
The diminutive sailor doll and the shipwright headed to town. They walked uphills from the harbor district and after a few blocks imps came into view, pestering the locals.
“Is that magical construct flammable?” A red-skinned imp stopped Donald and doll-Alex. “I think it would be best to entrust it to the fire clan as a sign of appreciation for how great I am.”
“Honored imp, what you say is right.” The old shipwright bowed low. “In fact, I am headed to the brothel to present Alice to the madam currently.”
The imp paled, obviously intimidated by the mention of the brothel. “Of course old man.” He turned and walked away hastily. “Carry on.” The imp muttered almost inaudibly.
“Are you going to give me to the fire clan?” Alex sounded betrayed, but continued following.
“Of course not.” Donald shook his head. “The only safe way to deal with the imps is to name drop someone that they don’t want to anger. For some reason they are all afraid of offending the brothels.”
“Are the brothels run by demons?” Alex’s wooden feet tapped on the cobblestone road.
“No.” The old man continued on. “I’ve never seen any red-skinned demons there. It is run by beautiful women. But for some reason none of the imps want to risk offending them.”
Alex thought this might mean they are possessed like Yvne was. If she remembered what Fufi said then that would mean at least a second tier demon.
They walked down the main square and saw some humans dressed in rags shouting gibberish to the passing crowd.
“arrependam-se. Os demônios estão aqui. Orem por redenção. Somente a fé pode nos salvar agora. Este mundo está condenado sem a ajuda dos deuses da luz. Taiwan é a verdadeira China. O partido comunista é usufruidor..” A thin man with a beard shouted.
“Why is that man shouting nonsense?” Alex tried not to make eye contact with the crazy sounding guy.
“He took a class that is banned, but they can’t do much about it.” Donald made a sad face. “He is probably a martyr.”
“I’ve never heard of that class.” Alex said.
“It is one of the classes people take when they don’t have hope left, like survivor.” Donald explained. “Basically, they think they can only bring value to the world by dying to prove a point.”
“But if they die, then that is it for them. Why would someone throw their life away?” Alex kept walking, leaving the ranting man behind.
“I only know what people have said in rumors.” Donald continued walking. “The biggest thing about the class though is that it can inflict a status effect on an attacker called ‘doom’. People who have that status effect don’t live much longer. I heard a story about an imp that killed a martyr and within a week he suffered the same fate.”
“Why is he speaking a different language?” Alex asked.
“You are full of questions.” Donald chuckled. “Usually what happens is that one of the court mages will come and use a demonic curse to afflict them with something called ‘garble’ that causes them to speak in a way that no one can understand.”
“Wouldn’t that risk them getting the doom affliction?” Alex kept walking.
“Why do you think they have humans do it instead of demons?” Donald’s tone sounded sad. “Also, the only way to get it for sure if the rumors are true is to kill the person.”
“Do you know which god gives the class?” Alex kept peppering the man with questions.
“We are almost there.” Don sounded slightly annoyed but answered anyway. “But to answer your question, I’m not sure. It definitely isn’t one of the legal ones. But there are small shrines hidden away that people can go to.”
“I’m surprised that they are not just destroyed by the demons.” Alex saw a fancy inn-like structure down the block and figured that was the brothel.
“Only stupid people would do that.” Donald approached the door. “The quickest way to die is to offend a deity. Destroying their likeness is a good way to invite divine retribution. Everyone knows that. Have you been living with your head in the clouds your whole life?”
“Um, no, just have been living a bit of an isolated life.” Alex chuckled, aware that she’d been asking suspicious questions. This is yet again another reminder that she’d make a terrible spy. “One last question. If certain deities are banned then how does that work?”
“It is mostly social consequences.” Donald said. “For example, is someone said they followed Catalina then they would be outcast. No one would want to work with them. There used to be a church to the goddess of purity in the noble district but they just let it fall into disrepair. It is still there, but the roof needs replacement and no one dares go in there because they shunning that could come from being associated with the hero’s goddess would be social suicide to anyone. Maybe a child would go in there not knowing what it is but anyone that isn’t ignorant wouldn’t dare. Everyone just pretends like it is not there.”
“Things are really bad in this city.” Alex said solemnly.
“All of Jass is in a bad way.” The old man approached the brothel. “Sometimes a county falls, then the residents come here seeking a better life. But then they get spurned for unreasonable demands like wanting to not starve. It is no wonder that their children would pick a class with the expectation that they have no future.”
Donald knocked on the door and a scantily dressed lady ushered them inside.
“Good day masters.” The beautiful lady curtseyed, a sultry smile on her face. “What is your pleasure sir?”
The shipwright regarded the woman respectfully. “Is the mistress in?”
She nodded. “So conversational intercourse then.”
The old man grimaced a bit. “You could say that, There is a potential project we’d like to get approval for.”
“Right this way then.” The woman answered in her sultry voice and gestured to the hallway.
Donald knew where to go and after a few turns down a hallway that had some embarrassing noises coming from behind closed doors they made it to a door at the end of a hallway titled ‘Madam Iris.’ He knocked once.
“Enter.” A female voice from within sounded out.
After opening the door, the shipwright and doll entered. Lavish decorations adorned the opulent office. A curvy lady held out her ring covered hand and gestured for them to move forward.
“My favorite ship builder.” The woman cooed. “What brings you here today?”
Alex could see the man’s eyes wander.
He awkwardly smiled and stammered. “Well, my new friend Alice here has a proposition?”
Iris leaned forward to look down on the diminutive doll. “You don’t seem like the type to be doing much propositioning, a little small. Hmmm. Speak.”
Alex tried to take a big breath before speaking but forgot that she couldn’t. “I was thinking that the shipwrights guild might want to take advantage of an opportunity I’m presenting to them.”
“Go on.” The woman twirled a lock of her hair.
“I brought a model of a ship, one with a swift design.” Alex spoke quickly. “I’d like to see it built but I don’t have the manpower to see it through.”
“So you want to hire the shipwright’s guild? How big is this ship?” The woman sounded a little disinterested.
“It is about 200 feet long and 40 feet at the widest point.” The doll continued.
“And the draft?” Iris asked.
“About 15 feet.” Alex added.
“That is quite a large ship.” She looked at the shipwright. “Have you ever handled something of that size?”
Donald nodded, looking a little hot and bothered. “Yes Ma'am. It has been a long time and this ship is a lot sleeker than the slower lumbering ships that used to frequently come here to trade.”
“I’m guessing you are looking for investors.” The beautiful woman slowly waved an arm. “In the past I would think 50,000 gold coins might be enough to fund the project. But currently wood is as expensive as gold because of the fire clan.”
“Alice offered to help with that.” Donald spoke when she finished. “She says she’s got a bunch of lumber that could be used for the project.”
“50 percent of it would have to go to the kingdom.” Iris spoke. “Would that still be enough?”
Alex shook her head. “I only brought enough to build the ship.”
“Do you plan to buy it back with gold?” Iris chuckled. “You’d have to have a king’s ransom with how valuable it would be.”
“No, I just want it to be built.” Alex held her little hands together. “I made the model and it is at the drydock for the shipwright’s guild. I was thinking Donald could take it ashore and use it to create a full sized version with the help of the shipwright’s guild.”
“Are you saying what I think you are saying?” She smiled predatorily. “That the kingdom can completely fund the venture and you’ll supply the lumber. You know that’ll mean that we’ll completely own the ship when it is finished.”
Alex nodded.
“Just to be certain, all the wood that comes ashore will be owned by the kingdom of Jass.” Iris clarified.
“I’m fine with that.” Alex said. “Though if you completely own it I’d like to be compensated for the design work and the materials.”
“You can work things out with the harbormaster.” She wrote up a contract and slid it forward on her desk. “Sign here.” She placed a feather and inkwell next to the document.
Alex looked at the contract. It said what they talked about. Any wood would belong to the kingdom, they would pay 10,000 gold for the model and an absurd amount of wood to build it. Alex thought the price was a little low, considering wood was as expensive as gold according to Iris. She signed it, though she had to kneel on top of the desk to do so. It was a bit embarrassing.
After the mistress took the paper, she wrote another note, stuck it in an envelope and sealed it with wax. “Take this and the lumber to the customs house.”
“Thank you.” Alex bowed, and Donald picked her up off the desk.
“Now go get your lumber.” Iris waved them off. “I’ve got to get things going on the kingdom’s end.”
They quickly exited the establishment and started heading down the road. Donald didn’t put the doll down, which was fine, because the letter took both hands to hold and a full sized human could walk faster than a toddler sized doll.
Alex regarded the wax seal. “What heraldary is this?”
“That’s the royal seal.” Donald walked briskly downhill, back towards the shore. “You’ve not seen it before.”
Alex boggled at the important mark. “Why would a matron of a brothel have a royal seal?”
“Miss Iris is on very good terms with the monarch.” The shipwright said. “And it is an open secret that the king’s harem is who really runs the kingdom. None of the demons in town will cross them. You couldn’t get a better backer.”
They made it back to the harbor and Alex headed onto the toy ship. They made a bit of a show of going out toward the bar in the mist. Ariel confirmed that the nymphs had already placed the tied together bundle of lumber in a way that made it look like it was coming from sea and not from up river. After waiting a day to make it look a bit more realistic, The little toy ship came in with a much larger bundle of logs behind it.
Alex thought it was a little tacky. That no one would believe a toy ship could pull a load like that with just a few sails. The sea elf didn’t agree, stating that a good enough crew with the right skills could do better.
They came back into port, docked at the drydock after the logs were secured to a pier.
“Do you know where the custom’s office is?” Alex hunted down Donald in the shipwright’s guild.
“I’ll take you there.” Donald got up and walked outside. He squinted at the logs near the drydock. “Wow, you really came through there. I appreciate it. There is almost no work in the yards. You’ll give a lot of carpenters and apprentices a chance to level they wouldn’t have had before. It was looking like the art of shipbuilding might die out in the kingdom of Jass in a generation.”
At the custom’s office, Alex and Donald entered and a shady looking man regarded them. “What’s with the Doll Mckay?”
“Hey!” Alex protested, slightly insulted.
“This is Alice.” They’ve got a project approved by the kingdom. “It is all right here.”
The doll handed the customs officer the letter.’
“Hmm.” The man opened the letter and then looked at the doll. “It says here that the doll is now owned by the kingdom and is to be delivered to madam Iris’s private chambers.”
“Wait what?” Wooden-doll Alex panicked. “That’s not what we agreed.”
Alex squirmed, trying to get free from the large shipwright.
“Sorry Alice.” Donald didn’t sound proud. “I have to look out for my people first. And if Iris wants the doll then she’ll get what she wants. Even the fire clan doesn’t cross her.”
He handed over the doll who the customs officer put in a cage.
“It says here that if you want to collect the sum owed to you.” The customs officer read the letter a bit more. “Then you can show up here in person.”
Rather than give the smug looking customs officer the satisfaction of a reply, Alex decided to cut her losses. The money would have been nice, but it was obviously a trap. She ended the [possess doll] skill and came back to her senses in the bathysphere.
Seeing Alex stur, Ariel spoke. “How’d it go?”
Alex frowned. “Not great. They took the doll and kept the money. Said that if I wanted to collect the payment then to show up in person.”
“Yeah, not a great idea.” The sea elf made a face like she swallowed something sour. “So what now?”
“It sounds like they still want to build the ship.” Alex thought Donald was honest about that. He sounded sincere. “I’ll take the dolls and clean up the ritual circles and we can head back. Sound like a plan?”
“Yeah.” Ariel nodded. “Just toss them in the water, I'll get them and we can take Merumeru’s vessel back.”
Alex nodded. Luckily the mist was still very thick. With some cleaning, a sailor doll had the ritual circles removed, and a few minutes later all the crew had abandoned ship. Within the hour they were loaded into the bathysphere and headed up stream.
Aqua rode the mini-sub like a bucking bronco ride. Apparently she could use her captain skills to give the ship a bit more speed to fight the current.
They spent the rest of the day heading upstream, only a snorkel for the bathysphere in the thick mist above water. It was very stealthy.