Chapter 16 - Rich and Powerful

Name: Aron Newmon

Level 1

Class: None

Name: Conner Orclid

Level 1

Class: None

Conner sat drinking wine outside a pub in a city just to the north of Zanic. They hadn’t been paying attention to the monks in their lessons on geography, but even though they’d forgotten the name of this city - they had still remembered that it was here. “Aron, how much did you get for the horses?”

“I got 52 gold pieces and 10 silver pieces for them combined, apparently they were fine horses. That guy was more than happy to buy them,” replied Aron as he handed Conner his half of the gold in a pouch. “He wanted to trade me items for the horses instead of the gold and silver, but I refused as we don’t have anywhere to put anything. Figured gold was a better investment.”

The two young men had decided not to stop in Zanic, as it was the closest of the cities nearby Quemen’s temple and didn’t want to risk being found by any of the monks or other Earthborn should they come looking there. This city was also quite large, so it would be hard to find them should the search be extended out further. By now Conner was sure that they had figured out what had happened to Carol. No doubt Tanner and Itunu would murder them if they were to find the boys. Choking briefly on his drink as it went down the wrong way, he took a look around him. Mountains were seen off to his north a great ways away. People walked past him wrapped in furs and bustled about their daily lives, it reminded him of an ant colony. It was spring, but only the beginning of spring and was still quite cold some days.

“We should go buy some real clothes instead of these robes,” said Conner standing up and putting his cup down on the bench beside him. “We should probably get some weapons, food and find a place to stay as well before night sets in. Last night was cold.”

Aron agreed with a slap of his hands. “Let’s head down to the central market, the one we saw passing through the city earlier today. They’re bound to have a lot of stuff there we can buy.”

Starting down the street and through the crowds they eventually came to the market. Medicines, bows, arrows, furs, hunting knives, fish, chickens, pigs, jewelry and all sorts of other odds and ends lay about in stalls or upon mats as people yelled across to one another as they bartered. A short ways away down another street connecting to the market was a series of blacksmiths and their forges. Knights could be seen ordering armors, swords and other weapons there too.

Looking down at his sandals and spying a number of boots set up a few yards away, Aron made his way over to barter with the man sitting there. “Would you mind if I tried on some of these boots to see which fit?”

The man looked up from his dealings with another as he handed a fur hat to the customer in exchange for a silver piece and three potatoes. He was not impressed with the teenage boys and it showed. “As long as you are able to afford the price then go ahead. Each of these boots would be five silver pieces, or you can buy two pairs of boots for one gold piece.”

“That’s an outrageous amount for a pair of boots! I will give you three silver pieces for one pair.”

The man shook his head, undaunted by the rebuke and still unimpressed with his new customers. “Five. These are high quality boots, but if you want cheaper ones there is a woman selling some down a few stalls that you could try.”

Both boys scowled but came forward to get a better look at the footwear.

Fur-lined Leather Boots (Light Armor)

Item Tier: (5) Common

Armor: +4 physical resistance

Bonuses: None

Requirements: None

Durability: 40/40

Special: None

The boots were quite nice with fur lining the interior and leather straps securing the top. After looking them over Aron shrugged. “If they feel comfortable enough I’ll pay your price.”

Connor came and joined him in trying on the boots without saying much.

“They are pretty nice. What do you think, Conner?”

“Yeah I think I’m going to buy them. You?”

“Yeah me too.”

Handing the man five silver pieces each they took off their sandals and put on the warm fur-lined boots that fit quite nicely. “Could you exchange some silver pieces for gold? We’re out of silver and all we have left is gold,” Conner asked the sitting man.

“Sure, I have… one moment let me count… Yes I have 42 silver pieces. I can give you nine silver pieces for every one gold piece.”

Conner scowled, “How much is one gold piece usually worth here?”

“In this city? Gold usually runs at eight silver pieces for every one gold piece,” said the merchant uncaringly. “The closer you get to the All Spirit altars, the more you’ll get the standard 10 silver to 1 gold ratio. But there aren’t any altars for many, many miles… because of this the trade rate varies here.”

“So you’re making a small profit then. That’s not fair.”

The man nodded uncaringly. “You don’t have to do it, that’s merely my exchange rate. This is a business after all.”

Handing him three gold pieces each they in turn received their silver and began to walk through the market again. Eventually they ended up buying traveling outfits as well as some furs to cover their shoulders with.

“Conner, come and look at these!” an excited Aron called out as he rushed over to one of the nearby blacksmiths. Holding up a wicked looking curved dagger, Aron turned it about in his hand wide eyed. “This looks so cool!”

“Don’t touch it if you can’t buy it!” said the blacksmith as he stood next to the forge. He was soot-covered and grungy looking with a long black beard. He had the appearance of a ‘all work no play’ kind of guy - only pausing his hammering at the anvil to chide the younger men.

Annoyed, Aron turned back to the craftsman. “I’m more than sure I can buy it. How much do you want for it?”

“How much are you willing to pay for it?”

Thinking for a moment, Aron said, “I’ll give you three silver pieces for it.”

Laughing, the man took the dagger and placed it back next to all the other weapons. “No way.”

Flustered, Aron asked again. “Then how much?!”

“Five silver pieces.”

Conner muttered under his breath. “That’s sort of expensive Aron.”

Aron agreed, and was outwardly irritated at trying to be swindled by not one - but two merchants now. “How about four silver pieces? That’s the best I’ll do.”

After handing a woodcutting axe to another man, the gruff blacksmith turned to the two teenagers. “If your friend here buys something as well, I’ll do it. Otherwise it’s going to be five silver.”

Aron grumbled, then took a second to examine the blade in detail.

Jambiya Knife

Item Tier: (5) Common

Damage: 11

On Hit Effect: none

Bonuses: none

Requirements: none

Durability: 29/29

Special: none

He looked inquisitively to Conner, then back to the bearded man. “Do you have another one like this?”

The blacksmith nodded, wiped the soot from his hands along his shirt and retrieved another dagger from a drawer that looked very similar to the one Aron wanted. Both curved out from the handle to reach about eight inches in length.

“We’ll take it for the same price then.”

Smiling in triumph, the blacksmith handed both daggers to the two boys, and in return they gave him the money.

“Pleasure.” The older blacksmith said with a dismissive wave. A second later he went back to work at the forge with a grunt. “Come back and see me again if you need anything else.”

The two young men stood eyeing their new weapons, admiring the craftsmanship… but both of them were rather irritated at how much they’d just spent.

“He straight up robbed us,” said Aron looking down at the blade - nearly pricking his finger on the sharpened tip. “Though these are really nice. Maybe it was worth it, and we did need weapons to defend ourselves just in case.”

Conner bit his lip and rustled his brown hair. “We need to find a belt for these so we don’t have to carry them around by hand. I don’t want to cut myself.”

It didn’t take long to find such items. After finding two belts and strapping the daggers to their waists, the boys went to a baker’s stall and bought themselves a pie and a couple pastries. Then an hour later they made their way down the street to a sign indicating that the building was an Inn.

Upon entering the old, run down, two story building, they could see rickety wooden stairways leading up to the right and left. A rather plain woman wearing an old green dress stood behind a counter directly in front of them, and behind her was a fireplace with a dining table. The wooden ceiling above them had numerous herbs hanging down from the supports, and it made the place smell quite nice. Further back were more rooms and two doors that led out to the back, and as someone walked through one of them Conner could see what he thought was an outhouse alongside another street.

“Welcome friends, do you wish to rent a room?” asked the plain middle-aged woman behind the counter.

“Yes… how much for a night?” Asked Conner.

“Well, if you only wish to stay one night it will be two silver pieces. But if you stay longer we can arrange something that works more in your favor.”

“How much would you charge us for two weeks?” asked Aron impatiently.

Pausing to think, the woman did some quick math. “For one room? Does 22 silver pieces sound good to you?”

“Done.”

Handing them both keys in exchange for the money she pointed back towards a room nearby the fireplace. “That would be the room to match those keys. Enjoy your stay and let me know if you need anything in the upcoming days. If you need any food the market is down the road as I’m sure you’ve already seen, and there are many pubs around willing to serve food too.”

The door let off a small creak on its rusted hinges as it opened. Upon entering the dimly lit room they saw there was one small window with metal bars overlapping it while looking out into an alley between buildings. There were also four small beds and a nightstand. Sitting down on two of the beds they began to eat their pastries. Using their knives they split the pie they’d bought earlier down the middle and ate that as well.

“So what now?” asked Conner.

Aron laid back on his bed and crossed his feet. “Guess we need to find a way to make money.”

Silence.

“We could go around and ask people if they have any work for us to do?” Conner suggested.

Aron nodded, folding his thick arms across one another to match his feet. “Yeah that’s probably the best option right now. But I’m going to sleep, so I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

Aaron closed his eyes and threw the blanket over his body. It took him less than a couple minutes to pass out, and in no time he was lightly snoring.

Pulling out his knife to examine his new blade, Conner blinked a couple times and absentmindedly sighed. They had no trade skills and no great way to make a living, and he in no way wanted to join the beggars they had seen earlier when moving through the city. No... he would never beg. If it came down to it he would do anything to avoid poverty. He’d had enough of that back on Earth, now that he had a chance to start over he wouldn’t blow it. No matter what happened, he would become rich. Yes, he would become rich and powerful.

That is what he wanted.