Bylar spilled from the barrel onto the beach. They’d smuggled him to Kirin by floating him ashore in an emptied keg. It wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind.

Dizzy and aching it took him a moment to stabilize himself and survey the horizon. The Whaler’s ship was still out there, right on the edge of the horizon. Were they watching him, or just sending a final warning before sailing off?

He turned and the dazzling beauty of the tropical paradise in all its glory shifted into focus. The temptation to rest here on the beach was great, but he had a treasure to find.

It took nearly a week to reach the Azure Mountain. Luckily he blended in with the many Nepheli on the island, employed by the resorts and restaurants.

Posing as a Kirinishian servant, Bylar easily passed through guarded areas, and soon had access to the jungle and beaches around the Azure mountain.

But, he didn’t have a clue what to do next.

He’d hiked to the top, held the parchment up to the shattered light, and begged Kalzamaath for guidance.

Nothing.

It was when he was at his wit's end, about to give up, that his luck changed.

He was stumbling along the edge of the mountain where it met the sea when a translucent web of blue and purple marcry coalesced on the ground before him. He followed the trail of wispy light, pulling the parchment from his satchel to find the symbol on it glowing too.

He held the symbol high and a dense fog set in around him, but he pressed on.

As he continued the fog slowly cleared, revealing a sight unlike any Bylar had ever seen; phantom landscapes and buildings, an otherworldly ethereal marketplace.

“Welcome mortal, to Quazar’s Bazaar,” spoke a calming voice.

A ghostly man appeared before Bylar, dressed in exquisite trader's clothes.

“Quazar is the name,

You summoned, so I came,

Search your desires, envision your prize,

And I, my new friend, shall name its price.”

“What is this place?” asked Bylar, wondering if he’d gone mad.

“This is my empire of gifts and goods. Name your price, and I shall provide you its worth. Luck can be a fickle mistress in your reality, disguised as fate, to fool the unthinking. Will you be fooled, mortal?”

“I- I don’t know,” answered Bylar truthfully.

“We shall find out!” said the man. He held a translucent chest he’d pulled from thin air.

“From my most recent collection, a test of cold fate, from a place tightly enclosed, yet destined to be great. An illusion so real that it consumes itself to conform to your Zeal. Behold, a Chest of the Xypy-Ur Dos.”

The chest hovered in the air, decorated with illusionary stripes.

“What will you offer?” he asks, gazing into Bylar’s eyes.

“All I have is this paper.”

“And where did you get that?” Quazar asked, looking shocked for the first time.

“Gambling, in Alar, it’s all I have left,” said Bylar.

“This is an Ivory Epitaph. An old one, a relic, marked by the Ivory Lord himself,” Quazar said. His voice cracked when he spoke, remembering a long-lost friend.

“I’ll accept your trade. A priceless token from your world, for a priceless treasure from mine. By the contract of the Ivory Select, a gift leaves my world to become yours.”

With those words, the chest materialized, falling to the ground with a thud as it succumbed to its weight.

Bylar leaned in as the chest began to open on its own, revealing a single weapon of gold. It wasn’t of this world, but looked Aesorian all the same.

He was sure it was a hicelmarc, though it didn’t look like any that the Alarian or Arkey had ever made.

“What is this?” he finally asked.

“It can be many things,

Riches…if sold,

Or stories untold,

Even a weapon, if bold."

Puzzled by the answer, he indulged the trader further.

“Magear Num,” he said.

“And what might that be?” asked Quazar.

“New Beginning, in the language of my people.”

“Oh, I am sure you are in great need-”

But Quazar was interrupted by the arrival of new faces breaking through the blue clouds surrounding the Bazaar.

Bylar knew those men, and he was in serious trouble.

—--------------------------

Learn more about Quazar’s Bazaar on our wiki:

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/aesor-themadkingloktra/a/quazar-s-bazaar-myth