• Graded • Neutralitatis

[Doran]

Vhalar 70, Arc 717

Three seasons had passed since Doran had arrived in the City of Stones, and another three seasons had passed since he had stood on the battlefield of Oscillus and made his move against Xiur, the Immortal of Hope, a vile creature that was willing to sacrifice millions in the name of the so called greater good. He had been biding his time since then, slowly increasing his power as well as gathering the allies that he would need for the final fight that would change the world of Idalos forever and elevate him above the cowering masses.

In Mid-Saun he had made the acquaintance of Noth, a creature that was, from what he knew, half Human and half Avriel. He had not thought much of him at first – Noth was deformed and only had a single, useless wing – but he had changed his mind about the mortal when he had discovered that Noth was in possession of a mysterious powder that was capable of neutralizing all but the most potent of substances.

He had received a share of the powder for helping the hybrid analyze the powder and agreed to meet him again in Vhalar to produce a magical item for him, a glove imbued with said powder. Much had changed since their last meeting. Xiur had stopped his laughable attempts to get the people of Etzos to betray him, and nobody cared about the Eidisi anymore. Instead most of people’s hatred seemed to be focused on Naerikk now.

Doran did not care about racism particularly, and he did not take part in what they called preemptive actions, but neither did he try to persuade people from them. He was, as always, mostly focused on his own goals. He had gotten up early, shortly before dawn, and gone to his laboratory that was located below the Tower of Ministers, to gather the tools that he would need to make the item that Noth desired – binders, primers, vials and beakers, tongs, a fireproof container, a burner as well as various other smaller tools.

By the time that the sun had reached its highest position, he was already at the Broken Blade. He had asked Methilda, the proprietor, for her best room and paid five golden nels in addition to the six silvers that she requested to make sure that she would quickly take Noth to said room and that they would not be interrupted. She probably thought that he had a somewhat unusual taste when it came to his lovers now – he was not the first man that rented a room at an inn for a secret rendez-vous – but he did not care. There were far worse things than being taken for a lover of creatures such as Noth in his opinion.

When Noth arrived he would find that the alchemist had already arranged his equipment on the table and was sitting there now, waiting for him. He was, as always, dressed elegantly, and he had brought his weapon. He did not plan on using it against the hybrid – he needed him as an ally and not as an enemy – he simply preferred to be prepared. When you counted an Immortal among your enemies it was unwise to go anywhere unarmed.

[Noth]

There were inherent limitations in what any individual or entity could do or enact. The Immortal godlings had very few limitations, and their powers were mighty, but even they could not perform actions that trespassed into the realms of their brothers and sisters. Wild animals had limitations as well, because they were incapable of intelligent thought, and so they could not plan ahead in quite the same way that the mortal races could, thereby leaving them somewhat less effective when they struggled against them. Men, the mortal races, all of them were restricted not by how much energy welled within their divine basins, or however much food they had managed to gather in a food’s time, but rather by their tools. A man could not take hold of a tree and push against it so mightily that it toppled, but he could take hold of an axe, and accomplish the task before a break had finished. A man could not direct his hand towards a foe, and observe as they were consumed with brilliant fire; at least, not unless they were a mage, but a man could lay a trap with pitch, and prime it with torches so that it would erupt in brilliance once their foe had strode upon it.

Noth for all of his abilities and his terror-mongering could never hope to defeat the Immortal godlings, nor any of their puppet states, nor any of the free cities of the mortal races throughout the world without the proper equipment. Of course, such grandiose endeavors would naturally require tools of a grander scale; not simply a mace, but an army, not simply a written letter, but a diplomatic entourage. It would not do, however, to completely forget about the more personal effects that he would carry, and depending upon their own powers and qualities, they could prove to be just as useful in his future conquests.

That was the reason why he had commissioned the research of the strange powder that he had discovered within his cavern. He knew not that it was capable of neutralizing many different alchemical elements, to the point that it was an incredibly rare and valuable find, and so the logical course of action to him was to weaponize it in some form. It would be inefficient to put it directly upon his mace, because he used that quite often against enemies which did not require neutralization, and so he determined instead to forge a new gauntlet so that he might simply touch those things which required the powder, and be rewarded for its ease of access.

It certainly helped that the fellow who he had commissioned was none other than the Hero of Oscillus; a man who had stood against the Immortal scourge, and had thereby earned at least some respect from the Avriel. It was seldom that he granted such honors to those he did not know in a more personal sense, but the fellow’s actions spoke far louder than his words on the matter, and that was enough for the hybrid to trust him… at least to a degree. He strode into the Broken Blade wearing his armor as he often did when entering unknown or potentially dangerous territory, and he was quickly directed into the room where Doran awaited him.

He had not brought any smelted metals with him to be used in the process, but had instead brought along an entire gauntlet which might be imbued with the properties, and then reforged after it had been affected. Of course, to the twilight hybrid, the process was probably as simple as simply scattering a loose collection of the dust upon the metal glove, and he did not truly intend for the act to take longer than a few bits, let alone the comparably gargantuan passage of time which accompanied the forging of a metal gauntlet.

He opened the door slowly, ensuring that he would not bump Doran with it in case he was scurrying about the room, collecting any last bit scientific devices.

“Greetings Doran, I am pleased that you have remembered our appointment.” He spoke, striding towards the nearest table and planting the container filled with the remaining powder upon it, along with the aforementioned gauntlet which he simply slipped off of his hand with a few clicks. “I hope your research has been productive. Do you require anything further of me to begin?”

[Doran]

“I never forget such things“, the Mortalborn replied and turned to face the hybrid, furrowing his brow barely noticeably as he did so. It was not Noth’s bizarre appearance that had caused that reaction – he no longer cared about that – but rather the object that he had placed on the table. “What is that?” he asked and pointed at said object. Instead of a couple of ingots the hybrid had brought a whole gauntlet, as if he thought that it would be a simple matter of mixing the powder with another substance to create some sort of paint and then covering the gauntlet with it.

“No matter”, he continued, having come to the conclusion that this was not the right time to give in to that anger that he could feel somewhere below the surface since Syroa had marked him – even though the hybrid’s naivety was astounding. “We’ll work with what you brought me. There is indeed something that I require of you. In alchemy the reagents need to be added at the creation stage and not be applied to the finished product. For that reason I need you to start a fire and melt the gauntlet. I have a burner, tongs, a fireproof container as well as a chemical that will reduce the melting point right here.” He held up a small glass container. “Without such a chemical it would hardly be possible to melt metal in such an unconventional setting.”

He was speaking about the fact that he was practicing alchemy in a room at an inn that had been converted to some sort of makeshift laboratory rather than his usual, well-equipped laboratory in the Tower. In hindsight, he thought, he should have made the item that Noth requested and then come here and given it to him, but as such had not occurred to him, he would have to work with what he had now. He put on a pair of protective gloves and then tossed another pair towards Noth in case the hybrid cared about safety measures.

“While you do that, I will prepare the other reagents. About a dozen steps will be necessary in order to create the item that you desire. I have gotten a few things from my stores as only reagents of the highest quality will be able to interact with your powder. This is especially important in the case of the Binder. Only the best Binder available will do. I have picked Barkskin for that purpose. It comes from a creature called Snäytu Kanna that is native to the forests around Desnind – the largest sentient land creature that exists in all of Idalos.”

He held a container that was filled with ground Barkskin up before he carefully measured the amount that he would need using a small scale and poured it into a bowl.

“Do you have any questions?” he then asked. He noticed that the hybrid was wearing armor. He almost pointed out to him that alchemy could be a fairly time-consuming and exhausting process sometimes and that practicing alchemy in armor was not a good idea, but then he decided that he didn’t care. If Noth enjoyed sweating, then so be it. “If you do, you should ask them now, before we begin, as I will have to concentrate on my work.”

[Noth]

The alchemist seemed altogether unbothered by the hybrid and his terrifying visage after having worked with him previously, and, now that the hybrid brought the thought to mind, he wasn’t sure if he had ever truly been afraid. Perhaps he was made of sterner things than those whimpering fools who commonly opposed the hybrid, or perhaps he had been hardened through trial after having taken his stand against Xiur at the battle for Treid’s heart.

Despite his relative lack of reaction at the hybrid’s appearance, he did display some semblance of; was it agitation, as the Avriel laid the gauntlet down upon the table. He immediately questioned what it was, but Noth sincerely doubted that he was entirely unfamiliar with the construction and purpose of gauntlets, and instead was attempting to question why he had brought it. It seemed a relatively silly question in truth, especially since not a dozen trills had passed since he had uttered that he ‘never forgot such things’. It seemed that his memory was suited only for dates, then, because clearly he had forgotten the purpose of their rendezvous.

The reason for his outburst became evident a few bits later as the alchemist began to describe the process of alchemy once more to the uneducated hybrid. He had been under the impression that the alchemical reagents could simply be applied to the already finished product of the gauntlet, much like a wet paint is applied to a wall which has already been finished, or how a drink is amplified by the addition of liquor even after it has technically already been created. Instead, it seemed that the process of creating an alchemical object required that the very base metals be coated and prepared with the substance, and then that they be formed into whatever item they were meant to become after they had been processed. Noth had a relatively quick mind, and so he followed along with the explanation, even if he wasn’t entirely certain why the powder could not simply be added afterwards, choosing instead to trust in the judgement of the master instead of becoming prideful and choosing the judgement of the pupil.

The twilight hybrid; being the less trained and qualified of the pair, was given the task of heating the gauntlet until it had been reduced to a mass of liquid metal. He was provided with a series of tools which would be used for the process, a burner, tongs, a container, and a strange chemical unfamiliar with him which he was informed would reduce the melting point of the gauntlet so that it would be capable of melting it within the confines of the inn. It seemed somewhat strange given the amount of equipment surrounding them that they should only be rooming inside a rather downgraded room in an out of the way inn renowned for its savagery and roughness, but he supposed it was the nature of fine things to be surrounded by rough ones. After all, diamonds were surrounded by hard stone, not by jewels and gold.

It seemed that the entire process would take several steps which meant it would be far more time-consuming than Noth had anticipated. In addition to that, his working with a flame would mean that he ran the risk of over-heating should he decide to remain within his armor, and he promptly began to strip away the pieces of metal covering his form, laying them off in the corner of the room, and only allowing himself to leave his one remaining gauntlet upon himself. He understood that the tongs were meant to touch the metal so that he would not burn himself, but he was not convinced that there would not be any warm sparks or embers which might lash out from the heat and scorch his flesh, and so he made it a point of only using his left hand to take hold of the tongs. Nevertheless, he took the offered pair of gloves from Doran, and wore them as he worked.

There was mention also of a distant creature, one of massive size if Doran could be trusted to know of such foreign beasts, and the hybrid immediately began to question how he might implement such a massive creature into an army. Where Doran was an expert in matters of chemical concoction and alchemical analysis, the hybrid’s mind was far more focused upon the aspects of warfare and tactics decisions, and so it was only natural that he see a weapon where others might see only a benign giant.

“No. By all means, begin.” He answered, and promptly began to work on setting up the burner, preparing ensuring that he had properly cleared a place at the table where he would be working before placing the gauntlet over it, and turning it on.

He hadn’t quite considered how he was meant to get the melted metal into the fireproof container, and so after the flame had been started, he coughed in an attention-seeking way, and spoke once more,
“Once the gauntlet is in the process of melting, how do I collect the metal? Should I simply place the container underneath the burner so that it drips into it?”

With a slight twitch of the eye, he realized that he had also not applied the chemical to the gauntlet, and he removed it from the fire, intent on gently applying the reagent once it was safely out of the flame.

He genuinely hadn’t been made to be a scientist.

[Doran]

It seemed as if Noth was neither somebody who enjoyed suffering nor a paranoid fool who was worried about the Hero of Oscillus attacking him as he had once attacked Xiur after all, the Mortalborn thought as the hybrid took off his armor. He briefly cast a glance at said armor, wondering about its quality which would give him another clue regarding Noth’s financial status, before he focused on the task at hand again. He would not let himself get distracted by such comparatively minor details until after his work was done.

While Noth set up the burner, Doran added the powder to the bowl that he had already filled with ground Barkskin and made sure to mix the two thoroughly. He was just about to move on to the second ingredient, when the hybrid coughed as if he were suffering from a sore throat and asked about collecting the metal. This time the Mortalborn managed to maintain a completely neutral facial expression even though Noth’s question did not make any more sense to him than the fact that he had brought a gauntlet.

“It would be easiest to put the container onto the burner and the gauntlet into the container so it melts there”, he replied, wondering how it could be possible that Noth had missed such an obvious solution. “That it’s fireproof doesn’t mean that its contents won’t melt.”

~~~

Once the gauntlet had melted completely, the Mortalborn added the mixture that he had created before to the metal. “So that the effect is instantaneous I will need to add an Accelerator”, he then explained and showed Noth a glass vial that was filled with a milky powder. “This vial here contains the dried spinal fluid of the Nafinju, a birdlike creature that is native to Southern Idalos. It is an especially highly sought after reagent as the Sev’ryn frown upon harvesting parts of living creatures.”

His face remained nearly expressionless as he said that. Doran did not care much about the suffering of animals or most mortal beings – even though the people of Etzos likely believed that was one of the reasons why he had attacked Xiur. “I will mix it with a metabolizer before combining it with the other reagents”, he continued and poured some of the powder into a fresh bowl. He used a new piece of equipment for each step in order to avoid contamination. Most of the reagents that he used were highly sensitive.

“Swiftweb”, he explained, added the contents of another, much smaller container to the bowl and mixed them with the accelerant. “Does not come from a spider as you probably think, but from an aggressive carnivorous plant that can only be found in the Hotlands – the Spider Cactus.” Having that said, he added the contents of the bowl to the melted metal before he turned to face Noth again. “I have another task for you. I need you to make sure that the flame remains as hot as possible. The metal must not solidify before the process is finished or we will have to start anew.”

“I have completed the first five steps now”, he added.

[Noth]

The twilight hybrid was altogether uncertain on Doran’s actual personality, and how much of what was spoken about him was simply exaggerated lies. It was true that he was a heroic personage to the public, but that did not necessarily make him a heroic person; the fact that he was so willingly helping him create a martial tool spoke of that. Still, it did not seem likely that the man before him was a sadistic sort, because he had chosen to stand against the Immortals, taking the more difficult path of life as opposed to simply bending the knee and working as an executioner or torturer for one of the many godlings, submitting to their sanctioned murders with a grinning visage. Perhaps Doran was somewhere in between the two extremes? Perhaps he was simply a sociopath content with his place among normal society, but deeming the Immortals to be his enemies for some unknown reason? That would explain his willingness to assist, but it would not explain everything. In the end, the hybrid was left only to speculate the reason behind why the man did anything, and he came to the grand conclusion that so long as he was an ally and not an enemy, it did not truly matter.

He distracted himself from the deeply philosophical nature of observation and behavior by idly turning over the burner, having been satisfied with the answer that he had been granted by Doran. He had incorrectly assumed that the very nature of the container meant that the heat generated by the burner would be unable to properly permeate the glass, an assumption which further highlighted the relative lack of experience that the hybrid had with scientific subjects. He was a killer, a murderer, occasionally a scholar in terms of literary pursuits or general knowledge, but he was certainly not on the same academic knowledge as the ex-professor, or any of the other alchemists he had met prior.

The gauntlet melted with relative ease, a side effect of its having already been affected by the melting-point reducing powder. Soon, it was nothing more than a thick sludge of metal, shifting from one end of the other of the container whenever he tilted it. It was not a liquid in the same sense as water, but was instead gooey and viscous, quite similar to the way that honey would move were it placed into a similar container and shaken. There was some discussion of adding an accelerator to the metallic substance, and it was explained that it came from a birdlike creature which was highly sought after due to the cultural limitations set by the Sev’ryn. The hybrid did not know nearly as much about that particular race of persons as he would have liked, but the process of learning was made difficult by their relative lack of presence within the city, especially when compared to the more common types of person.

Another chemical substance was added to the steadily complex mixture, this one apparently having originated from a particularly carnivorous plant. That was a strange thought to the hybrid, and whilst he was aware that there were carnivorous plants throughout the world, he could not immediately recall any forms of predatory foliage to his mind. In fact, the idea of an assailing cactus seemed altogether ridiculous, and the mere novelty of it made him unintentionally raise an eye. He was granted another task, one which required only that he keep the container where it had been; within the fire, and so he went about it with as much eagerness as the task warranted; that is to say, not very much.

“Such strange creatures throughout the world, it is a shame that someone does not simply document them all so that we would all be knowledgeable on their many intricacies.” He mused as he twisted the container slightly, allowing the flame to lap at the glass near a portion of it wherein the metal appeared to have lost some of its liquid shape. The issue was promptly rectified as the fire danced around the opaque material.

[Doran]

Noth was correct. The Mortalborn was somewhere in between. He was neither the despicable creature that those that followed Immortals made him out to be nor a glorious hero, at least not yet. He was instead a man who had chosen to take a difficult path in life, to challenge the status quo and those that ruled the world of Idalos, and while he was occasionally violent and had killed before without having any second thoughts afterwards, he was not a bloodthirsty madman – although he did desire to rise above the mortal creatures that surrounded him and that he considered to be inferior to him.

The Mortalborn wondered about much the same things as the hybrid – who exactly he was and how it could be that such a deformed creature could possess such power – and eventually came to a similar conclusion. As long as Noth worked with him rather than against him and as long as associating with him remained beneficial, it did not matter what he had done in the past, and for now, he had to admit, associating with him was very beneficial. What he especially appreciated was that he followed his instructions without hesitation and without constantly asking questions like that little forced laborer of his.

“Maybe somebody eventually will”, he remarked as Noth lamented the fact that nobody had documented the creatures of Idalos yet and briefly looked up from his work. “I have occasionally been thinking of doing something of a similar nature – cataloguing and categorizing the different kinds of alchemical reagents and bringing order to chaos.” He did not elaborate, but turned back to reagents in front of him and took something that, at a cursory glance, looked like a large rock that he had simply picked up from the ground which was perhaps somewhat anti-climactic after the reagents that he had used so far.

“The previous steps will need to be sealed or the item won’t work as intended or not at all”, he explained. “What I have here is the shell of the Ivorian Rock Turtle. It is a more than adequate sealer in my opinion. In order to allow you to trigger the neutralizing effect I will mix it with a triggering reagent and a stabilizer, in our case the ash of a flower that only grows in the far north of this world.”

With that, he broke the shell into small pieces using a hammer and ground them into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle, a somewhat monotonous and time-consuming process, but one that was unfortunately necessary since that was the only way to make sure that the sealer permeated every part of the metal. Two more powders were then added to it before he infused the resulting mixture into the metal that was fortunately still liquid.

“The triggering reagent will also have to be infused into the trigger.” He paused again and looked at Noth. “I propose a simple impact trigger that you will only have to hit with your other hand in order to activate the enhancement. I will only be able to add the triggering device after the gauntlet has been reforged though.”

“That means that we will have to meet once more after today. That last step won’t take long though. In fact it will only be a handful of bits as I will be able to prepare everything that we need for that final step in the meantime. I assume that won’t be a problem?” he asked, even though he did not truly care whether Noth was unhappy about that. It was what it was, and he was not capable of changing the way alchemy worked, at least not at the moment. The hybrid would thus have to live with it.

[Noth]

The idea of cataloguing all of the assorted creatures of the world was not an entirely new one. It stood to reason that somewhere in some archaic place, some ancient vizier had taken the time to inscribe a series of scrolls listing each and every creature in existence with all of their assorted traits and physicality written out in excruciating detail. Still, Noth had never seen, nor even truly heard of such an all-encompassing encyclopedia, and it would nevertheless be outdated the instant that one of the pestering godlings decided to torment the world with another of their divinely inspired abominations.

The twilight hybrid had hoped perhaps foolishly that the scientist before him would suddenly provide a hint of information that might lead him to such a catalogue; he imagined it would be pleasant reading, as well as strategically beneficial for the sake of knowing what beasts would be best for war, but instead he was simply given an agreeing statement. It seemed that Doran would have also been interested in such a guide, though it was probable that his reasons for it would be different. The hybrid’s thoughts on what he might do with a list of animals were further concluded as he spoke of creating a similar guide for the sake of alchemical reagents and their properties. Certainly, Doran would simply scribble down the reagents that an animal possessed, and how best to extract them.

There was mention that the previous steps would require sealing or else they would be unable to work as intended. The idea of the gauntlet suddenly exploding spontaneously flickered into mind, or perhaps it would leak its nullifying effects into his bloodstream, and give him a slow and inglorious demise. The item retrieved to perform this portion of the alchemical process appeared as little more than a simple rock, but Noth knew better than to underestimate the items being brought before him. In fact, they all seemed to be have been from distant lands or else from vicious and hard to kill creatures. That raised the question of how Doran was capable of retrieving all of the reagents. Had he simply adventured to these lands and collected assorted samples, or had he spent a small fortune to purchase all of these items for the sake of creating his gauntlet?

He was informed that the gauntlet would need to be forged now, and then they could finish the process by applying the trigger; something that would take only a few moments according to Doran. Noth had genuinely expected that the gauntlet would be created all in one grand act of alchemical fabrication, but it seemed that instead he was going to need to find a smith willing to forge together a gauntlet for him out of the acquired metals granted to him. He let out a pent-up sigh, and nodded, aware that Doran had likely spent far more on the project than he had thus far, and thereby did not deserve any criticisms on his part.

“Very well. Meet me here tomorrow when the sun at its highest point.”

Vhalar 71, 717

It had been surprisingly cheap to order the creation of the masterwork plate gauntlet from the smith, though he had not quite expected so many questions to be raised throughout the process. It had only cost him 80 golden nels for the process, because he had brought his own material, and because he only required a single gauntlet as opposed to the pair that were normally sold by the smithies of the world. He had wanted to keep the creation of the gauntlet as quiet as possible, and so he had made certain to approach the smith only when he had no other customers coming to retrieve their goods, and his other employees had yet to arrive.

He had hoped that the clandestine nature of his visit would deter any questions as to the material he provided, but instead it seemed to provoke even further interrogation from the smith. It was an unusual thing to bring ones own material to a smith, but not altogether unreasonable given the prices of such goods. However, the heat resistance of the ‘steel’ that he had brought to him astounded the smith, and several not-so-subtle comments had passed in question about its true nature. The promise of an additional ten golden nels for his silence on the matter was accepted, and after several grueling breaks, the gauntlet had been forged. It gleamed beautifully, and he thought that he could almost sense the energy glistening within its metallic confines, waiting to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world.

Upon leaving the smith, the hybrid glanced upwards, observing the sun as it reached its pinnacle in the blue sky, and he promptly began to approach the inn where they had met previously. The hybrid waited outside of the establishment this time, not wanting to pay the price for a room if the process would only take a couple of bits to finish. After all, that would be a complete waste, and even if he was excited at the prospect of possessing the nigh legendary gauntlet; or, it would be anyways, he would still not give in to economic foolishness.

Thusly, the hybrid waited, the gauntlet worn tightly upon his hand.

[Doran]

While Noth went to the smith to have his gauntlet forged, Doran returned to his laboratory in the Tower to prepare the final step. He chose a simple, comparatively small piece of metal made of the same material as the gauntlet for the trigger. It would only really be noticeable if one expected the gauntlet closely. He coated it with what he had left of the triggering reagent, left it to dry for several breaks and then put it into a small box that he took with him into his apartment as he preferred to keep such important things nearby.

On the next trial he made his way back to the Broken Blade, carrying the box as well as a special type of glue in his pack that he would need to attach the trigger to the gauntlet. He arrived at the tavern just as the sun reached its highest point. To his surprise the hybrid was already waiting for him, outside this time. Apparently he deemed it unnecessary to pay for a room again. The Mortalborn pondered that decision for a while – he didn’t like doing business in such a public place – but then again it would only take a few moments, and it was unlikely that people expected the Hero of Oscillus to be there.

He approached Noth and inclined his head in a greeting. “Good trial”, he spoke before he gestured for the hybrid to follow him around a corner. He didn’t want to do this right in front of the door, but at least a few steps away from it. “I have the trigger with me. If you take the gauntlet off and hand it to me, I will attach the trigger.” He extended the hand and would do just that if Noth complied and gave the gauntlet to him.

[Noth]

It took surprisingly little time for the alchemist to find him, especially given that he was standing rather blatantly in front of the Broken Blade. Whilst Noth had expected for the addition of the trigger to last only about a bit and had therefore determined it unnecessary to truly seek any cover from prying eyes, it seemed as though Doran had alternative plans, and the Avriel was led around to the corner of the structure so that the final part of the process could be completed away from those who might have otherwise observed.

The caution that Doran displayed was not entirely undue, but Noth still had to wonder how much of a risk was being taken in assisting him in the creation of the gauntlet. Surely if the Chief Advisor was made aware of the activity, he would immediately condemn the would-be-Immortal-slayer to either a financially burdensome tithe, or else to suffer the greatest cost: death. Nevertheless, Noth had been paying at least a fair amount of attention to his surroundings and the assorted peoples who meandered hither and thither within sight, and none of them seemed at all interested in observing the pair of men or of keeping an eye on them; simply another business endeavor or else friendly conversation as always happened outside of a tavern’s doors.

Noth obediently followed the directions of Doran, removing the freshly-smithed gauntlet from his hand and placing it gently into the waiting palm of the alchemist so that he might finish the product. The thought was exciting, like a steadily growing fire within his stomach, and he felt a grin begin to force its way to his facial features as the trigger was readily attached to the instrument. The Null Gauntlet he would call it, because it would nullify whatever he desired, and yet still retained its protective qualities as a gauntlet. A humorous side-effect was that it had been forged to a far higher standard than the remainder of his armor, and so it was also the most resilient piece of his metallic suit, which meant it would likely do quite well for blocking weaker instruments such as knives or swords, not to mention fireballs and chemical concoctions.

“You have my gratitude, Doran.” He uttered simply, opening and closing his palm within the gauntlet after he had slipped his hand into it.

A thought warped into his mind as their business concluded. “Doran, you’ve likely taken notice of the mutant issue, have you not?” It seemed reasonable to assume that he had, especially since there were rewards being mentioned pertaining to the capture of Padfoot or for the engineering of a serum to reverse the effects. “If I could procure a couple of vials of mutant blood, what would their value be to you… what could you do with them?” He began, knowing that there would probably be little to be taken from such a lesser item. “And… what if I could bring you Padfoot’s head?”