The Longest Journey - Parchment & Gold

Dawn arrived, the sun rose and so did Vitugár and Fiadhur. Both had their fair share of adventure, of travels, of findings. Fiadhur for her Cavern Whiskeys, Vitugár for his mushroom tome. They've travelled from the Electorial Congregation up north to the Northern Realms, before the road took them south again.

The High Elves of Aeloria welcomed both Formulists and helped them with their respective tasks. Weeks evolved to months, months to years. A fleeting night evolved to travel companions, to occasionally friends with benefits to a loving couple.

Right now Vitugár caressed her hair, her breasts, her belly and then kissed her before leaving the bath to get dressed. Fiadhur gave him a playful clap on the wrist, before she rinsed herself to get rid of the foam. After coming back from the High Elves they decided to have a bit of time for themselves and booked a rather large room with a private bath at the Caves of Joy. The company was good, food and drinks of high quality, the room and the bath very private and the time together full of conversation, love in all variants and giggles. Including talk of the future. They came to a conclusion.

Vitugár payed the rest of the amount for the room, bought provisions and together with his partner Fiadhur they pointed their boots in the direction of Mearis. They could feel the warmth of the desert land after a few days, travelled from farm to farm to not stretch their own provisions. Money was normally no concern for a Formulist.

On the right side they could see the islands belonging to the now long dead clan of the Longardir with the capital of Oldrir. To the left the eastern side of the Long Neck mountain range stretched into the distance. Vitugár sighed a bit which sounded like an angry dog.

"What is it, love?" asked Fiadhur after following his eyes. "What do you see?"

"Nothing." he grumbled, reaching for his pipe. "Just... hm. Bjarghjarta is in that direction."

"Oh, yes, I see." She caressed his hair because that was a good spot she could reach without bowing. "We talked about it."

"Yeah yeah, me knows." He lit the pipe and grinned. "Lets hope they let us do the thing."

"Lets hope." smiled the human woman with the glowing red eyes he so loved. Like fiery rubies.

From time to time they slept under the open sky or under a tree, shielded by their bodies and blankets. Wandering through the desert was another daunting task, but they would manage. And they did, with Mearis appearing at the horizon a bit over a week after leaving the Caves of Joy.

"Finally. Me has enough of sand between the legs and in the beard." grumbled the dwarf again. "And not having a thing to smoke."

"Well, a bath would be much better."

"Didn't me say this?"

"No, you just said that you have enough of sand coming in all niches and to the sensitive areas of your body." teased Fiadhur with a sly smile. "But I'm with you, I don't want to have sand all over my body. You think the caves are usable in Bjarghjarta?"

"Me'd hope so." He shrugged. "The last time me was there a lot of deep caves were just existing without usage. We should try, me say."

"Oh, I definitely want to try. Cavern Whiskey isn't going to make itself."

Vitugár just nodded as he puffed his pipe, absorbed in thought.

---

"Do you want to go to a bath or do you want to go to the office?" Fiadhur braided his dry beard as they arrived at the market. They needed something to drink and maybe something sweet for the stomach.

"Office." Vitugár stood still while she braided his dry beard. "So we can be done with our tasks and we can take a nice, long and hot bath."

"As you wish." She grinned, kissed him on the nose. "Lets be done with it. You know that I have an allergy to spicy food?"

"Oh really?" Vitugár looked up to her in utter surprise. "Then we can't have dumplings with spice and the Red Blinda?"

"No, love, you can have it, I can't." Her red eyes shimmered a bit in the early sunlight. "But I wanna paint you when you eat the Red Blinder."

"Ah, ya can do that."

"Good. Do you think they have hot chocolate?"

"Probably."

She grinned again and looked like a young girl. "Lead the way, love."

Two hours later the unlikely couple opened the door to the Guild Office.

"Oi, ma lad!" Vitugár shouted and startled the young man behind the counter. It was the same human from years ago, but matured a bit. "Can ya notice the board members that Formulists Vitugár and Fiadhur are in? We have contracts to fullfil. Oh, and a hot chocolate and a hot ale would be nice."

The man raised an eyebrow, looked down at his ledger, turned a few pages and nodded. "Aye, I can do that. Please, take a seat, we will bring you your drinks in a few moments."

"Thank ya, lad." Both Formulists sat down, Fiadhur started to look through her notes the third time at this day. One of her habits, he had noticed. She wanted to remember a lot, but also wanted to note her findings and thoughts down in case she would forget them. Her notes were not as orderly as his, but rich on information and knowledge. Like every work of a Formulist, obviously, but she was a more chaotic Formulist. Another thing he learned and started to love over time.

Both got their drinks and he loved the way she smiled into the cup, like it was the best thing in the world and summoned dear memories from the vault of her brain.

After a while - could have been an hour, a day, or just a few minutes - another man appeared, wearing a formal suit and bowed before them.

"Formulists Fiadhur and Vitugár, I assume?" he asked in the nasal tone of a butler. Both nodded. "Please, follow me, the board members are now ready for the both of you."

"Right behind you." smiled Fiadhur, showed her somehow bright teeth. The man raised an eyebrow as he noticed her glowing eyes, but glowing eyes are not that uncommon in the ranks of the Formulists. Rumours stated that the head of the guild had green glowing eyes.

They followed the man to the large office of the board members where they sat behind a curved desk which was plastered with parchment, paper, writing feathers and ink. Apparently they had a lot to do today and the day hasn't even reached midday.

"The Formulists Fiadhur and Vitugár!" announced the butler, stepped outside and closed the door.

"Welcome." said a tired looking man with a tired voice and made a tired gesture. Either he was tired or it was just his being. "We haven't expected two Formulists at the same time. This is unusual. What is it you want from us?"

Vitugár couldn't remember that man, but the other men and women. Apparently one retired or died over the last years. He coughed, stepped forward and drew a good chunk of paper out of his bag.

"Formulist Vitugár, reporting back in." he started. "Me has finished me task, contracted by the merchant Helgír. Me ventured through the lands, through the clans, the Emerald Planes, the Northern Realms and even the elven lands. Me has listed eight hundred and fourty two mushrooms with drawings and every detail me could get."

With a satisfied nod he showed them the drawings and the notes. "Me only remaining task is to bind them into a tome and bring them in a cohesive order before Helgír gets the tome, me the payment and ya the interest."

"This is good news, Formulist." The man nodded in acknowledgment, pulled out the contract from under other parchments and handed it to Vitugár. "Bind the tome, let Helgír approve of the result and come back with the payment you owe us and the signed contract."

Vitugár nodded, folded the contract. "But there is another thing, ma board members."

"Probably has something to do with Formulist Fiadhur?" smiled the man knowingly and the couple nodded. "Alright, out with it, what do you want?"

"Time, Sir." Fiadhur bowed and stepped forward so they stood side by side. "My contract hasn't ended yet and I still have a lot of research to do. My next goal is either Bjarghjarta, Járnskjaldur or Acresea. From what I know there are still Spiritfarers which might provide a bit of knowledge."

"Still Cavern Whiskeys?" asked the younger woman and Fiadhur nodded.

"Yes, Ma'am. It does take some time and time is what we ask of you." She laid a hand on Vitugárs shoulder. "We met a few years ago and somehow collided. Vitugár doesn't have a contract, but mine is still ongoing. Since he is a Stonekind and Bjarghjarta is one of my next goals..."

"Speak, you are no young girl."

"We want time. We want the permission to live together while I conclude my research. We are not thinking about retirement yet, if that is a concern."

"From what I gather", a younger man looked up from his notes, "both of you would have payed what you owed. Your contracts are identical." He looked at the other board members and shrugged.

The woman lifted her head. "Give us a few minutes, would you?"

Fiadhur bowed, Vitugár slapped his hand on his chest and followed her. Both grinned at each other for a moment. It was not a success, but they haven't got a clear refusal, so there was a chance.

"I need to pee." whispered Fiadhur after a while. "They should hurry." Vitugár chuckled, as Fiadhur made a relieved noise as the door opened again. They placed themselves before the table again.

"We have decided." The tired man spoke. "Vitugár has fulfilled his contract once Helgír accepts the tome and the result of the contract. He is still an employee of the guild, but without the need to research something or pay us some interest. You could say he is a free dwarf, at least free to do whatever strikes his fancy.

You on the other hand are still on a contract. You haven't paid the last installment and haven't finished your research. You are still under our contract and you owe us." A smile flashed for a second over his parchment-thin face. "It is not our business with whom you hold hands, kiss, copulate, or kill, as long as the contract gets done, not damaging the image of the guild provided." He made a dismissing gesture with one hand. "You are dismissed. Come back when you have finished your contract."

The couple bowed, left the room and Fiadhur vanished in a hurry, Vitugár chuckled of amusement. He waited in the hallway until Fiadhur came back with a bright smile, glowing red eyes, and a way more energetic step like she had springs as her legs.

"Did you hear?" she whispered excited, squealing, grabbing his hand and kissing him. "We can live together!"

"Me heard, love." He hugged her around the waist, breathed her scent. "You wanna bind a book?"

"Yes, I want!"

The task of binding the book took a bit over a week. Sixteen days to be precise. It was a large tome, signed and sealed by Vitugár truly, the mushrooms ordered according to their biomes. Both were satisfied. The best thing? Helgír was also satisfied as he recieved the tome, praised the orderly scripture, the structure, the texture of the tome, the smell and the completeness.

Vitugár recieved his payment, fifty thousand Sovent. A bit over fourteen thousend seven hundred Aureli. It was deposited in a Golden Hoard vault, the interest for the guild was payed and Vitugár was a free dwarf; free to do whatever would strike his fancy.

Right now? Fiadhur stroke a lot of his fancy and he was eager to hear what his parents would say about a female human Formulist with red-glowing eyes. At least his father would like the result of Cavern Whiskey research.

Vitugárs Mushroom Tome by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

After a few days of rest, love, and food both ventured north. Bjarghjarta awaits.