The Twin Cities' Mercantile Office

"What, they interrupting your 'creative juices' flowing through your brain? Maybe you're scared a little bit of dust will ruin the effect? In your place I'd have let me keep 'em up, give me a pleasant little excuse if something went wrong. 'Too distracting,' hmm? Maybe that's why you want them gone, don't want them messing you up too much. I wonder what other distractions you seem to be concerned by." Still, Vidkun obliged her. Then he rested his chin on both hands on the table, giving her an exaggerated smile. 

"I feel rocks was a bit of a misnomer then, Miss. I almost felt for a moment there you were wasting my time." A deep breath, and then he recline in his chair. "Lime, yes...." He took one of the samples. "Useful for construction indeed, you are right. There's even other applications of it, far more interesting. Did you know of the effects it has on the human body? Oftentimes, when a fortification is far too strong to be broken by mere stone quicklime is used instead. Oh it won't break any stone wall either but it doesn't have to. You turn it to dust, put it in a pot or the likes and throw it at someone. It hits the air, and when it does, ohhh what wonderful horrors I can show you." He looked at the ceiling, as if imagining something wonderful. "Melts the damn flesh, then gets in lungs to rip them apart from within. Its like boiling oil, but it gets inside, and doesn't need to be kept hot. You ever seen that? Fascinating. What happens inside, even more so."

Suddenly, the man seemed shocked by something. "Oh, but I must have interrupted you, I am sorry, do continue!" After she finished on the matter of rocks, he shrugged. "Marble, Limestone. Useful, sure." He rummaged in his desk for a little, until he produced a paper covered in many grids and tables. He wrote in a few of the columns, before continuing to speak. "Where you getting it?" he asked nonchalantly, before pushing the paper to her. "There's a work order here. Times, dates, quantities. It might seem like we want a very large amount, and very fast. That's because we do. We want to buy in bulk for industry, not little itty bits to make pretty lawn decorations you see." 

As Nina got to the task he gave her, he was quiet for the entire time, and apart from breathing and adjusting his head to get a better view of exactly what she was doing in a specific moment, he remained motionless, soundless. 

Eventually she finished, and he looked at her handywork. He reached out a hand and tilted his head in a non verbal request to take her forgery and examine it. "First. You said  'kid could forge that with half a potato'." In that moment, he mimicked his counterpart's voice changing pitch, timbre, and tone all at once to give an almost eerily accurate representation of her voice. "Now, yes, you did not say 'I would only be using the potato'." Again, an imitation of her voice. "But, it is the only thing you mentioned. Do you know what a lie of omission is? This is not that, but it is very similar. Its a lie in spirit. As an example, I could say 'I will take ten minutes.' to do something. But, you take a week to do it instead. You didn't say you'd only use the ten minutes, right? You just said ten minutes without saying anything further. Sure, in the literal meaning of the word you said the truth. But words and language are just means to express the real truth, and doing that is a failure to express the truth. Either out of malice, it is a lie, or out of being a little slow in the head, it is in innocent mistake." Vidkun turned sideways to her, covering his mouth as if to hide some spoken secret even though they were very clearly alone. "Good thing I get to do the same thing to people regardless of which it is, huh?" his mouth contorted in such a way while he spoke this to make it clear he was joking.

Still, he got back to studying the paper. "Hmmm. Not bad, alright I'd say." Then he stood up to walk over to her side of the table and then hunched over beside her such that he might point out specific details. "Impressive, you got the patina properly on the ship's bowsprit. You didn't try to draw the hair on the statuette there as if it was human hair, common mistake. You certainly put in effort!" At that point though, he unhanded the drawing and went towards the window within the office, standing before it as he looked outside. "Sure, keep the potato. Eat it if you like."

The hunter chuckled to himself as he turned back to face Nina. "Unfortunately, you're too artistic. Too creative, whatever, I don't care. You look at what you see, and you try to interpret rather than just seeing what's there. That's why you don't seem particularly resentful of me, even though I figure you seem to disapprove of much of what I do. Two sides to every story, you and you haven't heard mine, right?" he snorted. "You know, what you drew, is probably even prettier than what we have. As a forgery, it won't work. Do you know who I commissioned to do the art for the notes? An architect, an illiterate ship and building painter, a tinkerer of clockwork who also did the engravings for his clocks and crossbows and mini water wheels." He drummed his fingers on a lap. "You should try something a little mind numbing. Cleaning outhouses or blowing glass or digging graves.  Something repetitive, monotonous, crushing the human spirit. Well, that is if you want to understand this better."

Now he sat back at his desk. "You saw the variance in tint on the man's face. You thought - not unreasonably - it was stubble, and perhaps intentionally to show off, or perhaps subconsciously you just made it more anatomically correct, you receded it a bit from where facial hair wouldn't be, drew the texture better. But guess what? Really, those parts of his face are just a different colour." He stretched and yawned, as if he just had a good rest. "I'm only going to point that out because I don't want you to correct every mistake and then teach somebody how to do it, but all of them lead to more or less the same conclusion. You're a masterful artist, you might even got a few offers for you to work here if word spreads enough. But you're not going to make a career as a forger. But uhh, just in case, I now have a good idea of your style. I don't have to follow the laws I made. I'm going to hurt you very much and probably not just you if you do try your hand at disseminating fake notes. And don't think leaving will keep you safe either. I'm not trying to be an arsehole here, I hope you understand, I'm trying to protect the livelihoods of thousands of people. Sure, call me bloodthirsty, sadistic, whatever, its for the greater good of every man out there who fishes from morning 'til dawn to feed his kin. But on the matter of protecting the livelihoods of people...." 

A large book slammed onto the table. "The criminal codex and all of its intricacies. I don't remember it exactly, in fact quite poorly truth be told because in my head all the laws are just 'common sense' anyway. 'cause I wrote 'em. So let's pretend I'm a forger. Hooray! I just forged a 500-crown note. Another one, and a third. Whoa, that's quite some earnings! Maybe make ten of these in a day, I'm rich! Do it again tomorrow, right? And the day after? Oh, wait, its entered circulation. Eventually it enters an office where somebody knows the same things I do about these notes. Then it gets tracked down, maybe by going back through every person who used it in a transaction, maybe by looking into who has been making purchases of the appropriate papers and inks. Day five, our dearest forger has their head on a stick. Between day three and five however, oh how much fun we had. First the forger, then me and my colleagues. 

"Now. Do you understand why a child can, perhaps, if the stars align forge this with a potato. But, why in reality, they won't? And so far, none have tried." 

Vidkun stared at Nina. "Are you alright miss?" he asked, his concern seemingly genuine for the moment. "You don't seem particularly enthused to be in mine presence. Oh if only Ralf were here, I am sure he'd make a finer impression than I, I am sorry."

An eyebrow was raised as Nina presented a bit of string. "Oh, that's nice! Let me see...." he unbuttoned his shirt, and underneath tugged out out the bit of string holding his undershirt together. With a few twirls of his fingers, he made a very similar contraption, a snare. Thoughtlessly he threw it behind himself over his shoulder. "But what if you happen to end up in a place with no cute bunnies to feast on, hmm? Don't think grandpa's lesson would save you then."

He listened to the woman speak of how she wouldn't do crime, of what drives somebody else to do it. "Yes, yes, I've heard it a thousand times. People are by nature good so they wouldn't be made to do bad unless forced." He rubbed his eyes wearily, as if was genuinely made exhausted by this line of speech. "I'll try to be as frank as I can with you Nina, since you rather entertain me. You seem intelligent enough. But you are incredibly untouched by this world to say these things with a serious look on your face. Nobody in this city will starve. Ever. Unless they spend their money on drink and the likes. There's always work enough. Maybe if there was some plague or drought or the likes, and we had a few thousand more people perhaps you would have a point. But for now fish alone can sustain us. No. Consider this. For all the materiel I have given you, there is a cost. For the labour you have done, you could have made - within the same unit of time - made more money as a simple street sweeper. But, the thing is Nina, criminals are greedy people. Without exception, a virtuous person would not inflict harm upon another solely for the benefit of their own material status. No matter what, there is always another way. But pride, Nina. Pride gets in the way. One of the worst of sins, pride makes people think they are too good to eat week old bread because that is all their labour as a street sweeper can afford them. Indeed, the vermin catchers guild sells unpoisoned rats for less than a crown for a dozen, so long as you return the hide and bone. But everybody thinks they are too good to eat rats. So instead they seek out to take what belongs to another. You may claim that perhaps somebody wishes to feed children of theirs that such a job cannot support. But, Nina, would such a household be a good residence for a child? Why have they not surrendered them to the custody of an orphanage that would inevitable provide better, if still unworthy life to a child? Simply put, you're wrong Nina. You think all of this because you haven't met any criminals. So you are forced to rationalize why somebody would become a criminal, from the perspective of a not-criminal. This creates an absurd contradiction, and because you don't see it - after all how could you? - you see injustice and a recipe for more of it instead of the folly of man and the safeguards against it."

Then she asked if it would be fun to make someone suffer then. Vidkun grinned. "No. Those people don't get to suffer. At least, not in this life. Their death is swift as the culling of an animal. Petty criminals in particular typically are assigned labour to reform them, satisfying your scenario of people 'forced' to commit crime out of desperation. Torture is only inflicted on recidivists, those that cyclically prey upon their fellow man. I'm not a monster, I'm not going to peel somebody's skin off because they snatched an apple once. Second time though...."

As Nina turned to the matter if the papers benefitted people, the man roared "Yes!" pointing at Nina and then clapping a few times as his whole body bobbed. "You Nina, are asking the right questions. Oh, in another life you could have been a witch hunter yourself, thinking like this. The things I could teach you... the offer is there, if you are ever interested, though I reckon this life and your actions in it have been too kind for you to deserve such ruination brought by knowledge." The man breathed contentedly, leaning back in his chair. "Hans! Move the next appointment, my guest has been far too pleasant. Now, where were we? Oh right, I was telling you about the truth as expressed in money. Now, then, tell me Nina, what are words? I've already told you today, they are means to express reality. Language increases in complexity in parallel with the world around us becoming more complex. Savage tribals that haven't mastered how to work iron or bronze speak in mere grunts, what have they to need things like grammatic postpositions or the present-perfect tense for? Yet, with less things in their vocabulary, they will inevitably always be more accurate in what they are saying, because they are saying simpler things and thus you will have less issues like synonyms, two words meaning the same thing. Money is quite the same thing. We could just barter, we could just trade a kilogram of meat for a hundred grams of salt.  But what if I don't have that right now, yet I'm God damned starving for meat? What if I have salt to give you, but you have no use for salt? What am I supposed to do then? How am I to survive? That's why money was made. It is a representation of inherent value, which yes, devalues the very things it is supposed to represent in value, but ultimately it is more efficient when you have thousands of people. If we were a tribe of forty people wearing furs we just cut off of a deer yesterday, we would have no use for money. We would be a communal society sharing everything. But we are not doing that Nina, we are making academies and aqueducts and castles." 

Having spoken for a while, Vidkun's mouth was now dry. He poured himself some water with rosehip extract, then tilted the bottle towards Nina with an eyebrow upraised asking her if she was thirsty without saying anything. He would oblige either response, before continuing. "That was the first part of your question. The second is the matter of income inequality. Income inequality will always exist. Let's for a moment now say that we are in a society that barters things instead of using paper money. How does that stop people from hoarding things? Trick question, it doesn't. So we end up with cartels. A fresh water cartel, a meat cartel, a wooden planks cartel, a medicine cartel, so on and so forth. The one that founded some farm or some woodsman business would inevitably ensure they get paid more than the others, and that the managers of labourers would in turn be paid more. After all, how do they incentivize people to do more complex, more demanding work? But what happens then if say, the leader of the bread cartel has a fight with the leader of the medical cartel? Neither would offer their goods to the servants of the other. So bakers would go without medicine, and apothecaries would go without food in their bellies. This scenario is of course possible with money in a society, but much, much more difficult. If I was going to make a system that fleeced the poor for the benefit of the rich, I would have much better ways to do it. I could create a world so much worse for everybody except for myself. But fundamentally mankind is good, remember? You said that. Not literally, but it is a foundation of these things you say and ask. Indeed, I wouldn't need a very convoluted way to do this as you say, it would be very simple. But again, I shan't."

The hunter tilted his head as Nina remarked that he was not a nobleman himself, despite entertaining the notion of such. "In our language we have a saying... uhh, how do I translate it, here: upon their knees all men are short. Its a bit more complex than that. But people having certain rights and privileges does not make a problem for me. No, in fact it is an entertaining challenge for me to circumnavigate. The first person I killed was-... well, no she wasn't the first I killed. But the first person I killed in this profession was when I was thirteen. She herself was a teenager much like myself. Sixteen or so. Found a book about making potions in the woods, likely misplaced by some more professional witch. She started brewing love potions, can you imagine it? Was making a fortune giving letting people receive unconditional - but unwilling - love simply by pouring it in somebody's soup and saying a few fancy words. As far as she concerned, she was making people happy and making money off of it too. But that was witchcraft, and thus I eventually thrust my dagger through her skull. I did not particularly enjoy this. I had to do it of course. That is the kind of magic ordinary men and women have no means to protect themselves save for the intervention of people like me. It is the wild, that which fae and demons alike use to torment mortal souls. The dark and the unknowable. Her death was a tragedy brought by her own foolishness, yet my thirteen year old self knew with pride he did the right thing. But you know what I did enjoy? I was... I think seventeen then. Amadeus Eisenfaust, a legendary Knight, hundreds of duels won. His power came from sacrificing peasants he kidnapped at night and assimilating a fraction of their strength as part of a pact with a dark power. His head falling from his shoulders, that was an ecstasy I received that a thousand hedge witches screaming at the bonfire could not begin to provide." He scratched his nose thoughtfully. "That's the purely cynical reason I do it. Personal entertainment. But the fact is that our grander culture, Vessian, composed of united voices of hundreds of ethnicities and tribes, nobility and the likes are simply the natural way of things people expect. We have no King, or Emperor, because I doubt we will find anybody worthy. If we do not, then I expect in a few hundred years we will abolish these noble titles. But for now they serve a practical use, and getting rid of them would be something that few if any people at all support." Another sip of water. "But, really, surely you're not so naive to think this kind of thing is avoidable? The Twin Cities are not the only civilization of the isle. Do you really believe the others do not have people with privileges grossly overshadowing that of the lower classes? Just because they don't give it a fancy title, doesn't mean its not the same damn thing." His tongue was tiring. "Duty is what drives me, Nina. To my faith, to the human race, to the Vessischers, the Egyszers, the Varan, the Siczians, and every other folk composing the Vessian people. To the perseverance of order, of light, of happiness and good and law over darkness, chaos, the wild, the evil and malign. To my sons and daughters I have not conceived yet, and to everyone they and their sons and daughters might hold dear. I'm driven by the thought that for every evil thing I see or stop, or in some cases that I do, that I might make my people sleep safer and that I will be forgiven by my celestial masters. Is that a satisfactory answer? Or must I say more to prove I'm not an antagonist in your story?"

Vidkun raised his hands in mock-surrender at Nina's outburst, followed by an exaggerated "Well pardon me!" Indeed, he was intrigued as Nina said that some of his points were nonsense. The huntsman leaned in, suddenly very interested, his eyes widening as if he was about to get a rare and delicious meal. But, as Nina spoke, he became disappointed and leaned back in his chair, rolling his eyes. "Oh please, spare me the lecture, you're the one that asked for one, not me. Now calm the hell down. You don't need to defend every little tribe you came across to me, I'm not belittling them or denigrating their intelligence, I am simply making a parallel. So, as I said, calm down, and listen to the point behind my words, not the individual phrases you find offending your sensibilities." He shook his head, annoyed. As far as he was concerned, Nina was picking a fight where there was none.

"Of course there's thousands of things people who haven't figured out metallurgy have to worry about. But, the thing is Nina, people in more complex societies don't stop worrying about them either. They just have new concerns, so your point that they know a whole bunch of rare plants doesn't make sense. You think people in our society don't have names for every plant they come across? Or do you think technology makes us stupider somehow, disconnected from the natural world? I think that would be a lot more nonsensical than whatever objections you have raised to me so far, no? Besides, everything you describe is something that can be expressed in the common tongue. Now, how many of those people you mentioned have a word for this?" he reached into a pocket and removed a pocket watch, before opening it out and removing some half of its mechanism. "Hmmm? Maybe one or two of them? Or perhaps none? Again, Nina, this is not an insult to their intelligence. It is merely a statement of fact, that my culture has to consider more things between heaven and earth than many others. But you are simply wrong that progress is not a good thing unto itself. People can be poor at any state of cultural and technological advancement. But don't you think you'd rather be poor with a roof over your head than under cold open skies? I damn well thought so. If somebody has a language unwritten, they better learn bloody write it. Its not my duty to preserve the way of life of people who can't be arsed to preserve it themselves. Besides, its not like I am going out looking for primitives to exploit, so I don't even truly understand your objection."

A smile quickly returned to him as Nina clarified that she was saying where her lines were. "But have you really said where your lines are? You give me these unclear, nebulous bits of moralizing. But you haven't exactly given me any sort of real boundary of what is wrong or right in your opinion, I am just left to guess what your ultimate moral of the story is. Are you perhaps scared to put a specific value on a human life? Are you scared you're going to be too much like me? From the way you're fidgeting, perhaps you're just scared of me, and thus are just side-stepping the issue because you don't want to provoke me into hurting you. A shame if true, I like to think I have been as hospitable as I could be, indulging you far more than I would have many of my closest associates. That is to say I quite like you more than most people I meet Nina. You have a certain wisdom and bravery beyond your years, and the fact you are willing to disagree with me provides me a rare, and very enjoyable experience. But these traits seem to be faltering at the moment. Still, this discussion has been engaging, and I'd be happy to keep you around."

His smile became thinner and wider, more predatory as Nina said she respected what he did, the difficulty she found in admitting this. "I am glad you liked it. Noblemen that are fat inbred bastards are of no use to me, and if they die on such adventures then that just means I'm rid of an annoyance. Perhaps you will be abhorred to find that nearly a hundred such Dukes, Barons, Princes and more have already perished in trying to reach these goals. But those that have succeeded have been worthy assets indeed." He leaned in, resting his chin on his hands as Nina said she still didn't trust the paper money. "You'd be right not to. You've established in your head that I am willing to be a scoundrel, and if I have done so once, then indeed this could just be another instance of me being such a scoundrel. You have a very acute instinct, Nina. A gift I'd say. I don't think you should squander it merely on paintings and the like, but it is your life."

Still, they got to business. He listened to her speak, and nodded along, until again she had an outburst. He shot upright, bringing his face close to hers so they could see directly into each others pupils. "Yes, I plan on killing you. There's too many guards to escape. But if you sign exactly what I want then I will make it fast." his voice was suddenly hoarse, a deep baritone. He held the pose for a few moments, before slumping back into his chair with a high pitched giggle.

"Oh get over yourself girl. I've already determined between the fact you don't exactly have a lot of muscle on your bones, and this." he held up her drawing of the money as a prop of his speech. "That you are not a threat. I'm sure I could break you in all meanings of the word before you managed a little magical sparkle. Now then, is this ego, cowardice, or simply hatred of me that you wish to justify that makes you think I want to kill you now? Calm down, you're under no threat." he stood up, opening the window. "But if you want to have a cool story to tell your friends of how you escaped mean old Vidkun, the window is open there to jump out of. Don't worry, there's even a cart carrying some hay that you can jump into for a neat escape that arrived some fifteen minutes ago there." Well, actually, the cart full of hay was also full of spikes. It was a fake means of escape for would-be assassins. But Vidkun didn't think Nina would actually try to run away, and thus there was no point admitting the truth. Of course, if she would he'd have to run to try to catch her because he probably couldn't explain the truth in time.

"Would you like some tea or something? Or perhaps Hans to escort you out? Really, whatever you would feel most comfortable with. As I told you, Nina, I am not a monster. But if you're sitting there pissing your pants because you're convinced I am, you serve no practical purpose, and you will no longer be able to entertain me either. I hope that's not the case, but it is whatever it is."

"Yes. A watch. It tells time. It's a great marker of what divides savagery from civilization. Men that keep accurate track of the passage of time are those who have come to no longer be slaves to the whims of nature. They begin to seek and understand the truth of this world, rather than the whims of the wild that dictate every moment of their existence. It means I have better, more important things to be concerned about than that." he said, pointing to the woodland in the far distance.

Thin lips curled in a half smile. Once more predatory, like a hyena bearing its teeth unsure if it was about to howl or gnaw at a meal. But, for now there was no hunt in the prospects. "You are right." he reached into his desk, and produced a sword in its scabbard that he threw on the table. "Witchbane silver. Don't touch it, not even the scabbard. If the stuff has that effect on you now you'll probably throw up or worse if you do. But its beautiful." He pulled the blade out of its sheathe ever so slightly, revealing the metal of the sword that seemed dark in the light, yet became of a much paler tint outside of it. "Just like a watch. Separates me, and ordinary men, from the world outside of my control. You wouldn't get it of course, you couldn't. But those days I come across a bastard in a fancy hat that has lived his entire life on the assumption he is superior to people like me because he was born with arcane talent...." he mused, looking at the ceiling. "Only to see the panic, the terror in his face as his fancy words and whirling fingers do nothing, oh it is delightful. A great equalizer. A reminder that 'mere mortal' is a misnomer for the ordinary representatives of the race of man."

He noticed then, that her nose was bleeding. Vidkun sighed, and stood up. Pulling his neckerchief out of his attire, he handed it over to Nina. "Its silk, so you're going to give it back to me when we're done." He jested, before motioning for Nina to follow him. "I hate seeing you like this, let us get you somewhere a little bit less toxic to thy nature." A chuckle came from him as Nina apologized for accusing him. "Oh, no, do not be sorry. You have a heathly survival instinct. Just because you have a single false positive, that does not mean it is incorrectly calibrated." he winked at her as he lead the duo outside.

A deep breath came from Vidkun as Nina gave her theory as to why people were afraid of him. "A not ungrounded bit of speculation, but a not wholly true one either. Some people are scared of me, true. But far from all, far from even a majority of those I deal with on a daily basis. Many are sycophants, perhaps underestimating me, just thinking I can give them whatever they want if they agree with whatever I say. Others might be virtuous and brave, but just idiots. Many disagree with me, which is good, but they disagree with me on everything, which is bad, because I can't actually be wrong about everything. So I can only ascertain they hate me. Or I really am wrong about everything but I don't want to live in that world so I just ignore the mere possibility most of the time."

His head tilted to the side when the woman replied to his offhand remark that he'd remorselessly murder her if he felt it was needed. "Hmmm. Maybe you have. Or at least, you seem to think you have. Probably true. You certainly seem far from helpless. Quite capable in fact. But do you think you could manage that here, now, in my own lair of devious affairs?" He reached out a hand towards her. "May I?" he asked, reaching out to potentially touch her arm, and get a better feeling of her musculature and bone structure under her clothes. It was invasive of course, but he was always interested in the physique of people he came across. "You're an adventurer of sorts, right? I mean no particular offence, but I suspect a lot of your success is owed to luck, and perhaps experience. With which there is nothing wrong! But becomes a problem when you run into another lucky and experienced person. Of course, you become a bit luckier when you have bits of steel protecting your soft bits, as I do. Or when you can run longer distances, or when you can pick up heavier things. Or when you weren't just bleeding all over your face. You see what I am getting at?"

When Nina finally challenged him, the hyena grin returned but now with a much more serious tone to it as his eyebrows lowered and eyes narrowed. Though Nina seemed reluctant to make eye contact, Vidkun had no such compunction. Or rather, he didn't quite look into her eyes. More the space between them, as if he was looking at what was inside her head, the mind or soul, rather than into her eyes. Or maybe he was just interested in the shape of her nose ridge. Eventually though he broke his stare, bursting out laughing and clapping at the comment of the brothel. "Oh, well said, well said! You are quite the witty woman, has anybody ever told you that?" he clapped a little more between giggles. "As a rule, I consider paying people to open their legs to be beneath me, and paying them to open their mouths doubly so. I'd rather these processes happen in a more natural fashion. But! I see what you are trying to say. If I have been an uncharitable host, then accept my sincerest apologies, it is simply a rarity I have a guest of your sort. I seek not to stroke my own ego upon slight disagreement. No, quite the opposite, if you have great disagreement - rather than merely light disagreement - then I would be all the more interested in your company. As long as you can rationalize your disagreement anyway. But, please, do not be so hurt by these words of mine. You can be quite entertaining, while still an exemplar of an inquisitive, intelligent, and productive mind. I had hoped some of my theatrics served to entertain at least a little." As if to demonstrate, he gave an unprompted pirouette followed by a fouette performed to the most rigorous demands of ballet. "But if there is anything I can do to make your stay more pleasant, let me know at once. I can always get a more boring clerk to discuss trade figures or whatever to deal with you, its about time I broke my fast anyway."

He stopped suddenly, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow as he leaned against the wall. "Trying to pry out state secrets, are we? Planning an assassination?" he smiled then. "Just messing with you. I made some of them. Not all, don't have the time. Just enough to keep away all the demons and fairies trying to tempt me all the time. Damn persistent if you don't have the right precautions. The rest I outsource."

The man's jaw clicked and clacked a few times as she asked her question about the use of magic. "Its hard to explain this to you, because once more, I very much doubt you would get it, not the way my culture does. But I will try, perhaps with a bit of history. For thousands of years, the people of the Empire in the old days were victims to those that had unnatural powers. Mages, faeries, demons, and the weak and virtueless traitors of the land that made pacts with these foul forces. One day a bloody vengeance was exacted, no quarter shown as these were cut down to the last. But rules were needed to ensure that the tribes now free to pursue their own path in this world unmolested by supernatural forces would never again be victims of these very same supernatural forces. To deny the existence of magic, folly. To deny it could be useful, folly too. But it had to be ensured that very strict rules, laws, regulations were put in place so that the nation could sleep soundly with the knowledge that no witch or warlock would walk the land to torment them. It is not about stopping the use of magic, Nina. It is to stop its manifestation in the things I have mentioned to you before. The dark, the wild, the chaotic, and evil and malign. That any uses of supernatural powers were born from, and used exclusively for good, for law, for order and the light. I, we, these people, they have no issue with the fact you were born as you were. But if you so much as cast a flickering light in somebody's home without asking them if you could first, then there would be a problem. These people do not want to be subject to the momentary whims of a power they cannot themselves control. And, it would be wrong for me to not ensure that they can have respite from these powers. As I said before, we're not monsters. We just don't want to suffer what these people's ancestors had to go through." He tried to smile, but it was a serious enough matter that the veneer was getting harder to maintain. "You might not think it Nina, but ordinary people are scared of people like you. They, I, we cannot do what you do. You have inherently more agency over them than the inverse, and that is a terrifying thought. These rules are merely meant to assuage their fears by letting them know they are protected. Does that answer your question?" He pondered his next words for a moment before continuing. "I have suppressed it over the years of course, honed it. But deep down, there is a little animal part of me that is scared of you, what you are, Nina. Through no fault of your own, of course. But by your nature you represent a world completely alien to mine own. I do not think it is wrong, or even surprising that people like me would try to make things just a little more balanced in our daily lives." 

"Oh come on, don't make me spell it out for you. You're supposed to be fast on the uptake!" A grin. "Yes, that is what I am saying, among other things. Like being a little bit more realistic in general."

When Nina gave her assent, he did exactly as planned touching the length of her bicep and tricep, before squeezing at a few points so he could get a feel for her bone. He didn't touch the hidden blade, but based on the way the fabric of her clothing moved he knew that something was there. He couldn't help but smile as the realization hit him. "Clever girl." he mumbled as he withdrew, not really caring if this was heard or not. "Well, you're an adventurer alright. But certainly not a dragonslayer or arm-wrestler in the making. I'd be picking up more heavy things if I was going to be confident I could best anyone I came across. Or at least tell that to their faces."

She coughed blood, and almost reflexively Vidkun produced a small vial from the recesses of his coat. "Ah, I am reminded. Would you be offended if I took a sample? At worst its your fingerprint, at best I can find things about you that you yourself do not know. After all, I've dissected a lot more magical people than any doctor for magical people has. If not anything useful I am sure I could at least find something interesting about your condition. I'd be disappointed but understand if not."

But a deep sigh came from Vidkun as Nina said they were alike. "No. We are not. Physically you are within the norms of a mortal woman. As am I a mortal man. Yes its unfair I was born with longer legs and broader shoulders than you or whatever the hell else. But millions of women of this nation have come to live happily taking this knowledge into consideration. Exactly how many of them do you think would be able to keep their calm with the knowledge a practitioner of the arcane is in their midst? Whatever physical superiority menfolk might have over womenfolk, it is nothing compared to absolutely alien nature of magic. Go to a camp of the woodsmen, big burly men, tell them you're a sorceror. I think they'd raise their axes fast, no? If I, well, I with a disguise came into a roomful of ladies and pronounced I am a man, how many would call for aid? It is not an equalizer Nina. Its a gift or a curse depending on how you want to look at it, but it is something that sets you apart from common humanity far more than any circumstance of birth can.

When it was suggested that Vidkun might have magical ability, he smiled once more. This one was more snake like, silver tongued when no tongue was showing. He leaned in very closely to Nina, such that their noses would almost touch. One hand went behind his back. Perhaps it was simply for a change in position, perhaps a blade was being drawn. "What a delightfully naughty idea you present. That the man who's vocation is the safeguarding of the people from the supernatural is himself supernatural. That I lied to you, and everybody else I have ever met. What do you think would happen to anybody who learned - or even thought of -  such a thing? How far do you think I would go to protect my secret?" he didn't lean back, but his smile became more ordinary. Still, the breathy whisper continued. "But, if you were right, and I am not saying you are, would you perhaps be more convinced of my position? That somebody born into the unnatural would be the perfect soul to know of its dangers and thus the best warden against it? Or perhaps you would think I am overcompensating for some self-hatred or the likes? Finish your thought." the last phrase was edged almost with a tiny bit of command, even if at the surface it was still the strange combination of playful and venomous of before.

The man leaned back as Nina spoke more of her own past, fingers clasping together in an arch as he listened. "I am sorry that happened to you." he offered, looking down. But as in his periphery he saw the moisture in Nina's eye he sat beside her. Unless he saw any sign of objection he'd embrace and pat the woman on the back in an effort to offer sympathy. Before he spoke he'd produce another handkerchief and offer it to Nina to wipe away her tears. "I wish it wasn't so. To have your freedom, your very will and personhood stolen by another is something nobody deserves, especially if one as virtuous and good hearted as you. But you are safe now. Valued, appreciated, trusted, protected. No tears, no fear, alright? Unless I prompt it." he winked, hoping to raise the somber mood brought by the girl's sudden melancholy.

Just for a moment, as Nina spoke of her plan, Vidkun pulled back with a raised eyebrow. Had she just manipulated him? Getting all teary and gentle and sad and tender to elicit sympathy from him and lower his inhibitions. Then she followed it up with a request. “Are, are you-... did you just-....” he shook his head. Of course she hadn't. But it was his job to be paranoid this way. “I'm sorry, in this profession I sometimes forget the human."

Still, her actual words had to be addressed. A tired sigh came from the man. "Nina, I know you mean well. But this is just short sighted. Do you know how generational hatred breeds? Let me walk you through what will most likely happen in your proposal. Let's say everyone who accidentally blew up with magic instead gets exiled to your land. This means that, point one, a person that has caused suffering is now living free and happy in a new land. This makes my people resentful of yours. Point two, this means that your people now harbour somebody who believes they were ejected from the Twin Cities for something that isn't his or her fault. They believe they suffered an injustice, and this will colour their perception of the Twin Cities. Now, let's say that this keeps going, and the victims and ordinary people on both sides have children, and grandchildren. They all tell them their own very different interpretations of the exact same even, assuming they even care enough to be honest. Which I will, because you're an optimist! Now we are four generations ahead of where we started. Your people have now a sizeable contingent of those that hate mine and have spread this view among the rest of your kin. Mine have a perception of your people as those who feed, shelter, and clothe those who caused them great suffering. Nina, how could this possibly end without violence at the slightest spark? You think you are doing a good thing with this suggestion. It is thus that I appreciate it, but I must respectfully decline. I'd rather single digits of people be dealt with in the cruel but familiar way we do now, rather than your and my children killing each other for a mistake of policy we chose to enact together."

He put his head in his palms and took a deep breath as Nina spoke of trust, and how to earn it. "I'll think about it. Maybe we could have some books from you lot on how to not accidentally set everything on fire. But first, I need something from you. Maybe I will call on you some day, though I doubt there's many problems you could solve that I could not, even if I am willing to accept your word at face value. But as I said, first, something else. I have spent all our time together talking about my people, our culture, our history, my own philosophies and actions and laws, you will need to reciprocate. You don't have to tell me about yourself personally, since I see it is a difficult thing for you. Tell me about the people you are here on behalf of."

Vidkun began to lean in a little more. A laughter that was soft, yet deeper than he had previously shown or even most men could manage started to come from the bottom of his lungs. His tongue ran over his teeth while the sound of leather - a blade drawn? - could be made out from behind him. But as she gave her more serious answer, an exhalation came from him that could have been a growl if just a little more force of lung and throat was behind it. But it seemed he was satisfied with the response and returned to a more neutral rather than threatening position. “Some people do. Most don’t. Most don’t care.” He sucked air through his teeth as if suppressing a pain of some kind, before reaching into his coat and producing a pipe and a small pouch filled with pleasant smelling herbs that he stuffed in and lit by virtue of a small flint spark lighter. As smoke emerged he pondered the emergent embers. “Would you like a puff?” he offered. “They’re medicinal for the most part. Treat things like headaches, burst blood vessels, and general problems of health. I rarely go a day without partaking.” By pure coincidence of course, he had just admitted to treating himself for the same affliction his equipment against the magical had wrought upon Nina. If not a coincidence then a test? Or a confirmation that couldn’t be ultimately used against him? Or perhaps he was just messing with her for his own whimsy. “A shame you haven’t given me a sample of your blood. Really, I could all but guarantee I could tell you things about yourself neither your parents nor any wizard nor chirurgeon that has examined you could.”

His head tilted a little bit as Nina gave him a look of surprise when he had tried to comfort her in the girl’s brief sorrow. “Oh don’t give me those eyes. Do you seriously think I am incapable of compassion, empathy?” he scoffed before chuckling to himself as his teeth bit down on the pipe. “You know, naivety doesn’t always make you a better person. Its easier to imagine somebody who is willing to end lives as completely incapable of emotion. That would be easier for you, wouldn’t it? That way you wouldn’t have to feel bad about killing one you marked in your mind as a killer, right?” He wagged a finger at her through giggles as though chastising a child just caught with their fingers in the sugar pot. “And yet in your poor little innocent mind you couldn’t even begin to fathom that to think someone is unable to sympathize or show kindness is yet another means to dehumanize. Because, that’s something only the bad guys do, right? Oh, but not our dear little girl Nina, oh no. Too kind a heart she has.” Vidkun clicked his tongue a few times in mock disapproval while shaking his head. Then a deep, tired sigh. “If you were maybe ten years older, I might have gotten angry if you gave me that look. Like I’m a pox-ridden mutt after I tried to show kindness to your reminiscence of your suffering. I’ve lived, lost, laughed, languished and loved more than most human beings could ever stomach. Much through myself of course. But much more was done vicariously through others. I have experienced thousands of human lives as people have recounted the entire stories of themselves or even their whole families, their lovers, more. Hundreds of souls I have given mercy to, and perhaps a whole half of them did not warrant it. My clemency has lead to thousands more suffering, dying even, and yet I still give it. And I have to sit here being judged as if a machine for slaughter rather than a man. Hmph.”

The man pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes for a moment. “Sorry. Don’t know what came over me.” He drummed his fingers on a lap thoughtfully, thinking a while before speaking once more. He liked Nina enough to have just a little bit, just a tiny bit of the man beneath all the masks and layers come out, and in that moment he was snappy. Vidkun had let himself care what she said, and thus for the first time in a while had managed to be hurt by something that wasn't a weapon. Other people could think whatever they wanted of him. But in their brief time to meet her he had came to have some appreciation of her opinion, and it mattered. For her to think he was wholly incapable of sympathy or kindness to a hurting person stung him. 

But there was no point lingering on the matter. “Here’s a lesson for you, because I am probably not the first or the last person of… well, let’s call it this archetype that you will meet. A clearing of the fairy tale your eyes insist on relaying to your mind, so that you don’t piss off the next fellow of this sort. Our job isn’t to kill. You think ordinary soldiers and guards can’t go house to house killing folk for having funny symbols or seditious materials in their house? Really, lynching is an incredibly easy thing to do. I was doing it before I got this job! No, that’s not what a Witch Hunter, an Inquisitor, and many other similar men do. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression ‘rules are meant to be broken’. That is what I do. I choose when the law doesn’t, when it shouldn’t apply. When it was broken for a truly good cause, or when the excuse of ignorance was truly done by a mind so untainted they couldn’t fathom wrongdoing in their folly. Hopefully now you won’t look at me as if the boogeyman said ‘bless you’ after you sneezed, eh?” Of course, the ranks of the Witch Hunters had employed many ruthless, unthinking killers in their number. But these weren’t Witch Hunters themselves. Henchmen, contractors, mercenaries, all sorts of monikers were used to make it clear that these were just hired muscle, they didn’t make the decisions. Sometimes they were inducted into the proper number of the Witch Hunters, but this was rare. Most of the time after years of service such grunts would realize that they would never get the sword of office they were angling for, and instead use all their gained experience finding cushy but nonetheless violent jobs in the retinues of many noblemen.

“That’s right, I thought you wouldn't. Glad you understand.” he said without looking up as Nina said she didn’t want people to die in his proposed scenario. When Nina said Vidkun thought about that a lot, he gave her a very brief glance. Just for a second, he looked older, withered. His skin wrinklier, his eyes deeper in his skull and lacking any sort of light of life. “Yeah. You could say that.” Again Vidkun laughed, and though returning to his usual self there was a little bit of that mirthless worn out tone to him that had briefly been shown to Nina. “You’re right, of course. Men that obsess over issues often die mad, having made no progress upon them. Such men have been perhaps a quarter of those I have had to look into. But this is not the same. If you have patience in you for another lecture, I could tell you how a lot more people have died for issues much smaller than what you suggest we create. But, I am always willing to listen to such proposals that you have.”

He tried to smile, but he didn’t have it in him when the woman was confused by his half-formed question. “You know, I am not sure we really should be speaking to one another. I feel as though the things I tell you, what in these few moments we shared you have learned from me, they will make you a much worse, more jaded person than you came in here as. Like I'm ruining you. Doesn't feel quite right, even if have for the most part enjoyed our dialogue.” Vidkun massaged his temple briefly, as if slowly pushing his youth back into his head with his fingers. “I thought you were trying to manipulate me, for but a moment. Tearing up, making me feel bad for you. Softening me up, and then asking something of me immediately after to make me more malleable. Sorry, its my job to seek out these things.”

Now seemingly more or less returned to his normal self, he was ready to listen to Nina recount what the Azure Coast was like. He didn’t speak for the entirety of her speech, waiting until she had said everything to reply. “Fascinating.” Vidkun said, eventually. “You said there’d be a joke later, did you happen to say it already?” he asked off-hand. “I actually thought you would bring the limestone. But I am glad you trust me enough to tell me where you people live. Well, or perhaps you realized I’d find out myself eventually. Anyway!” his fingers ran over the birch bark. “Horns and red skin you say. I do hope that’s not what it sounds like. I’m not even done clearing out the ‘people with horns and red skin’ from these parts.” A soft chuckle came from Vidkun on the matter of the rest of the people. “Do they not have harpies where you come from? But, I am curious how you could get the feeling that this ‘Qori’ flirts aggressively, but the feeling is vague? Do they wink a lot but you can’t tell if its intentional or a nervous tick?” He sighed. “And of course, thank you for telling me about the octopus. Not sure what I would do without that information.” this was muttered rather than said, but probably still audible if Nina was paying attention. “I’m sure I’ll be eager should the day come I have to shake Gray’s fuzzy hands, maybe I could stroke his pretty bunny ears. But, about that law. You’re screwing with me, right? A few ‘hee’s’ and ‘ha’s’ at the expense of the fellow you think doing them, right?”

Vidkun would lean back a little, taking a deep breath. “I take it you’re new to this sort of thing then. Alright, questions. Let’s start with the easy ones, shall we? First of all, who’s in charge, how do you lot make your decisions. Are you a plenipotentiary? Or can I expect you to come back in a week’s time saying ‘whoopsie, actually the rest of us didn’t like that agreement!’?”