As Jess stepped outside and watched people coming and going in the morning, he noticed that everyone in the Mage Quarter seemed to have similar tastes, or perhaps they were following the same fashion. Blue and purple robes or jackets, light-colored trousers, and so on. Some dressed a little differently, but nobody stood out too much.
That made Jess's worn linen shirt look out of place among the people entering and leaving the Wizard's Sanctum.
If he was going to make a living in the Mage Quarter, perhaps he should buy some new clothes first. He wouldn't want anyone inside mistaking him for a thief.
Near the entrance to the quarter, beside the foot of the city wall, stood a tailor's shop. An old oak tree by the door had nearly grown into the stone wall. Its shade covered the upstairs windows and partly hid the shop sign.
But he could still read it: “Duncan's—Tailoring and Ready-Made Clothes.”
Jess had come here looking for work last time. Sure enough, the red-haired owner frowned as soon as he entered.
“You again? Didn't I tell you last time I didn't have any work for you?”
“I'd like to look at some clothes, sir.”
“Uh, all right. Anything in particular?”
“What do mage assistants normally wear? Could you recommend something?”
The owner adjusted his glasses and glanced at the ring on Jess's hand. “That's a very broad question, sir. Assistants aren't mages or mage apprentices. You can dress however you please.”
All right, all right, I get it. An assistant isn't an apprentice or a mage. Does everyone in this quarter have to remind me of that?
Grumbling inwardly, Jess glanced at the cloth spread over the counter and then at some clothes being sorted by tailoring apprentices nearby. He hesitated.
Most of the clothes here were made from fine materials and looked well made. They probably weren't cheap. But if he went to a shop outside the quarter instead, why not just keep what he was wearing? Workers on the streets and construction sites dressed pretty much the same as him anyway.
He reached out and touched a light-blue jacket that felt decent enough, though it still seemed to be made of linen.
“How much is this?”
“Three silver, sir. For four, we can tailor a full set to your measurements. Excellent value, and you can pick it up the day after tomorrow.”
The price left Jess stunned, but he only said, “Sorry, I need it right away.”
“Then you can take this one now for three silver. A very good deal.”
That much for a lousy linen jacket? Jess glanced at the owner, then at the other clothes around the shop. This was probably one of the cheapest things they sold. The Mage Quarter's prices really weren't suited to his current finances.
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“To tell you the truth, I'm here to buy clothes on my employer's orders. Whether I buy something for myself doesn't matter,” he said stiffly. “So I have some specific requirements.”
“I'm listening.”
“I need an enchanted jacket with some shadow resistance, preferably fire resistance too. Linen catches fire too easily, which makes it unsuitable for combat.”
Jess paused and leaned toward the owner, who was already shocked by what he'd just heard.
“You've heard about the gnolls returning to Elwynn Forest, haven't you? Gnoll warlocks are no joke. I have to protect my master, so quality is extremely important. If that's too difficult, no problem. I can look elsewhere.”
The owner slowly nodded. “An enchanted jacket with shadow and fire resistance. That's a demanding request. Silk would be best. As an animal product, silk works more naturally with arcane magic and allows enchantments to function better than linen does. Understood. I'll bring something out for you to see...”
You actually have one?!
Now it was Jess's turn to be stunned. He'd only wanted to make an outrageous request, get turned down, and then leave the tailor's shop without embarrassing himself. He'd forgotten that this shop catered specifically to mages.
What could he have asked for that they definitely wouldn't have? A full suit of plate armor engraved with a golden lion, perhaps, with a metal dragon's open jaws on each shoulder?
The owner hurried into the basement as if he'd landed an important customer. The apprentices all looked over when they saw his reaction. Jess had been about to slip away, but their combined stares pinned him in place.
A little later, the owner came running back with a beautifully decorated wooden box. The box alone probably cost more than Jess would fetch if someone chopped him up and sold him by the pound.
Excitedly, his hand trembling, the owner unlocked it with a small copper key. He slowly lifted the lid by its edge. A faint current of air escaped from the box, stirring his hair.
Wasn't that a ridiculous amount of magic?
Inside lay a thin jacket, black with a hint of pale purple. It really was silk, and the stitching was exquisite. It was the first time in this life that Jess had seen tailoring fine enough to rival the synthetic clothes he'd known in his previous life.
“The Dead Man's Jacket,” the owner whispered, lowering his voice. “It was first sewn by a mage renowned in Stormwind. In secret, however, he practiced necromancy. To prevent necromantic energy from harming him, he used magic to sew this piece with natural resistance to shadow magic.”
Then he raised his voice slightly. “Its previous owner was Alfred Van Buren, a distinguished student of Master Nielas Aran, the famous royal court mage. To defend against the fire magic of orc warlocks, Master Van Buren personally enchanted it with fire resistance. So it happens to match your requirements perfectly.”
By this point, he sounded like a bard telling a story. “Unfortunately, Master Van Buren died in the decisive battle in the Hillsbrad Foothills. His grandson sold the garment to us. They say the lower part of the original robe was damaged by a red dragon's flames, so we altered it from a robe into this shorter jacket.”
Jess was speechless.
After a long silence, he somehow managed to ask, “Didn't you say it was fire-resistant? How did a red dragon burn it? Isn't that false advertising?”
“Even the strongest armor can't withstand a punch from a mountain giant, sir,” the owner said with a bitter smile.
Fair point. Jess went on, “But the name is terribly unlucky. If I owned it, wouldn't that make me the dead man?”
The owner sighed. “To be honest, that's exactly why it's been difficult to sell. But I can tell your employer may have a limited budget, so that works in your favor! Because of the unfortunate name, we'll give you a discount.”
“How much?”
“Seven gold coins. That's all it takes.”
Jess was truly stunned now.
“That... that really is pretty cheap.”
“Isn't it?”
“But I'm not authorized to make a decision on something this valuable. I'll go back, ask my employer what he thinks, and discuss the price.”
“Of course. We're always patient with important customers.” The owner smiled, put the jacket away, and cheerfully saw Jess out.
Outside the tailor's shop, the sunlight seemed painfully bright.
Seeing a piece of clothing priced at seven gold coins was hard for Jess to take in. It had also cleared his head considerably.
Since he was short of money, he should forget about buying new clothes. Better to keep his feet on the ground and sort out those potions first.