The Bazaar FAQ (old)

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So! You're new to new to Althanas and need to pick up some of the equipment that the Realm of Greeting took from you during registration. Or you might be an old veteran looking to repair weapons and armor or upgrade to a new, snazzy material. Whatever your standing or status, the Bazaar exists to serve you. From enchanted liviol shields to magic swords to gunblades and bullets, almost anything you can imagine is on sale at the Bazaar.

This FAQ is designed to answer some key questions you might have about the Bazaar. Click on the links below and you'll be directed to the area of the FAQ that answers your particular question. If you have other questions, feel free to post them on Your Word, and if a question is asked frequently it will be added to this guide.

1. What can I purchase in the Bazaar?
2. What are the basic materials I can use?
3. Are there any special materials that cannot be purchased?
4. Is there any way to make my equipment better without purchasing a new material? Does craftsmanship matter in a weapon's power?
5. The price I've been quoted is too expensive, is haggling allowed?
6. Can I earn EXP for my threads?
7. I'm starting round two of a tournament. Can I buy new items in the Bazaar to use in that round?
8. I'm buying something exotic or strange, or something that's off your normal lists. How much might that cost me?
9. Why can't I buy adamantine in the Bazaar? Or any of those other special materials?
10. Can I invent my own materials with special characteristics?
11. Why are technological items so expensive?
12. Can I have my possessions enchanted here, or purchase enchanted items?
13. Is there a list with all the materials ranked in order of strength?
14. My opponent has a oak shield and I have a mythril sword. But she's not playing fair! How is she blocking my blows?

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Q: What can I purchase in the Bazaar?

A: Almost anything. If you can dream up the item, it's probably for sale in the Bazaar. Just be specific! If you walk into the Bazaar and say, "I'd like an enchanted sword, please," you're not giving the Bazaar mods much to go on. But if you walk in and say, "I'd like a steel broadsword enchanted to catch flame when my character gets angry," you're giving the moderator more precise information that can help them get price down quickly.

This does not mean you'll be able to afford anything you want, of course! Enchantments, stronger materials, and better quality items won't come cheap, so make sure that you have a lot of cash if you're going to be purchasing high-powered equipment.

There are some things we still don't sell, for certain reasons. Adamantine, for instance, is an ancient metal of extraordinary strength. For the reasons why these and other "special" materials aren't available in the Bazaar, see question 9.

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Q: What are the basic materials I can use?

A: The Bazaar sells all substances found on the real world, with properties exactly similar to the materials found in the real world. For the sake of simplicity, we assume that certain metallurgical processes -- such as the Bessemer process for steel -- are available on Althanas. Certain other processes, though, like those required for the construction of carbon nanorods, are definitely beyond Althanas's technological level. This does not mean you can't purchase such rarities -- there are many strange things in Althanas where other worlds interact in strange ways. But anything going beyond "normal" Althanas technology will be quite expensive.

Please note: materials in Italics

Metals and Woods

Metals and woods are ordered a bit differently from other materials. Since these are widely used on Althanas, we group them into rough "tiers," ordered from weakest to strongest. Please see questions 13 and 14 for more information about tier strength and how this works on Althanas.

Metals

These first four tiers are considered "special" real-world metals, and are thus listed as being off of the normal tier list.

• Gold: It is that soft, yellow metal that we have all come to know and love. It is expensive, though not necessarily good for a weapon.
• Silver: It is the same gray metal that is found in our world. Like gold, it is expensive without being effective. Most useful for use against lycanthropes or use in holy symbols.
• Copper: It is a soft, red metal. Though harder than silver, it still does not make an effective weapon. Unlike silver and gold, though, it is actually as inexpensive as it's usefulness would suggest.
• Bronze: Though harder than copper, and more useful, it is in the same boat: weaker and cheaper than iron.

The following are metals that fit into the tier system.

1. Iron: The simplest material, and yet still with a degree of strength, iron weapons can serve an adventurer with need.
2. Steel: Providing a bit more strength than iron, steel also costs a bit more. Many an adventurer, including the great Devon Starslayer, used nothing more than a simple steel sword.
3. Plynt: A green metal that absorbs liquid easily due to some unknown property. Plynt is naturally flammable, and after burning for a while will be almost entirely consumed.
4. Damascus: Magic imbues into this light gray metal easily, but at the same time damascus provides little resistance to magical attacks.
5. Dehlar: Very heavy, Dehlar is extraordinarily magic-resistant. It does not imbue well, however, and its high weight means only the strongest can carry it.
6. Delyn: An alloy of Dehlar and Damascus that is a blend of both magic-resistance and magic-imbuing potential. It is a good all-around material for many weapons. However it tends to release its stored energy explosively when broken by a significantly stronger material.
7. Titanium: Titanium is extremely resistant to fire and explosive impact and is used in the finest gunpowder weapons of the Alerarians. Due to the difficulty in creating this alloy given normal metallurgy on Althanas, it is hard to find this material in large enough quantities for large weaponry and armor.
8. Mythril: Mythril is exceedingly strong and light. When unenchanted, it is weak to magical assault, but when enchanted to its threshold it will repel magical assault. A white metal, it is excellent for swords and other precision weaponry.
9. Prevalida: Although stronger than mythril, this blue metal is slightly heavier than Delyn. Prevalida is both resistant to magical attacks and capable of channeling the magic of its wielder to new heights.

Woods

The rules regarding real-world metals also apply to wood.

1. Oak: The staff-wielding adventurer's basic wood, this material is sturdy, lightweight, and widely available.
2. Yew: A favorite wood of Raiaeran bowyers, this flexible yet sturdy wood is a perfect choice for a stout longbow or a more flexible quarterstaff.
3. Cyper: These trees grow close together. They are about man-height and thin, and people have been known to uproot them for a staff. Lightweight and sturdy, Cyper is perhaps too short for a full quarterstaff, but make excellent arrows.
4. Trakym: Flexible to a fault, trakym's springiness makes it too weak to give a good draw on a bow and too yielding for a staff. However, it has one great benefit: it resists magic well. Although good for virtually nothing else, a trakym-lined piece of armor or shield is much more resistant to magical assault.
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5. Eklan: This wood grows gray with age, while younger trees have a reddish brown tint. Eklan makes an excellent wood for light helmets and shields. Unfortunately, it does not cleave well, meaning it does not maintain a straight line for use in shafts, arrows, or staves.
6. Akashima redwood: Named after its place of origin, this beautiful crimson wood is very strong and difficult to break, making it an extremely good wood for quarterstaffs or arrowshafts. Redwood arrowshafts are thick, though, and can be burdensome to carry in large quantities.
7. Rywan: Rywan trees grow very tall and very wide. Rywan is too inflexible for a bow, but makes an excellent rod for one-handed shafted weapons such as hatchets or tomahawks. A heavier wood, it is unsuitable for arrows, as its weight throws off an arrow’s flight. Rywan tends to splinter after too much stress.
8. Talymer: A light, waxy, and shiny wood, talymer is perfect for larger longbows, as it requires intense strength to pull the bowstring and can send an arrow straight through full plate mail at 200 feet. Although such bows take longer to draw and expend energy quickly, they pack a very real, very powerful punch.
9. Ulder: Dark brown in color, ulder is the best wood for regular-sized bows and horsebows. It gives a moderately powerful draw, and can therefore be drawn from horseback, and it does not require intense strength to pull the string. Where talymer gives power, ulder gives mobility and precision.
10. Liviol: Liviol wood is the product of trees spending centuries in magically saturated grounds. Modern Liviol comes in colors ranging from deep blue to royal purple. This wood, depending on what wood it originally spawned from, serve to enhance the normal properties of the wood with new potency; Trakym Liviol, for instance, resists magic with extraordinary power. Liviol is most often found in the Warded Wood of Salvar; the difficulty in getting to the Warded Wood, however, renders it quite pricy. It is also located deep within Raiaera's Red Forest, but no sane lumberjack goes there.

Hide, Bone, and Cloth

The hide, bone, and cloth tiers owe their existence to the hard work of a former moderator, Ithermoss. They are as follows.

Hides

1. Hide: Shaved, dried, callused flesh taken from any mammal (i.e. deer, moose, wombat, anything else with hair). Tougher creatures will have better quality than a deer or elk. Usually brown to pink in hue. Minimal resistance to piercing.
2. Pelt: Dried flesh (with fur) taken from any mammal. Color varies. Provides resistance against cold and bare minimal resistance against blunt trauma. Tougher creatures will have better quality than a deer or elk.
3. Leather: The hardened, hairless hide of any commonplace animal, prepared by a specialized tanning process. Colors depend on the dye/polish/oils used. Minimal resistance against slashes and piercing.
4. Magim Beast Hide/Leather: Best suited against light blades, this hide can form cloth and leather armors. Magim Beast Leather is a bit more expensive and provides a bit more protection. These hides and leathers provide excellent heat resistance.
5. Arctic Hide: Found in Salvar's northernmost wastes, arctic beasts are tougher and hardier than most normal animals, and resist damage much more strongly than most.
6. Arctic Pelt: In addition to having tough skin, the thick hair of an arctic beast will keep those who wear their pelts warm.
7. Arctic Leather: Although you will lose a bit of warmth by stripping off the hair, tanning an arctic hide or arctic pelt will give it great resistance to both slashing and stabbing. Although not as strong as steel by any means, arctic leather is far lighter than even the lightest mythril cuirass.
8. Drakescale: Layered, plate-like slats overlap to create a flexible armor for these smaller relatives of dragons. The wide plates from a drake's back are most commonly used. Best suited against light blades.
9. Young Dragonscale: The layered armor taken from the scaly hide of a fire dragon. Pigment depends on the race and gender of the donated scales' original owner. These scales are broader and much stiffer than conventional scales. They provide average resistance against slashes. Elemental resistance, if any depends on the dragon's "element." Remember, young is a relative term and the average 'young' dragon is still just as formidable as a level 8 character.
10. Sea Serpent Scale: Layered armor taken from the scaly hide of a sea-serpent. Pigment depends on the race, gender, and depths from which the monster was taken. These scales are finely knitted together, much like snake's scales. They provide increased resistance against cold, and resistance against piercing.

Bones

1. Chitin: A jointed, hardened shell: akin to that of an arthropod. Most commonly a dark orange, green, blue, or red. Minimal resistance to blunt trauma and minimal resistance against surface burns. Tougher creatures like a giant praying mantis would yield higher quality than a simple collection of houseflies.
2. Carapace: Shell much like chitin, but a great deal harder. Less flexible, but it offers resistance against slashes and blunt trauma. Often adorned with thorns, carapaces can take quite a deal of beating and still maintain their shape. Color is limited to a shiny brown (akin to the shell-like armor of a cockroach). Larger pieces, for body armor or the like, can be found in Fallien. Smaller pieces for gauntlets, helmets, and greaves can also be gotten from the scorpions of the Black Desert.
3. Bone: The skeletal remains of large-bodied mammals, this material operates as it does in the real world. Although weak against blunt-force trauma, bone retains an edge and functions as decent armor against slashing. Bone is also an excellent component of composite bows.
4. Golem Hide: When a golem expires, its remains form a hardened, hollow shell and a rigid outer layer of flesh-like hide. Any special effect (element resistance, etc.) depends on what form of golem was constructed – iron, clay, flesh, or fire. The outer layer provides decent defense against both slashing and blunt-force trauma.
5. Cartilage: Taken from creatures like sharks, this golden-rod colored, flexible material is woven into bands and formed into armor. It is resistant to slashes and stabs, and highly flexible, but falls into disrepair quickly.
6. Golem Carapace: The hardened, hollow shell from the remains of a golem. Any special effect (element resistance, etc.) depends on what form of golem was constructed – iron, clay, flesh, or fire. Excellent resistance against blunt trauma.
7. Petrified Bone: It is rare to find such things, but sometimes a corpse will go unnoticed so long that the earth swallows it and fuses the bones with stone. It is even rarer that someone will find these while digging. While prone to shattering or chipping, petrified bone is still exceedingly hard and often used in ritual magic.
8. Young Dragonbone: These are just as strong as the talons and horns of the dragon, however they do not need to be shaved and cemented, which leaves them more structurally sound. This is the best bone to use in a composite bow.
9. Young Dragonhorn: Shavings taken from a dragon's talon or horns (same material). A very difficult material to damage, Dragonhorn is often marbled in color, mixing blacks with reds, greens, yellows, and browns. Superb resistance against blunt weapons. When used in armor, the shavings are cemented back together with powerful adhesives. Dragonhorn can make for excellent arrowheads and knives, as well, if found in enough of a singularly intact piece.

Cloth

As with metals, real-world cloth is available. Some real-world cloth is on our tier list, and some is not. For the most part, though, we will price real-world cloths according to where they might fall on this list or based on their limited availability in the real world. For example, silk might be expensive.

1. Burlap: This is a loosely woven, rough cloth. It is generally not used for garments, because it is found to be very uncomfortable, however it is useful for making bags in which to carry heavy things. (One popular use is potato sacks.)
2. Linen: This cloth is usually found in the color white. Its most common uses are bed sheets, undergarments (such as a chemise), and wrappings for wounds.
3. Denim: This coarse cloth is normally made from cotton. It is very sturdy as cloth goes, but it frays very easily once it gets started. It isn't spectacular when it comes to insulating heat, however it is very effective at keeping out the wind.
4. Wool: This is a very good cloth for winter. It keeps out the cold very well, and is still relatively cheap (in relative terms at least). Unfortunately, wool is very itchy, and so there is the added cost of lining it with linen, silk, or some other, less coarse material.
5. Canvas: This is a heavy, sturdy cloth. It isn't particularly coarse, but it isn't so soft that people actually make garments out of it. It is, however, the fabric of choice for tents and reusable shopping bags.
6. Spidersilk: This is woven from the webs of ordinary spiders. It is very light and tough. It is rather sticky, however, and tends to form the inner layer of any garment, with real-world fabrics forming the outer and inner layer. Spidersilk is also an excellent material for a grip; the adhesive nature of the fabric makes it easy to keep hold of a weapon.
7. Hair Weave: This is woven from strands of hair, usually from a beast, although it is not unheard of to use human hair. It is very strong, if made properly, though some people tend to be put off by it. When burned, this fabric is particularly noxious.
8. Sifan Cloth: This material is like silk, and is produced by a very similar type of worm. Silk is fairly strong, but it is usually made so thin that its strength is negated. Sifan cloth, on the other hand, is just as thin and breezy as silk, but is very resistant to puncturing. It is still vulnerable to blunt attacks, and knife stabs could still cause a good bruise, but one is less likely to lose a kidney from the attack. This is a favorite of wealthy aristocrats, as it offers minor protection without looking tacky. It is produced only by a handful of sellers in Corone, who work to keep the price high and their sifan worms under guard.
9. Vlince: This cloth is nearly identical to linen, only much stronger. Made from the cotton-like bolls of a plant in Corone, this cloth is fairly priced. Slow to tear or break, this cloth resists puncturing and slashing. Like all cloth, it provides little to no protection against blunt blows.

Glass

Glass is made in Fallien, and so questing for it there makes the most sense. Certain types can be purchased in the Bazaar, however, although the prices tend to be higher. The types of glass are as follows, and are arranged without reference to tier number. (These are the work of The Valkyrie)

• Calli: This glass varies from coin sized to the size of a small vial. Usually clear or amber in color, this glass is often used in making vessels or decorative figures. Containers of calli are considered the best by potions-makers, as the glass never reacts to what is placed inside it.
• Cillu: Also called "pane glass," this is usually very pale and milky in color, sometimes compared to the colors of dawn. It appears in very large sheets that often cover several square yards, and can be cut to various sizes. This glass is extremely strong, and must be cut using diamond-cutters in order to remove it from the desert. Often used in cathedrals or other structures, it can also be used in sacred knives and armor. Its importation costs Corone merchants a pretty penny, however, and they'll be happy to pass their costs along to their consumers!
• Mukakkannati: These thin sheets of glass hold a mirror-like sheen. Very fragile and usually cast over the top of other glass, crushed mukakkannati can be applied to a weapon using a special glue. This would, naturally, make such weapons exceedingly painful for those on the receiving end of their attacks.
• Valaiyalman: Called "sugar glass," this fine, powdery glass occurs in every shade and can be used to color almost all other glass. Valaiyalman, however, has another use: it holds poison extremely well, and will transfer that poison into almost anything it touches. Melt poisoned valaiyalman onto a knife or the inside of a drinking vessel, and you will have a potent weapon indeed.

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Q: Are there any extra-special materials?

A: Yes! There are a few special materials with exceedingly arcane properties -- just like the materials marked above, they cannot be bought in the bazaar. They are as follows.

First and foremost is Adamantine. No normal substance can harm adamantine, cause it to lose shape or edge, and among "abnormal" substances the only one known to even pose a threat to adamantine is icemold (see below). Adamantine appears as either a tan stony substance or a steely metallic substance, although different ancient weapons-mages and craftsmen often "signed" their creations with special tinges or colors. Adamantine items are relics from a time before and during the Wars of the Tap, and can only be made by a mage using the entire Eternal Tap. As such, no adamantine items have been made since the end of those wars. Based on ancient texts, the only known method of creating adamantine suggests that it is an alloy, as it describes a process by which mythril and prevalida ores are melted together over a fire stoked by liviol wood and kindled on a bed of Njalian Spidersilk; the entire thing must, of course, be presided over by a mage feeding the power of the Eternal Tap into the mixture. There may still be other means, altogether unknown, of crafting adamantine, but anyone who discovers such a method is bound to keep it a dead secret in order to maintain the high price of what they create.

Next is Ancient Dragonscale, Dragonbone, and Dragonhorn. These materials are similar to the varieties found in the basic tier list; the difference is in the age of the dragon they are taken from. Wearing something from an ancient dragon not only offers substantial protection from the types of elements opposite the dragon's original element, but they also enhance and promote the latent power of their wearer in the element with which the dragon was akin. These are the oldest and most powerful dragons; almost anyone should be changing their underwear after seeing one of these. Very few people will be going out of their way to find these things to make stuff out of them: you’ll have to do it yourself.

Then we have Haidian Demonhide. The stripped flesh cut from Haidian demons, this material is a marvelous mixture of scale and flesh. It provides good resistance against heat, and when properly treated it provides superb resistance against slashing attacks. Due to the fact that Haidia looks very unkindly on its citizens being hunted for their skin, bans have been placed on the material in all nations. Furthermore, most remaining craftworks of this material were made from trophies taken during the Demon War over 2000 years ago. So, as with adamantine, anyone who has one is going to keep it. Furthermore, anyone who is an expert in crafting demonskin is either not going to admit it or is in jail for violating national law. So if you can find someone, you're a lucky devil. But you might be careful wearing it; if anyone knows what it is you could be in trouble.

Gorian'fel Hide is next on our list. In great quantities, the gray hide can disrupt the holder's mental function, cause headaches, and perhaps even induce mental illness. A small amount, however, can simply be helpful in scrambling telekinetic and telepathic intrusion. A favorite of spies, savants, and mentalists, the material also blocks the use of telekinetics and telepathic skills by the wearer. Not really serving as any protection other than for those who feel that their knowledge isn't safe - even in their own heads! Gorian'fel are nocturnal, and rarely come out of their underground dwellings; furthermore, their rarity makes it nearly impossible to find this skin in the Bazaar.

Root Walker Husk, the bark from moving trees of the various Althanian forests, is quite difficult to come across. Coloration usually is limited to brown and dark green. Root Walkers are hard to enrage, but are VERY dangerous creatures when provoked. Their bark properties similar to the wood they originally spring from, in addition to excellent protection against blunt trauma and piercing. Due to the danger required for obtaining these and the fact that many people regard the Root Walkers as sentient beings with the same rights as other creatures, they are not offered for general sale in the Bazaars.

The glass in Fallien is exceedingly expensive already, but one extra-special type of glass is reserved only for the elite. Kiramaini are small glass beads or pearls, perfectly spherical, that form naturally on certain sacred sands of the central deserts of Fallien. Coming in a myriad of natural colors, these are often used for jewelry or magical enchantment. Extraordinarily rare, this magically-aligned glass is considered sacred by the Fallien, who do not like it leaving their land. They guard it religiously, and will often attack those who wear it without permission.

The rarest of all materials on Althanas is Icemold. Thought to be some sort of weird version of adamantine, icemold is totally unbreakable, and is the only known substance that can cleave adamantine. However, it comes with a catch; weapons of icemold appear to have an extremely limited period of use. Once they pierce flesh or cut adamantine, they melt away like ice after around five to ten seconds. If you own an icemold weapon, do not waste it; strike hard and fast, and make sure your aim is true. There is thought to be one, perhaps two people hiding in Salvar who still know the secret of its making, but if they actually exist only the wisest know of it. And if they exist, they don't sell their wares on the common market.

Finally, the most dangerous material to obtain is Njalian Spidersilk. The Njalian magi, undead wood elven/spider hybrids with a voracious appetite for the living, would sooner tear off all eight of their legs than let someone get at their silk. Their ability to melt into the shadows makes them a hard target to spot. Their silk is totally impervious to slashing and piercing attacks from normal weaponry. Vulnerable to fire, this valuable material should be kept away from heat at all costs. This silk is so strong that one strand can support almost 250 pounds. It is extremely rare in the Bazaar: nearly every fool who sets out to seek the substance for sale winds up dead, deranged, or worse.

These are our "Althanas Canon" special materials. This does not exhaust the list by any means; nor is this necessarily the last word on the subject of special materials. Feel free to invent your own materials and creatures, quest for their hides or eyes or livers, and even submit them for addition into the Althanas Canon! (For more information, see question 10.)

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Q: Is there any way to make my equipment better without purchasing a new material? Does craftsmanship matter in a weapon's power?

A: Yes! In the Bazaar, we consider roughly seven degrees of workmanship:

Awful
Cheap
Below Average
Average
Above Average
Excellent
Masterwork

Most equipment is considered "average." If someone just wants a plain steel sword, unless the moderator is forced to lower the quality to suit your price range or raises the quality at your request, it will be considered average. Say you come into some gold, but are attached to your simple steel sword. That's not a bad thing! As mentioned in the descriptions, one of the most famous weapons on Althanas, the Sword of Devon Starslayer, is nothing more than simple steel.

What you could do, though, is walk into the Bazaar and request that the weapon be reforged to a higher degree of craftsmanship. This can be used as merely a storytelling device; your character is showing off their new station in life with a snazzy weapon. Or it might be an actual way to make sure your equipment is legitimately superior.

A moderator may lower the craftsmanship level of an item after a thread (or even break the item) if you've used it a lot, to represent the wear and tear on your equipment. They could also do this to punish powergaming or the failure to play your equipment in tune with its relative power. As craftsmanship drops, weapons become less powerful. We won't be doing much active policing of this policy, so you're on the honor system to keep track of the power of your own weapons and repair them when needed.

Items that break during a thread will only be fixed if broken during a Citadel fight.

You may bring in old items to upgrade them, repair items that have had their craftsmanship damaged in threads, or even repair items completely by posting a thread in the Bazaar just as you would for a new purchase.

"Legendary" items and those made of the special materials in the Bazaar Materials list are considered to always be at a craftsmanship level equal to the one selected when originally found or granted at the giving of the spoil, and cannot break unless a player has them break within a storyline.

A word of caution: don't take craftsmanship too seriously. We aren't asking anyone to put the levels on their signatures or sidebars or make sure they mention their weapon's prowess in every post (although you can do that if you want!). Instead, craftsmanship should be seen as another way to roleplay. We will try to pay some attention in judging to whether someone with an awful iron knife is constantly absorbing the attacks of someone with a masterwork adamantine claymore, but craftsmanship levels were introduced as a roleplaying tool, not as a system to be treated with hard-and-fast rules and requirements.

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Q: The price I've been quoted is too expensive, is haggling allowed?

A: Absolutely. In fact, we encourage haggling in the Bazaar.

Bazaar moderators basically adjudicate prices on a few levels. First, we look at the type, material (or materials), and the quality of the item you request. If you put in only the minimal effort, you'll end up paying the exact price that our formulas suggest you will pay. This is perfectly acceptable; if you have gold to burn and don't want to work on the Bazaar thread, you can swing in and get the item or items for exactly what they are worth. Extremely bare bones threads might even result in having to pay a bit extra.

But Bazaar mods also look into the effort you put into your thread. A good 12-post two-person quest on the forums might net you some GP, for instance. So a good Bazaar thread of 5-6 posts per person might net you a similar discount, especially if the thread involves your character trying to get a discount. Since the threads aren't being judged it probably won't be exactly an amount of GP off equal to the amount you'd get in a real thread.

Please note: Bazaar moderators will try to put some effort into posts equal to the effort you put into it. But we're busy folks, often with our own roleplaying to attend to. Don't be offended if we don't treat your thread like we're trying to write an epic storyline; while we will try to give as good as we get, we are also trying to close the deal and get things moderated quickly and efficiently.

Even if you don't want to do any haggling and back-and-forth, you can still get a better price with a few decent posts. A single good introduction where you say what you want in a particularly meaningful and creative way might net you a small discount right off the bat.

One other thing to remember: the craftsmanship levels mentioned in the question above this one are intended to provide members with another way to haggle. Slightly different craftsmanship levels may raise or lower the price of an item, so use them to your advantage! Remember: unless the moderator says otherwise, they are always selling you an average quality item.

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Q: Can I earn EXP for my threads?

A: Yes. Threads done in the Bazaar may receive up to 5% of the EXP a character needs to level, but this is awarded entirely at the moderator's discretion. Generally speaking, threads with under 6 posts will not be rewarded any experience, threads with at least 8 posts may be awarded up to 2.5% of the EXP needed to level, and threads with at least 10 posts may receive the full 5%.

Bazaar threads may be submitted for judging if they are in excess of 20 good posts. For such judgings, though, the spoils awarded will only be in the form of EXP and the item purchased; while you may receive significant discounts for such a substantial thread, you will not receive any extra GP for them. Such threads are probably best should you be trying to buy something exceedingly expensive. Indeed, such threads are the only way to purchase the "special" materials that are otherwise unavailable in the Bazaar for normal purchasing. (See question 9 for more information!)

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Q: I'm starting round two of a tournament. Can I buy new items in the Bazaar to use in that round?

A: Whenever you fight a competitive match, whether in a tournament, Citadel match, or Regions quest, you are considered to have the equipment and level with which you began a round throughout the entire thread. As such, any purchases you intend to use during a tournament round should be concluded before the start of that round.

If you post with enough time to finish a thread before a round begins -- around one day as a rule of thumb -- and the thread is not concluded due to a moderator's inability to post quickly enough to close the sale in time, you may use your purchase in the coming round or battle. If in doubt, ask the moderator; in most cases, they will give you the benefit of the doubt in determining who is at fault over a stalled Bazaar thread.

Different tournaments may have different rules; some might ban new levels/equipment for the entire duration of the tournament. In the case of a conflict, the individual rules of a tournament always apply. Be sure you know the rules of all tournaments in which you are competing!

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Q: I'm buying something exotic or strange, or something that's off your normal lists. How much might that cost me?

A: That's a good question.

It's really anyone's guess. The Bazaar Moderators have a set of pricing guidelines we use for normal things: weaponry, armor, materials, etc. But we have fewer guidelines for the sort of things that can be anything you dream up, such as enchantments, poisons, special materials, and the like.

On such questions, moderators tend to use their discretion. If you're in doubt and want to make sure before wasting time with a thread, you might try contacting a Bazaar moderator before starting a thread with a description of what you're interested in. That moderator can give you a baseline estimate with which to make your guess.

Soon, the Bazaar Staff plans to introduce an "exotic pricing precedents" feature, where we store some links to threads that contained a variety of more unusual requests. These will start being guidelines for future threads; we hope, in that way, to create a database of the weird or unusual that will guide future purchases of the abnormal variety.

Please note: if what you request is exceptionally good, the Bazaar moderator MAY choose to treat it like our special materials. This means they may not sell it to you or may require more significant posting before offering it for sale. Once again, when in doubt, ask the moderator BEFORE starting the thread! (See question 10 for more information on requesting unique materials.)

[Sighter Tnailog]

Q: Why can't I buy adamantine in the Bazaar? Or any of those other special materials?

A: Technically speaking, that's not entirely true. When we say that our special materials aren't available in the Bazaar, what we really mean is they aren't easily available.

The Bazaar is made up of tons of shops. It has outdoor stands and indoor warehouses, emporiums of bric-a-brac and high-end retailers. It is only logical that somewhere in this hodgepodge of specialty shops and wholesalers there might lurk hidden jewels and treasures for the intrepid.

The Bazaar is, in some sense, not only a service we offer. It is also a place to roleplay. If you would like to purchase adamantine, you could start a quest in the Bazaar in which you follow up leads on a strange merchant that you've heard about, one who appears only at certain times and in certain weather conditions and who offers the finest goods to those lucky enough to catch him.

If you play through this with a moderator, you might need upwards of 20 good posts -- that is, 10 posts from each of you -- just to purchase the material. If you decide to do the quest entirely free of mod input, you could make it a solo quest or find some people to share it, say "no moderator necessary" at the top of the thread, and go for it (you can submit it under normal requirements for length in cases not involving moderator input). When done with your thread, submit it for judging using the normal system.

In threads outside the Bazaar, we tend to require pretty good scores to just get these materials. In these threads, though, your discount will be equal to your score. So if you score a 50, that's 50% off. Most of these items are extremely costly to begin with, though -- 20,000 GP or more -- so 50% off is still expensive. But score a 90, and your discount makes the item 2000 GP.

But buyer beware! Just because you do these threads does not entitle you to an item you can't afford. If you have 100 GP, you can't use the Bazaar to buy adamantine even with a 95. Be sure you check with the moderator before conducting this sort of quest to find out the absolute base cost for the item, and if you don't think you can afford it you might be better off either saving up or looking for the item outside of the Bazaar.

One final note: you are not banned from writing a thread in the Bazaar which has nothing to do with purchasing an item (or even obtaining one). You could write a rollicking adventure story in which you save a merchant from a horde of bandits. In cases where a thread is not designed to exchange gold for an item, they will be treated normally. You will be rewarded normal GP, and could even request a special material item as a spoil. In these cases, spoils will be rewarded exactly as they would outside of Althanas: based on score and storyline justification.