The Subtle Art of Tea and Espionage [Sivan]

[Stefan Dornkirk]

70th Frost, 121

Brenner was having another of his days of feeling poorly, and while their hostess had offered to use her... abilities, Stefan wanted to try and find a remedy that wouldn't corrupt his brother, or, at least one he understood.

Asking a few questions around town had led him to understand there was a medical herb and alchemical shop that was well known to have an excellent reputation as well as a large assortment of teas. Addresses weren't set out in the same orderly manner in Kalzasi as they were in Zaichaer, but after a half-hour of searching the general area, and making additional inquiries with those local to it, he had located the desired establishment.

Entering caused a set of bells to chime, though he didn't see any attached to the door. Trying to ignore the implications of magic being employed in such a casual fashion he looked around the room. It was large enough not to feel crowded, but also full enough; each wall covered to the ceiling, that it still felt a bit crowded.

Not exactly across from the entrance door, but still within easy sight of it was a counter space, and behind that, and young man, blond and tall. Walking over without really spending time looking at whatever oddities were on display he said,

"Excuse me, good morning. I was wondering if you could recommend a tea to soothe both headache and nausea. It isn't a hangover, but some unknown illness, mild enough not to be worrisome, but severe enough to cause discomfort."

Stefan was dressed in a proper suit, dark trousers with a perfectly ironed crease, shirt, vest, coat, long overcoat, leather gloves, and a scarf against the cold, as well as a day-height top hat. It would have been perfectly unnoticed attire in his native city, but here, he had garnered quite a few odd looks and even staring.

[Sivan]

The elf looked up from his little clockwork project at the desk to see who had arrived. He blinked as his eyes went from fine focus to far range, and he quickly set his work aside and rose to meet him. Perhaps the interruption was telling; Torin would certainly prefer he do the clockwork where he could observe. The shopboy put on what he hoped was a natural smile and listened as the man go down immediately to the problem, which certainly made it easier for him to attempt to solve it.

"Good morning, sir," he said, then considered. "I would suggest a black tea with ginger and willow bark, but if it's severe enough to bring you here, I might suggest an alchemical pastille to augment the effects of the tea. Between the two, they ought to help with almost anything. If it returns, though, I would suggest the Tranquil Gardens and a physician. Better safe than sorry."

His prescription was based on the symptoms, but not knowing what was causing them didn't help him target more effectively. Sivan knew enough to target things for symptoms, but it was the doctors and healers who came to them with rich and diverse knowledge that helped them come up with more detailed medicinals.

The man seemed fit enough, so it was likely for someone else. If his clothes were strange, Sivan didn't pay attention to them. He had spent enough time traveling and being the one dressed oddly.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

The young man seemed willing to get to business without an excess of pleasantries, which suited Stefan well. When common folk saw his manner of dress and speech they sometimes attempted to toady up to him; a circumstance that frustrated him. The easy way in which this shopkeeper answered him suggested competence, helping relax Stefan further.

The idea of an alchemical treatment intrigued him. It was not a common practice in Zaichaer, for obvious reasons, but, based on what he had read on the topic, Stefan was not wholly opposed.

"We are away from home, at the moment, so do not have access to our normal physician. This 'pastille' though, what is it exactly? Alchemy is not common where I am from, but the concepts have always interested me. I understand the concept, but how would it enhance the tea?" A little of his personal interest slipped into his tone, and he could only hope the man did not think he was there to steal his trade secrets.

The scents of the shop were starting to filter into his scenes as the numbing cold of the walk outside began to relent. Some of them he recognized and expected; various teas and herbs. Others he recognized and did not expect; acids, sulfur and other scientific compounds. Some, of course, he did not recognize at all. Stefan's curiosity began to pique and he glanced around at all the oddities. He had the morning to himself, after the scientific reception the evening before there were no official appointments for several days. There was no reason not to indulge himself in this small way. If the alchemist was not busy, perhaps he might stay and discuss some of the basics, compensating the man accordingly, of course.

[Sivan]

"Well..." Sivan considered how best to explain it to a layman without also sounding condescending; he was aware that sometimes he came across that way without intending to.

"If time wasn't of the essence, I would extract energies from various dragonshards and imbue them into the tea and other herbal medicines. The energies themselves enhance natural properties, and the more complicated answer involves using the more complex combinations for more sophisticated effect. The pastilles are less subtle, but we prepare them in advance for situations like these. The process involves a specific interaction between naturally occurring clay, magically inert dragonshards, and—ah, I believe you call it galvanism in Zaichaer. Once prepared, those are infused with energy from raw aetherite and they act as a more all-purpose enhancement. So the tea will make the mind sharper, the willow bark's analgesic effects will be stronger, and the ginger will be more helpful with the stomach upset."

He paused, reviewing what he had said.

"I'm sorry, does that make sense? Common is not my first language."

Glancing down at the clockwork he had left on the desk made him slightly less embarrassed. At least he was sure of his understanding of cogs and springs and such. But the man didn't seem a terrible sort, and while Zaichaeri, he hadn't attempted to set anything on fire yet. At that thought, he felt a tingle from his connection to Khal, but he bade the sprite stay home, figuring the man might be accepting of world magics, but possibly not the sort that required grafting a Rune onto one's soul. The last thing Sivan wanted was any trouble, especially since someone out there already wanted him dead.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

The urge to reach into his coat pocket and withdrawal his small notebook to begin taking notes actually caused Stefan's hands to twitch, but he resisted it.

"Interesting. How long does that usually take?" He sounded very interested, not politely so. Even so, he drew himself back from it enough to say, "Forgive me, I'm in the city to study in the Archives and such things coincide with my own type of work. I build airships, mostly, and use dragonshards to power them."

There was nothing wrong with such an admission, even if this man put his clothes, accent and job together to figure out who he was, it wasn't as if he hadn't been invited to the city.

"I have noticed different types of shards having different effects on the engines of my devices."

Nodding along at the idea of creating subtle remedies from more precise combinations of shards, he considered the possibilities. Dragon shards were too precious to use for medical assistance in Zaichaer, at least, to his understanding. But here, in a city built over an opening to the Warrens, such uses would be plausible. The use of the familiar term brought a small smile his face,

"Galvanization, indeed. So, the pastilles enhance the natural remedies rather than causing a distinctly separate effect of their own? Fascinating." He meant it, and was making notes in his head even if he wasn't pulling out his pencil.

He waved a hand at the question,

"You are making a great deal more sense than many of the scholars I have met since arriving. Would you believe I heard two of the most highly respected men of science in this city speaking last night of attempting to ride a floating island into the cosmos to visit the stars?"

[Sivan]

"The time depends on the complexity of the process and often the skill of the practitioner. I am nearing the end of my apprenticeship, but I am nowhere near Master Jacun's skill. I still have to work quite carefully, but he is quicker and his alchemy has a longer half-life. Nothing we make is free from the entropy of time." He made a sort of fatalistic shrug of a gesture.

At the man's anecdote, his golden brow furrowed.

"But there is an upper limit that airships can go before the air becomes too thin to breathe... And there are islands higher than that, but one can see from a simple spyglass that they aren't green with life." He paused, his brow smoothing out. "Well, whether with science or magic, I suppose there are many things we consider impossible that might be possible if someone figures out a solution to the problem." Spreading his hands, he gave up on that one.

Returning to the subject of dragonshards, he offered a bit more information: "Aetherite tends to be most helpful for simple augmentation, but others have specific uses. For example, pyrolyth can be distilled into a philter to combat hypothermia. The trick is to distill it such that it eases the heat back into the body at a rate that won't shock the body into further distress. And while frostylyth can certainly help with reduction of fever, but it's more expensive, so a more clever use of pyrolyth can draw the heat out of a person. It is very like a science. The science of manipulating dragonshards. One needn't have a Rune to practice it. Some Kalzasern airships run fully or partially on alchemy, so perhaps your own work is a cousin to it."

He paused, then hoped he hadn't offended.

"Pardon. I don't really know enough to gauge your work. If you are spending time in the Archives, though, I can write down a few titles that might interest you."

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Nodding along with the explanation, which sounded quite like a scientific explanation, Stefan grew marginally more relaxed.

"Time comes for all things, eventually." He agreed, pleased that Alchemy, unlike other, less precise forms of magic, which often seemed to exist in some sort of unnatural status.

His delight at the shop keepers knowledge of airships showed on his face, however mildly he tried to keep his expression.

"Exactly so. One would think that these great men of Kalzasi would be aware of this fact, particularly considering the city's own armada of ships. It also grows increasingly cold as the atmosphere thins."

It was a bit counter-intuitive that things grew colder the closer one got to the sun, but many tests had been done and the conclusions were now considered, at least in Zaichaer, to be scientific fact. Stefan himself had theorized that if one could enclose a ship to retain both air and heat, one might travel higher, even, perhaps, outside the bounds of the atmosphere, but these were still dreams in his head and certainly not anything he would share with a set of enemy scholars.

Still, he nodded again at the suggestion that all problems might be solved by science, given enough time and thought. The further explanation of the use of dragonshard had him itching to take notes again, and by the end, he knew he wanted to learn more. His recent engine improvement and inventions had, indeed been based on manipulation of shards and he began to wonder, with a little alarm, if he hadn't slipped into some accidental use of Alchemy. He was registered and granted the right to work with dragonshards however his research and work led him, so he wasn't worried about legal ramifications. Only, accidentally becoming a practitioner of a magical art was a fear many in Zaichaer shared.

"Indeed." He conceded, "My work sounds quite similar to what you are describing. Any recommendations you have for books that I might purchase on the basics and theory of Alchemy would be very helpful." It wouldn't do any harm to read on the subject, and it might give him ideas to further his work for the State. If he ever intended to go further and attempt to work what would be considered true Alchemy, he would, of course, register his intentions prior.

"And perhaps I could get a cup of that tea you suggested. I should probably try it before I offer it to my companion, if it isn't too much trouble."

[Sivan]

The elf made thoughtful noises as the foreign gentleman expounded upon the science of things. Were he not a customer and Sivan more bold, he might have invited him to dinner to talk about the intersections of science and magic, but that would be inappropriate in this instance so he ended up smiling and nodding.

"Of course," he said. "If you will follow me..."

He led him into the other public room where a wall was covered in large tins of different teas and blends, with chairs and small tables like a sort of cafe. The windows allowed them to see passers-by on the street. Nobody was here now, which Sivan thought might be a blessing. Often, there were Circle mages present, and that might not have gone over well. This time, he refrained from using magic to prepare the tea, although the little heating element was powered by pyrolyth. The black tea with willow bark and ginger was already blended, so that was easy.

"Unfortunately, the willow bark is quite bitter, so I would suggest you add honey or rock sugar to make it palatable. Both for yourself and for your brother. And you're welcome to sit with your tea, or take it around with you if you would like to peruse our wares. I can fetch the pastilles from the back and I will make you a list of books to look for. The pastilles won't radically change the flavor. They sort of open it up like carbonation might—without the effervescence or carbonation flavor."

Then he waited for the man to make his intentions clear and make any other demands of him. Dealing with nobility and the affluent was more Master Jacun's bailiwick, but he knew enough not to reflect poorly on his master.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

The secondary room was quite pleasant, almost like some of the coffee shops Stefan sometimes frequented in Zaichaer. There were tea shops, he knew, but for some reason they seemed to be more patronized by the ladies of society than the men.

Watching carefully as the tea was prepared, so he might be able to reproduce it for Brenner later, Stefan realized that the heating apparatus must be fueled by a dragonshard, or else was runeforged. Neither bothered him but he did ask if using a magical heat source was required to make the tea most effective. Magically fueled machines were a part of his everyday life and while the distinction might not be made in Kalzasi, it was a chasm inside the Zaichaer native.

Accepting whatever sweetener the shopkeeper suggested Stefan thanked the man, then thanked him again as he continued to be useful and kind.

Taking his tea and went and sat by a window, leaving the man to take his time with his work. Lists of books should never be hurried, in his opinion. The tea spread warmth through him and served to relax the tension he often carried from his body. If there was a bitter taste at the end, Stefan didn't mind. He often drank his coffee black when he was busy. Brenner might want more of the sweetener but he intended to purchase a bottle of the honey and a little tin of the sugar, so there would be plenty for however long the strange illness lasted.

In the end, he purchased everything that was suggested to him, accepted the list gratefully, and left a five gold tip with a nod and,

"I hope you are able to explore your studies as much as you should wish."

[Sivan]

Sivan assured him that no additional magic was needed to ensure the brew's efficacy once the pastilles had been added, elaborating that the dragonshard-powered heating element was safer than an open flame indoors. They took safety precautions quite seriously as there were substances stored in the building that could prove quite volatile if heated without the proper protocols and procedures. When the man was comfortably seated in the tea room, Sivan went back to fetch the pastilles from the stock and to check that he had a few of the titles and authors entirely correct so his list didn't lead the man astray.

In the end, he put the bottle of pastilles, the rock sugar, and the honey from his own hive into a nondescript pouch, padded so none of the glass would clink, let alone break. Once more, he detailed the exact best practices for preparing and serving the medicinal tea, assuring him that he had written those down as well and folded them with the list of books. Given the opportunity to ask questions, he found most clients felt more certain of their use, and kept the instructions just in case they wanted to ensure they hadn't misheard some detail.

He thanked him kindly and, "I hope your brother recovers swiftly."

And that was that.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," he murmured in Rivach, gesturing for nobody in particular.

fin.