The Mimic Becomes a Merchant King

Lady Greatglow was the very image of a gnomish noblewoman, adorned in a silken red dress that had been finely tailored to her modest proportions and marked by a silver trim on her sleeves and skirt. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a pleat and had a few ornamental flowers resting in it. Flowers in the hair were a common fashion trend among gnome women, though hers had been sculpted from fine gold.

She regarded the two men in silence from behind her half-moon spectacles, slowly sipping her tea. After a long silence she eventually said "I am quite surprised to see that the real Elijah DiVenture has come to visit me. I thought it was some sort of juvenile prank."

"What, do people often pretend to be me?" he asked, chuckling.

"It has been known to happen. But you wouldn't have made it through the gate if Hedgerim thought you were an imposter."

The footman who had led them nodded from his position by the door. "He can tell?" Coin asked, watching the footman with newfound wariness.

"He has a keen eye for people." Lady Greatglow took another sip.

"Well, you are said to be meticulous when it comes to your staff. It's one of your many admirable qualities," said Elijah, offering her a warm smile.

"Flattery, is it?" the gnome asked, tilting her head. Her face betrayed no emotion, a mask of carved stone.

Elijah's smile didn't falter. "Sincerity," he calmly replied. "So, please, tell us more about this artwork you want us to ship."

The older woman was silent for a few moment, her gaze roaming to Coin. The mimic stiffened. He'd fought goblins, adventurers, and rats the size of wolves. Yet they were all far less imposing than the small woman staring at him. "I was told you have an apprentice. He dresses smartly, I suppose, but he doesn't look impressive otherwise. Hard to believe he'd draw the attention of a man of your stature."

"There's more to him than meets the eye," Elijah replied, not seeing the muscles in Coin's neck tensing. "Good head on his shoulders, a kind heart, and he's handy in a fight."

"Hm. Truly," Lady Greatglow replied in a blunt tone. "As to my artwork, well I consider myself a patron of the fine arts. The opera house, for instance, was funded largely by my own money. As is the Fine and Dandy Playhouse, and the Look Here Gallery. I fund painters, sculptors, and musicians."

"You..." Coin swallowed hard. "You spend quite a lot of money, in that case." Though he couldn't quite grasp why a human would spend so much on pretty pictures. By the look of them, they weren't even edible. Not even the ones with food on the canvas.

"They are worthwhile investments, young man. If I nurture young talent, then the artwork of said talent will grow rather valuable in time. And, moreover, I've more than made up what I spent on those institutions from my cut of the profits in ticket sales."

Investments... Coin rolled the word around in his brain, probed it with a metaphorical tongue as if he was searching for a piece of food caught between his teeth. A way to spend money to make money. If one could find a profitable venture to invest in, at least.

Elijah had warned him that a poor investment could be ruinous. And there was an inherent risk to being an investor in anything. A sense of responsibility that would dangle overhead, like the blade of a guillotine.

"In this case, however, I'm selling the works of a young artist who fell out of favour with me. Immensely talented, of course. Alas, he simply couldn't help himself when it came to women. The scandal!"

Elijah feigned shock, pressing a hand to his chest. "Oh, goodness, one of those types? Well I hear artists tend to be... romantic sorts," he said.

Coin nodded knowledgeably, despite having no idea what in damnation either of them were talking about.

"Well, at any rate, I can't stand to look at his works anymore. But a companion of mine, a Ser Gilly Froth, has a fondness for controversial things. So he's willing to pay a tidy sum for them. Saves me having to get the things burned. The sum between us has already been agreed upon, but getting the things safely shipped northward has been another matter entirely."

"Uh..." Coin raised a hand. "Well... I know the roads are dangerous but there's probably plenty of mercenaries who could make the trip safer."

"Indeed. And were it not for Archchancellor Velasco's laws dictating that shipments and sales of a certain value require oversight and involvement from the Mercantile Guild, I would likely have gone that route," she replied.

"Velasco likes to keep a close eye on the wealthiest folks of Sentinel. Trying to move large quantities of gold under his nose is rather... unwise," said Elijah.

Coin slowly nodded. Everything he'd heard about Velasco made him increasingly uneasy. The man who'd taken the reins of the kingdom during the chaos of a revolution, and since then had secured his newfound throne with great care and effort. He doubted he'd enjoy ever meeting the man.

"So. As you can imagine, many individuals are seeking to take this job. It's a healthy payout promised, and it will reflect well on the reputation of any man who can do the job successfully. But why should I entrust the task to you, as oppose to the larger companies who have petitioned me? You have a grand reputation, Elijah, but you are just two men."

Coin was about to say 'two men and a kobold', but he doubted that would have gone over well.

An idea popped into his head, and the mimic spoke without thinking. "Those other companies... they're large, they're resourceful, but they're arrogant. They don't actually care about what you want, or you as a client."

The gnome tilted her head, her brows perking slightly. "Oh?" she asked. Elijah was staring at him with a blank expression.

"Well, I mean... when that last guy came out, seemed to me he wasn't impressed by you, or your home. He just saw you as a chance to make some money. A man like that, I feel, would do a poor job. His heart wouldn't be in it, he'd just try and get the job done in a cheap and lazy way. Elijah and me, well, we put a lot of care towards any client we work with. If we take this job for you, it'll be the most important thing in the world to us."

"Eloquent," Lady Greatglow said, nodding her head slowly. "I admire the passion of your words. But, in my experience, words can very easily be hollow."

"Yes, well, you can certainly expect such hollowness from men like Ashur. Nobody knows that man better than I... Where once he was trustworthy and kind, now he'd sell his own mother to the Bleak if he got a few coins from it."

"And yet you were the one who taught him?"

"For a time. And in my arrogance I did not see the greed slowly enveloping his heart," Elijah replied. "And by the time the rebellion happened... well, I'm sure you know what happened there."

Lady Greatglow nodded. "Indeed." She chose not to elaborate further. Perhaps things would have made more sense to Coin if he had become a human a few years earlier.

"For me, it was never about the money. It was always about... the adventure. And you know my reputation. You know I've never failed a client," Elijah added.

"I don't doubt your dedication to the job. But security is something I wish to consider. And I have to question the security two men alone can provide."

Coin raised a hand. "Well... we can deal with any threats on the road. I'm... a wizard," he admitted. And, to prove his point, he cupped his hands and focused intently on them. A pulse ran down his arms, followed by a small cyclone of wind blossoming between his palms. The gnome watched him, her expression unmoving.

Then, eventually, she motioned to the footman who took her cup away without a word. "Someone with magic becoming a merchant is certainly a rarity," she mused, tilting her head.

"Our Coin is a unique lad. And I know for a fact that he can take most anyone in a fight. In fact, I saw him take out an entire group of bandits." He hadn't seen it at all. But in business there was no harm in a little white lie to grease the wheels, apparently.

Lady Greatglow pursed her lips, reclining in her chair and making it faintly creak. "Yet you chose to become a merchant's apprentice, rather than a wizard's. That says something about your character, but I'm not sure what."

"Well... speaks to his commitment to the world of commerce, doesn't it?" Elijah asked, chuckling.

The gnome steepled her fingers together under her chin, watching Coin with such intensity that the mimic couldn't help but squirm. He still managed to hold her gaze, despite his concerns. "Alright," she eventually said. "Considering your reputation, Ser DiVenture, and the fact that your apprentice has magic on his side... I will entrust the delivery to your discretion."

Elijah's smile broadened, excitement alight in his eyes. "Truly?"

"Of course. If I'm being frank, Ashur is a horse's ass. And there's no doubt in my mind that Trask Millien of the Vendor's Association is a wretched drug user."

"He certainly was the last time I saw him," Elijah noted. "Well, worry not Lady Greatglow, we'll get the job done."

"See to it that you do. I'm entrusting my valuables to you largely because of your reputation, Ser DiVenture." She leaned forward, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Elijah. The old man grew tense under her scrutiny. "A reputation that, I assure you, will be thoroughly destroyed if you fail me."