Jewellery
"Hi there. Can I interest you in some gems?"
"Pardon?"
"Gems? Necklaces? Spells? Portals to dungeons?"
"Um…maybe?"
"Great!"
Arthur had to give it to the merchant, she certainly seemed eager to please. And having travelled across the Empire, he had enough experience to know that could mean one of two things. One, the merchant knew how to play customers – act happy, serve happily, get the customer in a good mood, and thus make them more willing to part with their gold. The second option was that the merchant was an amateur, so desperate to make a sale that they'd shoot themselves in the foot to get it done. So, with both options in mind, he approached the merchant – a female, lavender haired, smiling merchant, looking quite out of place in this mining town.
"Anything I can help you with?" the girl asked. She stuck out a hand. "Name's Triya by the way. Need gems, necklaces, or-"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time," Arthur murmured, not taking the girl's hand. He looked at her wares, mounted in the small stall she occupied, residing in the shadow of one of the few two-story houses the town possessed. "I see you've got quite an interesting range."
"Oh yeah," Triya said. "Heroes, y'know, they're quite willing to sell to me after killing monsters. Even weapons and armour. Course I just sell those to Kolos anyway later."
Arthur pretended not to hear what she was saying. But he couldn't pretend to not be impressed by the range of jewellery before him. Nothing compared to larger towns in the Empire, but impressive for one as backwater as this. Torchlight was a mining town, fated to thrive while the supplies of ember kept coming, and fated to die when those supplies ran out. People like Triya would be there to hawk their wares when the gold was flowing freely.
And he had to admit, he was willing to part with some of his own.
"Miss…" he began. "Suppose you were looking for…well…"
"Spells? Staves? Wands?"
"Um…" He laughed uneasily, "Actually I was thinking of a gift for my wife." He put a hand to his chest – the story was true, but that didn't mean he could milk it, and maybe get a lower price for his sob story. "She lives on the other side of the Empire, in Tsiamali."
"Tsiamali?" Triya asked. For a moment, she actually seemed genuinely concerned. "That's…quite a way away."
"Yes. Yes it is," Arthur said, glad that the girl was now in his hands. "Well, I travel a lot, can't see her much. But I always try to bring something back. Something like…" He played with a necklace, "well, something pretty."
"Got it," Triya exclaimed. She picked up an amber-coloured gem. "Here. Flow ember. Your wife wears it, she'll get a buff to her electric resistance."
"What?"
"Not much lightning in Tsiamali eh?" the merchant asked. She smiled, before handing him a green gem. "How bout some life ember? No need to worry about poison!"
"Actually, I just wanted-"
"Or, how bout this?" she asked, handing him a silver stone. "Pure ember, good sir, pure…freakin'…ember!" She giggled. "Armour buffs, good sir, let me tell you. No-one should go without it."
Arthur stared at her – was the girl mad? He'd heard tales of ember doing strange things to the body, it stood to reason they could do strange things to the mind as well.
"Well?" she asked. "Anything else?"
"Um?"
"You sure you don't want a dungeon portal? Level one to ten. Easy pickings. Course you got to deal with the ratkin, but-"
"Stop!" Arthur yelled, causing the girl to recoil, a horse to neigh, and several children playing in the street to start crying. "I…I just want a necklace, okay? Something simple! Something…something that normal women wear!"
"Normal?" the girl asked, putting her hands on her hips. "You telling me your wife is normal?"
"What?" Arthur glanced around – several of the townsfolk were giving him strange glances. As if he were the insane one here. "I…no! I mean…well, Kristine, she's…not normal. I mean, she's…"
"You love her?"
Arthur looked at the girl. She looked back at him. For once, appearing completely, perfectly, sane.
"Do you?" she repeated.
"Yes," Arthur answered. "Yes, I do."
Triya smiled. And so did he. Yes, he did love her. Even on the other side of the Empire, he-
"Excellent!" She exclaimed. "Now let's get that necklace! I just had a unique come my way yesterday! Very powerful, very rare! It'll give your wife stats like she's never had! Doesn't that sound great?"
"Yes," Arthur said weakly. He fingered what few gold coins he had in his pocket. "Very nice…"
Triya giggled and fished out a necklace. A horse, probably the same one, neighed again.
"Here!" she said. "Best necklace I've got, straight from the clutches of a group of zombies in the depths of the Forgotten Catacombs. Oh, and it's got a socket for one of those gems I showed you." She winked. "Still want one of those gems, right?"
"Oh yes," Arthur whispered, hoping this would be worth it. Hoping that he could salvage enough gold to feed himself after this. Reflecting that of the two scenarios he'd reflected on earlier, Triya was very much the one in control. "Very much."
The horse neighed again.