10:00 AM
Usually at this time, Brigid was engaged in some pleasurable pursuit around or about the castle. One favorite pastime was riding through the forests, or sometimes she would go swimming in the ocean near the fabled staircase to the reflection of Emerald beneath the waves.
But today she went shopping in the town below. A number of trading vessels had arrived in port over the past few days, and she expected their wares to be on display in the various shops in the trading district. One store had sent a note up to her at the Castle the previous evening, inviting her to a private showing this morning.
Brigid was a familiar customer at several shops along Jeweler’s Lane, where she would knowledgeably converse with the master jewelers about the mundane and occult properties of various gemstones and precious metals. Several stores prominently displayed a bright blue pennant over the doorway, including the one Brigid entered, a sign that they had received a shipment of goods in the past few days.
Brigid entered the shop to the chimes of silver bells, and was immediately recognized and ushered into the back of the shop by the owner himself. Over tea, Brigid was shown a tray of gemstones, some still in their original form, others finely cut and polished. The owner knew better than to offer Brigid anything less than his very best: the only time he had tried, he and his apprentices had spent the remainder of the afternoon prowling about the floor of the shop, hunting for mice. It was a lesson that only needed to be repeated every generation or so.
Today, however, she only shook her head. The wares she was offered were of the finest quality, but they were still common: ice sapphires, storm opals of Raan, black pearls from the Haunted Sea of Kedzerie. Brigid had many such as these, and better, aplenty. Finally, after a stroke of inspiration, she selected a matched pair of fire diamonds, thinking that they would make an interesting pair of earrings; by their nature, fire diamonds were natural foci for certain types of enchantments, among them, ones that enhanced the wearer’s apparent beauty and charisma. The end result would make an interesting present to an unfortunately overlooked and single noble lady of the Court: the combination would make for fascinating Court watching over the next few months.
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