The seaside town of Silverport was an interesting place. The buildings were almost all one story and made of stone or wood, and the only exceptions were a few of the shops and the town’s only inn. The docks were in good condition, and there were two ships in the harbor. Vendel had decided not to check out the pub closest to the harbor because of being warned away from the sailors. So he instead went to the merchants to see what he could sell to them.

Vendel stood outside one of the shops with Basil in his arms, thinking about what he should sell to the merchants. He could probably sell his pot, utensils, and bowls, but he decided to keep both of his knives, just in case Basil couldn’t take down an enemy alone. Having decided what to sell, Vendel entered the shop, a place called The Silverport General. Inside was quite the selection of things, everything from food to swords and more. There was an open floor, and most of the goods being sold were on tables by the walls, giving the merchant a good view from behind the counter of the entire store. Vendel walked up to the counter and was greeted with a scowl. The merchant was a short and grumpy looking old man who obviously disliked mice. He gave a good long glare to Basil before turning his attention to Vendel.

“What do you want?”

A little taken aback by the merchant’s attitude, Vendel stammered a little before answering,

“Uh, I, uh, was hoping to sell some things?”

The merchant snorted and gestured to Vendel,

“Well? What did you want to sell? I don’t have all day you know.”

Vendel nodded and put Basil on the counter, ordering him to sit still while Vendel grabbed his stuff from his backpack. As Vendel fished out his things, Basil stared at the old merchant, who was short enough that he was eye to eye with the mouse. The two had a glaring contest as Vendel fumbled to get his things out, and it was the merchant who ended up looking away first.

Put in a worse mood because of his loss to a mouse, the old man was even gruffer than before, and hurried the sale along as fast as he could. Vendel had gotten an idea of the currency by talking to one of the guards before he had traveled further into the town, and recited what he learned in his head,

“Fifty copper to one silver, thirty silver to one gold, which means one thousand and five hundred copper to one gold.”

The merchant ignored the annoying young man and examined the pot first. He determined the price with an excellent poker face, and continued on to the rest. The old man finally finished and gave his offer,

“These are all of decent quality, so I could give you around two silvers, and twenty coppers for the whole lot.”

Vendel shrugged and agreed to the price. He had no idea whether he was being cheated because he had nothing to compare with, but it sounded okay. The merchant somehow got even angrier than before and quickly handed over the money before telling Vendel to get out and take his monster with him.

Vendel picked up Basil and left with a happy smile on his face. He could finally get some real food. As he left the merchant grumbled and put away his new things.

“Stupid nobles. They never bother to haggle, and always act like they’re better than us. Even his monster pet acted like it was better than me. Who even keeps a monster as a pet?”

The merchant stilled in his tasks, and an evil smile came over his face,

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“The way he acts, he’ll probably be stolen from by the sailors should he run into them.”

Unaware of the ill wishes radiating towards him from the shop he just left, Vendel happily walked on, thinking about finding a way to blend in with the people of the world. The street he was on had several nice houses, and there looked to be another shop further down the road to the harbor. Vendel walked down with Basil in his arms, earning him several odd looks from the inhabitants of the town. Children watched eagerly, hoping for a chance to get a better look at the adorable mouse, and parents watched just as much as their children, ready to grab their child and run if the mouse got free. Basil loved the attention he was getting and adjusted himself to look more regal in his master’s arms. He was happy that his master had come to this place. Basil had always wanted to see where the two-legs… no… humans had made their nests. He sat listening to his master mumble under his breath, and to the words of the other humans, and he felt the words sink into his mousy brain, increasing his intelligence greatly. Basil wondered when he would be able to converse with his master.

Finally Vendel reached the shop, and decided that he needed clothes that fit with this world.

“After all, you can never know if this world knows about Otherworlders and if they are welcomed or not, so I should try to blend in.”

Vendel entered the shop, and twenty minutes, one silver coin, and a screaming woman later, Vendel emerged from the shop wearing a homespun shirt and cloak. The shirt was a simple thing, dull green, and surprisingly comfortable. The cloak was brown, reached down to his calves, had a hood, and also was waterproof. It was fastened at the throat with a simple clasp made of iron. Vendel had kept his boots, pants, and belt, but had rigged up some sheaths for his knives to the belt. He decided that he looked quite nice.

After asking for directions Vendel headed towards one of the pubs, hoping for a meal and maybe a drink. As he walked he once again started talking to himself,

“I don’t understand why that tailor started screaming when she saw Basil. Sure he’s a monster, but he is tame, and he never chewed on any of her merchandise. Was it because there was a mouse the size of a cat in her shop? Wait, when did Basil get bigger? Have you been growing Basil? Because I swear that you were only the size of a small kitten before.”

Basil gave a shrug and chittered a little. Vendel looked in awe at his pet and wondered if his mouse would be able to talk eventually. Determined to make his mouse the smartest there was, Vendel decided that he would get a book on tactics later and read it to Basil. Maybe Basil would get better at killing things then. Vendel finally found the pub he was looking for and entered. Lost in thought he didn’t remember the warning to stay away from the sailors, nor did he notice the sailors drinking inside. He simply walked in and sat at the bar. The owner of the pub walked up and asked what Vendel wanted.

“Oh, could I maybe get something to eat? And a drink too, but nothing strong. Doesn’t matter what I get so long as it’s not too pricey.”

The man behind the bar nodded and headed off to get the man with the monster some food. As Vendel sat and waited, all the while stroking Basil’s velvety head, one of the sailors took notice of the two and made his drunken way over to Vendel.

“Hey mate! Yer new round here, got business with us sailors? Nobody comes to this pathetic place unless they be needing a ship out!”

“Well I was thinking of sticking around for a while and getting the lay of the land.”

The sailor laughed and slapped Vendel on the back.

“Git a lay o’ the land! You should come to sea with us! Its better than staying around here mate! The captain would probably be willing to have an interesting person like you on board! I mean, you got a monster with ya!”

Vendel smiled and nodded, but disagreed with the sailor. Thankfully his food and drink arrived, so he could ignore the sailor and eat. After he and Basil were done, he paid for his food and rose to leave. He was about to reach the door when it opened and a fearsome looking man entered. He looked at Vendel and then stared at Basil. Then he spoke.

“So, me crew was right! There is a fella with a tame monster!”

He placed a hand on Vendel’s shoulder and as Vendel looked around he noticed that he was surrounded by men who were obviously of the captain’s crew.

“We’re gonna have a wee talk laddie.”