by Eric Ugland
“Whoa.”
“Yeah, don’t lose your coin. It’s the only thing that makes you you to him.”
“Speaking this vaguely is getting confusing.”
“Welcome to the game. It doesn’t get any better.”
“Are you going to continue with the, uh—”
“Game? Yeah. I don’t know. I liked the freedom. I liked the being on the other side of the rules, but the hiding gets old. The money is good, the characters are there. I don’t know. It attracts assholes. More likely to stab you in the back than help you up. You seem a little different.”
“I don’t know, I’m still an asshole.”
“Well, if you say so.”
“I am.”
“Okay. Final rule: It’s still a game. That means rules can be bent and broken. And since you have the Gift of Gab, go hang around the port. Listen, pick up languages. You’ll get tons in no time, and you’ve already seen how useful they can be.”
She looked me over a moment, nodded, and gave me a small leather packet, kind of like an envelope but more robust.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Your quest is done.”
Congratulations! You’ve completed a QUEST!
Help Etta Out of Town
Etta considers herself delivered safely to a means of egress from the city of Glaton. You did not die.
Reward: the building formerly belonging to Etta now belongs to you.
“I get your building?” I asked, a little confused.
“Quest reward,” she replied. “Not like I can keep it. Don’t have time to sell it. Figured it might give you a leg up on life here.”
“But, I mean,” I started but stalled, trying to find the right words. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome, noob. When you get bored of this place, come find me.”
“The Erg?”
“Nah, that’s just what I told the guy. He’ll tell other people if they ask, but everyone likely knows it’s a lie. Osterstadt. That’s where I’m headed. Emerald Sea. I have to go take a look.”
“Why?”
“It’s an ocean of trees.”
“A what?”
“That’s what people say. Trees as far as you can see, insanely tall, insanely big, all topping at eye level. So it looks like an ocean. Except it’s trees.”
“That’s insane.”
“Don’t you want to see it?”
“Yeah.”
“Come along.”
“Maybe later.”
“Suit yourself. But that’s my next stop. Final stop? Maybe, who knows.”
She clapped me on the shoulder hard enough for me to take a step out to the side, and then she walked down the block and got at the end of the line.
I watched her move slowly forward for a few minutes, and I tried to make sense of the feelings inside. It’s not like I knew her, I’d met her that morning. Mid-morning. Now it was closer to the evening. But she’d been the only person I felt anything for in this new world. And here she was heading off on her own adventure leaving me to mine. She never looked back. Not once. She just waited in line patiently, and once she was gone, I felt like it was time I started doing my own thing.
First stop, a repeat.
Chapter 17
Gideon was not surprised to see me. In fact, it was hard to tell if he felt any emotion about me coming back into his shop. When I entered, he looked over the top of the customer he was helping and nodded to one side. I stepped over to wait my turn at the counter.
The person he was helping wore a green cloak pulled tight about their person. They spoke in hushed tones with Gideon. Then their business was done, and they swept right out the door without ever looking in my direction. I had no idea what that person looked like. Which, in this business, was probably a good thing.
I waited for Gideon to gesture me forward, and then I stepped up to the counter.
He waited there, and I waited there. We were awkward together. It was lovely.
“Your coin,” he said finally, clearly tired of waiting.
“Balls, right, sorry.”
I slid my account coin over to him, he picked it up, looked at it, nodded, set it on the counter, and reached his hands out. I took his hands, we did the warm-cool thing, which, you know, though a bit weird and his skin made my skin crawl, it also felt pretty good. Relaxing.
“You have things to sell, or you wish to buy?” he asked, dropping my hands from his.
“Sell,” I replied.
He spread his hands wide across the counter, which I took as an invitation to put my sale goods on display.
I pulled out all but one of the skill books and all but one of each of the spellbooks. I figured I might want to have an emergency fund at some point. I kept four of the crossbows, I wanted to see if I might tinker with them to make something that actually worked, but I got rid of all the bone bolts. I kept all the rope, all the grappling hooks, but got rid of most of the climbing hammers. The lock pick kits I kept. I knew I’d be using those.
“Do you identify items?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied, eyes glued to the goods I was putting out. “We ask you to wait for identification until we have concluded this transaction.”
“Sure.”
He waited until I was done moving, and then his hands darted about everything I put on the table, a light touch here and there, peeking at each item, and shuffling it around until he had it the way he liked it.
“We have seen all these items before, but we are pleased with what you have brought unto us,” he said. “Will you want gold or credit?”
“Gold to start,” I replied. “But probably credit later on.”
“You may change your mind for each item. We will offer you ten gold for the spell books.”
“For each?”
“For all.”
“Seems a bit low, but—”
“You are new, we will offer an explanation once. The books have value, but little in Glaton. We must move them to sell them. This costs us money.”
“Fair point. Sold.”
He nodded and made a mark in a book
“It is a different story for your skill books. Those we can sell here. We will offer you 40 gold for the skill books.”
“Great. You can do credit for the rest.”
He went through all the goods like that, each different item, he offered me a gold amount, and I could agree or not. I agreed to everything because it was all pretty much junk to me. I’m sure he lowballed me, but for the moment, I was feeling pretty flush. I had a building to my name, a bit of gold to use for food and the like. Finally, we were done, and he made a few extra marks in my book.
“Identification will be two gold per item,” he said. “If it is a cursed item, it is a 250 gold penalty. Would you like to proceed?”
“Uh, sure. Is this taken out of my credit?”
“If you wish it to be.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
I put all the loot I’d taken off Etta’s attacker across the countertop, and Gideon touched each one, closed his eyes, and then moved on.
“Thirteen items,” he said. “Twenty-six gold.”
Great, that was most of my current account.
“One steel dagger. One dagger of wounding. One Steel short sword of the Eagle. A ring of magic identification. A ring of minor attraction. A ring of dark vision. A ring of darkness. A cuff of blinding. Two earrings of messaging. Two gold chains. One platinum chain.”
“So a few non-magical pieces.”
“Yes. Are you wanting to sell these?”
“Some, sure,” I said. “For sure, all the non-magical items.”
Gideon nodded, and he arranged everything quickly. I picked up the daggers, one in each hand, and looked at the notices that popped up. Now that they’d been identified for me, I had a lot more information about them.
Dagger
Item Type: Common
Item Class: One-handed Melee,
Material: Steel
Damage: 8-10 (Slashing)
Durability: 20/20
Weight: 2 lbs
Requirements: None
Description: A short straight double-edged blade with a single hand grip for slashing and stabbing and spreading butter on bread.
Dagger of Wounding
Item Type: Rare
Item Class: One-handed Melee
Material: Steel
Damage: 12-22 (Piercing)
Durability: 200/200
Weight: 1.8 lbs
Requirements: None
Description: A short straight single edged pointed blade with a single hand grip for stabbing. Causes bleeding effect of additional damage over time. Bleeding requires advanced healing or magical healing to stop.
I set the daggers down and grabbed the sword.
Steel Shortsword of the Eagle
Item Type: Uncommon
Item Class: One-handed Melee
Material: Steel
Damage: 10-20 (Slashing)
Durability: 20/20
Weight: 3.1 lbs
Requirements: None
Description: A straight bladed sword having a cruciform hilt with a grip for one handed use. User may cast feather-fall once per long rest.
I could see the sword being very useful if I needed to get away from someone, but I felt like I could probably just learn the spell featherfall and find a sword that had a bit more offensive capability. It was weird needing to think about something like that, about needing to consider my own offensive capability.
I set the sword down and I scooped the four rings in to my hand, careful not to put them on.
Ring of Magic Identification
Item Type: Uncommon
Item Class: Jewelry
Material: Ætherwood
Durability: Good
Description: A fashionable ring designed to alert the wearer if magic is being used in the immediate area. Immediate area designated as a fifteen yard radius from the ring.
Ring of Darkvision
Item Type: Uncommon
Item Class: Jewelry
Material: Obsidian
Durability: Fair
Description: A glossy black ring which grants the wearer darkvision. If the wearer already has darkvision, range is doubled.
Ring of Lesser Reach
Item Type: Rare
Item Class: Jewelry
Material: Scandium Alloy
Durability: Excellent
Charges: 10/10
Description: A burly ring which allows the wearer to attract a specific object no more than one pound in weight and no more than ten feet distant. Ring recharges when exposed to a sunrise.
Ring of Darkness
Item Type: Rare
Item Class: Jewelry
Material: Ebony
Durability: Good
Description: A thin ring which draws in the light around it. If the wearer partly is in shadow, the ring will stretch the shadow to cover the wearer more fully. If fully in shadow, the ring deepens the darkness making it more difficult for the wearer to be seen.
Based on the rings the dude was wearing, it was pretty clear he was in a similar line of work. These rings would be super helpful becoming a master thief. I put them back on the counter, and I picked up the cuff.
Cuff of Blinding
Item Type: Uncommon
Item Class: Jewelry
Material: Bronze
Durability: Good
Description: A bracelet depicting an armored knight protecting a sleeping child from a shadowy monster. When worn, the wearer does not dream and cannot be scried upon.
That didn’t seem that cool, at least it didn’t yet. I put it down, and grabbed the earrings.
Earring of Messaging
Item Type: Uncommon
Item Class: Jewelry
Material: Gold
Durability: Good
Charges: 3/3
Description: A fine ring of gold with a small golden feather inset. Holding the earring allows the wearer to send a twenty five word message to anyone the wearer knows. Recharges at dawn.
Both earrings were the same.
Not a bad haul.
Too bad I couldn’t keep any of it. Everything was distinctive. The short sword had a bird carved into the hilt. The rings were exotic metals with cool carvings. If I wore any of it out into the city, I’d be worried continuously that that dickbag I’d killed would recognize something and there’d go all my anonymity.
“Changed my mind, apologies, all for sale,” I said. “Credit.”
His dark eyebrows went up over his pale skin, and it seemed like I had finally managed to surprise him.
“We are pleased with your decision,” he said.
Gideon figured out the amounts he was willing to offer.
“Is there anything you are wishing to purchase?” he asked.
“Uh, I think there might be a few things I could use.”
“We have many things to offer.”
“Maybe a short sword?” I asked. I was doing a little stalling because I knew there were magic items I’d want. Definitely items that would make my life easier. But I didn’t know what those were precisely. “Let’s just say I’m new at this, and I was to ask for some advice. Do you think you’d be able to give that to me?”
“You would ask us what you might buy from us?”
“I mean if there might be things useful for me, yeah.”
“We are honored you would trust us with this.”
“Cool,” I said, feeling very much not cool, like I’d somehow just given Gideon a whole bunch of information I hadn’t intended to. And yet, what could he tell someone? That I was new to town? New to being a rogue? Or a thief? That was all true, and couldn’t really hurt me. Maybe he was just earnestly excited to have someone ask him for advice.
“For you to be a rogue, you would do to have some weapons, though nothing large. A bow. A short sword, yes. Rings for hiding and being quiet. Perhaps a cloak? Boots?”
“Sure. All those things. And,” I reached into my pack and pulled out the clothing I’d liberated from the murderer I’d murdered. “Might as well sell these.”
He smiled, and spread his creepily long fingers out over the various items, separating the pants, the cloak, and the boots out.
“Do you have some basic clothes?” I asked. “Nothing magical, or too crazy, just, you know, pants and the like?”
“We do.”
One of those little figures appeared from the back of the stool and started into the piles of stuff. And then another figure went out, going to a different portion of things. And a third and a fourth and a fifth.
I really wanted to ask. I was desperate to ask, but when I looked back on Gideon, he seemed not well. He looked a bit wan. Maybe he was thinking, maybe he wasn’t, I don’t know, because he just seemed to be staring off into space through eyes half-closed. So I just stood in front of him for a moment.
The first figure returned and set a small stack of clothing on the counter.
“We have guessed at your size,” Gideon said. “We apologize if it is incorrect.”
Looking through the clothes, it was actually pretty damn close to accurate. Six shirts, long sleeves, variations of off-white, and likely made of cotton. Not much in the way of collars. There were four pairs of pants, black, pockets, all buttons. Zippers were not a thing yet.
The next figure was quickly back with a short bow. The wood was nearly black but matte. The string seemed to have been coated with something dark, and there was a black leather quiver of black arrows next to it. There was definitely a growing goth vibe to my outfit choices. I picked the bow up.
“It is a bow of the Caverns,” Gideon said, watching me look over the bow.
As soon as he told me the name of the bow, I got a little pop up telling me the rest of the pertinent information.
Bow of the Caverns
Item Type: Rare
Item Class: Two-handed Ranged
M
aterial: Subterranean Gristlewood, Gunterworm tendons
Damage: 20-40 (Piercing)
Durability: Excellent
Weight: 4.8 lbs
Requirements: Str 8, Dex 12
Description: A dark wooden short bow, a little under three feet long, with a hearty draw-weight. Arrows shot from the bow travel in darkness, and are nearly invisible.
“A wondrous weapon, yes?” Gideon said, pulling me from studying the info.
“What’s the cost?”
“Two thousand gold.”
I put it back on the counter.
“Bit rich for my blood at present.”
“Are your funds limited?”
“Yeah, that’s an accurate assessment.”
Gideon nodded, and several figures rushed out, pulling things off the counter, and exchanging them with other items pulled from the piles and crates behind him, and in a very short amount of time, there was a whole new set of stuff in front of me.
The clothes were mundane and made of scratchy fabric. The boots were, well, just boots. I had the distinct feeling that none of the items Gideon offered for sale now were magical. And that was okay. Knowing that magical items existed in the world was great, but I knew better than to become dependent on items right away. Best for me to learn how to do all the things, and then get magical items to boost my abilities. Otherwise, they’d just be a crutch.
Gideon rattled off prices for the pile of clothes, the boots, a plain short bow, three bundles of arrows, a quiver, two iron daggers, and a bronze shortsword. There were also a few odds and ends. Nothing special about the lot. But it was economical. All told, it was forty gold.
“Do you have any spellbooks or skill books?” I asked.
“They come at a price.”
“You know how much credit I have, anything that fits within that amount?”
He looked up at the ceiling, then a figure darted out, grabbed something, and sprinted back to deposit a lockbox, redwood with brass metal surround, about eight inches deep, and two feet long, on the counter. Gideon produced a key from his pocket and unlocked the box. Inside were small books, all thin, all of different hues and materials.