Leather Armor

[Renjiro]

A faint pink glow reflected off of the cobblestone streets of Rathyria, a small practically unknown town in Raiaera. The sun was quickly falling from the sky. He was sending off his grand finale of the night. A spectacular display of colors lit up the sky. Clouds turned to pink and orange as they sang their farewells to the sun. Before too long he would disappear behind the horizon only to be replaced by jealous moon until the following morning.

The townspeople were to busy to notice nature’s farewell. They had many things to do before the night came. Everyone was hustling trying to finish the last thing on their lists. Parents roamed the street gathering up their children and urging back into their homes. Women hustled to get that one item they had forgotten that they needed to prepare their dinner. Men hurried to grab a drink at the pub before heading home. Many of the bazaar shops had already closed. The more greedy shop keepers were still trying to make that last sale before calling it quits.

An adolescent elf named Jiro walked through the shops looking at the different items that were on display. He looked worn and tired from the day’s labor, but he at least had the sense to look up and smile and nature’s glory. His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His blue eyes darted from shop to shop as he tried to absorb all of the different sights. The hood of his dark blue cloak was pulled down to reveal his pointy ears.

Jiro had traveled to Rathyria from a nearby village to purchase some extra food, but that had already been completed. Since it was so late in the day, he would not be able to make the trip back until the following morning, so he decided he might as well take a look around and enjoy himself while he was here.

Jiro stopped at a shop and marveled at the armor on display. ”I wonder how I would look in that,” he thought to himself, ”heroic, perhaps.” He tried to imagine himself walking back into his village garbed in full metal armor. He chuckled to himself as he thought of what the elders would say. “You foolish boy, in a year you will have grown out of that armor then you will have nothing to your name,” they would probably say something like that. Jiro was not actually considering buying the armor. He knew it would not last him long, and it would probably be too heavy for him.

Jiro was about to turn and leave when something in the corner of the shop caught his eye. There was some leather armor hidden in the back of the shop. He thought for a second, “Hmm, maybe I would look good in leather. It would stretch a little bit with me as I grow, and it couldn’t be as expensive as full metal armor.” Jiro wondered if it would be worth the gold. He had some money that had been given to him as inheritance since the day he was born, and he had never had a chance to spend any of it. Living in that small village made him wonder if he ever would. I might as well see what their asking for, he decided.

“Hello,” Jiro called out, “Is anyone here?”

[AdventWings]

Even as Day faded away from the sky, with Night approaching quickly at its heels, not everyone was ready to turn in with the last of the light.

"Yes, how may I help you"

The merchant's tongue whipped fluently in Raiaeran as he saw Jiro, the effeminate store clerk leaving the duties within the storage room to tend to the desk. Galen brisked across the well-swept floor and reached his perch, eyeing the young elf with his sharp blue eyes.

Sizing up the cloaked youth, Galen stood up to his full height of five-foot-nine and addressed his customer in the way reminiscing of the Raiaeran nobles.

"I assume you are interested in my leather armors, young sir?"

[Renjiro]

Jiro was awe stricken when he saw the catlike creature come to his aid. He had heard of such creatures on the planet, but he rarely left his village, so this was the first time he had ever seen someone matching their description. The elf boy had hundreds of questions spring to his mind that he wanted to ask the cat, but he bit his tongue because it would probably be considered rude.

Instead Jiro replied to the shopkeeper’s question, “Yes sir I am. I was just admiring those pieces over there.” The boy pointed to a table where some leather vests were sitting. They were very plain with no extensive stitch work done on them, but they did appear to be of average quality. Jiro was not sure what they were made out of, however. He knew little about the different types of leather.

“How much do they go for?” he asked hoping he had enough, “Also, I’ve of special leather called magim beast hide. I was wondering what that would go for in comparison to regular leather. And one more question,” he added hoping he was not being to troublesome, “is it possible to dye the leather to match my cloak?”

[AdventWings]

((OOC Note: Adventwings is merely the name of this account, Renjiro. For reference, Galen is a Raiaeran Elf as described in my post. Nothing too serious, just so you know. ^_^))

The elven storekeeper raised a curious eyebrow from the expression his customer made, but he dismissed it and continued with his duties.

"The leather vests there are 55 gold pieces each, sir. If you want to dye them to match that..." Galen peered at the deep-colored cloak, frowning ever so slightly at the unfashionable color. "It would cost you another 10 pieces for the service."

At the mention of the hide for the Magim beast hide, the merchant gave the youth a curious glance before addressing the issue.

"I'm sorry, sir, but this store does not accept payment in any other form asides from the agreed-upon currency. If you are looking to cell that, I believe there is a store a little ways down the road that accepts hides and leather..."

[Renjiro]

((OOC: Sorry, noob mistake.))

"No, no, no," Jiro said shaking his head, "I didn't mean I am selling. I heard that these hides make a stronger leather. I was wondering if you had any of those in stock." The elven boy smiled at the shopkeeper hoping he found this funny too. "Sixty five gold," he thought to himself, "That's not much at all. I can easily afford that. Perhaps I can even get a stronger leather, maybe this magim hide. Hmm, or maybe I could buy some boots and gloves to match."

Jiro looked around to see if the shop carried any other leather clothing. "How much are those boots there?" he asked pointing at a pair of black boots of to the side. They were a little bit fancier than the vest. It had some yellow trimming up around the top in a complicated looking design. The boots seemed to be of excellent quality, perfect for someone who was going to be doing a lot of traveling. Even though Jiro did not plan to do a lot of traveling, he liked the way they looked.

"And those gloves above them," Jiro added looking up from the boots. They were obviously made by the same tanner. They matched the boots perfectly. They were black in color with the same trimming along the mouth of the glove with excellent workmanship to boot.

[AdventWings]

"I see. My apologies for jumping to conclusions."

Galen bowed humbly, only straightening himself up to resume conducting his business.

"Ah, yes... Leather vests made of the hide from the Magim Beasts... quite expensive, I must say, especially high-quality ones we have... One hundred and twenty gold pieces, for ones I believe we have in stock..."

Dismissing his mind from that matter, Galen continued naming the prices for the rest of the requested wares.

"Those boots are excellent for long journey on foot... price is 40 pieces for that pair... and... Mmm, yes... 38 for those matching gloves..."

Turning to his... drabbed customer, Galen could not help but throw a curious sideway glance at the young adventurer.

"If you wish to buy them, it would cost a total of 143 gold pieces... twenty pieces more if you want the boots and gloves to match and 290 if you want ones made with the hides of the Magim Beasts. Such ferocious animals, they are..."

[Renjiro]

Jiro stood and listened to what the merchant had to say. He tried to understand it all, but was a little confused. "Wait," he said trying to make sure he understood him correctly, "if I wanted everything in magim it would be 290 gold? Did I get that right?"

Jiro scratched his head. He was not very good at math, but he tried to add everything up in his head, and the total for a magim vest with non-magim gloves and boots was less than 290, so the merchant must have meant 290 for all magim. "That seems like a good price," he thought to himself, "I have 300 to spend, so that would be just enough."

"I will take it if I heard you correctly, but instead of dying the vest blue, could you dye it black and give it some yellow trimming to match the gloves and boots?" He asked the merchant.

[AdventWings]

Galen once more looked at the young elf with curious eyes, though dismissing the thought almost immediately to continue with his duties.

"In that case, it shall cost you 300 gold pieces total for the vest, gloves and boots made with Magim Hide and dyed in your fashion. 120 for the vest, 85 for the gloves and 80 for the boots. I will charge you 15 pieces for the dye, if that is all right with you? If so, I shall give you this order slip and you may return tomorrow to receive your order. However, if you wish to receive your orders today, I shall require a few hours to have the vest colored."

[Renjiro]

"Hmm," Jiro thought to himself. That would be a lot, but I could afford it." His slid his hand down to his purse and felt the gold inside while pondering his options. "Alright," he finally said in a merry voice, "the price is right. I will buy them."

Jiro thought about it for a second. It was already late, and he did not want to keep the merchant up too late. "Tomorrow is fine," he said as he took out his purse to pay. He counted out three hundred gold and passed it across the counter to the merchant.

[AdventWings]

"Very well."

The merchant replied quietly, taking the money and putting it in the safe box. The coloring would already be done tonight, as it was the duty of the artisan in the back of the shop. Galen, however, would rather commense business with the rise of the sun.

~~~

The next day, his customer's armor and matching wares were ready for delivery. The merchant gingerly placed them to the side of the counter, making sure to let enough light from the window strike the magnificent equipments just right.

Now, all that is left to do is conduct business as usual while waiting for his young customer to return.

[Renjiro]

Jiro smiled as the merchant took his money. The sun had set by now, and the only light in the street were from a nearby lamp post and a few open windows. Jiro was quite tired and need to wake up early in the morning so he left the shopkeeper and went for the inn.

Early the next morning, after Jiro had finished his other business for the day, he returned to the shop to see if his armor was ready for him. He saw them lying on the counter. They looked exactly how he wanted them. He called to the merchant just to make sure he knew he had come by. "Hello," he said, "I have returned for my leather."

[AdventWings]

Galen eyed the younf customer casually, moving to retrieve the equipments even as Renjiro entered the store.

"Here you are, sir."

Giving the wares to the customer, the elf resumed his usual conduct and proceeded with his usual speech - one he was well-accustomed in doing.

"Would that be all for you, sir?"

[Renjiro]

"Yes, that will be all. Thanks," Jiro said, taking the leather armor. After an awkward moment where Jiro just stood there not knowing what to say or do, he turned and left bidding the shopkeeper farewell.

"Now off to conquer the world!" Jiro said entering the streets with a happy smile.

[AdventWings]

"Such a childish display."

The moody merchant sighed as he returned to his post. However, deep inside, he felt a hint of happiness.

Perhaps making someone's day was enough to lighten his mood?

((Transaction Complete.

Renjiro uses up his 300 GP line of Credit and receives his Magim Beast Hide Vest, Gloves and Boots. Renjiro receives 100 EXP bonus for good IC interactions.))