Chapter Thirty

**The Bazaar**

After retrieving Skippy from the nearly empty exchange Jason headed towards their inn. He paid for their room and stowed Skippy in the stable and headed off for the Bazaar.

Jason imagined the Bazaar would be like an exotic open air market full of odd people and stranger products, but what he found reminded him of a flea market. Grisly men and batty old women stood behind wooden booths brimming with cheap trinkets. The place reeked of mildew and body oils, possibly beating the harbor as the rankest place in Laxtar.

“Aye boy, get yerself some raccoon tail powder,” a one eyed woman cried at Jason, “makes you potent with the ladies.” She winked her good eye and Jason’s stomach curled. He turned away from her without a word and dove deeper into the market.

The Bazaar was an endless maze, one row after another of sellers and droves of buyers. Jason couldn’t believe a man like Wilhelm ever came to a place like the Bazaar. The sheer variety of things for sale overwhelmed Jason. He decided to focus on some items by going over his ongoing quest with Finchead. Ox horns, Jason mused, they don’t sound expensive.

Jason searched far and wide and finally spotted a merchant with an array of animal horns and other body parts. “I can take a pair of ox horns from you for a copper a piece,” Jason said to the balding merchant.

The man puckered his nose like a pig and snorted, “yah tink me’s an idiot boy, tuh coppa par harn r’ be uff twi yah.”

Jason tried to make sense of the man’s accents, but the most he could comprehend was the man wanted two coppers a horn. Jason laid two copper and a half piece on the table and lifted two fingers up. There was no point talking this out they were essentially talking different languages.

The man looked at the coins and gargled. He moaned then swiped the coins up. Jason grabbed his horns and left before the man tried anything funny. No notification appeared in his vision, but he steeled himself and searched for another merchant.

“Chalk, Chalk,” a young woman hawked. Jason did a quick scan of his list and noticed chalk amongst its contents.

“How much?” He called.

“Coppa a pound,” she yelled back through a stream of people. Jason waded through the flow and got close to her booth.

“I’ll buy four for three coppers,” Jason said. He was happy the girl’s accent was more understandable than the last merchant’s.

The girl, who couldn’t have been older than ten, looked quickly behind her at a middle aged woman guarding a table laden with white cakey blocks. The woman nodded. “Aye, hand tid over sir.”

Jason pulled the coppers from his pouch and tossed them to the girl. The woman weighed out cuts of the white substance on a scale then loaded the chalked into a hemp sack. Without a word she handed the bag to Jason and waved him off. A notification blinked softly in his vision and Jason smiled.

The pace of the Bazaar was intoxicating, eventually masking its smells and peculiar patrons. Jason let the flow of people guide him a few rows and began to realize that the merchants organized themselves into clusters. Before he was in the raw materials bloc and now he ended up in the food section. Jason pricked his nose and eyes up in search of a coffee vendor, he desperately hoped he could find cheap coffee.

Sadly the only coffee for sale was selling at the same price as what could be found inside of Laxtar. He tried to haggle with the seller, but they would go low enough to justify a purchase by Jason. Next to the coffee seller was a beer merchant. A keg of ale was propped up on the man’s table and he was offering free samples. “Come my friend, drink, drink, taste the finest Hessian stout north of the Empire,” the merchant called. Jason thought of Darrow and smiled, he hoped to meet his acquaintance again one day.

Jason took the man up on his offer and was impressed, it tasted just as good if not better than the beer from the inn he stayed at in Exton. Perhaps it’s from the same brewer, Jason thought. “How much for a quarter keg?”

“You like, you like?” The man said with a smile, his tan skin revealed he was of Hessian decent, at least Jason assumed. Hessians were the only people he had encountered thus far without pale skin. “For you,” the man said exaggerating his speech with a wave and an air hug, “ten copper for the quarter keg, but I give you half keg for sixteen copper.” He smiled and his teeth glistened.

“Valuv,” Jason cried, remembering a word Darrow had thrown around, “my friend, you can’t believe I would pay that much for a Hessian Stout.”

The man raised his eyebrows and smiles, “Kuy, kuy, my apologies my friend, for you,” he pointed a finger at Jason’s chest, “eight coppers for the quarter keg.”

“Kuy, but I know seven coppers will be enough,” Jason replied.

“Hayat, alright,” the Hessian cried, he flapped his hands like he was paddling in the water. “Only for you,” he stressed, “seven and a half coppers.” He tapped the small wooden keg.

Jason bowed his head, “Jalak.” He pulled the coppers from his pouch and handed them over. With a last minute thought he told the man what inn he could find Jason at if he wanted to play 39 Thieves later. The Hessian winked, then Jason took off with the keg under his arm. The barrel wouldn’t fit in his bag, but it wasn’t too heavy that Jason couldn’t lug it around.

As Jason walked away from the food bloc he quickly glanced at his waiting notifications.

**Skill Increase: Bartering (Beginner VII) +175 Exp.**

**+1 Wisdom: You have used your knowledge of another culture to your advantage.**

**Skill Increase: Bartering (Beginner VIII) +200 Exp.**

**Note This: After Beginner VIII all skill increases will only award 200 Exp per level up.**

Jason continued to follow the crowd, the keg hooked awkwardly under his arm. Soon bolts of cloth in a thousand different colors and hues surrounded Jason. The air was ripe with tannins and lye. “Cheap, real cheap, clothes for him, her, even children,” one voice called. “Bolts by the copper,” another chanted. “We custom tailor, any fit, any size,” a third called followed by a dozen other cries. The prior locked eyes with Jason and cooed, “why aren’t you a handsome one.”

The woman, tall and slim, pursed her lips. Jason guessed she couldn’t have been younger than fifty, but was desperately trying to hide the fact. Her face was caked unevenly with ivory white powder. Sweat bubbled underneath the makeup causing it to look like snowcapped hills on a highland countryside. A pile of curly hair as tall as a watchtower sat stacked atop her head. Jason smiled back meekly at the woman, but she was determined to not let him go.

“Darling, come, come,” she waved her arms, her brass jewelry clinked and rattled with every move. “I don’t bite,” she cried.

Jason groaned internally, but he did want more clothes so he approached her booth.

A salacious smile sprang across the woman’s face and she pulled back a curtain for Jason to follow her into her booth. Inside, every free inch of space was occupied by stacks of clothing. Jason couldn’t make out any of it, but the vendor quickly stepped up. “What are you looking for today darling, don’t be bashful I have everything,” she stressed the word, “you could need.”

Jason swallowed hard and looked around. Most of the clothes were of an even more exotic variety than his peddler’s clothes, but he could pick out a more normal article here or there. “Um, I’m just looking for something plain,” Jason answered.

“No frock suit? Ripples are in fashion right now you know,” the woman muttered. “Oh well, a paying customer is a paying customer,” she said then dove into one of her piles. She pulled out a tan long sleeve tunic and dark brown trousers.

“That’s exactly what I was looking for,” Jason said with a smile. The vendor smiled back but it felt faux.

“Try it on then I can fit it for you,” she said, and tossed Jason the clothes, she seemed to be losing interest in the peddler. The woman didn’t move and Jason looked at her awkwardly. “Fine, I’ll go,” she said with raised hands. “No need to be bashful,” she added as she left the room.

Jason tried on the clothes. The shirt fit perfectly, but the pants needed to be hemmed. It took the woman only one try to get the pants to the right size.

“Ten coppers for the set,” the woman said when they were done.

“What?” Jason said, he kept the new clothes on and had placed his peddlers outfit in his bag.

“Ten coppers,” the woman repeated without flinching, “they’ve only had one other owner and have almost all their durability she added.

Jason grumbled, but the woman was right, both articles were only missing a single durability point each out of thirty. “I can only do eight,” Jason said with a fake sigh of desperation.

“Ten,” the woman said then looked at her manicured nails.

“Nine, please,” Jason whined. He could afford the price she was asking and it seemed like a fair price, but the point of the trip to the Bazaar was to increase his bartering skill.

“Fine,” the woman said with a wave. Jason smiled and handed over the coins. “If you ever need any more clothes or start caring about fashion you know where to go,” the woman cawed as she led Jason back out to the Bazaar. Jason was about to respond, but she was already on to hawking down her next customer.

Jason spent the next hour moving from booth to booth in the same fashion. He managed to acquire a blanket, a few pounds of sausage, and more of the item’s on his Finchead quest list. But more importantly, he had gotten his Bartering skill to Trainee I.

**Skill Increase: Bartering (Beginner IX) +200 Exp.**

**Skill Increase: Bartering (Beginner X) +200 Exp.**

**Skill Increase: Bartering (Trainee I) +200 Exp.**

**Note This: Effort required to improve skill level increases exponentially upon reach Trainee I.**

**Congratulations! You have met the requirements to increase your class to Trader would you like to look at the details for this class? Yes/No? You can look at classes anytime in the class section of the player menu.**

Jason moved out of the flow of traffic into a safe area then selected yes.

Trader (Requirements Met) [Tier I Class]

+1 Charisma and +1 Intelligence per level, +1 Wisdom per even level

A step up from peddlers, traders are the jack of all traders. Commerce based players determine how they will specialize at this level.

Trait Chains (1 Point Available)

Gregarious: -2 Charisma required for skills per trait level

Social Sponge: Charisma based skills level up 5% faster per trait level

A prompt below the class box asked Jason if he would like to change his class to Trader and he selected yes. Another wave of notification swarmed his vision.

Quest Completed: Peddling Around

Reward: 500 Exp. and 1 trait point

**Note This: Any class of tier I or higher levels independent of character’s level, with a max level of 10 per class. This level restarts upon changing player’s class. Each class level up rewards a trait point that can be spent on traits. Traits carry over when player changes their class however only as long as player moves to another class in the class chain the trait was earned in. For example: if player changed their class from a merchant class to a combat class then their traits from their merchant class would not be active while they are a combat class. Player gains class experience by complete class based quests.**

**New Class Available: Merchant. Requirements: 35 Charisma, Tier I merchant class at level 10, ownership of at least one parcel of land zoned and operated as commercial**

Quest Updated: Joining the Wool Merchants of Laxtar Guild Part I

Notify Wilhelm that you have met all guild entrance requirements. Player most likely to find Wilhelm either in the Wool Exchange or at his home, 17 High Street.

Reward: 750 Exp. and Rock’s sponsorship

Jason expected to see a level up notification, but none appeared. He check his stat menu and saw he was only 325 Experience points shy of level 4. He couldn’t complain though, Wilhelm’s advice worked and he made it to tier II for Bartering and finally met all the requirements to be a Trader. The requirements for Merchant were daunting, but so had the requirements for the Trader class at first and look where Jason was now.

He closed all the opened screens, but he still had one more waiting to be clicked on. Jason decided not to spend his trait point until he found out what skill requirements would be like for bartering, he didn’t want to gain his skills faster just so that he’d reach the requirements wall sooner. He opened the final waiting screen.

**Note This: Each skill starting at tier II unlocks special abilities. Players receive 1 ability point per level starting at level 5.**

Skill: Bartering

0 Ability Points Available

Silver Tongue I (Passive): +1 Charisma on levels divisible by 3 (Ex. 3,6,9…) If player is on a level divisible by 3 when purchased, stat point is awarded instantly. Cost: 1 Ability Point

Open Out Cry (Active): When activated you words become the center of attention for anyone in a 10 meter radius for 5 seconds. Refresh Time: One Day. Cost: 1 Ability Point

Dark Merchant (Passive): Bartering improves 25% faster when in black markets or interacting with fences. Required Class: Black Market Trader. Cost: 2 Ability Points

Jason gritted his teeth, he wished he had an ability point to invest in Silver Tongue, he would have gotten a point in charisma instantly. The other available abilities looked interesting, in particular Dark Merchant. Yet another reason for him to consider the Black Market Trader class.

Jason figured Wilhelm wouldn’t appreciated Jason knocking on his door that close to sunset and decided to return to his inn. Jason closed out the last notification box and weaved his way through the crowd towards the Bazaar’s exit.