Submission (#2013) Approved

Quest: Resonance - Act 3
Act Type: Study
Word Count: 1070
Adult Elnin Present: Neve [ELN011]
Regional Affinity: Silveil
Claiming Regional Affinity for: Eweca [ELN971]

Eweca admired the large stack of her mother’s mystery novels, particularly her guides to detecting mischief afoot. After a mysterious masquerade a few years back Neve had started writing novels to deduce simple puzzles and tricks in hopes elnin would be better prepared for the odd happenings in Eyre. Mysteries were everywhere and Eweca had been raised in a household to believe as much, though Neve never pushed it too hard. Looking at the books the kittom could remember earlier in the day when the inventory had crossed the starlake on a small boat. Sometimes it was faster to go around the lake but the deliverers were experienced enough to have taken the route over the water, despite the risks it possessed. Neve knew a play was coming soon that would have a heavy mystery theme to it and she wanted to be prepared. The hard part was finding merchants that wanted to sell her books. She knew of a few who she had spent the better part of the afternoon contacting as Eweca watched. In fact Neve still was busy with those matters.

Eweca had a different plan though what to do to find retailers for the books. While Neve seemed distracted Eweca slipped out into the streets with a few copies in her bag and a few of her mother’s business cards. The stars above were as beautiful as always and pleasantly muttered across the sky above the Silveil region. Vendors lined the busy streets aglow with lights. Some of them were selling snacks for shows in the areas while others were looking for fancy clothes for a nice night out. Eweca found it difficult even for herself to not get caught up in the excitement and perusing of goods for sale. She felt the books in her bag and they were a heavy reminder she had some merchants to convince to sell Neve’s books. Eweca trotted through the crowd up to what she thought looked like a susceptible vendor. “You wouldn’t be in the market for a good novel would you?” She piped up, and scowled as they hardly spared her a glance. Even the glowing bugs in the Silveil forest hadn’t been as stubborn, granted Eweca had been slipping them sweet nectar in exchange for a bit of light when she went out to play a few days ago.

Her disappointment showed on her face possibly a little too evidently since the stand owner seemed to roll their eyes a bit. “Look, I’m just not in the market for children’s stories. You’ll have to find somewhere else to play.” They said firmly. Eweca felt her jaw drop a bit. “B-but they aren’t children’s stories! They’re mystery guides!” Eweca said, her tone dismayed a bit. The shopkeeper looked a bit uncomfortable at Eweca’s reaction, mostly because they could tell the kittom had drawn some eyes. “Have you no spirit? Aren’t you curious about solving the unknown.” She cried out dramatically, enough the shopkeeper was about to send her away until she said under her breath a bit. “I can guarantee you these aren’t just ordinary books. If I can get you a few customers at your shop, you’ll stock them won’t you?” She said, her gaze sharp on the vendor. They seemed to sigh under their breath. “Alright but I don’t think it will be that easy.” They said softly.

With that Eweca spun on a heel to look at the crowded streets. “This vendor has something unsolved. For any of you mystery hunters out there perhaps a reading session would aid them?” Eweca piped up her voice, causing a few passersby to become confused. “If there’s a mystery to be solved you wouldn’t want to be caught off guard like they are, would you? This is perfect to know for the upcoming showing of Silveil’s Daring Depths!” Eweca announced, and she could tell a few more passerbys paused. “Come down to the docks and we’ll discover the answers together.” She teased, and then skipped off to the docks.

A few curious elnin trickled in to listen to her read from the book and of course Eweca had read it a few times while Neve was writing it. She couldn’t give too much away but she recounted some of the mysteries Neve had solved, and then shared only two of the methods used to solve some of the incidents. She could tell from the looks on the faces of the audience that had gathered she had their interest. “Does Silveil’s elder tree move, or is it just the ripples of the lake? If the lakes waters are still then why do the shadowed branches seem to move? With a good spyglass and a better guide perhaps your curiosities will be answered. That stand over there has spy glasses today, but they’ll have books tomorrow.” Eweca pointed to the vendor she had just come from. He looked flabbergasted as it suddenly clicked why the kittom had approached him.

Eweca clearly had picked up some of the charisma some Silveil elnin were known for, but she had also the astute eye. She had approached his shop because of what he was stocking, and the book she knew he wasn’t. The two would sell better together. As the crowd quickly bought out the stall of its spyglass stock for the day Eweca sat down on the docks to look at at the lake. The vendor approached her and she handed him a book. “You can keep this copy. The author said I could have it. You can keep the copy but you have to stock some of the rest with your spy glasses, alright?” Eweca asked. Surprisingly the vendor compiled. “You drive a hard bargain kid.” They chuckled, and with that the deal was sealed. Eweca took one late night stroll through the forest to clear her head a bit from all the excitement before scampering back home. Neve tried hard not to look skeptical when her kittom said she had found a vendor for some of the books but Eweca had always been full of surprises in her own way. The next day they would drop off a case or two of books and Neve would work out any necessary agreements with the vendor. Until then though she hugged Eweca close, appreciating what felt like a bigger mystery in her life at times, how smart her precious child was.