Spoiling Myself

[Hysteria]

Talen was walking through the bazaar. The idea, the simple statement, was foreign to the shadow puppeteer. For one who was so use to a life bereft of enough food the idea of buying something like this was alien.

The shadow puppeteer's blue eyes scanned the stalls that lined the bazaar. He was in search for a tool which some might not stock openly. In truth Talen wasn't really sure what the attitude of people would be for the humble caltrop. The tool, a simple set of spikes was an easy way to turn the ground into an impassable sea of spikes. Most importantly for Talen, it could make a hasty retreat into a safe getaway.

After pacing around the bazaar Talen found a small weapon store. It was set back between two stalls and look just that little bit dodgy. Though Talen was not the more experienced world traveller, he did notice that some of the weapons on display were slightly more 'exotic' than one would normally find. He walked into the store and turned to the purveyor of goods.

"Hi. I am looking for some steel caltrops, nothing too special, but usable. Can I see what you've got?" Said Talen glancing around the store.

[Taskmienster]

The shopkeep turned to the new comer with a smile, a devious one. "Caltrops, eh? We've got plenty, and got 'em in iron or steel. How much you itchin' to pay? Iron caltrops are fifteen gold for every handful, which is about seven or eight, and steel are twenty gold per handful."

[Hysteria]

Talen reached out and picked up one of the iron caltrops and examined it. It was fairly good workmanship considering what it was, but the Shadow Puppeteer wanted to try and get a discount. Money after all, was not something to be handed over freely. His blue eyes squinted in concentration as he was looking at the caltrop. Small black lines barely noticeable stretched along the iron nails.

"It seems their are some impurities in this iron. It wouldn't do any go to have them easily crushed underfoot." Said Talen reaching for more caltrops and spreading the thin shadow lines across their metal too.

"Here look," he said handing it to the shop keep, "How about 40 of these impure iron ones for say, 60 gold? Two extra should cover those that break."

God I hope he doesn't realise I am trying to scam him.

Works out to be 10 caltrops for 15 gold

[Taskmienster]

The man eyed the other, looking at his face and how he was talking more than listening to what he was saying. Then, he went blank. Numbers danced in his head, and then twisted and turned, and slowly became dragons and shadow creatures. He stood for a moment, staring at nothing before his eyes shifted and he realized he had been day dreaming again.

"Oh, umm... carry the one, minus the three, plus four. Sure, that sounds about reasonable. Forty pure, if anyone should ask you, iron caltrops for sixty gold. Now, these doesn't come with any warranty of no kind. You break it, you already bought it, so I don't give a rats behind if you come back with some bleeding heart sob story."

The shopkeeper quickly removed forty of the iron caltrops from the bucket behind the booth, picking out a scattering of about seven that weren't perfect but were still functional. Keep the best ones for the top of the bag, and get rid of at least a couple of the lackluster ones to the customers that complained the most.

"That it then boyo?"

[Hysteria]

"40 pure ones it is. My thanks." Said Talen handing over the gold and taking the caltrops. "That is all for today."

The shadow puppeteer walked out of the store, the slight dampness that comes from stress marked under his arms. Taking a deep breath Talen walked away from the store with a smile on his face. It was not a bad first experience for his first trip to a bazaar.

[Taskmienster]

Transaction complete!

Hysteria receives 40 caltrops, and 25 exp.

Hysteria loses 60 gold.

In the future, you don't have to submit these for judging. Whoever's working to help you will come in and finish it and then tell whoever's adding and removing things (like me) and we'll come in and get all that done.

Exp and GP added.