MAR 18 Saturday.

I slowly draw out another rune into the spell matrix in the air, this has proven to be a somewhat interesting spell to make.

The past week has been both too fast and too slow for my liking. Much like last year I've been approached several times by nobles and interested parties. The good news is that unlike last year these nobles are less persistent and more or less just try to meet me and get to know me.

I'm not close to the king or royal family unlike in Griffonstone and that makes things much more bearable for me. I normally just do some bland small talk and find an excuse to stop talking to them, which is not that hard as most of the time they try to talk to me during the diplomatic meetings and I have work to do.

The meetings themselves are as bland and uninteresting as the first time, even more so after the novelty of it all faded away. I just endure the small talk and do my work, a little good news is I get to have Entropy with me while I work which is a small positive.

As for the king and his party? Well, I was told when it would be and got so close to being lucky. I'm planning to leave with others on the twenty-second but after getting the invitation I found out this party is on the twenty-first right before I leave, because of course, it is.

Honestly accepting this invitation was something I normally wouldn't do, at all, but I think it is a good course of action. I was told to get on his good side, the better I do that the closer I am with the king and that will always be useful to me in the future.

It's another connection I can call on, even if just a weak one, in the event that we need to deal with the Storm King in some way. I may hate parties like this but some temporary discomfort for a long-term gain is worth it to me. But back to the point it seems the party will be something I am attending.

So no skipping out for me, at least I found a decent suit, a nice plain black suit that I paid too much for, with a bit of help from Cadance. On that topic, she found a little time to talk with me and get an update on what was happening and what happened the day after the party me and the king talked at.

She found it pretty funny, I did not. But she at least was able to find somewhere to buy a suit and give me a little advice, sadly we didn't have much time to talk let alone do any work. It also looks like we won't be getting any more work done for the rest of this trip.

As for myself, I've been spending a little time preparing for a specific trip and generally relaxing. I spend most of my free time simply exploring the city and enjoying the many types of food with Entropy, I even found a library, a private one though. I had to pay for a membership to read anything inside.

It turned out to mostly be history books and more mundane things like herbology and techniques for many different crafts. It didn't have anything to do with magic really and the few books on magic I found were more study journals on magical creatures and plants.

After reading for a while I decided to look into the story I was told by Auran. It took me a few days of reading several versions of the story but I pieced a few things together that were missed in all those versions of the story. First and foremost is that the war he ran from was not just a war alone.

The war itself was pretty bad by this world's standards, there were some actual civilian casualties done on purpose. It's a very uncommon thing to do in this world, but back to the story. Calix was a minor noble who controlled the outermost district of his home city.

During the war, half the city burned down from a fire, there was a massive crop failure, and then a disease outbreak, all in this span of a few months. It was a clusterfuck and a complete disaster, and then the ruling king died without an heir, and then the city promptly descended into a civil war.

After that Calix rightly decided to just get off of that sinking ship, a pretty smart move. But it turns out that the kingdom they were at war with was still invading them and would rather he not run away with part of the remaining population of the city and his gold. Most of the story stays the same from there.

The only other thing of note is Calix followed his pet crow. The part about him moving everything in a single night seems consistent in every version of the story but none of them specify how. There is just a hole in the story that none of them even address.

I found some studies trying to figure this exact thing out but they failed utterly, the only thing of interest they did find was that no one ever wrote about Calix's pet crow. He definitely had one, but only his close allies ever said anything about it and they never spoke of it in any detail, you'd think such a bird would at least get some attention, but there is seemingly nothing.

It makes me think of a possibility, but I really don't know how to feel about that. Entropy's true nature is a closely guarded secret for me and if I had been in his position I would have done the same thing. So is it possible he had a Night Crow? Well, I have no idea.

It does explain a few things, but it also raises more unanswered questions, on the other hoof this was a chaotic situation shrouded in political propaganda secrecy on purpose. Sure he could have, or many things could have simply been lost with the passage of time and the spreading of false information. It did renew my interest to keep looking through any information I could find.

But after going through three libraries and a few bookstores I found nothing, if that information is out there I have no way to access it or find it without a large time investment. I could ask the king but if this is some big secret I don't feel like digging into it like that.

I could come back here one day, but for now, this mystery won't help me and I'll have to move past my curiosity. I move the last part of the new spell into place and look it over for a few moments to make sure it looks good after I finish cleaning it up a bit and checking for errors.

I plan to visit the black market today, my preparations are complete and it's time to get to work. For my little trip I've modified the spell I used to disguise Cadance to make myself a different look, two different looks in fact, I named it the Disguise spell to simplify things as well. I stand up and take out a plain black cloak from my saddlebags on my back.

I start with the Disguise spell and watch as my body changes quickly, I stay the same size, and the only thing that changes is my colors. My fur changes color to a light sky blue, while my mane is a deep blue in color. And as a bonus, the illusion covers up my cutie mark, not that I would have kept it uncovered but every bit helps for my plan.

The other spell I worked on today is a small but simple one. With the use of two runes, a rune of Voice, and a rune of Sound, the spell is able to change the pitch of my words a bit, not too much though as it distorts my voice. It doesn't do anything to my actual body, it just changes the sounds that leave my mouth after I've spoken.

I cast the spell and see no visual difference. "Hello." My voice is normally pretty bland, a small bit deeper than others and not light, but mostly plain. Now it is noticeably deeper and as I speak Entropy looks over at me from the bed in my small room. I smile at her, "Hello girl, what do you think?" I ask her.

She saw me cast the spells and has been watching with interest at my actions. She flies over and stands on my back slightly disrupting the illusion on me, it's not immensely noticeable but anyone touching me will notice pretty quickly. She looks me over for a few moments, "Like. Better." She caws with a slightly joking tone, it's not a perfect replication though.

She's gotten a bit better at using different tones of voice when she does do it at all as a lot of the time she doesn't use a tone at all. "Oh, hush you. Come on, we have places to be." I say and cast the last spell I'd need, a simple illusion to change the color of my pure saddlebags to black as well to make sure everything looks fine.

Entropy enters my shadow and I dispel all the spells on me before putting away my cloak and leaving the building we've been staying in. I move through the city in a relaxed manner and make my way to my destination without any difficulty. When I arrive I find an empty alley near the black market entrance.

I put on my black cloak and place all my illusions on myself again. I double-check that my voice is different before checking my dagger and moving towards the correct street. I'm currently in the lowest point of the cavern that the city occupies and even with it being day it is dark and gloomy here.

The street is a little busy, a few dozen creatures walking around. I stop at a very large building that looks to be a random warehouse as this part of the city has several of them. The door has a pair of well-built Griffons standing there with a bored look, they let someone else through and sees me as I walk up to them. "What are you paying with?"

His gruff tone demands me to answer him. I really should have seen something like this coming, and honestly, I don't care enough to argue about if it is some type of scam or a legitimate tax from the beings who run this place. I spend a moment pulling a small bag of bits out of my saddlebags. "That has twenty, count it." Twenty should be plenty and bits should work fine.

In preparation for the trip to this city, I knew I was going to try and buy information, and that normally costs a lot. So I prepared several bags with increasing amounts of bits, with the larger ones being under a floating spell to lighten them and a silence spell so they don't make noise as I walk.

He does just that and nods after a moment before keeping the entire bag with a smirk. "You got a weapon?" I nod. "Good. Cause no trouble, or else." He warns me before stepping to the side of the door. I notice as I enter that he never said if I overpaid him or not, seems he's smart enough.

When preparing for this trip and scouting out a few entrances to this place, this one is less used than others. The large room is two or three dozen feet tall and probably one hundred feet long in one direction and three hundred in another. Interestingly they seem to have set up densely packed shanty shops inside the building itself like an indoor village.

The entrance I used seemed to not have many beings paying attention as planned and as they walked down the market's path with stalls and shops on both sides and many creatures moving back and forth. The market seems both quiet and busy, with many others talking quietly and all trading different things.

Information first and foremost is what I want, everything else can wait. After a moment I join the flow and start moving down the lane with others while keeping my senses sharp for anything trying to bother me. Most looking to buy things seem to have a mask or cloak, something to cover themselves up a bit, while most sellers seem to just wear nothing as if this is a normal market.

Most stalls have presumably stolen goods or things that the law would frown upon. I'm no expert so many things aren't recognizable to me, I keep moving until I see a herb shop of some kind. It's made from dilapidated wood and looks shabby even by this market's standards.

Inside behind a counter, I see an old-looking Griffon with an unhealthy appearance. They should know what I need to learn so I spend a moment scanning it and open the door. "Oh! A customer, please come in. What can I do for you? A potion perhaps?" Her tone is dry and raspy.

I take a moment to look around as she keeps looking me over, I turn to a few herbs and I notice she keeps tracking me. "Or many an ointment? I have some rather useful concoctions for more intimate things?" I shudder a little at that. I already do not like this Griffon so just walk up to her with a random mushroom I grab as soon as I can.

I look around behind the counter for a moment before turning to the elderly Griffon. "Do you know this market well?" I voice it as a demand in my new low and deep tone without a hint of emotion.

She smiles at that. "Information then? Yes, I can do that, for a fee." She's quick on the uptake with what I want. "But wouldn't you rather look around a little more first? I have many wonders for sale." I ignore the prompt and just place the mushroom on the countertop.

"This and you tell me where I can buy better information, how much?" I say bluntly. She looks annoyed at my words so I just place another small bag of twenty bits on the counter. She smiles with clear greed and takes it before looking more willing to answer after checking the amount inside.

"That will do. Down the lane, that way, two lefts, and a right, look for the fancy place. Anything else?" She asks but I just put away the random mushroom and walk out without another word. Well, at least I got directions from her, it seems my guess was half decent.

I look over the mushroom as I walk and find it to be utterly dead and useless to me, I just drop it on the floor and keep following the directions. After a few turns I find myself at a larger more well-built building, it's not big but compared to the small dingy shops around it it's a large improvement in both size and quality, although it seems to move back a fair distance out of sight so I'm not sure how large it actually is.

The door is simple well built wood and when I enter it gives off the feel of a mostly normal office building. A single Griffon sits at a desk and a few other beings sit to the sides of the room seemingly waiting for something. I keep a firm and steady stride as I walk to the desk and the Griffon notices me with a polite smile. "Hello, how can I help you today?" A professional and friendly tone greets me.

"You sell information, yes?" I ask with a deadly serious tone. She nods in return. "Good, how does this work?" I know this makes me seem like an outsider, but that's what I'm going for right now. I want information and being an outsider works well for that even if I get scammed on the price.

She keeps her smile and nods again. "Well, we have plenty to offer. You can either wait with them and get a reservation for later, or." She adds with an enticing tone. "You can pay a fee to see one of our professional consultants to get a private meeting and service right now." And this is why I come as a mysterious outsider.

My looks and actions show I don't want to be seen, more so than most others, she guessed that and offered better service because of it hoping to get more money from me. I nod and place a single bit on the counter, "How much?" She states a price and I pay it without batting an eye.

She takes the bits and looks over some papers before leading me to a door on the side of the room and knocking on it. Inside is another Griffon, "This gentleman has a meeting in room four." I follow them inside and look through the plain white hallways as we find a room with a simple four on it.

I only sense a single being inside so I open the door and walk, the inside is a completely plain office with a desk and two seats. "Ahh, hello, please take a seat." The older-looking Diamond Dog says with a male tone. I don't sit after a moment and he seems to just accept that. "How can I help you, Sir?" He gets right to the point seeing how I'm acting, good a real professional.

I think about my words for a moment to say as little as possible. "I want all the information you have on the Storm King that you can get within an hour, I'll pay double," I say bluntly, this was a big reason I brought a lot more money with me than normal, three thousand bits in total actually.

He looks caught off guard by the blatant request but recovers just as quickly. "Hmm, I believe we have such information, but getting it so quickly is a problem." He goes through a few cabinets very quickly. "We need to find the value of the information and tha-" I can see where this is going and decide to speed this up the best way I can.

I am not exposing myself for longer than absolutely needed. So I cut him off by dropping two heavy sacks of bits on his desk much to his shock. "That is two thousand bits, get it to me within an hour and I'll consider it a fair trade." I'm not sure how much this information costs, but that should be enough to force the issue and get what I want. There are some perks to having money after all.

His eyes go wide and he looks shell-shocked at my action. "Wha- I- ... " He stumbles for a few moments before getting himself together and opening a bag a little, causing his eyes to widen more. "O-Of course Sir! This... It is a pleasure doing business with you, please give me a moment." He quickly leaves the room and once he's out I sense him sprinting down the hallway as fast as he can which gets a chuckle out of me.

I keep my senses sharp and a few moments later he runs back and fixes his fur a little before entering the office again slightly out of breath. "Sorry about that Sir, I have been informed that the information will be prepared within the hour. I will of course have to count this out and confirm the stated amount." He says with an overly polite tone.

I think he might be going a little fast as he agreed before confirming everything, but I can see he also wants to grab this opportunity while he can. I just nod and keep standing there silently as he starts to count the coins out with a large smile on his face while glancing at me.

It's a boring wait but by the time he's done counting, he looks very happy with himself, and not too long after another being approaches the office and knocks. "Ah, there they are. Enter." Another Griffon opens the door holding a box that's packed very densely with documents.

I take it from him and place it on my back without a word to them. "Is there anything else I can help you with today Sir?" I shake my head silently. "Then thank you for doing business with us Sir. Here is my card, in case you ever need anything else from us again." I take it and nod but still don't speak and just walk out of the office before heading towards the exit with the Griffon that brought the documents.

I get piercing and curious looks as I balance the box on my back and quickly leave the building. I spend as little time as possible in sight of others before finding a gap in some of the dingy shops not too far away and squeezing through to a hidden spot I saw with my spatial senses.

Once I'm alone I take off my cloak. "Girl." Entropy leaves my shadow quickly. "Take this back to the room, and be quick about it." I ask quietly while putting on a different cloak, this one brown. She does as I asked and a moment later she's gone with the heavy box.

I spend a moment removing the illusions over me and casting a different one. This time my fur turns black and my mane a deep gray, I also change the color of my saddlebags to red just to be safe. By the time Entropy returns I look completely different from before.

I smile at Entropy and chuckle for a moment while petting her. "Thanks, Girl. You are the best." I compliment her as she chirps happily before hiding in my shadow again. I take a few deep breaths and smile in victory while getting out of this small gap between shops.

I have no idea if that information is worth all this, but in the worst case scenario I just lost a few bits and paid a criminal. I'm not sure I like the second part but this cost me very little and the information could be a literal lifesaver. I shake my head after a moment and look around the unfamiliar market I'm still in.

That's done, so time to do some shopping and see what goodies I can find. I keep my smile as I start to walk through the dingy and dark market.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :D
Current year is 995

I didn't want this to be only about him shopping so you'll know what he bought next time, for now though our short trip in this market is over.

Ps. I’m taking tomorrow off. Also, I have something coming up and I might miss a day or two, I'm not entirely sure yet though so I'll update you in a few days.