How Can You Put a Price on a Dream?

[A Nony Mouse]

Travis Kiltias strode through the bazaar with single-minded purpose. His father's old armor worked well enough, but after his recent encounter with a beast in the Concordia Forest, he thought it was time to upgrade. Unfortunately, he was nearly broke. Oh well, he thought. At least I can price some new stuff. After passing many blacksmiths and armories, Travis spotted a small shop tucked away behind a vendor on the street. Unassuming and sparsely decorated, Travis knew this was a good place to start looking.

He pushed open the door and a small bell chimed his presence. The shop wasn't very deep; it displayed mostly simple suits of armor and basic weapons. Near the back counter, however, Travis saw two well-made suits and at least three finely crafted weapons. The owner stood behind the counter, deep in concentration over a book of some sort. "Excuse me, sir," Travis ventured as he stepped up to the counter. "I'd like to get pricing on some items."

[Slayer of the Rot]

Cyril glanced over that morning's paper to look at the red haired new comer, and reached for a steaming cup of coffee nearby. "Sounds easy enough. What do you need?"

[A Nony Mouse]

Travis glanced down at the list he had quickly scribbled on a scrap piece of parchment. A new pole, was written at the top. "Well sir," Travis began, "I have this cypress pole." He leaned it up against the counter as he continued, "But the simple wear and tear from fighting monsters with it has already begun to chip away at its sides. I fear that such a polearm will not last long." Sighing, he waited until the shopkeep looked at him to continue. "I need a pole crafted from sturdier wood," he said at last. "Do you perhaps have a piece of Akashima redwood near seven feet long available?"

Not wishing to overload the man with requests, he added as an afterthought, "I'm looking to price some armor also, but I'd like to know how much such a pole would be first. Can you help me?"

[Slayer of the Rot]

"Cypress isn't all that great for fighting monsters," Cyril said matter-of-factly, and took a quick sip of his coffee, sitting up in his chair and folding his paper over his knuckles.

"Nihon redwood is good though. Sturdy shit. I mean, I don't really use staves. No offense, but I like knowing something is going down when I put the metal point in it and some kinda fluid gushes out. But you're gonna have to fight something with hell of a wicked sack to chip the thing. It's all yours for just five hunnert and fifty crowns; a measly price for a staff that could well enough outlive you if you take good care of it.

"Now, if you're looking for something a little more temporary, we got yew, cyper, trakym and eklan. Yew being the cheapest of course. It's rather springy, so in the hands of a capable staff fighter, it's like getting hit with a wooden whip."

[A Nony Mouse]

Travis considered the shopkeeper's offer of 550 gold... much more than he could afford right now, but he'd known that. Glancing once more at his list, he decided he'd better move on to armor. "Sir," he replied, "that is a marvelous offer. However, I will need to save a little more before being able to afford such a fine weapon." He felt a little guilty tying up the man's time like this, but a quick glance ensured that no one else was waiting. "I also have a few inquiries about armor..."

Travis rattled off the items on his list, pausing between each to offer a brief explanation, "How much for a steel Italic helmet, one that offers a balance of protection and visibility. I'll need to be able to see a wide range of combat, more than say a Corinthian helmet would afford me. I would also like to know the price of dehlar chainmail, a blend of protection and maneuverability. If you have anything used, I would be interested in that as well, I simply need something offering a little more protection; both physical and magical." Travis stopped and eyed the shopkeeper. He still seemed to be paying attention, so the adventurer continued, "A pair of steel greaves are also on my list, sir. These would be a simple upgrade from my current iron greaves, offering slightly more protection. And finally, would you have the ability of lining the cuffs of my boots with trakym?"

The man raised an eyebrow at the long list of items and Travis sighed. "I know I may not be able to afford all of these, or even one of them. But I think that having a good estimate will spur me to save enough gold. And I assure you sir, I will return to this establishment when I have enough. So, if you could price these for me, I would be very much obliged."

[Slayer of the Rot]

"Eighty five, five hunnert and ten, fifty, and seventy five," he rattled off, then blinked, and shook his head vigorously.

"Er, I mean, eighty five crowns for the helm, five hunnert and ten crowns from the chainmail, fifty for the greaves, twenty five crowns for the trakym. Yes, we can do that." Cyril threw his head back and gulped the remainer of his coffee.

"I wouldn't really suggest dehlar for armor though. That stuff is better for hammers and maces and such. It'd be heavy and uncomfortable. You're better saving a little more for delyn, really. Are you wanting any of that, though."

[A Nony Mouse]

As the shopkeeper rattled off the prices, Travis thought long and hard about each purchase. He’d been dreaming of owning these items since he began wandering well over two years ago. He had his heart set on buying most of them, so what could it hurt to spend a little gold now? If he didn’t buy it today, he’d end up buying the same thing later.

He crouched down and removed his boots. “I’ll take the Trakym lining for these,” he told the man behind the counter. “Also, I would like to purchase the steel Italic helm today as well.” Mentally figuring how much that left him with, Travis looked at the very last item on his list. The Eoch'air. They’d be grossly out of his price range which was now down to a mere ninety gold, but he had to know just how much they'd cost.

“Sir, there is one more item I would like to inquire about. I’m looking to upgrade these bracers,” he indicated the worn leather things fastened to his arms, “to something much better. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking of the perfect combination of materials, and I believe that I have just the thing. How much would a pair of Damascus bracers run me if they were each inlaid with a gold septagram in the center?” The shopkeeper grinned and Travis braced himself for the exorbitant sum.

[Slayer of the Rot]

Bagley had already produced the Italic helm, and took the man's boots, stuffing them into his rough hewn burlap mouth. "Damascus bracers with gold ornamentation would be...two hunnert and ninety crowns." Cyril went silent and scratched behind his ear, nudging the helm closer. After a few moments of quiet, Bagley pulled the boots out of his mouth and the merchant grabbed them by their wood lined cuffs and set them before the customers.

"So uhh...are you wanting the bracers, too? Or are you going to need to earn a bit of cash?"

[A Nony Mouse]

Travis chuckled, "Unless you can let those bracers go for ninety gold, I'll probably have to save up a bit." He grabbed the helm, fitting it on his head. It fit perfectly; not too tight, not too loose. He wondered just how the little bag did it as he put his boots back on. Suddenly struck by an idea, he asked, "If I sold you my bracers, how much would they go for? And how much would it be for just the damascus bracers, without any ornamentation?" Maybe I can do this in steps, he thought. Sell the bracers, add in what gold I have, and then buy just the damascus bracers. Then later I can get them inlaid with gold. Travis figured it was worth asking, since there was still no other customer in the store.

While the shopkeeper thought over the price, Travis counted out 85 gold for the helm he'd purchased and another 25 gold for the boot enhancements. Setting his gold on the counter, he stepped back and waited for the odd merchant to respond.

[Slayer of the Rot]

"Without ornamentation, they're two hunnert and sixty gold. Those bracers?" Cyril leaned over the counter at squinted at them for a few moments.

"Twenty crowns," he said plainly, "maybe thirty if they weren't so worn. "I got a business to run though, ya know?" He chuckled, and settled back into his chair.

"Letting them go for two hundred is kind of a rookie mistake. If you want though, you can sell those bracers now. He'll I'll give you thirty instead of twenty for credit, which will bring it down to two hunnert and sixty. You could then give me what you got left, that ninety, and I'll put that towards credit too, bringing the price down to one hunnert and seventy. Then in a couple of days, when you got the money, you can come back and get them. How's that sounds? I'll still be here," he added, spreading his arms out towards the entire shop.

[A Nony Mouse]

Travis smiled at the shopkeeper's generosity. "So let me get this straight," he worked through the math out loud, "I sell you these bracers, give you my ninety gold, and then come back in a few days with the other 170 gold and buy the damascus bracers with ornamentation?" He only had to think the plan over once before he was sold.

"Done," he said, setting his worn bracers on the counter. "Pleasure doing business with you."

[A Nony Mouse]

As Travis turned to leave, he remembered that he had received extra gold for completing a quest recently. He reached into a pouch at his waist and produced another small purse. "Seems I do have enough for those bracers," he said. He counted out 170 gold for the bracers and laid them on the counter. After quickly counting the rest of the gold, he added, "I'll take the steel greaves for 50 gold as well." He set enough money on the counter and then stepped back.

"Thank you very much for your patience, sir."

[Slayer of the Rot]

"Huh? Oh, yeah, all right, sure." Cyril had already become distracted with something else, something past Travis' vision. The merchant stared into the middle of his huddled hands as Bagley collected the gold, and produced the remainder of the items.

"Er, bye," the merchant mumbled, not bothering to look up.

[A Nony Mouse gains the following:
Steel Italic Helm
Trakym Boot Lining
Steel Greaves
Damascus Bracers with Gold Ornamentation
50 exp

And loses the following:
450 gold]

[Witchblade]

done