CH998

“Brrr,” Thera let out as soon as they passed through the gate to the next city beyond once morning came, a thick layer of snow covering it speaking of just how far north it was compared to the more temperate locations they usually spent their time. “Okay, this is something I would have liked some real warning about. We could have at least packed appropriately.”

“I told you the guild needs to put more effort into getting us all of the relevant info when they want us for something,” Ben said, materializing a thick jacket for her and a lighter one for himself to fend off the chill. “This would have been worth knowing ahead of time.”

Still, there was nothing to do about it then and it wasn’t like it was a problem he hadn’t been able to immediately sort out so with that done they went off, trudging through the snow to find the city’s guild and ending up in a building far emptier than the others, with the time in that land still being early and with the streets still needing to be cleared making for enough of a sign for others to stay in, leaving it as only the two of them and a single employee by the time they got inside, with a yeti waiting in attendance for them to go to as they pulled out their cards.

“Good morning,” Thera said, keeping friendly despite the chill that was seeping into even that building. “I believe we’re expected. We’ve been sent here to fulfill a construction quest and were told we’d get further details when we arrived. Is there any chance your guildmaster is in?”

“That would be me,” the yeti nodded, surprising them both to see the man working at the front and leaving him to answer that reaction. “The rest of the staff has been given a chance to come in later while we wait for the roads to get cleared, and it doesn’t matter if I’m filling out my paperwork in the front or the back. Still, great to have you both, just hope you’ll be able to help. Come on then, I’ll give you the details of the job.”

He walked the two over to a nearby table, taking a seat while wearing a subtle look that conveyed his doubts that they’d contribute much to whatever needed to be done, even if he kept that opinion to himself.

“To make it short, our city has currently taken in roughly a thousand jötunn refugees, about ten villages of them that have always been nearish, but until recently largely kept to themselves. We need them housed.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Thera nodded, not seeing the problem so far as the guild master went on.

“It won’t be. You two know much about them?”

“Somewhat,” Ben answered. “I’ve met a few. Is there some cultural issue?”

“Bah, that would be easier to handle. No, if you’ve met some, then you should know about the passive magic they deal with.”

“What exactly is the issue with that?” Thera asked, eyes narrowing.

“The issue is that it’s an ice magic, and that’s everyone’s problem. We may be pretty far north but we shouldn’t be getting anywhere near the snow we have been in the month since they’ve moved here, their presence is reshaping the environment in a way that’s hard for everyone else who lived here originally to deal with.”

“Do they not have braces to suppress their magic?” Ben asked, seeing it as the simplest solution and something he could make himself for each of them with just a bit of time, but it seemed things wouldn’t be that simple.

“We got people out here to make them for any who didn’t have them after they moved here, but that’s only worthwhile if they bother wearing them. Which they do at least, when they go out and about, that is. But only then. It’s clear that enough of them take them off when they go back to the temporary set up we’ve got them living in right now so when night comes and they’re all tucked away we get a huge temperature drop that everyone has to deal with and cold weather that lasts through to the next day. People have spoken to them about the problem, myself included, but not enough commit to handling it so if we can’t trust them to change, we at least need homes for them that can trap their magic enough that it won’t be the rest of our problem.”

“So it’s a matter of making homes for them to help contain their magics then, huh?” Ben muttered, going over solutions in his head. “Interesting, but possible. In that case, can we see where they’re currently living so we know what we’re working with?”

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