I've traveled all over the world, and one thing always surprises me. From a national perspective, people see their neighbors as unfamiliar, nebulous things that are either labeled good or bad. Here in Avennia, most people would agree that the Urish Empire is a dangerous place where the people live in oppression. To some degree, that might be right, but Urish, like any other place in the world, is filled with wonders and unexpected places and peoples.
My favorite one of these is the Torals. If you haven't heard of them, you're in for a treat. The southern edge of the empire is filled with forests, the likes of which I haven't found anywhere else. Massive trees, larger than any building you'll find in New Avennia, serve as a basis for dozens of interconnected cities. Homes are built right into the trunks far off the ground and connected by structures made from the wood removed to make those homes.
The creators and inhabitants of these cities are the Tree Folk. In their language, toral is a multi-purpose word that means home, family, and community. Thus, we call each tree city a toral and the region as a whole the Torals. I have spent much time in the great tree cities and count some of the tree folk among my closest friends.
Don't discount a people because they are different. Don't judge a neighbor because they are not you.
-Basen Koh on community
Reid noted everything about the items he was trying to sell. Some had passive abilities, some contained spells, and even a few contained no abilities at all. He understood neither why people would want some of these items, nor how they were priced the way they were.
To Reid's extremely limited knowledge, the most expensive item in the entire collection was arguably the worst.
"Wait," he said. "How is this so expensive?"
The item in question was a delicate crystal lattice. It weighed practically nothing, was two stars, and, according to Mr. Foursprout, was broken.
"Aspect," was all the response he got.
After a moment's consideration, the tree person favored him with another word.
"Identify."
Reid did so, knowing that Arvind had said his own broken magic sword's reforging would likely destroy the mark Reid placed on the item.
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Shard of Destiny (Broken)
2 Star Potential
Foresight Aspect
Unbindable
* This item is broken and has no functioning effect.
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"Foresight? When this is reforged, it will gain an ability to, what, see the future?"
"I do not know."
The tree people didn't seem to enjoy speculation, as a rule. The price seemed speculative, but Reid guessed it must be informed by something because it was the single most expensive thing he'd ever touched. Mr. Foursprout wanted to list it for sale at twelve gold but would settle for eight if push came to shove. This was also a bonus item, and the tree person informed him of the potential compensation bonuses he offered. If Reid sold the crystal, he'd get fifty merits. If he sold the crystal for more than ten gold, he'd get one hundred merits.
Reid didn't know how or why Mr. Foursprout had so many merits to give away, but he wanted them. He didn't even know what he could do with them, really, but he still wanted them. In the end, there were twelve unique and expensive items he needed to try to sell. Aside from the crystal, each one was worth five to twenty merits to him. They all had ranges for selling prices and rewards. Reid was surprised and pleased that all the items his temporary employer was selling qualified for bonuses.
He was tempted to figure out the maximum he could earn, but he also just wanted to see what he could do and what he ended up with. Following specific written instructions, Reid arranged all the items in the display case at the front of the stall along with their descriptions. Then he set out a card that apparently meant the stall was open. He hadn't seen these cards yesterday, which might have explained some of the annoyed looks he got from some of the sellers around the square when he was exploring.
Once that was set, the silent tree person stood perfectly still at the back of the shop.
They'd only spent around an hour getting set up, so the market was still quiet. Reid could see plenty of people passing through the center aisle, just walking on their way elsewhere. Still, it made him appreciate why those stalls might always be open and probably cost the most to rent. The traffic didn't split much, and only one or two people passed by the stall.
He felt a little awkward, unsure if he should try to get the attention of passers by. The occasional glance back at Mr. Foursprout told him absolutely nothing. One hour turned into two, and the people passing by the stall hardly glanced inside. A few merchants stopped, nodding at Reid and saying hello to his employer. Some simply said hello and left immediately, and a few were favored with a branch based note from the tree person. In each case, Mr. Foursprout did not move.
After the third hour, someone finally stopped to browse.
"Good morning, sir!" Reid said.
"Morning. What's Mr. Foursprout have for sale today? It's always interesting," the man said. He bent over to inspect the display case, where everything was labeled, but no prices were listed. Mr. Foursprout hadn't directed him to write prices on the displays or leave them out specifically; Reid had just chosen to do that. He figured he could get an idea of what people might be willing to pay for each item instead of giving them a starting number.
"A wide variety on offer!" Reid said, trying to sound friendly and confident. "On this end, we have a few magic weapons, including a four star wand with a rather powerful effect."
Reid hadn't identified this one, so the description on the card was simply what the tree person had provided.
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Magic Wand of Biting Frost
4 Star Wand
Bindable
* Grants the ability to shoot small frost projectiles with a range of thirty yards
* Binding grants the ability to cast the spell [Frostbite]
Frostbite
* Deals instant cold damage to a targeted location. If the affected location is exposed flesh, the effect causes ongoing damage.
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Reid had been interested in hearing about the spell. The last time he'd found an item with a spell ability, he'd guessed there would be a path for him to be able to identify the spell as well. It was nice to learn that such abilities existed.
"Powerful," the man tilted his hand back and forth. "Maybe not. Still really useful, and four stars is nothing to sneeze at. How much?"
This was the second most valuable item, and Mr. Foursprout wanted to get at least five and a half gold for it.
"Eight gold."
The man laughed. Full on belly laughed. Reid kept his expression neutral. Mr. Foursprout had set that as the list price, so Reid hadn't questioned it. Now, he was worried, but he didn't show it. The man stopped laughing and met his eyes.
"I'll admit, that's quite the poker face. Tell you what. I'll give you one gold and two hundred Royal Merchant's Guild merits for it. Deal?"
It was a bit of a lowball, but he didn't even know if he could accept the merits or the conversion rate for them. If they were worth double, as Claire had said, it would still be under the minimum he could take.
"Ah, sorry. I just need to check about accepting merits."
"Sure, lad."
Reid went back to the tree person. He wasn't sure if Mr. Foursprout had heard the exchange, so he asked as clearly as possible.
"Can I accept Royal Merchant's Guild merits as part of payment? If so, how should I convert those to gold for pricing?"
A branch lowered and wrote back much more quickly than usual.
"I will accept Royal Merchant's Guild merits at a one merit equals one and a half silver rate, but I will accept no more than one hundred for any given item. Two hundred for the crystal lattice."
Reid nodded and headed back up. The offer was especially low given the conversion rate, equaling four gold. That didn't meet his minimum, and he couldn't accept so many merits as payment.
"Mr. Foursprout will only accept up to one hundred merits on any given item, with the exception of this crystal lattice. I would accept six gold and one hundred merits for the wand."
Reid played it straight. If the man knew the conversion rate, Reid came down fifty silver from his first ask, but if the man assumed two silver per merit, the ask was the same as before. He wanted to gauge the man's interest and determine if he valued credits more highly than he did. If so, he could drop the credits and come out ahead.
"Ha, I bet you would. Hmm. Four and a half gold, one hundred merits."
Reid thought he had him. It was a reasonable price, equal to more than the minimum. Accepting it would mean his first sale, and net him a small commission. But he thought he could do better. He bet on the man thinking his credits were worth two silver a piece to Reid. He could drop the credits and angle for more gold instead.
"Seven gold."
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
"A shrewd one, aren't you? Fine. Six gold, forty merits. That's my best offer."
Reid pretended to think about it for a minute.
"Deal."
They shook on it. And the man handed over six gold pieces and a magical card. Reid didn't know what to do with it.
"First time?"
"Uh. Yes, actually."
"Just bring it to your boss. He'll handle it."
Reid did. Mr. Foursprout extended his own card and tapped it against the other. He didn't tell Reid he was done, but he also didn't do anything else, so Reid took it as a sign.
He retrieved the wand and handed it over with the card.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you."
"You look happy...How badly did you fleece me?" the man said with a smile.
"The way I see it," Reid said. "We all came out ahead. You have a great item, Mr. Foursprout sold his first item, and I didn't make myself look like too much of an idiot."
"Hmm. I'll take that as 'it could have been worse.' Fair enough."
Reid had a sudden moment of inspiration. He hadn't talked to Mr. Foursprout about it but didn't think the tree person would care.
"Now, if you'd like. I can offer you a service."
The man raised an eyebrow. "Let's hear it."
"You're a merchant, unless I miss my guess?"
The man nodded.
"You bought this item from Mr. Foursprout without verification because you trust him and his reputation, but before you sell it in your shop, you'll get it identified and certified, correct?"
"Sure. It's hard to sell to the public if they can't actually see what you're selling them is real. You look too young to be a licensed identifier, though. What are you getting at?"
Reid retrieved the Viper's Sight marble from the case.
"I can mark an item to make it identifiable by anyone with active potential."
The man accepted the marble, and his eyes widened a little.
"Impressive...most impressive. Is there a reason you didn't do this to the wand?"
"I cannot remove the mark after placing it, so we chose not to mark all the items in advance."
The man nodded. "That makes sense. Hmm. For this, I don't think anyone would mind the mark. What are you charging?"
Reid was excited to have someone interested and a little embarrassed that he hadn't figured out pricing already.
"Ah, I don't actually know how much the identifiers charge. I'd like to charge less, but I don't want to undercut them so much that someone comes looking for me."
The man laughed. "Fair! Listen, lad. I like you. I can tell you're new at this, and I'll cut you a break since I'm an old softy. The identifiers charge by the star. A four star weapon would probably cost fifty silver to be certified."
Reid nearly choked.
"Ha! The actual identification is cheaper than the certification—five silver for a four star item. Your ability is like certification, but it does have its drawbacks. I'd be happy to give you twenty. Sound like a deal?"
"You'd be happy to give me twenty, but would you be willing to give me twenty-five?"
"I feel like I'm making a monster here. You drive a hard bargain, young man. Be careful that you save that tactic for people who appreciate the back and forth. Regular folk are going to leave after one offer they don't like. But yes, I'm willing. Here."
He handed back the wand and fished out a stack of silver.
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Magic Wand of Biting Frost
4 Star Wand
Bindable
* Grants the ability to shoot small frost projectiles with a range of thirty yards
* Binding grants the ability to cast the spell [Frostbite]
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Reid had forgotten about the spell component.
"Ah. Sorry. I just remembered my ability doesn't describe the spells."
He handed back the wand, and the man looked it over.
"Not a problem. We have spell guides for those. It's only a problem on the really powerful items, above four stars, where the magic isn't as well known."
The man handed over the coins and shook Reid's hand.
"Nice working with you, lad. I look forward to seeing how far you go."
The man left, and Reid returned to Mr. Foursprout.
"Sorry I didn't discuss the identification with you. Was that alright?"
He grew nervous as the response took a minute to come.
"I am satisfied with the deal you struck. Your ability is your own, and I do not expect you to use it for my benefit. You are entitled to sell your services as you see fit."
"Great. Thank you, Mr. Foursprout."
The tree person didn't care to speak further, so Reid returned to the front of the stall. Two more customers came and went but were uninterested after he mentioned prices. Thirty minutes before closing the stall for the day, an unusual man walked up.
"Oh my, what do we have here?" he said, scanning the items in the case.
"A variety of items from Mr. Foursprout's travels. Let me know if you have any questions!"
The man looked up at Reid. He had white hair and a trimmed but messy white beard. The grandfatherly face was offset by the oddest robes Reid had ever seen. They were tan and only covered his legs to the knees, but the real strangeness was due to the multitude of crude lizard-like stitchings all over the garment. Most were half finished and barely recognizable, but many were obviously lizards, some kind Reid had never seen before. The stitching was awful, and the shapes were inconsistent. It had the kind of hand-made look that made Reid wonder if the man had sewn the embellishments himself.
"Foursprout? Is that you standing back there, you old pile of firewood?"
Reid went from confused to panicked to offended in the space of a breath. To his surprise, the tree person was making his way out of the stall. He stood before the old man and extended his hand in greeting. The old man clasped it in his own and shook vigorously.
"Where have you been! You didn't stop by the shop. No, I was not going to rob you. What do you mean that's what I always say? It was one time!"
Reid didn't see the tree person's self made wooden sign, so he was unsure how he communicated with the newcomer, but they seemed to know each other.
"Sure, sure. I'll talk with him," the man said. In Reid's confusion, he'd missed some of the conversation he could only hear half of. "How's your wife? Still in that forest at the edge of the empire? If you want her transplanted, say the word. I know a guy. Hmm? No, it's not Kris. A different guy. I don't know if you've met him. Ah. That's a fair point. Well, say the word, and I'll introduce you to the guy, who is definitely not, and never was, Kris."
The conversation was confusing, and Reid somehow felt that it would have been even if he had been privy to both sides. Still, the easy familiarity between the man and the tree person was a surprise.
After a few minutes, Mr. Foursprout returned to his place at the back of the stall, and the old man turned back to the counter.
"Sorry about that. Haven't seen old hickory-head in a while."
Reid inwardly grimaced at the nicknames. He hadn't forgotten about Kenagavis' warning about tree people's names.
"You seem to know him well."
"You could say that. I am interested in what he's collected! I'm a bit of a collector myself. So, what's the jewel of the collection? I see I missed out on a wand. Was that it? Who beat me here? It was Davis, wasn't it?"
Reid didn't know how to respond to the flurry of questions.
"Ah, well. The early bird gets the worm and all that. What's next?"
Reid directed his attention to the crystal lattice.
"Here's a two star item that's quite interesting. It has a foresight aspect but is currently broken."
"Foresight? Really? May I?"
Reid pulled out the lattice carefully and passed it over the counter.
"Oh. That's unexpected. Did he have his items modified by a specialized identifier?"
Reid explained his ability in brief. He really needed a sign.
"Interesting. Not as interesting as this item, but it is close. How much is he asking for it?"
Reid was preempted by a branch snaking next to him. He turned and found a sign behind him.
"For him, the starting price is twenty gold. Twelve minimum."
Reid wanted to ask why, but he just turned around instead. It was Mr. Foursprout's item, after all.
"Twenty gold."
"This is about the firewood comment, isn't it?" the man called to the back. "Eight gold."
That was the old minimum for the item. Perhaps the man just had a lot of coin to spend. Reid would try to find out how much that was, exactly.
"Eighteen."
"Hmm. I think we're a little too far apart on this. I'm only willing to go as high as eleven."
"I really can't take less than thirteen."
The man shook his head and handed back the lattice. "I would love it, but it's not meant to be right now. Ah, well. What else?"
Reid walked him through the other items, and he was given a special new minimum and starting price for each one. In the end, they'd gone through all of the items, and the man had made offers on each one, but they were never enough to buy them.
"Well. I guess that's that. Good finds, sprout. Maybe next time you'll actually sell me something. Thanks for humoring me, young man. See you around."
The man walked away whistling to himself. It had been an odd experience overall.
He approached Mr. Foursprout, who had a sign waiting for him.
"Good work today. You may leave, and I will pack up. You can come here tomorrow at eighth bell."
Reid arrived the next morning and had much the same experience as his first day. He actively tried to pull people in, but there wasn't a ton of business. He eventually sold two more items. The Viper's Sight marble and a unique pair of dice that he identified for six silver. It was considerably less than the twenty-five from the previous day, but it literally cost him nothing and helped him grow his mark.
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Lesser Magic Dice of Effectiveness
1 Star Utility Token
Bindable
* Binding the dice gives the binder the ability to roll the dice once per day
* Rolling the dice slightly increases general effectiveness in one or two categories, depending on the dice rolls.
1. Strength
2. Movement Speed
3. Coordination
4. Learning Speed
5. Endurance
6. Confidence
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The woman who bought them was interested in researching the effects, she claimed, so his identification was more curiosity than anything else.
When he arrived for his third day, the idea that he still had nine items didn't feel great. He knew it wasn't his fault. There just weren't that many people looking.
Mr. Foursprout helped ease his mind a little.
"We will sell the rest today. We will lower starting prices, but not minimums, for now. We may lower them as the day goes on, and I will honor your incentives for minimum prices. I would like to have everything sold by the end of the day."
A tall order.
When Reid sold his first item for just over minimum in the first twenty minutes, he thought he'd gotten lucky. When he sold another ten minutes later, he felt like something was up.
"Other merchants know I do not like to sell for long. They will come today expecting deals," Mr. Foursprout explained.
Ultimately, Ried sold two more identifications for a solid ten silver each and all but one of the items.
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Lesser Magic Aegis of Might
2 Star Shield
Bindable
* Grants the wielder increased resistance to mundane damage sources.
* Binding grants the wielder increased resistance to magic effects.
* Binding grants the wielder slightly increased strength.
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The shield was good but not spectacular. It went for less than the original minimum, bringing in one gold and twenty-five merits.
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Lesser Magic Boots of Endurance
1 Star Equipment
Unbindable
* Wearing these boots makes running and walking less tiring.
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Merchants Mark Growth Conditions
Mark and Identify 50 Magic Items
* 15/50 Items Identified
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The boots were simple, didn't need to be bound, and usable by just about anyone. They went for two gold, which was the kind of price Reid had been expecting one star magic items to go for in the city.
The unsold item was, thankfully, not the lattice. That ended up going for eight gold and fifty silver, which was less than either he or Mr. Foursprout wanted, but it was a done deal.
The unsold item was a glove that let the one who had bound it climb really well. It was expensive because it was a three star item, but even to Reid, it seemed lackluster compared to some of the other things that were for sale. Reid didn't think there was anywhere to climb in the area either—not unless people climbed buildings.
Mr. Foursprout hadn't expected it to move quickly and didn't comment on Reid's failure to sell it. After they went through and added everything up, Reid was blown away by what he was taking home. Even if he thought of the merits as imaginary money, he'd made fifty-one silver from his identifications and six silver from completing the notice. He did even better on merits, thanks to the bonuses. He earned one hundred and fourteen from sales bonuses and six for contract completion.
If he cashed out completely—if that was possible with merits—he'd have made over a gold and a half. He was glad he'd decided to skip cutting down trees.
All his newfound wealth meant he didn't need to accept service writs from the Dusk Guild anymore. He would complete his writ of service work for the week in the morning. After that, he could spend the remainder of the month searching for work, and more importantly, he could find a sponsor to stay in the city.
He said farewell to Mr. Foursprout, who favored him with a simple nod, and practically ran to turn in his notice completion.