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Post by demikara on Nov 21, 2018 18:56:14 GMT -6
Tyrus didn't grow his own herbs or mine his own stones. To that end, he did go shopping for supplies just like every other magic user out there. He just...tended to have more money and tended to work from scratch. And while the path here was tricky and it meant he took the jeep and not one of his sleeker rides, Smoked & Mirrors was definitely one of the better places to get supplies in Dallas.
He needed some new agate and carnelian, and a few others for the amulets he was making to keep the kids safe. What happened to that little girl...he would see it didn't happen again if he could help it. He couldn't protect every child in the unseen, but he was working at keeping the most vulnerable ones as safe as he could. and it meant he was low on stones to anchor the protection spells or alert/travel wards in.
The mage entered the store and wandered over to stone section, checking what they had. Hopefully they'd have enough. Then again, by now the owner should be used to him needing a bulk supply of the stones he needed for the amulets, even if he was incredibly picky about which ones would work.
He was also ow on sage, but he didn't need nearly as much of that.
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Post by littlekreen on Nov 21, 2018 19:14:19 GMT -6
Monmack heard someone come in as the mages generally did know where they were going and what they wanted. The confident steps told him it wasn't your average hungry berk looking for food. He stumped upstairs to the first floor turning down the propane stove in the kitchen so the stew would simmer for a while. He didn't like the new fangled electric cookers his big ol' stew pot worked just as well as it always did. The pressure washer made cleaning it less of a chore. The 'light bulbs' were similarly just glowing crystals with a bulb shaped glass coating. The less contiguous conduits running through the place the less trouble some of these reagents could get into. The place wasn't terribly well heated but the walls were damn thick so it hardly mattered as long as he cooked once in a while.
The faint blue crystals popped on then brightening to clearer daylight as he entered into a tall selection of geodes in glass cases and display cases for some smaller ones. His connections for stones were mostly family, of course, so he had a lot of them coming in for barter. The drawers were for delicate specimens though the expensive ones were under that fancy aluminum ceramic he also used for the windows. Crafty humans made transparent aluminum that'd stop bullets.
The older dwarf stood barely at 5 foot but the burly dwarf arms told myths about the strength of old men in the bass timber of his dwarven voice, "And here I was just thinking of crafty humans. Come to have me break your back again I hope?"
Dwarven humor tended to be flat iron and just as black so didn't really get across much of the time. He'd sent Rahal off with metal chests before given how much the man bought.
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Post by demikara on Nov 21, 2018 19:36:45 GMT -6
"I've come to break your register again and have you break my back if you have the stones." He grinned. Monmack was one of his favorite suppliers of raw goods, and had taken that spot away from a wildly talented vampire in Albany. He looked over the smaller ones, admiring some of the more delicate looking stones. Perhaps if he ever made it to teenagers he could switch to the higher priced ones. Little ones rarely cared what their ward looked like. Though he may still just stick to the simpler stones. Cut stones were good for somethings, but not for everything.
"Did you get in some more agate and carnelian for me?" The other probably had. "Or am I here for one of my smaller projects instead?" he always had something after all. A mage's work was never done. Still, if the shipment for the kids wasn't in, he had an interesting experiments he needed some calcite and citrine for. "I'm also low on copper wire. That I'm sure you have that though. I've yet to take all of that from you." Though he did still go through plenty.
In comparison to Monmack, Rahal was 6'9 and this side of skeletal. He hadn't been eating enough to keep up with the magic he was doing and it showed. The mage took poor care of his body, though of course, his pride and joy, his hair, was neatly braided back as usual.
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Post by littlekreen on Nov 21, 2018 20:44:25 GMT -6
Monmack smiled stumping over to a locked lower cupboard, "Far be it from me to disappoint a good customer. I asked around the family for a particular pull."
Two knocks on the cupboard and it clicked open then something shuffed away behind it. Door swung open on well-oiled hinges it revealed a set of fabric framed containers big enough to put one's head in. The large geodes lifted to the counter above one in each hand the cloth straining more at movement than Monmack did. One a bulbous sort with either translucent nodules hiding bright red fluid patterns. The other a pale geode with milky patches hiding black branches of manganese and iron oxide passing within the stone.
Careful not to touch the geode as to get his fingers on it he reoriented them with the cloth bag they were in, "Fire agate and a dendritic agate geode. Taken careful from earth by wooden tools. Since I know you're particular I'll cut stones out of them in the back whatever size you like. Don't worry about the labor."
He just pointed at a drawer above the geodes not wanting to break out the stepstool, "Copper wire I have. The bars came in and A few extruded containers so far, I can get them later. Also got me some other smaller ones from the same spot of earth in the drawer up here. Some other ones just above that I had on hand I picked and arranged."
The drawer lined in soft blue fabric revealed a small collection of tinier red flowing stones and milky white black treed agates. Trimmed carefully to contain the most whole of the larger crystal pattern one could save from the broken stones. A clamped glass container of fine agate dust peeks out from the rear of the drawer. He planned make some ceramic tiles with it later the runic folk could still use that quite well.
Leaving Rahal to look he went a bit further down past a thick window as light pivots ever so slightly to follow, "Carnelian I Have in horns, spheres, naturals, and obelisk. Healers consuming them for something to do with a cheap life support. So mostly the gem quality stones left."
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Post by demikara on Nov 23, 2018 8:13:22 GMT -6
"Excellent. Both agates will hold the protection spells well. And the fire agate will be particularly helpful for some of the shyer kids." Good, he always tried to boost the kids in whatever way he could. Children were precious and deserved shelter and understanding. Tyrus was a lot less understanding of adults. He examined the stones carefully, checking them with his magic for suitability for what he needed. The were excellent quality, as expected from Monmack. "I'll clean you out of the agate, if you'll let me." He said and then joined the other to inspect the Carnelian. "And gem quality stones hold magic better. They'll be good for some of the most vulnerable children. It's not like they can lose them." There were spells inlaid for that, to prevent just such a thing from happening.
Hell, the kids wouldn't actually be able to take the necklaces off. Tyrus took his spell work seriously and took his efforts at protection even more seriously. The children would be kept save. He wasn't going to have another failure on his watch. He already had the youngest in Dallas covered, all the way up to fourth grade. He was working on other cities at this rate, other population centers.
He admired the Carnelian. "I won't take all your carnelian. As you say, healers use them fairly heavily. Unless you can get more in soon, at least." It was always good doing business with Monmack.
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Post by littlekreen on Nov 24, 2018 18:05:58 GMT -6
Monmack nodded and stroked his beard, "The next shipment's on its way through the first leg by dogsled. Might be a week until it gets to Mezhdunarodnyy aeroport in Yakutsk."
He opened the other drawers so Rahal could look at them all though the drawer with bead-size nearly barren, "There's an EMT cleaning me out of these small carnelian beads. Actually asked them to send me spall to cut more of the things."
A smile and a shrug he continued, "Pretty sure they're going in a BB gun but I'm satisfied the healer's just researching an odd delivery method. They'll turn me into an ammo merchant yet even if they have to make unhurting bullets. Can't say I'm too mad about it. Healing and helping the youngins is good work. Keeping the youngins from losing things is a harder challenge!"
He opened another lower cabinet and pulled out a metal suitcase, "Here we go, this ought to be big enough. Felt lined with modular plates. You're free to clean me out of the agate I can get more the next state over."
The door closed behind him as he set it on a table in front of the window. He opened it to show a inner layer with slots into the felt on all four of its walls.The cover a fairly thick foam to fit flush over the top of any protruding gems and hold them still. The transport boxes were entirely nonmagical as to not taint their future use by prolonged physical contact. Rahal bought enough in one go that he just included them with an order. There was a count somewhere of how many he'd sent off to Rahal but they were cheap enough by the crate given what went in them he didn't keep it in mind.
He gave Rahal the eye looking the stick of a man up and down, "And if you're buying this much out of my shop you're staying for dinner. Last thing I need is to hear one of my best customers starved to death enchanting all this at once."
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Post by demikara on Nov 24, 2018 19:44:13 GMT -6
"A BB gun? That's one way of doing it. Pretty innovative. And not enough force to shatter the stones." That was good thinking. "The usual cuttings will be fine for the agate then. The kids don't need anything too fancy, and I can use magic to shape the stone once it's cut, at least a little, if anyone wants more than the simple stones." The ritual he used to set the shape into the stone could change the shape of the stone as well, though not with any true exactness. Getting it cut into a shape was always the better choice, but he was never sure what would be good for the kids. For the more part, they got rather simple shapes in hopes that they wouldn't grow out of them. "I'll be using the copper wire to hold the stones, so they just need to not be too small." He couldn't use BB sized stones, that was for sure. Anything smaller than a dime wouldn't hold the spells he needed.
He tugged on his braid, cheeks tinting pink at the invitation. "I probably should, shouldn't I? I'm going to need a few good meals before I can do any enchanting." The complexity of the magic meant that he certainly needed enough energy that a strong wind wouldn't blow him over. Right now, he rather looked like one would. "And I'm familiar with your cases. I need to return some of the ones I have." They were starting to pile up a bit. The note of the cases reminded him though.
"Before I forget it, I need some rosemary, sage, marjoram and eye bright." He looked a bit sheepish. "I have a student who is using my special training rooms. I've been going through purifying and cleansing herbs like mad, to keep them as magic neutralizing as possible." Magic neutralizing meant, of course, that any and all magic excess was absorbed and safely dissipated, so that it wouldn't linger or cause unfortunate issues.
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Post by littlekreen on Nov 25, 2018 18:52:06 GMT -6
Monmack nodded pondering the time for the simmering food, "You should before I go and have to shovel it in there, heh. Pulled pork with a hearty family recipe on pretzel bun and sweet potato casserole. There's some mulled apple cider in a pot that ought be done simmering soon. Expensive batch you can have one on the house. Made some cornbread the humans favor too since Dvergr recipes turn out 'comfort food' topside."
Shrugging he made a small bow then a smirk, "Appreciated for the containers. I can send a body round to collect the wayward boxes if you prefer. Won't have to get another crate of them shipped out."
He pondered the herbs with a scratch of his grey beard, "As for the herbs Rosemary I have a large shrub out back in a sanctified planter and a few in natural setting. Grows decent down here. Plenty of oil in stone vials I use it some of the cooking. The sage and marjoram I have plenty enough as dried there's a few farmers I can put in an order for reagent grade. I might be able to get cuttings in a day or two if you need fresh. The third I have in quantity as oil more than dried. Source is in Europe so it'll take a few days to come in."
Monmack gingerly picked up the two cloth containers of the large Agate geodes and set them on the window table, "I'll help pack up any other stones you'd like. I'll take the big-uns downstairs to the shop later and cut them in the usual distribution. Half delivery of each by tomorrow, rest the next day."
He pulled out the table drawer and put a small hooked label on the bags 'Sold'.
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Post by demikara on Nov 25, 2018 19:13:01 GMT -6
"It sounds delicious. But I can only have the cider if it's non-alcoholic." He wrinkled his nose at that. "I'm in a council-mandated sobriety program." And that stung to admit, but Monmack was a good person and he could let him know that without worry. "And they can take them back with the delivery? Just deliver both the day after tomorrow. My student is coming by tomorrow, and I have to prepare for that, on top of a surprise inspection of Broadmoore, and an afternoon class with the little ones." The littler ones would be the easiest part of the entire thing. He'd be going straight from control lessons with the third grade and unders to a control lesson with Catherine at his ranch.
It promised to be an exhausting day, especially with a comprehensive surprise inspection that would be magically aided for both the mental asylum and the prison. The two had different needs that needed to be met, similar as many of them were, and it was tricky as hell getting everything right so that they could be reformed, and so that the prisoners and patients were both in humane conditions with guards and orderlies who would not cause trouble.
He had modeled everything on the Norwegian prisons and it seemed to be working, but getting the changes made was a special kind of hell.
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Post by littlekreen on Nov 25, 2018 20:11:48 GMT -6
Monmack laughed with a jostle of his slight paunch, "Give a caster alcohol inside a reagent shop like this? Especially you, good sir. One wrong cast of scale and Dallas would earn a new crater. It's not that kind of cider."
He nodded making a mental note for later, "Yes I can have them take them back later on full delivery. They'll come by with a pickup."
The local boys probably needed a pickup to pile them in. There was a possibility they might need to make a second trip he'd have to check and might have to recommend a van. Dwarves were good at moving heavy things around and that's what a lot of them not in a trade did. A small but close knit group of dwarves of various houses in the metropolitan city.
After a moment of contemplation he added, "Though you'll burn yourself out running that hot, Rahal. Ought to pick up some helpers. I have the boys in the city to keep me out of the woods."
Truth be told Monmack had a particular kind of help in the building but kept that close. Wise to keep Golems out of the public eye when mundanes were sometimes about his shop. They were busy sorting his storeroom today and about now turning off the stove. A faint stone shuffle echoing from the other room across thick stone walls and floors. Ovens with timers were things that needed power or mechanics and the whole place was designed to be as magically nonreactive as possible though not inert. His kitchen looked like something out of dark ages but the tools were new enough. Creative implementations of isolated modern kitchen equipment. Some food processing conveniences on a batteries. The crock was a hand me down though and several generations back. Witches kept trying to buy the ornate black cauldron dwarves built especially for cooking and alchemy. Though most dwarves but the crazed ones kept two topics in separate vessels. Gigantic stone edifice of ornate design within this hearth one would expect of a forge instead slowly simmers pulled pork instead. There was a small table and chairs in one end of the room to sit in where stone hands placed plates and utensils.
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Post by demikara on Nov 26, 2018 6:15:47 GMT -6
"Then I'll definitely take the cider." the other was right there. He, especially, should not drink in a shop like this. His magic was a little too chaotic and something would happen, to be sure. As it was, the unseen bars had long ago learned to not let him have a drink. he wasn't banned from them, per se, just banned from drinking in them. Still, the idea of help was a wonderful one.
"Help would be...it would be nice. It's hard to find good help for the asylum work. The current assistant director doesn't understand why I'm making the changes I am. I just have no clue how I'd find someone in the unseen qualified who would understand." It meant he couldn't actually trust his assistant director, even though he wished he could.
He could smell the food before he saw it, and some tension went out of his body as his stomach gurgled in want. "That smells delicious Monmack. You've always got the best sort of food out there." It was delicious, he already knew it. He'd probably have seconds, given how hungry he was.
As for letting someone help him teach control to the children, well. That was one of his pleasures in life. He didn't want to give that up, and had bee distraught that he had needed to rearrange his lessons just so he could attend sobriety meetings three times a week. The mage loved working with children and their wonder of the world more than he liked dealing with adults.
At least MCU didn't currently need him on top of everything else. That he definitely couldn't fit into his schedule.
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Post by littlekreen on Dec 2, 2018 19:13:49 GMT -6
Monmack's eye twinkled for a lumbering chuckle, "Good, you'll like it then! Maybe you'll recognize the brand of cider. Took a lot of dealing to get the apples. We dwarves are particular with our cooking! Da always said a good bit of it is close to alchemy anyway, hah! Melted his eyebrows off mucking with the human Chili recipe my Nan was working on. Served him right she still hit him with a spoon."
Leading Rahal down into the kitchen carefully hewn stone of the basement and foundation had the barest evidence of gaps in the mosaic of each stair step. Smooth on either side of the stairs it lead down to a wooden pad gaps surrounding and a small slide hugging the bottom of each smooth side. Simmering food wafted from its own foundry of stone and iron. A different sort of vessel along one wall with a reinforced loading spigot and a low-burning fire of faint reagent scent. The slight ashing of a fire run its course and dwarven ceramic runework inlaid upon its metal surface glowing to replace the light of the fire that died.
Monmack walked over to the vessel and brushed the runes closing his eyes and a pursed lip to strain an ear then looked over, "Yeap, done and settling."
A quick reach to a cupboard beside the vessel Monmack removed a labeled glass bottle and a bottlecap. Practiced enough his rough and burly hands loaded the mechanism and set it to fill. A strong scent of mulled cider entered the room as air in the bottle exchanged then with the turn of a lever a mechanism hammered the cap onto the bottle. Bringing it over one the label more clearly shown an ornate seashore motif with apple tree and a sigil, 'Extract Ablach, By leave of Mannan.'
A grin offered the liter bottle to Rahal, "It's expensive but also on the house. Glasses in the slide rack hanging down by the table or our traditional mugs if you'd like."
He continued by stepping a bit to one side and pulling out the drawer pouring out the smell of still-warm pretzel bread, "As close to a red bull as one can get for mages. Don't tell the fae I gave you some, eh?"
With a hook nearby a crank Monmack hoisted the cauldron from the fire to be able to serve from it.
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Post by demikara on Dec 2, 2018 19:58:42 GMT -6
"You sure you should be giving it to me? I have a bit of a reputation..." He grinned at the other, and pulled a glass from the side rack, then poured some of the extract for himself. "And you know I won't. Wouldn't do to get my best supplier in trouble." He smiled for the dwarf and sighed, relaxing here. There weren't many places left for him to relax. Down here, away from any possible other eyes, he could manage it. The tension left his lanky frame and he leaned against the wall.
"Tell you what. Go ahead and put the word out that I need a personal assistant." He shrugged and looked amused. "Ra knows I can afford one and that I need at least one." Though he really needed more than one and that was the simple truth. Maybe one for each aspect. One for the temple, one for the court, one for Broadmoore and one more to reign in the other three and actually organize the rest of his schedule. "Pay is good and you don't have to have magic. Though it would help for some of the duties."
Monmack always knew good people. Tyrus was pretty sure that the other could help him find someone who could manage to do everything that he needed help with. An apprentice wouldn't cut it, he didn't have time to teach, not how his life was now, not on top of everything else. But an assistant, like the mundanes had. That would work out well. Besides, this place was an excellent one to put out that he needed an assistant. It was a good gathering place, and one that plenty of people knew about.
It wasn't like they could post a job on the internet and expect there to be hits from people in the know. Though under the circumstances, he may actually be able to do just that. That would be interesting, some sort of mundane working for him. Perhaps especially on the asylum, though they'd have to understand that there would be a magical side of that work too.
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Post by littlekreen on Dec 2, 2018 22:47:38 GMT -6
Hum of consideration came for a moment, "Sure thing. I'll keep my out for unseen in your baliwick. Not many humans around with your strength. There's some scuttlebutt that someone called on a unknown outsider for some particular strong power of late somewhere east by south of Dallas. Nothing obviously breaking any laws so far as I'm told. Don't think they know who yet but given the frustration I think if it heard at all the outsider completely ignored the diviners."
Four buns went on a serving plate as well as a bowl A small knife from the back deftly cut insides to hollow. The small edged pieces removed in one deft cut of a serrated blade. Dense but not hard like a bagel he left them on the tray to add on the plate later to sop up any sauce left over. A small table on heavy rubber wheels got the tray and rolled quietly over to the large cauldron. Another pulley on the top of the hearth window lowered the apparatus toward the floor. Down in the depth of the building the squeaking and subtle crackle of fire one of few disturbances. The ribbed texture of the ceiling cut the noise as much as its properties. Sounds of magic reduced to the chaos of thin white noise than some nearly unintelligible background conversation. It triggered little and pacified much the hiss pierced only by the low rumble of seismic noise from earth below.
He lifted the heavy pot lid with its ornate porcelain make to ladle out the pulled pork into the small bun hollow, "Most of my boys are smiths and runeworkers for practical things. We're a sturdy folk that don't break easy so not a whole lot of shrinks. I'll see who I can dig up and send you a list."
A smaller cast iron pot closer to the fire but on the inner refractory edge contained the sweet potato casserole. Scooped into a bowl so the browning on the top did not break overmuch it steamed now released from the fire. Another cast iron pot in a cooling area removed a square the latent heat no match for his hide. He brought over the four pulled pork sandwiches and the heaping bowl of sweet potato casserole and put it down for Rahal. He took the opposite chair and sat to talk.
He cleaned his hands on a neatly folded table napkin, "What kind of thing you looking for a helper anyhow? I wouldn't know how to find any with computers, mind. Last tablet I got ended up ate by one of the fungal reagents after I let a herbologist borrow it. Too many things in this place to have anything in it that high order. The boys look up stuff for me."
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Post by demikara on Dec 3, 2018 7:17:25 GMT -6
"Not in my baliwick is fine too, though I admit someone who can handle some of my lesser commissions would be nice. If I had time," And if he wasn't scared shitless of the idea of losing yet another apprentice because so far, all of his had died young, "then I'd consider an apprentice. But they'd have to start as a personal assistant. Right now though...I need someone who can weed out the important meetings I need to go to for Broadmoore versus the ones they think I should be at because they want to waste my time. Some one with good control who can help with the control classes would be important as well, and someone who can help manage my schedule. And they'd have to be fairly patient and discrete, who isn't going to screw up at the Dragon Court, or upset my congregation." He shrugged uncertain. It sounded like it was damned impossible.
He was hopeful despite that though. There had to be someone who fit the bill out there. Right? Or at least, he hoped there was someone who fit the bill because he needed the help more than he would like to admit. "I figure here is the best place to put the word out though." He grinned at the other and took a bite of his sweet potato casserole, after putting some on his plate and taking a pulled pork bun, before pausing and smiling widely. "This is delicious." And he had just realized how hungry he was. There was no doubt that his plate was going to be cleaned given the sudden ravenous hunger he had been reminded of.
He really did need to eat more. "Miscellanious other duties. Like making certain I actually eat." He grinned at the other and near fell upon the casserole, more than happy to finish to off in record time. The mage preferred eating one type of food from his plate at a time, and he was glad he had started with the casserole. Oh this was good. He really ought to come here for food more often, especially if it was going to be this good. It wasn't as if he wasn't here for reagents all the damned time. He'd have to make time to linger more often.
Monmack was a good man. He wouldn't mind.
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