Scouring for Magpies

[Anja]

This is a prequel to Gold-Plated, filling in events leading up to Benjamin meeting with Maeve and Chezak out in the woods by Shim.


Benjamin weaved his way through the busy afternoon crowd down the main street in Marn. Every grate and gutter that he passed reminded him of the day's task: Anja needed a magpie. Now, who the hell would he get a magpie from? He doubted he was quick enough to catch a live one on his own.

He decided to stop at a streetside shop that, in addition to its usual wares, sold drinks at little tables. The place seemed to do well for itself; there were lots of people going in and out, and most of the tables were taken. The decoration was a warm, brummagem kind of posh that gave the atmosphere a dash of escapism: An unassuming, by-the-way haven for the working man. Benjamin took a seat at a corner table and watched the people passing by while he waited for service.

One of the serving gals caught his eye; a young lass that could not have been more than seventeen. He felt sorry for her, because she was obviously out of her element here. Hurriedly setting two drinks on a serving tray, she accidentally lost one in a shower of glass. The liquid went through the drain at her feet, and from there, it sped up, rolling downward until it was ejected, in an ejaculatory splash, from the head of a grey little pipe that protruded from the sewer wall. A thousand feet away, in a desolately furnished concrete chamber under the scrapyard, Anja felt it in her webs as the remains of the blackberry draught slapped the putrid waters and languished into nothingness. Another drop in an ancient, unkempt bucket.

She had been busy all day, webforging scrap iron with rats and lizards, letting the substances shed their weaknesses, then carefully drawing the life energy from the Ephemerae without touching them, so that they lay cold and unremarkable once more. She had thirteen webs in production at the moment. Iron refined quickly, especially with small, fearful creatures, and after several reforges in her webs, it became terribly strong. The trick was to make sure that there was one drop of life left wreathing the Ephemerae, so that they could be reforged with plain iron. In this way, Anja avoided having to scuttle around looking for more rats to Souse.

On the last forging, she would Souse the "living" iron with a precious modicum of diamond, and draw all energy from the Ephemera, leaving an unbelievably hard chunk of metal in the middle of her web. This she would pick up and place in a basket beside her chest of drawers. So far today, she had filled up three baskets. This round would be the last.

She paused by a web on her way back from the baskets of reinforced iron, and put a leg to it. It took a few moments, due to the crowds out at this time of day, but Anja eventually pinpointed Benjamin. ...Sitting down and having a drink. Typical. She shook her dwarven head, and her wildly long, white hair rustled slightly where it touched the ground. Her left eye, which always seemed to hold an expression of anger and insanity, due to its thick red milk, blinked once as she stared contemplatively at the wall in front of her. Like most spiders, she moved and did things in short bursts, spending much of her time in complete stillness.

Anja's withered breasts quavered as she continued moving towards her forging webs. Yes, today was a productive day indeed...

[Dianelopa]

Dianelopa had been offered a job as a waitress at a little street side shop. She took it because she needed bishani and food, and that seemed to be her only chance to survive in this city that was so strange for her. She was out of her element indeed. There were too many people, too much noise, and she seemed to always be distracted by the guests who expected fast and efficient service, who complained, whined or pinched her which was the worst of all. Why did they do that, she wondered.
She had a tray with a couple drinks she was bringing to some customers when someone behind her pinched her ass. She jumped just enough to shake the tray and one of the glasses wobbled, fell to the floor and splattered into a thousand pieces of glass while the dark liquid slid away into a drain on the floor.
"Vavilduhabn", she muttered under her breathe. It was something her father always said when he was upset and that she thought is what anyone would say when they were annoyed. She stood there a couple seconds staring at the disappearing liquid, not knowing what to do.
The noise of the place turned into a diffuse buzz that hurt her head. When the liquid was mostly gone she looked up to see a man staring at her. He was extremely well-dressed and Dianelopa could see his long thin legs stretched out beyond the edge of the table as if they wouldn't fit underneath it. Her first thought was, I'll trip over his legs for sure if I have to go over there. Her second thought was, why is this all so difficult for me, I would never, ever trip over anything if I was out in the woods, the fields or the prairie.

[Anja]

Benjamin sipped away the dregs of his drink and winked at the serving girl that was suddenly giving him what he thought to be an inordinate amount of attention. Not that kind of wink, mind you. The girl was far too young for the benign old elf. Merely a grandfatherly, reassuring wink, one that managed to say, with suavity, both "you're doing fine kiddo," and "mind gettin' me a refill?"

On closer inspection, she looked a little older than seventeen, but her mannerisms were not those of a city girl. Perhaps from one of the outlying farms, trying to make a name for herself in the city? One must begin somewhere... Benjamin's face grew solemn and sad as he thought of all the young girls he had seen begin in Marn like this. All too many ended up destitute, resorting either to beggary, or to the oldest profession. But this one had strength in her countenance, resilience in her bearing. The superficial state of confusion and helplessness did nothing to fool Benjamin. Perhaps she had some farm tricks that could help him find what he was looking for...

[Dianelopa]

He winked at me Dianelopa thought. Why? She looked more closely at his face, an elf, a bit wizened, grandfatherly. He looks friendly enough. It struck her then, that in a way he reminded her of her father. It wouldn't be pinches he was after. Then she noticed that his glass was empty and he seemed to be wanting something. Yeah, maybe a refill? From me? she thought. Maybe I ought to ask. But there was a certain heaviness in her feet almost gluing them to the floor. It would take an effort to make that first step. Her head was still buzzing too.
There was something about him though that made her think I'm going to take that step. I'm going over there. I won't trip over his legs. And her feet came unglued. One step, two steps, and a few more and she was there, close enough to say, would you like a refill?
He was already pushing the glass toward her hands. Dianelopa picked it up and still feeling as if she were in a daze walked to the bar and got a refill for him. She avoided the man who had pinched her weaving among milling customers and servers. She put the filled glass back on the table in front of the elf.

[Anja]

As the girl returned with Benjamin's drink, he handed her some coins in payment, holding them out to her rather than rudely scattering them across the tabletop as so many customers did. "You know, this place may not be the cream of the cream, but it's a cut above the Rat, and they don't tolerate scum. I bet you could talk to your employer and get old Pinchfinger over there booted out."

He rolled and lit a sheaf of finely cut leaf, of the rich, burnt orange variety peculiar to the fields of Shim. He had scored a pouch from Sandwheel, a longtime acquaintance and customer that lived out in the woods there yonder. Savouring the taste, he leaned back and thanked the girl for his drink.

"You from a farm?" It was a lucky guess, if anything, but Benjamin was feeling rather smooth today, and he made it convincingly. His drink sat, for the moment, untouched on the smooth glass table, rippling ever so slightly as a dung cart passed by the enclosed patio, pulled by a pair of gentle-looking donkeys.

________________________________

The rumblings of the passing cart were also noticed by a certain subterranean old dwarf. Her rough legs tensed and buckled as she felt the vibrations of eight hoofed feet and two great wooden wheels pass by her Benjamin. But that was not the most interesting vibration present. No, he was chatting it up with someone. A... a young female, perhaps? Human, no doubt. She had to strain even for these details, at such length, but kept her claw where it was positioned on her feeler web, careful to feel for the next precise rippling that would suggest the girl's movement, or Benjamin's.

Anja was growing weary of waiting around. Impatient is a strong word, especially for one with the blood of a Greatweaver in her veins. Just weary, the type of fatigue that comes with age. I dearly hope, for Benjamin's sake, that this little girl is telling him all about magpies...

[Dianelopa]

Dianelopa looked with surprise at the coins he was holding out to her. No one had done that before. This job had been pretty grim so far. Men throwing the coins on the table and ignoring her, or if they didn't ignore her, then it was ill-mannered attempts to to pinch, feel, use her in a way that was repulsive.
She tooks the coins from his hand and listened as he spoke, friendly sonorous words. But she had no idea what to say to him. She was certain that if she complained to her employer she'd be booted and not the customers. So she just watched silently as he rolled up some leaves, set them on fire and then put the thing in his mouth. She'd never seen anyone do this before. Yes, she'd seen people put leaves in a pipe, but putting them into his mouth? She was afraid he'd burn his lips. However, he seemed in fact to be enjoying it.

"You from a farm?"

It was a simple question, more intelligible than most of the things that she'd experienced since leaving the farm, so she answered, "yes. We have a farm near Shim. At the edge the prairie where the fertile land ends," she added. "But it's a big farm." He sucked in the smoke from his cigar and blew it out again, creating a little cloud between them. "Do you have a farm?" Dianelopa asked hoping that maybe there'd be something in common between them. She was feeling more comfortable with this old elf.

[Anja]

As Benjamin exhaled dreamy, spiral memoirs of the fine sheaf tobacco, he hung on to the girl's every word, as a gentleman should. A big farm, eh? he thought. He took the first sip of his drink, a frothy and light ale that settled him even further into his sunny streetside chair, and his mind perked up from its mid-afternoon coffeeshop reverie as the girl asked him the same thing he had asked her.

"Ah, no, miss, no farm. I'm a city boy through and through, of the old academia. But now I think on it, I've got a problem that might require some farmhand experience in solving."

Before continuing, he looked about the patio. It wasn't all that crowded, and there wasn't any mean old boss figure lurking in the gentled shadows of the establishment's inner sanctum that might berate the young lady for taking the time to chat to a customer, so he continued: "I'm looking to catch a magpie. Any ideas?"

[Dianelopa]

"A magpie? What do you want with a magpie? It will steal your ring," Dianelopa said, noticing that he wore a big shiny silver ring sporting several sparkling stones on his finger." But then her face flushed over with embarrassment, certain that even noticing the ring was none of her business and telling him it would be stolen by a bird was even worse. "Ooou," she said and hid her face in her hands. I ought to flee she thought. He'll think I'm a bad girl. She took a step backwards and took her hands down so she could see where she was going. But first she saw his face looking bemused and certainly not angry. "I, I," she said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean...
She stopped talking and looked at him again. He was waiting patiently for her to continue with a slight smile on his face. "I can catch you a magpie," she burst out. But then once again she felt like she was talking without thinking first. What was it about this elf that got her so flustered, she'd go and say things that she was sure should not be said to a stranger. "But, but... I haven't seen any here in Marn. I don't know if I could find one here. Out in the country, that's a good place, not here" she said. "...So I guess I can't," she whispered and this time she did turn abruptly and started walking away.

[Anja]

Benjamin was a patient man; debonair, even. It was therefore with no self-conscious trepidation, or even a glimmer of worry, that he allowed Dianelopa to fluster at length over, first, his decorous ring, without him suspecting covetous thoughts, second, his question, without growing weary, and lastly, his smile, without losing said smile. Rather, he took the girl's perturbation and handled it as though with kid gloves, and when she finished with a whispered "...So I guess I can't," he let her walk off.

After all, it wasn't as though he didn't know where to find her. She had a point about there not being too many magpies around the city though. Perhaps a visit to Sandwheel was in order... But to catch one, that was rather beyond him. It would seem that he was in need of the mysterious country girl's services, if only for a little while longer. One never knew where things might lead. It could be the beginning of a beautiful business partnership.

Staring into his beer, he left his musings behind for a time, and brought the glass down to a pleasant half full. The chair creaked a little under him, and he took it as a friendly hello, settling into it a little further, with a smile. The receding sunbeams played with the jewels on his signet ring, and he obliged their idyllic games by dancing with his fingers on the clear tabletop. Yes, the glass was indeed half-full...

[Dianelopa]

Dianelopa went back to her business serving customers, though a bit absent-mindedly because she couldn't help sending a furtive glance at the elf as often as possible. He seemed content enough and his glass was not emptying quickly. She was calmer now and her mind was beginning to function, not that her thoughts were clear, more like fireworks that explode and fade, explode and fade. He wants a magpie. Odd. Maybe he wants it to steal for him. Father doesn't like magpies because they steal. He always chased them away. Whenever one was nearby in the garden mother said..what did she say? It was something strange. She never explained. Maybe it's a..maybe it's Beleenda's. Something like that. What did it mean? I can catch a magpie. I wonder if he wants it alive or dead. I can do it either way. That's easy out in the fields. Maybe I should tell him I could do it. Just not here in the city. If he really wants one. Magpies bring good luck. Maybe that's what he wants - good luck.
The elf's glass was still half full. Magpies bring bad luck, she thought. Or is it good luck. Good luck for some and bad luck for some. One is bad luck. If he only wants one it's bad luck. That's it. Five you get married. Married? Dianelopa took a look at the elf again. He's old, she thought. Too old. His glass is still not empty. Why doesn't he empty it. I could go over if he did and offer to fill it.

[Anja]

Of course, Benjamin's ale didn't stay half-full for long, especially when furtive glances from the young lady indicated a distinct possibility of it becoming completely full, and bearing with it further conversation, should he only bother to finish it. So it was with great expectancy that he downed the remaining half and gently placed the empty glass on the table. He stubbed out the agitated remains of his sheaf in a tasteful, stained-glass ashtray, and shifted himself around a bit so that his right foot rested on his left knee, and the wicker chair back was supporting most of his weight. It creaked gently as his back leaned into it, and he caught Dianelopa's rather unique eye with a smile and a nod.

[Dianelopa]

Don't hurry too much, Dianelopa thought, seeing the empty glass. You might end up tripping this time and making an utter fool of yourself. It's bad enough already, I think. So she looked around first to see if someone else needed to be served and indeed there was someone who'd just come in. She approached him as nonchalantly as possible, asked politely what he wanted and then went to the bar to order it. Finally with a feeling of some excitement and trepidation she strolled to the elf's table. "Would you like a refill?" she asked hoping the slight quiver in her voice wasn't noticeable.

[Anja]

Was the girl nervous? Quite the innocent farmhand indeed... He looked her up and down, making the third snap character judgment of the day, and saw in her no malice. Her hair looked about five times older than the rest of her, but he had seen sights far more discordant than this. Well, third time's the charm.

"Would you like a refill?"

Benjamin did not feel like beating around the bush anymore. The girl was curious, and he thought the time was ripe to cut circumlocution from the vine and let it fall. "I would like to hire you."

He handed her the glass as he spoke, and withdrew a little coinpurse from within a finely woven, linen breast pocket. "I can pay you well for the acquisition of certain things, especially live animals, and, first and foremost on my mind today, a magpie. I'm guessing you're fairly new here, and trying to get on your feet. I, on the other hand, am an old city slicker, through and through, but I can't seem to get my claws on certain slippery little creatures necessary to my master's endeavours. Do you see how we could help each other out here?"

[Dianelopa]

"I can catch magpies," Dianelopa said resolutely this time. The sight of the bishani surprised her, but it was offering her a way to live doing something she'd much prefer to serving drinks in a little dark and smelly place, smelly to her anyway. So she didn't want the opportunity to escape her. "But I can't bring you one," she added. "That's bad luck. You don't want bad luck do you? I don't," she added. She stopped talking, caught her breathe and then asked, "But what do you want them for?" Dianelopa had hunted a lot at home and the animals she caught enhanced her family's diet. She couldn't imagine another use for them. But this man didn't seem like he needed them to eat, and his master was unlikely to as well, so she was a little puzzled.

[Anja]

Benjamin furrowed his brow a little, and leaned his head to one side, before attempting to alleviate the girl's curiosity, without revealing details which might... discomfort her. His smile was genuine. He wished to help the girl out, and in order to succeed in that regard, he needed to avoid scaring her off.

"Miss, I am afraid I cannot say. My master has lived for as long as she has solely by wreathing all that she does in an impenetrable veil of secrecy. Oftentimes, even I, who have been in her service for well nigh a century, am denied knowledge of many aspects of her operation. But I assure you, it is nothing sinister. Though her prowess and skill are formidable, she is, and will always be, but a humble weaponsmith. The inner workings of her craft are not for us to know. She wishes a live magpie, and my job is to fetch it for her."

Of course, Benjamin knew bloody well what would happen to the magpie, and he knew that it would likely suffer a fair bit before the Sousing was complete, but he also knew how not to spoil a business opportunity. It was about time he started delegating some of his duties to subordinates, be they strong of stomach or no. And as for bad luck...

"Yes, and as for bad luck, Miss, I trust that you will leave that particular woe to my personal care. As long as you are under my employ, you also reap the benefits of being close to the inner circle of a rather zealous gathering of protectors and friends. No harm will befall you, I give you my word as a philosopher and a gentleman."

At these words, Benjamin withdrew from his coinpurse what was probably two days' pay for the waitress, and held them up in the fleeting reflections cast by the sunlit glass table. "This is for one live magpie. You can even keep your regular job here. You need only meet me tomorrow afternoon, at this very same table, with the bird in tow. Oh, and preferably restrained, in some manner."

He added this afterthought as he recalled the last time he attempted to fetch Anja a bird. A great, big swan it was. Jaws wide enough to fit an aubergine, and his buttocks still bore the scars to prove it.