Happy accidents occur everyday in the Corners of Khorvaire.
As I visited the gem markets of Zolanberg on my recent layover, I came upon a shard merchant bartering vociferously with a customer. The exchange quickly became heated and in the ensuing scuffle, the Khyber shard that was at the center of the disagreement was knocked from the merchant's table across the aisle and into a cage at a nearby House Vadalis booth. What emerged from the cage then was strange, beautiful, and intriguing all at once...
...birdsong!
As I approached the cage, I came upon a breeding pair of large canaries with strange, scintillating plumage. I was then met by the booth's attendant, Alianne d'Vadalis. Once the shard had been returned, she spoke with me about her birds. She has been magebreeding canaries to not only detect the pockets of poisonous gas that sometime beset unlucky miners, but also to fortify them against the normally-fatal-to-canaries effects of the gases. She demonstrated this by puffing a small bellows containing the gas and the canaries reacted with cries of alarm and panicked fluttering of their wings.
With the gemseller's permission, Miss d'Vadalis borrowed the Khyber shard and held it close to the canaries once again. Instead of panicked cries, the two birds once again broke into glorious song.
Alianne now believes she can continue her breeding and select for this trait, one day producing magebred canaries that will not only detect the dangerous gases, but also the valuable Khyber shards that miners brave the gas to obtain. Another potentially valuable service to be provided by House Vadalis.
Another reminder of all the small miracles to be discovered in the Corners of Khorvaire.
Genbo Santor d'Sivis.
