Rain fell from the sky, cold and wet. The small puddles of water splashed on Ravinia's boots as he trudged towards the inn. The wind and rain had soaked through his clothes, and his long hair lay plastered over his face. The smell of strong beverages and cheap food assailed his senses, and a small smile graced his lips as he inhaled deeply.
Ahead of him was a large, run-down inn called the Leaky Bucket. It was run completely by NPC's, and wasn't notable or unique in any way other then the way it seemed to be worn down and dilapidated. Ravinia walked up a small path that veered sharply off of the main road, and came face to face with an old friend.
"Took you long enough." Aethleid said from his perch by the railing of the inn. "Everyone else is inside waiting."
"Good." Ravinia said, and drew a large coin purse from his inventory. "Lets get this started."
The two of them ascended the stairs past a large wooden verandiah that players occasionally used to hang out at among friends. Ravinia rolled up his sleeves and pushed through the heavy oak doors of the establishment.
"Took you long enough!" Said Oxel, from his seat by the fire.
A long table had been drug in front of the fire, and at it sat the members of the (not yet official) guild that Ravinia was trying to start. Two players were already seated, and two chairs were left open for the late arrivals.
"That's what I said." Aethleid took his seat, back to the wall."
Ravinia slid into his own spot, between Harp and Oxel. He reached into his jacket once again, and set the coin purse on the table.
"Look. I know we're all sick of eating bread. We aren't moving up as fast as I thought we would, and it sucks, I know." Ravinia untied the purse's draw strings and began to withdraw large handfuls of gold.
"But I have a plan." Harp said, mocking Ravinia's usual catch phrase.
Everybody sitting at the table moved in closer.
"We've been trying to scrap together coins from farming field mobs. Sure, it works in the long run. But we need some hard cash now. Here is how we are going to get it."
Ravinia opened up his menu, and scrolled through the tabs until an archive detailing common goods from the market sprung into view. He spread the digital screen out over the table, and highlighted a particular item.
Pork.
"What are we looking at?" Aethleid said, leaning low over the graph.
"Total sales for all pork products, right?" Oxel said, reaching out and pushing Aethleid away from the graph by his forehead to see better.
"Exactly. All of the good food is made by NPC's, and its really expensive. People still buy it though. Hell, I know what i'd do for a hot meal after a day of grinding. But a player could make the exact same food at better quality, and sell it for less." Ravinia said, collapsing the menu to pull up a map of the fields.
"We already have a lot of pork from grinding, but how are we supposed to cook such a large amount of food?" Harp said.
"We need a kitchen." Oxel said.
"We need cash." Aethleid added.
Ravinia let one of his rare smiles break through his calm exterior.
"And here it is." He dropped the coins he had amassed onto the table. "This is everything I've saved from our last quests. I'm going to use it to buy this inn."
The plan held a certain allure, and the whole group was in good spirits. They drank cheap wine and toasted bread over the fire while Ravinia worked out the details with the NPC innkeeper. Less then an hour later, Ravinia walked back to the table with a contract, signing over the deed to the Leaky Bucket.
"What should we name it?" He asked.
"Pile of crap?" Harp helpfully suggested.
"Ravens Cash Cow?" Oxel added.
"Don't even bother looking at me." Said Aethleid.
"So its decided." Ravinia shook his head in mock sadness, then stood enthusiastically. "We'll call it the Laughing Dragon Inn."
Since he now owned them, he brought out several mugs of the Inns best cider.
"To us!" Ravinia called, raising his own mug high.
"To us!" The others echoed, clanking drinks together and drinking everything that didn't spill on the table.
Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.