A cold breeze blew through the room as Mira tightly wound herself with the blanket. The sun, which was now barely cresting over the town, flooded the room with a bright orange hue. Rolling across the bed to escape the harsh brightness of the sun, she could hear the loud crunching of snow being trampled over my cartwheels. 

“I got the rest of them, thanks,” a voice said outside the store.

“Is that Master Luke?” Mira thought, as she jumped out of bed and rushed towards the window. Opening it, she peered down from her room to see a large cart set outside the store filled with an arrangement of boxes. “That’s odd, why would they make deliveries this early?”

Quickly getting dressed, Mira rushed down the stairs to a tantalizing smell of cooked meats. In the middle of the room sat a bunch of smaller boxes set on the dining table filled with a variety of different food. Not seeing Master Luke, she walked to the front of the store. Like a statue, Mira spotted Master Luke standing in the corner of the room next to several boxes filled with different colored potions.

“Good morning,” Mira said, walking up to Master Luke.

“Morning, If you're hungry there's some food on the table,” Luke replied, not looking away from the set of papers in his hands.

“What are you doing?”

“Double checking the supplies that need to get loaded.”

“What for?”

“A trip,” Luke said, flipping a page.

“Wait… You’re going on a trip?” Mira said frantically.

“Yeah, didn't I tell you a couple of days ago?”

“Uh… no. What’s this trip about, and how long are you going for?”

“Just heading north to meet up with some friends and to drop off some supplies. It shouldn’t take longer than ten days given the current weather situation.”

“Ten days?” Mira said, her tone now growing exacerbated by the idea of being abandoned again. “What am I supposed to do for ten days?”

“You can stay here...”

“And watch the store by myself?” Mira said, cutting off Master Luke.

“No, I was going to keep the store close and you can just relax while I’m gone. Or…,” Luke tried to say, before letting out a long breath. “If you want, you can tag along.”

“Really?” Mira said with an excited smile. 

“Yeah, yeah, but before you say yes, I want you to know that this trip is not going to be easy. It’s actually going to be really cold and you’re going to be really miserable.”

“I’m in,” Mira said, letting Master Luke’s statement go in one ear and out the other.

“Did you not hear what I just said?” Luke said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, cold and miserable, but I’ve been through way worse than that.”

With a sigh, Luke walked over to a closet that sat next to his bed. Pulling out an old gray cloak, he threw it over to Mira.

Catching it, Mira almost fell over by the heft of the cloth compared to her usual apparel. Bits of dust flew into the air as Mira sharply flailed the cloak before putting it on. She could immediately feel her body growing warmer as the thick material wrapped around her body like a makeshift blanket. “What is this?” Mira asked, looking at the odd design.

“It’s a robe.”

“This doesn’t really feel like a robe,” Mira said, trying to find the holes for her arms.

“If you’re trying to find the armholes, it doesn’t have any. And yes, it’s technically a poncho and not a robe.”

“Poncho?” Mira echoed, wavering her arms up and down trying to get a feel for it.

“Hm… How would I describe a poncho? I guess you could say it's basically the best part of a cloak and a robe put together.”

“How so?”

“So for starters, unlike a cloak or a robe, it’s much lighter. I had a robe and a cloak made out of that same material and although they were a bit warmer if you were going to travel for more than ten minutes on foot, it felt like dragging a great hammer across the floor. Also, that’s my second point, a poncho stops near your waist so there's no loose cloth dragging across the floor.”

“I have a question about the material. Why is it so heavy?”

“That’s not heavy, this is heavy,” Master Luke said, pulling out another poncho from the closet and handing it to Mira.

“Wow,” Mira exclaimed, her hands struggling to keep the heavy object aloft. As the poncho was about to slip out of her hands, she hurried to a chair that was set against the wall and gently placed it down. Wiping her forehead, she was surprised at how such a small item could weigh as much as a full set of plate armor. “What is this made off?”

“Hide of an Orethox Demon.”

“What? Why do you have that?”

“It was an adventurer, they came into the shop a long time ago and sold me a whole pelt. This was made out of the spare scraps after I had it cut up.” Taking a cup of water from a basin sitting next to the stove, Master Luke poured the water over the hide. Like a dew-covered leaf, the water rolled off the hide like it was made of metal. “This thing is waterproof.” After shaking out most of the water, Master Luke hauled the pelt over to the stove and placed it on the counter. Placing his hands over the hilt of the golden sword that protruded out, he lit the entire thing on fire.

Walking up to the stove, Mira could see that the hide was completely engulfed in flames, the bits of water that had gathered between the edges evaporating, leaving a trail of steam. After a minute of watching the thing burn, Master Luke finally stopped the fire and grabbed the pelt. Throwing it over to Mira, she instantly braced herself for the inevitable burn.

“It's not hot,” Mira said, inspecting the material.

“Yup, it’s fireproof and a grade A insulant.”

“In-soo-lont.” Mira slowly repeated like a magical incantation. “Is that a spell?”

“Not at all,” Luke said with a shake of his head. “An insulant is an item that is very bad at transferring heat or cold. The clothing you wear is mostly made out of material that are very good insulators. The poncho you're wearing right now is made of a special blend of fibers. It's made to be just as warm as this hide and is also waterproof.”

“And fireproof?”

“Uh… not really. It won’t protect you from a blast of dragon fire, but it also won’t burst into flames. Basically I traded the fireproof aspect of the hide for the lightweight and more agile aspects of the fibers.”

“So what did you do with the rest of the hide...” Mira started to ask before two sharp knocks came from the front door.

With a light jog, Luke greeted the dwarven man half-covered in snow and soot. 

“We got the rest of it,” the man said, pointing to the two wooden boxes sitting outside the store.

“Can you load it onto the cart?”

“Sure thing Master Luke,” the man said, as he advised the two other people behind him.

“Wait,” Luke let out, grabbing for a key in his pocket and handing it to the man. “Let Master Geld know we're going to be gone for a couple of days. There’s no animals or plants to worry about while I’m gone, but if the alarm goes off, have someone check on the place.” 

“Sure thing Master Luke.”

Rushing to the back, Luke waved for Mira as he handed her two of the six boxes sitting on the dining table. “Load these in the front, we will leave once the two remaining boxes get loaded.”

“Besides the cloak, is there anything else I might need?”

“If you don’t want to smell too bad along the trip you should take maybe three or four change of clothes, other than that, I’ll have everything else taken care of.”

Placing a small travel bag under her feet, Mira watched as Master Luke gave a light tap on the reign as the two horses slowly trotted towards the north gate of the city. Seeing him give a slight wave to the guards posted at the exit, and them, giving him a friendly wave back, she wondered if there was anyone in town that Master Luke didn't know.

“So… What happened to the rest of the hide?” Mira said, after sitting through two hours of unbearable silence.

“What hide?” Luke said, giving his back a quick stretch as the hardwood seat and bumpy road was already starting to give him a bit of a sore.

“The one you made the original poncho out of,” she said, pulling at the one she was wearing.

“Sold a majority of it to Master Geld. I didn’t have much use for it so I sold it to him for a small markup. He used some of it to make smithing aprons and he still has a bit in storage for special occasions.”

After a day and a half of traveling and talking about a bunch of different topics, the cart pulled up to the city of Rephali. The city was not as big nor as wealthy as Folan, but it did have a lot of charm which Luke really liked because it reminded him of his childhood home. Stopping by a gate, Luke hopped off the cart and made his way to an adjacent brick building.

“Business?” a bored-looking guard said as he eyed the several stacked boxes.

“Here to make a delivery and to find an inn for the night.”

“Sure, but I’m going to have to check the boxes.”

“Alright,” Luke said, giving the man a nod.

Slowly peeling himself away from the window, the man gave a slight groan as he donned a thick coat. Opening the door, he let out another groan as the chilly air buffeted his face. Moving up behind the cart, the man lifted the first box and was surprised to see it full of leathers and hide. Digging his hands deeper into the box, he felt around the bottom to make sure there were no hidden contraband. Closing the lid, he pulled out a dagger and made a small mark on the box. Letting out a third moan, the man gave a shake of his head as he started to count the more than twenty boxes in the cart.

“Why do you have so many boxes?”

“I have a big delivery to make,” Luke said with a shrug.

After twenty minutes, the guard made it to his twelfth box before the sound of a rusty metal door slammed near the gates. Another guard, this one a lot older, walked into the brick building. “Rails you here?” the man yelled.

“Over here,” Rails said, as he stood atop one of the boxes. 

Exiting the room, the other guard rushed over to the cart. “What the hell are you doing boy?”

“I’m checking the boxes.”

“Get down from there. I’m so sorry about this Luke, he’s new,” the man said, giving Luke a handshake.

“No, no, he’s doing great,” Luke said, giving Rails a pat on the back. “I always thought you guys were too lax when it came to me, I’m glad to see that someone finally took the initiative to check my stuff.”

“But it’s you,” the man let out. “Why would you ever bring anything into town that would harm anyone?”

“Ah… but what if it was someone disguised as me.”

“Are you in disguise?” the man asked, raising one eyebrow.

“No, but...”

“Well there you have it,” the man said, cutting off Luke. “Come, you have to join us for drinks tonight.”

Not wanting to start a situation and feeling exhausted from the long ride, Luke walked over to the cart. “Keep up the good work,” he said to the Rails as he hopped onto the cart. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Tonight,” the old man echoed.

Getting into town, Luke pulled up to a three-story building near the center of town. The building itself was nothing fancy, if anything it was a bit worn with what you might call a rustic feature. Opening the door, the two were immediately greeted by a slow breeze of warm air that cascaded across their body like a comfy blanket. 

“Welcome,” a young woman greeted as Luke made his way to the front desk.

“Hi, room for two please.”

“Certainly, would you like a separate room or one room with two beds.”

“Two rooms...”

“Can we get one room with two beds,” Mira said. “I think that would be the safer option so we can keep track of our belongings.”

“Uh… sure,” Luke said, turning back to the receptionist. “How much will that be?”

“No charge. My mother told me you would be coming and told me to not change you a fee.”

“No, no, give me the usual rate,” Luke said, sliding his hand down his face.

“Um...” the girl said, visually unsure what to do. “I can’t, my mother would scold me.”

“Alright, Can I at least ask how much it would have cost?”

“For the one room, it would have been four silver.”

Pulling out eight silver coins, Luke placed it on the counter. “This is not payment for the room, this is the fee to store and feed my horses.”

Hesitantly the girl took the two coins and placed them in a pouch. “Is there anything else you might need?”

With a smile, Luke walked up the flight of stairs, gesturing Mira to follow. “Could you get a bath ready?”

“Certainly,” the girl said, hurrying off to a room in the back of the inn.

Taking a seat on the bed, Luke pulled off his shoes and laid his head on the firm pillow. “Mira,” Luke called out.

“Yes, Master Luke?”

“If you want to take a bath, you can go first, I need you well-rested tomorrow.”

“Why is that?”

“I need you to drive the cart.”

“What… why?”

“I’m going to have one hell of a hangover.”