It was another wonderful receiving day for the Desierto Trading Company, at least it would be in the Grand Harbor branch, there were several exciting shipments coming in from Fiore and Desierto, both by water and by air, and Ikanbi signed off on them just as the sun had started to go, it wasn't quite beginning to set yet, but it wasn't quite as high in the sky as it might have been had it been earlier in the day. There were lots of textiles coming in today, stones, metals, fabrics, woods, and wines. Quite the import, most of it was going directly to one manufacturer not terribly far from where Ikanbi had set up the Mechanic's Warehouse.

Ikanbi herself was just walking about at this point, she had set things up nicely and the operation was mostly running itself, but she still showed up every once and a while and helped out with some things. Today she had physically helped move a lot of the cargo, helping the lowest form of employee with the physical labor.

She had been asked why she didn't just hire automatons for everything, but her response had been something horrid and filled with curses and exclamations about taking away peoples wages. That being said, she had given them some help, there were two automatons among the crew that helped with the more grievous and heavy tasks, and over time Ikanbi had developed more and better ones as she softened up to the idea, and she moved up the lowest humanoid workers into better positions where they instead would oversee the robotic workers.

This came to fruition this day, truly, when Ikanbi and the human workers were unloading cargo with the robots side by side. Normally, they would have just let the robots handle it, but it was a particularly large load today and there was a concert everyone was eager to go to later.

So, they sped up the work and together they got everything loaded into Grand harbor right nicely.

The lot of them made there way through the harbor and broke off into smaller groups as they filtered out into the different streets, most of them making there way to the concert on the far south east end, far from the docks. Ikanbi however stayed much much further to the west, heading to a little shopping area she had grown rather fond of that was right on the water. It had several different little shops in it, arms dealers, black market wares, medicines, doctors, clothes, fishing supplies, boat supplies, bike supplies, and most importantly food.

There was this one particular spot that Ikanbi loved a lot, it had this spicy rice with this very black chicken, hot and sweet peppers, deliciously cooked onions, spicy sauce, and the whole thing was smothered in spicy cheese.

It was a lot of food, and it was so, so delicious, and it was calling her name right then.

The young merchant from Desierto turned to more fully face the soul that had dared to collide with her so clumsily, but was surprised to find another regal being such as herself, or at least it certainly appeared so. Before her stood one of the most gorgeous elves that Ikanbi had ever seen. Nico popped it's head out from Ikanbi's bag to peek at the two of them.

Well, an elf is certainly a long way from home, but then, so was Ikanbi, no? She adjusted the ruffles at the bottom of her top and smoothed it out before her introducing herself. "Oh, sorry I didn't realize I was in the way." She said rather apologetically. She really hadn't, truly. She had been so focused on getting food she had become blind to the world around her. How naive, one could get mugged easily enough that way. She checked her pouch instinctually then, making sure nothing was missing. "Sorry, sorry, you don't look like the kind but then you never know..." She said as she checked her bag.

"Oh, uh, anyway, I'm Ikanbi." She said finally. "Are you hungry? I was just about to grab a bite."

Rhea was right about one that, that was most certainly true. Talaz Lagar was a ghost down, but, Ikanbi had hopes to change that. Ikanbi had a vision, she could see it so clearly in her mind's eye. She saw a great capital trading center, an amalgamation of scientific and magical marvel, the fusion of magic and science together in a utopian futuristic wonderland.

The future was now, and it was in Talaz Lagar! Or at least, that's what it felt like to Ikanbi. She could feel it, the whirring of the machines and the hum of electricity. Here in Talaz Lagar, electricity and magic became one and the same, it was a vibrant fuel that emboldened and empowered the city. Yet, things were....dreadful and dreary. Why?

The population had dwindled. Various different reasons, really, but, the fact of the matter was that with so much of the population gone, so much of the old property was available for grabs.

The very inn they were grabbing food at was under Ikanbis eye as well. It could do with a little cleaning up, but it could surely make a fine hotel with the right work put into it.


Ikanbi's mechanical eye trained on Rhea for a moment as Rhea mentioned their position within the Rune Knights. "Oh, how about that, Colonel? I'm Captain Ikanbi, Ikanbi Liivuduntiz." She let out with a grin and shook Rhea's hand politely, softly. They were, easily, the two most stunning people in the room. Granted, the bar wasn't set very high, for their were not that many people to speak of.

"You have a rather sizeable mana pool." Said Ikanbi bluntly after staring at them momentarily. Actually, she could tell from a glance that Rhea was incredibly, notable more formidable than herself. Perfect, that meant Ikanbi was in safe hands, especially a Rune Knight.

"Bring her something good would ya?" Ikanbi hailed the innkeeper as they sat at the table. A nice dark red wine, from Desierto. Ikanbi had already made a delivery here last week, she was a regular.

"Ah, Major, my apologies."

What wasn't Ikanbi doing in Talaz Lagaar? She had, so far, done a lot to try and help to turn the place around. What businesses she could help she did, and there were many that were in desperate need of it. When she had arrived a months weeks ago the Harbor and been a slumhole. It was still a slumhole, only, now a lot more trade and commerce ran through the area. It had been really easy, truthfully. Using Talaz as a middleport between the surrounding areas was easy enough to establish by using the Desierto Trading Company as a bargaining chip.

Indeed, being able to leverage her own standing and finances with the backing of the company meant that Ikanbi had no real problems taking over a few old markets and ruffling a few feathers. It had been a successful little operation so far, she had done a great job of turning the Mechanics Workshop into a bustling and lively little place. The import business was, as it were, booming.

"I just came here a few months ago, ive been using my business and connections to try and fix the place up a little bit. It's...got a lot of room for potential. There's a few diamonds in the rough here." Ikanbi took a sip of her wine.

"I've set up a trade route with the Desierto Trading Company and turning a lot of the losses in profit and product into gains." It was a lot of work, really, and she hadn't slept very much since she had arrived in Talaz Lagaar.

"What about you?"

They were graced with more drinks, thankfully, so there was now plenty to go around. Ikanbi's feline companion poked their head out to see what all the ruckus was but was silent and remained staring between Rhea and the Exceed dependent on which one was talking or moving, grabbing their attention. Ikanbi listened as Rhea praised her for her risk taking and let on a little about how she had come to Talaz Lagaar herself. It was of no particular consequence she had thought, but, perhaps the two of them could get some work done together after all.

She took a sip from her glass, "Yeah, it's got a weird heat to it." Ikanbi had perked up though. "Ah, a fellow treasure hunter are you? How lovely! You know, I was in the Collective Mind before they assimilated into the Rune Knights...collecting...I guess you could call it, is a little hobby of mine." Ikanbi said somewhat sheepishly whilst making a face and looking away before looking back and grinning. "Yeah we had gotten a whole bunch of folks together to go looks for this thing for Kon in the desert, it was...rather annoying actually come to think of it."

Ikanbi recalled just how exactly the expedition had gone.

"That isn't to say all the digs are terrible!" She added.

"I'm sure you can find something of use while you're here, or someone."

For a moment Ikanbi was very quiet and merely gazed at Rhea with great interest, her mechanical eyes trailing down and then back up to meet her eyes. "I've been known to be someone for someone from time to time." Her voice was calm and even, soothed, relaxed. The alcohol would have helped her here tremendously if it were still potent to her the way it should be, but she would digress. Being a machine wasn't without a few downsides after all. That being the case...

Oh, right right, The Collective. Ikanbi had been incredibly fond of the idea of The Collective, she'd been a founder of it even. "Yes, yes...The Collective." She had loved it so. "I had been a founder of The Collective, it was the only guild that ever really called to me. I don't really belong with the Rune Knights I'm afraid."

"There is much money to be made here, lots of things need fixing and there are people willing to pay, and, lots of creatures need dealt with too, the Hunting Party nearby has work for basically anyone."