The entirety of human achievement - cultural, technological, even militaristic - seemed to be contained within the slanted lines of Edric's face. His was a scowl that could move entire nations to tears and make even the proudest men hang their heads in shame, so humbled were they by the disdain it expressed. Like the solemn face of a disapproving god, all faults were laid bare before it and mercilessly judged. It was a thing of dark and terrible beauty, but beautiful nonetheless.<br/><br/>And yet, with impressive reliability, Koralheim Bronzefinn was able to somehow cause that scowl to deepen on a daily basis. What was worse, of course, was that the fish-man did not even seem to acknowledge his discontent. Instead, he either seemed amused by it, or disregarded it altogether. He didnâ€™t even look away from the satchel he was packing to see Edricâ€™s reaction to such horrible news. Teleportation, again, and this time to Rez Lagoon. "You are a creature without remorse."<br/><br/>The merfolkâ€™s bizarre, hot-and-cold presence was heavy in the back of the humanâ€™s mind as he responded. â€œOh I have many regrets, not the least of which is teleporting us into my living room for you to vomit your rations all over my rug.â€<br/><br/>"Perhaps you might invest in rations which do not inspire nausea by their<span style="font-style: italic">own merits</span>," Edric spat, kneeling down to inspect his own equipment. "if the welfare of your furniture weighs more heavily upon your twisted conscience than that of your living companions."<br/><br/>â€œIf a bit of nausea is enough to render you unwell, I suppose I deserve a refund, then. Or maybe youâ€™re not keen on the bags of gold that are coming your way?â€ Koralheim responded with that same light-hearted tone that always conveyed his pleasure when teasing Edric.<br/><br/>"Keen enough to endure this torture you call travel," the assassin replied, "but is it not disingenuous to suggest that I was hired for any reason other than for you to delight in my misery? A name would suffice if you had need of my skills."<br/><br/>The fish-man kept plucking through his satchel for something, discarding a number of small bits of fine scrap metal. â€œYes, well, if it were so simple weâ€™d really not have the pleasure of each otherâ€™s company, let alone the lovely week weâ€™ve spent with Lady Rasha.â€ he remarked, the whole building jostling as if to remind them that they were in one of Koralheimâ€™s many homes- this one, however, was mobile, atop a great pack beast in a roving caravan of traders.<br/><br/>"You needn't remind me of that dreadful woman." Edric muttered while tightening the straps on his coat. "I look forward to leaving her company even through such disagreeable methods."<br/><br/>Koralheimâ€™s laughter was a strange tingle in the back of the humanâ€™s mind. â€œOh, but she does like you. You must remind her of one of her former husbands.â€ The merfolk chimed before his presence dwindled a bit- distracted, no doubt. He pulled the object of so much of their troubles- a powerstone- from his satchel. Well, half of one anyway. Edric kept the other half as part of a bargain, and also so that the entirety of the evidence of what misdeeds had been afoot would not be lost should one of them be captured. â€œItâ€™s pulsing. Weâ€™ve got to be close to wherever theyâ€™re harvesting the dragon blood to make these.â€<br/><br/>"Then you were right. Would it be too much to hope that this is worth delaying our trip to Rez Lagoon?" the human asked.<br/><br/>â€œCertainly. Weâ€™re on a schedule, Edric. We can return here after our business there is complete. After all, it will be lovely to visit Sven again. You remember the undercity, Iâ€™m sure.â€ The merfolk responded, feeling the human trying to scowl him to death from behind his back as he gathered his things. A snap of his fingers, and the small automaton he always had handy leaped from a shelf above Edric and latched on to Koralheimâ€™s arm.<br/><br/>The two had been traveling together for nearly a month on this outing, and though the human had many times before been subject to the endless trouble Koralheim tended to get them into, this bout had started out somewhat more harrowing than usual. Certainly theyâ€™d dealt with ruthless automatons dispatched from the church vaults (many of which were, of course, designed by Koralheim himself), a tribal raid by vampires, two run-ins with Elven Kin-Hunters, and at least one attempted shakedown by a very uppity scrapper that theyâ€™d run into early on. Poor sap didnâ€™t even see Edric coming, but that was the whole point.<br/><br/>Of course, all of that had been before theyâ€™d met up with Rashaâ€™s caravan as it crossed the desert. If the amount of trouble theyâ€™d encountered had been any indication, Koralheimâ€™s snooping was getting somewhere. He was so close to understanding a great number of things, but he could not shake the worry that he was almost out of time. Before heâ€™d met Edric, heâ€™d started down this path of discovery with another human, and what they discovered set them on clashing paths: the Fifth was coming back, that was certain, and with the anniversary of the laws heâ€™d helped enact fast approaching, it didnâ€™t take a genius to guess when he might show up again. Koralheim slung his bag over his shoulder and brushed off his hands before extending one of those boney, pale hands to Edric. â€œWe can be off then. Iâ€™ll make sure we land outside this time.â€<br/><br/>A black gloved palm took Koralheim by the wrist and squeezed down hard, more out of spite than a need for security. And, with a sharp crack, both vanished from existence for mere moments, ripping back into the mortal plane half a continent away. Where they had been in the hot, dry air of the desert before, Rez Lagoons cool, muggy afternoon air was heavy on the lungs when they arrived. Before them, from the balcony of Koralheim's likely outrageously expensive apartment, the city extended outward in a display of both human ingenuity and, for a merfolk, the absolute shamelessness of wartime conquest. The sound of Edricâ€™s stomach groaning with its feeble attempts to contain what little heâ€™d eaten that day caught Koralheimâ€™s attention. â€œVomit over the railing to your right, please.â€ The merfolk spoke into the humans mind before the sound of undignified retching came as a response.<br/><br/>Koralheim gave the human a few moments to collect himself. They were going to be busy today, and the sounds of the market district below made it obvious that the city was in full swing today.