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In Shadowport, a merchant was running.

There was nothing unusual about this, broadly speaking: in the days before the shady, nomadic settlement packed up and moved, it tended to be a hive of activity as merchants and clients and ship captains and all manner of other people made last-minute deals and hurried to secure passage of their wares to the next location. Such was life in Shadowport.

This, however, wasn't for any of the usual reasons. The merchant, an Orc, was running from a trio of humans in leather armour. One was a Mage of some kind, and saw no issue with hurling fireballs at the merchant, despite the wealth of flammable materials around them. The other two were both armed with more traditional weaponry; one with a mace and the other with a shortsword.

This trio had thus far pursued the merchant half way across Shadowport: they had spotted her just inside the Inland Gate, and the chase had already taken her past rows upon rows of wagons loaded with stolen goods, past counterfeiters and fencers, and into the infamous town's living area.

She ducked under another fireball, and, turning around briefly, backpedalling through the muddy streets, loosed a pair of arrows at her assailants. She'd never been a good shot, but she didn't need to be; her goal was to throw off their aim more so than wound them.

She turned back to the road and almost ploughed clean through a pair of Dwarves carrying a large wooden sign; she leapt to the ground and ploughed under it, sliding along in the mud and not caring for how dirty her clothing got; no sooner had she cleared the sign, rolled to her feet and resumed running than the sign exploded in a swarm of burning splinters. Her pursuers were still hot on her heels-- quite literally, in fact.

The merchant ducked into an alleyway between a finely embroidered tent and a rough wooden hovel, but lost her footing on the mud, crashing through the wall of the hovel and into the room beyond.

A pair of Elves looked at her momentarily in surprise as she glanced around the room, panicking, looking for a door; she settled instead for a window, leaping out as best she could but taking a chunk of the wall with her (Orcs like her weren't built for graceful movement, after all).

She found herself face to face with her three pursuers.

*

Half a world away, another merchant stood before xyr newly purchased stall in Sorvale, the famed City of Merchants. The sun hadn't yet risen, but it would soon, and the first customers of the day would come calling before long.

This left the merchant with precious little time to finish setting up xyr stall. Xe had already left xyr partners (a non-binary Elf and a human woman) to get more sleep; both were still apprentices, although one was nearing the end of hir apprenticeship and would soon be trying to set up a stall of hir own. It made sense to the merchant to let them get as much sleep as possible.

Xe examined the sign xe still had to put up one more time. It was simple enough, bearing only xyr name and xyr profession of Enchanter; there were some flourishes, of course (provided by xyr Elf partner, who always had an artistic side-- the sign itself had been carved by the human third of their polyamorous relationship), but it was mostly utilitarian; xe planned to primarily attract customers through the cloth covering for xyr stall.

This was something of a masterpiece, at least by the merchant's personal standards: the fabric was white, but rippled with a spectrum of eye-catching colours whenever the wind caught it.

When xe was an apprentice, xyr master has questioned xyr learning illusions such as this (through a second tutor, who had once taught at the Ristion College of Alchemy) alongside the more traditional endurance and waterproofing and fireproofing Enchantments: xe'd sure show him just how useful illusions could be in the modern Alchemical marketplace.

The merchant carefully positioned the sign over xyr stall, which was still lying flat as xe made the finishing touches to it, and began the process of nailing it in place. Xe had to work quickly: all around xyr, other merchants had already set up for the day ahead, and xe didn't want to be left behind.

*

In Shadowport, the Orcish merchant, face to face with her three assailants, turned and simply ploughed through the flimsy wooden wall. Her pursuers were taken aback for a moment, giving her precious seconds during which to sprint through the house, loosing another arrow as she reached the back door.

She found herself standing in a market square. This hadn't been the direction she'd intended to go in-- her destination was the docks, after all, and the square was closer to the Inland Gate than anything else-- it might just provide her with an opportunity to lose the trio following her. She ducked around a half-dismantled wooden stall, and then sidestepped a huddle of humans loading up a cart with barrels of bootlegged liquor.

She continued across the square at a sprint, heading for a wooden archway on the far side that would likely be left behind when the port moved on; Shadowport tended to leave traces like this, mostly as a means of taunting Farside's authorities.

Behind her, however, she heard the clattering of someone knocking over what sounded suspiciously like a half-completed stand, followed by what could only be the result of a wayward fireball meeting several barrels of something alcoholic. The trio had been entirely undeterred by her attempts to evade them.

She turned around and fired off a few more arrows, cackling to herself at the realisation that the three now had a mere one and a half eyebrows between them. As the Mage flung another fireball at her, this one smaller and more cautious than the others, she tripped over a stack of empty crates.

Her momentum carried her forwards, and she was quick about getting up on her feet again, but not quite quick enough: the two assailants armed with more than magic were upon her They brandished their weapons, but she was quicker, and reached up to grab them by the backs of their armoured heads; she brought their helmets together with a disorienting crack.

The merchant shoved the two armed figures back and into the Mage, and then continued her frantic dash through Shadowport to the docks. Passage was already secured aboard the Questionable Regality, once owned by the infamous pirate queen Vasilissa Mor-Leidr. Its current owners had charged her a reasonable relocation fee, and had, at a further price, already loaded the rest of her goods into its sizeable cargo hold.

*

The market square, one of dozens in Sorvale that catered to both locals and visitors, was now awash with colour in the early dawn light. The owner of one unassuming stall in particular took a step back, examining xyr sign and making sure it wasn't crooked. Xe spent several minutes examining it leisurely from a few different angled, and eventually nodded to xyrself, satisfied.

Xe now opened the large canvas bag xe carried and unrolled the large sheet of heavy, white cloth that had been inside it: the breeze, chilly but not unpleasantly so, caught it momentarily; it rippled softly with colour, and a couple of neighbouring merchants murmured their approval; one even muttered something about having to step up their game, in light of the new competition.

Getting it in place, however, proved to be difficult: xe wanted to make sure it covered the top and back of the stall entirely (leaving the sides open). Every time xe affixed it to the back of xyr stall and tried to pin the front in place over xyr head, the back blew free; every time xe tried to affix the front at the top and pin the back at ground level, the same happened, except the heavy fabric also enveloped xyr, briefly turning xyr into a brightly coloured ghost.

One of xyr partners would probably have called xyr spectral in every sense of the word.

After several botched attempts (and a few unintentional ghost imitations), xe decided to try a different tactic: xe pinned one side in place entirely, top and bottom, and then started on the other. This new plan seemed briefly to work; as xe decided xe was happy with the position of the rippling fabric and prepared to nail it, however, it blew off entirely, wrapping itself around the next stall over.

The merchant paced over, awkwardly murmuring xyr apologies as xe struggled to disentangle it from the cured meats of the other stall. The owner, sympathetic to xyr predicament, kindly offered to help if xe would give them a sample of xyr wares in exchange. This wasn't an uncommon deal in Sorvale; it was, in fact, how the merchant's two partners had first met.

Xe xyrself had been an old friend of one half of the then-couple, and found xyrself getting closer and closer to the other; in hindsight, polyamory was inevitable.

With the help of xyr neighbour, the merchant finally managed to finish assembling xyr stall. Now all xe had to do was set up xyr wares and xyr workspace, and xe would be prepared to face the day's customers.

*

The salty odour of sea air was barely noticeable in this part of Shadowport, but the faint tang was becoming more and more apparent with each step the merchant took.

The stalls, too, were steadily shifting in both build quality and contents: the ones by the sea tended to be cheaply made from crates and barrels and driftwood, and sold goods stolen in raids on dozens upon dozens of cargo ships, hailing from places like Garsiwn on the Orcish High Coast, Sandwater, the famous Dwarven port, and even places like Santyllia on the far side of the continent.

Goods from these places and dozens of others were stolen by pirates (although many preferred terms such as 'liberated' or 'reclaimed', or even 'purchased at a truly incredible discount'), taken to Shadowport, and then allowed to trickle back out across the continent.

Generally speaking, distinguishing traits such as maker's marks filed off or otherwise removed in some way; few buyers knew the origins of these stolen goods, and believed them to simply be high-quality knockoffs.

The merchant knew full well where the goods she purchased and altered originated, of course.

As she grew closer and closer to Shadowport's docks, her pursuers became more and more determined to halt her; the Mage was steadily growing careless with their fireballs, despite their current eyebrow situation, and had incinerated half a dozen stalls so far; their two companions seemed to have found new reserves of strength, and seemed to be gaining on the merchant with every step.

The merchant turned around to loose a few arrows at the trio, but lost her footing on the muddy earth, slipping sideways and crashing straight into a barnacle-encrusted wooden store. She picked herself up as best she could, flinging chunks of greenish driftwood from her bulky, Orcish frame; she'd lost her bow in the fall, but it could easily be replaced with one taken from her saleable wares.

Seeing little further use for her arrows, however, she simply scattered them across the path behind her; the trio of pursuers slipped on the smooth, round shafts and landed in a tangle of limbs and weapons. They lay like this for a few stunned seconds before the Mage fired off a single frustrated fireball into the air.

Laughing to herself once more, the merchant continued her dash towards the shore and to freedom. She was running short on breath, however; even with this fresh delay to her pursuers, it was likely to be a close call.

*

Sorvale was beginning at last to stir, and the first customers were already filing tiredly into the market square. These would be looking for general, day-to-day goods: food, mostly, and perhaps a stiff drink or two. The merchant, as an Alchemist, had more specialist stuff: anyone looking for Enchanted clothing or weapons or trinkets would likely be along in an hour or so.

This left xyr with plenty of time to get xyr stall arranged properly, of course. First, xe took a stick of white chalk from xyr pocket and drew a large circle on the flat board in front of xyr; this would serve well enough to enchant anything brought to xyr.

Next up was the back wall: in front of this, xe hung a large shield (a buckler of the kind commonly used throughout the Human Kingdoms), and a pair of ornate swords; all were intended for display more so than use in combat, and their Enchantments reflected this.

Around the outside of the buckler was a snake eating its own tail that seemed to rotate slowly, and the gemstones (actually cut glass, but to the untrained eye they could pass for the real thing) on the hilts of the two swords glowed faintly and appeared to change colour every few minutes.

Much of trade Alchemy, in xyr experience, was eye-catching tricks such as this: hence xyr decision to learn Illusionworking. Xyr teacher had been a purist, and while their work had been good, their business had been lacking (hence their taking on an apprentice in the first place as a means of bringing in some extra income); the merchant wondered whether xe'd one day teach the tricks of the trade to someone else.

If xe and xyr partners ever had children, through either birth or adoption, xe would undoubtedly at least teach them the basics at an early age; between the three of them, they might even be able to afford to send them off to Ristion or Antliss to learn pure Alchemy.

As xe set out several samples of footwear, Enchanted for waterproofing and endurance, xe wondered what it would be like to raise a child and teach them Alchemy. Xe would start out with the Illusionworking, probably: Enchant their toys to move in some manner. From there, xe would go on to Enchanting them for durability. Perhaps it would make sense to teach the kid to do this themself before starting on more complex things such as Illusionwork. Sure, xe could, do it all xyrself if need be, but it made sense to xyr for the child to learn it as well, despite its complexity.

Oh, and the youth's clothing would of course be waterproofed and dirtproofed. Xe had three younger siblings, and knew full well how kids could be. Xe was quite certain that it was possible to set a child loose on a perfectly clean room and come back an hour or so later to find them with mud on their clothing and dirt on their face and in their hair.

That said, xe had been born over in the marshlands; mud was a way of life there.

The merchant set up the last of xyr wares, delicate ceramics Imbued to be nigh-unbreakable, along the final side of the stall. Resting xyr elbows on the counter in front of xyr, being careful not to smudge the chalk circle, xe rested xyr chin in xyr hands and waited for xyr first ever customer.

*

Just as the salty smell in the air, now mixing with the overpowering scent of fish just past the point of freshness, became overpowering, the merchant reached Shadowport's docks. Spotting the Questionable Regality was easy enough: its flag was recognisable even at this distance.

It was black, with a white skull in the middle; perched atop the skull's head was a dark red crown, seemingly made of shark's teeth, and beneath it was a single bone. To the left of this was a curved sword, also in white; to the right was a blood red heart.

This flag fluttered proudly in the sea breeze; however, it was half a mile out to sea.

That was the thing about Shadowport: its nomadic nature, always one step away from Farside's authorities, meant that they never had time to build a proper dock. Generally speaking, this meant a steady stream of smaller ship's boats, loaded with crew and cargo, were usually coming and going from the nearest open stretch of coastline; the actual ships stood crowded together, rolling slightly in the surf, further out.

Captains would usually take time spent in Shadowport as an opportunity to invite crews of other ships over in the hope of poaching skilled hands for their own ships; usually, any given vessel left Shadowport with only around four fifths of the crew it had arrived with.

The Orcish merchant, how staggering along the pale sands of the beach in search of passage to the Questionable Regality, had received half a dozen offers to join the crew of one ship or another over the past few years; she'd declined each time, of course. She actually enjoyed the danger of life in Shadowport, and enjoyed the opportunity to practice her craft without such irritations as the law getting in her way.

Risking a glance over her shoulder, the merchant discovered she hadn't yet lost her pursuers: they'd actually managed to catch up. The mage had ceased hurling fireballs, however, now that they risked retaliation from burning pirates; scorched seafarers tended to not be so kind-hearted.

Still, the boats were just up ahead: if she could lose herself in the crowd (easier said than done: they appeared to be mostly humans or half-humans, and she looked to have a good inch or two on even the tallest among them), she could escape to the Questionable Regality and to freedom.

She plunged into the crowd just as her pursuers reached her, and began elbowing and shouldering her way past the amassed pirates and generally suspicious seafarers, each looking for the ship's boat that would take them back to their own vessel. Only around half of these bore any distinctive markings, but any given crew could generally speaking pick out their own easily enough: for one-time passengers such as the merchant, however, it was a far more difficult task.

She reached the shoreline, hearing the commotion of her pursuers behind her, and spotted a darkly coloured boat, almost black, that looked to be made from the same wood as the Questionable Regality. It was surrounded by a relatively open area, with only one or two pirates milling around in the few feet of sand in front of it.

The merchant confirmed that it was indeed the ship, and mentioned her pursuers: they cast off towards the sunrise just as the armed trio came into view, stumbling and jostling their way out of the crowd.

Their eyes met briefly, over the few feet of water: all three looked furious yet defeated.
" Sorry, boys ! " the merchant called. Taunting one's foes may have been bad form, but she simply couldn't resist. " No refunds ! "

She now had a chance to watch as half a dozen merchants from further inland-- no doubt the bootleggers whose booze her scorned customers had blown up-- jumped the trio, who fought back valiantly.

It was good to know her weapons were still as good as she claimed them to be. Granted, she had been known to lie about the genuineness of the Dwarven steel they were made from, but only on days ending in a Y.

*

In Sorvale, half a world away, the merchant had finally gotten xyr first customer. A withered old Elf, with skin like leather and a rough grey beard, placed a pair of leather boots in front of xyr with a shaking hand.

A price was agreed upon with surprising ease: xe didn't know why, but the Elf seemed to be in no mood to haggle. They handed over their Quartz (the currency of the Human Kingdoms-- it was worth about as much as the gold preferred by Dwarves, but looked prettier, at least to human eyes) and xe set to work.

First up, xe chalked in several runes around xyr circle. This was simply so xe had less to concentrate on: the circle contained her Alchemy, and the runes were used to draw out xyr talent with ease, to the point where xe no longer had to think about precisely what Enchantments xe was placing on the boots and could instead focus entirely on the strength.

It took xyr a few minutes, working on first one boot and then the other; once xe was done with this first step, xe removed them, scrubbed out the runes with xyr sleeve, and scribbled a second set for durability. From here, the procedure went much the same as it had before.

Until xe got to the second boot, of course: xe was half way through Enchanting it when there was an almighty crackle behind xyr, and the heavy cloth over xyr head was suddenly torn away.

Xe turned, surprised, to see a diminutive figure entangled in the colour-changing canvas: they wrestled with it as though it were an angry duvet before flopping over backwards, defeated.
'My first customer and my first thief,' xe chuckled. 'I hope you two aren't in league.'

The failed thief finally managed to poke their head out from the stall's covering: they looked to be human, with pale skin covered in freckles and a shock of red hair.
" The geezer ain't with me, " they said, still wrestling with the cloth around them. " He made a good distraction, at least. "

The merchant was glad, at this point, that xe had taken the precaution of electrifying all of xyr display goods; xe had designed the Enchantment to be easy to remove (there was no sense in shocking paying customers, after all) and as loud as possible, to draw the attention of everyone nearby to would-be-thieves like the one only now extracting themself from xyr stall's covering.

The display had been an impressive one: within a week of xyr first encounter with the thief, a dozen or so of xyr fellow Alchemists had asked to be taught xyr theft-proofing Enchantment. They'd all paid well, too; xe and xyr partners would soon be able to move to a larger room, at this rate.

They might even be able to open their own brick-and-mortar store, once other two thirds of xyr relationship had finished their apprenticeships and were also open for business, adding both of their takings to the trio's collective funds.

True, the merchant thought to xyrself, this was just a pipe dream, but... as pipe dreams went, it was pretty plausible. A year or two from now, xe and xyr partners might just be living a life of luxury.