If there was an attribute in their profiles for Charisma it would undoubtedly be Mercer’s highest stat. Though he was not what she would have considered to be traditionally handsome, when Mercer wanted to he could crank up the charm and draw people in. As everyone followed his lead from tavern to tavern, it didn’t take long for Samantha to understand what Harold had meant by Mercer being ‘the most valuable thing’ he’d gotten out of the rift. If Samantha considered her parents to be highly skilled and competent merchants, Mercer could only be described as a true salesman.
By her definition, a merchant was anyone who bought or sold goods. A skilled merchant would be able to trade items with moderate or large margins without anyone feeling as though the transaction was unfair. Most of the time, however, merchants only sold things that customers were already seeking out. Salesmen were an entirely different, and rare, breed. Salesmen could take goods that a customer didn’t initially know about, or weren’t originally interested in, and make them seem like must-have purchases.
“Another round for my friend and his companions!” Mercer’s most recent customer shouted to the barkeep. In this case, Mercer had sold the mortal one of Harold’s tinctures that would grow back his thinning hair. Knowing how seriously Harold took his alchemy she had no doubt the potion would work as advertised rather than being some sort of scam. In addition to being paid physical currency for the product, the man had been so pleased with Mercer’s continued companionship that he’d bought their group a meal and some refreshments.
When a fresh tankard of chilled ale was placed in front of her by a barmaid she sipped it without complaint. She’d never really acquired a taste for beer–it was too bitter for her liking–but free food was free food. Beside her, Harold happily took long swigs of the beverage between large bites of his roasted bird leg.
“Need another drumstick? Mercer could probably get you one.” He asked after noticing her looking at him.
She’d given half of hers to Silas earlier so she had already cleaned her plate. She shook her head and took another sip of her drink. “I ate enough at the last place, but thanks.”
“Suit yourself.”
The tavern was lively and filled with too much noise for her to pick out Mercer’s conversation clearly, but she noticed that he seemed to be getting introduced to someone by his newest ‘friend’. The friendly looking, middle aged woman was slightly guarded at first, but she relaxed as the chat progressed. Before long, all three of them were laughing together.
Mercer bid the two farewell and came back to the table where Samantha and Harold were seated. “This one won’t work either, I’m afraid,” he reported with disappointment. “But, the owner directed us to an inn that will. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”
Harold wiped his mouth and hands with a napkin and stood. “Lead the way.”
Samantha nodded her agreement and followed the two of them out of the building.
As exceptional as Mercer was at what he did, there were some things that even his Charisma couldn’t overcome. In this case, it was Centra’s deeply ingrained guild system.
Unsurprisingly, both of the emblems that Harold and Samantha had received from the Delver’s guild had been emptied of points. When Samantha and Harold checked their balances on the way to the first tavern they visited, they received notifications that their points had been confiscated for damages inflicted on the guild and that they were blacklisted from all Delver-affiliated shops. Fortunately, now that they were in Centra, hard currency was more popular than using emblems to trade since points from different guilds might not have the same value. Mercer had adeptly deciphered what the unfamiliar coins were approximately worth based on listed prices of various items and had gathered a decent sum from selling Harold’s alchemicals, but that failed to solve a fundamental problem.
Centra natives wore various identifiers–such as enchanted pins or bracelets– that marked them as belonging to a particular guild. Before a purchase was made, this identifier was scanned by the seller in order to determine things like what could be bought or prices. Depending on if the customer came from the same guild, an allied guild, or an opposing guild, the shop’s offerings could be wildly different. Unaffiliated or those without guild identifiers were usually asked to submit to an inspection art like [Analyze] to confirm their identity. The information gathered from this art was then compared to some sort of guild archive, and trade would proceed (or not) depending on what was found there. Even taverns and inns were subject to these rules, which was one of the reasons why her group had been to several different locations already.
For Unaffiliated who had been blacklisted from a guild like themselves, things were exceedingly difficult. Supposedly, they would be refused service entirely from some places, while those that were willing to serve them would unashamedly gouge prices to capitalize on their limited options. Mercer had been doing an admirable job gathering information and tactfully sidestepping requests for identification so far, but she doubted they could completely avoid it if they stayed here longer than a few days. Avoiding being scanned at all was preferable since she was unsure if the Delver’s Guild was looking for them, but apparently businesses that permitted this were prohibitively expensive, highly suspect, or both. The next best option would be to follow Harper’s advice to only seek out places owned by rivals of the Delver’s Guild, but she hadn’t told Samantha which guilds those were. Mercer was figuring it out with each new person he talked to, but truth be told, being scanned or not might not even matter in the end. Much like what she faced in Yivesh, Silas was a unique bonded beast. She could be identified by him alone if they were really trying to find her. She wasn’t afraid of being found, exactly, but it’d be a pleasant surprise if limiting her group’s shopping venues was the only trouble the Delvers caused them once it was discovered they were in Centra.
“There it is!” Mercer called out, drawing everyone’s attention to the inn. “I’ll speak with the proprietor and see what I can do.”
Mercer dismounted from Sandy’s back and hurried inside. When the front door closed behind him, Harold turned to her. “A bit dingy, but not the worst I’ve been to. If he can get us in, that is.”
The two story building was constructed of wood and painted white. The paint was chipped or peeling in multiple spots and the area would benefit from general cleaning and landscaping, but the structure itself looked solid.
“If this doesn’t work we can try somewhere owned by the Adventurer’s Guild. Mercer mentioned they seemed to be the most direct rival to the Delvers.”
“It’s a shame that being blacklisted by a single guild has made everything so difficult. Seems that this city suffers from the same insufferable politics that the first floor had.”
“Well, in theory a decent amount of people who settled here ascended from the first floor, right? So, that would make sense.”
“Why anyone would want to continue that way of doing things is beyond me. It’s a new floor! A new world, practically! Why not institute a better system than this?” Harold huffed in annoyance. “Maybe the next floor will be more to my tastes.”
“You decided to ascend, then?”
“I’ll give it a little longer before making it final, but from what I’ve seen from just spending half a day or so here…”
Mercer came back out of the inn looking pleased.
“Already? That was quick,” she commented.
“I’m a bit surprised too! I guess when I was told they don’t ask questions so long as you pay up front and on time, that wasn’t an exaggeration,” Mercer said. “The money we have on hand only covers a few days stay here though, so we’ll need to figure out a more long term solution.”
“I’m sure I have at least a few things that buyers would be interested in, or I can try working a few jobs. I’ll have to ask around and see what’s available. Just let me know what I owe you both and I’ll pay you back when I can.”
Harold waved her offer off. “Don’t worry about it. Just focus on your own goals, and I can cover this much.”
Samantha gave him a curious look. “You sure?”
“You think I can’t afford it?”
“What he means to say,” Mercer quickly interjected, “is that you did your fair share getting us here from the Delver’s Outpost. And, the potions I’m selling are cheap for him to make. This is the least we can do to pull our weight.”
“...Right. What he said,” Harold confirmed.
Samantha chuckled to herself. “I’ll take you both up on that, then.”
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The heavy steps, frustrated grunt, and sound of a door being closed slightly too hard signaled Mercer’s return to the inn.
“Welcome back,” Samantha called out dryly. He was in the room next to hers, but the walls were thin enough where she knew he’d hear her. When she heard the directions of his footsteps change and the door to his room reopen, she went to open her own door to invite him inside. “Bad day again?”
Mercer sat on the thin mattress of her bed since she occupied the only chair in the small room. His expression twisted for a moment in distaste as he shifted around in search for a semi-comfortable spot. With each movement the bed frame creaked loudly in protest.
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She pointed to the other side of the bed. “Over there is slightly more plush.”
“Your bed is even worse than mine,” he grumbled.
She shrugged. “High resilience does have its perks. I could probably sleep on a rock without it bothering me too much.”
“I’m envious. And, to answer your earlier question, what other kind of days are there in Centra?”
“I’m sure for guild members it’s probably not so terrible!” she joked. “But, was there something in particular this time?”
Mercer let out a long suffering sigh. “Fewer and fewer people are willing to buy from us as word gets around. The Alchemists guild and the Healers guild are increasing the pressure on other guilds to direct their members to avoid interacting with us. The Alchemists guild has tried to intimidate Harold into selling to them for insultingly low prices again. Etcetera, etcetera…”
“So, more of the usual?”
He laughed. “Well, Harold mentioned he was going to inquire about joining other guilds today. So, that’s something different!”
“I thought he tried that last week.”
“Yes, but he’s looking at smaller guilds this time. He’s curious if the offers will be more fair because there is less competition to gain entry into them.”
“Oh, so he’s thinking he wasn’t valued as much before because everyone tries to get into the largest guilds first?”
“Exactly.”
“Wouldn’t it actually be harder to join the smaller guilds, though? If the excuse given to him from the larger ones was that it was risky to take in someone blacklisted by another guild since that guild could penalize them...”
“Yeah, he isn’t very hopeful about it. He’s mostly eliminating all options to make peace with a decision to ascend or not, but if you ask me, it's already been decided for a while now. How have things been going with you?”
She gave him a deadpan look.
“Also the usual, it seems,” he acknowledged solemnly.
“I’ve finally given up on finding any black market sellers, which meant I had to submit to being scanned recently.”
“It’s not just you–Harold and I haven’t been able to find signs of a black market either. I can only imagine how harsh the punishments are to suppress criminal trade to that degree,” Mercer encouraged. “Either that, or such trades are strictly between guilds and tightly controlled.”
“That does make me feel a bit better,” she admitted before continuing. “With the issue of being scanned out of the way, I started visiting whatever shops I felt might have what I need. The Cartographers guild is closely partnered with the Delver’s guild, so they wouldn’t sell me any information regarding ascension obelisks. I’ve tried finding alternative sources from the Adventurers Guild, the Explorers Guild, and the Informants Guild, but the pricing was absurd. I have half a mind to just start flying around the Shattered Lands in spectral form and looking for myself.”
“Why don’t you?”
“If I’m projecting, I’d rather be visiting my family. Plus, from what snippets of information I’ve managed to overhear, a lot of obelisks seem to be in the Great Gulfs rather than out in the middle of the desert. Not saying that there’s none at all in the desert… just that it makes the search a lot more difficult.”
Mercer nodded understandingly. “And there’s none in Centra itself?”
She shook her head. “Not that I’ve heard of. And I can’t even steal a look at any maps while projecting either! Any building that holds valuable products like that is heavily warded against intrusive arts. I could probably break through them given enough time, but it would absolutely be catastrophic for all of us if I was caught. I still don’t know enough about this floor or city to understand what their wards are capable of.”
“Maybe just suffering the prices once is worth it?” he suggested. “Especially because that’s all you’re really interested in buying here. Otherwise, you’re paying the cost in your time and effort, which I’d argue is more valuable.”
She groaned. “I hate to give them the satisfaction, but maybe you’re right. I certainly don’t plan to spend my life in servitude to some guild to get the blacklist status lifted. I might as well just get what I need to move on, and it’s not like the purchase will bankrupt me.” She paused and gave Mercer an appraising glance. “You’re not just encouraging me because that means you and Harold can get out of here quicker too, are you?”
Mercer gave her a suspiciously innocent look. “Is that really what you think of me?”
“Absolutely.”
He smiled jovially. “Then you’ve gotten to know me pretty well!”
She rolled her eyes and summoned Tobias. “Tobias, Mercer is Mercer-ing again!” she complained.
Tobias gave her a mock salute. “Leave it to me!”
She stood and waved to both men, laughing. “Alright, you convinced me. I’ll try my luck one more time and see if there’s any offers I can stomach. The Informants guild seemed the most promising last time.”
Silas jumped up from where he was lounging on the small tabletop next to her chair and landed across her shoulders. “I’ll come too!”
When she left the inn, she could still faintly hear the men joking and laughing together.
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Walking through the crowded streets of Centra continued to prove more challenging than she expected. Even when people actively tried to move out of her way upon feeling her Low Silver aura there were many obstacles to navigate. Young children pushing with blissful ignorance through the crowd, bonded beasts taking up portions of the street, general traffic from people crossing streets, changing directions, or walking at different paces–it never lacked for liveliness. Though there still seemed to be a larger percentage of mortals than cultivators on this floor, the amount of cultivators was notably increased from what she experienced on the first floor. This, too, caused its own kind of traffic as everyone sought to display appropriate deference to those of various cultivation advancement around them.
The buildings that lined the streets were generally at least two or three stories tall. She got the impression that space was at a premium in Centra, and that it was more practical to build structures upwards rather than outwards as the population grew. On the one hand, this sometimes gave the city a claustrophobic, closed-in feeling. On the other hand, the tall buildings were usually accompanied by tall or high-mountage signage, which made it very easy to spot the shop she was looking for.
When she walked into ‘The Informant’s Bureau’, the Informant’s guild’s largest and most well-stocked shop, she was greeted by a mortal worker who looked to be in her teens.
“Welcome to the Bureau, where we know what you need.” The teenager recited the tagline with enthusiasm. “Before we begin, may I scan your guild identifier?”
“I’m Unaffiliated.”
The teen looked apologetic. “I’m afraid most of our information will be inaccessible to you, in that case. Would you mind being evaluated by one of my associates with [Analyze]? That will give us a better idea for what we can sell you. If not, I’m afraid you’ll have to seek knowledge elsewhere.”
Samantha nodded her consent, and a Low Bronze cultivator nervously approached her.
“I’ve already lowered my qi defenses so that you can use your art successfully,” she informed him.
Her words seemed to give him confidence, and soon she felt his foreign energy interacting with her own.
Now he pulls out the jade artifact, feeds my details into it, and…
The Mid Bronze frowned at her, but directed her into a private room.
At least he didn’t make a fuss out of me being blacklisted.
A High Bronze woman who looked to be similar to Samantha’s age entered the room after a couple of minutes and closed the door behind her. She fed some qi into the doorknob, and the various privacy enchantments scripted into the door came alive. The woman sat down at a square table with a chair on opposite sides, then gestured to the empty seat across from her. Samantha silently accepted the invitation, and sat.
“Ms. Cray, it’s good to have you visit our establishment again. I reviewed the records before coming here, and it seems you were previously seeking information on ascension obelisks. Is that still what you wish to know today?”
“Yes, though I’m hoping we can negotiate to a more agreeable price point than what was previously offered.”
“Normally, given the unfortunate nature of your… status… I would say no. However, you appear to either be very lucky or have good timing.”
“Well, you’ve certainly piqued my interest. What’s changed?”
“There is some information we’ve been recently given about an obelisk. As we at the Informant’s Guild pride ourselves on the accuracy of our knowledge, this would typically have to be extensively vetted before being sold. However, because you are Unaffiliated, our regulations are much less restrictive. Thus, I can sell you this information at a steeply discounted price, but I cannot verify its accuracy in any way. If you would rather purchase verified information at the previously stated price, I can fetch that for you now instead.”
“Do you mean this is information about a new obelisk?”
The High Bronze shook her head. “It is ‘newly known’ to my guild, but not new. Such things aren’t uncommon, even after so many years being an established guild in Centra. There are an unknown number of ascension obelisks on this floor, and our guild is not always the first choice on who discoveries are sold to. More often the Cartographers Guild gets this sort of information, and we get offered it second if they already have it.”
“Couldn’t you just buy information from the Cartographers Guild to add to your knowledge pool?”
The High Bronze sighed. “It’s probably difficult for an ascendant to understand, but no. There are more reasons why identifiers are scanned at businesses apart from just pricing our inventory, and a guild member caught doing such a thing would be harshly punished. If you feel uncertain about the information, my honest suggestion would be to just pay full price for what’s been verified.”
Samantha looked at the woman’s qi, searching for some sign that she was being cheated. As it flowed slowly and steadily through the High Bronze’s cultivation base, Samantha concluded that the woman wasn’t trying to deceive her in any way. At least not purposefully.
“...How much is this discount, exactly?”
The woman stated the price, and Samantha’s heartbeat quickened. The verified information may be guaranteed to be correct, but it was a veritable fortune–the equivalent of dozens of arts manuals which would undoubtedly be better utilized elsewhere. This was maybe the cost of one or two arts manuals, which would sting if the information turned out to be faulty, but a steal if it was correct. Since only one or two more manuals wasn’t that much of a difference in value from dozens of them–which she’d likely have to give up if this didn’t work out–she considered the risk of loss to be worth the potential savings.
“Let’s say that I purchased this from you. Is there any way I could verify its accuracy for your guild to receive a discount on a future purchase?”
If the information was correct Samantha would likely not need to return to Centra, but if it wasn’t, she might be able to save costs on buying properly verified intel. Either way, it would be a win for her.
The woman smiled. “I’m not in a position to set up such an arrangement, but let me call someone who can.”
Samantha ended up leaving the store with new knowledge of an obelisk's potential location, an enchanted recording talisman, and a signed contract between herself and the Informant’s Guild.