A repeat customer for scrolls

[Ivar]

Glade 19 123

Ivar was busy again. His job today was different from the usual, though. One of his previous customers, a man who bought a scroll from Ivar before, was back for more. The dude needed another scroll. This one, he wanted to teleport him back to his home. Thing is, Ivar had no clue about this man's house. He had to visit the place to familiarize himself with it.

The dude's house was in a part of town Ivar was familiar with but he needed to be familiar with the exact location of the house. Work was work. He grabbed his coat and was off to the guy's house. The house was large, standing proudly in the midst of similar buildings. He knocked on the door and was led inside.

“You need to let me look around a bit, get to know the place. That's how this process works.”

The man nodded and left Ivar alone to explore. Ivar started in the entryway, taking mental notes. The floor, cold and made of stone, the mahogany door behind him, the faint smell of cinnamon in the air, all these details mattered. He had to memorize all this if the scroll was going to work.

Ivar moved on to the next room, a large living area. The first thing that caught his eye was the grand fireplace in one corner. Then there was the soft furniture. All of it looked so new, untouched. Ivar could see that this guy could afford to spend money on scrolls.

The rooms in the house were just like the people who lived in them, fancy and aloof. Ivar walked around, slowly, taking in the layout of the house. This would all help him to make a scroll that works perfectly.

“I hope this works. If it doesn’t then I might have lost a customer for good.”

[Ivar]

Now all that was left was to create the scroll. He hoped he remembered everything correctly. He couldn't afford to mess this up. This was a big job for his reputation and it had to go perfectly. After all, it was his side hustle on the line. If he messed this up, he could say goodbye to more work from this man.

The pressure was on. But Ivar knew he could handle it. He had done it before, he could do it again. Getting back home was easy. He used a vaulted himself back to his magic crafting room attached to his house. It was a familiar path in the slipspace and didn't require much thought. Once home, Ivar started preparing. He cleared his work table and brought out the special parchment for the scroll.

Next, he took out the inks and tools he would need. Everything was ready. Now, he just needed to concentrate. The first thing Ivar did was sketch out the pictographs. He needed a clear plan before he could start the actual work. He recalled all the details of the previous scrolls he’d made.

This process was still very cumbersome for him. Some scriveners at the same skill level as himself could do this process in a fraction of the time. His problem was that drawing the symbols was still tough. He did not know whether he had a mental block or what.

“Maybe I should set aside some time and learn to draw more effectively. Or perhaps there’s a runeforger who can make me a tool that will automatically do the simple symbols. I’ll have to ask my professor if that’s even possible. Then again, if there isn’t such a thing then I’ll just sound like an idiot. Anywho, it’s time to get back to work.”

[Ivar]

Sitting at his desk, Ivar's eyes scanned over the parchment in front of him. It was becoming series of strange symbols, the result of hours of careful scribbling with the magical ink. His hand ached from the meticulous work, but he looked at the finished scroll with satisfaction.

"It’s incredible that these symbols can actually store a spell. It's just a piece of paper with some weird drawings. Weird, huh?"

The symbols, at first glance, appeared like gibberish, but they held a complex magic within them. They were the result of Ivar's understanding of the man's home, turned into a coded blueprint. Each stroke was representative of his intentions transcribed onto the paper.

Once he was done with the final touches, he sat back and admired his work. After double-checking everything, he sighed in relief. Everything was in order, all assuming he could get the spell infused into it properly.

“Break time. Oof, my back is sore.”

He got up and stretched a little and walked around. He so seldom stayed in this house so it was always so dusty and dirty. He thought about hiring someone to come tidy it up now and then. That came with the downside of needing to trust them not to steal anything. He’d be damned if people found out just how much value he had in the form of sheets of scroll paper and scrivening tools.

“I suppose I’ll have to oversee the cleaning, or do it myself. Neither sounds appealing.”

He sighed and returned to his desk. Ivar spread the parchment out as it’d curled al ittle. It was time for the final step which was infusing the scroll with his magic. This was a relatively simple ordeal. He knew exactly where the customer’s home was now. He skillfully navigated the slip space and channeled the spell into the scroll.

[Ivar]

Ivar's day had started early and was ending late. Having infused the magic into the scroll, he now found himself with the important task of delivering the precious item. He carried the scroll inside a protective case, careful not to jostle it too much as he walked.

Traveling the streets of the city was a task in itself. Even in the evening, they were filled with busy people, carts, and animals, but Ivar weaved through them with practiced ease. He looked ahead, his eyes keen on the road, leading him towards the client's house.

He approached the home then he started knocking on the door of the house, he waited for someone to answer. He felt the cool air of the evening wrap around him, a stark contrast from the warm light that poured out of the house when the door opened. A servant appeared, looking at him questioningly.

“Is your master home? I have something for him.”

The servant disappeared for a moment before returning with the client. The man looked pleased to see Ivar, a broad smile lighting up his face.

“I've been expecting you. Let's see the scroll then, shall we?”

Ivar opened the protective case and presented the scroll. The client examined it, then nodded with approval.

“This is excellent work. I'm glad I chose you for this. It's been a pleasure doing business with you. Any idea how long it’ll last?”

“Should last at least a handful of days. Should work so long as you’re not going far from the city.”

“That’ll be enough, I’m sure. I have a meeting coming up and it’s with some dicey individuals. I will keep this scroll on hand in case I need to get out of dodge quickly.”

He thanked the man, leaving his house with the promise of future business and a pouch of coins. Now he just had to figure out what to do with the rest of his day.

[Ivar]

With the scroll sold, Ivar found himself strolling down the street caught up in his thoughts. He didn’t want to go back to his dorm room quite yet where the only sounds would come from the shuffling of paper. He started to think, really think, about the kind of power he had. The fact he could make teleportation scrolls, it was a pretty big deal.

“Never really thought about how important this is. I mean, yeah, I know it's cool and all. But today, I saw how happy that guy was to get the scroll. Makes me think... maybe I don't appreciate my own powers enough.”

He thought about teleporting. It was so normal for him that he barely noticed it anymore. But to others, it was a super rare and awesome ability. And with this money he’d made… he knew just how to spend it. He headed right over to the nearest brothel.

A really pretty woman came with him, leading him away from the crowd. This was how he celebrated a job done right which was something he could afford because of his magic skills. It was the best end to a long day, and it felt good knowing his hard work had paid off.

After they were… through… they sat at a table to chit chat. The woman looked at Ivar.

“Are you always this generous, or is tonight special?”

Ivar chuckled, his fingers idly toying with the coins on the table. His eyes filled with satisfaction as he glanced back at her.

“You could say tonight is special. Had a pretty successful day. And you made it even better.”

He leaned back in his chair. The creaking sound of the chair lost entirely in the busy room, mixing with the low hum of chatter from the other patrons.

[Imogen]

Review

Ivar

Lore: 6 lore'd

Points: 8, may be used for Scrivening

Injuries/Ailments: -

Loot: None.

Notes: A few thoughts on this one- I don't think 'dude' is an entirely proper colloquialism anywhere in Ransera, which is fine for an internal, narrative description, but a little weird when it seems to be tracking Ivar's thoughts. If you work on the kind of language Ivar is likely to use, you'll develop a voice for him which makes it easier to write, in my experience. Similarly, nothing wrong with the words "super awesome" but I think if you keep the language closer to an appropriate voice for the character, it's more compelling.

The scroll is just on the edge of Ivar's skill levels, I think, but this is fine as a rare product; just be careful about adapting that for mass-production.

I hope you revisit the background of the man in the mansion though. It seems like there's an opportunity there, given how the magic services he's selling sort of force him to learn more about that NPC. After all, he's doing something with 'shady' characters by his own admission, isn't he? It'd be cool to find out what's up there.