by Allan Joyal
"Oh," I said as I put an arm around Heather. "This is my wife Heather. The other women you see are married to the men in the caravan. We are going to be the founding members of the new outpost and Daytona Trade decided to send our wives with us rather than stage a second major expedition once we have the outpost built."
The man looked surprised. "You know, I never thought about that. But ... ."
I raised my hand. "We don't have the right permissions on our token. Not that I'd want to. And right now we just want to start looking for a short break. We've been walking for quite a while."
"How is the snow?" the man asked as he turned to face the gate. He made a signal with his hand and the gate started to rise.
"We've been in the tunnels under the plains for some time now. I can say the snows near the Wizard's Academy were harsh this year," I replied carefully.
The man looked back at me. I could see his eyes go up and down my vest a couple of times. He seemed just a bit nervous as he led us through the gate and then pointed to the right. "You can park your carts there."
I started pulling the sled towards the area. I was most of the way there when Heather called out. "Don't enter the stall; it will be too small to turn around all three sleds. Stop in front and we'll put the sled in backwards."
I nodded and changed my route so that I could turn around just before entering the stall. Heather dropped back and helped by pushing the sled from the rear, getting it to turn faster on the hard stone of the courtyard. Finally she seemed happy.
"You can get out of the harness and we can push this sled back," she called out.
I took a step back and shrugged out of the harness. Corwar ran up to pick up the harness and carry it to the front of the sled. He tossed it in and then looked back at me. "I'll help push!" he shouted enthusiastically.
I headed over to join him at the front of the sled. As we leaned forward and put our hands on the frame, Aine, Kariy and Hencktor joined us. Heather had a hand near the rear and looked back. "On, one ... two ... ."
We heaved forward. The sled protested for a moment, but the wheels started turning and it slid into the covered section of the caravanserai. When it was about three feet from the back wall, Heather stood up and signaled us to stop.
I turned to look at the courtyard. The second sled was already being pushed back by Lydia, Verval and others. The third was being swung into position by Steve. The merchant who had admitted us watched us silently. I walked up to him as Steve got out of the harness and the group prepared to push the third sled back.
"Those seem unusual," the man said.
"They were originally for use on snow," I said. "We added the wheels when we traveled the tunnels. Now, we plan on spending three nights in town while we trade. I'm guessing that this time of year you don't see much business. As we have no animals, I'd say a charge of four copper coins for the bay would be fair."
"Four?" the merchant spat. "And copper? No. Any bay is to be a drachma a day."
"If there were any other bays in use I could understand that, but this is winter and no one is traveling. We should not be charged the full rate. Also we have no animals. So other than a guard to prevent theft, you do no more than offer space to store our goods. Five copper coins."
"You want to ruin me? If others heard I allowed anyone to stay for so little. Two drachma, I can justify that based on the lack of animals."
"One," I countered. "That would pay for a full guard at any inn."
"One and five coppers," the merchant challenged. "An inn wouldn't have our stone walls to help keep robbers out. I can guarantee that no one will touch your sleds other than members of your party."
I paused for a moment as if considering the offer. The merchant looked at me with a steely gaze. Finally I nodded. "Done."
I pulled out one of my pouches of coin and carefully extracted one of the silver coins. Shaking out five copper coins took a moment, but I soon had six coins in my hand. The merchant seized them greedily and then walked towards the entrance to the caravanserai. He shouted something to a man standing next to the gate before striding off into the city.
Steve walked up as I returned the pouch to my belt and then put the road token back in a different pouch. "What next?" he asked.
"We've paid for three nights. Overpaid in my opinion, but they promise our goods are perfectly safe. One of the guards recommended an inn called the Tailless Weasel."
"The what?" Steve asked.
I pointed to the entrance to the caravanserai. "Go there and look across the main street. Tell me what pictures you see on the signs hanging from the buildings across the street."
Steve walked off, shaking his head. I waved over to Lydia and Heather. They walked up. "You need me?" Lydia asked.
I burst out laughing. "I already have a lackey," I said between guffaws as I pointed at Heather. "But what I wanted to see was if you have organized bringing what we need to the inn? I don't want us walking back and forth to the caravanserai."
Lydia smiled as Heather reached out to slap my arm. "Beast," Heather said teasingly before turning and heading over to the sleds. I noticed that Esme, Natalie and Victoria were already organizing packs.
Shaking my head, I walked over to the entrance to the courtyard. Steve was standing there scanning the street. He grunted as I walked up. "I see the inn. Not a great weasel, but it's definitely distinctive. Other than that, the town appears to be quiet."
I glanced over at the caravanserai guard. The man was staring at the ladies, but roused himself to respond. "No market today," he said. "Yesterday was the midwinter feast."
"Midwinter? So early?" I asked.
"For this valley," the guard replied. "The snow starts to melt long before the last storms hit the north. We end up seeing flood waters lasting days on end. Some of our farmers have noted that the snow in the valley is already starting to melt, which signals that the floods are coming."
"Will we be in danger?" I asked. "We plan on traveling east in a few days."
"You have at least twenty days before the floods start in earnest," the man said. "By then, you'll be above the flood line if you are following the road. Where are you headed?"
"We need to get to Saraloncto before the end of spring," I said.
"You can do that," the man said. "Once you leave Purahomp, follow the road and take the first left fork. Three days later, you'll be in Rockspire. They can tell you which passes are open. This time of year, you'll probably run through Dondale and then Crayolyn Falls."
"Thank you," I said as the rest of the group started to gather at the entrance. I noticed that Jeff's hands were empty and that Al and Hencktor hovered near the young man. Natalie walked up to me and held out the spear.
"Your scepter," she called out mockingly.
I slowly reached out and took the spear. "Then it is time to go," I said firmly. "Lead on."
Esme and Kariy burst into giggles as Natalie turned to walk out into the street. She paused once we left the caravanserai and looked around. Heather ran over to her and whispered in her ear.
After that, Natalie confidently led us towards a battered two story stone building. There was a large sign of some tailless rodent hanging over the doorway. The creature did have a pointed nose that reminded me of a weasel's, but the faded paint made it difficult to identify it. Still it was close to the caravanserai so I hoped it was an inn.
Heather actually reached the door first. There was no knob and at first she was stymied by the door. Eventually her actions to get it to open must have attracted attention because the door opened from the inside. "Hello! Hello!" a jolly voice called out. "It's early and I know there are no drills. Who needs a drink before the sun goes down?"
I started to step forward, as Heather spoke. "Kind sir, we are members of the merchant group Daytona Trade. We are seeking shelter for a few nights while we trade in your fair city. A man said you might have rooms for us."
"For a woman?" the man asked.
"No," I said stepping forwar
d. Heather had a frown on her face, but said nothing as I took over. "For Daytona Trade."
The man pointed at Heather. "You had a woman speaking for your group."
"My wife," I said calmly. "I had a couple of things to arrange back at the caravanserai and she was trying to expedite getting rooms. We have been traveling for some time and were hoping to rest for three nights before resuming our journey to Saraloncto."
"In winter?" the man asked.
"Daytona Trade's goal is to establish a new outpost for resource gathering and goods production," I said. "To make it work, we need to leave Saraloncto early in the spring."
The man looked surprised. "I have never heard of a merchant group doing that."
I shrugged. "Can we get rooms for three nights?"
The innkeeper nodded. "None of my rooms are currently in use. How many do you want?"
"Can we get two?" I asked. "And do these rooms include meals?"
"How many people are we talking about?" the man asked. I noticed a spark of avarice in his eyes.
"We have seventeen in our party," I replied. Just then, one of the puppies yipped. "And two dogs," I added.
The man laughed. "I don't charge for dogs, but I won't feed them either."
"We can feed them scraps," I replied. "So three drachma for three days?"
"For seventeen people? It will cost me more to feed everyone. I need at least ten," the man said with a snort.
"Ten? For that I would expect serving girls and a roast pig every night. For five you can feed us all and make a profit. Our presence alone will cause this place to be filled tonight with people here to look at the trading group," I replied.
"And then I'll have to send to Loralythgn for more ale," the innkeeper replied. "Delivery in winter is expensive. Seven drachma will rob my children of food come spring."
"Six," I replied quickly.
The man looked at me and then nodded. "Six."
I pulled out my coin pouch and counted out six silver coins. The innkeeper waited patiently, watching me carefully. When I had six coins in my hand, he turned and looked towards an open doorway on the far side of the main room. "Jorn! Come out here and guide this group to the upstairs rooms."
He took the coins and then looked back as a young man about Shaylin's age emerged from the doorway. The boy was wearing rather tattered pants and a heavily stained vest.
"Your son?" I asked.
"My niece's son," the man said. "She ran off with some adventurer and left him behind."
I said nothing as the boy walked up to everyone. "I can lead you to the rooms," he said listlessly.
I nodded to Steve, who led the group as the boy turned around and walked towards a staircase running along the left wall of the inn.
"Only paying patrons can go up the stairs," the innkeeper said. "Now I'll need to wake my cook and see about getting a meal started. Do you need anything more?"
"Do you know who in town might be selling an extra coach or wagon, and is there a smith or toolmaker in town?" I asked.
"We have both," the innkeeper said. "The best smith would be Felx; he's got a place over near the keep. Just head down the main road and on a day like today you'll eventually hear his hammer going. For the cart, I'd try Piotr. I know he does repairs for the caravans that come through."
"And he can be found?" I asked.
"Oh, across the street. He's set up right next to the caravanserai," the innkeeper said.
"Thank you," I said before following the rest of the group. Steve was already out of sight at the top of the stairs and I could hear his voice rumble as I reached the stairs and started to climb.
Chapter 27: Trades and Troubles
As I rose up the stairs, I noticed that the group was lined up along the right side, allowing me to pass them on the left. At first I could not make out what Steve was saying, but as I got to the hallway at the top of the stairs I could see Lydia waving to me.
"It's nothing, Steve is just asking for some hot water to be brought up. We can't take full baths, but everyone can use the water and some rags to clean up," Lydia told me.
"Good," I said. "We need more people able and willing to take some initiative. I have to do a bit too much at times."
"I'd do more," Lydia reminded me. "However, you hold all the coin and even if I had some, most of the merchants won't talk to a woman."
"I'll distribute some once we are in the room. You can go with Hencktor and coach him in trade. I'll also give Steve some and he can head out with Esme and Natalie. They should look for medical items and probably farming items," I said.
"If they want to check for farming items, they should take Verval," Lydia pointed out. "What about me?"
"There is a smith near the keep. Take Henck, Al and Corwal there. We need tools and weapons," I said. "I figure Henck will be the best to identify what tools we need."
"I'll keep the girls here and convince them to study," Victoria said. "What about food?"
"I'd send Al out with Kariy, but I don't know how good Al would be in negotiating," I admitted. Ahead, I could see Steve had convinced Jorn that the rooms needed water as the boy was now walking toward the stairway.
"I'd be terrible at it," Al admitted. "I've listened to you the last few times and have no clue how you know what to say."
"I'm guessing myself," I admitted. "I just know that if I accept the first offer, we are overpaying. The culture here isn't like we are used to where everything has a set price. Fortunately I worked in industrial sales where there is a lot of negotiation, although not to the extent you see here."
The boy had vanished down the steps. Steve waved to me. I walked over and Steve pointed to two rooms directly across from each other. Neither room had a door. "We get these two rooms, but as you can see ... ."
"No doors," I said. "Wonderful. So we have to leave someone here to watch our stuff. I guess I'm not surprised."
"What about light?" Aine asked.
There was light streaming through some windows, but we looked around and found some oil lamps. Verval lit one. It threw light into the room, but billowed an oily smoke and a fishy scent.
"Shaylin?" I asked. "May we use your stone for light at night?"
The girl giggled. "Of course."
"We'll also need to keep weapons out at night. I hope we have some," I said.
Victoria unrolled a bundle of cloth to reveal both crossbows. Everyone laughed at the sign that we were starting to understand this strange land. I nodded and looked at Steve.
"Steve, you, me and Lydia need to have a quick conference," I said.
He nodded and pointed to one room. "Right this way," he said.
I followed Steve into the room. Once inside, I sat on the floor and pulled the various money pouches from my belt. I had placed three on the floor when Steve and Lydia joined me.
"Three?" Lydia asked.
I held up one. "The remnants of the coin we found at that battlefield. I've been using this one. I should be down to one drachma and some copper coins in that one." I held up the second one. "This is the coin we received from Elrol. It was seven gold and eight silver. I was going to give each of you a gold and two silver from this pouch for purchases today." I held up the last pouch. "The dwarves gave this to me. I have no idea what's in it, and was going to save it until we need it."
"So we have a decent amount of money?" Steve asked.
"Honestly, I don't know," I replied as I opened the pouch containing the coins from Elrol. "We haven't been in this land long enough to learn prices. It does need to be enough to purchase the animals and goods and carts we need to get our new home set up. I expect we'll find that it isn't as much as we'd like."
"Why are you giving me money?" Steve asked.
I noticed that everyone was in the room. They were sitting with their backs against the wall, as they paid close attention to the conversation. I nodded towards Esme. "Steve, I can't do all the trading we'll need to do while we are here. Now it isn't a market day, but I expect the news tha
t we are in town will spread, so look around. And we do have two more days if we don't find anything today. Don't rush your purchases, if you aren't sure, ask. But today take Esme and Natalie with you. We definitely want more medical supplies if we can find anything useful."
"Could they get me some dried seaweed?" Shaylin asked. "There is a spell to purify water that I think I can master, but I need dried seaweed."
"We are far from the ocean, but I'll look," Esme said. "I was going to see what kinds of salves are offered, so I expect I'll find it from the same kind of merchants."
Lydia nodded. "Henck, you'll be with me. You'll probably have to do the negotiating."
"I've never been involved in trade before," Hencktor protested.
"I'll coach you," Lydia replied. "Long ago, I was involved in sales so I know how it works. Verval, if you want to come with me, I plan to visit a smith. You would know what kind of farming tools would be worth purchasing."
"We can get quite a few decent tools if the smith has them," Verval said. "A gold could replace every farming tool back in my home village."
Lydia giggled. "Sounds like we have a plan. What about transport?"
"I'm going to head to a cart repairer. Hopefully he'll have something we can purchase, as well as animals to pull it," I said.
"Do we get any herd animals?" Steve asked.
I thought for a moment. "Find out if any are for sale, but any we get now we have to feed while we travel. If they are small like chickens or rabbits and we can set up cages, it might work."
"We could herd sheep if they have any," Gertilla said. "The puppies need something to do."
"I'll check around," Steve replied with a shrug.
"Good," I said. "Al, it looks like you and Jeff will be staying here today."
"Hey!" Jeff shouted. "I need clothing! And boots! Why shouldn't I get a few coins so I can find what I need? And why should I stay here?"
I looked over at Jeff. He was wearing the remnants of the clothing he had been wearing when we all arrived on Jord. The shirt was now almost totally gone. He had a few scraps of cloth over his shoulders, but his still soft abdomen was clearly visible. His pants had been torn to ribbons from the middle of his thighs down. When you added in the unkempt beard and hair, he looked more like a vagrant than a man of means.
