After Celestia left I occupied myself with sorting through and taking stock of my possessions. The first and most obvious of these were my eleven bags of holding, my many-looped leather belt, my travelling boots, my gloves enchanted to resist heat, my staff layered with runes to reinforce it against all kinds of damage, and last but not least my most powerful piece of equipment, my robe, inlaid with draconic runes to enhance my physical and mental endurance along with granting a small resistance to magical attacks.
Aside from these visible items I also had an assorted stockpile of items held in my bags and sorted into categories: spell components separated into nine, gold in one, and anything I find in my journeys held in the final one. I opened each of these in turn to see just how much hard the trip through the Demonweb had hit my stock.
I started with my spell component bags and cleared a space to lay the components out on the floor. “This is a lot less than I had hoped I had left.” In total I had six vials of fine sand, each holding about fifty pinches for spells, and 200 eyelashes in gum arabic. These components, however, were not the ones I was worried about, I rarely used them. The components that had me worried occupied the other seven bags and were making pathetically small piles in comparison to the others. 43 tiny balls of bat guano and sulfur, 28 hearts of hens, 30 small crystal cones, 24 crushed black pearls, 50 powdered rubies, 18 bits of sunstone, and (most disappointing of all) 4 snakeskin gloves. “I hope I can find somewhere to restock here.” After making a mental note of my numbers I re-bagged the materials and set the pouches aside.
Next, I decided to count out my monetary holdings. I pulled out my coins and stacked them into assorted piles on the table in the corner. I counted them up and found a total of 3265 platinum coins, 1406 gold coins, 600 silver coins, and 192 copper coins. This was all in Stormreach issued coins made of about ⅓ of an ounce of metal. Back home in Eberron this would equate to a small fortune for any commoner and a decent bribe for any noble but for an adventurer, an adventurer would spend this in ten seconds flat at the auction house. I hoped that these metals would be of some value in this world otherwise It would be that much harder to restock in the future. With one last recount to make sure of the numbers I began putting the coins back into their bag.
I re-tied my component and money pouches to my belt and began to untie my loot pouch when the door to the room slid open and a guard walked in with a package on his back.
“Her majesty Princess Celestia requested that I deliver this to you.” He said as he reached his head around to grab the package in his teeth.
I quickly tightened the string on my remaining bag and walked over to the guard to grab the package from him. It was a simple brown paper package tied with string and it was light and malleable. If I had to guess it contained cloth of some sort.
When the string left the guard’s mouth he spoke again, “She also told me to give you this note with it.” As he said this he reached into a gap in his armor and pulled out a folded piece of paper. I reached out my hand and grabbed it, holding it up and inspecting it for a moment.
As I looked over the paper I asked the guard “So, you ponies even have a written language. Interesting, how do you even write without hands?” As i said this I set the paper on the package in my other hand and wiggled my fingers on my now free hand.
The guard looked at me like I had just asked what color the sky was. “Well, unicorns can use their magic and some pegasi learn to use their wings to hold the quill but most of us just use our mouths.”
I smiled a little at that and let out a small laugh “Heh, mouth writing.” I turned and sat the package on the table and when I heard the sound of hooves on stone I called a final question over my shoulder. “What time is it?”
“About six fifteen I believe.”
I turned around to face the guard again “Thank you for answering my questions sir, a good day to you.”
He turned his head and nodded to me “And a good day to you.” With that he walked out the door and it closed again.
When the wall was whole again I turned back to the package and mumbled to myself “Only forty-five minutes left? Wow, time sure flies when you are dealing with a large number of small objects.”
I picked the letter up off of the table and began unfolding it. as I did so I decided to test my recovery and conjure a mage hand to untie the package while I read. The letter was simple and only consisted of a few lines with no need for writing down the sender or recipient.
“While I looked into your mind and know you don’t mean anyone harm, I’m not entirely certain I want you to be near my sister. However, she has been quite adamant about speaking with you herself. So, in order to ensure that all three of us can be comfortable during this meal I have to ask you to leave behind all of your enchanted possessions and these ‘spell components’ that you use. Now, I know that your kind typically prefers to be clothed so I had someone examine your outfit while you were unconscious and make a new one for you to wear for this occasion.”
“Ah, there is the caution I was expecting.” I sat the letter down and looked down to see that my mage hand had already removed the string and unwrapped the paper. Inside the package was a simple looking white robe that seemed identical in size and cut to my current robe. It had no accents or designs but it’s simplicity was in sharp contrast to the quality of it’s material. It felt like it was made from a fine velvet.
“Leave all of my components and my enchanted items behind huh?” I gave a resigned sigh “I’m not really in a position to deny that request now am I?” With that I untied my belt and removed both my gloves and robe. I picked up the new robe and put it on. It fit perfectly, they must have had quite the skilled seamstress prepare this. I stepped over and looked at myself in the mirror. “It is definitely a fine robe but it is just too simple for my tastes.” I stroked my beard for a moment and then a smile spread across my face as an idea came to mind “I know just what I can do to make this better.”
I took the robe back off and laid it face down on the bed. Casting back through my memory I focused on the back of the robe and reached out for the ley line of light. I don’t usually use this line and even with the amount of power it held here I had a little trouble getting a hold on it but I managed to gather some power and channel it into a simple spell known as arcane mark. I waved my hand over the robe and as my hand passed an image began to form of a black book emblazoned with the word Morte in golden letters and surrounded by a snake biting its’ own tail. My personal arcane mark and calling card. I looked over my work with a grin and put the robe back on.
By this time I had guessed about 10 minutes had passed so I still had a little time before I needed to head out. I sat down on the bed and sorted through the information from the conversation. My mind kept going back to the fact that Celestia’s very presence amplified light magic and judging by the fact that it hasn't lessened any her presence covers this entire castle. Despite having said that I had never heard of the lines increasing around an entity I couldn't help but feel that it sounded familiar. I cast through my memory and finally, it hit me. “No, that can’t be right. There is no way that’s possible.” I sighed and shook my head “No, nothing is impossible it’s just not likely. Actually, taking into account that this pony raises the sun it isn't that unlikely. If this theory is correct then I may just have to be a bit more careful with what I do around these princesses.”
As I came to terms with this realization the door began to open again and a unicorn guard stepped into the room followed by two pegasi. The pegasi were white with golden armor like the others I had seen but the unicorn was different. His coat was still white but his mane was made up of stripes consisting of a few different shades of blue and his armor was purple with golden accents and a six pointed magenta star on the chest piece. His most unusual feature though was a mark on his flank that consisted of a shield bearing the same six pointed star underneath three normal stars. The unicorn turned towards me and spoke with a tone that spoke of authority and strength.
“I am Shining Armor, captain of the guard. The Princesses Celestia and Luna request your presence in their private dining hall.”
“They send a captain to escort me to dinner? Well Captain Armor lead the way, it is time for me to dine with the moon and sun.”