My father always said that there was nothing more important in life than hard work. He was born a pig farmer, grew up as a pig farmer, raised a family as a pig farmer, and eventually died working on that same pig farm. Clearly, that man loved pigs.
But here's the thing—he died, and those pigs just took care of themselves! Easiest job I ever had.
-Basen Koh on hard work
The merchant's guild hall looked much the same as it had yesterday. Quiet groups stood around the notice boards, and a clerk sat at the desk. The clerk was a human woman wearing blue robes and a pointy hat. Reid would have to find out what hours Kenagavis usually worked.
The tree person he'd been following was standing at the desk, showing something to the clerk.
"Very good, Mr. Foursprout. I'll get it posted right away."
The tree person turned and left the desk, walking past Reid and out the door.
"Can I help you?" the clerk said, noticing him watching the door as it swung shut.
"Hi, could you tell me when Kenagavis is working next?"
"May I ask why?"
"Oh, sure. I'm new to the city, and he really helped me out. I just wanted to thank him in person and chat again."
"Ah. Unfortunately, I can't share his working hours for non-business related reasons. That's a guild policy, but I can tell you that he's not hard to catch at the desk. If you stop by a few more times, you're bound to run into him. Was there anything else?"
He wanted to ask about the tree person, but he couldn't think of a way to ask that didn't make him sound like an idiot. He felt like the woman was already judging him, so he just shook his head.
"I'm just going to look at the public postings."
The clerk nodded and went back to some papers she was looking over.
The posting board had a few more things on it today. The woodcutting request from yesterday was still there, as well as two more new notices.
While he was reading, a third new notice appeared.
Maybe the tree person posted this?
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Help Wanted: Temporary sales clerk
Reward: 6 merits
Pay: 6 Silver
Fulfillment: Complete three days of service
Limits: N/A
Description: A traveling merchant requires a clerk to assist in selling his wares in the market. Bonus merits are available for strong performance as assessed by the merchant.
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Reid was holding the notice before he knew what he was doing. It wasn't full time work, but it was exactly what he wanted to do. The pay seemed...bad. He glanced at the lumber cutting contract he'd seen posted yesterday. He could work twenty hours over the next three days and make twenty silver and four merits instead of six silver and six merits. It could be better or worse, depending on how much those two additional merits were worth.
He brought it up to the clerk.
"Something catch your eye?" she asked, taking the notice. "Ahh, excellent. Mr. Foursprout will be happy to have such a quick turnaround."
"Do you mind if I ask a few questions about the notice?"
"Of course, go ahead."
"Well, how much is a merit worth, approximately? I've never taken a notice here before."
"It varies quite a bit, but you can roughly equate them to a silver each for a non-guild member."
That wasn't great, but they had some value. The relative value of the contract was half that of the wood cutting contract.
"But I should tell you, if you plan on joining the guild one day, those merits become at least twice as valuable for members."
He still wanted to take the contract either way, but that was good to know. Once he had experienced what he wanted to experience, he'd have to think about the value of his time more. If he could do interesting jobs instead of whatever the Dusk guild tossed him into to pay rent, that would be a significant step up in the quality of his life.
"Nice. Can I ask why he needs a temporary clerk? Is he leaving, or?"
"Ah. Have you not interacted with the tree people before?"
"Never."
"Of course. They don't all do it this way, but they often like intermediaries. They don't speak. As far as I know, they can't speak in a way we can understand, but they understand our language when we speak and can write in our language to respond. That can present challenges when running a market stall."
"I can imagine. Alright. I'll take the notice."
"Wonderful. You'll start tomorrow. Mr. Foursprout will meet you here at seventh bell and bring you to his stand. Each day will be a standard workday, eight hours, with a break in the middle. If you encounter any additional tasks or demands outside the bounds of the agreement, you are allowed to abandon the notice and report the improprieties here. However, Mr. Foursprout is a respected guild member, so we ask that you try to work with him to adjust terms before reporting. We are merchants, and negotiating new terms is always allowed but never required."
He gave the clerk the rest of his information, including his visitor's pass. She set him up with a guild credit account. His pay and credits would go into the account, and he could use it to pay for goods and services with any guild member or cash out at any time.
He returned to the Dusk Guild and worked out his writ of service timing so it wouldn't interfere with the Merchant's Guild contract. That was allowed, but he wouldn't be able to delay his services to the guild a second time in any given week.
After that, he called it a night, enjoying some food he had bought downstairs. Leah had told him about the shop where she bought food the previous night, and she had even verified it was open to non-initiates.
Morning came, and he encountered Trace again. She was making breakfast in the kitchen and offered him some food in exchange for twenty copper. It was a good deal, as breakfast yesterday had cost him close to fifty.
"You're up early," Trace observed.
She'd made some eggs and breakfast ham that he found to be quite good.
"Yeah, I picked up a notice at the merchant's guild. I'm going to be working in the market today."
"That's good. You shouldn't spend too much time in your rooms."
He liked this chatty, morning Trace. Maybe she was just a morning person?
"I agree. I want to experience as much of the city as I can. What do you do here? I assume you're new in town or don't come often, being in the temporary guild housing."
She shrugged. "It's not so bad. The rent isn't bad compared to a lot of places in the city. I do come and go, but I have a permanent residence pass. Right now, I'm working at the arena. They needed help setting up for a big event next week."
He'd seen the arena on his map, and it had been visible as he'd approached the city. It was on the east side, just on the northern edge of the residential area.
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"What's the event? I don't know anything about it."
She finished her food and started washing her plate before answering.
"Some big duel. Apparently, there are going to be six star combatants, so they need some extra protections in place to make sure there's no collateral damage."
For some reason, Reid's brain hadn't figured out that a duel arena might feature magic duels. He'd imagined the ring downstairs. It was interesting, but he wouldn't go out of his way to watch. A full blown fight between Greater Mages might be something to see, though.
"Wow."
"Right?" she dried her hands and turned back to him. "But if you didn't already know about it, then I'm afraid you'll have a tough time getting tickets. The arena is big, but everyone in the city wants to see the duel. I'm lucky enough to get to watch from the protective script circle. I'll be working, technically, but..." she trailed off and glanced at the individual room doors.
She leaned in and lowered her voice. "Keep this between you and me, but there's a rumor the king is coming, and he'll be handling the protection himself."
Reid had no idea why that was a secret or a big deal, but he nodded solemnly.
"Anyway, that's next week. I'll be working on it until the event and then helping with teardown. I'm not sure after that."
"Sounds like a neat thing to be a part of. Thanks for breakfast. I should clean up and get moving. Don't want to be late for my notice."
Trace grabbed his plate. "I've got it. I still have to wash that pan anyway. Good luck on your notice."
Reid had to shake his head to himself on the way to the Merchant's Guild. Trace had been downright conversational, something he hadn't expected was possible after their encounter yesterday. He walked into the Royal Merchant's Guild in high spirits.
Kenagavis was at the desk again, and he nodded politely at Reid when he entered.
"Good morning, Reid. I hope your first few days in the city have treated you well."
"Pretty well, though I had an unfortunate experience with an acquaintance of yours."
He told the orkenna about his service writ notice to help Urvi in the sewers.
"A lovely woman. At least your unfortunate situation was in the company of a good person. Sometimes, that's all that we can ask for. Now, I assume you're not in quite so early just to chat with a simple clerk?"
"Don't sell yourself short, Kenagavis. You were really helpful when I arrived, and I wanted to thank you again for all your advice. But you're not wrong," Reid said with a smile. "I picked up a notice yesterday, and I'm here to meet a tree person. Mr. Foursprout? I think?"
"Ahh. I must have missed him. Claire posted the notice, then. Did she explain about the merits?"
Reid cocked his head. "A little. She said they were worth about a silver, more if I'm in the guild."
"Sorry. I should be more clear. The notice says there is a possible bonus, yes?"
"Yeah...I didn't ask about it."
Kenagavis pulled up the notice information from a file.
"Not your fault, Reid. Mr. Foursprout can be terse at times, and Claire does not have the experience with him that I do. Allow me to explain. Mr. Foursprout travels the country and beyond to find interesting and unique items. He returns to the city after amassing enough to sell. He sets up shop for a few days and posts two notices. One is the one you have, and the other is for guild members, letting them know the types of wares he had collected, along with approximate prices. The second notice is informational in nature and appears in our member's area upstairs."
"Okay, so guild members might come to the market to purchase things?"
"Indeed. Now, the key thing that is missing from your notice is information on the bonuses. Mr. Foursprout is, truthfully, more traveler than merchant—a fairly common occurrence—and isn't much of a salesman. He'll have some particular items that he is very interested in selling. He will reward you with extra merits if you can sell those items. It will be up to you to make the sales, so while the base pay is guaranteed, the bonus pay really makes this notice valuable. You are lucky to have picked it up."
Reid was practically thrumming with excitement.
"That's great! Thanks, Kenagavis. Anything else I should know?"
The orkenna rubbed the scales on his neck. The gesture didn't seem to match what Reid thought it was. In a person, a motion like that might mean wary uncertainty, but he thought that it might be closer to him rubbing his own chin—thoughtful deliberation.
"Tree people aren't like most other people. You might have some hiccups in communication. They are particular about names. Never address him without a title. He's Mr. Foursprout, not Foursprout. If you give him a name—your own or someone else's—do not use another name to refer to yourself or another person. Oh, and don't touch him unless given express permission."
"Okay, I think that's straightforward enough."
He thought of Trace, the stilted first conversation, and the easy second one.
"Can I ask him about himself?"
Kenavagis looked surprised by the question. "That's a good question. He doesn't usually engage in small talk. You can ask, but it should be for a purpose. Do not expect to learn much about him or have him ask about you. Try not to worry, Reid. You will be fine. I think Mr. Foursprout is coming in now."
The tree person ducked through the doorway. He was taller than Kenagavis, easily nine feet tall and twice as broad as the orkenna. He had two legs and arms covered in rough brown bark, and branches sprouted from his arms, shoulders, and head. He wore no clothes, and his form was androgynous. The branches had small green leaves and rustled slightly as he walked. Instead of a bag, Reid could see a series of holes in his torso that seemed to be filled with things.
"Good day, Mr. Foursprout," Kenagavis said. "I was just telling Reid about your operation. He's taken the notice and will be assisting you. As usual, let me know if you have any concerns."
The tree person looked from Kenagavis to Reid without a word and extended a branch—not his arm—toward Reid. Reid, by reflex, almost shook the branch like a hand. Fortunately, it had begun to change before his eyes. It formed a wooden square and then filled in with text made from shaped wood.
"Thank you for accepting my notice. Follow me."
He nodded slightly after reading it, which was apparently all the confirmation Mr. Foursprout needed. The tree person turned and headed for the door.
"Go ahead. Do not worry if you stumble on your first day. Tree people are patient folk," Kenagavis said.
Reid thanked the clerk again and hurried after the tree person.
The walk to the market square was much different than the previous day. He walked behind the giant form of a tree man while humanity parted around him. It was kind of nice, even if the tree person's lumbering gait was a little slow. The morning crowds were no match for the implacable traveling merchant.
Reid followed him into the market square and into the second row. Mr. Foursprout stopped at a stall with a sign that declared "Mr. Foursprout's Finds." It was fronted by a small display case, and part of the wooden stall's roof had been modified near the back of the stall, behind a large table. It became immediately apparent what the modification was for when Mr. Foursprout ducked into the stall and made his way back to that spot, where he was once again able to stand up straight. Reid watched but didn't remark as the tree person did two interesting things.
The branches on his head and arms began to grow. They found their way into the cutout section of the roof, and then, as one removed a cover, allowing sunshine to bathe the leaves on the tree person's head and shoulder branches. Then, he began taking items out of his torso.
It was odd and somehow made Reid incredibly uncomfortable. Each compartment that emptied closed back up with bark. He hadn't read anything about tree people's natural magic, but it felt like everything Mr. Foursprout did was magic.
The tree person gestured at the items, then held another sign.
"I am trying to sell these things. I can explain each one and what I hope to sell them for. Are you amenable to this?"
All the items glowed, and Reid decided the worst the tree person could do was say no to his request.
"If you'd like, and you'll allow me. I can identify the items. I have an item that can do it, but it will leave a small mark on the items—this one—but smaller. After that, any mage, even a lesser mage, will be able to identify the item by touch."
The tree person did not respond for a full minute, and Reid worried he'd offended him. His sign changed.
"That is interesting. Show me?"
Mr. Foursprout selected a specific item from the group. It was a small glass marble with a dark ellipse at the center. Reid took it. He wasn't sure how something so small would be marked. He studied the power inside. He could feel it had an ability that he could use without binding it and something else. He couldn't make heads or tails of either effect, so he allowed his mark to work.
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Magic Stone of Viper's Sight
3 Star Utility Enhancement
Bindable
* Binding this item slightly increases reaction speed based on vision.
* Grants the ability to swap regular vision for a heat vision. Heat vision allows the user to see gradients of heat instead of color.
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The activated ability's utility was fantastic. The fact that it explicitly didn't require binding made the stone that much more valuable.
Since binding wasn't required and he didn't see any downsides, he activated the stone. His vision changed, but the instinctive knowledge of how to use it came with the change. The dark interior of the stall was now quite easy to see. Mr. Foursprout gave off a faint glow of heat while Reid's own hand looked bright red in his vision. He deactivated the ability, blinking the vision away, and handed the marble back to the waiting branch, careful not to actually touch it.
The tree person examined it. The mark left by his identification was almost invisible, faintly etched in tiny detail on the surface of the marble.
"This is good, but can you remove it as well?"
Reid had no idea. He recalled his mark's information.
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Merchant's Mark
1 Star Growth Artifact
Unbreakably Bound
Ability - Mark
* Use the Merchant's Mark to brand an unbound item with your signature.
* Your brand allows items to be identified. You will always know you branded the item and when you branded it, even if the item is later bound.
Growth Conditions
* Mark and Identify 50 magic items
* 10/50 Items Identified
* Seal deals between three or more parties
* 1/20 Deals completed
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"I don't think so."
"I will consider. For now, I will explain the rest."
Reid sat down at the table, glad he'd brought some supplies to take notes.