"So what exactly was stolen?" the constable asked with a sleepish tone. It was evident that he clearly wasn't focused on listening.
"Um…" Pearl didn't know how to describe the vessel and he doubted that the constable would know what a macana was, "It's a wooden decor, like a baton but very large, about this size I suppose," he gave an estimate by spreading his arms, "It also has some obsidian work on the edges so that's a little distinguishing feature."
"Alright," the constable noted with a yawn, "And who was it stolen by?"
"A Veshaari kid," Pearl said, "Probably twelve or thirteen years old, extremely short hair, and about this height."
"One-fifth of the city's population is Veshaari," the constable informed, "The convict would be quite difficult to locate, but we will see what we can do. Do you have permanent lodging in town?"
"No." Pearl answered.
"Okay," the constable noted, "Then please return tomorrow...somewhere around morning."
Pearl nodded and walked out of the city-guard station. The city-guard in Kanark was a medium sized but severely ill-maintained organisation that was usually spread too thin due to the incredible amount of streets and squares they had to patrol. As a result many of the larger businesses preferred maintaining their own personal security force, which unfortunately didn't deal in solving crimes.
"Did we gain anything from coming here?" Rel asked.
"We will have to wait and find out." Pearl replied.
"No," Rel protested, "The answer is no. This was a waste of time…"
"Hey, traveller," A guard standing by the door called out to Pearl, "I heard your case."
"You did?" Pearl turned, "Do you know where I can find the boy or my stolen possession?"
"No, I don't," the guard replied, "But if I were you I wouldn't depend on us, the city-guard, for finding either of those two."
"That's quite self-deprecating of you," Pearl noted.
"It is what it is."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Pearl asked.
"There is a grey market in the backside of the Forge district," The guard told, "If the thief has any experience or common wit, that's where he would head to sell your...whatever it was that he stole from you."
"A grey market, that makes sense." Pearl realised, "Thanks for the advice."
"It's the least I can do." The guard said, "It's also the only useful thing I can do. Yeah, that's really self-deprecating of me. Well, good luck traveller. I hope you get your stuff back."
"Thanks again." Pearl said, and then headed for the grey market.
After scouring through the shops for about an hour, Pearl had begun losing hope. Most of the shops refused to entertain his questions if he wasn't interested in buying anything, and those that did allow him to ask about didn't know anything useful.
"Don't you think we should find Era first?" Pearl asked Rel, "What is she doing anyway?"
"I don't know," Rel told him, "It isn't important anyway. Retrieving my vessel should be our top priority."
"You can see how well that is going." Pearl taunted.
"Never give in to despair, my boy," Rel encouraged, "Take your inquiry to the next shop. We can surely hope to find something worthwhile there."
Pearl acknowledged weakly and entered the shop. It was an average sized earthen building, the kind that were quite common in the vicinity, with two floors, the lower one for conducting business while the one above for lodging. This shop seemed to deal in a rather wide spectrum of product, since on one corner Pearl saw an embroidered rug, while on one of the shelves he saw a miniature bronze figurine. The shopkeeper here was a Nanar man, which gave Pearl hope that he was more likely to cooperate.
"Greetings," Pearl said in Narlspeech, "I have some questions. I was hoping you could answer them for me."
"Oh, I apologize for not noticing you," the shopkeeper said, looking up from his ledgers, "A kinsman! Of course, you spoke in our native tongue, my apologies again. How can I help you?"
"I am looking for a wooden article," Pearl said, "Are you familiar with the term 'makana'?"
"No, but I think I know what you are looking for." The shopkeeper said, "Is it a war-club with stone ornamentation?"
"You have it?!" Pearl's voice raised a bit.
"No, no, I don't deal with armaments, even the decorative ones," the shopkeeper told, "But I can tell you...hold on, is that a Nanar Khukri?" he said, looking at the curved shortsword tied on the back of Pearl's bag. It was the one that he and Eranae had received in Nanaril.
"Yes," Pearl said slowly.
"You are a lifesinger!" the shopkeeper realised, "Why is your hair unbraided?"
"Because I didn't have the time to braid it." Pearl replied, "About the makana…"
"Sorry to interrupt," the shopkeeper said, "But I would like to buy the Khukri from you. What would you like to trade it for?"
"Didn't you just say that you didn't deal in arms?" Pearl reminded.
"It's different for the Khukri," the shopkeeper said, "Wait, I have the perfect thing for you."
He ran into the interior of his shop and returned with a large egg-shaped crystalline object. It seemed to be made out of amber.
"A songseed," Rel noticed, "I thought humans had forgotten how to make those half a thousand years ago. It must be really old then."
"What is a songseed?" Pearl asked her.
"This, sir lifesinger, is a songseed," the shopkeeper told him, "It's used to collect and store lifesong. I happened to buy it from a caravan of a Serdaean merchant."
"That's interesting, but…" Pearl began only to be interrupted by Rel.
"I sense an immense amount of lifesong stored in that seed," She informed, "Take up the offer Pearl. You can remember the residents from Nanaril even without the Khukri."
"Alright," Pearl continued, "But first tell me what do you know about the makana."
"Will you then trade the Khukri?" the shopkeeper asked.
"Yes." Pearl assured.
"I heard this afternoon that the leader of the back-alley gang called Red Reavers wanted to get rid of an antique looking war-club that his kleptomaniac brother happened to steal," the shopkeeper explained, "You will find them around the tavern at the fifth street from here, they own the place. I think this information will help you."
"It will indeed," Pearl untied the khukri from his pack and placed it before the shopkeeper, "Thank you."
"I'm glad to be of service to a kinsman and lifesinger," the shopkeeper said, handing the songseed to Pearl.
The moment the seed's amber surface touched Pearl's skin, the lifesong from the seed was sapped out of its core and flowed into Pearl. It overwhelmed him, causing him to drop to his knees and shiver in exhilaration. The seed must have contained lifesong worth of at least two dozen humans, since it took Pearl a while to regain his composure.
"Congratulations, Pearl," Rel spoke in his mind, "You have achieved the Fifth Cadence."