If Sera had never sold pottery against her father’s wishes, then she would certainly have missed the opportunity of a lifetime.

Before we embark on Sera’s journey, there are a few things you must know about our girl. You see, one could call Sera, a mud child. Playing with clay at the small age of four. A couple years later she entered the pottery studio. Under her father’s tutelage, Sera learned how to use a potter’s wheel and mix glazes by ten years of age. 

To her mother’s great dismay, Sera learned one skill from her. Now before you think the dismay was for the lack of skills learned, I assure you it was not. Although a skill to be praised for, Sera found greater use for sewing when splitting her dress skirts. To move feely in the studio, she turned the skirts into billowing pants bound at the ankles. Very outlandish, and unacceptable for a lady.

In this regard, we must understand that our young potter will forever remain oblivious to the opinions of others—whether favorable, or not. The only opinions she could hear were those of her parents. That said, she did keep a few dresses intact for her mother’s sanity— for outings and dances. Though rarely did the opportunity arise for our mud child to actually wear such beautiful garments.

Her mother passed from an unknown illness when she turned fifteen. This led to a series of misfortunes for the family’s pottery business. While they ran a successful shop through the years— never worrying for food, clothes, nor a roof over their head— the loss of her mother would trigger a series of slanderous rumors throughout the kingdom. Rumors which would remain unknown to Sera and her father. Within the first year their finances took a turn for the worst, and they had no way out of their predicament.

  Unfortunately, desperation tends to lead one to greater difficulties, as was the case for her father, Horace. He took out loans to cover the costs of running the pottery for two years. 

The loans came from the unsavory sort who charged twenty percent interest per month and expected full payment by the end of three years. These usurers knew full well, the situation Sera’s family faced, but of course had no qualms about taking advantage of them. No one else was willing to take a chance on Horace, and so, had he not taken these loans, they would have lost not only their shop, but their studio, home, and the clothes off their backs. 

Now that you know all about our girl, let’s meet Sera in the present day. Freshly aged eighteen, and eager to finish loading their wares in market cart. The end of the month meant it was time to visit The Merchant’s Row. The only place in the city where they could sell their wares without being shunned, cheated, or forbidden.

Horace read a letter, quickly putting it away when he heard Sera’s approach. She asked him to check the cart. If anything broke on the trip in, it would cost them dearly. 

While her father inspected the packing and reenforced knots with his extra strength, Sera hazarded a question, “Papa, perhaps this month I could sell—”

“No.” He said with the weight of many years of rejections chained to it.

Yet this would not perturb Sera in the slightest, because this time she would make an opportunity for herself. To her disadvantage she could never hide her scheming mind with a rather obvious habit. She gave a tight lipped smile while her wrists tapped against her hips, before darting away to carry out her scheme. Quite ironically and to her benefit, the only person fooled, was her dear father.

Her footsteps rang out clearly against the wood floors of the shop. The sound left Sera sighing for a moment. The shop used to be lively. Never free of customers until closing time. Shaking her head took a deep breath to shake off the reminiscing. Several bowls of varying size and color sat along the back wall. These were Sera’s pieces, not for sale, but on view in the off chance a customer came through and took interest in her work. 

Though a horse plodding in was a likelier event than an actual customer entering.

Scattered on her shopkeeper’s desk were broken shards of pottery kept for research, and a simple wooden box filled with kerchiefs made by her mother. 

Sera also kept jars filled with the necessary ingredients for a poultice. When studying the shards the clumsy girl often cut herself, fingers tips nicked with little scars collected over the years. She even took to naming a few of the more significant scars….a mud child like her seldom socialized with her peers so it’s only natural she’d have some peculiar—hobbies.

She grabbed a stormy blue kerchief similar to the one she wore to wrap the one piece that would secretly go to market with her. A dark obsidian bowl with two handles and black, pearl like decoration around the foot and rim. A small piece which fit in her palms. A stark contrast to the fifty sets of white nesting bowls, plates, and mugs with detailed decoration on the exterior. Both the white and obsidian bowls were finer wares than you’d find in all the city. In fact one might say they were finer than most wares in all the lands.

With a confident nod she wrapped her bowl in the kerchief tying a pretty knot on top. Her bowl wasn’t just a pretty decoration, it had a special capability that nearly no potter could achieve these days. The ability of magic infusion. This might sound like load of hogwash, yet it couldn’t be truer. 

Magic, although not the norm among lower class, was quite common for nobles. Basic magics were given to the lower class, like spells for purifying water, or chopping wood. However, nobility had long ago learned to make pottery which could store vast amounts of magic for greater spells. Sera wasn’t daft enough to think she could ever have the chance to fully study and master the creation of such fantastics piece, but it didn’t stop her from experimenting from time to time, and this small bowl was the result.

She set the bowl in a bask and tossed her shawl on top, carefully organizing the folds of fabric to hide the solid form of the bowl below. Her father waited with the cart so dropped her basket in a safe corner and took her place behind the cart to help push while her father pulled the cart up front.

The Merchant’s Row might as well be considered the solitary melting pot for all the lands. Merchants knew little of the rumors about small fish like Sera and Horace, and did not care to know. Only good money, and quality wares held value for them.

This long, wide street bustled with a mixture of lower class, nobility, and merchants advertising their wares. However, for Sera and Horace, they would not be lower class customers today, but traveling merchants ready to barter goods for food and clothes, or to sell to merchants who sold pottery. Their designs carried a fair price outside of the kingdom and a smart merchant wouldn’t pass up the chance to buy a nice sized stock of their pottery.

Sera and Horace were both covered in a fine layer of sweat and dust from the journey in. The sun mercilessly beat down on them, with no promise of cloud cover anytime soon. Sera used her kerchief to wipe her face before eyeing the crowd. They needed to buy food and some new tools for the studio.

Before they could consider this, they first needed to sell to merchants specializing in pottery. If they bartered for food first, then they’d be left with incomplete sets that no merchant in their right mind would think to buy. What value did a set missing one mug have? Merchants would buy, but for a significantly lower cost.

We know this girl had in mind to sell her pot. With a side eye to her father she slipped her basket out of the cart deciding she would head in the opposite direction of her father.

“I’ll check the far west for merchants while you manage here!” She called out, slipping into the crowd before Horace could argue.

There were so many bodies in this place, it was hard for Sera to weave her way through. She had to squeeze past voluminous dress skirts, and dodge a few soldiers with sheathed swords sticking out behind them. Couldn’t they be bothered to leave their swords at home while off duty? Huffing Sera finally made it through the greatest mass of the crowd and could move freely. Off to her left she saw a merchant woman with ceramic pieces for sale. 

She scurried over unable to contain her excitement. Leaning to down to inspect he wares of the table. Sera noticed these were simple pieces. The glaze uncomplicated, probably a colored clay slip underneath a clear glaze. The designs were pretty though. Simple patterns of stripes and dots. 

This merchant must have come from the north west…or was it south west? Sera seldom bothered to learn geography, in fact, she seldom bothered to learn anything that had no bearing on her day to day life.

“Welcome young lady, what might I help you with?” The merchant said in the most sugar coated voice Sera had ever heard. She had given Sera a quick scrupulous study, and must have decided she was a young frivolous girl.

“Do buy pottery here in addition to selling?” Sera said figuring it was best to be upfront with a woman who looked as sharp as her, and also make her appear foolish for playing her hand carelessly.

“I take it you have something I might be interested in?” The woman asked settling her chin onto interlaced hands. Her eyes now twinkled, and her wide toothy grin showed her efforts at amicability. 

Honestly, such grins seldom make another person feel at ease. They only serve to make the user of such an expression seem untrustworthy, but this merchant didn’t care. She had the upper hand in this deal— or did she?

Sera leaned forward so their faces were inches apart letting her eyes dart around secretively before whispering, “How would you like to add a bowl capable of magical infusion to your collection?”

The merchant leaned back, crossing her arms, and eyeing Sera with open suspicion, “What fool’s game are you playing at girl? I know my trade, and that is not an item a girl like you could possibly have in your possession.”

Reaching for her basket with a small huff—and barely stopping herself from rolling her eyes— Sera unwrapped her bowl for the woman to see. Unimpressed, the merchant woman fished out a small magics stone from the pouch at her waist. A pouch which held many precious stones from what Sera could glimpse. She must have wealth equivalent to a noble.

“You’d best quit now before you embarrass yourself child.”

“And you’d best keep your words to yourself, before my price is out of you range.” Sera said.

With a sneer the woman held the magics stone to to the bowl and called out a word Sera could not understand. In this world magic was not something found within the body, but an external energy contained in stones. How magic formed in these stones was unknown to all, but they did know that it took one of twelve summoning words to bring the magic out for use. If the magic was not given direction, it would attack the user, so it was quite a dangerous power to have, no matter the type. The stone this merchant held looked to be clear, likely for purification.

A dusty glow emanated from the stone and dove for the bowl’s walls before  the woman could give it direction. The two woman stood in awe and silence for a moment.

Although Sera had created this bowl for magical infusion, she wasn’t actually sure it would work. When it came out of the kiln looking as the description she’d found in a book, she’d only hoped it would work. Now seeing the magic seep into her bowl, she grinned.

“I’ll sell this to you for ten gold. That’s five gold cheaper considering you just used up that purification stone to test it.” Sera said confidently.

The merchant scrambled for her money knocking over her luggage bags in the process. Sera waited for the woman to count out the coins in front of her. She couldn’t chance this woman trying to scam her of a single coin. Once she had the small pouch of money in her hands she handed over the bowl before the woman pounced her.

She turned around giddily only breaking out her full smile once her back was turned to the merchant.

“Hey girl!” The merchant called, “Where did you find this?.”

“I made that clay and glaze myself. You won’t find any problems with it. For your reassurance, if you should have any difficulties, then please come find Horace’s Pottery on the northern outskirts of town. I am the sole owner of this work, so before anyone buys the designs and recipes, come find me if you want more. I must be off.”

Sera hurried away, she would have spoken longer but she noticed a man standing not too far away and he looked like a noble. She couldn’t afford any trouble. Nobles could get the lower class in trouble on a whim, and Sera did not fancy being in the line of fire.

While Sera bustled her self back to her father, the man she had seen approached the merchant.

“Excuse me that piece, did I hear correctly? Is it truly capable of magical infusion?” He asked.

The merchant woman was all pleasant smiles, “Why yes my good sir, but you see such a piece as this goes for a large sum.”

“How much?” He asked earnestly.

“One. Hundred. Gold.” The merchant said holding the bowl up for the man to inspect.

From under his single shoulder cape he pulled three small pouches, “These should give you your sum.”

He set down the bags and gestured with an open palm for her to count. The woman made quick work of it and nodded with satisfaction once she finished counting. She used a thick cloth to wrap the bowl and a net bag for him to carry it in.

He bowed his head as he accepted, “Thank you ma’am, and could you provide me with the name of the woman who sold this to you?”

Blinking in consideration the merchant said, “Huh, I did not get her name, but rather the company she must work for. Horace’s Pottery she said. She also claimed to have made both the clay body and the glaze herself. Be it true or not I cannot say, but I do know a good piece of ceramics when I see one, and this,” She gestured to the wrapped up bowl, “Is real.”