I looked up towards the roof of the tower where the sound of hammering sounded through the whole area, up there Skanor and his apprentice Lucius were hammering down the last few wooden shingles they had made the day before.
Within just a few minutes they had finished with their work and started back down on the ladders they climbed up on.
“There you go good sir, everything you have asked of us.” Skanor said with a wide grin as he walked right up next to me. For a moment the two of us looked upon the mighty tower we had built, the thick stone walls and the pointed wooden rooftop like a small spire.
“You did well, the both of you.” I replied as I finally turned away from the tower with a pouch full of coins. “Here is the money I own you, everything should be accounted for.”
Skanor happily took the pouch from my hands and took a quick look through before counting up around half and handing it to Lucius who had followed his teacher down.
“Thank you kind sir, and remember if you need anything else related to carpentry you can be sure to rely upon me and my apprentice.”
“I will be sure to remember that Skanor, and good luck to you.”
For a while I looked upon the tower by myself while I could hear Calavia and Sven speaking in the distance at the table, I felt the gentle wind pass by and for the first time in a while I felt satisfied with where I was in the world.
That wasn’t to say I was unhappy with my life in Antium, but I felt a sense of fulfilment and purpose for the first time, that what I was doing was mattering.
By the time night came Calavia and I had moved everything from furniture to clothing inside of the tower, and when night was upon us we had a small fire in the top floor in the fireplace as we slowly drifted off to sleep.
**********
The next several days were full of busy work, we of course started our plans to grow some of our own ingredients for my alchemy, but we also considered growing something else. That something else being a handful of berries from the forest that Calavia liked.
The berries in question were small and red, they grew in what was almost a vine but were very much growing on a bush. It was an odd plant, but Calavia insisted she have a few transplanted over to the edge of our new garden.
Most of the time we didn’t spend working on our new home I spent brewing potions and practicing magic. Speaking of, my potions had become something of a hot commodity in the city of Lindum given that I was one of the few trained mages that was skilled in alchemy. Because of this I was able to start selling my potions for more than in Antium, some of my distributors even suggested that I start labelling my potions and create a brand of my own.
Believe it or not this was one of the hardest things I had ever done, I was just a medium skilled mage with training in alchemy, and now I was starting my own brand. Finding someone to create the labels was rather easy as my distributors had several people in mind, the hard part was deciding what to call my brand.
For several hours a day I was sitting at the table with a few pieces of paper and an ink pot writing down everything that came to mind without anything sounding right. I was in a tough situation and I wasn’t quite sure what to do, until of course Calavia came to my aid.
“Hey Arthur, what are you doing with that paper?”
“I’m trying to come up with something to call my potions, a brand name is what my distributors called it. As you can see I haven’t been having any success.” I sighed and leaned back while gesturing vaguely at the paper filled with a wide assortment of names.
Within a moment Calavia had the paper in her hand and she started to read each of my ideas to herself. When she was done she placed the paper back onto the table and began to write down a few of her own.
“You have a few good ideas here, it's just the other half of most of these names is what is holding you back. This one right here for example-” Calavia pointed to one of my first, Perfect Elixir. “If you add half of this one you will get something way better.” Calavia pointed to another name, Assorted Ash. “When you add them together like this you get something way better.” Calavia quickly scribbled something down and turned the paper towards me.
“Ash and Elixir?” I said out loud as I looked at the name. I couldn’t help but like the name, it was simple and catchy, certainly not something that could be easily forgotten.
“I have a few more names if you would like to see them.” Calavia said as she took back the paper and started writing down more. Within just a minute I was looking at more names.
“The Withered Crucible, Blackroot Remedies, Wisp and Wart, Crimson Retort, Sigil and Salt, The Black Phial, and Cinderveil Alchemy. Wow, how did you come up with these names?”
“You came up with at least half of most of those names, I just added the rest and made them sound much better. So which one do you like the most?”
“Honestly, I think Ash and Elixir is the best name of the eight for our purposes. Crimson Retort, The Black Phial, and Cinderveil Alchemy are a bit out there for a small time alchemist. The runner up would definitely be Sigil and Salt, something about that one just hits the spot, and it sounds a little more like a magic store than an alchemy one.”
“Wonderful, do you need help designing the label?”
“No I don’t think so, either I or the label maker should be able to come up with something simple. But thank you anyways, I’m not sure what I would do without you.”
*********
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The label maker and I had quickly came up with a design for the label within just a half hour of thinking. In the middle of the label would be the brand name in big letters, below would be the type of potion in smaller letters. To the sides however would be a small pile of ash and a coloured potion, we ended up with a red potion as it was rather cheap to produce red ink.
Within a few days the new labelled potions were ready and were getting out to my distributors who were making very good sales which was of course very good for me as I made a good amount of money as well.
The money of course went towards food and other alchemy and magical related things for both Calavia and myself, things like books on just about everything related to our work and daily lives were ordered in far larger sizes than before and before we knew it within a year we had our own small library on the first floor.
**********
For one year things went exactly as we hoped and expected. We had good and steady income, enough food to feed at least five people for a year, and with enough searching we managed to get our hands on a communication orb connected to the mages guild allowing us to directly order certain magical ingredients and items.
But everything changed just a month later, a large group of refugees came into view from the south facing window on the top floor. I was the first to notice and for a while I just stood up there and watched them moving closer unsure of what to do.
“Hey Arthur, what are you doing up here so early?” Calavia asked as she peeked her head out from the stairs.
I looked over with a touch of worry on my face and waved her over, quickly she followed and took a look for herself and she quickly had the same expression I did.
“Refugees?” She asked just as uncertain as I was.
“I think so.” I answered with a slight shake in my voice. “What do you think we can do?”
“Well we have to help them of course, it's the right thing to do.” Calavia practically shot back at me like I suggested something awful. But her voice was still shaking, she wasn’t certain if that was the best idea either.
“We won’t be able to do that by ourselves, we will need help from Lord Albinus and the city to take care of this many people. I am counting around fifty or one hundred refugees walking this way, we might be able to house and feed them for a few days but after that we will need supplies and somewhere to keep them.”
“Then you should go to Lindum and speak with Lord Albinus about the matter. I will stay here with the refugees and help them as best as I can for the time being.”
I turned to look at Calavia with a look of shock on my face. I could tell she was nervous and uneasy but she was pushing her feelings to the side and doing what was right anyways.
“Alright, I will do that. Just make sure you stay safe, I’m not sure what I would do without you.”
“You worry too much Arthur, I am more than capable of protecting myself against a handful of starving common people.”
“I’m not that worried about you protecting yourself, more so about what happens afterwards when the adrenaline wears off and you have to look at the scorched bodies of desperate people.”
“I will make sure it doesn’t come to that.” Calavia said as she grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, I quickly returned the embrace and for a handful of moments we just stood there in silence neither wanting to separate. But eventually we separated and I began my journey back to the city of Lindum to speak with Lord Albinus.
**********
As quickly as possible I rode to the city on one of our horses. When I reached the city gates the guards allowed me though without issue and I continued towards the residence of Lord Albinus.
Unlike at the outside gates I was stopped as I got close, I didn’t recognize the commanding officer but he certainly recognized me as he stepped forwards.
“Good morning sir Arthur, how might we help you on this fine day?”
“I have important news to share with Lord Albinus, a wave of refugees numbering between fifty and one hundred were seen from my home.”
“That is important news.” The commanding officer said as he scratched his chin in contemplation. “I suppose you wish to share this information with Lord Albinus yourself?”
“Yes, that was the intention.” I quickly replied.
I could see the commanding officer was torn between helping me and following his duty to keep his lord safe, eventually he came to a decision and called over two guards.
“Very well sir Arthur, you may speak with Lord Albinus. These two men will accompany you.”
“Thank you sergeant, have a good day.”
With two guardsmen in tow I climbed the stairs and stepped through the doorway to the residence of Lord Albinus after around a year.
As I entered I noticed the air was different, it was brighter and Lord Albinus seemed to be somewhat happier than the last time I saw him.
Like the last time he was seated in his chair in the middle of the large table as he ate breakfast with a young man seated next to him. However there was one thing that bothered me, the young man in question was dressed rather strangely to be eating with someone like Lord Albinus. Unlike Lord Albinus who was wearing clothes fit for a lord, this young man was wearing something you might expect a hunter or hermit to wear.
But before I could dwell on the subject Lord Albinus took notice of my presence and stood from his chair.
“Arthur, what an unexpected surprise. What brings you here?”
“Unfortunately I came as a messenger, from the top of my home outside the city I along with Calavia saw a large group of people heading towards us which we suspect are refugees fleeing the war. We will be able to help them for a few days but after that we will need help to keep them fed and safe.”
“And so you came to the lord of the city to find a solution to the problem.” Lord Albinus finished my sentence with a sigh and sat back down. “Please take a seat Arthur, and you two can leave us be.” Lord Albinus continued as he waved the two guardsmen away.
Following his request I took a seat nearby and for several moments nobody said anything.
The young man was mostly unbothered by what I said and continued eating at the same pace as before, Lord Albinus on the other hand cupped his hands together and actively avoided looking at his food.
“Do you know how many are coming?” He eventually asked, breaking the silence.
“Between fifty and one hundred.” I quickly answered and Lord Albinus leaned back.
“That could be worse.” He muttered as his gaze turned upwards. “Assuming they don’t immediately turn towards crime and actually are willing to contribute then we will have a boost to the local workforce. At the least the farmers should have some use for them.”
“So what do you plan to do?” I asked somewhat nervously.
“I will send you a few wagons with food and other necessities, and if they wish the refugees in question will be able to take the wagons towards the city to search for work and a place to stay. Perhaps you will be able to do something with those that are uncertain.”
I looked to Lord Albinus with a look of confusion. “I’m not sure I understand, what exactly would I be doing with the refugees?”
“You are growing plants for your potions are you not? With a proper workforce you could expand the amount you produce and thus produce more potions which would be good for everyone. You would have more money, the city would have more potions and less beggars, and those you employ would have steady work. Though you will likely need to do something about their housing in that case, even simple houses would be good motivation.”
