By the time Neena reached Tenken, she was completely worn out. The only thing that mattered to her was a bed in an inn somewhere, possible with a little dinner beforehand.
The closest inn was near a shop that held a menagerie of trinkets that glittered and caught her eye. Not a sprite she knew of could completely withstand the almost animal magnetism of shiny things, regardless of their worth. All memory of exhaustion gone, she gritted her teeth and began to chant, "I will only LOOK, not LOSE myself". Slowly, she moved toward the show window for a better look.
It was definitely a crystal shop, with so many elaborate pieces that she had to admire the craftsmanship. Little miniature versions of everything you could imagine sat on the brightly light shelves. Little crystal books glimmered on tiny bookshelves, a small crystal pen and ink set sat near a box of crystal paper, crystal chairs and tables had little bowls of crystal fruit, a tiny crystal dog lay sleeping in front of a roaring crystal fireplace. But the most amazing piece was the one she had to back up some to take in its entirety. The entire display was actually part of a 3 story crystal home, complete with entire sets of crystal furniture for every room. So enthralled was she that she really began to hope to see the small crystal people that lived in such a house.
Which made her jump back to reality even more disturbing when she saw them. Most were exactly what she expected from a medium as blocky and clumsy to work with as crystal. They were chunks placed together to look close, but not enough to believe.
Only one looked as though the crystal had been poured into a perfect mold of a person and popped out without any flaws. Every detail that had color, the shading of her dress, the green of her pupil, all were in perfect detail, a tiny, transparent view of a real little girl. Unlike the block versions, this figurine was able to convey real emotion. Under her was a small placard that read, "The Happy Family--collect them all!" Neena looked closely and swallowed hard. There WAS a broad smile on the face, but it was in odd contrast to the barely noticeable crystal tears in the eyes.
Neena knew she knew already, but forced herself to look even closer at the tiny girl. Sure enough, she had a strange set of fine lines just by her shoulderblades. The sight alone was enough to make Neena's own wings ache with pain.
The jingling of the bell on the front door snapped her back to attention. "You alright, miss?" came a the voice of the shopkeeper, peering curiously at her. "Pretty girl like you crying outside like this…"
Not here 60 seconds and I'm already turning into an emotional wreck, she thought, rubbing at her eyes furiously. "Oh, no…just, uh…something in my eye, is all. Bit of dust."
"Well, you're welcome to come in out of the cold and browse a bit, if you like. Might find something that'll catch your fancy, eh?"
"Actually, I was kind of interested in those little figurines you have. I want the one in the window." she said, pulling a large emerald from her pouch to toy absently with. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the merchant's eyes grew wide, then added as an afterthought (with an inward wince), "Of course, I'd really want to collect them all, but…"
"Oh, a "Family collector", eh?" the man replied, all sales and smile as he guided her through the door. "Which do you prefer, the Happy Family or the Sad?"
"Happy," she said vaguely, looking at the larger collection of inanimate crystal objects around her, more tables, chairs, etc. "I think it's amazing how make them." She looked around again, noticing the only figure that could possibly be a real sprite was the one in the window. There were more than looked close, almost as real as the one in the window, but none gave off the faint ember of magic that the little one in the window still had, even with all her magic drained. There was no point in beating around the bush if she wanted to get them all. She looked directly at the man and smiled winningly. "Almost like magic, hmm?"
The shopkeeper smiled. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, miss. These are handcrafted by crystalsmiths from…
"Oh," she replied, replacing the emerald in her pouch and turning as if to leave. "I'm really looking for a dealer than can provide me with more than replicas. Thank you for your time."
"Oh, if it's realism you need, miss, we have a few more in our collection." He beckoned her toward a velvet curtain, then drew it aside and ushered her into another room full of crystal, much smaller than the open shop itself. "You're a bit late, really…I had a much larger collection just a day ago, but one of my suppliers is interested in going into business for himself, it seems. Bought all he could off me, at a discounted rate, of course. Still, I have quite a few he's yet to pick up. See anything you like?"
Neena looked around, taking a quiet, deep breath to steady herself. The display in front of her was like a fae cemetery. Various figurines stood on shelves, these in various states of emotional distress. A few were like the little one she'd seen out front, smiling a forced smile with fear in their eyes. Below them was a small placard identical to the one she'd seen out front. Another much larger family had a similar placard that replaced "happy" with "sad". This group ran the gamut of single crystal tears on a face to figures with their face buried in their hands. One of these sat at a crystal table with a crystal flagon of mead.
All had the horrible telltale wing marks on their backs.
"So, are these real, then?" she asked.
"Absolutely, miss. Let me show you." He pulled what looked like a leaf sprite in flight down from a pedestal it was on. "See these little marks across the back? Most people think their flaws, but they're the mark of the true genius. This is where the wings are."
"Oh, I see. So as long as they have these…?"
"You're looking at the real thing, miss," the shopkeeper nodded. "Also, a true dealer will always offer you the appraisal glass to show you the residual magic in the figurine." He pulled out a little monocle that he started to put in his eye. "If you don't see that…"
Neena quickly placed her hand on his and lowered it with another smile. If he put that up near HER, he'd see more than just a little residual magic. "Oh, never mind that…I trust your judgement. I've also developed an ear for the liar." She pointed to a few figurines that didn't have the marks on the back. "What about these?" she asked. "They don't look fake."
"Ah, those would be the exception," he nodded, giving her an odd look. "Brownies don't have wings, of course, so you wouldn't see the usual markings."
"I see." Neena started mentally calculating. How many of these could she take? She hadn't come prepared to buy things and there was no way to choose whose life she might be able to spare in such a short time. Plus, if this man was right about the other supplier, she thought. "And you said this other supplier was returning for them?"
"Yes, but I have no problems selling to a customer, miss," he replied. "Seems a bit odd that he'd want to give up supplying for selling…he was one of the best, but a man sometimes needs to settle down, I suppose."
"Very good, miss!" He began to wrap up the sprites in front of her, talking as he spoke. "Any others?"
"No, nothing else I see that I want right now."
"Well," he said, lowering his voice as if someone might hear, "I will be getting a few more in later tonight from one of my other suppliers. I hear these'll be something special, so I won't be sharing them with anyone. If you're willing to return later tonight, miss…?"
She faltered a bit.
"Excellent, miss! Come round the back door after 11 o'clock…we'll be in the back! Would you like to take these when you return?"
"No, I'll take them with me. Easier with two trips, really."
"Of course, miss." He set her packages neatly into her arms and escorted her to the door. "Again, just knock on the back and I'll let you in."
The moment the door closed, Neena crossed over to the inn and got a room. The minute she was inside, she tore the wrapping off all the sprites and set them on the bed in front of her. She stared morosely at them for a long while. She had done this before, this fairyhunting, but sprites were different than fairies. Humans usually classed them in the same category, but fairies were something serious. They could make themselves look human and cast magic on you that would make you forget entire lifetimes of information. They held themselves above humans, so they weren't easily fooled.
A sprite, however, wasn't that hard to trick to turn. They believed anything and were blinded mentally by shiny things, even when they knew full well that shiny things were abnormal in their natural setting. Assuming she didn't run when she first saw you, it was possible to capture a sprite by simply telling them you meant them no harm. They'd go with you, no questions asked!
And the smiles on the faces…certainly the most painful detail. Mages were required to drain a sprite of their magic. Most did so because they were too lazy to put the time into getting natural magic through mana tapping, which could take days, even months depending on how much you needed. But there were a few dark elves who considered draining fae of their magic an artform. Using magic to force a sprite into a certain look or pose we merely a stroke of the brush for them, while watching the terror in the eyes of their victim was just an added perk.
It took incredible amounts of magic, time and money to get a mage to replace this magic in a sprite, but Neena was willing to do it. "If only to get that look off your face, kid," she said softly to the first little one from the window. With a sigh, she tucked all the figurines into the safety of her bag of holding, then headed back downstairs to eat.