12-11. Married Life
“First things first,” Elijah said, leaning forward in his seat. Atticus’ assistant had already come by to offer them coffee, and despite Elijah’s attempt to get things moving, he’d waited until he had a steaming cup in front of him. “What have you heard about the meeting last week?”
As Atticus repositioned himself, he let out a small groan of displeasure. “You should have warned me,” he responded, leaning back. “Those people are a nightmare to deal with.”
“Sorry,” Elijah said, taking a sip. He was surprised at how richly flavored it was. “This is good. Where did you get it?”
“A city called Bonga,” he said. “Used to be Ethiopia. But the real secret ingredient is chicory.”
Elijah nodded. He’d had chicory coffee before when he’d visited New Orleans, but for whatever reason, this tasted different. Not quite as bitter, though just as richly flavored.
“I definitely need to get some, then,” he said. “Now – what about the deal?”
As it turned out, Atticus had his hands full dealing with a bunch of world leaders. However, he claimed that they were making good progress toward a deal to manage access to the Primal Realms as well as a plan to safeguard the trees.
“The real problem is the guilds. They claim they already had a deal in place.”
Elijah sighed. He’d anticipated a few snags, largely because everyone was flying by the seat of their pants. There was no great plan. Everyone had taken a reactive approach. As such, the previous deal Elijah had made with the guilds was both shortsighted and inadequate for their current needs.
“Things change. They have to recognize that.”
“They do,” Atticus replied, taking a sip of his own coffee. He let out a sigh of appreciation. “It’s just a negotiation tactic. We’ll get it sorted out, my friend. Don’t worry.”
“Sooner rather than later,” Elijah reminded him. “This can’t drag on for years. We need a deal in place.”
Left unsaid was that, without such a deal, Elijah would be forced to split his focus between protecting the trees and conquering Primal Realms. Considering that they were quickly running out of time, it was in everyone’s best interests to keep his mind on the latter.
But people were greedy. Self-interest was the default. So, Atticus had his work cut out for him.
“It will get done,” Atticus stated. He was a jovial sort, but when it came to negotiations, he was just as much of a fighter as any combatant. He would make it work, even if he had to drag everyone over the finish line himself.
After that, they moved on to the reason Elijah had come. Often, it was frustrating, not being able to identify items himself. He could usually gauge an item’s power well enough, but beyond that, he was lost.
Thankfully, Atticus was an expert, and not just because of his class. He could have made a good living just from item identification.
The stone desk – which was a bit of a monstrosity – turned out to be a variant of Atticus’ old identification table. So, Elijah only needed to place the item onto the surface to allow his friend to appraise it.
The first up was the one Elijah was most excited about:
| Handguards of the Wild Revenant Overall Grade: Sophisticated (High) Enchantment Grade: C Description: The Handguards of the Wild Revenant are only one piece of the Wild Revenant Raiment, once worn by the leader of a sect of groveless Druids. Attribute Bonuses: +25 Dexterity, +50 Regeneration, +50 Etehra Traits: Hand of Nature: Conjure a hand appropriate to the local environment, trapping foes. Absolute Grasp: Stick to any surface. Heavy Handed: Enhance the efficacy of all unarmed melee attacks by 12%.
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