Ed sat in muted awe of the two doors. Each cart had to pass through the guards before the doors would be opened for 15 minutes each hour. This allowed the guards, taxmen, and lawyers to make sure that all trade was on the up and up. This level of bureaucracy was impressive to Ed. He expected this farther north but the more he thought back he remembered his transaction with Plim which had been almost completely too easy.
Ashra pointed over Ed's shoulder and whispered. "The men will open only when the levy has been paid for more than 2 dozen carts. Travelers normally go around the town to avoid the gate. Our trip will be easier if we have items to sell."
Ed should have expected the toll and Gold was never the issue, he had plenty on him and couldn't imagine him being charged more than he had on him. The problem was the product. She was right, more doors would open if they could get a pass saying they were merchants headed south as opposed to prophets headed to the oracle. The later would raise undue eyebrows. "Quick, get me sand."
Rennish held onto the reigns but turned around. "What are you planning?"
"I'm gonna make something that will guarantee we get through," Ed said rolling up his sleeves.
Ashra had hopped down and was filling up a sack with as much sand from the road as possible. She threw in stones and anything else that could be found on the side of the paved road. The desert was trying to reclaim its own land constantly and dirt could be found everywhere except inside the great wall. She threw it up in the cart and then gracefully leaped over the edge using the back wheel as a foothold.
"Master, I hope you have a plan." She said to him sitting on the back giving Ed room.
"Yes, now scrounge around for a sack. We need something to make this look legit."
And Ed poured about half a cup of whatever fell out of the bag into his hands. He poured Divine magic through his hands and imagined the sand turning into glass. He knew it would be flawed because this was impure soil but the results were better than he expected. Inside his hand sat a small glass Golem in the shape of a forest animal. The rocks from the street had turned into small polished desert gems and shone in the sunlight through the soft color of the brown glass. Ed then poured mana into his creation and gave it the instructions to small creation to do only three things. It was told it could walk around a 3 unit area, it could make small noises and be allowed to bond with one human only. A small dark cloud filled the inside where the instructions formed as a solid cloud of mana. He then used divine magic to seal the creature and put it inside the dark sack before he opened his hands. He didn't want them bonding to him.
Ashra giggled when the bag moved. "Golems? You made small golems to sell?"
"We would call them pets, and in an area like this where wild things are out to kill you a pet like this that won't go away and won't try to kill you will sell I'm sure," Ed said suddenly happy with his own genius. And he quickly made another 14 golems before putting them in the bag to squirm in the dark and tie off the bag.
Rennish had been inching the cart up towards the gate, an hour had passed and the taxmen had been making their way up the line to them.
"Declare your intent!" said a human guard as he walked up to the cart and peered in.
Rennish put his hand out with a flourish and did what bards did best, he put on the charm. "Oh, good day to you sir. We are but travelers taking our friend south to her homelands and hoping to peddle our wares along the way. I am Rennish, this is my Master, Erust, and our Guest Ashra. Could we interest you in one of our pet golems? Hand made with the finest local materials and imbued with cute life?"
The guard was a tall dark-skinned man who wore the brown leathers of civil service and sword at his side. No metal was worn in these parts because the heat would sear into the skin in minutes out in the sun, but he had cloth and leather armor where possible. He shook his hand and waved over to the taxman.
The taxman was the very embodiment of everything you would imagine. He was short, dumpy, and slightly round. He had a face like a rat and was possibly some descendent of the Rat races being this close to the border. He smiled and had the guard lift him up to look into the cart. He made scratches on a sheet before looking at the 3 in the cart. "Hmm, golems eh? You don't see those much. What's your declared value?"
Ed smiled, "Sir we sell them everywhere for varying rates. Magical items are had to price. We sell happiness for families and children. The capital of Ganel sells them for 5 gold each but the backwaters buy them for mere copper." He was pouring magical energy into his charisma. He had been practicing buffing himself with divine power for a while now. He could gauge how much to use normally but this was a special moment. He had not practiced with buffing two area's of his persona at once. He was concentrating on his charisma and also trying to buff his abilities as a merchant. As long as Ed could picture what he wanted in his head he had the power to push magic into it and funnel it actions. He would think he was a better merchant and power that thought, and he could create the persona of a merchant around himself. As he got better at this, he could almost do it without thinking. Doing two of them at once was a bit more difficult.
"Hmm, hard to access. One second please." The taxman had the guard put him down. From inside his dusty uniform, he opened a pouch that had been hidden around his waist. He pulled out a book and looked through pages asking questions about the item's construction and general purpose. He finally tapped a part of the page and made a noise that must have been an affirmative before nodding to be picked up.
"The ledger values standard household golems of a golem variety with an undetermined life span at a value of 2 gold each as the Northern standard. You have 15 and you are accessed 6 gold in tax and fees. You have no merchant's license so that covers the fee for a provisional license. If you apply within a year this sheet will cover the fee for the application. You will need to deposit 500 gold to set up a business causality cover ledger with the merchant's home office in either the Glass Capital or Mi'Ganel to have full trading benefits inside city limits. I would not sell these again without the proper paperwork." And he held out a hand. Ed shrugged and handed him 6 gold coins.
The man held them in his hands and passed back 2 of the coins. "Your coins are overweight. Take your gold and have it weighed and exchanged for either Northern or Southern Standards. I don't know where you got these coins, but they are over-value based on the gold standard." He eyed Ed with curious eyes. They were stamped with a curious pattern.
"Yes sir, Thank you." Said Rennish. "We get coins from all areas, they must be old." He smiled.
The guard put the tax man down who handed the guard a packet. The guard took the stack of sheets and folded them in thirds where one edge was not all the way to the fold. He took a small ball of clay from a pocket and put it on the edge of the sheet. He then took the pommel of his sword and used the end to imprint a stamp in the clay. He handed it to Ed and smiled at Rennish. "This stack will get you past the gate. Do not open it until you have passed the second set of guards. After that, I recommend you find someplace to read through the instructions if you intend to do business in the south. Also, your visa paperwork for travel is included. Please take the time to fill them in with your correct information. You will not be allowed back through without them. That Felis will need her visa paperwork if she passes through again." He said trying to disguise his slight disdain for her race of people.
Rennish smiled and put on the charm. "Oh, heavens no we would never dream of causing a problem! Thank you so much!" And with that, he nodded with a flourish and watched as he walked on to the next cart. As soon as the whole scene started again, he leaned down towards Ed. "Asshat, that one." Ed suppressed a laugh and waved him off.
All three sat in the cart and took a drink from the water in Ed's satchel. It was magically cool and refreshing. Ashra had her own provisions and was having a snack of some kind of dried fish. Rennish and Ed split a sandwich between them both wishing that the sandwiches would change. Roast Beef or even spiced hare would be a change. Rennish remembered something called a taco where meat and onions were held with your fingers between two corn flatbreads. They weren't starving by any means but they both were getting tired of this spicy mustard and bland meat. It had been so good before when they were walking.
The gate opened and slowly they were allowed to start through the gate. Three taxmen were standing about 14 carriages south of the line and stopping those carts from going through. They had not yet paid the levy for travel.
They moved through quietly and looked at the doors which were much taller in person. The guards stood on both sides and the space between doors was bigger than Ed expected. It was easily large enough for 3 to 4 large carts to park inside with both doors shut. You could see the pathway led between them and hear the sounds of hawkers and merchants arguing coming through the air to where they were traveling through.
Rennish showed the second set of guards that the packet was sealed who waved him on with no further questions. The seal on the sheet confirmed they had paid, and the levy would be split with both sides of the city. Ed imagined if they passed through the other way again, they would be taxed going back across the city with goods again.
They found a small hotel towards the center of Northern Gate. The path through the gate didn't lead into the center of town but actually just behind it where the warehouses and stables were situated. They parked their horses and marveled at the number of Lloras and Ox that were in the stables along with all the horses and mules and some kind of carriage thing that looked like a doodlebug.
Getting a room had been easy enough with their paperwork and the Hotel Manager didn't question the need for two rooms. Rennish had warned that a human and felis might attract attention but apparently it was more common here than in the north.
Ed had insisted that they unload these golems as soon as possible so once they were in their room he changed and took off the desert layers that were designed to keep him from heatstroke. He left on only his linen shirt and black pants that Ashra said were normal and then put on the robe with the hood on it. He felt like he was wearing 10 lbs of linen in the traveling garb and on this side of town he was far less afraid of being recognized.
Rennish tried to stay behind but was told that he was not allowed behind so the three took off to find a merchant in town who would buy their little glass golems from them. As promised the packet contained a small bronze coin with a date stamped into it and a number certifying it as a merchant's medal. All receipts and sales had to be reported to the taxmen so they could track commerce. Ed could tell who the real powers in town were.
Many of the shops in town were amused with Ed's creations but asked for consignment sale, in an effort to bring him back and drum up more business. Consignment was more profitable because they had limited overhead and could run the store and tax it based on floor space instead of inventory. Ed wanted to just move this bag as quickly as possible and was trying to sell it for as little as possible to pay the tax back.
They made it to just inside the wall when Rennish started asking everyone they came across for the section with artificers or enchanters. A human who looked too bored to be curious why they were asking pointed away from the gate towards the end on the outskirts of town assuming they were looking for something on the sort of legal end of things. He was the first person to give them an answer and not offer to sell them something instead.
Ed had removed one of the small golems from the bag and was using it as a selling point. It had bonded to Rennish of all people and was crawling around his hand making cooing noises. It was a small tree rodent not unlike a squirrel and its beady eyes were two different colored stones that had been in with the sand. It was curiously very alive and if you had asked Rennish he would have told you that it was no mere golem, Ed had created life. That fact was beyond explaining right now so they term golem would suffice.
As the small golem crawled up and down Rennish arm Ed did his best to try and sell the item to each merchant. He stopped and started telling him how they could be only one to have newest home addition, a pet golem to help keep the kids at home from bringing home strays with a pet that won't eat and won't ruin the expensive rug in the home. Most merchants wanted to buy the rights to the spell but that wasn't for sale since Ed really didn't have a spell for them.
After a few false starts and busted sales finally a merchant near the end who a grizzly old looking Demi human with features that made him hard to discern his heritage. He was quiet but told Ed he would buy anything he brought him and told him that he had stores in almost every major city between Northern Gate and the Glass City. They agreed on a sale price and the owner's name was Ursal. He signed a sheet and sealed it in much the same way as the city guard, with clay and a press. The letter was a purchase order that allowed each store to order a dozen golems with no questions asked at each location and another dozen more if they had more than a certain amount of gold. It wasn't a ridiculous amount of gold, but it gave them a legitimate reason to travel besides selling themselves as traveling prophets. Using the term merchant to explain their travels would make life easier.