Fantasy Economics 101 - Chapter 12

It's elementaly, my dear Raol

"Mister Raol! Over here!"

Following the young hermitess's voice, the skeleton morosely climbed to the top of the wooded hill. While they weren't expecting to meet any travelers on their way, he chose to wear a disguise all the same. Due to some purchases in town, most of them at a steep discount in exchange for wondrous tales from the mystical land of the Barbarian Coast, he would have certainly passed for a beginner adventurer, if only from a distance. The worn robes he inherited from the necromancer were replaced by a slightly less worn green surcoat over a matching tunic, with faded dark trousers made of thick fabric and a pair of leather boots.

Of course, on closer inspection, onlookers would have likely questioned why he was hiding his face under a layer of cloth or wondered how he could bear the sunny weather under such thick garments, but it was better to be considered suspicious than to be attacked on sight.

Raol hefted the patched-up backpack hanging from his shoulders and quickly reached the top of the small hill. Glancing up, he found Elkayla sitting on a thick branch well over his head. For once, she wore traveling clothes instead of her usual dresses. Her white blouse was barely visible under a body-hugging purple jacket, lightly embroidered and custom-fitted for her, while her thighs were covered by a pair of matching britches that left her calves and feet uncovered. As always, she seemed to be vehemently against the concept of footwear.

However, the most striking part of her ensemble was undoubtedly her hat. It was similar to the one she wore at the time the two of them met for the first time, but with one crucial difference: there was a thin, white veil attached all around to the brim, freely hanging and with an overlapping slit in the front that allowed her to open it up. It was ostensibly to keep the insects of the forest in bay, though Raol found even that explanation a tad baffling, considering nothing was stopping a mosquito from flying under said veil. However, when he glanced at the young woman's bare yet inexplicably spotless feet dangling merrily from the branch, defying common sense and in stark contrast with his mud-caked boots, the strange veil seemed mundane in comparison.

"I told you not to run ahead," he spoke with just a hint of displeasure as he stopped near Elkayla. "The ground is uneven here. You could've hurt yourself."

"That’s not important," she retorted with a shake of her head and pointed forward. "Look over there! You said you had to go through a valley, didn't you? Is this the one?"

Following the direction of her finger, Raol narrowed his eye-lights as he took a closer look at the landscape. He was wearing a few suppression trinkets already, so his vision wasn't nearly as restricted by the ever-present fog as the last time he passed through these woods. Re-tracing his meandering steps after his traumatic reawakening promised to be a troublesome task, but not an insurmountable one, and they had already found a few familiar landmarks. An oddly shaped boulder. A thunderstruck husk of a tree. And now, a familiar valley.

"I think I approached this place from that direction," he said as his finger casually pointed at a wild trail on the other side.

"We're getting close! I can feel it in my bones!" Elkayla exclaimed, sounding altogether too excited.

"You're sounding like an old lady," the skeleton jested, then added. "And aren't I the skeleton here? If anyone should be talking about feeling things in his bones, it's me."

"Don't nitpick my words! It's rude!" the young lady huffed and puffed, but it was all play with no bite in it, and a moment later, she hopped off the branch, catching it with her hand on the way down and swinging over to Raol's side.

Despite the rough bark covering it, her hand was fine, and after landing, she left no mark on the soft soil under their feet. Raol was already used for her oddities, but now and then, when displaying them so brazenly, even he had to question her identity. However, any urge to ask those inquiries melted away when she turned on her heel, faced the skeleton, and lightly parted her veil with one hand to show off her smile.

"Come on, Mister Raol! Let's not tarry!"

In that moment, standing in front of a scenery of wild nature, under the bright rays of the summer sun filtered through a myriad of leaves, she seemed ethereal. It moved something in Raol, and it was… his sense of aesthetics. She looked truly beautiful at the moment, but that was it. Despite not being his exact type, he knew that under normal circumstances, this sight should've elicited all kinds of reactions in him. A soft, fuzzy heat in his stomach. A bit of sweat on his palms. A fluttering heart pumping blood into certain areas not often mentioned in polite company.

Instead of any of that, he was feeling something closer to artistic appreciation, such as when an aficionado looked at a fine painting. Or at least so he imagined, based on what he had heard while infiltrating high society on more than one occasion. He was never the art connoisseur himself, but the sensation had to be at least in the same neighborhood, as opposed to the more visceral response he would've experienced if not for his bony constitution. It must have been the lack of those pesky glandshe read about, he surmised.

"Erm… Why are you staring at me?" Elkayla's timid question shook him out of his thoughts, and when he didn't respond right away, she put both her hands under her veil. "Is there something on my face? Is it a bug?"

"No, nothing of the sort," Raol answered after a brief pause. "I was just… thinking about something."

"About what?"

Momentarily stumped, he considered whether he should tell her about his true sentiments, but after some time he decided to go with, "I was just wondering if we could meet some fey-folk today?"

"Fey-folk?" she repeated after him, sounding genuinely baffled.

"Like fairies," he clarified and made a vague gesture in the direction of a valley. "In common tales, they always show up in idyllic groves and forest clearings. I always imagined them to look like this, so I was wondering if there would be any fey-folk here."

"I don't think so. This forest is much too young for that."

Raol responded with a slightly stumped, "I see." When she didn't follow it up, he glanced around and took a step towards a meandering trail leading to the bottom, and Elkayla hurriedly followed beside him. Then, just as the sudden silence was starting to become awkward, she suddenly spoke up again.

"Did Mister Raol know that fey-folk are elementals?"

That was an odd question, the kind that the skeleton would've raised a confounded brow at if he had any at the moment, but his body language was able to convey the same, as the young hermitess soon continued with a much more self-assured voice.

"It's true, you know? Elementals are born from the mana of the land where they live."

"Like monsters?" the skeleton inquired to keep the conversation going, even as he helped her get over a tangle of roots sticking out of the hillside.

"No, not like that, silly! If the grimoire is correct, monsters are born from magicka. Elementals are born from primal mana that is rising from the land itself."

"And that's different."

"Obviously," she nodded as she tiptoed around a bundle of brambles.

"And when it rises to the surface, it turns into faeries?"

"Elementals," she corrected him, standing still while trying to decide how to avoid the prickly shrubbery. After watching her for a while, Raol readjusted the straps of his backpack and got down to one knee with his hands held out. At first, Elkayla was puzzled by his action, but when she realized what he meant, she let out a tinkling giggle and practically jumped into the skeleton's arms. "Thank you!"

Raol picked her up without any words. As expected, she was light as a feather, and after getting a solid grip on her, he started to walk, completely ignoring the prickly underbrush beneath his feet.

"So, as I was saying," Elkayla continued on, her face beaming with delight. She found the situation rather amusing, and she was getting even chattier than usual. "When an elemental is born, their shape isn't set in stone, and they adapt to their environment. In a forest, they would become faieries, or pixies, or maybe a dryad if there's a lot of primal mana there."

"But if their appearance is dependent on their environment, why do they all look like humans?"

Elkayla waited until Raol hopped over another patch of briars, and while they were out of the thick of it, she was content to remain in his arms, something she showed by putting her arms around his neck.

"It's because humans are the dominant species around here," she explained as if it was a self-evident truth. "Before humans became so widespread on the continent, elementals had very different forms. Like, for example… I'm sure you've heard stories about giant wolves covered in glowing patterns, or birds made of thunder and lightning. Those are really, really old elementals."

"I've never heard any of this," Raol noted, sounding just a touch skeptical. "Was this discovered recently?"

"Hm? Oh, no. This isn't something that humans… of the Monarchy know about. Or at least I don't think so."

He was tempted to ask where she learned of all of this, but by this point, they were getting close to the bottom of the small valley, and as the path became steeper, he had to focus on his footing. As such, by the time they came to a halt at the lowermost parts, next to a small stream, he had a completely different question in mind.

"What about the elves then?"

The unspoken implication was about why these elementals she spoke of didn't take after the appearance of the fair folk of the Northern Isles, but to Elkayla's ears, it sounded much more straightforward.

"They mimic humans too. Obviously."

The young hermitess's nonchalant answer made Raol nearly stumble and drop her into the shallow water. He made the save at the very last moment, and after reaffirming both his footing and his grip on her, he stared deeply into her face.

"Elves are elementals?"

"Of course. They look human, don't they?."

Sounding quite incredulous, Raol raised his voice both in volume and pitch.

"Is literally everything that looks human but isn't actually human an elemental?"

"Mostly," she responded with a nod and then held on tight as Raol waded through the stream.

"So if fairies are elementals of the forests, then the elves are elementals of the seas?"

"No, that's the merpeople," Elkayla answered while raising her feet high, as if afraid that water would splash on them. "Elves were originally from the really old and reeeally untouched forests of the north, but then they got exposed to human civilization, and created their own kingdoms. Then there was some conflict with the human nations, and they migrated away to a place without humans. That's why they now live on the northern islands."

In the meantime, the two of them reached the other side of the valley, and the skeleton glanced up at the steep hill in front of him, with nary a beaten path in sight.

"I learn something new every day," Raol muttered under his breath and lowered the arm holding onto the hermitess's legs, signaling to her that she should walk now. She ignored him and hugged his neck even tighter. He soon gave up and hefted her again, heading to the easiest-looking trail on the other side of the valley with the question, "Are dwarves elementals too? They look human, if a little squat and hairy."

"Sure, they are! Elementals born from the mountains."

"And all of these elemental races used to look different from how they look today…" Raol mused even as he climbed the hillside. "So fairies used to be, what? Butterflies and bugs?"

"Probably."

"And merpeople were fish."

"And dwarves were probably really big moles!" Elkayla exclaimed with a beam. "That's why they are so hairy!"

"Then what about elves? If they were from the northern forests, shouldn't they look like something from there? They have long ears, so… rabbits?"

"Don't be silly, Mister Raol! Rabbits don't live in the forest. They live in the hills."

The skeleton glanced at her to see if she was serious, but it was impossible to read her expression, so he uttered a dry, "Right. How silly of me," in response, making Elkayla giggle again.

"They probably used to be elks and deer."

"Now that you mention it, on tapestries, the elven kings are always depicted wearing a crown with antlers."

"It's settled, then," Elkayla declared, but Raol was already thinking of something else.

"What about daemons then? Did they use to be goats and rams?"

"Mister Raol!" The young hermitess raised her voice indignantly and squeezed her arms around his neck. "That's a very insensitive thing to say!"

"Why? I've never seen a daemon, but they say they look like humans with tails and horns. Doesn't that mean they are elementals?"

Hearing the confusion in the skeleton's voice, Elkayla loosened her arms, though her expression remained peevish.

"Daemons aren't elementals! Daemons are servants of the Seven and born from divine mana!"

"Are they?" Raol sounded especially skeptical of this claim, but there was another new term that piqued his interest more, so he hastily added, "And what is 'divine mana' anyway?"

Elkayla, still pouting, rolled her eyes as if this was common knowledge, but then she suddenly remembered who she was talking to, and hastily apologized.

"Oh, right. Mister Raol wouldn't know about something like this, would you?" It was at this time that they reached the peak of the hill on the other side of the valley, and after some hesitation, she gestured for Raol to let her down. Once she straightened her clothes and fixed her veil, she turned to the skeleton with a much gentler expression and explained, "Divine mana is something that comes from the sky. It's the power of the gods, and daemons were created to serve the gods by testing the believers."

"As in?"

She put a finger on her lower lip, parting her veil for a moment, and after some consideration, she explained, "For example, a daemon of avarice would visit rulers and noblemen infamous for their greed and investigate their finances for corruption, or a daemon of temptation would try to seduce a priest suspected of abusing his position to gather evidence of his wrongdoings. Those kinds of things."

"Isn't that the other way around?"

"No, it's not," Elkayla frowned and pointed a finger at him. "You shouldn't believe what others say about daemons, Mister Raol! It's all just propaganda! A smear campaign by the rich and powerful!"

In front of the unusually fiery temperament of the young woman, Raol could only raise his palms.

"All right. I understand."

"Good!" she declared with a triumphant hum, and after glancing around, she grabbed onto a branch with one hand and effortlessly pulled herself up.

While she was getting perched, Raol's eye-lights narrowed into contemplative lines behind the cloth covering his skull. In truth, he knew very little about such topics, but the ease and assurance with which the young hermitess answered his inquiries gave him a hard time disagreeing with her. He already knew she was very knowledgeable in a wide array of topics, but their previous discussion fully cemented his impression of her… and made him a bit suspicious of her.

It had to be said that, while his education was rather one-sided, Raol still considered himself rather well-informed about the world and its workings, yet this was the first time he had ever heard about such things as 'primal mana' or 'divine mana', and he still couldn't wrap his head around how those were different from magicka. Nonetheless, all of it could be chalked up to the fact that his knowledge base was a good three hundred years out of date. The same couldn't be said about the topic of daemons though.

The Viserwright Institute for the Gifted was, at least on the surface, owned and administered by the Temple of Silva. As such, Raol had received his fair share of theological classes during his years as its student, yet he couldn't recall daemons being mentioned in any of them. All of his information about them was sourced from rumors and hearsay concerning powerful beings bent on corrupting the righteous nobles and priests of the Empire, so at first, he had a hard time accepting Elkayla's words at face value. Yet, the more he thought about it, trying to weed out anyone who could give them a bad name by association was precisely something the Seven Temples would do, and it put many of the rumors he had heard in his past life into a new light.

However, if he were to accept her explanation, it raised a brand-new question: just how would this hermitess be aware of this 'secret police' hidden from even the Empire's finest intelligence agency, let alone the fact that they employed daemons? Her background, already mysterious, was getting more unfathomable by the day.

"I found it!"

Raol's contemplation was interrupted by a lively shout, and as he glanced up, his vision was met with a butt falling towards him. He reflexively stepped forward and held out his hands, and a moment later, he caught the plummeting hermitess.

"That was dangerous."

Ignoring his chiding words, Elkayla let out a chuckle and pointed her finger to their right.

"The monoliths Mister Raol was talking about! I think I saw them over there!" With a few twists, she wriggled out of the skeleton's arms, and after landing on her feet, she pointed in the same direction again. "Let's go! We're almost there!"

She was already wading through an unbeaten train before Raol could even respond, and so he quickly followed after her. He couldn't see them yet, but if she was telling the truth and they were indeed near the place where he was raised into unlife, it was time to put his worries about the elementals and daemons aside, and focus on something much more important. At least as far as his plans for recovering his body and those pesky glands, that is…