Disclaimer: The Forgotten Realms are not mine but everything else is! All mine! Go find your own!
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Later that morning, as Ricardt wandered through the vendors' stalls set up on one of the fields set up on one of the fields, looking at things such as enchanted toy bears and magical armor. Teilla had found some fellow bards to swap gossip and talk shop with and the paladin had excused himself to wander Whizban's harvest festival on his own. He paused at one booth displaying odd, solid crystal wands. "I've never seen anything like these before," he told the booth's owner, a man with nut brown skin and a swirling tattoo across his lower face. The man's eyes gave a faint glow as he said, "It requires a certain... aptitude to use these. You do not possess such skill."
"I've a friend that..." Ricardt started to explain but a light, lilting voice behind him broke in, "Unless your bard friend is very good at making magical items do her bidding, those won't work for her either."
The paladin turned and looked down at the newcomer, who barely came up to his chin. She wore the brown, green and grey mottled clothing that indicated she spent a lot of time out in the woods and an unstrung long bow strapped to her backpack hinted that she was a ranger. Long, cloud white hair lay braided over her shoulder, framing an inquisitive elven face of rich chocolate brown with leaf green eyes. She pointed to the crystal wand, "That's a dorje. You can use one only if you have some psionic ability."
"Ah," Ricardt searched for something more to say as the booth's owner filled in smoothly, "And would the ranger of Whizban care to peruse my wares?" He smiled.
The elf gave a slight smile and shook her head, "Sorry, I have to get to the competition field. Maybe later." With that, Ricardt watched the strange elf slip off through the vendor stalls towards the open area set aside for contests and events.
Shaking his head, the paladin turned back to examining the dorjes. The tattooed vendor regarded Ricardt a moment before speaking up, "I do have some smaller versions of these that are much easier to use, provided you let them recharge." The little man produced two crystalline pendants, each on its own waxed cord. Both had the same cut, but one had a milky white color while the other was a pale rosy pink. "One to see things as they are and not as they appear to be, one to distract from what needs to stay hidden."
Ricardt suppressed a sigh, "Sounds interesting. How much are you asking for them?" He silently put himself in a frame of mind to detect falsehood.
The vendor considered, "I know they are wroth more, but five platinum pieces and they're both yours. It's a very reasonable offer."
Ricardt blinked. He had been expecting an inflated price to start with and then haggling down to something reasonable or refusing outright. The equivalent of fifty gold was by no means a paltry sum, it was not unreasonable for magical items of any sort. The paladin nodded his agreement and handed over the money. As he tucked the two crystals into his belt pouch, he thought Teilla would probably like the rose crystal.
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