A barter for a Dagger

[saberlin]

Rton strutted his stuff through the stalls, pausing to look at this, looking over to pick up and turn that item or this one. Everything here was certainly well made and he was very glad for it. He needed a new belt knife and badly. His had seen its share (mostly of twigs) back at Benden and with not a proper way to sharpen the thing it had gone to ill repair. He finally wandered to the smithing stall and began to look through the tangs that were set about as well as the handles. He looked long and hard wanting to draw attention to the fact that he was a very serious shopper.
The clothing he wore was fairly mundane not wanting to draw a great deal of attention to himself. The only thing that denoted any sense of rank were his Selenitas bronze riding shoulder ranks, which he could not go without. But other than that he simply wore a dark green tunic and a pair of leather bottoms. This was a day to mingle about and not have a care in the world of who you were. Riders and Holders were able to settle down at the same tables with one another and he was fully intent on making that happen. Perhaps even settling into the hay some where with a pretty girl. That would be delightful, he thought to himself as he picked up a very nice looking 5 inch blade. He didn't want the thing to be too long after all. He wasn't going to be showing it off and it only needed to be four inches to do any serious damage.

"Sir, may I please see this blade on that nice dark wood handle? and do you have a delicately and functionally fashioned guard?"

[Administrator]

Unfortunately, the smith at the stall did not see the bronzerider as an equal. He was of rank. He must have lots of marks on him. Hiding a smirk, he bowed deeply to the bronzerider, intending to suck every mark out of the man. "Good day to you, sir!" smith Rilsdel said gruffly. "Planning on a duel? Off to sneak up to the north to fight some soldiers? Well, never fret, we've got the perfect thing!" His hands dove into the glass casing that covered his daggers, picking out the most expensive, and incredibly ornate dagger with many a fine jewel and a finely tempered blade. "This fine piece of work here is more like art than a dagger. Would you like it? Feel it in your hand, it's light as a feather! Starting at seven marks!"

His smile faded ever-so-slightly as R'ton requested instead a wooden-handled dagger. Too modest for his rank. Resisting the urge to grumble, he returned the jeweled thing back into the case, exchanging it for a small dagger with a deep brown wood for it's handle, smooth to the touch. "This brilliant piece is made of the finest woods from Lemos. Wouldn't even consider selling for under four marks!" Of course, this was slightly overpriced, but only one with the knowledge of smithing would see this. Rilsdel wanted money, and a bronzerider was the easiest way to get some.

[saberlin]

"Now see hear Smith I was not born yesterday and unless you can produce the name of that wood I will give you no more than two marks for the whole thing. Wood is not so pricey down here in the southern. Nor do I intend to fight with it. I just need a new cheese knife and that one holds my fancy."

R'ton said looking the man straight in the face. He may in fact be a rider, even a bronze rider, but his marks were hard earned and he intended to get proper product for each and every one of them. The blade was obviously well made and he did fancy the wood a lot better than the bedazzled one. Something like that would suit only a Lord Holder and that he was most definitely NOT. Pointing to another knife of equal size with a light colored wood R'ton asked the man to take that one out as well. He wanted to handle both of the knives as once to truly test their balance. If it was one thing he knew about knives it was their balance. A blade should set poised perfectly right before the tang and be equal in weight and even better in length between both handle and blade.

Picking up on his hightened state of aggrivation a blue flitt popped into view and hung grumbling in its little voice at the Stall manager. R'ton deftly and unconciously raised an arm for the creature to land on and then set about looking again at the man.

"That one there as well. And once again I will not pay you more than two mark for it. And that is ONLY if I like the way the blade feels in my hand."

[Administrator]

The smith frowned. "Ah, but southern wood isn't so fine and strong as Northern wood, let alone cut from Lemos," he replied gruffly. "Southern wood is dryer. Splits more easily. You know this well, bronzerider. Feel it! No knots or anything in this fine handle!" Pressing it to his hands, R'ton was allowed to feel it to know that the smith wasn't lying. This particular smith was just expensive, not a liar. "To ask for two marks would be an insult," he added sagely.

Looking into the case to see which one R'ton was looking at, he scowled. This one was horrible quality- apprentice-made. Southern wood, awful quality... "Two marks for this one," he told the bronzer shortly. The other one was better, in his opinion, but if he could get sell the bad one overpriced, then that may be the better sell in the end. The light wood color was still a bit rough, so the smith offered both small daggers to R'ton so that he could see for himself both the poorly-made apprentice knife and the fine journeyman's dagger.

"This fine one, however, will not go under four and a quarter mark," the smith said firmly, though this was merely the beginning of a bargaining. "The other will start at two," he added, smiling. Let the bronzerider choose his knife. He'd be sure to get what these knives were worth, or more. There was no way he'd let such a fine dagger go for two marks when there were people happy to pay more.

[saberlin]

((hee hee ill reply to this in abit ))