Amber's Enchantment Ch. 02

"Oh no, sir. Having the spark makes them lazy and ineffective. True, they train in alchemy, but they don't rely on it like a dwarf."

That much was true. Dwarves had no spark, and in fact, were resistant to magic to a certain degree. The usual explanation is that mana in their bodies resisted movement more than that of other races. The result was that the only magic dwarves were personally capable of was alchemy. When one only has one way to accomplish something, you tended to become very good at it, if you could. Their lack of the spark, and their innate resistance to magic, led to a lack of kind feelings between the Wizard's guild and the race, to understate it. This was the main reason Heversham went looking for alchemists among them first. It was unlikely that a dwarf would either object to using a non-standard scroll of recipes, or inform the guild that the merchants were doing just that.

Napure continued with, "These wizards forget that the common person can't fix an errant potion with their own magic. For most of us (and all of we dwarves), our potions need to work every time. I'm sure their recipes are, for the most part, the best there are; but they certainly aren't the best alchemists. Hell, most wizards don't even do alchemy. The ones that do tend to be weak in their own craft."

"I suppose that makes sense. When can you start?"

*****

Thabian Y' Grantlo was not a happy man. Junga root was expensive and he'd just had to order a massive quantity of it and have it delivered on short notice. He suspected that this was only one of many extra expenses he was going to face in the near future, thanks to the whole reagent changes discovery made by Inclon. Pacing his office, he tried to keep his emotions under control; not an easy task as he contemplated his situation.

The worst part of the whole thing was how helpless he felt to take action against the guild for its duplicity. Slave training was heavily dependant on magic, not just on potions. Slaves couldn't learn the various techniques of cunt and ass manipulation without the feedback from the training aids. Even their training in the various oral techniques would be far slower if they had to use live slaves or trainers for every practice session in those arts. If he were to upset the guild by revealing their lies, they could cut him off from any magical support, leaving his house at a severe economic disadvantage.

He could understand their desire to keep the nature of the changes in reagents cloaked in mystery; every business had its trade secrets. They could still make money on their guide scrolls by simply putting out an endless series of new and improved versions. Word would get around quickly that the new scrolls produced better potions and those alchemists reluctant to update their reference would have to make do with an inferior product. By making sure that non-wizards had an outdated version, they had gone too far.

Just as infuriating as the shortages were the overstock situation. Just as some of the reagents were now too weak, there were others that were too strong, resulting in the house having more of those reagents in stock than they could use in a reasonable period of time. While some would keep until they were used, eventually, others were perishable and much would have to be discarded before they could be used.

In his heart, Thabian was a businessman. He may well have made a decent merchant if he'd been born into one of the clans. The best way to make the guild pay, in his eyes, was to hurt them economically. It had a certain justice to it; hurting them in their purse to atone for hurting his bottom line. The question was how to do it. How could a slave house hurt the profitability of the Wizard's guild without attracting undue attention to the reason why? This would require thought. As he brought his mind to bear on the issue of making the guild pay, he settled some and was able to sit again at his desk without that nervousness that comes from unresolved tension.

*

I want to thank Saguaro from The Masque for the wonderful job editing for me. She volunteered to step in while Dani's computerless. Remember, I love feedback, so let me know what you think.