"Oof! Ouch! Owie!" carries a voice over the dunes, heard long before its owner is seen. Limping across the dunes comes Hysteria, the fragment of Skystone clutched in a blistering talon. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts, is all she can think of above the blinding pain, as the magic sears her nerves.

With a wheeze and a huff, she slumps and slides down the final dune, landing in a heap at the Merchant's feet. The Spire piece is dropped in front of him, finally releasing her burned talon from the painful object.

"I think... I'm gonna sleep some..," she mutters, closing her eyes. "Fath...er... said... always work... for a price... You... owe me..."

Sleep sounded good now.

AWAKENING THE DREAMER

Part I - A Catalyst

It was possible that he was listening to the various requests. He certainly didn't interrupt. And his eerie, mask-like face did rotate slightly to almost-face whoever spoke to him. He didn't answer anyone, though.

In truth he was considering each request. Not whether to grant it, but whether he could--whether it was within his power--as well as how best to fulfil them. He was no Collector. His mind did not run wild with brilliant ideas on how best to please someone--whether or not it was to manipulate them. But he was a Merchant. And he was called such for a reason.

Stones... those were certainly within his power to grant. Tema's request would be simple enough. The others... he would need to think on. And in the meantime, he accepted the offerings: holding the Catalyst crystal up for their spells, taking in hand (or robe) their offerings. The Skystone he handled with care, touching it only with cloth, as though it burned even him; Hysteria was--for the most part--disregarded. Let her sleep. She could name her prize once she awoke, and once the cave had opened, he would deliver.

It was not yet enough. But given time... it would be.

---

Total Magic Offered: 15/100

10/50: The Catalyst Stone holds 10 points of magic in total.
An additional 5 points in the form of offerings have been delivered in total.
The overall total is therefore 15 points.

This thread will be updated in one week's time, or sooner if deliveries begin to stack up.

The Skystone piece delivered by Hysteria is worth 5 points of magic.

When V-Onyx-Two arrived back at the Merchant, it was with weary steps and an armful of what could only be described as 'junk.' He'd spent hours rooting around in the ruins of Orion's ancient cities, but he held no magic that could discern what was actually useful or not. The Stolzite, the Amazonite, the Turquoise, the various beads and carvings--all of these were lifeless. Only a Pupil-level Dravite held any magic in it.

"I do not know how many of these are useful to you," he stated stiffly, trying to appear dignified. Truth be told, he was sweating and weary.

And upon being informed that only one object was of use... he settled himself in to granting a few additional charges of magic to the Catalyst stone, instead. The first spell was another Orb, like the first: a ball of glowing magic that was sucked into the stone with a quiet pop. He leaned back, rolled his shoulders, and prepared for another attempt.

costume credit - big-ashb on flickr

delivered: one pupil-level gemstone (link in post)

He resolved to cast until exhaustion. "Exhaustion" being, the moment his magic failed him. The second surge of power was flickering, a little weaker, the orb a little dimmer. But magic was still magic, and the Catalyst accepted it (and by 'accepted' one might understand 'gobbled it greedily') nonetheless.

He took a breath, and glanced to the Merchant.

But there was nothing there. Just empty, blank eye holes. No sign of approval, or dismissal. No sign, even, that the Merchant was just waiting patiently. It's like a haunted tree is just standing there, he thought, annoyed.

costume credit - big-ashb on flickr

Black wings arched up, then down again, the hybrid flexing his muscles as if to ready himself again. His hands lifted, fingertips arched, and he concentrated for another cast.

This one, too, was weaker. A dim flicker, the same as before, but it wasn't weakening, at least. Onyx-Two watched as the light vanished into the orb and then he stood back, taking a moment to breathe.

He should've rested before coming back here. Slept, ate, drank. This rushing around had been draining, and the continous casting was incredibly so.

Still... he was determined. He didn't want to just stop. He represented the Forge, here--or rather, his actions here represented his value to the Forge. He couldn't just... fail. Or even succeed "a little." He had to really blow it out of the water!

costume credit - big-ashb on flickr

As it turned out, he'd perhaps pushed himself too hard. Another deep breath, another moment's focus, and his hands came up again--and nothing happened, this time. There was a wisp of light a moment later, but whatever that was wasn't for the Catalyst; instead it seared through his nerves, gnawing at his gemstone so that he buckled back and over with palms clasped to his sternum. His face twisted in a pained grimace and he realized a moment later that he'd fallen into the sand.

A glance up showed the Merchant still standing silent, no reaction shown whatsoever. Sullenly, Onyx-Two spoke. "That is as much as I can give." Annoyed, he began to push up--but exhaustion took him, dizziness swaying him. He had to sit back down, shaded by his own wings.

He'd have to rest here, for a time, though the moment anyone else approached he'd stand back up. For his own dignity, if nothing else.

costume credit - big-ashb on flickr

AWAKENING THE DREAMER

Part I - A Catalyst

The Masked Merchant, in truth, was elsewhere. Not in the literal sense. But his mind was wandering, paying hardly any attention to the youth struggling and straining before him.

He took note of this one's contributions; it would be rewarded. This was a given. But this was no more or less than any other would be given.

It was simply the deal that he had offered. Whether they did the bare minimum or went above and beyond hardly mattered. So long as the Dreamer was awoken.

---

Total Magic Offered: 23/100

10/50: The Catalyst Stone holds 16 points of magic in total.
An additional 7 points in the form of offerings have been delivered in total.
The overall total is therefore 23 points.

Coyote returned triumphant, a sickle (wrapped in half-rotten hide) clamped between her teeth. She spat it out right at the Masked Merchant's feet, then backed up, looking to the horse that followed her.

"We worked together, me and him. That bit's my contribution, but we got the stones together," she added, just in case something was wrong with the sickle. "I can do magic, too," she added, standing on her hind legs briefly to peer up at the catalyst stone. She squinted, focusing, and something... happened.

She wasn't sure what, but one moment she was staring at the stone, the next she was on her back, coming to with one hell of a headache. She remembered a loud shudder of sound engulfing her very head, but that was it.

...Had her magic backfired?

She could barely hear a damn thing. She sure hoped that wasn't permanent.

Returning one Master-level enchanted sickle found here.

Warrior was just behind Coyote; he regarded the Masked Merchant with deep unease, dislike, and distrust. The closer he'd gotten, the less comfortable he'd become with just handing these stones off to him. He knew what he did with them, and if they were to be used for their magic, any life in them would die.

But he'd agreed to help Coyote; he felt even worse backing out now, betraying her trust like that. And chances were, at least some of these would be Lessers. Still-...

With a sharp exhale through flared nostrils, he strode forward and spat the gemstones into the Merchant's hand. Then he backed off, shaking his mane. "We did work together," he confirmed, and then nodded questioningly to the catalyst. "We can cast magic into--that?" he asked.

Upon being given confirmation, he did so: a long moment's focus on the earth below, an eruption that... faded, the stone seeming to churn with sand. He eyed it, curious, then looked to the Merchant. "I'd optimally like some way to help others, here--if you're offering rewards, still. Maybe something to mend wounds, or fix venom or..." he trailed off, because even though he'd thought about it the whole way here, he wasn't sure what he could do. Wait. There was one thing, one danger in Hydra he still had no defense against, particularly if he needed to rescue someone from one of them-... "Can you make me immune to the Spire Spiders? Their color-pattern thing?" he asked.

The Merchant had given him wings; surely this one would be easy?

Delivering: pupil-level Uvarovite, fledgling-level Prasiolite, fledging level Taaffeite, pupil-level Carletonite (Fledgling x2, Pupil x2 stones)

Warrior thought he saw the faintest nod of that black hood--so he nodded back and looked to the catalyst stone again. It wasn't that he was feeling particularly helpful. Rather, so far as he saw it, the more magic he cast the fewer gemstones would need to be sacrificed.

He cast another shuddering shard of earth skyward, but again it seemed to vanish, fading out and filling the sphere, instead.

The horse took a breath, preparing to try again.