Time for a change of blades

[MiaKane]

Mia hadn't been down in the markets for a long while, not since hunting an illusive man. But either way, he didn't matter anymore, what did was a distinct need for some different weapons. The presence of the crowds always threw her off quite a bit as she had a bit of an anxiety issue with having too many people in a small space.

She made her way as quickly as she could to a place selling itself as an “outfitter or sportsman's” shop. The place could be considered a poor mercenary's wet dream. The ice elf scanned the wares for a moment as she made her way to a glass counter, where she saw some of the items she needed, and on the wall behind it the rest.

Seeing the proprietor of the wares she spoke up.

“How much will you give me for these?” she said setting both of her swords* on the counter. “and I would like to know how much for a pair of those steel Khukri.” she liked them, seeing that they were made thicker in the blade, and the handles left as two simple pieces of wood riveted to it.

“and how much for the steel bowie knife, and perhaps a price on two those steel and brass trench knives?”**

*both of her swords are steel Jians (strait swords liken to hand and a half swords)
** trench knives are basically a pair of brass knuckles with a ten inch steel spike coming out of it like a knife blade

also on the Khukri, I'm meaning for them to be built to handle a lot of punishment but not be beautiful.

[AdventWings]

((Hi, MiaKane! You sure know your edged weapons. :D))

Edward looked up from a book he was reading with a start. While it really was a rather normal day in the Bazaar, the store normally did not draw in many customers. Now that there was someone here to actually buy anything, the clerk was determined to make the sale.

"Oh, hello!" He quickly stood up and slid the book into a small shelf behind the counter. As the swords were laid upon the table, the clerk went immediately to work.

While Edward was not familiar with the swords' designs, he had a gift for judging quality in contrast to a weapon's label. While the twin blades did not appear stellar, their exotic construction meant for a slightly higher price than the norm. If only by a little.

"I can give you... two hundred pieces for both of them." Edward announced before moving on to pricing the other items the ice elf mentioned. It took some time for the young merchant to understand what a trench knife or a Bowie was, as he was unfamiliar of even the term, but a quick scan through a Collection Tome quickly pointed out the overall design he should be looking for.

Thank the Thaynes for Wikki's Encyclopedium. He murmured quietly as he fetched the items from the backroom.

"Oh, OK. A Trench Knife of steel will cost you 25 pieces and 20 for one in brass. The Bowie knife, let's see... Yes, 25 pieces as well. I'm sorry if the prices are a bit high, but we normally don't carry them in stock. However..."

The merchant carefully took out the pair Khukri from the nearby shelf and laid them out on the counter, letting the sunlight play on its sturdy large blades.

"These are finely made to handle almost anything you can abuse it with, whether it be firewood or your enemy's necks. The prices for each of them is one hundred and fifty pieces."

[MiaKane]

Mia blinked at the salesman after running the numbers in her head for a few moments.

Giving a rather questioning, and slightly disbelieving look at him, she spoke as she placed her hands on the counter an leaned forward a little.

“okay, I don't mind the price on the trench knives and the Bowies... that I can fully understand, but you are honestly telling me that you are going to give me two hundred for both of my time tested swords and then tell me that for a pair of relatively easy constructed knives, granted they are just as rare as these others, that you want one hundred and fifty pieces EACH? For a knife? I mean I could understand that if they were engraved or had some kind of rare wood handles or something like that, but...that seems just a way bit steep for a knife.”

[AdventWings]

Edward knew this was going to be tricky to convince a warrior's gold out of her pouch. Barring any use of real power (which he had none to spare) the merchantman opted for a more diplomatic approach.

"Well, the Khukri is more or less much more than a simple knife." He tried to reason with the customer, bringing out all his skills of negotiation into play. "It's practically a hatchet in its own right. Also, it's a lot stronger than it looks and not that many weaponsmiths have the skills to make these anymore."

It was a good try - citing rarity and utility worked rather well against most people. However, Edward knew he had to do better.

"And how about this? I'll gladly buy your swords at a higher price in return. A hundred and twenty five for each long sword, what do you say?"

While the merchant did not like bartering much, he still knew how to handle them when they came his way.

[MiaKane]

Her finger tapped on the surface of the counter as she eyed him over the top of her glasses. Mia let out a heavy sigh as she gave a moment to thought, her eyes looking over her old swords and the khukri she wanted.

She let out a soft fake cough as an enunciation of her displeasure before speaking again” well, if you are going to compare it to a hatchet, then by all means they should be almost cheaper than anything around here, cause hatchets and axes are one of the easiest things to smith. As for trying to tell me that few smiths have the skills to make these...I really hope that isn't the case, cause then you can keep everything in this shop. Cause let me tell you, when I was traveling out in the unknown lands, which is where I first got to see these things being used heavily, everyone and their dog had one, I even asked someone why everyone had one and it was like hatchets to us, they are easy to make.”

The ice elf stopped for a moment to watch his reaction before continuing.

“granted I could be swayed to them possibly being imported. I'll give you seventy five pieces each for them, and take the originally offered hundred a piece for my swords.”

[AdventWings]

Edward winced as he heard the customer's offer. He knew it was going to be a hard one to win over... but this was just murder!

If he could read the ice elf's mind, he would know to fib the blades being imported from Fallien. But the blades were not imported. They were made by some of the more skillful blacksmiths in the area, but not nearly enough to be called geniune blades.

It did, however, costed the merchant a hundred pieces each. No way he was letting it go for lower.

"...Seventy-five a piece seems a bit..." He cleared his throat in dismay. "Insulting to the bladesmith who crafted this. How about this - One hundred and twenty five for each Khukri, and I'll buy the longswords at one hundred and twenty each."

He was determined to make the sale. But with each bout the profit margin grew slim. He now had to decide... Call or Fold?

[MiaKane]

Mia Stared at him like a cat stares at a mouse before the final pounce. The stern look was almost enough to convince the ice elf that she was actually going to try and be serious.

Though quickly her lips parted into a humored chuckle.

“You drive a hard bargain my friend. A deal it is, two hundred and forty for both my blades and two-fifty for two of your's, I like that.” she smiled as she slid her blades across the counter and produced her gold pouch” Ten for remainder on the khukri, and lets see...” she counted it out in her off hand” seventy five for two of the steel Trench knives and the one Bowie.” she set the money out in a stack before him before producing an extra ten pieces that she set separately before leaning over the counter closer to him and speaking softly “and ten for being handsome and playing this fine game with me.”

[AdventWings]

The merchant felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his face when the ice elf leaned in, fearing for the worst.

...I hate it when they do that.

Working at a weapon shop pitted the young merchant against many types of customers, both the earnest and the unruly types. The worse kinds he had experienced with were the coy ones who loved to chase him to a corner and bat his fragile psyche for amusement. While the human side of him was ready to explode and simply not make the sale, the merchant side calmed his boiling temper and accepted the deal gratefully.

"Glad to be of service." Edward grinned, albiet weakly. He could smell the warrior's scent when she leaned him close, which made him even more nervous than when she was simply playing games with his mind. Reminding himself that she was only a customer, the man let out a distracted cough before resuming his solid facade.

"Do you have anything else you wish to buy?" He could feel a bead of sweat running down his face, but had neither the want nor will to wipe it away. All he could do was look straight at the ice elf and wait for any further move on her end.

[MiaKane]

With a happy giggle Mia shook her head.

“Naw, that will be all I need today.” she said as she put away her gold pouch and waited for her new blades.

[AdventWings]

Edward nodded at the customer's reply and gathered the wares she was looking for. In a short period of silent shifting from one display shelf to another, the Trench Knives, Bowie and Khukri were laid out on the counter encased in their respective leather sheaths.

"Here you are, as well as our complimentary sheaths to go with each blade you requested." The merchantman announced.

[MiaKane]

Smiled as she gathered up her blades and left.

[AdventWings]

Edward let out a heavy sigh as soon as the ice elf disappeared with her wares, finally having gathered the courage to run a hand across his forehead to remove the cold, clammy sensation from his face.

"I swear," The clerk muttered under his breath. "I'm getting a helper one of these days."

((Transaction Complete!

MiaKane loses 95 GP and two Steel Jian.

MiaKane receives the following:

- Steel Trench Knives (x2)
- Good-quality Steel Khukri (x2)
- Steel Bowie Knife
- 100 EXP

Thank you and please come again!))