An Exchange

Erewhon was a far cry from the docks where Olee had spent most of his life struggling with his family.

"Is it true what they say, sir?  'Bout the grammar?" he had asked so eagerly of Manni when first told that they would be traveling there for an acquisition.

"Hm?  Ah, the legendary ostentation of Erewhon."  The glyph pirate had tugged at his beard and smiled mischievously.  "The fabled city is drenched in grammar," was all he would say on the matter when pressed.

Now, walking the streets made more sense of the sly comment: curving splashes of water thrust up lambent along wide avenues but had been carefully locked into an impossible solid state through hidden glyphs embedded in their surface.  They cast their soft, warm glow through the intricate patterns of the arborcraft enclosing each.  The juxtaposition of the water's form with the precise right-angled tree limbs nurtured over decades was categorically ignored by the well-dressed passerby for whom such beauty was commonplace.  Olee, on the other hand, could not drink in the sight fast enough.

Looking at the clothing of the others on the street, he was becoming increasingly self-conscious.  Both had dressed in matching outfits appropriate for the meeting—Manni had seen to that—and Olee had never dressed so well with ornate golden stitching tracing out various fishes leaping along the sleeves of his green tunic and a smart-looking headpiece that gave him the appearance of bearing a small pair of lenna horns, but the finery worn by those going about the evening's business made him feel almost naked.  He smoothed back his still-unruly shock of dark hair in a subconscious effort to appear more presentable.

Manni reached down and patted his shoulder, pointing ahead.  A stone archway interrupted flow of storefronts, leading instead to a small garden and, further back, a recessed doorway.  "Not much farther, Olee.  That is where we'll find our prize."  Manni strode through the arch with Olee lagging behind, his eyes drawn first to the keystone engraved with what looked looked like religious glyphwork and then to the explosions of flowers.  His master, sensing the apprentice's interest, stopped to wait.

Olee had never seen flowers in such abundance.  Most of the plants along the sea never bloomed and those that did had tiny, dull blossoms.  He was admiring a particularly vibrant specimen with blue and yellow variegated petals when he walked directly into Manni's back.  He bounced back apologizing profusely.

"Sir!  I was distracted!  I—"

"It would do poorly to worry, apprentice.  You meant and caused no harm," he said, touching Olee on the shoulder again.  "I could just as easily have stepped aside had I been minding you."  Olee still felt his face warm as he realized that he had shown himself as unsophisticated with possible witnesses.  A quick glance towards the street told him only that no one was impolite enough to show condescension outwardly.  He hurried towards the door, eager to be inside.

As the two approached, the door swung smoothly inward to welcome them into the smoky room beyond.  Light filtered down through the pool of water on the ceiling, ripples and fish casting shadows through the textured air.  A nervous-looking man perched on a low seat between two columns covered in writing stylized to resemble coiling serpents.  He took a drag from the large pipe in his hand before loosing a stentorian growl that scarcely seemed possible for such a slight frame.

"Manni!  And an apprentice?  Ha!  I knew it was only a matter of time, my man, before you tore.  You're far too gifted to keep it all to yourself, especially when there's an impressionable mind to idolize you."

Manni's broad smile faltered briefly before once again creasing his thick beard.  Olee had been prepped for this moment.  He bowed reciting, "Honored master, we hope that this evening finds you well and that the gift—" the man snorted softly and shifted "—has brought you peace and joy."

"I see you've done well with this one, Manni," he said, exhaling curling smoke and words towards Olee, "but it hardly counts as a gift if you're to ask my reciprocation."

"Hmm, yes, I suppose you would be right about that," Manni conceded.  "However even you, Pikressen, must admit that I've given you a marvel unrivaled by any decor your competitors can or ever will be able to boast."

Pikressen gestured upwards at the pond.  "I doubt that even the prefecture has such a display.  You've outdone yourself, my man, and for that I forgive the young one's confusion.  In my infinite largesse, I have a 'gift' for you, exactly what you desire in fact."  A masked figure stepped forward from the depths of shadow behind the pillars as though condensed from them.  "A curious find for the taiga.  I hope that you find it to be worth your trouble."  The new man—Woman? The mask made it impossible to tell—handed an utterly nondescript if large bag to Olee before stepping back out of sight.  He tested its weight and shape, concluding that it must contain padded pots or urns.

"Our business may be concluded, but will you stay, my Manni, with your apprentice and share the evening meal?"

Olee could smell spiced breads through the curtains of smoke and looked hopefully to his master.  Manni nodded his head formally.  "How could we refuse one so munificent," he said with such complete sincerity that Pikressen could not help but understand the jest in his word choice.

"Ha!  You remind me of why I enjoy your company so.  Come, you two, and see what it is that Erewhon has to offer," he rumbled.  Two chairs were spirited in and a table placed between them and Pikressen.  As Olee ate he listened to the two men discuss the politics of the current conflict, but found himself too engaged by the flavors to focus too closely.  Eventually he abandoned the endeavor altogether, nodding sagely whenever he overheard a name he recognized.