The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds Book 1) (27 page)

They followed
Terrod’s
directions to the western side of the city. They heard the Grand Market well
before they saw it. Even this early in the day, a bustle of activity could be
heard sounding like the drone of an enormous beehive, and evolving into the
shouted voices of hundreds and then thousands of people. They turned a final
corner and were confronted with a sea of tents and stands. The street they were
walking on sloped down as it entered the Market and so they had a clear view of
the countless vendors extending out in front of them. There was no uniformity
to be seen! Pointed or flat topped, beige or a riotous collage of colors, the
tents that comprised the bazaar did not follow any recognizable pattern. Some
were as large as a house and others so small it didn’t seem that they could fit
a person inside.

 
Terrod
had told them that the building they were looking for was at the center of the
Market. The two friends began walking and melded with the chaos of people
squeezing down narrow corridors between the tents. It was an assault on the
senses, almost overwhelming. It made Richter glad that no one else could access
his valuables in his Bag of Holding, because this setting must be a pickpocket’s
dream.

 Many sights grabbed Richter’s
attention from food, to weapons, to exotic animals in cages. Even the people
were varied in their speech, skin color and style of dress. Richter had
wondered why his darker skin color had not raised any eyebrows in the people he
had met, but he saw plenty in the Market that could represent every race on
Earth and even people who wouldn’t fit any category he was familiar with. There
were even a fairly large amount of nonhumans. Every tent also had at least one
human, but in the Market the nonhumans at least stood tall and made eye
contact.

The one place Richter did linger was
a book seller, but the “magic books” they offered were less than genuine. The
prompt that appeared when Richter examined them showed they were only normal
books. Merely traps to separate the gullible from their money. He decided to
just press on, glancing back from time to time to make sure he hadn’t lost
Sion. Somehow he didn’t think the sprite would appreciate a suggestion to hold
his hand.

 Two hours passed before they
saw the columned building that
Terrod
had described.
It wasn’t just that the Market was large enough to require that amount of time,
even though it
was
massive. Their slow pace had more to do with the
press of people and the arrangement of the tents. It was a maze! Several times
they had walked into a dead end and had to back track. One time only a grim
glare and hands firmly on their weapons had backed down a pair of men that had
clearly meant them harm. They did see occasional pairs of soldiers walking, but
they were few and far between. It didn’t escape Richter’s notice that most
vendors had at least daggers at their belt, and the larger tents had burly men
looking over anyone that came close. The only real benefit of walking through
the Market was that Richter got ample opportunity to use Analyze, and his
increased Wisdom made it easier to replenish his mana. Ultimately he grew
impatient and Richter grabbed an urchin who agreed to lead them to the building
for a few coppers. Half an hour later their destination was in sight. Their
guide told them the building was an old converted temple though no one
remembered what deity it had been once dedicate to. The locals simply called it
the Hall.

 With an abrupt transition the
tents stopped, and a large arena of paved stones opened in front of them. Tents
could be seen lining the edges of the rectangular area about the size of two
football fields placed end to end. The small girl leading them pointed to one
end of the open space and then disappeared back into the morass of tents.
Richter wondered if her whole life had been spent inside of that canvas
expanse. Dismissing it from his mind, they walked towards the Hall enjoying the
relative freedom of personal space for the first time in what felt like a great
while, though it had actually only been a few hours. Fountains and statues in
various states of disrepair dotted the space as did small clusters of trees.
Quartets of guards lounged at the edges periodically, presumably to be able to
react to trouble quickly in any direction.

 The density of people increased
as they neared the Hall. There seemed to be some loose organization to the
workers standing around. They walked up the steps and the relative quiet they
had enjoyed at the center of the Market was replaced by the sound of many
voices.
Terrod
had one contact that he trusted in the
Hall, and they would just have to search for her. The inside of the Hall was
setup in a series of small platforms that the “agents” stood upon. The
potential employers spoke to the agents who then led them to the appropriate
workers. Along the walls there were more agents. They apparently warranted
small booths and desks.

 
Terrod
had told them it being an agent was a thriving business. Apparently everyone
seeking employment had to register with an agent. The practice had been around
so long now that it had been formalized by the Kingdom. Each agent was licensed
and there were a finite amount of licenses at any one time. Anyone masquerading
as an agent, or any worker trying to get employment without going through
proper channels, would earn themselves a beating or imprisonment. The guards
present in the building certainly seemed more alert than those outside. The
limited number of agents worked in their favor as they quickly found the woman
they were looking for, only needing to ask for directions twice.
Terrod
had referred to her as “Mama.”

 Mama turned out to be a five
foot nothing ball of fury. She gave directions like the crack of a whip, moving
business along with the efficiency of a drummer on a Roman war galley. There
was a clear protocol as the area in front of her booth lacked the milling chaos
that characterized the rest of the building. Her customers had formed an
orderly line with a person moving up, handing over a piece of paper, and saying
what they needed. A short conversation about the specifics of the contract
ensued. She would then gesture to one of her several aids that stood nearby.
Coins would exchange hands, then the aide and customer would walk off,
presumably to retrieve whatever help the customer had come to obtain.

 Somewhat at a loss, but not
wanting to rock the boat, Richter and Sion joined the line. In what seemed like
no time they were at the front and her hand was out, while looking down and
writing the details of the last transaction in an open book in front of her.
When nothing landed in her hand, she looked up with complete and utter disdain,
searching for and finding the moron who had brought disorder to her carefully
cultivated universe. Richter could swear he heard the people behind him backing
up to show they were not with him, but he didn’t dare look away from the woman
before him.

 “When my hand is out, I expect
your reference to be placed in it. I do not work with people I do not know. I
have found it to be a waste of my time. I do not like wasting my time. I do not
like people that waste my time. Now you are just standing there looking
indecisive. Indecision causes confusion. Confusion causes accidents. Accidents
cause death! So before my mental anguish transforms into your physical anguish,
why don’t you get out of my line!” Each word of her speech dripped venom, and
rose in volume, until she was shouting at the end. This time Richter was sure
everyone had moved away from him. And yes, he meant everyone. Out of the corner
of his eye he caught Sion a good three feet away.

 Blushing from the embarrassment
of being dressed down like a child he said, “
Terrod
sent us. He told us you were the person we should trust.”

 Her face twitched as she
digested this information. Her mouth opened and she continued in the same tone,
but with perhaps a touch less volume, “And why should I trust that? Why should
I trust you??”

 Richter mind searched
frantically before latching onto
Terrod’s
last
statement said over his shoulder as he walked away. Richter repeated it now.
“He said to remember I should never lie to Mama.”

 Her face twitched again, and
this time the left corner of her mouth turned up right before she broke into a
large smile, “And how is Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding?”

 “He told me to convey his
regards and apologies that he has not seen you recently. He is helping me with
certain arrangements, but he told me that in addition to his, ahem, unique
resources, that you might be able to help me as well.”

 “Well that’s likely true
enough,” she said loudly. The smile left her face and her sharp business tone
came out again, “but I won’t know until you stop standing there like idiots and
tell me what you need.”

 “I need good people to live in,
work in and grow my village. I am willing to pay a fair wage, and any that can
open and maintain a business can keep the fruits of the labor as long as they
pay a tax and also contribute to the overall defense and productivity of the
village. I have heard that many talented people are going to waste here. I am
willing to give them a home.”

 “Okay that’s the cream, now
what’s
the curdle
? And don’t try to sell me a sky of
sunshine and the promise of no rain. Listen to the advice you got, you don’t
want to lie to Mama!”

 This woman was tough. Taking a
deep breath Richter replied, “It’s in the Forest of Nadria. It has many
resources but no infrastructure yet. We would be building from the ground up. I
also would need anyone that came, to agree to leave the Kingdom for at least
one whole year. Security matters to me, but I promise that anyone who wants to
leave after a year, I will see safely back to the town of Leaf’s Crossing.”

 “You ask a lot,” she said,
staring at him. “I need to think this over. If you can wait, you can rest over
there while I conduct my business with the rest of these good people. We will
talk when I’m done.”

 Nodding agreement, Richter
walked to the area to she indicated on the side of her booth. He sat down on
the floor, and Sion sat next to him. “Oh so now you don’t mind being near me?
That was a dick move man,” he said to the sprite. Sion simply gave a shrug and
sat in lotus position with his bow across his legs. Richter was pretty sure the
little man had fallen asleep, and fought an irrational urge to give him a wet
willie
. Instead he leaned his back against the wall and
waited. And waited. And waited. It was well past noon when the line of
employers dwindled off. Richter had wanted to leave several times, but had
stayed out of a mixture of respect for
Terrod’s
opinion, desire to have the best for his village, and honestly having nothing
better to do.

 When she finished with her last
client, Mama placed a placard with a red “X” on her desk facing out and stood
up. She motioned for Richter to follow her outside, and he nudged Sion, who
annoyingly had been snoring softly for the past couple hours.

 When they were outside on a
terrace that ran around the three quarters of the building not facing the
promenade, she started talking. “I didn’t expect you to wait. It takes a lot
for someone to sit on a stone floor with no real promise of obtaining what they
desire. It normally takes either desperation or dedication. You don’t seem
overly desperate to me.” They kept walking around looking at the masses of
people on the ground to the sides of the building.

 “Did
Terrod
tell you why they call me Mama? I’m guessing no, as he didn’t give you a
written referral, despite knowing that is how I do things. Tell him he’ll get a
slap in the head for that down the line by the way. So, they call me Mama,
because I care about the people I represent. Every man or woman that gets a
contract through me is paid and treated fairly. If there is ever an issue I
make sure my people are taken care of, and then I deal with anyone that would
cheat me and mine.” She looked meaningfully at Richter. He nodded back, not
speaking but with a serious expression. Satisfied she continued, “Now because
of this my workers apply themselves and work harder than others which makes the
employers happy. Both the employers and the workers know that I only deal with
solid and dependable people. That is why
Terrod
sent
you to me. Now while I am not able to do as much as I would like for many
people, I also do not make a practice of placing the wellbeing of my charges in
the hands of someone I don’t know.”