Laurence looked at the building and smiled slightly. It was an obvious expression of its creator, practical, but with a flair, a grandiose edge that was meant to solely impress onlookers. Its entire design was one that let the people entering become filled with awe at the kind of person who could not only own a building like this, but also actually build it. It was a fusion of function and form, expressed to devastating effect with marble walls, pillars and simple painted frescoes of adventures in the high skies. Ships crested a sea of clouds, charged at devilish snakes and crashed into giant birds all across the front of the building. They walked through the doors left wide open, as if to invite anyone who truly thought they were worthy of coming inside.
Inside the building was just as overawing as outside. There were red and gold carpets lining the paths through the halls, tapestries and vases filled with weapons instead of flowers littering the walls, and heavy pillars of stone that held up the very ceiling at intentional intervals to break up the room. A few men and women stood around the hall, idly chatting to each other, but they all stopped to look at the group as they entered behind Xingwu. Most of the odd looks were directed at Xingwu herself, but a few were focussed on the people that followed her.
“You’d think the poor girl had grown a second head,” Jim said, turning around to look at Laurence as he spoke.
“It’s because I only come here once every couple of months, and usually to ask for money,” the woman replied, “I think you might be the first group of people I’ve ever actually brought here, so the confusion is absolutely warranted.”
They walked through the room and mostly ignored the continued stares, through the doorway and into a grand hall with a long table. At the far end of the table was a group of people completely oblivious to the figures who had just entered, four soldiers on the left side and four merchants on the right. They were all local to the area, judging by how the clothes they wore were just more gaudy or practical variants of the clothing that Xingwu had on, but the fact that they were all from the same region did not stop them from raising their voices as they spoke, obviously impassioned by the subject matter of their discussion.
Between the two groups was a woman. She was approaching middle age, but still had that lifelike youth about her that signified someone in their prime, however here eyes spoke of an age far beyond what her face expressed. In front of all of them was a simple glass jug filled with water and a fist sized goblet for each member of the table. The goblets themselves were personalised depending upon the faction of their owner. Three styles, four with sapphires, four with rubies and one with emeralds.
“The fact of the matter is, the port can only fit thirty ships at any one time. If we were to dedicate ten pits for your protection vessels then we would be losing five chances for merchant or mercenary ships. As such we will immediately lose twenty percent of our future import tax the moment that this is implemented. It’s simply unfeasible.” A large man from the side of the merchants spoke. He was gaudy, covered in gold chains and intricately carved trinkets atop a silk jacket that stretched roughly over his large frame. “I feel for you, and for all of us, I do, but the volume is too much.”
“We need more space for the ships, Duggin,” an old man with a long beard on the side of the soldiers responded. “We have fifteen patrol ships in the fleet, and with the space we are alloted at the moment, ten are flying at all times. We should at least have space to cycle half of them on and off at will, so any wear and tear is repaired before it becomes an issue and all sailors are well rested. We need at least three extra pits now, and the other two if we are to expand the fleet to deal with the increase in skyserpents we’ve seen in the last couple of years.”
“The maelstrom snake is a myth, Hawar. None have been seen since the time of your grandfather,” a thinner merchant responded. “I’m loath to believe they even exist.”
The woman at the head of the table coughed, silencing the chatter between the men. “Gentlemen, I’ll have you know that the snakes definitely exist,” she said, smiling slightly. “The skull that sits at the maw of the city is proof enough. Just because you haven’t seen one alive doesn’t mean that nobody in the room has.”
“I’m... I’m sorry, ageless. I didn’t mean to-”
“I know. If you had meant disrespect to me then you would be out of this room rather than having the chance to stammer a half-hearted apology. Either way, the solution is simple. We build a new dock, with ten pits for Hawar’s ships. The treasury will take a hit this year, and perhaps next year, but the fact that you will have thirty rather than twenty-five pits should alot for that. I mean it is a twenty percent increase in real estate rather than the twenty percent loss you were oh so worried about. This fixes the issue and stops your petty sniping that is oh so grating to my ears.”
“Yes, ageless,” the two leaders of the opposing factions stammered.
“Now, we have guests. Xingwu, dear, why don’t you introduce us to your guests?”
“They should probably introduce themselves honestly, I don’t know much more than you about them, but I do know they have enough money to pay me a gold shard just for bringing them here and introducing you.”
“Good day, ma’am,” Jim began, “My name is James Caesar, and my companions and I would like to charter your ship, Rosie I believe the name was, in order to reach an uncharted island that we happen to know the location of.” There was a heavy silence in the room when Jim mentioned his name. The Caesar name carried weight across the Tower, and as much as he disliked using it, it did open doors that would be locked otherwise.
“Sir Caesar I have to ask, why Rosie? There are many other ships here and most of them are faster and more durable. Rosie is a relic more than anything.” There was a twinge of sadness in the woman’s voice as she spoke, as if she was doing a disservice to the ship by describing it so, even if she knew it was true.
“Please, call me Jim,” he replied, “It was my companion’s choice. I know nothing about these ships but he has an eye for them. I’m just a far better businessman than any one of the people behind me.”
“As a Caesar, you’d have to be. Statesmen by blood, the lot of you,” said one of the men on the side of the soldiers.
“Only the successful ones,” Jim replied with a very slight edge to his voice. “How much will it cost to charter Rosie then? I heard that base rate is 10 gold shards for going into unknown territory with a protection crew for a month, but we don’t need a protection crew.”
“Sir Caesar, that is the benchmark price for a standard ship, not a flagship or a legacy ship like Rosie. She is the very heart of the city around us, and part of the very group that founded the city. She’s irreplaceable.” The fat man, Duggin, smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he responded to Jim’s initial position.
“Well what is your suggestion then?” Jim asked.
“Five platinum shards.”
“I could buy your entire city with ten. This isn’t Spirit, even if you model yourselves heavily after it, and squeezing us is not going to happen.”
“But the value of Rosie is five platinum shards if you take into account how valuable the ship is, the fact that you aren’t hiring a protection crew, the chartering of the ship itself, paying the crew itself for a month, most of whom will have to be retrained to use the older mechanisms within the ship. Whether you like it or not, five platinum shards is the benchmark for how much it should cost.”
“Your input is worth less than a shard of stone, sir,” Jim said, “We do not need a protection crew because we are certain that no harm will come to the ship. As long as the ship leaves when we land on the island then and stays nearby, then when we are done we can flag them in and return in short order. There is no danger here.”
“You think yourself a Heaven ranker? There is always danger in the sky, even if you can’t see it.”
“No, Duggin. They don’t think themselves Heaven rankers,” the woman they called ageless said, “They are Immortals.”
“You are correct, ma’am. My companions and I are all Immortals, barring the two children of course,” Jim replied, as a slight grin began to spread across his face.
“Of course,” the large man replied, his hand shaking slightly as he grabbed the ruby goblet of water in front of him and took a long draught from it.
“They are both Saints, what you would classically call Golden Children.” As Jim spoke Duggin immediately choked on his water and began coughing uncontrollably.
“Duggin, you are thoroughly outclassed here,” Hawar said, laughing at his competitor’s demeanour.
“You all are,” the ageless woman interjected, “Excuse me sir,” She looked towards Laurence, “You remind me of a boy I once knew. A boy called Laurence. He taught me a lot when I was barely more than a girl.”
“There were very few girls I directly interacted with in my journey up the Tower, especially not when I was a child, but there was one. How have you been, Sleepy? It’s been a long time.”
“A long time indeed. I’d love to let you use Rosie for your journey, but I’m afraid I need your help to settle a dispute within my little family here.”
“I heard,” Laurence replied, “You need a new set of docks built, don’t you?”
“Exactly, plus it will give us some time to catch up. This low in the Tower, it’s difficult to source news of the higher floors, and I would love to hear how you have been since you left us.”
“That sounds lovely,” Laurence said, smiling.
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