He waited till the elemental left of its own accord, the flame flickered once then faded. Mosur grabbed the small fire totem stuffing it back into his robe. With a sigh he laid back. It had taken longer than he’d expected to get a willing participant. He was only prepared to damn himself so much, he’d played this game before, with the elements, but things were different this time. He didn’t have the same backing he’d had before.
“Three more.” He said and sat up. He wondered how many of each he’d have to speak to before before he had a full set.
<<>><<>><<>>
Three. A dark shale elemental with a mottle of vibrant green lichen along the ridges of his rough stone form gathered his bulk over the similarly small yet intricate totem. This totem had a multi faceted smoky quartz suspended at its center. Mosur repeated his spiel in an even timed rhythm.
“Double your offerings and bring them to me in Deepholm itself, and you will have a deal shaman.” The language was rough and the elemental’s accent thick.
“It will take some time, and it will come after your portion of the bargain, but if that is acceptable to you then I will see that it is done.”
“Yes, shaman, that will work. I will answer to Byre when you call.”
He liked working with earth elementals, they were always to the point and didn’t often play games.
<<>><<>><<>>
Seven. The elemental that formed looked like a morning fog gathering. Wisps of air outlined the gust and faint traces of lightning flickered throughout his form. The totem below him was made of cobalt and seated with a bluish white star sapphire. “Shaman?” The elemental’s single-worded question started with a hiss and feathered into a low rumble.
“Greetings air spirit, I would like to offer you a proposal.” Mosur gave him the speech and waited for the deafening clash that would signal a ‘no’. He had already seen the elemental’s lightning flare as he described the proposition and assumed he would need to try again. Regardless he sat tall and waited patiently for the response.
The elemental wavered back and forth his winds disturbed the ground around him as he considered. His gaze drifted to that of the fledgling fire elemental to the shaman’s side, the little Spark. “Has this flame agreed to your demands as well? Have others already agreed?”
Mosur followed the wind’s gaze to Spark who sat dead still now that the elemental was focused on him. “This flame has not, no. An older one has however, as well as as an earth elemental.”
The gust’s form lit with a streak of lightning down one of its limbs. “Then I will accept the offer. See to it that you keep your end of the bargain.”
“That I swear. As soon as your end is met, I will only ask a little patience as I have to meet these obligations to each of you. I hope you understand.”
“Then in that case I will agree if I am the first you repay.”
“That I can promise. Please, I will need a name to summon you once the bindings are set.”
“Enlil.” The elemental’s name was carried to him on the wind at the same time he left.
The stillness of the air was abruptly apparent now that the elemental had gone. Only one element remained.
<<>><<>><<>>
A lightning black opal was the centerpiece of the shaman’s final totem. At his beckoning the water’s gathered at the top point of the totem. They rushing upward answering and forming quicker than the others had. This elemental’s form was sleek a shade of translucent sea green which grew darker at his center. “Mosur.”
The shaman’s jaw tightened when the elemental called him by name but he didn’t waver from his normal routine. “Greetings spirit of water, I would like to offer you a proposal.”
The water elemental listened as the shaman spoke and remained motionless. A silence hung between the pair. “Mosur we have warned you before. I have warned you before in the Thousand Needles. What are you doing shaman?”
Mosur’s nose flared and he tightened his left hand into a fist at the accusation and question. The weariness he was left with from dealing with so many elementals previously was the only thing that kept him from reacting on a larger scale. “And I have learned from your warnings.”
“Then what is this shaman?” The elemental hissed, his voice like whistling steam. His body moved now wavered back and forth over the totem small bubbles surfaced along his arms and shoulders.
“Spirit, I have only called you to make an offer. That’s exactly what it is. I am not taking, I am asking for your assistance, your permission and in return I will complete my end of the bargain.”
The whistling was a soft constant though none of it contained words. The elemental was silent a long time before it appeared he calmed again. “You will need to do a lot more than that.”
“Than what I offered? The deal is negotiable, what would you prefer in equal trade?”
“I will need much of your time and energy shaman,” he said and clarified his demands. The pair bargained back and forth several minutes. “And I will mark you again shaman.”
“No, I’m sorry but you will not do that. I need both of my hands or I put my own self in danger. You’re pressing for too much now. If you would rather not take this deal I will ask another.”
“No! Someone needs to keep an eye on you shaman.”
“You are mistaken and if you continue to make demands and attempt to impose your will on me I will do just that. Find a more reasonable, willing water elemental to assist me. You must give up some of your demands.” Their bargaining continued until it reached more satisfactory terms for the shaman.
“I’m glad we could finally reach an agreement. May I have your binding name?”
With hesitance the elemental burbled, “Nereus.” He left more quickly than he had arrived and now the shaman had four names.
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