Each major port or city had establishments known as information houses, which were like libraries but held more practical knowledge like news about current affairs and trade details. They also held the information about the geo-political matters, which included knowledge about powerful families. That was something Pearl was interested in.
"I want to see any documents about Celenor." He told the clerk, a young Temeri woman with braided hair but not as intricate as Pearl's. He had hired a clerk to help him out find some valid information from the stacks and piles of scrolls and parchment.
"Celenor...is that a clan's name?" the clerk asked.
"Yes, probably." Pearl replied.
"It hasn't been updated any time soon then, but most Renkayan houses have stayed the same for most of the last decade." She walked to a scroll holding stand and began looking, "So it will be easy to find. Celenor...beginning with the Cerhini character 'Sae' and written in the Renkayan dialect...ah, here it is."
She pulled out a thin roll of parchment and opened it, reading the contents inside.
"Excuse me, but can I see it?" Pearl asked.
"Sorry," the clerk handed him the scroll, "Here you go."
The parchment was a small one without as much information as Pearl had expected, but it was more than what he knew. Reading the entire document didn't take him long since it didn't contain anything too specific. Celenor was a pseudo-noble Renkayan-Elaian family that owned land in the region of Maridas which was a subjugated Renkayan territory under the rule of the Elaian Empire. The family didn't owe allegiance to any one lord or governor and, by a special imperial decree, were exempt from paying tariffs to the provincial administration.
This seemed strange to Pearl but then he read on and found out the reason. The Celenors organized and commanded one of the strongest mercenary bands in the West, or so the parchment said. That was where the writing in the parchment ended.
"Can you find me something about the 'Thunder Legion'? Pearl asked, speaking the mercenary band's name.
"Just wait for a moment," the clerk rushed to the next aisle and immediately returned with a thicker role of parchment. Pearl looked outside from the window, noticing that it was already late afternoon.
"Can I have that back?" the clerk asked, pointing at the Celenor document. Pearl nodded and handed it to her, then took the larger document from her.
"You can use the stool if you want." the clerk added.
"Thank you," Pearl said and walked to the one on the side of the aisle, taking a seat. Then he began reading. The document about the Thunder Legion was much more informative than the one about the Celenor. It entailed the background, the statistical structure, and the achievements of the organisation, along with a few interesting events to add some punch.
The Thunder legion was a mercenary band of four thousand soldiers, which made it one of the largest in the West, since mercenary groups usually tended to be much smaller. The Thunder Legion specialized in use of heavy infantry troops and anti-siege units. Since they weren't officially nobility, they were denied heraldry. Therefore, their signature look came from their basic equipment, which included shining suits of bronze plates and long glaives. This equipment was donned by every member of the Legion, while the officers and commanders distinguished themselves with capes and plumed helms.
If these things weren't unusual enough, the Thunder Legion, unlike almost every mercenary band, had a base of operation. A great fortress at the countryside estate owned by Celenor acted as their headquarters. At any given time, at least one thousand legionnaires would be stationed there.
Another special thing about this specific organization was the insanely high number of lifesingers it had among its ranks. Since Legion's scribes refused to give out an accurate number, the lifesingers were speculated to be between five hundred to a thousand. Most of these were recruited from lower noble families of Maridas and had been trained since infancy to become perfect warriors.
It made a lot of sense now. The reason Eranae was the way she was. Of course, Pearl didn't fully understand how her mind worked, but learning about her family and background had given him a little insight. She must have been raised to think like a warrior, this was something that she had already admitted to.
However, he wondered why she didn't talk about her family or past other than the times when she reminisced about her training and even then she focused only on the technical aspects rather than the emotional ones. He wondered whether it was simply due to her nature or did something happen in the past. Pearl would have to confront her with that question sooner or later.
He rose from the stool and handed the document back to the clerk.
"Can I have a copy of this?" He asked the clerk.
"Yes, we can have the scribes make one for you." She replied, giving the parchment back to him, "Go to the main desk and pay the required fee. They will get you the copy."
Pearl thanked her and headed for the main desk. There, after paying them a silver coin and waiting for almost an hour, he got a copy of the parchment prepared in the form of a scroll. Then he walked out of the establishment.
"Pearl," Rel spoke in his mind, finally waking up after a whole day of slumber.
"Rel, you are back." Pearl replied.
"Yes, certainly indeed," She responded, "What are you doing here?"
"Nothing important," He thought, "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, because Eranae is looking for you in the market." Rel informed, "You should get back, since your ship will set sail in an hour. I will tell Era to wait at the guesthouse. By the way, she has bought a lot of cool stuff."
"Cool stuff?" Pearl repeated, as he began walking towards the market, "We must make haste then."