve ranked up Wind Blade to single star, if that matters.”

The dwarven lady waves her hand, “Eh, not the most wind gloves here. Though I do pride myself in having the four main at least somewhat covered. Let me go grab some of my back stock.” And she bustles back into the house, the door closing behind her.

Gem smiles, “Well, this is hopeful! And I’m only half sarcastic.”

Samuel, however, is frowning. “You do seem to forget you spear a lot.”

Gem shrugs, “Eh, more like I just don’t keep it with me while fishing. And since that is about what I’ve been doing? It is mostly stuck in my room.”

Samuel, “You’ll have to work on that.”

Then the lady returns with three gloves.

Gem ignores two of them and points at the other. “Let me see the black one.”

The dwarven lady shrugs and hands them over.

They’re a pair of black leather-like fingerless gloves. Though holding them, Gem can tell they aren’t actually leather. They’re also shockingly light and feel cool to the touch.

Gem nods, “Yep, I want these.”

June gets a tired look in her eyes and sighs, “What about the other gloves? Like, you haven’t even checked the stats.”

Gem shrugs, “They’re only for, what, 45 gold or so? Unless this pair pushed my boundaries. They’ll be functional and since this kind lady picked the gloves out specifically? At the least, they won’t clash.”

The dwarven shop owner fake coughs, “Uh, yeah, 43 gold. No haggling though, and here’s their analysis.” And she hands over a small note card sized piece of paper. The others can’t read it, but Gem can.

{

Black Dwarven Shroom-leather Fingerless Gloves of the Sylph 9A

A pair of high quality fingerless gloves made with the leather substitute unique to the Dwarves, Shroom-leather. During their construction, a sylph was convinced to provide a smidge of magic in exchange for honey. This magic has made the gloves light as a feather and an excellent conductor of Air Mana.

}

Emrys, “Huh, is the difference between 9 and ten so much that an A rank 9 is only worth that much, but our recent stuff at only a few levels more, costs three times as much despite a much lower grade?”

The dwarven lady laughs, “Not particularly. 9A is simply seen as the peak of an apprentice’s skill. Anymore and most see them as proper journeymen. So yeah, there’s a lot of 9A stuff going around as apprentices work hard to break through. Kind of brings the market value down.”

Gem hands over 43 gold, “I like ‘em.”

The lady smiles, “Well, I can appreciate someone who knows what they like.”

Samuel sighs, “Well, with gloves acquired, now can we go look around?”

They can, though this was a true port city through and through. The market is amazing, with goods from all over. You know, exactly what they saw at Whale Island.

There was a local twist or two, but none of the others managed to find gear to buy. Though to be fair, Gem’s gloves weren’t really an upgrade. Rather, more of a piece of gear that didn’t get in the way.

Worse, they could see a much more interesting place to go. While the port was down at sea level, which makes sense. Just past it, the rest of the continent rose up and the party could see there was another town at the top of the sheer cliff.

Not that they would in theory need to climb themselves. There are lifts, massive devices that slowly raise and lower, capable of holding multiple ships worth of goods. Though emphasis is on “slowly”.

It takes a full day to go up or down and they aren’t always running. Instead, waiting for there to be enough goods that needed to be moved. So yeah, the party wouldn’t be able to get there and back before the Salty Baron left.

The rest of their time after this discovery is spent wandering around town. It isn’t like there’s nothing of interest around the port town. Giant displays of artifacts that had been found in the jungles above. Restaurants serving traditional foods. Even a small free library with a bunch of books on the area’s history.

In the end, though, everyone else is disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to see the jungles and ruins above. Gem? They were wearing their new gloves and were quite happy.

Until finally, the day came and it was time to set sail. Which since they were already staying on the ship, wasn’t quite as early of a morning for the party. Though they still woke up for the early morning buffet.

And the Salty Baron set sail. While Gem’s party is the same, all the other passengers and even some of the crew have changed. Though as more things change, the more they stay the same.

There weren’t even any players among the passengers this time. Not that Gem had paid much attention to the ones on the trip here. Though they were a bit curious about why this trip didn’t have any and so asked the nearest sailor when they thought of it.

That sailor shrugged, “Trip’s going to be longer this time. The first mate reported our experience and it seems we likely ended up on one of the more troubling mystery islands.

“Don’t know if they move around or simply vanish, but while other ships won’t see them until they’re ready for their next victims. Yeah, we’ll still be able to run into them.

“So Captain decided and the crew agreed that we’re going to go out of our way to avoid where we think it was. Only two months, like what it took to get here, but that’s too much for any travellers just looking to cross.”

That explained it well enough, but left Gem with one more question. So they head over to June, “Did we know they were going the slow way back?”

June laughs, “Did you only just now learn that? Yeah, not only did we know, but we’re traveling for free because of it.”

Gem raises an eyebrow, “Free?”

June nods, “Yep, all because of you! And before you ask, the reason is because of your fishing skill. Having someone along for the ride who can focus on fishing? With the skill?

“I won’t quite say you’re worth your weight in gold, but certainly worth quite a bit. Keeping the crew fed is important and you relieve a lot of the burden. Because while they have enough preserved food for the trip and then some, it isn’t fresh.”

Gem, “Huh, well I guess it’s a good thing I like fishing! Guess I’m going to get a lot of it in.”

And they do. The Captain’s plan to avoid the island with the cult worked. In fact, they managed to make the entire journey with only the usual minor attacks.

Just A Small Cult - Chapter 8