Change of Wardrobe

[Bloodrose]

Sweat. Old sweat. It was an unfortunate conclusion; the dismal and heartwrenching culmination of several minutes worth of contemplation. After a long, hard-pitched battle waged with soap and brush, Teric's beloved wardrobe had hung silently in the evening sun for an hour or so, soaking up the rays as they filtered through the window of his room. Once dry, the old veteran had almost ceremoniously lifted his shirt to his nose, casually testing the fabric between thumb and index finger as he closed his eyes and inhaled...

Old, stale, stubborn sweat!

Teric's breath left him in one huge, disappointed sigh. Three times now today he had soaked his clothes in fresh water, coated them lovingly with expensive soaps of varying aromas, and rinsed them to let them hang and dry in the sun. Three times now today he had tried valiantly to rid his daily wardrobe of that pervasive, lingering odor that was a pock mark on his image. Three attempts, and three failures it seemed, for the scent of old, stale sweat would simply not leave his clothes.

"I suppose these things happen when you wear the same clothes every day for a year." The grizzled old veteran was forced to admit at last. With no close family, no real home, and few worldly possessions, a man like Teric has been known to grow unusually fond of the few possessions that were truly his own. His sword... his armor... the clothing off his back... While a couple decades of living like a dog on the battlefield - constantly covered in grime and gore - had taught him to not be a stickler for cleanliness, one thing was certain: when Teric washed his clothes, he expected them to be clean. There was nothing quite like the scent of freshly washed clothing, and the feel of clean fabric on your skin. For these particular clothes, that feeling would now be forever tarnished by the scent of old, seeped in sweat, because apparently no amount of elbow grease and determination was going to dislodge it.

Teric's only recourse was clear: "I need some new clothes."

...

A hour's time found Teric standing in a tailor's boutique, pouring over squares of various fabrics and colors, assembling himself a list of new gear. The last time he'd visited this sort of establishment, the veteran had opted for flair over functionality, but falling back into the mercenary lifestyle had prompted his decisions this time around to stick more towards function.

Although, it never hurt to be a little classy...



2 x black breeches (VLINCE)
2 x white tunics (VLINCE)
1 x black "Tristan" cape (VLINCE)

1 x black suspenders (LINEN)
4 pairs of boot-socks (LINEN)
4 x black briefs (LINEN)

1 x black belt (LEATHER)
1 pair black gloves (LEATHER)

[Viola Conda]

Serena walked with grace as she carried the next set of fabrics to the mercenary, grinning the whole time. It wasn't everyday everyone ordered a full set of clothing. Sure, she had seen tunics and capes go out, but this was a nice amount of clothing.

"After we get his measurements please have him pick out the fabric in question for color." she said sternly to her workshop minions. Three blond woman all nodded as one as they continued to help him. "Wine is complementary here with a purchase sir, so please feel free to have a glass of the best we have to offer."

A worker merely glanced to him as she mumbled. "What color would you like sir?"

"Details can come later. My darling," She said placing a broad shoulder over her customers. She dangled a glass of wine before her pointing to the mirror as if looking into the future. "A fine gentleman like yourself should never, ever expect less than the finest. Your fabric materials I think can be a bit more protective for your broad features. I have a nice base price for what you picked, but an adventurer of your magnitutde needs more protection than cloth I would think. Let's say out with the old style, and in with the new!" she proclaimed as she turned on him.

"We do have a fantastic cape made of dragon hide, as well as few other harder to gather materials." She walked passed him swinging her hips side to side. "That is of course, if you were serious about being a man and adventurer." She dropped the current bill on the lap of one of her workers and glared at her. Unless her customers decreed it so, they were not to see the bill until the work is done.

Unable to help herself, the worker glanced at the sheet. The price of everything came out to: 1306 gold pieces.

[Bloodrose]

Just to be safe, I want to let you know ahead of time that there is no hidden subtext contained in my Bazaar post. It may be overly cautious or paranoid of me, but I didn't want you to read my post like I was trying to accuse you of something. I'm simply basing Teric's IC reaction on his previous IC experiences with the Bazaar.

This sales-girl certainly has a tongue on her. Teric smiled to be polite, but on the inside he was more than a little annoyed. He found it irritating that the girl's sales pitch relied heavily on calling his manhood into question - as if he was some insecure twit to be lulled into a loftier purchase by appeals to his masculinity.

"I'm sure you have many fine garments made of the priciest materials around," Teric replied evenly, "but I'm really not interested."

Walking over to the aide - with whom the salesgirl had deposited what Teric could only assume was his bill for the original list - the mercenary lifted the sheet of parchment out from under the girl's prying eyes. 1306 was the figure scrawled prominently on the page - big and flourished as if whoever wrote it was proud of that number. It was a number high enough that Teric was a little taken aback.

"I'm afraid I have to contest your number here, milady." Teric turned the page in the direction of the salesgirl to show her the sum - as if she didn't already know full well what it was. "The last time I bought (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=8995) breeches and a shirt, I paid 130 for the both of them in vlince - so even by the farthest stretch of the imagination I wouldn't pay more than 300 for 2 shirts and 2 pair of breeches of the same material. On top of that there is the belt, gloves, suspenders, and underclothes - all common items of common materials. Depending on the quality of the belt and gloves you may talk me out of 100 gold pieces for the lot - but no more than that. So..."

Teric did the math in his head, subtracting the 400 he'd allotted for the items so far out of the girl's original price. The number remaining was a staggering 906 gold pieces for the vlince cape - more money than Teric had shelled out for his haubergeon (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=12902) shirt, and that was made of mythril!

"...either the vlince cape in question here is enchanted to make beautiful women wet between their thighs at the mere sight of me, or you're trying to rip me off."

That last comment might have brought a blush to the cheeks of some of the aides, but the deadly serious tone in Teric's voice belayed any giggling school-girl antics. The mercenary literally growled the accusation, his voice low like a boulder rolling down a mountain-side. Had the total price for everything he'd asked for been closer to 600, Teric might have written off the bloat as a shopkeeper just looking to make a tidy profit. The mercenary had no problem with that, but a price like 1306 wasn't just a shopkeeper looking to make a profit; it was a shopkeeper looking to fleece a customer for every copper he had.

Teric certainly had a problem with that - especially since he was the one getting fleeced.

[Viola Conda]

((No worries, I just did my math horridly wrong I realized. So I'll just play along with you instead.))

Serena stopped dead in her tracks as her little scam was caught on to. Her mind was racing with thoughts as to what to do and suddenly an escape presented itself. She pointed to the female worker near the man and said in a loud voice, "You, Abigale! You should have known better than to add the labor in and multiply it all together as one, you idiot. You are fired. How dare your vile idiot thinking ruin the reputation of this fine establishment."

Abigale looked to her madam in shock as her mouth dropped open. "But, but I don't even," Abigale was cut off as Serena cut her off.

"No, I don't listen to the words of a fool. Leave now you whore child. I'll make it so you can never find work in this town again!" Serena said. Abigale turned to the gentleman before her and gave him a look of sincerity and honest intent that it wasn't her fault. She turned to Serena, walking out as her finger lifted upwards and giving her the universal sign for she was number one with her middle digit. "Ugh, filthy animal..." Serena took the paper from the mans hand and wrote in a different style of font a new number. Better to be safe, Serena...

"I'm not including anything fancy here, and for the materials to be made into what you want, I can give you the very, very reasonable amount of 750 gold for the whole thing. This is including the quantity for all the items in question as well as the material it self." Serena turned away from him. "And for the inconvenience I will even be generous to knock off fifty of the cost." She tossed the paper in the air behind her as she grabbed a wine glass and filled it. "700 gold for everything, fair deal?"

[Bloodrose]

700 is still a little high, but certainly more reasonable. Teric pondered, a scowl still painted on his face. He'd maintained his posture and disapproving stare throughout the whole micro-drama that unfolded between the shopkeeper and her assistant, watching with a sense bordering on amusement as the tailor tried to save face. The grizzled old veteran almost felt sorry for the girl who got fired, but in the grand scheme of things she would probably be better off.

Better that girl go learn from someone honest, rather than take after this shyster.

"650 and you've got yourself a deal." Teric replied coolly. "Because, you know, I'd just hate for the word on the street to take a nasty disposition towards you. Consider the extra 50 to be advertising costs - the cost of me not advertising what went down here."

Normally Teric wouldn't try so purposefully hard to bully a shopkeeper, because honestly, what was the money to him? In this particular case though, the shopkeeper was deserving of treatment that bordered on extortion. She'd either have to sacrifice for her money and take his deal, or she could gamble on how many customers she'd lose once the story started to make its way around town. It was her choice.

[Viola Conda]

((OOC: Dear god you remind me of a guy a had to deal with at work...))

Serena looked at the man with incredible eyes of shock. HOW DARE HE! She was fuming from the ears her hatred towards this man, but in the end...she wasn't in the position to barter. His stoic eyes told her that he was full and willing to carry out this plan of action, and she was sure it would not only demoralize her, but also bring about the end of her business. She looked down at the paper and slit her eyes into two balls of hate.

"I understand this game sir, but I already cut the costs considerably, one hundred gold pieces off would mean that I take a huge loss, a loss greater than I may be allowed to take. That's giving you some of our fabrics free. Why don't you just listen to reason instead of assume you can bully me around?" She spat out. The other workers watched in amusement as their mistress Serena was losing her grip.

Serena looked at him and then let off a soft grin in the corner of her lips. "Besides, a hundred gold coin cost would mean that all the money made wouldn't be able to pay off the workers. all 650 you are willing to pay would only replace the material. So the pay of these people who built it wouldn't be able to be met. You wouldn't want to put them out would you?" Serena asked, looking at his eyes with a dead serious look.

She was being honest in her demeanor. She wouldn't pay her workers a single dime for any of the work if she had to barter down to 650. 700 was more than fair for the materials.

[Bloodrose]

What a clever bitch! Teric had to give the girl credit, however begrudgingly; she knew what she was doing. If he had to guess, the mercenary would have to surmise that she'd played this game before - and judging by her previous actions - her threat was one she was more than capable of carrying out. No one spoke for a moment, but there wasn't much that needed to be said. One look from the poor girls working in the employ of this scoundrel was all it took to loosen Teric's purse strings.

"Alright." The veteran raised his hands in defeat. "700 it is then."

He wasn't happy about it, but another 50 crowns wasn't worth fighting with the shopkeeper over; especially not if it was going to cost her employees their livelihood. Teric lowered his hands and reached into his satchel bag, pulling out neatly tied string-pouches of 100 crowns apiece.

"Get me what I came for and I'll be out of your hair."

[Viola Conda]

A wry smile of triumph came about Serena's lips as she clapped her hands, her workers all jumping up and moving to get the materials all piled up and finished. "Just give us two days sir, and then we have a done deal. Please stay in one of the local motels if you would like." She walked by the man, her lips still unable to stop from smiling. "A fine man like yourself knows good taste when he sees it." She took the money from him and began to jingle it in her hands. "A fine choice you made." And she left with that.

~*~*~

Two days later a worker waited at the front desk, several boxes with ruffly purple paper held the items for the amount of 700 gold coins. The worker looked at the items, and sighed realizing she was only paid 5 coins for the whole shebang. Still, five coins would feed her family, and she knew the other girls were probably paid even less. But to work with Mistress Serena and leave on fine terms guaranteed her a great job elsewhere, where one day she would be able to make her own wages and pursue her dream of one day opening the thrift shop.

As she heard the door bell jingle she snapped her daze out and smiled a very fake smile. "Welcome back sir, your items are ready to go, please sign here."

[Taskmienster]

GP deducted