The Argonox Grand Bazaar: A little shopping

Amber Brightwing · November 18, 2005, 06:01 AM

Brightening 9 of the Fifth Cycle of The Month of Immanis in the Season of Summer
Era I of the Pax Imperialis, Era II of the Celestine Mandate, Era XII Post Fractum in the Age of the Darkening

Flying over the bazaar she looked at the tents, stalls, and tables to see if one had what she needed. She had always been curious and she had all the time of the world, so she was taking her time, flying slowly and stopping once in a while to gaze at the beautiful things these various booths had to offer.

She wondered if she would be able to find everything she needed. She knew their were a decent amount of the fae kind living in Paxia, so she doubted a couple of warm pants and some warm shirts would be that much of a problem and neither would shoes. The rest of her wish list could be harder. It weren’t exactly the most common things. She wanted a bunch of sturdy and durable gloves and an apron, a set of scalpels or good knives, metal thongs, scissors, something to light fire with and some protective goggles.

Most of those things like knives and scissors were pretty common things so she had good hopes in finding those as well. She wondered if she would find those goggles though. Viandor had described to her what she needed and he had shown her a larger example. But she never seen anything like it before, so she doubted she would find it. But then again, some of the things on these booths were pretty exotic, so she might be lucky.

Amber Brightwing · February 1, 2006, 02:40 PM

Ah, the pleasures of flight. Below everyone was pushing and shoving, but she preferred to have a bit of room to move in. Not that she really disliked people, but crowds were not her most favourite place. And of course, being high in the air had the advantage of a good overview. She could easily oversee several shops at the same time so it wasn’t long before she spotted what she had been looking for.

Down below was a table somewhat smaller then most others and it still had much place to spare. That didn’t meant there wasn’t much on it however. Several pieces of clothing lay scattered, displaying every kind of colour imaginable. Sitting on the edge of the table was the owner of the boot - or someone who worked for him. It was a male faerie, clad in bright and colourful clothing. She could see his wings shimmering in the sunlight illuminating all kinds of patterns in various shades of orange, yellow and red.

It was inevitable of course she would have to deal with a faerie - and probably more than one - if she wanted to get what she needed. It had been over well over a pattern since she last saw one of her own kind and it had pleased her enormously. Vortex might be dark and dangerous, but it had the enormous advantage that she was most likely the only fae in the whole city. But she could deal with it. She had dealt with it for years, so a short conversations should be tolerable.

After taking a deep breath she dove down towards the table.

Serale.

She smiled. Insincere, but it was doubtable anyone would be able to tell the difference. Perhaps it was noticeable in some way, but none had ever noticed. Maybe it was due to their joyous and playful nature or maybe she was good at hiding her real feelings, who would tell. She had hid behind her smile for years, wasting away her time with being ashamed for the colour of her wings - or the lack of it - but now it was different. This time she didn’t hid shame, but dislike and hatred. And hopefully one day she wouldn’t have to hide behind it anymore. Not that she wouldn’t be smiling then.

Seraphim · February 3, 2006, 01:14 AM

The male faerie nearly baulked at the sight of Amber dive-bombing towards his table. As the female faerie alighted onto the table top, the stall-keeper advanced forwards, his face lit up with a grin. Here was another potential customer for him to fool out of her money. Bowing graciously and bending his knee slightly as courtesy dictated, he straightened and greeted the newcomer.

"Serale, lady. My name is Silvester, and welcome to my little stall of goods and clothing. It's been a while since I've seen another of my kind. How my heart cries out to see you. You are attracted to my fine wares, no? And for a good reason; these clothes and assorted wares are of the finest quality in this city. I take pride in providing the best for our tiny race, persecuted as we are in recent times. Pray tell, what items have you need of?"

Silvester clasped his hands together and waited politely for a reply. His mind was churning with tactics and prices he would impose on his wares. They were indeed of fine quality, but the little fae had to make a living to survive in this city against all the other competitors, and as such needed to squeeze every gold he could from his scarce customer base.

Amber Brightwing · February 3, 2006, 06:46 AM

Amber cared little for the babbling of the fae and didn’t bother to give her name. She was only here for what she needed and as far as she was concerned, social contact would be kept to a minimum. She did stay very friendly of course.

I’m looking for several things really. For starters I would like several sets of warm clothing.

The clothing she owned had been sufficient in the Dolwoods, but Vortex was much colder. She was going to need the warmer clothing if she wanted to continue going outside. Although she preferred to wear a gown, she would be needing something that clung to her body as well. When there was some icy wind blowing from below, things sometimes got too chilly for easy clothing.

For a moment she doubted whether to mention her residence in Vortex or not. It would certainly be seen as odd, but she didn’t really see how else she could explain her need of the dark coloured clothing in a more reasonable way. And it’s not like she had to give his the exact details of her business in the necromantic city after all.

I’m looking for something warm. A pair of gowns, shirts and pants, preferably in a dark colour. I need to be in Vortex for my work at times and I prefer to stay out of view over there. And maybe some shoes if you have them.

In reality, she had actually grown to like the darker colours in life. When she was wearing her black gown, it wasn’t just to keep out of sight, but because she really liked it as well. It was a bit ironic how she was now wearing her more colourful clothes, while she disliked them a lot, just so she wouldn’t get noticed too much. The world upside down.

She fumbled in her pocket, got out a piece of paper and presented it to Silvester.

Quote:

Good gloves (5 pair or so)
Apron
Set of scalpels/good sharp knives
Metal thongs
Scissors
Something to light fire
Toque
Goggles (= see-through things, protect eyes)

And I’m looking for these things as well. Maybe you could help me out with where I can find those for one of my size.

Seraphim · February 4, 2006, 01:58 AM

Silvester noded vigorously, and he took the list of wares the customer wanted. Hmm...the knives I can get from Solice, and charge a few extra crowns for it. Heeheehee. Same with the thongs and scissors. She might also sell some flint and tinder. Goggles... Nope, doubt she'll have them. Mnebolee might, that oddball of a fae tinker down the street. Huh! A fae, tinkering. Whoever heard of that. Argh! Hate dealing with him. I'll charge even more on top for getting those pair. Having finished pondering over the list, and thinking where he would get the items that he did not have in stock, he turned to Amber.

"Well, I have all your the clothing you need on hand. As for the others, I might need some time to prepare. What say you return here in one candlemark. I'll have prepared everything by then. But firstly, you must pay a deposit of 10 crowns, if you wouldn't mind. Wouldn't want to think I'd go through all this work and end up with nothing to show for it if a customer decided to up and wander away to another vendor... No offence intended. Just a business precaution, you understand. Of course, when you pay for the items in full, I will return you deposit. We'll discuss the price when you return."

Once Silvester bade Amber farewell after pocketing the required deposit, he would flit over the bazaar and visit his friends. Being faes themselves, they had a selection of fae-sized knives, thongs and other accessories available. In a short time, Silvester returned to his stall carrying a laden bag filled with the items Amber had ordered. Arranging them nicely on his table, he rummaged around his stock to produce the clothing apparels that Amber required.

Then he waited, sitting upon a small fae-sized chair and sipping cooled tea. Ah! This is the life...

Amber Brightwing · February 4, 2006, 05:14 AM

The fae in front of her pleasantly surprised her, and that on it’s own was surprising. She had thought he would just have given her the name of some friends, but this was easier. It would save her the trouble of searching, but most of all of dealing with other fae. If it would cost her a few more crowns then so be it. It was worth it. She had accumulated a small amount over the months, so she could afford it. She took out a banknote of ten crows and handed it over to Silvester.

Consider it a deal. Just make sure it’s some decent quality. I’ll be back in a about a candlemark.

With those words she flew off. No reason to stay any longer then necessary. She didn’t bother much with getting a lousy deal. As long as he didn’t try and overcharge her too much he would be fine. Trying to rip her off might not be the best of ideas, since she could go through quite some trouble to get even. And when she would be ripping off, it wouldn’t have to do with anything of monetary value, but rather with things like wings and ears. And perhaps she might even use a knife for some of the larger body parts if she was in the right mood. Now that she thought of it, if he overcharged her it just might be fun.

About a candlemark later, she found her way to the boot again. She wondered if he would have found the goggles. Until a few weeks ago she hadn’t even known such things existed, so it might have been too obscure.

Seraphim · February 5, 2006, 02:27 AM

Silvester was pleased when he saw the approaching figure of the flying fae customer. Setting his teacup and teaplate, as small as a thimble (a human thimble of course, for fae-sized thimble were another matter entirely), he stood up with open arms to welcome Amber. Clasping a wrinkled parchment in one hand, a fae-sized quill in the other, he hopped excitedly over.

"Ah! You've arrived, I see. Welcome back. Well, I have here everything that you've requested." He shook the parchment containing the list of items she had requested, along with their cost scribbled beside them. "Here, have a look. Heeehee"

Quote:

-pair of gowns (dark colour) - 25gc
-pair of shirts (dark colour) - 15gc
-pair of pants (dark colour) - 20gc
-shoes - 10gc
-gloves x 5 - 125gc
-apron - 15gc
-set of scalpel/sharp knives - 20gc
-Metal thongs - 10gc
-scissors - 10gc
-(Fire lighter)Flint and tinder - 10gc
-Toque - 25gc
-goggles - 20gc

He handed the crumpled piece of parchment to Amber, while clasping his hands together, a glint of hungry eagerness in his eyes. Of course, the prices were overcharged by a lot from what he had paid to get them. But she didn't know that. HEEHEEHEE

"Away! Make way for Jorgal! Make way!" The fae shopkeeper looked across the street in sudden anxiety. A strained frown creased his usually smooth fae features. It would appear that the boss of the local protection racketeering club was on his usual patrol. Did I pay my protection money this month? I think I have, I swear I have! What's he doing around these parts of the stalls?! Argh! He's going to scare my customer away! That fething lumbering human beast! He turned to Amber, hoping she wasn't too scared away by the sudden appearance of the bellowing hulking human that was passing by. Of course, though the human Jorgal bullied a steep protection money from his clients, he also fiercely defended his turf, breaking more limbs than he could count to defend his clients' safety.

Amber Brightwing · February 5, 2006, 06:59 AM

She took the piece of paper she had given him back, wondering why did fae always have to laugh. She didn’t like it. Mostly because there were lots of bad memories connected to laughing faeries and she didn’t like to be remembered of them too much. As she skimmed over the prices, she noticed they were a bit on the expensive side (at least for those things she knew how much they used to cost). It could be that things in Paxia was a more expensive than they had been at home of course and it was always possible that the prices had gone up a bit since then.

While adding the prices to see how much it would be in total, she caught the little fae frowning. When she looked what had caused him to stop smiling - not necessarily a bad thing - she saw that it was a large, noisy human. Not impressed at all, she restarted making the sum. She had dealt with lots of scum during the last few months in Vortex, including necromancers, some orcs and lots of vysstichi. It was going to take more then a large human to scare her away, but she did keep him in sight just in case though. If he startled the shopkeeper there might be a good reason.

How about I give you 150 for the lot?

Having come to a total, she bluntly divided it by two and decided that would be her starting price. Perhaps that was a bit too low, but she didn’t care much. It was doubtful the deal would be off, since he would be stuck with all the equipment, and it’s not like an upset fae was a bad thing.

That is assuming that everything is of a good quality of course.

Her tone stayed friendly and so did her smile, but inside she was grinning and waiting to see how he would react on it.

Seraphim · February 5, 2006, 11:50 PM

Silvester gaped in surprise, his mouth wide open like a fish out of water. Surely she can't be serious. Even if I was to sell at cost price, 150 crowns is far to low to even make up for the cost. Is this the first time she's been to the bazaar. How can anyone with any commonsense make such a ridiculously low first time offer. A stricken look came over his face.

"Surely you must be joking, lady fae. 150 crowns?! That's ridiculous, if you don't mind me saying so. If I sold my wares for such a low price, why... I wouldn't be here selling at all. No, 150 crowns is far too low. All these items are of the finest quality you can find at this bazaar, I can assure you. Now, I understand if you are having some sort of financial difficulty in paying 305 crowns, but even so, I simply cannot sell these to you for 150 crowns."

He paused and considered his current situation. If I don't sell these items from the other stalls, then wouldn't I be making an overall loss? Argh! Silly fool of a fae! I'll have to settle for less, then. But not at such a low price! No! He softened his tone, and turned to address Amber once more.

"Oh, wait. But I guess I could lower the price for you. I mean, after all you're a fellow fae, and such a beautiful one at that. I'm sure I can lower the price- but just for you. Don't you go telling anyone about that, ok? I'm willing to sell all these items for a low, LOW, sum of 280 crowns. You're saving a substantial amount of money, there. I'll even throw in a bonus fae-sized silk carry bag to carry them all in. It's SILK, SILK! Come on, 280 crowns is very cheap for these quality items. Where else can you find them in Imperia."

He had made pleas of desperation into an art.

Amber Brightwing · February 6, 2006, 12:57 PM

The little fae had to do her best to keep a straight face and not to break out in laughter when she saw his reaction. This was actually turning out to be amusing. 305 crowns were hardly a problem with her current finances and would have had no problem with paying it. She was actually really glad he had found the goggles and she would have easily paid well just for those. She didn’t even care that much about the discount he gave, but the look on his face, that had been priceless. And it would be hilarious if she could pull that off again.

Hmm…

She tapped with her finger on her chin, seemingly ignoring the shopkeepers pleas. She had heard them though, especially the part about her being beautiful. Other than her parents, none had ever told her that. Not that she was ugly or anything, but apparently lacking multicoloured wings was reason enough not to be classified as beautiful. Therefore she had no doubt the shopkeeper was just telling her she was so he could get his stuff sold. She gladly played along with his game though.

I guess 150 was a bit silly of me. So how about 200 instead?

She smiled politely at Silvester, a small sparkle of mischief in the eye as she waited for the answer. Who would have thought shopping would actually be something enjoyable. The offer was most likely still too low and she was hoping she would be rewarded with some real desperation this time.

Seraphim · February 6, 2006, 08:15 PM

A soft sigh escaped Silvester's crestfallen look. Fething woman! She didn't fall for my "desperation" act. She's one cold cold blooded daughter of a pecori! Be calm, Silvey. Keep cool, she'll fall for my tricks of the trade soon enough. Heeheehee. If she won't fall for desperation, maybe she'll fall for "cuteness".

Having failed to win the miserly fae over, Silvester the Fae straightened and mentally assumed his next act. Reaching over to Amber, he tugged at her left arm, swinging it to and fro acting like a child.

"Awwww... c'mon. Please, pretty please... 200 crowns isn't enough to feed me for the cycle. I mean, what with the spiralling price of living in Imperia. You know how it is... Poor faes like me, we can't survive on 200 crowns. C'mon, help a fellow fae out here, preeeeetty pleeeeease....."

He stopped his tugging and went to lug his makeshift mini-table over to Amber, along with two seats. His mini-teapot rattled noisily as it slid along with the table. "Want a cup of tea. It's nice and cool, good for this type of weather. Let's sit down and have a nice chat, please."

Heaving the silk bag, containing all the items that Amber had requested, onto the table, he twiddled with the drawstring. One last try. "Look, look. The bag made of siiiiilk. It's nice and soft and smooth and a bright colourful blue and its suitable for a fae and you can use it for a loooong time and then... umm... well, it's a bargain bonus item for 280 crowns. Wait... wait, err.. fine, I'll bring the price down to 270 crowns, only to 270 crowns, that's the lowest I can go. Honestly, you can't find a better price for all these in the Bazaar."

He looked eagerly at Amber's face, hoping she would settle for the lowered amount.

Amber Brightwing · February 8, 2006, 08:04 AM

When Silverster started tugging on her arm, she had resist the urge to drive a clenched fist in his face. The childish pleading was more annoying than it was humorous. Why did fae always have to act like they were only five patterns old? It’s not because they were doll sized they had to act like a toddler was running there lives.

Yeah, I guess you’re right.

She didn’t feel much like arguing over the price anymore. The shopkeeper was getting a bit too intimate to her liking and she would avoid the tea party. As she started counting out the required amount of crowns however, she couldn’t resist toying with the fae a last time.

Here you are. You can keep the change.

Still smiling friendly, she held out 250 crowns in bank notes, folded in two so only the outer note was visible. Most of the notes were only 10 or 20 crowns, so he would need to count them in order to notice the missing 20, and she wasn’t planning on waiting for that. Unless the fae would stop her she would pick up the bag and leave with some last words of goodbye.

Seraphim · February 9, 2006, 02:05 AM

OoC: This transaction has cost you a total sum of 260 crowns, the extra 10 crowns due to the deposit Amber "forgot" to take.

Silvester eagerly grasped the proffered bank notes from Amber. Filled with such happiness that his customer had finished her side of haggling, and no longer sought to devaluate his wares, he quickly put the bank notes in his money pouch without counting. After all, she seemed too naive to be capable of cheating him out of money.

"Why thank you, lady. Thank you very much. Here you go, the bag with your items inside. Take care now. Serale. Have fun. Until next time." He grinned continuously. As Amber's back faded into the distance, the chuckling shopkeeper covered his mouth and giggled like a child. It would appear that in her haste, that silly girl had forgotten to demand her deposit back. Another brightening, another fool. Wippie! An extra 10 crowns!

Amber Brightwing · February 10, 2006, 11:02 AM

OOC: Crap, I did forget about that

If she had known it would have been that easy, she would have given the guy much less. Really, he hadn’t even looked at it and just put it in his pocket. She hoped he would at least count it afterwards. It was rather pointless in trying to pester a merchant by ripping him off if they were to thick to even notice afterwards.

And the deposit? Well, in her annoyance she had forgotten that one. She really should have given the bastard much less money. Oh well, she had gotten what she had come to Paxia for without too much trouble, that was at least something.