CHAJOMI AND THE SWEET CROWN

The doors opened to the factory and a cascade of sweet aromas flooded out into the outside air.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Sweet Crown production factory." said a tour guide with a wide smile. A tall elfen male stepped out of the doors with a large smile on his face. Dressed in brightly colours, the suit the tour guide wore looked almost candy like, his voice having a pleasing tone as he spoke, "My name is Cangloss."

Among the tour group today to the candy factory is the esteemed detective Chajomi. Chajomi was happy that he finally was able to get a tour. The candy making company was well known for suppling sweet treats to the Basin. Nestled within the Northern Mountains by Rockholm, the factory only did one tour every two years. While the factory liked to brag about candy it made, it also needed to keep its trade secrets. Not only did a person need to apply and be approved for the tour, but it had a high cost as well. Only the more die hard fans of the sweets would get on the list.

The aslaran detective stood in awe as his nose filled with the sugary smell as he and the rest of the group entered the factory and the doors closed behind them.

Cangloss stood in front of another door leading to the main production line before speaking, "Before we start, I am required to tell you that Sweet Crown is not responsible for any injury you may incur. And that you shouldn't touch anything you are not allowed to." With another smile, Cangloss turns around and opens the door and guides the group into the factory.

The guide through the factory was rather complete. It seemed that no place was left unseen. There was a room for every type of candy. Rooms with large press devices for making sheet of hard candy. Rooms with pistons that tested the soft candy. The factory even had its own minor farms for growing some of the more rare ingredients.

The final stop on the tour came to a wall of doors along one side. Painted across the doors in bright colours were the letters 'FLAVOURS'. Canglass smiled to the group, "And here is where we make all our flavours. If each of you pick a door, you can see how some of our beloved flavours are made." With the smile never leaving his face, Canglass pushed a button on the wall and all the doors open. Beyond each door was a personal view deck made of complete glass for seeing all around the flavour making area below.

"Why the separate doors? why not have a single door?" Chajomi asked.

"Structure requirements. Having one large room made of glass would break under the weight of the people without special made glass. It turned out to be cheaper to build several small rooms rather than one big one." Canglass replied.

Chajomi smiled as he walked into one of the rooms and watched the liquids below. The process was highly developed. Every single flavour was made in such a small space yet it still had room to add more.

"And with that, the tour is now over. Due to health laws, you all must be summoned out. Please wait while we do this."

Chajomi watched each of the other people on the tour vanish as he waited his turn. The familiar tug came and Chajomi was off. The detective reappeared within the front lobby. Chajomi looked around, not seeing anyone else and found it strange. Chajomi open the front doors to not see anyone either. Chajomi moved over to a door that read 'staff only' above it and knocked. After not getting an answer, Chajomi decided to open it and walk inside, looking around for the other people that were on the tour, thinking something went wrong.

"They couldn't have teleported away that quickly. At least not all of them." Chajomi thought as he ventured down the all and entered another door into a new room.

Chajomi walked around the large empty room designed to be a central hub to the other parts of the factory.  Picking a door at random, Chajomi goes into the north room. The room is not as big as the room before. A door is on the opposite side of the room. One edge is guarded with a railing, overlooking a production line on the lower floor. The other edge of the room are lined with small jars of coloured liquid. Various flavour scents coat the air within this area. Seeing Cangloss, Chajomi yells to the man, "Hey. Can you help me?"

Canglass turns and is shocked to see the detective and starts to run. Quick on his feet, Chajomi chased after the guide, pulling out his wind wand and firing a low pulse of wind at Canglass causing the man to trip and fall to the ground. The sound of breaking glass echoes in the room. Chajomi glided over to the fallen man, turning him over and seeing that his tie as shattered. A look of surprised fills Chajomi's face.

"Your suit..." Chajomi pauses for a bit. "is made of candy..." Chajomi keeps his weapon pointed down at the man. "Why did you run?"

"Yes. My suit is made of candy. It goes with the whole candy factory theme?" Canglass looks uneasy as he tries to find the words for the second question. "I ran because you are not suppose to be here. You are suppose to be on your way out..."

"Why are you trapping people into candy?"

Canglass doesn't answer the question.

Chajomi fired his weapon at the man, the pulse of wind cracks the suit to a great deal. "I won't ask again."

Chajomi points to his right towards a door on the other side of the room, "Your answer is there." Chajomi glances over in the direction Canglass points. As he does, Canglass' fist jabs into Chajomi's gut. As the detective bends over in pain, Canglass quickly stands up and tries to run to the door to the main hub. Before Canglass can even get a few feet, Chajomi reacts quickly, and without thought, firing his wind wand at Canglass. The blast of air sends Canglass towards the railing, his body flipping over it and crashing to the ground below.

Catching his breath, Chajomi rushed to the edge and gazed down. Canglass lay motionless, his candy suit completely shattered in pieces around him. As Chajomi inspected the body from above, calling out to the man, the door leading deeper into the factory comes to life. The large metal doors slowly open, the sound of metal grinding filling the room. Partly hoping for a way down to see if Canglass really was dead and to also find what was going on here, Chajomi makes his way into the new room.

This room is simple in design. A large metal walk way stretching across half the room before turning into a set of stairs that leads up an office.

A female dracnari stood at the top of the stairs, wearing a crown made of candy. The tall slender woman walked down the steps with grace as she smiled at Chajomi. "I wondered if inviting you would be bad idea..." The dracnari's facial expression changed into a glare, "It seems it was. I had hoped that you would come and leave without any issues." Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the female's tail wraps around her feet.

"I take it then that you are Qatba, the owner of this fine factory, " said as he stood watching the dracnari walk towards him.

"Quite so, detective."

"This, " Chajomi points to the large candy vats, "is quite illegal. I am going to have to arrest you."

"And deny people their Sweet Crown candy? What kind of monster would you be if you did that?" Qatba  smiles as he walks around Chajomi. "I can't kill you. People would notice if you went missing."

"What are you even doing here? Encasing people in candy shells? What good does that get you?"

Qatba smiles as she adjusts the crown. "Quite simple. I'm making candymen. Although, the process is quicker than I would have thought. Honey candy was popular among the tae'dae. And I suppose making an alcoholic candy for dwarfs helped a bit as well. I am glad there is enough of those stereotypes to fill out the ranks."

As Qatba finished speaking, the marching sounds tae'dae entered the room. A dozen tae'dae covered in a glossy coat of candy walked up to Chajomi.

"Meet some of my candymen. They are going to take you away now for processing."

Two of the tae'dae grabbed Chajomi, taking his wind wand weapon and handing it over to Qatba before lifting him up and starting to walk off through the door at the top of the stairs.

Walking through the door with their prisoner, the group stops within a large circular room that is a few stories tall. In the center of the room is a ground fountain with a throne just north of it. Qatba walks in behind her soldiers and takes her seat, dwarven guards on both sides of the throne.

"Now then. Let's see what we can do about you. I think you would look great as a statue. Don't think I can have you out there."

The candy tae'dae push Chajomi into the middle of the ground fountain. As the aslaran is placed within the center, a force field rises, holding the detective in place.

"What is this." Chajomi spoke with annoyance in his voice.

"Just a cage to hold the person in place. I got the idea from the protective magics of low magic."

Liquid candy starts to spray up out of the ground and onto Chajomi, coating his fur in a heavy sheet of candy. Chajomi feels a weird odd feeling as the candy starts to solidify in place, giving off a glossy shine. As the process continues, Chajomi struggles, trying to break the barrier holding him in without success as Qatba decides to gloat.

"I must admit. I didn't think it would be this easy. The famous detective Chajomi done in by a candy factory. No would would believe it and probably never look for you. Not that there will be much once I start my campaign to take the Basin over." Qatba points to her crown. "Control a few to save the money."

Chajomi didn't understand and it showed as he tried to cover up the holes in the ground. A smirk appeared on Qatba's face as she watched him try and save his life.

"Like all my candymen, you too will soon be under my command. Quite the neat trick don't you think? Harnessing the power of a psychic hive mind link. One good thing to come from the illithoid." The smirk on her face gets wider. "This place is called Sweet Crown for a reason, my dear. Imbued with a bit of magic from candy jewels, the candy coats make a wonderful shell for me to control your every action."

As the process of making Chajomi a candyman reaches the half was point, alarms sounded to the chamber. Qatba pulled up security displays to find her factory was being attack by a Rockholm police force. Qatba's face grew a look of anger as she stood up and started to yell. "All able soldiers! Protect the throne room!" The words echoed loudly in the air. Even half changed, Chajomi could feel the power of the hive mind link the crown gave off.

The Rockholm force pushed its way into the throne room after several moments, most of the soldiers fighting the candy soldiers. Cracking sounds reverberated to the ear as weapon smashed against harden candy armor. It was clear why Qatba choose these races to be her guard. They were decent fighters and could hold their own. Ultimately, however, Qatba's fighters would go down. The lead commander stepped to Qatba and knocked the crown from her head. The crown fell onto the hard floor and shattered into pieces. The moment it did, the commanding link broke and all the fighting stopped.

The candymen fell to the weapons of the backup. Their candy prisons shattered and in pieces across the floor. Most of the victims were already lost, their minds completely destroyed. Chajomi was lucky enough to not have completely converted before he was rescued.

Qatba was arrested for her crimes. Staring at Chajomi as she passed him on being taken away, a piercing glare is shot at the detective. "All I wanted was to show people they were misguided."

"You turned people into candied warriors. I don't think you can justify that." replied Chajomi as he nodded to take Qatba away.

Over the weeks to come, the Sweet Crown production factory was shut down and torn apart. People quickly brought up any stock they could find within stores. All traces of Sweet Crown soon disappear and became nothing more than a memory.

 

THE END