Alaric was approaching the party. As he got closer, the bright lights in the sky were more visible, and the music got louder.
The lights in the sky were the work of a light mage. They were projecting the insignia of the guild into the sky, as well as colored lights.
It definitely fit the bill of an extravagant rich person party.
Alaric reached a barrier. There was a place where the road was blocked by a high wall. The wall looked flimsy, it consisted of a few wooden panels held together by rope.
There was an armed guard waiting before it.
They were wearing some armor, just some reinforced boiled leather, and a bucket-like helmet. They held a simple long sword in their hand and looked bored.
"Can I get in?" Alaric asked.
"Do you have a mage guild identifier of any kind?" The guard asked plainly. Now that Alaric was closer, he could see that the guard was female, but it really wasn't important.
"If not, you're just going to be allowed into the first circle." The woman said.
There were three circles in the party, the closer one got to the guild the more prestige required to enter the circle.
"No. I am selling goods in the party. I'm planning on selling in the second circle" Alaric said.
"What goods?" The guard responded prescriptively.
Alaric brought out a bottle from his bag to present.
"Alcoholic drinks." Alaric responded.
The guard gave a small chuckle. "There's plenty of that in there. I think they have enough." The guard responded.
It did make sense, at a party for the rich and the physically powerful, there would likely be plenty of drinks.
"These are special. They are cultivated from a rare plant to produce a unique flavor." Alaric stated, giving a small sales pitch for the drinks.
He decided to go with a plant. It was more marketable to sell a plant based drink than a fermented fish mystery juice based drink.
"What're they called?" The guard seemed somewhat curious now, taking a closer look at the bottles.
Alaric thought for a second. "Oceanblood. The plant grows near the ocean so it's called that." He came up with the name on the spot. To Alaric it sounded exotic enough while remaining safe in terms of extremity.
"I can give you a sip if you let me through?" Alaric questioned.
"Yeah sure." The guard said. She was likely bored standing guard, and would need a sip.
Alaric decanted a little bit of the drink into a cup and gave it to her.
"Go ahead." Alaric encouraged.
The woman then drank it at once, and looked satisfied.
"That's pretty good. It's not that strong, but it has a decent flavor. Alright, go through. It's a good enough product. Show the guard for the second circle this token" The woman then allowed Alaric to get thought the flimsy wall before letting him into the party. She handed him a silver token that displayed the number two on it on one side, and on the other side was a picture of a bottle, indicating what he would be selling. There were enough merchants and entertainers that it warranted having different tokens for organization.
"One more thing. Drink this. It is a magic suppression bracelet. No magic in the party. It'll completely dissipate by tomorrow midday." The woman said, handing him a thin bracelet.
Alaric took a look at the bracelet. It was green and thin, and it was made of some kind of leather. It had a weathered dark green color, similar to a pine tree.
Alaric tied it around his wrist.
Shoomp
The bracelet then seemed to dissolve into his skin, forming a green ring around it. Alaric couldn't feel the ring, it was just a visual indicator.
The magic contained within it was only strong enough to maintain until the designated time. Alaric didn't have any magic, so this was of no bearing to him.
"It makes sense they do this though. A party full of drunk mages could turn south quickly. They also have designated sober members who don't have to wear it just in case of an attack." Alaric thought.
There had been many instances where attacks happened during a party for mages due to the magic suppression tradition. But most of them failed, as usually there were protective seals and rituals done beforehand to increase security to the maximum for the parties. Not to mention the elite guild members who would stay sober.
The flimsy wall that Alaric had passed was just to filter out hooligans. There were large invisible barriers that monitored each person that walked in that were more serious.
Alaric had learned about these things through the books he read as a kid. As state provided propaganda, there were often books put into the curriculum that demonstrated the might and nobility of the mages of the land.
These were sometimes accurate. Most mages were generally decent people, albeit a little stuck up. But some of these served as coverups for mages that got involved in the wrong areas of society.
Alaric now was fully into the party.
There were three sets of walls of the party for different levels of guests.
Alaric would only be allowed in the first two circles. The area that Alaric was in as he entered the party was the first circle. This was the general shopping and entertainment area of the party. The first level was for anyone beyond the dregs of society to enter. The second circle is where high end merchants and entertainers were, this level was marketed towards the mages and upper class citizens.
The third circle is where the real stuff happened, the expensive auctions and the world defining goods were being sold.
Looking around the immediate area in the first ring, there were freelance food stores selling basic things such as cakes, chicken skewers, and other things.
There were also other forms of entertainment, like puppeteers. There was a man controlling a human sized puppet and was having it dance to some local music.
There were few mages in this circle, only a few mages that were low tier, and were just looking for some mindless cheap fun.
Alaric didn't want to spend much time in the third circle. He was here to make money. He wasn't here to be ethical and support local businesses. He was here to be the business.
He began on his way towards the second circle.