The Midnight Sun

Madame Naoki nods when Alden speaks of the boutique. She had heard a lot about it as of late. Perhaps she would have to visit sometime soon. Or, maybe not, she muses, as an image of her nearly-overflowing wardrobe passes through her mind.

“Well, as far employment goes, you've got a lot of options. You mentioned the last time we spoke, you have a background in assassination and covert operations. If you’d like to continue in that line of work, I know a group that would make excellent use of those talents. Their business practices are on par with my own; their mission is one that I admire, and one that I think you may also appreciate. I could easily put you in touch with their administration; and I have no doubt, with how you described your accumulated experiences, that they would have little trouble justifying your employment.”

“But, you also said that you were looking for a job in another profession, one without killing. Which is where the options begin to appear. And as I mentioned, I’m fairly well acquainted with most of the best businesses here in the city, and run the best one myself. If you’d like to take part in what we do here at The Midnight Sun, there are always openings for operations personnel. Wait staff, cooks, dishwashers, bouncers, table managers, card dealers, that sort of thing. Or, if you’d prefer, I’ve recently begun hiring multitalented individuals such as yourself as Operatives, paying them to hang around and help in whatever ways they’re able. The needs of the group vary a lot, day to day, so it’s helpful to have a handful of competent individuals around who are prepared to fill in for others, do odd jobs and the like.

“Alternately, you might consider working with Mr. Cresno, across the hall. He does a lot of work with gathering information from around and making it usable to us. However, one thing he lacks is a proper set of eyes.”

She chuckles a bit, at the anatomical joke she didn’t intend to make before clarifying.

“I mean to say, I’m not suggesting that you look at things for him because he can’t see, but rather, that he’s a spymaster without a spy. Your skills would be very useful to him, I think. That may be a good fit, because your skills of concealment would be put to excellent use, but not necessarily to bring harm to others.

Naoki pauses for a moment, considering how much information she’d like to share with Alden. She decides to keep things vague, lowering her voice a bit to signify the semi-classified nature of her words, glancing sidelong at Davous, to ensure he’s still asleep.

“And if that sounds a bit dull for your taste, you might consider sticking around for a little while. Keep this following information to yourself, but sometime in the near future, we’re going to be expanding our operations into a new area, and I think you would be very well suited for the sort of work we’ll be doing soon. I think it would align neatly with the desires to do good you spoke about before. I would be happy to cover your expenses as an Operative until that time when the job I have in mind becomes available.”

Raising her voice to a normal level again, she continues.

“As I said, I’m also in touch with a bunch of excellent businesses around the city who may be looking for employees. If one of them strikes your fancy in your wanderings, you need only ask. There’s a particular botanist I know; Miss Green, I believe I mentioned her in our earlier meeting. She might be interested in hiring an assistant to help with things around her greenhouse, although she hasn’t specifically mentioned looking for one. It might be worth asking, if you’re interested in botany as a profession.

As she speaks, she waves the bottle of ink around. The contents slosh around within their container, providing inky emphasis to her words.

“Oh, and as one last possible path of action, if you’ve got the mind to start your own business, in whatever field, I would likely be willing to invest in whatever... entrepreneurial… venture you may have in mind.”

Setting the bottle of ink down on the desk, she leans back in the chair and considers for a moment, before concluding her piece.

“That’s all of the options I can think of at the moment. If you were to ask for my personal suggestion, I would suggest that you sign on as an Operative until the other job I mentioned becomes available, or work with Mr. Cresno. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I truly believe that from an empirical standpoint, the benefits of working with the Midnight Sun far outweigh the benefits of working elsewhere. I treat my employees well.”

“Of course. Funny you should suggest such a thing, Miss Skarlet just recently finished with something similar, and it resulted in her current post, down as the hostess. It wouldn’t be any trouble to have some people show you what they do. Perhaps you’ll find something you like. Give me a moment to write up the appropriate documents, here.”

Madame Naoki uncorks the bottle of ink she had been waving around, and begins to draft a new set of contracts for Alden. They’re essentially the three documents she’s presented to every other employee to date. She completes with the information form first, and slides that across to Alden with another quill so he can fill it out as she finishes the two contracts.

“Mark the fields you don’t remember with ‘Unknown’ or something similar.”

As she continues down the pages, she’ll sometimes take a moment to explain the term she’s writing to Alden in an attempt to preemptively clear up any questions he might have and allow him to sign with a greater understanding of the agreements.

“Here, under job description, I’m putting ‘Operative’ and not specifying much about what you’re expected to do. We can make an addendum later, if you decide to specialize in any way.”

“Along with monetary compensation, you’ll also receive food from the kitchen free of charge, and a room on the second floor. Are there any special conditions I should be aware of, as far as your housing goes? I don’t mean to pry, but why didn’t you sleep at the Inn?”

Taking the form, she scans it, noting how many fields Alden declined to fill out.

“You know, if you don’t fill out your birthdate, I can’t give you a birthday bonus. It must be strange, though, not remembering this much about your past. … This all seems to be in order.”

Filing the completed paperwork away in a folder she labels with his name, Madame Naoki leans over to reach into her desk once again. From a drawer, she pulls out a box of assorted jewelry. The same collection of baubles and trinkets she displayed to Cyronin and Artaxerxes, which she had gotten a box for since then.

“I don’t remember if you’ve been made aware, but we use a system of magical gems to communicate telepathically. All employees wear them. I have this earring, Skarlet has her necklace, the gem is usually embedded in a bit of jewelry or some other trinket. I encourage you to either select one of these, or just take a loose gem and have it attached to something yourself.”

“After you’ve chosen, I’ll take you across the hall to meet Mr. Cresno and have your gem attuned, make sure it’s all working satisfactorily, and then down to the second floor to show you your room. As far as that goes, I’ll tell housekeeping not to disturb your room unless asked to. The door locks, and the room should be pretty secure. If you find any issues that would prevent you from being comfortable there, please let me know so we can deal with them.”

She stands, and offers her hand across the desk.

“I think that about covers everything we have to do here. Welcome aboard, Alden.”

Reese withdrew his hand and shrugged. He was quite accustomed to people refusing to grasp it, but he had to admit that this was the first time someone had done so out of consideration for his well-being. "Ah well. At least the parts snap back together easily, eh?"

The lich returned to his seat, hands folding under his bony chin. "A proper quandary. Tell me, does this interference only occur when the items touch your skin? It would be possible, perhaps, to sustain a levitation charm. To cause the gem to stick around you, but not touch." He waggled the fingers of his left hand in the air. "If I layered an invisibility web overtop it, the gem would be nearly as well hidden as if you were to, say, have it set in an amulet worn under the shirt."

"Really?" Skarlet is surprised Maelik would have an interest in Lum'Valia. "I mean, I dunno. If you wanna try."

Skarlet would wave bye to Maelik when he went back to the kitchen.

"I have a sort of... field around me. Nobody ever educated me on it - so I'm clueless as to how it works. All I know is that I can expand it or contract it around me at a moment's notice." Cyronin thinks for a minute. "You know, the enchantment on my sword is never affected by the field. Perhaps you could add the contact enchantment to the jewel in the pommel?"

Cyronin drew his sword and handed it to Reese for inspection. He would find that the enchantments ensured the blade never dulled or broke, and that it held an immense reservoir of magical energy within the blue gemstone embedded in the pommel. The blade was made of a strange type of blue steel that shone brightly in the candlelight.

Through their gems, Skarlet and Cyronin the Blue receive a message.

“At your earliest convenience, please report to the supply alley, just outside the kitchen.”

Behind The Midnight Sun building, A large open patch of cobblestoned ground stands out from the cluttered, claustrophobic landscape surrounding it. Connected to the primary roads of the city by an alley wide enough to fit two carriages side-by-side, it is here that The Sun’s many suppliers bring their wagons full of supplies. Each day, many carts piled high with alcohol, fruit, vegetables, freshly butchered meat, and other ingredients unload their contents through wide, sliding doors into the small warehouse attached to the rear of The Sun.

Today, however, instead of any small supplier’s cart, carrying fruit baskets or whiskey, a new and unusual vehicle stands in the alley.

It is a carriage, in the technical sense, in that it is a box, drawn along by wheels, by a beast of burden. It is at this point that any comparison stops. The sheer scale of the carriage, if it can be called that, dwarfs any previous bearer of the word. Where one would normally find wooden wheels, perhaps a meter tall, held together with spokes, here, you find six thick metal discs, each standing a full three meters tall.

The body of the vehicle itself is a massive, boxy looking thing, paneled with dark metal plates. Along the side, circular windows sit in a row, each about the size of a dinner plate and surrounded by a ring of reinforced metal. A large Midnight Sun logo has been painted on one of the larger panels. On the rear of the coach, a ladder has been placed below the door, leading to a small platform to allow passengers easy movement into the interior. The angular metal and thick lines of the construct give off a feeling of effortless, unlimited strength.

Instead of a standard team of horses or oxen, a single beast stands at rest in front of the carriage. It measures a full half meter tall, barely coming up to one’s waist. It seems to be a miniature horse. Appearing exactly as a horse would, but… small. The body of the pony, at least what can be seen around the harness, is a light brown, lacking dapples or pattern, and its mane is a darker shade of brown.

A great system of straps, ropes, rods and bracings connect the diminutive beast to the titanic bulk of the vehicle, making for a strange dichotomy. That any single animal short of a dragon possesses the strength to pull the great iron carriage beggars imagination. Even so, as the beast stands patiently in its harness, the whole system moves with it, reacting to even the smallest idle movement of its head, betraying some hidden incredible strength.

Some railings are visible around the top of the vehicle, suggesting that one can stand on the top. And indeed, though it isn’t visible from the ground, a small hatch allows access to the roof from inside. Additionally, on the top of the carriage, towards the rear, a metal construction of some sort is embedded into the roof. Though it doesn’t seem to serve any purpose at the moment, it may be possible to mount some sort of device there later.

As Skarlet and Cyronin would likely approach, Madame Naoki can be seen through the open door in the rear of the cabin, inspecting something on the wall. Artemis is standing at the bottom of the ladder, hands clasped behind her back. As Naoki sees the two approaching through her peripheral vision, she turns and waves enthusiastically at the pair.

“Hey, you two! Check this thing out!”

She gestures around, obviously referring to the vehicle. Her usual composure and delicacy of speech aren’t present, replaced with almost child-like excitement regarding her newest toy.

“Come, come, we’re going to the citadel. You’re both excused from whatever you were doing, we’ve got to go try this thing out! Hopefully, before Benny gets here with his ten o’clock pork delivery.”

She retreats into the interior of the cabin, expecting the two to come up the ladder. The interior of the cabin is furnished surprisingly well, considering the borderline militaristic exterior. To either side of the entryway, there’s an amount of partitioned storage, perhaps for storing suitcases and the like in. Beyond that, it opens up, into the primary sitting area. Two long couches line the walls, and a raised surface sits between them, serving as a table. The couch cushions are removable, revealing empty space within the couch to store things. Cabinets line the lower regions of the table. A door in the opposite wall leads forward, presumably toward more rooms.

It’s evident that the vehicle is designed to provide safe transit for a small group of people over long distances. To use it for small errands like this is perhaps overkill, but that doesn’t seem to bother Madame Naoki, as she reclines on one end of the long couches, and speaks again.

“Isn’t this great? So roomy! Like I said, we’re going to go visit the citadel. Skarlet, you need some citizenship papers, and I hope to secure you the appointment we discussed earlier.”

"That's a beautiful weapon, there." Reese's eye sockets roamed from one tip to the other before he took it in hand, sliding bony fingers down the length. When he touched the gem, there was a slight spark. He was quite astonished at the sheer amount of power tucked away within its depths, though the skull betrayed not the slightest hint of emotion. "This will work wonderfully. There's already some power in there to fuel it, which solves the whole problem of getting sustenance from you."

Skeletal fingers clicked together in imitation of a snap. "It shouldn't take more than a few moments. I've memorized the weave by now, so it's just a matter of splicing in the power source." Reese spun a web of power out of his hand, digits dancing in the air. It would have been invisible to most, but perhaps Cyronin, with his talents and history, had acquired a method with which to view it. The web spiraled into the gem, outer strands binding themselves to the edges of the gem set in the pommel. The process took less than half a minute.

"Assuming that the protection the sword offers will extend to my work, it's complete." The skeleton gingerly offered the blade to Cyronin, hilt-first. "Is there anything else I can help you with, while you're in here? It could save you a trip at a later date."

Even though Skarlet and Cyronin don’t seem to be nearly as excited about the carriage as she is, Naoki’s enthusiasm remains unabated. She continues to putter about the cabin, lifting things, looking under cushions and folding things up and down.

“Look at this! You fold this out, and it’s a desk! So you fold out the chair, and then the desk, and then instead of being a bed, it’s a chair and a desk!”

Once Skarlet and Cyronin are within the carriage, and after Artemis has climbed up, pulled the ladder in, and shut the door, Naoki has no hesitation in issuing the order, calling out towards the front.

“Let’s go, Stan! To the Citadel!”

Evidently, some poor sap named Stan sits on the front of the carriage, and uses the reins to direct the small horse to pull the whole thing into movement. And indeed, that’s exactly what he does. Almost immediately after the command is given, the carriage lurches into movement, out of the alley, and off down the street.

Naoki kneels upright on one of the couches, face pressed up against one of the portholes. She watches the city go past, practically bouncing now that they’re in motion.