Noctus Concoctions

Mercifully, Noctus Concoctions turned out not to be too far from the clothing shop. It was near the top—and thus the end—of the shopping district. Even without the sign prominently displaying the name in sharp letters, that this store was their destination was immediately apparent, if for no other reason than just how much it stood out. For one, it appeared to be more home than store, and from the chimney in the back emitting a lazy stream of smoke, it may well have been. More dramatically, though, was the fact that the building was isolated from its neighbors by a healthy gap on either side. Those neighbors were flush against the stores on the other sides, and Ash was struck with the odd sense that they were avoiding Noctus Concoctions. The other effect this arrangement had was to frame the alchemist’s shop against the then-setting sun, as if the Heavens themselves were declaring the little building to be important.

Ash looked to Tienne for guidance as to their next move, which Tienne provided by striding confidently through the door. Ash swiftly followed, and the rapid opening and closing of the door sent a little bell above madly ringing.

The smell hit Ash’s nose like a solid wave. So instant and overpowering was it that describing any one scent was impossible; it was simply strong. Both girls were sent reeling by the olfactory impact, tears pricking the corners of their eyes,

“Bah! Go! Go! No more hanging around for you! Hah! Bother me no longer!”

The voice reminded Ash that she had other senses, and thus permitted her to take in the space in full. The front room of Noctus Concoctions a half-circle crowded in on all sides by racks upon racks of vials that contained substances with colors that could not possibly have been natural. More readily identifiable substances filled the few spaces between, dried herbs and flowers and animal products organized by no obvious system. The other side of the room—the flat side of the half-circle—was taken up by a wooden counter that ran from wall to wall. Behind the desk was empty, save for a door leading to some other area. Said door had just slammed open, allowing the source of the voice to rush into the front room.

The woman was a beastfolk, and quite plainly of Arachne descent. Beastfolk shared the baseline humanoid frame with most other races, but then sported wildly divergent features from there, depending on their heritage and other, seemingly arbitrary factors. This woman fell squarely on the side of more pronounced animal features: four long chitinous appendages extending out from her back and segmented around, enveloping the rest of her body like a fanged maw. The yellow and black patterning of these ‘legs’ matched her hair: a short-cut black bob streaked through with brilliant yellow. Insectoid eyes peered out from an almost predatory, dark-skinned face, fiercely focused. Her clothing was obscured by a long, heavy apron that was smudged and stained well beyond its original coloration.

Of more immediate concern, however, was the fact that the woman was chasing a cloud of dark blue smoke out from the back room, waving ineffectually at it with a broom. Ash glanced at Tienne in concern, wondering if they shouldn’t be leaving the shop with all available haste. Her worry was justified by the fact that Tienne was glancing back.

However, and thought of flight was ended when the woman noticed them.

“Ah! I didn’t hear you, please come in,” the woman said. The sudden shift to a cheery tone was jarring. She indicated the smoke with one of her back-legs. “Don’t mind this, just the result of a little mishap. Perfectly harmless, except to my ego. I do hope you’re not here to kill me.”

Ash and Tienne were left speechless. The beastfolk woman had stopped in her tracks, cloth falling to her side, curls of blue smoke still twisting lazily around her head. She was staring expectantly at the two girls, waiting for them to come forward. Or, apparently, to attack her.

“Why would we do that?” Ash asked, hesitantly.

“Well, the last people to visit my shop certainly threatened to,” the woman answered. “But now that I get a better look, you two clearly aren’t with them. Not nearly creepy enough. So! How can I help you?”

The whiplash of her of her tone left Ash too disoriented to respond. Tienne, however, recovered enough to try.

“I assume you are Noctus? You asked to meet us.”

The woman nodded. Tienne’s nose wrinkled.

“Your shop is certainly…fragrant,” Tienne added.

“You try to keep working and brewing while trapped inside here. The smells have nowhere to go,” Noctus huffed.

Ash looked pointedly at the close by, very unlocked front door, making her next question obvious.

“I did say people had threatened to kill me,” Noctus said. “I quite believed them. Perhaps you’ve had the pleasure of meeting them? All very large, monotone, and rude? Wearing those ridiculous cloaks? Very hard to miss.”

“We have been acquainted, yes,” Tienne said. “But you sent a message to the Order, asking to meet. I—”

“Oh, yes! The Valkyries!” Noctus said, apparently just remembering. “I’m so glad you’re here. Although, you don’t look like Lady Solenia. She’s an elf, you know.”

“My name is Tienne nol’Kairen. I am Lady Solenia’s apprentice. Unfortunately, she had other business to attend to, so I am here in her stead.”

Tienne capped the declaration with a polite bow. It was all done with perfect poise and professionalism.

“Hi, I’m Ash,” Ash said, adding a little wave. “I’m…her assistant.”

Tienne shot her a murderous glare, but Noctus took the situation in stride and carried on.

“Nice to meet you both,” she said. “I wanted to tell you about the keystone. You really do need to find it.”

“As I was going to say, we happened to come across the keystone already, and it is in our possession. However, I would still like to hear whatever it is you have to say, especially how you happened to find out about it in the first place.”

Tienne walked up to the counter, braving the blue haze and accompanying stench, and placed the keystone on it. Noctus hunched over it, quite clearly fascinated.

“Oh, thank the Stars, you really did find it,” she said. “I was worried that those brutes had already gotten their hands on it.”

“And who are these ‘brutes,’ exactly?”

“One of them said they were the ‘Emerald Hand,’ or somesuch.”

“And why were they threatening you?

“Because I knew about the keystone, of course.”

By that point, Tienne’s fists were clenched, armor grinding against armor. She may as well have been wearing her frustration with Noctus’ lack of direct answers.

“And why did—”

“By the way, how did you find out about the keystone in the first place,” Ash cut in. She wasn’t sure if or how she could get anything more out of the beastkin woman, but she figured she may as well try. “I don’t really know much about…well, any of this, but do alchemists usually deal in magic rocks?”

“That’s a very good point,” Noctus said, as if this issue had just occurred to her as well. “I do some gather information for the Valkyries on the side—of course you know that much—but I will admit that I came into this particular business rather by accident. You know, perhaps a demonstration would best answer your question, Miss Assistant. I always say action explains better than words.”

Before either girl could say anything, Noctus ducked under the counter, loudly rummaging about for something, muttering to herself all the while. A moment later, she popped back up, a look of revelation on her face. One of her back-arms reached up behind her and, without her looking, hooked on the loop of a tiny phial of mud-brown liquid that had been hanging on the wall and transferred it seamlessly to her waiting hand. In one motion, Noctus then uncorked the bottle and poured the entire contents over the keystone. Neither Ash nor Tienne had the time to even think to object.

Any anger swiftly turned to surprise, however, and then to confusion as the keystone let out a sharp hiss upon contact with the liquid. As the liquid ran down the stone, it bubbled at ate away at the night-black surface, carving deep channels through it. No, Ash corrected herself, it was more accurate to say that the liquid was revealing channels in the keystone. It was as if the liquid was being guided down predetermined paths, stripping away only what the keystone allowed it to. Seconds later, almost all the liquid had disappeared to fuel this reaction, leaving in its wake a bizarre geometry of lines on both sides of the keystone.

“I got involved with this business because I knew how to reveal the map on the keystone,” Noctus said, with a self-satisfied smirk.