章 417: Dealing with THE Dealer

Ja'nir and all other combat able Khajiit in the room quickly get to their feet, weapons drawn as they prepare to engage the stranger. "Identify yourself! Now!" Ja'nir demands, a low growl powerfully echoing from his chest, as if a giant tiger had been standing in his place.

"Now, now. Let's not harm my littler friend here." the voice says, the neckless pulsing with light as it does so, as if it was the origin. The cloaked figure taps their staff on the floor, causing the weapons in the Khajiit's hands to turn freezing cold, causing many to drop them.

The few who manage to resist and retain their weapons are surprised to find ice and frost crawling up their hands and arms, allowing numbness to quickly spread through the limb.

Ja'nir gives a scowl and smashes his hand into the nearby stone wall, destroying the ice as he steps forward, "Explain yourself now. Or this one will carve your arms off and have it tortured out of you."

"Ahaha! Hear that? 'This One!', oh, my sister really does like her quirky pets!" the voice laughs from the necklace. "Now, I couldn't help but overhear your plight. As an honourable and gracious person, I decided to see if I couldn't help you out with it."

...

"What would you know of our plight!? Mothers end their own lives in despair after their young dies, succumbing to the vile sickness sewn among the Khajiit! My people flee from their homes and return to Elseweyr only to find nothing but despair!" Ja'nir's pupils shrink to a pinpoint as he glares a hole through the stranger, "You know nothing, and offer nothing!"

The voice hums, "I wouldn't be so sure of that. You haven't even heard what I can offer! The first steps to trade start with common ground. We can't deal if we are 'clawing' at each other's throats." it says, jokingly emphasizing 'clawing'.

"You would jape!? Joke while we suffer!?" Ja'nir growls, his patience quickly drawing thin as he takes another step toward the cloaked stranger.

"Oh! Lighten' up pussy cat! I am the one person who can help you now, understand that killing my little servant will doom your people. I care more about them than a bunch of flea-bitten fur-balls!"

...

Ja'kir rests a hand on Ja'nir's shoulder almost causing the Mane to run him through in response, "Calm down... Let us hear them out first, then we can deal with them how you wish."

...

Ja'nir reluctantly nods but doesn't let go of his sword, "Speak."

"As I said earlier, I am willing to help your lot out. I have already developed means of healing it, actually." the voice says, drawing suspicious and hopefully eyes. "My friend, show them."

The cloaked figure reaches into a pouch on their hip, pulling out a palm-sized circular crystal of some sort. It was a pale white opaque, barely allowing one to see through it.

"And what is that? Snake oil?" one of the Khajiit sneers, they themselves knowing the ins and outs of scamming folk out of their coin.

"Aha! Good one! But no, this is a Moon Gem." the voice states as the cloaked figure continues showing the Khajiit.

...

"No one curious enough to ask what it does? My, the saying 'Curiosity killed the cat' must be true if all the curious ones are already dead..."

"Enough with the jokes!" Ja'nir exclaims while pointing a sharp claw at them, "This one has not the patience to continue this! Get to the point now!"

The voice lets out a seemingly mournful sigh, "Fine, take my fun... When the sickly moonlight shines through the Moon Gem, it will purify it. Hold it above a pregnant Khajiit and... Well, you can guess, can't you?"

...

"Guards! Retrieve a pregnant woman, we will test this. And if it fails... You die." Ja'nir states.

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A few days later, they had tested the Moon Gem on a Khajiit woman who was close to labour, shining the sickly green moonlight through the gem, resulting in a soothing pale white beam to focus on the woman.

The air around her shimmered, and her eyes lit up, no one could find anything different with her or the child, however. The Moon Gem did disintegrate immediately after a single use, causing a few raised brows at the time.

A couple days later, the child was born... And they were... Healthy!

There was some strange additions to them however... While they looked like regular two-legged Khajiit, they had two small horns sprouting from the top of their head. They were blunt nubs at the moment to prevent the mother from getting harmed by them, but they'd grow larger soon enough.

Despite this, everyone was overjoyed by the successful birth, especially the mother, who burst into tears of happiness that continued for days afterwards.

The Mane Ja'nir and his other confidants regathered with the cloaked figure, now knowing that they did indeed possess a solution to their problem. "Where did you discover these 'Moon Gems'?" he asks, still suspicious of the stranger.

"Hmph! No thanks for saving one newborn?" the voice huffs before returning to the subject at hand. "As you probably guessed, Moon Gems are not naturally occurring things. I had to personally create them. And sadly, I doubt anyone else would be able to do the same."

"Why? Are you so greedy that you would keep the method despite it now being essential to our people? We would pay you handsomely for it, yet you wish to trade in pieces!"

The voice laughs, "Any good merchant will be the first to tell you that keeping your customers coming is better than single purchases! I know of a few Khajiit Mages who choose to cure the symptoms of a disease instead of the disease itself. It's just business, isn't that right, Mr Ja'kir."

...

A few Khajiit glance over at Ja'kir who was shrinking into himself. Sure, he ran a few less than honest businesses but, could he be blamed? Gold is gold... It wasn't like he was doing anything illegal... Just, dishonourable..."