Snow settled gently on the ground, only to be disturbed by the footprints of many passersby in the bustling economic center of Glacia City.
Alex had decided to take a rest after travelling up and down the high peak, and was reading a book given to him by Caulus Zalridge, the wise old wizard who had raised him those many years ago. Alexander, or Alex, as he was called, was a relatively quiet merchant inside the Glacia region, but a hired gun to everywhere else. Alex had spent the past few years of his life researching a new combat potential yet to be put into use in his area. While being a mercenary was his primary way of making a living, he had been putting more effort into economics recently. All across the mountainside, mines dotted the white snowscape. These led deep within the mountain, which was rich with uncommon and rare metals. Alex's abode was conveniently located near one of the veins closer to the surface, and has harvested these ores. Albeit he had the money to fund his research, the area he lived in simply lacked effective military technology. He had to leave.
Getting up from the aged wooden bench he was sitting on, Alex proceeded to stroll down the main avenue of Glacia City. It was late in the afternoon, and the icy temperatures coupled with biting thirty-mile per hour winds made night life a grim business. Snow always fell on Glacia, without fail, everyday. The top two or three inches of the ground were always covered with a fine white powder. Any newcomer to Glacia would have noticed this immediately, but to the native inhabitants, like Alex, it was as mainstream as the cold.
Whichever doors were open in town, orange lights were cast upon the ground. From stoves to forges, the folk of Glacia spared no expense at keeping themselves warm. Stepping into a Glacia home or establishment was similar to stepping into another world entirely. The cold replaced with warm, the dark with light, and the howling winds with the chatting voices of many. Of the establishments in Glacia, the blacksmith's shop and the pub were the most popular, whether it be the sociality of the patrons, the merchandise sold, or simply that both locales were the warmest in town.
Alex's abode used to be a blacksmith's shop, but was sold to him when a competing blacksmith moved out after proving unsuccessful with the native man. Complete with a workbench, a furnace, as well as many other working tools, his residence was second only to the smithy in town when it came to an industrial workplace. Alex also managed to get his hands on a rather rare piece of technology, a fractionalizing still, which he used for refining crude oil into useful products, whether it be candle oil, cooking oil, or kerosene.
Upon opening the door to Alex's workshop/quarters, one would see a warm, hospitable living space on one side of the single-room building, and a gritty, junk-strewn workspace on the other. Alex did not mind living this way, as he knew that this was the best money could buy at the moment. Alex closed the door behind him, the howling wind ceasing.
Alex took off his leather jacket and tossed it across the room onto his bed. There was something about that jacket. Alex recieved it over five years ago, from a seemingly regular marketplace that was visiting town for the week. On the left side of the chest, as well as on both upper arms there was an emblem sewn onto the jacket. It was a white-purple spiral on a blue-to-cobalt gradient background. Only Alex knew what it meant, and when asked by other people what it meant, he simply replied, "just a collaboration of style and the past." What Alex meant by "the past" were the two arms of the spiral. One white, meaning goodness, light, and the purple one meaning evil and darkness. Alex believed it was necessary for existence to have a delicate balance of both, otherwise there could be dire consequences. The gradience from blue to cobalt is what Alex inferred by "style," as blue and cobalt were two of his favorite colors.
Alex stoked the stove with some fresh coal, and lit it. The room was a little cooler than usual, which led Alex to believe that there was a leak in the walls somewhere, allowing ever-precious heat to seep out. Alex ran his hands over the walls to find a cold spot, but found none. He later realized that one of the windows was slightly open, and closed it. With a warm environment to work in, Alex sat down at his workbench and got to work.
