Chapter 2

The hero finds out how much stuff costs

"How much for a sword?" I asked the man before me, exasperated.

"This quality blade right here? Fifteen hundred gold. You want something to practice with? Say, a little less than two hundred," he answered patiently. The sign above the door was plain enough, a rectangle of metal with a sword shape hammered into it. The man behind the counter had come from the forge, making me wait while he finished something in the back. As he stepped behind the counter I saw his arms were twice the size of mine and I began to feel a little bit intimidated. Then I brightened, I was the inheritor of destiny! This man would not intimidate me, even if it did look like he could break me in half very easily. There were no other patrons in the shop, and quite honestly it was easy to see why. Not much merchandise adored the space within the doors of the so called "weapon shop," leading me to see the Dragonlord's hand in this, as well.Naturally he wouldn't want weapons made, it might give some young upstart, such as myself, ideas that they could be used to defeat his minions. I'm surprised he left even this blade available."How much do you have? Anything to trade? Maybe we can make a deal."

I hesitated to tell the man the king himself had sent me on my quest, as he did not want the Dragonlord to find out he helped me and this man could very well be working for that dread figure himself. I did, however, feel it safe to confide that I was the living relative of Erdrick in the hope that the man might be willing to part with something more readily if he knew. After all, no one likes their boss, especially a man like the Dragonlord, so even a minion of his might be inclined to help overthrow him if he knew the conclusion of the prophecy was imminent. After all, the Dragonlord would know I was after him soon enough, now that I had gotten started! However, the man's reaction was not the one I expected.

He laughed in my face.

"Oh, you and my great uncle." he chuckled, "Just like the last three guys we had in here. Don't suppose you've got his Token on you, do you?"

I was stunned. "What are you talking about? Others have claimed the title before me?"

"To score a sweet little piece of action in the tav- I mean a better deal on a sword? Sure, like I said, the last three people in from the castle said the same thing, since about a month ago, I guess."

Fear began to grip me, this was not how this was supposed to be going. There were others, I wasn't the first? It was no wonder I had gotten the reaction I did at the castle, if 'descendants' had been making themselves known for months now. But who were those people? Were they raised as I had been, with tales of being Erdrick's heir given with their mother's milk? Or were they simply charlatans looking, as this man had said, for better prices or special treatment? And more importantly- "What happened to them?"

"Dead, I expect," he said, scratching himself. "Never saw them again, anyway. I suppose some simply mentioned it to try and get a better deal on equipment and then never mentioned it again. But they were all travelers, like yourself, and they all left for parts unknown."

I shuddered and thought, what am I in for? Will fake descendants be everywhere, making my job that much harder as the real one, as I won't be believed? Or worse, will some be tired of fakes and run me out of town should I claim that title? Am I a fake too? How can I really know? Wait, there is a way… "This token you mentioned, what's that?"

"Something Erdrick had made that would prove his rightful heir I guess. I've heard about it, never seen it of course. I'm not his great, great grandson or whatever, now I am?" He laughed all the harder.

"No, I don't suppose you are." But why haven't my parents told me about the Token? I thought to myself. That would have made things so much easier, if I had been able to claim that before coming here. Wait, would anyone here know the token to see it? Why haven't these fakes made a fake token as well, if a simple blacksmith has heard of it certainly others would have too. How would I even know it if I saw it?

He leaned his arms on the counter and motioned me closer. "The rumors say that the king's daughter, Princess Gwaelin, knows where the token has been hidden. Apparently that knowledge is handed down to all royal ladies since his death."

"I didn't see her at the castle, I'll have to go back. Though someone said something about finding her, so maybe she's playing hide and seek, so it's not a good time right now. How old is the princess, anyway?" How would she know an heir to look at him or her though? Is she going to give that information out to just anyone? How would I convince her if I need the token to convince people I'm who I say I am? A nice little circle isn't it?

"Hide and seek?!" the man exclaimed. "Good Lord man, she's at least your age- the princess isn't a child! How do you not know this? Where have you been these past months? She was kidnapped by the Dragonlord ages ago!"

I was a bit stunned by this revelation. "What? Kidnapped?" My estimation of my enemy went up slightly. The Dragonlord seems to be on the ball, not what one usually expects from evil dictators. "What about the queen?" I asked, dreading the answer. I had seen the empty throne, after all, so I had a pretty good idea what was coming.

He shook his head. "Killed in the attack by the Dragonlord, I'm afraid. The king isn't getting over it, ether, from what I hear of castle talk. I guess he's about given up."

I stood and pondered for several seconds. The princess, kidnapped? The queen, dead? No wonder the king looked as he did. And there I stood, cocky as anything, telling him I was the solution to all his problems. I felt… ashamed. The clatter of a weapon being banged on the counter repeatedly startled me out of my reverie.

"Oy! You want this sword or not?"

"Well, I don't have nearly two hundred gold coins," I said, exasperated. "At least, I don't think so. Let me count it." I did so, coming up with a total of one hundred and twenty coins. As I separated the coins into piles so I could keep track of them I figured I should keep the man talking, he was eyeing the coins with more than a little greed in his eyes. "Why are swords so expensive anyway? Scarcity?"

"That's part of it, of course. But swords are expensive in the best of times. Do you know the kind of work that goes into making a good blade?"

I stopped sorting. "Not really."

He brightened. "Let me tell you!"

I suppose any craftsman is eager to explain about his craft, especially if it helps justify his prices. I went back to sorting as he explained.

"First I have to choose the correct sort of metal for the type of blade I want to create. The more impure it is, the more work I have to do getting rid of those impurities. So I have to work with miners and try to get a good deal on what they like to call iron ore, but is usually mostly rock. You ever see a sword made out of rock?"

I shook my head.

"You won't either. So I melt the nuggets down they manage to get out of tunnels and turn them into bars. Of course I have to add things like carbon if there isn't enough to some of the stock, blades are made of various layers- are you listening to me?"

"Yes! Go on, it's all very interesting." Is he making a cake or a sword? Layers? Is he putting me on?

"Right. They charge an arm and a leg even for stuff with a lot of rock stuck to it, because mining is dangerous and nasty and dirty and no one wants to do it. So they deserve a good wage which raises prices. With the correct bars, well, rods really at that point, I can join them up and begin hammering them. Certain type of metal in the center, certain type of metal at the edge, based on the properties of flex, edge retention, hardness vs brittleness, there's a lot to consider. This takes a lot of work. And I mean a lot. You ever lifted a blacksmith's hammer?"

"No."

"Ha! Didn't think so. You heat the metal over and over and pound away until it's roughly the right shape, and by that way that takes a lot of fuel. Fire has to be extremely hot to make metal hot enough to shape, so there's another cost right there. Then you have to quench it properly because oil gives it different qualities than water. Different for salt water too, come to think of it. You can ruin a blade by accidentally using the wrong bucket. So you're paying for the person to not mess it up, either. How you would know the difference? Then you have to give it a good edge, which takes more work on the grinding wheel. It can take weeks to make a proper sword, you know how many nails or butter knives or barrel bands I could make in that time?"

"No idea."

"Course you don't. So now you know why I charge so much. A good sword will last you a lifetime. Or at least a battle or two, which is usually the same thing." He laughed.

"But a good sword costs fifteen hundred gold!" I protested, aghast. "I would need to lug a trunk full of gold coins to buy something that expensive. I might as well just drop the trunk on anything that threatens me, it would be heavy enough at that point!"

"Assuming you could lift it high enough," the man agreed, looking at my arms dubiously.

I ignored the comment. "And that doesn't even begin to cover armor too, which I'll certainly need. That probably takes almost as much work."

"Now you're getting it," he agreed. "To survive long enough to travel the world looking for what you'll need you should wear the best armor you can get. And what you need to find is Erdrick's armor. And that's not all. To fight and win against the Dragonlord himself, you're going to need his armor, his lost sword, and a decent shield, a lot of skill with both, and some luck. His armor was enchanted, if rumor is to be believed, and has special properties. I can't even imagine what it would sell for, assuming you would want to. But don't let all that stop you, some leather armor would get you started." He put the sword back behind the counter again and brought out a heavy looking wooden club. "Here's my advice: Buy this club to get started. There's a guy in town selling Dragon Scales on the sly, even though the Dragonlord has made them illegal. Tell him "a rainbow shall make a bridge" and he'll sell you one for 20 gold. Beat up some slimes or whatever to make some more gold, then come back here and buy the leather armor. Repeat, buy a sword. Range further afield, beat up some more lucrative monsters, buy better stuff, repeat until you've got the best. How about that?"

"What's a single dragon scale going to do for me, and what's up with that passphrase?"

"Just a little ditty we came up with," he said, shrugging and not making eye contact. "These Dragon Scales have been enchanted, they'll absorb a little of the damage should you get hit. It's not as good as armor, but it's cheaper. Against low level enemies such as you'll find around here you're better off dodging them anyway. Armor has to be repaired if it gets hit after all, don't depend on it. Wear armor to save you should you fail to dodge an attack. This way you get used to dodging first, and don't develop bad habits."

I barely heard him, despite how good this advice actually was. I was thinking about dragon scales. "I should save up and have someone make a set of armor out of those!" I exclaimed. "A shield as well, if he had enough. Think about it!"

"I… don't think it works like that," he hedged. "And like I said they're illegal. Wearing that much dragon scale would bring down every monster in the region, hoping to kill you and curry favor with the Dragonlord. A single scale you can tuck into your shirt, it's not so obvious. Anyway, do we have a deal?"

I hefted the club. It would have to do, so I slid 6 piles of gold over to him, set the club down on my side of the counter, and started gathering up the rest. "Wait a second, how is fighting slimes going to help me earn money?"

"Were you born yesterday or something? The monsters are made by the Dragonlord, of course. That's where they all came from! You think we had a plague of slimes around the castle before he showed up? No, we did not. He uses gold and turns it into creatures, that's why he needs so much of the darn stuff. But beat the monster, and it turns back into the gold he used. Naturally, the tougher the monster, the more gold that went into making it, and the more you earn by beating it."

"What a fantastic system." I said. "I can become a better fighter and get rich at the same time just by beating up the monsters around the castle. Brilliant! Thanks, you've helped me out a lot. I'll be back for that armor soon!"

"Yeah, sure, be seeing you then," the man grumbled as I went out the door with the club on my shoulder, to find a man with a dragon scale for sale. He didn't sound convinced, but I would show him. I would show them all! I was the rightful descendant, I would find the token, and the armor, and the sword, and a decent shield, and train, and one day defeat the Dragonlord.

That's when a sharp rock jabbed me in the foot and I hopped forward a couple of steps. I looked down at my fairly poor shoes. I can't wander around looking for tokens and whatnot in shoes that can barely protect me from cobblestone paths in towns!Wonder how much some decent boots go for around here?

Luckily a shop selling boots was nearby, and I entered the store with a ding from the bell above the door.

"Good afternoon," said the man sitting and working on a pair of shoes in the middle of the place. "What can I do for you?"

I looked around, and this place at least looked like a proper shop to buy proper footwear. It smelled of leather, and tanning agent, and dust, and all around were shoes of every kind. I suppose even the Dragonlord needs something to keep his feet dry. "I'd like a better set of shoes, or some boots I suppose," I told the man. "I've just come from… From..." I stopped dead. Where had a come from? This isn't my home town. I walked here. From a place. Elsewhere. Right? That place must have a name, why can't I remember it? Just like me not knowing my own name for a second I hoped it would come to me when I needed it, but the name of my town, what it looked like, and the people I knew there seemed out of reach at the moment. Was I losing my mind? What was happening to me that I couldn't recall these basic facts about myself?

"Yes?" the man prompted.

"Far away," I continued lamely, "and I have many leagues yet to go. What can you do for me?"

"I'm sure we can find you something," the man assured me. "Put down your club," he gave it a dirty look, "have a seat and let's see what we're working with here."

"Of course. By the way, have you had a problem with people claiming to be the descendant of Erdrick lately? Back in, uh, my home town we've had a plague of them!"

"I've heard talk of some from village gossip," he admitted. "None have come in here. I guess they hope to find Erdrick's boots as well as his armor?" He barked a laugh. "Now, let me get my tape." The man got out a fabric marked with numbers and measured my feet after taking my shoes off.

"Erdrick left boots behind as well?" I asked, trying to appear uninterested and simply making conversation.

"No sir, that was a joke. I mean the man must have worn some kind of boots, but who would enchant boots to last for the ages? No, only long lasting artifacts would have survived to the present day, such as the sword and the armor."

"Ah. Pity, I'm sure they would have been a fine example of their type."

"No doubt. Now what sort of boots were you thinking of?"

"Cheap?" I offered hesitantly.

He sighed. "I did gather that, sir, meaning no offense of course. Let me show you my available styles in your size." He went around the shop, comparing his 'tape' to various pairs of boots, while I sat furiously thinking. The others didn't come in here! Maybe they were just trying to swindle the blacksmith, and didn't think a shoemaker was worth the trouble! Or maybe they just didn't want to push it? A sword being much more expensive than a pair of shoes, at least I have to believe that. Or maybe they just had better shoes than I started out with. How much can I read into this, really? And of course he could be lying, though why he would I can't imagine.

My purse now lightened further I left the store with a decent pair of boots and more of a spring in my step. I was getting outfitted and had more information than when I had started. I needed to find the princess and rescue her. She could give me the information about the token. With the token I could possibly get better prices because now my story would be believed. And I knew what I needed to take on the Dragonlord. My quest was off to a good start.